Three dirt giants, one dirt beast. Two of the giants had snuck up behind Izuku. One was right ahead with the beast growling. He'd taken to categorizing the dirt monsters in three categories: Giants, due to the fact they looked like giant men made of dirt, beasts for their feral nature and four legged design as well as speed, and hybrids, that seemed to mix features of both.

Izuku took a deep breath then it began, the dirt beast rushing him by itself but still slow enough he had time to manifest Far Reach, throwing it around the dirt creature's neck and instead of yanking the beast around, he ended it swiftly with a harsh slam into the ground.

The rustling of dirt behind him alerted him that he couldn't relax yet and green lightning burst off his form as he called upon full cowling, dropping down before turning and punching right through one dirt giant while Far Reach became Far Lance in his other hand, and he dispatched of the second giant at the first's side just as quickly with a simple decapitation.

He turned to the final dirt giant with a hum. "If you're going to get in my way at least be effective about it."

The dirt giant let out something akin to a growl and threw parts of its body at Izuku like projectiles which he batted away without a second thought before rushing behind the giant faster than it could keep up with.

"Might as well test a new move on you." Izuku glowered, a dark edge to his voice as Far Lance exploded into millions of tiny tendrils.

He commanded them all to wrap around the dirt giant before putting down as much pressure as possible into the dirt giant, not stopping until it was cut into pieces from the pressure. Izuku didn't bat an eye as he turned and continued running towards camp, using Far Reach to fling himself over the tree line and Far Reach to stick the landing and run faster, occasionally even up some tree's fling himself further ahead.

Eventually he found himself dropping into a clearing, standing up and looking around before his marked hand ached and he realized several dirt beasts had come barreling out the forest on all sides at him. His expression darkened, and right as the beasts were about to reach him…

He faded into the ground below, into the shadows before shooting out suddenly behind one of the beasts with a One For All uppercut that ripped the beast in half. He landed on his feet in time to use Premonition on the closest one, seeing how it would rush at him with its pack following, how its paw would hit a snag and cause it to tumble in the air.

Reality came back and Izuku saw it was already tumbling as the real time had still passed during his vision. He wasted no time using his Far Tendrils to grab the beast properly and use it to batter two over beasts away before throwing the beast into the air.

Two more were left and Izuku formed Shadow Brute just in time to grab both by their heads, crushing them and throwing the bodies away as the beast that had been thrown skywards crashed into the ground and became dead dirt as well.

Then the ground rumbled, making Izuku blink in confusion before jumping back as almost all the dirt in the area nearly crushed him as they started swirling around. One Hybrid came rushing out of the sudden dirt tornado at him making him go wide eyed but with a quick backflip onto a tree trunk he could launch off and deliver a powerful kick, its chest was completely decimated. Izuku turned to the tornado and cursed under his breath as an actual dirt giant was made, standing roughly a few feet taller as a decently sized house.

It let out a roar and immediately tried to crush him but Izuku dodged, before going into a handspring to avoid the way the appendage began swiping across the ground. Then he ran and leapt onto the arm and, without a second thought, used Far Reach along with Full Cowling to catapult himself at the giant with speed, shifting into Shadow Walk halfway through as his shadowy appendages dug right into the giant to grip, climbing up it with eerie inhuman movements before he reached the head.

For once, he fully accepted the dark voice of the monster screaming to kill, letting his sharp claws take over as he pushed down and went slicing through the entirety of the dirt monster until he hit the ground and reformed, backing away to see what remained of the giant shaking before it crumbled to pieces.

"Waste of time." Izuku sighed under his breath, just wanting to get to the cabin at this point and continued on until finally he flung himself out into another clearing. This time one where there were actual buildings, chairs, a garage and a driveway. He'd reached the end.

With a sigh of relief, he looked around to see if anyone was present before taking a seat in one of the chairs, breathing quietly to himself as he waited on someone to arrive and tell him what was next.

He wasn't sure how long he waited there, having decided to rest his eyes after a moment or two but he was fairly certainly it couldn't of been more than fifteen minutes at most before he was jolted into awareness by the sound of an approaching car, making him look up to see the Pussycats, Aizawa and a little boy pulling up and exiting the vehicle.

Izuku stood up and made his way over to see that while Aizawa looked the same as ever, the pussycats were looking incredibly impressed while the kid just didn't want to look at him.

"Meow! That's the most purrfect time I've seen someone who isn't a pro has got in the forest!" The blonde with the blue outfit, Pixie-Bob, cheered excitedly. She seemed to suddenly move as if she was going to rush over but her arm was caught by Aizawa's capture scarf who shook his head no, confusing the others.

