A/N: Alright my dear readers, this is where things are about to get really interesting, or so I've planned. The Forest Training Camp arc was one I found to be really intense, so I plan to live up to that with this next series of Chapters, which I hope are up to your standards! :D
A new morning and the day of the Forest Training Camp had arrived. Izuku had barely managed to sleep a wink from the excitement of knowing the trip was right within his grasp. He felt bad for keeping his mother awake the night before whilst he triple checked all his bags, but she insisted she was happy to help him, and that eased the stress on his shoulders.
He also felt bad, however, that his mum seemed so worried and fearful about the idea of him going on this trip. A lot had happened to cause this though; the U.S.J attack, the injuries from the Sports Festival, the battle with Melodyne and the run-in with Stain, to name a handful. He felt terrible that he was causing his mother this much concern, but he'd come so far since first receiving One For All to give up at this point, and it was his lifelong dream.
Then, the sound of the trains quietly squeaking breaks brought him from his thoughts and the train station just down the hill from U.A was sat outside the window. Grabbing his bag from the seat and swung it onto his shoulder, before grabbing his large suitcase from the floor and taking a deep breath to calm his anxiety. It was around six in the morning now, but it was in the letter that was sent home for parental consent that students had to be at school and ready by six-fifteen, so he'd made quite good time.
He could feel his hands shaking from excitement. It'd been such a long time since he'd last been on a real school trip before, and he'd never been camping in his own time, so he assumed this would be the next best thing. To add to the excitement, Mina was going to be there as well, and that only made the butterflies in his stomach wilder. He was still feeling anxious about seeing her, however, because of the conversation he and his mother had the night before.
He felt like the pacing of his relationship was fine and there was nothing about it he really wanted to change. Of course, even now the concept of a relationship and actually being in one were very new things to the greenette, but he knew that it would be a learning experience from the day he began liking Mina.
"Midoriya? Good morning." The voice of a certain Frog Quirk user spoke up, again taking him from his thoughts.
"T-Tsu! Good morning!" He smiled. It was nice seeing her again, even though it had only been a day. He'd been thinking a lot about this on top of some of the other thoughts that had been rushing around his mind recently, and he'd settled on the fact that his literal 'near-death' encounter with Shigaraki Tomura had made him even more grateful to be in the position he was currently; surrounded by amazing friends and going to an incredible school with such a kind mother.
"Are you alright? You looked a bit upset just now." She said curiously, putting her finger to her chin as she usually did when thinking out loud.
"Hm? O-Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I've just had a few things on my mind recently." He responded, trying to gloss over it even though it was bound to become the topic of conversation one way or another.
"Is about the League of Villains guy on Saturday?" She asked knowingly. Izuku chuckled quietly and smiled, she could always read him so easily.
"Yeah..." He started with a sigh. "It's just got me thinking about how grateful I am for everything and everyone in my life right now." He added, looking up to the Hero Academy on the hill through the trees, its windows glistening in the sunlight.
"I can imagine. Everyone was worried about you yesterday... Well... I was." She responded, her voice falling a little.
"That makes me feel better." He smiled, his heart lifting a little in his stomach. "A-Actually, Tsu, there was something I wanted to ask you." He started nervously. The Frog Quirk user turned to him with a curious expression on her face.
"Oh?" She hummed. "Sure, what's up?"
"Well... Do you think Mina and I's relationship is... Well… Moving too fast?" He asked, thinking through the best way to word this so it didn't sound like he'd been having second thoughts. Tsuyu looked at him for a few seconds before averting her gaze to the floor, her face screwing up as she thought. This was more nerve-wracking than he'd anticipated. He knew he'd get a straight answer out of the greenette girl, but whether it was what he'd want to hear or not was another story entirely.
"Honestly, no. I've only ever seen you hold hands and hug, and after a few weeks of dating, I'd say that's a good pace to be going at." She admitted. "I've never had a relationship before, so I'm not experienced when it comes to talking about them, but you're going about it pretty close to how I would, so I don't think you should worry." She said with a reassuring grin on her face as they started up the long hill towards U.A, the large coach visible, waiting at the top on the road leading back down the slope.
"Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better." He said with a relieved smile, sighing and looking up to the orangy-blue sky.
"That was something you were worried about too huh. I figured as much after what Uraraka had said." The girl responded, to which Izuku quickly looked back at her. She'd overheard their conversation? He didn't think anyone was nearby.
"H-How did you know about that?" He asked inquisitively.
"I overheard her saying something about it as I was heading to take a shower, sorry Midoriya." Tsuyu said apologetically, stopping and bowing slightly.
"No, no! It's fine! Don't apologise. It actually reassures me that someone knows why I've been hung up on it." The One For All user responded with a smile. Tsuyu picked herself up and began walking with him again.
"I don't think you should listen to what Ochaco said. She's coming from a good place, but she didn't say the right thing. It is your relationship and even though I believe you're going at a good pace as-is, if you want to go further with Mina then that's okay too." Tsuyu responded reassuringly, although her face remained relatively blank.
"Thank you, Tsu, that really means a lot to hear." Izuku smiled before someone else caught their attention, waving from the top of the hill.
"Dekuuu! Tsuuuu! Heeeey! Uraraka called, dressed in white jeans and a thick looking, blue hoodie.
"Uraraka, don't yell at such early times as now! You'll wake up nearby residents!" Iida could be heard talking just as loudly.
"Iida, you know you're just as loud right?" Tsuyu asked as she and Izuku reached the top of the hill. Besides the four of them, Momo, Shoji, Ojiro and Kirishima were also present, with only a handful of students left to arrive. Iida was silent after what Tsuyu had said, quickly falling back as Izuku stopped beside Uraraka.
"Has no-one else arrived yet?" Izuku asked, trying to act as normal with his closest friend.
"Well, Kaminari was here..." Uraraka started, before being cut off by Kirishima.
"He still is here, he's asleep." The Hardening Quirk user pointed towards the bench behind him, where Kaminari, sure enough, had wrapped himself up in his hoodie and fallen asleep.
"Speaking of people arriving, everyone else is down there now." Ojiro spoke up. The small group by the coach all looked down the hill and saw the rest of the class making their way up to them. They'd probably all run into each other just before arriving, and considering Iida was telling Uraraka to be quiet even though she was only calling to Tsuyu and Izuku, he was probably going to riot once the loud group of remaining Class 1-A students arrived.
Sure enough, of everyone in the group walking up the hill, Izuku's eyes instantly managed to find Mina within the mass. Her pink skin stood out as it almost glowed magenta in the sunrise, and her outfit was one he couldn't help but stare at. She really was beautiful.
"We've arrived!" Rikido announced, reaching the top of the hill first, an excited grin on his big-lipped face, punching the air.
"We could hear." Jiro smirked, pulling off her headphones as Mina and Toru rushed over to her. The excitement in Izuku was beginning to build once again. Hanging out with everyone at Momo's study sessions was fun, but now they were all going to stay in a large chalet together for a training camp, the excitement Izuku felt was to the point he felt like he was going to be sick.
Actually, he hadn't eaten since he was rushing around aimlessly this morning. Good job, now look at you. He growled to himself, his stomach tightening even more now his mind was aware of the feeling.
"Hey Midoriya, y'alright man, ya look like you're constipated or something." Kirishima laughed as the greenette clutched his stomach.
"N-No! It's not that!" The greenette urged, a madly embarrassed blush coming onto his cheeks. "I forgot about breakfast this morning." He admitted.
"Pfft, that ain't like you at all!" The redhead laughed.
"Midoriya, catch!" Jiro announced quickly, throwing something his direction. In a panic, the greenette reached out his hand and grabbed the bag tightly. There were four cheese and pickle sandwiches wrapped in the cling film.
"Jiro, I can't take this, it's your food." Izuku responded, picking himself up. Jiro held out her hand as Mina and Toru looked over their shoulders, obviously just catching on to what had happened.
"Just take it, I don't like pickle anyway." She smiled sweetly, before going back to whatever she and her two friends were talking about. Izuku looked back down at the wrapped sandwiches in his hand and smiled, whilst Uraraka glance between the food and her friend with a confused frown.
