Hello all, and welcome back to A Hero's Creed! Are you ready for the start of the summer training camp? I sure am!

Dreadwatch: Well, here's the first of many more parts!

Gamelover41592: Thank you.

LEGOBRICK13: .pmac gniniart rieht fo trats eht yojne ,yawynA .romuh fo esnes ym fo demahsa ton ma I

maxperseus130: We discussed the OCs in our PMs, so there's not much else I have to say, but I hope something in this chapter surprises you.

Monkey D. Conan: I'm glad you enjoyed Mure and Sai. I have plans for them and the others. Just wait until we get to the Licensing Exam and you get to meet the other Recruits.

Movieboy66: Welcome to the land of those who have changed my story plans for the better. Your comment has answered a lot of questions I had about the future.

Ranger McAleer: Here we go!

Shadowwolf1997: I actually just finished watching a Syndicate playthrough, so that's definitely an aspect. A tip of the top hat, you could say. I also see the comparison between Nascha and Simon as similar to Connor and Haytham. Simon is absolutely a Templar pawn at this moment. Will he always be? You'll just have to wait.

Chapter 41:

Summer Camp, Start!

"Dude, what happened to you?" Kaminari gasped, the group of students he'd been talking to turning at his query. They too gasped as Izuku stepped into their midst, his new facial scar clear to see stretching upward from his left brow to his hairline. The verdet chuckled, letting the whispers spread until just about everyone in class 1-A was staring at him. Best he told the story only once so he didn't need to repeat himself and risk screwing it up, not that he really needed to lie that hard.

"Well," he muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "You know how Momo invited me to go to I-Island with her?"

"You were there?" Ochako asked. "I read that it got attacked by a group of crazy terrorists!"

"Yeah, something like that," Izuku replied, letting them whisper. "Iida was there, too."

"And I am glad you see you have recovered from your injuries, Midoriya," the legacy student nodded. "I did tell them your visage suffered some external, superficial change."

"Iida!" Kirishima yelled. "You said something happened! You didn't tell us Midoriya got a wicked scar out of it!"

"That is what I said. He had an external, superficial change of his visage."

"I mean," Jiro muttered. "Don't they say it's only fun if you get a scar out of it?"

"This was not fun, Jiro," Izuku whispered, a hiss in his voice. His right hand reached across his torso, holding his left, typically-covered-but-still-discolored bicep. "It was like the USJ all over again, but so much worse. It was terrifying and I failed to save so many people."

"Are you gonna stop?" The group turned, Bakugo stomping his way forward to glare at his long-time bullying target. Izuku felt a glare of his own harden in response.

"Hello to you too, Bakugo."

"Well? You gonna run back to your mommy and cry like a bitch, Deku?"

"What the hell do you think?" Izuku demanded, his hiss turning into more of a snarl. "I'm here, aren't I? What more do you want?"

They glared at each other for several moments before Bakugo's face split into a wide grin.

"I guess you really have grown a spine, Deku," he said. "With that scar, you're actually starting to look like someone of note. You might have shoved your way into my origin story, but you're at least becoming more than just a damn footnote. Keep it up and you just might get a paragraph in my autobiography. Maybe even a whole fuckin' page."

"What makes you think I want to be part of that?" Izuku turned his nose away as if the blond had failed to shower. "Besides, no one will want to buy your autobiography anyway. Everyone knows Todoroki will beat you to first place."

"The fuck did you just say‽" Bakugo demanded. "As if I'd let some emotionally-stunted microwave burrito show me up!"

"I do not see what burritos have to do with this conversation," Shoto commented. "Nor do I care about ranking. Please do not drag me into your petty squabbles."

"Can we get back on track?" Tsuyu asked, stepping up to stand next to her fellow Assassin Apprentice. "Izuku, what happened, ribbit, if you don't mind me asking?"

She knew the story already, of course, but the rest of their class didn't need to know that.

"Momo, Iida, my mother, and I managed to sneak out of the party after the thieves arrived," Izuku paraphrased.