"Well done, Midoriya." Aizawa said, instead of explaining to the cats. He looked Izuku in the eyes, although it did feel a lot like he was calculating every word he said which did leave a pit of annoyance in Izuku. "Can't say I'm surprised. Seeing as it will be a while before your classmates get here, I think we'll start your training early."

"Alright." Izuku hummed, waiting for his instructions. Aizawa turned to the brunette Pussycat, Mandalay, who paused for a moment before going wide eyed and nodding. Then she turned to him.

"I believe you're an empath?"

"Yeah, it sucks." He answered honestly and she purred quietly in thought, before going inside. Izuku could hear some rattling going on, and while she was gone Izuku turned back to Aizawa confused.

"I told Mandalay one of my students had an empathy power. She agreed to help said student, as telepaths and empaths share common ground. She'll be helping you block out the emotions so you don't get overwhelmed, while I write notes for the class and the other cats set up lunch." Aizawa explained lazily, walking inside with the other cats. Izuku could hear them talking inside and he turned to the kid last, blinking at the four-year-old.

"And who are you?" The marked teen's curiosity got the better of him, considering holding out a hand for the boy to shake. Then, somewhat amusingly considering they were just talking about it, Izuku felt his empathy flare up as the boy growled and started to move, trying to throw a punch right at his crotch.

His magically enhanced reflexes kicked in and before he knew what was happening his marked hand shot out, Far Tendrils bursting out and wrapping around the brat's arm, yanking him into the air and making him yelp as his eyes went wide.

Izuku paused in shock for a moment, a rush in his brain having been completely ready to kick him into the wall before he realized it was a kid still, and he quickly put him down, ignoring his now fear filled eyes as a simple quiet request escaped him.

"Don't."

He let the tendrils fade and the kid ran off, turning Into stomping halfway through. A moment later Mandalay came back out with a confused expression before sighing. "Did something happen?"

"Your kid trying to hit me in the crotch aside? Nothing." Izuku shrugged and she sighed, gesturing for him to follow along.

"Sorry about him. He's… difficult, he doesn't like heroes. I'll talk with him later, just try not to be too hard on him, he's still learning." She said, and Izuku bit down the urge to say anything about her teaching, before realizing it had never been reported that Mandalay had a kid. And Mandalay didn't have black hair… "He's my nephew, he's staying with us cause… Well, he has nowhere else to go."

Oh. Well shit, now he felt bad. He couldn't focus on that for long though as Mandalay sat down on the grass, readjusting her visor and pulling out a book as she patted the grass, inviting Izuku to sit as well. He rose a brow in confusion but did so, resting his hands on the ground laying back slightly while his legs were crossed.

"Do you know what my quirk is?" Mandalay asked suddenly, almost making Izuku jump. He paused for a moment before nodding, he was pretty well aware of all the Wild Wild Pussycats quirks. Tiger's Pliabody quirk that allowed him to stretch and flatten at will, Ragdoll's Search quirk which would allow her to monitor up to a hundred people and identify their weaknesses, Pixie Bob's Earth Flow quirk he had combatted earlier that allowed her to freely control earth for any purpose… then finally there was Mandalay's quirk-

"Telepath. You can send a telepathic message to as many people as you want within a certain range as long as you know who you're sending the messages to. It's an emitter type, and you activate it at will." He states matter-of-factly, the usual energy he'd do so gone, just fact being stated in a dead voice He just wanted to move on.

"You're… pretty well informed. At least of the officially known version of my quirk." She hums, making him look up confused. "One part that is incorrect is it's activated at my will. It's a misconception, one I don't usually clear up to have an advantage but… well, my quirk is actually activated constantly, never ending."

Izuku went wide eyed at the implications of that, looking down in surprise.

"Of course, this was majorly problematic. All my thoughts spilling out to everyone, all the time without my control or consent. Everyone knowing what I was thinking all the time. I had to get it under control as soon as possible, and that's where we can relate." She threw the book over to him, letting him catch it and open it to see it was a bunch of… Math's problems? Riddles? What? "Empaths and Telepaths aren't too different, although we share a bit of dissonance in that I project my thoughts while you take in the emotions of others. There is not much overlap, but there's still enough that I feel we can figure it out if we start from the usual place I did."

"Okay?" He looked back confused, waiting for a proper explanation.

"We'll try to occupy your mind with coherent thoughts. If that doesn't work, we'll move on to trying to focus so intensely on one emotion another can't take over. Essentially, we're trying to build a mental wall, something to block out everything that doesn't come from yourself. We'll be able to tell if you're making progress because…" She closed her mouth, yet Izuku still heard her mouth. "These messages will become less and less clear the better you get."

"…That's really cool." Izuku couldn't help but admit, having never been on the receiving end of a telepathic quirk before. Mandalay chuckled and nodded.

"Glad you like it. Now, let's begin!"

Despite the fact they had hours to practice, Izuku found himself incredibly frustrated when, even after going through every method Mandalay suggested, the most progress he'd managed to make was blocking out a single word in Mandalay's message. 'This – a test message.'

It seemed his frustration was beginning to get written out on his face as well as Mandalay sighed, pausing for a moment. "Alright, let's take a break."

"I've barely managed anything though." He grumbled out quietly, wanting to hit himself. He couldn't do anything right. Maybe Tooru was better off away from him, with him being such a gullible pathetic idiot- He shook his head for a moment, looking down. 'The hell did that come from?'

"You've managed a lot more than I have." Mandalay assured, standing up. "When I was a kitten, it took me two whole weeks to manage to block out whole parts of messages, best I was usually able to manage was distorting it. You're a fast learner, don't worry."

'Doesn't really feel like it.' He sighed internally, also standing up before he felt several empathic spikes, making him blink. It was Mandalay testing him again he didn't think, so he turned confused and realized what it was.

Out of the woods, dirty, tired, heaving and struggling came his class, all dragging themselves along. Mandalay chuckled at his side. "Midoriya, can you go inside and let Tiger and Ragdoll know the class has arrived? I'll go greet them."

He nodded, briefly meeting Tokoyami's eyes as he moved, who he nodded to and got a nod back, making him feel a bit of relief that it didn't seem they were mad he'd ended up deciding to run ahead.

He walked into the main cafeteria area where he could see the two Pussycats he was looking for hard at work. The green haired, yellow eyed Ragdoll looked up and beamed. "Hiya kitten! Need something?"

"The rest of the class just arrived." He said simply, noticing that while plates were out they weren't set yet. "Do you need help putting the food out?"

"Oh you're sweet! Yes please!" She purred, nodding to Tiger who handed him some finished plates, giving him instructions on where to put them and why. Between the three of them it only took about five minutes to set the whole thing, with Izuku halfway through setting the last table when the rest of the class walked in.

They all heaved forward tired, some looking at Izuku in surprise while others just focused on the food, gunning for it. Izuku just nodded and fell back, going to a fairly empty table where he didn't think anyone would show up with some food of his own on a plate.

His theory that he'd be left by his lonesome was proven false just a few short minutes later when he heard the bench in front of him scraping and looked up to see Kyoka, dirty and disheveled putting down a bowl of rice on the table before sitting down, sighing at being able to stop moving.

"Tough challenge?" He winced, hoping she wasn't about to yell at him. She groaned, taking a few bites of her food and downing half the glass of water beside her before she spoke.

"Incredibly. My back feels as stiff as Todoroki's ice." She complained, making Izuku wince again. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything. "No one blames you."

"H-Huh?"

"No one blames you for running ahead. We all saw what was happening and it was hella awkward. We knew something was gonna have to give and well… As much as Todoroki may resent saying it, and Bakugou will try to deny it, it's pretty clear you're on an entirely different playing field than us sometimes."

"I d-doubt I'm that strong." He tried to brush off, almost in denial, only for her to deadpan at him.

"Oh yeah, because so many in our class could go toe to toe with even a weakened All Might and win."

"….F-Fair point."

"So no one blames you for going ahead, we're here for training our quirks right? The Pussycats need accurate understanding of our powers, so holding back wouldn't make sense and… well…"

"The class worked better without me teamwork wise." He guessed, making Kyoka wince this time and him sigh. "Don't worry, I'm planning to practice on my own anyways outside of lessons."

"That's not… I'm telling you that's a fluke." She said with a frown at his plan, making him look up unconvinced. She sighed, before furrowing her brow. Her jack suddenly shot out but not to stab him, brushing against the side of his lip for some reason before coming back, letting Izuku see it had some of the gravy from his own lunch on it which she wiped off with a napkin. All the while she kept talking as if nothing was happening. "Everything's up in the air, they just… need to see you're still you. And you need to stop hiding, you won't get things back to normal hiding like a hermit."

"So what do you want me to do?" He questioned, ignoring the way his cheeks had heated up somewhat from Kyoka's actions. He really hoped Tooru hadn't seen that and got mad. Wait… "And why aren't you sitting with Tooru?"

"…That's the second time you've asked that." She blinks, narrowing her eyes slightly before shaking her head. "I'm not sitting with her at the moment so I could tell you, there's a spa area in here. All the guys are going in one side, all the girls in the other. I wanted to ask you to join the guys."

