Chapter 76: CampSummary:
The summer training camp begins.
Notes:
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The sun was barely starting to rise when class 1A trickled onto the bus to the training camp. There were a few subdued conversations here and there, but most people were too tired to make a whole lot of noise. Hitoshi knew that wouldn't last. He'd been on enough normal field trips to know that the bus was going to be absolute chaos by the time they actually got to wherever their destination was. Joy.
He wasn't really surprised when Kaminari sidled up to him, "Hey, uh, did you ever get around to checking out that stream that I recommended?"
Hitoshi glared at him tiredly, "A little warning would have been nice. You almost gave Aizawa a panic attack."
Kaminari winced, but immediately sent a quick glance over toward Todoroki, "So, uh…"
"We're dealing with it." Hitoshi grumbled. "Cheat Code's consulting, and we've got a plan, so just...keep doing what you've been doing. The heroes will get it figured out."
The quiet murmurs of the class went dead silent when Aizawa walked onto the bus and started glaring at them, "Good morning gremlins."
A pathetic chorus of good mornings and grumbles that were probably supposed to mean something like that echoed through the bus and Dad rolled his eyes, "I hope you can muster up a bit more enthusiasm for the actual training part of this camp, otherwise you're going to have a very hard time. But whatever, try not explode anyone's eardrums, don't stand up and, oh, right, all technology, including any cell phones and video game consoles, need to be turned off and put in here."
"What?!" Mina gripped her phone to her chest. "But…"
"It's just for security reasons." Aizawa said, handing the box to Iida to pass around. "Do I need to remind you that you were just attacked two days ago? We need to make sure the villains can't hack your phones to find the camp's location. Now get to work and if I hear of anyone bribing Yaoyorozu, I will expel you, understood?"
There was a louder chorus of grumbles this time, but all in all it only took about 15 minutes for everyone to turn in their phones and get on their way. Even though it was almost impossible that the league would attack twice so close together, there was still a chance the league would try to contact Todoroki during during the training came and considering that most of their time together was spent on gaming streams, they'd figured that if Shigaraki was going to reach out, he'd do it digitally. The plan was to leave all student phones at UA so they couldn't be used to find the camp while also letting Nedzu keep a convenient eye on the devices if a text from Shigaraki happened to come through. The teachers, on the other hand, had been given three different backups to be able to contact the school, just in case.
Hitoshi had been expecting Todoroki to have more of a reaction to having his phone confiscated, but he was also stoic enough that it wasn't too odd. The people who seemed most upset about the new phone rule were Mina and Kaminari, which checked out, and oddly enough, Mineta. Hitoshi wrinkled his nose in disgust. Maybe this was for the best. He really didn't want to know what that grape stain had been planning on using his phone for during the camp.
The labs were cramped now that the entirety of class 1F was there with all their bags for the whole week. The labs were decently large, so it wouldn't have been so bad if their tables hadn't already been filled with all the fun new materials and projects they would be working on during the training camp. Izuku hovered by Mei's table, moving their bags away whenever it seemed like something was about to explode. They'd made Eraserhead promise to let them know if anything bad happened, but Izuku had helped make the plan to keep 1A safe, so he just had to trust that Hitoshi and Ochako would be fine and focus on doing what he could to stop the league, which was perfecting his tracking program and finding Kurogiri.
The door to the lab opened behind them and Powerloader walked in, followed by David Shield and Melissa. Mei was too busy tinkering to notice, but Izuku's face lit up when he saw them and they smiled back, making Powerloader sigh when he noticed. This week was going to be so much fun, Izuku could already tell.
When they got to the front of the room, Powerloader turned around, "Class, I would like to introduce David Shield and his daughter Melissa. Both of them are inventors and support technicians on I-island and I encourage you to listen to their advice, you'll learn a lot from them. Now, let's get some basic logistics out of the way. How many of you have been wondering where you'll be sleeping?"
The entire class raised their hands.
To Izuku's surprise, Powerloader smiled, "There's a tradition that happens every year during this workshop, meant to help spawn creativity and help all of you to think outside the box. UA is a big place and long story short, you're allowed to sleep anywhere."
That got Mei to look up, "Anywhere?"
Powerloader nodded, "Anywhere. Nedzu sometimes gives prizes for ingenuity. Just make sure you stay safe, if you're somewhere you could fall, then you'll have to either move or prove that you're properly secured. That being said, setting up camp is your first task of the day, because we need the space in here to do the actual work of the week. We meet back here at noon, don't be late!"
Izuku and Mei looked at eachother with matching grins. They were right, this week was going to be a blast.
As they filed off the bus, Hitoshi glanced over at Ochako. They'd been so busy planning for the training camp and figuring out what to do about Todoroki that he never actually got a chance to pull her aside and talk about what had happened at the mall and now they were going to be around all of their classmates for a whole week. Hitoshi sighed. He'd probably already missed his chance.
Aizawa had been talking to a couple of cat themed heroes and a kid that had gotten out a car shortly after they pulled up, but he turned back to the class before anyone had the chance to wander off, "Hello everyone, I'd like you introduce you to a few of the heroes you'll be working with this week."
The hero with brown hair started the official introduction, "Lock on with those sparking gazes!"
"Surprisingly cute and catlike!" The blond one added.
They finished together, "The Wild Wild Pusssycats!"
Hitoshi felt a chill run down his spine when Dad smiled, "They're here to make sure you get whipped into shape. Lunch is at noon. That gives you about three hours. Good luck."
"What do you…?" Kaminari had started backing back toward the bus when the ground started moving underneath them, "What the…?!"
They were swept off the cliff and Hitoshi scrambled to get ahold of anything, but nope. He really should have been suspicious when Dad told him to pack his capture weapon in his backpack and not his duffel. Most of the class was groaning when they reached the bottom, but Yaoyorozu immediately jumped into action, "Is anyone injured?"
There was a quick shuffling as everyone checked themselves over before they heard Mineta screaming and everyone looked over to see a giant monster looming over them. Ok, yeah, Aizawa was definitely planning on putting them through the wringer.
Tomura didn't like the new recruits. If he still had any say in anything, he'd turn pretty much all of them away and call off this whole attack, but he wasn't stupid enoguh to think that would do any good. The league had launched an entire attack without him, so why in the world would they stop one just because he said so?
