Chapter 26
Training Camp (Part 2)
The training at camp was brutal. By the time day three had rolled around Rei was ridden with sore muscles, her regenerative powers already working on overload to ensure that her bruises and other injuries were prioritized and healed first. She knew that the best way to work out the soreness in her muscles was to get them moving, but that didn't make things any less painful. Waddling out to the training area once more, she raised her arms in order to stretch and groaned immediately at the motion, continuing to stretch her arms up and out in a wide circle strictly out of habit.
Yaoyorozu looked at her in sympathy. "Tsuki-chan, you should let me make a compress at the end of training tonight."
Shrugging her shoulders, Rei lifted a hand to her mouth as she yawned, a jaw splitting motion that had her blinking blearily and licking her lips afterward. "No, it's fine. Your quirk was exhausted last night. I can't imagine tonight will be any different."
The cobalt eyed girl had opened her mouth to reply, but Aizawa had appeared in front of the class, the Pussycats not far behind him. "Good morning. I hope you got enough sleep to face the trials we have for you today. Report to the same members that you did yesterday for your training schedule this morning. That is all."
Rei patted Momo's shoulder sympathetically, the two parting ways as Rei made her way over to Pixie Bob. Along the way Uraraka joined her, looking rather stressed and a bit worried about what sorts of trials were ahead of her.
Well, she had been the one thrown around in that hamster ball afterall. Rei couldn't blame her for being nervous about being subjected to that sort of torture again.
Much to the gravity girl's fortune, she had been charged with carrying large pieces of debris around the field for a long as possible without losing control or vomiting. With a sigh of relief she had given a wave to Rei before taking off, approaching a pile that Pixie Bob had created for her and getting to work. With the other girl now gone, the blonde pro hero turned her eyes to the golden eyed girl, appraising her once more.
"You did pretty well yesterday. I'll be honest and say that I was impressed with your performance."
"Thank you?"
The woman grinned. "But you have a lot of work to do before you become good. Are you ready for today?"
There it was. Start with a compliment and end with something vaguely degrading. Still, Rei was up for the challenge. Nodding her head, she looked Pixie Bob in the eyes, showing her determination. "Bring it on."
"This morning, you'll be taking an extended run." Pointing off into the distance, Rei turned her head to look at a mountain that was quite a ways away, definitely more than a few miles away and longer than the run she had done on the previous morning. "See that mountain? There's a type of granite that you can find at the peak. You'll know what I mean when you see it. Bring a piece back to me as proof that you've ascended, and come back."
Stretching her quads out, Rei breathed in deeply to try and get her legs to wake up as best as possible before the arduous task ahead. "Any other details I should know?"
The grin that the pro hero sent her was unsettling, a glint in her eyes that made Rei suspicious of what was to come. "You'll be timed on this one. Do whatever it takes to make it back. Run, walk, or crawl, it doesn't matter."
"I don't like the sound of that," Rei muttered under her breath, but she dashed off in the direction of the mountain, eager to begin her task. The sooner she completed it, the sooner she could get back and start the next thing.
Taking off into the cool morning air, Rei darted through uncharted territory as she weaved through the protection of the large trees overhead, appreciating the coolness instead of the blazing hot sun. Her head was on a constant swivel, not fully trusting that Pixie Bob had told her everything about this training exercise. Half of her was ready to fight off more of the earth beasts that she had dealt with the previous day, muscles in her back and core tensing as she remained on high alert. With every step she took she tried to ensure that it was soft, leaving her ears open and ready to hear any sort of unnatural noise that might alert her to an oncoming battle.
As time wore on and she proceeded further and further into her run, the muscles in her body and in her legs in particular began to unwind. It was funny how a night of sleep could made one turn even more stiff and unmoveable, any motion painful and aggravating from a long night of laying dormant on a futon. Swinging her arms as she went in order to try and restore her full range of motion, she took time to warm her neck up as well, keeping things in working order as she progressed.
Scaling the mountain was not such a terrible task as she had imagined, although it definitely tested her jumping skills and warmed up different parts of her legs as she leapt from outcropping to outcropping, scaling the side of the mountain as fast as possible. The good news was it wasn't a sheer, flat, perpendicular landscape to the ground, meaning that Rei didn't have to get her nails dirty by digging them into the hillside in order to ascend to the top.
Like sand in a bellybutton after a day at the beach, dirt underneath her claws was something she abhorred. It made her feel grimy and uncomfortable, even if every other part of her was sparkling clean, and above all else it was difficult to clean. Why did dirt have to get lodged in the most inconvenient places at times?
Ascending to the top with a heave and a final leap, Rei placed her hands on her hips as she caught her breathe. She hadn't stopped once on her way over to the mountain, keeping a steady and brisk pace the entire way. The morning coolness was wearing off, although at the height she was at the wind picked up and tousled her hair, wicking the sweat away easily. Taking a moment to enjoy the view, Rei looked around in all directions as she stood on a small plateau before returning her focus to her mission, eyes trained on the ground.
Just as Pixie Bob had stated, the ground was litered with pieces and chunks of pure granite, rocks flecked with varying shades of brown, white, black, and reflecting in the sunlight when she rotated it in her hand. Sifting through the pieces on the ground and eventually picking a piece that was just slightly smaller than her hand, she tucked it into the pocket of her jacket and zipped the pocket closed, securing it inside her clothing so that she wouldn't lose it.
"Good work, Akatsuki-san." Mandalay's voice rang in her head, and Rei instinctively looked back in the direction from which she had come. In the distance she could occasionally see flashes of people running around, as well as explosions coming from Bakugou as fire burst into the air at intervals. It was far off, making Rei marvel at how far she had come.
"Prepare for phase two."
Wait… Phase two?
Rei didn't have to linger long, as she heard a rumbling picking up around her. Sliding into a defensive stance she readied her claws at her sides, looking around her cautiously and waiting for the inevitable attack. Like the day prior she kept her ears peeled and senses open, waiting for the first beast to morph into creation and strike.
It had been a good guess as to the challenge that awaited her.
But it would have been better if she had turned her eyes to the ground beneath her feet.
The splitting of earth hit her ears, and Rei looked around frantically at the new sound. Fissures began crackling, the ground beginning to shake and tremble. Then, it happened. With a jolt Rei realized that her momentum was being taken forward, the earth sliding beneath her feet and sending her over the edge of the mountain.
There were no monsters today.
A mock natural disaster would suffice.
Shrieking as she found herself falling forward, Rei desperately began looking around herself as the land swiftly morphed into a coursing river of rocks and debris, falling swiftly to the base of the mountain and rocketing along its own course. There were bits and chunks of solid ground that were still holding together as they surfed the current, Rei jumping from her own position to a more solid looking piece just as the ground beneath her was swept away by the undercurrent. Landing on all fours she sank her claws into the dirt, trying to keep a hold onto the ground and keep steady as golden eyes searched frantically for a jumping off point.
When Pixie Bob had said to run, walk, or crawl all the way back, Rei had been insulted. Now that she knew exactly what the pro hero had in store for her, she felt slightly less irked.