'Everyone was worried about you yesterday...'. Izuku would never believe it for the fact that he'd think he was being incredibly self-absorbed, but the other students in the class were all going through the same thing he was. Only now they'd come as close as they had to losing him, had they realised even more, just how important he was to them.
'7:40AM'. He wasn't sure how long there was left until they got to their destination, but it'd felt like a much longer bus ride than it had been. Letting out a sigh he leaned back in his chair, before noticing the commotion from the right side of the bus.
"What's going on?" He asked over his shoulder at Momo and Jiro.
"Not sure, I think we're probably at the camp now..." Jiro guessed, also turning to try and see what the commotion was about. "Honestly, I would've liked to just spend time at home for summer, instead of a training camp." Momo complained quietly. "I mean, of course I'm happy that we get to train as a class, and it will do us a lot of good I'm sure... But even so..." She muttered. Izuku could understand her, but he didn't agree with her.
"Look how dazzling those mountains are!" Aoyama exclaimed, standing up from his seat. Then, the bus came to a stop suddenly, causing him to topple over with a thump, Todoroki smirking down at him.
"Why'd we stop..." He grumbled, picking himself up from the floor. Izuku frowned at the floor and got up from his seat. There was no sign of Aizawa anymore, and by the looks of where they were, the bus had simply stopped in a lay-by on the mountain road.
"Mr Aizawa is gone... When did he get off?" Izuku asked, looked back over his shoulder, although the question was open to being answered by anyone who might've know.
"I... I didn't even notice he was gone..." Kirishima muttered, making his way to the front of the bust as the doors opened, leaning on Aizawa's seat to make sure nothing was left there by the teacher.
"Do we get off?" He asked up at the bus driver. Izuku watched on with a frown on his face. What was going on? Did Aizawa not tell them that their last break stop was actually the camp, because Izuku wouldn't really be surprised if that was the case.
"Everyone, come on, the driver said the lodge is down this path." Kirishima called, before proceeding to get off the bus. Everyone fired each other nervous glances, but Izuku did as Kirishima had said, leaving the bus first before the others followed.
"A-Are you sure this is the right place?" Izuku asked his red-headed friend, walking over to the guard rail and looking down over the steep slope the led to the woodland below.
"I dunno, that's what he said." Kirishima responded quietly, nodding over at the bus driver as the last of class 1-A set foot on the ground for the first time in almost two hours. Then, the bus closed the door, and pulled away, leaving them all there.
"W-Wait! STOP! OUR BAGS ARE still... In there..." Mina hollered after the bus, running a few meters before stopping as it rounded the corner. "Great, now what are we meant to do?" She asked, clearly frustrated as she turned and glared around at the class.
What was going on? This had to have been planned beforehand by Aizawa, there was no way this would happen otherwise. Izuku looked off to where Kirishima was standing, looking down a path that led to the woodland below.
"Maybe we should go down there, the bus could be going a different route to take away the strain of carrying our bags along this dirt path." Izuku suggested, trying to think about the situation more light-heartedly.
"Maybe. Guys! Come on!" Kirishima called. A visibly overwhelmed Iida quickly left the group of interrogating classmates he was surrounded by and followed the red-head and Izuku through the gap in the guard-rail and down the path, shortly followed by the rest of the class.
"Did Aizawa mention any of this to you, Iida?" Izuku asked as they reached the bottom of the path and reached the foot of the woodland. Iida was about to respond, before a voice echoing through the sky, interrupted him.
"Class 1-A, this was no mistake. I'm sorry I didn't inform you beforehand, but this is where the training camp begins." Aizawa announced. Everyone turned their eyes up at the sky, scanning around the place for any sigh of where his voice might've been coming from.
"The Lodge is along this path, you'll find it soon, but there are a few opponents for you to fight along the way. Best of luck." Were Aizawa's final words, before his voice echoed away into the distance, and everything fell silent.
"Opponents, what does that mean?" Tokoyami asked, quietly.
"Shut it, look." Bakugo snapped, over his shoulder, before nodding ahead and into the trees. Izuku followed his directions, as did the rest of the class. Izuku squinted and frowned, clenching his fists. Something in front of the was moving around, and it was huge.
