This document beta'd by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida
20. Achilles In His Tent
Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
― Thomas Jefferson
"Izuku! Did you remember to pack extra underwear? What if it's cold? Did you remember your jacket? What about-"
"It's fine, mom," Izuku said, giving his mother a crooked grin. "I have everything."
"Oh, are you sure?" Inko asked, wringing her hands nervously. "It's just...this is the first time you'll be away from home for a long time! What if you forget something?"
"I'll be OK, mom. Mei, Shinso, Mr. Aizawa, and the other kids from the Hero Course are going to be there," Izuku reassured her.
"Oh, alright. Just...try to have fun, OK? And stay safe!" his mother admonished.
Izuku smiled and reached out to give his mother a quick hug. He found himself doing that more, especially since Mei constantly craved physical affection. "I will mom. It's only a week, and the teachers will take care of us. We're just going to the woods to train. It'll be fun!"
"Alright. Well, I'll see you in a week! Have fun! And don't forget to call!" Inko ordered.
"Mom, it's in the woods. We won't have service. It'll be fine!" Izuku waved, then headed down to the street where Hari and Mei were waiting for them.
"You ready to go camping?" Hari asked, helping Izuku put his backpack in the trunk of her car.
"Yeah, it's my first time. I think it'll be fun," Izuku said, climbing into the backseat with Mei.
"I hope they remember to bring all our babies!" Mei said, sounding half frantic. "What if they forget the grappling hook? Or the missiles? How can we take care of our babies in the woods?!"
"It'll be fine, Mei. Sheesh, try to have fun. You remember when dad took us camping?" Hari asked, looking in the mirror as she pulled away from the curb.
"I remember that frogs taste funny," Mei muttered.
Izuku snorted, covering his mouth to keep himself from laughing.
"Oh, laugh all you want, Midoriya. I'm expecting you to make sure she comes back without needing a trip to the emergency room," Hari scolded.
"Well, I'm not a little kid anymore. I won't try to eat a frog. Besides, I was really bored. This time, I'll have Izuku and our babies to keep me company," Mei stated.
"I-I'll try to keep from eating any frogs," Izuku said seriously.
"They don't taste very good," Mei stated. "And then you can hear colors for a while. And hospitals are not fun either."
They arrived at the school right on time. Most of the other students were waiting around in front of UA, chatting or sitting on top of their luggage. One girl, Izuku was pretty sure it was Yaoyorozu, looked as though she had packed most of her belongings, as she had at least a dozen pieces of luggage. Bakugo was there, off to the side by himself with a single backpack. When he saw Izuku, he frowned and turned away, moving even further away from the group.
"Mei! Izuku!" Ashido called, waving excitedly and running over. "They told us you were going to be coming! This is super awesome! Are you going to be joining the Hero Course now?!"
"Um, maybe," Izuku said. "Um, Ashido, this is Hari Hatsume, Mei's older sister."
"Hello!" Ashido said, smiling and bowing politely. "Your sister is like, super smart. Plus, she's got pink hair! Like me! Us pink haired ladies got to stick together!"
"It's always nice to meet one of Mei's friends," Hari said, returning the bow. She fingered her own short pink hair, smiling. "I do have to say, pink is the best hair color."
"I know right? Come on Mei, Jiro and me are picking out tunes for the ride up. What songs do you like?"
Mei blinked, obviously baffled by the thought.
"Go on, Mei. Have fun with your friends," Hari encouraged.
"Um, what about Izuku?" Mei asked, looking slightly worried.
"It's fine, I'll be around," Izuku said. "Don't worry about me, have fun with Jiro and Ashido."
"Yeah! Come on, what sort of music do you like? Jiro's all about rock but personally I prefer hip hop, especially American or Korean! What about you?"
Mei let herself be led away by Jiro, and Izuku watched, smiling. It was good to see Mei finding more friends, and hoped she'd get along with the bubbly Ashido and the more reserved, snarky Jiro.
"Thank you, O wise and powerful one," Hari said, bowing deeply and pressing the palms of her hands together. "You have done as you promised. I offer you the hand of my sister in marriage."
