Chapter 15

The next morning in front of UA, the students gathered together after a grueling pep talk from Aizawa about their approaching training. "He doesn't really encourage well; more like uses scare tactics on us." Sero commented to Sato.

"Hm, he'd surprise you." Kaiya thought to herself as the bus appeared for them.

"It's about an hour until the next stop; so remain focused." Aizawa instructed a chattering bus of students. "Ugh, nevermind."

"I don't recognize this part of town." Kaiya commented, seeing a vast land of mountains and forests.

"Me either. It sure is pretty though." Momo smiled. The ride was long as the bus trucked through the mountains and came to stop at an empty dirt path. "Not much of a rest stop."

As the students exited the bus, Aizawa shook his head knowingly. "You didn't actually think we stopped so you could stretch your legs?" A black SUV opened its doors and two ladies jumped out.

"Hi Aizawa! Your feline fantasies are here!" One girl said as another joined her excitedly.

"Perfectly cute and catlike girls. The Wild Wild Pussycats!" Kaiya paled as the dots were connecting in her brain.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Kaiya mumbled, looking down at the forest. "This 4-person group specializes in mountain rescue…" Kaiya continued explaining to the group before Midoriya jumped in.

"They were founded years ago! This is their 12th year as a group!" He added excitedly before Pixie Bob grasped his mouth.

"I'm sure your math is off. I'm 18 at heart." She told him.

"These Pro Heros will be your teachers during your time here." Aizawa told the students as he instructed them to say hello.

"We own this stretch of land here. The camp that you are staying at is located at the bottom of the mountain." Mandalay said to a shocked group.

"Then why did we stop up here?" Ochako asked.

"We both know the answer to that." Tsu answered her.

"The current time is 9:30. If you hurry, you may be able to make it by noon." Mandalay challenged. Todoroki came up behind Kaiya nervously, knowing something big was about to happen. "Kitties who don't make it there by 12:30 won't get any lunch."

"Stay close." She told him. The earth started moving and the group flew through the air down to the bottom of the ravine. She grasped some earth fragments from the air and managed to pull herself and Todoroki onto it to soften their fall. "Yep, I knew something was going to happen." She groaned, dusting the dirt off of her uniform as the dust settled.

"Since this is private land, you can use your Quirks as much as you want! You should be able to get through in three hours; if you make it through the Beast's Forest." Mandalay teased from meters above the students.

"No point in complaining, we may as well get going." Kirishima said, dusting off the dirt on him. Mineta was running around still looking for a place to relieve himself when the forest came alive. Koda tried communicating to the rock formations, swiping at Midoriya and Mineta, but they ignored the teen.

"That's pointless Koda, it's Pixie Bob's Quirk. She can manipulate the earth." Kaiya told him, bracing herself to attack.

"Sounds familiar, Green Eyes." Bakugou grumbled but before she could argue, Iida shot by her and aimed an attack at the approaching creature.

"This is going to be a long day." Todoroki murmured next to her as another creature stalked out of the foliage. "Ready?" He asked her, sharing a look and jumping into battle. Kaiya jumped over the creature with her wind and distracted it while Todoroki used his ice to subdue it, colliding with Bakugou.

"You're in my way there, Icy Hot!" He yelled, running beside Todoroki.

"Then pick another route." Todoroki responded simply. Kaiya laughed at the boy's interaction while she flew above them earning a glare from Bakugou.

"That is really annoying." Bakuguo snarled below Kaiya.

"You mean convenient?" She giggled, soaking the next mud creature in their way while Bakuguo blasted another one. "If I can soak all of the muddy ones, the damage to the surrounding area would be less." Kaiya mumbled to herself.

"That's actually a good point. We can't always get away with damaging areas; we have pretty destructive Quirks if we use fire or Bakuguo's explosions too much." Todoroki replied, freezing a creature. "My ice melts, your water and wind won't cause much damage to the area." He continued, eyeing Bakuguo's explosions behind them.

"I am not going to stop using my Quirk if that's what you're saying Icy Hot!" Bakuguo roared. Kaiya rolled her eyes and floated back to the ground to join Todoroki.

"Let's clear a path, it's going to be harder if we don't use the fire." Kaiya explained to both boys. "Either way; this is going to be difficult."

What seemed like days, was only six hours but they finally found the camp they would call home for a few weeks. Everyone was hurting, hungry, and tired from the intense attacks as they broke through the jungle to see a cabin. "My hands are actually numb. That's how much pain I'm in." Kaiya whispered to Momo next to her who looked pale and nauseous from over using her Quirk too.

"I need food." She managed to say to Kaiya. The two girls saw Bakuguo squeezing his palms, clearly in pain and it made Kaiya feel a little better about her own pain if he was also sore. "Guess we are all over worked." She nodded, seeing Iida limping through the forest behind them and Todoroki flexing his hands too beside the engine teen.

"You said it would only be three hours!" Sero whined as Kirishima fell to the ground next to him.

"Guess we timed it on how long it would take us! Sorry!" Mandalay teased.

"Now you're bragging about how much better you are? That's so mean." Sero cried.

"I'm starving! This is Hell." Kirishima moaned.

"You all did so well, much better than I thought you'd do! Especially you five!" Pixie Bob squealed coming over to Iida, Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugou and Kaiya.

"Has she always been like this?" Aizawa asked Mandalay.

"It's gotten worse lately. She's at the age to take a mate." Mandalay explained.

"Speaking of ages…" Midoriya started before being clasped by Pixie Bob's claw again.

"Choose your words carefully boy."

"I was just wondering, who is that kid over there?" He muffled from under the clawed grasp. A small boy was standing next to Mandalay with a nasty scowl on his face.

"Looks charming." Kaiya mumbled next to Todoroki.

