Here it is, the thirty-ninth full chapter of Miraculous Quirks released early as I have gotten a bit ahead of schedule with my draft so I can surprise you with it. The next few chapters will be on the shorter side as they build up what is coming but it will all be worth it, I'm sure of it, with at least one or two being longer due to what is going on in them. Anyway, that is all the administrative stuff I have for now though and as there are no questions or guest reviews to address here, though do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from y'all, I will leave this pre chapter note off here. That means that it is time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the 39th full chapter of Miraculous Quirks.
Disclaimer: I do not own either of these great works of fiction.
Chapter 39: The Calm Before the Storm
"You ok Marinette?" Tsu said as Marinette tucked into the delicious dinner that Mandalay and Pixie-Bob had prepared for them. "You're really wolfing it down, ribbit."
Marinette was too busy eating the traditional Japanese food, loaded with meat, mixed vegitables, rice, and covered in just the right amount of sauce to respond right away. It wasn't the most ladylike action she was taking but she needed to do it and she'd explain in a moment.
It was shortly after they'd arrived, dropped their stuff off in their accommodations, and headed straight to dinner. The two women had said that they wouldn't be preparing food again for them which didn't bode well but right now all Marinette could focus on was said food. Around her the rest of the class occupied 3 tables in the dining room as they talked amongst themselves about where they were staying, those who could at least, or were inhaling the food at a rate that had to be unhealthy giving how fast Kirishima and Kaminari were eating their meals.
"Sorry Tsu, I really needed to get a lot in me fast." Marinette said having finished her bowl of food and loading up a second but eating it at a slower pace while Adrien just ate constantly by her side, same with Midoriya and Ida who were in their group, so it was really just Marinette, Tsu and Ochaco talking though the latter girl was also filling up on the free food as much as possible. "I'm still not fully there but the more I eat the closer I get to returning to normal, and the meat helps as it is rich in protein."
"Huh?" Tsu asked confused by what Marinette was saying.
"Oh, it has to do with your Quirk, right Marinette." Ochaco said recalling what the girl had once explained back at the start of the year. "You need food to recharge it."
"I do as the energy from food is the fuel Lucky Charm uses and for the most part it's not too bad but today taught me something important." Marinette said between mouthfuls of food. "I can use my Quirk without food but there is a cost to it."
"There is?" Tsu asked. "I guess that does make sense given how Quirks are physical abilities."
"Yup and I think I've figured out where at least one of my limits is." Marinette said. "You see, for Lucky Charm to work it requires energy from my body. Usually that comes in the form of energy from food, mainly protein hence the special cubes I have, and I made sure to pack plenty in my luggage for this, as well as making sure I have a high protein and carb diet, but if I run out and can't recharge in time I can still use Lucky Charm as I did at the end of the trip through the forest. The drawback is that I used my own natural energy reserves which tires me out and I need to eat a lot to replace it."
"That does make sense given how your Quirk works and explains why Agreste had to basically carry you the last part of the way." Ochaco said. "Having a drawback to overuse isn't good, I know that I need to work on my queasiness as I don't want to be sick in the field while helping people."
"Yeah it's not great but there's an extra problem right now." Marinette said embarrassed a little but plowing on anyway. "I don't actually think I can use Lucky Charm at the moment, it's why I'm eating so much. The more I eat, the faster I should recharge."
"Wait you can't use it?" Tsu asked surprised.
"Nope, I can't feel the power within because I went past my limits." Marinette said shaking her head. "It happened once before, during my semifinal match with Todoroki at the Sports Festival. I used his ice to try and recharge my Quirk, but it wasn't fully there when I activated it a second time at the end, I kinda forced it out. Afterwards, I couldn't feel the power for a few hours though I didn't really put it all together at the time due to my injuries. Those were rather distracting after all."
"So that's how you used it a second time." Tsu said a finger on her chin as Marinette answered a question she'd always had about that match as no one had expected Marinette to use Lucky Charm twice during it. "Ice works for you?"
