A/N: Hey, guys! Glad that the social media posts that I released were so well-received, and that you guys seemed to like my double-chapter release. You all seemed to have a lot to say, with the most common theme being the demand of Akarui returning to good health, as well as some suggestions for how to make it happen. Well... I suggest reading the chapter to see just how Kurai's scrappy kid brother is getting along.

Now, as I have mentioned before, this arc is where I'm really gonna start to shake things up, which already began with Kurai's discovery of All Might's secret, and agreeing to help Midoriya in his eventual battle against All For One. Now, based on this week's artwork, as well as certain scenes in the OP video that I made for this story, we'll continue that trend by introducing new characters! Well, I mean... "new".

A lot more art stuff will be accompanying this phase, and depending on how well it is received, that may continue on into other phases. I will be continuing to release concept art on Instagram, but I will also be putting up teasers for comic strips meant to accompany the story on my new DeviantArt (yes, the bastards finally got me). You can find/follow me there with the handle MatarasRedSwordsman, and gain access to higher-resolution artwork that you can also download for personal use- provided you don't copy it or try to pawn it off as yours'. That'd be mean. That'd be something that Monoma would do. You don't want to be like Monoma, do you?

Sorry, back to Your Hero Academia!

Prior Story: Your Hero Academia: Evolution

Surprise Exchange

The week leading up to the summer camp was one of the best and worst times in Kurai's life. It was good because he and Mina were closer than ever, hardly leaving one another's side in that time, except when it was time for one of them to go home at the end of the day. His quirk's negative effects had also been erased, allowing him to exercise the full range of his emotions without the threat of an aneurism for the first time since childhood.

It was also a terrible time for several reasons, the first being that after his brother had been transferred to the Hosu hospital on the mainland, the boy was given test after test to determine the range of the damage done to his brain, which turned out to be extensive. In addition to all the problems that the I-island doctors had been able to ascertain, the local specialist confirmed that the tumor had grown not only in size, but in aggression. He predicted that Akarui had perhaps six years to live, all of which would be plagued with pain and frustration. He would continue to lose his motor function capabilities, and he would more than likely suffer from violent seizures every once in a while.

When Kurai had suggested that Yaoyorozu remake the device that had cured him, Akarui had told them- via written notepad- that the neck piece had been designed with Energon in mind, not Solar Intelligence, nor could he explain the process for how he had made the original. Even with his advanced intellect, he couldn't quite figure out how he had designed what he did, likely not without overworking his quirk again. If he tried to do that in order to try and figure out how to cure himself with a similar method, the effort would certainly kill him.

Kurai's parents took their younger son's newest medical development pretty hard. His mother hadn't come home since Akarui was put in the hospital, and his father only came home to sleep, as he was either working or spending time with his family in Akarui's hospital room. Feeling guilt-ridden by the whole ordeal, Kurai only visited his brother once a day, and for less than an hour each time. He simply couldn't figure out how to interact with his brother anymore, even though the boy had been given a tablet so that he could write or type out whatever he wanted to communicate.

Gone were the easy exchanges, the friendly insults, and the subtle excitement about the next anime episode or movie that they had been looking forward to. Akarui didn't have the energy to waste on such things anymore- if he was going to talk, it was about something related to his health or doctor. The sight of his kid brother broke his heart, and Kurai doubted whether he would ever really recover from this.

Next on the list of negatives was that Kurai's sleep cycles suffered greatly, due to nightmares that had begun to plague him with increasing regularity. They ranged from watching the people he loved getting ripped apart by Nomu, or being disintegrated by Shigaraki's hands, and watching his brother taking his last breath as his body spasmed- no doubt the ending that awaited the boy as a result of his sacrifice. Most terrifying of all was the faceless entity that tore through All Might's invincibility and left him as a walking cadaver before turning to him and extending a hand to the terrified boy.

"Serve me, or I will take your power for my own and use it to destroy everything that you love," the sinister voice would tell him. As he began to tremble with terror, All For One would laugh at him, knowing that he was helpless before his ancient, unimaginable power.

He would always wake up at that point, covered in a cold sweat, and wondering, Could I resist him? He thought about calling Midoriya a few times, but he would decide against it each time. He's got enough to worry about without me telling him that I've got night terrors.