"Your mom was there?" Kaminari interrupted, Bakugo barking out a laugh. "Tough break, man. It's bad enough having Iida around to interrupt your date."

"It wasn't a date," the verdet insisted. "Anyway, we managed to sneak out, but the leader and his top guys took David Shield, his daughter, and his assistant Samuel hostage after taking over the island's security systems. Momo, Iida, Mom, and I worked together to go up the floors after them, hoping for a chance to put a stop to their plans. We made it somewhere around 100 floors before they spotted us and attacked us with a horde of robots. I ended up chasing the guy who'd come with them, since my Quirk is less than useless on robots." He sighed. "That was a stupid move, though. All I had was a rope-dart, a knife from the kitchens, and a semester of Hero School against a mercenary who could turn his arms into swords."

"How are you still alive?" Kirishima gaped.

"Luck, mostly," Izuku answered. "You know how acrobatic I can be, and it really saved me, but my knife ended up stopping a blow that would have killed me. Anyway, we played a game of cat-and-mouse all the way to the roof where I watched the leader load the Shields into a helicopter. I… I couldn't stop him, and then it got struck by lightning over the ocean. There was nothing I could do and the sword-guy had me dead to rights. That's when the security system kicked back in and All Might saved me. …Well, maybe not in that exact order, but it was a very stressful moment. I might have blocked some of it out."

"The fact that you were enveloped in the darkness so completely, alone, and still escaped with little besides your wits speaks volumes," Tokoyami commented. "You now hold a greater amount of my respect, Midoriya."

"What a manly story," Kirishima muttered under his breath.

"Don't do anything reckless like that again, Midori!" Mina ordered. "We can't be losing our Vice-Rep like that! You'd leave us with Mr. Anal-About-Rules over here!"

"Why I never!" Iida gasped, quickly getting his wits about himself again. "Ahem, that said, I mostly concur with the sentiment. However, Midoriya was not the only one saved by the actions of a pro Hero. Yaoyorozu, Ms. Midoriya, and myself were rescued from the endless wave of robots by a pair of sibling Heroes, one operating in America and the other in France. Were it not for their timely intervention, we would have been overrun."

"These siblings," Pony interrupted. "Did you get their names?"

"de Blanchet," Iida nodded. "Andre and Abrielle de Blanchet."

The American's blue eyes widened, a giddy smile coming to her face as she bounced on her heteromorphic legs.

"They are my half-siblings!" she said, several students nearly getting whiplash with how fast they turned to look at her. "Those cheapskates! They should have say something about being close! I have not seen them since I left!"

"I thought you said you lived on a ranch?" Sero commented.

"I did said I have a lot of siblings," Pony shrugged. "Andre taught me how to care for horses and Abrielle has a really pretty singing voice. It makes me so jealous!"

"Look what riffraff is waiting for our bus," a snide voice said, 1-A turning to see the students of 1-B approaching, led by Monoma. He flipped his hair, trying to look cool. "If it isn't— Midoriya, what the hell happened to you‽"

Izuku sighed, preparing to tell his story again. Thankfully, it seemed Mina and Toru were more than happy to take over… with a few embellishments.

"I'm so hype for this!" Mina cheered, a number of others in the bus echoing her sentiments. Thankfully, they'd gotten over his new look quickly in the wake of the excitement of their trip.

The entirety of classes 1-A and 1-B were packed into one of UA's automated transportation busses —this one with a more traditional seating arrangement— while their Homeroom teachers sitting at the front of the bus tried to not glare at each other noticeably. All Might was supposed to be there as well, but he had begged off and backed out, citing a need for time to sort out some "personal issues." Izuku found himself in a middle seat with Tsuyu on one side and Momo having pushed her way onto his other. He was, however, deep in conversation with 1-B's Class Representative Itsuka Kendo about the Quirks of her classmates, his Hero journal rapidly filling with new theories and ideas beyond what their limited joint training classes had given him. Ochako and Iida sat next to the redhead, offering their own thoughts occasionally.

