Mina yawns and stretches and so do a few others as we all stand outside, waiting. I cross my arms, wide awake. Having hardly gotten any sleep and being rudely awoken only a few hours later at around five in the morning to get ready, I strangely feel fine. With everyone in our gym uniforms, Aizawa clears his throat and starts speaking.
"Good morning class. Today we begin a training camp that will increase your strength. Our goal is to increase your skills exponentially so that each of you earns a provisional license. This will allow you to face the dangers that continue to fester in the darkness. Proceed carefully. Look alive, Bakugo."
Aizawa tosses a baseball to Bakugo and he catches it easily.
"Try throwing that for me."
"Yeah, sure. Like at the fitness test."
"That's right. When you first started school your record was 705.2 meters. Let's see if you've improved."
Bakugo walks past Aizawa and out ahead of us as Mina starts getting excited.
"Oh, I get it! We're checking our progress!"
Sero agrees with her as Bakugo starts winding up.
"A lot has happened to us in the last three months. Maybe he can throw it a whole mile now!"
"C'mon get it, Bakugo!"
Kirishima cheers on his friend as Bakugo smirks.
Damn it. That smirk is getting to me.
"I've got this."
He pulls back, getting ready to blast the ball sky high.
"GO TO HELL!"
Explosions rocket the ball forwards as he throws it. It flies through the air with smoke trailing behind it just like he did at the quirk assessment test all the way back on the first day.
Woah, it looks like he really has improved. Although It's unrealistic to think he would be able to go so much farther now considering that everyone improves at a different rate so you can't expect him to-
"That was 709.6 meters."
Bakugo's eyes widen in frustration as he skids himself to a halt.
"That's it? Kinda disappointing..."
Sero comments. I whip around and glare at him, not entirely sure why I'm so mad. Knowing myself, it's probably because I think that disappointing someone is one of the worst feelings you can feel. Regrettably, I also forget to keep my mouth shut sometimes as my tone gets a tad bit heated.
"Well, you can't expect everyone to be drastically better than before. Sure it's been three months but it depends on where you start. Everyone improves at a different pace."
Sero stares at me awkwardly.
"Alright, alright, sorry. Calm down a little."
"What was that?"
Glaring at him again with way more intensity this time, he flinches and stutters. Mina nervously puts her arm around my shoulder and turns my head forward as she stands next to me, giggling nervously. Aizawa sighs.
"You've had a single semester and due to your various experiences all of you have definitely improved."
Mina whispers to me as I take a deep breath.
"Why'd you do that?"
I scoff as she tries to hide her grin as if she already has the wrong idea about what it is.
"I'm not sure."
I just know what it feels like to disappoint someone and I'd rather not have other people know how it feels either, even if I do dislike Bakugo or if it's not that important... Now that I'm thinking about it, that wasn't necessary… God damn it there's another thing on my long list of things I've screwed up...
"-With a slight increase in stamina thrown in along the way. As you can see your quirks themselves have not improved much on a fundamental level. That's why we're now going to focus on improving your power."
Aizawa smirks.
"This'll be so hard you'll feel like you're dying. Let's hope you all survive."
Overdramatic much?
I stand next to a towering and wide rock wall. Taking heavy breaths, I prepare to climb up as my bare feet touch the ground. I glance upwards, and to my left is Tsuyu, using her tongue and frog-like abilities to scale the same rock formation that I am. For my training, I'm trying to explore what other possibilities I have and I'm at least attempting to do at least two different animals at a time. I'm hoping that by the end I'll be used to doing it for at least a few minutes, but first I have to actually get to it.
This'll be what, my fifth time climbing this damn mountain thing? Haven't improved much as far as I can tell.
