Coco: Hey, hey, good to see you everybody as we're back with another chapter! This one isn't super exciting either, but we're getting there and a few interesting things are going to be popping up in this chapter. I hope you're ready and excited!
Ayano grit her teeth harshly as she felt the boulder in her grip waver. She tightened her telekinetic hold on it as she raised it higher to try and stack it on top of the tower she was building. She's been at this about hour straight. She didn't think it'd be such a strain, and maybe if she wasn't using her other abilities it wouldn't be. But it's not like she could just stop. She had to keep going. As she was lifting the next boulder, she felt the buzz of more minds at the back of her head.
'Class B is finally up,' She realized.
'That's right,' Aizawa's voice sounded in her head. 'Now see if you can connect to all their minds as well once they get here.'
Ayano frowned because that'd be an extra twenty-one minds for her to link to if you counted Vlad-sensei as well. She sighed knowing she didn't really have a choice though.
'You might want to give them a little warning first, Sensei.' Ayano said. 'A mind link can cause discomfort to those not expecting it.'
She didn't get a reply in return though she sensed Aizawa's consent to her request if that made sense. Ayano then put Aizawa and the Pussycats' minds off to the side for a moment as some of her classmates groaned mentally in annoyance.
'I really don't want to be connected to Monoma's mind,' Ayumi whined as she kept running.
'Yeah, that guy really gives me the creeps,' Toru added.
There were murmurs of agreement from the others. At least the ones able to still have coherent thoughts at the moment. Poor Denki's brain was so fried from his training, all Ayano was really getting out of him was the occasional "Weey."
'I'll try to keep Class B's mind separated from yours with mental blocks,' Ayano tried to assure her classmates.
'Well, don't try to push yourself too hard,' Momo thought in concern. 'You have your own training to worry about. Don't hinder yourself on our account.'
'If he gets too damn annoying, I'll just explode him into next week,' Katsuki's voice joined the conversation.
Ayano felt her lips turn up in amusement at his words though she really shouldn't encourage Katsuki to act violently against someone in the same year as them. Even if it is Monoma.
'Aww, look at him trying to save Ayano from having to work herself harder to keep us safe from Captain Spazz.' Ayumi's voice cooed. 'So cute!'
Ayano felt her face heat up at Ayumi's words as some of the others laughed through the link.
'Shut-up, Streak!' Katsuki snapped. 'No one asked for your input!'
'He isn't denying anything…' Konan pointed out.
'Yeah,' Eijiro agreed with the grin practically ringing through his tone. 'You going soft on us, Bakugo?'
Everyone could practically hear Katsuki growl in their heads as Ayano hung her head. She was not expecting the conversation to turn this way. She wouldn't mind Class B's thoughts right now to change the direction of the conversation.
'Everyone, stay focused!' Tenya told them sternly. 'We're supposed to be training!'
'Yes, sir,' The others replied.
Ayano let out a sigh of relief as the conversation was dropped. She then opened her eyes as she turned her gaze back in the direction of the office building.
'They'll be here soon,' Ayano thought.
Class B yawned as they stood in front of Vlad who had gotten them up much earlier than they're used to. Especially on summer vacation. Komori was so tired she nearly fell over in exhaustion. However, Itsuka managed to catch her in time by her arm.
"We're focusing on our quirks?" Itsuka asked after Vlad gave a brief explanation as to what they were going to be doing this morning.
"Class A is already training." Vlad said. "You all need to catch up."
He motioned for his students to follow, and despite their tired bodies, they walked forward behind their teacher.
"Last semester, Class A was in the spotlight." Vlad said. "Next semester its Class B's turn. From now own, you're shooting for the top."
His words had a few of Class B crying at their failure to their teacher. Manga shook his head at his classmates wondering why they had to cry so much.
"I get that you want everyone to improve our quirks, but we have twenty unique powers in our class," Setsuna pointed out. "What kind of training could help all of us get better?"
"Yeah, can you be more specific?" Togaru questioned.
He and most of his classmates were unsure what kind of training their teacher could pull off that could strengthen all their different abilities. What some could train on, others couldn't, and there was too many of them for Vlad to give his individual attention to for enough time to actually teach them anything.
"When your muscle fibers are over used, they break and grow back tougher, thicker," Vlad explained. "Quirks are the same way. They improve the harder you push them. Stronger after every work out. In other words, there's only one thing to do. You'll have to break yourselves!"
