It had been a long week of internships for everyone. They had all been gone for a full week, each at their own separate internships. But now they were all back at school and they couldn't wait to tell everyone about their internships.
"No way! You got to help deal with villains, Hyde?!" Jill exclaimed.
"It wasn't that big of a deal." Hyde told her. "I just helped out with evacuation, along with one of the Class A students."
"Still that must have been exciting." Jill said.
"I had someone from Class A with me on my internship too." Fiona said. "We basically went out on ocean patrol each day. Though there was one time we helped catch some smugglers from another country."
"Seriously?! That's so badass!" Shiro said.
Nene glanced over at Shinobu. "And how did the big bad Shinobu do at his internship."
"I'm not obliged to tell you anything." Shinobu said. "If you want to gossip around like a bunch of idiots, go ahead. But leave me out of it."
"I see the internship didn't do much to help his personality." Hikari muttered.
"Oh hey, did you guys hear about the Hero Killer! They say they caught him!" Jill added.
"That's a relief. It was really scary knowing there was a mass murderer running around." Sakura said.
"I heard a few of the Class A students got attacked by him. But they were saved by Endeavour." Rekka commented.
"That's the Number 2 Hero for you." Satoshi nodded.
Marcus looked over towards Sarah. "What about you? Learn anything useful?"
"Yeah. I think I picked up a few useful tips." Sarah nodded. "It's far from perfected, but I think I'm getting close to having my own unique fighting style."
Each of them had gone through different experiences at their internships. For some, it was simply daily patrols and training sessions. For others like Alicia, there were far more eventful moments that occurred during their internships. But one thing was for certain. Each of them had grown stronger in some way or form as a result of the past week.
After going through the daily morning class like math and writing, it was finally time for the class that all of Class C was looking forward to. Hero basic training. This was going to be their first time getting the chance to show off what they had learned during their internships.
After getting changed into their costumes, Class C stood together outside one of the training fields for U.A. The field before them looked like a complex factory setting that seemed rather easy to get lost in. The teacher in charge of them for today was none other than All Might.
"Anyway, we'll start now. Right. It's Hero Basic Training!" All Might said. "Long time no see, boys and girls! How've you been? For this time's Hero Basic Training, since you've all just gotten back from your internships, we'll have some fun with a rescue training race!"
"Rescue training?" Sakura questioned. "Shouldn't we be doing this at USJ in that case?"
"That place is for training for disasters." All Might explained. "Do you remember what I said? That's right, I said "race"! This is Field Gamma! A dense area filled with factories laid out like an intricate labyrinth. You'll break up into four groups of five and go through the training one group at a time. When I send out a distress signal from somewhere inside, you'll all start at once from the outskirts of the city! It's a race to see who will rescue me first! Of course, you'll have to keep damage to buildings and such to a minimum."
Hyde couldn't help but feel that All Might's remark was aimed mostly at him. It was true that he had been known to get a little reckless with his Quirk. The aftermath of the fight he and some of the others had with the villain Cougar was proof of that.
'But it won't be like before. You'll see just how much better I've gotten.'
The first group was decided to be Dan, Hyde, Satoshi, Marcus, and Nene. Each of them took their starting positions at different areas around the training field. The rest of the class sat together and watched from the monitor.
"Who do you think is going to win?" Jill asked.
"In a field like this, those good in the air have an advantage. So probably Marcus or Satoshi." Daiki said.
"Yeah. Dan's got good mobility if he uses that water tentacle arm thing like in the Sports Festival, but he can't get a bird's eye view." Lilina nodded in agreement.
"In Hyde's case, his mobility is pretty crap. And Nene's is just ok." Fiona pointed out. "They got a bad matchup all around."
"Okay, here we go!" All Might declared. "Start!"
At All Might's call, the five students quickly got moving. Most eyes were on Satoshi and Marcus, both of whom seemed to have improved their flying abilities as they leaped into the air and took off. They seemed to be free as birds as they flew towards the goal.
"See? Told you." Daiki said.
"Wait!" Alicia commented. "Look at Dan!"
Everyone's eyes went to the screen showing Dan and all of them gasped. Using water tentacles for arms, he hooked them around one of the metal pipes and flung himself into the air. Afterwards, he brought the water back into his body.
'I still don't have full control of it yet. Compared to Aquamarine's technique, it's sloppy at best.' Dan thought. 'But still… this symbolizes how far I came this past week.'