She would take crawling on her hands and knees over being consumed by the earthflow.
A landslide. A freaking landslide. Hanging on for dear life, she watched as the flow began to spill out from the base and continue on the ground. There would be no respite from this, not until she returned to the central space where everyone was training. Golden eyes watched carefully as trees began to be uprooted and caught in the swarm, an idea forming in her head.
She would be hard pressed to watch her leaps and landings, especially with the additional weights she was now wearing and considering the fact that a landing too harsh could result in the submersion of her landing spot and subsequent drowning in the wash. It was certainly a new notch above the previous day, and half of her wondered if she could actually make it.
There was only one way to find out.
She didn't make it.
Somewhere along the way, she had misstepped and been sent flying into the deluge, getting spit back out at Pixie Bob's feet at the end with a groan. The pro hero had only laughed in her face, making comments about how dirty she was, which only irritated Rei more. But there was nothing to do other than suck up her irritation and gather the last bits of her pride before moving along to the next task. It was only natural that she would fail at some things, especially when the standard was high. Everyone was bound to break at some point along the road, but the only thing that mattered was how they handled it and moved on, if they found the power and will to move on at all.
After the change up in the morning Rei was sent back to sparring with the earth beasts, trying to increase her survival time again. To her dismay, Pixie Bob had increased the weights she was wearing, adding another pound to each band before she set off into the forest again. Her record of eleven minutes was barely beaten, only getting raised to thirteen minutes and filling Rei with frustration that she was already beginning to plateau. It was the second day, and she was feeling the wear and tear even more.
Some of that tear had been quite literal.
In the afternoon portion she had finally gotten close to breaching her previous survival time record, nearing twelve and a half minutes as she darted in and out of the greedy talons of the earth golems. With her adrenaline pumping she had delivered a particularly powerful kick to one of the creatures that had happened to get a little too close for comfort, determined to shatter it in one blow in an effort to ensure that her time was saved.
The kick was devastating, sending the creature into the ground with a single hit and instantaneously crumbling beneath the pressure as its face was sent colliding into the ground. But she had applied too much pressure, the strain pulling her muscles taut like a rope until it snapped. The pain had been instantaneous, and Rei had dropped to the ground unceremoniously as her mind was blinded by the searing nature of the wound. Crying out, she barely had time to dodge the next creature, rolling to the side and wincing in pain as she had somersaulted and pushed off with her legs. Something was wrong.
She tried to stand up out of the roll, but her right leg was unable to follow through, forcing her to collapse unevenly back down into the ground and landing on her palms that had reached out to steady herself. Inhaling deep gulps of air in an effort to try and calm herself down and prevent herself from panicking, she hadn't even registered that the onslaught had paused, the creatures melting back down into the ground. So focused on herself, she didn't notice that she was once again alone in the forest, not a sign of life around her.
A few minutes later the sound of footsteps quickly making their way toward Rei had her ears perking up. Blinking through the few tears that had instinctively appeared on her face, she looked up in surprise to find that Tiger had appeared in front of her. He helped her to lay down on her back, delicately prodding at her leg and running through a few diagnostics that sometimes had Rei wincing and hissing in pain from the exertion. When he was finished he began speaking, half to Rei and half to whoever was on the other end of his communicator.
"A torn quad. Nothing too serious, or anything that won't heal with time."
Sitting up, Rei watched as he listened carefully, eyes looking into the distance blankly as he processed the words of whoever he was conversing with. Rei was almost certain that it was Mandalay or Pixie Bob, considering that the two of them seemed to be leading the charge with most of the camp and handing out directions for the day. She waited for Tiger's decision, taking the time to massage out her other uninjured muscles.
Eventually he looked back down at Rei, nodding his head. "If you are unable, I can take you back to the dorms to rest."
"No!"
Rei had even surprised herself with how adamant she was to remain training with her classmates. Tiger's eyebrows shot up on his forehead, clearly surprised and slightly amused that she was so willing to challenge his decision and offering. Shaking her head, Rei tried to tone herself back. "I mean, please no. I want to keep training. I talked with Aizawa-sensei about this already. I heal at a faster rate anyway."
Raising a hand to his headset, Tiger muttered something back to the other side, paraphrasing what Rei had said as he looked away again. Waiting with bated breath, Rei kept her eyes on the large pro hero, awaiting the decision.
Finally, after what seemed like a century, he returned his gaze to Rei with a solemn nod. "You'll return with me to work with the power up types until your leg has healed to a satisfactory degree. I will decided when you get to return. No exceptions."
It was enough to make Rei grin widely, earning a small twitch of Tiger's lips as he stood up, offering a hand to Rei. After pulling her up to her feet, he began to lead the way back, motioning for her to follow him. "Be warned, if I even catch you slacking off a bit I'll send you away."
"Yes, sir!"
"Alright! Now that everything is in order, the next thing up on the agenda is..."
"THE TEST OF COURAGE!"
Rei jumped in the air at Ashido's sudden outburst, although she probably should have seen it coming from a mile away. Of everyone in their class, the most excited about camp had been Ashido hands down, who had started rambling on about camp activities from the moment that Aizawa had even hazarded a mention of it months prior. It all seemed so long ago, now that Rei thought about it. And yet, some things were even closer than she realized.
Like bugs.
The night was filled with chirruping and rustling and other cries of nature, sending chills up and down Rei's spine. She had stood particularly close to Yaoyorozu, terrified of what lingered in the trees unseen. It was probably the reason why she hadn't been paying attention to the way that Ashido had literally been vibrating with excitement as the night had fallen and both classes had been gathered out in the forest.
Others cheered in with Ashido, particularly some of the boys who had been equally as enthralled about the class trip from day one, but for the most part everyone seemed to keep a bit more level headed about the infamous test of courage. Everyone wore varying looks of excitement or apprehension of what was to come.
"Before we get to that-"
Aizawa suddenly appeared behind the group, and the individuals who had failed the final exam all collectively winced, knowing what was about to come. "It pains me to say this, but the extra lessons group will be having class with me now."
Rei snorted with amusement as their homeroom teacher swiftly used his binding ties to grab each of the students and drag them along with him as they departed from the main group. Ashido had shrieked in disappointment and terror, almost looking like she was ready to fight Aizawa himself in order to partake in the test of courage, but she at least had enough sense not to in the end.
Poor Ashido. She had been the most excited, and it was all for naught.
As the small group departed, the Pussycats took the stage once again, Pixie Bob stepped forward to explain the rules. "Alright, listen up! Class B will be the first to be the scarers. Class A will leave in pairs every three minutes. There will be tags with your names on them in the middle of the route, so bring those back with you! Those being scarers won't be allowed to make direct contact, so show us how scary you are with your quirk!"
"The class that makes the most people piss their pants with creativity and imagination wins!"
Simple enough. Tiger's addition at the end had been rather crude, but enough to pass the point across. As usual, it seemed that their teachers were taking every advantage to try and pit the two classes against one another in order to get a rise out of their competitive sides. Rei looked to Yaoyorozu, leaning over to whisper into her ear. "Do you like scary things?"
