With quivering arms, I force myself up and see clearing dust as Midoriya makes a sprint for the entrance, holding a passed out Bakugo under his arm. I cough and try to steady myself, but a sudden pain presses down in my head like a brick as I curse under my breath. Noticing All Might, he sits on one knee a long ways ahead of me, coughing into his fist. I clutch my head with one hand like it's going to get rid of the pain as I stand up. Wobbling around for a moment, I feel disoriented and heavy as I walk towards All Might and the escape gate.

...I wasn't able to make it out...If I had woken up sooner, I would have made it...

A ding goes off at the escape gate and a voice from the speaker echoes throughout the fake city.

"Team Midoriya, Bakugo, and Oritsu have passed the exam. All the matches for the practical portion of 1-A's finals have now been completed."

I grumble as I walk past All Might. He stands up and walks with me as I rub my head, trying to ignore the faint feel of blood.

"I might've hit you too hard back there, young Oritsu. I apologize."

Brushing it off, I speak in a disinterested tone.

"It's fine. I just wish I had woken up sooner so I could've helped them."

A moment of silence allows my ears to rest easy until All Might makes a comment.

"If you don't mind me saying so, you've changed a lot since you first came here. Both in attitude and with your quirk."

I stare at All Might for a moment, admittingly a bit nervous before turning my gaze in front of me.

I know I have...I didn't realize it would take such a seemingly short amount of time for me to change my outlook on things...But I'm not out of the woods yet...In order to keep Shigiraki happy and my head on my shoulders, I need to make it appear as though I'm still on his side. If I continue to get information for the League, I can put a price on it and make it harder to get, although that would make me suspicious. And I can't even consider giving them fake information... And if I leave the League, they'll either kill me or I get found by the yakuza and die there, but even if I don't die I have nowhere to go this time because nobody wants to be charged with harboring a fugitive. I'll also be left with the mental damage of hurting the people I care about again... Especially Aunt Usama, Mina, and Todoroki... But ever since the sports festival I feel like I've been very back and forth...I can't choose between them and the longer I stay at U.A, the more confusing the choice becomes because would I rather choose a life of normality yet I live in constant fear of my life, or would I choose a life of thrill but there's no turning back? It's not just either a life of thrill or a boring life, I have to question my morals as well, and how I'll feel when I make the choice. I guess If I wanted to turn back, I should've done it a long time ago... But for now, I should just keep on playing this double-sided charade, and I'll figure out the rest when it comes.

"Something on your mind?"

All Might asks as my hand falls to my side.

"Yeah, actually. I'm just thinking about the training camp. Where will it be?"

"It's strictly confidential I'm afraid."

"Oh. I just wanted to know so I could pack correctly, seeing as there are a lot of possibilities."

He sighs.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you. It's in a forest run by a group of feline pro heroes. Now don't tell anyone!"

I nod.

That's hardly anything to work with.

"I won't."

We pass through the gate and All Might starts to hurry his speech as he prepares to run off, like he just remembered

something.

"You should check in with recovery girl and get yourself fixed up. I will see you in class, young Oritsu!"

He dashes off in a flash, leaving me to weave my way to recovery girl.

Listening to recovery girl talk to All Might and Midoriya, I wait patiently outside the temporary recovery room door.

"-But now the two of you should stay here and rest!"

All Might coughs as Midoriya speaks with a weak voice.

"Yes ma'am. Thanks again."

I knock on the door as recovery girl opens it. All Might glances at me as my attention gets drawn to the sleeping Bakugo in a hospital bed next to Midoriya, his hero costume scratched up and his fiery headpiece missing.

"It's about time you got here! You took quite a hit from what I saw."

Nodding, I walk in calmly as she pulls out a chair for me. I sit down as All Might salutes a goodbye and walks out to the room, closing the door behind him. Recovery girl notices me staring at Bakugo with a blank expression but doesn't mention it as she walks up to me.

"How are you feeling?"

I sigh.

"My head feels like a pound of bricks and my back hurts when I walk. Other than that I'm fine. And mentally I feel bummed out even if we won."

She pauses for a moment, lifting my wrist and feeling my heartbeat.

"I'm still surprised you managed to shake that off so quickly. A hit to the head isn't easy. Especially from All Might."

"I know."

I shut my eyes closed as she puckers up and leans to kiss my forehead, the pain slowly dissolving away. She walks around me and kisses my back as the aching from that injury disappears as well. Yet I feel slightly groggy as I open my eyes again.

"Thank you."

I say as she grins and walks up to the door.

"You should start heading back to class soon."

I nod as she leaves. Despite resisting it, I steal another glance at Bakugo.

It's kind of weird to believe that when he's awake he acts like a rabid dog and when he's sleeping he looks rather...

cute...

I shake my head and deny it as I try to ignore the shower of thoughts in my mind and a slight warmth on my cheeks.