The new batch was even worse than the ones he'd met before the mall attack though and about five times more annoying. Sure, Mustard, Magne, and Compress were kind of on par with Dabi and Toga, but Tomura still didn't think they needed to be villains to accomplish their goals, especially not Mustard. All for One was probably ecstatic about his addition though. Kids were easier to manipulate.
The ones he really hated though were Muscular and Moonfish. There was no doubt that they were perfectly happy being villains considering that their goal was quite literally just to kill people, and maybe Tomura was being judgemental, but those didn't seem like very worthwhile goals. They were selfish and shortsighted, like a druggie always looking for their next hit and in this case their drug of choice was other people's suffering.
He'd locked himself in his room pretty soon after the vanguard action squad had shown up to prep for the big attack and had basically spent the whole time playing video games by himself. Thankfully, he didn't have to participate in this one, he didn't even want to imagine how awkward that would be if he happened to run into Todoroki. Actually, it would still be hella awkward because he still streamed with the guy. Well, hopefully, if Todoroki ever decided to talk to him again. But whatever, he could handle playing video games alone if it meant that he didn't have to deal with bloodthirsty serial killers like Muscular and Moonfish.
Tomura froze, hardly noticing when an enemy killed his character as he came to a realization. That was who All for One wanted him to be. He wanted him to be just like Muscular and Moonfish: a tool that enjoyed bloodshed and murder just as much as those two did so that Sensei could just point Tomura in the direction of someone he wanted dead and they'd be dust before the end of the day. It was what he'd been going for ever since Tomura was a little kid and it was the same goal he had for Mustard, Toga...everyone in the league.
He couldn't stay here. He needed out. Asap. And if getting out meant throwing his dear Sensei under the bus, then that sounded even better.
Notes:
Next Update: November 26, 2021 (MST)
This fic will update on Fridays moving forward!
Chapter 77: WoodsSummary:
The students arrive at camp.
Notes:
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku and Mei had ended up just stashing their bags in one of the many nest spots they'd made in the tunnels. Izuku threw his duffle bag down with a huff and turned to Mei, who was already dusting herself off to leave again, "I know you know we can find a more creative spot. We're not gonna win any extra points for this."
"Meh, that's what we have Extra-Credit-Kun for." Mei dismissed. "And this way we don't waste any more valuable lab time! I wanna see what fun toys Melissa-chan brought! Well, what are you waiting for?! Let's go!"
She grabbed Izuku's hand and started dragging him away, but both of them stopped short when they saw Melissa crawling toward them through the tunnels. She grinned and looked around as she dusted herself off, "This looks so cozy! I love what you've done with the place."
"Melissa?" Izuku gaped at her. "How did you get in here? It took us forever to figure out the entrances!"
Melissa giggled, "And it took me even longer. You forget that I've been visiting Uncle Might since I was a little girl. Nedzu usually invited Dad over for tea and I was free to explore. These tunnels are every nerdy kid's dream, seriously."
"Did you and your dad bring us any fun toys?!" Mei was bouncing up and down with excitement. "What did you bring me? Explosives? Trackers? Computer chips? I need toys for my babies!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be super happy with everything we brought you." Melissa said. "And we didn't forget about you Izuku. Turns out, the scientists Dad works with have been able to learn a lot about the theory of relativity from the data you collected when Uraraka was jumping around I-Island and they've figured out some tweaks you can make to help get some more exact readings! I brought their research for you to read over, it's just waiting back in Powerloader's classroom."
Izuku's eyes widened and he grabbed Mei's hand, "Well, what are you waiting for? We're wasting valuable lab time, let's go!"
Hitoshi was grateful that Mei had insisted on him getting some muscle building training because otherwise he would have been completely useless against these literally brainless dirt monsters. He decapitated another one with a fallen branch and ran forward again, eyes darting around as he watched Ochako zip around helping everyone. If only he could get to the lady who was actually controlling these things and brainwash her, but they'd left her back with Aizawa and there was no way that he'd be able to climb all the way up that cliff again…
Hitoshi facepalmed, leaving a trail of dirt across his forehead. He was an idiot.
"Ochako!" He yelled. "I need you to get me to Dad!"
"What?" Ochako appeared right next to him. "Why?"
"I think one of those women he was with earlier is the one controlling the dirt." Hitoshi explained. "If she's still with him…"
"Then I can use Aizawa as an anchor and you can brainwash her." Ochako smiled brightly enough that Hitoshi's breath caught in his throat. "Shindig, that's brilliant! Are you ready?"
Hitoshi took a deep breath to steady himself, "As I'll ever be. Let's just get it over with."
The world's shortest and most intense roller coaster later, Hitoshi was kneeling outside a house he'd never seen before, Aizawa nowhere in sight. "Where are we? And more importantly, where are they?"
Ochako pointed at the building, "Up ahead, most likely just inside that building. I landed us a bit farther away just in case you needed a minute."
Hitoshi swallowed some bile and stood, "Good idea. They'll be expecting a teleportation attack, but this way, we can sneak up on them. You get Dad and make sure he can't cancel my quirk, I'll focus on the Pussycats."
Ochako nodded once and followed Hitoshi as he silently made his way toward the house. They were almost there, crouching behind a bush near the front entrance, when Ochako suddenly tugged on his sleeve, "What are you...oh."
A little kid, the same one that had been with the Pussycats at the drop off point, was staring straight at him, mouth open wide as he saw them trying to sneak in. Hitoshi shot a panicked glance at Ochko, but she obviously didn't know what to do either, so he did the only thing he could think of.
He raised a finger to his lips and whispered, "Shhh…"
Instantly, the kid's expression fell into a hateful glare, "Auntie! Some of those hero brats got here early!"
"What would you do that for?" Ochako hissed. "You couldn't just…"
"You're just a bunch of stupid heroes." The kid spat. "Why would I ever help you?"
Hitoshi had been fiddling with his capture weapon, rearranging the parts that made it a voice changer and hoping he got this right because there was no way Aizawa was going to give him a second chance, "Auntie! Can't you make them leave?"
The kid's eyes widened and Hitoshi smirked behind his weapon as Ochako launched forward and shoved her hand over the kid's mouth. They froze as a pair of footsteps came running out of the front door, "No, I can't, don't be rude, Kouta."
Ochako released Kouta with a yelp when he bit hard on her hand, "That wasn't me…"
Hitoshi didn't let him finish before taking control, "Call off the dirt monsters."
The woman didn't move and Hitoshi glanced at Ochako who disappeared, only to be back a second later shaking her head, "We must have gotten the wrong one."
