|Chapter 16: Trials In The Forest
Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, Entrance
"Oooh, see, I told you, Izuku!" Mina exclaimed as she bounced up and down. "They've got stores for almost everything." She wore a pair of short jeans and a shirt that had the kanji for 'Pinky' on it.
Izuku whistled at the size of the mall. "Wow, you really weren't lying." The greenette had gone full white with a pair of baggy white trackpants and a white shirt with the kanji for 'blade' on the front.
Just over half of the class had decided to take a trip to the mall after Hagakure suggested they make sure they have everything for the training camp. The class had attracted a bit of attention to themselves, especially Izuku, Iida, and Tokoyami.
"So we're gonna split up and look around, right?" Kirishima asked the group; they all nodded. "And where do we meet up after we're done?" He asked.
"Here." They all responded.
Kirishima smiled. "Let's go, Kaminari!" He said before the two boys ran off.
Izuku chuckled at the two before he and Tokoyami began to walk off.
"Where are you two going?" Akira asked the two.
They both turned around. "Tokoyami and I ordered swords while we were at I-Island and our orders finished last night." Izuku explained.
"What do you need swords for?" Mina asked.
The two didn't answer her question and walked off. Everyone else left it and walked off until it was only Akira standing there by himself.
'Hold on, how did I get left by myself?' Akira asked no one in particular.
"A student from Yuuei's hero course." A hoarse voice said before an arm suddenly wrapped around his shoulder. "I've got to get an autograph…"
Senpou Blades
Izuku and Tokoyami walked into a very traditional styled weapons shop. The walls were decorated with all manner of ninja weaponry, all of them were dulled for safety reasons.
"Hello, young men, can I help you?" A voice asked them. Looking to the front of the shop, they saw an old man. He had white hair tied into a high ponytail at the back and a scar across his face.
"We're just here for swords that we ordered online last week." Izuku said.
The old man stood up. "Ah." He brought up a clip board with his right arm. "Izuku Midoriya and Fumikage Tokoyami?" His customers nodded. "Yes, I'll go grab them." The man walked to the back room.
Izuku and Tokoyami walked up to the counter as the old man grabbed their swords. "I must say." The old man said as he walked back in. "I did not expect such young people to request swords with such specifications." Their swords were placed on the table. "But you are not the youngest I have seen wield a blade."
Tokoyami seemed surprised. "There have been younger people wielding your blades?"
The man nodded. "Just one." He held up a finger. "But they were not my blades." He reminisced. "I trained that youngster almost 10 years ago." His smile turned to a frown. "Back then I didn't know I was helping train him to be a weapon for the hero commission."
Izuku raised an eyebrow. "The hero commission asked you to train someone to be a weapon?" The gears in his head started turning. "Are you an old pro or something?"
The old man got his smiled back. "Yes, my name is Akari Shinomori." He introduced, standing up. Looking at his full form, they saw he was missing an arm. "I am the Lunar Warrior: Sekiro." His smile vanished again. "And yes, back then I didn't dare question them." He sighed. "But the kid did good, he's a top ten hero now."
Izuku and Tokoyami both had their interests peaked there. They both shared a look before Tokoyami spoke. "What hero would that be exactly?"
The man looked at them and answered plainly. "Hawks."
The teens both looked at each other and decided to speak about it later. "And, about our swords…" Izuku started.
The blacksmith jolted. "Ah, right." He took off the cloth hiding the swords and revealed two katanas. "This is the high-carbon tamahagane steel sword." Tokoyami took it and observed it. The sword had a black handle and a scabbard with obsidian lighting etched into it. "Its edge is razor sharp and will not dull easily."
Tokoyami bowed. "Thank you, sir."
The old man grabbed the second sword. "And this is the low-carbon tamahagane steel." Izuku carefully took it. "It's much tougher and has great shock absorption." The handle was a spruce brown and the scabbard was designed with forest green leaves.
"Thank you, sir." Izuku bowed.
The retired pro waved his only hand. "Both swords have been forged to work in tandem with your quirks as well." He added. "I hope you enjoy your swords."
