Igarashi Masata slept unusually well that night.
He was so exhausted that he didn't wake up from hunger until nearly ten o'clock the next morning.
When he finally opened his door and stepped outside, he discovered that everyone was already gathered in the camp's main hall.
All the students of Class A sat with their heads lowered, speaking to no one.
Some of them even had reddened eyes, as if they had been crying for a long time.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Masata saw Aizawa-sensei stand up and look at him.
"Oh, you're finally awake," Aizawa said calmly. "Alright. Pack your things. We're heading back to school."
"Uh… have you all been waiting for me?"
Masata felt a little embarrassed.
He had slept too deeply the night before and hadn't heard anything outside at all.
"Well, yeah," Kirishima said, forcing a smile.
"After all, Masata, you were basically the hero of last night. We were waiting for you."
He tried to lighten the gloomy atmosphere with a joke, but it didn't help much.
Masata understood why.
Including himself, only nineteen students were sitting there.
The missing one was Bakugo.
Midoriya's face was filled with disbelief. His pupils looked unfocused.
His childhood friend had been taken away by villains, and his fate was unknown.
Yet he had been powerless to stop it.
That helplessness filled him with self-blame.
Todoroki sat nearby, gripping his knees tightly.
He also felt responsible.
If he had noticed Mr. Compress earlier, maybe Bakugo wouldn't have been captured.
Masata, meanwhile, had blocked most of the villains' attacks.
He had clearly had chances to end things completely.
But because of limited stamina and experience, he had watched the enemies escape.
In the end, he hadn't achieved a decisive victory.
For Class A, the forest battle had been a complete failure.
Among the forty-one students who had participated in the training camp, four had lost consciousness from poisonous gas and were in critical condition.
Eleven others had suffered serious or minor injuries.
And one student—Bakugo—was missing.
The number of casualties didn't seem high at first glance.
But in truth, that was almost entirely due to Masata.
The night before, he had rushed nonstop between battlefields, fighting villains again and again.
He had practically suppressed most of the enemy forces by himself.
That was why Kirishima had jokingly called him a "monster" earlier.
Among the pro heroes, Mandalay and Tiger had avoided serious injuries thanks to Masata's support.
However, Pixie-Bob was never found.
In the depths of the forest, only large patches of blood and traces of fierce combat remained.
On the villains' side, three criminals had been captured.
All of them were nearly beaten to death by Masata.
Fortunately, the police arrived in time and saved their lives for later interrogation.
The remaining villains had been teleported away by Kurogiri and vanished without a trace.
On the way back to school, everyone looked exhausted and absent-minded.
Even Yaoyorozu Momo was no exception.
She kept blaming herself for failing to stop Kurogiri from rescuing his allies.
Although Masata tried to comfort her, it helped only a little.
"What's going on? Why are there so many people at the school gate?"
By the time they returned to U.A., it was almost noon.
A massive crowd of reporters had gathered outside the entrance.
Cameras were raised everywhere.
Microphones stretched forward like spears.
The moment the bus appeared, they swarmed toward it.
Even the vehicle itself was nearly trapped.
Fortunately, U.A.'s security team formed a human barrier and cleared a path, allowing the bus to enter.
"Reporters are terrifying," Masata muttered later in the cafeteria while shoveling food into his mouth.
"They're like wolves that smell blood. You can't hide anything from them."
Yaoyorozu, who was eating more elegantly beside him, nodded.
"This incident is a major failure for U.A. It's practically a scandal. The media won't let it go."
"You can already see it online. If it weren't for you capturing those three villains, the coverage would be even worse."
Food really was the best medicine.
By now, Yaoyorozu's self-blame had eased somewhat.
"How are the injured students?" Masata asked.
"They've all been treated, right?"
"No one in Class A was poisoned," Yaoyorozu replied.
"Except for Midoriya, everyone else had light injuries. He received emergency treatment last night and went straight to Recovery Girl this morning."
Chacha looked at Masata worriedly.
"But you… don't you really need to go to the infirmary? Your injuries were pretty bad."
Last night, she and Yaoyorozu had gone to check on him.
But seeing how deeply he was sleeping, they hadn't dared to wake him.
Even now, the bruises and dried blood on his body made her uneasy.
"It's fine," Masata said casually.
"They're basically healed."
He rolled up his sleeve and showed them.
The deep scratch from yesterday had already closed.
Only a faint mark remained.
By tomorrow, even that would vanish.
The bruising on his chest had almost disappeared as well.
His recovery speed was already frightening.
If it weren't for his Quirk, he might have been dissected by some crazy scientist long ago.
After finishing their meal, the three of them walked back toward the classroom.
There were no classes that day.
For safety reasons, the school wouldn't let students leave freely.
They would be escorted home by teachers later.
Just before they reached the classroom, Yaoyorozu suddenly stopped.
"Chacha, you go ahead," she said softly.
"I need to talk to Masata."
She grabbed Masata's arm and pulled him toward a quiet corner.
...
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