"Let her go!!!" Kouta launched himself at Hitoshi and started kicking and punching him so much that it took all of his concentration and training to keep his control of whoever they had. He couldn't afford to let her go, though, not until they had the right one. "You let her go right now!"
A blond woman came rushing out of the house, "Kouta! What are you doing?!"
"He's got Autie!" Kouta had tears in her eyes and Hitoshi had to force down a twinge of guilt as Ochako cut in.
"He's not even touching her!" Ochako lied. "How could he have her?"
"Uh…" Hitohsi gave his best innocently confused smile. "Can I have a little help here?"
"Of course." Pixiebob moved forward to help, only to stop short as Hitoshi took control.
He spat out a mouthful of dust, "You better be the one with the dirt monsters. Call them off."
Ochako disappeared and reappeared with a relieved smile, "It worked."
Kouta glared at both of them, "This is all about that stupid training exercise, isn't it?"
"Yes. it is." Dad's voice echoed behind them and both Ochako and HItoshi jumped to their feet. "I knew you'd figure out that this was the most logical course of action eventually, but I honestly thought the execution would be cleaner."
Hitoshi winced, "Sorry. We got the wrong pussycat first."
Dad raised one eyebrow, "Yeah. I saw that. Now let them go."
"But if we let them go, the blond one will just make more dirt monsters." Ochako argued. "That would defeat the whole purpose of it in the first place."
"The kid needs to know his aunts are ok." Dad said gently. "You won the spar and Pixiebob will honor that, now let her go."
"Ok." Hitoshi let them out and they immediately went to go comfort the kid. "I'm sorry, Dad."
Dad just rolled his eyes and ruffled Hitoshi's ahir, "It's ok kid. We all forget and go too far sometimes, the biggest thing is making sure you know your limits and the limits of people around you to make sure that doesn't happen. That's why intelligence gathering is so important."
Hioshi still kinda felt guilty about the whole thing, but was starting to feel a little better until the kid glared at him from underneath his aunt's arms, "You're nothing but a no good dirty rotten vilain!"
Mandalay gasped, "Kouta!"
Hitoshi shrunk in on himself. He could see Ochako starting forward, but before he could stop her, Aizawa put a hand on her shoulder. Hitoshi didn't think he'd seen him so pissed since he'd taken him away from his old foster parents, "Hitoshi, why don't you and Uraraka go help your classmates? I'm sure they need it."
Hitoshi took a deep breath. Distance and de-escalate, that was exactly what they needed. He grabbed Ochako by the arm, "Yeah, they're hopeless."
It was only when he saw Dad trying to hide a soft smile behind his capture weapon that he knew he hadn't done anything too wrong and everything was going to be ok.
Ochako waited until they were out of earshot in the woods to go off, "That little jerk! How dare he call you a villain like that?! You're a hero through and through and that brat deserves…"
Hitoshi cut her off, "I mean, we kinda did kidnap his aunts. I wasn't even thinking beyond the objective to realize how hard that might be for him to watch."
"Still…" Ochako huffed and ran her fingers through her hair. "You didn't deserve that, especially not after you did so well capturing both of them."
"Yeah, Mei and Izuku would be proud." Hitoshi joked. "The kidnapee grew up to be a kidnapper."
"Ah they grow up so fast." Ochako wiped a fake tear from her eye. "What would Mina say if we told her our first date was kidnapping people?"
Hitoshi choked on his next breath, "Our what?"
"I…" Ochako's eyes went wide, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I was thinking out of context and then thought it'd be funny, because Mina would freak, but like, obviously this is a training exercise and not a date, like that'd be ridiculous. Not that I'd be opposed to a date, but you already knew that because I also accidently told you I had a crush on you. I…"
Hitoshi caught a hint of light swirling around her as she gathered her quirk to leave and he moved before he could think, reaching out to take her hand and act as her anchor, "I...um…"
Ochako looked at him, "Y-yes?"
Hitoshi's mouth was dry, so he cursed internally as he found himself reverting back on his oldest coping mechanism and saying the snarkiest thing he could think of, "Do you really think I couldn't plan a better first date than fighting dirt monsters? I'd pull out the actual monsters at least."
There was a beat of silence before Ochako snorted, "oh yeah? What else?"
HItosh gulped, "Um...maybe a walk around the park? And some Mochi?"
His heart soared when Ochako smiled, "Ok then. It's a date!"
Mic was going to blow his eardrums out when he heard about this.
Dabi looked out the window at the darkening sky and downed the rest of his drink, "Alright, let's go."
The rest of the league, except for Shigaraki who was holed up who knew where, nodded and stood, the only complaint coming from Muscular, "I'd much rather get straight to killing people than waste a whole day scoping things out."
"Knowledge is power." Compress reminded him. "If we don't know the lay of the land, the heroes will strike back long before we even set eyes on our target."
"Not to mention that the extra day will lure the heroes into a false sense of security." Dabi added. "What with that and the mini attack on the mall the other day, they won't suspect an attack until their students are already injured. They won't stand a chance."
"Are you ready?" Kurogiri asked, already opening a portal.
Dabi nodded and stepped through, waiting for everyone to get to the other side before turning to address the group, "Alright. Number one rule of tonight, don't get seen. If you mess up, Trapper said they confiscated all the students cell phones, so make sure the kid doesn't have a chance to run back to to camp and we should be good. Sensei's using a quirk to track him, but his cover is still intact, so don't expect him to say hi or answer your calls if you see him. Be back here by three am or you're getting left behind."
Izuku had spent the whole day looking over the research Melissa had brought him and checking it against his program. Thankfully he didn't have to restructure his entire program, but the minor changes looked like they were going to make a big difference. He wished he could test it out by tracking Ochako, but he didn't finish making tweaks until after dinner, and by that point she was apparently staying put, so he'd have to wait until she was training tomorrow to see if it worked. He'd also widened his search net, since none of the students knew exactly where the training camp was, so he wouldn't even know where to look for her signature until he caught her teleporting.
"Alright kids, you have ten more minutes, then we're kicking you out of the lab." Powerloader yelled. "Taking breaks is important. You don't have to sleep, but you do need to switch gears so you come back tomorrow with a fresh brain!"
Izuku smiled when he looked through the open door of his workroom and saw Mei doubling her pace, yelling orders at Melissa, who had been helping look over her project. She would have stayed in the lab all night if she could, but Izuku guessed that wasn't that odd, since Powerloader said they had a curfew at this camp every single year. Support students must get hyper focused more than the other courses did.
