A vast majority of Class 1-A was still marveling at the fact they were not only having class outside, but on the water. Well, they were still on the pier, but they'd soon be on the water. But that wasn't what Izuku Midoriya was focused on. Currently he was scrolling through one of the many forums he'd frequented since he was young, reading a set of theories about a low-impact and thus low-priority villain currently at large. Normally such villains wouldn't catch his interest unless their quirk was particularly unique, but this one's usual targets demanded his attention.

"Oi, Midoriya!" Denki Kaminari called over to him, snapping him back to the moment. The green-headed boy jumped once at the sudden call-out and again upon realizing he was the only one still loitering by the bus and jogged to join his classmates around their immensely muscular teacher.

"Now, my dear students," All-Might's voice boomed over the class, "you will find yourselves in situations you are neither expecting or prepared for throughout your careers. Today's exercise is to test you in just such a circumstance."

"Ohhhh, so that's why you didn't tell us before now!" Toru Hagakure worked out. She was given her typically generous amount of personal space among the group while in her hero outfit due to its minimal coverage.

"Quite right, Hagakure-shonen!" The pro affirmed with a supportive thumbs up. "I am confident that none of you are overly familiar with how to operate a boat or maritime navigation in general. So today, to assess your problem solving and critical thinking, you will be commandeering some boats and try to navigate to a yet-to-be-disclosed location down the coast." He moved his immense frame to reveal a trio of cabin cruisers, one red, one blue, and one yellow, moored along the pier. "These humble boats were donated to the hero course a couple years ago, but they are in mint condition!" He continued as he led the kids down the stairs to the wooden platforms. "As I said, real life may put you in a position where you are not the best equipped, best prepared, or most knowledgeable, but you are the only ones available to respond to an emergency. With this in mind, you won't be evaluated on how quickly you get to your destination, but on how you think through such a difficult situation."

"Now, our time is limited so for the sake of efficiency and fairness, teams of three will operate each vessel. If things go well, some of you might even be able to go out twice!" That announcement caused an excited murmur to ripple across the class. "Now for our first teams! Team Yellow will be Iida-shonen, Todoroki-shonen, and Kaminari-shonen!"

"Yes!" Kaminari cheered with a fist-pump. "Even got my color!"

"Excuse me, All-Might-sensei!" Tenya Iida piped up as Shoto Todoroki silently followed Kaminari onto their boat. "Will our destination be easy to spot from the water?"

"Excellent question, my boy!" All-Might applauded before adding with a cheeky finger wag. "But that's for you to discover!" The class might've commented on Iida's signature U.A. praise if they hadn't been busy excitedly chatting amongst themselves.

"Next, on Team Blue; Kirishima-shonen, Midoriya-shonen, and Jirou-shonen!"

"Nice!" Eijirou Kirishima celebrated with a clap before bounding onto the craft, followed by Midoriya and Kyoka Jirou whose excitement was much more restrained.

"And finally, on Team Red; Yaoyorozu-shonen, Uraraka-shonen, and Ashido-shonen!" With each name All-Might rattled off, one of Team Blue's heads perked up and turned to find one of the girls hopping onto the red cruiser. Upon crossing the threshold for staring, Team Blue quickly turned back to whatever they could/should be doing on their own boat.

After giving the teams their respective ignition switches, All-Might bid them a troublingly instruction-free farewell and hurried back onto the bus with the rest of 1-A in tow. Luckily, each team had at least one brainiac that was able to get their engines started, radios tuned, and ready to depart.

"You go first, Momo-san!" Izuku called to Red Team's apparent leader. "We'll follow you out and be in touch!"

"Will do, good luck, Midoriya-san!" Momo Yaoyorozu waved to the other crews before stepping up to the helm.

"Eat our dust, boys!" Mina Ashido playfully taunted and Ochaco Uraraka giggled behind her as their red-accented cruiser pulled out of the dock.

"This is Golden Playboy hailing Broccoli Boi, come in Broccoli Boi, over." Kaminari's exaggerated military voice crackled over the radio as Midoriya stepped up to the wheel. Before he could reach the CB radio's mic, Kirishima picked it up and responded in his own militaristic caricature.

"Golden Playboy, this is Rocky Red, Broccoli Boi is manning the helm. I'll be Blue-Actual's communications officer for this mission, over."

"Copy that Rocky Red, we'll adjust our- Wait, shouldn't Jirou be the comms officer?"

"Negative copy, you need to say over, over."

