Disclaimer: Boku no Hero Academia characters and plot events belongs to Horikoshi Kohei.
To Be a Hero
days of hell
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Everyone still had sleep in their eyes as they gathered together in the training area at 5:30 in the morning. Shiro's hair was like a nest as she had tossed and turned the night before and she barely managed to get them into her usual hairstyle. It was too early for appearances, anyway.
Aizawa called Bakugou over to demonstrate the progress of his Quirk strength, as the goal of the training camp is to build upon that further for their provisional license. Everyone expected following the blonde's "go to hell!" blast that the distance measuring ball would reach twice the number he did during the first day of U.A., but it was a great shock and perhaps anticlimatic that he barely improved by a few kilometers.
"It's been about three months since you started high school. Through various experiences, you all have definitely improved," Aizawa explained as he was the only one who expected this. His eyes narrowed, "But that improvement has mainly been at the mental and technical levels with some increase in stamina. Your Quirks themselves have not improved that much."
It grew quiet around them as they all reflected on their teacher's words. Shiro remembered how at her internship Gang Orca helped her with increasing her endurance and speed to draw out her Quirk better, so in a sense the hero jumped the gun and introduced her to what she will be working on for the entire week at camp. It was extremely hard and painful, of course, and a small shiver ran down her spine in knowing she will have to go through that hell again.
"That's why we will work on improving your Quirks starting today. It'll be so hard you'll feel like dying."
God knows that's not an exaggeration... Shiro thought.
By the time class 1-B reached the clearing to also work on their Quirks, they were met with a sight that was straight from the depths of chaos and hell. It seemed unlikely that they would make high school students do this, but this was U.A. and anything was possible.
Bakugou was repeatedly plunging his hands into boiling water to expand his sweat glands and creating explosions repeatedly to increase the scale of his attacks.
Todoroki was submerged in a tin barrel of water and alternating between ice and fire to make the temperature of the bathwater uniform. It was for control and make it so that he may one day be able to use both at the same time.
Shiro was alternating the dials in her eyes while throwing darts at fastly falling mud chunks. If it was round, she had to dodge it, and if it was square, she had to make sure to hit it. This was to increase the number of times she can use her manipulation Quirk and allow for sharper and longer accuracy for her zone.
Sero was shooting tape from his arms nonstop to increase his capacity and improve tape strength as well as shooting strength... The list went on and no one in class 1-A was having an easy time. Everyone was in pain; they were in their own bubble of torture!
"What is with this hell?" Rin Hiryu asked while in a state of disbelief.
"Those of you who are operative types will have to raise your maximum limits," Vlad King instructed. This was the training regime he and Aizawa devised for weeks before the camp. "Heteromorphic types and other composite types need to train the parts of their body relatied to their Quirks. Normally, this would occur as your bodies grow..."
"...But we don't have that time," Aizawa chipped in as he walked towards the other class. "Class 1-B, you guys should hurry up. The Pussycats are here to help with the amount of students we have."
All members of the Pussycat group was present today. Mandalay with her Telepathy, Pixie Bob with her Earth Flow, Ragdoll with Search, and Tiger with his Pliabody. Tiger was the only male of the group and he had his own bootcamp to whip people's body to be more flexible while taking the man's powerful attacks. The poor sucker in that camp was...
Midoriya Izuku!
"Class 1-B can't fall behind!" Vlad King said. "Let's go!"
"Yes sir!"
Once it reached six in the evening, the 40-some students trudged back to the facility with tired bodies and minds.
"Now, remember what I said yesterday? 'Today's the only day we'll be doing stuff for you'!" Pixie Bob waved at them as they gathered in front of a large table with piles of ingredients for curry in front of them. Ragdoll laughed like she was having a grand time.
"You'll make your own curry! Even though you all look exhausted, that doesn't mean you can make any old sloppy cat food!"
It was hell, no doubt. They had to work hard for their own dinner after a long day of training. Iida wasn't deterred, however, as he spout about how it was great that U.A. wasn't wasting a single oppurtunity to hone their abilities and mindsets as heroes.
"Let's make the most delicious curry in the world, everyone!"
"Ah... Okay..." the others chorused weakly.
"Curry does sound good..." Shiro mumbled and got to work. Since there was a pile of vegetables in front of her, she started to peel and cut them.
Todoroki was called to help set the fire under the stoves. Bakugou attempted to do one after Sero pestered him but only to blow the grill up with his explosion. He shouted a curse and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"Bakugou, come help over here!" Kirishima called from the vegetable station.
