The first semester at U.A. had ended. Many things had happened to Class 1-A: they'd gotten a first-hand taste of fighting villains at the U.S.J., they learned about each other at the Sports Festival, some of them had crossed paths with the Hero Killer, and then they all got through their final exams. But just because the first semester was over, that didn't mean it was ok for any of them to slack off. There were still many threats on the horizon, evils lurking in the shadows, and they all had to be ready for those threats to come! They all needed to prepare for the future, work harder than ever to surpass their limits and push themselves to the breaking point!
Shoto Todoroki was one of those students, and right now, he was impatiently waiting for his father in one of their training rooms. The night before, the young teenager had sent his father a text message, telling Endeavor to teach him about Flashfire Fist. The number two hero had been greatly shocked by this text when he'd read it, for he'd never imagined his son would be the first to bring it up. Shoto had also said he wanted to train with him the next day, on one of his free days. Endeavor had no problem with the suggestion, for this was exactly the moment he'd been waiting for.
The teenager looked up and saw his father coming through the sliding doors with loose-fitting clothes, and the movements of his body indicated a sense of eagerness and determination. In the hero's eyes, this was Shoto demonstrating that he was ready to take the first step, accepting his help and ready to be mentored under him. Shoto could see this in his father's unusually bouncy demeanor, so he decided to set some things straight before formally starting.
"Before the two of us get started on anything, there're a few things I'm gonna say." The teenager looked down at his right hand. "All the quirk training you beat into me as a kid, I've put into practice with my right side. Thinking back, it's no wonder, since I couldn't escape my hatred towards you. Then I got into U.A., and I was shown how much farther I have left to go. During my fight with Kageyama, using my left side was barely enough to keep up with him, and with all the years I spent neglecting the training with my flames, I couldn't use any fancy moves like you can. Then I saw the way he, Midoriya, and Bakugo all worked together during the final exams and actually managed to defeat All Might by putting the handcuffs on him."
The flame hero let out a deep gasp. All Might was actually defeated in battle; even if he was very likely holding back, the very fact that a victory could be achieved against the number one hero was extremely remarkable. Shoto could see just how shocked his father was. "Seeing how strong Kageyama was, all my experiences so far at U.A., they opened my eyes. Endeavor, in the end, I'm behaving just the way you've wanted me to, improving my flames to their fullest potential."
Shoto clenched both of his hands into tight fists. "But let me make something clear to you: the man I admire is the one mom and I watched on TV when I was a kid. As a student of U.A. High working to be a hero, I need to become worthy of the title "hero", whatever way I can. Right now, I'm here to use you, got that? So don't get any ideas. What I said before hasn't changed a bit."
The mere mention of that conversation brought Endeavor back to Fuyumi's admirable but sadly unsuccessful attempt to get them together as a family for dinner. Endeavor had thought that since Shoto had brought up training on his own, he'd been ready to open his heart and accept him! He couldn't believe how unbelievably foolish he'd been to think that such feelings could change in such a short amount of time. Regardless, Enji knew that Shoto had every right to feel this way, so it was Enji's job to suck it up and deal with it.
"Very well. Come outside." The number two hero walked outside to their expansive backyard, where there were multiple dummies placed in a row. "During your match with Kageyama, though you demonstrated great firepower, you lacked significant control over your flames. You attempted to mimic that explosion boy's movements of propelling himself into the air at high speeds using those explosions, something a bit too similar to how I propel myself through the air." Shoto rolled his eyes: God, his father could still be so petty. The hero noted his son's facial expression, quickly realizing his mistake and correcting the behavior. This wasn't the time to gloat about his own abilities: that wasn't what a father did.
"However, when you tried it, your flight was slow and uncontrolled because your flames were not focused into a single point. That even applies to your first attempt to make Kageyama surrender: it was a very good strategy that nearly succeeded, and had your flames been more concentrated, the force would've been much greater, and you could've potentially succeeded in forcing his hand sooner. In order to master Flashfire, the key components will be to compress your flames, then building up your maximum firepower to release it for a brief moment.
"First, you're going to practice on those dummies. You've already shown considerable skill and finesse with your ice, being able to use both large-scale and precision moves, as well as choosing what you want to freeze. What I want you to do is to try and compress your flames to a single point: the head of the dummies. Instead of simply targeting the entire body, you'll try to focus on just hitting that one spot. That will be your first step."
Shoto nodded and took a deep breath through his nostrils, exhaling through his mouth. "Try taking the mental image you use to shape your ice and apply it to your fire." Extending his hand outward, the teenager did as his father said and unleashed a burst of flames that enveloped the entire body of the dummy. He attempted to imagine the fire narrowing in the same way he imagined his ice traveling a forward path, and while he could see the fire slightly narrowing, the effect was only minimal, and only the hands and wrists of the dummy were becoming visible. The teenager strained in the effort to compress the flames any longer, and stopped.
The old Endeavor would've kept telling his son to push harder and not stop after less than ten seconds of maintaining the flames, but now Enji attempted to take a new approach, a more patient and kind demeanor that mirrored the way Kageyama spoke to him. "Good effort, Shoto. As you said before, you applied all the lessons I taught you into your ice for a very valid reason, so it will take some time for you to train your left side to be as efficient, but continue putting the effort, and I'm confident you will reach my level of skill soon. The summer training camp will be a good testing ground to show your improvement with your flames."
