"But don't mind it~ no one's perfect~ if we were then I don't think we would've met~ oh whoa."

Hitomi gave another kick, pushing her skateboard forward in a surge of speed. In her hands she held two full grocery bags each, holding them up and to the sides as she skated along. Jutting out from her mouth she chewed a takoyaki stick, the only evidence left of her stop for quick food.

It was the end of their allotted free time during summer break. Thankfully she was all healed up from her injuries gained on I-Island, and was in peak shape for the camping trip— which she was on her way to the bus for now.

Momo was already there, waiting with the rest of the class by the roomy bus set up for them, and did not look pleased by her friend's lateness.

"You're lucky Mr. Aizawa isn't out here yet! We leave in ten minutes!"

Hitomi slid to a stop in front of the ravenette, grinning around the wooden stick. "Sorry, Deputy Momo."

"What's all that?" Kaminari ambled over, gesturing to the bags.

"Ooh, okay! So—" Hitomi hopped off the board, stepping down on the back end to stand it up, and proudly brandished the bags. "This is all the essential road trip supplies."

"Define essential." Jirou drawled, taking one of them when Hitomi held it out, peeking inside.

"You know, like, a bunch of different and weird candies to try, some normal candies, savory snacks like chips, a buncha bottles of Pocari Sweat, a few different types of gum, Dramamine for anyone who gets motion-sick, and a handful of card games!" Hitomi listed off, picking up her skateboard and setting it over her shoulder. "There's other stuff, but I forgot what. I kinda just grabbed a lot of everything."

"No kidding." Sero huffed, holding a second bag. "What are these?" He pulled out something wrapped in bright red packaging, with cartoon flames everywhere, a hint of fear in his voice.

"Oh! Those are supposed to be the hottest chips in the world. I figured we could all torture ourselves and try them."

"Lemme see that." Bakugou marched over, snatching the snack from Sero, who gladly let him. "One million scoville? Bullshit."

Hitomi leaned over, reading the warning on the bag despite already having done so. "No, it's for real. I looked it up, and they're, like, banned in a ton of places because they're way too hot."

Bakugou looked entirely too interested in the chips after that, holding onto them as the grocery bags were passed around and parsed through.

"So, how're your arms?" Hitomi anxiously drummed her fingers on her board, using her other hand to tug on her backpack strap.

"Tch, fine. You think something as stupid as using my own Quirk would be enough to keep me down?!" With every word he grew angrier.

Hitomi shrugged. "Hey, I dunno. I only stopped twitching two days ago. Apparently electrocution lingers."

"Did you say electrocution?!" Jirou exclaimed, Kaminari sputtering next to her.

Hitomi put a finger to her chin. "Oh yeah, I never mentioned that?"

"Is everyone in your family feral?!"

"Dude, cut it out! Feral's never happening!"

Mina patted Kirishima on the back. "Come on, man. Let the boy dream."

A few moments later, multiple phones chimed.

(Charge-Bolt has changed group chats name to: Feral Boyz)

"I fucking hate you all." Bakugou shoved his phone away, stomping off to the other side of the lot.

Another round of notifications.

(Alien-Queen! has changed group chat name to: lost in the sauce)

"How is that better?!" Sero threw up his hands.

Hitomi bit back a smirk, typing away on hers.

(Ōka-waii-mi has changed group chat name to: horse tranquilizer)

Mina threw her head back and cackled, while Sero groaned in lament.

"I don't even get that one!"

"I don't think you're supposed to?" Kirishima looked painfully confused.

"Okay, how many volts we talkin' here?" Kaminari saddled up to her, getting in her face. "Baby shit like in the tens, or the hundreds? Even thousands?"

Hitomi shrugged, wincing apologetically. "No idea. But my scalp kinda tingled for a long time after."

"How long?"

"Uh, few days?"

"Sounds like maybe a few thousand…"

Ding!

(Hard n Manly! Changed group chat name to: Saito near death count: 3)

"Kirishima, dude… I say this as a friend, change your username." Sero grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Hang on, what was the second time? I got thrown around by Nomu. And I electrocuted myself. What was the time between that?"

"You survived an internship with Bakugou." The redhead explained while reluctantly doing as Sero said.

(Hard n Manly! changed username to: Red Riot!)

"Stop blowing up my damned phone!"

"Dude, you just set up so many easy comebacks that I'm stuck with indecision!" Kaminari threaded his hands through his hair, groaning.

"Hey, listen up." Mr. Aizawa didn't even have to raise his voice to gain everyone's attention. "Now that you've finished your first semester at UA High, it's time for summer vacation to officially begin. However… don't think these will be months of rest for you Heroes-in-the-making. At this camp we'll push you to go beyond your limits. You're aiming to become Plus Ultra."