"Ha? You scum!"
"Stop complaining and just do it!"
Despite the hardships, the students were still having a great time being with each other and training toegther. Being able to laugh and joke while they prepared food and ate together was fun...
And unaware that off in the distance of the forest, the League of Villains with the newly established Vanguard Action Squad was gathering and waiting.
"Don't lose focus. All of you, move faster!" Aizawa's monotone voice droned as he watched over his students. "No matter what you're doing, you should always be aware of where you came from. That's what it means to improve. Always keep in mind why you're sweating, and why you keep getting nagged."
Where I came from... Shiro took in her mentor's words and focused harder. It was a small encouragement that everyone took to heart.
"That reminds me, Aizawa-sensei..." Midoriya paused momentarily as his thoughts traveled to something else. "It's already the third day. Is All Might... I mean, are the other teachers coming?"
"Like I said before the training camp, in order to keep the villains from finding out where we are, we kept the number of people to the absolute minimum."
"That's why you got a training camp with the four of us!" Ragdoll chimed from top of a cliff excitedly. Aizawa nodded.
"And especially since we believe All Might is one of the villains' targets, we can't have him here. For better or for worse, that's what happens since he stands out so much... Tch."
Eraserhead does hate the spotlight... Shiro grinned to herself after hearing the conversation. Well, it looks like the training camp really just consist of us students and six Pro Heroes then.
"More importantly, everyone! Tonight..." Pixie Bob snickered into her padded gloves to give the students something to look forward to. This was still a summer camp and the kids should have some fun, too. "We'll have a test of courage with the classes pitted against each other! After training, you can play hard!"
"Bakugou-kun, you're really good at using a knife!" Uraraka commented with shock when she walked past the blonde at the vegetable station. The day's training was finally over and they were making dinner. Her eyes trailed to Shiro who was doing the same, "Shiro-chan too! Though Bakugou-kun is more unexpected..."
"What do you mean, unexpected?" Bakugou shouted angrily while still cutting the carrots in perfect uniform. "How can you be bad at using a knife! Don't compare me to Pigtails, her cuts are lopsided!"
Shiro slammed the knife down on the potato with her fuse shortened, "The only thing lopsided is your face."
"Ha?!"
"You're proving my point. You'll get wrinkles by twenty with that ugly scowl."
"You already have wrinkles!"
"How dare you!"
"Y-You two are too energetic..." Kirishima said while chopping the onions and crying manly tears.
Shiro and Bakugou butted heads with challenging glares at each other, "We'll see who can cut the most in perfect cubes! Go!"
"Guys..."
Todoroki looked over from his station by the stoves and grills, his heterochromatic eyes holding an indescribable look. "Todoroki-kun?" Midoriya piped up since he was waiting for the male to hand him more firewood.
Todoroki turned his attention back to the curly haired boy, "Sorry. By the way, did you need All Might for something? You asked Aizawa-sensei about him, didn't you?"
"Oh... I did... It's about Kota-kun."
"Who's Kota?"
"Eh? That kid, you know... Mandalay's cousin... " Midoriya blinked and turned to point out the kid, but he realized that Kota wasn't around again.
The other day, he had followed the boy to his 'secret hideout' because he was worried after what Mandalay said. Kota's parents were killed in the line of duty and it made the boy wonder why anyone would be a hero to recklessly put themselves in danger.
"That kid hates heroes... I mean, he hates the whole Quirk-based superhuman society in general, and I couldn't say anything to help him. I was just wondering what All Might would've said to him... What would you have said, Todoroki-kun?"
Todoroki was silent for a moment before he looked to the side, "It depends. To have some stranger trying to reason with you would just be annoying, right? What's important is what actions he took or is taking. If the words are going to move someone by themselves, they have to be pretty powerful. I think words have to be accompanied by action..."
"You're right... I'm just a stranger. How can I say anything to him?" Midoriya smiled slightly.
"I don't know what you want to do with him, but I don't think you should keep poking your nose in a delicate situation," Todoroki responded. He was speaking from experience; from what Midoriya had done to help him back at the sports festival even though the male doesn't realize he has that capability. "Though, you have no qualms about breaking through that kind of stuff."
"Right... Sorry..."
"It's fine."
"I guess I shouldn't ask about your expression earlier..." Midoriya rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Not that it's anything weird...! Just that you were kinda looking at Shiro-chan and Kacchan intently."