He got a ping on his computer and frowned. Ochako should be resting too, not teleporting at this time of night. He opened the map and almost fell out of the chair. He knew what Ochako's gravity signature looked like and this wasn't it. No, even with the tweaks to his program, this signature was a little spread out. Not to the point where he couldn't figure out where it was, but to the point where it looked cloudy, for lack of a better word. And he'd seen this signature before.
Izuku hurried to open the program on his laptop, making sure to triple-check that the data was there and saved before running out of his room and dashing out into the hall toward Nedzu's office. The door opened just before he ran into it and Nedzu smiled at him, two cups already set out and ready.
"Hello Midoriya!" Nedzu chirped happily. "I apologize, the tea is still steeping. You ran here faster than expected, that training with Shinso must be paying off!"
"I have a location for Kurogiri." Izuku blurted.
Immediately, Nedzu's mood changed. He was still smiling, but it was more intense and the teacups got pushed to the side as he reached for Izuku's laptop, "Are you certain?"
"Not completely." Izuku admitted. "But the gravity signature I'm picking up matches what I've theorized about the way his quirk works. My only question is what they're doing in the middle of nowhere. I would have thought their hideout would be in a city, close to the action where they could easily get info and not have to rely too much on warping to get everywhere, but they're nowhere near anything."
"Hmm...interesting." Nedzu glanced down at the map and froze, his hair standing slightly on end. "Midoriya, you're absolutely certain this isn't Urarka's warping, correct?"
"Yeah, hers doesn't look like that." Izuku nodded. "It's more like a lightning strike, not a cloud."
"Very well, then." nedzu nodded. "Do you mind if I hold onto this until tomorrow? I do believe that your class's current assignment is to take a mental break."
"Um, sure." Izuku narrowed his eyes. "Is something wrong?"
"That remains to be seen." Nedzu said. "But if so, we have a team of heroes ready to help and you're right here in case we need your expertise. Don't you worry, I know what I'm doing, young Midoriya."
"O-ok." Izuku frowned. "I'll try."
Nedzu smiled softly, "That's all I ask. Sleep well and thank you for bringing this to our attention. Have a great night, Midoriya."
Izuku nodded and walked away. It was going to be a weird night.
Notes:
Next Update: December 3, 2021 (MST)
Chapter 78: DefenseSummary:
The heroes make a decision
Notes:
Memes!
X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hitoshi didn't tend to sleep well in new places, but today was the exception. He was exhausted from the fight with the pussycats, had a stomach full of good food and his crush had agreed to go on a date with him. It was like the perfect recipe for a good night's sleep.
Until his adults ruined it completely.
"Wakey Wakey little listeners!" Loud Dad screamed. "Everybody pack up!"
Hitoshi jolted out of a deep sleep and looked around at his classmates, who were in a similar state. Todoroki was blinking slowly, while Mineta looked almost enraged at being woken up and Kaminari just looked absolutely bewildered, "What's going on?"
"Training." Dad answered shortly, picking up Kirishima's half empty backpack from the floor and throwing it at him. "Get everything packed up. In heroics, you never know when the next fight is going to happen and you have to be ready to get going at the drop of a hat. Bus leaves in five mintues, and you all better be on it when it does."
His adults left and everyone exchanged confused looks for half a second before the room erupted into a flurry of movement as everyone scrambled to grab everything and stuff it in their bags as quickly as possible.
Hitoshi groaned and flopped back onto the floor, "I'm revoking their parental privileges."
Izuku tried to sleep, but didn't do a very good job. Nedzu still had his laptop, and his other computers were locked up in the lap alongside mei's inventions. He'd just expected Nedzu to be more excited and less worried and it was giving him anxiety. Was there something special out in that part of the woods? Was he accidentally stumbling across yet another state secret that he wasn't supposed to know? It was frustrating, but Mei was more than happy to ramble and distract him and that was how they tried to fall asleep.
They'd added their sleeping bags onto a giant nest of all the blankets they'd found around the tunnels and had basically buried themselves in an attempt to battle the anxiety and boredom that came with not being able to work on their projects. His mom would probably be concerned that he wasn't worried about sleeping basically right next to a girl like other boys his age would have been, and Powerloader probably didn't want them sleeping in the same space either, but having Mei right there was comforting. It felt like home in a way that even his house didn't. He was still worried and bored out of his mind, but at least he wasn't alone. He'd have to get some games from Nedzu tomorrow and stash them up here so they didn't have this problem the whole week.
Mei nudged his arm, "Are you getting lost in your own head again? You said that Nedzu's taking care of that ping, so don't worry so much about it. I can tell you more about my babies, if you want?"
"I didn't even know you were up." Izuku groaned and stretched. "What time is it?"
"Just past six am." Mei said, sitting up. "The labs unlock at seven at the earliest, so do you wanna just head down there and wait?"
Izuku nodded and they pulled on their work clothes before making their way to the nearest exit and dropping down into the halls of UA. They weren't in any rush, since there was no way Powerloader had unlocked the labs yet, so they were just kinda wandering in the right general direction when they heard a commotion down the hall and turned to see the entirety of the first year hero course coming toward them.
They all looked exhausted. Everyone was still in their pajamas and most of them were bleary eyed and dragging their feet as they made their way down the hall. Izuku glanced over at Mei, who shrugged, so he just turned back to the hero course and started looking for Hitoshi and Ochako.
"Go put your stuff in the classroom." Aizawa instructed. "Then meet in the cafeteria. Lunch Rush should have breakfast ready pretty soon anyway."
Mei facepalmed, "Oh right, breakfast!"
"Oh yeah." Izuku blushed. "I forgot about that too."
By this point, Hitoshi and Ochako had made their way over and Hitoshi groaned as he dumped his duffel bag on the floor, "I hate my adults. Can you two kidnap me again?"
"What even happened?" Izuku asked. "I thought you were in an undisclosed location?"
"We were. " Ochako whined. "We were just in the woods somewhere until the teachers all came in at way too early in the morning and forced us onto the bus. I thought we were only supposed to have, like, three heroes there, but they had a whole crowd of them to be taskmasters if we weren't moving fast enough. Ugh, and that was after having to fight our way to camp in the first place."
Izuku froze, "You were in the woods? Just...in the middle of nowhere?"
HItoshi frowned, "Yeah. Does that mean something to you?"
Izuku shared a look with Mei, "Uh...no reason. Glad you're ok!"