He recalled Aquamarine's words to him. About how the little girl he had saved viewed him like an angel. Those words meant a lot to him. So he could only think of one name appropriate for his new move.
"Hydro Angel!"
At his command, a pair of watery wings grew out from his back. Water vapor expelled from them aimed at the ground to keep him in the air as he flew. Everyone watching him gasped in awe.
"Holy crap! He's flying!"
"How is he doing that?!"
"Amazing! I was wondering why he got rid of the water tank from his costume!"
Dan wobbled in the air, still not having full control over the technique. He still struggled at using the moisture in the air to add to his water source. But with the water from his own body, his control over changing its state of matter was much better.
But Dan wasn't the only one with new surprises. Hyde was making large pillar-like structures to get around at a high altitude. Normally, one would question if this was taking his reshaping of the terrain too far since it was an industrial area and they were supposed to keep damage to their surroundings to a minimum. But as he jumped off each pillar, they sank back into the ground as if nothing had changed.
"He's reverting the area back to normal as he moves around. That's gotta take a lot of precise control." Kenji noted.
"Looks like Nene's moving around well too. Look." Jill said.
True to Jill's words, Nene was maneuvering around in the air quite well. She formed clones one after another to grab and throw her where she needed to go. After using up one, she got rid of the clone and made a new one. Each clone threw her with a large amount of force, propelling her forward.
"Man, they've all really improved this past week, huh?" Shiro noted.
The five students rushed through the course as they hurried to All Might's position. None of them wanted to lose after making such an improvement. It was rather close, but soon the winner was decided.
"Congratulations, Young Cersy." All Might said. "Your aerial movements have gotten a lot better."
"Thank you, sir." Marcus said with a thankful bow.
"It's not just Young Cersy though. All of you have gotten much better at using your Quirks since the beginning of the year." All Might told them. "You should all be very proud of your progress. Keep going like this and start preparing for your final exam!"
"Yes, sir!"
After the first group left, the other three groups went at it one at a time. Each of the students had clearly improved based on how they moved through the field. Jill was bouncing around, jumping off the walls and objects around the field, maximizing her speed. Vivi was flying around with much more precision and speed. Sakura was using the plants available from her costume to help her move around easier.
Class C had taken a strong next step towards their dream of becoming pro heroes.
It was an ordinary day in the city as a young girl walked along with her mother. The sky was clear. The breeze was refreshing. Everything was so peaceful.
"Mommy, can we go get some ice cream later?" the little girl asked. She had dark maroon-colored hair and bright yellow eyes.
"Sure, Fujino." the mother told her with a warm smile. "Do you want to try a new flavor this time?"
"Nuh uh." Fujino said. "Chocolate's the best flavor ever!"
The mother let out a small giggle at her daughter. "If you say so, Fujino, but it won't hurt to try other flavors."
Fujino smiled innocently as she skipped along at her mother's side. Nothing seemed like it could go wrong. But in a society of Quirks, there was always something that went wrong.
It happened out of nowhere, the window of a nearby store shattered as a man burst through it. In his hands was a large amount of cash. The alarm from the store was blaring as what seemed to to be the shop owner rushed out and shouted towards the man who had run off. "Come back! Thief!"
Fujino's mother was caught off guard by the sudden robbery happening before their eyes. "How awful. I hope there's a hero nearby." she said. "Are you alright Fuji-" The mother suddenly gasped as she looked at her daughter. Fujino was on her knees with her hands covering her ears. Her entire body was shivering. The mother quickly knew what was going on with her daughter and kneeled down at Fujino's side. "No Fujino, calm down! Everything's alright! You're safe! Fujino sweetie, you need to calm down!"
"Uhhh... Uhhh… AHHHHHH!" Fujino screamed as she looked around randomly. Suddenly, a couple buildings ahead of them, a small part of space distorted and warped into a vortex shape. It didn't last longer than a second however, but right then and there, an explosion occurred.
All of the citizens around were caught off guard by the sudden explosion. It hadn't been very big, but it happening in thin air had everyone on edge. Luckily, no one seemed to have been seriously hurt by it. The worst was a few people knocked down from the shockwave.
Fujino's mother looked around. Thankfully, no one seemed to be suspicious of Fujino or realized that she was the source of the explosion just now. She lifted her daughter up in her arms. "Come, Fujino. Let's go home."
"I'm sorry mommy." Fujino muttered with tears rolling down her eyes. "I didn't mean to. The noise was just so scary. I lost control again."