I grab onto the rock and put one foot onto the ledge. Slowly, the skin on the soles of my feet and the tips of my fingers turn into that of a gecko's, which allow me to stick to and climb any surface. I then start climbing upwards, sticking again and again to the rock. With ease I steadily scale the huge rock wall, and as I get higher I try and grow horns from the top of my head, just to practice. Pressing my body close against the rock, the horns slowly emerge from my head, but I regret it as the pain that spreads from it is comparable to that of the sharp sting you get in your side when you get a cramp or side stitch, except it doesn't go away that easily. I try to press on through it, but I know it'll be too much of a distraction. The horns disappear back into my head, and my head pounds as I continue up the mountain.
Not yet…
Soon enough I reach the top. Sitting down, I fall backwards and lay down for a moment before I cover my eyes from the sun. This time instead of the pain throughout my body it's deciding to gather in my skull and give me a headache.
Awesome. Just awesome.
"Ribbit."
I sit up and turn around to see an equally tired Tsuyu sitting by the ledge.
"Hey, Tsu."
She turns to me, her finger on her cheek.
"Hello, Ritsu. How are you feeling?"
Shrugging, I lay down again with my hands behind my head.
"Could be better. I've got a headache."
"This quirk training just seems to be getting harder and harder doesn't it, Ribbit."
I nod.
"Yeah."
There's a pause as the sun warms up the rock. It feels relaxing and calming as Tsuyu turns to me again.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Uh, I was talking to Mina a while ago and-"
Are you joking? Did Mina waltz around, telling everyone about my nonexistent crush? What the hell...
"-she said she was too nervous to ask you herself, and to be honest it's not just her that's wondering. Ochaco, Jiro, Momo, and even Midoriya are wondering about it as well."
Oh for fuck's sake.
"-Are you related to Tomura Shigiraki?"
...What...?
I sit up and turn to her, dumbstruck at the question.
"E-excuse me?"
She stares at me nervously.
"Well I personally don't think so but you both have the same hair color, similar eyes, similar intimidating presence, and you have similar ways of looking at people. It just makes sense to some of us how you two would be related."
I shake my head slowly.
"No, I am not related to him. I assure you. If I was I would've changed my name and moved to the damn moon. I get how some of them might've thought that but that's not the case."
" 'Not the case'? What do you mean?"
I pause, realizing I let something slip. My heartbeat quickens, and my mind struggles to think of an excuse. Holding in a stutter, I take a quick deep breath and swallow before responding.
"I mean that I've been acquainted with him. All of 1-A has technically. Remember at the U.S.J? You were one of the ones that saw him up close right?"
She nods.
"And like I said, I have a headache so it's harder for me to focus on my words and say exactly what I mean."
She nods again, sighing in relief.
"Thanks. I was just curious."
I chuckle, trying to shrug it off.
"I think it's funny that you guys thought that."
Tsuyu laughs a little as well.
"Your right."
The next time you let something like this slip, I'm going to kill you Tazuma. Because if I don't do it myself, Shigiraki certainly will...
"Now, remember what I said? We're not serving your food anymore!"
Pixie-Bob smiles as Ragdoll points to many plates full of ingredients.
"If you guys wanna eat, you're gonna have to make your own meals, starting with curry!"
Begrudgingly, we all nod with defeated voices.
"Yes, Ma'am..."
Ragdoll bursts into laughter.
"Oh man, you guys look exhausted!"
I growl and mutter.
"I wonder why..."
"But that doesn't mean you can cope by making sloppy cat food!"
Iida puts his hand to his chin as I groan.
"I see, helping someone recover from a disaster also means taking care of their physical needs-"
"Let's just split up in groups, those who can't cook and those who can then we just hand out jobs from there."
Iida stutters from my remark as I glare at him.
"Great idea, Oritsu! Now, let's get to work everyone!"
Todoroki lights a fire underneath one of the fireplaces and the wood catches instantly, ready to be used. With everyone in casual clothes, we relax as we prepare, chop, and cook food. I'm wearing just a plain T-shirt and straight jeans with my usual black sneakers. I carry a plate of vegetables ready to be cut as Mina calls to him.
