Chapter 52: Training Camp
The morning sun over the mountains was not the gentle, warming star of a vacation brochure. It was a harsh, blinding spotlight that beat down upon the private training grounds of the Wild Wild Pussycats. The air was thick with humidity, the chirping of cicadas deafening, and the smell of ozone and sweat permeated the clearing.
It was 5:30 AM on the second day.
"Remember what I told you yesterday," Aizawa's voice cut through the groans of the students. He stood with Vlad King, looking like a sleep-deprived demon in a black jumpsuit. "Your growth during the Sports Festival was mental and tactical. But your Quirks? Physically, you haven't changed much since enrollment. Today, we break that."
He pointed to the clearing.
"We are going to expand your 'Quirk Factor.' It's the same principle as muscle training. You will use your Quirks until you hit your limit, and then you will force them past that limit. It will be painful. It will be nauseating. You will want to die."
Aizawa grinned, a terrifying expression that promised suffering.
"Try not to pass out."
[The Training Grounds]
The clearing erupted into chaos. It was a symphony of destruction.
Bakugo stood in front of a barrel of boiling water. He thrust his hands into the liquid, screaming as he forced his sweat glands to expand, then blasted explosions into the sky.
"DIE! DIE! DIIIIIE!" BOOM! BOOM!
Nearby, Todoroki was submerged in a drum of water. He was alternating between freezing it solid and boiling it into steam, regulating his body temperature to the extreme to build tolerance.
"It's too hot..."
"It's too cold..."
And amidst the mayhem, Aokiji Kuzan was suffering in his own unique way.
He stood near the edge of the forest, facing a massive, steep cliffside. Pixie-Bob, the hyperactive member of the Pussycats, stood on a mound of earth nearby, controlling a wave of dirt beasts.
"Come on, Ice Prince!" Pixie-Bob shouted, sending three earth golems charging at him. "Faster! Bigger! Make it colder!"
Aokiji, stripped down to his indigo undershirt, swiped his hand.
"Ice Block: Pheasant Beak!"
A massive bird of ice crashed into the golems, shattering them.
"Again!" Pixie-Bob yelled, instantly reforming them. "Don't stop! Keep your output at 100% continuously! You rely too much on burst attacks! You need endurance!"
Aokiji panted, white air coming from his mouth. The continuous generation of massive ice structures was draining his stamina rapidly. His skin was frosted over, but the summer heat was melting it just as fast, leaving him in a miserable state of being cold and hot simultaneously.
"This is a violation of students' rights," Aokiji wheezed, firing another wave of ice, "What about turning it into an enjoyable camping trip instead of this?"
"Less talking, more freezing!" Vlad King shouted, walking past supervising Class B.
Class B was there too, mixing with Class A.
Tetsutetsu was arm-wrestling Kirishima, their hardened skins grinding against each other as they screamed in a test of manly endurance.
Neito Monoma was running around like a maniac, touching different students.
"Hahaha! Class A is looking sluggish!" Monoma laughed, copying Aokiji's ice to freeze a tree, then copying Bakugo's explosion to blow it up. "Is this the best the 'superior' class can do? We in Class B are just getting star—urp!"
He turned green and doubled over, nausea hitting him from overuse.
Kendo, enlarging her hands to fan herself, sighed. "Ignore him, please."
In the center of this madness, Izuku Midoriya was undergoing a different kind of torture.
He wasn't using his quirk on an object. He was engaging in close-quarters combat with Tiger, the muscular powerhouse of the Pussycats.
"Too slow!" Tiger roared, delivering a punch that sent Midoriya flying. "You call that a Smash?! Put your back into it! Plus Ultra!"
Midoriya scrambled up, dirt clinging to his face. "Yes, sir!"
He activated Full Cowling, green lightning flaring. As he dodged a kick, his eyes darted for a split second toward the edge of the forest.
He saw Aokiji leaning against a tree he had just frozen, drinking water frantically.