"Well, it worked in the sense that I could at least force it out." Marinette said as she paused to think on it. "But in all honesty it doesn't really have the energy I need to make it work properly hence the longer recharge time though Recovery Girl's healing sessions also prolonged it I think. Usually, I've eaten before I use my Quirk so that is the reserves I use for it but when I don't I can use it at least once, but the drawback is a longer recharge so I need to really work on my stamina, that should help. I think I can use it again before bed if I eat more."
"It's likely similar for me." Adrien said as he finished his second bowl and moved onto his third, as did Marinette. "The recharge drawback is actually pretty common with French Quirks thanks to all those Quirk Marriages back in the day."
"Must be how they developed over there." Tsu said thinking on what Agreste had said. "I'm sure that Midoriya would know more."
"Huh, what?" Izuku said having not heard a word as he was wondering about Kota right now and what was up with him as he clearly didn't like heroes.
"Deku, are you ok?" Ochaco said a little worried.
"Yeah just thinking." Izuku said with a smile that put Ochaco at ease and made her heart flutter just a little, but it wasn't like that, at least she thought it wasn't.
"Ok, don't do anything reckless." Ochaco said as she tried to get her heartrate under control while they all laughed at Midoriya's habit of acting without thinking.
The rest of the dinner passed without much fanfare. The class ate, chatted, and got back their strength after the grueling, near 8-hour, trek through the forest while fighting Pixie-Bob's monsters at the same time. This meal was very much needed but it was what was coming afterwards that was the real joy, baths.
It turned out that the resort was built on a natural hot spring so they had an outdoor bath, a rotenburo, divided with a thick, high, wooden fence, so that both genders could bath in peace. It was the first time that either Marinette or Adrien had used a proper outdoor bath and the first time Adrien had used one at all in Japan though he'd brushed up on the etiquette for these things, so he was ready for it.
"This is just what we needed." Mina said happily as she slid into the warm water first on the girls side. "A good scrub and then a hot, natural, bath, makes that ordeal in the forest worth it."
"Yes as nice as the one at home is, an outdoor hot spring really can't be beat." Momo said getting in and sitting down. "And this one feels perfect."
"It's water and it's warm so just the way I like it, ribbit." Tsu said with a smile. "Being cold blooded does have some drawbacks but a warm bath really helps."
"Is this a first time Marinette?" Ochaco asked as they got in. "In one of these I mean."
"In a rotenburo yes but I did bath with Mirko during my internship in an indoor bath where I was staying." Marinette said as the water was distorted near them to show that Hagakure was getting in as well, the only sight of her presence being the slight distortion of the water around her body. "I have wanted to try one of these though. It is as nice as I was expecting."
"I'm surprised that you haven't had one with Agreste." Mina said with a grin as she got up to sit on a rock on the said so that only her feet were in the water. "Surely you would have done that by now. The idea of washing your man and having him wash you is so romantic."
"Our accommodation, as you've seen, is set to a more western affair." Marinette said unable to contain her blush at Mina's comment. "So, we don't have a bath like this. That and we do have a guardian, he does make sure no funny business happens and Gem was just as strict on that front."
"Right." Mina said with a smile that showed she didn't believe Marinette at all. "Because that always stops teenagers in love."
"This feels amazing." Toru said as she relaxed into the bath ignoring the brief grilling of Marinette to get used to the water, she'd join in when she was fully relaxed as she was just like Mina in the need to know about Marinette's love life so that she could live vicariously through her friend. "It just melts the stress of the day away."
"I'm so glad they have a hot springs here." Jiro added with a sigh as she let the water do its work. "Just what we needed."
Little did the girls know but the boys were bathing at the same time and at that moment, on the other side of the wall, a certain little gremlin was listening to them with a smile on his face. This was his chance to finally see almost all of the girls in his class in all their glory, especially one set of tits that defied all logic.
"Bathe my angles." Mineta said his ear pressed to the wooden wall between them. "How stupid of them to not stagger the times we'd be naked next to each other."
As he was saying this the boys were all looking at him with a mix of shock, revulsion, or in Kaminari's case admiration for his boldness. Mineta was going to take this chance and he'd made sure to maximize it with both Ida and Agreste, the two most likely to stop him, at the other end of the bath having just gotten in to relax in the hot water.
"I hope they never learn from this mistakes." Mineta all but moaned as he began to drool while pressing himself against the wall. "It will be my pleasure to capitalize on it."
