❝Rethink❞ (BNHA x BSD)

☆ Chapter 15 ☆

Author's notes: we've reached the training camp arc. If you've made it so far, thank you for sticking around! I really appreciate you reading this. I get so excited to work on this story whenever I am notified (votes, comments) that people are actually reading this. Don't be shy to interact; I love reading your reactions. :)

To share some of my thoughts, my favourite chapter so far is chapter 14 because it was so compelling to write. I hadn't thought about the fact that I actually had to give some advice in that chapter, but the research process was truly fascinating. The last line of that chapter is the best answer to that question I've thought of so far. And my favourite paragraph (overall) is the one with why do I hear boss music? in chapter 11. What is your favourite chapter/moment?

I hope you'll continue to support the story until its inevitable end. But that's enough from me, here's the story:

The day we set off for the training camp arrived. I hadn't slept well the night before: Dazai and I had been chatting too long. Listening. He was listening. I was the only one talking. I told him about the things that bothered me. It felt good. I was determined to do better from now on.

Most importantly, I wasn't worried about the Mafia revealing my past. But I didn't like it being a secret, so I decided to tell Aizawa at some point. Just not now.

"Those of you trying to be heroes will not receive days or rest. At this summer training camp, we will have you aiming for even greater heights – for Plus Ultra!" my teacher said.

I was excited to improve properly for once. I was no longer distracted. I had decided to become a proper hero to the best of my ability.

And there was my first test: Monoma. I had mixed feelings towards him. He had betrayed me during the exam, but the very act had granted me a spot in the A class. If it were up to me, I might have hesitated to use my quirk and therefore remained in class B. Aizawa had told me to thank him too, so I did.

I walked up to him, kept a safe distance from his quirk, and said, "I know you probably weren't intending it, but thank you." I bowed a little, properly.

He didn't say anything. Just went on to taunt my classmates who had failed. Kendo knocked him out. Again. The constant of 1-B.

I used the short waiting time to talk to Todoroki and prove that my fears had been groundless.

"Hi, Todoroki. How are you?"

"Good. I was surprised that you weren't at the pool."

"The pool?"

"Well, the boys had swimming practice," Kirishima contributed to the conversation. "It was so manly! The girls were playing volleyball or something."

"You weren't invited, huh," Bakugou joined the conversation. I couldn't decide whether he was just stating a fact or trying to rub it in.

"So, you actually swam?" I asked to steer the conversation.

"No, not really," Todoroki admitted. "We used our quirks instead."

From what I could tell, nothing drastic had happened to Todoroki, for example, Chuuya storming his home. The Mafia truly had a sense of pride, as in they wouldn't stoop super low. Or they stayed in character and didn't do anything flashy. But Kunikida had mentioned a surprise attack. So maybe they made the occasional statement. Whatever. I probably wasn't worth it.

The bus ride was noisy. Iida had talked about sitting according to your seat numbers, but I didn't get it. I was number 21, I presumed. But my seating in class was a bit uncertain. I couldn't sit next to Todoroki, or should I say between Todoroki and Satou, forever. Maybe they were using this training camp to see who would be demoted to class 1-B. On the bus, I ended up sitting next to Aizawa.

I had subconsciously decided against telling Aizawa about my past so early on. The only real threat was endangering the mission, but there was no mission anymore. I was just going to training camp. It was still the Mafia's job to deal with the threat, whatever it was. I would just package the news (that I used to be part of the Mafia) nicely.

But when I considered it again, there was no good reason to procrastinate. Dazai had mentioned not being predictable – well, wouldn't everyone expect me to wait? That's why I had to tell him right then and there. Even the quirkless can be very unpredictable.

"Mr Aizawa."

His reaction wasn't slow, but it wasn't fast either. I concluded that he wasn't enthusiastic about having a conversation.

"I have reason to believe that villains will use this opportunity to attack us."

"But nobody besides the teachers knows where we're going."

"I know. But still," I hesitated. The thought of saying it out loud felt weird, but there was no time to pay attention to moods. "I used to, USED TO, have connections with the Port Mafia. And I know they were working to prevent something bad from happening at this camp."

"The Mafia might consider training our hero students something bad that's worth preventing. And you don't need to invent such a story to get me to listen."

I hadn't expected Aizawa not to believe me. Oh well, maybe it was for the better. I had done my duty, and everything would proceed exactly as it would have had I not told him. Or should I push more? And NO, it couldn't go the same way anymore. It will bug him. Aizawa is an intelligent man.

I concluded the conversation because I noticed the bus was slowing down.

We got off for what should have been a break, but it turned out to be the beginning of the camp. We were greeted by Wild, Wild Pussycats – a team of four heroes. Midoriya seemed to know a lot about them, but I was too confused by the weird way they behaved. This was the first time I heard about them.

But they weren't there to play around. Our task was simple: go through the forest to reach our accommodation. When some of my classmates wanted to escape to the bus, one of the Cat Heroes blocked their way. The ground became unstable, and my body flinched as if I had slipped on the stair. The ground cracked and fell beneath our feet slowly – it must have been one of the Cat's quirks. We made it down without any injuries, which was less surprising considering that it was all under the hero's control.

Mineta rushed to relieve himself in the woods, which seemed to awaken a monster made of hard soil. Immediately, Koda, a boy who could command animals by speaking to them, called out to it, but it didn't listen to him.

If Koda can't control them there's no chance I could, I thought. No, I can't already decide that I've failed before I've even tried. But at this point there's no way I could command this monster since I already doubted myself! Why are our quirks so dang similar anyways??

There is no point in doing something if I know I'll fail. No need to fail on purpose and shatter my self-confidence even more. But would it be that bad if I knew I'd shatter it, theoretically speaking? Dang it, I was thinking too much. It is better to let Midoriya, Todoroki, Iida and Bakugou (and the others) handle the situation.

As everyone fought the way they could and worked their way through the forest, I was a freeloader and jogged behind on the path they had cleared for me. Most of the monsters were attacking the vanguard anyway.

Just as I thought that the Cat Hero must have noticed I wasn't doing anything and created a monster behind me.

"You monster, stand back right now!" I commanded by instinct. It didn't. It kept moving forward. Others had already moved way ahead of me by then. I had to deal with the threat alone.

But before turning and running, I noticed that Rashomon, Akutagawa's monster-like ability, destroyed the forest beast by piercing its centre. Although I didn't see Akutagawa himself, this clearly indicated that Mafia was on my tail.

The thought made me so angry I sprinted and caught up to my class.