Blood for the Blood God Chapter 34: Ch31: More Like Training Hell, a my hero academia/僕のヒーローアカデミア fanfic

AU NOTES

There is much that I wanted to add here too, but most of it will fit the following chapters better. I'm trying to speed the pace of the harem up, but I can't really force scenarios, I like to let things build up before the act. As for my question last chapter…well…

See the end notes, kekeke.

Blood for the Blood God

Chapter 31: [Training Camp? More Like Training Hell]

Izuku growled a bit, spinning through the air and trying straighten himself. He had been tossed by Tiger, the strongest member of the [Wild, Wild Pussycats], down the cliff where his classmates had also been thrown, but whereas they were somewhat safely dragged by the tsunami of moving earth and dirt caused by Pixie-Bob. He – on the other hand – had to deal with being thrown around as if a stone.

Still, the vampire endured the wind pressure and fixed his awkward mid-air stance, using his shadowy tendrils and adding blood upon it to create an improvised glider that allowed him to slow down, the vampire then slowly gliding towards his fellow students. He soon noticed that they were being attacked by something, his ears easily picking on the sounds of combat. The vampire watched carefully, observing that his friends were being attacked by strange, brown-colored animals.

He narrowed his eyes, taking advantage of his airborne position to analyze the situation. Most of the class was doing well against the monsters, but Izuku found something about the creatures strange; they didn't echo the sound of the song of life and death. Still, no matter. He pondered, just about reaching the top of the streets of the forest of the rescue group. The blood and shadow matter that made his gliding wings bubbled, morphing into a rather iconic shape for the vampire.

The Odachi that he had used to slice Wolfram's attack back in I-Island.

Differently from the original sword he had created (the vampire being forced to leave the weapon with David in all the hurry and rush), this one had a less intimidating color, being a simple red hue instead of the jet-crimson-red color. Without the increased air resistance of his glider, the vampire's falling speed increased, his sword-wielding arm firmly holding the handle.

His target? One of the larger monsters that was trying to attack the group from behind.

"Ninpou Hisatsu: Shutsugen Kira (Shinobi Arts Ultimate Move: Apparition Killer)!" The vampire sliced the creature in twain, the monster's body offering less resistance than what the vampire was expecting; differently from cutting into meat or metal, the creature's composition easily crumbling under the edge of his blade. That meant that the momentum that Izuku accumulated went nowhere, the teen slamming into the ground with somewhat great force.

His sudden arrival startled some, the back-liners/long-range fighters surely surprised by the sudden impact and cloud of dirt.

The vampire groaned, but quickly rose from the small crater he caused. He patted some dirt off his pants, sheathing his Odachi into a quickly made shadow matter sheath. As the dirt cloud dispersed, Izuku took stock of the slain monster, observing that it had no internal organs or anything else that resembled a living being. The sliced body soon crumbled into dirt piles, the vampire blinking as he took the sight in.

"Dirt monsters?" He said aloud, dodging a tail-whip from another monster, retreating with a hop.

"Midoriya, thank you." The subdued voice of one of his classmates reached his ears, the vampire turning to one masked teen. Mezou Shoji was the one, his big frame clashing with the quiet aura that the teen had; currently he was using all his six arms in different ways, the flesh shaping into sensory organs such ears and eyes to not miss anything that was going on.

Izuku nodded, covering his arms into a thin layer of blood, equipping a light version of his [Blood Gauntlets]; instead of the bulky design, they were small plated armor. He scanned his surroundings, his [Hunter Instincts] only lightly buzzing in his mind. His classmates weren't defenseless, they had fought villains too; these dirt monsters were rather weak when compared to what they had already faced.

Bakugou was clearing a path for the class with his usual viciousness, uncaring if anyone could follow him in his charge. His explosions took care of the monsters quickly, but soon enough more appeared to refill the ranks.

"You shitty fucks can't even make me sweat properly!" He roared, swinging his hands and blasting anything in his path. Clusters of enemies were made short work under the might of the ash-blond.

Beside him, covering his back, stood Kirishima. The redhead did slay his fair share of dirt monsters, his hardened arms perfect for both slashing and crushing. The teen doing his best to try to prevent Katsuki from rushing ahead alone. "Oi, Bakubro! We need to stick together!"

His nickname for the explosive teen wasn't exactly received well.

"Don't you fucking give me nicknames or orders, shitty hair!" Katsuki shouted back, blasting another group of enemies in front of him.

Didn't you specifically call most of the class by nicknames alone? Momo questioned in her mind, swinging her recently-made staff into a brown bear-like creature and shattering its skull. A twirl shook off the dirt and revealed that the staff had a diamond-shaped weight on its end. "Bakugou! We agreed to move together as a unit! You don't even know where the lodge is!" The class president tried to argument.

"Fuck off!" was the returned answer.

"Hmph!" Yaoyozoru let the other teen do as he pleased. If he was to be a rude hooligan, let him deal with the majority of the dirt creatures as he pleased. He was bound to tire sooner or later. She looked around, inspecting the field to make sure everyone was safe and sound.

Melee fighters would only move once the long-rangers created opening to allow them to attack, while the long-rangers were to stay in formation behind the melee fighters as they kept the monsters at bay. It was a basic, but efficient formation that would allow the group to not be overwhelmed by the monsters and move in relative safety while they figured out their assignment. So far the only instructions provided were: find the lodging and try to do so before lunch; anything else was left to their description, but one would be foolish to not assume that one of the teachers (be it Aizawa or one of the members of the Pussycats) wasn't nearby controlling the monsters and evaluating their work.

Momo was rather relieved once she heard Izuku's voice as he arrived on the scene, already placing himself into the formation to protect the back-liners. She wanted him mid-range, which would allow him to either rush to the front or reinforce the back, but another wave of dirt creatures took her attention, forcing the rich heiress to keep her attention solely into directing her classmates.

Their individual fighting skills were being tested for sure, but the heiress figured that it was best that they unite and deal with the situation as a group, saving their strength instead of risking defeat due to recklessness or tiredness. Her class had some stamina monsters, but then again it also had a few glass-cannons (yes, she played online games sometimes. Crucify her not!).

"Tsyu-san, cover for Uraraka-san! Koji-san, please do try to use your quirk to talk to some animals and help us find our way out of this forest!" She instructed, creating a modified munition from her exposed belly – her shirt long opened to allow easier access – and with a quick move, she loaded it on a pistol of her creation and let her bullet/missile explode against the face of a dirt golem. It did moderate damage, but most importantly, it did stun it enough that Kyouka could get close and use her jacks to release an attack. Sound waves echoed inside the creature and soon it was only a pile of crumbled earth.

Her orders relayed, she looked to the front just in time to see a big monster approach them. It snapped a few trees nearby, the creature resembling a rhino. It huffed in annoyance, the brown hide scorched in a few places, no doubt Bakugou's handiwork. It didn't seem to have much effect on the beast, the monster digging into the ground with one massive limb, its intent to charge through them clear. She was about to shout a few others, but before she had to worry about the beast's charge, someone else took care of the matter.

Shoto quickly reached the frontline and looked at the earth-rhino with focused eyes. He waved his right hand, sending a cold wave of ice towards the monster and trapping it frozen solid. Not a beat later, Todoroki sent a fiery torrent of flames barreling towards the monsters. The rapidly changing temperature resulted in the monster shattering without much fanfare.

Shoto released a small sigh. "Thermal Shock." He muttered to himself, loosening his tie with right while inspecting his left hand.

Bakugou emerged from the treetops soon after, his shirt smeared with a long line of dirt. Kirishima too appeared, coming running in their way.

"Watch out! Incoming!" The redhead shouted, his face displaying exasperation and shocked surprise. Soon the reason of his rush made itself known, a group of just about thirty beasts hot on his heels, their intention to make the exercise hurt rather clear. Whoever was controlling these beasts was earning the heiress's annoyance and ire.

…

"Achoo!" Pixie-bob sneezed. She sniffed, running a hand over her nose almost like a cat. "I guess I'll do soup tonight." She thought out loud, pressing her gloves once more in the ground and pushing her power into the earth. "Maybe a stew too. Would he like beef?"

…

Izuku plunged his left hand deep inside the chest of a gorilla-like monster, his right hand holding his sword, the blade running through another creature's mouth. The gorilla-like earth construct tried to attack him one last time, but the creature's head exploded in a shower of smoke and clumps of dirt. That had been due to Momo's shot, the girl holding a reinforced rocket pistol, the girl seemingly becoming a fan of firearms as her use of them had been growing into a frequent thing.

The vampire didn't have much time to appreciate the carnage the class had wrought into the field as they could already hear the inbound steps of another wave incoming. He sheathed his sword and sighed. He checked his wristwatch, noticing that forty-five minutes had gone by since their arrival and they hadn't managed to make much progress. Defeating the earth monsters wasn't hard, but their sheer number made reconnaissance difficult as the creatures would target anyone acting solo.

That gave credit to the idea that they weren't true monsters, but a result of quirk usage. The only one so far who the class knew could manipulate earth was Pixie-Bob, so the group silently swore vengeance in their hearts while trying to advance into any direction. Due to the sounds of combat, forest animals had long since fled the scene, invalidating much of Koda's effective use of his [Ani-voice] quirk, thus effectively making the entirety of class 1-A blind in a territory they were unfamiliar with.

They hadn't been fighting for long, but due to the creatures' earthly composition, it seemed like they had been fighting for days as any hit on them constructs released dirt and dust everywhere. The effect was particularly bothersome for the physical fighters, seeing as the likes of Satou and Kirishima were already covered from head to toe in earth. Izuku had the slight range advantage granted by his sword, but sometimes he had to get close and personal with some of the more resilient obstacles (i.e, the most troublesome); since his personal firearms were in a locked suitcase in the bus, he had to contend with melee, as he wanted Yaoyorozu to save up her strength in case they truly needed it. He could try making one with his own blood, but while Izuku had been studying and learning about weapons, he was no gun-nut and needed to preserve his blood.

Bakugou did start sticking around the class after his encounter with the rhino beast, the stain on his torso speaking volumes about his earlier overconfidence in tackling this challenge, but it was clear that he would rather do anything else than be close with his classmates. Kirishima was weathering the worst of the ash-blonde's mood, so that took the edge off too.

Momo was tackling the challenge with gusto, proving herself to be an effective and competent leader. Izuku was more action-oriented in his efforts, aiding his classmates when they got into trouble for overextending or any small mistake. Such as now; Uraraka had to get close enough to touch her targets to user her quirk. She had improved her speed under her internship (he hadn't had the time to ask her about it) and had finally developed more awareness when it came to fighting. Still, she was not perfect yet, and during one of her charges, she'd forgotten for wait for Tsuyu's backup.

She managed to get five earth monsters floating before she noticed her mistake, another three surrounding her and ready to give her a painful reminder of the basics. Well, that would have happened had Izuku not intervened.

