Shouto, Ochako, Izuku, and Tenya all rode along on their horses. They were currently walking through a canyon, the walls towering high above them.
"Your Highness. Are you sure we should be going towards the forest? Maybe we should recruit a few more people, before we go off to face the Demon King," Tenya spoke up.
"I suppose so. Do you have any ideas?" Shouto asked the group.
"We could put up posters asking for help," Tenya suggested.
"Well, how many more people are we looking for anyway?" Ochako asked.
"Hmm. I'm planning to meet up with the princess of the neighboring country later and hopefully she recruited some people too, so only three or four more people," Shouto said.
"That's not too bad. Is there anything special that we're looking for in them?" Tenya asked.
"Strong," Shouto responded simply.
"Yes, I know. But is there anything el-"
"Shh!" Shouto said, interrupting Tenya. He heard a scuff and a small rock fell from the side of one of the cliffs. Shouto pulled out his sword. The others noticed Shouto's behavior and pulled out their own weapons. They heard more scuffing and now shuffling too.
"Ahhhh!" they heard a scream and saw a bright pink girl falling towards them from the sky. She fell towards them, specifically Tenya, and then with her boots she proceeded to land on Tenya's face, before jumping off of it and landing on the ground. It sent Tenya falling off of his horse, completely passed out, and the strange girl managed to grab his sword.
"Tenya!" Ochako called, getting off of the horse. The other two proceeded to get off their horses, too. Ochako pointed her magic staff at the girl.
"Jur-" Ochako started to say.
"Nice try, girlie!" the girl interrupted her, swinging Tenya's sword at her. Ochako blocked it with her staff.
"Ochako!" Izuku said, about to run to her.
"Don't even think about it," a voice said behind him, knocking the sword out of his hands and kicking it away. Then, hands reached out, one of them pressing a knife to Izuku's throat and the other holding him in place. Izuku glanced at the shadowy figure behind him. It was a boy with simple black eyes and straight blond hair. Suddenly, the boy coughed up blood. Shouto put his sword back into its sheath as the boy collapsed onto the ground. Shouto looked down at him.
"You didn't really think you could get the jump on me that easily, did you?" he asked. The boy grunted in pain and fear. There was a big slash across his back from Shouto's sword. He struggled to move.
"M-Mina!" he managed to gasp out. The pink girl glanced at him.
"Ojiro!" she said. She swept her feet at Ochako's legs, making her fall and then went running towards Ojiro.
"No! Get out of here! They're too dangerous" he yelled at her. She stopped for a second, confused showing on her face before turning to anger.
"No way! I'm not leaving you!" she said. Shouto approached her with his sword. Mina ran at him and with Tenya's sword, she swung at him.
"Big mistake. I'm not afraid to fight girls," Shouto said. He blocked her attack, sending the sword flying through the air before landing in the dirt. Fear flashed across Mina's face before she ducked under Shouto's attack and grabbed Ojiro's knives. She glared at Shouto. He sighed.
"You're not going to win. Just give up already," he said. He ran toward her this time, his sword at the ready. Mina managed to block with the knives. They partied for a bit, before Mina tucked them under her belt and grabbed Ojiro.
"Let's get outta here!" she said.
"Stop it! You have nowhere to run to!" Izuku said, blocking her path with his sword. Mina turned around, only to see Shouto standing behind her.
"Well, oops. I guess I got caught," Mina said, casually. She started approaching Izuku, who lowered his guard slowly and cautiously.
"Just kidding!" she said, suddenly head butting Izuku in his chin. He fell over and she started sprinting away.
"Juryoku!" Ochako called out, behind her. Suddenly, her feet started to float off the ground.
"What's going on?" Mina asked, her legs swinging in the air. As she floated higher in the air, her grasp of Ojiro started to slip.
"Oh no!" Mina said, her grasp on Ojiro completely slipping. She reached out to catch him, however, he started floating, too. She turned to the group.
"What did you do to us?" she demanded.
