The first day of their training camp was off to a poor start.
It was nearly sunset by the time class 1-A emerged from the Beast's forest, battered and exhausted from the seemingly endless waves of hostile creatures supplied by the woods. They had spent nearly half the day painstakingly carving out a path through the onslaught of monsters, a task that became ever more difficult as they grew tired from the strenuous physical labor, their quirks now well and truly depleted. As the students trudged their way onto the campgrounds, they were quickly greeted by the startlingly upbeat Pussycats.
"Hey, not bad!" Pixie-Bob grinned at the class, hands on her hips as they lugged towards the wooden cabin. "You guys did well!"
"Why doesn't it feel that way…?" Yaoyorozu sighed, tiredly wiping the dirt from her forehead.
"Hey, hey! You don't look as beaten up as your friends," Pixie-Bob slung an arm around Naoko's shoulders and tilted her head with a grin, "are you sure you helped?"
In trying to hide her surprise, Naoko only smiled awkwardly, opening her mouth to respond before Pixie-Bob's bubbly laughter interrupted her.
"Mandalay would definitely tell me off if she heard that! Don't worry- you know I'm just kidding!" the blonde grinned, throwing her other arm around Yaoyorozu and squeezing them both in a crushing hug, "I'm sure you all did great! Dinner is waiting for you, by the way. Don't get left behind!" she grinned before racing away towards Tiger.
"She's... energetic," Yaoyorozu mused tiredly, staring after the pro-hero.
"Yea... Anyway, we should go, Momo. The others are already inside," Naoko smiled, patting her back softly.
The two quickly made their way into the large dining hall inside the cabin where the rest of their class had already begun lining up for dinner.
"Naoko! Yao-Momo! Over here!" Uraraka called, waving them over to where she sat with Midoriya, Iida, and Tsuyu.
"Hey," they greeted, setting their trays onto the table. They let out a sigh of relief as they sat down with aching legs- the first time they had been able to sit in hours.
"Hi, 'Suki," Naoko smiled at the explosive blonde as he sat down forcefully next to her. Behind him trailed Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero, all of whom waved and grinned tiredly back at her as they settled themselves. Bakugo, on the other hand, completely ignored her greeting and opted instead to begin aggressively shoveling food into his mouth, drawing an amused grin from the girl.
"If that was the first test, I wonder what we'll be doing tomorrow?" Tsuyu croaked, pressing a finger to her cheek.
"Our teachers planned this training camp for maximum efficiency!" Iida declared, his enthusiasm seemingly unwavered despite the sour burning of his overworked muscles. "We have to work hard so their efforts are not wasted!"
They finished their dinners quickly, words passing occasionally between the group as the dining hall filled with steady chatter and the clanking of silverware. Once they had their fill, they were all herded over to the hot springs to clean off. Following a pleasant bath- uneventful save for a bit of commotion from the other side of the divider- the seven girls eagerly retreated to their shared room and rolled out their sleeping mats, plopping down with exasperated groans.
Their muscles aching and their minds worn, the students soon fell asleep without much effort.
The class was woken up early the next day; the sun had just barely risen past the horizon when they forcibly dragged themselves outside and into the warm autumn air.
Aizawa had told them beforehand they would be training their quirks today, working on the skills they would need to obtain their provisional licenses. The licensing exam wasn't far off, merely a few months away, and they would be competing against older, more experienced students from schools all across the nation. They needed to become stronger if they wanted a fighting chance, so there was no room for fooling around today.
Naoko stood atop a large rock jutting far above the ground, giving her a birds-eye view of most of her classmates training below. Having been individually admonished by Aizawa for being "battle-avoidant", as he put it, she was simply instructed to use her air quirk over as large an area as she could: an exercise in stamina and control while also conveniently doubling as a breeze for her classmates, she thought.
She sat down on the sun-warmed rock and glanced off into the distance. The air shifted, arcing slightly towards her as it gradually began to pick up speed. Stretching from the far treeline where her eyes were locked all the way to where she sat, the mass of air began to swirl in a large spiral, quicker and quicker the closer it was to her. Soon, a visible disk of wind formed, centered around her, strong gusts sweeping in wide, continuous circles reaching nearly a hundred feet in radius.
From the ground below, some of the other students looked up in surprise when they felt a sudden breeze from overhead. Yaoyorozu and Sato spotted her atop the rock and waved gratefully as the cool air from Todoroki's ice swept past them. She waved back, smiling apologetically as the ice was quickly replaced by fire, and they instantly received a blast of hot air to the face.