The two teens smiled at him before leaving the shop, swords resting on their backs. As they exited the shop, their smiles dropped and they both sat down.
"Hawks…" Tokoyami started. "Was… by the hero commission?"
Izuku slowly nodded. "It seems so…" They both couldn't wrap their heads around the way the old pro phrased his sentences. "But… a weapon?"
Tokoyami sighed. "Do we bring this up with him?" He asked.
The greenette quickly shook his head. "No." He answered quickly. "It's obvious that he wasn't actually supposed to tell us." Izuku sighed. "We'll just-" His danger sense suddenly went off.
The bird boy saw this. "What is it?" He asked, looking around. "Is there a villain nearby?" Tokoyami had learned to trust his friend's instincts.
Izuku stood up and placed his hand on the handle of his sword. "We gotta go." He said before taking off, Tokoyami followed close behind.
Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, Entrance
Izuku and Tokoyami both observed Akira sitting with who they determined to be Shigaraki at the floor above the entrance. Akira spotted them and subtly shook his head.
"Blink once if you want us to do something." Izuku signed to him.
The black haired teen took a side glance at Shigaraki as he went off on a tandem about something. "Wait." He mouthed to them. The teen listened to Shigaraki for almost ten seconds before his face grew bored and irritated. Looking up to the two, he activated his quirk and his eyes shined.
Not waiting another second, the two jumped off the edge of the second floor and landed on both sides of Shigaraki.
"Huh?" Shigaraki said before getting a good look at the two. "Oh, it's you."
Both teens had placed their hands on the handles of their swords. "Release your hold, Shigaraki." Tokoyami said to him.
Izuku unsheathed the top part of his sword. "And walk out of here while you still have your hands."
Shigaraki's red eyes bore into both of them. 'Where the hell did they get swords?' The blue-haired villain didn't move until he saw a dark claw begin to cover Tokoyami's hand and green sparks emitted from Izuku's. "Alright then." He removed his hand from Akira and slowly walked away from them, hands up.
The two teens instantly moved to Akira's side and kept an eye on Shigaraki as he walked backwards. "I'll see you around, heroes." Shigaraki said to them. "But next time, we'll be on the battlefield." He stepped into a crowd of civilians and suddenly disappeared.
"Where'd he go?" Tokoyami tried to look for him.
Izuku floated up and saw that the villain had completely vanished. "Call the police."
Kiyashi Police Station
Izuku, Akira, and Tokoyami both sat across from Detective Tsukauchi in a questioning room. After they reported the incident, the police and nearby heroes did a full sweep of the area. No one could find Shigaraki and the search was called off. The police then took the students directly involved with Shigaraki for questioning.
"Thanks for the report, kids." Tsukauchi said as he laid down his clipboard. "This definitely helps."
"Would've been better if we actually detained him." Izuku mumbled.
The detective leaned forward. "You all still did great." He said. "You dealt with the situation in a calm manner and didn't start a fight." Tsukauchi stressed the last part. "Because of you three, no one got hurt." His eyes trailed over the rest of his papers and he nodded. "Alright, that should be everything. I'll lead you three out."
The three followed the detective out of the station and Izuku was instantly picked up off his feet with a green glow surrounding him. "Izuku! My baby boy!" His mother called to him before pulling him into a bone crushing hug. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Izuku tried his best to breathe. "I'm fine, Ma." He choked out.
Inko saw she was killing her child and quickly lessened her grip. "I don't think I can take another scare like this." She said to him with tears.
"Ma, I didn't get hurt." The greenette said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Akira was the one getting choked out." Izuku jerked a thumb back to his friend.
Inko looked at her son's best friend. "Are you alright, sweetie?"
"I'm fine, Auntie." Akira said. "Izuku and Tokoyami saw to that."
The green-haired woman smiled. "Alright then." She turned to her son. "Let's get home, I have katsudon cooking."
Izuku's eyes widened before he started floating. "I'll see you guys when we leave for the summer camp." His mother started floating as well, a green glow covering her. "Bye." They both flew off.
