bunny love [k. bakugo x oc]

52. Change of Pace

Summer training was worse than Kuri remembered. Every step she took sent shocks running up through her muscle fibers, begging her for rest the UA staff wouldn't allow. Various activities filled Kuri's week: dodging projectiles in midair, sparring with only kicks, and jumping laps around campus until she collapsed from exhaustion.

Not that they planned to make her faint; it just happened. Kuri was dehydrated and tired, but she pressed on despite her legs threatening to give out at any moment. And then they did!

When Kuri tripped and hit the pavement, she didn't have the strength to push herself up. Instead, she lay there and rested until someone came looking for her. Kuri was on some random side road in the back of campus, but faculty were making rounds to confirm no one was slacking, so they found and took her to the infirmary. Luckily, that incident saved her from an afternoon of exercise, but she discovered that some others in class also passed out. The training regimen was just unreasonable.

Despite the rigorous training and her minor injuries, Kuri was feeling better than ever. That is, her mental state had greatly improved. After talking to Katsuki about everything on her mind, she felt a new lightness in her shoulders. Hanging out with everyone in the evenings and commiserating about the training also served to lift her mood. With each passing day, Kuri eased back to normal interactions with her friends. Admittedly, her storm of thoughts hadn't fully cleared—how could it in only a week?—but at least Kuri spotted the sun peeking through the clouds.

On Sunday, after one week of on-campus training, Class 3-A embarked on their trip to the mystery destination for the rest of their training. As they neared the location, it turned out to be Hakone. Specifically, they were staying in a hotel northeast of Lake Ashi.

Based on her friends' stories of their first-year training, Kuri expected a much more isolated, boring place. But to everyone's surprise, the bus pulled up to a decent-looking hotel in a touristy region famous for its hot springs. Mr. Aizawa made no comment when the students questioned him about how and why UA procured this place for them, and he instead walked off to check them all in.

Kuri and her classmates unloaded their stuff and transported everything from the bus to the hotel lobby. As she glanced around to admire the decor, the others conversed.

"How'd we get such a nice place?"

"I heard one of the faculty knows the owner."

"Well, however we got here, we deserve it.

"But who knows if this trip will even be relaxing..."

Kuri walked over to the cluster of her classmates and joined in their speculation of what their second week of training would entail. Perhaps trekking through the mountains? Traversing the lake? Beating up random ass villains? No one understood why any of those activities had to take place in such a scenic area, but Kuri wasn't complaining about the free vacation!

Within a couple minutes, Mr. Aizawa returned from the front desk with sets of keys and told the class to gather around.

"So, you kids have three big rooms to share. Two for the guys, one for the girls," Aizawa said as he handed the keys off to Tenya and Momo, the class reps for the third year in a row. "Feel free to split yourselves up, but you better behave, or we're headed straight back to the school," he added with a glare.

"What'll we do if we go back?" Denki asked.

"Take a guess," Aizawa muttered. "Anyway, focus on what we're doing here. Every day, you'll do quirk training in the mountains until two. In the afternoon, you'll do odd jobs around town. Help out the locals and whatnot."