He said this after he led them out of the small grouping of forest into the opening. They all gasped at what was before them as they saw Class A doing some insane training.
"Dammit!" Katsuki was shouting after he raised his hands from the boiling water to let out an explosion.
He growled plunging his hands back into the water. Not too far from him, Shoto was in his own barrel of boiling water, but he had this water boiling thanks to his quirk. However, he soon froze the water, but only for a second as he used his fire once more to melt the ice and set the water boiling again. He let out a huff from tiredness, but didn't give himself much time to rest as he froze the water once more.
Class B looked away from those two as two figures went zooming by. Tenya was running by at full speed with Ayumi barely ahead of him due to the weights attached to her arms and legs. She was really trying to go faster though if the strain on her face was anything to go by. They passed a small cliff in the background where Class B saw and heard Hanta screaming in pain as he was continuously making tape from his elbows. Just below him on ground level, Eijiro was being hit by Mashirao's tail while he was keeping up his quirk hardening. Both looked worn out, but they kept going despite that. Behind where they were fighting on a solitary peak, Denki was hooked up to what appeared to be battery and based on his screams of pain the electricity coursing through him was just too much.
Class B was paling by the second as they turned their heads once more to the next group of students training. Between the two cliffs that Hanta and Denki were training on were Hachiro and Konan. Hachiro, who was swinging around, seemed to be making a series of webs between the two cliffs in the makeshift carven while also fighting against the rough air created by the wind turbine at the base of the cavern. He wasn't the only one fighting the wind as Konan was dispersing her body into dozens on top of dozens of loose papers only to try and reform herself in a separate location. All the while trying to keep herself from being blown into the webs made by Hachiro or being blown away entirely.
On the same cliff as Hanta and not too far from the dark-haired boy was Koji screaming his poor lungs out. Then a couple yards from him, Yuga was firing navel laser after navel laser regardless of the obvious pain that it was causing him. As he continued to force himself to shoot his lasers, Ochaco went rolling by in a large inflatable hamster-ball-looking-thing. Her quirk was activated and the girl looked ready to hurl as she rolled down the hill pass some of her classmates. Below the cliff they were on in a cave, Class B could hear shouting and it sounded like Fumikage. They didn't know what was happening in there, but they didn't like the sound of it.
Farther down on the face side of a different cliffside, Tsuyu was pulling herself up using every muscle it seemed in her body including her tongue. Below her a truck was parked and Momo and Rikido both sat next to it at a table containing food. Both were stuffing their faces while simultaneously using their quirks and both looked ready to upchuck at any second. Next to them at another large grouping of boulders, Kyoka was throwing her earphone jacks with everything she had into the rocky surface, and beside her Mina was trying to melt the rock with her acid.
Class B didn't think it could get any more intense than that until they saw Ayano floating twenty feet off the ground and building a tower out of shaky boulders that were well stacked above her head. Below her was Minoru who was popping the balls off his head repeatedly despite the fact his head was bleeding. If Ayano slipped up even the slightest, the purple-haired boy would surely be the first to be crushed. A thought that had some of Class B paling. Though he wasn't the only one close by as Mezo was moving around using his quirk to try and find the invisible Toru who was spotted when a chip bag that was blowing by hit her before she could dodge it.
"Oh man, this is pretty intense." Hiryū said.
Many of his classmates silently agreed with him as they watched the chaos in front of them.
"Operative types will be raising your limits; maxing out your power," Vlad said. "And the rest, you'll mostly focus strengthening body parts related to your quirks."
Well, if their training was going to be as extreme as Class A's training, they weren't looking forward to it. That's for sure.
"Now, normally, these changes happen gradually as you grow," Vlad told them.
"But we don't have time for that," Aizawa said as he walked towards Vlad and his students. "Your class has a lot of work to do."
His words had some of the teens of Class 1-B frowning. Though they kept their mouths shut.
"Once we team up with Class A there will be 44 students here." Kendo said. "That's a lot of quirks for our homeroom teachers to handle on their own."
"Which is why we called them." Aizawa said.
As soon as if the words left his mouth as if they were summoned from air, four people wearing cat-like outfits appeared.
"That's correct!" Ragdoll called as she popped up in front of Aizawa. "Four kittens in one litter!"