"Ok…?" Hitoshi looked at him skeptically. "You guys forgot to eat breakfast, didn't you?"
"Inventing is more important." Mei insisted. "But the labs are still closed so onward to the cafeteria!"
Ochako rolled her eyes and fell into step beside them, "How has inventing been?"
"Um...I got my program to work." Izuku shrugged.
"Oh?" HItoshi asked. "Congrats."
"Yeah…" Izuku looked forward. "I think I might have already stopped an attack."
Mineta was seething. So far he'd been able to pass it off as waking up on the wrong side of the bed and being grumpy from lack of sleep just like everyone else but if things kept going wrong, he might not be able to keep that up. He couldn't imagine how things could have gone more wrong. First the mall attack, then the teachers moving the camp and all the hero reinforcements that had come with that. They had known about the attack somehow and considering how Midoriya and Hatsume were the first ones to greet them, Mineta was betting that it was all Cheat Code's fault. He needed to get his hands on Shinso and soon. See how they reacted to having their precious little extra credit project fall into the hands of the villains.
"Alright kiddos!" Present Mic yelled over the crowd. "So yesterday you guys were training your quirks with the Pussycats, right? Well we're gonna get you whipped into shape real quick right here at UA! It may not be as pretty as the woods, but you're gonna be doing the same things here as you would have there, ya dig? Oh, and Todoroki, Eraserhead wants to talk to you real quick in Nedzu's office. Let's go!"
Hitoshi was almost completely certain that Izuku knew why the camp location had changed, but for some reason, he didn't want to tell anybody yet. That was fine, he'd probably hear all about it tonight anyway. It tended to be like that, even when Mei and Izuku were supposed to keep information confidential, he ended up in the know anyway, so he could be patient. He just hoped that the attack that Izuku had mentioned wasn't on them. Oh, who was he kidding, they were the problem class, of course it was.
But then who had tried attacking them? The league had just attacked a few days ago, so there was no way they'd be able to mobilize again this quickly, right?
He sighed as Mina came bounding up to him, "Hey Mina, how are you?"
"Running on caffeine and sugar!" Mina said cheerfully. "Mandalay said we're supposed to help you with your quirk on our breaks!"
Hitoshi nodded as he felt his quirk connect and pulled a small notebook out of his pocket, "Write down some questions you're ok with me asking. Oh, and before you start scheming, I already know Ochako likes me and I'm taking her out next week, so don't bother putting those questions down."
The squealing was so loud that Hitoshi almost lost hold of his quirk. It was gonna be a long day.
Aizawa glared at Todoroki's phone as it started vibrating again, "Shigaraki again?"
"Yes." Nedzu hummed. "He's been calling and texting quite frequently since we evacuated the camp, most likely as a result of said evacuation. Unfortunately, none of the texts have had any relevant information to the attack. Most of them simply tell him to call or have a...colorful variety of insults. It's quite entertaining, even if it is highly concerning and incriminating."
"He doesn't know we're onto him though." Tsukauchi said quietly. "So he won't be prepared for my quirk. That's a silver lining at least."
Nedzu suddenly pressed a button and the door swung open to reveal Todoroki, his hand raised to knock, "Hello. I was told you wanted to see me?"
"Ah yes, young Todoroki." Nedzu said pleasantly. "You're right on time, come sit down."
Todoroki glanced around suspiciously as he entered the room and the door closed behind him with a click as he sat down, "What is this about?"
Nedzu set his phone on the table in front of him, "Would you care to explain why Tomura Shigaraki, excuse me, Dusty, has been calling you nonstop for the past four hours?"
Todoroki stared at the phone on the table, "I...I don't know. He doesn't usually call me."
Tsukauchi blinked in surprise and nodded. Shouta frowned in confusion. So Todoroki was telling the truth, but that meant that he didn't know why the camp had changed locations, which just didn't make sense considering he's the one who told the league their location in the first place.
"So you did not know that the league planned to attack our training camp last night?" Nedzu asked. "I find that hard to believe."
"The league was going to attack?!" Todoroki said. "Ok, so I guess you already know about the streams, and I know you probably won't believe me, but we never talk about hero and villain stuff. I would never give him information on the camp."
Tsukauchi confirmed that he was telling the truth and Shouta groaned, "So Cheat Code was right about there being two traitors."
"I'm not a traitor." Todoroki shook his head, "I promise you, I haven't been giving out any information."
Nedzu hummed, "Then why does he keep calling you?"
"I don't know." The phone on the desk started vibrating again and Shouto reached toward it with determination and put it on speaker. "But I can find out."
Notes:
Next Update: December 10, 2021 (MST)
Chapter 79: TraitorSummary:
Todoroki and Shigaraki have a chat.
Notes:
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"I want out."
Shouto froze for a brief moment before answering, "Out of the stream?
"No you idiot." Shigaraki hissed. "Out of the league!"
"O-oh." Shouto blue screened. "Is that why you've been calling me nonstop?"
He could practically hear Shigaraki rolling his yes, "I've been calling you nonstop because you wouldn't answer, you stupid noob!"
"They confiscated my phone!" Shouto defended. "I'm sorry!"
"Whatever." Shigaraki grumbled. "So what? Can't you talk to your stupid pro-hero teachers and work out some deal or something?"
"Uh…" Shouto glanced between Nedzu and Aizawa, "They're already here, actually. They thought I was the traitor, especially since you kept calling me..."
"Well, ask them if they want info!" Shigaraki said. "There's gonna be an attack on your stupid camp tomorrow, tell them that."
"We already know that." Aizawa cut in. "Cheat Code informed us last night and we've moved the students to a more secure location."
"Well if you brought Trapper too, then that's not gonna help you." Shigaraki said. "Sensei's using him to track your stupid class. Oh, and hi Eraserhead. I love your fighting style."
"I will try to take that as a compliment, considering that you've tried to kill me." Aizawa said dryly. "What else can you tell us?"
There was a long moment of silence, "Not over the phone. I dunno everything that All for One is tracking, but there's a good chance he'll find out about this burner. If he finds out I'm leaving...well, we'd have to discontinue the stream if I died and I don't wanna disappoint our fans."
Shouta rolled his eyes, "I think we'd have bigger problems in that case."
"Yeah." Shigaraki sounded like he was smiling. "Probably."
Nedzu and Aizawa turned to the cop, who looked shocked, "He's telling the truth. He really wants to leave the league."