Now, Midoriya thought, his hand instinctively moving to the pocket of his gym shorts where the medal was safely tucked. While he's taking a break. I just need ten seconds to give it back...
He took a step away from Tiger.
"Aokiji-kun—!"
"EYES ON THE ENEMY, KITTEN!"
A massive shadow fell over Midoriya. Tiger didn't care about medals or sentiments. He swept Midoriya's legs, slamming the boy into the dirt.
"Did I say you could look away?!" Tiger barked, looming over him. "In a real fight, that distraction costs you your life! Again!"
Midoriya groaned, picking himself up. "Right... sorry!"
He looked back at the cliff. Aokiji was already back in action, burying a rock slide in a glacier. The opportunity was gone, swallowed by the relentless pace of the camp.
.
.
Hours bled into one another. The sun began its descent, painting the sky in hues of bruised purple and burning orange. The shadows of the trees grew long, stretching across the battered training grounds.
The students were no longer moving. They were shambling.
Bakugo's arms were trembling so hard he couldn't make a fist. Todoroki was lying halfway out of his barrel, looking dazed. Iida's engines were stalled, smoke sputtering from his calves. Uraraka was floating in zero gravity, looking green.
Aokiji sat on the ground, his back against a wall of ice he had created. He looked exhausted. His usually perfect hair was matted with some pieces of ice, and his breath came in ragged, white puffs.
"Alright," Aizawa's voice cut through the twilight. "That's enough for today."
The collective sigh of relief was loud enough to disturb the birds in the trees.
"Don't get too comfortable," Aizawa continued, his eyes glowing red in the dim light. "This is a training camp. We don't serve you here. If you want food..."
He pointed toward the open-air kitchen area, where piles of raw ingredients and firewood were waiting.
"...you make it yourselves. Curry. You have one hour before you pass out from starvation."
Iida, ever the class rep, tried to stand up. "Yes! We must... huff... prepare sustenance... to restore our... huff... glycogen levels!"
"He's running on fumes," Sero muttered, dragging himself up.
Aokiji stared at the pile of firewood.
"Cooking..." Aokiji whispered, his soul leaving his body. "After all that... we have to cook?"
"Come on, Ice Prince," Mina Ashido groaned, grabbing his arm and pulling him up. "If we don't cook, we die. Use that ice to keep the meat fresh or something. Let's go."
Aokiji stumbled to his feet, dusting off his pants.
"I miss the pizza..." he muttered to the wind, thinking of the Chill Vibes Agency. "I really miss the pizza days..."
.
.
.
The air in the dimly lit bar was stale, smelling of old wood and malice.
The newly formed "Vanguard Action Squad" was gathered, a collection of nightmares waiting to be unleashed. Muscular sat on a crate, his massive scarred fibers twitching with impatience. Toga Himiko hummed a disturbing tune while tracing the edge of a knife against the counter. Dabi leaned against the wall, his patchwork skin illuminated by the faint blue glow of the monitor sitting on the bar.
Tomura Shigaraki held the receiver to his ear, his scratching habit kept in check for the moment.
"Everything is in position, Sensei," Shigaraki whispered.
"Good, Tomura," the voice of All For One flowed from the speakers—smooth, polite, and infinitely terrifying. "The objective is clear. The boy, Katsuki Bakugo. His temperament is a fissure in their hero society. And You think he's an important piece for you, right?"
"Exactly," Shigaraki replied.
"However," All For One continued, his tone shifting slightly, "there is a secondary objective. There is another boy in Class 1-A. Tall. Uses ice."
Dabi perked up slightly. "The ice guy? Are we killing him?"
"No," All For One said. "If you encounter him, simply inform him that you are the 'Envoy of All For One.' He will accompany you willingly. Do not harm him unless absolutely necessary."
Shigaraki frowned, his red eyes narrowing. "Willingly? Did you plant a new traitor among them, Sensei?"
"Not a traitor in the traditional sense. Just... a transaction," All For One mused. "But there is a variable I must warn you about. The probability of All Might being at that camp is higher than the official schedule suggests."