"H-h-hari!" Izuku sputtered. "That's not-"
"Eh, you were totally going to marry her anyway, Midoriya. Don't lie," Shinso said, coming over and giving Izuku a sly grin. "Just accept it."
"I mean, but, it's Mei's-" Izuku babbled.
Hari laughed and slapped Izuku on the back. "You're funny, Izuku. Sup, Shinso?" She extended her fist to the blue haired boy, who glanced down, then obliged with a fist bump.
"Not much. Guess it's up to me to keep these two out of trouble?" Shinso asked.
Hari chuckled. "Just try to keep them from burning down the forest. Someone has to be the responsible one in the group."
"In my experience, that's usually Mei," Shinso said dryly. When Hari gave him an odd look, he elaborated, "If something catches on fire, your sister is usually the one responsible for it."
"Ha! I knew I liked you! Well, you kids have fun. Izuku, I'll pick you and Mei up in a week. Call or text when the bus gets close, OK?"
"Yeah, OK," Izuku agreed. "Thanks for the ride."
"Hatsume Motors, at your service!" Hari said, then hopped back in her car and drove off.
"Hey, Midoriya!"
Izuku turned to see Kirishima and Kaminari coming over. "How's it going, man?" Kirisima asked, holding up his hand for a high five.
"Um, ok. I-I hope I'm not causing trouble, joining you guys and all," Izuku said, obliging with a half hearted tap.
"Hey, the more the better! Plus, maybe you can keep this idiot from frying his brains out," Kirishima said with a grin, pointing over his shoulder to Kaminari.
"Yeah!" Kaminari agreed. Then suddenly frowned. "Hey!"
"Shinso, right?" Kirishima asked. "Good to meet ya. I'm Eijiro Kirishima. The guy with the dumb hair is Denki Kaminari. I thought we'd see more of ya, after you made it to the semifinals and all. You're hardcore!"
"Guess you know who I am," Shinso said stiffly. "I hope you don't mind I'm gunning for your place in the Hero Course."
"Right on!" Kirishima laughed. He activated his quirk, grinning and flexing his now rocky arm. "It's a challenge! Man to man!"
"Dude, what if he kicks me out?" Kaminari asked nervously. "I had the worst scores in the class and I failed the practical!"
"Did you?" Shinso said, giving Kaminari a tombstone grin. "Well, I guess I know who to aim for."
"Aw man, this sucks," Kaminari muttered. "I didn't even make it to the finals of the Sports Festival!"
"M-maybe they won't kick anyone out," Izuku offered. "Um, maybe they'll just, you know, make room for us. Mei isn't, um, well, she's probably going to stay in the support course. So, I guess it's just me and Shinso."
"What, really?" Kirishima asked, glancing over at Mei. She was listening to Ashido and Jiro talked, but seemed engaged in what they were saying at least. "Why not? She made it to the finals too. Of course, she would run smack into that jerk."
Izuku glanced at Bakugo, who had his back to the group and was sitting on top of his pack, his head resting on his arm as he looked off down the street. "Well, I guess so. But, um, isn't Bakugo, you know, popular in your class and all? He's really strong, and well, he did take second place and his grades were always good…"
"What, him?" Kaminari said. He glanced at Bakugo and his lip curled slightly in disgust and irritation. "Oh sure, he's strong and all, but his personality is a garbage fire. If we were going to vote to kick someone out of the class to make room for you two, he'd be the second one gone."
"Really? Who's the first?" Shinso asked, curious.
"Mineta," Kaminari and Kirishima said together.
"They caught the creep peeping on the girls in the bathroom," Kirishima said quietly, pointing to the purple haired dwarf. He was talking to a quiet girl with bright red hair who was smiling nervously at Mineta. "Not very heroic if you ask me."
"Someone should go rescue Akai," Kaminari said with a sigh.
"Don't bother, I think she actually likes the little freak," Kirishima said, sounding disgusted. "I don't get her at all."
"Attention, everyone! The bus will be here in one minute! Please, line up in an orderly fashion!" Iida called, waving his hands for attention.
"Yeah, yeah," Kirishima said with a sigh. "That guy would be annoying if he weren't right so much."
