And the first semester was officially over!
We kind of hung out in the classroom instead of actually learning anything. I was sitting with Bakugo and the usual folks (Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, Jiro) next to the girls. A lot of our conversations overlapped with what was going on in the rest of the room. At one point, the whole class got into a heated debate about whether hot soba was better than cold soba. I was the only person who apparently didn't like soba at all, so I moderated. Cold soba eventually won, but only because Momo changed sides on the basis that you can't burn your mouth on cold soba.
Just before a fight could break out about tea temperature, Aizawa came in to save us. "Since you obviously have nothing better to do, go to the school gym until the final bell," he mumbled, hiding behind his podium. We collectively sighed and trudged off to the gym.
Most people were screwing around in the gymnastics area, but I was too big for any of it. Except maybe the trampolines. But I could fly. Why would I want to bounce? And I couldn't do anything cool on the bars or something because of my wings. So I settled for pull-ups and lifting weights. We were all in gym clothes from home. Mine was a beat-up old t-shirt from Papa and a pair of leggings.
"Hey, Haruto!" Tsu chirped. I set down my dumbbells, turned, and smiled, "Hey!" Uraraka picked at her nails kind of uncomfortably, "So, I know you can't swim here, right?" I raised my eyebrows, "Yeah, Mineta-friendly swimsuits and feathers don't mix." Uraraka looked at a loss for words. Tsu picked up the slack, "We're going to the school pool after school today. And we were wondering if maybe you'd like to come?" I stood up, fully intending to remain fully clothed, "Sure!"
While the girls were playing water polo, the boys of 1-A were swimming endurance laps. I was pretty sure that they weren't enjoying themselves for the most part. I was sitting on the edge of the pool with my feet dangling in the water. Every few minutes, I would get splashed and retaliate with a blast of wind, rolling a wave across the surface of the water. The girls would bob away, squealing and laughing. I also retrieved the ball for them if it bounced onto land.
The boys took a break at one point, and I helped Iida carry a cooler of sodas to the poolside. After handing out the cans, Iida piped up, "Hey, we should see which of the boys can swim 50 meters the fastest!" The girls clambered out of the pool as the boys lined up. Three rounds. The winners would swim against each other. Momo Created a silver whistle and ran the races. The winners of the three rounds were Bakugo, Todoroki and Midoriya. All of them used their Quirks, but Bakugo and Todoroki didn't even touch the water. Yeah. Definitely a swimming race.
"Alright! Time for the final race!" Iida shouted. The rest of the class shouted and jeered, but I stayed quiet, narrowing my eyes at the racers, who were stretching nearby. I was interested to see how this turned out. The boys fired up their Quirks, and I started to get excited, but they ended up belly-flopping into the water. I snorted and burst out laughing as they sputtered to the surface. Aizawa stood at the complex door, his Quirk targeted at the swimmers. "It's five p.m. Your pool time is over."
I said my goodbyes and flew back to the hotel alone.
Mom and Papa helped me pack my stuff for the camp. My brothers made guest appearances here and there to hand me stuff, but were largely otherwise occupied with homework. Finally, I had the giant suitcase to end all giant suitcases, stuffed full of training clothes, hygiene stuff, and maybe a hunting knife. And pepper spray. Just in case! In my defense, Papa got the knife for me for my twelfth birthday. It had an abstract titanium handle measured for my huge hands and a golden, iridescent blade. The sheath was imitation leather with lightning bolts burned into it. I loved it, to say the least. But I usually didn't carry it because my Quirk could protect me if I got into a scuffle.
The next day, we received a briefing from Aizawa about a summer training camp as soon as we got to school. Strengthening our resolves and whatnot. Afterward, as we trooped outside with our luggage, Uraraka was glowing with excitement, "I'm so psyched for this camp! I've been waiting all semester!" She was basically in Midoriya's face, and I could swear he got a little pink in the face. And after his flustered response, so did Uraraka.
Interesting. VERY interesting.
I figured Uraraka had a crush on Midoriya, but this was even better.
Class B was lined up for the bus opposite ours. I wasn't particularly friendly with any of them, and I didn't exactly have a warm, inviting vibe. Also, I hated Monoma's guts after what he did to Midoriya. I saluted Kendo as she dragged him onto their bus. She grinned back. After Iida had put everyone on the bus in alphabetical order, height order, and Quirk type, we left for the camp. My wings took up two seats and I was pretty uncomfortable, but I wasn't allowed to fly that far by myself, so I'd have to deal with it.
