Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, or My Hero Academia. Enjoy.
Chapter 26: Satori Town Training (Part 1)
"Alright, everybody!" Android 21 announced, raising her hands. "Welcome to Satori Town! Home of some of the finest hot springs you can find in the mountains!"
The remainder of the students began waking up as the bus slowed to a halt. Everyone gave a quick stretch and stood up, preparing to get off the bus. "On your way out, I want you to separate into three groups; The first half of the boys numerically, the second half of the boys numerically, and all the girls!"
Class 1A gathered around in their respective groups, whispering amongst themselves as they stood before the doors of the bath house. Before them, Aizawa stood with his hands in his pocket, Kyoka at his side with a happily giddy expression. On his other side, an old woman stood slightly hunched over. "Alright, listen up." He began, silencing the class. "This is Iwami Horinobachi. She's going to show you to your rooms, separated by groups, and when Kyoka or myself are not around, she will be in charge. If she catches you breaking any rules or regulations, consequences will be severe. Do I make myself clear?" He said sternly, sending a chill down everyone's spine.
"Yes Sir!" The class said in unison.
"Great!" Kyoka shouted excitedly. "Now then,, Group A will include all the boys seated between Seat 1 and Seat 10! Group B will be all the boys seated between Seat 11 and Seat 19! Group C will be all the girls!"
Gohan looked around and thought to himself. So, that means I'm with Group A… Yuga, Tenya, Denki and Eijiro, Koji, and Rikido… Happy that he was roomed with Sato and Iida, Gohan found himself content with the groups.
"You'll drop your things in your rooms and get dressed into your gym uniforms. From behind the building, there's a trail lined by rocks. Follow that into the forest and you'll find yourself in a large clearing. I'll give everyone ninety minutes to be there." Aizawa demanded as Iwami gestured Groups A and B to follow her, while another old woman guided Group C.
Iwami brought her groups inside, and immediately everyone could see that there were four paths. Two on the left, and two on the right. Groups A and B followed Iwami down the first path on the left, while Group C were guided down the first path on the right. "Alright, dears," she began, stopping at a sliding door, "Group A will rest here, and Group B will rest next door. There are seven futons in each room. I hope you enjoy your stay here." She told them with a bow as the boys split into their rooms.
Gohan took in the simplicity of the room, matched with the sliding glass door that poured light into the room. "Alright, Group A!" Iida shouted, throwing his hands every which way. "I will assign spots based on everyone's preferences and we'll promptly change!"
"Or we can just pick where we want to sleep." Kirishima claimed.
"I second that." Kaminari confirmed his side by dropping his bag on the futon in the middle of the two rows of three. Kirishima chose the middle of the top row, while Aoyama chose the left of the top row, closest to the glass door.
"As the sun pours in at it's rise, that is when I sparkle the most." He claimed. "I'll try to keep my glimmer from awakening you all."
"R-Right then…!" Iida said, a tear forming in his eye.
With a chuckle, Gohan patted him on the back. "It's alright Iida. You're still right about needing to get dressed. I don't want to miss any training time!" He said with excitement, clenching his fist.
Iida chose the last available futon of the top row, while Gohan slept on the right-most of the bottom row, leaving Sato in the middle of the bottom row, and Koda on the left futon of the bottom row. From the other room, Group A could hear Mineta yelling about not being allowed a co-ed bedding experience for several minutes before he suddenly went silent. Kaminari and Kirishima poked their heads out, only to see a sinister aura around Iwami as she stared into Group B's room. "Now, now, dear. Hush with all that lecherous behavior." She demanded. "I'd hate to have to teach you some manors in place of your teachers…" Although she spoke no further, her cold gaze and the anticipation of what this scary old woman could possibly do sent shivers down the boys' spines.
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Mineta shouted.
"Good. I'm happy to hear that we're in agreement." As Iwami began to turn her head, Kaminari and Kirishima ducked out of the way, closing the door before she could notice that it was cracked.
"That is one scary old lady!" Kirishima said, breathing heavily.
Another chill went up Kaminari's spine. "Tell me about it!"