Todoroki blinked, "Midoriya, you've known Bakugou for a while now, right?"
"A-Ah, yeah..."
"Has he always interacted with people in a crude way?"
"Huh?" the male was confused and unsure how to approach the question. "Um, well, the memories I have of Kacchan... He's always been kind of... Not very gentle."
"I see."
"Why do you ask, Todoroki-kun?"
At the station where Shiro and Bakugou were competing for the title of Best Vegetable Cutter, they got a few people come judge their mountain of perfectly cut carrots and potatoes. It was more than what was needed for tonight's meal, but Iida was so proud of them that he was telling the others to use them as an example to have the same tenacity and dedication for their roles.
When it was declared as a tie (because no one wanted to piss off either of the two who for some reason had so much energy left), they continued to bicker. However, there was a gentler look on Bakugou's face as he yelled and Shiro was grinning with a lack of scorn.
"No reason," Todoroki said before walking away.
"Now, we've filled our bellies and washed the dishes! Next is..."
"The test of courage!" Mina exclaimed.
Kirishima, after being recharged from the food, also cheered happily. "We're gonna test it!" he shouted before turning to the girl besides him. "Shiro-chan, let's do this together!"
"Sure," Shiro tilted her head. She wondered what the test of courage will entail. Ghost stories seemed less scary when they've encountered earth beasts and training hell for the past few days.
"It pains me to say this, but the extra lessons group will be having class with me now," Aizawa's tone cut through their cheers. For the past few days, the five who failed had been studying until two in the morning to make up for summer classes.
"N-No way!"
"Your training during the day wasn't good enough, so I have to use this time," the hero said without any sympathy and dragged them away with his binding bandages. Their screams of agony was cruelly echoed through the forest.
...Eraserhead is the scariest of them all here, huh? Shiro thought.
"Okay!" Pixie Bob gathered the remaining students for instruction. "Class 1-B will be the first to be the scarers. Class 1-A will leave in pairs every three minutes to the outlined route. There are tags with your names written on them in the middle of the route, so bring those back with you! Those being the scarers aren't allowed to make direct contact, so show us how scary you are with your Quirks!"
"The class that makes the most people piss their pants with creativity and imagination wins!" Tiger exclaimed.
"That's gross..." Jiro muttered at the hero's choice of words. She was already scared of things lurking in the dark, so she didn't need that mental image, too.
"I see! They're trying to make us refine our ideas by making us compete with each other, which gives us more options for our Quirks in the process!" Iida was taking every oppurtunity as a learning experience and got riled up with excitement. "As expected of U.A.!"
"You'll draw lots to determine your partners!"
Shiro's original "partner" was Kirishima, but seeing that he had been dragged to his extra lessons and they were drawing lots anyway, she walked up and picked one without much of a care. With five students gone, it made their class even and everyone will have a partner.
Midoriya got his lot and his face lit up slightly when he caught sight that Shiro had the same number as him. "Shiro-sa—"
"Deku!" Bakugou's shout caused the green haired male to jump before he got to the girl. "Switch with me!"
"K-Kacchan?"
Bakugou pulled him up by the collar and pointed to his own partner with a pissed off look. "I ain't going with that bastard!"
"I don't like the idea of partnering up with him either," Todoroki walked up with his slip outstretched to Midoriya. "Midoriya, switch with me."
"But w-we drew lots...!"
"Stop bullying Midoriya-san," Shiro walked up to the group with a disproving frown. She noticed her slip was the same as the male's. "Besides, he's my partner. If you want to complain, blame your own bad luck at drawing."
Todoroki turned somber as Bakugou's expression twisted sourly. Midoriya tried to slink out of being in the middle when Mandalay came out with a worried frown as she looked for her little cousin.
"Have any of you seen Kota today? He didn't come to eat dinner again. That boy is just starving himself..."
Midoriya's expression morphed into a knowing look as he went up to the older hero. Since he had followed Kota to his secret hideout the first day, he had an idea that was where the boy was if he didn't want to be around the class. "Mandalay, if you want, I can bring some food to Kota-kun."
"Eh? You know where he is?"
"A-Ah, I have an idea."
Mandalay pursed her lips at the secrecy but nodded, "Okay, I'll leave it to you then."
"I'll go prepare the leftovers from the kitchen!"