Smiling sheepishly, the other girl looked a little hesitant. It was enough for Rei to glean an answer without Yaoyorozu even having to say a word in reply. "Well, it's not my favorite thing…"
Offering a sympathetic half smile, Rei tilted her head. "It'll be fine. Just start imagining what we'll do to Class B once we finish."
The idea was enough to make Yaoyorozu smile a bit more earnestly, Rei's idea earning a chuckle from the creator girl. Perhaps it was a good thing after all to them to go first, since they could get a good idea of what would terrify the other class most. And with Yaoyorozu's quirk…
Rei smirked deviously, hiding her look behind her hand before wiping her expression as to not terrify anyone before they even started. Their round would be good, that much was for certain.
"Alright! We'll now draw lots to determine teams!"
Yaoyorozu sighed in disappointment, looking to Rei in fear. "It seems that every time we want to be a team we're broken apart."
Patting her friend's shoulder sympathetically, the two of them walked over to get their lots. "Well, we don't know until we draw our numbers…" Taking a slip from Pixie Bob's hand, Rei looked at her number. "Eight. You?"
Flashing her own with a red four, Yaoyorozu shook her head. "I'm sorry, Tsuki-chan. Best of luck to you and your partner." Disappearing into the group as Class 1-A continued to try and find their partners while 1-B left to make preparations, Yaoyorozu walked away in disappointment, shoulders a little more slouched than usual. Looking back down at her number for a moment before looking around, Rei noticed that most of the group was already finding their pairs. At this rate, that meant that…
"Ah, Tsuki-chan?"
Rei turned around, blinking as she took in Midoriya's slow approach. He raised his own number, flashing a matching eight to Rei's own. Raising her own ticket in response, she offered a small smile. "This is our first time actually being paired, isn't it?"
"Huh? Oh, right! You're right." Chuckling nervously, he crammed the paper into his pocket, scratching his cheek nervously. "Ah, I'm already a little nervous. Are you?"
"A little." Rei looked at her partner in sympathy before frowning a bit. "The last time I went into a haunted house, I ended up punching one of the actors because they got too close."
"I-I see…"
Shrugging her shoulders, Rei opened her mouth to say something, but was suddenly caught off by a familiar voice.
"Oi! Akatsuki!"
Rei turned around with a bit of an eyeroll, looking over to a Bakugou who was fumingly stomping his way over toward her direction. She felt Midoriya flinch a bit at Bakugou's rapid approach, but the blonde boy had no eyes for his rival, instead shoving his ticket into Rei's face. She blinked once slowly, raising a single eyebrow mockingly. "No, I don't want your number, in multiple senses."
"Quit being witty with me!" He stepped into her personal space, as though trying to intimidate her with his tall stature by hovering over her head, but Rei only folded her arms across her chest and stared up blankly, looking rather bored and unamused. "Trade numbers with me so I don't have to get paired with half and half."
"First off, Midoriya is my partner. Second," she started sharply just as red eyes glanced to the side to truly see Midoriya for the first time, snatching his attention back and forcing him to look back at her instead, "that's your own luck of the draw. Suck it up and get it over with. It's one activity for one night."
Bakugou glowered at her for a moment longer, the two matched in a stare down that lasted with searing intensity. Midoriya frantically looked between the two, uncertain if he should step in or not and risk having Bakugou's anger turn onto him. Eventually the explosive boy was the one to break things off, scoffing and rolling his eyes while storming away in Ojirou's direction. Rei flipped him off for a moment before returning to face Midoriya, face shifting to something much more calm and undisturbed, almost like nothing had happened. "Sorry, what were we saying?"
"Uh…"
"Are we all ready?" Rallying the group, Pixie Bob motioned over toward the starting point, a narrow path that led into the dark forest and disappeared out of view quickly. "First group, time to go!"
Shoving her hands into her jacket pocket, Rei sighed. "Looks like we'll have a bit of time." She was thankful that she had decided to wear a jacket. On top of her black leggings and black tank top, she added a loose zip up hoodie that was charcoal gray in color. Reina had bought it for her at some point, stating that she couldn't have everything be black in her wardrobe and had to have at least some splashes of different colors or textures. What mattered most was that it was lightweight and breathable, keeping her warm without becoming stifling.
"Tsuki-chan."
Golden eyes turned to Midoriya in curiosity, finding that he had a strangely curious look on his own face as well. "You, well, you seem to get along well with Bakugou now."
"Hmm." Shrugging her shoulders again, she allowed her gaze to find the explosive boy among the group. He apparently had given up on trying to find a replacement, instead settling for seething next to Todoroki, who wore a mixture of awkwardness and bemusement on his face. After watching him for another moment she turned back to Midoriya, shaking her head. Best to keep things on the down low. "I wouldn't say that."
"But it's true." Surprised at Midoriya's outright contradiction to her statement, she found herself speechless as he pushed onward. "No one gets away with telling Kacchan off, or even looking at him in a wrong way. He's always been tough, never letting anyone tell him what to do." He looked at her, face twisted in determination and confidence in what he said. "Of all of us here, you're the closest to breaking through that."
Rei was silenced. No matter how much she wanted to brush Midoriya's comments away, she was suddenly unable to do so. Midoriya, Bakugou's childhood friend turned rival, the one person who could light his fuse faster than an actual match, the one who had known him for the longest period of time. If Midoriya realized such a thing, then Rei couldn't ignore it or try to counter him.
It was something that had been on the fringes of her mind, all this time. Midoriya didn't know how close the two actual were now, especially that they had become neighbors and a whole slew of events had happened beyond the school environment. He didn't know just how far Rei had already broken, how she had seen his weakest, softest, most vulnerable, moments.
He didn't know about the moment the two had shared after the swimming training, about how everything had changed from that point onward.
And frankly, no one needed to know that. Zipping up her emotions and making sure her face was smoothed over, she simply shrugged her shoulders again in a nonchalant manner. "I suppose."
To her surprise, Midoriya smiled, looking down at his hands as he interlaced his fingers in front of him. "To be honest, I'm glad. U.A. has really changed him."
"It's changed all of us." Unfolding her arms and stepping closer to Midoriya, she poked him in the chest, much to his surprise as he looked back into golden eyes that held his own in warmth and teasing, a bit of mirth surfacing on her face. "You've changed too. Where's the boy that would endlessly stutter whenever someone so much as looked at you?"
Flustered, he began to stutter again, earning a soft laugh from Rei as she backed away, letting him collect himself in his own personal space. Eventually he settled on smiling, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "You too. You never smiled when we all first met."
"Yeah, well, friends can change you."
He didn't need to say anything back, the smile on his face growing wider at her words. Now a bit sheepish at her own admission, Rei scratched her cheek before turning away, looking back toward the entrance for the test of courage and looking at the group. Bakugou and Todoroki had already left, Jirou and Hagakure lining up and preparing for their advance into the forest. "I thought that time would pass a bit faster, but we're only on group three."
