Chapter 60
[Play KH2 OST Missing You]
On top of a clocktower, there was a blonde haired boy, sitting alone, eating some cyan colored ice cream on a stick. He seemed lost in thought until he heard another voice speak next to him. "Figured you'd be here again, Roxas."
Roxas recognized the voice and turned to acknowledge it. "Axel..."
Axel had the same flavor of ice cream in his hand, and he took a seat next to Roxas before taking a bite out of his and letting it melt in his mouth. Once it did, he spoke up again. "How's the ice cream? Still salty and sweet?"
"It's not as it used to be." Roxas answered.
"Yeah." Axel agreed with him. "Maybe they spilled some more sea salt into the mix."
After a brief pause the two took another bite out of their ice cream sticks. Roxas then asked. "Anything on Sora?"
"Isa checked with Seifer's gang, and they still haven't seen any boys with brown spiky hair enter or pass through the town." Axel answered. "Xion didn't have anything today either, so Namine is keeping her company in the Mansion."
"With Hayner, Pence and Ollete back from school, maybe they can help." Roxas commented.
"Pence, yeah." Axel stated. "That tech head can help run the computers with Isa and I, but Hayner and Ollete will probably just be here for moral support."
"...Yeah." Roxas sadly agreed with his friend. The pair then finished their ice creams and walked down the clock tower together. "I just...I just wish that I could do more."
"Letting us study your memories is the best thing that you can do right now, Roxas." Axel told him. "You're one of Sora's closest links, being his Nobody and all."
"I know. I know." Roxas stopped Axel from continuing on. "But I just wish that I could go out and look for him. He would do the same for me. He did do the same for me."
"Sora knew that you were stuck inside him. This is different." Axel pointed out. "We don't know where he is."
"You keep saying that, but it gets harder and harder to accept that reason." Roxas told him as they reached the forest area of Twilight Town.
Axel was quiet for a moment before he spoke once more. "I hate being cooped up here too. And so does Xion. But we're still doing this because no matter how much we hate it, it has to be making some progress. And look at Kairi. She's letting the Radiant Garden team put her to sleep and look through her heart. She's been doing the same thing for months now, and she's still determined to keep going."
"..." Roxas couldn't argue with that, but he still didn't like being stuck here.
"Look. Roxas." Axel put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Go get some sleep. You need the rest. I'll go tell Xion to rest too. She needs it just as much as you do."
"What about going through our memories?" Roxas questioned.
"We'll call it a day today." Axel told him. "We all need a break anyway. Can't work ourselves to death."
[Silence]
After some convincing, Both Roxas and Xion went to their shared bedroom that was made for them in the Mansion and they laid in their beds. Eventually they ended up drifting off and falling asleep. The two had a strange dream.
[Play Sanctuary (Opening)]
In the dream, Sora was standing alone, in the middle of a pitch black area with nobody around him. His eyes were closed during that moment, and it remained that way for the beginning of this dream. He seemed to be deep in thought, or mentally preparing himself for something. He was also wearing a blue gym uniform of sorts that had white highlights on it, rather than his usual attire.
Once a light began to illuminate the area in front of him, he opened his eyes and saw that he was inside a tunnel, nearing the end, surrounded by many people that were around his age. And they were all wearing the same blue and white colored gym uniform that he was. Sora looked to his left to see Izuku Midoriya right next to him. To his right was Tenya Iida and Ochako Uraraka, and in front of the four of them was Shoto Todorok and Katsuki Bakugo. The rest of Class 1-A was behind them.
The entire class as well as Sora walked into the light at the end of the tunnel, preparing themselves for what was beyond it. Some looked uncertain, others looked arrogant, and a few looked confident, Sora being one of those few.
The light was almost blinding as they walked through it, but after they adjusted to the light, they were at the U.A. Sports Festival, walking towards a large doorway with dozens of other students from the other U.A. Courses. Midnight was on a stage and starting a countdown, while hundreds of people were cheering on from the stands, and dozens of cameras were recording them. Sora and the other students were getting ready to run out the door as Midnight reached 0.
The doors opened up and Sora, as well as a good amount of Class 1-A ran though, clearly overtaking the other students that were there, leaving them in the dust. A lot of members of 1-B quickly followed behind them, and while they weren't as fast, they could still keep up with 1-A to a fair degree Mei and Shinzo weren't far behind either.
A large mass of 0 pointer robots came in between the students, but a large amount of ice took out a majority of them, as Shoto ran ahead of everyone. Katsuki soon followed, And Sora followed behind them, while the rest of class 1-A and 1-B ran through the bots to try and catch up to the trio as best as they could.
Soon a large chasm was now an obstacle, but Todoroki, Bakugo and the Keyblade wielder didn't have much of a challenge getting across. They were however getting slowly caught up to by the other Hero course Students, as well as Mei Hatsume from the Support course and Hitoshi Shinzo from general studies.
The trio then reached a minefield and began to struggle as they avoided mines while also trying to get ahead of one another. Until a massive explosion rang behind them and Izuku flew past them, clearly overtaking them. Sora had a proud look on his face while he saw other people beginning to run past him and some alongside him.
Sora, all of Class 1-A, minus Minoru, all of Class 1-B, Mei and Hitoshi made it back to the starting area and they saw Midnight point towards a massive screen behind her, which switched from saying obstacle course to cavalry battle, before headbands came towards the kids.
The students participating in the cavalry battle now wore the headbands with different number values and were splitting off into groups, some were pairs, some were groups of three, but a majority of the teams were groups of four. They were all ready to begin the next trial of this festival.
