Suri wakes up with a special someone. The first day of camp is underway and Suri gets a taste of some new training and new magic.
A long night of storytelling had sucked all of the energy out of everyone. Even with the hot tea flowing and keeping everyone as revitalized as it could, it was no match for the crying fits of Inko Midoriya. She had bawled while listening to Suri recount her last Lupanar in the States, the events of that night, the remorse and pain in Suri's voice. The retelling was never fun for anyone, especially Suri who always dreaded what the response would be because it was always one of two outcomes; either someone understood or they didn't. Inko made it clear that she was far from okay with the thought of killing and it troubled her immensely that it had come to that. That said, she was also the first to look Suri in the eye and say something that she didn't know she had been longing to hear.
She forgave her.
Inko was sorry for Suri and understood what it had cost her. She had made a realization that, in the end, it had been the same reason Maon had left. Moan, like Suri, had run from the ordeal because of how conflicted they were about their feelings. The reason Maon had cut off her childhood friends was because of how she had felt, and still felt, about having to take the life of Inko's other half, Izumi. It had been the start to being able to reconcile and begin to heal and Suri immediately felt an unknown weight on her shoulders lift.
She'd come further on her path of redemption.
"I AM AN ALARM!"
Suri's eyes lifted slowly, pushing past the heavy weight of sleep as she awoke. She heard the booming call of All Might, her pseudo uncle, from somewhere nearby. His voice called out again and this time it was joined by a second alarm, creating a cacophony of noise not far from her ears. It made her grumble and groan as she made the attempt to move, an attempt that came to an abrupt halt as she felt a weight across her hips shift. Her eyes followed the trail of her body downward, seeing through the moonlit darkness, to find a nicely toned forearm slipping across her. The arm was moving and beginning to pat around, searching for something, and as it searched she felt a weight press along her back.
"I AM AN ALARM!"
A voice from behind her grumbled and sighed as their hand batted around for a moment longer until it found its target. Their palm slapped against a phone not far in front of where Suri was laying and somehow managed to hit the screen on Suri's phone as well, silencing both alarms. Suri couldn't help but be shocked because no one in the world had an All Might alarm, no one except for one person. A person that, as much as she'd dreamed about waking up next to, wasn't sure she ever truly would. The same person whose arm was now moving back, sliding against Suri's hip. The feeling was nice in itself and Suri couldn't oppose it at all. Then the person made a realization, something that frightened them because their hand began patting and feeling around to what or who they were snuggled into. Suri grinned and let a grin slide onto her lips as she turned on teasing mode.
"Morning, Izu-hsss," Suri had begun with a teasing whisper before she began hissing and her breath hitched in her throat.
She'd expected him to flinch as soon as he heard her voice, what she hadn't expected was for him to reactively do so and inadvertently grab her hip. It wasn't just that he'd gripped her hip by accident, no, Izuku had gone and grabbed one of Suri's triggers. The same trigger Mina and Tooru loved teasing because it always made Suri moan and bow her spine. The reaction made her eyes flutter and her core tighten and grow hot as she bowed, pressing her shoulder blades tight against Izuku's chest and her rear into his pelvis.
Izuku began trembling, his mouth hanging open as he went to scream but found himself so shocked that no noise escaped. He had begun to flail and wildly thrash about as he tried to move back from Suri. The beast girl gripped his hand that had grabbed her hip, lacing her fingers within hers before she pushed herself tight against him. She was panting, her lower lip sinking between her teeth as she rode out the pleasure that accidental gesture gave her.
"It's okay. It's just me," Suri managed to choke out between heavy breaths. "I'm sorry I scared you, Izuku."
"I-I'm sorry," he finally squeaked out. "A-Are you okay? D-Did I hurt y-you? C-Crap, I did, d-didn't I? I-I'm so sorry, S-Suri!"
"C-Calm down, Izuku. I'm not hurt I just," Suri forced herself to focus and swallow the lump in her throat as she tried to bring her breathing back to normal. "I'm okay. Really."
"I-I um… o-okay," he replied weakly, still unsure of what to do or how to respond. "You're sure you're not hurt?"
"Hehe, yeah," she sighed with a grin and purposefully pushed herself back so that he back snuggled tight back into the greenette's chest. He squeaked with surprise but more surprisingly was that the tense stiffness in him seemed to relax within a few seconds. All but one place. And that made Suri grin even wider but she opted to leave the subject alone, lest she scare him again. "That reaction you got out of me just now wasn't pain. More… the opposite."
Izuku seemed to think about that sentence for a long while. In fact, he went into a quiet murmuring fit like she'd seen him done with Quirks and heroes so many times before. He really wasn't used to human interaction and when that fact settled in, it made Suri feel sorrowful. She loved that her and her classmates had helped him come this far out of his shell but wondered what he would have been like if he hadn't been bullied for so long. She wondered if that side of him that called to her inner beast would have been more prominent and where his confidence would be right now. She smiled at the idea of how confident and forward he would have been but smirked because she decided she'd be the confident one in that moment. In that moment Suri rolled back towards him, laying him on his back while she climbed on top of him, straddling his waist.
He had stopped mid sentence and looked up at Suri with wide eyes, somewhere in the midst of shock and wondering if he'd said something wrong. He hadn't. She swept her braided locks back behind her head and leaned down, quickly closing the distance between them as she all but laid herself on top of him. His last words had been contemplating what the opposite to outright pain would be, so she decided to fill in the blanks for him. Suri caught his mouth with hers. His lips were already parted when she closed hers over his, tenderly melding the soft skin together as they both took in a sharp breath and held it. Her eyes had already closed before his and she couldn't help the instinct to bring her left hand up and cup his face and let her thumb nestle against the strong line of his jaw. Her right hand splayed out against the floor next to the pillow they'd apparently been sharing all night and helped to keep her up enough so she didn't crush him. Their lips broke enough for another quick breath before Izuku this time pushed upwards towards Suri who met him halfway and then sunk down further so his head could lay back comfortably.