"Hey, does anyone actually know where we're going?" Kirishima asked from his place beside the pink-skinned acid-user. "I mean, training camp, but where?"

"Not a clue!" Tetsutetsu laughed behind him. "But isn't the mystery the manliest part of the whole trip?"

"I don't know about that," the floating head of Setsuna Tokage replied beside him, the rest of her body and one eye at the front of the bus trying to play pattycake with Toru Hagakure. "Personally, I prefer to be on the giving side of surprises rather the receiving."

"Mm," Yui Kodai agreed with a calm, understated nod. Despite her silent demeanor and rather plain looks with black hair and eyes, the Hero student in question had developed a reputation as a prankster, a trait that had instantly endeared her to Tokage and dragged Reiko Yanagi and Kinoko Komori into their band of troublemakers. They were responsible for not a small number of headaches for their Homeroom teacher.

"We mustn't allow worry nor impatience to take root within our souls," Ibara Shiozaki advised them, her eyes never leaving the pages of the Bible in her hands. How she managed to read on the curvy mountain road they found themselves on was anyone's guess. "Such negative emotions and desires are the holds with which demons lead humans astray."

"But it's just so hard to wait!" Mina said, ignoring the vine-haired girl's overtly-religious message. "I wanna get this camp started!"

"You should value this time of calm while you can, Ashido," Aizawa said, his voice cutting through the ambient noise of the bus. Every student of 1-A went quiet at his words, the 1-B students shocked into silence at their sudden response. "Once our training camp begins, we will ensure you are prepared to take on the challenges that await you in the life of pro Heroes. Not a second will be wasted."

"…Anyone find that ominous?" Kaminari questioned after a moment, a shiver running down his spine. Several of the guys nodded beside him. "Not just me? That really doesn't make me feel better like I thought it would."

"I'm sure it will be fine, if painful," Jiro told him, poking his forehead with one of her jacks and ignoring the spark that came from it as well as the shiver it tried to give her. "Not that you're smart enough to comprehend that, Lightning Dolt. Your Quirk would fry the memory right out of you."

"W-We don't need to c-call each other n-names," Nirengeki Shoda stuttered, the short Vice-Rep of 1-B unsure if it was his place to chastise those of another class.

"No, it is fine, Shoda," Pony told him, leaving over the seat in front of him. She didn't seem at all concerned about how the position showed off her developed figure under her uniform to everyone else on the bus. "That is how Denki and Kyoka flirt."

"I-I-I'm not f-flirting with him!" Jiro rejected, the red of her face at odds with her words. "D-Don't put such s-stupid ideas in his head! H-He's got enough of th-those already! You'll fry the r-rest of his brain cells!"

"You are not?" Pony asked, feigning confusion with a tilt of her head. "Back home, kids with crushes usually pick on them for attention. I thought it is the same here."

Kaminari threw the American a thumbs-up and a smile while the punk girl wasn't looking.

"My gossip senses are tingling!" Mina screamed, bodily throwing herself across the aisle and practically squishing Shoda to get closer to Pony. "Give me the deets, girl! Oh, is there someone you like?"

"I tell you if you tell me?"

"Deal!"

Pony's eyes scanned the bus before she all but pulled Mina in to whisper in her ear. The native horned girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"No, really?"

"Yes."

"Spicy…" Mina turned, scanning the whole bus so none of them could tell who she was studying. "He is kinda cute. Good luck getting his attention, though. I support you. Give me the word and I'll give you a hand."

"Your turn."

"Well, deal's a deal." Mina leaned in, whispering. Tokage and Toru quickly abandoned their game to join them, poor Shoda looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. Part of him wondered if it would be safe to warn the girls' targets that they were falling into some dangerous crosshairs.

Closer to the back of the bus, the silent and observant watched their classmates, having little to contribute but content to watch the relative chaos. Kojiro Bondo, Koji Koda, Shihai Kuroiro, Hiryu Rin, Mezo Shoji, Hitoshi Shinso, Shoto Todoroki, and Fumikage Tokoyami sat in companionable silence, Dark Shadow in conversation with Reiko Yanagi not two seats ahead.

