Rule #59: Death is inevitable is this business

The albino found it odd to be back to such a place of normalcy after all the excitement they'd had. From the Sports Festival where they'd showcased their talents to the world and where Bakugou did exactly what he had declared: to come out on top as the first year champion, leaving quite the impression as he did so, (Koda had added the picture of Bakugou in restraints and golden medal to his scrapbook with much haste).

Todoroki had come second much to his father's dismay; although the two-toned boy didn't seem to mind, if anything he was far more focused on the fact that he had used the fire half of his quirk without restraint or fear (then again Midoriya was a persistent person, even going so far as to cuss out his all-powerful father. Growing up Bakugou, she supposed you had to be). Which left third place to a tie between Tokoyami and Iida. Unfortunately, the engine-legged boy had been called away for some unknown family emergency before the prize-giving ceremony began.

Rumours were flying however about engine-powered hero, Ingenium, and his demise against Stain the Hero Killer (the current big bad of the month). It wasn't hard to put two-and-two together. Everyone who was anyone had been talking about the Hosu incident. Not the one involving Iida's brother, Ingenium (because people were talking about that, but less so than the latter incident), but the latter one involving Iida, himself, Todoroki, Native, Midoriya and Toru. Well, officially, the public only thought that Endeavour had taken down the Hero Killer, not a bunch of teenagers but they didn't have licenses just yet, so technically they weren't supposed to be fighting at all. If Toru closed her eyes, she could still feel Stain's squishy heart beating in her too hot hands.

To top it all off, there was the whole fiasco with her grandparents and her supposed friends which the invisible girl was still reeling from. She may have been more accustomed to death than some of her classmates, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it. Toru mourned the loss of her cantankerous grandmother and the depression of her grandfather, occasionally finding herself lost in wistful memories of days gone by. It had been nice to see her mother & her big brother again, if only very briefly. But there was also the other feeling of loss to deal with; the abandonment of her so-called friends and the restraining order which she had been forced to sign. Logically, she knew that the Lees were only protecting their child, but it still hurt that they had forced her away—that she had been the reason the girl had gotten hurt in the first place. (Maybe not directly, but still her fault just the same).

And then they were back at school like nothing had happened. Picking hero names (she'd chosen to use her quirk name, 'Prism' as her official hero name) and learning letters like nothing had happened, like her whole world hadn't just been tipped upside down. (Her little meltdown in the bathroom earlier in the week and her trips to the guidance councillor—as recommended— had helped some). Even so, Toru felt justified in feeling a little off-kilter as she sat slumped over the edge of her desk and listened to Aizawa drone on and on about whichever special training exercise they would be doing that day in their practical Heroics class.

"…It's a little sudden, but for our next Heroics exercise, four Hero-class students from Isami High School will be joining us as special guests" Aizawa drawled. Next to him stood the blue-clad students in question; a stubby brunette who looked rather overwhelmed, a reedy bluenette with his hands shoved in his pockets and a sneer on his face, a well-to-do albino clad in sharp glasses and pin-straight hair and another girl with wild hair (though that was all they could see as she was hidden behind the first).

"EXCHANGE STUDENTS!" Chorused the class, far too happy for something so normal.

"A girl in glasses She's a girl in glasses!" Mineta sobbed, excitedly shaking Midoriya's shoulder like his life depended on it.

"Hey, pretty lady~!" Kaminari sidled up to the bespectacled girl, phone in hand and a leering grin on his face. "Can I get your number?"

ZZZT!

"Dammit Denki, stop showing off your stupidity!" Jiro sighed, only slightly embarrassed at the blonde's perverted actions as she shocked him with her earjack. Behind her, Kirishima and Sero both burst out into guffaws at his predicament, particularly as the blonde twitched like he'd touched a live wire.

