Chapter 4: Summer Field Trip

It was by sheer dumb luck that the class won this trip. It was a stupid wager some of his classmates made with the A class. Izuku didn't familiarize himself with the bet details, but for some reason, he was the reason they won the bet. Izuku got perfect scores in every subject of the finals, and whichever class got the most top scores won the bet. Class 3E won the summer trip.

Izuku's classmates had finally devised a viable plan; they managed to put the octopus in a corner. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful, as Koro Sensei had the time to activate his ultimate defense form. The teacher took the form of a softball-sized sphere with an impenetrable glass-like shell. According to Koro Sensei, he would explode when the eight-hour time limit of his defense form ran its course, so they wouldn't be able to set a proper trap.

Then Izuku's idiotic classmates went and got themselves poisoned, and now the Outcasts were the only students that weren't puking their brains out. After getting the poisoned students to their hotel rooms, Hawks received a call from an unknown number. The Outcasts eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Your brats have all been hit with a designer poison, and they'll die before sunrise." The voice was distorted, so the caller couldn't be identified. "Send the smallest boy and girl that haven't been poisoned. They will exchange the octopus for the antidote. Don't send anyone else!"

Izuku was the smallest boy in the class, including the poisoned students. However, the only girls that hadn't been poisoned were Ritzu and Jelavich, and they probably weren't who the mystery caller intended to summon. Needless to say, the Outsasts stick together. They won't leave each other behind, so Izuku, Hitoshi, Ituna, Ritzu, Hawks, and Jelavich would all go along and track down the caller.

Hawks used his feathers to carry them up the side of a cliff, but he had to put them down because armed guards were watching the sky. They snuck into the lobby, and Jelavich distracted the guards in the room with a piano performance. Hawks left one of his feathers with her to listen if something went sideways, but he knew she could handle herself. Hawks took on their next opponent, a man Ituna recognized from the restaurant. The man attacked the small group, but Hawks was able to fend him off. The man blasted a canister of poisonous smog in Hawk's face. The pro hero's feathers fell, and his wings went limp. Without using his quirk, he punched and knocked out the man. Then his legs gave out. Hitoshi propped the hero over his shoulder and motioned for the group to continue.

On the next floor, they came across a guy standing guard in a hallway with a giant window instead of a wall. The guy monologued and had a strange accent. He slipped a few tidbits of helpful information. They were a group of assassins hired by some crazy former HPSC agent. The guy that gassed Hawks was called Smog, and he was Grip. Grip lunged at the group when he was bound by a net. Ituna held the smoking net cannon before replacing it in his bag.

"Sorry… it stalled," Ituna said in his usual tone. "I had to fix it while you monologued. It's a miracle it didn't explode."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Why did we agree to this again?" Hitoshi complained.

"Because there is no way we'd be able to get Hawks through this club without raising suspicion," Izuku replied. Izuku was in a checkered dress they pilfered from the poolside. It was paired with knee-high stalkings. The two walked together through the club but split up to find the exit. Izuku walked around but was stopped by a boy around his age.

"Hey there, cutie," the boy said flirtatiously. "Did that boy leave you? He wasn't good enough for you anyway." The boy's face was flushed. He was drunk and reeked of smoke and alcohol. "H-hey, why don't you come with me, and I'll make you forget all about him." Izuku was disgusted and made that clear on his face. "What's with that face? You girls have it so easy. You don't know how hard it is for us guys." The boy continued his rant until he was interrupted by another boy their age.

"Is he bothering you, miss?" the boy asked as he gripped the drunk boy's hand. The new boy had two-toned red and white hair and a scar over his left eye. The drunk boy yanked his hand away, scoffed, then stormed off. "What's his problem…" the heterochromatic boy muttered.

"I'm not entirely sure what his deal was," Izuku answered. "Oh, I'm Izuku Midoriya, by the way." Izuku offered his hand for a handshake.

The boy shook Izuku's hand. "Shoto Todoroki," he said plainly. "Would you like to sit down for a moment? I could get you something to drink."

"Thanks," Izuku replied as he glanced around the club, looking for Hitoshi. "I guess I could spare a few moments." Izuku smiled and took a seat at a table across from Todoroki. They talked briefly when Todoroki's quirk became the object of conversation.

"...and that's I'll never use my father's fire during battle, only my mother's ice," Todoroki explained. He had just spilled his entire tragic backstory and that baffled Izuku. This boy needs a therapist. Has he ever talked to somebody outside his family before?

"Just one question… Why do you talk about your quirk like it belongs to your parents? It's your power, Todoroki." Izuku pauses for a moment to let his statement sink in. "Does my hair belong to my mother? It's green like her hair, so I got it from her."

Todoroki was taken aback by the sudden question. "Of course, it isn't her hair. It's on your head."

"Exactly. Your quirk comes from your body, so it's yours and nobody else's," Izuku concluded. Then Izuku finally caught sight of Hitoshi. "Oh, I found my friend. I should get going," He said as he got up and ran over to Hitoshi. Todoroki thought that maybe the two were a couple. He also believed that Izuku was a really cute girl. He was kind of jealous of the sleep-deprived boy… wait, what?

"Hey, Izuku, I found the exit," Hitoshi informed Izuku. "There's a bouncer in the way; should I just use my quirk?"

"That would be the easiest way thr-" Izuku was cut off by a guy in a red jacket bumping into him. The man's drink spilled over his coat, and his face reddened with rage.

"Do you know how expensive this is!? You'll have to pay for that little girl!" The man grabbed Izuku by the straps of the dress he wore.

"Hey! What are you doing with my girlfriend?" Hitoshi asked the man.

"Your girlfri-" The man was cut off by Hitoshi's quirk.

"Drop the girl and attack that guy over there," Hitoshi commanded, pointing at the bouncer that guarded the door. The man stumbled over to the bouncer and punched the bouncer. He was snapped out of the brainwashing when the bouncer hit back, but he was so drunk that he kept fighting anyway. Izuku and Hitoshi used that opportunity to sneak through the exit and let Ituna and Hawks into the hallway that leads to the stairs.

"You make a compelling couple," Hawks slurred. He was still a little loopy from the smog. "Heh, Izuku, have you always been a girl?"

"No, he was a boy earlier… or is it she now?" Ituna inquired in his monotone voice.

"I'm still a guy," Izuku interjected. "Although I would like to hone this skill. Being able to pass as multiple genders could prove quite useful."

"I think you'll have trouble passing as a guy," Hitoshi quipped. "Seriously, some of our classmates have placed bets on whether you're secretly a girl."

"We should totally take advantage of that," Izuku laughed.