As the resident goofballs continued their back-and-forth, Midoriya and Iida gave each other a nod before Midoriya pulled them out of the dock and onto open waters.

It was fifteen minutes before the three teams were sailing in a loose formation, searching the coastline and nearby waters for any clues as to where to dock.

"Copy that, Jamming-yay," Jirou said into the radio, playing along with the codenames and lingo, but not doing a voice, "maintaining our current bearing. Over." She lowered the volume to silence Kaminari's protests about her codename for him. "Hey, Midoriya, tell me something." She looked over to him as he was scanning the shore with binoculars. "Usually you're hanging on every word All-Might says. What had you so distracted that Kaminari had to pull you back to earth?"

"Huh? Oh, just some updates on hero and criminal activity forums…" He trailed off, hoping in vain that that would be the end of it.

"You're always looking at that stuff though." Kirishima noted from the helm. "What's up, Midoriya?"

"It…" He sighed in resignation and pulled out his phone. He stopped when he realized he was still holding the binoculars in his other hand and looked between the two before Jirou came over and relieved him of scouting duty. "It's a new criminal. Probably."

"Probably?"

"Well, it's a series of matching events that would be considered criminal if there was a person behind it. Which there probably is because of… Uh… a few things…"

"Keep going, Midoriya," Jirou casually urged him on, "we're listening."

"Right, well, uh… Those events; high school students, almost exclusively girls, become… addled. They become romantically obsessed with another student and pursue them with the goal of… of… um…" He looked up to find his teammates looking at him with eyes ready to burst out of their sockets. "Oh! Nonono! Not that, it's just…" He frantically tapped through the articles to find a good picture. "This!" He showed the picture to Kirishima then to Jirou; a photo of a dazed and disheveled high school student laid out on the floor of a school hallway. His glazed-over eyes and lifeless demeanor made him look not entirely unlike a corpse. The dozens of red lip-marks across his face and neck only added to the faux-violence of the image.

"Oh, damn, ok." Kirishima sighed in partial relief. "But you're sure that nothing… y'know…"

"Positive." Midoriya assured them. "Everyone affected and every witness confirms that nothing… like that happened. The only potential criminal in these cases is the one who addled the attackers and there's no clue pointing to who they are or how they did it."

"Seriously? Nothing?" Jirou asked incredulously. "How many times has this happened?"

"About a dozen matching incidents."

"A dozen?!" Kirishima blurted, his looks to the water ahead of them becoming shorter as the conversation went on. "Doesn't that many incidents make this a serial… uh…"

"That's the thing," Midoriya carried on, his earlier embarrassment replaced by analytical focus, "with so little information on the perpetrator, and the fact that the affected didn't commit a definitive crime, there's nothing of substance to build a case from."

"Huh… Ok, so someone's making high schoolers make out with other high schoolers… Not really the case I was expecting from you, Midoriya." Jirou noted with a chuckle.

"Yeah, this really strikes me as a Mineta kind of story." Kirishima smirked.

"What do you me-? Oh! Oh, yeah I think I know what you mean." Izuku laughed off the jest. On a normal day, that in itself would have been the highlight of his day. "But it's really all the unknowns, y'know? We know the M.O., but really nothing else! The perpetrator's identity, their motive, how they choose their targets, and their procedures are all unknown. We can assume a quirk is behind this, probably an emitter type, but that just raises more questions! Do they need to make physical contact? Does it only work on certain people? There's just so much to consider!"

"Ok, now it sounds like a Midoriya thing." Jirou said, sharing a smirk and a chuckle with Kirishima before all three laughed about it. Midoriya had quickly earned the respect of his class and even his more off putting tendencies like mumbling and rambling had become occasionally endearing over time. That fact was a true saving grace when it came to Izuku's social struggles.

"Hey, Jirou-san," Midoriya pointed at something on their port… aft? On their 7 o'clock approximately. "...is that Red Team?" At his prompting, Jirou turned to examine the blip in the distance through the binoculars. She saw that Midoriya was spot-on; Team Red's boat was heading straight for them.

"Yeah, it's Red Team. But what are they doing? Why break formation?"

"Let me ask." Midoriya turned to the radio and picked up the mic. "Come in Red Team, this is Blue Team. We see you approaching us, is there a problem?" The response was so quiet it was effectively unintelligible. Izuku's first instinct was to adjust the volume knob, which instantly fixed the issue.

"There you are Blue Team!" Mina's voice came through the receiver. "We missed you! How've ya been?"