He hoped that he would be able to talk to All Might before they went on the trip- otherwise he felt like he might burst from his building nerves and anxieties. He couldn't talk to Mina about it, either- at least, not the part concerning All For One. She knew that he was having some trouble sleeping, but she didn't- couldn't- know the true source of his newfound fear.

I hope that this summer camp training will take my mind off of all this, even if just a little, he thought during the morning before the day before he was to leave with the rest of his class. Just as he finished his breakfast in the hauntingly quiet house, he dropped his cereal bowl at the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Cursing in low voice, he moved toward the front door, thinking that perhaps his father had come home for a change of clothes. However, he was surprised to see Uraraka and Ashido standing on his porch, both of them wearing big smiles as they bid him a good morning.

"Hey, good morning," he said once he found his voice. "What's brought you to this part of the neighborhood?"

"Deku and Kaminari got permission to use the school pool for training today!" Uraraka informed him excitedly. "Us girls are gonna play some volleyball, but we thought it'd be nice for you to get in a good workout while hanging out with the guys!"

"Oh yeah, now that think about it, Midoriya sent a text yester-"

"Holy crap, dude!" Mina suddenly yelped, causing him to flinch and look behind himself, almost as if he expected to be attacked from inside his house.

"What?" he asked with confusion as he turned back to his girlfriend, who was looking downward. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" she repeated incredulously. "How do you not feel that?!"

"Oh man!" Uraraka hissed as she saw what had startled her friend. "Hikari, you need to sit down!"

"Huh?" he asked as he looked down, even as he became aware of a stinging sensation in his legs. "Oh…" Apparently when he had dropped the bowl, some of the pieces of the ceramic had wound up burying themselves in his feet and legs, resulting in close to a dozen cuts and stab wounds, some with the broken bits still lodged in his flesh, and all of which were bleeding rapidly.

"C'mon!" Uraraka said as she used her zero gravity on him before he could react. "Keep still while we get you to a couch! Mina, do you know where we can get some cloth to stop the bleeding?" As she spoke, she tugged him along while he floated, negating the need for him to use his legs to get around.

"Careful in the kitchen," Kurai warned her, silently berating himself for his stupidity. "There's pieces of a bowl all over the place."

"How'd that happen?" she asked as she headed for the hall closet, where his family kept spare towels and cleaning materials.

Good thing she's been here a few times, Kurai thought as Uraraka guided him into the living room, where there was a couch long enough for him lie on. Out loud, he answered, "I got startled when you guys rang the doorbell, and I dropped my stuff. It's been really quiet without my family around, sorry."

"No, we're sorry for scaring you," Uraraka apologized worriedly as Mina ran into the room with the towels they needed.

"S'okay."

"Mina, put one of those underneath him so he doesn't bleed directly on the leather," Uraraka told her friend while hovering Kurai over the furniture. Once the pink girl had done so, they lowered him gently onto the couch before the quirk was disengaged, causing him to hiss in pain as his legs were pressed into the fabric.

"Sorry, sweetie," Mina apologized with a grimace. "We're gonna get these pieces out."

"We have hydrogen peroxide under the bathroom sink," he grunted as Uraraka began to carefully pick at some of the larger shards in his left leg. He knew that the wounds would have to be disinfected- after all, the bowl had not been cleaned when it was dropped. "There's a manicure kit in the mirror with some tweezers, too- use 'em on the smaller pieces." He winced as a particularly jagged piece was removed from his foot.

"Sorry," Ochaco apologized again as she deposited the bloody piece on a smaller towel by her legs while Mina dashed off to get the necessary tools.

"I'm the one who's sorry," he chuckled weakly. "You two should be having fun at the pool, not taking care of an idiot that busted up his legs."

"Yeah, well, you're my idiot, so I'm gonna take care of you," Mina called from up the hall. "I just hope that this won't affect your time at summer camp."

"Maybe we can take you to see Recovery Girl after you get bandaged up," Uraraka told him as she moved to picking at the larger pieces from his right leg, causing him to grunt with pain again.

"That'd be good," he grimaced as Mina returned with the requested items. "Aw, man…" He knew what was coming next, and he was not looking forward to it.

"Give him something to bite on, just in case," Uraraka told Mina as she set down the cleaning materials. "Once we get all the shards out, we'll have to disinfect, and it's gonna hurt."

"When'd you get so good at this stuff?" the pink girl asked her friend.