"Hey, Todoroki! Can we get some fire over here too?"
He gets up and nods. Sero turns to Bakugo, who sits in front of another fireplace.
"Hey Bakugo, use an explosion to light that."
"This is so beneath me..."
He grumbles as he releases an explosion next to the wood, however, he just ends up destroying the fireplace. I can't help but laugh as I stare at him with a teasing smirk.
"Don't you think that was a bit too extra for someone who hates extras?"
He whips around and glares at me as he shouts.
"Oh shut up, smartass! Why don't you try and light a damn fire then!"
I sigh, exaggerating my tone a bit.
"I really would but there's no fireplace left for me to work with, in case you haven't noticed."
He growls and turns back to the burnt fireplace, muttering curse words. I chuckle as Momo perks up.
"Rely on others and you'll never learn how to start a fire yourself. We should focus on acquiring new skills."
I roll my eyes. Momo uses a lighter to light her fire as Todoroki offers to help.
"Wow, thank you so much!"
Ochaco thanks him as I glance back at a frustrated Bakugo, who walks away with his head down and hands in his pockets, smoke still rising from the remains of the fireplace. With a disheartened look on his face, he looks like he's busy thinking.
...Was I too mean? I don't think it's anything he can't handle but now I feel guilty. God damn it, see what you're doing to me, Bakugo? I'm as inconsistent as they get and yet you still manage to make me feel more like polar opposites than Todoroki's quirk...
I stare down at the plate in my hands.
Oh right, I'm supposed to be doing something.
It takes forever, but soon enough we have plenty of curry and rice for everyone. Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari are one of the first ones to immediately start digging into their food as I lean against one of the wooden canopy beams, my plate and spoon in hand. Lanterns light up the area as I look up at the beautiful night sky.
Woah... You don't get stars like this in the city, that's for sure... Makes me remember something... Not sure what, but I feel a bit nostalgic for some reason...
"You're pretty quiet today, Ritsu! Something on your mind?"
Mina asks me from across a table, probably hoping to get a blush out of me but it doesn't work, as my mind instantly goes to the League of Villains.
Shit... Knowing Shigiraki he'll probably have them attack at an unsuspecting time when our guard is down... Hell it could be any moment. All it takes is a few seconds and everything could burst into flames. They have Dabi which is very bad considering his quirk and the fact that where surrounded by a forest, and if Toga has managed to commit murder multiple times without getting caught then she must have some strategies to stay out of sight so the chances of her and a few others I might not know about are high, which also means-
"Ritsu! You in there?"
I glance up from my plate as Mina stares at me, a bit concerned.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine."
Nervously, I take a bite of curry and try to distract myself from the League, but I can't as I tap my finger on my plate.
There's so much that Shigiraki probably doesn't tell me about, but if he keeps secrets from me I won't be able to...
I pause.
To what, Tazuma? To exploit them? No, you know damn well that exposing the League is the last thing you want to do. If you stay on their side you'll be fine. Think of it as a secret identity only your entire life is fucked if your real identity gets out, and if you let slip that your not sure about being with the League anymore than Shigiraki will most definitely remove you from U.A be it forcibly or otherwise and in the worse case scenario he might even...
He might even kill me... He's fully capable of killing me and he could even get Dabi and Toga to help pin me down so he can turn me to dust... I need to consider the pros and cons of both sides, even though I feel as if I've already gone over them. But what good will it do me other than remind me of what an already deep rabbit hole I've gotten myself into...? If this keeps going I'll also be stuck in another sleepless night...
"Oritsu, Ashido told me you're looking for ways to utilize your quirk more and I have some suggestions."
I nod as I turn to Aizawa. Once again, all of 1-A and 1-B are in our gym uniforms.
"For starters, you should start thinking more out of the box when it comes to certain situations. Do more like what you did at the sports festival. And when you find those new solutions, make them stronger so they're more reliable when the time comes to use them. Next, expand your horizons and study a bit. Find new species you didn't know about and see if you can use them. And finally, pay more attention. Ashido also said that you've been thinking a lot about something lately and it's making it harder for you to focus. If it's something personal or family related you can always talk to someone about it."
Taking in all this information, I realize he's right.
"I'm fine, Mr. Aizawa. It's just that I've been looking ahead a bit more than I should."
He nods.
"Alright. Talk to me if you need anything."
He walks away as I put my hand to my chin and start thinking about what he said.
Aizawa is right. One of the things I haven't really done before with my quirk was secreting the non lethal poison during my fight with Bakugo at the sports festival if I remember correctly... But I think I have an idea that will help both me and someone else.
"Oi, Bakugo!"
I say as I walk up to Bakugo. He stands next to a metal barrel, his hands in the water inside and a fire underneath the barrel. He glares at me.
"What the hell do you want?"
"I wanted to make an offer."
He pulls his hands from the water and dries them with his shirt.
"And? Hurry up, dumbass I don't have all the time in the world."
"I'm well aware. My offer is that we improve both our quirks by training together. My idea is that I get used to high temperatures in close proximity and toughen my scales for defense, and you learn how to make more concentrated and powerful explosions that may not be as big and flashy as the ones you normally do, but they're still pretty strong. Think of it like a bullet. I think it'll really improve your technique and give you more options during combat. We can also coach each other and give advice or something."
He glares into the hot water in the barrel as I admire his face for a moment before mentally slapping myself and shouting to get a grip. He turns to me, looking strangely calm and only half irritated.
"Fine. We both get something out of it so why the hell not."
I nod.
"Good."
He glares at me and shouts, returning to his usual aggressive expression.
"Well, what the hell are you waiting for? Let's fight!"
Glaring right back at him, I smirk and get in a battle-ready position, my fists brought up to my chest. He does the same and scowls as he does so.
"Prepare to lose again, you shitty wannabe!"
I chuckle, not bothering to hide my excitement.
"You're on, jackass!"
Bakugo reels his right arm backward, making a big swing as an explosion blasts from his palm, but my arms are up just in time and the skin turns to scales.
"Go smaller! Aim for vital spots!"
I shout. He grumbles as I punch his stomach and pull back right before he can hit me back.
"Hit harder, damn it! I didn't even feel anything!"
He hits me with another yet smaller right-handed explosion. I block it before I notice his left hand lurch for my stomach and release a more direct explosion right at my gut. I take a step back and wince at the pain, but smirk when I look back at him.
"There you go! Now just do that over and over."
Squaring up again, he scoffs.
"Tch. Only if you can keep up."
"Like I said, over and over."
He smirks back as we continue brawling. Afterwards, I felt accomplished that I had taught him something and I taught myself something as well. As much as I hate to admit it, I also felt a bit bubbly and jittery. But in a good way. I knew what Mina would say about it, and that made me try and forget about feeling that way. Not that it didn't feel good, I like feeling pleased and excited once in a while. It's just that, like always, something in the back of my mind just had to ruin the moment by telling me what this meant for me overall.
Standing next to Bakugo who's hard at work at cutting up vegetables, I can't help but stare as he cuts perfect slices effortlessly. We both sit at picnic tables with cutting boards and kitchen knives in front of us. He glares at me as he realizes I'm staring.
"What the hell are you staring at?"
"The fact that you use a kitchen knife perfectly with no effort while I wouldn't be able to start a goddamn stove without burning myself."
He glares at me as he starts chopping faster, moving from one vegetable to the next.
"How the hell do you screw up turning on a stove? Are you that bad at everything?!"
"I'm obviously exaggerating dipshit and yeah basically."
I laugh at myself as I start cutting a carrot that sits in front of me on a cutting board. With inexperienced hands, I try to copy what Bakugo did but end up only with uneven and messy slices. It doesn't take long before he notices.