"Ah, Ashido-san. Sorry about that, our volume was turned down."

"My bad! I was messing with Kaminari!"

"Yeah, that. What's your situation? We can see you're breaking forma-"

"Deku-kuuuun!" Uraraka's voice quickly followed a smacking sound from the other end of the radio. "How are you doing, Deku-chan?"

"Oh, Uraraka-san, is everything alright? We've been-" He stopped in his tracks when he registered the honorific. "Ch-Ch-Chan?" The look of shocked panic on his face was joined by the mischievous smirks of his crewmates who had come over to better observe the spectacle.

"I know I usually call you -kun," Uraraka explained as though nothing were amiss, "but then I realized how nice your face is and nothing but -chan seems right anymore!" Izuku tried to respond, but the only sound coming from his tomato-red face was a barely-audible mortified screech.

"Damn, Uraraka," Jirou chimed in, unable to hide her devious grin, "that was awesome! I didn't know you had it in you." Another smack preceded another voice from the radio.

"Jirou-san! Oh I thought I heard you, but I wasn't sure." Momo said with adoring urgency. "I was worried you wouldn't be there when we arrived, maybe something had happened to you."

"I- uh, no I'm fine," Jirou stammered, Momo's breathy voice scrambled her brain and strained her insides, "why? Why are you guys coming over to us?"

"Well, you see," Momo hesitated while Jirou peaked over her shoulder to observe the gradually growing red shape approaching, "I realized what a romantic scene the open ocean sets and I realized there's only one person I'd like to be here with."

It was Jirou's turn to redden. The red marks on her face blended in perfectly with the blush that bloomed on the girl's stunned face.

"Wow you two," Kirishima joined the conversation, more surprised than amused by the girls' forwardness, "I gotta say, I'm proud of you for manning up and saying this, but what brought this on?" The rule of threes was enforced with another smack and the return of Mina Ashido to the chat.

"Hey! I'm not leaving you out, Kiri-chan!" Mina's pet name immediately made the color of Kirishima's face match his hair. "I'm gonna come over there and turn you from Red Riot to Pink Riot!"

"Y-I-Wh-What does that even mean?!" Kirishima yelled in a flustered panic as the girls' giggles came through the speaker. Midoriya was the first to come to his senses, more-or-less.

"L-Listen, Red Team, I don't know what's going on, but we're on a mission right now. Can't… whatever this is wait until we… wait…" Midoriya trailed off when he realized he was raising his voice to compete with the sound of the second engine that approached. When he got up to greet the incoming ship, alarm bells began going off in his head. Behind him, Kirishima turned the throttle down to let the girls' boat pull up next to them. A thousand thoughts fired in Midoriya's mind as several dramatic connections formed and made a pit open up in his stomach. When the red boat pulled right up next to theirs and a brief look at Mina's face as she prepared to hop on board Team Blue's vessel confirmed his fears.

Izuku turned to the boat's aft, held onto the ship's edge, extended the other arm out, and readied his middle finger against his thumb before yelling, "Blue Team! Hold on to something!"

Jirou and Kirishima managed to take his advice at the last possible second before the immense power of Deku's Delaware Smash propelled their boat forward at breakneck speed. When the boat slowed enough to let the crew back on their feet safely, Izuku went straight for the helm and set the engine to full throttle.

"Midoriya! What the hell are you doing?!" Kirishima yelled, a small amount of annoyance shone through his concern.

"Red Team is compromised."

"Huh?"

"They're under the influence of the mystery villain I was telling you about!"

"How in the hell-?!" Jirou stopped herself as her mind fully processed things. "Wait, so you think Red Team is acting like that because…"

"Yes, the villain somehow got to them." Midoriya confirmed grimly. "Jirou-san, get on the radio and tell Yellow Team to come to us. We might need their help."

"R-Right." Jirou nodded as she turned her attention to the radio, tuning off Red Team's channel where Mina was insisting they were 'playing hard to get,' and went to Yellow Team's frequency. "Mayday mayday mayday! This is Blue Team. Come in Yellow Team!"

"Jirou! What the hell's going on over there?!" Kaminari yelled across the transmission. "Why the hell'd you hit the nitro?!"

"Shut up and listen!" She yelled in frustration. "Red Team's been affected by a villain and now they're after us! Get over to us as fast as you can!"

"Wh-Huh?!" Kaminari sputtered. "A villain? What do you mean? They're chasing you? Like, they're trying to kill you?!"