Shoto's face remained neutral at his father's attempt to cheer him up. He could tell the stark difference to the heavy beatings he'd endure and the harsh words reminding Shoto of his legacy that was present for all his previous training sessions with his father. The teenager couldn't help but wonder what would come, if there was really anything else he could get from this training besides stronger flames.
While personal training in the Todoroki household may not have been going over very well, in another household, Momo Yaoyorozu was doing her own training regiment. In her mansion, she was swimming many laps in her pool while her father stood by and timed her, writing down the times for each lap. He sat near on a table near the pool, watching her daughter's forward strokes and the remarkable speed with which she was swimming. This was much faster than what he'd seen from her a few months prior.
After the 20th lap, Momo decided to stop at the edge of the water, breathing heavily while her father approached her.
"Thank you again for helping me record my times," said Momo.
"My pleasure, Momo." The father decided to take a seat at the edge of the water, perplexing the young teenager. "You know, Momo, I've noticed a few changes with you these past few weeks. You've become much more active in the house, studying more diligently and training yourself than I've ever seen before. And then there was the other day, when you thanked your mother and I out of nowhere, a very touching gesture that we both sincerely appreciated. If you don't mind me asking, what's the reason for this change in behavior?"
Momo rested both her arms onto the edge of the pool and placed her chin on top of her joined hands. "I suppose I've been inspired." The father raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "Though you may not know it, Kageyama has influenced me beyond just the words he spoke to me in the garden. In fact, I'd say he's influenced many of our classmates. He's shown me and the entire class that more than having a strong quirk, it's important to have a strong character. It's why so many of my classmates and even students from other classes joined the Body Improvement Club. I think we all saw it as a way to become better people, to strengthen ourselves beyond just our quirks. The intense training we undergo during those practices has made me determined to push myself in my own ways, which is why I'm doing what I can to become stronger and increase the rigor of the exercises I do at home."
Momo's father felt even more intrigued, amazed at the way this young boy was able to inspire such change and passion into not just his daughter, but the rest of his class as well. Now he wished he'd been there the week before, to get the chance to really observe Kageyama and get a good look at the boy who'd made such an impact on his daughter to be better.
About two weeks had passed since the end of the first semester. After the students had started their summer vacation, it allowed for each of them to spend some more free time and get about to their own personal activities while waiting for the summer training camp. Well, at least, that was the case for some of them. For others, it was the chance for them to more fully integrate into some personal training. While Todoroki and Yaoyorozu were both hard at work, their two other classmates, Midoriya and Kageyama, were having their own difficult training. Currently, the two of them were sparring against one another in the barren landscape where Mob had his matches against All Might.
When Kageyama told All Might about how Midoriya wanted to be a part of their sparring matches, the number one hero immediately went out of his way to speak to Midoriya and clear things up.
"Midoriya, I apologize for not telling you about the sparring matches. I'd believed it was more of an area that young Kageyama needed to improve, but it was unfair of me not to ask you whether or not you wanted to join as well. You two are both my pupils, after all, and you deserve to be treated like that. So please, forgive me."
The hero's sincere, heartfelt apology was more than enough for Midoriya, who gladly accepted it and participated in the sparring matches. With the inclusion of Midoriya in their sparring sessions, All Might had decided to change a few things: instead of them fighting All Might, the two of them would fight against each other, and neither of them would use their powers, and on occasion, one of them would spar against All Might in his true form, allowing the hero to correct their fighting styles and how to improve upon them.
As Kageyama had said before, when it came to close-combat, Midoriya was the one with greater skill, having taken notes on the fighting styles of many different heroes and being able to apply them rather well in these sparring matches. Regardless of this, it was still a good opportunity for Midoriya to improve those fighting skills, to hone the fighting styles he'd implemented from other heroes into his close-range combat. The same applied for Kageyama, who was able to find an easier opponent in Midoriya than with All Might. However, that didn't mean that Midoriya was just fodder either.
After having done some basic exercises and practiced some fighting moves, the two of them were currently engaged in a close-quarters sparring match, and neither one of them seemed to get the edge over the other. Mob launched several quick jabs, though Izuku was able to either dodge or block most of them, with the exception of a few that landed on his chest and lower stomach. The green-haired teenager ducked one of Mob's jabs, using the moment to get in close and counter with a powerful jab to the stomach. The esper groaned and momentarily clutched his stomach in pain, but not before retaliating with an uppercut to Izuku's chin.
Mob attempted to follow up with a strong jab to the chest, but unfortunately for him, Izuku quickly countered with the same move he'd already used twice in the first semester. Grabbing Shigeo's arm, he used his friend's momentum and threw his body over his own, slamming him down into the ground. Izuku pinned him down to the ground to stop his movements and decisively end the battle.
"Alright, I think that's enough for today," said All Might.
The two teenagers agreed: Midoriya released the hold on Kageyama, then offered him a hand. When the friend looked up to accept the hand, he couldn't help but notice that his bright expression was slightly dimmer than usual. Now that he'd thought about it, he'd been nominally less jovial around him for the past few weeks, ever since the end of the final exam. But the stray thought left his mind as soon as it entered: it must've just been because Midoriya was taking these sparring sessions very seriously.
