You put a hand on Mina shoulder's and the other on Denki's, patting their backs comfortingly as they whine dramatically.
"I'm looking forward...to hearing...your stories about training camp!" Mina wails to the group of students gathered before class.
Midoriya shakes, frantically trying to find a way to keep them optimistic, "Hey, we don't know anything yet. Maybe...maybe there'll be a twist or something. Like at the quirk test when we were told whoever came in last would be expelled...and well, I'm still here."
Sero shakes the green-haired boy's shoulders, "Midoriya you're going to jinx it!
"Ah! You're right! Forget I said anything! Universe, I take it back!" the freckled boy, panics.
"There's no way. We're done for. Done for! If we fail the exams, then we can't go to camp and have to go to summer school hell! And we failed the physical final!"
Kiri sighs, sadly, "There's no hope for us."
"I don't know what's going to happen, but all I know is that my status for attending camp is also questionable. The only reason our team passed was because of this lifesaver, right here." Sero says, nodding his head towards you. "But I didn't do anything, I was knocked out the whole time."
"Everyone, relax. Just wait to find out what happens before you panic. I'm sure everything will be okay. I think you're all overthinking it. " You reassure them.
"That's something coming from you." Midoriya says with a chuckle.
Sero raises a brow at the boy, "You shouldn't be talking either."
Bakugou walks through the door, takes one look at the moping Mina, Denki, Kiri, and Sato, and walks over to his desk.
Denki and Kiri chase after him, whining, "Bakugou!"
"I don't care." Bakugou groans.
Your father walks through the room and your classmates rush to their seats, going silent in anticipation.
He walks over to his podium and looks at all of you, "I'm sure you're all dying to know what's going on with your final grades in correlation to attending camp. Unfortunately, there are those who did not pass the final exams. Accordingly, for the training camp in the woods..." He pauses for dramatic effect.
The tension in the room rises.
Denki, Mina, Sero, Kiri, and Sato all inch forward in their seats, the suspense nearly killing them.
"Everyone is going!" Aizawa announces, a smile plastered on his face.
The five nervous wrecks jump out of their seats, cheering.
"Now for the details. I'm proud to announce that everyone passed the written exam. There's been a great show of improvement between the midterms and now. Unfortunately, however, not all of you passed the practical exam. Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, Sato, and Sero all failed. The point of the training camp is to improve your strength. You five need it the most so it would only make sense for you to join the rest of the class. Tricking you into thinking you wouldn't be able to go to camp if you failed was just a logical deception." Your father puts on a smug smile, proud of his cruel scheme, and hands back the graded written portions of the final.
You shake your head with a small smile, 'You evil, evil man.'
"That's not all. The five of you still failed and will therefore be attending required lessons at camp...Lessons that will be far tougher than what you'd expect from summer school." Aizawa continues to explain.
The group lets out an exasperated sigh.
"I knew it was too good to be true." Sero complains.
"Hey, at least we're going!" Kirishima says in an attempt to keep a positive ambience.
Aizawa sets a large box down on a table next to his podium and reaches in to grab a blue booklet, "These are the Training Camp Guides. Anything and everything you need to know about what to bring, expect, prepare for, and so on is within this book. Read it. If anyone asks me a question and the answer can be found within these pages, I'm giving you all a graded test on the entire guide. Now, come pick up your copies-"
Before the tired man gets to finish his sentence, a flood of students rushes to the front of the room excitedly.
Aizawa cringes and makes his way to the exit, quickly stepping out into the hallway and slamming the door shut behind him.
Denki walks over and softly taps the top of your head with a camp guide before handing you the copy, "Here ya go."
"Thanks, Denks. See I told you everything would be okay." You smile up at the blonde.
"Yeah, you were right. I'm so glad I get to go to camp!" Denki admits, returning the grin.
The bell rings, interrupting your conversation for a moment and indicating the start of lunch.
You and Denki walk down to the cafeteria and go your separate ways as he walks over to the line and you join Kirishima and Bakugou at the group's usual table.
You sigh as you hear, more than see, Bakugou yelling at the boy and ponder over why the boy was snapping at Kiri this time.
"What's going on?" You ask the two, taking your seat in front of them.
Bakugou holds up Kirishima's final and points to question number thirteen, a red line marking it incorrect.