"W-Well no," Jirou stuttered, thinking back to the picture Midoriya had shown her, "but they're being controlled by a villain. Doesn't matter what they're trying to do, it's bad! Just get over here now!"

"Wait, this doesn't make any sense!" Kirishima mused. "How the hell would a villain have brainwashed them? We're on the water! And we came here on a bus! When did they get the chance to do this?!"

"We have no idea how this villain's quirk works. They may only need to see their targets to affect them. Or maybe there's a telepathic quality to it, I don't know." Midoriya ended his impromptu theorizing to turn back to Kirishima. "Right now we should try to get back to the class. Kirishima-kun, keep your eyes on the shoreline. Call out the nearest port you see, doesn't matter if it's where the class is waiting, we just need to get to… to…" Izuku's words faded into nothing as his eyes landed on something in the distance. Kirishima turned to follow his gaze and found an unnaturally large wake trailing… something. Kirishima raised the binoculars to his eyes to get a better look and he felt his blood run cold.

Through the viewfinders, Kirishima saw Red Team's boat, but with a radical new modification. On either side of the cabin was what appeared to be a jet engine, propelling the humble craft across the water like a shooting star.

"Incomiiiiing!" Kirishima yelled with no small amount of terror.

"Kirishima-kun, take the wheel!" Midoriya directed his crewmate as he began to gather energy for another Smash. Not willing to risk his friends' safety, he aimed the blast at the water in the path of the pursuing boat. He unleashed another massive flick that hit the water and caused a massive wave to grow between them and their pursuers, as well as gave their own ship another boost, though a smaller one than last time. Content with the breathing room he'd bought them, Midoriya turned back to the helm.

"Jirou-san, any idea how far away Yellow Team-"

Before he could finish, a massive smack drew his attention back to the water where Red Team's boat smashed through the mountain of water and arced through the air. None of Blue Team was allowed a moment to think before a grappling hook caught on the edge of their ship. They followed the rope with their eyes to its origin; a red blip on Red Team's boat as it sailed ahead of them, literally and figuratively. The rope pulled taut and jerked their boat awkwardly sideways, forcing its occupants off their feet. Jirou crawled up to the radio and yelled into the mic.

"Yellow Team, where are you?! Red Team is way more intense than we thought! We need you here now!"

As if summoned by her desperation, a sharp wall of ice rose from the water and snapped the rope, as well as separating Red Team from Blue.

"Gold-Actual to the rescue!" Kaminari declared over the radio. "Get out of here guys, we'll keep Red Team from being some villain's puppets!"

"Hell yeah!" Kirishima punched the air in glee.

"About time, Kaminari! Try to keep anyone from getting hurt, we'll be back once we find the others." Jirou instructed as Kirishima drove to put some distance from the impending fray.

"Solid copy! We'll call again when we've secured Red Team."

Jirou went to the rear of the boat to watch the action while Midoriya kept an eye on the shore, searching single-mindedly for any of the class's colorful silhouettes.

The activity from the apparent battle was more eventful than they had hoped. Jirou had assumed Todoroki would simply freeze the water around Red Team's boat and freeze them to the deck of their ship. The amount of shattering ice and bashing was concerning, to say the least.

"Hey Midoriya." Jirou continued, coolly assuming she had gotten his attention. "What do you think that's all about?" Midoriya's concern and curiosity won out over his diligence and he turned his attention to the wall of ice.

"Well, Yellow Team is very capable, but in this setting only Todoroki-kun is going to be able to use his quirk effectively." Midoriya mused aloud. "Iida-kun needs space and solid ground. Without either of those, he's effectively quirkless. Though he's very athletic, which is a silver lining. Kaminari-kun on the other hand…"

"Water makes him too dangerous, right?" Jirou finished for him.

"Exactly. Water is a natural electrical conductor, making any use of his quirk out here a potentially lethal hazard. And he isn't quite as fit as Iida-kun either, so he's… uh…"

"Useless?"

"I was going to say 'best suited to drive the boat'…"

"Eh, tomato-potato."

"In any case, that's not what really bothers me." He continued, drawing a puzzled look from Jirou. "Todoroki-kun is at a distinct advantage with all this water, yet it sounds like Red Team is holding its own."