"That's why he's the class rep. So he can stay out of our hair," Kaminari muttered. Then he grinned. "Hey, Shinso, Midoriya, you should sit with us! It'd be nice to get to know our future classmates. And, um, thanks Midoriya. The headband really helps."
"Oh, no problem. I think Mei has an idea for some more gear for you too. We were talking about ways to help you direct your electricity, instead of just randomly shooting it out," Izuku said.
"That would be awesome!" Kaminari agreed as the bus pulled up. "I have a hard time not hurting other people still, but at least now I'm not making myself stupid."
"Er," added Kirishima with a grin, and dodged a punch from Kaminari.
They rode on the bus for a while. Mei ended up coming to sit by Izuku, though Shinso sat with Kirishima to chat. Ashido and Jiro sat behind Mei and Izuku, including them both in their conversation. Mei was mostly interested in making suggestions for gear for the two, and both Ashido and Jiro were genuinely interested.
"You really think you could extend how far I can use my jacks to hear?" Jiro asked excitedly.
Nodding eagerly, Mei explained, "Yes, and I bet we could use them for sonar as well! The trick will be to allow you to send out high frequency sound that no one else could pick up, then making a super cute baby that can read it and show you where things are! Izuku, do you think you could make the electronics for that?"
"Sure," Izuku agreed. "We just made that radar set for the Power Suit. It should be a similar concept, but using sound instead of radio waves. I think the manual I found explained how to rig both so it shouldn't be too hard to make a similar device."
"What about me?" Ashido asked eagerly. "Can you make something sweet for my acid?"
"Well, we already made you a gun and some grenades," Mei mused. "But I think we could make you a way to propel yourself better! You already have special shoes, right? Well, what if we could make it so you could spray the acid at high velocity to increase your speed!"
"That sounds super amazing!" Ashido cheered.
"Hey, do you think you could make anything for me, ribbit?" a green haired girl with large eyes asked. "I'm Tsuyu Asui, by the way, but call me Tsu."
"You're the frog, right?" Mei asked. "Don't worry, I won't eat you."
Izuku blushed and squeezed her hand, but Tsu just nodded. "Yep. That's me. I probably don't taste very good, but thanks anyway."
"I bet you could use a thermal underwire for your costume!" Mei said excitedly. "You're a poikilotherm, right?"
"A what now?" Kaminari asked, leaning over from his seat beside Tsu.
"It means I'm cold blooded," Tsu explained. "Sort of. I can regulate my own body temperature at least a little, but I have a hard time when it's hot and dry or very cold."
"Izuku can make one! He's good at thermoregulators, we had to make some for baby number 47, the Power Suit!" Mei stated.
"Yeah, I'd be happy to help," Izuku agreed.
Upon hearing that, half the class immediately had demands for their own gear, which made Mei absoluately ecstatic. Izuku was caught up in the discussion too, until about half an hour later when Mr. Aizawa stood up to make an announcement.
"We're coming to a rest area. Get out, and stretch your legs. We've still got aways to go."
"Everyone, make sure to use the restroom!" Iida called. "We don't want any unnecessary extra stops!"
"Yes, 'mom,"' Shinso answered, which got a laugh from most of the others, and made Iida blush.
"There is no shame in fulfilling one's duty! As class rep, it's my job to make sure everyone's needs are cared for!" Iida protested.
"Relax, I'll make sure to take a leak, Speedy," Shinso said, rolling his eyes.
Iida colored. "I am Tenya Iida, also known as Ingenium, and-"
"Speedy, huh?" Kirishima laughed as they filed off the bus. "I like it! What does that make me, Rocky?"
"Hey, where's the bathrooms?" Kaminari asked, looking around. They were stopped at a pull off along the highway, but there were no buildings and only a small stretch of dirt along the road overlooking a cliff. "It's just empty here. And who's this kid?"
A young boy in a ball cap and shorts stood by the bus, frowning as the students got off, but Izuku didn't recognize him from anywhere.
"He's my nephew!" a woman in a red sailor uniform with mechanical cat hears on her head said, stepping up behind the lone boy in question. "And we're your hosts!"
"Look on us with sparkling gazes!" another woman in similar dress that was colored blue with blonde hair said, smiling and striking a pose. "We've come to lend a paw and help!"