"He's my cousin's son. He lives with us now. Say 'hi' Kota. You'll be spending some time with these teens over the next week." Mandalay told the small boy. Midoriya approached the young boy in greeting before being punched in an unforgiving manner.

"You fiend of a child! A punch to the scrotum is unforgivable!" Iida called out, cradling a crying Midoriya.

"The last thing I want to do is hang around a bunch of wannabe heroes." Kota snarled as he walked away from the group.

"Wannabe? How old are you, kid?" Iida gasped. Bakugou smirked as Kota made his departure.

"That brats got spunk."

"He's like a mini version of you." Todoroki added.

"What are you talking about? You better shut your mouth before I blast you all the way to Hell!" Bakugou roared back to an unfazed Todoroki.

"That's not dramatic at all." Misa mumbled, swatting Bakugou over the head.

"I will kill you." He growled at the feline teen. Before Misa could retort, Aizawa silenced the group.

"Enough playing around. Get your stuff off the bus. Once your bags are in your rooms we'll have dinner in the cafeteria. Then you can bathe and rest up. Tomorrow, your training begins in earnest." Aizawa instructed.

Dinner was incredible and everyone was stuffing their mouths like they'd never had food in their life. "I'm so full but this food is too good!" Kirishima mumbled through his food in his mouth. Kaiya laughed at him as she gave up on her plate; sliding it to him to finish. "Thanks Kaiya!"

"You're welcome. I can't wait to sleep tonight. Everything hurts." She mumbled, stretching her arms out.

"Yeah I know what you mean. Like my body hardens but it can still take a toll on me." He shrugged his shoulders.

"I still think your Quirk is one of the coolest I've seen. Very manly." She winked at him, causing him to laugh.

"You're funny Kaiya! But thanks, it means alot." There was a hint of sadness in his voice as he slowed his chewing down.

"Are you okay Kiri?" Kaiya asked. "Did I strike a nerve?"

"No, nothing like that. Not many people know this, I think only Mina since we went to the same junior high, but the whole manly thing came from an incident in junior high." He mumbled, losing his normal confidence.

"What happened? If you don't mind my asking." Kaiya asked curiously.

"A big man scared these girls on the street one day and I was frozen in place because I was scared myself. I couldn't bring myself to help the girls, just like everyone else around; I just stood there." He told her the story. "Except Mina, she stood up to the man and he went away. I let fear stop me from helping them; not very manly." He said sadly.

"That's why you look up to the Crimson Riot?" Kaiya asked him, remembering his gushing over him during the code names class. He nodded quickly then stuck his chest out proudly.

"I hope to be as brave as him one day!" He smiled as Kaiya giggled at his sudden change of mood.

" Everyone gets scared sometimes, I just recently learned how not to let fear stop me from being all I can be." Kaiya told him, sipping on her tea.

"Is that why you are using fire more? I've noticed since after the internships you've been using it more frequently." Kirishima asked as Kaiya nodded. "It scares you?"

"I guess we don't really know much about each other as a whole class. Like some of us are close like me and Todoroki, you and Bakugou and Deku and Iida. It's kinda weird to think about it." Kaiya murmured.

"Well, maybe this training camp will help bring us closer." Kirishima smiled, fist bumping Kaiya. "I think we're pretty tight too."

"Obviously." Kaiya teased as she felt a pair of eyes watching her. The heterochromatic eyes she came to look for found her across the cafeteria sitting next to Midoriya and Iida. She broke a small smile at Todoroki which he returned with a small nod. With their secret relationship, they had to be careful not to emote too much; but Kaiya still wished he would smile more. It did something to her.

After dinner, the girls all sat in the bath, giggling and laughing as Kota knocked Mineta off of the large wall dividing the boys and girls.

"Thanks for looking out for us Kota!" Mina squealed at him before unknowingly knocking the boy off the wall herself.

"So Kaiya, I've been wanting to ask you but we always get so busy at school; what's up with you and Todoroki?" Jirou asked Kaiya, rubbing her arms with soap.

"Not this again? We're friends." Kaiya answered her, threading her fingers through her long hair in the water. Mina, Momo, Misa and Jirou all looked at her incredulously. "What? We are!" She tried to defend herself.

"Well, Jirou has a valid question because at the sports festival you got really worried about him with his fight with Deku." Momo pointed out shyly.

"And you had your internship with his father." Ochako piped in.

"That wasn't my doing, Endeavor chose me. He liked my fire ability." Kaiya explained, feeling her cheeks burn.

"It's ok if you have a crush. It's perfectly normal." Misa smiled at her. Kaiya smiled back and shrugged her shoulders. "Plus you guys make a really strong team."

"He's barely spoken to anyone else in the class, let alone a girl. But yet he still seems to...like being around you." Ochako pointed out.

"Like you and Deku?" Kaiya challenged her with a small tease. The girl blushed profusely and kept quiet as Kaiya chuckled. "He knows a lot about me, more than anyone. We do get along well, we have fun together." Kaiya smiled, twirling her hair in her fingers absentmindedly. The girls were now staring at her with knowing smiles on their faces before Kaiya sighed heavily to keep face. "I guess, I do feel something for him. But he may not feel the same; I'm not going to get wrapped up into it. Not until I know for sure." Kaiya lied.

"At least you admit that much. More than I can say for Ochako here." Tsu smirked, seeing Ochako blush deeply. "I think you should look at Todoroki more; you may be surprised to see that he may share these feelings you have. Boys are more...action orientated." She continued, dipping her hair in the water.

"Since when are you the relationship guru?" Kaiya teased her.

"I watch a lot of romance movies." She shrugged her shoulders. While the girls laughed and continued chatting, Kaiya stayed in her head. Maybe we should just tell people we're together.