After the countdown reached 0 again, Midoriya and his horses, Ochako, Fumikage, and Sora were blocked off by ice walls. Tokoyami called out Dark Shadow and blocked an electric burst attack that came from Denki, as he, Momo and Tenya carried Shoto to Izuku, who took his headband, only for Sora to snag it back with the Kingdom Key, signaling their victory.
It then transitioned to Sora by himself, briefly fighting against Tenya in an arena for the one on one finals, before the two backed away from each other and Sora became entangled in vines from Ibara. Sora burned the vines around him and basted a Blizzard spell, which struck Todoroki, freezing his right side, before flames erupted and an explosion occurred, Sora went into Dark form and blitzed towards Katsuki.
It transitioned to Sir Nighteye viewing a TV monitor days after this happened and making a recommendation for Sora to intern with him. That same paper was on his desk, but now with Sora in front of it, as the boy came to intern with him. Mirio and Bubble Girl were to Sora's left with medical supplies and human dummies with fake injuries, while Centipeder was to his left with crime documentaries in his hands.
It transitioned again to Sora fighting the Heartless inside a train with Centipeder and Bubble Girl, before he leapt out of it and rode one of the dustfliers into the burning portion of the city. He dispatched of the Heartless he rode in on and assisted the Heroes there as best he could until a Nomu that were near attacked him. Sora struggled to block the attack until Endeavor punched the Nomu away.
Sora and Endeavor fought side by side, taking out the Heartless in the area, before the two split off. Sora ran away from the fire and towards Ekou Street, only to see a dark powered Hero Killer Stain dispatching multiple Pro Heroes, before blitzing towards the Keyblade wielder, who summoned Two Become One to defend himself, before he got stabbed in the hand, as he stabbed Stain in the chest.
It transitioned to Sora now inside U.A. High's training ground as he was surrounded by multiple robots. The boy fought off wave after wave before he used Wisdom barrage to take the last of them out, while the teachers in the monetary room watched on the screen.
It then transitioned to the Sora in the monetary room with some 1-A or 1-B students as they watched the matchups inside the datascape, from Momo and Shoto vs Marluxia, to Izuku and Katsuki vs Saix. Then the 1-B matches from Neito and Itsuka vs Luxord to Ibara and Jurota vs Axel.
As all the Hero course students, minus Monama, Bakugo and Midoriya were in the room, they gave Sora their support as it was now his turn to go into the datascape and fight an Organization member for his practical exam. Sora looked back and smiled at the students before he looked forward with a determined look.
As numbers surrounded him, he had brief flashes of his moments of bonding, from field testing Mei's inventions with Moogle, Mirio, Nejiri, Tamaki, and Bimbi, to going to an amusement park with Tenya, Denki and Fumikage, to him rescuing a puppy and Kota helping him take care of it for the day, to him meeting Tsuyu's friend Habuko, to him writing a letter to Inko for parents day and presenting it to her.
The numbers faded and in front of Sora was a hooded Xion, who first attacked him with fire, before soon switching to Ice, then eventually wind, then soon after that lightning. Sora easily kept up and when Xion threw her Kingdom Key towards the boy, he countered with Strike Raid. As Xion dawned her Armored form, light erupted from Sora's body once more.
It transitioned to the server room in I-Island as Sora went into Valor Form and fought off multiple security robots. After being pushed back, he was now in the intersection of a hallway, being shot at from multiple directions, as he took cover he had to avoid a slash from Swordkil. The boy once again was in the middle of the hallway before light surged from his body again, making him change forms.
He was now on the rooftop of the central tower in I-Island and in his Master Form, defending himself against multiple metal attacks sent by Wolfram, while Izuku was by his side, doing the same. Then All Might arrived and landed next to them, before Sora's body erupted with light once more as he changed forms again, looking to end this fight with Wolfram as he also powered up with Darkness and a support item.
Now Sora was in Final Form as he, Deku, and All Might all blitzed towards a dark powered quirk supercharged Wolfram, performing the Trinity Smash against the superpowered Villain's massive metal attack, completely obliterating it and taking down Wolfram together. The three of them landed and behind them were some of the 1-A students, and Melissa Shield, who helped them get this far.
It transitioned to Sora, Yagi and Izuku at the edge of the Island the day after the incident, as the three of them looked forward towards the ocean, before it transitioned again to Sora underwater with Asui, before they both stuck their heads out of it to show them in the school pool with the other 1-A students, who were all there together.
The scene transitioned once more to Sora and class 1-A outside U.A. in their uniforms. 1-B was there too, and they were getting onto a bus that soon departed. 1-A's bus soon came and the students then boarded it, ready to begin their summer training camp together. Many of them were excited, Sora included.
As Sora took his seat, more memories of his time bonding with his classmates came to him. From him and Mina shopping together and playing a dance pad arcade game at Kiyashi, to Shoto introducing the Keyblade wielder to the Todoroki siblings and mother. Sora then pulled out Kairi's good luck charm and held it in front of him.
Yaoyorozu, who sat next to him had a warm smile on her face, and Sora looked towards the recommendation student, seeing Kairi in her place for a brief moment, before Sora once again saw Momo there again. Sora returned the warm smile towards her before he soon yawned and fell asleep on the girl's shoulder.
The class 1-A deputy didn't mind and had an accepting smile on her face before the bus soon began to move. The students in the bus had begun to chat amongst themselves, enjoying the beginning of this new adventure. As the bus drove onto a highway, the horizon was shown to be bright and sunny, with a dense forest way off in the distance.
The dream transitions to the inside of a forest, but all that was visible for the moment was the trees and leaves. Behind the trees however were multiple sets of glowing yellow eyes, and the silhouette of a figure wearing a hood, as well as the silhouettes of other people, varying in size and shapes, who seemed to be affiliated with each other. The dream then ends there.