Sero panicked when he noticed the long tangle of ejected tape begin blowing onto the field and towards the others, threatening to cause a messy entanglement. Just as he was about to leap down to gather it in hopes of avoiding an accident, a small stream of air gently lifted the ends of the tape and began swirling around it. After a moment, it set down the new, neatly formed rolls that continued to spin steadily to keep up with the tape still shooting from his arms. Sero glanced up, flashing Naoko a grateful thumbs up just as Iida zipped by and jumped smoothly over the growing rolls.
Naoko smiled from her perch atop the rock. Her eyes gradually drifted out of focus as the sun rose higher in the cloudless blue sky, the soft rays warm against her skin while the pleasant wind brushed past her, carding through her hair in gentle, comforting strokes.
The next day brought more long hours of the same training. To prevent herself from zoning out entirely, Naoko took advantage of the wind's direction to listen in on Aizawa's instructions for her classmates.
For most of the day, he kept a close eye on the five remedials that had failed their exams, scolding and correcting them as they struggled diligently to improve their quirks. Kirishima fought mercilessly against dozens of trees as they creaked and swayed with each hardened punch; Kaminari, having quickly exhausted his quirk, swayed dopily behind Ashido as she sprayed acid at an enormous boulder, half of it already melted into sludge; Sero strained in discomfort as he forced himself to produce more and more tape, the long strips piling up around him and nearly reaching his chest; and Sato, having just dumped a five-pound bag of sugar into his mouth, was sweating profusely as he pounded away at the side of a cliff, chunks of stone and dirt flying around him haphazardly. Aizawa glanced at the five with well-concealed approval before moving to scold the others for slacking off. He had just finished reminding Aoyama, rather harshly, of his near-failure on the practical exam when he spotted Naoko perched atop the tall rock, swinging her legs.
She smiled and waved down at him as she met his gaze.
Aizawa turned away without a word and continued towards Uraraka, keenly aware of the breeze that followed him so persistently.
"Alright, everyone!" Pixie-Bob shouted, raising her hand to draw the students' attention, "It's time for a game of courage between the classes! Remember, the scarers can't touch the players, but they can use their quirks however they like! Don't worry: you'll all get a turn to scare and be scared! Class A- you'll be tested first, so pair up!"
Ragdoll brandished a box of names before enthusiastically beginning to draw random pairs.
"Looks like we're partners," Ojiro smiled pleasantly as his and Naoko's names were called.
"Yea! It looks like we're going after Ochako and Tsuyu," she returned the grin as the two took their spots in line.
"Switch with me!" Bakugo demanded as he abruptly leapt out in front of her, pointing an accusatory finger back at Todoroki who seemed unfazed by his sudden outburst, "I'm not dealing with that half n' half bastard!"
"'Suki, that's not-"
"Switch with me?!" Mineta shouted, tackling Ojiro's leg with tears in his eyes, having already failed to convince Yaoyorozu's partner of the same thing, "We can all be in the group we want if we sh-!"
"Nope!" Ragdoll slid between them, eyes sparkling as her arms crossed in an X, "No switching! Find your assigned partner and get in line! The game is about to begin!"
The cheerful students, along with a few disparaged ones, waited eagerly for their turn as they watched each group ahead of them disappear, released into the forest one by one.
"We're up," Naoko whispered to Ojiro as Pixie-Bob sent them off with a yell.
"Do you scare easily, Naoko?" he asked curiously as they stepped onto the well-trodden path, the high canopy above them blocking out much of the bright moonlight. He hadn't thought much about it before, but this was the first time he had ever held a real conversation with the girl. Of course, they would occasionally exchange smiles and greetings as they passed each other in class or in the hall at school, but it seemed they never had any particular reason to speak before now.
"Maybe a little," she smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head as she unconsciously wrapped an arm around herself.
"That's ok, I do too. I'm sure we can get through this together!"
"Right!" she agreed eagerly.
After continuing down the narrow path for a few tense, silent minutes, the two suddenly heard a strange noise behind them and instinctively whipped around, eyes darting wildly as they searched the shadowy treeline.
"Do you think they're trying to scare us before jumping out?" she whispered nervously.
"I think so. Let's watch out for them," Ojiro suggested with a slight tremor in his voice.
A scream pierced the air, causing the two to jump back in alarm. Chills shot up their spine as they froze.
It didn't sound like a scream of fear.
It sounded like a scream of pain.
"Was... did that…" Naoko frowned, turning towards him, "did that sound like Ochako?"