You squint as you read over the question and formulate an answer, "It should be Rule 9, right?"
The angry boy looks over at Kirishima questioningly, "I drilled this exact question into both of your skulls multiple times. I told you not to confuse it with Rule 11, and what do you do? Confuse it for Rule 11! How did she remember that and you couldn't?!?"
The redhead pouts and remarks, "What does it matter? I still passed! Plus, she got extra practice!"
You frown and defend yourself, "Hey, as soon as our study sessions were over I didn't even bother to look at a textbook."
"Ew, what is the word 'textbook' doing at the lunch table?" Mina cringes as she takes her seat next to you.
"The last thing I want to do is worry about school now that we're about to be on break." Sero sighs, slumping into his seat next to Bakugou.
You let out a little laugh considering how the training camp you'll all be attending is school-associated.
Denki sits next to you and you watch as his face lights up after you hand him a snack from your lunch, knowing he loves it.
The electric blonde then quickly changes moods, "I'm glad we get to go to camp and all, but not going to lie, I'm seriously dreading those extra classes."
Kirishima drops his head in his hand and heaves out a sigh, "Don't remind me."
Bakugou lets out a groan through clenched teeth, growing annoyed from all the complaining.
"C'mon, you'll be fine. Besides, it only gives you all an advantage in growing more than the rest of us." You wink at the sullen group, knowing exactly how to light a fire under them.
With that, their slumping figures rise and they sit tall, each of them adorning an eager smile on their faces.
"You're right! Damn, I really almost lost my chill there. Not cool, bro." Sero mumbles to himself.
Mina squeezes your arm in a quick 'thank you' and starts to eat her lunch.
"You all thought I was manly now, but just wait until you see me after camp!" Kirishima flexes his arm muscles and beams.
"I guess I could add a good few more million volts to my collection of killer fighting moves." Denki says, nonchalantly.
The four of them start talking about how they plan to put in extra effort in the classes so that by the end they'll outperform everyone in the class. The conversation then leads to yet another competition as they start to argue over who out of the four would come out on top.
You laugh at your friends as the conversation shifts once again. This time they're all sharing what they hope to achieve at camp. You know how rigorous the forest training camp is going to be and ponder it over yourself. 'Dad's probably going to make me work on sustaining using all three elements simultaneously for long periods of time. He says I should be able to use water, earth, and air all at the same time without getting drained within 5 minutes. I have my work cut out for me. Just by activating two together I'm slumped in max 3 minutes. And, fire. I haven't been working towards conjuring my fire with studying for finals and all. Maybe I'll be able to step out at night and work on it at camp.'
Denki's words snap you out of your thinking trance, "I really hope I can manage to work on my short circuiting at camp. Hopefully, I can at least bring the endurance of it down."
"Denki!" You shout excitedly. All the information you read up on the books about water's healing capabilities, suddenly floods into your head.
The boy's eyes widen and he flinches, "You scared me! What? What is happening?"
You laugh at your own excitement, "I think I might be able to help you. I've been doing some research and I think that with my quirk, I should be able to get you out of your short circuit and back to functioning properly."
Denki looks at you astonished, "You've been doing research? To help me?"
You nod, eagerly, "I've been wondering if we could maybe test it out?"
The electric boy grins, "Tomorrow?"
You return the broad smile, "Tomorrow! I really hope this works. I was thinking about how in case of an emergency, despite everyone having their weaknesses, they can still defend themselves and think logically after overusing their quirk. But you fall into a dangerous state. Of course, you should still work on getting out of it yourself for the future. But while you can't, and in case anything bad happens like the USJ, I might be able to help you."
Denki looks at you appreciatively, "Hopefully it doesn't come down to it but let's definitely test it out. Thanks, for thinking about me. I...I really appreciate it."
"Of course, Denks." You poke him in the ribs and he wraps an arm around your shoulder, pulling you into a tight hug.
The bell rings and the six of you walk back up to class as you and Denki continue to discuss your plans for tomorrow.
Aizawa walks in with a stern look on his face, "Sit down and get out a pencil. You'll be taking an exam on the contents of the training camp guide."
The class erupts in a cacophony of whines and groans.
The man at the podium smirks, "Kidding."
"MR.AIZAWA!!!" The students yell in unison.
