The engine of the bus rumbled as Eraserhead was sitting down, looking outside the window.

His students were sitting, chattering. The mood was a bit more somber than normal. But, with what happened in I-Island, it wasn't hard to understand.

His phone rang, receiving a text from the Principal, telling him that the 'royal couple' were exempt from the activities. They could still volunteer, of course.

'It's not like they were here,' Eraserhead sighed, feeling the weight of his responsibilities. His gaze drifted to Eri, her white hair catching the morning light, her silence more telling than any words.

The others tried to cheer her up, but it was useless.

"Hey, Eri-chan!" Rikidou called out, with Eijirou and Mashirao behind him, handing over a candied apple to the child. "I packed some sweets for you. So, cheer up, okay?"

"Eri-chan," Tsuyu called out. "Want to watch this movie with me?" she showed a box containing a movie art of a princess and a knight, something Eri seemed to associate with her parents.

"Or this," Koji showed a box for a movie with a princess surrounded by animals.

Eri looked at them before she returned to staring at the ground.

Eraserhead sighed. He felt useless, being unable to answer where the six of his students even went. 'I'm a teacher. I'm supposed to be in control of everything,' he thought, clenching his fist. 'Damn those kids, going off somewhere without telling anyone. I'm gonna have a serious talk with them.'

The bus crawled to a halt at a rest area, and the students disembarked, eager to get out of the bus.

They stretched and looked at the area. "Hold on. What kind of rest area is this?" Denki asked, looking around.

"Gotta pee," Minoru chanted, shifting from foot to foot.

"Why the hell are we stopping at a rest area in the middle of nowhere?" Bakugou, wearing an eye patch, complained, as if the whole world was plotting against him.

"Heya, Eraser!" a feminine voice called out to the teacher.

"Sorry. Haven't seen you in a while," he responded flatly while bowing his head.

The two female heroes stepped forward.

"Rock on with these sparkling gazes!" the blonde girl said.

"Stunningly cute and catlike!" the black-haired woman added.

"We're the Wild, Wild Pussycats!"

"Ain't they awesome, Bakugou?" Eijirou asked.

"Who cares?"

"Wow. The classmate is as harsh as always."

"These are the heroes who'll be helping us out this time-The Pussycats," Eraserhead said.

The red haired woman walked to the center. "This whole area is our territory. Your lodging is at the foot of that mountain there," she pointed to a distant peak.

"So far away!"

"H-Hey, let's get back to the bus," Hanta whispered, his voice trembling.

"Back to the bus!" Eijirou shouted, sprinting to the vehicle, followed by the rest of the class.

"Sorry, kids. The training's already began," Eraserhead said.

The blonde heroine slammed her hands to the ground, creating a large landslide, hitting the class and making them land at the foot of the cliff.

"It's 9:30am right now. I expect you to reach the place by 12."

"Oh, come on! There's no way we could get there in three hours! And even so, that still 3 hours away! That's practically on the other side of the forest!" Denki complained.

"Not our problem! Civilians are typically forbidden from entering these woods. There are signs everywhere. So feel free to use your Quirks! Chao!"

"So, who was this kid?" The redheaded heroine asked Eraserhead. The boy with them also listened in.

"Kid of one of our students."

"Wait, a daughter her age?" she looked at Eri, then crouched to her level. "Hello, there! How old are you?"

Eri didn't respond, opting to look away from her.

"Sorry, Mandalay. She's just feeling down right now."

"What happened?"

"Her dad asked me to take care of her and hadn't been back since."

"Wait, your student's missing? Is he okay?"

"It should be fine. He's an..." Eraserhead stopped, making an 'E' sign with his hand.

"Oh," Mandalay nodded, understanding.

"Anyway, how are the other Pussycats?"

The two started walking to the bus while continuing their conversation, but Kota was staring at Eri. Something about her that's bothering him, and he couldn't place what it was. He gulped. 'Gulped?' he thought before shaking his head before walking to her.

He pulled out one of his toys, one that was spinning on an axis. Much like her, he couldn't quite place why, but he felt relaxed when spinning it. "H-Here! I-It must be boring being stuck in the bus, right?" he pushed the toy to her hand before boarding the bus.

Eri stared at the toy for a while, then turned it around, making the little wheel spin. Her sadness felt lighter for a moment before said lightness made her rethink of the reason why she was alone and her mood plummeted. She stopped turning the toy and gripped it tight before following Kota.

She was sitting at the back with Kota. Eri was fiddling with the toy, but not turning it around. Kota peeked and saw the sadness in her expression.