We paused once for a bathroom break. Mineta's fault. Asshat had the bladder of a squirrel. At a rest stop overlooking a forest, the bus squeaked to a halt. I shoved my way out, spreading my wings out as far as I could, "Whew! It feels so good to be off that damn bus!" I blasted a gust of wind into the sky as I stretched. Kirishima looked around for a beat before saying, "Where's Class B?" The class followed his gaze.
We were alone, except for an old, broken down station wagon.
Like always, Aizawa had a surprise, "You don't think we stopped just so you could stretch your legs, did you?" I tilted my head, "You stopped so we could stretch our wings?" He glared at me. Right on cue, two Pro Heroes burst out of the old car. They were two of the Wild, Wild Pussycats! They were a superhero team that was formed when we were kids. We said hello enthusiastically. Mandalay, the leader of the team, and Pixie-bob, one of their members, were talking to us about what the camp was for. Developing our powers and whatnot. Mandalay pointed to where the camp was in the forest below. Dread sunk like a rock in my gut. Oh no no no no no no.
My classmates started to get the memo, slowly retreating back toward the bus. "The current time is 0930," Mandalay purred, "If you're fast about it, you might make it there by noon!" I followed my classmates as we sprinted toward the bus. Before we could make it, Pixie-bob jumped out in front of us. Eraser Head chucked, "The training camp… has already begun."
Pixie-bob used her Earth-manipulation Quirk to contort the land and toss all of the class down into the woods.
We landed at the edge of the forest. Some people were spitting dirt out of their mouths, and I was shaking mud out of my feathers. I flew back up the cliff per Iida's pissed off request. Aizawa saw me coming and told me to stay with the class, before I could spout off. As I flew back down to explain the situation, Mineta scrambled into the forest to take a leak. A beat of silence and frustration. We all froze when he came back out screaming. A huge rock monster thundered out right toward us. Iida, Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki turned it to dust in seconds. The class congratulated them, but Bakugo growled, "We're not done," and pointed into the woods, where another monster crawled out of the ground.
"We have to get to the camp using the shortest possible route," Momo shouted. Iida echoed, "Alright! Plus Ultra!" We settled into offensive stances, Quirks fired up. I conjured a monstrous funnel cloud in case we needed something with a little zest. Jiro and Shoji immediately started scouting, "Seven total!" "INCOMING!" Dammit.
I shouted, "I've got this one!" and leapt into the air to take out a flying dirt monster. I buffeted it with wind until it crashed and crumbled. "Nice!" Bakugo shouted. With a whoop, I slammed a small tornado into the woods. Three monsters down.
Sato and Kirishima took out another. Tokoyami. Aoyama. Mineta (surprisingly). Kaminari. I swooped down and grabbed the moron version, flying him to Momo for safekeeping. Hagakure and Momo took out another with Mina's acid. Momo Created a cannon and took out two more. Uraraka and Tsu took out another. "More closing in!" shouted Shoji. I burst up through the trees, shouting down, "I count thirty! Fifty!"
By the time we made it to the camp, my wings hurt so goddamn much I had to walk. Everyone else was starving and exhausted. The Pussycats, who had driven on the bus with Aizawa, laughed at us as we moped into the boundaries of the camp. Pixie-bob started annoying Iida, Todoroki, Midoriya and Bakugo about how great they were, but I was absolutely jealous. I'd taken out sixteen dirt monsters solo, and twenty in all. They'd had to work together to get one down. Mandalay startled me by resting her paw on my shoulder from behind, "You were also fantastic, Miss Arashi. Just, please don't make it rain next time. We don't like water." She smiled as I rolled my eyes.
A small child stood to the left of Mandalay during her welcome speech. He hadn't said a word or smiled the entire time. Midoriya went to say hello, but the kid punched him in his… um… precious packages. Iida went to comfort Midoriya and shout at the child, but I just laughed. I liked him.
His name was Kota.