"Is that so?"
Rei glowered, staring off blankly into space. "Class B better not get tired of doing the same gags. If they half ass their attempts at scaring us I might actually slap someone."
"Tsuki-chan, that's mean…"
"I know." With a brief grin followed by a sigh she kicked at the ground, wincing at the movement. Her right leg was still partially healing, barely a quarter of the way complete as the muscle fibers continued to try and connect together. It wasn't painful enough that it bothered her at every moment, leading to small instances where she would forget and do an action that reminded her of her incapacity. "Damn."
"Are you alright?"
"Tore my quad during training this afternoon. Still waiting for it to heal up."
"Remind me again. You have a regenerative quirk, right?"
"That's right." Pointing to her right leg, the two of them watched as she tried to go through various tests, kicking it out and lifting it up. To her displeasure neither were very high, being barely able to lift it more than six inches off the ground. "Obviously it would take days, maybe weeks for someone to even get this much range of motion if they had the same injury. I would have healed faster if I had taken the rest of the afternoon off too."
"Oh, then, why didn't you? Actually, was that why you were training with me today after lunch?"
Nodding her head, Rei flashed the smallest and briefest of smiles, though it came out more like a grimace as she felt her quad screaming. "Can't afford to fall behind. If I can't use my legs, I'll use my arms. If we're here to train our quirks, then I won't be incapacitated entirely if I lose the use of one part of me."
"That's… a rather unique way of thinking about it."
"Gotta do what we gotta do."
"I suppose so." Midoriya clenched his own hands, most likely envisioning his quirk flooding through his body. "I need to increase my reaction and power up time, according to Tiger. That's what I've been working on."
"Must be nice to be able to turn your quirk on and off."
"Huh?" Looking at his partner in confusion, he tried to make sense of her response, face twisting as he processed her words and digesting her intent before responding. "I've never thought of it that way."
"Trust me, I have. Having to B.S. my way through physical fitness tests in elementary and middle school was a pain."
"Oh, that's right, since you can't turn your quirk off and it's a natural part of you. But isn't it useful to not have to mentally think about turning it on when you're fighting?"
Rei hummed, nodding her head in a small gesture. "That's true."
"Group five! Ready to start?"
Golden eyes watched as Uraraka and Tsuyu made their way into the forest, ears listening as the sound of screams were making their way toward her ears. They lingered on the forest for a few moments longer, trying to discern who was where as best as possible simply to test her abilities. She could make out Yaoyorozu's screech in particular far in the distance, although it was difficult to pinpoint her exact location. The first two groups were completely indiscernable, especially given the fact that neither Bakugou nor Todoroki had let out a single yell the entire time. Were they impenetrable to the frights that Class B was putting on?
Both Rei and Midoriya lapsed into a companionable silence, Rei continuing to stretch out her arms and legs as best as possible. It was after she extended an arm across her chest that Midoriya noticed the bangle on her wrist as it slid down her arm on the outside of her jacket. "Oh, Tsuki-chan, what are those?"
"The bangles? They're weights. Pixie Bob's making me train with them, so I can't take them off at all during the whole week."
"I've never seen them that compact! They must be prototypes from U.A. or some company."
"Probably." Holding one arm up in front of her, she looked at the grey metal that looked rather dull in the low lighting. "It's now three pounds for each arm and four for each leg. It's part of the reason why I tore my quad earlier, since we increased the weight two times today."
"Oh, I see!" Face lighting up, Midoriya became energetic once again. "With your quirk, the weights wear you down faster and force your quirk to compensate. It's training both your muscles and your regenerative properties!"
Rei smiled. Leave it to the class brainiac to figure things out without having to be led all the way to the conclusion. "Exactly." She was about to say more when suddenly she paused, mind being pulled in a new direction as she suddenly grew incredibly aware of her surroundings. A new smell had begun making its way to her nose, something that was both familiar and foreign. It was like when they were cooking dinner, with burning wood and smoke…
Smoke. Burning wood. Freezing as her blood drained, Rei whipped around in confusion, trying to identify the source. Next to her, Midoriya watched as his friend and classmate suddenly shifted in attitude, pupils shifting into slits as a new change washed over her. "T-tsuki-chan?"
"Smoke." The others around them began noticing the scent too, looking around in wonder. Eventually her sharp eyes looked above the treeline, seeing the telltale signs of black smoke picking up in the distance as a soft glow emitted from afar. Lifting a finger she pointed off toward the light, Midoriya and a few others following her point. "There."
Iida stepped closer though still behind Rei, eyes squinting into the distance. "Is something burning? Could there be a fire on the mountain?"
Shaking her head, Rei narrowed her eyes. "No, not the mountain. It's closer than that."
With all eyes turned toward the signs of the fire, no one noticed that Pixie Bob began hovering strangely. Not until it was too late.
"W-what is this?"
Rei and Mandalay had turned in time to see the blonde cat suddenly fly off into the forest off to the left, horror on her face at being unwillingly dragged away. Rei's eyes could only widen in shock as Mandalay called for her partner, the group suddenly shifted their attention at the newest development.
"Those pet cats are in the way."
A strange alto voice rang out from the sidelines, putting everyone on high alert at the whimsical tone that was used. Two figures emerged from the tree line, dragging with them an unconscious Pixie Bob who was bleeding from the temple, a strained look on her face even as she was dead to the world. The two remaining Pussycats in the clearing immediately moved to stand in front of the students that had not yet left on the test of courage, muscles tensed and ready for action.
Test of courage, indeed.
Mineta shrieked about the security of the campsite, while the other classmates tensed and froze in their places. Even Rei was caught off guard, though seeing Mandalay step in front of her made her instinctively unleash her claws as a precautionary defense. No one knew what the quirks of their enemies were, and it couldn't do any harm to her to be prepared.
Villains, again. How many times did that make now?
Even worse was Rei's condition, so physically exhausted from the past two days that she tried to swallow her fears even though her throat and mouth were completely dry and suddenly parched. There were few situations where things could be worse. She wasn't incapable of fighting to defend herself, but if the villains were out for blood…
Then blood would indeed be spilt this night.
No, she had to pull herself together. Hadn't this been the purpose of her training? To push herself and to be able to fight in the face of certain failure against those earth creatures? She had to believe in herself and the others. If she lost hope now, then the entire battle was already over before it began.
Suddenly, Midoriya gasped sharply next to Rei. "Kota-kun!"
"Kota?" Rei's brow furrowed for a moment as she looked at him before it dawned on her, the lightbulb going off in her head as well. "The boy, right?"
"How are you this evening, U.A. High School?" There was no space or time for Midoriya to answer as one of the villains began to speak in a grandiose manner, drawing everyone's attention and focus as he flung out an arm dramatically. Frowning, Rei's nose crinkled for a moment as she took in the two new faces. One was a rather regular looking individual with near shoulder length red hair and glasses on their face, their physical prowess quite lacking when considering physical conditioning and appearances. That could only mean that their quirk was quite dangerous and didn't require an extreme amount of physicality to use it, and as Rei's eyes flickered to Pixie Bob's body on the floor she could only guess that it had been this person's doing. As for the other villain…
A lizard? Was that really a talking lizard in front of her?