"It's too much for him." Kaminari said as Ida lost it and got up.
"Stop this at once Mineta." Ida called out striding through the water towards his classmate. "This is demeaning for both yourself and the girls. It's shameful behavior unbecoming of a future hero."
"I guess you didn't learn from the locker room." Adrien said, his tone so cold that those around him felt a shiver from it despite the water, as he too got up and stepped out of the hot spring to also approach Mineta. "Looks like even more corrective measures are needed to deal with him."
"Now I know why I have this Quirk." Mineta said as he pulled off his first pop off ball from his head. "Walls are meant to be climbed."
Still grinning and drooling, Mineta began to climb the wall as fast as he could with his Quirk. This was just what he was meant to do and as he got higher he knew that not even Agreste would stop him. Sure, it would be better if the French boy just used that Quirk of his to destroy the wall and be done with it, but Mineta knew that that would never happen as he was too straight laced to use his powers for the good of all mankind. Instead, he needed to get high enough that Agreste wouldn't use his strength to leap up and stop him lest he accidentally go over the top and see the girls as well.
No, this was Minoru Mineta's moment, the moment he was meant for, the moment he was born for, the moment he'd trained his entire life for. He was going to get an eyeful of all the beautiful babes in his class and seer the images of the 6 of them that he could see in all their naked glory into his brain so that no matter what the others did to him they would never take that away from him short of a lobotomy.
This was it; he was almost at the top of the wall. He was going plus ultra to achieve his goals and after all the Quirk training that he'd done, all the time he'd almost died in the last 3 months, Mineta was finally going to get his rewards as his bevy of beautiful ladies waited for him on the other side. It was time for his eyes to feast on the female form in all its glory.
Alas that would not come to pass because the moment he reached the top it was revealed that the wall was more than a set of planks but two sets with a gap in the middle and a walkway on the top. Stationed on that walkway, looking right at Mineta with a look of utter hate and contempt in his eyes, was Mandalay's cousin's kid Kota who'd been eschewed up there for such an eventuality of Mineta trying to sneak peak of the girls.
"Before you become a hero you should learn how to be a good human." Kota said to a stunned Mineta before he slapped Mineta's hand away from the ledge.
The mix of shock and the slap sent Mineta falling back and off the wall. His plan had been ruined and now he wasn't going to get a second chance tonight because the boys would make sure of it. Well, that was fine with Mineta, he had come with several backup plans for peeping, he'd made sure to get what he needed at the mall after all, so it was back to the drawing board on that front.
"I'll get you for this." Mineta wailed as he fell into the steam of the baths and out of view.
Kota just looked down in contempt at that. That boy was exactly what was wrong with being a hero. Hopefully he paid for what he'd tried to do and never became a hero, someone like him didn't deserve to be one at all.
Mineta sure did pay for it. He fell down and landed bare ass first on Ida's face as the class rep was now at the base of the wall ready to stop Mineta. He'd failed and taken Mineta's ass to the face for it, the shock and force sending them both into the water with a splash as the rest of the boys looked on in shock or in Bakugo's case disinterest at what was going on.
Adrien was the only one not surprised, he was too pissed at Mineta for trying to peep on his lady again, and the other girls in the class of course, and he walked into the water the moment the pair fell in. Then, using his enhanced sight, he saw Mineta and reached down to grab his ankle and lift him spluttering out of the water by it so that he was now upside down in Adrien's strong grip and thrashing like a fish while Ida got out to quickly wash his face and eyes.
"Don't even try to use your Quirk." Adrien hissed menacingly as Mineta reached for his head to use Pop Off to get out of the situation. "Unless you want to test if those things are inorganic or not."
To emphasize this, Adrien's left hand ignited with the black light of Cataclysm, and he held it up to Mineta's face so that he could see it. The moment Mineta saw that he stopped moving and knew that it was over, if anything could destroy his balls it was Agreste's Quirk, and he really didn't want to test it.
"I wasn't going to look at Dupain-Cheng, just the others." Mineta said nervously. "Promise."