Gohan couldn't help but laugh at the two as he continued to put on his gym uniform. The thought of his secret being revealed to his entire class seemed to feel a little easier. With his confidence boosted, he began to make his way outside to follow the rest of his class.
Class 1A had gathered in the field as directed. Their instructions were very loose, demanding that they pick up where they left off with the Summer Training Camp. As Gohan looked Android 21 in the eyes, the two of them smiled, and he approached her confidently. Before he could reach his opponent, a surprising new challenger put a hand on his shoulder
"Eijiro?" Gohan said, turning around. "What is it?"
"Gohan, I have a favor I want to ask you." He told him. "You see, I want my Quirk to harden my body even further than it already can. So that I can be an unbreakable wall. Since you're the heaviest hitter out of all of us, I thought you'd be perfect. I wanted to ask before the Provisional Licensing Exam, but you were so busy with Ms. Kyoka, I didn't want to interrupt."
"Oh, I don't know, I don't want to accidentally hurt you." Gohan told him, scratching the back of his head.
"Come on, Gohan! It'll really help with my training!" He pleaded, clenching his fist.
Several seconds of silence passed until Gohan finally let out a sigh. "Alright, Eijiro. But stay on your guard. Even if I hold back, there's a chance that you could get hurt really bad."
"I'll be fine, man. I trust you completely!" He said, attempting to reassure his friend as his body began to grow more rigid. "Alright, come at me!" He soon became almost unrecognizable, with the numerous seams of his body becoming jagged edges. "UNBREAKABLE!"
His battle cry standing strong, Gohan held his fists up and inched ever closer to Kirishima. "Here I go…" The young Saiyan stretched his arm out, and with a slight swing of his wrist, the tip of his knuckle tapped his friend hard in the shoulder, sending him flying through a few of the trees that stood at the treeline. "Craap!" He said to himself as he ran over. "Eijiro, are you alright?!" Gohan jumped over the fallen logs and kneeled down next to his friend.
Laying against a stump, it was apparent that cracks began to form from the spot where he was just hit. With a chuckle, however, he looked up and gave a wide smile. "Man, that hurt!" He began to laugh, the hit weighing heavily on him as a reminder of the distance between the two of them. "Now I know what to expect! That was quite a love tap, man!" As he struggled to get to his feet, he raised his arms and pumped both fists. "Alright! Let's go again, from the top! This time I won't fall back!" He cried out.
He, indeed, fell back every time. Kirishima, however, refused to give up, and instructed Gohan to give off several love taps so that he could reform his armor from the brink of shattering. They continued this for roughly an hour before Gohan decided to cut off his friend. "Hey, I think maybe you've had enough."
Breathing heavily, Kirishima spoke through his gasps. "Don't worry…about me… I have plenty of fight left! An unbreakable wall…is only backed by…an unbreakable spirit! " He finished saying with a gasp before dropping to one knee. Gohan decided to take him and pull him just past the treeline in order to lean him up against a stump that was still hidden in the lush green cloud of trees.
In his weakened state, Kirishima found himself asleep in Gohan's arms, and his friend leaned him against a freshly-formed stump before walking off towards the clearing. Before he made it too far, he turned to Kirishima and gave one last smile before joining the rest of his class.
Midoriya walked out into the clearing, looking around every which way. "I wonder where he is…"
Several minutes passed of Midoriya looking around before he felt an additional presence next to turning to his side, he saw his old childhood friend, drenched in sweat, with his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. "You're looking for Goldilocks, aren't you?" Bakugo asked him with a scowl. Ever since Midoriya beat him for the second time, he had seemed to somewhat mellow out.
"Kacchan…" Similarly, Midoriya was more confident in his abilities, and more so in his rivalry with Bakugo. When they used to talk, his legs would shake and his chest would feel weak, but now that feeling was gone.
He nodded, still entranced by their new relationship. It was almost as if for the first time in a decade, Bakugo had felt a sense of respect towards his rival. Regardless, that didn't change the fact that he was aiming to surpass him. "I'm going to make this clear, Deku. I'm going to beat him first. And after that, it'll be undeniable that I'm stronger than you. So stay out of my way." He demanded as he stepped away.
