[Beta Read by Doc43Souls]

[Training Camp of Hell – Part 4]

"I'm telling you, Toshinori, take a break," Tsukauchi's voice was filled with annoyance. But all things considered, he had every reason to be annoyed. It was true that Toshinori was potentially overdoing it, but at the same time, he hadn't had this level of freedom to do Hero work for ten years! Though it wasn't like he was professionally annoyed, it was a "friend being worried for another friend" kind of annoyed, if that made any sense.

The police detective took a sip from his coffee, sighing, before placing it back down on the table they were sitting at. His expression went from annoyed to earnest, a small smile making its way to his face. "Besides, I'm sure Nedzu would've liked it if you had been there to do Final Exams with the students. They had to call in Star and Stripe to cover for you, and the Americans weren't all that happy about it."

"I'm aware, but at the same time, I… I needed to pull my weight a little more than normal. Especially after recent events," Toshinori argued, making the Tsukauchi sigh in defeat.

"You're stubborn, Toshinori. If there was one thing I could change about you, it'd be that." That made Toshinori laugh, which made Tsukauchi crack a grin at the blond's reaction. It had been a while since they met up as friends, and not because of business reasons. He could get used to this happening more often, should things not escalate any more than they already had.

Right now, Tsukauchi and Toshinori were having lunch at a local diner. Breadbears Coffee and Sandwich Shop. It was an American branch that had expanded to Japan a few years ago, and its mascot was, quite literally, a bear in the shape of a loaf of bread. It was cute, and it had the best American-style French Toast on this side of Akihabara, but still.

Speaking of which…. "Why did you want to meet up in Akihabara?" Toshinori asked as Tsukauchi shrugged.

"Mikan, my daughter, wanted to go to that Final Fantasy Café, just over by the mall with her friends, so I decided to go with her to save money on gas. That, and I wanted to talk to you in a place that wasn't all that well known. Breadbears are rather out of the way, so I figured it would be the best place to talk. Especially seeing as our usual meeting place is currently undergoing reconstruction…." Tsukauchi said with a frown as Toshinori raised an eyebrow.

"Herbal Café? What happened to it?" Toshinori asked as Tsukauchi frowned.

"Endeavour fighting a villain happened. That's what," the detective grumbled, earning a disappointed sigh from Toshinori.

"That man needs to learn how to reign it in," Toshinori said as Tsukauchi huffed.

"For once, it wasn't his fault. Rather, the villain he was fighting had some kind of self-destruction Quirk. He was holding hostages, and for once Endeavor was actually trying to calm the situation down. But one of the police officers said the wrong thing, and he blew up. Endeavour was there to capture the villain due to his heat resistance. But… well, that didn't end up working out the way anyone wanted."

"I see…" Toshinori muttered. His eyes narrowed, cupping his chin. Nedzu was right. Villains were rising in their frequency of attacks, and it was becoming more and more dangerous for the everyday civilian. Although it made no sense. His increase in doing heroics should've begun to curb that. So why did it seemingly do nothing?

Was it because of All For One? Was it because of his brother? Or was it because of both? That was a scary thought… his brother and his arch-nemesis working together. From what he remembered about his Brother's Quirk, it was some kind of space-manipulating Quirk, almost like Star and Stripe's, but after he was introduced to the idea of Stand Users, he couldn't help but think that maybe his brother was a Stand User.

It would explain why All For One didn't take his Quirk away. That man would've wanted a powerful Quirk like that, no matter if they were aligned for a similar cause. All For One was greed incarnate, so it made sense for him to try and steal it. But if his brother was a Stand User, then All For One couldn't do anything. And if his father was a Stand User too… he wondered if his mother was a Stand User too. She was Quirkless, but seeing as Stands were a thing….

"Toshinori, are you alright? You went a little pale," Tsukauchi broke him out of his thoughts, earning a smile from the blond-haired Hero.

"I'm alright. I was just thinking about my family…." Toshinori muttered, Tsukauchi nodding his head once in acknowledgement. "I'm… sorry for keeping my familial ties secret from you, Naomasa. I just… didn't want you to dig into something that was already long gone. Well, from what I thought was long gone. That obviously isn't the case if my brother is still running things behind the scenes. The question is… why?"

"Well, your family was a Yakuza family from what I researched. Most likely, if I had to guess, it's for petty revenge. Though considering your Brother is also Blackwell… I think something fishy's going on," Tsukauchi said as Toshinori's eyes widened.

"Wait… he's Blackwell?!" Toshinori exclaimed as Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow.