Ojiro furrowed his brow. They exchanged a brief glance before simultaneously taking off in the direction of the scream. They couldn't be far; they were only a few minutes behind the previous group at most, so if something happened, they were probably the closest ones to-
"Wait! What's that?"
They stopped in their tracks as a thin cloud of gas drifted into view, blocking the path ahead of them.
"It's expanding! Be careful!" Naoko grit her teeth, quickly surrounding them in a wide sphere of swirling air, "I'll cover us; I don't know what it is, but let's not breathe it in!"
They charged into the fog of gas, growing denser with each passing second, only protected by the bubble of clean air around them. The sound of distant explosions shook the earth as they glanced around in alarm. It grew increasingly difficult to see: even the area right in front of their protective sphere was hazy at best.
Then, all of a sudden, the gas began to lighten.
"What in the world...?" Ojiro breathed, glancing around in confusion.
As quickly as it had come, the strange mist rapidly reduced to little more than a light fog. It didn't take long for it to disappear entirely, leaving them baffled and on edge even more so than they already were.
"Maybe… the source is mobile? It might have just passed us," Naoko guessed, brows drawn apprehensively. "Well, it doesn't matter! Let's keep going!"
They ran, their sight now uninhibited, for another minute until they spotted Tsuyu up ahead, pinned up to a tree and struggling to free herself. They rushed over and Ojiro quickly untied her, carefully lowering her to the ground.
"Watch out!" a voice cried from behind them.
A metallic glint caught Naoko's eye as she narrowly dodged the needle aimed at her neck, stumbling backwards before she regained her balance. Her gaze snapped up, eyes wide with alarm. A blonde girl in a school uniform, carrying a strange device around her neck, blinked at her curiously. Uraraka rushed up behind the girl and tried to grab her arm, missing by a hair as she swiftly jumped away and out of reach.
"Hi! I found you!" the blonde waved at Naoko excitedly, the needle-like tube gleaming with each movement of her hand. "Oh right! I think I have to call Dabi now! You can stay right here, I'll be back soon!"
"Don't look away from me!" Uraraka shouted, seizing the opportunity to grab the back of her neck and forcing her to the ground. The girl yelped painfully as the coarse pebbles of the dirt path dug into her cheek.
Her eyes trailed back up to the brunette. "Sorry, but I can't play with you anymore," she flashed a toothy grin before harshly stabbing the needle into Uraraka's thigh.
She flinched at the sharp prick and inadvertently loosened her grip for a split second, enough for the girl to shove her off and leap to her feet. Uraraka fell backwards, landing hard on her back as the smiling girl giggled and dashed away.
"Come back!" Ojiro yelled, about to run after her when Tsuyu quickly stopped him.
"Ochako!" Naoko gasped, quickly running up to her, dropping to kneel by her side as she helped her up, "Are you ok? Who was that?"
Uraraka groaned, sitting up and rubbing her back painfully. "I… don't know, she just attacked us out of nowhere," she said, flinching at the trail of blood trickling down her leg.
"Have you seen any of the others? What's happening?" Ojiro asked with a worried frown.
"We haven't seen anyone but you guys, I think we're-"
"Attention, students! Please listen carefully! We are under attack by a number of unknown enemies; Eraser Head has given everyone permission to use their quirks to defend themselves! Also, we believe the villains' target is a student called 'Kaachan'. If Kaachan is listening, please be very careful! You must protect yourself, everyone!"
The voice in their ear ended as quickly as it came.
"Katsuki?"
"Bakugo?"
"They're after Bakugo?"
"Who would do that?"
"Let's... let's keep moving!" Uraraka called to them, quickly pulling herself up to her feet. She pointed down the dim path ahead. "We should be able to find everyone else if we just keep going forward! We need to warn the others!"
They all nodded. "Right!"
The four students ran down the shadowy forest path, their ears straining for noise, their eyes darting back and forth in search of any of their classmates. Suddenly, an inhuman screech pierced the air from somewhere they couldn't see, the sound of distant trees toppling over reaching their ears at the same time.
"There! Look!" Tsuyu shouted, pointing to the far treeline.
Something glistened under the moonlight, peeking just above the treetops.
"Is that... ice? Todoroki must be over there!"
"And Katsuki too!"
"Let's go!"
They dashed further down the path towards where they could see the ice jutting out.
When the towering, frozen wall finally came into view, they paused, glancing around as they doubled over, breathing heavily and struggling to catch their breath.
"Where… they must have... left already," Uraraka huffed between shallow pants.
"What happened there?" Ojiro frowned, pointing towards a large trail of fallen trees that lead right to the path they were on.