The bus rumbled, pulling off on the side of the road. Conversation died down as the students took notice of the break, those nearest a window trying to get a read on where they were.

"Is it a rest stop?" Kosai Tsuburaba asked, craning his neck to try to see around Manga Fukidashi's speech-bubble-shaped head. "I could really use one at the moment."

"No one fuckin' cares, extra!" Bakugo yelled.

"Bakugo!" Iida chastised, hand chopping the air. "Your words and your actions are wholly unbecoming of you as a Hero student, a member of class 1-A, and as a pupil of UA! We—"

"Shut up, Four Eyes!"

"Everyone out!" Vlad King called, ending the brewing argument. The students did as bid, disembarking the shuttle onto the top of a cliff. A small, metal fence stuck out of the ground at the edge, there to ensure no one would fall over accidentally. The view itself was beautiful, the blue sky stretching out over a sea of green and the fresh smell of nature in the air.

The students barely had a few seconds to take in this view before they were interrupted, a pair of bright figures making themselves known.

"With sparkling eyes, we rock on!" a woman said.

"Stingingly cute and catlike! We are—" another continued.

"Wild Wild Pussycats (one-half version)!" they announced in tandem, the speakers striking a pose.

DID THEY JUST MANAGE TO SPEAK IN PARENTHESES? Manga Fukidashi questioned, his words written on the front and back of his heteromorphic head rather than spoken. I THOUGHT ONLY I COULD DO THAT.

"You kittens don't need to worry your pretty little heads about that!" the first speaker said. She was a brunette, her cute Hero costume a mixture of red and white with a pair of large, paw-like gloves, a decorative red-and-white tail, and a headset reminiscent of technological cat ears. Her brown eyes were highlighted by two lines of red under each. This was Mandalay, the leader of the Hero team. A young boy stood beside her, a frown on his face and his hands in his pockets.

"Instead, there are forty of you and only two teachers from UA, so we've been ask to help!" the other pro offered. She was a blonde with an outfit similar to Mandalay's but in blue. A clear visor showed her blue eyes and she had two dots of blue on her cheeks. Izuku recognized her as the pro Hero Pixie-Bob. "That's why you're here! Welcome to our personal mountain!"

"It's two members of the Wild Wild Pussycats!" Izuku announced, wanting to show off his knowledge for the students of 1-B. "They're a four-person team and one of the four teams that set up the Union Affairs Office right out of school, specializing in mountain terrain and rescue. They're also one of the only teams still operating even after 12 y—"

"I'm 18 in my heart!" Pixie-Bob quickly cut the boy off, a pillar of earth rising around Izuku to stop his words. Several of his classmates, Tsuyu included, snickered at his predicament.

"Students," Aizawa said, gesturing to the pair of women. "Meet Mandalay and Pixie-Bob. They and their teammates Ragdoll and Tiger have agreed to help us train you and even offered their forest for our training camp this year. Be sure to thank them."

"You extras are going to teach us?" Bakugo questioned, clearly of the opinion there was nothing he could learn from Heroes that weren't strong enough to operate alone. "The Hell are we supposed to learn?"

"More than you think," Aizawa answered. "Rather, the training camp has begun. Mandalay?"

"Right," the brunette nodded, pointing one finger of her glove toward a clearing in the forest. "That right there will be our main camp. See it? Your job is to get there. It's 9:30 in the morning now, so you have just about three hours before noon-thirty. Any of you who are late, you don't get lunch."

"What‽" several students gasped. Izuku shook off the dirt that Pixie-Bob has used on him, a bad feeling running down his spine.

"Three…?" Kaminari blinked. "Are you saying—?"

Pixie-Bob crouched, pressing her hands against the earth as she activated her Quirk: Earth Flow. The cliff face on the other side of the road wobbled, practically turning to liquid as it fell, flowing around the bus and the pro Heroes.

Aizawa allowed a sadistic grin to sneak out.

"Begin."