"It means," she whispered right above his lips. "If you grabbed me like that again," she bit her lip as she lowered even more, brushing her cheek against his before her lips hung a breath away from his ear. "We might not stop at just kissing~"
Izuku's breath hitched as she whispered directly into his ear and he was suddenly very aware of the proximity the two of them had to each other. He may have secretly been a great kisser but once he was brought out of that euphoria he always tensed up nervously again. This time was no exception. Especially when he vividly saw and realized what parts of Suri were touching him and where. Then Suri did something that shocked him. Suri brushed her lips on his neck and laid a small kiss on the warmth of his skin. Then he felt teeth as she grazed the bare flesh and finally a soft pinch as she caught his neck between them. He hissed from the soft bite expecting it to hurt but he realized that it wasn't searing pain he felt.
It was the opposite.
But before he was sure of what he felt or what his reaction should be, Suri pulled back, audibly purring as she came upwards so that he could stare into chartreuse eyes glinting in moonlight. She smirked wide before leaning up and kissing his forehead and then sat back up to straddle his lap. She bit her lip again as her weight sat back onto him and she became very very aware of the tenseness in his body. She mentally whined before she forced herself to climb off of Izuku. It took a lot of effort because, by the Gods, she wanted to feel more. Wanted him. And she knew that if she didn't stop herself now, she'd be clawing the pesky clothes out of her way. They'd come off and she'd make her dreams and fantasies, the ones that had made her hungry and needy after so many nights, a reality.
"A-Anyway," she said as she moved to sit on her knees next to him. "That was your morning workout alarm wasn't it?"
"Y-Yeah," he gulped before sitting up and Suri watched him move his arms, covering himself tightly as he tried to hide the blush on his cheeks. "But I don't know that I feel like I'm up for it this morning. I've... got a lot on my mind."
"Yeah, sorry for making it worse," Suri sighed and smiled at him.
"Y-You didn't," he said loudly, catching his voice at the beginning. He was being defensive and he instinctively balled his hands into fists. "Last night was a lot to take in and my mind is still trying to make sense of it all. I… didn't sleep much at all because of it but when I finally did get some sleep it was because… I um… ah-"
Suri smiled as she watched Izuku try and make sense of everything and slightly frowned as she watched him start to struggle. Yeah it was a lot to take in but if there was anyone she knew that could handle this, it was him. The fact was that he was trying to admit, without admitting that he hadn't slept well until he had cuddled up to the warmest thing he could find. He was trying not to admit that that touch seemed to calm him.
Suri knew.
Whether he was a wereleopard or not, he had inherited that need for touch bonding a lot of wereanimals had. He had no idea that a cuddle puddle was what he needed on the most restless of nights. On terrible nights he would have made it through, sleeping like the dead, wrapped around one or three other weres. And that had always been the beauty of wereanimal piles, they were never sexual even with everyone naked, it was about that comforting warmth and proximity that made you feel safe, like nothing could hurt you. So when he had begun to struggle through his words Suri leaned forward, cupped the back of his neck with her hand and pressed her forehead against his. He tensed once again for that first second or two before he relaxed and let the warmth of Suri's touch melt away the anxiety.
"Nothing to be scared or be ashamed about, Green Bean. You know Tooru, Mina, and I will always be here for you. You're our best friend and anytime you need even just something like this, don't be scared to ask. Touch is one of us wereanimals' most powerful senses, and more often than not, a little touch from another wereanimal, friend, or loved one goes a long way to help clear our heads. This right here," Suri smiled, tapping the back of Izuku's neck with her finger, "is how my kind shows respect or love."
"That… actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. My mom and I did this a lot when I was younger. A lot after my dad passed, and then again throughout the years after I got bullied by Kaachan. The last time was the day before he told me to kill myself… and I almost did."
"He what?" Suri growled, her eyes opening and rolling upwards to look into his.
"I-It's nothing. Really," Izuku tried backpedaling.
"Deku, that's not nothing. I know you told us and we've been around long enough to know that you two have never gotten along despite your efforts. I knew he was a prick to you but that… I didn't know it was that bad or you had been pushed that far. I… Why didn't you tell us?"
"It wasn't your issue to deal with. It's been my battle, always has been, and I… I don't like to drag other people into my battles. I… I was never strong and never had power, I've been weak basically my entire life so now that I do. Now that I have a Quirk, I want to show everyone that I'm strong enough to make it through. Strong enough to save people with a smile on my face. I want to prove to everyone that I can do this and become a hero despite all of my shortcomings and the pain I've had in my past."
Suri growled at the response he gave. Growled because she wanted to hit Bakugou for the shit he put Izuku through. Growled because here was a boy that had been completely powerless for a lot of his life but was strong enough to face his problems head on. Growled because she wanted to help him with his battles, wanted to be counted on by him, but knew this wasn't something she could go to bat for him on. Her growl turned to a sigh and she pressed tighter against him for a long moment before she pulled away.
"Personally, if I had been you, I would have socked him in the jaw after he said that. Powers or not. No one deserves that kind of treatment," Suri said, smiling softly at the greenette in front of her. She then looked away to look at her phone and read the time on the screen and pursed her lips. "It's almost six. I would have been about back by now if I had gone on my morning run and we still need to pack for camp."
"Crap, all of my stuff is still at our apartment," Izuku groaned. "And I've still gotta get showered and dressed to go."
"Shower here," Suri shrugged. "I'm sure I've got clothes baggy enough to fit you until you and your mom get to your place."