Shigeo and Izuku walked up to their mentor and eat sat beside him. While sitting, the hero decided to give his two cents on what he'd seen so far. "I'm liking the skills you two are displaying. Your movements have started to flow more naturally, your muscles have begun to develop combat memory. You've both shown me that you've already become experienced combatants who could hold their own in a hand-to-hand fight. Keep this up, and you'll become even greater fighters." The two teenagers beamed with pride. But as the three of them sat there, Mob recalled the other serious matter he wanted to discuss with his teacher.
"All Might, I want to try healing you again." The number one hero's lips pursed into a line. The past two weeks, Kageyama had attempted to heal All Might's injuries on three separate occasions, hoping that he'd gained enough experience to finally restore the hero's organs. Sadly, none of these attempts bore any fruit, and it was a problem that began to seriously affect the esper. But this time, the teenager hoped that he'd succeed.
Watching intently, Midoriya grimaced when he saw the horrendous scar as All Might lifted up his shirt. The young esper placed his hands on the site of the injury and began channeling his energy. Energy flowed all around Shigeo, moving to his hands and into the hero's body, commanding it to repair the lost organs. Mob grunted, his lips curling downwards and trying his best to make All Might's body heal the way it wanted.
77%
For more than forty seconds, the esper remained in that position, channeling energy into the hero's body, until finally, he dropped his hands.
"Did it work?" asked Midoriya. His friend took several deep breathes before he gave an answer, but judging from his grim expression, Midoriya already had a guess as to what his response would be.
"No." Frustration began to boil inside him, and he stared at his empty hands. "It's not working. I'm able to heal broken bones and torn muscles just fine, but for some reason, I still can't regrow body parts. It's like... there's something missing, something I can't see, but I just don't know what that is."
"Kageyama, don't beat yourself up about this." The number one hero affectionately placed a hand on the esper's shoulder. "I know you're trying your best to help, and I truly appreciate that. Just give it a little more time, and it'll come to you."
As the hero was giving his student words of support, Izuku took a look at his phone and felt his eyes bulge open when he realized what time it was. "Kageyama, we've gotta get going! The Body Improvement Club practice is gonna start in ten minutes!"
Hearing this snapped Mob out of whatever sense of frustration he'd felt before, and he promptly got back up, ready to meet up with his other classmates. After all, this wasn't the only type of training that he needed to keep working on, and he sure wasn't willing to give up on it now.
Running across the white-sand beach with sweat pouring down their bodies, the members of the Body Improvement Club continued to press on, working through the pain. Among them, there were some new members who'd been keen on joining the club and who were all committed to strengthening themselves: Jirou, Ojiro and Ashido all pressed forward, running right beside the rest of their classmates. In order to increase the intensity of the training and push themselves even further, Mob had decided to increase the distance they ran to ten kilometers. Though it seemed like a big increase, the club members were still holding on.
While sprinting, Tsuyu began to feel herself give in to fatigue: running on two legs for so long wasn't something she usually did often. But if she could hop on all fours, that would be a different story... The girl nearly gave in to temptation, but before she could take the position, she felt an arm grabbing her. She turned and found the captain of the Body Improvement Club holding her up.
"Come on, Tsu," Mob said, "Don't give up. You can keep going." Though difficult to tell with her frog-like face, Tsu shone her friend a genuine smile and did as he said. Running in the group, there were a few others who were almost ready to follow Tsu's lead by slowing down, but like her, there was one club member at the ready to help each of their friends keep going.
"Alright, we've only got a half a mile left!" From the front of the group, Izuku shouted out to the others, and Shigeo decided to run back up to the front to join him.
Brimming with passion, Izuku shouted the club's mantra. "Body Improvement!"
"Fight on! Fight on! Fight on!" Speaking the mantra, hearing the powerful determination in Izuku's voice, it gave them all a boost of energy that allowed them to rush forward, ignoring the exhaustion and shouting the mantra through heavy breathes. Finally, the teenagers made it to their destination. As soon as they finished their run, quite a few of them fell to the ground, though some of them were strong enough to remain standing. While they were all catching their breathes, Mob looked over the members of the Body Improvement Club with pride swelling in his heart, whatever frustration he'd been feeling before instantly dissipating.
"We've all gotten stronger these past few months." The exhausted teenagers mustered up whatever energy they had to look up at their captain. "We've all managed to reduce our run times by several minutes, and even when we doubled the distance, all of you managed to keep going. Each and every one of us keeps pushing forward: I've seen the way you guys always catch one another just before they fall, push them to keep going, and more than anything, I think that's what's allowed us to get so much stronger. So let's keep pushing forward, keep lending each other the strength to get back up and fight." Though his words were soft and his tone was not filled with the passion that Midoriya used, the words still carried with them a powerful weight, a reminder of the importance of teamwork and the lengths they went together to make themselves stronger.
"That's right!" Kirishima, impassioned by the esper's words, decided to speak up. "Every single person here deserves to be called a man! If we can make ourselves stronger like this, then I'm sure the summer training camp's gonna be a breeze! Am I right!"
"YEA!" The infectious passion was spreading through several of the club members. They knew that the summer training camp was right around the corner, and they knew that it wasn't going to be a cakewalk, but after all the sweat and tears they'd shed under the Body Improvement Club, they'd be able to face the challenges of the training camp head-on! They were sure of it!