"Of course I fucking do." Shigaraki spat. "Are you guys idiots? Sensei's a manipulative bastard and I just want to have a normal life, is that too much to ask?"
"Not at all." Nedzu said, a gleam in his eyes. "When can you get here?"
"Just give me a couple minutes to pack up my gaming consoles and I'll be there in an hour." Shigaraki said, then promptly hung up.
Shouto sighed, "He'll be here tonight. He's seriously underestimating the number of gaming consoles he needs to pack."
Hitoshi didn't think he'd ever get used to brainwashing Tokoyami. Being able to feel two people with one brainwash was just so strange that Hitoshi was left thinking about it even after the day's training was over. The sensation was eerily similar to what he'd felt inside Spinner's head and it was freaking him out.
He dropped his quirk and rubbed his head, "Hey Tokoyami, you mind if I ask you a question?"
"You have asked me many questions already." Tokoyami's voice was laced with amusement. "But yes, go ahead."
HItoshi chuckled, "I was just wondering what it was like when Dark Shadow manifested."
"Strange." Tokoyami sat down and invited Hitoshi to sit down next to him. "I suddenly was not as alone as I had been, which was both an asset and a terrifying curse. It took a few years before I truly saw Dark Shadow as my companion and not some interloper, truthfully."
"But you knew Dark Shadow was there, right?" Hitoshi asked. "It didn't hide from you at first, did it?"
Tokoyami blinked, "It is a part of me, so until it became tangible for the first time, I suppose it could have been there longer than I was aware of it."
"I guess that makes things simpler." Hitoshi muttered. "Thanks for the help. You can let whoever else needs a break know that I'm free if they want."
Tokoyami nodded and walked away. Hitoshi groaned. Why couldn't brains be simpler?
"Listen up you gremlins!" Powerloader yelled. "I have an announcement to make and it's only gonna take a few minutes, then you can get back to your projects, alright?"
Everyone mostly set aside their projects and Izuku stood by the doorway of his workroom. He shared a look with Mei. Did this have something to do with why the hero students had had to come back to UA so quickly?
As soon as he had everyone's attention again, Powerloader started talking again, "If you hadn't noticed, some last minute changes mean that the hero students are doing the rest of their camp here at UA, same as you. Well, tonight, they're going to have a test of courage and I think this will be a great opportunity to test your inventions against an actual audience. Remember, the goal is to scare them, not hurt them, but you've got a little bit to prep something, so go, have fun and do what some of you already do best: terrorize the hero students."
Izuku blinked. Ok, so that definitely had something to do with the ping he'd gotten last night, but...that didn't mean he and Mei couldn't still have fun with it.
"I wonder what babies I should use?" Mei mused. "I could make spider babies!"
"We only have a couple hours." Izuku pointed out. " I think the point is to find new uses for our current projects."
Mei pouted, "Well, my current projects are all being used by the heroes!"
"What about Uraraka's earrings?" Melissa wandered over. "She doesn't seem to need them anymore, so is there a way we can use that technology to give us an edge?"
"The gravity shifting, not so much…" Mei muttered. "But the tracking will be fun! We can each pick a student and just keep scaring them over and over and over again no matter where they go! And I can make them look like spiders!"
"So do you need me to go get Uraraka's earrings, or…?" Izuku smiled as Mei grinned.
"Nah, they matched her outfit today and I got the blueprints. They're just little trackers, and I can make them look like spiders and scare everyone!" She lowered her goggles over her face and grabbed a blowtorch. "I'll be done in no time!"
Tomura pulled the hood more securely over his face and gripped his two massive duffel bags tightly in either hand. He almost looked like a terrorist walking up to the gates of UA, but thankfully Todoroki's stupid cat ruined that illusion. The stupid thing had been hanging around more frequently and as soon as she'd seen him leave with his bags, she'd immediately launched herself onto his shoulders and refused to leave. She hadn't stopped purring the entire time either, like she was gloating about something and rubbing it in. No wonder Icy Cat liked her so much.
He'd managed to sneak away without Kurogiri seeing him and All for One hadn't tried to follow him yet, so it was worth it. It had taken him a little longer than he'd planned to pack everything up and get out, but now that he was out...he was almost free. As soon as he got inside UA, he'd never have to go back to the league again.
He carefully set one of his bags on the ground and rang the intercom. There was a few moments of silence before that dumb rat answered, "Hello! We've been expecting you! Todoroki will meet you at the gates and take you where you need to go. If you leave his side, my teachers are prepared to swarm you."
"Noted." Tomura rolled his eyes. "I'm turning myself in, I get what happens if I step out of line."
"Good!" Nedzu chirped. "Then Todoroki should be right there to pick you up! I look forward to meeting you, Tomura Shigaraki."
Tomura picked his duffel bag back up and waited for a long moment before Todoroki came into view, "Took you long enough, you filthy casual."
"You can't say that to me, you noob." Tomura huffed. "So, uh...can i come in."
Todoroki nodded and gestured for him to follow, "Yeah. Everyone's waiting for you."
Tomura gulped and stepped into UA.
"Todoroki never came back." Mina pointed out.
"Oh, I guess not." Ochako said evasively. It probably wasn't the best idea to tell everyone that he was likely being interrogated by the cops because of associations with the league. "Do you think we'll get a break tonight? I'm exhausted."
"I doubt it." Jiro groaned. "Aizawa's acting like a slave master! Waking us up in the middle of the night? It's sadistic."
"But we have to be doing something." Tsu pointed out. "The teachers have planned this whole thing out, so whatever we do, it will probably have a reason."
"You're exactly right!" Pixiebob popped up behind them and Ochako jumped, instinctively teleporting across the room. "Whoa! You really are a fast one, aren't you."
Ochako blushed and teleported back, "Sorry, you startled me."
Pixiebob laughed, "Well you better get used to it! Tonight, you're gonna be trying to scare the pants off each other! It's not nearly as spooky as the middle of the woods, but it's up to you to make it as haunted as possible. What's the point of a test of courage unless it's actually challenging?"
"Test of courage?!" Mina grinned. "That sounds amazing!"
"Yep!" Pixiebob said. "And everyone gets to participate! We were gonna make the ones who failed sit out, but Aizawa and Vald are going to be...well, they're kinda busy, so everyone gets to come!"
Mina jumped up, hands in the air, "Yes!!!"
Jiro looked at pixiebob suspiciously, "Why change the plans? Were Aizawa and Vlad not supposed to be busy?"