Of course, Tokage from 1-B had lizard like qualities but this was on a completely different level. Perhaps more on par with the president, although at least the president was much more physically appealing as a deceptively soft and cuddly looking teddy bear.
No, this wasn't the time for that. What did matter most thought was that his physical appearance other than his green, scaly, skin was reminiscent of something that Rei had seen before. His attire certain reminded her of something, although she couldn't quite place it in the moment.
Regardless, the lizard continue to speak, much to the remaining students' surprise. "We are the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains!"
"The League of Villains?"
"Why are they here?"
Rei's frown deepened. So the League of Villains was on the move again, and now they were calling themselves something that was way too much of a mouthful to be convenient. But now wasn't the time to be considering acronyms. Did this mean that that blue haired kid leader was here as well?
"Shall I crush this girl's head? What do you think?" The red haired person spoke, and immediately a shiver of revile shook Rei, lips turning up into a snarl. Both of these villains were clearly not right in the head, what with the way that they spoke both so carelessly and frivolously simultaneously. They acted as though they held the students and the heroes right where they wanted them.
And perhaps they did.
Tiger growled, fists ready to fight. "How dare you-"
Surprisingly the lizard stood in front of the group, turning his attention away from the heroes to look back at his partner. "Wait wait wait, Big Sis Mag. Don't be hasty! You too, Tiger." With a grin on his face, he looked back to the larger group. "It all depends on whether having power over life and death follows Stain's tenets or not."
Stain. So that was the familiar sensation that Rei had felt. This villain, however, barely even had a fraction of the sheer intimidation and power that Rei had experienced first hand under Stain's boot. He was a copy, no doubt, a follower and perhaps a clone that had been created from the hero killer's legacy. Dangerous, but missing the lethality that oozed from the real hero killer's bloodied knives. The rest of the class immediately lit up at the reminder of Stain, Iida in particular looking rather agitated. "So you are the ones who have spawned from his legacy!"
"Oh, that's right. You, with the glasses!" The lizard pointed to Iida, who refused to shirk away at the attention from the villain. "You were the one who brought about the end of Stain at Hosu City. I apologize for the late introduction." Heaving a covered bundle from his back, he lifted the package over his head, letting the cloth fall away to reveal an amalgamation of swords that were tied together rather precariously with a few leather strips, a sword constructed of smaller blades that looked simultaneously ridiculous, dangerous, and intimidating. "My name is Spinner! I'm the one who will spin his dreams into a reality!"
Rei tensed as Tiger walked forward, shoulders squared and aura oozing lethality to match the sudden reveal of weapons. "I don't care, but you bastards… You can't just damage that woman's face and stand there laughing carelessly about it!"
If not for the fact that Tiger was seriously riled, his words would have been almost amusing to Rei in any other situation. But instead she watched as Spinner dashed forward, grinning and licking his lips in anticipation. "What's a hero doing trying to be happy like the average person?!"
"I've broadcast the instructions to the students. Leave the safety of the other students to Ragdoll! The two of us will hold them back here!"
Mandalay stepped forward next to Tiger, casting one final glance back to Iida in particular. "Listen closely. Do not fight. Class rep, you're in charge!"
"Yes, I understand!"
Iida began leading the group back toward the dorm building, Rei following for a few steps before noticing that Midoriya hadn't moved. Stopping next to her partner, she looked at him in confusion. "Midoriya?"
The two of them shared a glance, Rei reading the uncertainty that bounced back and forth in his eyes. He was terrible at hiding his thoughts sometimes, looking to Rei with the question he truly wanted to ask lingering at the back, unwilling to voice it completely. But some things Rei understood without words; she knew Midoriya's type. He hadn't mentioned Kota for no reason. There was a reason why he had been watching Mandalay so carefully.
Nodding in support, she remained by his side as the two of them looked back to Iida. "You go on ahead!"
"What? Midoriya-"
"Mandalay!" Brown hair shifted even from underneath her visor as she turned ever so slightly to look at the two students still behind her, unwilling to completely turn away from the enemy but unwilling to ignore the green haired boy behind her. Placing a hand to his chest, Midoriya spoke in a lowly, but rushed tone of voice. "I know where he is!"
Hesitant, she chanced a look back to the villains before her. Rei stepped up to the plate, placing a hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "Let the two of us go. Midoriya is fast enough to get there. If something goes wrong, I'll bail him out. We'll avoid combat when possible."
It was clear that her morals and ethical code as a pro hero was telling her to turn them down, to tell them to run back to the camp as fast as possible and never look back. She was supposed to make them run to safety, to take care of themselves. But a sliver of her couldn't hide her fear for Kota, the concern she felt for her own blood and family.
Eyes narrowed, as she talked in a lowly voice. "If it comes to it, I grant you permission to defend yourselves. Avoid combat and get back to the camp with him as fast as possible."
Midoriya and Rei nodded solemnly, turning on their heel sharply and taking off. Iida had opened his mouth, but Rei took over. "Go without us. We'll avoid combat, so don't worry about us, class rep."
Neither of them gave him a chance to respond, taking off into the forest. As soon as they disappeared from their friends' line of sight, Midoriya looked to Rei in concern. "Tsuki-chan, your injury…"
"I'm coming because if something happens, you'll need back up. We're weak from training for the past two days, and Iida needs to take the rest of our class back to safety. Sorry," she looked at him with a wry smile on her lips, though it was devoid of any humor, "but you'll have to deal with me."
Hesitating for a moment before nodding, he accepted her words. "I need to use Full Cowling to get there. Can you keep up?"
Rei lowered her gaze for a moment, chewing the inside of her cheek in thought before her eyes lit up. "Can you make your landings hard?"
"Huh?"
She gave him no time to question, almost speaking right over him. "When you use Full Cowling, you burst forward before landing. If you can create damage to the ground every so often when you land, you'll leave me a way to follow your trail. Travel in a straight line, and I'll be able to follow you."
It wasn't much of a plan, but Midoriya nodded. "Right. You can count on me."
"Then go ahead. I'll catch up as fast as I can."
Midoriya needed no further directions, powering up and taking off as fast as he could. Taking off after him, Rei watched as his glowing figure began to get further and further ahead of her, even as she hurried as fast as she could. If she had been at full power she probably could have kept a relatively good pace and at least have kept him within sight, but with her injured leg she would have to settle for being a little slower than usual. If all went well, then they would encounter no enemies and they would be back to camp in no time with Kota safely with them.
If all went well. Sending a prayer to whatever gods existed above, Rei prayed for them to all survive the night.
"SMASH!"
Rei had just made it to the bottom of the massive hill, looking upward at the sudden, familiar cry and voice that sounded from above. In the split second that she had stopped to identify Midoriya's location a massive explosion resounded from high above her head, making her wince and raise a hand to her head as she watched the rubble scattering in all directions from the force of the blow.