"Well, well," Pixie Bob wagged her tail as she looked at the turn of events. She pointed to the girl who was now partner-less. "You'll join team two!" she said, thinking that the only way for the two original partners to not blow up the forest is if there was a mediator in-between.
Shiro sighed, but she nodded.
"Alright! Team one, go!"
The first team consisted of Tokoyami and Shoji, both who didn't seemed to mind the dark and perhaps even enjoy it. It was proven right when there were no sounds of screaming after the three minute mark, and now it was time for team two to set out.
The guys stood on either side of Shiro as they walked into the forest in deadly silence. They passed the first few check points without a hitch since Bakugou was the scary one and Todoroki stayed calm and looked like nothing affected him. Sanwiched between the two, Shiro was pretty much protected from anything scary coming their way.
"It's rather anticlimatic," she remarked. A distance behind them though, she could hear Jiro's loud scream travel through the forest and she turned around with alarm. "That's—ah!"
She didn't notice the tree root that was sticking out on the side and she tripped over it. Both Bakugou and Todoroki's hand shot out immediately to grab her and she prevented face-planting on the ground.
"Pay more attention to the route, dumbass," Bakugou snapped.
"Are you okay?" Todoroki asked.
Damn their fast reflexes... Shiro blinked, "Thanks... I'm okay."
"Come on then," Bakugou scoffed and pulled her along. Todoroki didn't let go of her other arm so she felt herself jerk in place. "What the hell are you doing, Half and Half?"
"I can ask you the same thing."
The two males glared at each other but didn't let go, so Shiro frowned and forcefully yanked her arms away. "What's wrong with you guys?" she rolled her eyes. "You guys can have your staring contest on your own time. We still have about half the distance to go. If we stand around like this we're like sitting ducks for class 1-B."
"As if they can scare me," Bakugou said while stuffing his hands in his pockets offhandedly.
"Don't get too cocky... Just watch you get scared shitless," Shiro raised her brows with a low mumble. Todoroki heard and couldn't help a small chuckle from his throat. "Hm? Are you not scared of these things, Todoroki-san?"
"I guess not," he replied and walked besides her.
"Hurry up, you slow asses! Quit yappin'!"
Shiro rolled her eyes but they caught up to the blonde. It wasn't so odd that the path was quiet since the other class was trying to be sneaky and scare them, but they there all getting tired from the training and cooking before this. Shiro especially just wanted to get through the entire course so she could sleep. Sensing how tired everyone was, Todoroki pointed to something in the distance.
"There's something up ahead. That must be the check point with our names."
"Good eye, Todoroki-san!" Shiro's eyes lit up while Bakugou huffed.
"I saw that first. I just didn't say anything since it was so obvious."
"Yeah, yeah," she waved off and pulled him along to hurry him up since they were going to finish the route soon. Bakugou's eyes widened but a smirk appeared on his face as he sent it Todoroki's way to rile him up. However, it was short-lived as Shiro reached over and pulled the dual-Quirk male along as well. "Let's go!" she grinned.
The three didn't get too far, however, and since their attention was set on the check-point in the distance they completely let their guard down as a head of dark hair popped out in front of them unexpectedly.
"Oh."
Bakugou and Todoroki froze up in fleeting fear as Shiro's grip on them tightened and pulled them closer to her in her moment of panic. All three of their hearts beated loudly, all for the same reason. The head that popped up from the ground was Kodai Yui's, and she was helped by Honenuki Juzo's Quirk that made the ground soft to submerge the girl.
"That's something straight out of the Grudge..." Shiro said shakily and calmed down her heart as they all quickly shuffled away. Her face showed embarrassment as she let go of the two immediately. "They got us good this time..."
"T-That was nothing," Bakugou said tersely and she raised her brow.
"Says the one who went 'oh' at the sight of the head on the ground."
"I didn't say that, Half and Half Bastard did!"
"You did, too..." Todoroki said without denying it. "There's no use acting tough in front of us."
"Who said I was?!"
"Guys..." Shiro looked up at the night sky. It wasn't as clear as before, like there was a faint fog rolling in. "Is something burning...?"
"Ha—?" Bakugou immediately covered his nose as the two did the same after realizing there was something off about the smoke. "It's poison!"
At the facility where the five failed students were being 'held hostage' to learn with Aizawa and Vlad King, there was a sudden jolt in their minds when Mandalay's Telepathy reached them.
"Everyone! We're being attacked by two villains! It's possible that there are more! Everyone who can move, get back to camp immediately! Even if you come across the enemy, retreat and do not engage!"