"Is that surprising?" Jirou asked. "Uraraka is as tough as they come, Mina has acid and acrobatics, and Yaomomo is… well, she's Yaomomo! She's like a supercomputer that can make anything. Plus she's pretty fit herself…"

"You're right." Midoriya admitted, completely missing the awe in Jirou's voice. "But Todoroki-kun's quirk works incredibly quickly. Their athletic and intellectual aptitude can't be of much use if they get frozen before they can move."

"I guess I see your point… But if that's the case, why are we hearing anything from them?" Jirou offered, concern growing in her voice. "Why hasn't Todoroki just locked them down?"

"That's… wait…" Midoriya trailed off as a look of near-panic crept onto his face. "Could it be that…?"

"C'mon Midoriya, just spit it out." Jirou pleaded, legitimate exasperation in her voice. "Today's been intense enough already."

"Well, this is just a theory, but some mind-altering emitter-types have been known to do more than just alter their target's minds, but also change their physical capabilities." He explained. "For instance, there was a quirk that made the target dance uncontrollably, but also gave them the ability to move more nimbly and for much longer than they should have been able to. What if this villain's quirk has done something like that to Red Team?"

"Then it's possible that Team Yellow might be in danger." A solemn grunt from Midoriya was a clear enough answer. Jirou rubbed her face to steel herself for what she was about to say. "So, ok, I know this might sound crazy, but what if we just… uh… let Yellow Team go ahead of us?" Midoriya looked at her quizzically.

"But then Red Team would be chasing us again."

"Right, yeah, I get that, but like… They don't actually want to hurt us, right? They just want to… Y'know…" Jirou played with her earlobes and avoided eye contact with her bamboozled friend.

"J-Jirou-san!" He admonished her in a scandalized voice, his face wearing a blush to match hers.

"Y'know I was actually thinking the same thing!" Kirishima called over his shoulder.

"Kirishima-kun!" Izuku yelled at him, whining disappointment in his tone.

"Well, it makes sense, right?" Kirishima continued. "Letting them catch us wouldn't be the… worst thing, right? Besides, if Yellow Team is in danger, wouldn't it be the manly thing to do to just… take one for the team?" Midoriya, who was blushing along with his shipmates, looked between them in surprise, looking desperately for a sign that they were joking. When it was clear that they were serious, he took a deep breath to steady himself.

"Ok, listen, I can agree that letting Red Team catch us has its… appeal." He admitted with closed eyes. "But they're not in their right mind! We'd be taking advantage of them for our own selfish desires! It would be a disgraceful betrayal of their trust." The relative silence that followed was heavy.

"Damn it!" Kirishima pounded the console in anger. "You're completely right, Midoriya! I can't believe I let myself consider something so selfish!"

"Yeah, same here." Jirou followed up, dejected. "Can't believe I even thought of something so gross. They deserve better. You're right Midoriya, let's get back to shore and-"

Before Jirou could rally the crew, a massive crack drew their attention back to the ice. Or rather, the crumbling ice. All the frozen structures cracked and began to crumble as a yellow dot rocketed above the water in a low arc. With the binoculars, Izuku was able to see Yellow Team's boat with one of the jet engines from earlier haphazardly slapped onto the hull. The imbalanced propulsion caused the boat to awkwardly twist and turn on a meandering, generally land-facing route.

While they were busy watching their wayward allies, a steel harpoon stabbed into the rear hull of Blue Team's boat. Before the shock could fade, another harpoon shot through their engine and pulled it away into the sea.

"Holy crap!" Jirou's exclamation perfectly summarized the mindset of Team Blue in that moment.

"Kirishima-kun! Come here and cut the wire!"

"Wha-Why not just pull out the harpoon?!" Kirishima asked as he ran up.

"It's too close to the waterline! If we tear it out, we'll sink!"

"Ah hell!" Kirishima relented and tried frantically to saw through the metallic wire.

"There they are!" Jirou pointed at Red Team's boat as it floated out of the icy mist. Even without binoculars, they could see Momo, Mina, and Uraraka sitting at the front of their cruiser. Usually these kind, cheery girls would be a welcome sight, but circumstances turned that sentiment on its head. "Midoriya, why don't you do another flick! Get us out of here!"

"It wouldn't help, they'd come right along with us. Kirishima-kun?"

"Gah! It's no use!" The spiky-haired boy despaired. "This stuff is too strong!"

"Uhh…! Midoriya, what's the plan?" Jirou asked as Blue Team began to slowly back up from the girls' approaching vessel.

"Talk about dreamboats!" Mina squealed as the hunters came upon their prey.