"It's my magic staff. It can make people float," Ochako said, she, Izuku, and Shouto walking up to them.
"Who are you? Why did you attack us? Do you know who we are? What are mission is?" Shouto asked her a flurry of questions.
"What are you talking about? Mission? We're just bandits!" Mina said, attempting to punch him while in the air, but he easily dodged.
"Tell me the truth!" Shouto said, pointing his sword at her throat.
"We're just simple bandits! We thought you'd be an easy haul. You guys looked so rich! I have no idea who you guys are! I swear!" Mina said, frantically. Shouto put his sword back into its sheath. He turned and nodded towards Ochako who dropped them down back onto the ground.
"Owww," Mina said, rubbing her head. The three stood over her, glaring down at her.
"Sorry for attacking you guys," Mina said, awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. Then, Izuku pulled out rope. He tied up her legs and arms and set her against the canyon wall. Then, Ochako poured water on Tenya's face, making him jump up with a start. After that, the three of them debriefed him on what had happened and then they went to talking about what to do with Mina and Ojiro.
"Do you really think she could have been telling the truth?" Tenya asked.
"I don't know. It sounded like it was the truth to me," Izuku said.
"We can't trust her though. Do you think she knows who I am?" Shouto asked. Ochako turned her head towards the girl.
"Hey! Do you know who he is?" she asked, pointing at Shouto.
"Huh? You look like you're just some noble guy," Mina responded.
"How do you not know who this is? Do you at least know who the king of this kingdom?" Shouto asked.
"Well, I mainly live in the canyon away from everything. But, of course I know who the king is! It's King Toshinori," Mina responded, confidently. The other three turned back to their little conversation.
"Hmm. She doesn't know who the king is. Of course, she could be lying about that, too. But, then why would she need to lie about who the king is. Unless she actually knew who Shouto was and had lied before. But then, she should have known of his almost prodigious swordsman skills. However, she looked fearful when fighting him, suggesting she didn't know of his fi-"
"Hey, Izuku. You're rambling again," Ochako said.
"Sorry," Izuku said, embarrassedly.
"Although. You do have a point. Any person with half a brain wouldn't fight two on three unless they thought they could win. Even if it was an ambush," Shouto said.
"Um, excuse me," Mina said to them. They all turned towards her.
"I know I have no right to ask this, but can you please heal my partner. He is gravely injured and is losing a lot of blood," Mina said, her face full of concern.
"How dare you ask for help after you just tried to ambush us!" Tenya said, waving his hand up and down.
"I wasn't trying to kill you! Just, ya know, rob you," Mina said.
"Don't say it so casually!" Tenya scolded her.
"Tenya. Go heal him," Shouto said, nodding his head towards the Ojiro.
"Fine," Tenya said, pulling bandages out of his bag and heading towards Ojiro.
"Really? Thank you! ...I'm sorry for trying to rob you," Mina said.
"Too late to change that now," Shouto said.
"So, what should we do with them, now?" Ochako asked.
"Lets just leave them here," Shouto suggested.
"Okay," the other two agreed.
"Tenya. When you're done with patching him up, we're leaving," Shouto said.
"Yes, Your Highness. I just finished," Tenya said, putting his stuff into his bag.
"Wait! You can't just leave us here!" Mina protested.
"Right! I almost forgot to untie you. Sorry," Izuku said, going over to untie her. Then, the four of them got onto their horses.
"That's not what I meant. We're too far away from civilization and you wounded Ojiro. We'll die!" Mina said as they started to ride away.
"Don't worry. They're not going anywhere," a man said. He walked out in front of them. He was wearing a black cloak and nobody could see his face.
"Who are you?" Ochako asked, nervously. The man didn't answer him. He just extended his hand at the horse she and Tenya were on. The horses nose started to decay away and it reared up, neighing.
"Ingenium! Calm down!" Tenya said. However the horse just proceeded to buck them off and then run away. The man surveyed the group.
"You six are coming with me," he said.