"Your feline fantasies are here!" Mandalay jumped in without missing a beat. "Say meow!"
"Allow us to lend a helping paw!" Ragdoll said as she twirled around.
"We're champions serving up justice with our tails!" Tiger added.
"Purrfectly cute and cat-like heroes!" Pixie-Bob shouted before all four of them ended with, "We're the Wild, Wild Pussycats—full version!"
In the background, Class B could have sworn they saw some of Class 1-A roll their eyes.
"I'm Ragdoll and my quirk is search," Ragdoll introduced herself. "I can look up to a hundred people and know everything about them. Like, their location and weakness."
"With my Earth-Flow I can create the ideal training ground for every student," Pixie-Bob said as she curled her paw.
"And my quirk is called telepath," Mandalay explained. "I can give advice to multiple people at once."
After the three ladies finished explaining their abilities, Class B looked to the last Pussycat—Tiger. Some of them shifted uneasily underneath his harsh gaze as an scary aura seemed to flow off of him.
"The name's Tiger," He said. "And I'm here to beat you guys to a pulp."
"I have questions about him," Hiryū said.
He went ignored, however, by the teachers as Tiger kept on speaking while pointing towards Class B.
"All of you kids with strength quirks, it's time for Tiger's Boot Camp!" Tiger said. "Class A is already sweating, so catch up quick!"
Class B turned while finally noticing Izuku off to the side doing some kind of weird work out. It didn't look easy though as Izuku really was sweating profusely.
"Come on!" Tiger called as he hurried over to Izuku. "Show me what you got."
Izuku hurried to throw a punch at the large man, but with quite the cat-like flexibility, Tiger dodged with ease. And without hesitating, punched Izuku right in the face. The punch was so hard it sent the teen crashing into a tree, which had Class B flinching.
"If you don't push yourself, you won't shred your muscle fibers, and then you won't get stronger!" Tiger warned Izuku.
"Right, sir." Izuku said weakly as he tried to pick himself off the ground.
"I can't hear you!" Tiger snapped.
"Right, sir!" Izuku tried again more loudly this time.
Sen looked off the side unable to watch any longer as he felt dread wash over him.
'He's scary,' Sen decided.
Even in a skirt and dressed like a cat, Tiger was really starting to scare the Class B students.
"You want to be Plus Ultra, don't you?" Tiger asked as he stood looming over Izuku. "Well, show me what that means!"
"Right, sir!" Izuku shouted once more though he was still hunched over on the ground.
'That guy is way more intense than I expected,' Jūrōta thought.
He wasn't the only one thinking that as Sen was looking even paler than before.
"There's a lot going on at U.A." Vlad said. "So, it's hard to spare much staff on the Hero Course first years."
"Based on their experience and range of powers these four were the most logical choice to enhance your quirks in such a short amount of time." Aizawa added. "Though we were able to spare one extra staff member for in case any of you get too banged up."
His words had Class B blinking curiously as they wondered if Aizawa meant Recovery Girl was here. Though it would appear luck wasn't on their side as the one who popped up from behind the Pussycats wasn't Recovery Girl but…
"Doctorine!" Class B exclaimed.
"Good morning, little loves!" Doctorine said pleasantly. "Are we ready to push ourselves to the limit to become stronger even if it means breaking our bodies?"
"No!" Class B replied immediately.
Doctorine pouted at their words as she crossed her arms over her chest childishly. No one wanted her to have any fun.
"Don't fall behind Class A!" Vlad told his students. "Do me proud!"
"Yes, sir!" His students replied.
"Though before you get started, there's one more thing," Aizawa said. "As part of Ayano's training, we're making her stretch out her telepathy to its breaking point. She's already connected mentally to her classmates, me, Doctorine, and the Pussycats. Now that you're here, she'll be required to connect to all of your minds as well. It might fill a little uncomfortable at first, but as you start training, you won't even notice it. Also, she'll only be staying on the surface level of your minds, so she won't be seeing anything personal of yours. This is to also help monitor all of you in case something goes wrong, so you'll have to deal with it."
He then looked to Ayano silently, but Itsuka had a feeling he was speaking to the ginger-haired girl mentally. Ayano, who had had her eyes closed, opened them while turning towards Aizawa. She nodded her head then turned her eyes on Class B. Suddenly they all felt a slight pressure inside their minds that had them shifting slightly.