Tokoyami watched the two fly away before turning to Akira. "His mother flies also?"
Akira nodded. "She taught herself to about five years ago." He said. "They don't have a car and she found it more convenient to just learn and get a flying license."
U.A Highschool, Bus Stops
"Congratulations on finishing your first semester at Yuuei." Aizawa praised his class with his usual monotone voice. "Usually, you would be off on your vacation and might be sipping soda on a beach. However, since you're trying to be heroes, we'll be having you all aim to further your strength." He looked all of them over. "Can I assume you all brought everything you needed?"
"Yes, sir!" The class answered in order.
"Good." Aizawa sent his gaze to a specific few. "And those of you taking extra classes remember that you are?"
Said students groaned. "Yes, sir." They answered with less enthusiasm.
Their teacher said nothing more and walked onto the bus.
"What's that?" An incredibly annoying voice called. "There are people in Class A taking extra classes?" All students of Class 1A groaned and turned to the voice. "Does that mean you had people who failed the finals?" Monoma said, standing in a dramatic pose. "I thought you were supposed to be better than u-"
Kendo quickly chopped him in the back of the neck to shut him up. "Excuse him, he's an idiot." She said with a smile before dragging him onto their bus. "No wasting time, people!" Her voice obviously carried a large weight in her class as they all stood straight. "Let's move!"
Class B quickly listened and got on their bus.
Akira looked to their bus and nodded. "Sensei is already on the bus, let's get going as well." He said before walking on. The rest of the class followed soon after.
On The Bus
"You seriously both threatened him with swords?" Denki asked, leaning over his seat.
Izuku and Tokoyami both nodded. "Yeah." The greenette said. "Didn't think we'd be using them so quickly."
"Do you guys have your swords with you?" Kirishima asked, sitting across from them.
"No." They both answered.
Sero pouted next to Kaminari. "That would've been cool to see."
Izuku chuckled. "You'll see them soon enough."
Tokoyami nodded. "We'll be adding them to our support items."
"You two are the most powerful students in the class." Ojiro said, leaning back to speak to them. "What do you need swords for?"
As the boys described everything with very vague details, Aizawa just looked at them with tired eyes. 'Screw it, they can figure it out themselves.' He thought before falling asleep.
One Hour Later, Mountain Side
All students quickly exited the bus at a small stop on a mountain side, eager to stretch. Another car was also present at the rest area with them.
Akira observed the area around them and red flags instantly went off in his head. 'Can this even be counted as a rest area?' He thought to himself. 'And who's in that car?' The windows were tinted so he couldn't see anything.
"There's a reason we stopped here." Aizawa suddenly said, seeing the question on Akira's face. "Stop making them wait around!" He shouted to the other vehicle with them.
The doors the car opened and three people stepped out. "Well sorry for trying to make an entrance, Eraser." A woman with red hair said.
"We thought the sentiment would be appreciated." A woman with blonde hair said, huffing.
"…." The third person was a small boy with a hat. He said nothing.
Aizawa sighed. "These are two of the pro heroes who will be overseeing your training during the camp." The man explained. "They are the Wild, Wild Pussycats." He gestured to the red haired woman. "This is Mandalay." Then the other. "And Pixie Bob."
"It's nice to meet you all!" Mandalay exclaimed with a smile. "This whole stretch of land here is ours." She gestured to the grand forest ahead of them. "You'll all be staying at the foot of that mountain." The student's faces instantly dropped.
"Wait a minute." Uraraka said. "Why'd we stop here then?"
Mandalay's smile turned to a grin. "It's 9:30am right now." Everyone slowly started moving backwards. "If you're fast… You might make it at noon."
Izuku went behind Mina and quickly picked her up, bridal style. "W-wha-" The girl cut herself off as she saw the greenette shake his head.
"Sorry, ladies and gentlemen." Aizawa said as the class ran back to the bus. "The training camp…" Pixie Bob jumped in between the students and the bus with a grin. "…Has already begun."