As soon as rhe message was relayed, Aizawa left the kids to Vlad King as he ran out the facility. "I'll go protect the other students!" he said with a face full of worry. 16 of his students and all of class 1-B are in the woods doing what was suppose to be a fun activity for the night. He didn't want to think about what could happen if he doesn't get there on time. Shiro's out there, too!
"This is bad...!" he looked at the night sky that was being engulfed by black smoke. The compounds of the gas were no doubt poisonous.
"Is your worry taking precedence, Eraser?"
Aizawa turned just in time to see a hand with blue flames blasting towards him in a scorching heat. "You—"
"Don't get in my way, Pro Hero," Dabi droned. "You guys aren't the ones we want."
Mandalay's broadcast... Is it the League of Villains?! Shiro ran with Bakugou and Todoroki with their hands covering their noses. The poisonous gas wasn't traveling as fast and so they managed to get away. However, they encountered someone from class 1-B who was unconscious. That's Tsuburaba!
"I'm worried about the others, but we have no choice," Todoroki carried the unconscious male on his back as they continued to travel farther from the gas. "We'll avoid the finish line and get back to camp."
"Tokoyami-san and Shoji-san were in front of us," the girl's eyes narrowed with worry. "We should at least see if they got out alright."
"Don't talk. You'll breath in the gas..." Bakugou's gruff voice trailed off as they stopped abruptly behind a dark figure kneeling on the ground. A bloody hand was by the figure's feet and a terrifying thought ran through their heads. "Oi..."
Isn't that... Shoji's severed hand...?
"So pretty... So pretty..." the figure was murmuring to himself. "No, I have to work... I was captivated... Such beautiful flesh... Don't tempt me... I have a job to do."
When he turned around, the three took in his disturbing appearance. He seemed to have come from an insane asylum from the black straitjacket that only left his mouth exposed. Black restraints tied his arms in front of him, and it ran towards the metal clamps that kept his mouth permanently open.
"He got... Shoji-san..." Shiro gritted.
"'Don't fight'?" Bakugou echoed Mandalay's orders with rage in his eyes. He uncovered his mouth to reveal his disgust for the drooling villain. As he stepped in front of Todoroki since he was carrying Tsuburaba, he found that Shiro did the same. They held the same idea as they glanced at each other.
"There's no way we can do that now..."
Aizawa jumped towards the building and anchored himself on the roof before the blue flames could reach him. The villain smirked up at him with an impressed look since the hero was able to avoid that quick attack.
"Well, I guess you are a Pro, after all," he said before attempting to send another blast of flames up at the roof. However, his Quirk wouldn't activate.
"Nothing's gonna come out," Aizawa leaped down with his binding cloth shooting out. It grabbed the villain and tied tightly around his arms and torso. The hero pulled him closer and kneed his face, and then he slammed his body down on the ground and pulled at his arms, threatening to break it. "Tell me your purpose, number, and positions."
Dabi struggled slightly and looked up to the man from the corner of his eyes, "Why?"
A painful crack was heard and his left arm snapped at an odd position. The hero broke it without mercy.
"Your right arm's next," Aizawa promised with his eyes glaring red. "Let's do this logically. If we get to your legs, it'll be annoying to transport you."
"Are you in a hurry, Eraser?"
Another crack was heard before there was a loud tremble from within the forest. Iida, Mineta, Ojiro, and Koda ran out into the clearing in a panic but showed relieved faces as they saw him.
"Sensei!"
At the slight distraction, Dabi pushed himself out of Aizawa's grip but he was still restrained by the bindings and his arms were both broken. "As expected of a U.A. teacher," he drawled with a smirk to taunt the hero. As the bindings were pulled, it slipped though Dabi's pseudo-body. "Are your students important? I hope you can protect them all till the end. See you later..."
The warning left Aizawa's anxiety to rise as the villain melted away into nothing.
"What was that?!" Mineta cried as the four ran over.
"Get inside! I'll be right back!" he ordered and took off into the barely reached a few kilometers when Midoriya stumbled out with a terrified Kota on his back. The injuries on Midoriya's body was extensive and his entire right arm was bloody and purple from breakage. "Midoriya!"
"Aizawa-sensei... I'm glad..." the boy's breath was labored as Kota slid off his back. "There are a ton of things I need to tell you! First, there's something I need to tell Mandalay... So..."