The day had finally come, the day that so many of the students of Class 1-A and 1-B had been waiting for. The students of Class 1-A were all standing outside the bus in their school uniforms, their suitcases and other belongings having already been packed inside the bus. Many of them felt like jumping up in joy, barely containing their excitement while the wide smiles on their faces gave them away.
Their homeroom teacher was there to remind them, however, that this training camp wouldn't be all fun and games. "Now that you finished your first semester is over, it's time for your summer training to begin. However, don't think this time will be for you to rest for you heroes in the making. At this camp, we'll push you to go beyond your limits. You're aiming to become plus ultra."
"Yes sir!"
After having finished talking, the other classmates began to converse amongst themselves. Ochaco, one of the very excited students ready to go to camp, rushed toward Izuku. "I'm so psyched! I've been looking forward to this camp all semester, Deku!"
Izuku's face turned beat-red, and he frantically waved his hands. "Oh yea, it's definitely close, huh?" The girl starzed quizzically at her friend.
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm just a little hot!" Ochaco rapidly blinked in confusion, until she remembered what Aoyama said to her during the Final Exams. Her face turned just as red as Izuku's, and she took several hurried steps away from him.
"Let's here it for camp!" Ochaco rapidly began clapping her hands in excitement, with Ashido and Kaminari deciding to join in on the excitement. But before the excitement could spread to the rest of the class, the ever-heated Monoma spoke up.
"I heard some of Class A's taking extra courses! Does that mean they actually failed the final exam? That must be so embarrassing, especially since you're supposed to be so much better than my class! All of you must be wallowing in shame!" Coming in from behind, Kendo chopped her classmate on the neck to stop his excessive ranting, then carried his unconscious body into the bus.
"Don't mind him."
Standing alongside them, the rest of Class 1-B waited to leave for the summer camp, though the air of animosity that had lingered in the Sports Festival could not be felt by anyone at the moment.
"Nice to see you guys outside of the Sports Festival," a Class B student said, "Guess that means we're not technically rivals anymore."
"Yep," the esper nodded in agreement, before acknowledging the member of the Body Improvement Club from Class 1-B. "How are you, Tetsutetsu?"
The manly student's grin widened across his face, and he clenched his fist. "Feeling super pumped for the training camp! I'll be sure to push myself to fight on, just like the Body Improvement Club always does."
"Right on!" exclaimed Kirishima, eliciting a small smile from the esper.
The two class presidents instructed their classmates to get on the bus, though Iida, being the strict leader he was, instructed his classmates to form a single line in an orderly fashion based on the seating order prepared by him. The students eagerly complied, the energetic Ashido and Kaminari still bouncing in anticipation. Only a few more hours until they finally got to the summer training camp!
The bus ride was longer than they'd anticipated: they'd all passed the time by talking with the classmates they were seated next to, sharing stories, catching up on some missed sleep, or even just blankly staring out the window. After about two hours of travel, the bus came to a stop at a high peak on the mountains, the time 9:30. As the students got out of the bus to stretch their legs, they took note of the expansive forest and tall mountains stretched all around them. This seemed like a rather secluded area, and one where you wouldn't expect any villains to show up at.
At the same time, many of them were curious about the reason they stopped at such a high point.
"This isn't much of a rest area," said Kirishima.
"Where's Class B?" Mob inquired.
"You all didn't really think we came here just to stretch your legs, do you?"
As soon as they got off the bus, Mineta immediately began scrambling, desperate to find a toilet nearby where he could urinate. The young student stood in front of his homeroom teacher, his eyes unfocused and frantic. "Please sir, the toilet!"
Aizawa ignored his students, instead paying attention to something else in front of him. As it happened, there was another car waiting for them at this peak, but none of the students knew who it was. The people in the car got out and decided to make themselves known to Class 1-A.
"Hey, Eraser."
The unkempt teacher respectfully bowed his head. "Long time, no see."
From the car, there were two young women who wore nearly identical outfits. They consisted of a sleeveless, collared top, and a large ruffled skirt. What stood out more, however, was the many feline features they added to their costumes, such as the large white gloves with retractable claws, the set of cat ears on their heads, but most peculiar, the actual tails that flicked behind them. Besides their differing facial features, the only difference between them were the distinct red and blue colors of each of their costumes.
"Your feline fantasies are here! Say meow!"
"Perfectly cute and cat-like girls!"
"You can call us, the Wild, Wild Pussycats!" The two women took dramatic poses, and standing beside them, a young child with a scowl on his face watched in annoyance, looking as though he'd rather be anywhere else.
"These're the pro heroes you'll be working with this summer," said Eraserhead. Most of the students were put-off by their dramatic entrance and the poses they struck, especially since none of them knew these heroes at all. However, the hero encyclopedia Izuku was able to enlighten them with everything he knew about them.
"They're a four-person hero team who specialize in mountain rescue! The Pussycats were founded when we were kids, like forever ago!" The two women felt their bodies tense up: poor Izuku didn't know one of the golden rules when it came to women, and he was about to pay the price.
"This marks their twelfth year working as-" The boy was cut off by a paw to the face, as one of the blonde-haired Pussycats, Pixie-Bob, abruptly cut him off.
"I'm pretty sure your math must be off!" The woman retracted her claws from her free hand. "I'm eighteen at heart!"
"Understood!"