The ground suddenly shot up at them and all the students, minus Izuku and Mina, were sent over the mountain side. They all grunted as they landed on the ground, hard.
"You all have permission to use your quirks as you wish!" Mandalay called out to them. "It's private land, so do whatever!" She grinned again. "You're gonna need them to get through The Beast's Forest! Oh and if you don't get there in four hours, no lunch!"
The students looked behind them with a bit of tension. "The Beast's Forest?" Kaminari asked. "I swear, every test we get from this school is like a video game!" The others couldn't find a way to disagree.
Mandalay turned around and saw that two students were still with them at the rest spot. "Uh…" She saw Izuku holding Mina, floating off the ground. "Can you two just go down by yourselves?"
The greenette nodded and he flew off with Mina.
"You should've told him to put her down and then fly to the facility." Aizawa told her with a small smile that he hid under his scarf. "They might actually get there within the time limit now."
The red haired woman raised an eyebrow. "One student can't seriously make that much of a difference." She stumbled under Aizawa's gaze. "Right?"
The tired man walked back on the bus. "Good luck, Pixie Bob." He looked back at them. "You're going to need it." The doors shut and the bus drove off.
Back with the students, Izuku landed with the class. "Thanks, Izuku." Mina hugged him before jumping onto her feet.
"No problem." The greenette responded with a smile. "So…" He looked back to the class. "What're we dealing with?"
"RUAAGHHH!" A loud roar bellowed throughout the forest.
"Yup, that checks with our luck."
A strange beast made of earth exited the trees and faced down the class with hollow eyes. "Hrrrr…" It grumbled at them before getting into a stance to pounce.
Koda was the first to respond and quickly turned into a large rhino. "GRAH!" The teen rushed the beast and smashed it into a tree.
Bakugou, Todoroki, and Iida quickly rushed up next. Todoroki froze the beast against the tree with his ice, Bakugou and Iida each took an arm and destroyed it. "Die!/Reciproburst!"
Akira dashed up in front of it and smiled. "Lotus Kick!" With a glowing leg, he thrust through the chest and wasted the rest of the beast.
"That was so cool!" Sato said, walking up to them. "You took it out in an instant. "
"Nice moves, Koda." Shoji said, patting his friend on the back. "Rhino was a good choice."
"Good job, Bakubro!" Kirishima said with a smile.
Bakugou smiled back at him before looking out to the rest of the forest. "We're not done yet." He said, holding up his palms with a now feral grin.
Sure enough, more creatures began to rise out of the dirt. These ones more dangerous than the first. A large dirt creature suddenly sprouted wings and started to fly up.
"Right! Let's do this, everyone!" Yaoyorozu shouted to the class.
"Yes, ma'am!" They all answered before rushing forward.
Shoji quickly observed their surroundings. "Three up ahead! Two on either side!"
"Seven total!" Jirou shouted. "Go!"
Sero quickly whipped through the trees and came across the dragon looking beast. "Got you!" He quickly taped up its wings and it fell to the ground.
Sato hoisted Kirishima into the air before rushing the beast. "Sugar Rush!" He let loose a flurry of blows before backing up.
"Take this!" Kirishima slammed his feet into the beast, destroying it.
Tokoyami rushed up to a cyclops dirt beast. "Twilight Claw!" He punched it back with Dark Shadow covering him.
Ojiro rushed the cyclops next and hit it back with a large scorpion tail. "Aoyama!" He hit it back again. "Go!"
The French boy used his lasers to propel himself above the beast before turning mid-air. "Nova Blade." He concentrated the laser of his quirk out of his hand and calmly brought his blade down on the beast, splitting it in half.
Akira took out a leg of a large, armoured beast. "Kaminari, you're up!" He took out another leg. "And remember what we talked about!"
"I know, I know!" The electric blonde quickly ran up the beast's tail and reeled his fist back, yellow lightning spiralling around it. "Inside, not out!" He punched the creature in the head and it became charred. "Static Fist!"
"Eurghh…" The beast gurgled before falling down.