"Wait, Midoriya, your injuries—"
"Please take care of Kota-kun! He just manifested a water Quirk. You have to protect him, please! I have to go—I heard from the villain I fought that they were after Kacchan! There may be more targets!"
He's running on adrenaline alone... Aizawa noted that he wouldn't be able to stop the boy while he was on a high. If he doesn't keep moving right now, he'll topple over. "Wait, Midoriya!" he called just before the injured boy can leave. With the information from Dabi and now Midoriya, he was certain of one thing. Shiro and his students are in danger.
"You did it again with those injuries. For uncertified individuals to cause injury with their Quirks wihtout specific instruction from a supervisor is a violation of the rules... I'll take responsibility for that later. So tell Mandalay this..."
"Everyone in class 1-A and class 1-B! In the name of the Pro Hero, Eraserhead, you are granted permission to engage in combat! I repeat: everyone in class 1-A and class 1-B, you are granted permission to engage in combat!"
Bakugou was already running towards the villain with his Quirk exploding in his palms; but it was all the more reason to go all out now that they got the confirmation to battle. "Die...!"
Another jolt was sent to their minds as Mandalay added something else:
"We have just discovered one of the villain's targets—a student named 'Kacchan'! 'Kacchan' should try to avoid combat and acting independently. Do you understand, 'Kacchan'?!"
"Stop making so much noise in my head!"
Todoroki sent out a sheet of ice to shield the blonde from a bunch of blades that suddenly shot out from the villain's teeth. "Don't go rushing carelessly into anything. You just heard Mandalay, didn't you? You're being targeted!"
"That damn Deku did something, I just know it," Bakugou's face was full of rage. "Saying 'fight' then 'don't fight'! I don't give a damn what anyone says!"
"Bakugou!" Shiro shouted before activing her left eye to keep the male's probability of harm low since she couldn't stop him from jumping towards the villain again. Todoroki sent another wave of ice as well when the villain spun in the air with his blades.
"He's good at using the terrain with his Quirk. We can't get close."
"Even though he just looks like some scrawny small fry!" Bakugou growled.
"I am Moonfish..." the villain lisped as he anchored himself upside down in the air with his Quirk. It made the landscape look like a dangerous apparatus of ice and jagged blades. "Show me... Your flesh..."
"Bakugu, you can't use your explosions," Shiro called out and looked around. "Ignite any large flames around here and the fire will spread. There are still students in this forest!"
"Shiro is right," Todoroki stepped up next to the blonde. "If you recklessly go into it with your Quirk, students will die. Do you get it?"
"Shut up! I know!"
"The gas is behind us, but it's not spreading towards us..." Shiro added with her brows furrowed. "They're intentionally cornering us, but I think... If only Shoji-san's hand was here, then he must've somehow managed to escape forward. So we have to pass this straitjacket lunatic to help him!"
"Pieces of meat... Flesh!"
Multiple blades stretched and slammed into the ground before the three and they had to jump back. It was a hard situation since Bakugou can't use his Quirk and Todoroki can only use his ice to shield them from the endless attacks. Shiro gritted her teeth and activated her left eye so that it was spinning wildly for her Absolute Zone.
"Todoroki-san, Bakugou!" she grabbed both of their hands. "Do you trust me?"
They saw the seriousness and concentration in her eyes and both nodded without hesitation. Shiro grinned slightly before facing forward again, her hands on theirs tightening, "On three, Todoroki-san you will release your ice and Bakugou, use a small blast to boost us forward. Don't let go of me, I have 30 seconds to ensure that the blades won't hit the zone around us but we have to move fast. Got it?"
"Understood."
"Yeah, just do it!"
"Then... One... Two..." they lurched forward and all three expelled their Quirks. "Three!"
BAM!
SMASH!
BOOM!
They sped through the incoming long blades and managed to land behind Moonfish, who attempted to turn around to continue his attacks. Suddenly, the earth trembled as bits of trees and rock blasted up and it was coming towards them all.
"Aisaka! Bakugou! Todoroki!" Shoji was running frantically towards them with an injured Midoriya on his back. They looked in part relieved that the male was okay but also alarmed at the dark creature that was chasing the Dupli-Arm user. "Someone please—make some light!"
"Flesh!" Moonfish cried as a blade shot out to impale Shoji, but he was saved by the shadowy figure. In an instant Moonfish was pressed to the ground by Dark Shadow's enlarged form, behind it all was Tokoyami who was engulfed within the out-of-control Dark Shadow.
"Kacchan!" Midoriya shouted from Shoji's back. "Tokoyami-kun's out of control and attacking indiscriminatingly! We led him here, so please use your explosion to calm him down!"
Todoroki passed Tsuburaba to Shiro, "I can use my flames—"
"Wait, you idiot," Bakugou growled with a hand out to stop the male. Moonfish was slowly getting back up by his blades as Dark Shadow surrounded his figure. With absolute ease, Dark Shadow crushed all of the teeth-blades and slammed the villain across the forest with inhuman force. Moonfish was knocked unconscious immediately. "Now...!"
"I haven't had enougn fun yet!" Dark Shadow bellowed as both of them leaped forward with flames and explosions to subdue the shadow. It instantly cowered and released Tokoyami from its hold and went back into hiding within the owner.
"I'm a bad match-up for you," Bakugou said to the panting male.
"Thanks... For saving me..."
Shiro walked up with Tsuburaba hanging onto her shoulder and she gave Shoji a once over, "Shoji-san, we saw your hand..."
"It's from my dupli-arm, so it's okay."
"It's all my fault..." Tokoyami explained with grief as he beat himself up internally. "I was too immature and couldn't take control of my emotions, and that spurred on that guy... In the end, it got so strong that I couldn't hold back and ended up hurting Shoji."
"We'll leave that for later," Shoji replied, his tone gentle as the grieving male looked up. "That's what you would say, right?"
"Yeah, right now..." Midoriya's expression turned serious. "We confirmed that one of the villains' targets is Kacchan."
"Bakugou?" Tokoyami frowned. "Are they trying to kill him? Why?"
"I don't know, but I think the camp is the safest place right now since there are two Pros, Vlad King and Aizawa-sensei, there. At the clearing, the Pussycats are still fighting two of the villains, so going back on the path would bring us to the villains' attention and we'd lose time. We should cut straight across the forest."
"We don't know how many villains there are, so we might come across one suddenly like we just did here," Todoroki added while he was thinking. He went to take Tsuburaba again so Shiro could be more mobile. "Shoji can scout ahead and I can still use my ice. Shiro can cover us from behind and use her probability zone if anything comes up as well."
"Yeah, and if Tokoyami-kun's okay with it, an invincible Dark Shadow with built-in controls..." Midoriya's brows furrowed with determination. "With this group, honestly, we can probably even go against All Might with our combined strength."
Shiro and the others nodded. Their unspoken common goal was to escort Bakugou to the camp grounds safely. However, the male himself wasn't happy.
"What's with you guys?! Don't protect me, you scum!"
"Let's go."
"Don't ignore me!"
"Settle down and keep up," Shiro said as she walked behind the group with Tokoyami, making sure Bakugou was in the middle of them. "You're the league's target, so we have to be careful."
"There's no reason why they should be targeting me!" he shouted as he moved along in anger for being coddled like a weak child. "I might not even be the only one. You shits should take care of yourselves before worrying about me!"
"I appreciate your concern, Prickhead," Shiro flashed him an appreciative smile. "But you're the most important one right now."
Bakugou paused and shut up upon hearing her words. "Stop acting so sincere all of the sudden, Pigtails..." he muttered lowly. "Be on your guard for yourself."
"Of course," she replied.
However, everything suddenly became dark.
"Ochaco-chan..." Toga coaxed with a blush on her face even though she was being pinned down. She had tried to attack Tsuyu and Uraraka but ended up being defeated. But she made two new friends so she was happy about how things turned out. Besides... "You're wonderful, too. You've got the same smell as me. There's someone you like, right? And you feel like you want to be like that person, right?"
Uraraka was taken aback. She had always admired Midoriya for his tenacity and drive to improve himself, so she always thought back to him in order to encourage herself. Having her classmates know this was one thing, but having this deranged villain 'sniff' it out of her was making her sick!
"I can tell... Because you're a maiden like me. You want to be like the person you like. It's only natural, right? You end up wearing the same things and stuff... But eventually, not even that's enough..." Toga smiled euphorically before she plunged her blood-sucking needle into Uraraka's thigh. "I love people who are beat up and smell like blood! That's why in the end, I always cut them up! Hey, Ochaco-chan, you're having fun, right? It's fun talking about our crushes, right?"
"Ochaco-chan!" Tsuyu cried as she saw what was happening. Her tongue had been cut and she was pinned to a tree earlier so she couldn't move. Toga continued to suck the blood from the girl with a deranged grin.