"All Might?" Shigaraki scratched his neck, agitated. "The intel says he's staying at U.A. to distract the media. Why would he be there?"
"Because," the voice from the monitor turned colder, "I am assuming the worst-case scenario. I suspect the Ice Boy may have made contact with All Might. If he has confessed his situation... he has broken our little covenant."
The speaker crackled with a low, distorted sound—a laugh.
"If All Might is present, it confirms the boy's betrayal. In that case, the deal is void."
"And if the deal is void?" Shigaraki asked.
"Then the insurance policy must be cashed in," All For One chuckled softly, a sound that made even the villains in the room uneasy. "It would be truly tragic... for a flower like Sayuri Kuzan to wither at such a tender age..."
[The Forest Lodge - Dining Area]
Miles away from the darkness, the world was alive with the smell of spices and woodsmoke.
The "Hell" of the day had vanished, replaced by the primitive satisfaction of a warm meal. The open-air dining area was bathed in the soft, orange glow of lanterns and the cooking fires. The students of Class 1-A and 1-B, now dressed in t-shirts and shorts, sat on wooden benches, devouring plates of curry they had made with their own shaking hands.
It wasn't gourmet. The vegetables were chopped unevenly, and the rice was slightly burnt at the bottom. But to their exhausted bodies, it tasted like the finest cuisine on Earth.
"This is life!" Kirishima shouted, shoving a spoonful of curry into his mouth, tears of joy streaming down his face. "Meat! Glorious meat!"
"It's a bit spicy," Tsu noted, drinking water.
Aokiji sat near the end of a long table, sandwiched between Denki Kaminari and Momo Yaoyorozu.
For the first time in days, the knot of tension in his chest loosened.
The warmth of the fire, the chatter of forty students, the clinking of spoons against plastic plates—it created a barrier against the cold reality waiting for him. He took a bite of the curry. The heat spread through his chest, thawing the ice that constantly coated his insides.
"So, Kuzan!" Kaminari nudged him with his elbow, grinning with rice grains on his cheek. "Aizawa-sensei said you're the only one, beside Bakugo, who still hasn't locked in a Hero Name. You gotta pick one soon, man! The provisional license exam is coming up!"
Aokiji sighed, swirling his spoon in the sauce. "It's a drag. Naming yourself is weird. Why can't I just use my name?"
"Because it lacks flair!" Kaminari insisted. "How about 'The Freezer'? Or 'Mr. Freeze'? No, wait... 'Cool Guy'!"
"Those are all terrible," Aokiji deadpanned.
Yaoyorozu, who was eating with elegant poise despite the rustic setting, dabbed her mouth with a napkin.
"It should be something that represents your identity, Aokiji-san," she suggested thoughtfully. "Your power is majestic, yet terrifying. Perhaps something like 'Glacier' or 'Absolute Zero'?"
"Too intense," Aokiji muttered, taking another bite. "I don't want a name that sounds like a villain's ultimate move."
"Then what?" Kaminari tapped his chin. "Blue Bird? Because of that pheasant move?"
"Please stop," Aokiji groaned, though a faint, genuine smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
He looked around the table.
Midoriya was laughing with Iida and Uraraka a few seats down. Bakugo was aggressively eating his curry alone in a corner, yelling at anyone who looked at him. Sero and Sato were serving seconds.
For a brief, fleeting moment, Aokiji forgot about All For One. He forgot about the threat to Sayuri. He forgot about the deal he had to make or the secret he shared with All Might.
He was just a student. Eating bad curry. Surrounded by friends.
"I'll think about it," Aokiji said softly, finishing his plate. "Maybe I'll just let the media decide. Less work for me."
"Lazy till the end!" Kaminari laughed, slapping him on the back.
The fire crackled, sending sparks up into the night sky, unaware that deep in the forest, eyes were watching, and the peace of this summer night was about to shatter.
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