Watching this, Mob remembered having made that same mistake before, when he was fighting the female Scar during his attempt to rescue his brother. She hadn't taken very kindly to being called old, either. He'd be sure not to make the same mistake again.
"Everyone, say hello."
"Hello, nice to meet you!" the class said in unison.
"We own this entire stretch of land out here, everything you can see." The other Pussycat, Mandalay, pointed her finger to a location far off into the distance, surrounded by many trees and too far for any of the students to see clearly. "The summer camp you're staying at is there, at the base of the mountain."
The entire class was startled. "That far?" The startled feeling they were all experiencing quickly began to turn into confusion, and then into dread.
"Wait, then why did we stop all the way out here?" questioned Ochaco.
"I think we both know the answer to that," Tsu replied.
Sato shook his head in disbelief. "That can't be right."
While the other students were beginning to feel the dread and panic sink into their hearts, one of their classmates was there to remind them of something vital.
"Don't worry, guys." From the crowd of students, the bowl-haired esper walked to the front. "I can just use my psychic powers to fly the class there. It'll probably only take a few seconds."
The worried features on their faces instantly faded, and the jubilant excitement they'd felt earlier the day was returning. They'd completely forgotten that Kageyama could use his telekinesis in that manner.
"Hey, that's right!"
"We can always count on Kageyama to watch our backs!" said Sero.
"This'll be easy! Come on, Kageyama, let's not waste any sweet camp time!" Kaminari excitingly shouted.
"It might not be as easy as you think..." Pixie-Bob stared at the class with a playful yet devious smile: from deep within the forest, the students saw the leaves rustling, birds flying away in fear of something rising. From the forest, about twenty monstrous creatures flew up into the sky. The students all cowered in fear, and Mineta came dangerously close to leaking.
"What the heck are those things?" said Ashido.
"They look like dragons!" Kirishima remarked.
Pixie-Bob playfully licked her lips. "My quirk, Earth Flow, lets me manipulate the earth in whatever way I want. I can even use it to make those cute things I like to call Earth Beasts. I saw your performance at the Sports Festival, Kageyama. I know you're good, but can you really fight all my Earth Beasts by yourself while helping your classmates get to camp?"
The other students grew nervous: she made some pretty solid points. Even for Kageyama, he couldn't take so many of those monsters on by himself while carrying them. Pixie-Bob's tail flickered with excitement, waiting for the esper to crack under the pressure of these odds. But Shigeo's face didn't even move an inch.
80%
Mob's aura came to life, and he lifted his hand into the air. He was pretty sure he knew how to handle this. Suddenly, all of the Earth Beasts flying in the sky began to move on their own, all slamming into one another. The monsters were quickly being crushed, molded into a gigantic sphere of Earth. Shigeo flicked his hand down, and the sphere came crashing down to the earth with tremendous force, creating shockwaves that scared away whatever birds had chosen to stay while a huge cloud of dust was rising.
Everyone watching felt their eyes widen like saucers, stammering at the unbelievable ease with which their classmate had defeated the Earth Beasts.
"He took them all down like they were nothing," muttered Shoji.
"And he did it from so far away," Tokoyami added, "I never knew his quirk had such a long range."
Baffled by the display of power, Izuku's muscles grew rigid. The ease with which Kageyama was handling these dirt monsters was phenomenal. Every time he thought he'd seen the most of what Kageyama's power had to offer, he kept on getting hit with new surprises.
Bakugo's frustration and fury was much more pronounced, his body trembling while the vein on his forehead throbbed uncontrollably. "Damn it, bowl-cut..." murmured Katsuki.
Pixie-Bob stood speechless, in disbelief that so many of her dirt monsters could be taken out at once and with such little effort. But what came from the esper next was an even more unexpected move for her: with a straightened posture, Mob respectfully bowed his head.
"My classmates have all been really excited to go to this camp, and I really don't want for them to wait any longer than they have to. So if it's alright, could you please let me fly them to the camp without attacking us, pretty lady?" The esper used the experiences from before to try and make this request with as much respect as possible, making especially sure to say the opposite of what he'd said to Tsuchiya. Pixie-Bob felt a small tinge of red appear on her cheeks, a sign that Mob's last comment had managed to elicit the flattery he'd been hoping. The feline heroine took a moment to respond, one of her playful smiles creeping up on her cheeks while her tail flickered wildly.
"You've got quite a way with words there, huh," she said, "It almost makes me wanna let you kitties off the hook, but..." The small hope that they'd get to start training in earnest right then and there was squashed by the devious look in Pixie-Bob's eyes.
"I'm not that sweet!" The young woman jumped behind the class, then placed her hands to the ground. From those hands, the ground quaked, and a massive wave of dirt swept the students off their feet and down into the forest.
Mandalay chuckled. "I almost thought he got you there," she said. She walked to the edge of the cliff and shouted to the students.
"Good news! Since this is private land, you can use your quirks as much as you want! Kageyama, you're not allowed to use your quirk to fly yourself or your classmates to the camp! Sorry, but you've gotta get there the hard way! You've got three full hours! That should be more than enough time for you guys to make it to the facility, if you can all get through the Beast's Forest! Kitties who don't make it by then won't get any lunch, so good luck!"
The rest of the class dusted themselves off, aggravated at the sudden turn of events.
"Why do we always fall for Mr. Aizawa's stupid tricks," Jirou remarked.