"I wanna be a rescue hero, so learning about first aid seemed like a good idea," she answered as she got out the tweezers. "Hold his legs still while I do this."

"You heard the lady," Mina said with an apologetic smile to her boyfriend. "I'd kiss it all better, but somehow I don't think that's gonna do the trick here."

"You could always- ow!- try," he said.

Once his wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, Mina took care of the mess in the kitchen while Ochaco went to cleanse the soiled towels and put the ceramic shards in the trash. Kurai tried to get up to help them, but his girlfriend was having none of it.

"If you wanna do something, pick a movie to watch," she told him as she handed him the TV remote. "I'll order us a pizza once we've got the place cleaned up."

"You're not gonna go swim?" he asked as he reluctantly did as he was told. The TV in the living room took up most of the wall that faced the kitchen, making it easy to see, even if someone was in the other room.

"Dude, you're all by yourself, and your legs are cut up," she said wryly. "I'm not going anywhere until you can get up without bleeding all over the floor."

"Yeah, and since we caused the problem, it's the least we can do to make sure that you're okay," Uraraka said as she came back into the room, her hands having been washed of any trace bloodstains. "Besides, you look like you could use some company."

"And what guy would say 'no' to a couple of cuties like us sticking around?" Mina teased him, causing both of her friends to redden rapidly.

"Mina!" Uraraka said, mortified.

"You have too much fun with that," Kurai deadpanned. "And it's gonna cost you."

"Wait, please tell me you're not-"

"Hey Alexa, play Revenge of the Sith."

"You always pick that one!"

"Hey, I'm beat up," he said smugly as he leaned back in the couch. "My pity points outweigh your complaints."

"What's Revenge of the Sith?" Uraraka asked blankly, causing Kurai to look at her, scandalized.

"Tell me you're joking," he said. "Please tell me you're just pranking me."

The brunette shrugged helplessly while Mina groaned and put her face in her hands. "Ochaco, you have no idea what you just did," she mumbled through her fingers.

"Have you… not seen Star Wars?" Kurai asked hesitantly.

"Oh, no," Uraraka answered, causing Kurai's left eye to start twitching crazily. "I never got into it."

"Well, you're about to," he declared, as he turned on the voice recognition app. "Alexa, play A New Hope."

As the TV switched over to the old film, Mina uncovered her face and pleaded, "Hikari, no!"

"Hikari, yes!"

Unfortunately for Kurai, he didn't even make it thirty minutes into the movie before he fell fast asleep in the crook of his girlfriend's arm. When he opened his eyes again, the sun was beginning to set, and the TV was turned off.

"What the-?" he mumbled drowsily before he felt someone kiss the top of his head.

"Hey, sleepy," Mina said teasingly as he stirred, wincing as the cuts on his legs protested the movements. "Uraraka's on her way back with our luggage for the trip, and Todoroki and Midoriya said they'd be here in a little while."

"Here in-?" he started, then stopped, the implications of what she was saying beginning to sink in. "Wait, do you have any idea what my parents would do if I had my friends over without their asking?! Especially if it was overnight?!"

"Dude, chill," she giggled as she stroked his head, lulling him back into a more lucid state, despite his efforts to remain otherwise. "Your dad came by while you were asleep to get a change of clothes- he's gonna spend the night with your mom and brother at the hospital since it's his day off. Ochaco explained what happened, and we got permission to stay here, as long as we got a couple of the guys to stay, too. We're gonna take a taxi to school in the morning, so we're all good there, too."

"My parents agreed to letting five teenagers stay in their house, unsupervised?" he asked dubiously.

"To be fair, I think they have bigger concerns right now."

"True…"

"Also, when were you gonna tell me that you were still having this much trouble sleeping?" she asked him, her voice losing its joking tone. "I've never seen anyone crash that hard before."

He was quiet for a minute before he answered, "I haven't gotten any more than an hour's sleep at a time since we came home. I didn't say anything because I was too busy worrying about Akarui and my parents, I guess."

"Dude, you gotta take care of yourself, too," she scolded him. "Now I feel stupid for not noticing how tired you must've been this whole time!"

"I've been living on coffee," he admitted ruefully. "Us hanging out at your house with your parents or with the others helped me hide it, I guess. I swear I wasn't doing it on purpose, though."

"I know," she sighed. "You're too focused on what's happening with your friends and family to pay attention to what your body is telling you, even without the recoil from your quirk. But what's keeping you from sleeping? Is it Akarui?"