"Like I believe you, the last time you named my lady with the others because you wanted to see her, so this is no different." Adrien said as he walked through the water to the far end. "Anyone wishing to help me punish this pervert come join me, we need to teach him a lesson and make it clear to the girls we aren't like him."
A few of the other guys, including Kaminari who was now saving his own skin, moved to join Adrien in this moment. They had to stand together right now to show they weren't Mineta and thus Mineta's torture began, as did his screams.
Meanwhile, Kota just glared down from atop the wall with a look of contempt on his face. That little freak deserved all he got for what he'd tried to do.
"Mineta really is the worst isn't he." Tsu called up from the girls side at Kota. "He was bound to do something the moment baths were announced."
"Thanks so much Kota babe." Mina said happily. "We owe you one."
The talking had caused Kota to instinctively turn around to the girls side and in the process do what Mineta had planned to do all along. Down below him he could see 5 of the girls who'd come with this class. Two, the one with the large black ponytail and the pink skinned one who was sitting on a rock with her arms in the air, weren't trying to hide themselves thus giving Kota a full view of them the way Mineta wanted to see them. The other three were either covering up or submerged enough to avoid issues. The invisible girl didn't have to worry and for some reason the 7th girl wasn't present.
Naturally this caused Kota to go into shock and faint as he took a step back and fell off the wall and to the boys side. The girls would have been more worried but for the sound of Midoriya's voice, clear over Mineta's screams, and knew that the boy was safe as if anyone could catch him and then take him to safety it would be Midoriya. That just left one thing.
"Tsu, can you get Marinette from under the water." Momo said as she turned back to the other girls. "I think she may have used her Quirk as it has been longer than even she could last underwater."
The moment it became clear that Mineta was going to climb the wall, the girls braced themselves knowing that Kota had been stationed up there to protect them, but they were still not taking anything for granted. Most made sure to coverup, but Marinette had taken it a step further by diving under the water right as Mineta began to climb. That had been a few minutes ago and as good as she was she couldn't hold her breath that long, right.
Tsu dove down and tapped Marinette on the shoulder. The French girl looked up and confirmed Momo's suspicions with what looked like a small underwater breather over her mouth and nose that was flesh colored complete with a rather accurate look of Marinette's body. Tsu pointed up and Marinette understood and rose to the surface, dismissing her Lucky Charm as she did and leaning back against the rocks breathing a little harder than normal.
"I take it the crisis has been averted." Marinette said looking around at the other girls.
"Kota prevented Mineta as expected." Mina said with a grin. "And from the sounds of it Agreste isn't happy with him. The boys are teaching him a lesson right now."
"Good." Marinette said as she heard the screams from the pervert and couldn't help but smile at it as he did deserve it. "Sorry about that, I really didn't want to run any risks and now I am not sure when my Quirk will be ready again as I pushed it even after all I ate at dinner."
"Why did you go straight for the submersion, ribbit?" Tsu said. "You could have just covered up your top half like the rest of us. Between the steam and the water Mineta wasn't going to see the bottom half."
"Though I think he'd really have a heart attack if he did." Mina said with a wink at Marinette. "You really hide how naughty you are Marinette. That innocent, sweet, girl façade really hides how much of a naughty badass you really are. No wonder Agreste fell for you."
"Sh, shut it Mina." Marinette said going scarlet at her friend's words. "I'm not the only one here like that and it's not for what you think."
"Right." Mina said with a grin. "And the full dive you did?"
"Um, well, that is more what you are thinking." Marinette admitted knowing that she would have to at least be honest on that front and give Mina a little bit to tide her over for the moment but sharing a room with the bubbly girl would lead to more being teased out of her before the end of the week. "The only man who is allowed to see me naked is Adrien, so I had to protect that."
"Oh really." Mina said stars in her eyes as her grin turned predatory. "So, he has seen you naked then."
"Mina is that really appropriate." Momo said starting to get a bit scandalized while Toru and Jiro suddenly got into it as well.
"I want to know." Mina said defensively. "And this week together is the perfect time to learn more, especially regarding the only one of us with a boyfriend."
"I won't say anymore tonight." Marinette said as she recovered and grinned back at Mina. "You're going to have to wait and get all this piecemeal, no point in revealing all right now. A girl does have to protect her secrets after all."