"I know sweetie. I know." her mother said as she walked away while carrying her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card. She had to do it. There was no other choice. "We're going to contact some people that may be able to help you."
Fujino shot up with a jolt, gasping as she felt her heart racing to the point that she thought it would burst right out of her chest. Slowly, she managed to calm down and relax her breathing. 'It was just a dream.' she realized.
Once she had fully calmed down, Fujino looked at her surroundings. She was in a small simple room with a reinforced glass wall on the end with the door, giving her a clear view of the outside of the room. She was in a holding cell, a room she had become all too familiar with.
'I must have lost control and passed out during training again.' Fujino realized. It was the only reason she could think of, since she didn't remember coming into the holding cell or falling asleep.
The holding cells were usually where they brought those who passed out, or were acting rowdy. A timeout room to calm oneself, they called it. Fujino couldn't help but laugh at that description. It was there to teach the kids to behave, plain and simple.
Fujino had been brought to holding cells more times than she could count since coming here. At first, it had just been from her acting out. But even after she accepted her fate, she ended up in them often enough due to losing control with her Quirk and passing out as a result of the stress.
She remembered the initial reason for coming here. All of this was an organization called Paradise. They claimed to be a group that helped kids learn to control their Quirks, focussing on those that had trouble controlling them even after regular Quirk counseling sessions that all kids went through at a young age. Fujino was one such person that still had little control over her Quirk despite the counselling sessions. Eventually, her mother decided they needed more help and contacted Paradise, who a coworker of hers had told her about. To help Fujino get full control of her Quirk, she had to be brought to a special center where they took kids to give them daily help with Quirk control.
That was three years ago.
At first, it had just been as the advertisement had said. She had kind adults helping her each day to get better control of her Quirk, along with other kids who faced problems similar to hers. But about a month or two after, she was brought to a different facility. There, she learned what Paradise really was.
On the surface, Paradise claimed to be an organization meant to help kids learn to control their Quirks. It was a business that had grown popular in recent years with Quirks slowly getting stronger and more complex as the generations went on. But what they were really after was finding kids with powerful Quirks, and training them to be human weapons for their personal use. And with Fujino having a Quirk that let her create explosions out of thin air with her mind, there were few that could be considered more perfect than her for being a weapon. The majority of those at these secret facilities were orphans, people that no one would miss if they suddenly vanished without a trace. There were others like Fujino who had originally been brought to Paradise by their parents in hopes of learning to control their Quirks, but they were the minority.
Paradise had even helped out Fujino's mother by offering her a job with them to allow her daughter to be at the institution for free. She had to move to their branch in Europe apparently, but she was happy with it so long as her daughter got the help she needed. They sent her pictures of Fujino, forged to make it look like she was happy and progressing well, but it was all a lie. Fujino was now one of the thousands of subjects Paradise was training to become weapons, and her mother was one of the many workers for the organization that were completely blind to what was actually going on. The perfect set up to ensure no one found out the truth.
Fujino's days were now spent doing stressful tests to try and control her Quirk and training up her physical body. She wasn't seen as a person. None of the kids here were. She hated every minute of it, but there wasn't much she could do. If she acted out, she was punished. Punishments started out with small timeouts in holding cells, but if they continued it usually got much worse. It typically took only one of the "bad" punishments for a kid to get in line. Those that were stubborn or stupid enough to keep acting out after that… nobody saw them again.
Fujino's thoughts were interrupted as a knock was heard at the door to her cell. One of the scientists that worked for Paradise was standing on the other side. "I heard you had some issues again during training, Miss Hatsu."
"Yeah." Fujino replied simply, not even bothering to look the man in the eye.
"I trust you've calmed down by now." he said. "If you have, I can escort you to the cafeteria for dinner."
"Fine." Fujino said as she got up from the bed. The scientist swiped a card and opened the door to Fujino's cell, letting her out. Fujino followed him as she was escorted through the hallways of the facility. Eventually they reached the cafeteria and she was ushered inside.
Hundreds of kids were sitting at long tables together as they ate. Every single one of them wore the same plain white shirt and pants that Fujino had on. She went over and grabbed a food tray, moving along the line as she got her meal. After that she sat down at the first open spot she could find.
With her Quirk being as dangerous as it was, Fujino didn't really have any friends there. At best, she'd make small talk with some of them if spoken to. She kept to herself and prefered it that way. What good were friends when none of them had any hope of having a real future anymore?