"Ahem!" Aizawa cleared his throat once, eyes glowing red as he threatened to take away their quirks without even breaking a sweat. It was a terrifying sight—one they'd seen on more than one occasion—and it never prevented shivers from running down their spines. "Introduce yourselves"

"O-of course!" The albino stammered, caught off-guard by the rowdiness of UA "We'll be running the exercise with you today. I'm Kashiko Sekigai of Isami's Hero Class A"

"Same class" Stubby went next, sweating nervously. "I'm Dadan Tadan, pleasure to meet you"

"I'm Fujimi" Snobby snarled, sparing a derisive scoff in her direction (though owing to the fact that she was invisible, it was safe to assume that the sneer was meant for the explosive blonde behind her). Toru instantly disliked him anyway; he was like a cross between Monoma (whose attitude had only grown worse since the Sports Festival) and Bakugou.

"We're s'posed to have one more…" Aizawa noted, glancing over at the hidden girl. There was a beat and then Tsu was on her feet and embracing the final Isami student with the biggest smile the invisible girl had ever seen the frog girl wear.

"Habuko!" Tsu cheered as she hugged the snake girl tight.

"Tsu!" Habuko replied in kind as she dwarfed the smaller girl.

"She's Tsu's friend?" Ochako murmured, watching the scene play out with a wistful expression upon her face.

"I'm getting nervous…" Midoriya admitted, muttering to himself as he was wont to do. "A frog and a snake? They're natural enemies!"

"Mongoose!" Fujimi snapped, irritated at the show of affection. "Don't get all friendly with these UA brats!"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY, YOU LITTLE ISAMI-SHIT?!" Bakugou jumped to his feet so fast that Toru felt a breeze blow through the back of her hair. That being said, the blonde's sudden defence of the frog girl was less so out of protection for his classmate and more so because of his injured pride as an UA student.

"S-stop it, Kaachan!" Midoriya whimpered, trying to calm down his childhood friend but as usual, not doing a very good job of it. At the very least, it was a nice change to see the explosive blonde going after someone else aside from the greenette.

"SHUT UP, YOU SHITTY NERD—!"

Or not. Toru blinked, turning in her seat slightly to glimpse the moment Bakugou turned his attention to MIdoriya with that little vein bulging on his neck, as he did so.

"—Why don't you shut up first?" Aizawa interjected, his tone cold and sharp. It was enough to force the blonde back into his seat, though he clearly wasn't happy about it. "It's time to go. Suit up and make your way over to Training Ground Omega. Iida, show the Isami students where the changing rooms are"

"Understood!" Iida chirped, snapping to attention as Bakugou & Fujimi butted heads in the background.


"Ah! I thought so!" Ochako smiled as she wiggled a bit in order to pull on her skin-tight costume. "You two went to the same middle school!"

"Yes, we're very good friends!" Tsu chirped as she and her old friend reunited.

"I-is that so?" Mina stammered, eyes flickering between Habuko's flickering forked tongue, her golden eyes and her beige scales. The girl may not have meant to be, but she sure held an intimidating aura.

"I can't help but feel uneasy around her…" Jiro whispered as she fiddled nervously with her earjacks.

"So you're the class president?" Momo asked of Kashiko as she tied her hair back.

"Yes" Kashiko nodded as she pulled on her boots. "But, it's a very stressful job because of a certain troublesome student…"

"Well…we got the exact same problem too"

More, if you count the two perverts as well. Toru quietly added as she slotted away her knives. And 'Problem Child' Deku and uh, well, I guess me…? Out of the two classes, ours is definitely the worst.


Training Ground Omega was a large expanse of woodlands that stretched as far as the eye could see. Encircled by a tall wire fence, within the forest there lay a singular tower which sprung high into the air and overlooked what you could not see from the ground. including the far-off roofs of the main campus. "Alright, is everyone here?" Aizawa hummed, eyes roving each of the brightly-coloured children as they stood gathered about the tower waiting for the exercise to begin. "Today's Hero exercise will be observed by myself and one other person—"

"—I HAVE ARRIVED!" All Might burst into the room, busting down the door in the process much to Aizawa's chagrin.

"A-All Might! In the flesh!" Fujimi stammered, wide eyes gleaming with awe. Sometime Toru forgot that their shrivelled teacher was still in fact the musclebound hero that had stood as the Symbol of Peace for the last odd decade or so.

"Such power!" Kashiko gasped, eyes roving over the smoking hinges where the door had once stood.

"I'm so jealous of UA!" Habuko hummed in agreement, tongue flicking about.

"So!" All Might chirped, hands on hips as he came to stand next to Aizawa at the front. They made quite the pair; the brawn and the exhausted. "About our little exercise: we're going to have you all go through some Survival Training!"

Oooh! Toru's eyes lit up. Survival Training? In the woods? Count me in! I am so ready!

"Survival training?" Kirishima puzzled.

"Like some sort of battle royale thing?" Kaminari suggested.

"Let me explain!" All Might continued, motioning to a screen which sprung to life between the two teachers. "With four students per team and six teams overall, you will start at the predetermined positions that we have chosen! There is but one objective! To survive! To run or to fight, anything goes! Victory will go to the last team standing!"

"If you run into another team and manage to bind your opponents with this Capture Tape, you can make them combat ineffective" Aizawa continued, holding up the roll of tape in question.

"So, it's kinda like the first exercise we ever did, huh?" Mina mused, finger on lips in thought.

"I guess so" Toru shrugged in agreement.

"Now! Let us announce the teams!" Between them, names on the board were shuffled randomly until six four-man teams were displayed. "Team A: Ashido Mina, Midoriya Izuku, Asui Tsuyu and Uraraka Ochako! Team B: Yaoyorozu Momo, Shoji Mezo, Kirishima Eijiro and Bakugou Katsuki! Team C: Todoroki Shouto, Ojiro Mashirao, Koda Koji and Hagakure Toru! Team D: Iida Tenya, Tokoyami Fumikage, Sato Rikido and Sero Hanata! Team E: Mineta Minoru, Jiro Kyoka, Aoyama Yuga and Kaminari Denki! Team F: Kashiko Sekigai, Dadan Tadan, Fujimi and Habuko Mongoose!"

"All teams, move to your start areas! The exercise will begin without warning in five minutes"

"Do your best to survive!"

"Yessir!" Came the cry as all the students were shooed back through the broken doorway and into the elevator which would take them down to the awaiting green below.


"Ha—Hagakure! Wait up!" Ojiro puffed, racing after the girl as she hopped through the trees like a fairy. Out of the four of them, you'd have thought that either Ojiro with his tail or Koda with his animals would be more suited to this survival training exercise, not the invisible girl with a penchant for light pyrotechnics.

"I am!" Toru called back, pausing slightly upon an upturned root as she waited for the others to catch up. These woods may not have been the mountain she grew up on, but Okutama was famous for its rolling hills and gorgeous green scenery so she felt rather at home here. It was certainly more comfortable than the big concrete jungle of most modern cities. As for Todoroki, well, he wasn't exactly built for subterfuge.

Team C was still circling around their starting point on the far side of the eastern woods when Koda suddenly grew rigid and still like stone. At first Toru thought it might've been the faint sounds of explosions (likely Bakugou) off in the distance which had caught the boy's attention, but those soon stopped and he did not relax. "Koda?" Ojiro murmured, "Are you alright?"

"Can't you…hear that?" Koda puffed as he came to a sudden stop, mouth set and shoulders tensed; he almost looked like he was in a trance if not for his wandering eyes.

"No…?" Todoroki shared a glance with the others as they strained to hear what was bothering their teammate.

"It's so quiet"

"Quiet?" Toru puzzled, "Isn't that a good thing?"

"The forest is never quiet" He retorted adamantly, shaking his head furiously. "Not like this. There's always insects buzzing and birds chirping and—and now there's nothing. It's like everything has just…disappeared"

"What does that mean?" Ojiro asked.

"That's not good" Toru added. "Is it?"

"No" Koda shook his head. It was probably the most the shy boy had talked ever and it was to tell them that shit just hit the fan.

Great.

WHEEEEEEEE!

"What's that?!" Ojiro cried as they spun as one to face the incoming whistle.

"Are those…missiles?" Toru gasped, eyes wide as she peered from the canopy to see numerous missiles of every shape and colour rocket on passed.

BOOM!

Leaving behind only a trail of smoke and the resulting boom as both tree and missile exploded, to ever show that they were there. Hands slapped over ears in an attempt to block out the noise that assaulted their ears. It did very little.

"AH! MY EARS!"" Koda cried, hands slapped over his ears. (It was probably the loudest he'd ever been).

"IT'S SO LOUD!" Ojiro agreed.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Todoroki called out.

"MISSILES!" Toru replied, "HIT SOUTH SIDE! MAJOR DAMAGE!"

"SOUTH SIDE? ISN'T THAT TEAM B'S SECTOR?" Ojiro piped up.

"YEAH, BUT IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ANYONE WAS HURT!"

"LOOKS LIKE THE ISAMI STUDENTS ARE MAKING THEIR MOVE" Todoroki returned.

"I'LL—Ahem!" Ojiro coughed, clearing his throat as the ringing died down enough for them to talk normally, if a little hoarse. "I'll say. Koda, what are the animals saying about the pink fog?"

"What pink fog?" Toru spun around, trying to locate said anomaly. It didn't take long for the clouds of sakura to blow through the trees, encompassing all. "Oh. That pink fog"

"Koda!"

"…Run!" Said Koda, already running away from the gaseous cloud.

"Uh…" Todoroki blinked dumbly after their retreating classmate as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened.

"You heard the man, move!" Toru shooed, "Get to higher ground! And don't breathe it in! We don't know what this stuff does!"

"Right!" Ojiro nodded already bounding off as he fashioned a makeshift mask out of his gi. Todoroki and Toru followed not long after, doing the same with various pieces from their own costumes.

###

Scrambling up the cliff, it didn't take long for Team C—dusty and tired—to come across an equally rankled Team A. "Todoroki!" Midoriya greeted as his team took the higher path up to the plateau.

"Midoriya!" Todoroki returned in kind. "Now, isn't the time to fight!"

"Yeah!"

"Do you know what that gas is?"

"It's probably one of the Isami students' quirks. I don't know what it does but—"

"—What wrong, Deku?" Ochako asked as they passed by the greenette who had paused to spy down upon whatever had caught his eye. Clambering further up the cliffside, it didn't take much to regroup with their classmates, and Toru was sure glad that they did because she wasn't quite sure what she was looking at when she got up there.

"Someone's coming!" Ojiro pointed down to the treeline where a series of slow-moving figures stumbled from the trees.

"Did they run from the gas too, ribbit?" Tsu asked.

"That's odd" Toru hummed, "I thought we were the only ones in the training ground?"

"We are" Ojiro replied. "Those must be some of the others"

"Then why are they acting so weird?"

"I dunno"

"HEY!" Ochako wildly waved her arms in the air, her padded elbows just barely grazing Midoriya's curls as she did so. "OVER HERE! OVER HE…RE?"

"What the…?"

"Z-ZOMBIES?!"

None of Koro-sensei's training nor those teachings of the Heroics course could ever prepare them for this. For what are you supposed to do when your classmates are stumbling around the woods ashen-faced and moaning? How are you supposed to compute the head bashing without trauma? Or the way the moved about like drunken toddlers, wildly activating their quirks left, right and centre? Toru sure didn't know.

"Is this really a heroic quirk?" Koda whimpered, eyes wide in fear (no doubt due to whatever the animals were telling him about the pink fog, if they hadn't been zombified too).

"That's way too dangerous!" Ochako murmured, unable to tear her eyes away.

"Habuko!" Tsu cried.

"Everyone, why…?"

"It's because of that gas!" Midoriya summed, "They've been zombified completely!"

"What do you think of my quirk?!" Fujimi crowed, suddenly appearing from nowhere. "UA isn't all that much—"

CHOMP!

"OH MY GOD!" Fujimi wailed as zombie Bakugou bit down hard on the boy's shoulder, fangs piercing straight down through both costume and flesh.

"Kaachan!" Midoriya sighed, "He's still squabbling even as a zombie!"

"Ah! It's just like the movies!" Mina wailed as they watched the zombie quirk user get turned as well. "You turned into a zombie if you get bitten!"

"If the quirk user is down, then there's no way to reverse all of this!" Tsu added.

"Then I'll just—" Todoroki moved next, ice skipping over rock until every one of the zombies found themselves immobile. But it was only for a moment and then they were busting through with a strength that they did not previously possess.

"It really is like the movies!" Mina wailed.

"They're stronger now too!" Midoriya added.

"Dammit!" Toru cursed, catching the attention of the other's as she felt teeth pierce her shoulder.

Feathers fluttered against her face, making her nose twitch and the glimpse of beak in the corner of her eye told her that it was Tokoyami who had bitten her. It was an odd feeling, having someone bite you—she didn't even know that birds had teeth, but here they were. Her mind grew sluggish as her body turned lethargic, limbs heavy. Moaning as she moved, Toru couldn't help but associate this sort of feeling with that of PMS; as it was she soon found herself crawling over the icy boulders to get to her other more lively classmates with a single thought in mind: attack!

"Ojiro! Hagakure!" Midoriya cried, eyes blown wide. In her new state, she couldn't understand why he was so upset. Being a zombie wasn't so bad and wasn't like they were truly dead…were they?

"Toru's a zombie too, right?" Mina whispered to Ochako, not quite sure if the bite had taken the invisible girl as well.

"I think…?" Ochako replied, just as unsure.

"Even Koda…" Murmured Midoriya. "He's still silent even as a zombie!"

"Hey! What do we do?" Mina panicked.

"We should leave right now!"

The climb down the cliffside was much more sluggish than the climb up and as the zombies chased after their classmates, Toru couldn't help but wonder where they were all going in such a hurry. Why were they leaving? Where were they going? Why couldn't they stay and join the party? Scrambling over each other to get to the live ones, they soon found themselves in a ten-man pile up in front of some boarded up cave. The ice blocking the doorway was tall but not opaque and they could stood see inside. Abnormally strong as the zombies were, it didn't take long for them to crack through the ice let alone break it down.

Toru had barely broken through, golden laser light melting away what it could reach, before she suddenly found herself airborne. Her mind had cleared and her limbs no longer felt like they had been filled with lead. Ugh! Toru groaned as she free fell towards the canopies down below. I never wanna feel like that again!

"EVERYONE!" Midoriya cried, barrel-rolling out of the way as dust exploded everywhere. The telltale flicker of sparks danced around the greenette, which told the invisible girl that the greenette at least had a hand in their current flight. "LET'S GET OUTTA—"

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Iida cried as he rocketed passed, hands chopping up & down as he tried to make sense of it all. All around him, the rest of the zombified students had returned to normal and were each sporting that zoned-out and confused expression that Toru wore."WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Kaminari wheezed, turning end-over-end as he fell.

"VOUS ÊTES NULS!" Aoyama screeched. Toru had no clue what he was saying, but from his tone of voice she could tell it wasn't praise.

"THEY TURNED BACK TO NORMAL?!" Midoriya screeched. "I-I'M SORRY!"

"HEY! SHITTY NERD!" Bakugou bellowed, "YOU WANNA GO?!"

Well. Toru deadpanned. Some things don't change.

"NO! YOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG! KAACHAN! NOOOO!"" Midoriya panicked, backpedalling like his life depended on it.

"I'LL CRUSH YOU!" He shot forward, spinning like a fiery top straight for the greenette. "WITH EVERYTHING I'VE GOT!"

"WAAAAAIT! KAA—!"

KABOOM!