[Silence]
Sora was then abruptly woken up when the bus went over a speed bump. "Huh, wha, huh?" He straightened his body before quickly looking to see that he was still on the bus.
He heard Momo giggle next to him before she asked "Did you have a pleasant nap?"
The Keyblade wielder yawned before he replied. "Yeah, actually. Didn't expect sleeping in a bus to be so comfortable." He rubbed his eyes as he asked her "Are we there or…?"
"Not yet." Yaoyorozu answered. "We're still on the way there."
"Ok." Sora said. "Did I miss anything interesting?"
"Not really." The class deputy stated. "It was just random chatter, but now it's quiet."
"Ah. Got it." The boy understood.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Professor Aizawa Theme]
A few seats away, Tsuyu poked her head up and scanned the area of the bus. Ochako noticed this and spoke up. "What's up Tsu?"
"Nothing." Asui replied as she sat back down. "We've been driving for a while, is all."
"Yeah. I hear you." Uraraka said. "Kind of exciting though, going on a trip with everyone. I swore I'd stay awake and chat the whole time, but now I'm getting kind of sleepy."
Tsu then decided to ask her something. "Where'd you go for your big field trip in middle school, Ochako?"
"Tokyo!" Uraraka enthusiastically replied. "It was great, living the dream for a few days. How bout you Tsuyu?"
"Hokkaido, of all places." Asui answered.
"Ooh. Nice! I hear they've got good crab up there." Ochako commented.
"The crab was tasty, but...ribbit." Tsu then began to giggle when she remembered something funny happened there.
Sora heard the giggle and spoke up from his seat. "What's got you laughing Tsu?" He was curious.
"Just remembering something from my middle school trip to Hokkaido." Asui told him. "You remember Habuko, right?"
"The girl with the snake head?" Sora responded. "Yeah."
"Well being part snake, meant that she couldn't stand the cold." Tsuyu told him and Uraraka. "Even worse than me. She was as excited as anyone for the trip, but the closer we got there, the drowsier she got."
"Yikes." Ochako said. "Nothing you can do about the climate, I guess."
"But she still wanted to enjoy herself, so we came up with a way to keep her awake." Asui stated.
"What'd you come up with?" Sora asked.
"She just needed to keep warm, right? So we borrowed some clothes from our other classmates." Tsu explained. "Our plan worked, but she was practically a marshmallow with how many layers she had on."
"Sounds like you made some good memories on that trip." Uraraka commented.
"Yeah," The frog girl replied, before some light shined into her face from Yuga's mirror, which started to annoy her. "Too bright Aoyama."
"Oui..." was the French boy's response, however, it was not very enthusiastic.
"You okay, Aoyama?" Ochako asked as she and Tsu looked over their seat to check on him.
"Uugh..." he groaned as he looked pale and had his head resting on the windowsill, and a limp arm that was loosely holding a mirror that he brought with him.
"What's the matter?" Uraraka asked him.
Shoto, who at first was listening to Izuku and Tenya's conversation, had heard Ochako and turned to face the French boy sitting next to him, seeing his condition. "Something wrong?" He asked.
"Probably motion sickness, from staring into that mirror the whole time?" Asui guessed.
Yuga breathed in and uttered out. "My beautiful visage could never make anyone sick...least of all moi..." He trembled and gave out a weak wink.
"I admire the brave face you've got, Yuga, but you should probably take it easy." Sora suggested.
"Non...Non...I will be just fine...urp!" He gagged.
"Momo. Make a barf bag, quick." Sora told her.
[Silence]
She did as instructed and quickly made a barf bag to hand to Sora, who handed it to Todoroki, who handed it over to Aoyama, who weakly protested. "Someone as beautiful as myself would never do such a thing...And if I did...even the barf would surely twinkle...Urrp!"
Everyone stopped their conversations at this point and took notice of the situation.
"Eh?! Aoyama's gonna hurl?!" Toru realized.
"How awful." Mina felt bad for him.
"Sick from staring into a mirror?" Kyouka questioned. "That idiot."
"He reaps what he sows." Fumikage stated.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST An Abdominal Investigation]
As the commentary poured in, Asui and Sora took charge of the situation. Sora spoke up first. "Get that window open, and give him some air."
Tsu then spoke up next. "Aoyama, loosen your shirt collar, and try to lay down."
"Got it." The ice user replied as he opened up the window and moved up the armrest between his and Yuga's seat.
The French boy loosened up his collar and said "Merci..." before laying down on his back.
"Hey, Shoto. If you need a seat, you can swap with me." Sora offered.
"That won't be necessary." Todoroki stated as he crouched and flipped open an extra aisle seat, which was smaller and had no back attachment on it.
Ashido laughed and commented "That's not gonna work for you, Todoroki."
"Not even a little." Hagakure agreed with her.
"I don't think these seats were designed to 'work' for anyone." Shoto said flatly as he awkwardly sat on it.
"Are you sure you don't want to switch?" Sora asked again.
"You can switch seats with me, Todoroki." Midoriya offered. "I'm smaller after all."
"Nonsense!" Iida spoke up. "As class representative, it is my burden to bear!"
"Tenya, you're bigger than both of us." Sora pointed out.
"But Sora, the class rep must always be ready to suffer for his class!" The engine legged boy protested. "I could even get by, performing air chair!"
"Air chair? So can I!" Izuku spoke up again.
"It's fine." Shoto told his three friends. "I have a place to sit, and that's good enough."
