The night before we left for the camp, I finally got around to opening the bag my mother tossed to me before I entered the car with Shota, saying goodbye to the life I once had in America.
I plucked the paper that coated the top carefully, tossing it into the bin perched next to my desk. My hand dove into the bag, scrambling to find the items as I felt the lightness of paper, multiple stacks to be exact. I lifted them out and spread them across the surface of my desk, reaching in to remove the simple squared box inside. There were four letters. Each from my mother, sisters, and grandfather. My breath halted when I read his title.
I opened each letter carefully, reading the contents inside. My two sisters made my body shake with laughter, they were light-hearted, innocent, and full of excitement. Two lines from their letters stood out to me the most, one from each sibling.
My older sister wrote, "Even when things get hard, never stop living. I promise you'll be the happiest you've been over there, even if your happiness isn't here, you know our love for you will be endless, like space, to the moon and back, Florence." I smiled, feeling my throat tighten.
My younger sister had written in scribbles, "We're all gonna miss you, Flo. I know you think I didn't realize what happened when I was really little, but I know the way you protected me, I can't wait to see you become the hero I've always seen you as." The tears overflowed, I couldn't stop them anymore, they placed so much faith in me and I had no right to disappoint them.
Florence, I know I'm harsh and difficult to love, I'm sorry if I push you away. There's times where I just want to hug you and your sisters, be happy and smile and love, but I feel like I'm constantly followed by the demons of my past. That's why I'm so relieved to know that you're leaving us behind, not because I don't want you around, but because you deserve to see the world and live a life that doesn't tether you to pain. Even if I stay in the sidelines, I will be your biggest supporter. You are the thing I am most proudest of in my life. You and your siblings are the only thing I don't hate about myself. Continue being the strong, brave girl you always are, even if we're thousands of miles away. I hope you can forgive me for my cold ways one day, I love you more than life itself, always with love, your mother.
My flower, you refused to wilt even when storms littered your life constantly. I've never met someone as caring and as enduring in my seventy-five years of life. I am honored to have the title of your grandfather. Nothing can change the way I love you and your sisters. I wondered if I would live to see the day you become a hero. If I don't get to make it to that moment, then remember this. Even if we won't see each other now, our souls will forever be connected. We are family for eternity, I was too blessed just to have the grace of knowing your mother and you three girls. You'll always be my baby, my little girl. I love you from this life to the next. Yours truly, Grandpa.
I stared at the crisp pages of the final two letters, sinking to the floor. I couldn't comprehend what I felt, the sobs overcame me as grief took over, but there was a feeling that slithered through as I took note and recognition of her and the way she embraced me with simplicity, letting me know that it was okay to be happy. Acceptance.
The organ that was metaphorically dictating my emotions for years finally shattered and recollected itself in a single instant. I became terrified, not because of the pain, but because of the future that awaited me. These letters tore down the unbreakable door that I thought would never open, the pages riddled with sincere words kicked apart any threshold that held me back from letting go, from moving forward.
I was finally moving on.
My weeping diluted into silent tears, my heart felt lighter, clarity and approval drowsed me to sleep on the wooden floor. This was the first night I didn't wake up in tears, the first night that I dreamed of dancing to old Spanish music in a field of daises with my grandfather.
I was groggy, carrying my bags into the storage space of the bus as my classmates did the same. Everyone had the air of exhaustion, of children being summoned from sleep much too early for their liking. Momo and Iida seemed to be the only ones who were energetic as they prattled on about how we needed to prepare ourselves for the training, how we should all be bouncing around with the same attitude they were in because it was expected of our class.
Class 1-B was with us as well, Monoma began making his way to me, probably to lay out his usual slew of threats and insults. I rolled my eyes, smirking and sticking my tongue out while shooting my beloved finger in his direction. Before he could begin screaming his head off, Kendo dragged him by his collar, tossing him into their own bus. "Sorry, Kendo, I was just messing around, matching Monoma's behavior but it was pretty childish." I relented, lowering my head slightly at the orange-haired girl. She laughed, tapping my head lightly with her heavy hand, "No worries! See you at camp!" Turning to make my way inside the bus, I thought of the way Aizawa admitted to me that we would be going to a different location because of how we encountered Shigaraki at the mall. He never said where though, just that it was different.
Iida began pulling me to him, lecturing me for his witness to my behavior with the brat from 1-B."Iida, I just want to get on the bus to nap," I whined, shrugging him off with an apologetic pat to his shoulder. As I entered the vehicle, preparing to sit in a random seat, I felt the presence of someone too close to my back. I was turning to assess who it was but they gently shoved me to the window seat of where I was passing by.
"Izuku!" I scowled at the green-haired culprit as he only gave me a playful grin, tugging on the ends of my hair with a feather-light touch. "You know, I promised Kaminari I would sit with him for this ride." I explained, while the electric boy appeared, glaring at Izuku with envy.
"Yeah, not cool, Midoriya. I can't let this happen again." He whined, pressing his hands together to plead with the boy seated beside me. Suprisingly, Izuku didn't budge on his stance.
"Sit with her on the way back, I have to talk to her about something." His determined voice surprised me, what did Izuku and I need to discuss?