He [Blink]'ed atop the middle monster, his blade digging into the creature's head while dark matter spilled from his own shadow, tendrils of inky blackness shooting towards the other two monsters and piercing them like a macabre stitching needle-work. The vampire was quick to also incapacitate the floating monsters, slashing their earthly limbs off and allowing the frog girl to leap in and grab one of the monsters with her long tongue, using it as a wrecking ball and smashing the limbless monsters into dust.

As he landed, the vampire approached Uraraka, the girl looking to the side, ashamed of her mistake. He sheathed his blade and raised a hand, lightly patting her head. "Don't worry, Uraraka-san. Now is the time to commit mistakes and learn." His words did lift the girl's mood, but behind him a poker-face wearing Tsuyu stared at the duo.

"I wouldn't mind if you learned a bit faster thought, O-chan. I don't exactly like the taste of dirt in my tongue." The [Frog]-quirk user complained, her normally unexpressive face showing a hint of disgust. The vampire couldn't exactly fault her either, but then again, he was quite sure that a kick from her would have been safer and faster to execute. Well, as he had already said to the brunette: now was the time to do mistakes and correct any bad habits.

"Sorry Tsuyu-chan, I got too into it." Ochako apologized quickly, a hint of a shamed blush dusting her cheeks. She hurried to her formation position, leaving Izuku and the frog girl by themselves.

The vampire scanned the area, seeing that his classmates had the current turn pretty much dealt with. He relaxed, allowing himself a small breather.

"You know, Midoriya-chan," Tsuyu called his attention, her somewhat derpy face bringing a spot of mirth inside the vampire's mind. "I don't want to sound rude, so please don't take this personal, but did you happen to have sex recently, ribbit?"

Izuku blinked, unsure if what he heard was true. He turned to stare at the froggy girl, Tsuyu returning his stare with a passive one of her own. She was waiting on his answer, confirming that he had indeed heard her correctly.

[Hoohh? Might you be interested in truly finding it out, cold-blooded maiden? We wouldn't say no to tasting you.]

Izuku clicked his jaw shut, still managing to maintain a passive and neutral expression. He scanned his surroundings again, making sure that none of his friends had heard the blunt question. Once he confirmed his safety, he returned his eyes to Tsuyu, the girl seeming to be eagerly waiting for the answer.

"That is quite…personal indeed, Asui-san." He opted to deflect the question. What did the girl gain by knowing such fact?

"Call me Tsuyu-chan, ribbit." She put emphasis on the fact. After he nodded, the girl relented, putting a finger on her mouth in an inquisitive manner. "Well, you see, I am a frog."

[Hmm yes, the floor indeed is made out of floor.]

He raised a brow at the statement, crossing his arms over his chest. "I see…"

"Well, it is more appropriate to say that my mutation-type quirk gives me certain…dispositions, ribbit." She clarified, the technical terms now enlightening Izuku as to the point of her argument. Still, he didn't want to assume anything, so he waited for the girl to speak her mind. "and some of my dispositions can be triggered by certain factors. I don't want to invade your personal affairs or anything, it is just that there is this certain…smell? Scent?" She tilted her head, juggling with a few ideas on her mind before she gave up formulating something more specific. "Anyway, the point is: something just exudes from you and it is quite…stimulating." She finished the last word with a murmur, the subject breaking through her walls and bringing some shame to Tsuyu's face. She lowered her head, mulling with the idea.

Izuku did another scan of his surroundings, seeing Mina dissolve a snake-like earth monster with her acid. He took a deep breath, sure this was not the correct time to be talking about such affairs; he was willing to talk about it alright, but this freely and while among combat seemed to be pushing it a bit too far.

"I'll hear more when we reach our lodging, Asui-san. I'm not too familiar with frog-related matters, but I'm sure I can help you out somehow." He hoped that his suggestion cut the conversation short. If he was lucky, by the time they reached the lodge the girl would be too damn tired to even think about whatever it was that led her down this path.

"Then I'm counting on you, Midoriya-chan." The girl nodded, assuming her usual slouched position with her hands hanging up slightly. However, before she went away, Asui turned and poked at his side. "Call me Tsuyu-chan, ribbit." She insisted, staring into his eyes.

Izuku found himself amused at her behavior. He returned her stare with a one-eyed glance, closing the other to emphasize his growing amusement at her behavior. A dull chuckle echoed in his mind, the laughter of the [Inner Beast] synchronizing with his own and echoing in his head. He offered her tiny quirk of his lips, raising a hand to give the girl an okay-sign, quickly placing it over the handle of his sword, ready to draw the red blade. They still hadn't found their accurate location and where they were headed after all, but it wasn't like Pixie-Bob seemed to be willing to give him many breaks.

Should have stayed in the air for longer to survey the area. Izuku grunted, chastising himself for the blunder. He quickly helped the class to clean up the remaining wave, scanning the area with careful eyes; once he ascertained that the area was safe for the moment, the vampire focused, mist-like black fog covering his frame for a moment as the vampire suddenly used his ability to warp to appear among the tree-tops. High up in his tree of choice, Izuku scanned the area to try to find the class's lodging, eyes straining as he abused the effect of his enhanced eye sight.

He stayed up for a few minutes, his eyes turning into their fear-bringing format, trying to find the correct direction for the group. Since the Pussycats hadn't given them any direction or tip, the vampire tried to ascertain it by logic. Since the reserve was a forest, the lodging shouldn't be on a valley or any descending body of land, as rain could case flash-floods (mud floods) and downwards land would make for poor stable building foundations, as tree roots and stuff were particularly hard to dig up. He guessed that their lodging was going to be either on an ascending slope or close to some mountainous grounds, places with better grounds for building foundations.

Why did the vampire know this? Well, it was one of the classes in hero rescue training; he also heard a bunch of it during his visits on the construction sites of his gym and beachfront property, Uraraka's farther explaining it to him (to explain and justify the expenses that were charged from him) in an oversimplified manner.

He managed to spot something far in the north-west direction. It was quite far and outside of his discernible eyesight range, but considering their options, it was unlikely that any other building would be erected here if it didn't belong to the rescue group. The vampire descended from his perch with a jump, taking the chance to practice the art of silent steps, another shinobi art from Edgeshot's scroll. Descending by stepping on tree branches, the vampire managed to reach the ground with a quieter approach; he still made noise, attracting the attention of the more sensory-focused folk of the class, but once they noticed it was him, the group dismissed it being a threat.

Izuku soon landed and walked towards their defacto-leader, Yaoyorozu. She was checking on the state of the group, making sure that no one was hurt. Her shirt was still open, revealing the valley of her torso, but not even Kaminari and Hanta (the two most known for their male desires) were cracking any jokes or trying to cat-call the girl. Denki was taking a break, having used quite a bit of his brainpower due to his quirk. Hanta was greedily gulping some water that luckily had been brought by Iida, the uptight teen lecturing anyone nearby on the importance of staying well hydrated. The class seemed to be in a good mood, even if they were bothered by the filthy state of their clothes, caused by sweat and the quickly produced dust and dirt of the monsters created by Pixie-Bob.

The vampire stopped and leaned against a tree, watching Momo talk with Koda, trying to get the shy teen to use his quirk. Bigger animals such as birds had fled far away, avoiding the sounds of the fighting, but insects were still available and supposedly still in the teen's power's effective grasp.

"Koda-san, I know that you are afraid of them, but it would help us very much if you gave it a try." The rich heiress tried to be as soothing as possible. The Class President had diligently combed through the files given by Aizawa, being particularly careful to examine the list of weaknesses of her fellow classmates. Having dealt with an irrational fear herself (her previous attitude towards Izuku a consequence of that), she figured it would be a nice experience to help her friends deal with their own fears and insecurities.

Koda, while being an animal whisperer, seemed to be terribly afraid of insects. It had been the cause of his failing grade in the physical portion of the class exams, the teen only managing to pass due to his high score in the written test. His partner for the exam had been someone from outside their class - someone called Shinsou, if her memory served her right – and he managed to barely score the win against Present Mic.

The gentle giant teen lowered his head, the impression the vampire had of the sight being that of a mother trying to push her son to play on a new neighborhood with new kids – rather endearing to see. The group needed to move soon, but they could afford a bigger break time for now.

"I k-k-know…P-P-President-san." The teen replied, rather shyly.

Izuku crossed his arms and closed his eyes, focusing merely on their voices. He and Yaoyorozu had agreed help their classmates in different ways. The girl was more suited for the pep-talk sort of way, her manners and attitude much more helpful in getting people to open up; he wasn't seen as a monster by their classmates, but it was sort of silently implied by the class that it was a bit hard to approach him unless one had a lot of guts.

Momo's focus was on helping students overcome their personal hurdles and fears. The vampire's approach, however, was more on terms of practical and physical things; he was to analyze and help improve and develop their quirks, aiding them with an outsider's perspective on their skills and the manner which those could be practically applied in real-life scenarios. For that, the monster-grind fest that was this exercise was a god-send for Izuku, allowing him to see far more than what he was used too in classes. So far he had seen at least three methods for quirk-improvement for everyone, including quirk training and other basic skills.

What most of the class needed was basic stamina training. Many of the melee fighters did naturally have a good base, but those that fought at mid-to-long range were lacking in that aspect; Kyouka had improved under her internship, but she still needed more training; Kaminari had blown most of his stamina too early in the fight, Yuga was holding his cramping stomach (looking like he truly needed to go to the bathroom), Hagakure – whom the vampire could more easily spot now due to [Electromagnetic Vision] – heavily relied on not being spotted and her combat capabilities were sorely lacking, Rikidou having his strength limited to short bursts; all in all, there was plenty for everyone to grow and improve, but it wasn't exactly easy to point out flaws in people's habits and strengths without hurting feelings.

Izuku wasn't exactly a social butterfly, hence why he was going to be working in tandem with Aizawa when pointing out his ideas.

"Bugs are gross. They crawl around all sorts of disgusting places, they have too many legs and being stung hurts." Koda whispered to Momo, the sight of large body shivering like a helpless child bringing a bit of amusement to the vampire's mind. The girl was by his side, running a soothing hand on his back while nodding her head, trying to ease the large teen into experimenting with his power.

"I know, I know~" Her replies reminded Izuku of his childhood years, the vampire nostalgic of the feeling when his mother comforted him with some of her blood. She still had faded scars in her arms due to his earlier bites.

[Ahh the early days of our life were a bittersweet thing. The soothing ichor of Matriarch, the only thing good about those insipid days, when that foul-blooded Bakugou thought himself the superior being of the playground.]

Izuku let the thought wander into his mind, his eyes scanning the area, searching for said childhood…acquaintance. The vampire spotted the bomber far from the group, resting atop a large rock. He gingerly patted his torso, suppressing a hissing sound and soon shaking off a worried Kirishima. Old anger bubbled in his chest, an old, but festered thing trying to resurface. The vampire squashed it with cold logic (and cold blood flowing through his veins), wanting to put his efforts into more productive matters than ancient grudges. He left his leaning tree and got closer to the two.