He sighed and looked outside, looking at the passing scenery. "Hey! Are you going to stay here or are you going to do the camp?" he asked, making the little girl jolt in her seat.

"Uhm...uh...I dunno," Eri replied, not wanting to talk much.

"You don't know? Don't you wanna go to camp? Isn't that why you're here? To hang out with everyone?"

Eri withdrew further, her grip tightening around the toy, "My Papa is gone."

"Your Papa? What do you mean?"

"He left me...just like they did," Eri murmured.

Kota didn't understand what she meant by 'left me,' especially considering her dad seemed okay from what he heard, but he understood the word 'they' and what it meant. He was no stranger to parental loss, so he could empathize.

He looked away, thinking back to the day the Pussycats told him that his parents had died, his eyes starting to water, but he wiped them.

The bus ride continued silently, and he decided to try again. "I have a secret spot. Maybe we can play there," Kota suggested.

Eri's gaze drifted to him, but she remained silent.

"Or not," he muttered, looking outside, seeing the trees pass by.

Just then, Eraserhead's voice called out from the front of the bus, "Eri! Your mom and dad just sent a text. Said they'll be going straight to the camp. You'll meet them there," he reassured her.

Eri's face brightened for a moment, but then soon turned uncertain. The mixture of emotions swirling inside of her; happiness, nervousness, and fear, among others, were getting her confused. Even her body language was mixed. Her legs swaying in excitement while she rubbed the creases of her dress together.

The bus continued its journey, the landscape outside shifting from dense forest to more open terrain. Eri remained quiet, alternating between fidgeting with the toy Kota had given her and staring out the window.

The bus slowed as they arrived at the camp. "And...of course, no students he-" Mandalay was about to finish her sentence when a rustling from the nearby treeline caught everyone's attention. Moments later, a group emerged, led by Izuku, who was casually carrying a giant boar on his shoulders.

"Wait, who are-" she was about to say until she heard...

"PAPA! MAMA!" Eri shouted, sprinting towards Izuku and hugging his leg.

"Hey there, Little Snowball. Wait. Why are you crying?" Izuku put down the giant mammal, causing the earth to shake. Having heard what he said, the other girls also went to Eri, trying to check what was wrong.

"Wait, what happened here, Sensei?" Izuku turned to Eraserhead, who was glaring at him.

"What took you so long?"

"It's a little complicated thing, you see," Izuku looked at Ochaco for confirmation.

"It was a confidential matter. Forgive us, Sensei. And thank you for taking care of our Eri," Ochaco said.

"Yeah, it took way longer than we expected. We went back to the dorms to send a text and ran over here," Izuku explained, still trying to calm Eri, who was sobbing while clinging to his shirt tightly, down while carrying her. He felt small damp spots on his shoulders.

"Wait. You ran here!?" The blonde heroine asked.

"Yeah. Kinda," he vaguely answered.

A sound of branch breaking was heard that caught the attention of everyone. Kota approached the Izuku and ran before jumping and trying to punch his balls, only to be met with a green, shimmering Barrier.

"Ouch! What was that!?" he said, shaking his stinging hand.

"Trade secret," Izuku put on a charming smile while crouching to the boy's level. "Why did you attack me?"

"Jerk! You're a jerk!" he cried, pointing to Izuku before running off to the woods.

"Kota!" Mandalay called out, following the child before turning back for a moment and apologizing.

"Hello, handsome," the blonde heroine said, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

Izuku blinked, slightly taken aback. "Uh...hi? Pixie-Bob, right?"

"Oooohhh~...Not just handsome, smart too," she purred. "Why don't we-" before she could continue, a green-haired heroine pulled Pixie-Bob back by the ear. "Not today, flirty cat!" she sang, her tone playful but firm.

"Hi, I'm Ragdoll! Feel free to use the facilities while you're waiting for your classmates! I'll just have a talk with this thieving cat here, See Nyaa!" she waved at Izuku and the others while dragging Pixie-bob by the ear.

"Wait!" Pixie-Bob protested, craning her neck to look back at Izuku. "I can't miss my chance! Who knows when I can marry..."

"I'm already married, you know?" Izuku interrupted, his tone matter-of-fact.

"Married?" Eraserhead asked.

This time, it was Ochaco who answered, "Yes. My Heart and I got married yesterday."

The surrounding heroes looked at the couple like they grew a second head. Eraserhead massaged his temple, thinking of how much paperwork he would have to do.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

It's a pretty short one, following other characters instead of Izuku and setting up the beginning of the training camp.

As always, if you have feedback, don't be shy to let me know!