'Sorry for any discomfort,' Ayano's voice rang through their heads. 'It will pass soon enough, and the more you get used to it, it'll eventually not bother you at all.'
Some of Class B nodded at her words as they were already getting over it. Others on the other hand…not too much.
'Man, this is so weird,' Sen thought. 'I don't think I want to get used to this. It's kind of creepy.'
'We can hear you!' Many of Class A thought back defensively.
'And so can Ayano!' Toru added. 'You're hurting her feelings, you meanie!'
Sen flinched at their words then noticed that Ayano had her head hung looking…comically upset. Class B could practically see a cloud of depression hanging over her head. Sen grunted as Itsuka elbowed him roughly in the side.
'Apologize,' She thought sternly.
'S-sorry,' He thought to Ayano.
He then frowned when feeling the glare on his back. He turned his head with his eyes widening when he saw the drop-dead-look he was getting from Katsuki.
'Just get to work,' Aizawa cut in. 'We don't have time to waste.'
Ayano groaned leaning against Katsuki as all 44 hero students were gathered together back at the main office. All were exhausted and wanting to sleep, but it would seem as if their day wasn't over yet.
"Now, remember, what I said?" Pixie-Bob asked them. "We're not serving your food anymore."
"If you guys wanna eat, you'll have to make your own meals!" Ragdoll added as she waved her gloved hand around. "Starting with curry!"
"Yes, ma'am," The students said tiredly.
Ragdoll let out a shrill laugh at their exhausted expressions as she kicked out her legs and raised her arms in what looked like a little dance.
"Oh man, do you guys look exhausted!" She said pointing at them. "But don't think that means you coast by with making sloppy cat food!"
Ayano frowned just wanting to sleep if she was being perfectly honest. Though she knew skipping dinner after such a hard day of training wasn't a good idea.
"I see," Tenya spoke a few people down from her and Katsuki. "An important part of saving someone recovering from disaster is by providing for their physical needs as well as their spiritual."
Ayano's frowned deepened as she wondered how Tenya came to these conclusions sometimes.
"This is a great opportunity!" Tenya said then faced his fellow students. "Let's make the most delicious curry in the world, everyone!"
"…Yeah…okay…" The others replied pitifully.
They didn't look ready to move anytime soon, however, which had Tenya looking a little put out. Ayano sighed stepping forward beside the Class A Rep.
"Come on, everyone," She said clapping her hands together. "I know we're all tired, but the sooner we make dinner the sooner we can rest. If we all pitch in together, we can get it done quickly. Let's wash up then get to cooking."
"Yes, ma'am," The others replied before they slowly started moving.
Even Neito was too tired to argue about the fact Class A seemed to be taking over or something else along those lines, as he went along with his classmates to go change out of their sweaty clothes. Ayano pat Tenya on the shoulder before going to change herself. Though she stiffened abruptly as she felt a sharp pain shoot through her head. She saw an image of someone she didn't know pop through her head and heard Hive's voice.
'Bubaigawara Jin—Vill—Quirk: Dou—Location—!' Hive's voice cut in and out.
Ayano thought she saw coordinates flash in her mind for a second but they were too blurry to read. Then as soon as it all started, it stopped and the pain went away. She stood there staring forward with wide eyes.
'What was that?' Ayano wondered as she continued to hold the left side of her head. 'Hive?'
Hive didn't reply as it has been doing whenever she reached out to it. It remained completely silently, which had Ayano mentally frowning. Ayano then flinched when something entered her hazy vision, but when she focused her gaze, she relaxed when seeing it was just Katsuki and Izuku.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Aya?" Katsuki asked looking irritable.
"Yeah, you looked like you were in pain there for a second," Izuku added. "Are you okay?"
Unlike Katsuki who appeared annoyed, Izuku had a concerned expression on his face. Ayano didn't reply at first before she gave a shake of her head.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Ayano said. "Just tired, ya know?"
Neither boy looked too convinced, but Izuku didn't want to press Ayano. If she didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't make her. Katsuki remained silent as well though his annoyed expression deepened.
'She's been acting weird ever since I-Island,' Katsuki thought. 'And she still won't talk to me about what happened that bothered her so much…What the hell is she trying to hide?'
"Well, we better get going," Ayano said tugging the boys along. "I want to hurry up and eat, so we can go to bed."