"Oh, don't worry about it." Pixiebob dismissed. "Your teachers are working it out now and whatever it was is pretty much over now, anyway. It'll be fine. It starts in half an hour outside the cafeteria!"
Ochako frowned, but didn't have any time to argue with Pixiebob before she was off to tell the next group about tonight, "Well, at least the test of courage sounds fun?"
"Yeah, it will." Jiro said. "Just don't let Aizawa hear you say that."
"Oh, he's busy, don't worry." Mina waved her away. "This is gonna be a blast!"
Mineta was a fairly smart individual, but right now he felt like a total idiot. He'd only seen it out of the corner of his eye and at first, he thought his brain must have been playing tricks on him, but unfortunately, no. A very poorly disguised Tomura Shigaraki was walking alongside Todoroki and Mineta hadn't even known they'd started hanging out. The alarms hadn't started going off yet, which meant that there was only one possibility: Shigaraki had turned traitor.
Screw going to the test of courage, Mineta needed a phone. Now.
Notes:
Next Update: December 17, 2021 (MST)
Chapter 80: PowerSummary:
The test of courage begins.
Notes:
Memes!
X X X X X X X X X X X
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shigaraki didn't waste any time getting to the point, "I want house arrest and witness protection."
The cat on his shoulder meowed in agreement, following that up with a threatening hiss in Nedzu's direction.
"Witness protection we can guarantee." Nedzu said calmly. "House arrest depends on your information. You've killed a lot of people."
Shigaraki groaned, "I know that! And for the record, I know it might not be possible, but All for One picked me up when I was five years old and wandering the streets. Is it too much to ask for a second chance at a normal life?"
"His Sensei raised him to be a killer." Shouto cut in. "He was groomed to be the next incarnation of the man who took him in, so it wasn't something he chose."
"Which is something we'll keep in mind when considering his sentence." Tsukauchi said. "But that depends on what information he can give us."
"How about the identity of your mole, Trapper?" Shigaraki offered. "I bet you never thought to look past MInrou Mineta's little act to see what he was really hiding. I can tell you pretty much everything he's passed along so far. Is that good enough?"
Nedzu and Tsukauchi exchanged a glance, "It's a start."
"Has anyone seen Mineta?" Mandalay asked, passing out the students phones as a precaution so that they could contact the teachers in case anything happened during the exercise. "I keep reaching out to tell him it's time to begin, but I can't find him anywhere!"
"Let's just start without him." Tiger said sternly. "There's no reason for the rest of the students to miss out just because he wasn't responsible enough to show up on time."
Mandalay sighed, "I guess you're right. Alright kids, listen up! You're going to take turns scaring and being tested."
"Class 1B will be the scareers this first round and Class 1A will have to endure!" Pixiebob took over. "Class 1A, you'll be split into groups of two! Your goal is to get a piece of paper from Ragdoll at the other end of the school and bring it back here. Class 1B, you may divide however you like, but your goal is to scare your classmates out of their pants!"
"That's it?" Monoma laughed, "Oh, this will be a piece of cake!"
"I dunno." Tiger said vaguely. "They might just surprise you. Also, we convinced the support course to help out and they'll be working to scare both groups too, so there might be a few more surprises waiting for you!"
Bakugo grumbled, "I swear to god, if it's glitter again…"
"Alright!" Pixiebob interrupted. "Scarers, get out of here. The rest of you, let's draw lots to find out your pairs!"
Izuku and Mei had set up camp in Izuku's workroom, his big computer already linked to the camera feeds so they could see all the students. The little spider trackers that Mei had made were hanging out in little groups throughout the school, but most of them were hanging around the beginning, ready to latch onto the students without them even knowing, their camera feeds taking up the third screen. Izuku and Melissa had both told her that adding cameras to the spider bots was redundant, but she'd thrown them in anyway, so they might as well have the feed pulled up, even if they weren't going to use it.
The Pussycats were still giving instructions, so they were just stuck in that awkward waiting phase between action and anxiety that Izuku hated. It didn't help that he was kind of freaking out about other things too. Hitoshi and Ochako seemed closer somehow than they did before, and he'd overheard one of the other hero students say that Hitoshi had asked her out. Did that mean they were dating now, just like everyone thought Izuku and Mei were dating?
What did it really mean to date anyway? It was supposed to happen when someone liked someone else, right? Or at least liked them more than other people. Maybe that wasn't quite right? Izuku's mouth fell open in a quiet oh. Maybe it wasn't that he was supposed to like Mei more, but that he liked her differently than everyone else. And that was true. Izuku liked Hitoshi and Ochako, obviously, but they didn't hold the same place as Mei. She was his partner in crime and he didn't think anyone could ever even come close to replacing her as that. Was that what liking somebody meant?
"Ok, I can see you overthinking from here." Mei poked him in the side. "What's on your mind, Izu-kun."
Izuku hemmed and hawed for a moment, "I, uh, think I might like you."
Mei rolled her eyes, "I like you too, Izu-kun. You wouldn't be my best friend if I didn't…"
"That's not what I meant." Izuku mumbled. "I meant I think I might like you romantically."
Mei's eyes widened, "I don't think I heard that right, Izu-kun, could you speak up?"
"Romantically." Izuku blurted, blushing now. "I think I might like you romantically. I mean, maybe? I know you're really important to me and I can't imagine my life without you, but like, it's more than that, you know? It's that I want you by my side as my partner for the rest of...well, I mean we're still young, so things might change, but at least for now and…"
The crosshairs in Mei's eyes narrowed as she zoomed in on his face, "Really? You...you're not lying?"
Izuku shook his head, "I know neither of us are really used to people actually liking us, especially not in that way, but...I dunno, people already think we're dating and I guess...well, I'm not opposed to that maybe being the truth?"
Mei grinned and grabbed his hand, "It would definitely be a lot more fun!"
Izuku chuckled awkwardly and squeezed her hand, "So does this mean you're my girlfriend now?"
"Mhhm!" Mei nodded. "And you're my boyfriend, because I feel the same way. I never want to lose you. Ever. You're stuck with me and my babies forever. Got it?"
Izuku smiled widely, "That sounds absolutely perfect."
"Good." Mei nodded in satisfaction before turning to the screens, "Oooh! They're starting!"