It was then, looking up in that direction, that she saw a small body fly into the air and over the edge of the mountain. Even at the high distance she recognized the familiar red hat, putting two and two together.
Midoriya wasn't one to go out looking for fights. If he was fighting now, then a villain had crossed his path and he had determined that there was no option but to fight in self defense. Which then likely meant…
That he had found Kota.
Gritting her teeth, Rei crouching low before bursting into the air, quickly calculating her trajectory and that of her intended target that was beginning to fall. Fortunately she wasn't far from Kota's fall, rocketing up from the bottom and snagging his arms while pulling him toward her in order to try and protect him from complete whiplash from the sudden direction change. He naturally wrapped his arms around her torso, clinging to her tightly and trembling in fear. With every muscle in her body she braced herself for the collision into the mountain face, holding onto Kota with one arm while extending the claws with her other and digging into the rock in an attempt to slow her descent.
It was difficult work trying to ensure that Kota remained intact and unharmed. In protecting the young boy all of the impact of colliding with the hillside had been distributed into her right hand and her knees and feet, making her wince and cry out a bit from the pain at the blow. Her knees would definitely be bruised for a while, but she had gotten the job done. Slowing her descent, she eventually hopped down to the ground, crouching slowly and placing Kota back onto his feet with a groan from the exertion.
For a moment he barely seemed to register the fact that he was back on land. But as Rei released him, patiently waiting for him to let go, he slowly began to back away, lifting a teary eyed expression to look up at his rescuer in fear and in confusion.
"Are you alright?"
Rei's voice was low and quiet, but it seemed to break Kota from his shock as he looked back around him and to the dust cloud that still hadn't settled. Frowning, Rei stood up again, walking forward to the impact zone and narrowing her eyes as she tried to look through the dust that clouded her vision. "Midoriya?"
The outline of a person appeared a few feet away, and Rei braced herself for a moment before recognizing the familiar outline of messy hair and muscular shoulders. Midoriya stepped out and into the fresh air, breathing heavily as he looked backwards and over his shoulder, in the direction that Rei assumed was the enemy. Breathing in and out steadily, she called his name again, please when he seemed to register her voice this time and recognition lit his eyes. "Midoriya."
"Kota-kun…"
"He's here." Stepping to the side, she hadn't realized that she had been blocking Midoriya's line of sight to the young boy. Upon taking in the child's figure and realizing that they were both safe, Midoriya sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."
It was then that Rei took in Midoriya's arm, hanging limply at his side and a motley assortment of colors. Her stomach twisted, and it took all her will to not get physically sick upon sight. "Your arm…"
"I'll be fine. We have to get back to camp-"
An explosion rocked the earth. Rei watched as the blood drained from Midoriya's face. She was certain that she had a similar look to his as she slowly turned back toward the scene of destruction. From the ashes, dust, and debris she could make out a pair of hands that were reaching out of the wall, red ribbons unnaturally waving in the air and shrinking back into the muscular arms that took form.
It was then that she realized what she was seeing.
Those weren't ribbons.
Those were muscle fibers.
A hulking figure of a man appeared from the mess, hunched over as the muscles retracted back into his body from every angle. Midoriya had frozen in fear, Rei moving to stand next to him in a shallow stance and in front of Kota. They had come this far for him, the entire reason why they had disobeyed Mandalay's orders for everyone and had instead convinced her to let them go into the unknown wilderness. Tossing a glance back she could see that the boy was likewise frozen in place, horror reflected in his wide eyes as tears had already begun to fall.
They should have run immediately. There was still time.
And then, there wasn't.
The villain turned his head slightly to look out of the corner of his eye at Midoriya, a wicked grin on his face. "That punch was too obvious. But that wasn't bad, Midoriya!"
Rei startled. The villain knew her classmate's name? How was that? Midoriya wasn't foolish enough to go spouting his name to villains on the fly.
"Huh?"
One whole eye landed on Rei.
As the villain's face lit up in excitement and he began taking slow and steady steps in their small group's direction, Rei's gut inexplicably dropped in horror.
"Oh, it's you! Such a shame, you didn't show up to play earlier."
To Rei's surprise, Midoriya stepped in front of her, shielding her with half his body. "Get away from them!"
"Nah. All of a sudden, I feel like attacking for real."
"What are you trying to do? What is the League of Villains after?"
"Who cares? I just want to fight."
Rei stepped closer to Midoriya, whispering into his ear. "Midoriya, you need to take Kota. You're faster than I am."
He turned his head halfway to look at Rei, surprise on his face. "Tsuki-chan…"
"I'm going to pass him to you, and you need to run. Final decision."
"Hey what are you two whispering about?" The villain continued his slow stalking forward, pulling something out of his pocket. "Not like it matters. Do you remember what I said before? Up until now, we were just playing. Right? Didn't I say that, Midoriya?" The tendrils of flesh were beginning to emerge from tanned flesh, much to Rei's disgust. Was this an aspect of his quirk? What a stupid question; of course it was. The only question for her was what exactly his quirk did.
Midoriya had landed a full power hit on the villain, as a testament to his now shattered arm at his side. Clearly, somehow, the villain had survived. The muscles had something to do with it. Was it a power up type quirk?
"But now I'm done."
The anger and passion was gone, his voice devoid of emotion. Rei tensed, getting ready to move. Taking a step backward, she knelt down next to Kota, grabbing his hand steadily while she winced at the pain from having to lower herself to the ground. Her quad was screaming from the exertion, no matter how careful she had tried to be on her fast procession to this place. But she ignored her own pain, forcing Kota to look at her.
"You're going to get on Midoriya's back, and he's going to get you out of here. Understand?" All she received was a tearful nod that seemed half aware of his surroundings, but it was enough.
"Playtime's over," the villain announced solemnly. "You're pretty strong. I'm going to look at you seriously now."
Rei grit her teeth, preparing for her own escape as she yanked Kota forward. "Midoriya, now!"
"Kota! Grab on!"
It had happened not a moment too soon, Midoriya taking off in the split second that he felt Kota's small arms wrap around his neck, grabbing the boy's legs as he launched himself into the air and over the villain's shoulder in the blink of an eye. Rei managed to jump into the cliffside again, taking a wider route around the villain and toward the back. Running alongside the wall she felt her adrenaline rising again, threatening to take over her rational mind and send her into a frenzied mode. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly she tried to calm her mind. Frantic minds led to accidents.
She felt the shift before she could fully comprehend it. Her reaction had been completely involuntary, a sixth sense telling her body to move and jumping the circuit for her rational mind before she could make the call. All she knew was that she had twisted her body to flip over her shoulder, right as a hand crushed the wall where her torso had just been. Eyes widened at the vision of red fibers that suddenly took over her vision, and in that moment her normal reactions took over, getting her to flip away and back off as quickly as she could. Hearing a mouthful of swearing from the villain she realized that he had almost taken her out with one punch, fist now stuck in the wall from the impact and overuse of his strength.