"Right." Asui agreed. "And what matters now is that Aoyama starts feeling better."
Ejiro looked on his phone for cures to motion sickness while that discussion was happening and found something. "Says here there's a pressure point that can help when you're carsick. Press the spot two fingers width down your waist."
"Let's try." Shoto went to do so, but then stopped himself, which confused the class. "Wait, no. Not me." This confused the class even more, before he explained why. "Whenever I get involved...people's hands end up destroyed..."
"Huh?" Most of the class replied, except for Midoriya, Iida and Sora, who each snorted and held in their laughter.
"I'm the Hand Crusher." Todoroki admitted to everyone. But while the rest of the class was even more confused than ever, Izuku, Tenya and Sora bursted out laughing, remembering that stupid comment back at the Hosu hospital. It was just too funny for them. Shoto took it seriously however. "I just can't...Someone else needs to press your pressure point."
"I can do it myself, merci." Yuga said as he did so. "If everyone could just leave me be, actually..."
"Also, it might help if we distracted the patient somehow." Kirishima read off the page he was looking at on his phone.
"Oh! I know just the thing!" Mina had an idea. "Let's go in order and start the word chain game!"
"That might be perfect actually." Izuku began. "It's a simple game on the surface, but thinking up words does require some focus, since each subsequent word has to start with the letter of the last one, your options are more limited than you think, and no time for deep thought, because the other players are pressuring you to hurry up, that sort of mild stress activates the brain cells and trains the mind..."
"Motormouth alert!" Sora called out his friend's muttering.
[Silence]
That snapped The One For All user out of it. "Ah! Sorry."
Tenya then stood up. "On that note. Everyone!" He began to address the whole class. "Our friend Aoyama is suffering from motion sickness! So we will be playing the word chain game to keep his mind otherwise occupied!"
"The word chain game?" Midoru repeated, not very thrilled.
"What're we in grade school?" Hanta mocked.
"Yeah the word chain game!" The pink skinned student shot back at them. "It's also a perfect way to kill some time!"
"No. Ashido, this is for Aoyama sake!" Iida stated. "But also perhaps a way to practice cooperating as a class, in light of the impending training camp!" The class rep's insistence had gotten everyone onboard, minus Katsuki, who was asleep in the back of the bus. "All in agreement? Very well. To give our ailing Aoyama time to think, let's begin from this side of the bus, with Kaminari, then Kirishima, myself, Midoriya and so on."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Forest Training Camp]
"Okay." Mina agreed to that. "So what's our starting word?"
"How about training camp?" Toru suggested. "So Kaminari's got to start off with a p."
Denki thought hard for a moment. "Perturb. As in what Yaomomo's mom's cookies did to my stomach."
Sora remembered back during the study session before the finals. Momo's mother had made some cookies for the study group, and the electric student's stomach didn't agree with them. It was a funny memory.
"My turn." Ejiro spoke up. "B huh? Let's see, B...B… Bulletproof!"
"F..." Tenya went next. "Footwork! An obvious choice for me."
"K...Hmm." Izuku was up. "Oh! Kamui Woods! Names are allowed, right?"
"You sure do love your Heroes." Shoto quipped.
"That would make my letter, S, I suppose." Yaoyorozu stated. "Well I do enjoy reading and studying, so how about Scholar?"
"So my letter is R." Sora commented. "Hmm...Oh! Relate!"
"My turn." Mezo said. "E. Extremity, then."
Koji was next and he shyly said "Yaks?"
"Like the animal? Not what Aoyama's about to do?" Rikido wondered. "Let me see. So I got S...Spoom!"
"The heck is that?" Mineta asked him.
"A desert." Sato answered. "Kind of like Sorbet, but lighter, and served in a glass. Usually made with fruit juice, or even fruity alcohol."
"Could you teach me how to make that? I'd like to try it sometime. But the version with the fruit juice and not the alcohol." Sora asked from where he was sitting.
"Sure. How about after we get back from camp?" Rikido offered.
"Deal." Sora agreed to that.
"Okay! Okay! My turn." Minoru spoke up. "You gave me M so…Misandry." He then gnawed his nails as he explained his word. "For all those man-hating women out there."
"Seriously, what did Mount Lady do to you during that internship?" Hanta wondered.
"I might just tell you." The purple haired boy said. "But only if you're ready to never trust females again."
"You know what, nevermind." Sero replied. "So I'm next, right?"
"Actually, Short Fuse is." Sora pointed out.
"Bakugo?" Kirishima replied. "But he's asleep."
"Wake him up." Sora stated.
"You sure?" Hanta asked.
"Yes." The Keyblade wielder said.
"Okay then." Sero decided to do as instructed and he smacked Katsuki's leg, abruptly waking the explosive teen up from his sleep.
"That takes guts." Izuku commented quietly.
"What the hell?!" He exclaimed, not liking the sudden smack to his leg.
"Your turn, man. We're playing the word chain game game." Hanta explained.
"And your letter is Y." Sora spoke up. "Got it Short Fuse?"
"You woke me up to this crap, Toy Sword?" Bakugo replied. "Buzz off is what I say!"
"Not exactly a word, but that works." Sero went with it. "I got a Y then? Umm...Yuka!"
"Wait what?! That wasn't me joining in! Don't make me part of this!" Katsuki yelled out.
"Too late." Sora told him, feeling a bit smug that he was able to get away with that.
Back on the subject, the next student in the chain wondered something. "Yuka?" Mashirao repeated.
"Never heard of Yuka?" Hanta questioned. "It's a tropical tuber. Kind of like a potato. Real healthy though, with manganese and Vitamin C, which boost the immune system, keeps the heart pumping and even prevents wrinkles."