"Partly," he nodded as he leaned back into her embrace, her arms wrapping around his chest. "Mostly it's nightmares- and they just keep getting worse."

"You slept pretty well while I was here, and at the hospital," she pointed out.

"Yeah, being with you puts me at ease," he said with a faint grin. "How dopey is that, huh?"

"Super dopey, but it's also really cute," she half-laughed. Her voice became serious again as she murmured, "Are you sure it's not your quirk?"

"I asked Akarui," he replied. "He said that my insomnia isn't a result of anything that he did- it's more than likely a form of PTSD, due to all the craziness since we started school at U.A. And with my mom and dad so preoccupied with him, I haven't had the heart to ask them to make an appointment with a doctor so I can see about getting some sleep meds."

"Dude!" Mina groaned. "Yeah, they're little boy is super sick, but you're their son, too. If you're having a problem like this, you gotta tell them about it so that they can get you the help that you need."

"I'll talk to them when we get back from camp, promise," he told her.

"…Okay, but I'm spending the night with you on the couch," she informed him, resulting in his being reduced to a sputtering mess. Before he could protest, she squeezed him tightly and said, "Not negotiable, buster. You need to get some real sleep before we go on a training camp- and knowing our teacher, it's gonna be tough. You can't go if your nerves are so shot that you're getting hurt just answering the door."

"Mina, I don't think that's a good-"

"Not. Negotiable," she said stubbornly. "If you don't wanna be in compromising positions with me, take better care of yourself so that I don't have to."

"…Yes ma'am," he said meekly.

"Good boy," she giggled. "We can all sleep out here in the living room if it makes you feel better."

"Yeah, I doubt you'd try anything too bad if the others are in the room," he muttered.

"Yeesh, don't sound so excited by the idea," she grumbled, though she declined to loosen her grip on him.

After a moment of companionable silence, he decided to ask, "So, how did Uraraka like the movie?"

"She loved R2, but that was about it," she answered with what sounded like a devious smile.

"I don't think I can be friends with her anymore."

Despite his concerns, Mina behaved herself both in the presence of their friends, and when they were alone that afternoon. When the others arrived from the pool, having picked up their suitcases from their homes already, the pizza had come in, and they ate together while watching 'The Empire Strikes Back', which ironically, turned out to be Todoroki's favorite film in the franchise.

Kurai slept soundly once again, buried in a warm nest of blankets, pillows, and his cuddly girlfriend. He slept so well, in fact, that it took Mina convincing Todoroki to wake him up with a chill burst to get him out of the couch.

"Seriously?" he complained as he rubbed at the sleep in his eyes. Looking around the still-dark room, he mumbled, "It's not even seven yet, what gives?"

"We all gotta get showered, eat breakfast, and be at the school a little early so that Recovery Girl can fix your legs," Mina told him as she climbed out of their nest. "We can't be late, or Mister Aizawa will probably choke us with his scarf."

"Oh yeah, you're taking extra lessons with him during the week, right?" Kurai grumbled drowsily, earning him a pillow to the face that sent him back into the pile of blankets. "Ow."

"At least I'm not the one that clocked him over the head with a sword," Mina snickered as she dropped the pillow. "He won't thank you for that."

"Don't I know it…"

With the help of his friends, Kurai made it to Recovery Girl's office thirty minutes before the scheduled meeting time for the summer camp. She examined his legs, making note of the fact that Uraraka had cleaned and applied bandages to the wounds with great competence before healing him. This made him feel tired again, but nothing that a bus trip wouldn't let him recover.

"I've also got these for you," the elder heroine said before he could leave. She held out an orange pill container, filled with small white tablets, and labelled with a name that Kurai did not recognize.

"What're these?" he asked as he accepted them, confused.

"Sleeping pills," she answered, surprising him. Seeing this, she explained, "I received a call from your mother yesterday that you've been having difficulty sleeping, due to the battles you've been through. She asked me to prescribe you with some medicine to help you sleep through the night, so here you go."

"Oh, thanks," he said dumbly, trying to figure out how his mother knew about his insomnia. It wasn't until he was outside the nurse's office and saw Mina grinning cutely at him that he put it together. Holding up the pill bottle, he asked, "Your work?"