"Coming out of nowhere, strikingly cute and catlike, it's-"
"The Wild Wild Pussycats!" Izuku gasped. "They're mountain rescue heroes! They've famous! They've been around for 12 years!"
"Hey, don't steal our thunder kid!" the blonde woman, who Izuku now recognized as Pixie Bob, snapped. "And don't be giving away a ladies age like that!"
"He didn't say how old you are," Mei pointed out.
Pixie Bob huffed. "Well, yes, but-"
"But if you're been around for 12 years, that means you're at least 30!" Mei declared.
Pixie Bob's eye flashed. "Eraser, can I just get started now?"
"Sure," Mr. Aizawa said with a shrug. "They're all off the bus."
"What?" the class gasped.
"Oh no," Kirishima groaned. "Not another damned deception!"
"It was only logical," Aizawa said with a wicked grin.
"Bye bye kids! Have fun!" Pixie Bob laughed. She suddenly planted her hands on the ground, and Izuku felt himself swept off his feet, tumbling off the cliffside. In a panic, he grabbed onto Mei, clutching her to his chest and spinning so that he'd take the brunt of the impact when they hit the ground.
"Gotcha!" a girl gasped. Izuku felt to hand press onto him, and he suddenly found his fall slowing. He hit the ground, but bounced lightly into the air. "Release!"
Izuku thudded down again, letting out a gasp as Mei's weight pressed onto him.
"What the heck?" Mei grumbled, standing and dusting herself off. "That was rude!"
"Are you OK?" the other girl asked, extending a hand to Izuku. He gratefully took it and allowed her to haul him to his feet.
"Thanks," he gasped. "You're Uraraka, right? The Anti-Gravity user?"
"That's me!" she agreed, smiling. "You're Midoriya and Hatsume, right?"
"Yep! Now how do we get back to the bus?" Mei pondered. "They didn't let me pack the grappling hook, and-"
Suddenly, a crate appeared above them on the cliff.
"Look out below!" Pixie Bob called.
"Watch out!" Izuku gasped, pushing Uraraka and Mei out of the way. The crate smashed down a few feet from where they'd stood.
Overhead, Mr. Majima's head appeared. He grinned and waved. "You might need this, Midoriya! No cheating and coming back up to the highway!"
"What?" Izuku asked, confused.
But Mei was already beside the crate, cracking it open. She let out an enraged yell. "Mr. Maijima! How dare you just toss our baby over a cliff like that!"
"Less yelling at me, more focusing," Mr. Maijima called.
Mr. Aizawa appeared, holding a megaphone. "Attention, Class 1A and guests. You have three hours to make your way to the camp. It's west by north west from here, through the forest. Get there by noon, and you get lunch. If you're late, well, I hope you're not too hungry. Have fun."
"Have fun?" Shinso groaned, standing and dusting himself off. "What the hell is he-"
From the forest, there was a loud growl. A huge shape shifted amidst the trees.
"Mei, activate the suit!" Izuku cried. He scrambled over and began to load himself into it as Mei ran the startup sequence.
"Hurry!" Uraraka called. "Something's coming!"
"I got it!" Kirishima cried. "Kaminari, on me!"
"Yeah, yeah, relax Rocky," Kaminari grumbled. The two of them ran forward as a huge beast, seemingly carved from stone stalked out of the trees. It had the shape of a huge, misshapen bear, looking as though someone had carved it from rock, but had neglected any of the finer details. Kaminari let loose with a bolt of electricity as it got close, then Kirishimi wailed on it, breaking it down to dust.
"There's another one!" Uraraka cried. She ran over and touched what looked like a great stone wolf with both hands. It floated up into the air, and Uraraka backed off. Once it was 15 feet of the ground, she clapped her hands, and it fell, shattering to pieces.
"It's Pixie Bob!" Izuku called, standing as the Power Suit finished its boot up sequence. "She can use her quirk to control rock and dust."
"Izuku, I don't like this," Mei said, looking around nervously. "I don't like fighting! You're supposed to do the field testing."
"Don't worry, Hatsume!" Ashido said, running over. "We'll look out for you!"
"Yeah, looks like it's time to earn that sweet hardware," Jiro agreed, assuming a fighting stance.