"O-oh. Okay, I guess," he seemed to think about that proposition for a long moment. Then he looked up and looked around the living room, where the two of them had crashed on the floor. "I umm… which way."
"I'll show you to my room and bathroom," Suri grinned and stood up.
As she turned around to give Izuku a hand to stand up she found him with his head turned completely to the side and trying to hide his gaze. It just then dawned on the two of them what Suri had worn to bed and why she had been able to feel Izuku's... tensions... so well. She had been in nothing but a camie and a pair of briefs. Though as she helped him to his feet they found he was in basically the same amount of dress with him in nothing more than a white shirt that had 'shirt' written across it in kanji, and boxers. She grinned wide, letting him see her eyes trail down his body and then back up to wink at him. She then tapped his chest with the back of her hand.
"C'mon, big boy, shower's this way."
He tensed as she teased him but shook his head. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop the teasing or really do anything to make the situation any less awkward. So instead he took a deep breath, looked forward and smiled the best he could.
"Lead the way.."
The showers had been quick and Suri had had the right mind to stay out of the bathroom while Izuku was in the shower. Gods knew she wanted nothing more than to get in with him and share the hot cascade of water like she had so many times before with Tooru and Mina but she resisted. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't hard to do. Instead she had waited until he was out and at least had a pair of boxers and a pair of her baggy sweatpants on him before she went in and helped him clean his neck wound and put on a fresh bandage. Both of them judged that it didn't necessarily need a bandage but it was better to be cautious. Afterwards she had let him leave the bathroom so she could take her turn to get showered and cleaned up. She could have sworn there was the ever so slightest hint that maybe he too found it a hard task to do.
It took everything she had not to tease him with a provocative selfie while he was just on the other side of the door. A selfie would have been the lesser of the evils that crossed her mind because the urge to drag him back into the bathroom was really really strong. She fought it off and told herself that if that, with Izuku, was meant to happen, it eventually would.
Not long after they had gotten showered and dressed - Suri making the mental note that Deku fit quite nicely in some of her clothes - Izuku and Inko were taken home by Ryo so that the boy could finish packing. Suri focused on finishing what she needed to pack herself before she started walking towards Tooru's apartment. She had laughed when she arrived because a dead tired Mina wasn't far behind her when they met at their invisible girlfriend's doorstep. Tooru had gotten a laugh out of the sight as well as they headed for the train station. It took the entire train ride and then some for Mina to finally wake up completely into her lively self. It had been just in time for Inko to pull up to the school in their small compact to drop off Izuku who was promptly pounced upon by the three girls.
It wasn't lost on Suri that Inko looked both nervous and proud of her son at that moment. Even more so when she got out of the car herself and approached the happy foursome and looked back and forth between the girls nervously. Finally she approached Suri directly, having to look up a little ways to meet the girl's eyes and gave the younger woman a soft, nervous smile.
"You know," she started, fidgeting her fingers together nervously. "I'm truly grateful for the three of you being in Izuku's life. He's been happier and more lively than I've ever seen him and I think you're the reason. I'll admit, I bawled like a baby when I heard that he'd gone on his first ever date. I was so proud. I-I can admit that I was a little confused that he had gone on two more dates with two other girls right after. I was worried that I had raised a heathen," she laughed and smiled as she shook her head.
"I was worried sick about him after I found out about what happened on I-Island, and then yesterday," her expression had changed almost immediately as she recalled the events. She hadn't been told all of the details of I-Island because it had been a repeat of the Stain Incident where the students were hidden from the media and official press release. They had simply been some of those that were captured. "And then," she looked up at Suri again, "I saw you."
Suri blinked at Inko. She was sure she had missed something important in there somewhere but wasn't sure what.
"I know I should've put two and two together when he told me who he had gone on a date with. I mean I had been pleasantly shocked to hear that he had gone on a date with my friends' daughters. But you, I don't know why your name hadn't registered in my mind until I saw you and it was like seeing Maon back when we were teens. I'm going to say this; I am still trying to come to terms with what you said last night about your reasons for coming here but I will say that I'm also grateful for you being here for my son."
"Mom i-"
Inko simply held a finger up and Izuku silenced immediately. He looked about as nervous as ever which meant he either knew what was coming next or he had no idea that his mom was going to do this.
"Which is why," Inko smiled, tears beginning to pool in the corners of her eyes as she reached out and placed a hand of Mina and Tooru in each of Suri's and then cupped the three girls' hands in hers. She beamed at them. "I give the three of you my blessing with my baby boy."
The four teens looked at Inko dumbfoundedly for a long eternal moment. It took a long time of awkward silence before the words spoken all clicked in their heads. It made their eyes go wide before they shouted in a chorus of shock and confusion.
"What?!"
"Now, you kids have fun at camp," Inko smiled and began walking backwards towards her car. She completely intended on leaving that in the air for the four of them to internalize and make sense of. She knew she was leaving them to stew on that one sentence and they'd just have to deal with it.
And stew on it they did.
When they got on the bus they were still replaying the scene over and over again. Tooru and Mina had been ignoring Iida's pleas for them to sit the right way in their seats the entire bus ride. They were sitting with their knees on their seats, chests pressed to the backs of their seats as they chatted with their beaus. They chatted because now came the logistics of how a happy poly square would work. Because, as simple as it would be to say the four of them were just all dating each other, Tooru, Mina, and Izuku were curious how it all worked. Suri answered as many questions about her past polyamorous relationships as she could to give the three of them what they were in store for. She had also made it very clear that, even though the last foursome had worked, it hadn't been as happy as it seemed to her in the end. Truthfully, looking back at it now, the four of them now were closer than she had even been with her previous lovers. That little fact sort of scared Suri and she wasn't sure why.