"I talked to your dad about it yesterday after you went back to sleep," she replied. "He told your mom, and I'm pretty sure you know the rest."

"Thank you," he said gratefully as he pocketed the medicine. "I guess I'm used to having Akarui around to nag me about this kind of stuff."

"Well, I know I'm not as smart as him, but I will be doing my best to look out for you from now on," she giggled as she held on to his arm while they walked away from the office.

"Good. I'm gonna need it."

"Exchange students?!" most of class 1-A yelped as they stood in front of the bus that would take them to their summer camp.

"Yes," Aizawa answered simply. "Four students from the U.S. were approved by Principal Nezu to join this class for the next semester, possibly longer, depending on how well they perform. Even though classes haven't officially resumed, I decided to have them come along for the trip so that you can all get used to one another."

"He doesn't even know how long they're gonna be here?" Kirishima said in an aside to Bakugo, who simply grunted.

"He did tell us that U.A. isn't exactly known for doing things traditionally," Kaminari reminded them.

"Cool!" Uraraka said excitedly as she turned toward Midoriya. "This'll be great, getting to know student heroes from another country!" Around them, the other students were chattering among themselves, wondering just who they would be accepting into their group.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see what kind of quirks they've got!" he agreed, her vibrant energy infecting him.

"How about that?" Mina told Kurai. "You've thought about going to be a hero in the U.S., right? Maybe you can learn from these guys."

"Maybe," he replied absently as Aizawa turned to face away from their class. That's assuming All For One and his goons don't kill me and Midoriya before I graduate.

"Class 1-A," Aizawa said as he turned back around, flanked by four new faces that came from the other side of the bus, all of them wearing the U.A. uniforms. "Meet your new peers, from the Second Amendment Academy in Austin, Texas."

"Hi!" exclaimed a bright-eyed girl who looked like she should still be in junior high. "I'm Ruby! It's super nice to meet all of you!" She was actually jumping up and down with excitement as she introduced herself to the bewildered class.

"Chill out, Sis," said a tall, attractive girl with shiny blonde hair. "You're gonna embarrass Weiss."

"You both tend to embarrass our team on a daily basis back home, so I'm not exactly expecting anything different here," sniffed a thin girl with pure white hair and eyes like a clear winter's sky. Turning her upturned nose toward the class, she introduced herself with an elegant bow and the words, "I'm Weiss Schnee."

"Whoa!" Midoriya yelped involuntarily, causing his friends to look askance at him. Blushing with embarrassment now, he muttered, "Sorry, it's just… Schnee Industries has been manufacturing gear for heroes since the second generation of pros! Her family has helped people all over America!"

"Well now," Weiss said as she gave Midoriya an approving look. "I didn't think that anyone here would know about my family name."

"Hang on, isn't your dad's company under investigation for potential quirk ethics and labor law violations?" Kurai asked before he could stop himself. I think I heard Dad talk about this a few months ago with an old P.I. friend from the States…

"That's none of your business!" Weiss snapped, her voice as sharp as an icicle.

"Wow, and I thought I always gave bad first impressions," Mina giggled while her boyfriend reddened with embarrassment at his gaffe.

"Don't mind Weiss, she's always like that," the blond girl grinned as she pulled up a pair of aviators off her face, revealing mischievous violet eyes. "'Sup, guys? I'm Yang Xiao Long- Ruby's awesome older sister."

"She is that," Ruby nodded enthusiastically, surprising the U.A. students again.

How is she here if she's younger than her sister? Kurai wondered.

Here, Aizawa decided to explain, saying, "Ruby is the protégé of her uncle, a pro that goes by the name 'Crow'. She's skipped two grades already, and if she continues to advance as rapidly as she has been, she might end up graduating before the rest of you do."

The class looked at the new girl as she beamed at them again, this time with more critical eyes. Mister Aizawa wouldn't have just let her in his class if she couldn't hold her own with the rest of us, Kurai reasoned. However, he was still having a hard time believing that the little girl with the short hair was capable of going toe-to-toe with the people in his class. I guess time will tell.

"Do you recognize that hero, 'Crow'?" Kurai asked in a low tone to Midoriya, who immediately shook his head in the negative.

"No, he must be a less popular one- I only know the big names from other countries," he answered in a similar tone.

"All right, finish your introductions," Aizawa said impatiently, looking at a girl with black hair who had been completely silent the whole time. "We don't have all day."