"Ooh! I better eat some Yuka then." Toru commented when she heard about the wrinkle prevention.
"You sure know a lot about it." Ojiro commented.
"What can I say? I'm all about the healthy foods." The tape user said.
"Almost seems unfair, using a word nobody's ever heard of." Mashirao commented.
Sero scoffed. "The word chain game is a battle of wits, and I come well armed."
Ojiro then went next. "A...Oh! Ant."
"C'mon. That's so ordinary. Boring even." Hanta said.
"What's wrong with being ordinary?" Mashirao mumbled.
[Silence]
Next up was Fumikage, who just looked at the pair. "Your turn, Tokoyami." Tenya urged him.
"Your letter is T." Asui told him.
"...Twilight." He said, just to get them to leave him alone.
"Oh. Perfect word for you." Sora commented. "Alright, Kyouka. You're next. It's still T."
"Tune." Jiro replied.
"Like musical, or just volume?" Sora asked her.
"Either." She told him.
"Okay." the Keyblade wielder said.
Asui then said "You're up now, Aoyama. Your letter is..."
"Uugh..." Yuga replied.
"On second thought, how about Todoroki goes next?" Tsuyu offered.
Shoto sat in silence for a brief moment, before he came up with a word that related to him. "Hypothermia."
"...Uh. That doesn't start with an E, Shoto." Sora pointed out.
"That means the game is over." Izuku pointed out.
"Aw! I didn't get to go!" Mina whined.
"Oh. Sorry." The flame user apologized to her.
[Play KH3 OST Heart of Mystery]
"Why don't we restart the game, beginning with A?" The class rep suggested.
"Tenya, maybe we should try something different." Sora suggested. "That didn't really keep Yuga distracted."
"Yeah, ribbit. He needs to keep his mind occupied the whole time." Asui stated.
"Hmm. You both may be right." Iida nodded before he had an idea. "How about a quiz then?"
"Yeah! Right on!" Denki agreed with that idea. "Quizzes and bus trips were made for eachother!"
"As class representative, I will come up with the questions." Tenya informed the class. "Aoyama will be given the first chance to answer, and if he fails to do so, the question will go to the rest of you."
"That could work." The Keyblade wielder went with the idea.
"Okay then." Iida then presented the first question. "Question one. Factor the following. (x-1)(x-2)(x-4)(x-7)+16."
"...Huh?" Sora replied.
"Not that kind of quiz!" Kaminari exclaimed. "None of us want to be doing homework!"
"But we're high schoolers, are we not?" Tenya responded.
"In this setting, a quiz is more like...trivia!" Denki explained. "You know. Fun stuff. Give him an example, Midoriya."
"Eh? Me? I dunno..." Izuku was not immediately prepared with a question, so he thought for a moment before coming up with one. "Okay. Let's start simple. Way back when All Might was doing a live segment for the TV show 'Passionate Planet', in the middle of shooting, a dog ran into the road, and All Might saved it from getting run over. What was the dog's name?"
Sora face palmed, half expecting his friend to come up with a question like that. Ochako then spoke up "How would literally anybody know that, besides All Might himself?"
"I assumed everyone knew everything about All Might." Midoriya replied, feeling a bit embarrassed. "My other questions were gonna be, 'How many times did All Might say 'I AM HERE!' In his 'Heroes Monthly' interview three years ago' and 'What color was his necktie when he did the photo shoot for that interview'."
Izuku then heard a thud behind him and turned to see Sora's head planted on the top of the back support of the All Might fanboy's seat. Kirishima then spoke for everyone when he said. "Nope. Nobody knows any of that stuff."
"Eh? Really?" Midoriya was surprised. "You guys weren't counting all the times he said 'I AM HERE'? You didn't take note of his outfit?"
Sora didn't lift his head, but he did comment on that out loud. "Only you would do that, Izuku..."
"You're the biggest All Might fanboy here, Midoriya." Asui added.
Izuku chuckled and blushed at that, taking it as a compliment, until Katsuki spoke up. "She didn't mean that as a compliment, you goddamn nerd!"
Tenya then took over. "Do you remember the dog's name, Aoyama?"
"Non." Yuga told him. "I never knew it to begin with."
Shoto then asked. "Was it Pochi?"
"That was close." Midoriya said.
"Ponta." Sora answered, with his head still planted on the back part of his friend's seat.
"Correct!" Izuku stated.
"How did you know that?" Momo asked him.
Sora then finally took his head off of the back of the seat in front of him and then told them how he knew. "Remember when I rescued a puppy and brought it to class, before taking it to an adoption center?" The class nodded. "When I got home, later that day, Izuku compared that to All Might saving that dog. He told me every single detail. Even down to the facial expression of every person in the camera shot."
"Ok. That's enough of this sorry excuse for a quiz." Denki gave up on the idea.
[Silence]
"You guys have no clue how to go about this, huh?" Minoru spoke up from his seat, catching everyone's attention. "You need a way to keep the man distracted, then open the floor to me."
"Better not be some pervy story." Jiro immediately told him.
"Yes. Nothing vulgar, please." Yaoyorozu backed her up.
"All I'm talking about is a way for a guy to keep his mind off things!" Mineta defended himself.
"Sure." Kyouka replied. "Except your mind and mouth have taken permanent residence in the gutter."
"Yeah. That's right!" Mina agreed.
While the girls were verbally beating him down, Tenya spoke up. "Listen to reason, Mineta. We're inside a bus, so I'll ask that you not force others to listen to these stories of yours."
"Please, class rep. I'm a man who knows his audience." Minoru stated. "There's a time and place for everything, right? And what, is this suddenly a dictatorship?"