She was contemplating why it scared her when they all felt the bus pull off of the road and come to a stop. The four of them looked at each other and then out the windows to see where they were. Suri gasped and grinned wide, happily bearing a fang filled grin as she looked out over the vast forest below the cliffside view zone they'd stopped at. It only made Suri happier when she heard Aizawa order everyone off the bus so they could take a rest stop.
"You heard the man," Suri cheered as she stood and happily bounced towards the doors. She then realized she should at least be doing the absolute bare minimum of her class rep responsibilities. "Let's stretch our legs and get some fresh air. Stay together and stay close by so we can get back on the bus when Mr. Aizawa says so."
"Yeah, some fresh air sounds amazing," Mina cheered and quickly followed behind.
"I gotta see this view," Tooru happily called out as she followed next.
"Yeah, you're right," Izuku grinned as he followed the three girls. "Some fresh air sounds great."
"Hell yeah, I wanna see this view," Kirishima grinned as he fell in close behind the greenette.
Soon, one by one, everyone was off the bus and huddling near the guard railing along the edge of the lookout. Several of them commented about the steep drop but for the most part everyone was loving the view. They all happily scanned the treeline and looked out over the massive valley of forest below and it was a great time. It was sunny, clear skies, and the mountain air felt amazing to breathe in. Even Mineta running around like a madman trying to find a place to pee hadn't spoiled the mood, which was a miracle to say the least.
Suri gripped the railing and closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. She sighed happily as she let it out and let herself lean forwards, basking in the soft breeze, the smell of pine, cedar, and maple filling her lungs. She felt so at home and at peace. And with the scent of her lovers mixing with the scent of the forest, Suri's heart swelled with heat and light. It was pure bliss and happiness enough to make the beast girl audibly purr.
"Whoah," Sero's voice broke Suri out of her trance and she turned to see the tape user looking up at her with his usual goofy grin. "I had no idea you could purr. I thought your Quirk was like a dog or a wolf or somethin."
"Hah," Suri laughed and let herself focus on the mountain landscape again, wavering back and forth over the railing. "I'm sorta both, really. My mom's line of beasts are leopard types, dad's side of the family is wolves."
"She usually purrs when she's either super comfy or super happy," Tooru added with a chipper tone in her voice.
"Her tail would probably wagging if it was out," Mina giggled, leaning backwards over the rail to see Sero past Suri.
"H-He… Actually, yeah you're probably right," Suri was about to be defensive but really, Mina was right,
"I don't think I've seen you this happy before," Tooru admitted, looking up at Suri.
"Yeah, me neither," Sero added.
The fact that Tooru had said that made Suri's smile falter and she turned to look down at her invisible girlfriend. She gave the girl a soft comforting look before she turned back to look at the forest again.
"Sorry," Suri said, softening her excitement even more. "I guess this reminds me of back where I grew up. It sorta feels like I'm back in Utah looking down the East side of Timpanogos. The only thing this forest is missing is the Quakies."
"Quakies?" the group surrounding her asked. Suri looked around to find Tooru, Mina, Izuku, Sero, Ochako, Tsu, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Todoroki all looking up at her.
"Quaking Aspens. They're called Quakies for short," Suri smiled as she turned to sit down onto the railing. "They're all over in the mountains back where I grew up so in the fall when the leaves start changing they light up the forest with all sorts of color. It's part of the reason fall is my favorite season because of how expressive of a tree they are. I kinda miss going and seeing Pando with my family and running through it."
"Pando?" they questioned again.
"Ah, Pando is a forest of Quakies a little ways from home. Fun thing about it is that it's all just one giant tree. Thousands of Quakies spread out over an entire mountainside and they're all connected by one giant root system that's thousands of years old. My brother Mathias said that it's like looking at Yggdrasil in person," Suri laughed a little as she saw everyone's expressions. She'd intrigued them all, though once she mentioned Yggdrasil she found that a lot of them looked confused. "Ya know, Yggdrasil, the world tree?"
When none of them answered or they shook their heads in slow confusion, Suri sighed and shook her head. She smirked and finally slid herself off of the guard rail as she looked around.
"Guess we'll have to go through the Norse pantheon some time," she shrugged. "Tha-"
"Heyya Eraser, long time no see," came a woman's voice. It silenced the crowd of students and turned everyone's attention to the black car that had been parked along with the bus.
Suri had seen the car and hadn't thought anything of it when they had pulled off. Had she been so focused on the view and being outdoors that she completely missed it? Probably. But she also hadn't thought of it because it was so commonplace back home. Going up the mountains there were always cars parked in the turn offs going up the winding roads into the mountains, either for people sight seeing or hikers starting up the thousands of trails. The fact that she hadn't suspected anything said she was a little off her game.
"Your feline fantasies are here," called out the one with auburn hair, styled in a bob cut similar to Ochako's. She was clad in a red skirt, knee length boots, and a red and while vest-like top. All while sporting giant cat gloves. "Say me-ow!"
"Purr-fectly cute and cat-like girls!" this from a blonde woman standing next to her clad in an identical outfit colored in blue. "You can call us…"
"The Wild Wild Pussycats," they both cheered in unison and struck a pose together.
"These are the pro heroes you'll be working with during the summer break," Mr. Aizawa stated a second or so after. It took the display's effectiveness way down and made the introduction far less effective than what the women had hoped.
That's how Suri took it anyway.
Though it didn't distract from the introduction for at least one person, Suri couldn't help but grin and chuckle as she watched Izuku getting red in the face and filled with excitement. Of course he knew exactly who they were. Then again, Suri knew she'd heard of the group from somewhere and was pretty sure she recognized the outfits. Then it dawned on her.
"They're a four hero team that specializes in mountain rescues!" Izuku shouted excitedly.