"I'm Blake Belladonna," she said in a quiet voice, her golden eyes flicking from one person to another behind her dark bangs.

"She's the quiet type," Ruby said with a cheery grin. "But we're all super glad to be here! I can't wait to train with All Might- he's so cool!"

"You gotta be kidding me," Bakugo muttered just loud enough for the newcomers to hear. "Since when did U.A. start accepting grade schoolers?"

"I'd watch what you say, Bakugo," Aizawa warned him as Ruby's gaze wilted. "She may not look like much, but she'll wipe the floor with you if you let your guard down around her." His blunt comparison of their skills left most of the class stunned, but it only angered the blond boy, who swore and stormed toward the bus door, small explosions trailing behind him as he went.

While he was doing this, the class broke down into smaller groups in order to introduce themselves to the foreign girls. Kurai's friend group wound up talking to Ruby first, who perked up again after being surrounded by friendlier faces.

"Ignore Bakugo, we all do," Mina said after they had all introduced themselves to the younger student. "How're you liking it here so far?"

"I really like it!" Ruby declared happily before reaching up and tapping on one of Mina's horns, much to the surprise of the pink girl. "Ooh, they're kinda springy! I thought they'd be hard, like a bull! Do they grow back if they break off? Is that part of your powers?"

"Ruby!" Yang scolded her sister as she ruffled the younger girl's black-and-red hair. Turning to Mina, who was still looking bewildered, she added, "Sorry about her. She gets a little too excited about other people's quirks and goes overboard from time to time."

"Hey, I'm not a little kid!" Ruby said petulantly as she straightened her hair.

"Then try acting like it," Yang grinned as she let her sister out from under her hand. Their interaction reminded Kurai of his own relationship with his brother, and his heart ached again. Unaware of his morose thoughts, the blond American eyed Kurai for a second before asking, "So what's your name, handsome?"

"Eh?!" he yelped, completely taken aback.

"His name is 'my boyfriend', Kurai," Mina said jealously as she crossed her arms and glared at the taller girl.

"Okay, cool your jets, pinky," Yang grinned. "How was I supposed to know that he's spoken for? Can't say I blame ya, though."

"And I'm done here," Kurai said as he began to back away, his face continuing to heat up. "I'm just gonna go find myself a place that isn't a proverbial minefield- oh look, there's one now!" With that, he speed-walked over to where Iida was talking to Todoroki.

"Aw man!" Ruby pouted while Yang gave Mina an apologetic look. "I didn't get to ask him about his quirk!"

"We're gonna be together for a week before classes even start," Midoriya told her. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to talk to him about it."

"Good point! So, what does your quirk do?"

"They seem like a handful, huh?" Kurai muttered to his old friend as he leaned against the bus. The class was set to board and leave in ten minutes, so he had decided to spend that time as far away from Yang as was socially acceptable.

"The Xiao Long sisters certainly seem energetic, but I doubt we'll have any trouble from Miss Belladonna or Schnee," Iida shrugged. "Much like our own class dynamic, they seem to have a variety of character. I'm sure we'll all come together eventually."

"Somebody should tell that to Bakugo," Kurai smirked, just before his phone buzzed. "Hang on." Pulling out the device, he was surprised to see that he had received an email marked as urgent. After he had unlocked the phone, he opened up the message, and was even further intrigued to see that it was from Akarui.

Once the bus had been loaded up with all of the students, Kurai and Mina found themselves sharing a row with a chattering Midoriya and Ruby, both of them having discovered one another's vast knowledge of quirks and the thirst for greater knowledge on the subject. This placed a disgruntled-looking Uraraka with Yaoyorozu behind the young couple. Having seen this, Kurai nudged Mina and said in a low voice, "Maybe try to talk to her about it later?"

"You kidding?" she snickered, though she too kept her voice down. "I tried to ask her about him one time, and she basically did what you used to do whenever I flirted with you."

"Ah," he chuckled abashedly. "Well, maybe it'll just sort itself out."

"Hopefully in a way that results in those two still being friends," she replied.

"What's up, guys?" Uraraka's voice startled the both of them, so they turned around to see her and Yaoyorozu giving them puzzled looks. "You've been super quiet since we left the school."

"Sorry about that," Kurai answered as he scratched at his head. "We were just talking about my brother- I got an email from him right before we left."