"It looks like… something big came through here… ribbit…"
"Let's keep going!" Naoko shouted, gritting her teeth in determination. They nodded and started down the path once again. Before they could take two steps forward, however, a stream of blue fire shot up mere inches in front of them, causing them to jerk back in shock and scramble away from the burning heat.
"Wow! You really did find her! Good job, Toga!" a man in a black and white bodysuit flashed a thumbs-up to the girl next to him.
"Yay! I win!" the blonde from before cheered enthusiastically, waving her arms in the air.
"Who are they?" Tsuyu asked, wide-eyed at the three strangers approaching behind them.
"We're the League of Villains," a man with discolored scars and stitches all across his face stated plainly.
"And we want you!" the girl named Toga pointed cheerfully at Naoko.
The four of them frowned in confusion.
"What? Me?"
"We're not going to let that happen!" Uraraka yelled, stepping in front of her defensively. Ojiro and Tsuyu copied her actions, arms raised and ready to attack.
"Twice," the black-haired man spoke.
"Already on it!"
Toga and the scarred man seemed to ripple unnaturally before, much to their alarm, suddenly splitting into two.
Then four.
Then eight.
The students stared wide-eyed as all eight villains rushed at them.
Naoko grit her teeth as two of the grinning schoolgirls simultaneously attacked her with mirrored jabs, quickly avoiding the glistening points before sending sharp blades of air back at them. Both dodged and stabbed their blood-sucking needles towards her sides. She leapt back and threw up a wall wind in front of her, knocking one of the copies off her feet. She wasted no time in sending another wave of wind straight down at the fallen girl who, disturbingly, melted into a repulsive gray sludge the moment it hit her.
Naoko didn't have time to think before the other copy jumped at her, grabbing her wrist and thrusting the needle forward. A blast of wind blinded the girl for a moment before Naoko snatched the device out of her hand, her grip on it tightening before driving it directly through her neck. She melted to the ground just as the other had, the unknown sludge now coating Naoko's hand. She let out a heavy breath as she whipped around, eyes landing on her friends a distance away. She was about to rush towards them when she suddenly froze, faltering mid-step.
"You're not bad, though I still don't see what's so special about you," a voice breathed quietly in her ear.
She swallowed hard.
"W-what do you want?" she demanded.
The hand around her throat tightened.
"Come with me if you want to live," he stated simply. He motioned to Twice and Toga, presumably the real ones, "And don't move." He wrapped an arm around her waist and unceremoniously lifted her off the ground, his hand still tight around her neck, and took off into the forest. The other two caught up with him as they dashed away from the three remaining students who were still engaged with the copies.
"You're late, Dabi!" a reptilian creature shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at the black-haired man as he stepped into view.
"Where's Compress?" he asked plainly, ignoring the creature's words.
Naoko grit her teeth as her eyes darted around shakily, desperately looking for a way to escape.
"Oh! Over there, I see him!" Toga bounced, pointing at something in the sky.
The distant black dot grew closer and closer until they could make out a tall man in a magician's costume. Something came speeding in behind him just as he prepared to land, moving too fast to see as it slammed into him and sent them both crashing to the ground.
Naoko's eyes widened as the dust quickly cleared to reveal Todoroki, Midoriya, and Shoji pinning down the magician.
"Disappointing," Dabi mused. He dropped Naoko carelessly, only keeping his hold on her neck, and raised his left arm. "Dodge, Mister."
A blast of blue fire shot from his hand as the magician seemed to disappear. Todoroki leapt to the side, but Midoriya and Shoji didn't have time to dodge, biting back yells as painful burns seared across their arms.
"Naoko!" Todoroki called, eyes widening as they landed on her trembling form. His glare flicked to Dabi and he quickly sent a wave of ice barreling at him, but the villain only dodged lazily, dragging Naoko with him as he leapt back. Twice darted behind Todoroki as Toga charged at the other two.
A swirling portal appeared behind Dabi as a familiar purple humanoid stepped out.
"We have what we came for. We will now leave," he stated evenly.
A number of the villains glanced back as they noticed his presence, swiftly turning and jumping through the portal. The magician teasingly brandished a small blue orb as he slipped away.
"Hurry up," Dabi called, frowning impatiently at Toga and Twice.
"I have to go now, but I'll see you later, Izuku!" Toga giggled with an unhinged grin before falling back and hopping through the portal as well, Twice following close behind.
Dabi sighed in exasperation and stepped in last, pushing Naoko through in front of him.