"You were just as cool as you've always been!" Uraraka praised Blue Team, but with her eyes locked on Izuku.

"Well girls," Momo addressed her crewmates, glowing pink hearts in their eyes, "I'd say it's time to claim our treasure." With that, Red Team hopped the small distance from their boat to Blue Team's. They'd seen these girls countless times since starting U.A., but they had never once instilled this overwhelming feeling of dread. Maybe it was the look in their eyes (not just the cartoonish hearts) and how they seemed hungry. Maybe it was the vibrant palette-appropriate colors staining their lips that drew their gazes like magnets. Whatever it was, it made their brains cease coherent thought.

"W-W-Wait!" Izuku managed to croak out through the haze in his mind. "Listen, please! Y-You three aren't in your right minds! I-It-There's-!"

"We know!" Mina cut him off.

"We can't stop thinking about you three!" Momo squealed with her hands on her cheeks.

"We've gone crazy in love!" Uraraka announced dramatically.

"Now pucker up, you hunks!" Red Team commanded in unison.

With the last of their senses thoroughly fried by the adoring sentiments they had just been bombarded with, Blue Team was helpless when their admirers pounced. Mina and Uraraka leapt onto Kirishima and Midoriya, respectively, and the boys' already wobbly legs gave out, letting the girls fall on top of them. Momo strode up to Jirou, easily scooping the smaller girl up and seating her on the helm's console. All three girls went about enthusiastically using their lips to lay claim to their target's face. Mina's hands pressed against Kirishima's beefy pecs as she painted his strong jawline with her orchid-pink kisses. Ochaco had her arms wrapped around Izuku's neck as she happily pressed her lips to his over and over again, making his mouth match the cherry blossom tone of her own. Momo started with Jirou's lips, but found her way down to her neck, chuckling at how her slender little rockstar yelped slightly with each ruby stamp of her lips she left on her throat.

Under the sound of the waves, under the sound of the crumbling ice, there was the sound of smacking lips and girlish giggles from a blue cabin cruiser off the coast of Japan. In the minds of the three students drowning in the soft lips of their beautiful classmates, there was an incomprehensible cocktail of shame and pleasure, disgrace and euphoria, remorse and satisfaction. They had failed.

"No, no wounds, but they are unconscious." All-Might confirmed.

"I see, and no sign of the other two teams?" Principal Nezu asked almost rhetorically.

"No, nothing yet. I have Shoji-shonen and Tsu-chan on lookout duty, but so far no sign of them."

"I see. Well, the Coast Guard has scrambled and has the boats' descriptions. I know you must be worried for the students, but you should get the ones that are accounted for back to the campus."

"I know, I've tried." All-Might admitted, looking back at the spacious pier where 1-A was gathered. "But they're adamant on staying. This has been a tight-knit group since day one. Even if I could get them back to campus, they'd only come back here when we let them go."

"I see. Nothing much to be done then. Keep me updated."

With a grunt of affirmation, All-Might hung up and heaved an anxious sigh as he looked across the white pier where his students produced a low hum of activity. His gaze came to rest on the inert, supine forms of the only three students to return from the sea. Momo, Mina, and Uraraka returned about an hour ago on their boat which, while fully operational, clearly had seen some action. A loose smattering of scorch marks and dents had everyone on shore fearing the worst, but when Red Team's ship arrived the girls were completely unharmed. Some sweat had a couple locks of hair matted to their skin, but aside from that they were exactly as they were when they'd departed. The on-duty Coast Guard had stopped by to confirm it as well. Since then, Shoji and Asui, the class's respective recon and aquatic specialists, were at the dock's edge to try and spot either of the missing teams. Koda and Hagakure were sitting as sentries beside their sleeping classmates and the rest of the students were either chatting amongst themselves or were in contact with various coastal businesses to try and track down their missing fellows.

A blip of purple and yellow by Red Team drew All-Might's attention. Minoru Mineta, a young man with a… lascivious reputation was chatting with the girls' sentinels. One would expect he would be chased away for so much as wandering too close to three unconscious girls. All-Might had made all the calls he could at that point, so this seemed like as good a focus as anything.

"What's going on here, my pupils?" The massive man asked the trio as he walked up.

"Oh, All-Might-sensei!" Hagakure asked, her tone implied a bright-eyed expression, but nobody could really know. "Maybe you remember, were they wearing that lipstick when they left?"