"You did?" Yaoyorozu asked worriedly. "Is he okay? Relatively speaking, I mean."

"Yeah, he's started getting used to the wheelchair that Professor Shield and Melissa designed for him," he replied with a slight smile. The gift had arrived two days ago from I-island, with well wishes from the two scientists. "It's motorized so that he doesn't have to use his arms too much to get around, and it comes with a built-in computer and display screen so that he can use it to talk with people instead of writing stuff down."

"That's so nice of the Shields to do that for him," Uraraka said happily.

"Yeah, they said it was their way of saying 'thank-you' to Akarui for keeping Melissa safe," Kurai explained.

"Did he say anything else?" Mina asked him curiously. "We got loaded up before you showed me the rest of it."

"He did," the boy nodded as he glanced up the aisle to make sure that Aizawa wasn't listening in on them- after all, he had no idea how his teacher would react to the knowledge that he had deliberately altered his quirk in such a risky manner, but he was reasonably certain that the reaction would be a negative one. Once he was sure that they were being covered by the noise of everyone else chattering loudly, he said, "Since he's finally stabilizing, he was able to tell me about some of the changes to my quirk that I can make use of."

"Will they hurt you?" Mina asked worriedly.

Here, Kurai hesitated, but he was quick to reply, "Nothing so bad as my old recoil, but I'll have to be careful in some situations. I'm just glad that my life won't be in danger every time I totally let loose with my powers."

"That's good," Uraraka said with a sigh of relief.

"You're telling me," Mina sighed as she leaned against Kurai. "No more hospital visits for you, got it? Leave all of those to your brother."

"Gladly," the boy chuckled again, but his eyes remained sad.

About two hours passed before Aizawa pulled the bus over so that the students could stretch their legs in a rest stop that overlooked a massive forest, which ran all the way along a mountain range that curved around like a crescent moon. Kurai was glad of the chance to stand up and move around, as he'd been fairly inactive for the last few days, especially when his legs got cut up the previous morning.

"I wonder if we've got cell service out here," he muttered as he pulled his scouter out of his pocket and attached it to his ear.

"Why did you bring that?" Todoroki asked as he walked up to his friend.

"I wanna be wearing it so that if my parents call about my brother, I can respond ASAP," he answered as he powered the device on. He was pleased to see that he was getting a strong signal, despite the fact that they were fairly removed from civilization. "That, and Akarui sent it a software update before we went to I-island, and I wanna see if it works."

"What does it do?" the other boy asked curiously.

"It doesn't read energy levels, per se, but it does scale a quirk's abilities in comparison to my own powers," Kurai answered. "Basically, it lets me know if I'm totally outclassed, or if I'm gonna be able to mop the floor with someone."

"Power isn't everything," Todoroki pointed out, to which Kurai nodded in agreement.

"I know, but it'll sure help knowing how plus ultra I'll have to go when I'm up against some new villain," the boy replied.

"Fair enough."

"By the way, Todoroki?" Kurai asked.

"Hmm?"

"I don't see a bathroom anywhere," he said as he glanced at a black car that was pulling up next to the bus. "Isn't that kind of weird for a rest stop?"

"…I was hoping that I was just being paranoid," the half-and-half teen muttered under his breath. "Now the question is, what is Mister Aizawa up to?"

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll hate it."

Two introductions later, and he was proven correct. As it turned out, U.A. had reached out to a four-person hero team called 'The Wild, Wild Pussycats' in order to help the students go through an intense training program designed to push their quirks past their limits, and it apparently started with one of the heroines- a woman named Pixie Bob- using her quirk to control the earth and hurl them off the cliffside, and into the forest that Kurai had been admiring earlier.

"Ow," the boy grumbled as he checked to make sure that his scouter hadn't been damaged. Once he had ascertained its safety and functionality, he glared up at the overhang, where another one of the Pussycats, Mandalay, was smiling down at them.

"Good news, guys!" she told them. "This is all private land, so you can use your quirks as much as you want! Remember, make it to the base of the mountain by 12, or you don't get lunch!" The mountain she had described was easily three hours away on foot, and that was only if they all made good time.

"Aw man, I thought that we'd gotten away from all of this," Ruby groaned as she brushed dirt off of her uniform.

"What're you talking about?" Midoriya asked her.

