Worn out, the 1-A class stumbled weakly toward tables weighed down by ingredients and the adults looking far too perky.

"Now. Remember what I said?" Pixie-Bob called out cheerfully. "We're not serving your food anymore! If you guys wanna eat, you'll have to make your own meals! Starting with curry!"

"Yes, ma'am.

"Oh, man," Ragdoll laughed, "do you guys look exhausted. But that doesn't mean you can coast by making sloppy cat food!"

"Oh! I see," Tenya said, catching on. "An important part of saving someone recovering from a disaster is providing for their physical needs as well as spiritual. Ah! This is a great opportunity! Let's make the most delicious curry in the world, everyone!"

"Yeah, okay."

Not the most enthusiastic of responses, but it got them moving. Shoto found himself enlisted all over to light fires beneath cooking pots, while Kirishima urged Bakugo to use his explosions.

"This is so beneath me!" Bakugo snarled, blasting the kindling.

"Too much!" Tokoyami yelped.

Chuckling at their antics, Atem bent and got his fire going with ease. Flint and skill. Thank you Karim for teaching him that while he was still a Prince in his previous lifetime. Standing up, he reached for his ingredients and began helping prepare them for the curry. He enjoyed cooking. It was something he had learned through Yugi and occasionally they'd switch places so he could prepare meals.

"Well done, Atem!" Tenya said enthusiastically. "You are a fine cook!"

Atem chuckled, "A friend taught me how."

Once the meal was ready, they took a seat at a line of picnic tables and there was no such pretence in regard to table manners. Every single one of them were wolfing their food as if they hadn't eaten in days.

"If I got this at a restaurant, I'd send this crap back." Kirishima said between bites. "But after today, I'll eat every bite!"

"Whoa, you're scarfing, Momo!" Sero commented.

"Yes. My Quirk transforms lipids into brand new atoms to create inorganic materials." She explained conversationally. "That means, the more I eat, the more I can make."

"Like how poop works."

Atem choked on the drink he was sipping, gaze widening. Poor Yaoyorozu had all but sank into the chair. "Apologise!" The Egyptian hissed at Sero.

"Geez! Okay, sorry!"

Rolling his eyes, Atem went back to his meal. Sero was about as sensitive to women as Joey used to be. How many times had Téa thumped him over the head for speaking without thinking? After their food, they washed up together, had a quick bath and trudged to bed weighed down by exhaustion and the next day, they did it all over again.


X.x.X


Atem dropped to his knees and tried not to vomit, the latest arrow dropping from his hand as his head spun violently. Two days of this insanity and he was fit to call it quits and phone his father. Never had his Cairo teachers put him through such madness.

"You know, nearly killing yourself won't prove anything."

Lifting his gaze, Atem set fuzzy eyes on Bakugo, surprised when he held out a small bottle of orange juice. "Uh…thank you."

"Sugar should help. You look like shit." Bakugo grunted, crouching down, red eyes narrowed. "You should have backed down a while ago."

"Defeats the purpose of pushing my limits," Atem pointed out after gulping down the juice, already feeling better.

"And putting yourself into a coma helps what?" Bakugo groused. "Had a diabetic uncle…I know what hypoglycaemic shock looks like and how bad it can get."

Atem winced. "Okay, fair…I guess I'm irritated. After all this, I've managed to push myself maybe ten arrows extra before I start feeling like roadkill."

"Ten arrows in under two days is quite the achievement." Startled, Atem looked up to find Aizawa crouching down and blinked when the man pressed his hand to his forehead. "You're too pale…I'm benching you."

"What! But—"

"Don't argue with him, Rapunzel!" Bakugo snarked, pulling Atem to his feet. "There's corpses with better colour than you. Now go sit your ass down!"

Glaring at him, Atem swore colourfully in Arabic and stalked off, plopping down on a bench. Aizawa was honestly surprised. It wasn't like Bakugo to concern himself with the others welfare, but he had taken quite a shine to Atem. Even if his actions were gruff, there was a tenderness to them. Maybe the Egyptian would be finally what had him learning empathy a bit better.

