By the time they had all managed to make it through the forest the sun was starting to go down. Aizawa had simply told them to go eat and then enjoy the hot springs for the night; they would be starting early tomorrow. Izuku couldn't help but let his attention be drawn to the young kid that was with the Pussy Cats. He seemed to be glaring at them all; clearly he wasn't fond of the student's being there. Izuku filed away the information for later; maybe he'd try and talk to him.
Dinner was good and even though he and Shinsou weren't part of their class they found themselves being pulled into conversations and being treated just like any other member of the class. Izuku had to admit it was nice. His own class mostly kept to their own little circle of friends and there was no real sense of unity. He figured it was because a lot of them were bitter about not getting into the hero course. Class 1-a while also having separate friend circles also seemed close as a whole. Izuku soaked in the welcoming atmosphere like a sponge.
Izuku's attention was once again grabbed by the young boy as he watched him run off. He didn't think he'd grabbed any dinner either. As he was getting up to fetch a plate for the boy to bring to him Aizawa caught his attention. "Midoriya. Can I speak to you for a moment?" Izuku looked between Aizawa and where the kid had run off before nodding.
Todoroki tapped him on the shoulder. "I'll bring him something. I was finished anyway."
Izuku smiled at Todoroki. "Thanks Todoroki. I owe you one." Todoroki shook his head before going off to get another plate of food. After that Izuku rushed over to Aizawa and followed him as he led the two away from everyone else.
"So as you know the majority of the training we'll be doing here is meant to strengthen quirks." Aizawa started. Izuku nodded; Aizawa had told them this before. "I just wanted you to know that I'll be having you work with Tiger to increase your physical strength. Just because you don't have a quirk doesn't mean you can't get something out of this."
Izuku smiled at him. "Thanks Aizawa. I wasn't worried though, I figured you had something in mind."
Aizawa nodded and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Alright. Now go get back to your friends and don't stay up too late."
"Ok dad." Izuku said cheekily as he walked off. He heard Aizawa sigh but it was more fond than anything.
Izuku did his best to not laugh as Todoroki walked back into the dinning area soaked. Katsuki had no such courtesy as he burst out laughing and Shinsou chuckled. Todoroki sighed and lit a fire in his hand in an attempt to dry himself. "So what happened?" Izuku asked as he and Todoroki walked to the boys sleeping area. Todoroki had seemed apprehensive to go near the hot springs at the moment and Izuku didn't mind keeping him company.
"Well after I managed to find him and attempted to give him the food he got angry at me. At first he tried to tell me off with words and then he shot me with water. Must be his quirk." Todoroki explained. "He didn't seem to like heroes very much."
Izuku frowned. A kid that didn't like heroes? "Must be why he was glaring at us earlier. He probably doesn't like us either."
Todoroki hummed in agreement. "That seems right."
The two walked the rest of the way to the room in comfortable silence. Once they had settled in Shoto spoke up. "You know I really need to thank you Midoriya." He started. Izuku started to respond but Shoto held up a hand to stop him. He turned to look Izuku in the eyes. "You've done a lot for me in the short time we've known each other. You stuck with me despite our… interesting introduction." In hindsight dumping his entire tragic past on someone he'd never spoken to or really even known about was odd. It still surprised Shoto that Izuku had not only willingly listened to everything he said but offered to be friends after their match. He lit a small fire in his palm. The light softly lit up the mostly dark room. "You helped me realize that this was my power. Not my old man's. And I have people I can talk to that are my friends; as well as Bakugou."
Izuku laughed softly. "Kacchan is your friend even if he doesn't really show it."
Shoto hummed not quite accepting what Izuku was saying but he supposed the boy that had grown up with Katsuki would know best. "Anyway. Thank you. For not giving up on me." Shoto finished as he closed his hand to put out the flame.
Izuku smiled at him. Even in the dim light Shoto could make it out perfectly. "Of course. I don't regret any of it and am glad to have you as my friend." Izuku scooted over so he could lean his head on Shoto's shoulder. Shoto let a small smile slip onto his face. This would be a nice week.
Shoto had now firmly decided that this was not going to be a nice week. The first couple days of their training had been normal. They were all pushing their quirks to their limits to improve them. Shoto had often caught sight of Izuku working with Tiger or simply running around the training area and dodging out of the way of everyone else. He wondered, not for the first time since meeting Izuku, what it was like to be quirkless. He'd also been surprised to learn that Katsuki was a good cook since the class was made to cook their own meals. The blond had quickly taken charge of that.
Though now things were not so normal as he and Izuku rushed through the burning forest to the cliff where Kota was. Villains had somehow managed to find the camp and were now attacking it. They had been undergoing something that the Pussy Cats had called the "test of courage" when the smoke had started to fill the air. Even from where Shoto and Izuku were they could see the red orange flames growing. It hadn't taken long for Izuku to become concerned about the kid and want to go help him. Shoto then offered to lead him to where he'd found the boy before; Izuku readily agreed.