From the front of the group, Mob picked himself back up dusted the dirt off his clothes. "Sorry I couldn't convince them to let me fly you all there. But don't worry: I can handle the dirt monsters myself. You guys don't have to push yourselves, not when it's so early in the morning. Just leave it to me."
The psychic teenager summoned his power and rushed off into the forest to find whatever monsters still remained in the forest. While some of the classmates were relieved to not have to wander through the forest to fight an army of monsters, others weren't so keen to be on the sidelines.
"Like hell I'm gonna sit here and let bowl-cut take all the glory!" Bakugo shouted, "I'm goin' in there to kill those monsters myself."
"I'm right there with you, Kacchan," replied Deku.
"Yes, let us not place all of the responsibility on Kageyama's shoulders." The class president walked to the front of the group, extending his hand outward into the forest. "We're all students in the hero course of U.A. High. We must live up to our school's name! Now let's go, Class 1-A!"
"YEA!"
Four of the strongest students barring Kageyama sprinted out into the forest, consisting of Shoto, Izuku, Katsuki, and Tenya. They each sprinted through the woods, trying to find a route to the camp while searching for any monsters that stood guard. What they found, however, were the destroyed mounds of previous dirt monsters that Kageyama had already finished obliterating. From up ahead, they could hear him punching his way through the monsters, feel the small shockwaves from his punches.
Indeed, the esper was finding this to not be very much of a challenge at all. When it came to things like this, whether it be robots, dirt monsters, or evil spirits, Mob had scarcely found any real difficulty in fighting them. The monsters roared, swiped their claws at Mob, but the psychic would obliterate their bodies with a single punch before their claws could even move an inch. Even when being surrounded by multiple dirt monsters, he found it to be of no importance, and destroyed all of their bodies with equal ease.
Though it seemed like Kageyama was going to take all of the fun from the rest of the classmates, there were still a few lingering dirt monsters that he'd missed. These foes were prey for the others: when Katsuki and Shoto spotted one of them up ahead, Shoto used his ice to freeze the monster's foot while Katsuki blasted it's body. On the other end, Izuku and Tenya encountered a dirt monster and used a combined effort to take out its limbs and main body with great efficiency. The rest of the class would also manage to find a few of the dirt monsters themselves, using teamwork and a combination of effective quirks to vanquish the beasts. But regardless of how the rest of the class was doing, none of them could deny that Kageyama was still the one doing all of the work.
Up on the cliff, Pixie-Bob was keeping track of all the Earth Beasts using a high-tech navigation system built into her goggles. But she was quickly growing worried at the ridiculously fast pace her dirt monsters were being obliterated.
"My dirt monsters... Kageyama's taking them all out with a single punch..." The heroine placed her hands to the ground, using her quirk to summon up dozens more dirt monsters to target the esper, while making sure to create a few more for the rest of the class to deal with. This was still their fight, after all...
While Pixie-Bob was busy with Class 1-A, Mandalay and Eraserhead decided to head to the camp and wait for the students to get there.
"Kota, we're leaving." Mandalay called out to the young child, who was staring out into the forest with a spiteful look in his eyes. Unlike everyone else, Kota was not impressed or amazed by the power that Kageyama had displayed. For him, Mob and the rest of the class were putting their efforts into a worthless endeavor. For Kota, it was a pointless effort, to be a hero...
The noon-day sun was shining above the camp. The heroes were waiting for Class 1-A, wondering how long it would take them with Kageyama at the front charging against the dirt monsters.
"Pixie-Bob, you alright?" Mandalay asked, "You're looking a bit tired." Standing several feet in front of her teammate, Pixie-Bob was panting heavily, her shoulders hunched and her arms drooped to the side. She'd been forced to push her quirk to the limit in order to keep up with Mob: even after throwing those monsters at him over and over, he still tore through them like paper. It was unreal!
"Look, there they come." From the edge of the forest, the students of Class 1-A emerged from the forest. Their uniforms were muddied, and some of them were breathing hard. They still had to fight a good deal of the monsters after Pixie-Bob decided to divert some of them to deal with them, and having to fight those monsters in quick succession wasn't exactly easy. The more experienced combatants were relatively fine, the number of monsters they had to deal with sufficient enough to handle without overly exerting themselves.
But standing far above everyone else in the class was Shigeo Kageyama. Though his clothes were rather muddied, everything else about him seemed perfectly fine. He walked with a normal posture, his breathing was normal, and his face was as expressionless as usual. It was as if he'd just finished taking a stroll through the woods.
"Mandalay said we'd take three hours to get here, but we couldn't have stayed in there that long," said Sato, "It must've been two hours at most."
"An hour and a half would probably be a better estimate," Yaoyorozu replied.
"We probably got out of the forest so easily because Kageyama wiped the floor with most of the dirt monsters for us," Kaminari remarked.
Mandalay looked at the time, and let out a gasp. It was barely five minutes passed 11. It had taken even less time than they'd predicted: hell, she'd estimated that based on how long the HEROES would take, so they finished even faster than actual pros. And it was all thanks to Kageyama...
"I seriously *pant* can't believe you took down *pant* so many of my dirt monsters. I must've sent more than *pant* two hundred of them after you, and you still got through all of them. I pushed my quirk to the limit, and you're *pant* not even breathing hard!"