"Yes sir!"

Hitomi bounced on the balls of her feet, brimming with excitement.

"Er— Let's hear it for camp!" Ochako squeaked, her whole body glowing with a flush.

"Yeah! Camp! Camp! Camp! Camp!"

Hitomi of course joined in on the chant.

"I heard some of Class A is taking extra courses!" Monoma announced his class's arrival in his usual fashion. "Does that mean they actually failed the final exams?" He gave a faux gasp. "That must be so embarrassing! Especially since you're supposed to be so much better than my class! All of you must be wallowing in shame! Eck!"

With a solid chop, Kendou sent him limply to the ground.

"Don't mind him!" She gave a friendly smile, hauling Monoma away by his collar.

Hitomi opened her mouth, but immediately had it covered by Kirishima.

"I swear, if you're about to say he's nice again…!"

"Time to get on the bus!" Kendou called, leading the way with Monoma still in her grasp.

So she was their Alpha. It fit.

"Attention Class A! Our bus is here! Everyone line up in seating order!" Iida dictated, doing the same as Kendou.

Whatever arrangements he had prepared were totally disregarded pretty much immediately. After tucking their bags away in the back of the vehicle, everyone paired up and claimed any spot that seemed convenient.

Mina latched onto Hitomi's arm, pulling her down to sit beside her up at the front of the bus.

Hitomi glanced back, seeing Momo already sitting with Jirou.

"Here's the deal. We'll be on this bus about an hour before our first stop. Make sure you stay focused."

"Aw…" Hitomi's ears drooped. "Only an hour?"

"Hey, why aren't we blastin' some music?" Kaminari crowed, completely missing anything their teacher said.

"No one should be standing! That is a safety hazard! Please stay seated!"

"But Iida, you're standing." Tsuyu pointed out from her place in front of Aoyama, who was continuing to strike a pose, ignoring the class rep.

Hitomi leaned back in her seat, smiling contentedly out of the window to her right. She hadn't been on a road trip in so long, and to her, driving was always the best part. Sure, you're cooped up for a while, but it gives you time to talk and goof around with everyone else.

"Oh my g—" Sero choked a cough. "M-my f— I can fe-el it in my-y face!"

Ah, Bakugou must've opened the chips.

…

With a hum of contentment, Hitomi leaned down and touched the toes of her shoes, stretching and holding the position before straightening, aching her back with her hands reaching to the sky.

They were at the first rest stop of the trip, giving them a chance to stretch their legs and use the bathroom.

Well, apparently not the latter, as the stop was just a clearing off the side of the road, overlooking a dense forest down below.

"Finally! I needed off that bus!" Kaminari cheered, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

"Lemme get through! I gotta pee!" Mineta zipped by, holding his crotch desperately.

"Huh," Kirishima scratched his neck. "This isn't much of a rest area."

Hitomi cocked her head, taking a sniff and confirming that they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, except for a black car parked a short ways away.

"You don't really think we stopped here just so you could stretch your legs, do you?" Mr. Aizawa droned.

Well, not anymore.

The doors of the black car flew open.

"Heya, Eraser!"

"Long time no see." Mr. Aizawa bowed his head.

Two women stood there, dressed in matching Hero costumes. The brunette's was colored in shades of pink, while the blonde was in shades of blue.

Hitomi perked up, tail swinging. She recognized them from those old Hero parties her parents threw. It looked like they hadn't aged a day.

"Your feline fantasies are here! Say meow!" The brunette, Mandalay kicked off their introductory speech and choreography.

"Purrfectly cute and catlike girls!" The blonde, Pixie-bob continued it before they chorused together.

"You can call us the Wild, Wild Pussycats!"

Hitomi bounced, clapping quietly, while almost everyone else stared blankly.

"These are the Heroes you'll be working with at the summer training camp."

Of course, Midoriya took the chance to gush about them.

"They're a four-person Hero team who specialize in mountain rescues! The Pussycats were founded when we were kids, like forever ago! This marks their twelfth year working as a—"

Pixie-bob launched herself at him, covering the majority of his face with her cat-gloved hand.

"I'm pretty sure your math must be off." She growled with a fixed-on grin.

Hitomi innocently shook her head. "Actually, I think he's right. I remember you guys coming to my parents'—"

"I'm eighteen at heart!" Pixie-bob cut her off, grin unwavering.

"Everyone, say hello." Mr. Aizawa ordered, and Hitomi could practically hear Kaminari's withheld dad comment.

"Hello! Nice to meet you!"

"We own this whole stretch of land out here." Mandalay gestured out to the massive forest. "Everything you can see. The summer camp you're staying at is there, at the base of the mountain."

"That's far!"

"Uh, then why did we stop all the way up here instead?" Ochako asked.

"I'm afraid we both know the answer to that." Tsuyu croaked.

"That can't be right." Sato shook his head in denial.

Sero chuckled nervously, nodding toward the vehicle. "Uh, back on the bus. Quick. Let's go."

"Good idea. Load up!" Kaminari patted Koda on the shoulder and shared a tense smile with Mina.

"The current time is nine-thirty in the morning. If you're fast about it, you might make it there by noon." Mandalay purred.

The ever-present smile slowly slipped off of Hitomi's face, replaced with pale dread, a single fact hitting her.

She wasn't wearing anything that wouldn't be torn by her Quirk.

"No way! Guys!"

"Holy crap!"

"Save yourselves!"

Kirishima, Mina, Kaminari, and Hitomi all made a mad dash for the bus. Hitomi mainly just so she could change into something else—

"Kitties who don't make it there by twelve-thirty won't get any lunch!" Mandalay chirped, urging the rest to try to make it back inside the bus.

"You should have guessed, students. The training camp…"

Pixie-bob dropped down in front of them with a wicked grin, her glove touching down to the ground.

"Has already begun."

Pixie-bob's hands glowed blue, and the dirt underneath the class's feet rose up, moving like water and washing them all over the side of the cliff. Where after a thirty foot drop (that Pixie-bob at least softened for them so they wouldn't break anything) they dug themself out of the once-again hardened dirt.

"Good news! Since this is private land, you can use your Quirks as much as you want to!" Mandalay called down to them. "You've got three full hours. You should be able to make it to the facility in that time. That is, if you can get through The Beast's Forest!"

Turning back to the tree line, they saw that— now up close and personal —the foliage was overgrown and strangely large. The dense canopy blocking out much of the light the deeper in.

"The Beast's Forest?!" Midoriya sputtered.

"That sounds like a name right out of a video game!" Kaminari groaned.

"Why do we keep falling for Aizawa's little tricks?" Jirou grumbled.

"I guess there's no use complaining." Kirishima brushed himself off. "Might as well get going."

Hitomi looked around, doing a headcount and making sure no one was hurt from the drop. But other than some scrapes and bruises, everyone seemed fine. No scent of blood entering her nose.

Though, the scent of another bodily fluid appeared.

Hitomi grimaced, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"Ah! We're all gonna die!"

Hitomi whirled around, gaping at the thing responsible for making Mineta soil himself.

B-but… she didn't smell it! There was just dirt. Nothing telling of the huge creature towering over him.

"Please calm yourself my giant friend!" Koda ran forward bravely, his voice the loudest Hitomi had ever heard. "You don't wanna hurt them!"

But the creature raised a clawed hand, and moved to bat Mineta away.

With green sparks, Midoriya grabbed him and jumped out of the way just in time.

Wait… no smell, and Koda couldn't control it?

Pixie-bob's Quirk!

"It's not alive…" She whispered with realization, then shouted out to all of them. "It's not alive! You can use lethal force!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Bakugou grinned dangerously, shooting himself at the beast with blasts of his Quirk.

Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida all launched into action as well, showing no hesitation.

Hitomi sighed, lamenting her state of dress, and shifted.

"Recipro Burst!"

"I'll kill you!

Hitomi dully wished she had a cool named attack she could use. The fact she wouldn't be able to say it while transformed, not crossing her mind.

The boys made quick work of the first one, destroying the earth-creature in a coordinated attack. But more and more started crawling through the trees toward them, all different shapes and sizes.

Hitomi found herself faced off with a quadrupedal beast about her size, growling lowly at it. It returned the favor, baring teeth made of stone.

"Let's go, Class A!" Iida bellowed determinedly.

"Yeah!"

Hitomi charged at the beast, lips pulling back to reveal her own set of fangs.

Yeah!

…

Hitomi heaved, vomited again with a whimper.

"That's it, let it out." Momo whispered soothingly, though her voice sounded like thunder in Hitomi's ears.

Over her hunched shoulders was a simple white blanket to hide her naked form— her tattered clothes long gone by this point.

Clenching her eyes tightly shut, Hitomi tried to focus on blocking all the smells and sounds out, wincing and wobbling from her vertigo. Her limbs felt heavy, and she wanted— needed, nothing more than to rest. Evident by her body's blatant protest to her prolonged use of her Quirk. But they were almost there. She could smell their homeroom teacher just through the tree line.

"Hang in there, just a bit further." Midoriya rasped, clearly exhausted as well.

Hitomi started to nod, then stopped when it made her vision tilt. Hugging the blanket closer to herself, she straightened slowly and trudged on, signaling to the rest that it was time to continue on.

She wasn't the only one in poor shape. Far from it, actually, which was selfishly comforting in a way.

Momo was stumbling and dizzy from overuse of her Quirk without the proper caloric intake beforehand. Bakugou was cradling his forearms, which had only recently healed. Todoroki was suffering from frostbite on his right side. Iida's left leg was smoking and sputtering, forcing him to limp along. Kaminari was fried to the point of being completely silent. Ochako was taking barf-breaks alongside Hitomi. Koda's voice was practically gone. Aoyama was walking hunched over, holding his stomach. And Mineta's head was steadily bleeding.

They were quite a sight to behold, lumbering out of the forest to stand before their teacher and the two Heroes.

"You said it would only be, like, three hours!" Sero croaked, wincing any time he bent his arms.

It was well past that point, the sky yellow as the sun started setting, the time of their arrival being 5:24pm.

"I guess we timed it based on how long it'd take us. Sorry!" Mandalay shrugged in a what can you do fashion.

Hitomi started to careen to the side, hastily caught by Tsuyu.

"Now you're braggin' about how much better you are? That's so mean." Sato said weakly.

"I'm starving! This is hell." Kirishima reclined back on the ground.

"Mew, mew, mew, mew!" Pixie-bob giggled, and Hitomi was too exhausted to even appreciate its cuteness. "I thought it would take you kids even longer. But you did much better against my dirt monsters than I thought you would. You guys were seriously great. Especially… the four of you!"

Her genuine praise was undermined slightly when she leveled Bakugou, Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki with a look of borderline hunger.

"It seems like you've had quite a bit of experience." She licked her lips in a way akin to Midnight, then threw herself at them. "I call dibs on these kittens! I'll groom them myself!"

While the boys tried shielding themselves from her, Mr. Aizawa turned to Mandalay.

"Has she always been like this?"

"It's gotten worse lately. She's at the age to take a mate."

"Uh, Hitomi? You're growling." Momo touched her shoulder.

Hitomi jolted, the rumbling cutting off.

She hadn't even noticed she was. Or why. There was nothing threatening around, at least, that she could see. Just her tired classmates and the Heroes— one of which that was still boraging the four boys.

Hitomi felt her chest start to vibrate again, which she quickly stifled.

Weird.

"Uh, speaking of people's ages—" Midoriya's face was covered by a glove again.

"Choose your words carefully, boy." Pixie-bob warned.

"I've just been wondering since we got here earlier." Midoriya's voice came out muffled, and he pointed to a young boy standing by Mandalay. "Who is that kid? What's he doing here?"

"Oh, this little guy?" Mandalay gestured to the sole child. "He's my cousin's son. He lives with us now. Don't be shy, Kouta. Say hi to everyone. You're gonna be around them for the next week."

Once separating himself from Pixie-bob, Midoriya approached Kouta with a smile.

"Hey there. My name's Midoriya. I'm from the UA High School Hero course. It's nice to meet you!"

Kouta pulled his right fist back and delivered it squarely to Midoriya's groin.

Hitomi blinked, staring stunned at the boy, who casually walked away.

"What a low blow!" Iida ran over and caught Midoriya, who was holding his injured self with an ashen complexion. "You fiend of a child! A punch to the scrotum is unforgivable!"

Kouta paused, looking back at them with a sneer. "The last thing I want is to hang with some wannabe Heroes."

Hitomi's face fell, a soft frown settling in. He sounded like—

"Wannabe?! How old are you, kid?!"

"That brat's got spunk." Bakugou commented.

Opening her mouth to add something, Hitomi turned and looked at the blonde, but immediately froze.

Because… he was smiling. Like, not smirking or grinning with fierce eyes, but smiling warmly.

"He's like a mini version of you." Todoroki snarked dryly.

And the smile was gone, replaced by a snarl as he rounded on the bi-colored boy. "What're you talking about?!" Then, he noticed Hitomi's gaze, and turned on her as well. "And what're you staring at?!"

Hitomi held the blanket closer, for some reason suddenly acutely aware of how bare she was underneath. "I-I just… you have a really nice smile."

Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that. She could almost see the fire go out in his eyes, something else taking its place.

His scent changed too, with a spike of… something she couldn't place. Contentment? That was the closest thing she could liken it to, the trace of it so small it was hardly noticeable.

"Enough playing around." Mr. Aizawa ordered, gaining their attention. "Get your stuff off the bus. Once your bags are in your rooms we'll have dinner in the cafeteria. After that you can bathe and sleep."

Hitomi stood straighter, about to open her mouth, when he addressed her.

"Saito, you can go get changed after moving your bag." He held up a UA gym uniform still in plastic packaging, and finished off his speech to them. "Now, tomorrow your training starts in earnest. You'd better get a move on."

Hitomi almost tripped on the end of the blanket in her haste to get to the bus.