Rule #60: Remember the three Gs: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss

The day following the exams, a rather large glumness had settled over a select few of the students in class 1-A. Those who had failed the exam were huddled in one corner of the classroom where they wept, wailed, whined and just plain mourned their lost chance to go to the training camp planned for that summer.

"E-e-e-everyone…!" Mina wailed as she tried to paste on a smile for her classmates, "We're looking forward to h-h-hearing all of your stories…a-about how fun c-c-camp was…!"

"Hey, now" Midoriya tried to cheer up the girl, "Maybe they'll end up letting you guys go, afterall? You know Aizawa, there might be a last minute twist or something?"

Sero, however, thought that getting their hopes up was cruel. "Stop it, Midoriya. By saying that aloud, you're just jinxing them"

"Th-they said whomever failed the exam would have to skip the training camp live in summer school hell! We didn't pass the practicals, so we're doomed!" Kaminari snarled as he turned on the unsuspecting greenette. "Don't you get it, Midoriya?! Or did All Might knock all of the brains outta you?!"

"Ack!" Midoriya choked on his spit when the blonde's excitable limbs flew too close to the sun; more specifically, when lithe fingers swung out and stabbed the greenette in the eye.

"Ease up, Denki" Sero interjected, "I'm not sure I'll get to go either; our team only passed thanks to Mineta. I got knocked out and since we don't know how they're scoring us, I might've flunked"

"AT LEAST BRING US BACK LOST OF CAMP SOUVENIRS, PLEASE!"

SLAM!

Just then, the classroom door burst open and slammed up against the wall, as it swung inwards to reveal their homeroom teacher much more awake than he typically was. The most concerning thing of all? His sleeping bag was nowhere in sight. Whatever was about to happen, it was serious.

"Once the bell rings, you should be in your seats" Aizawa bluntly scolded them, making everyone scramble for their seats in panicked silence. No one wanted to get on his bad side, let alone his well-rested and caffeinated side. "G'morning, class" He grunted as he came to stand at the front of the room. "Unfortunately, there are a few of you who did not pass your final exams, so when it comes to the training camp in the woods…everyone is going!"

"We…we really get to go to camp?" Kirishima asked, eyes shining with hope.

"Seriously?" Mina tacked on, squealing with joy as tears beaded in her eyes.

Their teacher nodded sharply, "Yeah, the good news is that no one bombed the written exam. The bad news is that five of you failed the practical—badly—that is two teams, of course, and then Sero failed as well—"

"Aw, crap! I knew it!" Sero whined in the background, "Mineta made it to the gate, but I didn't do near enough to pass!"

"—Allow me to explain: for the practical battles, the teachers made sure to leave a way for the students to win, otherwise none of you would have ever stood a chance" Aizawa continued, unbothered, "We were interested in observing how you each worked together and approached the task at hand"

Ojiro waved his hand in the air, "But didn't you promise that the teachers wouldn't be holding back on us?"

"That was just to get you on edge" He calmly replied, "Besides, the training camp will focus on building your strengths and finding your weaknesses. Those who failed need those lessons the most. Don't worry, we were never going to separate you…" He grinned mischeviously, "That was just a logical deception we used!"

"Told you so" Midoriya muttered under his breath, though he was not as quiet as he would've liked.

"Shut up, smug bastard!" Bakugou snarled as he twisted in his seat to scold the greenette.

"Aizawa-sensei!" Iida jumped to his feet, hand raised in the air and shaking slightly in frustration as he demanded an explanation. "That's the second time you've lied to us! Aren't you afraid we'll lose faith in you?!"

"Uh…a little blunt there, Tenya" Ochako whispered as the bespectacled boy slowly returned to his seat.

"That's a good point" Aizawa acquiesced with a hum, "I'll consider it. But I wasn't lying to you about everything, Failure is still failure; we'v prepared extra remedial lessons for the five of you. Frankly, they'll be far tougher than what you would face at summer school"

"Think it's another logical ruse?" Kaminari whispered to his neighbour.

"He sounds like he's serious" Mina replied, although she sounded unsure. "But who knows?"

"Fingers crossed then?"

"Fingers crossed"

Aizawa just heaved a tired sigh.

"This is gonna be great!" Ojiro grinned as he looked over the little blue programme they had each been given. The neatly printed kanji describing both place and events that was the summer training camp. "I'm so glad that we're all going together!"

"We're camping on a mountain?" Toru cheered, looking over the glossy pictures of said alpine forestry. "Yes!"

Midoriya turned to the excitable girl with a curious gaze, "Have you been camping before, Hagakure?"

"Kinda" Toru shrugged, "My old school used to up on top of a mountain, so we did a lo survival exercises, and stuff. I'm just so excited! It's been so long since I've been hiking or camping, or outdoors!"

"But we were outside, yesterday?"

"No! Like proper outdoors! With bugs & campfires, and bushes & trees! Eeeeee! I can't wait!"

"It looks like we'll be at this training camp for a full week" Iida hummed, peering over the lip of his glasses as he read with enthusiasm.

Midoriya, who had been peering over his shoulder, hummed amicably. "I'm gonna need to find myself a bigger suitcase!"

"Yeah, I don't even have a bathing suit" Agreed Kaminari, "Guess I need to buy some stuff"

Mina suddenly perked up, "Hey, guys, since we're off tomorrow and we've just finished exams, I have the best idea! Why doesn't class a go on a shopping trip together?"

"Hey, yeah! We've never hung out, outside of class before!"

"Bakugou! We'll see you there, right?" Kirishima eagerly turned to the angsty blonde.