"What is that?" Mineta asked, backing away from the form as it slowly loomed into the light. It was some form of rock beast that towered a good twenty feet over the students.
"W-Whad' we do? Run? That thing doesn't look like it'd go down easy!" Mina exclaimed, taking a step back. Some of the less attack-based students followed her lead, backstepping a bit, whilst Todoroki, Bakugo, Iida and Izuku held their ground.
"Don't falter now! This will be nothing!" Iida yelled, firing up his engine and getting into a runner's stance. Bakugo aggressively crackled small sparks in his hand like a spitting frying pan, and Izuku powered up One For All.
One For All, Full Cowling. Ten Percent. He growled to himself, minty sparks jumping from him. If he could keep away from using twenty percent, then it would do him a lot of good, after all, his body still wasn't accompanied enough to the new and large power jump. It was becoming easier and less painful to use, but it still made him ache if he used it for too long, so if he could keep away from it, that would be ideal.
"Go." Todoroki muttered, stamping his right foot forwards and sending out a wave of ice, frantically tearing its way across the grass towards the rocky monster, encasing its legs in the frozen material.
"Recipro Burst!" Iida hollered, following up the attack with Bakugo at his side. The Engine Quirk user slammed his leg into the beast, blue flames firing from the exhausts, and ripped its right arm clean off its body, forcing it to stumble backwards from the immense force. "Midoriya! Finish it off!" Iida yelled as Bakugo blew the other arm of the creature to the floor, landing and rolling on the floor before getting to his feet. Izuku wasted no time in doing what his friend had ordered, pushing himself into the air so he would be above the beast.
"SMAAAAASH!" He threw his fist low, pounding the beast in the throat. His body stopped, but the momentum and force from One For All and his punch, shattered the monster into nothing but shards and dust.
"Guys, there's more of them!" Mineta exclaimed, frantically pointing in the direction of three more monsters.
"The do something about it, short ass!" Bakugo snapped aggressively, before forcing himself at the monsters with two large explosions.
"Iida, Midoriya, two more from behind!" Jiro announced, removing her earphone jacks from a rock she was crouched beside.
"And one from the sky!" Koda added, pointing up to a flock of small birds whirling around a large, pterodactyl type beast.
"Sero, help me!" Izuku ordered, before leaping off to help Iida with the two that were closing in on Toru, who seemed to have been acting as bait. Sero didn't respond but fired two strands of his tape up at the monster, binding its wings together before pulling his arms to the floor, yanking the beast into the dirt below and turning it into rubble.
This felt amazing, the entire class battling as one unit. Mina melted through the monster's legs like they were nothing. Tsuyu and Uraraka were acting as human catapults, firing monsters into each other and Rikido and Kirishima were using brute strength to drill their way through the monsters. Everyone was handing the situation in their own unique way, and yet they were still working as a team, adapting to each other's Quirks in the most efficient way possible. This was going to be a piece of cake.
The sun was beginning to fall to the horizon, and finally, the large chalet had come into view. There were a lot more monsters in the woodland than they'd expected, and to add to that, Bakugo had run off on his own to chase some of the beasts down, and lost the way back to the path. To Izuku, it felt good since it was battle experience, but it was inconvenient for the fact it took hours to complete.
His body ached from using ten percent of Full Cowling, consistently, for such a long amount of time. Mina felt the same way. The first hour was a lot of fun, but the many after that felt like a massive chore, and there were a lot of things that came to her mind that moment, that she would've rather done.
Izuku was battered and bruised. Todoroki was almost completely covered in frost. Iida's exhausts were smoking and Momo couldn't walk in a straight line after creating so many different weapons to help out. Even Mina was in pain. Her hands were burning from shooting acid strong enough to melt away the rock, which was something she'd have to get her skin used to when training this week.
She was really impressed with how Izuku had developed since the Sports Festival, or more accurately, since the Entrance Exam. The control he seemed to have over One For All was impressive considering he'd only had it for a few months. She was unsure as to how much power he was using, but even so, he seemed to be more comfortable whilst fighting with such a Quirk as the one that once belonged to the number-one hero.