I wandered over as the class went to get food. He was pretty small, so I guessed he was six, maybe seven years old. "Hey, bud," I said, squatting to his level. He leered at me from under the brim of his hat. I smiled brightly, "I'm Haruto! It's a pleasure to meet you!" I offered my hand. He glared at it. Kota looked up and moved forward to kick me in the shin. I sidestepped it easily, raising a little cloud of dust, "I'm not Midoriya, kiddo. I've got six little brothers. You're not gonna land a hit unless I let you, m'kay?" He looked up and shouted, "You're just a wannabe Hero! Why would I want to land a hit!" I crouched down again, "Chill out, buddy," I saluted him, and with a smile jogged toward the mess hall.
After an amazing dinner, as good as Lunch Rush's food, I followed the girls to a bathing pool. Actually, a hot spring. I drooled a little at the thought of a long, warm soak. After we'd undressed and sunk into the warm water, we engaged in small talk question-and-answer sessions.
Author's note: Here we go… everything you wanted to know about Haruto! You can skip this part if you like.
Who do you have a crush on? Ew. I'm supposed to have a crush? How's your family? My little brother lost his hand about a week ago, so awful. Why do you keep your hair so short? Long hair is an absolute bitch. What's your favorite food? My dad's okonomiyaki. Favorite dessert? Chocolate. Just chocolate? Chocolate. Like, to the degree where you should hide your chocolate if I visit your house because it might mysteriously disappear. Mysterioussslyyyyy. How about your favorite animal? Chinchilla. It's fun to say. Favorite Pokemon? Decidueye. What languages can you speak? Japanese, bad English, okay Korean. Can you play any instruments? Electric bass and piano… does Kazoo count? Any weird baby stories? I used to narrate everything I did, as in sing songs on the toilet about crapping. Favorite brother(s)? Yes. Favorite movie? Probably Ponyo. Really any Studio Ghibli movie, though. Favorite TV show? Uh… Voltron: Legendary Defender. I saw it one day and accidentally became emotionally invested. No judgement or I'll fry your brains. We're out of questions. God, finally.
Author's note: I'm done, I promise.
A tall wooden wall separated us from the boys' spring. We were chilling when we heard shouts on the other side. Kota appeared at the top, not looking at us, and shoved someone down. Mineta. "Thanks, Kota babe!" Mina shouted. "Yeah, we owe you one!" I echoed. He turned slowly, saw the spring full of naked girls, and promptly fell from the wall onto the boys' side.
We scrambled out and covered ourselves as quickly as possible. The boys were also done, waiting anxiously outside the locker room in towels. "Is Kota okay?" I asked, hugging my modified robe tighter around my chest. Iida shrugged, pointing to a door at the end of the hall, "He was out cold when I last saw him. Midoriya and Mandalay took him there to patch him up." I sighed, "What a sweet kid. If only he weren't so grumpy." A few grunts from the class. The girls and I kind of hung around awkwardly in our robes until Mineta finally disgusted us enough that we decided to turn in for the night. We were sharing a cabin with each other. The 1-B girls were next door. I grabbed a huge Pikachu t-shirt and wiggled into it, breathing in the familiar smell of the fabric softener my mom used.
"I call the bottom bunk!" I shouted, diving onto one of the many bunk beds in the room. Uraraka shrugged, "Fine with me!" She floated up to the top, burrowing into a pile of blankets. A few others and I chuckled. Momo was the highest rank of any of us, so she did the official lights-out roll call, "Haruto?" I grumbled in response, "Me are tired." Momo snorted, "I, as well." Giggles. We were getting loopy. Anyway, she finished up and turned the lights off. Never had a crappy mattress been more comfortable.
The next morning, at 0530, Aizawa had us up and dressed. Everyone was still blinking sleep from their eyes as he gave his instructions. He told Bakugo to throw a softball like he had at the Quirk tests at the beginning of the year. He did, putting out a shock wave that buffeted everyone. He hadn't improved much at all.
The point of all this was to strengthen our Quirks themselves. Use them to their full capacity or whatever.
My training was long-distance flying to strengthen my wings, and lengthening my weather limit… at the same time. By about 1500, I'd flown 160 kilometers and tried eight types of storms, with only one seizure. I hurt so badly that I had to stand on the ground for my last few storms.
At the verrrrrrry end of the day, we were tasked with making our own curry for dinner. I helped Bakugo chop veggies while everyone else cooked, because we were apparently the only Heroes-in-training who knew how to handle knives. The food was… subpar, but after a day of training, I ate every slightly off bite.
The next morning, it was so hard to get out of bed. I could barely walk straight, much less fly. I made it rain on accident and caused a mess of mud around the camp, then I made it too hot and made it worse for the other students. When I finally managed to lift off, I had a seizure immediately. Too tired to do anything else, I ran with Iida, whose engines were burned out, so he ran slow enough for me to keep up with him. We didn't really talk, he just showed me where to turn.
After a good twenty minutes of that, Pixie-bob's voice carried over to us, "Y'all have been training really hard today, so tonight we're going to do something fun! We're pitting classes against each other in a test of courage! Make sure you keep pushing yourself as you work!" With a chorus of 'Yes ma'am!'-s, we did a little bit of Plus Ultra, and doubled our pace. "Hey!" I shouted to Iida over the whistle of the wind, "What's all that about a test of courage?" He shrugged, bounding ahead of me, "We'll be trying to scare each other, essentially." I growled, "They better be prepared for a dark and stormy night!" Iida laughed.
After a lot of psyching myself up, I did fly. I scouted the entire forest. At least it would be useful during the test of courage. Boy, was I looking forward to hearing the screams of Class 1-B! As the sun began to dip below the horizon, I spotted a group of people clustered on an outcrop. I assumed it was a group of students, so I swooped down and said loudly, "Hey, it's about time for dinner, guys. Pixie-bob said we're making stew today!" They didn't move. "H-hey, guys?" The tallest person spoke, "Arashi Haruto, isn't it?" A chill tore up my spine.
"Yeah, are you in another year or something? I don't think I've seen you before," I said cautiously. He turned and smiled wanly, "I'm Dabi. Pleasure." Half of every part of his face was dark, like a bruise. A girl with blonde double buns turned, too. She was in a school uniform, but not a UA one. Some kind of edgy scarf hung around her shoulders, decorated with huge fangs. She grinned, flashing sharpened canines, "Are you a Hero?" So. They weren't from UA. "Wh-who are you guys, anyway? I don't think you're supposed to be here." Kid in an old-style gas mask. Blonde dude with a weird eye. Pink-haired guy wearing lipstick. Lizard man with some kinda mishmash sword. Magician-looking dude with a weird mask. The girl flapped a hand. That's when my useless brain realized that she had canisters on her back, and a shit ton of knives hidden in her clothes. "The Vanguard Action Squad, silly!" I lifted my chin and flexed my wings, ready to bolt for help if need be, "Of what?"
"Of the League of Villains!"
I screeched, "Shit!" and lifted off immediately, throwing intense weather at the camp, desperate to send them a signal. I had to get there. Blue fire roared after me, followed by a ridiculous amount of smoke. I took a too-deep breath and started feeling dizzy. Dammit! The gas was poison! Now I was losing altitude. Fast. I lost control of the wind I'd created and it blew me back toward the group. With a stagger, I landed a few meters away, swaying. I blinked, fighting against the haziness in my skull.
The gas was heavier on the ground, a thick layer of purple between everything else and me. I pulled my shirt over my nose and mouth, but I'd already inhaled too much. I swayed harder, and Dabi moved closer. My pathetic punch barely grazed his arm. I staggered back, running straight into a tree. FUCK! My brain wasn't working right. Dabi's uppercut slammed into my sternum and launched me harder into the tree. My head cracked against the trunk. Dabi cocked his head and smiled crookedly, wrapping his hand around my throat and lifting until even the tips of my wings were above the ground, "One down, one to go." He squeezed, crushing my windpipe. The haze finally took over, and I blacked out.
All of a sudden, I was awake. It took me a second to realize where I was. In a clearing in the forest. Dabi's hand was on my neck again, but this time Bakugo was in his other hand. We were falling backwards, away from Todoroki, Midoriya and Shoji. I couldn't move a goddamn muscle. The darkness of a warp gate swallowed my wings. "Stay back, Deku," Bakugo whispered. I lost consciousness… again... as the warp gate closed.
This one is a touch shorter because shit goes down in the next chapter. I'll try to post every Thursday night (where I am) from now on.
Also, sorry for the tiny bit of fanservice. I got a bunch of questions on other social media and I tried to answer them here. Bai for now~ the Graceful Egg.