"Yeah, you guys came and helped with the massive wildfire we had in the states!" Suri grinned wide, finally recognizing the two from one of the many photos in her dad's office. "That was what, ten years ago?"
"Yeah! They've been a hero team since we were kids. This will be their 12th year-"
Suri flinched as she saw the blonde grab Izuku by the face, silencing him immediately. She let out a growl as she stared down the greenette and a not so friendly smile. The reaction made Suri furrow her brow and she nearly let out a snarl of her own.
"I'm eighteen at heart, okay," she whisper-screamed to Izuku and that made Suri recoil.
It nearly made the beast girl laugh.
"Everyone, say hello," Mr. Aizawa deadpanned.
"Nice to meet you," the entire class parrotted in unison.
"We own this entire stretch of land out here. Everything that you see," the auburn haired woman said and walked towards the railing. Her cat paw stretched outward over the landscape, motioning towards the entire mountainside. Her outstretched hand then curled in and she pointed towards a valley in the distance. "The camp you'll be staying at is at the base of the mountain over there."
"That's pretty far," Mina said quietly.
Everyone started getting nervous.
"Um, why did we stop all the way out here then," Ochako asked.
"I'm afraid we know the answer to that," Tsu answered her girlfriend and the two of them started backing away.
"Heh, I think it's time we get back on the bus, right," Sero laughed nervously right behind them.
"Yup," Suri said quickly, pushing Mina and Tooru back towards the bus as calmly as she could. "Everyone load up, back to your seats."
"The current time is 9:30," the auburn woman said, her voice low and husky. She had a sense of danger in her voice that no one liked at all. "If you're quick, you should make it there by noon."
"Oh shit! Everybody run!" Kirishima shouted and everyone started running back towards the bus as fast as they could.
They were a meter away from getting back on when the blonde woman intercepted them and stepped into their path. It made everyone freeze, coming to a skidding stop in the dirt so they didn't run into her. She had the same amount of danger in her eyes as the other woman had in her voice. It made Suri growl and step forward to the front, balling her hands into fists as she eyed the blonde woman.
"You guys should have already figured this out but, training camp has already started," Mr. Aizawa shrugged and began walking away from the students to leave them to their fates. The coy bastard he was.
Suri watched the blonde woman drop into the same kind of squatting position Suri usually took when she started fighting. That sort of pouncing ready position most felines had. Then Suri watched a flash of blue light from underneath the woman's palm where she held it against the ground and the ground beneath Suri and her class began to shake and rumble.
"Fuck, everyone brace yourselves," Suri called out to everyone and turned to watch the cliffside they had been standing on top of give way.
The ground went out from beneath everyone and they all dropped. It was like going down one of those vertical waterslides, that long moment of weightlessness where you're sure that, if you moved, your body would leave the slide and you'd make friends with the ground below at any second. There was a second of anticipation, the unsure moment that no one would survive intact because you were at the mercy of the Earth itself. The Earth moved, dropping the near two dozen students to the ground below, a little harder than really necessary but Izuku had shouted it while they were in the air. The blonde woman's Quirk was controlling the ground beneath them. She could control Earth and had she not been a hero dealing with a bunch of teenagers, she probably could have easily killed them all.
It took a long few moments for Suri to pull herself back up. Her body ached from the surprise drop and her head was still trying to make sense of her surroundings. The mass amounts of dust and debris from the crazy cat lady's landslide clouded her vision and her sense of smell and she was left almost blind for that moment of recovery. It wasn't a good look for a lycanthrope. She tried shaking out the cobwebs from her mind and, once she had made it steadily to her feet, she began reaching out and picking up her fellow classmates.
"Good news," a voice from above called out. The tone said it was the auburn haired woman. "This is all private land so you have free reign to use your Quirks as much as you want. You've got three hours to make it to camp, which should be plenty of time… if you can make it through the Beast's Forest!"
Everyone turned to look into the forest and shuddered at the title and the sight. The forest was thick. Thicker than most forests which made it dark and foreboding, like it was the mouth of some great creature that promised to swallow each one of them whole. As fearful as everyone was, it was Mineta who took off running into the forest itself. He was clutching himself hard which meant he still hadn't found anywhere to use the bathroom but Suri shook her head at him as she watched him disappear into the trees. If this had been a horror movie, Suri would have pegged him as the first one to get taken out by the mysterious supernatural serial killer lurking in the woods.
The scream that followed almost guaranteed Suri's thought.
In the dark of the trees a giant creature stepped out, standing nearly twenty feet tall hunched over. Its long gangly arms gripped at the ground in front of it as it eyed each and every one of them, Its head was skull-like with tusks protruding upwards from its lower jaw giving it the resemblance of a wild boar. It was terrifying to look at, which was why Suri didn't exactly blame Mineta for being frozen in fear as it stared down at him.
Please calm yourself, my giant friend," Koda shouted and began rushing upwards. "You don't want to hurt them!"
Suri's heart began beating faster and she had to roll her neck and clench her teeth tight as Koda's voice filled her ears and sang through her entire body. It made her power begin to boil and it took all of the effort she had in her to hold Atiena back. She growled at her beast and stared daggers into the creature's eyes before softly mouthing not yet to her other half.
It roared at the smallest member of 1-A and reared one of its giant hands to smash him. As much as Suri hated the little wretch she knew she couldn't let him get pulverized. She mentally leaned herself back into Atiena's embrace, laying her head against the beast's furred chest as their shared power washed over Suri's body. Like Suri had promised, the wait hadn't been long at all and together they turned that rage that Koda's voice had brought upwards into pure unadulterated power. The prickling otherworldly energy danced along her skin and in that next second fur had flowed, her fangs and claws had sharpened, and her tail darted outwards from her lower back. She quickly crouched and bolted herself forward with her lycanthropic speed, heading to intercept Mineta from the beast's violent rage. She realized she had been a half a second behind because she saw green lighting rush out in front of her and get to Mineta just before she did.