That was earlier, however, now the chalet was in her sights, and that's all her mind was focused on. It was beautiful; wooden with large windows to let in the sunlight. There was a balcony lining a small amount of the front and right side of the building, and from what she could see of the living are through the windows, it was very well kept.
"Nice to see you all made it in one piece." Aizawa grumbled, his face looking slightly less stern than usual as the class hobbled their way over. There were four- No- Five people with him now, however. Four of them looked like cosplayers who were a bit too old to be doing it, and what Mina assumed to be one of their children.
"Hey, Midori. Any idea who these guys... Are?" Mina asked, her voice falling as she turned to look at her boyfriend. He looked like he'd just won the lottery, doing his best not to start going all 'fan-boy' on the class.
"You don't know who these guys are! They're the Wild, Wild Pussycats! A quartet hero-team who specialise in mountain rescue! This'll be their twelfth working year!" He ranted, faster than Mina could process. The Wild, Wild... What? She muttered to herself.
"Oooof course they are." She said, pretending like she knew what he was talking about. It was cute sometimes when he fanboyed like this, but sometimes it made her wonder about him a bit.
"As you may or may not have noticed, behind me are the-." Aizawa started before the four of them started doing some strange dance, as if it were the intro to some fairy cartoon that, not herself, but more than likely, Toru, would've watched as a kid, or maybe even still watched.
"The Wild, Wild Pussycats." Aizawa started again once their slightly cringy introduction was over.
"They'll be helping you with your training. Inside is a timetable that's been pinned up on the wall by the kitchen. On there will be the activities planned for each day and what you'll need to bring, make sure you check it. I will be staying in a smaller lodge with Pussycats, but it isn't far from here. So, if you, for whatever reason, need anything, you know where to find us." Aizawa explained.
"Okay! So, my name in Mandalay and I'll be in charge of hosting your activities. Today's activity was mainly to give us an idea of the points your Quirks are currently, so we know what it is we should work on with you individually. But for now, you'll eat, bathe, then have until nine-thirty to sit and relax before lights-out." The red-themed cat-hero explained, before standing aside and holding her arm out at the chalet.
"Now, follow me to the dining area." She smiled, before starting into the Chalet, the hulking male and two quite excited looking females following in after her. Class-B were already inside and eating which was frustrating, but also reassuring since they knew they hadn't been led through some elaborate prank just for Aizawa's entertainment, which Mina originally thought all of this was.
"Kacchan, you fought really well back there." Mina heard Izuku complimenting the blonde-haired Explosion Quirk user from a few paces behind, but she wasn't the only one who started listening in. Whenever the two boys exchanged words or even glances, it probably wasn't going to go without some form of aggression, and Mina could already feel a fit of defensive anger flaring up inside her.
She hated how he looked at Izuku with such disdain, how he acted like the greenette was so far below him even though he'd only recently been outmatched by him. It made it even worse for Mina, not only for the fact that she held Izuku so dear, but also because he knew what he'd been going through now she'd found out about him and All Might, and there was no way Bakugo was helping any of it.
"Don't pity me, bastard!" Bakugo snarled, firing a small explosion into Izuku's side which caused him to stumble a bit. Mina clenched her fists harder than ever. What's his problem! She screamed at herself. She couldn't just stand by and watching this happen anymore. She had to do something for Izuku, like all the times he'd done something for her.
She twisted her feet and started making her way back through their group towards the blonde-haired teenager, who noticed this almost instantly. His glare was still on his face; that glare he gave his oldest friend. What happened to that! What was so back about her Izuku that made him do these things.
She clamped her hand into his wrist, and when he tried to pull away, she released a small amount of irritant acid. Someone had to stand-up to Bakugo, and if Izuku wasn't going to do it because he was so much better than that, then Mina was.
"Get over here." She barked, genuinely feeling pure anger for the first time as she pulled Bakugo around from behind her and shoved him hard against the wall.
"What is your problem!" She yelled, shoving his shoulder. He didn't say anything. He didn't look that worried about her confronting him, in fact, he smiled. Scoffing and turned away from her. The nerve, the fucking nerve of this guy. She reached out and pulled him back, gripping him a little harder than she'd originally intended.