She pulled the boys inside with all three completely unaware of Aizawa's gaze on them. He too had noticed when Ayano suddenly stopped and looked to be in pain. And the way she just brushed it off was more than concerning. He'd have to keep a close eye on her in the days to come to make sure whatever just happened doesn't escalate.
"This stuff is crap," Katsuki complained after everyone sat down for dinner that night.
It had taken some time to get everything done, but now everyone could relax and enjoy a meal together. Even if the food wasn't the best quality.
"Well, it could have been worse." Ayano said. "I'm sure a lot of our classmates have never had to cook for themselves before, Katsuki. It's a new experience for them."
She's been cooking for several years now as Ko had completely proven he was useless in the kitchen. If it wasn't for Mitsuri and Inko dropping off food until Ayano was old to cook for them, she and Ko probably would have starved to death. And cooking like many other things was just one of Katsuki's talents. She was sometimes annoyed with how many things he made look easy. Especially when they were growing up.
"That's a lame ass excuse if I've ever heard one," Katsuki said before taking another bite. "All these extra are just bad at everything."
"Katsuki," Ayano said with a scolding tone.
He ignored it, of course, while pouring himself a glass of water. Ayano shook her head at the ash blonde before she finished off what was on her plate.
"I think I'm going to go ahead and turn in." Ayano said as she stood. "Night, Kacchan. Pleasant dreams."
She then without thinking leaned down to place a chaste peck on Katsuki's head. An action that had them both stiffening. Before Katsuki could even react, Ayano whirled around and walked off with her face flaming red.
'Why did I do that?!' She thought in a panic.
Yeah, she used to do it when they were little. Like really little as whenever Ayano was taken home from a playdate with the boys, her mom would tell her to tell them both goodbye and Ayano would kiss the boys' foreheads as her mom did it to her when she left for work. It was something cute back then that made the parents 'awe', Katsuki grumble, and Izuku smile and return the favor. Ayano had stopped doing it sometime ago. Like not long after they left kindergarten.
'So why did I do it now?' She asked herself.
She then shook her head trying to calm herself before her thoughts went any further.
'It was nothing,' Ayano told herself. 'Like, it's not the first time I've done something like that. It meant nothing. I mean, we're childhood friends, so…yeah…'
Her thoughts trailed off as she realized she was just kidding herself at this point. But still…she can't believe she did that.
"Hey, Ayano," Izuku's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
She looked to her friend while realizing that as she had been thinking she had somehow managed to autopilot herself into washing her dishes and end up heading inside. When seeing her friend's troubled expression, Ayano pushed her own troubling thoughts to the side.
"Is something wrong, Izuku?" Ayano asked.
"Well…I was wondering if you want to go with me to find Kota." Izuku said as he looked down. "Mandalay had called him for dinner, but I noticed he kind of just walked off. I was thinking we could take him some curry so he wouldn't get hungry…and maybe…talk to him…"
He was holding said curry in his hands with an almost vice grip. Ayano could see this whole thing with Kota was really bugging him, and honestly, she was kind of bugged by it too. She understood where Kota was coming from in a way, and looking at him made her think that she could have ended up like him. Hating heroes. No, hating the entire super human society because if it wasn't for it, there would be no need for humans or villains. But she had Katsuki and Izuku to keep pushing her forward and their parents who also looked out for her and kept her from going into that dark place. It hurt her to see Kota trapped there.
"Yeah, sure," Ayano said with a nod. "Let's go check on him."
Coco: Honestly, I just love Tiger to pieces. He's definitely one of my all time favorite pro-heroes. It takes everything I have not to fangirl when writing about him XD He's just so cute!
I also enjoyed getting to write things like from Class B's prospective. It was a nice change. I'm hoping to write them more in as they never get any time to shine, ya know? I kind of want them to interact more with Class A. Especially after everything goes down in the training camp. Like, maybe have Sen talk to Ayano and give an actual apology for hurting her feelings. Bloom some new friendships. Give Katsuki even more reason to get jealous, I don't know XD I think it'd bother him more some guy getting close to Ayano when they aren't just doing it to mess with him XD
Anyway, we should get to the villain attack in the next chapter. Where I'll finally get to write in another one of my favorite characters-Twice! Love him too and always will. Now, see ya later, guys! Can't wait to see you again for next update!