Izuku grabbed Mineta and pulled him out of the way which left Suri an opening to go on the attack instead of focusing on rescue. With a wide, fanged grin she brought her claws out and leapt forward in a long pouncing movement. She crossed her arms tight over her chest as she flew through the air and then swung them outwards in a wide line to create an x shape with the motion of her claws. The claws tore into the beast and ripped its one hand into ribbons of dust and debris instead of blood and flesh like she had expected.
"Dirt and mud, huh," she said as she slid to a stop on the other side. She turned and looked at Izuku not far away and saw he had come to a similar conclusion.
"This must be Pixie-Bob's Quirk," he said. "I think she's the one controlling this thing so that's why Koda's Quirk didn't work on it."
He sank his brows and focused on the beast as it stared at them.. It roared and was getting ready to strike again when green lightning washed over Izuku's body and Suri felt the swell of energy pour from his body. He yelled as he rushed forward along with a blur of three others and soon a plume of ice raced across the ground to grab at its leg, trapping it so it couldn't move. Iida rushed past everyone as his calf muffler erupted with blue fire and he swung wildly towards the creature.
"Recipro Burst!" he shouted, tearing through one of the thing's arms.
"I'll kill you!" Bakugou shouted with him and with a flurry of wild explosions he took the beat's other arm with him.
Then Izuku came in behind them, rocketing through the air and like the emerald missile he was tore through the torso of the beast, The amount of energy and power he brought with him obliterated the thing completely and turned it into nothing more than dust and a few small boulders that crashed into the ground beneath it. Between the five of them, the monster was thoroughly and completely decommissioned in a wonderful display.
"Dude," Kirishima shouted, "you guys were amazing!"
"We're not done yet," Bakugou replied and stared coldly deeper into the forest.
And he was right. The forest was filled with sounds of creatures like the one that they had just torn through, all up ahead and in between them and the camp facility. Out of the shadows at least one crept forward, eyeing the group just out of reach. Bakugou glared at it and growled, readying to go for it and tear it to pieces and then he let his eyes drift towards Suri who had the same idea as he did. She smirked at the explosion user and lowered herself, readying to pounce the monster just up ahead.
"Man, these things are no joke are they," Tooru said nervously. "And we have to get through this by noon? Is that even possible?"
"Hell yeah it is," Suri grinned, giving the invisible girl a confident look to help calm the girl down and boost her spirits.
"We cut through the forest and take the shortest path there," Momo said confidently. "There's no way we'll lose."
As if to rebuke Momo's words, the beast directly in front of them roared, its ear piercing scream making everyone flinch and cringe at the sound. It was a call of defiance. With everyone ducking to shield their ears from the roar it began galloping forward towards them. The ground shook with every step it took, knocking several of the teens off their feet. The display made Suri give her own roar back at the creature, letting out that mix of wolven howl and leopard scream that reverberated through the trees. She dug in, tearing through the Earth as she began bounding forward on all fours, claws ripping into the dirt beneath her as she ran. With a quick burst of speed she leapt upwards and bounced herself off of one of the massive tree trunks that filled the forest to another and then sent herself skyward. She made herself into a rocketing missile like Izuku had done moments before. Her rage filled energy prickled along the ends of her fur, coursing through her body like her own fiery lightning and she brought that otherworldly strength and power with her.
"Out of our way, you pile of dirt," she growled and slashed forward at the creature. Her claws tore into the beast like it was paper and she cut the thing into a bloom of dirt and dust as her lycanthropic energy exploded from her claws, decimating it with a single blow.
She grinned wide and let out a laugh that was entertained by the entire situation. This forest was filled with these things of Pixie-Bob's creation. And since she was a veteran pro hero she no doubt had enough experience and stamina to keep these things coming for as long as they could withstand them. The thought of being able to tear into these things without the worry of needing to hold back made Atiena purr with delight. That delightful expression was turned onto the rest of her class and she had the pleasurable excitement of an idea. It was like a Lupanar. A makeshift celebration of all of their power and their own beasts. A celebration with those she'd claimed as hers, her pack, her companions, her friends. This was Class 1-A's Lupanar and they were about to have the time of their lives.
"Let's do this! Let's turn every one of these things into dust and show these pros just what we're made of," Suri laughed and stood tall over what remained of the dirt monster she had just destroyed. "If they think this pack of ours isn't gonna make it there by noon then they've grossly underestimated us."
"Yeah! Let's kick some ass," Mina cheered, throwing a fist up excitedly as she began jogging towards her beastial girlfriend.
Another half dozen growls erupted from behind Suri. She turned to look over her shoulder and eyed the one or two that had been brave enough to peek through the trees and make their way towards the group of teens. A thought came to Suri's mind, something in the back of her mind that just got her even more pumped to go to town and let her beast off her leash a little. They had all of these beasts in front of them and had permission to go after them with everything they had. It was almost like a Lupanar for Suri and her classmates. Her human packmates.. This would be Class 1-A's hunt.
"Class 1-A! Let's hunt these bastards down!"
The hunt, as it were, took a lot longer than they had anticipated.
A lot longer.
Like way past lunch and almost dinner time longer than what they had expected and by the time they had gotten to the edge of the forest and to the camp facility, they were exhausted. They had to practically drag themselves from the treeline to meet up with Mr. Aizawa, Mandalay, and Pixie-Bob. Once they had been able to line up in front of the three heroes, they all collapsed, panting and huffing from exhaustion and being sore throughout their bodies.