"Back at Second Amendment, we all got tossed off the side of a mountain and were told to retrieve artifacts from this forest temple that the school had set up," Blake told them as she picked at a clod of dirt that had gotten stuck in a bow on top of her head. "People that didn't make it back with an artifact were denied access to the school."

"The place was full of forest animals that had quirks, and they were all super aggressive," Ruby piped up. "That was a long day…"

"Man, and I thought our entrance exam was tough," Ojiro grunted as he helped Jiro get to her feet.

"Something tells me that we're about to get an idea of what our new friends went through," Kurai muttered as his scouter gave him a proximity alert. "Weird."

"What's wrong?" Iida asked him as he tapped the refresh button on the device.

"I'm picking up movements in the trees, but no energy signatures," he replied.

"Agh, enough standing around!" Bakugo snarled as he dashed into the forest. "I'm gonna blast whatever gets in my way straight to HELL!"

"Yeah!" Yang laughed as she ran after him. "This guy's got the right attitude!"

"How did someone with such a vulgar vocabulary get into a school as prestigious as this one?" Weiss asked as the others began to chase after them.

"He's got an attitude problem, for sure, but you don't wanna end up facing him in combat," Kurai replied. "He doesn't hold back, for anything or anyone."

"Let's see how far that takes him," Blake muttered as they saw something moving within the shadows of the trees- something big, and probably dangerous.

"Let's go, Class 1-A!" Iida exhorted them.

"Aw, yeah!" Ruby added. "C'mon, guys! Let's go beyond!"

"Plus Ultra!"

Mataras: Okay, to summarize/excuse myself, I wanted to introduce new characters, and Team RWBY fit the bill for what I need. They have supernatural abilities that could be treated like quirks, so it's a solid fit. I also thought it might be fun to even out the guy/girl ratio just a little bit.

Kai: I predict shenanigans.

Mataras: Damn right.

Deku: I'm just interested to see how you balance the scales. You've said several times that anytime you make an alteration in favor of one side, the other has to be compensated. You're already here instead of Min*ta, which gives us a big advantage and has changed a few things already. What is bringing these four into the mix gonna do?

Mataras: Hey, would you look at the time?

Kai: Hey, wait! What'd you do to my quirk? We never got a straight answer on that from this chapter!

Mataras: Next time- Colorful Allies

Deku: Go Beyond!

Kai: ...Plus Ultra.

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Survival...

"We'd be glad to have- whoa!" Midoriya's reply was turned into a shout of surprise as they came into contact with another one of the creatures that Bakugo had destroyed earlier. Only this time, instead of being hidden by the shadows, the sunlight was sufficient for them to see that the monster was huge, easily big enough to tower over the likes of Shoji. The tusks coming from its eyeless face were an ancient brown, and its fur was covered in-

"Hey, wait a sec," Mina frowned as they peered harder at the creature, all while it roared its defiance at them for trespassing. "Anyone else seeing that?"

"That's not mud in its skin," Midoriya said as pieces of the monster crumbled away after coming into contact with a low branch. "That thing is actually made out of dirt!"

"Pixie Bob?" Kurai guessed as he readied Energon.

"Probably," his friend nodded as the lightning covering his body began to crackle more intensely. "Okay, guys, let's do this!"

"Mina, take point!" Kurai shouted, and the girl sprung into action, dashing between the legs of the forest monster and melting them at the joints with her acid, and causing it to crash into the earth with a savage growl. However, it still had a tail that it was aiming to flatten her with, and Kurai was going to have none of it. "Midoriya, now!"

"Smash!" the boy yelled as he blasted through the monster's only working appendage.

Seeing more signals incoming on his scouter, Kurai turned to Uraraka and said, "Can you get that thing above the trees?"

"You got it!" she nodded as she ran forward and placed her hand on the dirt monster, sending it floating upward, just above the treetop. "All yours!"

"Thanks!" he grunted before he leaped up high, marveling at how much easier it was to maintain control of his mind while using his powers as he did so. Drawing his fist back, he unleashed a full-power roundhouse at his target, decimating its body and sending a shower of dirt, rocks, wood, and high-speed winds at another three monsters that were headed toward his friends. The rain of destruction turned them into piles of lifeless earth once again, and it was with a good amount of satisfaction that he returned to the ground.

"Nice work, everyone," he said as he hi-fived Midoriya and accepted a side hug from Mina. "But I get the feeling that we're not done."