The two were now running up the cliff that Shoto remembered led to what Kota had called his "secret base". They arrived just in time to stop what they both assumed was a villain from attacking the kid. The villain turned to them smirking after Shoto put a wall of ice between him and Kota. Shoto nervously glanced at Izuku who had slipped into a fighting stance beside him. Shoto didn't doubt Izuku's fighting prowess but one look at the villain told Shoto he didn't think it would be enough. One more look at Izuku's face told Shoto that he was thinking the exact same thing.
"Well what do we have here? A couple more kids to play with." The villain cracked his knuckles. "Show me what you got pipsqueaks."
The fight wasn't actually much of a fight. It became quickly apparent that they couldn't beat him like this. He could break apart Shoto's ice with his raw strength and it was hard for Izuku to get close enough to land any decent hits without putting himself in too much danger. Even when he did manage to land hits they didn't seem to faze the villain, who they'd soon found out was Muscular, at all. The only thing that gave Muscular some pause was Shoto's fire. Which was unfortunate cause he still didn't have the best control over it.
"We have to take Kota and run." Izuku said, panting. It was clear to both of them that Muscular was messing around with them. It was as clear to him that they couldn't win as it was to them. Shoto nodded in agreement. They had no choice but to run and find backup so that's what they did. Shoto unleashed a massive amount of fire to distract Muscular while Izuku scooped up a shaken Kota and bolted. Shoto followed after them and they ran. It didn't take long for Muscular to recover and come after them.
Thankfully luck was on their side as they heard Muscular trip and saw Aizawa glaring behind them. He must have cancelled out his quirk. Izuku put Kota down and looked at Aizawa. Aizawa pulled something off his back and tossed it to Izuku. Izuku caught it easily and smiled. He twirled the staff in his hands as he turned to face Muscular again. Shoto stood with him. With Aizawa there they might actually stand a chance now.
They took turns darting around him. It was so much easier to land decisive blows without his quirk getting in the way. Muscular was also clearly thrown off by the lack of a quirk and that allowed the three of them to hold their own. Shoto sent more waves of ice alternated with blasts of fire. While Muscular was disoriented Izuku and Aizawa would rush in and land blows on him. Eventually they managed to bring him down. Shoto was thankful; he'd been starting to feel the effects of overusing his quirk and Izuku seemed out of breath. It seemed his injuries were finally starting to slow him down. While they weren't major, a few cuts from flying debris and a more worrying rough blow to his ribs, they still needed to be looked at.
Aizawa came up to them after securing the villain. "Are you two alright?" Both of them nodded but Izuku winced slightly. Aizawa turned to look at him sceptically. "You two should head back to the others. Me and the Pussy Cats can handle getting the others out of the forest. Have Vlad look over your injuries."
Izuku shook his head. "I need to find Kacchan. Plus I've had worse." Aizawa frowned. Clearly he wasn't reassured at all. Neither was Shoto. "Please. I need to make sure he's ok." Izuku stood up straighter and looked Aizawa in the eye.
Shoto looked between the two of them wondering who would cave first. Turns out it was Aizawa. "Fine. You can go find him and bring him back, but you better come straight back after got it?"
Izuku gave him a determined look and nodded. "Got it."
Aizawa turned to Todoroki. "Go with him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." The squeak of protest from Izuku was ignored. "And I know it's a bit late now but you have my permission to use your quirk against the villains."
Shoto nodded. "I'll do my best."
Aizawa turned back to Izuku as he scooped Kota up. "Be safe." With that he left. Kota gave the two a grateful look over Aizawa's shoulder.
"Let's go find Kacchan." Izuku said as he ran further into the forest. Shoto nodded even though he wouldn't see it and followed him. He couldn't help the bad feeling that settled over him and hoped that everything would turn out ok.
"This way you fucker!" Katsuki yelled as he popped off explosions in his palms. The massive shadow bird that was his classmate turned in his direction and roared. He had to do this right or he put himself and his classmates at risk. As soon as he'd grabbed dark shadow's attention he bolted down the path with help from his explosions. At least he didn't have to take it slow as dark shadow kept up just fine.
He breathed a quick sigh of relief as he burst into the clearing and wasted no time ducking off to the right as dark shadow tore through the villain that had been terrorizing him and Kirishima. As soon as he made sure the villain was down he used his explosions to bring dark shadow back under control. Tokoyami kneeled on the floor trembling slightly and Shoji went over to comfort him.
Kirishima came over to him, looking a little worse for wear. "That was a great plan Bakubro! I'm glad it worked."
Katsuki scoffed. "It was fucking reckless that's what it was. But it was the best I could think of at the time." God he was starting to act like Izuku. He swore the nerd had gotten more reckless after getting into UA. With a slight amount of irritation he wondered what reckless thing he was doing right now.
"Kacchan!" Katsuki turned his head in the direction of the shout. Well speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Katsuki crossed his arms as Izuku and Todoroki approached. "What the hell are you doing here Deku!"