Suri was one of the ones that collapsed, plopping herself down onto her butt and not even caring how disheveled her attire was in front of the adults. Atiena had settled back once they had cleared the last dirt monster that Pixie-Bob had created and, with her energy shelved, it left Suri more winded than she cared to admit. It was made abundantly clear that, even though they had gotten very food and tagging each other out and keeping their stamina in plentiful supply, they had only been able to keep it up for long periods of time just running. The co-op running was a breeze for them and they could go for hours on end without breaking into much of a sweat. The co-op fighting was another story altogether as it was proven not only in their match against Cementoss but today against the hundreds of dirt creatures they had collectively torn through. They had to work at that somehow.
"I thought you said that wouldn't take us more than three hours," Sero whined exhaustedly. He was glaring at Aizawa as he said it and their teacher didn't so much as give any effort into a response at all.
"Sorry," Mandalay smiled and bowed her head slightly towards the class. "I guess we timed it based off of how long it would take us."
"You know, rubbing in how better you are than us isn't really going to win us over," Suri muttered with a bite of bitterness in her voice as she rolled her eyes. Maybe the bitterness was from the fact that she had full heartedly believed that the forest was going to be a cakewalk for them and she had underestimated Pixie-Bob herself. She was bitter at herself.
"Heh, I thought it'd actually take you guys longer, meow," Pixie-Bob smirked and tried hiding her laughing underneath her cat paw. "But you guys dealt with my Earth Beasts pretty easily. Not bad, kids. Especially you five."
Suri's glare dropped into confusion as she watched the blonde woman's expression change to one of being impressed and then watched as she pointed directly at her. But she had said five. Suri let her head turn to either side in a slow take as she realized who she was standing near and who the other four being praised were. She hadn't realized that her, Izuku, Bakugou, Todoroki, and Iida were all standing next to each other.
"I'm guessing past experiences allowed you to act without hesitation," she grinned wide and began giggling like a mad schoolgirl. There was a hunger that flickered into Pixie-Bob's eyes, one that Suri knew all too well. So, when the woman came charging at the boys, Suri idly stepped between the veteran pro hero and the greenette now behind her. The two shared a quick glance, one that Pixie-Bob winked at went directly for Bakugou, Iida, and Todoroki, pawing at them hungrily. "We're gonna have fun three years from now! I'm marking them as mine!"
That last comment made a growl trickle up through Suri's throat and her glare deepened even further than it had been. This woman. She was really getting on Suri's nerves. She was about to have words with Pixie-Bob when Mr. Aizawa and Mandalay began to converse and Pixi's fears of being a spinster were brought up. Suri let a wicked grin curl over her lips as she eyed the blonde woman.
"A spinster? You're not that old are you?" Suri chuckled at the pro.
It earned Suri a slap across the face with the paw glove, a momentary sour glare from the blonde, and then her playing it off as a playful action.
"Who's old? Not me!"
Uh huh. Right.
"I… I've been meaning to ask," Izuku spoke up quietly. "The boy. Who's kid is he?"
It made everyone stop and turn to look at the little kid not far from Mandalay who was glaring at everyone. Suri realized that she had briefly noticed him up by the bus when the Pussycats first got out of the car. He hadn't raised any real suspicions he was just… there.
"Oh! This little guy," Mandalay smiled and motioned towards the boy. "This is my cousin's son. He lives with us now. Don't be shy, Kota. Say hi to everyone. You're gonna be around them for the next week."
He just continued to glare at everyone with a scowl that only rivaled Bakugou's.
"I get it," Suri shrugged and both she and Izuku began walking towards the boy. "You still trying to get all settled in with your cousins then?"
Suri gave the boy a smile but the scowl never once shifted from anything hostile. It made Suri hesitate a little because normally kids liked her. She had helped take care of a lot of the younger wereanimals back in the States, been there for a lot of first transformations, helped with homework, the works. Was she the best influence for kids half her age? Probably not. But she had prided herself in being one of the older kids that the pups looked up to.
"Hey there," Izuku smiled and came in next to Suri. "My name's Midoriya and this is Kuroyashi, we're from the Hero Course at UA High School. It's nice to meet you."
Suri smirked at the boy wonder as he held out his hand towards the kid. It was so like him to be so kind and courteous. So approachable. So… on the ground, clutching himself tightly? Suri stared at Izuku and then at the kid, Kota, as he walked away like he hadn't just sucker punched Deku in the balls.
"Yo kid, what the hell," Suri called out after him, striding after him.
"Tch, this is stupid. The last thing I wanna do is hang out with a bunch of wannabe heroes," he scoffed and stormed off, leaving everyone behind wondering what the hell just happened.
Suri growled and gave Shota a cold glare as he walked away then turned back towards Izuku and crouched beside him. He was still breathing, so that was a plus. Still, it made Suri angry to see him writhing in pain. If it had been someone older would she have escalated the situation? Probably. But since Kota couldn't be more than, what, five or six, she knew plenty of kids that age that were absolute shits. If the kid were a wereanimal and his beast instincts had started kicking in, she couldn't blame him at all for being so cranky.
"That brat's got spunk," Bakugou smirked with pride. No not smirk, he was straight up smiling and enjoying the show.
"He's like a mini version of you," Todoroki deadpanned.
"What are you talking about! You need to shut your mouth before I blast you all the way to hell!"
Suri shook her head and rolled her eyes because, of course, Bakugou loved seeing himself in the kid but he was quick to snap at anyone who voiced it. It was very… flippant.
"Stop messing around," Mr. Aizawa called out, making everyone freeze. "Grab your stuff off the bus. Once your bags are in your rooms, we'll have dinner in the cafeteria. After that you can bathe and sleep. Your training starts in earnest tomorrow, so get a move on."