"Don't walk away from me!" She barked.
"Shut it crazy bitch! I don't know what you want or what whack mushrooms ya must've eaten, but I'm not hearing whatever ramblin's you got, so get your pinky ass away from me." He snarled back, cracking explosions in his hand and looming over her. It was scary, because she knew he wouldn't hesitate to use his Quirk against her, but someone had to do this.
"You shut up! What do you have against Izuku? Huh?" She asked, glaring at him with sclera and amber daggers, holding him to the wall by the collar of his shirt.
"You're scared, aren't you? Scared of him. Is that why you push him away? Is that why you've always pushed him away! You want to be 'the best', but he's coming for that! That's what you think, isn't it." She snarled, not taking her eyes from his. His frown grew more, and he grabbed onto Mina's wrist.
"I'm not-." He started, but Mina cut across him.
"He talks of you so highly, and no matter how many times you fucking beat him down, he gets back up. That's what you're afraid of. Your best friend, and you decided that 'taking a swan-dive off the roof of the building' what the best way to help him! Yeah, I've heard about that." She snarled.
"You act so menacingly, like your sooooo much better than he is. So tell me, Katsuki, what is it that you're so much better at, hmm?" She asked aggressively, her grip on his shirt remaining sted-fast.
"Because right now, I see nothing." She added, lowering her tone before pushing him back as she let go. He didn't move, nor did he try to say anything, he just stood there and stared at her.
"I..." He started, before his words fell. He looked not so much hurt but stunned. No-one had ever confronted him about anything in this way before.
"I don't know..." He muttered. He sounded genuinely upset, and Mina was aware she didn't know the full situation behind any of his or Izuku's relationship, but there had to be a reason, and she wanted to find it, no matter what.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Think, next time, yeah? Put yourself in his position and imagine everything you've put him through, and everything he's had to deal with." She ordered, stepping back from him and walking away, before stopping herself again, looking over her shoulder. Bakugo hadn't moved, but stayed where she'd pinned him, staring at the grass with a shocked expression on his face.
"Suddenly you're not so tough, huh?" She asked rhetorically, before turning away from him and started into the chalet, the sigh of the rest of her Class taking their seats easing the angry feeling inside her.
She felt bad for being so harsh, anyone would, but with Bakugo, it was almost needed. Izuku had been through a lot more than anyone else in the class would ever know, and they all treated him equally, in fact, they looked up to him. Everyone held him dear because they could see just how hard he was trying, and just how much he tried to help others.
He was the light to the class. If anyone was struggling, not only would they looked to each other for help, but they thought of and looked to him for help too. Mina had seen this and had even done it herself on multiple occasions, and she knew that the others had done the same, and now she wanted Bakugo to see it that way.
There had to have been something to trigger his hatred, and whether it was anything to do with Izuku or not, didn't excuse the fact that someone had to deal with it. Maybe in doing this, she'd not only help her boyfriend but also help Bakugo. She didn't want him to change who he was, as much as she thought that would be a good idea, but she wanted him to at least go back to being Izuku's friend.
What she'd seen on the bus after the practical exam, the small smile and the nod the Explosion Quirk user had given the One For All Quirk user, she wanted to see that again. The friendly rivalry was something she'd accept, but Bakugo saw it as a fight to the death in every way.
Hell, maybe everything she'd said to him would not have an effect on the situation, but she felt better knowing she'd tried to do something to help, as opposed to leaving it to get worse. She loved Izuku with all her heart, so she felt like that was the least she could do for him.
A/N: Well there we go, the first snap from Mina at Bakugo. Did she do the right thing, even if she didn't know the whole story from before? Would Bakugo even change? It's all a lot to think about, but it won't be long until we see the outcome of this act.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope I wrote that confrontation well xD. I really tried my best on it! If you liked it, leave me a review, and tell me what you thought, or what you think I could improve, since it is more helpful than you think! This was definitely a fun chapter to write, but I have a lot more planned for this arc, so look forward to the next few chapter. That's all from me for now, take care!
-ElliottChap.