"Everyone, group up!" Iida called. "I'll move head to scout. Let's move out!"
"You do whatever you want," Bakugo said, stalking off into the woods. "I'll look out for myself."
"Yeah have fun with that," Kirishima called. "Maybe you can find some little girls out there to beat up on!"
"If you do, let me know!" Mineta said eagerly. "I um, want to save them!"
"Right," Izuku activated his new radar module, then grimaced. "The trees here are packed too tightly. The range on my radar is limited. But I see movement, three big things, to the north."
"Let's head towards the camp," Tsu said. "That's the best way."
"I'll watch our flank," Izuku called, running off in the general direction of the movement. "I'll shout if I need help!"
After running a few yards, Izuku found himself catching up to Bakugo, who glared at him "What?"
"They're coming in, on your right!" Izuku shouted, forcing himself to stay polite.
"Whatever. I told you, I can look out for myself," Bakgu snapped. "You go hang out with your new friends."
"We have to work together, Bakugo. Otherwise, we'll never-"
Two giant dust monsters leapt out of the woods, one shaped like a gorrila, the other another bear. Bakugo sprang into sudden action, jumping forward propelled by his explosions. He flew towards the gorilla, and with a single blast blew off it's arm. A second blast flung it into the bear, causing both to crash to the ground. Bakugo lept atop them, and with a single massive explosion annihilated both, returning them to inanimate rubble.
"I said, I'm fine. Go worry about your girlfriend or whatever. I don't care," Bakgu snarled.
"Um, can you stay here on our forward flank, keep them off of the group?" Izuku asked.
Bakugo shrugged. "Whatever. If I see one, it won't get past me. You done bothering me, or you going to just stand there and talk?"
"I'll take the rear!" Izuku called.
"Wait!" Yaoyorozu called, hurring forward. She tossed Izuku a radio, and after a moment's hesitation gave one to Bakugo as well. "Use these to stay in touch! We can coordinate our defense! Iida's called in four more coming in from the west. Midioriya, can you guard the rear?"
"On it!" Izuku agreed. "What frequency? Give those to Mei, I have a built-in radio."
"Good thinking!" Yaoyorozu said. "Hatsume, can you coordinate us?"
"Yes!" Mei stated, taking the headset. "Ok, four from the north. Izuku! What's behind us?"
"I see two more. I can handle one, I might need backup," Izuku said.
"Ok! Blackbird, go help Izuku," Mei ordered.
"It's Tokoyami," the other boy said over the radio. "I've got your back, Midoriya."
"Right! I'll take the one on the right," Izuku said.
"The left is mine then," Tokoyami agreed.
Izuku rushed the dust monster, this one in the form of a giant spider that was swinging from tree to tree on a dusty line of webbing. It flung itself at him when he approached, but Izuku was able to dodge to the side. He activated his laser attachment, cutting a hole in the side of the spider, which shrieked in anger. Then he punched the opening, widening it, and grabbed at it with both hands. With a grunt and a whir of servos, Izuku ripped the spider in half. It fell to the ground, twitching, then dissolved back to dust.
Tokoyami's Dark Shadow battled a large dust bat for a moment, then overwhelmed the creature and slammed it into a tree trunk, destroying it.
"The rear is secure," Tokoyami radioed.
"Right! Blackbird, move up! Tape's to the north west, he's trapped another one but needs someone to help destroy it," Mei ordered.
"Yeah, um, I'm called Sero, by the way? And yeah, I need someone to finish this thing off."
"Three more from the West," Kirishima's voice called over the radio. "Todoroki's got two, I've got the other one. Kaminari's overloaded his capacitors. He needs to wait for it to cool off or whatever or he'll go even dumber on us."
"Sorry! I'll see if we can't make a release mechanism to let you reset them later," Izuku promised.
"Yeah, thanks man. At least I got three before I had to fall back," Kaminari said.
"Be quiet unless you have something to report! Kaminari, fall back to me!" Mei barked. "Bakugo, there's a lot of explosions, tell me what's happening!"
"I'm fine!" Bakugo snarled.
"No, you're a jerk. But how many are there?" Mei demanded
There was silence save for more explosions, then Bakugo growled. "Six."