"How did you not know that? His face was always exposed. That costume of his is rather obvious. The orange suit and fedora. It's weird, cause his name is Blackwell, you'd think he'd wear a black suit. Whatever," Tsukauchi shook his head. "That doesn't matter. How did you not notice the connection with your brother?"

"Because my brother was supposed to be dead," Toshinori said as Tsukauchi blinked, confusion dressing his face.

"What do you mean?"

Toshinori sighed, looking down at his half-eaten French Toast. "The last thing I heard about my brother was that The Yagi Clan had attacked the Chinese Branch of The Speedwagon Foundation. The news reported it as a massacre, with both factions getting rid of the other. My brother was involved, or at least I assumed so. And why wouldn't I? I never contacted my brother, nor did I have anything to do with my family after my parents disowned me. I assumed, and… well…"

Toshinori paused, looking back at Tsukauchi. "I know this is bad. But still, now that we know who my brother is, we can report him to the HSPC. Whatever criminal empire he has will come crumbling down," Toshinori stated as Tsukauchi smirked.

"Now that's what I like to hear, All Might."

The two shook hands. The match was lit, now all that needed to happen was for the fuse to be sparked….

xxXXxxXXxx

By the time everyone came back from the forest, The Stand Users had been standing at the entrance to the lodgings, waiting for the time to pass by playing eye-spy—Giorgio's suggestion, not his—which had been before the son of Jonathon had finished working Kota to the point of him falling asleep far earlier than Sosaki had expected him to, Josefumi had to admit that he had expected everyone to show up far faster than they had.

Why was that? Well, to put it simply, Josefumi had just finished having supper by the time everyone had arrived. It was the morning when they had arrived, and now it was just starting to eek into the evening. It was somewhere between 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and frankly, Josefumi knew that if the Stand Users had come with them, nothing would've changed.

Or, at the very least, if he wanted to be generous, a couple of minutes to maybe half an hour would've been shaved off. Why did he think that? Simple: Midoriya and Todoroki, the class's heavy hitters, were struggling to keep up with everyone else, bruised and battered beyond belief, and tired as all hell.

Midoriya looked like he had been steam-rolled by a freight train with how he was limping, and with how he was covered in bruises, scrapes, and even a few cuts. Then there was Todoroki, who didn't look any better, though he had far less bruising and far fewer cuts. The perks of being a long-ranged fighter, he supposed.

As he had expected to happen, Kira had run up to Midoriya to help him back over to everyone else with genuine worry and concern strewn across her face which was something saved for only those that she truly cared about, as Bucciaratti, Zeppelli, and himself all did the same with the others, hoisting those who were dragging their feet and helping them get from point A to point B. It got to the point where Buccariatti had to use Sticky Fingers to teleport people via zipper portals from one spot to the other.

Whatever it was that they faced out there, was most likely something that no one wanted to deal with. Especially after seeing what they looked like, it was safe to say that it was most likely not fun. And if he had to guess, it had something to do with Tsuchikawa-san. After all, she had been the one to launch them into the forest.

"They're finally here," Tsuchikawa-san said, gloved hands on her hips with a grin on her face as she overlooked the students one by one. "Needless to say, they didn't make it in time for lunch." The smile disappeared as she crossed her arms, overlooking the class. They were complaining, as was usual when things were difficult—but then again what teenager didn't complain?

Josefumi looked over to where Yoshihara and Izuku were sitting, and it almost made the purple-haired teen snicker. Why? Because Izuku was, unironically, laying his head down on Yoshihara's lap, about half ready to fall asleep, while Yoshihara was stroking the side of his head like a cat owner would their pet. And it didn't go unnoticed.

"She's coddling him," Aizawa muttered as Josefumi sighed.

"What did you expect? They're dating, Aizawa-sensei. And if anything, I'd call it being concerned. The entire time, her face hasn't changed. She's worried about Midoriya," Josefumi replied as Aizawa shook his head.

"Doesn't change the fact that she's coddling him. Worry is one thing, but that's something else…" Aizawa rebuttled, making Giorgio snicker.

"Or you're just jealous 'cause you don't have your partner here," Giorgio snarked, earning a deadpan glare from Aizawa. Giorgio put his hands up in jest, making the Pro Hero groan, before walking away to deal with the rest of the class. That was when Josefumi approached Yoshihara and sat next to her, leaning back against the wall.

"Sup, lover girl."