About an eighth of the students reacted instantly, Izuku, Tsuyu, Momo, Hiryu Rin, Jurota Shishida, and Shihai Kuroiro all instantly throwing themselves over the railing before the flowing dirt could reach them. The rest of the students didn't have such luck, but their responses were mixed. Most of them were caught in the controlled landslide while others, like Ibara Shiozaki and Bakugo, quickly used their Quirks to avoid or tank the attack.

"Oh, right!" Mandalay yelled, her voice barely carrying over the noise. "Feel free to use your Quirks however you want! Good luck and welcome to the Forest of Magical Beasts!"

Momo reacted first, forming a paraglider from her arms and quickly catching the wind. Rin copied her, using his own mobile scales to form something like a flight suit, unable to stop his momentum but with enough control to direct his fall away from what would become the impact sight. Rather than trying to slow himself, Kuroiro streamlined himself, diving toward the ground and the growing shadows there. His disappeared into the darkness.

"Tsu!" Izuku called, grabbing the rope-darts he carried out of habit, one flying out to wrap around Shishida's waist and the other toward the trees. He felt Tsuyu wrap her prehensile tongue around his own waist before he pulled, dragging his classmates away from the falling dirt, the secret Assassin Apprentices landing on a pair of sturdy branches while Shishida hung below them, growling his frustration.

"Thank you, Midoriya," the hairy student muttered, "but I think I could have handled that on my own."

"Sorry, Shishida," Izuku apologized with a chuckle. The landslide hit the ground with an echoing CRASH, the groaning voices of the unlucky students coming from within. "Moved without thinking."

"Ow…" Kaminari whined, rolling his shoulder as he pulled himself out of the mud. He went back quickly, pulling several more students out including Jiro and Shoda. Those who managed to avoid the landslide started to arrive, Pony floating down on her horns, Tokage flying as a bundle of disembodied parts, Bakugo with his exploding hands, and Shiozaki allowing her vines to carry her down.

"Ah man!" Toru whined. "Now my uniform's all dirty!"

"Then you should just get good, extra," Bakugo hissed, pointing at the mound of displaced earth and the students still within. "All of you should be fuckin' ashamed!"

"Not all of us have badass Quirks that let us fly, Bakugo!" Sero told him.

"Even the Quirkless Deku over there managed to avoid that, Elbows," the blond shot back, pointing with his thumb toward the trees. "If he can do it, the rest of you idiots have no excuse!"

"Wow, Bakugo," Izuku muttered, making sure his voice was loud enough to be heard from the treetops. "Thanks for the complement."

"Shut your face hole, Deku! You're still just a pebble in my way, but I can at least acknowledge that you've worked harder than these lazy shits! They just managed to rank lower than the lowest worm; that's on them!"

"You are beholden to the sins of wrath and pride," Shiozaki began.

"It ain't pride if I can back it up, Vines. And it ain't wrath if it's their fault for pissing me off in the first place!"

"Be that as it may—"

"Hey, guys?" Ochako questioned, trying to wipe dirt from her uniform. "Did anyone catch the name of this forest?"

"I did," Shishida replied, finally getting himself untangled. "Mandalay called it the Forest of Magical Beasts."

"Sound like something out of a videogame," Pony commented. "Does anyone know why it is called that?"

Several eyes from 1-A turned to Izuku, their Vice-Rep simply shrugging.

"Uh, maybe that's why?" Kosei Tsuburaba offered, pointing at a pack of ten-foot-tall creatures prowling just within the trees. They were brown and green in color with no eyes and large tusks rising from their lower jaws.

"What is that‽" Kaminari gasped.

"That is not our problem, ribbit," Tsuyu said, directing her words to Izuku. "The others can handle that. I'd rather not waste our time fighting here."

"Alright," her fellow green-haired student agreed. There was little they could do in such a large group, and even less Izuku could without his bo. Based on what they saw as 1-A and 1-B did as they moved to engage the beast, everyone was only going to get in each other's ways if they stayed together.

"These things don't have a heartbeat!" Jiro yelled as Izuku and Tsuyu disappeared into the trees, following behind Momo, Rin, and Kuroiro who were already well ahead.