"I won't give you that opportunity, Kacchan!" Midoriya said, his voice calm but full of fire. "Even if he helps both of us-"
"Shut up, Deku." Bakugo's words cut him off as he stopped and turned around. "I'm going to surpass him with my own strength. Not with some borrowed power or assisted training." Turning forward, he looked to the sky. "I'll be the greatest hero of all time. And I'll do it on my own." His words made Midoriya reminisce on his last days of middle school, when Bakugo was more arrogant and in the clouds. Now, however, he's genuinely aiming for the sky. As he began to walk away, Gohan emerged from the treeline. "Hey, Goldilocks!" Bakugo called out, catching his attention.
"Oh, hey, Katsuki…" Gohan greeted with a nervous chuckle. With a half-spirited wave, he waited for Bakugo to close the distance between them. Come to think of it, we haven't really talked much directly… I wonder what he wants.
"Fight me, Goldilocks." Bakugo demanded, looking down on his classmate.
"That's a little blunt, don't you think?" Gohan asked him.
Despite his concerns, Bakugo pulled his hands out of his pockets and held them out behind him. "Just shut up and fight!" He shouted as he blasted off towards his opponent. He threw his right arm forward and let off a massive blast ahead, catching the attention of the other students.
"Deku, what's going on?" Uraraka asked as she ran to Midoriya's side.
"Kacchan wants to beat Gohan, so he just challenged him." Although Midoriya and Uraraka took a breather to watch, everyone else just continued to train hard.
As the smoke began to clear, Bakugo held his hand in a circle in front of his palm. "AP Shot!" He shouted as he unleashed a barrage of smaller long-range explosions. From the smoke, Gohan dashed forward, leaving a trail as he broke through the cloud. He gave Bakugo as light of a hit as possible to the gut, not enough to knock him out, but hopefully enough to make him realize that he was outclassed. Unfortunately, Bakugo was not giving in, and let loose a massive explosion beneath them. He blasted off into the sky, briefly suspending himself before wrapping his arms around himself. With the difference in strength now apparent, Bakugo began to fall forward, spinning violently as he wrapped himself in several explosions. I need to hit him with everything I've got! The distance between them rapidly closed, and Gohan's calm demeanor raised a red flag for his opponent. "HOWITZER…IMPACT!" Bakugo stopped just above the ground, throwing his hand forward and unleashing an incredible explosion in front of him. The trees in the area blow in every direction, and the two once again pulled everyone's attention.
With all eyes on them, the cloud of smoke soon vanished, leaving behind a shirtless Gohan, and the smoldering remains of his clothes drifting about around him. Faster than anyone could blink, Gohan bent his leg at the knee and whipped his shin around, stopping just before it could connect with Bakugo's temple. Despite having just used a lot of power, Bakugo seemed to be holding his breath as a large gust of wind kicked up in the direction of Gohan's attack. Looking up to his classmate, the Saiyan smiled. "I think I'd call that a win." He told him as he dropped his leg and bowed. Gohan stepped away to meet his friends while Bakugo took a seat, silently growling and mumbling to himself.
"Hey, Gohan." Midoriya said as his friend approached. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. That's more than I can say about my clothes, though." Gohan told him.
"Right… Hey, Gohan?"
"Hm? What is it, Izuku?" He asked his friend.
"Uraraka, do you think that Gohan and I could have some time alone?" Midoriya asked her, reassuring her with his smile that everything was ok.
"Oh, sure, Deku. I need to get back to my training, anyway." She said, excusing herself.
With just the two of them alone, Midoriya looked his friend in the eyes. "Gohan, there's a favor I want to ask you."
"I bet I can guess what it is!" Gohan teased with a wide smile.
Midoriya nodded, his eyes full of determination. "I want to fight you, and test the limits that I've expanded on with One For All." He asked, looking down into his hand and clenching it into a fist.
"Just like I thought." He said. "Alright, Izuku Midoriya. Show me what you've got."