Koda, in the form of a large gorilla, held back a minotaur dirt beast. "RWAAGGHH!" They both roared at each other.
Mina, having taken off her shoes, slid between the beast's legs and splashed acid over it, causing it to kneel.
"Over here!" Hagakure called to a beast covered in roots before disappearing. "Or am I over here?" She suddenly re-appeared in a different spot. "Nah, just kidding, over here." The blue-haired girl cackled as she confused the dirt monsters, and Pixie Bob to a degree.
Mina slid between the legs of that beast before making it kneel as well with multiple acid-covered kicks.
Yaoyorozu smiled. "Take cover people!" Her arms had taken the form of machine guns. "Yaomomo Bullet Rain!" She shouted as she went trigger happy on the two beasts. "AAAHHHH!" She was very excited.
Uraraka ran up to a large beast with a shell and floated it before jumping off. "Tsu, you're up!" She called.
The frog girl swung in on a vine and easily lifted the beast in the air with her tongue. "Hippity hoppity, let's destroy some property. Kero."
Uraraka smiled before putting her hands together. "Release!" The brunette shouted. The beast fell to the ground and became dirt again.
"We got more incoming!" Shoji shouted as he extended his arms upwards and grabbed a beast out from the air and slowly brought it down. "Jirou!"
"Got it!" Jirou concentrated and used a soundwave blast to propel herself onto the beast's back before she placed her palms on it. "Heartbeat Distortion!" The soundwaves from her palms echoed throughout the creature before it crumbled and she landed on the ground. "Bakugou, stop fighting with Todoroki!" She shouted.
Said blonde was twisting in the air. "Howitzer Impact!" He easily rocketed through a snake like beast and brought it down. "How about you tell him to stay out of my way!" The teen shouted back.
Todoroki calmly ran up to a ram beast and let loose a torrent of flames. "If you're concerned about that, take a different path." He said as he finished burning the beast to a crisp.
Iida kicked out another beast's legs and swept off its head. "They just keep coming!" He shouted.
Izuku decided to intervene and rolled up his sleeves. "Everyone, get back!" He shouted, building up 40% One For All strictly in his arms. No one needed to be told twice and they all quickly got behind him. Jumping up in the air, Izuku clasped his hands together. "Quake!" Slamming his fists onto the ground, the greenette caused the area in front of him shake violently as a wave of earth knocked the creatures into the air. The beasts turned to dust as they crashed on the ground.
Up back on the mountain side, Pixie Bob looked down at the forest with a lost look. 'What kind of bullshit is this?'
Mountain Facility, 1:42pm
Class 1A tiredly walked out of the forest and were rubbing their sore spots. Bakugou had Kirishima draped over his shoulder and Uraraka dragged a floating Akira along by his hand. Koda had taken the form of a bear and had all the girls minus Uraraka and Mina laying on top of him.
The only one who didn't seem tired was Izuku. He happily floated to the facility with Mina clutching him like a koala.
"Thanks, Izuku…" The pink-skinned girl whispered tiredly, laying her head on the greenette's shoulder.
"Wow, you guys did way better than I expected." Pixie Bob admitted as most of them laid on the floor.
Mandalay nodded. "I honestly expected you all to take another four hours." She looked to Izuku. 'Guess Eraser wasn't kidding.'
Pixie Bob nodded excitedly. "You all did amazing." Her gaze shifted to Izuku. "Especially you." She had a dangerous look in her eyes. "You destroyed half of them with a single punch!"
Mandalay's eyes widened. 'What!'
Aizawa nodded. 'Yeah, sounds about right.'
Pixie Bob suddenly moved very close to Izuku and licked her lips. "I call dibs on you!"
Mina's eyes suddenly shot open and she was very much awake. The girl glared hard at the blonde hero while she tightened her hold on Izuku. 'I dare you…'
The blonde got the message immediately and backed up. "T-taken territory, got it." Izuku looked confused. "I'll take him the-"
"You're not taking anyone, Pixie." Aizawa interrupted her. "Seriously, get a grip."