"Yay, food," Mina cheered weakly as she and Tooru came up to Suri and Izuku.
"You all right, Izu?" Tooru asked, watching him as he took Suri's hand and got helped back to his feet. She mentally shivered as she watched because when the two of them pulled on each other to get Izuku to his feet, the invisible girl got the wonderful view of muscles rippling and flexing. One set of muscles she knew well and everything those muscles could and had done to her, the other was a sneak peek of things to come and the promise of what they could do to her.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay," he said with a quiet voice that seemed a little higher than his normal tone. "I wonder what his deal is though. And him calling us wannabes…"
"Eh, I wouldn't put too much thought into it," Suri sighed and shrugged as she led the way towards the bus to grab their bags. "Kids his age are a lot more cruel than a lot of adults give them credit for."
"Tch," Izuku half laughed. He almost sounded bitter even. "I have a little more experience with that than I care to admit sometimes."
Suri's eyes floated from Izuku to Bakugou and she couldn't help but grumble. He had said that they were best friends at one point in their lives, and then Bakugou got his Quirk and it all changed. The Bakugou they knew today became that way not long after he got his Quirk. Not that that was any different from wereanimals because depending on what kind of spirit you and your beast shared, you could go from a sweet little angel at the age of three to a complete hellion by the age of six. Suri had been somewhere in the middle. And, by most accounts, she still was.
"I'm right there with you, hun." Suri huffed as she dragged her bag out from the under compartment of the bus and slung it over her shoulder before stepping back and letting the others have access to the baggage compartments. "First time I got picked on was probably when I was about four and kids didn't wanna be around me cause of my dirty skin."
"Ouch. But I'm with you, girl," Mina sighed as she dragged her bag out at the same time as Izuku. "It took… a long time for me to be happy with how I looked."
"I… still struggle with that one," Tooru sighed as she joined them with her bag clutched tight to her front. "If it's any consolation… I love the color of your skin, you two."
"S-So do I," Izuku replied quickly and gave Suri and Mina a careful smile. "B-But um… really... you three look amazing."
"Thank you, baby," Mina grinned wide and pursed her lips to blow him a kiss.
Izuku began floundering, waving his arms defensively in front of him. Even after being fairly intimate with the three girls he was still a little shy and that, to them, was endearing of him. It made them smile and begin laughing as they walked towards the cabins where they'd be sleeping. It took only a second or two before Izuku joined in, happily laughing with them. They laughed and giggled all the way to the cabins and right up to the door of the 1-A girl's cabin. Mina and Tooru pushed the door open to a wide open room that already had a couple sleeping bags laid out in the middle of the room with their owner's bags on top of them.
Suri took a quick glance around the room as she followed her girlfriends inside and she was all too aware that Izuku was right behind her at the threshold. He hadn't even connected the dots yet. A thought crossed her mind and it made her grin wide, bearing a happy show of fangs from ear to ear. A thought that was about to be voiced until her stomach made its presence known and voiced its displeasure. Loudly.
It made her sigh and droop her head in defeat as she turned around to face the greenette who almost ran into her.
"You know, as much as I wanna pull you in here with just the three of us and get super cozy, if ya know what I mean," Suri flashed a smirk before it fell again. "Hurry and drop your stuff at the boy's cabin and let's get some grub. You good with that," Suri absentmindedly trailed a finger up along Izuku's tie drawing herself into him before finally whispering the syllables of his name. "I-zu-ku~"
"Ah! Y-Yeah! Sure thing," he squealed and turned, running as fast as he could towards the boy's cabin as Kirishima was coming out. The greenette almost plowed over the redhead and it made all three girls laugh hysterically as Kiri looked towards them with utter confusion.
With another fresh smile on her face Suri quickly dropped her bag off in the girl's cabin and caught up with Tooru and Mina at the boy's cabin about the same time Izuku came back out. From there they entered the cafeteria and their noses filled with the smells of fresh food. It made all of their stomachs growl with anticipation before they quickly found themselves a spot and got some food. They filled themselves with delicious satisfaction and happily enjoyed the light hearted air that filled the cafeteria. With all of it, Suri knew that their first night would be a good one and a perfect way to start off the trip.
And it was, until she felt the moon rise. She felt the press of power and it made her entire body shiver with anticipation and pleasure. Her lip sunk underneath her teeth as she stifled a moan and her hands flexed tightly as she bit back the feeling that was coiling inside her core. Her eyes nearly rolled, not just to her beast's eyes but into the back of her head. The feel of the moon's magic danced across her skin and throughout her veins like the touch of fingertips roaming every inch of her. The fingertips of a long time lover that had plenty of time practicing and testing every sweet spot Suri had, like Tooru and Mina, like Atiena herself. It took everything Suri had to shake off the magical touch of power and come back down to Earth.
"Wow~"
She whispered to herself in a near panting breath and her eyes refocused to see three pairs of eyes staring back at her. They were mixed with worry and lingering questions and mischief because of course it hadn't been lost on either Tooru or Mina what Suri's reactions had meant. It wasn't the first time either of them had seen those faces and shivers because they were usually made because of the two girls. Suri simply smiled and stared down at her food.
"The magic here, the feel of the goddess is just… wow."
"Hehe, I can see that," Tooru giggled.
"Sooo we getting some of that tonight," Mina wiggled her eyebrows and smirked with a devilish glint in her eyes.
"Some of," Izuku questioned hesitantly before the look in Mina and Suri's eyes clicked at a certain spot in his young male brain. "O-oh! Y-you mean… here?"
"Hah! Sorry babes," Suri shook her head. "If this power is any indication, I'mma need some good rest before the full moon tomorrow night. It's going to be abso-fucking-lutely wild."
Hooray for some pure mountain magic. She needed it.