More gasps spread throughout the students of Class 1-A. Did they really hear her right? Two hundred? None of the others had to fight more than fifteen of monsters, but he'd managed to plow his way through more than two hundred of them? Pixie Bob licked her lips, giving Mob a look that caused shivers down his spine.
"I call dibs on this kitten! I'll groom him myself!" The heroine suddenly began to pamper Mob, surrounding him as she marveled over him, only causing the esper to grow more nervous and his face more red. The rest of the class watched in awkwardness as their classmate was being coddled by an older woman.
"Mandalay, has she always been like this?" Eraserhead asked.
"It's gotten worse lately," she replied, "She's at the age to take a mate."
Overhearing this, Izuku asked a question of his own. "Speaking of people's age-" Any attention Pixie-Bob had on Mob was now firmly put on Izuku: she repeated the same motion of putting her hand over the teenager's face, her aura darkening quickly.
"Choose your words carefully, boy."
"I've just been wondering since we got here, who's that kid, and what's he doing here?" Midoriya pointed to the small child wearing a red hat with horns, the one who looked as though he'd rather be anywhere else.
"This little guy? He's actually my cousin's son, he just lives with us now. Don't be shy, Kota, say hi to everyone. You're gonna be around them for the next week." Mandalay introduced the boy, doing her best to get the child adjusted to the group of students. Izuku approached the young child and attempted to introduce himself.
"Hey there, my name's Midoriya. I'm from the U.A. hero course. It's nice to meet you." Kota had no interest in reciprocating Izuku's attempt of friendship: instead, in a baffling display of cruelty for a young boy, he punched the teenager in the scrotum, causing Izuku to groan in perpetual agony.
"You fiend of a child!" Tenya sprinted over to Izuku's side to try and help him up. "A punch to the scrotum is unforgivable!"
But Kota wasn't intimidated or guilty of his actions, and stared back at Tenya with veins in his eyes. "The last thing I wanna do is spend some time with a wannabe hero!"
"Wannabe? How old are you, kid?"
Unlike Tenya, Katsuki looked on with a rare smile on his face, amused that Deku got a heavy blow to his jewels. "That brat's got spunk," he said.
"Enough playing around." Eraserhead put an end to the foolishness that was occurring. "Get your bags out of the bus. Once your bags are in your rooms, you'll have lunch in the cafeteria. We'd planned to wait until tomorrow to start your training, but since you got here much earlier than expected, and none of you seem especially tired, you'll change into your gym clothes and begin training in earnest after lunch."
The students all made their way toward the bus to unpack everything, but Shigeo decided to help with that as well. Using his telekinesis, he lifted all of the bags out of the bus and laid them out for everyone to grab them.
"Wow, thanks a ton, Kageyama!" Ashido beamed, "That makes this way easier!"
The esper was glad he could help and make things easier for the rest of his class, and he hoped that Class 1-B would come soon so he'd get the chance to say hello again to his fellow Body Improvement Club members.
After being given a basic layout of the facility they were staying in, the students all placed their belongings in their respective rooms and made their way to the cafeteria, where lunch had already been served by the Pussycats. However, according to them, this would be the only time they'd be feeding them. After lunch, they changed into their gym clothes as quickly as they possibly could and dashed outside, where their teacher was waiting for them.
"Today will be the start of the training camp that will increase your strength. Our goal is to increase your skills exponentially so each of you receives a provisional license. This will allow you to fight the dangers that fester in the darkness, so proceed carefully. Kageyama, look alive." Aizawa threw the esper a ball that was very familiar for Mob.
"So you want me to throw it like in the fitness test?" he said.
"That's right. I thought it fitting, since you had the longest throw. When you first started, your record was 947.1 meters. Let's see if you've improved."
Ashido quickly picked up on what their teacher was trying to prove. "I get it! We're checking out our progress!"
"A ton's happened to us since the start of the school year!" Sero said, "I bet he'll be able to throw it a mile and a half now!"
The esper took his stance, surrounding himself with his energy. Remembering the last time he did this, he repeated the same motion with the same general indifference he'd used when he'd thrown it the first time, and flung the ball through the air. In comparison to his first throw, this one was exponentially stronger: the sonic boom carried with it much greater force, and the shockwaves formed managed to push all of the students back a few inches.
When the distance was recorded, the generally apathetic teacher couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock, and the students had an even more pronounced reaction when they saw how far the ball had gotten.
"3672.9 meters?" Kirishima shouted, "That's crazy! Guess it really shows that Kageyama's actually gotten a lot stronger these past few months."
"Not really," Kageyama replied, correcting his assumption, "I used about less than half of my full power with my throw in the first semester; this throw, I used about eighty percent." The tone in his voice wasn't arrogant or boastful: it was just a normal speaking voice, simply stating the facts. The teenagers all stood bewildered, being shown again how remarkably simple all this was for him, to be able to achieve such feats without even using his full power! Watching this, Izuku felt a light stir in his stomach. Just what else could Kageyama do? How many times would he show him and everyone else in the class up like this? How could any of them possibly keep up?
Eraserhead attempted to get the students back on-track, running his hand through his messy, oily hair. "Ok, clearly Kageyama wasn't the right person to illustrate the point I was trying to make. What I was trying to get at was that during your semester at U.A. High, you attained a various amount of experiences that helped all of you improve. But those improvements have mostly been limited to mental prowess and technical skill, with a slight increase in stamina thrown in along the way. Your Quirks themselves haven't improved on a fundamental level, which is why we're gonna be focusing on improving your powers. When you exercise, the muscle fibers in your body break and then grow back stronger. The same thing applies with Quirks: at this camp, we're gonna break your bodies and your quirks to make them stronger than ever."