"Kyo-"

"If not for you, for me." She continued, giving him sad eyes that made his heart hurt he knew he wouldn't be able to refuse. "I want things to get better for you, but they won't if you keep hiding away. So please?"

"…." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Alright, fine. If you want me to join them then I will."

She smiles softly at him, a rare sight but one he always cherished. "Thanks Green. I should probably go now, and uh…"

'See your girlfriend.' Izuku mentally finished for her, but outside his head he just waved his hand. "Yeah, I know…"

"Right. Just call on me if you need me, still always got time for you." She assured him, making a very small smile appear despite himself as she walked off to Tooru. He really couldn't say no to her, huh?

Oh well, maybe the Spa's wouldn't be that bad.

Oh he was wrong. He was so, so wrong. The spa was horrible.

The second he'd taken off his clothes and put on the towel, it was like every single thing about himself he disliked became disturbingly clear. The slight stubble on his legs from the hair he shaved off due to it always feeling awful to him, his many scars and bruises and marks, all marring his body and making him try to cover each one up only to find yet another, the way his freckles were slightly asymmetrical, how big his eyes were-

On and on he could go but he didn't, trying not to think about it so hard he threw himself into a panic attack when he entered the Spa and it all felt worse as eyes turned and saw him. Fortunately, no one over analyzed the scars, but the tension in the air was more palpable than expected.

Izuku could feel several boys tense just as he did as he stepped into the water, and while Iida had been his loud usual self…. "Ah! Midoriya! Welcome! It is good to see you are joining us in a good class bonding activity!"

Izuku could feel the awkwardness from the others, and when he'd uttered a simple hello the slightly stilted or otherwise short greetings just screamed no one was quite sure what to do when he sat down.

So awkward and horrible, and he was exposed, so many scars exposed, so much to hate and hate being seen, so much desire to snap at everyone to stop acting like he was some reforming villain but also at the same time a desire to just melt away so it would stop.

Why did he think this was a good idea?! Maybe he should go, this wasn't good, no, he hated this-

Then, along with everyone else, he heard it. He'd been ignoring Mineta's voice in the background along with everyone else until he'd heard the tell-tale sound of his quirk being used, turning to see Mineta climbing the wall separating the boys and the girls.

Izuku ignored Iida's angry yelling as his own mind took over, pissed off on behalf of his friends on the other side and the others. He'd had his warning when they'd been in the locker rooms before.

Izuku didn't hesitate to throw out Far Reach, grabbing Mineta by the midriff and yanking him off the wall. Unfortunately, in his anger, the green haired teen had pulled too hard and Mineta was not the only thing that came flying off, but a large section of the wall followed.

He heard the young scream before he saw it, looking up and paling as he saw Kota hurtling through the air. No thoughts were present in his mind as he burst forward, green lightning crackling around him as he ran up the wall, using Far Reach to launch himself and grab Kota, holding him tight as Izuku turned and aimed, landing safely on his feet with Far Reach.

He breathed heavily, ignoring the shocked stares of everyone else as he checked Kota over, noticing he'd passed out, cursing and rushing off to find one of the Pussycats or Aizawa.

He should have known this was a terrible idea.

"He just passed out from the rush of the fall." Mandalay summarized with a sigh while Izuku sat awkwardly on the couch, way too aware of how exposed his body was. "Thank you for catching him."

"It was my own fault for breaking the wall." Izuku tried to butt in, only for Mandalay to shake her head.

"No, it's that boy's fault for ignoring the rules, I don't blame you for getting angry on your friend's behalf. Accidents happen and you stopped anything truly bad from happening." Mandalay assured him, sighing. "I don't think this will help his view of heroes though…"

"…What is his view of heroes? Does he hate them? And if so, why so much he'd be willing to attack even heroes in training?" The questions spilled out before he could stop them, looking down. "I just… How can someone so young be that upset and angry?"

Mandalay sighed, pausing and seeming to try to collect herself as if whatever she had to say was a struggle, before she continued on. "Kota's my nephew. His parents were the Waterhose heroes."

Izuku paled. He wasn't sure he'd felt this sick since he'd seen Naozumi's goons torturing Aki. He knew full well about the story of Waterhose, but even still, he found himself unable to speak or move as Mandalay relayed it to him from the perspective of someone who had known them.

Something that made it all the more sickening to hear how a villain calling himself Muscular had gone on a rampage for no good reason other than for fun, who had ended innocent lives for his own amusement, who had looked at two heroes with a son and had enjoyed bursting their heads open with his 'might'.

If he hadn't gotten used to demonic horror stories by now, Izuku would have been sick where he stood. For the first time ever, Izuku wanted to run his blade through a living person.

With that dark thought, he'd been dismissed and unable to focus on anything but the shock of what he'd been told.