Izuku stopped and had the decency to look somewhat ashamed though it was quickly replaced with determination. "I came looking for you to make sure you were ok."
Katsuki eyed him and noticed the injuries. "You're hurt you idiot. And you know I can take care of myself. You should be back at camp." Katsuki flicked him in the forehead.
Izuku rubbed the spot. "I know. I just had to make sure."
Katsuki sighed. "Fucking whatever let's head back. I'll make sure you get yourself checked out myself."
All of them were on edge as they trekked through the forest. A part of Katsuki was glad that Izuku was there even if the idiot was hurt. It could have been worse he supposed. Izuku didn't seem too bad off. He startled when he heard a sound to his left and instinctively let off an explosion in that direction. He heard a familiar grunt of pain. "Nice to see you too Bakugou." Shinsou said dryly as he got up from the roll he'd used to dodge the explosion.
"Don't fucking do that when there's villains around Eyebags!" Katsuki yelled at him.
"What don't be stealthy to avoid them noticing me?" Shinsou raised an eyebrow at him.
"Clearly you weren't being stealthy enough if I heard you." Katsuki shot back.
"Uh guys?" Kirishima said nervously looking between the two.
They both turned to look at him. "What is it Shitty Hair?" Katsuki asked impatiently.
Kirishima pointed behind them. "Todoroki and Midoriya are gone."
Katsuki felt his thoughts come to a screeching halt as he looked around trying to catch any glimpse of the two idiots. Katsuki felt panic start to settle in but he roughly pushed it aside. He couldn't afford to panic right now.
"I see you've finally noticed my clever trick." Everyone's heads snapped up to where the voice had come from. A man in a mask, which was no doubt one of the villains, stood on top of a tree branch.
"What the hell did you do with them!?" Katsuki demanded as he let explosions pop off.
The man tsked. "A magician must never reveal his secrets. Though I must admit I hadn't meant to grab the other boy when I snatched my target. He simply got in the way. Ah well he may prove useful. With this I must bid you all farewell. I can see this is my curtain call." With that he began hopping along the trees away from the small group.
"Don't just stand there you idiots let's fucking move!" Katsuki said as he blasted off towards the feeling villain. There was no way in hell he would let that bastard take Izuku… or Todoroki. The others were snapped back to reality once Katsuki moved. He glanced back to see the others not far behind. Katsuki briefly landed to grab Shinsou. "We're going ahead, catch up as fast as you can!" Katsuki said as he launched himself and Shinsou into the air.
It didn't take long to catch up to the villain and satisfyingly slam him into the ground. Unfortunately he'd also managed to do so in a clearing where more villains were gathered. Fucking perfect. Shinsou had already managed to recover from the unexpected fall and fell into a fighting stance. Katsuki let his face twist into a snarl as he threatened the villain under him with his explosions. "Nobody fucking move or the bastard gets fried."
The villains glanced at each other. The villain under Katsuki suddenly seemed to disappear. Katsuki floundered for a moment before regaining his composure. That had to be the villain's quirk then, but what exactly did it do? He didn't have much time to think about it as the reptilian villain rushed forward and slashed at him with his really over the top weapon. Katsuki let an explosion off in his face as he dodged.
"I don't think I'm really gonna be able to use my quirk if they don't talk." Shinsou admitted and he pressed his back against Katsuki's. Katsuki nodded. If the villains had known where their camp was he wouldn't be surprised if they had info on all their quirks as well.
While he and Shinsou dodged around the villain's attacks he kept an eye on the villain who'd taken Izuku and Todoroki; he'd thankfully reappeared shortly after the fighting started. He'd managed to slowly move the fight in the direction of the villain so he could get the two back from him. He'd seen the villain bring small marbles out of his long coat and throw them towards the battle. They then released some sort of debris that both he and Shinsou had to dodge, but at least he had a minor grasp on how the villain's quirk worked.
When the portals appeared he began far more aggressively making his way towards the masked villain. Before the man escaped through the portal Shinsou managed to snag him with his capture weapon and pull him away from the portal. Katsuki wasted no time rushing in and going after the marbles that had fallen to the ground. He managed to grab one before he was intercepted by another villain.
After that Katsuki watched in horror as the marbles were turned back into people. Todoroki lay rubbing his head not far from Katsuki but Izuku… Izuku glanced back at Katsuki from the grasp of one of the villains as he was pulled into the portal. "Don't worry Kacchan. I know you'll find me." Izuku gave him a watery smile before the portal vanished along with Izuku and the villains.
Katsuki didn't know how to feel. He felt so many things at once. He barely noticed that he'd collapsed to the ground as he stared at the spot that Izuku was in a second ago. Shinsou and Todoroki silently approached him and placed hands on his back. He could barely feel them. "Not again." He thought. The two words repeating themselves over and over as he didn't dare move. With a large breath he yelled into the empty air in front of him.