Your father slips into his yellow sleeping bag, "I know all you want to talk about is camp so go ahead and do that. If your volume so much as passes level five..." The man activates his quirk and aims a threatening gaze at his students.
"Yessir!" Your classmates respond in understanding and turn to talk amongst each other, excitedly.
Midoriya walks up to you, his freckled face lit up with enthusiasm, "I can't wait for camp! I'm going to pack tonight!"
"I usually pack the night before." Your lips spread into a guilty smile.
"Packing last minute is a recipe for disaster. You might forget things. I recommend packing at least three to five days before a trip." Iida says while flipping through the booklet, adding, "The camp is scheduled to last a full week."
Midoriya looks over his shoulder at the guide, "I think I'm going to need a bigger suitcase."
Denki joins the group, "I'm going to need to buy some stuff. I don't even think I have a bathing suit."
Hagakure makes her way to the front of the class, squealing.
"Everyone, I have an idea! Since exams are over and we're on break...why don't we all go shopping together tomorrow!?!" She proposes, cheerfully.
"Let's do it!" Mina shouts in a joyous manner.
"Cool, we've never hung out as a class before!" Sero points out.
Kirishima looks over at Bakugou who sits at his desk in isolation, "Hey, Bakubro, you're coming too right?"
Bakugou monotonously declines, "I can't think of anything more annoying."
You, Mina, and Denki look at each other and mimic the boy's response dramatically.
Lifting your arms above your head in a quick stretch you think about what tomorrow holds and a smile plays at your lips.
"Someone's happy." Jirou's soothing voice comes up from beside you.
You nod and admit, "This is all still so new to me. There's no such thing as class hangouts when you're homeschooled. I'm looking forward to it."
"I'm sure you are. I am too. Especially after finals and before the chaos that's going to be camp, we could all use a little break." Jirou interlocks her arm with yours and the two of you walk out of the classroom as the bell rings.
You walk down the stairs to the school courtyard and she waves goodbye as she gets in her mom's car.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that's the girl you kissed." Shinsou says as he joins you at your side.
You elbow him in the arm, "Shinsou, what the hell? I didn't know you were standing there."
He lets out his lazy laugh and jerks his head in the direction your dad said he'd pick the two of you up from, "C'mon, dad's probably waiting."
The two of you walk in sync and Shinsou waits a few moments before he asks, "So was I right?"
"Yes." You conclude.
"I knew it." The purple haired boy smirks.
That night your Aunt Midnight and Uncle Mic throw a surprise party for you and Shinsou, celebrating getting past finals and the first semester. Aizawa orders all of your favorite foods, alongside Shinsou's and much to his delight, Midnight makes her famous chocolate cake. Present Mic somehow convinces everyone to participate in karaoke night, but you all end up singing as much as possible in order to avoid your uncle getting his hands on the mic. You, Shinsou, and Aizawa sing a song together and Midnight records as she wipes away stray tears falling from her eyes. The night ends with the five of you knocking out in the living room, Aizawa's arm around Shinsou's shoulders, your head resting on Midnight's lap, and Present Mic sprawled out on the floor, once again.
The next day the class meets in one of the mall's many lobbies and everyone looks around at the variety of stores in awe.
"I love shopping here!" a satisfied Momo lets out.
"There are so many stores to choose from!" Mina and Hagakure shout gleefully.
You notice a few strangers looking over at the group of your classmates. They start to whisper amongst themselves until a man shouts, "Woah! Isn't that Class 1A?!?"
Voices in the crowd popcorn around, jumping from, "Those are the students from the Sports Festival!", "Go Class 1A!", "She's the one with the elements quirk!", "Look, it's the girl with the earphone jacks!"
The gathering crowd continues to cheer you all on, ecstatically pointing out all of your quirks.
"I can't believe they actually remember us." Uraraka whispers to you.
As the excitement dies down, Midoriya begins mumbling off the list of items he needs to buy, which sparks everyone else to separate into groups based on what they need to get.
Iida expresses his concern about splitting up but Kirishima comforts him by proposing, "How about we all meet back here after we're done. Does around three sound good to everyone?"
"Yes!" You all say in unison, agreeing on the proposition.
"I need some new shoes but I don't know which ones will be best." Mina thinks out loud.