Dinner today was chicken with a cup of rice and some vegetables on the side. Fujino sat quietly as she ate. Meals were usually quiet for the most part, outside of the occasional talks between some people. That was especially true for dinner, since most of the kids had gone through their daily dose of hell and were not in the mood to talk.
As Fujino was in the middle of eating, the relative silence in the cafeteria ended as a shout was heard. "Hey! That was mine!"
Wondering who was making such a racket, Fujino turned her head towards the voice over by the food serving area. She saw two young boys, probably both around 10 if not younger, grabbing at each other.
"That ice cream cup was mine!"
"Nuh uh! It's mine!"
"I grabbed it first!"
"Oh really? Where's your name on it then?"
Fujino sighed. She realized any kind of desert was a nice treat compared to the slop they usually got to eat, but it wasn't worth fighting over. She just wished they would quiet down quickly.
However, things only seemed to escalate as one of the boys blasted fire from his palms. "You jerk! Eat this!"
The other boy quickly dodged and attacked with his own Quirk, firing off a cannonball from his mouth. They blasted each other with their Quirks and the others near them quickly became caught in the crossfire. Fujino saw a stream of flames come her way and quickly lunged out of the way. The others nearby began to scream in fright. An alarm soon sounded and the workers there burst into the room to separate the two boys that were fighting.
The screams and alarms rang in Fujino's ears. The sudden nature of them caused pain to erupt in her head. And then she felt the sensation she dreaded. The sensation she always got when her Quirk was trying to unleash itself.
'No… Not again… Not now…' Fujino thought as she tried to hold back her Quirk. But it was too late. Her eyes locked onto one of the walls in the cafeteria. A small distortion in space occured at one spot of the wall.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
The explosion only added onto the chaos going on in the cafeteria. As the smoke cleared, she could see that her Quirk had blown a gaping hole. Now she had done it. They were going to throw her in a holding cell again for sure. That fear only added to her panic. She soon felt her Quirk trying to activate once again.
'No… No…' Fujino thought. But she couldn't hold it in. Her eyes locked further past the hole she had made. "NOOOO!"
Another explosion occurred. Tears fell down Fujino's eyes as she began to imagine what was going to be waiting for her once the situation got under control and they realized what she did. But as worry overtook her, a sudden sensation snapped her out of it. A cold breeze, nipping at her face. At first, she thought it was someone's Quirk. But as she looked up, she realized that wasn't the case. She had made another hole with her Quirk in the wall past the first hole she made. And through there, she saw something she hadn't seen in quite some time.
The outside.
She didn't know what she was doing. All she knew was that nothing but misery awaited her if she stayed still. She got to her feet and ran through the cloud of smoke from the explosions. After running through the two holes she had made, her feet finally touched the soft ground rather than the cold marble flooring she was used to. She did the only thing she could think of at that moment.
She ran.
Nothing else went through her mind. She didn't have a single plan in mind. All she could do was move her legs as they carried her further and further away. Fujino ran straight into the woods. She hadn't known where this special facility was, since she was blindfolded when brought here, but now it made sense why no one else knew of its existence.
If she was caught, it would be over. No doubt the workers there would find out of her escape within ten minutes tops. And if they found her, she would likely end up as one of those kids who was never seen or heard from again. But she hadn't thought that far ahead when she ran away.
'I need to get away. I don't want to be here. Anywhere but here.' Fujino thought to herself. There was no way to tell where the direction she was running would lead her, but she couldn't afford to stop and give the workers any more of a chance to catch up. The physical training she had gone through the past three years was finally paying off as it helped her to continue running without getting too tired. That and the adrenaline pumping through her body of course.
Eventually though she did grow tired. She allowed herself short breaks to catch her breath before breaking out into a sprint all over again. Fujino didn't know how much time passed as she ran. An hour? Maybe longer? But when she finally saw an end to the trees, relief washed over her.
She saw what appeared to be a city as she broke out of the woods. There was still a downward grassy slope between her and the city itself, but at least it was something. As she took a step however, she tripped and fell. Her body slid and tumbled down the hill. Fujino was too exhausted to stop herself and her body simply continued to tumble down. When she finally reached the bottom of the slope, she tried to get up, but lacked the strength. She was completely drained from her desperate escape.
The last thing she remembered was seeing a car with red and blue lights flashing on top of it pull over. A man got out of the car and rushed over to her. "Hey! Are you okay?! Hey!"
A/N: Hey readers. Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of the newest arc for the story, and the introduction of Fujino. What's that? you want to know more? Well too bad. you'll have to be patient and wait for the next chapter.