"Piss off, Kujo," Yoshihara remarked, glancing at the teen with an annoyed grimace. Josefumi playfully elbowed her side before looking down at Midoriya. Forget "about to" go to sleep, he just was already asleep. "I don't get it… He wasn't supposed to get this banged up… I mean, with Hamon and One For All being as strong as they are I don't understand why he's so hurt. I mean… he has a broken rib and more than a couple of torn muscles."

Josefumi raised an eyebrow. "How do you reckon that?"

"How he was walking when he came out of the forest. If you've ever paid attention to how he fights, or the drawbacks of his Quirk, you'd know that," Yoshihara replied, the worried glimmer in her eyes returning. "That, and I can feel his broken rib. He doesn't have a lot of body fat, so with how he's lying down, I can feel the tip of it against my leg. It's the uppermost right rib that's broken. Though it's fixing itself because of Hamon…. That still doesn't change the fact that this shouldn't have happened."

Yoshihara paused, frowning. "As for the torn muscles, his wrist is swollen and bruised, which is a telltale sign of torn muscles. That, and his shoulders are more tensed up than normal, meaning he's in pain. His wrists are slightly discoloured from the bruising, as are the inside of his elbows." Each time she brought up an example, she pointed out the places that did, in fact, look discoloured.

Josefumi was impressed, if not confused as to how she knew half of this, but he digressed. Having Midoriya for a lover probably caused someone to know the ins and outs of injuries. It was both useful and worrying. "He traded broken bones for torn muscles." As Yoshihara said that, golden sparks leapt off his body from time to time, showing that even in his sleep he was using Hamon.

That was… impressive. Either that, or it was unconscious. Some masters of Hamon could inherently breathe Hamon passively as if it were nothing. But that kind of ability took years to do. Even the best-recorded masters, like Tom Petty, took 15 years of training to be able to do that. Although, it had been shown in the past that when the body is in disrepair, the body would automatically do anything it could to heal itself. In this case, Midoriya's body was forcing itself to do Hamon Breathing.

Either way, the fact that the green-haired teen had been able to imprint his body into doing such a difficult thing either went to show he was a born natural at using Hamon or he was overworking himself even in his sleep.

"Think of it like this," Josefumi began, as he slouched forward, clasping his hands down at his knees, looking at the ground with a smirk. "We often forget about how dangerous battles those with Quirks get into with themselves. Though I doubt it was their intention, these are Pro Heroes they were inadvertently fighting against, specifically one of them.

"Of course, Midoriya was going to get hurt. That was a no-brainer. As for how he got this badly injured… well, he is a little self-sacrificial. At the USJ, he threw himself at Shigaraki and Nomu, and I heard from Todoroki that he got banged up against the Vampire when Ida died. Chances are he took some blows that would've hit others worse than him."

Yoshihara frowned, looking down at Midoriya, her expression unreadable. She was about to say something when Aizawa spoke up. "Alright, enough chit chat. Go get your luggage from the bus. Drop your things off in your rooms, then come to dinner in the mess hall. After that, you'll bathe. Then it's bedtime. The real training starts tomorrow. Get going."

Midoriya grumbled as he sat up, flinching as he clutched the right side of his body. Yoshihara put a hand on his shoulder, the two sharing a look, before the green-haired teen stood up. Josefumi watched the boy leave, limping as he did. Aizawa stopped him and said something in a hushed voice, earning a nod from the kid, before he went on his merry way.

It was only then that Josefumi noticed that Bucciaratti and Zeppelli had long since left and went inside, leaving just them and Aizawa. "You two, get moving. You're going to have a long day tomorrow. Don't forget, you're teachers until the end of Summer Break. So you're getting up earlier than everyone else. Get your stuff, get bathed, then go to bed. And no funny business, Kira."

The blonde nodded, though Josefumi noted the small discolouring on her cheeks before walking off to the van to get her luggage. Josefumi did the same, though did so quickly. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed to get the sweat off of his body for working that Kota boy to his limits, he would've gone straight to bed.

It didn't take him long to get his room set up. He was tired, but he still needed to get clean. And while he was slightly worried that he might fall asleep in the bathing area, it hardly mattered. At least, to him. So, in that regard, once he had gathered what he needed, along with a fresh change of sleepwear, he began to make his way to the outdoors bathing area….

xxXXxxXXxx

When Yoshihara got to where she was instructed to go by her teacher, after the standard affair of getting washed up, she had expected to be greeted with something contained and small which would've been typical for facilities like this.