Bakugou just brushed passed him, calling over his shoulder as he went. "Can't think of anything more annoying"

I can. Toru thought as she watched his blonde mop disappear out of the door.

"What about you, Todoroki?" Midoriya turned his puppy-dog eyes to the two-toned boy. "Will you come too?"

"Sorry, Midoriya" Todoroki apologetically shook his head, "I visit my mother on my days off"

"Oh, okay"

And so, that following day, a collection of 1-A students were gathered at the closest mall in the Kiyashi ward district, with shopping lists in hand and wallets bulging in their pockets. Dressed in a sunshine sundress and Fatgum-themed jandals, with matching sunglasses upon her crown Toru met up with her classmates on the outskirts of one of the foodcourts. Admittedly, it was a little odd to see her classmates outside of school and outside of their uniforms or costumes, even if she logically knew they didn't live every single moment in either of them. Sure, she knew that they wouldn't be wearing their uniforms (hero or otherwise), but it was kind of like seeing a teacher outside of school; just plain weird.

"Oh, man! I love this place!" Mina sparkled, eyes wide in awe as she spun around to get a view of the entire spectacle. The mall was so big that it easily dwarfed the patrons within it, several times over. "It's got everything! With a ton of different stores to shop in and they're all super cool and hip! The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall!"

Toru, herself, simply nodded in kind as she readjusted the strap of her handbag for the umpteenth time since arriving at the mall; it was more out of nervousness that anything. Because the last time she had been to a place like this was before school had even started, and she had ended up hidden in the bathrooms after some time, thanks to all of the jeering and pointing from the crowds. Back when people around her stared at the floating clothes like they could collapse at any second.

Next to her, Midoriya's endless mutterings helped to ground her in the here & now. It also helped that the invisible girl could hide behind the meat shield that was her friends & classmates, as the more expressive of the bunch took centre stage. In the case of the greenette, his mutterings seemed to revolve around more than heroes this time, which was new. She didn't realise that his analytic skills stretched that far out of his comfort zone, but here they were. Still, to outsiders, it might've seemed a little creepy; especially considering how his gaze kept jumping between people & products as his fingers twitched, taking down invisible notes.

"You're going to scare the children" Tokoyami stated, blandly, his tone drier than bone as Midoriya sheepishly lowered his hands, flushed a brilliant red in embarrassment and shuffled quickly after the others. It wasn't an Iida-scolding or a Bakugou-blowout, but it still worked all the same. The interaction made Toru smile nonetheless.

"Whoa!" A voice suddenly crowed from the crowd and drawing attention to the group. "Aren't those UA students?"

"1-A!" Cried another.

"I saw 'em on TV! The Sports Festival was so good!" Cheered a third.

Toru blanched at the reminder of that exciting event and all of the terrible things that followed. Her body tensed under the weight of all the sudden attention that they had drawn to themselves. It felt like a thousand eyes were now focused on them and it made her skin itch with the uncomfortableness of it all. She didn't like it and she wasn't the only one. A little further ahead, Ochako nervously fiddled with her fingers as an almost hysterical chuckle fell from her lips. "Uh, haha…! I can't believe they still remember that…"

"Well, this will certainly make shopping harder" Iida readjusted his glasses, "If we are going to be stopped and ogled at every turn. Perhaps we should split off into pairs?"

"Well, I wanna track down a new duffle bag to bring to summer training" Jiro offered first.

"Oh yeah?" Yaoyorozu perked up, "Then maybe the two of us can browse together?"

"S-sure" Jiro flushed slightly at the idea of being alone with her crush.

"Let's see…" Mineta, meanwhile, was busy trying to find the tools that would help achieve his perverse hobbies all the better. "Where can I get a lock-picking kit and a small drill…?"

Kaminari stood, stroking his non-existent beard."I should probably get some outdoorsy shoes for this thing…"

"Oh yeah! That's a smart idea" Toru nodded, "I should get some more sports bras whilst I'm here…"

"Ooh!" Mineta leered, suggestively wiggling his brows in her direction. "Can I—?"

"—No!" Toru immediately shot him down before he could even finish the question.

"Alright!" Iida clapped his hands, forever the class president. "Let's meet back here later, so that we can all decide what to do for lunch!"

Circling back from the foodcourt with bubble tea and purchases in hand, Toru slowly made her way over to the meeting point, knowing she was likely to be done earlier than the rest of them. Most of the things that she would need for the training camp, she already had from junior high and those that she didn't, she could just as easily borrow or substitute with something. Hence why she had come on this shopping trip, despite her newly realised dislike for shopping malls. Really, the only things that she had needed to grab today were a couple of sports bras, a couple of thermals and a set of camping cutlery. Now all she had to do was sit and wait at the meeting point. I wonder how everyone else's shopping is going? She mused, sipping at her citrus-flavoured drink as she plonked herself down on the bench next to a rather crusty-looking teen. Sparing the older boy a brief nod, she then set down her purchases at her feet and pulled out her phone to occupy herself in the meantime.

With the Sports Festival only just gone, a lot of the social media feeds were still filled with the snippets of the event and everyone's comments about what had happened. And as this year's champion, Bakugou had been memed almost more than some of the top Pros; in particular, his battle with Ochako and his feral badger impression at the crowning ceremony. Though, her favourite had to be that one did a side-by-side with Hound Dog.

Still, her brief distraction did little to stop her nerves from being known. Admittedly, it was rather different being at the mall after all that had happened at the Sports Festival. Before, people had stared & pointed because she was just a collection of ghostly clothes wandering about the shops and getting trodden on by absentminded shoppers. This time around, they stared & pointed because of what they saw her and her classmates do at the festival. Still, it made her skin itch.