"Hm? Lipstick?" He looked and sure enough, the girls were wearing vibrant shades of lipstick. Momo wore a red that effectively matched her costume. Uraraka wore a pink that matched the darker shades on her own costume. Mina wore a pink that was just different enough from her skin to stand out. "Ah, I see. Superb synergy with the rest of their outfits, but I assume that's not what you mean?"

"Right, well," Mineta began uncertainly, "it's weird, right? Like, whatever happened out there beat up their boat, and also they put on lipstick? I was thinking it might be a clue, but… "

"Ah, I see. I must commend your initiative, Mineta-shonen." All-Might continued cautiously. "I have to admit when I first saw you over here, I was thinking you might be… ah…"

"That's what we thought, too!" Hagakure gestured to Koda. "But Mineta did… what was it again?"

"Me and Kaminari used period cramp simulators for an online challenge and uh…" He took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "It changed our perspectives."

"I think I heard him talking about the wage gap on the bus ride here." Hagakure whispered to her teacher who knelt down to listen.

"I see… Hm…"

"Blue boat headed this way!" Shoji's voice rang out over the pier. "I think it's them!" The conscious students all turned to observe the water, some even ran to the edge of the dock to receive the oddly slow-moving vessel. Seemingly stirred by the activity, Uraraka moaned and rubbed her eyes as she sat up, causing an excited squeal from Hagakure that attracted most of the students not already at the pier's edge.

"Uraraka-kun!" Hagakure squeed. "We were so worried! Are you alright?"

"Huh…? Hagakure-kun?" She mumbled sleepily. "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us." Tokoyami said as the other two girls also groggily sat up. "We feared you lost to the void of the sea for all eternity."

"Luckily, Blue Team's ship has just arrived." Aoyama added, gesturing to the aforementioned boat, still approaching at an unusually slow speed.

"Blue… Team?" Mina parrotted in a daze.

"Wasn't it… something with the radio?" Momo offered, her voice slightly raspy.

"Yeah, uh, I think Blue Team stopped talking on the radio so we went to check on them, and then…" Uraraka trailed off. She wiped some drool from the corner of her mouth. She idly looked down at her gauntlets and saw a smear of pink. As soon as she ruled out strawberry yogurt, her brain connected the dots and filled in the fuzzy spot in her memory. The panic hit her and she whipped her head over to her crewmates. The sight of Uraraka's panicked expression, as well as each other's painted lips evidently unlocked the same memories. With burning cheeks, the girls looked to the dock where Sero was pulling in Team Blue's boat with his tape. With no way to stop the incoming humiliation, the girls extended their arms to the dock, hoping the gods might take pity and change the course of history. Alas, they could only watch in horror as Ojiro hopped onto the vessel.

"They're he-!" Ojiro's voice died suddenly.

"What's going o- Oh…" Sero also lost his voice upon seeing Blue Team. As the boat floated close enough for the rest of the students to see the state of the boat's crew, the reactions were various shades of surprise. "Hey, Sato, uh… wanna c'mere and give us a- uh, a hand?"

Midoriya was the first to leave the vessel. While using Sero as a crutch, Midoriya wobbled off the boat with glazed eyes. Though most noticeable were the dozens of pale pink stamps across his face, neck, and respirator. Aside from the general smear across his mouth, the rest of the marks were plainly in the shape of lips. Next came Jirou, whose limp form was cradled in Sato's arms. Like Midoriya, her expression was vacant, and her face and neck was smattered in kiss marks, though hers were a luxurious shade of red and her earlobes had noticeable splotches of red as well. The last to be helped off the boat was Kirishima, with an arm around Ojiro's shoulder for support. Just like his crewmates, he sported a thousand-yard stare and lip prints dotted across him. His marks were a more vibrant shade of pink and wandered lower than the others', with a few dotting his bare chest.

"That's… not what I was expecting. Kero." Tsuyu said, following the procession that escorted Blue Team toward land.

"I do not mean to insult their looks," Aoyama mused, so unnerved that he didn't bother to pose, "but I doubt they have admirers fanatical enough to do this." The dazed crew was seated in an empty area of the dock and was quickly surrounded by their classmates.

"Oy! Deku!" Bakugo yelled, the ridiculousness of the situation eating through his patience quickly (which isn't saying much.) "What the hell happened out there? What, did you dumbasses find a sorority party or some shit?!"

"Were you accosted by sirens?" Tokoyami asked, genuine confusion leaking through his chuuni mask. "Was their mesmerizing call too much to resist?"