Making a quick retreat she found Midoriya and Kota lying on the ground not too much further away, having apparently been knocked out of the air most likely by the debris and large chunks of rocks that had been sent flying in the onslaught. Dropping between the two she checked over Kota first, quickly scanning over his vitals and thankfully finding that he only had a few scratches on him, most likely having been saved by the beaten up boy that was a foot to Rei's left. She had just shifted over to him when he pulled himself into a crouch, eyes trained on the villain in front of them.
"Midoriya-"
Ignoring her call, Midoriya stood up to his full height, Rei looking at him in concern. His condition was quickly deteriorating; she could see it in the way that he shook when he stood, his muscles on the verge of overuse. Yet he kept pushing forward, squaring his shoulders confidently as the two behind him looked in awe.
How? And why? It was when Rei lowered her gaze to the side that she knew why.
He was putting on a brave face for Kota, as heroes did.
Swallowing her fear and her urge to yell at him to run back to camp so that he could get his wounds looked at, Rei stood behind him as she watched the villain turn his gaze back onto the trio.
"Stay back, Kota, Akatsuki. When it hits, run back to the camp as soon as possible."
"'When it hits…?' Don't tell me you're actually-"
"Midoriya, your arms-"
"It's fine."
Kota and Rei were stunned into silence as Midoriya began powering his quirk up again, sparks of light dancing around him furiously as he summoned Full Cowling. Even as she stood behind him she could feel his emotional turmoil, his surge of passion and bravery, his dedication and fury. Even as the villain began to advance toward him and Midoriya stuttered into a run of his own, Rei for the first time had hope.
But the villain slammed his fists together in front of him, creating an additional barrier of muscle as Midoriya delivered his punch, regardless. Rei's eyes widened in horror, realizing that even with Midoriya's full power, if he had failed to subdue the villain before with his full attack, then it would be nigh impossible to break through the first line of defense.
The two collided, suddenly at an impasse as both of them stopped in their tracks. Then, the muscles began to swelter and grow at a skyrocketing pace, threatening to consume Midoriya himself in their embrace and break him from every angle. Pressing down on the high school boy, Rei watched as her friend began to break, sinking into the ground.
Her classmate.
Her friend.
"MIDORIYA!"
Her legs moved before her mind.
It was different from the previous moment not long before when her sixth sense had protected her from injury. This wasn't like that moment where her body had twisted in a fashion she wouldn't have considered in the moment if she had been clearly thinking, where she had scraped by and narrowly escaped an untimely end. In this moment it was her emotions, her desperation that drove her forward in the impossible moment, running toward the danger itself.
Launching high into the air with a scream, she extended her claws as far as they could and sank them deep into the mass of flesh like a knife through warm butter.
She could hear the villain scream in pain, but the sound quickly morphed into laughter. "More! More! You can join in too! Let me see your blood!"
Rei didn't care any longer. Not Midoriya. She pulled out her claws just to sink them into a different spot, trying to get a hold on his body. "Let go of him!"
Slowly, the villain continued to push down on top of the green haired boy, completely ignoring Rei for the time being. She frantically tore at the muscular tissue that continued to swelter and regenerate, like a frenzied creature consumed by the fight. But still she could feel the villain pressuring Midoriya beneath him, crushing his body with every ounce of pressure he added.
A hot tear streaked out of her eye, flying off of her face from all the wind and force that was generated. It didn't even have time to roll down her cheek. "Let him go!"
But just as she was in a frenzied craze to ease the weight off of her friend's slowly breaking body, the monster beneath her claws was all too consumed in his bloodlust to destroy the boy beneath him. "I'm gonna crush you!"
"No!" The pressure suddenly stopped, the villain slowly lifting himself up from the ground.
This couldn't be.
"MIDORIYA!"
"And now it's your turn!"
The muscles beneath her hands began to shift, growing in a new direction as the core body beneath the tangled mess began to shift once more. The fact that Rei was the next target registered far in the back of her mind, too far for her to act upon and jump away and out of reach and harm's way. She was still focused on Midoriya, or the concept of him that was suffocated by the monster that literally stood between the two.
She was next.
Water sprayed onto the scene, out of nowhere.
The droplets barely made it to her position, but the sensation was enough to get her to jump back to her senses and provide her with the opportunity to back off. Fleeing the villain's back and staggering away from his impossibly massive frame, she stared in horror at the sight in front of her. Was the thing in front of her even human at this point?
But her mind snapped back to the present, fully alert and comprehending the situation with such startling clarity that it shocked her entire system.
"Stop it!"
Kota's voice echoed in the sudden silence that had spread across the hill, Rei beginning to panic. Kota hadn't run away, after what they had told him to do, after everything that had happened. And now, with Midoriya crushed into the ground and with the villain standing in between her and her intended target, there was little that Rei could do.
No, there was something she could do. There was always a choice. Tensing her muscles, she ran up the hillside quickly, making her way back to the young boy in a last ditch effort to place herself between him and the villain. She wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't try. Even if she didn't make it, it was better than giving in completely. Legs pumping, muscles straining and seizing, golden eyes settled on Kota. She would make it. She had to.
The villain had begun saying something to the boy, but had stopped mid sentence. The familiar sound of Full Cowling's sparks made it to Rei's ears, and despite everything she sighed in relief, a ghost of a smile on her face.
"As if I would let you do such a thing!"
Rei had made it in front of Kota just as Midoriya rose from the crumbling debris, superhuman strength radiating from every pore of his body as he began to push the villain away. She didn't have time to take another look, instead landing in front of Kota and pulling him in to her body, shielding him from the inevitable impact and chaos she knew would be unleashed.
Chaos indeed. The ground shook, the wind whipped around, and more debris began to fly with explosive intent. From the place where the villain collided into the hillside more rocks came loose, rocketing away from the epicenter with astonishing speed. As Rei dared to look over her shoulder a rock flew past her face, slicing her cheek open as she grunted from the pain, turning away once more to protect herself. It had been foolish, but for a moment she had seen Midoriya still poised from the blow, a snapshot frozen in her mind as the impossible had been overcome.
The improbable, the impossible, the unlikely. Whatever word was used, it was clear that it had been conquered after a long struggle and a final, ultimate blow that had the world shaking in the aftermath.
Even if the villain had survived Midoriya's first two blows, Rei knew in her heart that this was the final blow for him.
They had survived.
When the winds had finally died down and the ground had stopped in its tremors, Rei finally released Kota from her grasp. His face was completely shocked as he looked up at her in horror. With a sigh of relief after another quick look over his physical conditions, she offered a small smile. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah…" Wiping his nose as he sniffled, he peered around Rei to look for his other rescuer. Rei followed his gaze, turning to see the victor, the last man standing.
His remaining hand clenched, Midoriya lifted his head to the heavens.
He unleashed a scream.
It was partially from the pain, partially from the victory. There were a multitude of emotions swirling, though looking at the fact that Midoriya was still standing despite his wounds, it was more likely that he didn't realize the full state he was in. Mind racing, Rei looked around them as she took in their status as a unit.