Just because It's true doesn't mean I like him! For god's sake, it doesn't even have any meaning behind it! I can think whatever the hell I want without it having any purpose...And besides, I say and think plenty of meaningless things...

Angrily crossing my arms and upset with myself for acting like a giggling little girl, the blush disappears as I try to think of something else. Suddenly, Midoriya speaks up, making me remember he's still there.

"Are you alright? It looked like it hurt a lot when All Might-"

"Yeah, yeah I know. I didn't mean to interrupt but I know it looked like a lot and yes it did hurt. But look at yourself on the other hand, you look like all you want to do is pass out."

He sighs.

"I guess. I'm just glad we passed at this point. Oh, and if you don't mind, I thought it was really cool when you completely transformed! I had never seen you do that before, but I bet you're really powerful if you were able to stall All Might for as long as you did! Your quirk has amazing potential!"

A little confused, I roll my eyes.

"Don't flatter me. My quirk's not that strong. If you're talking about power look at yourself, Todoroki, and Bakugo. You all have incredible emitter type quirks while I'm stuck with a quirk full of awful setbacks."

Midoriya's smile fades as he stares at me worriedly.

"D-don't say that! P-plenty of awesome heroes have transformation quirks! Like Mt. Lady o-or even some from our class like Kirishima! You got in through recommendations, right? That means you're really good with your quirk, doesn't it?"

Getting up, I stare down at him.

The only reason I got here in the first place was a shit ton of hard work and a few bribes here and there to my old middle school. All because of the League.

"All it meant to me was that I couldn't take the entrance exam."

"You've gotta stop talking down to yourself like that! I know we don't know each other very well, but listen to me. Why are you here if you don't have any confidence in your abilities?"

A bit of frustration starts to bubble as I feel my tone getting heated.

"For now, let's say I have to be here, got it?"

Midoriya stares at me with a concerned expression as I walk out of the recovery room, irritated.

Everyone says that but do they really mean it? They say my quirk is awesome but in my eyes, it doesn't have the strength needed to become powerful as they say. And I don't think I'm being modest... I know it's hard to get strong and you have to go through a lot of blood, sweat, and tears but even after all this time, I feel like I hardly learned anything...Is it just because I lack determination or ambition? I know I've got plenty of that, but maybe it's because I'm not entirely made for my quirk...I know I'm only thinking of this now, but I've kind of always felt like my quirk was never really on par with what I was made for. Like my quirk wasn't built for me. No, more like...

I don't have the right one... But that's stupid. Everyone who has a quirk is stuck with it and you can't change it. It may not seem fair for some people but that's just how it is. It's not that complicated and I'm an idiot for thinking the quirk I was born with isn't the right one. It's just bullshit...

"E-everyone, I'm looking forward t-to hearing all your st-stories of how fun camp was!"

Mina says between sobs. Midoriya tries to calm her down as Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sato all look down in the dumps as well, all because they couldn't pass the practical exam. I admit I was a tad nervous about whether I truly did pass seeing as I never made it out of the gate.

"M-maybe they'll end up letting you go! There might be a last-minute twist or something!"

Sero puts a hand on Midoriya's shoulders as I stare awkwardly at Mina, confused on how I should go about comforting her.

"Stop it, Midoriya. By saying that out loud, you're just jinxing them."

"They said whoever fails the exam would have to skip training camp and live in summer school hell. We didn't pass the practicals so we're doomed! Don't you get it Midoriya?!"

Kaminari whines as he pokes Midoriya in the face.

"Calm down, Kaminari. I'm not sure I'll get to go either. My team only passed thanks to Mineta. I got knocked out. And since we don't know how they're scoring stuff I mighta flunked."

"At least bring us something back from camp please!"

The door opens and everyone gets to their seats. Seeing as I'm already in mine, I watch Aizawa walk in.

"When the bell rings everyone should be in their seats."

A moment of silence as Aizawa walks to the podium in front of the class.

"Morning. Unfortunately, there are a few of you who did not pass the final exam. So when it comes to the training camp in the woods, everyone is going."

I sigh out of relief. I preferred it that Mina come with us or else I wouldn't have anyone to talk to.

"We really get to go to camp?!"

Kirishima says as joyful tears grow in Mina's eyes.

"Really?!"

"Yeah. The good news is that no one bombed the written exam. Five failed the practical, badly. Two teams of course, and then Sero failed as well."

Sero face palms and groans.

"Aw, crap. I knew it. Mineta made it to the gate but I didn't do near enough to pass..."

"Allow me to explain. For the practical battles the teacher made sure to leave a way for the students to win. Otherwise, you never would've stood a chance. We were interested in observing how each of you worked together and approached the task at hand."

"But didn't you promise that the teachers wouldn't be holding back?"

Ojiro asks as Aizawa grins.

"That was just to get you on edge. Besides, the training camp will focus on building your strength. Those who failed need those lessons the most. We were never going to separate you. That was just a logical deception we used."