"Right. Pinky, Ears, back Jerk up!" Mei ordered."Grape, Red, move to the west! Red, what's your quirk again?"
"Um, you mean me, right?" Akai's voice asked. "well, I can teleport anything up to twice my size up to a kilometer." Her voice was soft and hesitant, as if she wasn't sure she should be there.
"Good! You'll be our mobile reserve," Mei barked. "Pick up Creator and move her and the cannon forward!"
"Another in the rear," Izuku said. He opened his missile bay. "I'll hit it with an HE round!"
The missile flew into the snake-like monster, blowing it in half and destroying it. "It's down! But there's two more behind it!"
"Floaty, help him!" Mei ordered.
"Um, ok!" Uraraka agreed. "On it!"
And so it went, for hours and hours. Iida scouted ahead, while Todoroki, Kirishima, and a rotation of Sato and Izuku busted their way through the bulk of the dust monsters. Bakugo did a surprisingly good job of warding the left flank, while Yaomomo, Shoji and Oijiro guarded the right. Izuku and Tokoyami defended the rear, and the others with the help of Akai acted as a mobile reserve, moving to fight wherever the most dust monsters appeared.
By the end of it, even Izuku was only able to trudge forward, and Mei was only giving out terse commands such as "Tape, Grape, South! Creator, bombardment 60 degrees!" It was near sunset when they stumbled out of the woods, battered, bloodied, and exhausted.
"Is it over?" Shinso groaned. He hadn't been able to do much other than act as bait, as his quirk was near useless against mindless dust monsters. However, he'd still taken a few blows, and was just as beaten down as the rest of them. The only one who hadn't taken any hits was Mei, as she'd stayed in the middle and been protected, much to Izuku's relief.
"Oh, we've just begun," Aizawa chuckled, coming over to stand over his exhausted class.
"I can't believe we missed lunch," Sato groaned.
"Can it, Sweet Tooth. At least you got some snacks," Kirishima muttered. "Stupid food based quirks."
Sato sighed. "We're never going to live down the nicknames Hatsume gave us, are we?"
"I thought they were fitting," Pixie Bob laughed. She smiled at Mei, her grin predatory. "Have you learned your lesson about calling people old, dearie?"
"Probably not," Mei sighed. "I'm not very good with social skills."
"Hey lady, back off of her," Kirishima sighed, shaking his head. "She's, um, well, she's special. And she was helpful. Plus, Midoriya will blow you up or something if you're not nice."
"Ooo! One with spirit!" Pixie Bob chuckled, her hands reaching out towards Kirishima. "I like 'em young and spirited!"
"Down, girl," Mandalay ordered, coming up to stand beside her partner. "Well everyone, you actually did really well! It took you six hours to get through that! I would have bet eight! Pros can do it in three, of course, but you're still just kids."
"Which means good news, everyone! You still get dinner!" Pixie Bob said.
That brought a ragged cheer out of the group, but Mandalay wagged a finger at them. "This is the only night we'll be cooking for you! From now on, you'll have to make your own food! But for tonight we'll cut you a break!"
"Thank God, I thought we weren't going to get to eat," Ashido sighed.
"It was another logical deception," Aizawa explained.
Bakugo snorted. "Can we trust anything you say, old man?"
"Yeah, for once I agree with Jerk," Kirishima said, standing with a groan. "You keep lying to us teach and we won't know what to believe."
"Well, perhaps you can learn after all," Aizawa chuckled. "Now go eat. Your training has just begun."
Authors Note:
The 20th student in 1A is Shatsu Akai. Don't worry, she'll be written out of the story as soon as she lives up to her name.
On an unrelated note, happy birthday to me. Guess I'll be spending my birthday socially isolating. But that's OK, I have painkillers and bed rest for company. Thanks for all the well wishes, it's helped keep my spirits up while I convalesce.
The good news is, after some imaging, the doctors have told me that I'm not in danger right now and everything looks good, and it seems that for now, the episode is over. It's going to take me a few days to recover fully, but we should be back on schedule in regards to updates. I'll likely need to go in for more imaging and a possible surgery, but that's all on hold until the current crisis is over.