A twisted smile appeared on the teacher's face, and Class 1-A all knew what followed could only be bad. "You'll be pushed so hard, you'll feel like you're dying. Let's hope you all survive."
The twisted smile quickly faded, and he took out a notepad from inside his pocket which contained the information on each of the different training regiments they'd prepared for the students in preparation for this. Mr. Aizawa then proceeded to call out the names of teach of the students, telling them their specific exercises and directing them to where they'd go. During the lunch period and while they'd been changing, the Pussycats had prepared everything for the students. Pixie Bob used her quirk to mold the earth into the ideal shape for each of the students, while the others had gathered the equipment each of them would need.
After calling out the names of all of the students, the only one remaining was Mob himself.
"Kageyama..." The teacher looked up from his notepad and gave the esper a blank stare. "Come with me." Mob gave Mr. Aizawa a confused look, but still went along with him. The two of them walked far away from the other students, to a more secluded area very similar to the barren valley where he'd been sparring with All Might and Midoriya, somewhere Mob wouldn't have to worry about getting other people hurt in the crossfire.
"So how're you gonna be improving my psychic powers?" Mob asked.
The Eraser Hero actually managed to let out a chuckle. "Kageyama, I'd say that you are the sole exception to everyone in Class 1-A. As you've displayed countless times during the U.S.J., the Sports Festival, and even today, you possess an unbelievable amount of raw power. Even when you don't undergo one of those explosions of power triggered by your emotions, the strength you possess is still more than enough to handle practically every other student of Class 1-A." Shota raised his finger, as if to make a counterargument.
"However, there're two things I've noticed you need improvement on. The first problem is that you lack skill and diversity with your powers. For instance, when you fought All Might in the Final Exam, though you did perform remarkably, you only fought using your fists, even though it was abundantly clear that All Might was superior in hand-to-hand combat, a mistake that nearly cost you the final. The only other attack you used was crushing him between two buildings: not only did it fail to stop him, but it was unnecessary damage done to the property. You have to remember that a hero must keep damage as low as possible.
"Then there was today, when you were fighting the dirt monsters. Though you did do an effective job in eliminating them, I was able to tell you were only using punches and not trying anything else in your arsenal. What I'm trying to say is that when it comes to fighting, you rely too much on these basic techniques. You aren't able to think outside the box with your powers. I told you this at the U.S.J., just before I was about to fight, that you can't be a hero if you only have one trick. In the unlikely but still possible event that you encounter someone of equal or greater strength, you want to be able to catch them off-guard, surprise them with different moves and make it harder for them to react or counter your attacks.
"The other weakness is your inability to attack and defend with your psychic powers. Both Bakugo and Todoroki exploited this weakness when they fought you. If you overcome this weakness, it will provide you a tremendous benefit, allowing you to multitask by simultaneously fighting villains and protecting citizens.
"Therefore, during this training camp, I want you to learn how to use and master your psychic powers in different ways. I'm going to have you fight more of Pixie Bob's dirt monsters, but while fighting them, you aren't allowed to defeat them using physical force or your telekinesis. Instead, you're going to work on using different psychic techniques. During the Sports Festival, I saw you used some energy blasts against Tokoyami and Todoroki. If you trained to mold your energy, you could create a multitude of different energy attacks against your opponent, but this is all on your shoulders, since I don't know how your psychic powers work. Is there any other technique you can use?"
"Hmmm..." Mob had never really put much thought into pushing the limits of his psychic powers, using them in different ways. He'd spent so much of his life trying to avoid utilizing his powers that thought never really occurred to him. But Mob knew fully well it was possible: it wasn't at all difficult for him to mold his energy, pick up new techniques. In fact, he already thought of a technique that he knew Mr. Aizawa would especially like...
"I guess I can use the Air Whips." Mob held out both of his hands. He'd already seen Terada and Hanzawa use this technique, so he already had a good grasp on how to conjure them. He closed his eyes: all he had to do was imagine the whip in his mind, shape his energy, and then...
Mob opened his eyes, and sure enough, there were two light blue whips floating from his hands. "Back in my reality, I saw one of my friends copy this technique, but this is the first time I've ever used these whips before."
This statement caught the hero's attention. "Wait, you mean to say that you're able to copy techniques after having only seen them once?"
"Yea."
Shota felt himself momentarily stagger backward, and he placed his hand over his eye as this information sunk in, though Mob didn't understand why his teacher was making such a big deal out of this. "I swear, Kageyama, you always keep finding new ways to surprise me.
"Since I've got time and experience, I could teach you how to use those whips effectively, since they're basically the same as my binding cloth."
Just as they were talking, Pixie-Bob appeared from nearby to finish the accommodations for Mob's training. "Here're some more of my dirt monsters for you! Have fun!"
The hero placed her hands to the ground, and three more of the creatures of the earth rose up, ready to fight the first visible things in sight. The teacher jumped up onto a nearby ledge, planning to survey from afar.
"Lemme teach you some of the basics with the whips!"
"Ok." The esper had his whips at the ready: this is where his training would finally begin!