"You're no fun." Mina pouted before realizing that this wasn't the end of it and perking up. "But ok, I'll hold you too that."
Marinette just laughed knowing it was true as they all relaxed and enjoyed the bath and the sounds of Mineta being punished. It was a good time for all though at least one of them was struggling as the she couldn't help but wonder about a certain green haired boy and what her finals partner had said about her feelings towards him.
After the bath, both the girls and boys got out and retired for the night. It had been a long day and they'd been through a lot; it was finally time to sleep. In the morning the training camp would begin in earnest.
Of course, morning meant 5:30 a.m. as that was when Mr. Aizawa woke them up and took them to the area in front of the facility. It was time to show them the truth of the last semester of training so that they knew what was in store for them this week.
The class just stood there in their PE kits tired and a little disheveled as they'd only just woken up. Some were pretty awake, but most were ready to go back to bed and several of the girls clearly hadn't had time to sort out their hair yet though right now no one cared.
"Good morning class." Mr. Aizawa said to them as they gathered there. "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 fester in the darkness. Proceed carefully."
At that most of the class perked up. A provisional license was like a learners permit to drive; it would allow them to use their Quirks in public in an emergency and do hero work under supervision of a fully licensed hero. For some, mainly the Hosu four, this was big given what those 4 had done in the back alleys there but all wanted to get one. Now Marinette was fully awake and ready to begin training.
"Look alive Bakugo." Mr. Aizawa said tossing one of the special softballs at him that he'd used on their first day of classes to see how far they could throw it. "Let's see how much further you can throw that."
"Yeah sure, like in the fitness test." Bakugo said with little emotion in his voice.
"Yes." Mr. Aizawa said. "When you first started school your record was 705.2 meters, let's see if you've improved."
"Oh, I get it you're checking our progress." Mina said now fully awake.
"A lot has happened to us in the last 3 months." Sero said as Bakugo stepped forward and stretched ready to show off why he was the best. "Maybe he can throw it a whole mile now."
"Come on get it Bakugo." Kirishima cheered.
"I've got this." Bakugo said with a grin as he wound up. "No one blink. Go to hell!"
With that Bakugo launched the ball on a massive explosion. The class just watched, surprised by Bakugo's war cry as it wasn't just 'die', as the ball arced away and into the woods they'd traversed the day before and Bakugo came to a stop from his momentum forward.
"That was 709.6 meters." Mr. Aizawa said in a bored tone holding up his phone to show them as Bakugo glared at it in shock at how little he'd improved.
"That's it?" Sero asked confused. "Kinda disappointing."
"You've had a single semester at U.A. and due to your various experiences all of you have definitely improved." Mr. Aizawa said to the class as Bakugo returned to the group. "However, most of those improvements have been limited to mental prowess and technical skill with a slight increase in stamina thrown in along the way. Your Quirks haven't really grown stronger, not on a fundamental level that is. The one exception to this that I've noted is Agreste's growth to use both hands but even that is limited to what I want to achieve with all of you. That's why we are going to focus on growing your powers this week."
With that Mr. Aizawa let out one of his trademark grins that always put the class on edge. It was time to learn the full extent of the upcoming training camp.
"This will be so hard you'll feel like you're dying." Mr. Aizawa said his grin never faltering. "Let's hope you all survive."
With that the training camp in the woods officially began for Class 1-A. It was time to go Plus Ultra.
Well, the training camp has now officially started, and we will see the first day of training and what not in the next chapter. As there isn't much to tell in some these chapters they will be on the shorter side but all that is just the build up for the climax of the arc, as well as some fun bonding chapters based off the School Brief books that are coming up that will help flesh out what is going on and show a different side to things, a brief moment of fun and calm before what is about to hit them in the woods. There isn't much more to say after this short, simple, chapter so I will leave it off here. If you like it or have any questions please let me know in reviews or PMs, I will try to answer them as best I could and post any questions asked between uploads at the start of the next chapter and do follow and favorite this, so you are alerted to future uploads. Do keep the reviews coming as I like hearing from y'all as you enjoy my work, it motivates me to keep producing the best work I can for y'all to enjoy. Until next time.
Stringdog