Momo grabs her arm and starts pulling her away, "I can help! I love shoes!"
A frantic Iida chases after them, "But the guide says all shoes should be broken in!"
"Hmm, now that I think about it, most of my work out clothes have burnt holes in them." You say through clenched teeth as you think of all the destruction Bakugou's done to your clothes.
"Well, I'm in desperate need of new leggings. Let's go." Jirou reaches a hand out to you.
You take it and the two of you split off from the group.
You and the purple haired girl wander off into an athletic wear store and examine the many different styles, colors, fits, and looks of the garments.
You pick out a few of the jackets and tops you like and Jirou looks down at them with an eyebrow raised.
"What?" You ask, curiously.
"I've noticed you wear a lot of black. Don't get me wrong, it's cool and it suits your vibe. But, why not try some color? I think it'll look good on you." Jirou suggests.
You smile, "Oh yeah? Like what?"
She smirks, "I dunno, maybe some...purple?" The girl grabs a light purple fitted sports jacket off of a rack and adds it to clothes hanging over your arm.
The two of you take turns trying on your clothing items in the dressing rooms, stepping out after putting on each piece to get each other's opinions.
You save the purple jacket as your last one and swing the door open.
Jirou eyes the feature on you and nods, approvingly, "You have to get it. It looks good on you."
You turn to look at yourself in the mirror, "Yeah, I actually really like it. It's different."
Jirou walks up behind you, "Told you."
You laugh, taking it off and putting it back on the hanger, "Okay, I think that's everything for me. Your turn!"
You lightly push the girl into the room and take her previous spot on the couch next to the large mirror outside of the changing room door.
After a few moments Jirous speaks, "Okay, these are cute but they might be too small can you please go get a bigger size?"
She throws a pair of leggings over the door and you catch them, "Okay, I'll be right back."
You walk around the store, looking through the endless racks of bottoms, 'Hmm, I probably should've asked her where she got them from.'
"Today's my lucky day. It's someone else from UA, the girl with all the quirks. Can I get an autograph or something." A familiar chilling voice sends shivers up your spine.
You turn to face the man as he drapes an arm around your shoulder, "You."
A black hood casts dark shadows across his sickly gray skin, but his presence is one you could never forget. The grip on your neck is yet another reminder of who this man is and what his intentions are.
"What a pretty scar, I would hate to ruin it with another one. What do you say, we catch up? It's been a while. Move, scream, activate your quirk, and those pretty little element bending hands will be a new edition to my collection." The villain warns you.
'The average human reaction time is about 250 milliseconds, my water and earth quirk can activate and knock him away from me in around 3 seconds, giving him more than enough time to lay his last finger on me. Generally a human can function without the flow of oxygen in their system for more than a minute, so cutting off his oxygen supply with my air quirk won't do much good. Okay. The best thing I can do in this situation is listen.'
"What the hell do you want?" You ask him, your eyes staying focused on the wall ahead of you.
He lets out a soft maniacal laugh, "Feisty aren't we? I'll spare you the long explanation I gave your little green haired friend."
Your fists clench and your blood boils in anger at the thought of this cruel man confining Midoriya for his own sick agenda.
"That hero killer sure is getting on my nerves. Why is everyone talking about him? I should be the one they're all scared of. Me. I don't get it. Your friend told me the hero killer stayed true to his morals till the very end. That, that, was the major difference between him and me. But I don't think I have to change my ways, at all. No. What I have to do is get their attention. I have to get all eyes on me. That's when they'll be scared." His fist around your neck clenches harder the more he gets excited.
"You are seriously the biggest child...I've ever met." You manage to choke out. A small laugh escapes your lips. "You act out of jealousy and anger. On solely emotions. The same way a three year old cries...when they don't get their way. You're a villain without a...purpose. Killing just...because you think it's fun. Midoriya is right. You and Stain are both bloodthirsty killers...but at least... he had the drive...to fight for something."
Shigaraki shakes his head violently, "Now, I'd watch your tone if I were you. All it takes is just one little finger and you're-"
"You didn't come to kill me. You would've done it already. So what the hell do you really want from me?" Your brows furrow in anger.
"You're really taking the fun out of this. Fine. I'll tell you why I am here. You've got quite the gift, don't you? Control of all four elements. Or should I say three, for now." His voice drops to something more lethal.