By that evening, Atem had perked up, even if the rest of the students were fit to drop, but some dinner and energy levels were soaring again.

"Perfect!" Pixie-Bob cheered. "We've filled our bellies and cleaned the dishes. It's time for—"

"A totally awesome test of courage!" Mina howled in delight.

"Not so fast," Aizawa interrupted. "It pains me to say it, but the remedial class will be having lessons with me tonight instead."

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Mina shouted in horror.

"Sorry. Your training during the day didn't impress me, so I'll be using this time, too. Come along Kaminari, Sero, Ashido, Kirishima and Sato."

"Oh, give me a break!"

"I just wanna prove my courage!"

After Aizawa led the grumbling teens away, Pixie-Bob jumped into an explanation. "Okay. So…Class B is going to start out as our "scarers." When they're in place, Class A will leave in pairs every three minutes. There are tags with your names on them at the far end of the route. Your goal is to collect those. Now, those who are scarers aren't allowed to make physical contact. Use your Quirks to terrify the others. Got it?"

"The winners are the creative students who make the most people piss their pants!" Tiger declared dramatically.

"Did we need that visual?" Jiro grimaced.

"I see!" Tenya exclaimed. "They're encouraging us stoke our imaginations as we compete with each other, all while showing us more uses for our Quirks in the process. As expected of UA!"

"All right!" Pixie-Bob continued. "Everyone draw to see who your partner will be!"

Atem found himself paired with Bakugo of all people, stepping up next to him, he waited for their turn.

"This is so stupid," Bakugo griped, after another group passed through, their screams filling the forest.

"It's a bit of fun," Atem pointed out. "Heroes are human too, Bakugo. We have to wind down or we'll burn out."

"Next team!"

That was them. Falling into step next to Bakugo, Atem kept his eyes open. One advantage of his unique eyes, he had always possessed hawklike vision and it worked just as good at night.

"You okay now?"

Surprised by the question, Atem glanced at Bakugo. "If you're referring to earlier, then yes. My metabolism converts sugar fast…so the juice and a meal and I was fine."

"Try not to do that again," Bakugo suggested, gaze jerking up at yet another scream.

Atem rolled his eyes. "Yes, because I tend to do these things on pur—hey!"

Bakugo had suddenly grabbed him, his red eyes wide and following his gaze, Atem went tense. Smoke, great big plumes of it had gathered nearby and from its movements, whatever fire had caused it, it was heading in their direction.

"Icy-hot would never fuck up with his fire," Bakugo commented tensely, "What the actual hell?!"

"Everyone!" The pair froze at the sudden sound of Mandalay's telepathic voice. "Villains have invaded the camp! We need to regroup! Students don't engage!"

"What the hell?!" Bakugo ground out. "With all the precautions, how the hell are Villains here?!"

"That's the least of our worries," Atem retorted. "We better get back to camp." Atem didn't have a bow with him, no equipment, not even a knife and with Villains lose, he felt horribly vulnerable. Keeping close to Bakugo as they backtracked, Atem's eyes widened at sight of pink smoke bleeding forward and grabbing Bakugo's arm, he yanked him back. "Cover your mouth! It's poisonous gas!"

Catching on to what Atem was seeing, Bakugo cursed and covered his mouth, red eyes darting about to find an escape route. "We need to get the hell out of here!"

Tearing off the end of his black tee, Atem tied it over his nose and mouth. "We've fire on one side, poison on the other and I'm betting Villains involved in both. We need to pick the lesser of two evils and move it."

"That's your solution, Rapunzel?" Bakugo griped.

"You got a better idea, I'm all ears!"

Since he didn't, he followed Atem's lead. The groups were quite far apart, so they were on their own whether they liked it or not. The further they walked, the thinner the poisonous gas got at least and when Bakugo suddenly stopped outside the gas, Atem almost walked into him. Stepping around him with a frown, he went rigid at the sight only a few feet away.

"W-Who was the group set to go after us?" Bakugo croaked.

"Shoji a-and Tokoyami," Atem responded, eyes unable to look away.