The Apprentices tied for third in the race to reach camp a little over six hours later, the pair having passed Momo as she fought off a pack of dirt wolves in the middle of the forest. Hiryu Rin and Shihai Kuroiro of 1-B had beaten them, the pair having apparently left the group before any discussion of teamwork could begin and then avoiding all combat. Most of the rest of their classes filtered in in one large group over two hours after that, dirty, sweaty, and tired. Shoto and Bakugo arrived in the middle, beating the rest by only 15 minutes. The last to arrive were the trio of Shinso, Aoyama, and Koda, all three practically crawling out of the trees.

"And so I said," Izuku continued, telling a story from his training —without mentioning any of his teachers in detail— to the Wild Wild Pussycats as he and the other speedy students continued helping them set out dinner. Specifically, it was a story of when he and Intelli were offered a chance to duel Akaguro. The early birds had gotten snacks for their speed, easing their hunger, which allowed the verdet the strength to fight back his chuckling at his own story. "So… So I said, now that's a katana!"

Pixie-Bob and Tiger about fell over laughing at the end of his story. Tsuyu's lips tilted upward, but she did not give a full smile, remembering the first time she heard the story. Her father had chuckled about it for nearly half an hour afterward despite Akaguro's side-eyes.

"Well, well," Mandalay grinned as the students limped into the clearing. "Look what the cat dragged in."

"Shinso, Aoyama, Koda," Aizawa said, the three students straightening. "You three need to work on your stamina. You nearly missed dinner."

"I am not sure I can stand to eat," Aoyama muttered, holding his stomach.

"You better find a way," the 1-A Homeroom teacher replied. "You will need it for tomorrow."

"Everyone's here now!" Pixie-Bob called. "We can do the thing!"

The pro Heroes moved, striking a pose.

"With sparkling eyes, we rock on!"

"We've come to lend a paw and help!"

"Coming from… somewhere…"

"Stingingly cute and cat-like! We are—"

"Wild Wild Pussycats!"

Besides the pro Heroes the students all already knew, there were two more adults in the group. Ragdoll was the third member of the Pussycats, a shorter woman with long, green hair and large, yellow eyes. Her outfit was a yellow variation of the same tail/skirt/paw gloves combination as the others.

Tiger was the lone male of the group, his muscular body less than hidden under his brown costume of the same make as the others, skirt and all. He had short, black hair and a chiseled chin, his eyes shaded in the right lighting. He certainly held more intimidation factor than the others of the group.

"We're done!" Izuku called, the tables set.

"Alright, everyone!" Ragdoll called. "Dinner is ready! Enjoy it now because this is the only meal we're feeding you! Every other one is on you!"

"That was cruel," Ojiro commented, nursing his bruised tail. "We just about gave up at the three-hour mark."

"Sorry, sorry," Pixie-Bob grinned. "That three-hour thing was your teachers' idea."

"Of course it was," the entirety of 1-A deadpanned, turning to glare at Aizawa. He glared back without a shred of remorse.

"Stop whining and eat," he ordered. The students moved quickly, seating themselves at the tables and loading their plates.

"It's so good!" Kirishima cried, tears rolling down his cheeks as he stuffed his face. Tetsutetsu at his side muttered the same. Conversation varied as the meal progressed, everyone intermingling to discuss what they hoped to happen and what ideas they'd had about their Quirk usage.

"Hey, Ragdoll?" Itsuka Kendo asked, the green-haired Pussycat turning to the redhead with a blink. "If you don't mind me asking, who's the kid?"

Said kid hung at the edge of the group, a scowl on his face as he ate. It looked to be around five or six, but his expression was one of someone far older. A red hat covered his dark hair, two horns sticking out of the front of the headgear but probably not a heteromorphic traits. He glanced over, catching Kendo looking at him, and growled before turning back to his rice.

Ragdoll leaned forward, dropping her voice. "That's Kouta Izumi. He's Mandalay's… nephew. Well, her cousin's kid, but she's been his guardian for the past couple of years. It's a really sad story."