"What about it?" You spit out through gritted teeth.
"What happened to the fourth? Fire. Mommy and Daddy never let you learn it did they. Slaughtered your beloved teacher right in front of your eyes. And yet here you are many years later and nothing. How do you think they'd feel, knowing their useless daughter failed them?" He asks you menacingly.
"I don't know. And I don't care. They're dead." Your eyebrow twitches in anger at the mention of your past.
"Ahh, who's fault is that? Who made that building collapse? And you spite me for what I do. But really I see no difference between the two of us. I think that in another life we would've been friends. Maybe even in this one. What do you say?" Shigaraki asks you.
"Never. I despise you. We are nothing alike. I was a child in danger with little to no control over my abilities. You kill on purpose. And I will do everything in my willpower to bring you and your league down." You respond to his pathetic offer.
"Too bad. It would've been fun having you on my side. I'm not giving up. Because like you said. I always get what I want. Now, I know you won't join me voluntarily. Guess, I'll have to think of something else then. By the way, let's keep this a little secret. Midoriya can yap all he wants. In fact, maybe All Might should hear what I had to say to him. But you. I need you to be quiet about asking you to join my league. And since you like to be snarky and will probably ask me what I'll do if you tell. I have a dear friend of yours just a thread away from my clutches. They'll be dust before you can even manage to call the authorities."
"I can see right through your bluff." You tell him.
He adjusts his head and light shines on his smiling lips, "Why don't we test it out then? Oh and next time you make a building collapse, make sure it kills everyone. Wouldn't want a lurker overhearing everything and making it out alive now, would we?"
Shigaraki takes his fingers off of you and walks toward the exit, waving at you from behind, not bothering to even turn around to face you.
'Lies. Everything he said was just to scare me. But I can't risk it. If anything were to happen to someone just because I couldn't keep my mouth shut...I don't know what I'd do.'
"Hey, you okay?" Jirou interrupts your thoughts. "You look really pale."
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a migraine." You force a smile and pull some pants from the rack, "I found them."
She walks over and grabs the hanger, only to put it back where it was hanging, "C'mon. Let's get you some water."
She takes your hand and gives it a squeeze, pulling you out of the store and to a fountain.
The two of you see some commotion in the lobby and your stomach drops as you see the class huddling around Midoriya who is speaking to an officer.
Jirou leads you to them and the two of you join the group.
After the police shut down the mall, take Midoriya in for questioning, and make sure every student has someone to pick them up, you stand with the rest of your class at the entrance. You all wait as your parents come to collect you.
Denki walks over to you, "How are you doing with all of this?"
You look up at him, snapping out of your thoughts, "I'm fine, I just happened to get a migraine as it all happened. It's gone now. I guess I just needed some air."
Denki smiles softly, "Well you let me know if you're still up for later, okay? It's alright if you don't want to."
You return his smile, "Actually, I think that's exactly what I need right now."
"Me too. So I'll meet you at the field at six?" Denki asks.
"Yeah." You confirm.
'Out of everyone, why me? Why does he want me?'
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Hi everyone!!!
This is my first time publishing on Friday, yay! I hope everyone is doing well! This chapter was a fun one to write so I really hope everyone enjoyed it! Thank you all so much for the constant love and support, it means so much to me! I loved reading through your favorites parts in my last authors note.
Soooo, are you all liking the Jirou moments?
I literally love her character so much, she's so much fun to write. The dynamic between Jirou and the main character is amazing, I love writing their scenes. So I hope everyone is enjoying it to.
Also Shiggy made his first big appearance. Honestly, this was my favorite part of the chapter. I really like writing villains, I was typing like a million words a second when it came to Shiggy's little speech. I feel like this was a major moment for the mc, you get a lot more insight on her past. In essence this was a very fun chapter, so I hope you all liked it.
I'm going on vacation for a week tomorrow! Yay! However, I might use this as a break and not publish a chapter next Friday. But you know, I can't stay away from Ignite, I love it too much. I'll probably be writing the next chapter on the beach. I really want to publish next week but I may not have the time to. If I can't, I apologize beforehand. If you're all on spring break now too, I hope you have an amazing break!
As always, I love you all so much and...
See ya next chapter!