"Of course not!" Iida replied. "I have the utmost respect for everyone's views and opinions!"
"Then it's a little unfair of you to shut me down before I even start, right?" The purple haired student made a valid point.
The class rep really couldn't argue against that. "I suppose not…Very well. Let's hear what you have to say."
"Ugh. I really wish I could fall back asleep." Sora said to himself.
[Play KH Re:Chain of Memories OST Just Wondering]
After a brief protest from the girls, Mineta began his story. "This was way back in elementary school, yeah? There was this video rental place, and they'd just stopped me from peeking into the R rated section for about the hundredth time..."
"You've been like this since elementary school?" Hanta commented.
"A perv, right out of the womb!" Ashido spoke up.
"You call that perverted?" Minoru responded. "I'm just getting started! Anyhow, I was walking back home from that store, and near the riverbank in my neighborhood, a piece of paper flew by my feet. White, standard size. It wasn't from a dirty mag, so I was just gonna keep on walking, but something told me to check, just in case. So I picked it up and turned it over, and the back was covered in all this writing. Couldn't read most of the kanji, since I was so little, right? Still, I could sense something was special."
"How?" Rikido questioned. "What did you sense exactly?"
"What can I say? This piece of paper was just oozing with passion." Mineta replied before he continued the story. "Anyway, I brought my discovery home, keeping it secret, and I whipped out a kanji dictionary to help me decode the writing. 'Debase' 'Slobber' 'Impurity' Turned out to be a page from a novel about a young widow who starts selling her body to pay back her dead husband's debts."
Sora groaned at that while Mashirao commented "Not exactly proper reading material for a little kid."
"Don't be dumb." Minoru argued. "The gates of literature are open to people of all ages, no?"
"Yeah, but that definitely sounds like an erotica." Jiro remarked with a disdained tone in her voice.
"I prefer to call it an amorous novel. Listen, porn and steamy lit are as different as can be. Like sun and moon! An electric range and a roaring bonfire! If porn is your basic Turkish bath, then fine literature like this is a hot springs retreat in the mountains! It's like the difference between fast food, and a seven course meal! It's like..." Mineta was going to go on, but was interrupted.
"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! WE GET IT!" Sora exploded from hearing this. "MOVING ON!"
"Of all the stupid..." Bakugo muttered before he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, so he wouldn't have to hear this crap. Tokoyami also closed his eyes and tried his best to drown out this story with some self meditation.
Minoru then continued his tale. "So like anyone would, I wanted to know the rest of the story. I ran back to the riverbank the next day and found a bunch more pages, all scattered around. When I started picking them up though, this middle aged homeless dude shambled over and said 'Give those back!' I was like 'No way! They're mine now!' and I ran home with everything I found."
"Huh?" Mina wondered something. "What if the book really was his?"
"That would make you a thief." Ejiro commented.
"Just keep listening." Mineta told them. "I got home, got out the dictionary again, and kept reading. The sexy young widow discovers her hidden talent for pole dancing and quickly rises to the top of her field. Along the way, she has a fling with a waiter, gets into cat fights with her fellow dancers, and agrees to be the club owner's mistress...Until that relationship blossoms into true love..."
[Silence]
This actually got those who weren't fully interested to take more of an interest, including the girls and Sora. "Huh...didn't expect that." Kyouka said.
"I...like where this is going actually." Toru admitted.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but...please, keep going." The Keyblade wielder requested.
[Play KH Re:Chain of Memories OST The 13th Floor]
Knowing that he had the interest of everyone now, Minoru went on. "So then the club owner wants to help the widow escape her sordid life, right? But the waiter goes crazy with jealousy and rats them out to the manager who then BLAM, shoots the club owner dead! The boss makes the widow his mistress, and she gives into lust as a way to forget the death of her true love."
"I know the feeling." Hagakure sympathized with the widow. "When times are tough, you've got to cling to whatever you can."
"I'll never forgive that darn waiter..." Ochako spoke up while making a fist.
"Wait, boss of what?" Kaminari asked.
"I think he meant the manager, Denki." Sora answered.
"Oh." The electric student understood.
"As their affair gets hotter and hotter, the boss actually starts to fall for the widow." Minoru told his audience. "That's right. True love blossoms in his heart."
"What's with all this blossoming love?" Kyouka questioned the logic of that.
"No. I totally get it!" Ejiro defended the logic. "Men are pure souls too, deep down. Some guys just don't show it, while others like Sora wear his purity on his sleeve."
"Um...thanks?" The Keyblade wielder didn't really know how to respond to that, and just took the compliment.
Most of the girls could get on board with the logic now, considering that Sora was actually a pure soul, and Mineta went on. "But she doesn't understand this change that's come over to the boss. She thinks he's just gotten sick of her, so she just starts seducing every man she lays eyes on. Tells them to do whatever they want to her, as a way of punishing herself."
"No! Don't do it girl! Have some self respect!" Kaminari cried out, feeling worse for the widow than he already did.
"But then someone unexpected shows up to lend the widow a hand..." Minoru told the class.
"Yeah?" Asui said.
"Go on. Who was it?" Tenya allowed the story to continue.
"Don't leave us hanging." Sora urged.
[Silence]
"Well...I ran out of pages around there." Mineta admitted.
"ARGH! I gotta know what happens to the poor widow!" Ejiro blurted out.
The purple haired 1-A student then went on. "So I went back to the riverbank to find more pages. Searched until my eyes were aching, but no dice. It had already been a few days since I'd found the first part of the story. The homeless dude was still there though, and he handed me a single page. 'Looking for this, are you?' he asked. It was more of the book, and it turned out this guy was actually the author."
"Whaaaat!?" Sora was genuinely surprised.
"No freaking way!" Denki was also shocked.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Self Analysis]
"The homeless guy had always wanted to write erotica for a living, but he had only ever done it as a hobby, since he didn't have the courage to go public." Minoru explained. "One day though, he came out and told his family that he was gonna become that sort of author. They were totally against the idea. Unable to stand their lack of support, the man left his home and started living by the riverbank. That was about a week before I happened to walk by."
"Walking out on family is hardly the mature thing to do." Yaoyorozu stated. "One must face reality, before one's dream can come true."
"Come on. Don't be so harsh." Mineta defended the homeless man. "When his family stood in the way of his dreams, the guy lost all his confidence. He basically gave up on everything and threw down the book he'd been working on, which was when the winds of fate blew the pages around and sent one flying to my feet. I told the guy all this and explained how his book was so pervy-I mean fascinating, that I looked up all that kanji just to read it."
"And there we go. Pervy, like I said." Kyouka quipped.
Minoru ignored her and continued his tale. "The dude started crying tears of joy, hearing how excited I was about his story. 'So don't you dare give up on your dreams' I told him, and he called me a little knucklehead. In the end, I asked him to keep writing stories, because I'd promised to read them all and I'd love every word...I also asked him to add more detailed descriptions of breasts if possible."
"Knucklehead?" Sero repeated. "He wasn't wrong there."
"So, what happened after that?" Sora asked, genuinely curious as to the fate of the author.
"He swore he'd keep trying, shook my hand, and then we parted ways." Mineta answered. "Must have gotten his mojo back, since about a year later, he made his big debut as an up and coming erotica author."
"Wow! How about that?" Denki commented.
"One of his books is about to get turned into a direct-to-movie, even!" The purple haired student added. "Man. I can't wait till I'm old enough to check out the R rated movie section of the video store."
What started as a story about a few scattered erotica novel pages ended up becoming a tale of how the man who wrote those pages had nearly given up on his dreams, only for Minoru Mineta of all people to encourage him to pursue it and succeed.
Kirishima then realized something. "This whole story wasn't actually...that pervy?"
"True." Izuku agreed. "Almost something wholesome about it, in a weird way."
"That...actually was a really good story, Minoru." The Keyblade wielder said, surprised to even say whose words to the class pervert.
"Hang on." Toru remembered something. "How'd the book about the widow end?"
"Heh. You really wanna know?" Mineta looked at the girls, knowing full well what happened. "Then drop by my place and I'll show you my signed copy, If you know what I mean."
"Ugh! You are the worst!" Mina responded.
Minoru then chugged down the soda in his hands while the girls booed him for leaving them on a cliffhanger. Meanwhile, Sora let out a lighthearted chuckle. "I'm fine with leaving things off on a cliffhanger." Of all the things that could have happened on this bus trip, a somewhat wholesome and uplifting story from Mineta was not the first thing that came to mind, but the Keyblade wielder didn't complain. It was an oddly nice change of pace. Then he remembered the reason why this story was told in the first place. "Oh wait. I forgot that this was meant to distract Yuga."
[Silence]
Tsu was already on top of that and checked on the French boy. "How're you feeling, Aoyama?" She asked him.
"Worse than ever, I'm afraid..." Yuga answered, still looking very sick.
"How about a story from me then?" The frog girl offered.
"Ooh! Let's hear it, Tsuyu." Kirishima was anxious to hear another student story.
[Play KH Re:Chain of Memories OST La Pace]
"It happened when I was young." Asui began. "It was my first trip to stay with my cousin in the countryside. My big sister, two years older than me, took me out to play."
"Wait, you have a big sister?" Sora questioned. "I thought you were the oldest."
"I'm the oldest in the house. My big sis moved out by the time I graduated middle school." Tsuyu explained.
"Oh. Okay then." The Keyblade wielder replied.
Asui then continued the story. "Anyway, when she and I went out to play, we splashed in this shallow brook, hunted for cicadas, and played hide and seek in the sunflower fields."
"That sounds amaaaazing!" Ochako already liked this story's beginning a lot more.
"At some point, another girl around my age came by and asked if I wanted to play with her." Tsu went on. " 'The more the merrier' I thought, happy to have a new friend. My sister remembered something she had to do though, and headed back to the house without me."
"Whoa. She just left you behind Tsuyu?" Uraraka questioned that.
"The house wasn't far, and my new friend and I wanted to keep playing." Asui stated. "She seemed to have all the energy in the world, and before I knew it, it was sunset. I told her I had to get back, but she wouldn't have it."
"Kids can go on playing forever if you let them." Ejiro remarked, which earned a chuckle from Sora, who was one of those types of kids back in the day with Riku and he.
[Silence]
"Wouldn't your late return cause your family members to worry?" Tenya asked.
"Of course." Tsu confirmed. "Which is why I told her we could play again the next day. But that only made her cry, so I agreed to stay a little longer. She was so thrilled that she decided to bring me to her secret spot. A place filled with fireflies, apparently."
"Seriously?" Sora said, feeling like a kid listening to a fairytale.
"Fireflies...So magical." Hagakure commented.
"I shine brighter than any common firefly..." Yuga uttered out.
"Oh? Aoyama speaks!" Ashido exclaimed.
[Play FF7 Remake OST Waiting To Be Found]
After the chatter died down, Asui then continued her story. "She took my hand and led me up the mountains, along this little winding path, and through a small red torii gate. It was getting dark by that point, but I had my new friend, so I wasn't scared. After a while, we arrived at her secret spot, and as promised, there was wave after wave of fireflies dancing through the night. Almost like a rain shower of pure light."
"Sounds amazing!" Midoriya commented, as everyone began to imagine being in a situation like that. All except for Sora, who had remembered a similar event in Corona, when the kingdom did it's lantern event on Rapunzel's birthday.
"I too am like a shower of light..." Yuga commented, still feeling sick, but was more focused on the story than his condition.
Tsu then took a deep breath before she continued her tale. "I honestly don't know how long we stood there, taking in the beauty. In any case, when I heard my cousin calling me, the two of us ran back down the mountain. I thanked my friend for showing me her secret. She laughed and said 'Make sure it stays secret. It's ours and ours alone.' Before long, we made it down to my cousin and my sister, who was also there, crying her eyes out. She asked 'Were you out there playing alone all this time?' 'No.' I said. 'I was with her.' But when I turned to point to my new friend, there was nobody there."
That made everyone on the bus freeze, except for Sora who asked "Where'd she go?"
"I thought that she'd maybe run off on her own, but my sister had no memory of the girl. She said it had just been the two of us playing earlier." Asui answered.
"You don't mean...No way..." Kyouka couldn't finish what she wanted to say, in spite of her trying to.
"I soon learned that for years, there'd been cases of children getting spirited away in that area." Tsuyu informed them. "Maybe the ghosts of the children who died on the mountain were looking for friends? My sister was furious. She said I had probably been seconds away from being snatched up and being turned into a firefly myself...And when we went back to search the next morning, the little path and red torii gate were gone. Where did I really go that night, I wonder?"
As the students were reacting to the ending of that story in various different ways, mostly being scared, Sora had a faint sense of nostalgia wash over him. He had a very similar instance happen to him, but it was far from a pleasant one. It was when he fought against Roxas for the first time. He saw him appear in front of him after some Nobodies got in between him and Donald and Goofy, before he was somehow taken to his station of awakening and dueled with his Nobody there. In the end, after he barely won, Donald and Goofy had no memory of seeing Roxas there and just said that Sora had disappeared, before he reappeared there soon after.
[Silence]
Before any more stories could be told, Aizawa spoke up. "Alright. Quiet down. The bus is about to stop." That had made the class quiet down and they soon heard the brakes of the bus as it came to a halt. "Get off now. Hurry up."
Minoru was the first to get off, as when he chugged down his soda, he didn't think about the fact that he would probably need to use a bathroom soon after. He needed one now, to say the least. Yuga then pushed himself up, still feeling under the weather as Asui asked. "Well Aoyama? Did my story help to distract you at all?"
"Not in the least, as I twinkle far brighter than any firefly." The French boy said as he took a look at himself in the mirror once more.
"Right..." Tsu replied. "Well I admire your personal dedication to grooming, even when you're queasy."
"This is the only way I know how to be...Hmm?" He suddenly didn't feel like he was going to vomit anymore. "Hmm?"
Sora noticed the French student's condition as he saw him bob his shoulders up and down and put a hand on his stomach, as if to check if this wasn't a trick. "You good, Yuga?" He asked.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Lunch Song]
"Why, I seem to be cured!" Aoyama announced, now back to his flamboyant self again.
"Maybe because the bus stopped moving?" Asui guessed.
Yuga however had a different answer however, as he wagged his finger and said "Non non. It is because I have viewed my own beautiful visage."
The class was not that thrilled to hear that answer. "Ugh. We were seriously worried, man." Hanta told him.
"I'm taking back my sympathy." Kaminari said out loud.
Sora sighed and just said "Well, at least you're okay. Come on. Let's not keep Mr. Aizawa waiting."
As the students began to get off the bus, Asui let out a small laugh that Ochako heard. "What's up Tsuyu?" She asked.
"Just thinking about how sweet everyone is." Tsu told her.
"I said hurry." The 1-A Homeroom teacher told the two girls, who were now the last ones on the bus.
The two girls did as instructed and got off the bus. It was a pretty interesting ride to say the least, with Yuga getting motion sick and then all the ways that the students came up with ways to help him keep his mind off of that, from the word chain game, to the 'quiz' to the stories that she and Mineta told him, all in the effort to try and help him out. This class had only been together for about half a school year, but they already had formed strong bonds with each other, even if it isn't shown all the time.
It made this upcoming camp feel like nothing short of another way for the class to bond, to grow together and make some more pleasant memories. Memories that many of the students looked forward to making, some more so than others. Either way, this was an oddly fun start to this new adventure, and they weren't even at the camp yet. However, they will be there, sooner than they think.
And so, we begin the training camp ark with...the bus trip. This was the second chapter in School Briefs Volume two, coming after the first chapter, which was the Study session for the Final Exams at Momo's house, which I had decided to skip, because you guys were waiting long enough for the Data Battles already. Regardless, this technically is the first chapter of the Season 3 content on this story. I know the pool episode was the first episode of Season three, but similarly to the first episode of every other season of MHA, it just teases the true beginning to the next major ark. Oddly enough, this chapter somewhat resonated with me, mainly because of Minoru's story. The author who gave up on his dream, then eventually got his mojo back and became a big hit. It reminded me of when I deleted all my old Fanifcs on here and said that I was finished, and now, here I am, 60 chapters into a story that has hundreds of followers, pieces of fanart inspired by it, dedicated reviewers that will tell me their honest opinions of every chapter, and people who will give me healthy constructive criticism on things that they disagree on, and not just say 'this part sucks, therefore this story sucks and by association, you suck'. I honestly am glad that I came back to do this. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and until I decide to upload again. ;)