Midoriya was strictly running on adrenaline from his fight and from heightened emotions, especially concerning saving Kota. His arm was in a shattered state, and would definitely require immediate medical attention. Though the rest of him looked to be in decent condition at a first glance, Rei knew that after a few days of intensive training intended to bring them to their knees, the rest of him would be doing poorly as well. He had most likely torn a few muscles as well from the exertion, and would suffer from extreme muscle fatigue later on. Add on other factors such as dehydration or blood loss, as he had multiple nicks and cuts as well as a head wound, he was in for a world of hurt later.
But instead he staggered for one step, barely catching himself and keeping his balance. At least Kota would be relatively alright. He might have sustained some minor head trauma from being tossed around, but Midoriya and she had protected him from the brunt of the force. Of all of them, Kota was the most alright, and even that wasn't a given without a proper diagnosis from a medical team.
That left Rei. She was certain that her quad had been injured further, and was likely reduced to the state of the original tear if not worse. She had been battered by most of the debris as she had sheltered Kota, but the worst of it that she could immediately tell was the cut on her cheek that was continuing to bleed. It wasn't terribly deep or life threatening, but it stung like hell when mixed with the sweat that was dripping down her forehead. Wincing, she tried not to touch it too much, trying to let the platelets in her blood work to stop the bleeding as fast as possible.
They were a mess. A right mess, but alive. And that was something to be thankful for.
Standing up as quickly and carefully as possible, Rei walked over to Midoriya, standing before him. "Midoriya, can you stand?"
"It's fine," he managed to grind out, breathing hard from the exertion. He looked ready to pass out, but something was keeping him connected to this world. "There's something I still have to do."
Rei's eyes narrowed, but she suddenly turned as Kota ran up to the two of them. "You're all beat up? What could you possible still have to do?"
"He's right," Rei tagged on, still holding her arms out just in case Midoriya needed her to steady him. "We need to get out of here. You're in no condition…"
"Even though I knew he was going to defend, I had to attack." The boy began muttering, his mind clouded as his eyes glazed over. He was already retreating into his headspace, and Rei was helpless to do anything. "But he's a much stronger villain that I thought he was. If all the villains from this night attack are this strong, then everyone is in danger."
Understanding dawned on Rei. "We need to tell Mandalay and warn everyone."
"But on top of that," he hesitated, hunching over for a moment before managing to lift his head, green eyes meeting gold, "they might be after the students." There was something hidden in his eyes, making Rei suspicious that he wasn't telling her everything that he knew, but he lowered his head again for a moment before sucking in a breath and standing up a bit straighter. "If I can save someone by moving, then I have to move, don't I?"
Shaking her head, Rei breathed out a steady sigh, pushing her breath through her lips and taking a moment to release the tension. Midoriya was clearly in no condition to continue. He was on the verge of deliriousness-no, he was delirious, at this point-and he needed help. Rolling her shoulders back, she nodded at him.
"Leave it to me. Can you carry Kota?"
It was like he was seeing Rei for the first time, green eyes staring at her for a moment before he nodded his head. "Yeah. I can do that."
"Then you take him back to camp and to Aizawa-sensei and safety. I'll take the message to Mandalay. You're in no condition to continue moving. You shouldn't even be standing right now."
"Akatsuki, I'm fine." It was in that sentence that she knew he wasn't fine. He had returned to calling her by her full last name, instead of using Tsuki like most of her companions in class had started doing. But she held her tongue, instead nodding in assent.
"Tell me the exact message I need to give to Mandalay."
He hesitated, immediately making Rei suspicious again. But he acquiesced. "Tell Mandalay that Kota is safe, and that the villains might be targeting the students."
Nodding her head, Rei committed it to memory, a solemn look on her face. "Got it." Turning to Kota, she knelt down next to him again, placing herself on his level. "Will you be alright?"
"Yeah."
"Good man. Make sure Midoriya doesn't do anything else stupid, alright? I leave him in your hands."
"O-okay."
With one final smile she stood up, leveling Midoriya with one final glare. "Don't do anything stupid. We've done enough damage for one night."
"R-right." Rei squinted at Midoriya, daring him to disobey her before turning one final time, preparing to launch herself off the cliff. "Akatsuki!"
Pausing, she turned her head to look at him again. Poor Midoriya, in terrible condition. His eyes were drooping, muscles trembling. He looked like a poor animal that had been left out in the rain without shelter, a terribly sorry sight. But the look he gave her was unsettling, as though he was trying to decide if he was going to tell her something or not. "Be careful out there."
His words were laced with hidden meanings, but there was no time to waste. Narrowing her eyes one last time she nodded solemnly, then blasted off the cliff into the foliage below.
She had a mission, a message to deliver. And she would be damned if they lost, after everything they had been through.
AN: Ahh, finally back into the action. I'm not the best at writing gushy mushy, touchy feely sort of romance, so getting back into the fighting is so much better for me.
Not gonna lie, writing some of the future chapters is getting difficult for me. I don't know if it's just a mental block or something else? In any case, I do still love this story, but writing is coming a little more slowly. I have to figure out how to beef some chapters, since I don't want to just condense them. However, I am feeling a lot better since I took a writing break, so I'm still taking care of myself but forcing myself to write for this story as well. It's going well so far!
I'm actually a little excited and a little nervous to see what people think of the next four or so chapters, so please look forward to it! There are a couple concepts that I'm still debating and I might change, but we'll see what happens.
Review Time!
dragontamer64: Not gonna lie, it was hard trying to figure out what sort of training Rei would do. When I was rewatching the anime, I was reminded that the core was to strengthen their quirks, so I had to figure out just what that meant for her. I decided on going with regeneration, since we've already done stamina training with Chirasaki. I'm glad you're enjoying it! And I do love Rei and Momo's friendship as well. I think in the future, I'll begin expanding the friend group to include more of the girls, but that's way in the future, so we'll see!
ILikeFoxes828: Thank you for your kind words, and thank you for always reviewing constantly! I really appreciate it a lot. I'm doing a lot better now, and even though it's a little difficult to write still I'm definitely in a better place.
Dear Apollo: I hope this training arc is living up to expectations so far! Thanks so much for all your reviews as well!
Alexcupcake: Thank you! Rei has been a character in the making for a while, so it's been really interesting for me as the writer to also see how she develops.
Kiku-Pyon: Ahh, thank you for such a long review, and I'm glad you've binged this story! Truthfully, I need to reread it myself (to get a refresher on what has happened and to catch more grammar errors), and I didn't realize that I've actually written quite a bit... But yet, articulating which arcs Rei will be in and how involved she'll be is a pretty big deal for me, as I'm sure you'll see in future chapters as well. And friendship is very important and the basis of all relationships! That's why this is taking so long, lol. I will definitely take your comment about involving Uraraka more and think about it!
pupstarstar: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you love this story so far, and I hope that you'll also enjoy the upcoming chapters as well!
Please review if you're enjoying this story!
I really appreciate it and I do my best to respond as well.