"What, so he's mopey because his parents died years ago?" Bakugo questioned from another table. "If it's been that long, he should get over it already." Students around him gasped for his blunt words, throwing him shocked and disgusted looks. "Oh, fuck off. We were all thinking it."

"That doesn't mean you can just say it, dude," Sen Kaibara hissed. "What if the kid hears you?"

"Then he can come over here and—" An earthenware plate shattered against the back of Bakugo's head, the surprise force driving his face into his food. The sound of the breaking pottery echoed like a gunshot.

"Kouta!" Mandalay gasped.

"Who the fuck—‽" Bakugo spat, spinning with tiny explosions popping across his fingers. Kouta stood behind the blond, tears leaking from his eyes.

"Shut up!" the boy yelled in his face. "You don't know a goddamn thing about me!"

"Yeah?" the Hero student demanded, ignoring the way his Quirk failed as Aizawa activated his own. "I know that you're a fragile little extra. Your body language says you've got a grudge against the world, but you haven't showed an ounce of drive despite having pros as your guardians. You're weak, brat, and by choice. You aren't doing anything to change it."

"Fuck you!" Kouta yelled back, ignoring his pseudo-aunt calling his name again. He went to punch the blond only for Bakugo to catch his fist. "At least I'm not buying into this selfish idea of Heroes! You and everyone else here are morons who are just gonna go die as soon as someone needs you!"

"That's bullshit," Bakugo shot back. "Even if that does happen —which it won't because I'm gonna be the number one Hero in the world— you have no leg to stand on. Life is a game, brat, and you're either the best or an extra, and the difference between them is strength. Come back when you can actually stand on your own. Then you can tell me what you think."

"You jerk!" Kouta ran, the rest of the group too shocked to do anything. Mandalay shot off after him, calling his name. Uncaring for the scene he just caused, Bakugo turned back around and continued eating.

"Bakugo," Aizawa sighed, running a hand down his face. "Give me one good reason for why I shouldn't expel you here and now."

"Because the brat needed to hear it," the explosive teen replied without missing a beat. "He's pissed at the world for something that happened years ago. He needs to get over it before he turns into a Villain. And if he needs someone to vent at, then I can take it better than any of these extras." He gestured to the rest of the first-year Hero students. "Besides, I can't stand people who complain about the world without trying to change it."

"He's five!" Pixie-Bob growled, standing up and slamming her hands on the table. "The hell were you doing at five years old that you can talk to Kouta like that?"

"I was training, Blue Cat," Bakugo replied. "I was getting stronger so no one could or would ever fuckin' beat me. I was making sure that I had the goddamn power I needed to blow up any obstacle that would get in my way and any shit the world threw at me. I've trained so hard that I know that if I ever failed, there would be no one to blame but me. That's why I hate weaklings." Bakugo finished his food in two bites before shoving his cutlery away and standing. He stomped to the edge of the room before pausing.

"The weak can become strong when they have the right drive," he grunted. "If that extra knows what's good for him, he'll turn my words into his. He'll get good just to spite me. Hell, maybe one day he'll actually be someone of note who can make me stronger. Now if you need me, I'll be moving my stuff."

He left.

"Dude," Kirishima whispered into the silence. "I don't know if that was manly or not."

"Aizawa-sensei!" Iida called, standing. "I demand you expel Bakugo for his behavior! We cannot have such a menace to children besmirching the name of UA!"

"…No," Aizawa decided, Iida physically recoiling at the denial. "I told him to give me a good reason, and his reason was good enough, if twisted. I'm willing to see where this goes before making any final choice on the matter."

"But Sensei—!"

Shishida set a hand on the legacy's shoulder, silently telling him to drop the matter. Iida frowned, slowly sitting down.

The rest of the meal was a somber affair, the Pussycats sending glares toward Aizawa periodically. The man in question finished his food quickly and stood to address the students.