Just ahead a single hand sat in a small pool of blood. An unfamiliar figure crouched over it, muttering darkly to himself and when he stood to face them, everything in the pair went cold as ice.

"So pretty…so pretty…" The Villain muttered. "No, I have to work…I was captivated. Oh no, what beautiful flesh…Oh, don't tempt me…"

"And they don't want us to fight?" Bakugo swore.

"I don't think we have a choice," Atem stiffened when once again Mandalay's voice rang out.

"Class A and B! In the name of pro hero Eraser head! You are granted permission to engage in combat! Repeat! You are granted permission to engage in combat!...And we know one of their intentions…the Villains are here for Kacchan and…Atem! Kacchan and Atem, do not engage! Get back to camp!"

Atem and Bakugo glanced at each other. Them? Why them?!

"Don't engage?!" Bakugo barked. "To hell with that!"

Together they just about dodged the Villain's first attack. His teeth could lengthen to any range he wanted and were razor sharp. Atem yelped when one cut deeply across his thigh.

"Atem!" Bakugo ran toward him and just about missed being skewered, Furious, he spun, hands already sparking. "Bastard!"

"Bakugo, don't!" Atem barked, hand on his bleeding thigh. "Your Quirk will just burn the place down!" And retreating wasn't an option, the gas had created a wall of poison at their back.

"Damn it! We have to fight!" Screw Deku and whatever crap he fed Mandalay. He wasn't running.

Ignoring the agony in his thigh, Atem dug his finger in with a howl and let the blood pool into his hand. Sweat coating his skin, stomach churning, his red eyes flashed, and arrows formed.

"Flesh…Flesh…Meat!"

Another barrage of those wretched teeth and Atem counteracted with his arrows, dodging the rest with a grunt, his thigh twinging horribly. Panting, he looked up when Bakugo joined him.

"This is crap! I need to do something!"

"Half the forest is already burning!" Atem snapped. "We can't add to it."

"What about your damn arrows?"

Atem grimaced, pooling more blood into his hand. "He keeps taking them out before I hit flesh. I need to hit his skin."

A sudden rumble, and the boys turned toward the treeline just as Shoji appeared, Izuku apparently on his back. "Bakugo!" The teen howled. "Create some light! Quickly!" Right behind them, Dark Shadow exploded through the foliage, howling with rage.

Lunging over them, Dark Shadow struck the Villain down, stopping a fresh attack.

"Now!" Shoji shouted again. "Tokoyami has lost control!"

"Wait!" Bakugo bellowed back, watching as finally the Villain was knocked unconscious by Dark Shadow and as the creature reared up, Bakugo finally created an explosion, the bright light instantly calming him.

Tokoyami fell to his knees panting with relief. "Thank you. You saved me."

"More like, you saved us," Atem corrected, limping over. "We could barely keep ourselves defended."

"Tokoyami?" Shoji broached. "Are you okay? You did exactly what we needed you to do, by giving in.

"Shoji," Tokoyami rasped, "Midoriya…I'm so sorry. I completely lost control…I ended up hurting you."

"And saved our asses, bird boy," Bakugo interrupted. "Wallowing in your fuck ups is no use to us right now and Jesus Deku, you're beat to shit. How the hell did you manage that?"

"A Villain named Muscular," Izuku explained. "He went after Kota."

In the middle of wrapping up his wounded leg, Atem's head snapped up. "Kota? Damn it! Is he okay?!"

"I left him with Mr Aizawa…Listen, I know what the Villains want. They're after Kacchan and Atem."

"What?!" Tokoyami gasped; a bit too occupied with Dark Shadow to have heard Mandalay's broadcast. "But why?"

"I don't know," Izuku admitted. "But the safest place for them, will be back at camp. We could cut straight through the forest to get back."

"We don't need your protection!" Bakugo exploded after hearing enough. "Atem and I can look after ourselves!"

Ignoring his outburst, Shoji took up first point, with Tokoyami at their backs.

"Are you extras even listening?!"

"Just make sure you keep up."

"Don't tell me what to do!"