"Suck, suck, suck... Suck, suck..."
"Uraraka!" Shoji exclaimed once his group got to the area.
"Shoji-chan! Everyone!"
Uraraka found herself being suddenly pushed away as Toga made a run for it. There were too many people and the situation was no longer in her advantage. "I don't want to be killed, so bye-bye," she said in a lower, uninterested tone before she noticed Midoriya on Shoji's back. The beat up face and bloodied look... She was instantly in love.
"Wait—!" Uraraka stood back up with a frown. "Come back!"
"It's too dangerous!" Tsuyu finally released herself from the tree and stopped the girl. Toga took this time to dash away. "We don't even know what kind of Quirk she has."
"Who was that just now?" Todoroki ran up to them with the others.
"A villain. A crazy one," the frog Quirk girl responded, Midoriya then noticed the cut on Uraraka's arm.
"You're injured, Uraraka-san!"
"I'm okay," Uraraka replied. "Anyway, you're the one that's more hurt!"
"There's no time to stand and talk," Shoji cut in urgently. "You guys should come with us back to the camp."
"R-Right! Right now, we're protecting Kacchan as we head back!"
Tsuyu tipped a finger to her lips in confusion at what Midoriya was claiming. Uraraka was also sharing a similar look as her, "Where is Bakugou-chan?"
They all looked back and finally shared the girls' confusion. No one had let their guards down, yet somehow Bakugou was still taken without a sound.
"The boy you're talking about..." a smooth voice called out to them from up in one of the trees. "I took him with my magic. This talen isn't someone who should be on the hero side. We'll take him to a stahe where he can shine more."
Mr. Compress, a villain from the Vanguard Action Squad was casually flicking a glowing blue marble in his hand. He was dressed head-to-toe in a flashy top hat, mask, trench coat, and magician gloves. By the way he was talking about Bakugou and holding the marble, they could only fear that the blonde was somehow inside the marble.
"Give him back!" Midoriya shouted.
"'Give him back'? That's a strange thing to say. Bakugou-kun doesn't belong to anyone. He's his own person, you egoist. Besides, you shouldn't be so careless. At leas show some concern for your other friends as well."
They took another careful look behind them and realized that it wasn't just Bakugou, but Tokoyami and Shiro were gone, too.
"Move!" Todoroki stepped in front of Shoji and sent a large blast of ice towards the villain with anger in his eyes, however, the villain dodged easily and was soaring through the air into another treetop.
"We simply want to show him that the path he's on now with its fanatival vaules is not the only path he can take. Kids these days are made to choose their paths based on their values."
"To go out of your way to talk to us... You're underestimating us!" he scowled with a hard look. "We're going to get all three of our classmates back."
"I was originally an entertainer, you know. It's a bad habit of mine," Mr. Compass hummed as he played with the three marbles between his fingers. "Taking Tokoyami-kun was an improvisation on my part. Moonfish, the man with the 'Blade-Tooth'... He may not look it, but he's a cutthroat on death row whose appeal was dismissed. With a violent nature that trampled that cutthroat down one-sidedly, I decided he was good, too."
"You bastard!" Midoriya was beyond angry. "Why did you take Shiro-san?! Let them all go!"
Mr. Compass chuckled behind his mask and tucked the marbles into his inner pocket safely before answering, "Shiragiku-chan is a special request from the league's leader. You see, he misses her a lot and wants to see her."
What is he talking about...?!
"Uraraka, take this guy!" Todoroki handed Tsuburaba to the girl and ran forward before sending a large-scaled ice blast towards the villain. The force was so great that multiple trees were taken down and he could feel the frost biting at his left side while the icy fog cleared.
"Sorry, tricks and running away are my only redeeming features! There's no way I'd fight students who are hero candidates," the villain apologized from the air, unaffected. He put a hand to his ear and talked into the speaker as he ran away, "Vanguard Action Squad: targets successfully collected! It was just a short while, but with this our show has come to a close! As arranged, head to the retrieval point in the next five minutes!"
"'Come to a close'...?" Todoroki gritted his teeth and winced from the repercussions of only using his ice. Still, he took off behind the villain with the others. "I defintely won't let you get away!"
They will stop at nothing to get their classmates back.
Hiii, happy 2020! I'm kind of stressed due to *reasons* and so I want to focus on my physical and mental health... Hopefully I will be okay. I'll try to update when I can tho :) so please leave a review!