"I understand this isn't what you expected, but make no mistake; this is still a training camp. As such, your training will start tomorrow. Unlike what you've been doing up to this point, we will not be focusing on creativity nor technique. This week will be about pushing your Quirks past their limits. Like muscles, Quirks have an upper limit that can be broken with repeated strain, and you must learn where those limits are and how to burst through. Give it some thought tonight and try to have an idea of what you want to try in the morning. We will edit our plans if you can think of something better. Training begins at 5:30. Now clean up before you're dismissed."

"Man," Kirishima sighed, he and the other boys of 1-A in the open-air onsen they'd been given as a bathing area. 1-B had bathed first while 1-A received first crack at sleeping arrangements. Bakugo was not with them, however, the blond having bathed already and gone to bed early. "I still don't know how I feel about that."

"You are referring to Bakugo's outburst and Aizawa-sensei's subsequent decision?" Shoto asked, the heterochromatic teen using his fire to heat the water higher than it was naturally.

"Don't you think it was a bit too harsh?" Sero questioned, scrubbing his elbows. "I mean, he was yelling at a kid."

"The kid did hit him with a plate," Kaminari reminded them. "Besides, we all know what kind of egotistical bastard Bakugo is. That said, was he wrong?"

"Of course," Iida answered quickly. "Under no circumstances is it permissible to scream at a child, much less one with such evident trauma."

"I don't think that's what he meant, Iida," Izuku muttered, making eyes turn to him. "Bakugo said Kouta looked like he could've turned into a Villain if he doesn't change. Looking back, I think he was right."

"You're siding with him?" Sero gasped, remembering all the arguments the blond and the verdet had had in the classroom.

"It's not the best way to jumpstart the healing process, but I think I see what he's doing," Izuku replied. "Bakugo said Kouta had a grudge against the world. After their argument, it's likely Bakugo is trying to localize that grudge. He knows people don't like him, that he's not a so-called 'people person.' He'd daring Kouta to defy expectations and giving him a reason to."

"By personifying that which the boy despises, Bakugo peels away the darkness so he can see the light," Tokoyami muttered. "What a controversial enigma. It is a dangerous risk. In doing this act, Bakugo has made an enemy of our temporary teachers."

"He'll just see that as another challenge to overcome," Izuku sighed, running a hand through his hair. "After all the preferential treatment he got in middle school, I think he gets a kick out of when our teachers don't like him. He enjoys pissing them off with his success."

"Damn," Kirishima muttered. "Setting up barriers just to breath through. Now that's manly."

"It's being an egotistical asshole is what it is," Izuku said with a shake of his head. He stood, hoping no one noticed the healed bullet wound in his abdomen. "I think he was trying the same thing on me this morning. I don't know if he does it to help or because he wants to drag others up just so he gets more of a boost by stepping on them, but we'll have to see the results later."

"What terrifying charisma," Iida commented. "I, for one, would not mind defying Bakugo's expectations."

"Me too!" The male students jerked at the feminine voice, spinning around to see Mina leaning over the wall dividing their baths, floating on Pony's horns. She smirked as they saw her. "Looking good! Especially you, Kiri!"

"Ashido! Get down! This is wholly inappropriate!"

Meanwhile, away from the sudden chaos of the baths, Momo Yaoyorozu slunk away from the classes' temporary living arrangements. She was dressed in dark green silken pajamas of her own make, all the better for sneaking around in the forest as dusk fell. She didn't go too far, only 20 paces into the forest or so, before she stopped.

"I'm here," she said, not daring to raise her voice. "You wanted to talk privately?"

Out of the gloom of the forest appeared Ibara Shiozaki, a rosary in her hands as she approached.

"Momo," she said. "You weren't followed?"

"My classmates are still in the baths," the raven-haired student replied. "Why did you call me out here, Bara?"

Shiozaki cast her eyes about, searching for wandering eyes or listening ears. She didn't see anything, so she forged ahead before she could lose her nerve.

"Momo, I beg you," she said. "You have to leave the Templars. Before their activities get you killed."

End of chapter 41

Hoo, boy! I think the camp is off to a great start, but don't have all the questions I usually do at the end here. Tell me what you think!

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods