"You packing? School doesn't start back up for another month, you know." Bakugo chuckled as he drank his shake. He understood wanting to go back to your friends, but this was silly.
It felt like Eiji came back for the summer just yesterday, even though it's already been about a month. This entire time he's been talking about nothing but his friends! He hung out with them at least every other day, and his weekends seem to always be packed... Strange.
"Nah, I'm packing for the summer training camp!" Eiji laughed as he looked through his phone that he got on his fifteenth birthday.
"COUGH! Hack! Cough!" Katsuki choked on his shake, "Summer training camp?!"
"Yeah! Ya know, to keep everyone fit during the summer!" Eiji shrugged as he stuffed his newly purchased shoes in his backpack, "You signed the wavers, did you forget it was happening?"
"I... might've skimmed the wavers..." Bakugo's eyes darted. Wiggling and shifting uncomfortably, Bakugo rubbed the back of his neck and winced, "I'm, umm, not sure how comfortable I am, sendin' ya to training camp..."
"Huh?! Why not?" Eiji gawked mid-pack.
"Well, ya know... incidents can happen aaand... I don't want nothin' happening to you." He shrugged, making his son roll his eyes.
"Oh dad, come on! There hasn't been an incident in over twenty years! What are the chances there'll be an incident this year outta nowhere!?" He chuckled in order to calm Katsuki's nervousness.
"I just don't like it, okay." He huffed and crossed his arms.
"Dad! I already payed the fee! I'm signed up! Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" Eiji asked with his arms in the air. But Bakugo simply shifted around uncomfortably, looking at the ground.
The worst that could happen?
He has absolutely no idea. He couldn't begin to imagine.
But that was crazy. Nothing was going to happen! Bakugo was just being a worry wart.
"Fine. You can go. But when you come back with two broken legs I'm gonna tell ya, 'I told you so!'"
"Geez! I won't! I won't!"
"Good." Bakugo nodded awkwardly, "So, umm... when do you leave?"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow! Bub! You gotta tell me these things!"
"I put it on the calendar!"
"You know I don't check that thing! Now I don't got time to mentally prepare!"
## The next day
"Rock the bus! Rock-rock the bus! WOOT WOOT!" All the kids screamed and jumped up and down in their seats. It made Shinso-Sensei want to tear his ears off. How hard would it be to brainwash all his students at once? But they weren't even the worse ones! No, it was-
"Again! But louder!" Kaminari screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Oh my God! Stop!" Meiwaku was about to burst, "You cussing loud-mouth dweebs are gonna make me implode my own hecking head off!"
Tasen couldn't help but snort.
"What?!" Basuji snapped.
"Bro, do you even know how to swear? You sound like an edgy fourth-grader." That made the whole bus light up in snickers and giggles, annoying the bully to no end. His face was glowing bright red as he sulked away from them all.
"Blub. That's true, Meiwaku. I don't think I've ever heard you curse..." Taki thought out loud as she twirled her tentacle hair. Eiji laughed along and noted,
"Yeah, it seems out of character for you."
Looking around the bus at the staring crowd, Meiwaku pouted a little more and mumbled,
"Well... mumma doesn't like it when I swear..."
"Ah! I knew it!" Maru teased and pinched Meiwaku's cheek, "He's a momma's boy!"
"Shut up!" He growled at their snickers. But it was true, and it hurt his pride just an ounce.
"Woah... an abandoned temple!" Candy exclaimed with bounding excitement, and everyone smushed their faces against the windows to see.
"Huh. Cool!" They oohed and awed. It wasn't anything too extraordinary, but it sure looked cool.
As they building dipped out of view, Kaminari opened his window, feeling the wind his hair with wide smile and laughed,
"Alright, my dudes, say bye bye to Mr. Temple!"
"..."
Everyone stopped and stared, snickering at the grown man using baby-talk on the bus full of teenagers.
"...Eh?" Kaminari suddenly realized his fatal mistake, "Ack! I swear, I-I only use that kinda talk around Lilly!" But his stammering was not making him look any cooler. All together, the class called out in joke,
"Bye bye, Mr. Temple!"
"Noooooo..." There was no way Kaminari will be able to recover from his mistake.
"Hey Mr. Coconut, you tutor that Lilly kid, right?" Candy asked with a bounce of his orange curls.
"Uh yeah. Why?"
"Who is she? Why's she living with Sparky-Sensei?"
"Oh, erm, I never know a good time to ask, and I don't want to be rude so I'm not really sure-"
"Hey Pika-Sensei!" Candy ignored all social cues and forwardly approached their sensei in the front seats.
"Candy! Don't-!"
"Who's that little girl you bring to school sometimes?" He obliviously pondered. But Kaminari didn't mind the question.
"Oh! She's my adopted daughter!"
"..." Eiji blinked a few times before gasping loudly. He's been tutoring THE Chargebolt's daughter?!
"I mean, we're almost through the adoption process. It's rough work, but my wife and I are willing to do what it takes to help someone in need! We couldn't just leave her after we heard what happened on the news-"
Suddenly, the kids felt the vehicle come to an abrupt stop. Confused, Tasen called out,
"Sensei? Why are we stopping?"
Shinso drearily turned around and grumbled to the class,
"Water over the roadway. The bus won't make it through unless we push."
All the students piled out of the bus and groaned in agony. Sure enough, there was a large portion of the road flooded over. Kenta Taurosu cautiously waded into the water, and it almost submerged all of her horse half.
"Yep. It's deep." She groaned. Chargebolt leapt out of the vehicle and hollered out far too excitedly,
"Okay, dudes! See that smoke over there? That's our destination! Get the bus to the other side in five minutes or you're walking!"
"Aww man..." Nobody was excited about pushing the bus through the water. They all got behind it and pushed, but it barely budged.
"Alright! Who left the parking break on?!" Maru snarled, but Shinso shook his head.
"If it ain't that, then this thing is freakin' heavy." Meiwaku groaned and wiped his sweaty face. Koteki hopped into the bus and mumbled,
"I-I can put all our luggage in The Void to make it lighter?"
"Nice!" Eiji bounced, "Oh! I can wrap some vines around it to make it easier to drag!"
"I'll pull them like reins!" The centaur laughed.
Soon enough, everyone was creatively using their quirks and strengths to push the bus. If they thought it was difficult to shove on land, then it was near impossible to push through the water! It was slow going, for sure...
"Get moving people! Your five minutes is almost up!" Denki screamed as he sat on top of the bus.
"Why are you rushing us, old man?!" Meiwaku growled as he shloshed through the murky water, Tasen nodding in agreement.
"Yeah! At this point I'd rather walk!"
"Your funeral..." Chargebolt chuckled evilly. Nobody liked that. Suddenly, a beeping noise on his watch alerted the class, and Shinso smiled a toothy smile,
"Times up..."
Rumble...
Everyone froze. The water around their waists started to rise...
"Guys?" Eiji whimpered. And then they saw it.
A giant wave of water!
"Guys run- AHH!"
Rapid flooded underneath everyone's footing! Everyone was quickly swept away!
"AAAAHHHH!" As the class attempted to swim back to the bus, it was quickly apparent to them that they weren't going to see that vehicle for a long, long time.
Eiji's head popped out of the water, gasping for air as he avoided debris and rocks coming his way.
"Maru! Cough! Cough! Meiwaku?! Koteki!" He screamed out to his friends. He could barely see their heads bobbing in and out from under the water. Without warning his back smacked against a tree! He fought against the powerful rapids, but he couldn't move his body!
Then, out of nowhere, the water receded.
Baachu stood there a moment, hacking the water from his lungs and observing his surroundings. All of class 1A was in the middle of a vast forest, completely disoriented.
"What in the crack was that?!" Meiwaku spat out in between coughs.
"Th-That was no ordinary flood..." Koteki mumbled. Suddenly, everyone got a deep sense of dread as Maru moaned,
"Fam... I think training camp has already started..."
"Huh?" Eiji meeped.
Another huge wave was coming their way. Only this time, it morphed and moved like a terrifying monster, it's crashing waves roaring at them.
"Hahaha!" Meiwaku cackled like a maniac, "We can take this monster down!"
"How?!" Eiji gasped in horror. Immediately, Meiwaku took control of the situation.
"Oi Cavities! Cornstarch! Now!"
Candy immediately obliged and shot a stream of cornstarch into the water monster, changing its density into a gooey paste. The less it was like water the less mobile it became.
"Smack it around! Keep it a solid!" He demanded as he stuck his hands into the beast. Slowly, the goo monster concaved onwards on itself, getting hot from the inside out. With a terrifying gurgle, it burst into a million pieces!
"Yeahahaha! HAHA!" Meiwaku loved the adrenaline. His plan worked!
"Yeah! Nice one Mei...waku..." Eiji's vision glazed over as he looked to the distance, "Get to the camp! Now!"
The rest of the group could see what he was screaming about. About twenty more monsters of the same size were crashing through the forest!
This... was not what Eiji expected summer camp to be like.
## Five and a half hours later...
Slowly, painfully, agonizingly, the students dragged their beaten bodies into the clearing. As they approached the building that gave off a warm glow, they saw Shinso, Kaminari, and Eri standing behind a serious-looking hero. His hero gear resembled a strange mix of lifeguard and spirit-demon, with two red horns sticking off the top of his helmet. But the face behind the helmet wasn't any more inviting.
His dark features and stubbled face gave off a grim complexion as he folded his arms across his chest.
"...You survived." He stated calmly to the unamused students, "You hero wannabes think you're going to have a fluffy, fun week with your friends? Well toughen up, sad-haps! I'm Pro-Hero Water Hose! This is my property! And this week, I'm going to break you."
Everyone gulped.
"But as for now..." His face was crowded by the darkness of his helmet, "Let's eat!" His smile threw them off.
"...Huh?!" The class was in awe as Eri ripped off a tablecloth on a table, revealing a banquet! The food might've been mediocre, but it looked so amazing right now! All of their mouths drooled at the sight and smells.
"Alright!" The entire class ate like rabid animals without concern for manners or politeness. They hadn't eaten all day! They were starving!
With mouths brimming with delicious food, they finally began to chattering amongst themselves. It had already been a crazy day- and the week hadn't even started yet! With a cheek full of vegetables, Candy boisterously retold their tales, even though they were all there...
"And when the first monster came out and Mc. Plosion was like, 'Cornstarch!' And I came in like woosh! Wow!"
"Yeah, good thinking, Meiwaku!" Eiji beamed before slurping away at his soup. But Tasen was rolling his eyes at the conversation.
"Sure it was a good idea, but the execution of it? Hmm? Not so great."
Meiwaku sat his Tsukemen down sharply.
"Oh? Did you have a better plan on how to defeat WATER?"
"I'm just saying- the ideas are good, but I wouldn't call you the leader or anything-"
"Obviously I'm the leader of the class!" Meiwaku stepped up, swallowing a large chunk of food.
"No way!" Tasen scoffed on his rice, "If I followed your leading during the final we would've been expelled!"
"If you just understood your place then we would've won the final in half the time!"
"There's no way I'm gonna listen to you, you bossy, lowlife-"
"You rich-kid, snotty-brat, carefree-"
"-Gutter-trash, neck-beard, Walmart-shopper-"
"G-Guys... please don't fight..." Koteki sheepishly squeaked as Candy picked his nose. Eiji didn't like this situation one bit.
"Hey hey hey! We're all tired, it's been a long day, why don't we all chill and talk this over while we eat?"
Meiwaku and Tasen took a deep breath and nodded. But by the looks of it, their bickering was far from finished. Great.
Suddenly, standing on a table and banging pots and pans together, Water Hose yelled out to the teenagers,
"Now for the ground rules, pay close attention!" He growled intimidatingly, "For security reasons you are not allowed to post anything about this trip online or on any public forum! If you do you will be expelled!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"Also, stay in groups of three or more, if you are in groups of two then you will be expelled!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"And lastly, no going out at night! There has been sightings of an escaped convict in the county and if you go out you will be-"
"E-Escaped convict?!" Meiwaku stood abruptly, making everyone stare at him. Conscious of their attention, Basuji slowly lowered himself, but his question still stood. He looked... a bit scared.
"...Hai. An escaped convict was spotted in the county, several kilometers away. We are in the middle of nowhere, and the security here is keeping watch over the area." Water Hose continued to announce. But Meiwaku looked incredibly tense, and sweat began to form on his brow.
"Do you know which convict is-"
"Don't concern yourself with that. The professionals have everything under control."
"..." Basuji nodded and gulped audibly, looking at his plate of food. He wasn't going to feel very safe anytime soon...
Eri stood next to Water Hose and hugged his arm before announcing,
"Everyone have fun tonight! Go to the hot springs! Play in the recreation room! This is the only night you can relax, so enjoy it while you can! Hehe!"
Gulping, Eiji tried to get back to his meal. He could already tell their butts were getting kicked this week...
## The hot springs
"Ahh... that hit the spot..." Candy sighed peacefully as he sank deeper into the steaming water.
"Yeah, no kidding..." Tasen laughed, "Yo daisy-chain, where's Meiwaku? Are you really cool with him being alone in the room? He could implode our stuff!"
With flowers growing from his hair, Eiji opened an eye curiously and scratched his head. Meiwaku probably doesn't want to be in the hot springs with everyone else if that meant showing off his scar.
"I mean, I'm not his big brother or anything, he can do what he wants. I think he's older than me anyways."
"But what's with his whole loner vibe?" Tasen scoffed as he got out of the hot spring, "He's so stuck-up. Why can't he just chill? Jeez!"
"I'm... sure he has his reasons..." Eiji mumbled as he got out as well, "He's been working hard to become a hero for a long time, and... you don't really want to be one, do you? You guys just come from different places." He was trying his best to mediate.
"Yeah... fine. Who cares what that guy is up to. He probably doesn't even like hot springs. Too relaxing." He joked as they and the rest of the boys filtered back into the lockers. But there sat Basuji, in his bathrobe and talking on his phone. "Wait a second..." Tasen looked up at the clock and squinted in suspect.
"I'm fine, mumma. Security is tight around here. He won't. Mhm, you too." Meiwaku hung up his phone as Tasen loomed over his sitting form, "Uhh, can I help you, Four-Eyes?" He sassily gestured.
"Are you using the hot springs?"
"Once you lollygaggers clear out then yeah-"
"I can't believe this! You scolded me about 'disrespecting women,' yet here you are, waiting until the girl's are scheduled to bathe!" Iida snarled angrily at his teammate. Meiwaku shook his head in befuddlement and snapped back,
"That ain't the case! Can't a man have his privacy?!"
"Oh YOU'RE talking about privacy!"
"Yeah! Why the cuss are you so controlling?!"
"Guys! Guys!" Eiji stepped in between the two, "Let's just keep on moving! No point in assuming motives!"
"...Hmph. Fine."
"Fine!" They pouted and turned away. Meiwaku snatched a clean towel from the rack and stormed into the hot spring.
"And don't barge in without knocking, Gaskets!"
"Gasp!" Tasen has been called a lot of things before, but gaskets? Really? He began to shake in spiteful anger.
"That's it! I know he's up to something... You saw how fishy he was acting at dinner!" The dark haired teen shook Eiji by the shoulders.
"He's just on edge about the whole convict thing, who wouldn't be?!"
"The pros got it under control! I think he's up to something! You know what, I'm gonna go make sure he isn't!" Tasen stomped out towards the hot springs.
"Wait wait wait wait wait wait-"
"Why?!"
"...What if he's naked?"
"Yack! You're right, I don't wanna see that..." Tasen shuttered, "But what if he's trying to sneak a peak on the chicks!?"
"He's not!"
"Then you go check on him!" Tasen shoved Eiji hard into the other room.
"Wait! I don't-" Before Eiji could stop him he was stumbling into the hot springs once more. He ran right into Meiwaku's back.
"ACK! FOUR-EYES!" Meiwaku screamed in rage before elbowing Eiji in the nose.
"Ah!" He fell to the ground with his face covered in blood. As Meiwaku stood covering his chest like an exposed woman, he realized who he had hit.
"Oh. Just you."
"Hyeah! Jus me!" Eiji exasperatedly groaned as he pinched his bleeding nose, "Ow..."
"Yikes. Erm, sorry?"
"Hyeah! I'muh 'rying to keep your lil' secret here and you break muh face! Dis is muh money maker!" Eiji yelled dramatically.
"Yeah right. Get yourself to the nurse chick before you make me barf."
"Ugh..." As Eiji slowly walked back into the locker rooms, all of the other guys stared at him awkwardly. He looked as the blood in his hand angrily pointed at the others, "No."
"What!" Tasen backed away in submission.
"I know what you're thinkin'! Nu-uh! No!" Eiji stomped out with a tiny storm cloud following him.
As he walked towards Eri's office in nothing but his towel and a blood-covered face... all of the girls in class came waltzing on towards him.
The universe hated him, didn't it?
As they all talked back and forth in their bathrobes, they slowly came to a stop in front of Eiji.
"B-B-Baachu?!" Maru nearly fainted, "Y-You're, uhh..." Her face turned bright red as she attempted to avert her eyes.
"Th-The blood's from Meiwaku punching me in the face!" Eiji stammered, "I swear!"
"Oh, y-yeah, I wasn't thinking about that. N-Not that I was thinking about anything abs! ANYTHING ELSE!" She was so red she glowed, "Just get yourself cleaned up already!"
She ran into the women's locker in a mighty hurry, the other girls slowly following behind. They sent sideways glances to each other. Yeah, they could tell something was up.
"Huh?" Eiji cluelessly cocked his head. Who knows what that was all about? Maru can sure be strange sometimes...
## One hour later
Eiji exited Nurse Eri's office and rubbed his nose. It felt good as new! And he was fully clothed now, so that's a plus as well.
"Baachu! Hey Baachu!" Maru waved from down the hall. He gave a nonchalant wave back. "You won't believe what they have in here!" She declared before dragging him into the rec room.
"See?! Look!" Maru screamed as she entered the room with all of her classmates, "They have Fancy Dance Revolution!" The sparkles in her eyes lit up every corner.
"So?" Meiwaku scoffed.
"So?! Baachu! Tell him how awesome this game is!" She demanded of her best friend.
"It's the best! You dance to great classics and you can go into championships and pick the difficulty and-"
"Sounds lame." The bully groaned, making Eiji deflate a little.
"Really?" Maru smirked, "I think you're just not up for the challenge..."
Meiwaku's eye twitched.
"That's right. Baachu and I got platinum on every song! But..." Pushing her acting skills to the limit, she squinted, "I understand if that's too difficult for you-"
"Gimme the controller! I never back down from a challenge!" He screamed at the sky.
"Okay, I'd say start with easy-"
"No way in heck!" Meiwaku selected the hardest difficulty, "Who dares to fight me?! Come on!"
Tasen stood with a pride unshakable and grabbed the other joy-cons.
"I'm going to win this one, neck-beard!"
"Bring it!"
They clicked the random song select, the intensity of the room deafening. They waited and waited until the computer landed on a song...
Single Chicks... by Bouncé.
"YEAHAHA!" Maru was dying. This was too perfect.
But neither of them were going to back down. No sir. They were going to do every unmanly and effeminate move that came up on the screen... and they were going all the way.
While they danced, a group of people sat around a coffee table playing a game of truth or dare.
"Kenta!" Candy picked.
"Dare!"
"Alright. Eat this snickers bar."
"Pfft! That's easy-"
"That's been in my pocket since we left Yueei!"
Oh gross. But the centaur did not back down. She ate that bad boy right up! Turning to Eiji, she pounded a fist down on the table and bellowed,
"Truth or dare!"
"Oh! Truth?"
With an evil smile directed at Maru, the beefy woman asked,
"Have you had your first kiss?"
"Eep!" Maru's face went red and vengeful in Kenta's direction.
"Huh? First kiss? Umm..." Eiji was racking his brain, but he couldn't quite remember, "Not yet. I dunno, I kinda always imagined my first kiss will be special. Like... I don't wanna kiss anybody unless I'm serious, ya know?" He sheepishly smiled.
"Oh really?" Taurosu smirked devilishly, mischief in her eyes, "Because Maru was telling us earlier that you two were each other's first kiss!"
Maru wanted to punch her friend in the face so bad right now.
"W-We were five! That doesn't count!" Her hands waved wildly around her head as Eiji finally remembered.
"Oh yeah! My dad was so mad at us! Heh! Yeah... doesn't really count."
"Heh! Yup!" Maru motioned a sliced neck to her stupidly brave friend.
"HAHA!" Meiwaku laughed at the sky, "I won! Take that!" He tossed the joy-cons off and triumphantly moved on.
"You got bronze too! You beat me by ten points!" Protested Iida.
"Hmm? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over my victory! HA!"
Jumping up, Eiji grabbed Maru by the arm and pulled her to her feet excitedly.
"Oh Maru! Let's try Circles again! This is our song!"
"O-Our song! Right!"
With laughter filling up the room, everyone got an overwhelming feeling of safety.
They all knew training was not going to be so easy in the morning, but right now, in this moment, they were creating memories they'll keep forever. The laughter was warm, the music was light, and the true, genuine friendship was in every corner of the building they sat in.
But outside the building, lurking in the darkness, there was no warmth. No light, no joy, none of that.
No, just a pair of careful eyes, watching it's one target.
"There you are..." He growled with a terrible, stubbled smile.
"Found you."