Pixie Bob glared back at him. "Get a girlfriend!"
Izuku looked at the small child next to Mandalay as the two pros argued. "Hey." His gaze turned to Mandalay. "Whose child is that?" He gestured to the small boy.
"Ah." Mandalay said. "This is my cousin's kid." She turned to the boy. "Kota, say hello to everyone."
Izuku floated up to the boy and held out a hand. "I'm Izuku Midoriya, nice to meet you." His danger sense went off immediately and he quickly floated backwards.
This caused Kota to miss a punch directed at his groin and fall over. The child, extremely embarrassed, got up and briskly walked away.
"Right…" Aizawa drawled. "Get your stuff off the bus and then wait around for dinner at around seven." He said before walking off. "And don't talk to me until Class B gets here."
"We have to wait six hours for dinner!" Kaminari shouted.
Mandalay gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but you guys were 12 minutes late." She said before walking inside. "But it won't be six hours, closer to five."
Everyone groaned and grabbed their luggage from the bus.
Five Hours Later
"Finally!" Kaminari yelled as he stuffed his face with food.
"This is just like Lunch Rush's food!" Sero shouted next to him.
Tetsutetsu slammed his bowl down. "You guys made it here in under four hours!"
Kirishima nodded as he stuffed his face. "Yeah."
"How!?" The steel teen bellowed.
Jirou pointed to Izuku. "Midoriya." She swallowed the rest of her food. "He took out like half of them with a punch."
Izuku nodded. "Yeah, but there was a lot more strain than I thought there would be." He said. 'Guess stocking it strictly into my arms would give it more overall power and be harder on my body.'
Kendo looked at him with wide eyes. "With a single punch!?" She exclaimed. "How?!"
Izuku put down his rice. "Well, the strength behind my punches can weaponize air pressure." Kendo's eyes widened further. "And if I use that on the ground then it just bends the battlefield to my will."
A teen with shaggy hair deadpanned at him. "Dude, that's totally broken."
"Everyone is watering down the story, it started with Koda…" Sero started.
Mountain Facility, Hot Springs
"…And then Izuku made a quake that turned all of them into dust!" Sero shouted as he splashed the water with his arms.
The males of both Class A and B had gathered around in the hot springs and were retelling their battles in the forest.
"You should've seen me and Shishida." Tetsutetsu said, pointing to a teen covered in fur. "He picked me up while I was hardened and used me like a bat."
Said teen laughed. "What about when Honenuki softened the ground while Kendo was swatting the monsters." He said, pointing to a teen without lips. "It was like those mole machines at the arcade."
On the other side of the hot springs, the girls were also talking with each other.
"So, Mina…" Kendo started, drifting her gaze to the pink-skinned girl. "What's up with you and Midoriya?"
The pink-skinned girl feigned ignorance. "What do you mean?" She asked.
1B's class president levelled Mina with a raised eyebrow. "Come on, I've only seen you two interact for under an hour and I can tell there's something going on there."
Mina blushed and lowered herself into the bath water. "We're close but… nothing else beyond that." She said with a sad tone.
Hagakure laid back. "They keep getting interrupted every time something spicy might happen."
"Toru!" Mina yelled, splashing water everywhere.
The bluenette shrugged. "What, it's true." She brought up her hand and started listing. "Hikaru interrupted you guys after our final exam when you two were alone outside." Mina went back into the water. "Tsu and I interrupted you two at our apartment on I-Island." The girl's blush deepened. "And just when you think you have alone time, boom!" She splashed the water. "Villain invasion and robots ran rampart around the city."
"Damn." A girl with dark green hair said. "That sucks."
"Setsuna!" Ibara said in a scolding tone. "Not helping."
Mina brought her head out of the water. "I just… I don't know how to tell him." The girl had a down cast look. "I thought I was great with this stuff, turns out I suck."
Uraraka patted her on the back. "Don't worry, Mina." She smiled at her. "Everything will turn out fine."
"Easy for you to say." Mina crossed her arms. "You already have a boyfriend."
It was Uraraka's turn to blush.