I can't help but laugh a little as Mina and the other four who failed freak out a little over this as Iida stands up and raises his hand high.

"Mr. Aizawa, this is the second time you've lied to us! Aren't you afraid we'll lose faith in you?"

"Calm down, it only makes sense he would want us to do our best instead of half-assing the whole exam, right?"

Iida turns around and faces me, annoyed with my comment as he chops the air with his hand.

"But trust is very important!"

I shrug a little as he sits back down and Aizawa directs the class back to him.

"Either way, It's a good point. I'll consider it. But I wasn't lying to you about everything. Failure is failure. We've prepared extra lessons for you five of you and frankly, they'll be far tougher than what you'd face at summer school."

The five who failed grimace as Aizawa dismisses the class for lunch. While making my way out of the classroom, I almost bump into Bakugo. I guess I decided to give him some space afterward because I figured he would be pissed off at the fact that Midoriya had to carry him through the escape gate. I didn't feel like being at the receiving end of his explosions, nor did I want to look at him in fear I would think he's cute all over again. Yet I could never deny facts nor could I deny the idea that I liked him. Maybe as a friend or a sparring partner for training, but nothing more than that. Although, hardly anything I say at this point stays a lie forever...

Ojiro hands Iida a blue pamphlet as Mina hands me one just like it and smiles.

"This is gonna be great! I'm so glad we're all going together!"

Iida inspects the contents of the pamphlet.

"Looks like we're gonna be at the training camp a full week."

"I've gotta find a bigger suitcase…"

Midoriya comments as Kaminari agrees with him.

"Yeah, I don't even have some of the things we need. I guess I have to buy some stuff."

"Guys, since we're off tomorrow and we finally finished exams I have the best idea! Why doesn't class 1-A go shopping together?"

Toru says excitedly as I flip through the pamphlet.

"Hey, yeah! We've never hung out as a class before!"

Kaminari gives a thumbs up and Kirishima turns to Bakugo, who walks towards the exit.

"Hey Bakugo, see you there right?"

"I can't think of anything more annoying."

Smirking, I glance at Bakugo as I resist the urge to tease him. Just a little. Partially forgetting about how I thought he was cute earlier. I turn back to Mina and hand her back the pamphlet as she beams at me.

"Are you gonna come, Ritsu? It would be so much fun!"

I shrug lightly as she eagerly awaits my answer.

"I'm not sure."

Bringing my voice to a shy whisper, I lean towards her ear.

"I've never done something like this before so I have no clue what to do anyway."

She gasps dramatically.

"Then you have to come! And you're required to do it with me! We haven't hung out properly yet so this is a perfect opportunity!"

I nod and smirk awkwardly as she smiles.

"This is gonna be so much fun!"

Mina excitedly grips onto my arm as I stare out at all the people, stores, and stands in awe. I didn't know there could be so many in one place. Wearing a simple casual outfit consisting of my black jacket tied around my waist, a pair of plain straight jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt and a short-sleeved red T-shirt over it, and lastly a boring looking grey backpack over my shoulder. Mina on the other hand wears a loose purple shirt with a pink decal on it and denim shorts with a red shoulder bag that hangs down to her hip.

"Oh, man do I love this place! It's like a whole bunch of stores to shop at and they're all super cool!"

Mina cheers as Midoriya mumbles. I keep staring as a stranger points at us.

"Woah, aren't those U.A students?"

"I saw them on TV!"

"The sports festival was awesome!"

Another stranger compliments 1-A as I feel put in the spotlight. Ochaco seems to feel the same as she chuckles awkwardly.

"I can't believe they still remember that!"

Everyone else talks about what they should do as Mina smiles at me.

"Where should we go, Ritsu?"

I shrug.

"I'm not sure. I don't need that much. Maybe some hiking shoes or something."

She claps her hands together.

"Perfect! I can show you all the best places! And on top of getting you something for the training camp, we can get some boba tea afterward!"

My attention gets drawn back to the group.

"Why don't we split up and meet back here again when we're done?"

Kirishima suggests and the class agrees.

"Great, let's say we're all back at around 3?"

The class agrees as Mina suddenly pulls me towards an escalator. We get on and she lets go of my arm as we slowly ride up to the next floor.

"Alright, the first store is something I know you'll like! It has a lot of outdoorsy type clothes so it'll work perfectly with what you need!"

I nod, trying my best to have an open mind about this experience, even if I feel like crawling back to my room at home due to all the people around. But, I try to bear it nonetheless. When we reach the top, she pulls me into the store she mentioned and points out all sorts of items. Little did I know, all while class 1-A and myself were shopping and enjoying ourselves, Midoriya had a visit from Shigiraki. And soon, so would I, including two new members that would most certainly rub me the wrong way. Even when I thought Shigiraki was convinced I was completely loyal to the League, that only meant he had doubts in his mind. And the way he would choose to terminate them would feel like a ticking bomb. Except there were only a few seconds on the clock, and I had to act fast.