What she hadn't expected to be greeted with was a full-on mega-onsen. It was decorated like a natural spring, with flowers and rocks dotting the place. The air was cleaner than usual, and the steam rising off of the water made it look like a real hot spring in the mountains.

To that end, when she had dipped into the water just up above her stomach, and when she felt the warm water coat her body, and when she felt her muscles relax almost instantly, she wanted to sink to the bottom and forget about every kind of worry she had felt.

Instead, the blonde took a seat on one of the elevated sections and relaxed. When she did, she heard the rest of the girls make their way over. The blonde had already washed herself in the washing room. Her hair had been knotted from a lack of brushing it properly. She was so used to having it short that she forgot that longer hair needed to be brushed.

Yoshihara had to admit, she missed this. The hot water, the relaxing feeling, and the wonderful things it did to her skin. Now, if only it was hotter then it would've been a million times better….

"Yo, Kira!" Mina called out, jumping into the onsen and landing next to her with a large smile on her face. "Damn girl, proud to show your stuff, huh?"

"Quiet. It's only because this is the girl's section. That… and I don't care," Yoshihara replied as Mina shook her head.

"Not what I meant, but that's my fault I guess. Words. Gotta hate 'em. No, what I meant was your scars. You'd get clammy about them whenever someone so much as glanced at you in the changing rooms. What's changed?" Mina said as the blonde blinked. Truth be told, she had completely forgotten about them. Well, not forgotten per se, but she was more comfortable with them.

Her scars used to mean something. Something upsetting. And while they kept that same meaning to those who saw them, to her, they were nothing but a feature now. The person who caused them was dead, so it was all well and good. Or at least, she thought so anyway.

That aside, Mina was right. Months ago, she would get clammy at the slightest sight of them. Now, she could look at herself, see her scars, and shrug it off. She didn't freeze up when others saw them. She didn't feel disgusted by herself either.

Hell, if she did freeze up all the time when people saw them, she'd have a tough time being in an overtly active sexual relationship with Izuku, let alone a normal one with him.

"Yes…. My scars. Well, let's just say that someone has made it easier to get more comfortable with them. Especially since they won't stop talking about it…." As Yoshihara said that, she sent a glare in Yaoyorozu's direction. The ravenette was too caught up in her conversation with Tsuyu and Uraraka to notice, but the point still stood.

Mina flinched uncomfortably, coughing into her right fist before speaking up again. "I see… Well, um, that aside. Do you think it's possible to fix the class? You know, to get everyone back on the same side again?" The pink-skinned teen asked, rubbing the back of her neck. The blonde sighed, slipping deeper into the water as she frowned.

"It's possible. I won't say it isn't because I'm not that much of a pessimist, but it would take a lot of changes for that to happen. Namely, for Yaoyorozu to drop the topic. Period." As Yoshihara said that, she looked at the ravenette, the rich girl laughing as she talked with Tsuyu and Uraraka. The brunette glanced at the blonde, flashing her a smile before turning back her conversation.

Yoshihara was glad that Uraraka was able to talk to Yaoyorozu with no problems. She would admit to herself she was a little miffed that was the case, but that was for personal reasons. For a brief second, Yaoyorozu glanced at Yoshihara and scowled slightly. Yoshihara returned the scowl in turn, the ravenette looking away as a result.

"This shouldn't have happened…" Mina muttered, earning the blonde's attention.

"Hm?"

"I mean, the class shouldn't be divided like this. I mean, look at Class 1 – B! They're a tight-knit group. They've lost a couple of members but they're still thick as thieves. Why is our class so fragmented?!" Mina huffed, frustrated, splashing the water to emphasize the fact. "I just wanted to make friends, be a hero, and live a cozy life in, like, a penthouse or something. Not having to deal with this crap…. Always looking over my shoulder, always thinking someone's watching me…"

Mina breathed out, hugging herself like a scared child. "I can hardly sleep at night, you know? The thought that that stupid vampire could always break into the U.A. after it showed that it could… And the fact that Vampires are real at all is something that horrifies me! I mean, they brainwash people, right? Who's to say that someone here isn't brainwashed!"

"I think you're being paranoid," Yoshihara said as Mina looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"And you're not?"

"Oh, I am," The blonde said, crossing her arms under the water. "I always am. I have to be. But even I know that the chance for someone in our class to be a thrall for that vampire is close to, if not completely, zero. After all the warnings we gave, after all the descriptions of the man we've had drilled into our heads, how the hell could that be possible? And also, if the Vampire did encounter any of us at any time, why didn't he kill them like he did to Ida?"