Ochako watched Kouta out of the corner of her eye as he glared at her classmates. He really seemed to hate heroes and she wasn't quite sure why, but from the way he'd reacted when Hitoshi had brainwashed the pussycats, it probably had something to do with heroes putting themselves in danger all the time and that just made her feel worse about the whole thing. Maybe she could find some way to make it up to him, but at the same time, he'd probably prefer it if she never talked to him again, so she just didn't know what to do. This was one of those things where she couldn't just ask Izuku and Mei for advice because both of them were even more useless in social situations than she and Hitoshi were and Mina tended to be a little bit too pushy, which definitely wouldn't go over well.
"He'll be fine, don't worry." Mandalay said softly. "He...well, his parents were heroes and he blames them for leaving him behind. Seeing us in danger just brought back bad memories is all, but he's a strong boy and we're here to help him. Assuming he accepts our help."
"I'm sorry." Ochako muttered.
Mandalay gave her a sad smile, "You didn't know. He'll understand one day. It's just hard for a little boy when everyone seems to celebrate his parents death, just because they died as heroes."
She patted Ochako's shoulder and sighed, "Well, it's time for you and Asui to get going! Don't let that other class scare you too badly, alright?"
Ochako smiled and popped her knuckles, "Oh don't worry. I think I've got it covered."
Mineta weaved his way through the tunnels and made his way up from the basement. While the rest of his class was busy doing that stupid test of courage, he was busy visiting every single backup generator and busting it by pouring sugar inside that he'd stolen from teh kitchens. Now, when he cut the power, the generators would fail just as quickly and the doors would be wide open for the league. Now, he could find all the power switches, but that would take time that he didn't have if Shigaraki was already spilling his guts.
Finding Kaminari was so much simpler.
He kept to the tunnels until he saw a shock of yellow and black hair through the vents, then went a little farther and popped out into the hall. He made sure the door was closed before running to catch up, "Hey! Kaminari! Wait up!"
"Mineta!" Kaminari grinned. "You made it!"
"Yeah!" Mineta lied. "The pussycats told me to just run ahead and join your group."
"Well then, be looking out for 1B." Kirishima said. "They're supposed to pop out and scare us at any second."
"Well then maybe we should scare them first." Mineta turned to Kaminari. "Why don't you show them what you can really do?"
Kaminari frowned, "What are you talking about?"
"Blow out the power." Mineta shrugged. "It'll be dark so we can scare all of them and it'll set the mood. Plus, Kirishima's strong enought o take care of you and you're oging to be impossible to scare if you're dumb."
"I don't know whether to be offended or impressed, dude." Kaminari whistled. "That's really smart."
Mineta seethed internally, "Thanks man."
"But um, won't we get in trouble?" Kirishima asked. "I mean, blowing out the power is kinda a big deal."
"Nah, there's backup generators and they can always just reset the system." Kaminari insisted, walking toward the nearest plug. "This is gonna be eipic."
He took out a paper clip and jammed it in the socket, sparking as he maxxed out his power output. The lights flickered once and then went out.
"Um...it's really dark." Kirishima fretted. "Aren't the emergency generators supposed to kick on or something."
Mineta didn't answer. He just chuckled silently to himself as he used the sudden darkness to steal Kaminari's phone and slip away.
Hitoshi wasn't sure that having all the lights go out at once had been the original plan, but he thought it was a nice touch. It definitely made the place more spooky, but he was pretty sure that at least some of the lights were supposed to stay on in case of an emergency. He'd been partnered with Ojiro, who looked like he had a very fight response when it came to fight or flight, so they would probably be alright. Class 1B sounded like they had some creepy quirks from what he'd heard from Izuku's ramblings when he was working on their analysis packets. But Izuku's analysis could make anyone's quirk sound terrifying, so yeah, hopefully the students they ran into were still working on implementing Izuku's advice and hadn't quite leveled their quiks up to eldritch horrors quite yet.
"Ugh." Ojiro groaned behind him and HItoshi turned around. "My tail's caught on one of Mineta's gross little balls. Pretty sure he lost his head the second things got scary and just tossed his balls everywhere in a panic."
"Yeah." Hitoshi laughed, then froze. "Wait a minute. Mineta wasn't a part of the exercise."
Ojiro stopped pulling, "What?"
"Mineta wasn't part of the exercise." Hitoshi repeated. "He didn't show up, remember? So he shouldn't be here. "
Ojiro frowned, "What are you…"
Hitoshi saw something moving through the shadows and lunged to tackle Ojiro out of the way, but before he could a storm of purple balls flew out from the shadows. He managed to dodge most of them, but he took a step back and stepped on one, anchoring his foot to the floor. Hitoshi immediately took off his shoe, but that meant he wasn't looking when the next volley of balls came and stuck themselves all over his clothes. He tried tearing off his shirt, but the balls stuck to each other and to his hands, so all he managed was to get himself even more trapped. A shape dashed out of the shadows and Mineta punched him in the back of the knees, forcing him down to the floor and sticking him even more completely.
Hitoshi stared at Mineta in shock, "Since when are you actually good at fighting?!"
"Since I got here." Mineta snapped. "But you, like everyone else my whole life, were too busy underestimating me to even notice, just like you never noticed I was working for the villains." He turned his attention to Ojiro. "And yet, everyone loves you tail boy. But what about without it, huh? How will you fight now."
Ojiro tensed and raised his arms, "I've still got four limbs, you traitor. What did you do?"
"I cut the power." Mineta said. "And poured sugar in the emergency generators. This whole place's security system is run on electricity. Without it, the villains can just walk right in! And honestly, I don't even have to fight you, you idiot, I've got what I came for."
Ojiro's eyes narrowed, "And what is that?"
Mineta pulled a spray bottle out of his bag and got to work spraying the balls attaching Hitoshi to the floor, "Bait."
As he sprayed them, the balls turned green and took on a mossy appearance and something clicked in HItoshi's brain, "You're trapper! Iz...Cheat Code was right! Todoroki wasn't the traitor!"
"Why the fuck would Todoroki be the traitor?" Mineta scoffed. "He doesn't have the range. Do you know how hard it was to keep everyone from seeing my true colors? Pretending I was more interested in the girls than the info I was getting everyday? Todoroki could never."
Hitoshi flailed as Mineta tried to pick him up, but he felt the pinch of a needle at his neck and a cold numbness started radiating out from the point, "What….what did you…?"
"Muscle relaxant." Mineta bragged. "Only works for a few minutes, but that's more than enough to get the great Cheat Code to come save you. Now come on. We've got a trap to set."
Hitoshi fell asleep listening to Ojiro call out for help.
Notes:
Next Update: December 24, 2021 (MST)