"What the hell is that?! Start over, smartass! That's not how you cut food!"
I glare at him out of the corner of my eye.
"Well then you do it."
He grumbles.
"Alright I will! Move over!"
He gently pushes me out of the way as I hand over the knife. Not only does he fix up the slices I messed up, but he also plows through the pile of other vegetables I had to do. My eyes widen as he gets it all done in a matter of seconds and hands me the bowl full of the cut pieces.
"Here. Maybe next time you'll know how to cut food properly."
Taking the plate from him, I roll my eyes.
"Whatever you say, Chef Bakugo."
"Don't call me that, damn it!"
I chuckle as I walk the bowl over to another picnic table where a few students from class B sit, getting ready to put the curry together. Setting the bowl down I glance back at Bakugo, who stands up and shoves his hands in his pockets, heading towards Kirishima.
Damn it... There's that stupid jittery feeling again...
"Alright, perfect! We've filled our bellies and cleaned the dishes! It's time for-!"
Pixie-Bob stands excitedly with her hands on her hips as she awaits a response.
"A totally awesome test of courage!"
Mina shouts as Kaminari, Sero, Sato, and Kirishima join in.
"We're gonna win!"
"Not so fast."
Aizawa's voice ruins the moment as he walks towards the five of them.
"It pains me to say it, but the remedial class will be having lessons with me tonight instead."
Mina's smile instantly turns into a gloomy expression as she groans.
"You've gotta be kidding me...!"
Aizawa's scarf launches towards them and wraps around them.
"Sorry, your training during the day didn't impress me so I'll be using this time too."
He pulls them forward as they whine.
"Aw, gimme a break!"
I feel bad for Mina as she gets pulled away with the other four towards the main building. Pixie-Bob takes Aizawa's place and starts explaining this whole "test of courage" thing we're supposed to do.
"Okay, so, class B is going to start out as our scarers. When they're in place class A will leave in pairs every three minutes! There are tags with your names on them at the far end of the route! Your goal is to collect those!"
Sounds simple enough.
"Now, those who are scarers aren't allowed to make physical contact! Use your quirks to terrify the others, got it?"
"The winners are the creative students who make the most people piss their pants!"
Tiger shouts as Jiro cringes.
"Did we really need that visual?"
Iida speaks up as I can't seem to get my mind straight. While I try to sort out my thoughts, I end up accidentally zoning out and ignoring whatever Iida was about to say.
The League knows where this training camp is and if Shigiraki where to choose any time to attack, now would be logical. I really hope he doesn't though and I'm just being paranoid... I keep thinking about it but I really don't know what I would do if things got out of hand... My plan so far is to reason with whoever shows up and try to convince them not to hurt anybody-although that will be a massive chore by itself-, or stall them long enough that they'll get distracted... However, I know that there could be a few more people that Shigiraki has recruited and at most they'll be rank B or even A rank villains and I know that I won't be able to go against them for long. I also should think of myself because if I get hurt it won't exactly be simple to explain as to why I was searching for a villain...
"Alright! Everyone draw to see who your partner will be!"
My mind snaps back to reality as Pixie-Bob walks up to everyone and lets them pick out a slip of paper with a random number on it. By the time she gets to me I awkwardly take a number.
10?
I glance at the rest of 1-A, and it seems everyone is paired up. Except for Midoriya. I walk up to him as he stands still, confused as he stares out into space.
"Hey Midoriya, what number did you get?"
He sighs.
"Uh, I got 10. Why do you ask?"
"I got the same thing. Guess we're paired up."
Shoving the slip of paper into my pocket, I look around and see that Bakugo and Todoroki are paired up.
Ha. That oughta be fun.
I turn to Midoriya, who keeps staring out into space.
"Hey. You in there?"
He blinks in confusion then turns to me.
"Sorry about that! So, um... What do you think of the training camp so far?"
I shrug.
"It's alright. Aizawa told me a bunch of things I should do with my quirk and I have a goal set in mind so I think I'll have at least a few things done by the time this is over."