Mina paled, went to say something, then shook her head. The pink-skinned teen sighed, biting her lip as she stared absently at the water. It was then that, for some reason, pearls began to form in the water. Yoshihara glared at them, and Mina took a step back. When she looked back over to where the other girls were sitting, she noticed that they were gone.

"Did the others leave?" Mina asked as Yoshihara glared at the spot where they would've been. Out of instinct alone, she summoned Killer Queen. And the moment she did, Mina took a few more steps back. "Uh… Kira-chan?"

"Quiet. I don't think we're safe here…" The blonde said as Mina's eyes widened.

"W-What do you mean?!" Mina gasped, looking at Yoshihara with wide eyes. The blonde stared at the spot where Yaoyorozu and Uraraka had been, and at that moment, a mountain of pearls floated to the surface, all of which shared the same tan colour, except for some being black, and some being brown.

There was no doubt about it.

"Because… there's an enemy Stand User here."

At that point, Mina screamed. Yoshihara didn't know why until she saw what was happening. One of the pearls, one that had floated away from the pile, had touched Mina on the wrist. When it did, that part of her body began to turn into pink, shining pearls. The blonde jumped out of the water, literally, and grabbed Mina by the waist using Killer Queen, pulling the pair out of the water and onto dry land.

The resulting damage from the attack left Mina without a lower left arm, though notably there was no blood. The detached part of the limb now looked like the bones, flesh, and muscle had been completely transformed into pearls. While it seemed to have stopped spreading, that didn't mean Mina wasn't still terrified.

"W-What the hell! It h-hasn't even b-b-been a day since we left! H-How the hell is this happening!" Mina sputtered, fear in her voice as Kira overlooked the onsen with narrowed eyes. She was right. There was no way any villain had followed them. Not unless….

"I think you might've been right about one thing, Mina," Yoshihara said, as Killer Queen pointed its right index finger at the water. "Someone in our class is a thrall to that Vampire. And I think I know who it is." A bubble bomb appeared on the tip of Killer Queen's finger. She fired it off, and when it hit the water, a figure appeared.

Long green hair, narrowed black eyes, with the figure being crouched in a frog-like position. At that moment, the bomb made contact with Tsuyu, but instead of the intended reaction of dazing her with a weak explosion to her face, the frog-teenager broke apart into several heaps of pearls, as they rolled into the water.

"Okay… what the fuck?" Yoshihara muttered. Unbeknownst to her, a set of fast-moving pearls crept up on her, and when they did, they transformed into an arm, reaching out for Yoshihara's head.

"Kira!" Mina called out, Acid pooling on her hand as she slung it just past Yoshihara's head. The blonde turned to see the arm, inches away from her face. The acid hit its target, the glob of deadly liquid burning the hand, making it transform into pearls and fall back.

"That hurt, you know…" Tsuyu's voice drawled out in the onsen. "And here I thought I could make this easy for you idiots… Master was right, you're a nuisance. Both of you." Tsuyu showed herself again, perched on a rock, sitting like a frog as her arm reformed from the pearls that had been burned. Her expression was lifeless, and her expression unreadable. It was like staring at a psychopath. But Yoshihara could see something shift underneath her bangs, like a tendril muddling around in her forehead.

"Tsuyu! This isn't you! Please stop!" Mina called out, as the Frog-like teen glowered at Mina.

"Shut your mouth. I have nothing to say to you, pinky. You should've just accepted your fate. It would've made this far easier," Tsuyu said, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as it began to go lower and lower. Whipping her head back, she slung her tongue at the pair. In response, Yoshihara had Killer Queen punch the ground, creating a small wall of explosive bubbles, along with dispensing several pint-sized Sheer Heart Attacks.

The small tank Stands rushed over to Tsuyu, while at the same time, she retracted her tongue so that it didn't hit the bomb wall. When the tiny Sheer Heart Attacks met their target, Tsuyu broke apart again into a bunch of pearls, while at the same time, the tiny Sheer Heart Attacks exploded, propelling the pearls all over the place.

"You can try and attack me all you want…" Tsuyu continued, her voice echoing all over the place as Yoshihara narrowed her eyes. Mina, meanwhile, was beyond terrified, watching the whole thing like a circus act gone awry. "But my Ocean Pearl makes me invincible."

It wasn't exclaimed. It was stated as if it were fact. And the worst part was that Yoshihara believed it.

For the first time since she fought Taro, Yoshihara Kira was afraid.

-To Be Continued-