I do not own My Hero Academia, it is owned by Horikoshi
Chapter 25 - The Pixie vs the Grape
Beast's Forest:
"Are you alright?"
Kota looked up to snap at the person that said that only to realize it was none other than the boy his aunt had shown him the news article about, however he'd still already let a fist fly, but to his surprise the older boy caught it, what was more astonishing was the older boy looked shook up.
"I-I guess you are..."
"Cute kid..." Bakugo commented.
"He's basically a mini-you," said Todoroki, causing the two of them to get into another argument.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Mineta was running at top speed with what looked to be a giant monster after him. Midoriya leapt to his rescue while Bakugo blew it up.
"Coward!" spat Hagakure, "Shouldn't your quirk that you're so proud of have restrained it."
"Don't you think I already tried that!" yelled Mineta, "It won't work because they're..."
"They're earth golems," commented Midoriya and Kota, interrupting Mineta. The two glanced at each other before Midoriya continued, "Because they're just made of soil, rock, and earth, his quirk's effectiveness will be limited unless they're made of hard rock, and given they have an outer layer of loose soil, he really didn't have many options."
"WE NEED TO FORM A COHESIVE..."
"WHO DIED AND MADE YOU THE CLASS REP?"
"Thank you Bakugo, I think," spoke up Yaoyorozu, 'Okay I have 200 yen riding on Mineta actually behaving during camp, not even pocket change for me, but it's a matter of pride.' She took a breath before continuing, "We're dealing with Pixie-Bob's quirk, so we will need to come up with formations because we're escorting a civilian. Mineta, you're up."
Mineta took a deep breath, "Okay based on the possible effectiveness of our quirks, people's endurance levels, and the fact we'll want to switch off so people can get a breather; we'll rotate our heavy hitters out on shifts. The heavy hitters are Todoroki, Bakugo, Tokoyami, and Midoriya."
"Why aren't I being included?" asked Sato.
"Your stamina will run down too quickly," Mineta answered, "Okay Yaoyorozu, do you want two shifts or four?"
"Two would likely be best."
"Okay Todoroki and Bakugo, you are shift 1, when you start feeling fatigued you two will switch off with Tokoyami and Midoriya," Mineta called out, "Remember this isn't a competition, I want people relatively fresh in case we suddenly need all four heavy hitters. Jiro, Koda, and Shoji you are our early warning system."
"Got it."
"Ashido, I want you to take left flank with Kirishima, Ojiro I want you, Ida, and Hagakure up front for the time being."
"Sure."
"Yaoyorozu, could you make Sato a big club cause he's going to be rear guard. Uraraka, Sero, I want you two watching the right flank. Asui, if you can take to the tree-tops, it would be greatly appreciated. I want Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, and Shinso in the center with the kid, Midoriya and Tokoyami hang back with Sato until Bakugo and Todoroki are ready to switch off."
"Hey are you saying I can't fight?"
"Kaminari, I don't know how effective your quirk will be versing Pixie-Bob's earth creatures, also Shinso's quirk is completely useless against things that don't have a brain, no offense."
"None taken."
"I want the heavy hitters to intercept these golems first, so mobility is going to be key, but if you two have a preference to which side you want to cover primarily that's to your discretion." He walked over to Shoji, "Sorry Shoji for using you as transportation, but it's better if I'm on hand to call out incoming and leave the play by play to Yaoyorozu when there are areas I can't focus on."
Yaoyorozu lifted Kota onto Shinso's back and they were off.
Bus en-route to Summer Camp:
"You really didn't have to go along with tossing all the kids into the 'Beast's Forest' you know," commented Koichi to Aizawa.
"They need to get stronger and fast, they have to have provisional licenses to be able to defend themselves," Aizawa replied.
"I didn't..."
"You are kind of a special case, if Captain Celebrity hadn't gone to bat for you, you'd be in jail."
"Yeah that was really 'the Crawler's' final night," Koichi commented keeping his eyes on the road.