He nods, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. He seems nervous, and I take note of it.
"Earlier Tsuyu asked me if I was related to Shigiraki and that you were one of the people who thought it was true."
He jumps.
"A-and what was your answer?! I-I didn't tell Asui-uh-Tsu, to ask you that! I was gonna- well, is it true?"
"Of course not. You'd think I'd wanna enroll into a hero school if I was related to a villain? That would be a living nightmare. And the media would be all over it like the dogs they are."
Midoriya gulps.
"T-that seems a bit much, but yeah your right. Oh, I noticed that you and Kacchan were sparring earlier as well. It's nice to know that someone like you can put up with him! Seeing as sometimes you can be just as scary..."
He mutters the last part under his breath.
"Yeah, I agree with you."
"Y-you heard me say that?! I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Also the fact that you've improved as well can't go unnoticed. In the first few weeks you always broke your bones and went to Recovery Girl more times than any could bother to count, now you get surrounded by green lightning."
Midoriya laughs a little.
"I didn't know you could make a joke, Oritsu! But that's not exactly how my quirk works. It's a power-up type so think of it like I'm getting energized."
"That's one way to put it. By the way, considering that this is a haunted house type thing, do you get scared easily?"
He glances at me with an awkward expression.
"A little... I bet you're not scared of anything! When we fought Stain with Iida and Todoroki you didn't look the least bit scared even when you got hurt! And at the mall you weren't even intimidated when Shigiraki came by and threatened us! Well, I wasn't there when it happened to you, but you get my point."
Not afraid of anything, huh...? I wish...
"Well, nobody's not afraid of anything unless they're lying to themselves."
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!
Over from the tops of the trees I see smoke and the embers of blue flame peak into the skies.
I need to find the others and warn them! Ochaco and Tsuyu just went into the forest and they could get hurt as well as everyone else who went in. I need to be fast or it could be too late.
I whip around and shout, a visibly worried look on my face.
"If there's a fire then I'll go warn the others who are still in the forest...!"
"Oritsu, wait! It's dangerous!"
Midoriya calls after me as I ignore him. Running and not turning back, I head right into the forest and towards the source of the blue fire as I argue with myself in my head.
Should I go save the others or find the most dangerous villains and stall them? The better choice would be to save the others but that'll take too much time and I won't be able to get to them all in time. If I go look for villains it will definitely be substantially difficult to hold my own and I might have a chance. I can defend myself against Toga's knives and maybe even Dabi's fire if I turn my skin to scales but they'll hardly do anything against fire if I try to hold it for too long.
I skid to a halt when I look around and see I made it to where the fire started. Remembering to stay mostly away from it, I'm careful when I creep closer and look around frantically for Dabi.
Where is he...? He should be my top priority right now seeing as he's most likely one of the most powerful sent here depending on the number. If I can just-
"We meet again, Tazuma-chan..."
"Dabi? Where are you?"
Turning around, I try to find the source of his voice but I don't see anything. It only takes one second for everything to fall apart. In that second Dabi grabs my neck with his hand and unbearably hot and blue flames spew from his palm, coating my neck in fire. I try to scream as my eyes water and my neck feels like it's boiling. I accidentally deeply inhale the smoke as he lets go and I collapse, desperately trying to breathe. My throat feels like it's made of hot ashy coals as my neck turns a bright red and stings, burns, and my skin feels like it's falling apart all at the same time. It gives me a bit of PTSD as memories of the pain from when I got the scar on my left shoulder flash in my mind.
"You're lucky I only used about less than half of my highest temperature... That little stunt will at most leave you with a first-degree burn."
Saliva dries on my tongue as I try to not scratch my neck, my breathing getting raspier with each gasp. It hurts too much to shout or talk. He's shut me up.
"Now, where's your friend? The one they call Bakugo to be specific. He's our target, and you're the perfect diversion."