"Did you see what happened to Yellow Team?" Ojiro asked, bringing the situation back down to earth, more or less. Despite the more coherent question, the only response the class got from Blue Team was Midoriya falling on his back with a sigh.

As the rest of the class chatted amongst themselves, All-Might, Hagakure, Koda, and Mineta stood slightly separated and anxious from seemingly forbidden knowledge. "So, uh," Mineta began cautiously, "I'm not the only one who finds those colors familiar, right?" As one, the four heroes turned to look back at Red Team, whose beet-red faces were in the process of climbing under a blanket (presumably procured from Momo) to hide from the mortifying situation that was sure to find its way back to them sooner than later.

"Maybe let me talk to them?" Hagakure offered. "I think they'll be most comfortable talking to me about this."

"Agreed."

"Makes sense."

"Nod"

The invisible girl jogged over to the lumpy blanket while the class was still occupied and with a gentle, "Mind if I come in?" She wiggled her way into the girls' sanctum of shame. Concurrently, All-Might's phone went off. He swiftly answered and the news he received was as exciting as it was troubling.

Denki Kaminari laid face-up on the hard concrete outside the small fishery, thinking back on the last couple hours to distract himself from the aches flaring up all over his body. His crewmates were seated by him, presumably doing the same as they waited for the EMS people to show up. The scene was dreadfully quiet since Yellow Team didn't know the full consequences of their defeat at the hands of Red Team yet. What they did know was that something was very wrong with those girls.

"So, do you guys remember if Ashido was always able to lift over fifty kilograms with one hand?"

"No, I'm almost certain she wasn't." Iida confirmed, inspecting his broken glasses in one hand and nursing what he feared was a broken jaw with the other. "She rarely goes to the gym for strength training. Though I find Uraraka-kun's martial arts knowledge significantly improved since she interned with Gunhead. Troublingly so, in fact."

"Yeah." Todoroki concurred, accepting an ice pack from one of the fishermen to nurse his black eye. "And I'm pretty sure Yaoyorozu used that medieval flail better than she should have."

"Damn," Kaminari grumbled from concern as well as the pain flaring from his bruised ribs, "I really hope Blue Team got away. Though Jirou did say they weren't trying to kill them, so maybe they're ok?"

"I doubt it." Todoroki said grimly. "This whole thing worked too well. Whoever is behind this chose their targets and their opportunity perfectly. Whatever they want with Blue Team can't be good."

"That's…" Iida's attempt to argue died immediately. "Well, even so, Jirou-kun said they weren't going to kill them. Even if they were caught, they can be saved!"

"Hell yeah! Eugh!" Kaminari cheered, which caused him to irritate an injury in his shoulder.

"Hey! Little heroes!" The grizzled old fisherman that had found them called. "I got your teacher on the line!"

"All-Might?!" Iida exclaimed, unable to get up before the fisherman reached him. He took the phone and nearly smacked himself in the face in the rush to speak. "All-Might-sensei! This is Iida, I'm with Yellow Team. We're injured, but nothing requiring urgent attention. We… Yes, sensei… We were rescued by workers of Sen'in Fishing Company and are resting at their facility… That's good, but please, tell me the other teams are ok! … Oh!" He heaved a sigh of relief and put a hand to his chest. "Oh thank goodness. And what of Blue Team? … Sensei? Sensei, did something happen to Blue Team?!" His outburst caused Kaminari and Todoroki to tense up. "They… They are? Well, that's good. But what happened to them? Are they injured? … They had…? Different colors of…? And you think they came from…? They weren't…? Well… Yes, I suppose that does line up with what we heard from Blue Team, but… No, I'm as surprised as you are. W-What did Blue Team say? …I-I see. And Red Team…? Hm… Right… Yes, the ambulances should arrive any moment now… Yes, I will try and compile a rough report with Kaminari-kun and Todoroki-kun… Really, sensei, it's no problem, we've all been through worse… Understood… You as well." Iida hung up the phone and handed it back to the fisherman. He stared blankly at the ground, looking lost in thought.

"C'mon, Iida!" Kaminari yelled. "You can't just leave us hanging like this!"

"Oh! Y-Yes, well. The good news is both Blue and Red Teams are accounted for and unharmed." He paused for a moment while his crewmates sighed in relief. "Their boats were damaged, but nothing structurally compromising."

"That's great!" Kaminari cheered, once again irritating his shoulder. "So everything's good then?" Iida's silence was deafening. "Iida?"

"You're not going to believe this…"