"So what is your hero name?"
"The Skycrawler..."
Aizawa decided not to comment about it being basically the same name, "You brought your gear?"
"I have my hero costume, if that's what you're asking."
"So how is Captain..."
"Chris and his wife are doing fine, their son is doing great," Koichi answered.
Pull-off overlooking Beast Forest:
Pixie-Bob was at first thinking some of the students were hiding behind the others from her golems, then it hit her, 'They aren't hiding, they are switching off replacing each other letting some of their heavy hitters destroy my golems while the others rest.' This was completely defeating the purpose of the challenge, and whomever organized this strategy knew it. "Guess I need to get serious!"
Beast Forest:
"Okay heavy hitters switch out!" called out Mineta, "Bakugo and Todoroki don't get too relaxed though, because I think our opponent is going to start taking this seriously."
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"
"She's going to try attacking our rear soon," Mineta replied ignoring the backtalk.
"There are four coming from the rear and two coming from the front," Shoji called out.
"Okay, Ashido and Kirishima switch places with Ojiro and Ida, given them a breather," ordered Mineta, 'Okay Pixie-Bob, let's see how long your quirk can last.'
"There are some coming from the air," called out Jiro.
"Tokoyami, Bakugo get..."
"Already on it!"
However, the flying golems broke apart on their own dispersing dirt and mud all over, covering just about everyone but the two flyers and Sato who was far enough back.
"Okay let's make tracks!" called out Mineta while laughing hysterically.
"What's so funny?" Kaminari whined.
"Pixie-Bob, she lost it and overused her quirk!"
"I don't think that's it..."
"Huh?"
"She has a range limit," Midoriya explained, "We're probably at the edge of her range from where we're located."
"Okay let's book it before she can attack again!" Nobody argued with Mineta on that point, not even Hagakure.
Base Camp:
It was mid-afternoon when Class 1-A arrived, most of them were covered in dirt and mud, however they weren't as exhausted as they could have been.
"Wow, you guys got here fairly quickly," Mandalay commented, "Faster than I expected anyways."
"You, you..." Pixie-Bob was seething, "They totally..."
"Talk about a sore loser," muttered Ashido.
"You were the one..."
"So do you want to tell her?" Kaminari asked Midoriya.
"And what have her act this way towards Minoru? Nah, I think Ashido can handle this, she's a big girl," Midoriya shrugged.
Then a familiar voice called out, "What did Class 1-A, start rolling in the mud..."
"Hey, how about you take Class 1-B out there and let's see how they do!" called out Sero.
"I think that can be arranged," said Aizawa causing Monoma to stop laughing, "I will say that all of you do need to be hosed down, "I hope you have some washing machines for their outfits."
"Considering they're eating outside, I think they can wash their faces and hands first and eat something, then they all can hit the baths," commented Mandalay, "Kota you too."
Aizawa pulled Mineta aside, "I don't want any antics, got it?"
"What you thinking I can't behave and would spoil my chance to go on a date with Tsuyu?" Mineta looked offended.
Hot Spring:
Midoriya leaned back trying to relax in the warm water, well away from everyone else, for him it had been a really long day, 'Well at least Minoru is currently focused on how he outmaneuvered Pixie-Bob rather than trying to scale the wall.' There was a sudden splash in front of him causing him to spit up water. "HEY!"
"Maybe you should pay more attention," came the comment that Izuku instantly recognized as Kota as he swam up to him, began treading water, and looked away, "I just want to say sorry for trying to punch you in the groin."
"You don't have to apologize, I know what you're going through," Izuku replied, "So does Minoru to a lesser extent. Speak of the devil..."
"Izzy!" Mineta came running up, skidding to a stop, taking advantage of his smaller size and newfound sure-footedness, to keep from slipping and hitting his head "why you little..."
"Minoru, it's okay," the last thing Midoriya needed was Minoru trying to whale on a little kid.
Kota backed away somewhat, "You're the perv..."
Mineta rolled his eyes, "Believe it or not most teenage boys are perverts to an extent, probably so are girls if you think about it." Kota gulped as the Grape boy was looking at him, which caused Mineta to start cracking up, "You should see your face! Relax kid, I'm not playing for the other team, and I'm certainly not interested in little boys." He slid into the area of the spring keeping his distance from Kota somewhat. "So what's going on?"
"You remember that Aizawa pulled me aside this morning as we got on the bus?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Kota here was the reason."
"So you know?" asked Kota opting to finally sit down next to Midoriya, still watching Mineta warily for a little longer but the wariness was gradually fading away.
"All I was told was your parents were killed by a villain, just like my parents were."
"Were your parents Heroes?"
"No, neither of my parents were pro-heroes, I hadn't seen my dad in years, my mom died saving someone that was trying to protect her," Izuku explained.
"My parents were Water Hose..." Kota started to shake from his emotions, "They abandoned me, they just had to get themselves killed and leave me... Just to show off dumb quirks..."
"Wait I remember that story in the news!" Mineta exclaimed, he managed to keep from blurting out that Kota's mom looked 'smoking hot,' cause that wouldn't have gone over well. As it was he still got sprayed with water.
"What the hell?"
"So that's your quirk, it's an extremely useful one..."
"I hate it, I..."
"Kota, your parents aren't to blame, if you want to blame anyone blame the person that killed them."
"You're just like the others... saying I should be proud..."
"THAT'S NOT IT!" Izuku hadn't meant to raise his voice, "I'm sorry, Kota I'm sure your parents didn't want to leave you, but you need to consider something. How many people did they save on that day that they died, fighting that villain, how many people had kids just like you that would have never seen their parents again, or parents not seeing their kids?"
"What?"
"I don't believe your parents wanted to die, it's alright if you get upset if people start saying you should be proud," Midoriya looked down into the water, "I get it, but don't be angry with your parents okay?"
"It's just..."
"You miss them, just like I miss mom," Midoriya suddenly paused glancing about warily.
"What's wrong?" asked Kota starting to get a little scared by the change in Midoriya's behavior. Mineta however started glancing around moving his eyes.
"Someone's there..." Midoriya said flatly as if straining to locate something only he could hear. A chill ran down Kota's spine as he understood the older boy wasn't just messing with him. "They're gone," Midoriya said after a moment.
"Do you know where?"
"No..."
"You're kinda creeping me out," Kota said hesitantly.
"I'm kinda creeping myself out," admitted Midoriya.
"This is kind of like the hallway after school that one day, just after the sports festival," said Mineta.
"How did you know?"
"Cause you had the same look then."
"You two are really weird..."
"Minoru, it's probably just me being paranoid..."
Mineta pulled himself out of the pool and walked over to where Midoriya had been looking, thankfully there was no wind. "Just because you're being paranoid doesn't mean there isn't someone out to get you, unless your paranoia suddenly developed feet..."
Kota was suddenly at his side at first thinking it was a prank, but then upon seeing the partial print, "You aren't fakin."
"My foot is too small, so's yours."
"Runt what's going on?"
"Bakugo, it looks like we had someone peeping..."
"Probably one of the ass-hats from 1-B," commented Bakugo, "Probably Copy-boy..."
Bar (Undisclosed Location):
Tomura smiled as his teacher told him the location of where the students were, "So Dabi, I have two additions to your capture list, before you head out there and one person is now slated from capture or kill, to lean capture if we can secure one of the new targets..."
"Look, I don't like changing things up at the last minute..."
"Consider this as though we've been presented with a sudden opportunity," grinned Tomura.
Notes:
It took me a few tries to come up with an ending for the chapter that didn't seem extremely dark. I also redid some other scenes in this chapter a few times.
I also went through a few iterations as to how Kota would behave, balancing his dislike for hero wannabes with the fact he would at least feel a kinship towards Izuku.