His approach wasn't silent or stealthy, meant to alert the two of his incoming presence. He stepped on a particularly dry stick, the snapping of the wood drawing attention and getting their focus on him. Koda immediately clammed up, looking to the side, while Momo sent Izuku a stern gaze.

The vampire ignored the pointed look of the heiress and got close enough, standing shoulder to shoulder with the rich girl.

"Hello there, Koda-san." He greeted politely, waiting patiently for an answer. The other teen shyly lifted his gaze from the ground, eyes barely managing to focus on Izuku's own orbs before he brought them down once more.

"Midoriya-kun…" Momo interjected on the side, pointing to her eyes and making a suggestive motion for the vampire. Izuku remembered that his eyes were still transformed, but he kept their shape for now. A scary face would be the least of this child's problems in the future.

"It is rude to not reply to a greeting, Koda-san." Izuku pointed out, seeing Momo wince, now holding a glare at him.

"S-s-sorry…" Barely a whisper left Koji's mouth, his voice a squeaking thing. Regardless, the vampire took that as his cue to continue.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation, but I couldn't help overhearing some of it." Izuku said without any heat in his words, slowly squatting down to seem less threatening. Koda was taller than him, but nonetheless, he was a shy child by nature. The vampire rested his right arm over his sheathed sword, left hand coming over to run over his jaw. "Do you perhaps fear insects because of some childhood incident? Or has your fear of them being a constant thing in your life?" The questions were rather upfront, but the vampire asked them anyway. He was pulling a bit on the recent improvements to [Mesmerize], especially the effects of [White Lie] and [Aromatherapy]'s quirk factors, but it was mostly to calm the other teen down.

Koda remained silent, hands nervously joined together. He looked towards Yaoyorozu in a silent request for help, the girl slowly patting his shoulder to avoid spooking him, her touch seemed to give the teen a respite, his shaking reduced to the occasional shiver.

"…I…d-don't feel c-comfortable sharing…" Before the teen could continue, Izuku nodded and raised a hand to stop Koda. Momo rolled her eyes at the green-haired teen, seeing that he cut the other teen, her nose scrunching as she tried to deliver her message as silently as she could.

Let him speak out, build his confidence by himself.

The vampire got the message, somewhat awkwardly lowering his hand and wondering the next course of actions. Koda had clammed up again, but at least was trying to maintain eye contact.

"I understand. There is no need to share anything if you don't feel like it, we just…" The vampire tried to thread carefully, trying to word his intent but wishing to avoid making the other teen feel overwhelmed or indebted to them. "We are here if you need anything. We are your classmates, as well as Class President and Vice President." Were it the effects of his quirk or the careful words, Koji did offer them a shy nod.

"S-same…h-here…" The teen whispered an answer, making the duo of Izuku and Momo to smile. The vampire licked his fangs, feeling a dull itch on them. Even with the feeding frenzy that happened on I-Island, the vampire still felt the [Thirst]; muted or pronounced, the need for life fluid was always there.

"Would you…" Izuku almost asked a question. "…never mind." He stopped the request before it left his mouth. Koda was already at his wit's end merely from talking with the vampire, the only thing stopping him from a full blown panic/nervous breakdown the hemomancer's use of his quirk's controlling aspect. Asking for a bite of the kid might break the shaky trust they managed to establish. The vampire turned to the heiress and spoke up. "I'll check on the others, see if they are ready to go. I have a strong lead that might take us to the lodge." He then returned his gaze towards Koda. "It was a pleasure talking to you, Koda-san."

The teen offered another nod to the vampire, his body language still insecure and nervous.

Momo stayed with the shy teen, letting Izuku to do his check-up on their other classmates. It would take quite a bit to draw Koda away from his shell, but any progress was good progress.

[XXX]

Three and a half hours later.

"Bakubro, don't overextend!" Kirishima shouted overhead, holding the front-line against an absolute onslaught of dirt monsters.

"Don't you fucking give me orders, Shitty Hair! I fucking know what I am doing!" The explosive ash-blonde shouted back, flying over a great earth golem and blasting it on the head with a mighty explosion. The beast's body fell backwards, the head nowhere to be seen. Katsuki returned to the group's formation, panting tiredly.

As per Izuku's suggestion, the class finished their break and started heading towards the north-western part of the forest, with Uraraka and Izuku periodically checking up their surroundings via the Izuku-balloon technique, and the more they advanced, the greater the number, frequency and quality of the beasts that attacked them became; it was supposedly a sign that they were indeed headed in the correct direction. However, that didn't mean it became easy to follow the path.

It took great amounts of teamwork to break through the earth beasts, cracks starting to appear in their formation and efforts as exhaustion and hunger began to set in. It was still manageable, but it was clear that the push was taking its toll on group.

Izuku sliced a foursome group of creatures and barely took a breather, having to reinforce the frontline, whose formation almost crumbled due to Bakugou's insistence in aggressive maneuvers. The vampire rushed to front, using Kirishima's back as a springboard and leaping over a group of ten monsters, his blade drawn and crackling with emerald lightning. Right behind him came Mashirao and Rikido, fists covered in dirt beyond measure. The vampire's blade decapitated two monsters, the teen having to dance around the others to avoid being stomped.

Mashirao made ample use of his tail and the surrounding trees, resembling a spider-monkey. He jumped high in the air, going through the motions for a spin axe kick, but the blow was delivered by his muscular tail, crushing the gorilla-like monster that he was facing. While the martial artist dealt with that, Rikido fought his two rhino-beasts on his own, his cognitive functions limiting the teen to just shouting and roaring at the enemies, grappling the creatures by their heads and bringing them to the ground before they could charge. The muscular teen might have been a threat to his own group due to the recklessness of his attacks, but the vampire covered that by using [Mesmerize], the dull mind caused by the backlash of [Sugar Rush] a rather conveniently easy target for the mind prowess of the green-haired teen.

With the aid of the two, Izuku intercepted the attacks on the frontline, giving enough time for the back liners to finally aid them. A few shots were fired at one salamander-beast, blasting the monster to smithereens and allowing the vampire to focus on the last of the monsters, a lion-like creature.

The vampire let the lightning crackle all around his body, but he soon hissed in pain, letting it fade from most of his body, focusing only on his right hand and blade. The Full Gauntlet was active on the limb, protecting it from the effects of the electrical force.

Still haven't found the right wattage…The vampire hissed, feeling various muscles in his body twitch involuntarily. He had been experimenting with various uses of [Electric Pulse/electric Blood], trying to further accelerate the speed which messages were sent from the brain to his nerves and muscles; it was incredibly dangerous, the vampire only doing so due to his ability to heal from extreme damage. Even so, it wasn't without a price. He hissed, his body locking up due to the aftereffects of his experiment, leaving the vampire open for a counterattack.

The lion-beast batted the vampire aside with one mighty claw swipe, throwing the vampire against a tree. He crashed against it - bark breaking and wood splintering – bouncing from the tree and falling on the ground, his red sword thrown aside carelessly.

"Midoriya!" Shoto shouted, using his ice to slide right under the lion-beast, raising his left hand until it touched the monster's underside. The creature lit up, a fire pillar bursting and singing the monster until the smell of baked earth was all that remained from the monster.

Izuku groaned, face down on the forest floor. He began to slowly lift himself from the dirt, huffing in annoyance at his blunder. He glanced at his sword, seeing the weapon impaled on the ground a few meters away from his position. Before there was the need to rush the blade, a shadowy creature rushed towards the weapon, claws grabbing the blade and breaking past the remaining earth monsters to deliver the vampire his weapon.

"Thank you, Dark Shadow. Send my thanks to Tokoyami too." Izuku grunted, grabbing the offered blade and releasing a sigh. The quirk gave the hemomancer a thumbs-up, returning to its master and clawing at the beasts that tried to stand on its way.

Todoroki rushed his way, right hand emitting a cold haze to ice any injuries. Izuku merely nodded to his friend, allowing the dual-quirk user to touch the left side of his torso. It wasn't strictly needed given the vampire's regeneration, but the gesture was appreciated, the vampire's ribs enjoying the brief respite that the cold touch provided.

"That was a nasty blow, what happened?" Todoroki asked.

Izuku sighed, waving a hand on the air in a careless manner. "Slip of the mind, it won't happen again." His reply was followed by the sheathing of his blade.

Yaoyorozu and Iida soon arrived too, looking worse for wear. Dirty would be a compliment to the well-off teens.

"Midoriya-kun, how are you?" Iida loudly asked, ready to fuss over Izuku like a mother hen. The vampire tapped Todoroki's hand, the teen lifting his limb and allowing the vampire to rise from his knelt position. He took a deep breath, showcasing that he was fine and back on the fight.

"I'm fine." His curt answer didn't dissuade their worries, but the vampire didn't let them become overly concerned for him. He could heal from much worse (and had done so), they should worry about themselves. "Uraraka!" He barked. He tried to not show it, but the constant battles were wearing them down; they needed to reach the lodge already, else their morale would begin to fall off with no prospects of rising up again. "Get Hanta up and see how far we are from the lodge." His sharp command was met with their action, his tone not allowing for anything else.

As Ochako used her [Zero Gravity] on the [Tape]-quirk user, he released a strand of his weakest tape so serve as improvised rope to control his ascension. Moments later, the teen was hurrying down, almost desperate in his rush to reach the ground.

"Class Prez, Midoriya-boss, we're close! Like, one mile straight ahead!" Hanta shouted the news. No one from the class missed the news, the teens whooping in joy at the prospect of ending the relentless fighting against the monsters. Some of them were in their last ropes already.

Izuku himself displayed a rather savage smirk. Finally, I was thinking that we would end up staying until the end of the afternoon in here! He mused, looking at his friends and noticing their joyful expressions. I'm not the only one looking forward to a long shower and a soak in hot water.

Their early commemoration was cut short when Momo fired a custom blank round, merely wishing to rouse attention to herself without shouting her throat ragged. She coughed, a dusting blush on her cheeks due to the sudden silence and attention. "Ahem, I know that everyone is happy and all, but we still have to reach the lodging. Let's give our all and push for one last time. This is the last stretch," She encouraged, but then she spoke words that made the vampire widen his eyes. "It can't be too hard."

/Ohh, is that so? Let's fix that problem then! / Mandalay's telepathic message echoed inside all their minds, the group almost capable of tasting the smugness in her voice.

[GHRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW]

"…"

"I'm sorry?" Momo apologized, sheepishly looking around the group, seeing the class send her almost murderous glances.

Izuku grunted in annoyance, but didn't loiter. The last push, huh? I can do that! He took a wide stance and began focusing, gathering power on his blade. "No time for that, guys! Like Yaoyorozu-san said, one last push!" The vampire's words broke the spell, the group making their preparations for their push. The roars of the earth beasts were loud, signifying that they were rather close to the group; their efforts would be best placed in facing the challenge rather than spitting the rich heiress. That would be given to Pixie-Bob.

Tokoyami approached the vampire, Dark Shadow hanging around his shoulders like a cat. The bird-headed teen exchanged a gaze with the vampire, the two reaching an agreement without words.

"Todoroki." Izuku called out, the stoic teen approaching from the other side. "Tokoyami needs darkness." Barely had Izuku finished his sentence, the teen acted. A light stomp had a small dome of ice surrounding the teen, the murky ice immediately creating a fake-cave, the construct offering the boost that Tokoyami needed; that done, Shoto let fire burst from his left side, the temperature around him increasing exponentially as he pushed more and more flames out.

"Yes, I can feel the power of this cold darkness. My beast seeks carnage and destruction, but our goals align for once! Let us show the world this power that is darker than black! DARK SHADOW, RAMPAGE FREELY!" "TIME TO DESTROY SOME SHIT!"

"In my veins I hold the key of life; flowing, shapeless, without clear definition; I carve my path against this ruthless mountain that does not give back what it takes; I call upon the power of the fierce, bloody wind; please, grant me a rending [Jetstream]."

"…Grand Thermal Shock…"

Five absolute mountain-like earth creatures emerged from the tree line, all of them composed of deeply packed earth and stone and about 10-meters in size. Sending that sort of obstacle against 1-A students was unheard off, the challenge something that even the current third years of UA would balk at and call extreme. Yet…

…

Pixie-Bob tiredly panted, leaning against a tree. A water bottle was offered to her, the heroine taking it and sipping the cool liquid. Her drink done, the blonde sighed in satisfaction, her gaze rising to meet her partner, Tiger the Strong Neko Hero.

"Don't you think this is a bit too much? I know Eraserhead said to push them, but we don't go this hard even on Third years." Ryuko – aka Pixie-bob – expressed her concerns, wondering how the first years would deal with her Ultimate Move, Behemoth's Descent. Yeah, Mandalay said to use it, and while Pixie-Bob might enjoy teasing and pushing her little kittens around, she wanted to actually teach them something, not just break their spirit. Besides, her little vampire kitten might end up getting a grudge against her, something that would spoil her chances of getting to know him.

Tiger crossed his muscular arms over his chest, his face morphing into a rather comical OwO. Ryuko lightly slapped the man on his shoulder, his face returning to the normal as he released his quirk.

"Not time for that, Yawa-chan! I'm worried about my future (marriage) here!" The blonde exclaimed, but the male member of the group didn't seem much worried.

"Don't worry about it, Ryuko-chan. If Eraserhead trusts those kittens, then we must also put the same amount of trust in them; he did expel the entirety of his class last year from the hero course, so if he is keeping all of them now, they must hold some potential." Tiger explained the reason behind his calm demeanor. "Besides, I think it would be okay to break their spirits a little. One can't build a house upon weak foundations after all!" He exclaimed, flexing his bulging muscles, the top part of his costume almost bursting, struggling to contain all the might of Chatora Yawara.

Pixie-Bob sighed, letting a tired smile paint her lips. "Only you, Ya–" Before the word left her mouth, earth-shattering noise erupted from the area where she sent her [Earth Flow] creations, her connection with the creations severed rather abruptly. She stared at her partner with shock painting her features; those five behemoths weren't child's play, how had they dealt with that that quickly? Was that even possible?

/RYUKO! Did you go easy on them!? Eraserhead said to push them to their very limit! They are only slightly late for lunch!/ Mandalay's angry voice echoed in Pixie-Bob's head, the blonde almost picturing the leader with her hands on her hips, her angry face only managing to make Shino's features more endearing. The blonde picked her long-range radio, the only method of communication this deep in the mountains, and pushed the talk-button.

"Of course not, Shin-chan! I used my Ultimate Move and everything! Over!" She hurriedly replied.

Seeing as she had grabbed the blonde's attention, Mandalay turned to her own radio. "Well then, you might want to hurry back to the kitchen! Because we've got a small army of very hungry and very angry teens! You might want to put a real hurry in there, over!"

The radio comm shut off with a crackle, leaving the blonde startled. They had really managed to push through her ultimate move.

"Shino-chan sounded really angry there, are you sure you can afford to dilly-dally here, Ryuko-chan?" Tiger asked while swooning his body and forcibly raising the pitch of his voice, the actions not fitting his figure at all; however, he did make a fair point.

Pixie-bob began to rush to reach her destination, taking a shortcut and leaving Tiger on his own. The man waited for a few moments before moving, his path different from that of his teammate; he quickly reached the area where the students from class 1-A were supposed to fight the blonde's strongest earth creatures, his face narrowing into a serious stare.

"That is certainly…something else." He noted, observing the absolute destruction left behind. Trees were felled, the ground was carved out, and destruction wrecked an area the size of a small soccer field. Forget children, this was a sight that would not look out of place in a warzone. "Damn, what is Eraserhead teaching these kids…" Tiger asked languidly. His expression, however, soon turned into a mischievous smile. "Their muscles will be wonderful to train!"

…

Izuku felt shivers run up his spine, the vampire turning around to see if something was behind him. His [Hunter Instincts] were quiet, but he was quite sure that something out there was aiming for his well-being. Well, whatever the case maybe, the teen figured that it would be fine.

The class managed to reach their lodging in record time, breaking their teacher's expectations and earning a well-deserved rest. Their stomachs were rumbling, but Pixie-Bob was already in the kitchen, fixing up their food. The girls were taken to the females' changing room while the males were rounded up by Aizawa, busy with taking their belongings from the bus to the lodge. The group piled up their luggage close to the entry door, another member of the Pussycats appearing and baring the filthy males from entering the place without cleaning up first.

This one had long emerald-green hair, her eyes shining in yellow tones and matching the color of her cat-costume. Izuku identified her easily; Ragdoll, the Energetic Neko Hero. She seemed to be the shortest of the Pussycats, but what she lacked in height, the woman seemed to make in energy, as she seemed to appear unable to sit still, her body always shifting and turning one direction or the other, although her eyes did barely blink, her stare certainly capable of competing with Shoto's.

"You guys are filthy-icky! No one steps a single a single paw inside until they wash up." She proclaimed, standing right in the middle of the way of the front door. The males were all confused; sure, what the woman was saying was technically sound, but how were they supposed to clean up when the bathrooms were indoor?

Iida raised a hand in his usual robotic manner, getting the attention of the cat-themed heroine. "Ragdoll-san, we will gladly follow your orders, miss! However, how will we wash up?"

Izuku decided that the smile that adorned Ragdoll's face was one that he wasn't willing to stick around to find the meaning off. He discreetly looked backwards, eyes searching his friends. Once his green orbs spotted them, he did his best to warn them without seeming too obvious. It didn't seem to work out, most merely staring in confusion at the vampire.

"I am so glad that you all have decided to ask! Kota-kun! Please, help our new kittens wash up!" Ragdoll exclaimed, her joyful tone not matching the mood around the group at all.

"Sorry, I tried." Izuku spoke aloud, disappearing in a cloud of fog-like mist, a stream of pressurized water missing the vampire and smacking dab into Bakugou, who had been marching up to the cat-themed hero to give her a piece of his mind. Instead, he got blasted on the face by the stream exiting a long hose manned up by a boy, the kid staring daggers at the group, unrelenting in his water attack.

"Ahhhhh! Fuckin'! ARHH!" Bakugou tried to mount some sort of defense against the stream, but his hands got wet and reduced his mighty explosions to weak crackles, the water stream seemingly focusing his face and for some reason, his nuts. "FU–ahhhhmmmmmm." Before any swear could exit his mouth, he got another blast of water for his troubles.

"This will wash up that dirty mouth of yours."

Kirishima did try to reach from the side, approaching the kid to ask him to stop the unmanly attack on his partner, but suddenly the jet of water was turned towards him. He hardened up, managing to withstand the blasts, but with his stamina and strength sapped, it wasn't long before he was subjected to the same treatment the ash-blonde received.

The other boys from 1-A tried to dodge and avoid the same outcome, hiding behind any available place; a pity for them, Ragdoll was by the child's side, pointing towards each hidden teen, the pressurized water from the hose striking true each time they poked their heads out or left any part exposed.

"You can't hide from me, nyahahaha!" For those unware, Ragdoll's quirk was called [Search]. It allowed her to locate up to 100 people at once, seemingly working much like sonar tech, automatically recording the information in her memory. It apparently could not be blocked by anything, the woman pin-pointing the location of absolutely every single male student from 1-A. Well, almost everyone.

The "bath" lasted for a few more moments before the water from the hose died down, the duo of Kota and Ragdoll staring at the rubber tube as if failing to grasp the concept of a malfunction. The child released the hose, letting it smack on the wet ground with a "flop" before slowly retreating, his hard stare never ceasing.

"Stupid, playing hero like a bunch of stupid people." The child muttered, searching for the outdoor faucet, wondering why his fun-time had been cut short. The answer? The faucet was encased in some sort of red crystal, the shine of it a rather dull thing. Kota touched it, noticing that the crystal was cold to the touch, seemingly being nothing more than ice colored with red food dye.

He tried to mess with it, even hitting the thing with a nearby stick he found, but it resulted in nothing. He grumbled, using his quirk to try and melt the strange ice, but it also seemed to be useless. As he stayed close to the faucet, trying to figure out how to deal with this sudden development, a shadow got close, staying behind him. Most likely one of the dumb hero trainees, trying to spook him. They were so dumb, not even knowing how to approach people from behind; since only the males were outside, Kota figured that a low blow might be enough to dissuade anyone from messing with him. He spun around as quickly as he could and punched low, the blow aimed at the crotch height.

*poof*

His tiny fist hit something alright, but it didn't have the consistency of flesh. Kota widened his eyes, seeing his fist be grasped by a hand made out of some inky black matter, the limb stretching from the dark pool that was Izuku's shadow.

"Why, hello there, little one." The vampire dragged the pronunciation of his words for as long as he could, squatting down to Kota's height, his eyes in their fear-bringer mode. The slit pupils shone with a crimson glow, but that was all that he did; however, that seemed to be all that was needed for the child to pass out while standing, the vampire taken aback by the sudden development.

The vampire awkwardly scratched at his cheek with one dull claw-like nail, holding the kid with his shadow much like a hammock. The vampire looked to both sides, making sure that no one had seen the scene. His work done, the teen circled around the building, arriving where he guessed to be the kitchen, the smell confirming his theory. The door was already open, so the vampire knocked on the outer frame to gather the attention of whoever was inside before he poked in his head, burying his face into soft cloth and springy flesh.

[Oh my…such fertile scent!]

Izuku immediately backed off, his small hop creating the needed distance between him and Pixie-Bob, the blonde heroine blinking in confusion at the sight of the vampire carrying Kota with his shadow, a ladle grasped in her hand, her cat gloves absent.

"I can explain." He muttered, fighting the blood flow that rushed to his cheeks and other, more dangerous places. That the [Inner Beast] was also making rather inappropriate comments in the deep recesses of his mind didn't help the vampire, nor did the mental images that his wild side was picturing and feeding him.

Pixie-Bob didn't explode into a rant or assaulted him. The woman nodded, motioning with her ladle for the vampire to enter. He glanced down at his clothing, aware that he (while unwilling to be hosed down like some rancid dog) needed to clean up too.

"I imagine that Ragdoll got Kota-kun into some silly shenanigan with your class, right?" Pixie-Bob asked, rolling her eyes and seemingly unbothered by what had just happened. The vampire tilted his head in a questioning manner, licking his fangs. "What? Got something you want to say?" She asked him.

He decided that it would be better to just avoid troublesome questions. "Where can I put, ehh, Kota-san, right?" Once he received a positive head nod, the vampire extended his shadow-bond present towards the blonde heroine. She picked him up with one arm, cradling the child against her torso in a manner akin to a mother with her baby.

[Indeed, she would make for a fine mate and a finer neko broodmare! Her pheromones indicate that she is in the pinnacle of her fertile years, master!]

[How about it? Our personal breeding neko? Genius-mate is young, so this one shouldn't pose a problem!]

The vampire clamped his jaw shut, letting his fangs pierce his tongue in an attempt to silence the [Beast Within], but the vampire only earned a curious glance from the heroine and a chuckle in the depths of his mind. Suddenly getting hosed down didn't seem to be a problem anymore. He cleaned his throat and gulped.

"I need to clean up, best not get in your way or dirty the place." He spoke quickly, leaving the area the area with a [Warp].

Ryuko shrugged, setting Kota down on a nearby chair in the kitchen and returning to her duty. After a few minutes, reality seemed to set in and the woman realized something.

He was totally blushing there, right? I still got this! In the bag, baby! She squealed happily.

[XXX]

Luckily for the males of class 1-A, their female classmates did not loiter or linger longer than necessary with their bath, allowing the wet and soggy teens to get a true bath instead; supposedly the Pussycats also had a hot spring facility with proper female/male partitions, but their normal shower room was more limited. In the end, the group did manage to clean up and for their efforts, were treated to a rather nice meal, courtesy of the one that had put them through such trouble. Pixie-Bob's food was good, bringing with it a homely and comfortable taste that helped the teens unwind after such frenetic battle. Among those that were silently enjoying the food was Izuku.

The vampire managed to get his inner tenant to quiet down, but not before the wild instincts planted a myriad of images in his head, none safe for him to talk about with his friends. That led to the vampire deciding to contend with shoveling food down his gullet.

Aizawa seemed content with their success, a less grumpy poker face being his mood as he watched over the class, making sure that they wouldn't start a food war or some other silly shenanigan. Although the underground hero seemed to be cooking up some idea in his noggin, the hemomancer sure that his teacher wasn't done just yet; the prank atop the roadside cliff that sent them tumbling down to the forest to face the dirt beasts merely the beginning of it, he could feel it in his blood.

Whatever the case maybe, at least their teacher seemed to be willing to spare them an olive branch, considering he was even allowing them to eat peacefully…for now. The vampire would be sure to always be on watch for his teacher and his temporary assistants, the group already showing that they were too, more than willing to work the teens ragged in the name of "improving their skills". Izuku wasn't one to run from hard work or a difficult challenge, but even he had to admit that their earlier trial had been tiresome, a few in the class in their last fumes trying to keep up.

Momo pushed for a steady advance and with Izuku, Todoroki, Bakugou, Tokoyami and the heiress herself at the forefront, and thus the entirety of the class had no choice but to follow through. Her efforts paid off in the end, so there wasn't much to complain about.

Their late lunch ended up being a somewhat quiet affair, the usual cacophony of noise lacking due to the class's low energy levels. They even had a precious thirty-minute break, the vampire using his allotted time for a quick nap. That it also served as an excuse to avoid conversation wasn't something the vampire was going to complain about, as it diminished the chances of people questioning his earlier blunder. The vampire had been trying to develop a few new high-level techniques, moves that could be used not only by him, but by his classmates whose quirks he had acquired via blood-ingestion.

Kaminari's quirk had been one of those that the vampire had an easier time with. It didn't terribly sap blood from him, being one of the most useful quirk-factors that he had acquired. The electric power did become harder to control the stronger Izuku pushed it, but so long as he did maintain a regulated usage, it was easy to deal. However, what the vampire was trying to accomplish did require more than just a slight tug on the quirk-factor. He didn't have an appropriate name for the technique, but the gist of it was overcharging the power and keeping it under tight wraps in the body.

The theory behind it was basic nerve-muscle stimulation, except elevated to a much higher degree. Expansion of the reflexes and hand-eye coordination improvement were just some of the major benefits of the move, with a small side effect: due to the constant flow of lightning through the body, they would inevitably become a human-sized taser. The vampire saw it as more of a benefit to close-quarters combat than anything else, but then again, accomplishing it effectively was hard enough.

Covering one limb or two in lightning to attack was rather easy, but true body enhancement was a different matter altogether. One small slip and he would be sending electricity coursing through the wrong area of his insides, which needless to say was bad. The vampire would only ever think about teaching Kaminari if he managed to properly tame the lightning. As things stood, it was more like he was trying to forcefully run it through his body, his failure in execution causing him to be affected by a muscle-locking spasm, creating a perfect window of attack for one of Pixie-Bob's creations.

If Denki were to recklessly attempt something like that, forget cramped muscles, the blonde might end up cooking himself. Izuku would rather not be responsible for causing the entirety of his class PTSD, thank you very much.

The vampire was just about done with his meal when he noticed their teacher standing from his seat, walking towards the center of the indoor living room turned to improvised cafeteria. It took mere moments for the teens to notice the pro, the man nodding approvingly to their increased perception of their surroundings.

"Good job on arriving early here, we were honestly expecting you to be stuck in the forest for a lot longer." Their hobo-looking teacher offered them a rare compliment, the teens' mood soaring high. On the background one could see Mandalay glaring sternly towards the kitchen, Tiger behind her trying to calmly placate the leader of the group, the vampire's enhanced hearing catching something about betting. "In light of that, you can have the rest of the day to rest. Tomorrow we begin in full the summer training camp; those that failed will also have to take remedial classes later with me, so look forward to that." The man's words brought a few groans out from the sea of teens, one light glare from the teacher shutting them down.

Aizawa sighed, one hand coming to rub at the scar under his right eye. "Before that though, I want to pass out one last testing assignment for you." The request brought a wave of curiosity, the teacher heading out the lodge without saying much.

Izuku raised a brow, but it clicked in his mind what the teacher probably wanted. Among the student files, there were some commentaries by a few teachers, all eventually pointing towards quirk-strengthening training. Complementary skills such as martial arts training (close-quarters combat in general) and general analyses were good to have, but fortifying the basics was also essential, especially considering the heavy usage of quirks in their profession. TL;DR, improve the quirk and you improve the hero.

He turned his head towards Yaoyorozu, seeing the heiress to also be looking his way. He nodded, standing from his seat and quickly bringing his used dish to the kitchen, stopping when Tiger got to his side.

"How polite! We will take care of it, don't worry young kitten, just follow up with Eraserhead." The Strong Neko Hero exclaimed, picking the plate form the vampire's hands. Izuku sent the tall man a grateful look and clapped a few times, gathering the attention of his classmates.

"You all heard Aizawa-sensei."

His job done, the vampire began to head outside, Momo soon following him with a measured gait.

"Are you alright?" She questioned once they stopped outside, their teacher a few meters away, waiting for the rest of the class to follow up.

Izuku offered Momo a side-glance, running his tongue over his fangs. "I'm fine, just did a small mistake." He offered, hoping that the girl cut the conversation short.

"I'm not talking about that, Midoriya-kun." She clarified. "The incident with I-Island; we…don't exactly know what truly happened after the last attack on that villain. You also haven't truly opened up with us," She stated, seeing Izuku shift his gaze to a spot on the earth ground. "and simply trying to brush what happened aside with a mere 'I'm fine' does nothing to dissuade our worries. We are your friends." The rocker affirmed her point.

The vampire sucked in air with hiss. He was unharmed, there was no need to worry; he could heal, he was in control, he was fine.

"Momo." Izuku suddenly used the girl's given name, getting her attention and making her eyes widen. "I'm fine." He firmly stated, his tone not admitting doubts or further questionings from the heiress. She still wanted to push the issue, but considering their arriving classmates, she relented. However, she was still far from finished with the bloodsucker.

The arrival of the class got their teacher moving, the man pulling out a baseball from the midst of his scarf. The item was somewhat nostalgic, the measuring ball that they used on one of their first trials back in the beginning of their school year.

"Bakugou." Their teacher called out, the ash-blonde stepping to the front and getting closer. "Do you remember what your previous score for this test was?"

The bomber had his hands stuffed in his pants' pockets, a bored expression across his face. "700-something meters…" He spat out, salty at remembering the scores for that day.

"Indeed." Aizawa grunted in acknowledgement. "Are you up for one last throw for the day?" The teacher asked, making sure to put a condescending tone in his voice. Bakugou seemed to respond amazingly well to provocation, be it in a good manner or a bad one. The pro wasn't a fan of this type of teaching method, but sometimes one had to work with what they got. The teen's expression frowned, his steps becoming a marching thing as he further approached the hero, snatching the measuring device and taking a fair distance from the group and his teacher.

"You got this, Bakubro! Just remember to give it all you got, be even manlier!" Kirishima cheered from the side, getting Ashido and even Hanta to holler a small cheering to the blonde.

Hmph, bunch of extras wouldn't know greatness if it hit them in the face. Bakugou smirked, dousing the ball in the sweat that he had quickly gathered by stuffing his hands in his pocket. "DIE!" He took a stance and did his throw, the explosion giving propulsion to the ball and sending it flying with a smoke trail. It looked fairly flashy.

Didn't he do this exactly the same last time? Izuku wondered, tilting his head questioningly. A few classmates seemed to be thinking the exact same. Bakugou stared at the ball in the sky for a few moments before turning to look to his hand, a furrowed brow painting his face.

The ball flew further and further, the group waiting with baited breath to see what amazing result would be shown on the screen of Aizawa's device. It took a few moments, but eventually the phone blipped, the teacher turning the screen towards them

/850,3 Meters/

There was silence among the class, their questioning expressions firmly settled on the device, wondering if it had failed somehow.

"The reading is correct." Aizawa stated, somehow reading their unspoken question. "You have fighting experience and can respond to unexpected situations with proper conduct, but sometimes that is not enough. Sometimes overwhelming power is the solution to a certain problem, and that is something most of you lack; of course not everyone can be an offensive powerhouse, but a deeper understanding of your quirk can offer you different methods to deal with various situations."

"Thus, the major objective of the summer training camp is to push your powers to their very limits, and then to break past those limits. We will push you like never before, and you will feel like dying," The teacher said, his grinning smile making many flinch, fearing for what was to come from this. "however, do try to not die." He finished his spiel, letting the class stew in his words. Normally he would only explain such things moments before their hell…*ahem* intensive training began, but since they displayed such effort reaching the lodging early, he decided that he felt gracious enough to toss them a bone. Tomorrow he could tortu… train the children for all they were worth.

[XXX]

03:47 A.M
Temporary Males' dorm rooms

""""Zzzzz.""""

All that echoed in the males' rooms were the sound of their deepened breathing, only the occasional sleepy mumble disturbing such peace and quietness. The class was separated accordingly, males and females taking different rooms to place their belongings and rest up. It was fairly early – the dawning hours of the day to be more exact – and even the earliest riser wouldn't be getting up until two hours later.

That would be, if they were in their own homes.

[How peculiar…]

[How courageous…]

Izuku's eyes immediately snapped open, the vampire scanning the room for the intruding presence. The door opened very quietly, the person entering doing their best to maintain a fairly small presence; the vampire stayed still, taking a particularly deep breath to try and identify their invader, his [Hunter Instincts] buzzing lightly in alert. The calming scent of melatonin and coffee hit his nose, the odd combination allowing the green-haired teen to identify Aizawa.

The vampire began to call upon [Warp], unsure of the teacher's purpose, but unwilling to stay behind to confirm it. He had managed to get about four hours of sleep – not plenty, but enough for him to consider himself well off. He decided to throw his friends a bone and also pulled on [Shadow Control], slowly extending shadowy tendrils towards Todoroki's and Tokoyami's beds and letting the dark matter touch them. One of the requirements for [Warp] was close-contact, which extended to his extra add-ons (tentacles and tendrils, or his body fluids in general (blood being the best conductor)).

Aizawa got to the center of the room and placed something on the floor, but just as he was about to open up whatever it was, his head snapped towards Izuku's bedroll, noticing the gleaming crimson eyes of the vampire staring at him.

"Hello there…" He whispered, fog-like mist emanating from his body. The teacher tried to activate his own [Erasure] in time, but the vampire was already done with his preparations. "…farewell, sensei." His frame vanished, together with two other bodies.

The teacher narrowed his eyes in frustration, but sighed, the beginnings of a pleased smile trying to appear on his lips, only to be changed halfway through to a sadistic grin.

"Well, you escaped from the first trap," He mused, "but can you escape from all the traps?"

…

"You know, if this was done to me, I would be incredibly pissed off." Ragdoll quietly commented, seeing Mandalay place a small box in the middle of the girls' room. The leader of the cat-themed group rolled her eyes and both women stealthily left the room, leaving their booby-trapped package that would be simultaneously activated along with the same "gift" left on the males' room.

"They are Eraserhead's kittens, so he dictates how far is too far; our job is to supervise their quirk training and relay instructions." The leader of the group spoke, suppressing a yawn. Eager as they were to pull a second prank on the children, the timetable that Aizawa set for them to follow not exactly easy to follow without some major adjustments to their sleeping schedule; they would make do, as rescue operations sometimes lasted many days and required boundless stamina to follow through.

The two women headed out from the lodge, joining in with the already waiting Pixie-Bob, Tiger and the hobo-looking Aizawa. He had a creepy grin splitting his lips, and as he noticed the incoming women he tried to hide it behind his scarf, yet they could still notice it. The two had shivers run up their spines, somehow intrinsically understanding that he was a rather sadistic teacher and unwilling to be the target of his ire.

He managed to get his expression in check, messing with his phone to no doubt engage the traps that were set in the children's rooms. He tapped on the screen of his device one last time, pocketing it and waiting, hands grasping at his scarf. The pussycats also got ready, each one getting into a fighting stance.

The package, as Aizawa nick-named it, was a special combination cooked up in UA's Support Research and Development labs, being one of the many trinkets that he had access to. It was a combination of smelling salts and a loud noise-maker; it was made to startle and cause sudden chaos among a crowd, the teacher's main aim to see if the students would manage to maintain the same level of cohesion when placed under this small hurdle. Aizawa had various tiers for the [Package], this one being level two out of five. He was still being fair to them, he'd wait before deploying his more extreme ones.

From their location they couldn't hear anything more than a muffled, siren-like noise. Still, as moments went by, the noise began to grow continuously louder, the thumping of feet adding to it as lights began to be turned on hurriedly, the previously dark lodge suddenly becoming too bright; not long after that the group began to spill out from the lodge, dazed, confused and still trying to blink the blinding spots from their sight; task that immediately became last-priority as the teens few under the firm (though thankfully padded) palm attacks from the Pussycats, the group giving no mercy to the stunned children.

It didn't take long for the group to be subdued under the paws and restraining scarf of their instructors, the teens groaning as they suddenly found themselves face-first into the ground.

"Good morning class and welcome to your third lesson of the training camp, always be aware of your surroundings." Their homeroom teacher spoke as if giving sagely advice. His words were answered by a wave of groans and complains, the most vocal in the class didn't hesitate in letting their teacher know what they thought of this so-called training. "You all should consider yourselves lucky. Pixie-Bob and Mandalay intervened and managed to push your training to now; I was considering starting it midnight on the dot." Aizawa bluntly told the class, the teens trying to find the joke funny and failing hard.

"There is no way! What is this, the JSDF boot-camp?" Mina shouted over, trying to rally a few of her classmates against the tyranny of their teacher.

Aizawa shook his head exasperatedly. "No, it is not." He replied, his creepy grin further increasing as he tightened his hold on a few students. "The JSDF training took cues from us." He stated, getting the pink-skinned girl to pale up at the thought.

He further tightened his scarf's grip for a few more minutes until he released it, his move being followed by the Pussycats, the adults releasing their hold on the teens and letting them pick themselves from the group.

"As I said before, summer training camp will not be easy and it will not coddle you. We are here to develop your quirks well past what you think their limits are; alongside that, we are here to improve your overall performance and skills, trying to make you as close to perfect heroes as we can." His statement was followed by Tiger bringing a few gym bags close to the teens, dropping the heavy-looking items on the ground. The two exchanged a look, the muscular tanned man backing off and letting the teacher take the lead. "Before anything else though," He looked towards the roof of the lodge. "Midoriya, grant us the blessing of your presence!"

The teens only now noticed that indeed the vampire was missing. Not only him, but Todoroki and Tokoyami were also absent from the early shake-up.

The vampire rolled his eyes at his teacher's sarcasm, but complied nonetheless with the order. He looked to his sides, getting affirmatory head-nods from his friends, the two males awake. He extended dark tendrils towards them and wrapped it around their wrists, pulling on the respective quirk factor as surprising his classmates by his arrival via [Warp].

*Swooooshhhhhhhhhh*

"Hello there, sensei; Pussycats." He greeted, still maintaining his shadowy faux limbs on his friends, only now the dark matter helping them keep their footing. He still needed to fine-tune the technique while carrying others, the "jump" still jarring and uncomfortable for passengers.

Their teacher lightly glared at the vampire, wondering how the quiet teen had gotten into his streak of pranks and light showmanship. It wasn't anything really bad, but mostly unusual and outside of his expectations for the vampire's behavior. Still, he waved it off and motioned for the teens to join their fellow classmates.

"Glad you could take time from your schedule and make it." He poked at the teen, seeing how he would respond, and mostly how would their classmates react.

Izuku shrugged his shoulders. "Think nothing of it, Aizawa-sensei. I sensed your presence and decided that it was too menacing for me to just return to sleep."

The teacher lightly clicked his tongue. He sighed, taking the time to glance at his phone to check the time; it was four in the morning on the dot.

"Well, now that we have got all of that settled, let us begin your training." Aizawa said while pointing towards the Pussycats. "I have already planned out a fairly easy work schedule for all of you; while stamina and close-quarters combat training will be fairly similar, each of you will have a specialized regimen that we expect you to follow to the very letter. We will know if you skipped on it, trust me." Eraserhead glared at the teens, but finished his piece, letting Mandalay take center stage.

The leader offered the teens a kind smile. "Don't worry about Aizawa – he is just an old cat – and just train to your hearts content, kids. The group and I will be helping out with both your training schedules. I will relay general instructions and warnings; Pixie-bob will be creating terrain and targets for those that need it; Tiger will take care of close-quarters combat and Ragdoll will be in charge of specific instructions." She explained.

Tiger had a mischievous, cat-like expression, flexing his muscles and showing off his biceps. "Let's work out those muscles!"

Ryuko waved at the kids. "I expect full commitment from you, my kittens!"

Ragdoll merely stared at them, smiling, yet not saying a word.

And finally, Mandalay placed her hands on her hips. "With that said, show us your best, young kittens!"

Introductions all said and done, the group of teens got excited to begin their training.

…

"Hold on, one question though." Kirishima asked, raising a hand.

Mandalay focused on him. "Yes?"

"Shouldn't we have breakfast first?" He questioned. "You know, to have energy and stuff?"

The leader of the group didn't answer.

"We are going to have breakfast, right?" Denki joined in, his previously inspired expression shifting to one of increasing doubt.

Mandalay still didn't answer.

Uraraka turned to Izuku and lightly pulled on the sleeve of his sleep shirt. "You don't think they are going to push us into training with empty bellies, do you?"

Izuku wasn't sure of the answer, so he merely pursed his lips into a thin, straight line, opting to look ahead to the horizon.

"Izuku-kun, please look at me."

...

…

09:37 A.M

"I'M HUNGRY- Aghhhghh!" Kirishima shouted to the heavens, his manly spirit reduced to a young teen being punched in the mouth, his hardening releasing as the blow put him down for the moment. The "knockout punch" was delivered by an eager Tiger, the muscular man finding himself surrounded by about seven kids.

Kirishima was currently on the ground, nursing his mouth while trying to stand up.

Mashirao, whose tail was painted in various shades of blue.

Mezou was favoring his left leg, the masked teen also sporting one swollen brow.

Sato was circling the hero, trying to reach his back. He also was sporting one black eye, his lips covered in icy frosting.

Kaminari held a poor-man's boxing stance, his expression a dull thing, his brain close to reaching its limit.

Tohru was close by, the group unsure of her exact location as she was invisible permanently. So far they had accidentally bumped into her close to a hundred times, as her advantage became a detriment to the cohesion of the group's attacks. If she were to announce her position, the advantage of stealth went wasted, but if she stayed silent and tried to join in the fray she would get in the way or accidentally hit by a stray elbow.

Izuku held a red Kodachi, opting for a smaller, but faster blade to try and reach Tiger. So far the results were less than pleasing. The man was an absolute unit, possessing a truly wild reaction time and mean counters for punishing any mistakes that they made. His quirk too didn't help matters, as [Pliabody] let him slip past anything that would come close to hitting, his fierce fighting style not offering the teens any respite. Tiger would punish cowardness and back-pedaling with a heavy cat-shaped glove, beating the snot out of the melee fighters.

All around the mountain range scenarios would play out akin to this one. They weren't being pushed to improve just their quirks, but to also to maximize the effectiveness of the training by multitasking it. Improve quirk, improve combat sense, improve stamina, and improve everything. It wasn't just the melee fighters that were getting their shit pushed in, everyone was getting treated to Aizawa's special branch of "tough love and training". And it sucked hard for everyone involved in the matter, the melee fighters just had the worst looking-part of the experience.

In the background, far from the close-quarters group, the repetitive echo of grand explosions happened. Bakugou had to be separated from the majority of the others due to the requirements for his workout, the only other teen within the ash-blonde's eye sight was Todoroki; the dual-quirk user's training also needed plenty of space for him to manifest his power.

Katsuki was forced to dunk his hands into boiling water, trying to develop his sweat glands. There was also a cooler close to him, stocked full of sports drinks and water to help replenish his fluids as well as many packets of crackers, to help with chemical balance in his body; for now the teen just had to do so, but there plans to add to his regiment.

Todoroki had a similar type of exercise; his one consisted of a constant usage of both sides of his quirk. He was inside a barrel full of water, constantly freezing his surroundings and then quickly getting rid of the ice with his fire. The area was soggy, the humidity elevated due to the remaining water melted from the ice.

Tsuyu was asked to train close to Shoto's area, the constant shifts in temperature adding to her challenge of developing her [Frog] attributes. She had weights strapped to her limbs and had to traverse an area molded by Pixie-Bob, full of obstacles. The girl looked rather miserable due to the ever changing temperature, but she was powering through it.

Uraraka had to improve her semi-circular canals to resist the nauseous effects that [Zero Gravity] would put on her. That got her placed into a plastic air-bubble, brought up the slope of a mountain and then left to roll down, only to repeat the process over and over. That, and she also had "drunk-goggles" over her eyes, further adding to her pains.

Momo was carrying a backpack chockfull of various sweets; her training consisted of continuously creating various complex items as quickly as possible while replenishing her lipid reserve through the consumption of sweets. She looked utterly nauseated by the constant intake of sugar, swaying on her feet as she tried to follow Ragdoll.

Mina and Kyouka had somewhat similar treatments; both were to use their quirks to chip away at a rocky mountainside, but much to their dismay they couldn't just focus on that. They also had to contend with Kota, the child being asked to periodically check on them. Should they fail to notice his approach, he could pelt them with water-filled balloons for about 30 seconds. Needless to say, the two were soaked wet.

Koda – the shy teen – was also far away from most of the class, although that didn't mean that he had it any easy. He was loudly shouting to the four winds, trying to get a great deal of animals under his control. Most forest critters would check out the teen, only to be spooked away by the sudden change in pitch or would they would simply leave, their curiosity sated.

Hanta was to constantly produce tape from his elbows, a similar cooler with many fluids also close to him. That, however, was merely the beginning of his routine; for now he just needed to know how much tape he could push out until he ran dry.

Iida was to keep running up in his maximum speed to constantly check on all his classmates as well as take notes on their current progress and report to Aizawa; It sounded simple, but the repetitive exercise began to take greater tolls due to the teen also having weights strapped to his body.

Tokoyami was training hard too. He had to go inside a cave until complete darkness surrounded him, at which point [Dark Shadow] would come out at his strongest; the teen then had to wrestle himself away from the pitch-black cave and try to hold in the same level of power under the sun. There were also heavy-duty floodlights close by, ready to shut him down if things got too far.

And finally, Aoyama was to try and use his quirk for as long and as hard as he could do. Easier said than done, especially when his [Navel Laser] caused him bowel-loosening stomachaches; the teen had his own private portable toilet, and could be seen constantly running back to use it. Nobody had any interest to see what would happen should the blonde not reach an available toilet in time.

All around the mountain range/forest property of the Pussycats pained groans and tired gasps echoed.

…

"…what is wrong with you, Aizawa?" Vlad King asked while his students stood behind him, the group utterly flabbergasted by the hellish sight in front of them. Kendo and Monoma were at the front, herding the group to deposit their belonging on the lodge, the bus having delivered them right on the normal spot that would normally be used by sane, understandable teachers without any sadism in their body. Like a proper teacher.

The hobo-teacher shrugged his shoulders, bored gaze settling over the sister class of 1-A. Many had their mouths hanging open, observing the closest training site; Tiger was conducting a cardio-session, Izuku being the only one left standing up. The vampire had a sheathed blade on his hip, doing the fast-paced and strenuous activity that the male member of the Pussycats was doing effortlessly. There was music playing in the background, the type that would play out in the radio during morning-calisthenics (commonly known as Radio Taiso), the rather silly song not matching with seriousness with which the two men did the exercise.

The song suddenly cut off, the duo immediately jumping towards each other, Izuku drawing his blade and coming for a ascending slash. His attack was dodged, Tiger countering with a rising knee that would have split a lip had the vampire not crossed his arms to guard. The blow slammed into the teen's defense, Izuku calling upon his shadows to try to spear the hero. His body shifted unnaturally, dodging every shadowy spike; the duo kept the dance for a few more moments, neither truly managing to gain advantage over the other.

That is until Izuku tried to perform a quick Shutsugen Kira (Apparition Killer). Tiger dodged the blade by millimeters of difference, entering the vampire's personal space, his right gloved hand snapping up and wrapping around the green-haired teen's face. His grasp firmly settled, the muscular man proceeded to slam Izuku onto the ground, the fight finishing up with the blow sounding like a gunshot.

The vampire released his blade, his pained groans muffled by the cat-themed glove around his face.

"That is the spirit, Midori-kitten! Now take five to recuperate and get ready to round thirteen." Tiger exclaimed, grabbing a small towel that hung on his waist to wipe the few drops of sweat that marred his tanned face. Once he finished, the man turned to Aizawa and the newly arrivals. "How lovely, new kittens to torme…– *ahem*…to train!"

Vlad King blinked, wondering if Midoriya was even alive after that slam.

Kendo plastered an awkward smile on her lips, unsure what to say about this situation. Monoma, on the other hand, looked elated that the vampire was down for the count. The 1-B class stood still once they noticed the vampire rise from his "tomb", shadowy hands pushing him up. He stood to his full height, moving his head around until a popping sound echoed from his neck.

"I hate when he does that…" The vampire mused out loud, turning to observe the newly arrived students. Freshly minted and looking like they had arrived on the bus. Not a scuff of dirt on their pristine uniforms. The vampire took a deep breath, turning to look at his teacher with glassy eyes. "Did they…"

Aizawa waved the vampire off. "Not my class, not my plans." The hobo-teacher pointed to his fellow employee, the white-haired man confused with the situation. "If you have any complains, take them to Vlad."

Izuku slowly turned his head to the Blood Hero, his glassy eyes creepily staring unblinkingly at the man. However, before the vampire could act on his darkest desires, the radio began to play once more, the blood-drinker immediately rushing to previous placement, body moving to imitate the way Tiger did move.

"I will have my vengeance…" Izuku muttered. The song suddenly stopped playing, the vampire not ready for Tiger to shoot towards him, the cat-glove now a tight fist that slammed into his gut, bending the vampire into two folds. Had Izuku eaten breakfast, he would have vomited it right then and there. Even then, he heard a taunt from 1-B's vice president.

"So uncultured…"

[XXX]

"""Thank you for the meal."""

The voices of class 1-A rang in the cafeteria. The group ate in silence after offering their thanks, too tired and hungry to complain about anything. Their hellish training session finished right on lunchtime, the teens dragging their tired and battered bodies to the lodge, only to find out that they would have to cook their food if they wanted to eat. Worse, they would have to do it quite fast, since the next session started in two hours.

Luckily, Kendo managed to convince her class to help their fellow students, citing that it was only fair. They had yet to have any training, so they could help out. The girl was then worshipped by half of 1-A for five minutes.

The food was…well, in any circumstance it would be normal, if a bit bland, food. However, the death-march that they had to call training made the teens simply shovel food down their gullets, thankful for the proper nutrition. Their hunger from skipping breakfast and the harsh training making the food taste rather heavenly.

The chatter and conversations came mostly from their sister class 1-B, the teens from 1-A too tired to follow up or strike conversations on their own; since they would still have training in the afternoon, they were trying to save as much energy as they could.

Izuku took some distance from everyone. Not because he was being anti-social, but merely as a precaution. He had strenuous activities before, but today managed to beat almost everything that he had experienced so far, even the fight against the Anti-All Might Nomu, as the creature had served as a giant blood-pack after almost killing him.

The vampire had requested UA bring him blood bags as per part of his special dietary needs, but the bland blood needed to be rationed out, else he might just drink everything now due to the [Thirst]. Some of his friends might be willing to let him drink one or two pints, but he preferred to not put a strain on their training due to his personal needs.

He quickly finished his meal and headed to the kitchen to handover his dirty dish, noticing that a few gazes settled on his back. None but one carried hostility, most of their glances filled with curiosity and small bits of amazement; Izuku did find the hostile one to belong to a child hidden on the hallway that led to the Pussycats' personal rooms, the kid only poking his head from the door frame to glaringly stare at the vampire.

[…]

There was a growl in the back of his mind, his inner tenant not appreciative of the child's stare. Nonetheless, Izuku thought that the kitchen could serve as his refuge for now, thus he entered it and headed to the sink, seeing Ragdoll and Mandalay talking while pointing to a few papers. They quickly noticed his presence and dropped their subject, the teen dulling his hearing in respect.

"Do you need anything, Midoriya-kun?" Mandalay took the chance to begin conversation.

Izuku shook his head, licking his fangs. "Not really. I just wanted a few minutes to myself away from the crowd and away from the sun." He commented on it, heading to the sink and beginning to wash his dish. There were a few other plates and cutlery soaked in there, so he went ahead and washed those too. It served as a nice distraction.

Ragdoll tilted her head and approached him. "Do you dislike the sun? If you wanted some alone-time, being outdoors would have done the trick too, right?" The rather blunt question from the green-haired woman earned her an elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Mandalay. The leader of the group showed him an apologetic smile, but the vampire offered one of his own.

"That is true. Heh," he let amusement tinge his voice. "I used to dislike the sun, being a vampire and such, but you don't need to fear me turning into a pile of ashes. It is just my disposition is best suited for the night." He explained.

Mandalay hummed. "I guess that makes sense. Aizawa said that you were one of the few that did escape his little trap."

Izuku nodded, washing the soapy foam from the dishes. "Lucky me."

Ragdoll leaned with her back on the counter close to the sink. "He also said that you and the class president were put in a side project to help your classmates. Something about quirk analyses and unorthodox development…" The woman stretched her back further, the vampire catching from the corner of his eye the light bounce of her chest.

"Indeed." He curtly said, moving on to drying the wet dishes.

Mandalay approached her teammate with their papers, face scrunching up in concentration and giving her mature look a cute appeal. He mentally chastised himself, the [Inner Beast] grumbling at his prudish mentality.

"He did say that you could emulate other quirks, but is that true?" The leader decided to ask, putting her papers on the counter far enough to avoid wetting them. Her brown eyes lighting with curiosity, her expression making the vampire bite the inside of his cheek as the whispers and jeers of the beast taunted him.

The vampire dried his hands with a nearby rag, placing the cloth over his right shoulder before extending his right arm straight. "Originally I could only manipulate my own blood." His explanation was followed by a practical example, the life fluid slowly exiting his pores until it accumulated enough on his arm to form a light [Blood Gauntlet]. "However, upon ingestion of fresh blood, my quirk began to reproduce the foreign quirk-factor. Some do require my blood as a medium or fuel, but others don't; it honestly depends on the quirk that I'm taking in and my understanding of it."

Mandalay and Ragdoll widened their eyes as the blood-red gauntlet hardened right before their eyes, becoming a solid construct. It then liquefied again, some parts of it bursting into a small flame, other parts emitting a cold mist, and others began to spark almost as if ready to explode.

Ragdoll got rather close to the arm and began staring at it, but soon enough the small show stopped. She then raised her yellow eyes to glance at the vampire's green orbs. "So, how does it work then? The blood ingestion thing? Do you just drink it? Like, bite the neck and stuff?"

The vampire exchanged a gaze with Mandalay, the woman also sporting a curious expression. She noticed his eyes and then moved to grab her teammate's shoulder. "Come on, Tomoko, don't be inconvenient!"

Izuku shook his free hand. "No, no! Don't worry! I was just…" He paused, unsure what to say. Was he scared to explain and then receive the disgusted stare he was so used to during his childhood? He had long ago surpassed that, right? Feeding on blood was hard to explain. He could merely take in life fluid through the creation of blood tentacles or tendrils to suck in through them, but drinking it was the best; feeling the taste of it in his tongue, the feeling of his fangs piercing flesh, the liquid running down his throat and into the furnace of his stomach, satiating a primal [Thirst]. He blinked, noticing the women staring at him. He licked his fangs, gulping down all the saliva that had accumulated in his mouth.

"…it needs to be fresh. Up to thirty minutes outside the body, anything else and the quirk factor will not be reproduced. I don't necessarily need to drink it, I can just take in through these." He said, hoping that they didn't find his sudden silence too creepy. He created a few tentacles from the remaining blood on his arm, the faux-limbs moving much like the form they were imitating.

Tomoko got even closer to the tentacles, wide eyes staring at the wiggling forms. She giggled, almost poking them with her gloved-hand, but the red forms retreated back in the vampire's body. "That is quite a cool quirk, Midoriya-kun."

Izuku took the compliment, unsure how to react. Praise towards his quirk was rather rare, the most common reaction being fear or disgust. "Thank you." He replied stiffly.

Mandalay began to make small talk with him, the vampire keeping the conversation going fluently. The Pussycats might not be most popular rescue group out there, but he had seen them frequently enough when younger to recognize them at a mere glance and their work etiquette did see them constantly working alongside other heroes for many different missions, be it rescue or anything else. He didn't nerd out, but it was pleasing to meet and talk with them. They kept talking until it was time for him to return to his training.

[XXX]

The vampire released a tired sigh, rolling his head until his neck popped. The training had finished a few hours ago, the teens finally allowed to truly rest. Class 1-B was now a wreck, cashing in on the favor from lunch as having 1-A make them dinner; Izuku, Yaoyorozu, Sato and – surprisingly enough – Bakugou took the task and made quite the decent meal for their sister class.

The Pussycats provided the ingredients, so the group merely had to go to work on their planned meal. Bakugou did try to push for a super spicy curry, but majority vote won for chicken rice and stir-fry vegetables. The explosive teen grumbled, but in the end he did help, if only to not allow Izuku to make his portion of the food. Conversations were now a limited thing, the entire group resembling more one giant bruise than a class of forty-one students.

Yes, forty-one. Alongside class 1-B, two other teens were being wrung dry; Minoru Mineta and Hitoshi Shinso. They were the most tired of the bunch, as General Course did not exactly have a strict physical training regiment, which meant that the two teens had to play catch up with the rest of the class. Their stamina and skills weren't atrocious, they had had managed to catch the attention of Aizawa after all, but they still had plenty to work towards. Nonetheless, the two were welcomed into the hellish training camp, their suffering equal (if not greater) to the heroics classes.

The vampire had quickly finished his meal washed up, getting a brand new notebook to write away the improvements he wanted to introduce to his classmates. He might also be willing to phrase it in a way that would let him have some of their blood, but it was only fair since he was sharing his precious information, the least they could was to share some blood with him.

He avoided the living room, since it had been turned into an impromptu classroom, Aizawa lecturing those of 1-A that had failed either on the written test or the practical one. Izuku could swear he saw Mina's soul leaving her body through her mouth, but then again it might have been the concussion from Tiger's annoyingly effective face-grabbing slam.

The vampire was outside the lodge – more accurately on the roof – taking in the cool night air and writing notes.

Kaminari – Improve the lightning cloak and reduce the strain on the brain.

Kirishima – Improve the quality of his hardening and the precision. Reactive Hardness possible?

Sato – Introduce other types of sugar to him. See the lasting effects of starch and sugary-water

Each and every one of his classmates got an entry, even Bakugou wasn't exempt. Their personal grievances aside, Izuku would not deny him the opportunity to grow, but he would only offer his aid once the bomber improved his attitude. Even their sister class got their entries, the vampire needing more time observing them to come to better conclusions and theories.

He finished his last note and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with precious oxygen and a myriad of scents. He dropped the notebook on his shadow, seeing it sink into the darkness. He would try a mind dive, but a scent called his attention. From his perch on the roof, Izuku saw a child exit the lodge and head towards the forest, his small steps hurried.

Soon after Mandalay and Tiger also exited the lodge, standing on the door and talking among themselves, unaware of the vampire a few meters atop them; he dulled his sense of hearing to avoid eavesdropping, but his eyes kept tracking the child running into the forest - Kota-kun, who seemed to be a relative of Mandalay.

The vampire noticed that Mandalay and Tiger didn't pursue the child, the two remaining by the door before returning to the lodge. Maybe it is a common thing? He mused, worried. Maybe the child did know the area fairly well, but he could still hurt himself. The kid was fairly aggressive against them, so the direct approach would not work. Besides, Izuku had already scared the boy into unconsciousness, so maybe he should let the kid be and focus on his private assignment.

…

"As if." He huffed, narrowing his eyes to enhance his sight. Foggy mist began to pour from his body and soon the vampire vanished from the roof, warping to a thick branch that could sustain his weight. Far enough from the lodge, he stopped dulling his sense of hearing, paying attention to anything that could indicate Kota's location.

A deep intake of air had Izuku looked in on the child's location, the air having the smallest tang of iron. Maybe a scrapped knee or a small scratch that would be ignored by the angry kid in his storming rush to run away, but that was enough for the vampire. Akin to a hunting hound, he hopped on the trees silently, soon finding Kota to be sitting under a large tree; supposedly it was a "secret base", as there were a few amenities such as a small blanket and an electric lamp.

The kid seemed to be holding back sobs, angrily muttering to himself about the uselessness of the teens' intensive hero-training.

"…Mom and Dad trained hard, but they died anyway…" Kota whined, his small fists banging onto his knees. "…how come there are so many of them doing this useless training? Don't they realize they will all die?" The harsh words didn't belong in the child's mouth, the bitterness in him a thing of experience.

His parents died, huh? Maybe a rescue operation gone bad? Or a strong villain. Izuku wondered, staying silently above the kid.

Kota remained for about twenty minutes in his hideout before he stood up. It was already dark and he had headed deep (in his mind anyway) into the forest, he stuffed his items in a hole in the tree and began to take uneasy steps, trying to identify his surroundings, but apparently failing.

He tried to speak out loud, but remembered the harsh words that he spouted to his auntie and her friends before he stormed away from the lodge.

"…you are all dumb idiots playing at being heroes. True heroes don't exist, and you can't save anything! I hope you all die!"

He choked on his tears, wondering if he was going to be lost in the forest and have to sleep outside.

"…Mommy…daddy…why did you leave me?"

*Thunk*

"Aghhh!" Kota was scared when he heard a dull noise impacting a nearby tree, making him rush to hide behind his tree/hideout. Once he thought it safe, he poked his head from behind the tree, tear-filled eyes trying to scan his surroundings until they landed on the item that definitively didn't belong there. It was something he had seen on a Sunday-morning anime, but this one had a key difference: it had a dull red color instead of the black luster of iron, but the shape was rather unmistakable. A kunai, a ninja-throwing knife.

He looked up, wondering if he was about to see some ninja show up, but there was nothing but the darkness of the trees.

Kota grabbed the knife, pulling it from the wood to inspect the weapon, noticing it to be terribly blunt. His curiosity did distract his mind from his fear of the situation, but soon enough he was reminded of it. However, as his tear-filled eyes scanned his surroundings, he began to notice that few trees had the weapons stuck to them; he followed the trail, picking the small, blunt knives as he went, the darkness of the forest soon being banished by the light coming from the lodge.

Kota tried to examine the nearby trees, not seeing any more of the knives, but he already in range of the lodge.

There was only one person among all these people that could make these. Why red though?

"That black-haired pretty one-chan…maybe she is not so bad." Kota sniffed, drying his tears and some snot with the edge of his left sleeve.

…

High in his perch in the trees, Izuku tossed the kunai on his hand up, waiting for the weapon to fall before he snatched it in the air. He waited until Kota entered the lodge before he moved.

[XXX]

[To be Continued]

AU END NOTES

Nothing much to add. Did you enjoy it? As I previously said, there is still much to work until we can get the harem moving, so I would appreciate some suggestions.

One person gave me a rather good idea for the incoming plot about the happenings of the villain attack and the other things that happen, my mind already spiraling a myriad of ideas that could happen. I like Mandalay (yes, I read the doujin) and that is quite the inspiration for my wish to put her in the harem, but the idea for Ragdoll is breeding like crazy in my mind. Yes, I did use the correct word, 'cause I said so.

Although I'm not sure you will enjoy it (not because it will be bad, but because if I follow through, I'll go hard and heavy with the M-rating)

Well, enough chit-chat, I still have to finish recording and editing the voice-acting for the story. See you later!

Ryujin Maou out!

PS: Don't think you can run away from Vampyr!Izuku Lady Nagant, I will find your thick thighs and will give you love and affection. And dick you down, but first love and affection.