Jirou stood next to Kaminari, even she was sending a heated look to the successor of All Might. I only shrunk in my seat as she spoke, "Well, the good thing is that I get to share the same room with her." She winked, waving the two boys off as she sat with Momo. I sucked my lips in, holding back the laughter while Kaminari began to banter with her back and forth. The bus was filling up quickly, so he moved to be with Sero, who performed a handshake with me that he insisted we create. I made myself comfortable, lifting the blanket I brought from home to cover my shoulders. Bakugo entered the bus, narrowing his eyes slightly at me before moving to the back.
I was too tired to attempt interpreting any of my friend's behaviors. Sighing, I closed my eyes preparing to drift to sleep and regain the hour I lost. I was ready to enter dreamland when fingers wrapped around mine from under the blanket.
I opened one eye slightly, glancing at Izuku as he gave me a serious expression. I caved in, straightening myself as I stared. "What did you wanna talk about?" I questioned lazily, feeling the bus begin to move down a long road encased with the beautiful landscapes of Japan.
"Are you okay? Since what happened back at you know..." His voice trailed off but I understood him. "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm more concerned about what he said to you, Deku."
His eyebrows lifted before lowering them, he began tugging on his lower lip with his thumb and index finger, it was something Izuku did often when he happened to be reflecting on his thoughts or diving into the complexity of quirks.
I watched patiently, tolerant to his muttering; he finally stopped, looking at me in embarrassment. "What's going through that adorable head of yours, Izuku?" I teased, readjusting the blanket to where it covered him as well.
"I just care for you, Florence. I want to make sure you're happy and safe being with us." His words made me warm with joy, Izuku cared too much for others and not one bit for his own well-being. I stared at him for a few seconds too long, I was just like him in that aspect, if not caring for my well-being means making sure you're safe, then I'm fine with it, Izuku.
"You aren't the only one who feels that way towards the other, Deku." I whispered, relaxing my head into the crook of his shoulder as he did the same, leaning his on mine.
His fingers remained wrapped around mine the entire time we rested.
-
I was awoken by my green-eyed classmate as we drowsily got off the bus, Aizawa said we were taking a pit stop for a bathroom break. I stepped out into the fresh air, eyebrows pulling together when I saw no building in sight, in all actuality, we were standing on some sort of cliff.
Are we supposed to use the restroom here?
I was surprised when two young woman headed towards Shota, one small frame trailing behind the ladies. They look like cats, I thought in amusement, feeling Bakugo stand near me. "Where's the restroom?" Mineta demanded, eyes searching for the building I was a few minutes ago.
"Your feline fantasies are here!" The female with a brown-haired pixie cut said in enthusiasm, clapping her hands while the others joined her with the same odd introductions. My eyes drifted to the small boy that stood nearby. He looked irritated and bored, mirroring the expression from the blonde next to me.
Apparently, they were known as the Wild, Wild Pussycats and in Midoriya's fanboy explanation: "They're a four person hero team who specialize in mountain rescues! The Pussycats were founded when we were kids like forever ago! This marks their twelfth year working as a- hmph!" He was interrupted with Pixie Bob's paw on his face, as she sneered, "I'm pretty sure your math must be off!" I tugged her paw away from him, his reddened cheeks and happiness shifted to contrite, and it irked me. "Leave our resident fanboy alone, he just likes talking about cool heroes." I said, dragging Midoriya behind me as he shot me a save-me-please look.
The brunette known as Mandalay stared at me, a smirk worming its way to her features. "Seems like we've got a feisty kitty on our hands," I heard her say quietly to Pixie Bob.
"The camp is at the bottom of that mountain, beyond the forest." Aizawa said calmly, I stared in shock before huffing, making sure he noticed that I was betrayed by his lack of information the night before. The class and I immediately knew what he was insinuating, our training would begin by us going through the acres of forest to reach our location for the trip.
Realization dawned, "Guys!" "Holy crap!" "Save yourselves!" The words came from Kirishima and Ashido as we all turned, beginning to run back to the bus that provided us the comfort of not walking all the way over there.
"Kitties who don't make it there by twelve thirty won't get any lunch." Mandalay said in an airy tone, as Aizawa never moved once from his position. "You should've guessed, students, the training camp-" Shota spoke as Pixie Bob launched herself through the air and landed in front of us, blocking our path, "has already begun." I looked back at Mandalay quickly to see her hands pressed to the dirt of the cliff, a glow emitting from them as the ground began to tumble, sending the entirety of the class tumbling down to the forest underneath us.
"What the heck?!" Ochaco cried, as I tugged on her wrist amidst the dirt flying around us. "She must be controlling the ground!" Izuku yelled as well, we were all crashing down.
I laughed, feeling my body build adrenaline with the challenge. They made a mistake, this entire land had no industrial setting nearby, no pollutants in the air or bustling movement of things made by man.
My quirk would be at its peak, after all, this is my natural habitat.
I yelled in joy, forcing the dirt to harden into a decent slide so my classmates wouldn't land roughly and injure themselves.
We all recollected ourselves as we stared into the forest, preparing to enter. Before I could take a proper step, I heard one of the cat ladies yell, "You have three hours, come to the facility on your own two feet! After getting through.. the Beast's Forest." What did she mean by that? Seriously? It's still morning.
Mineta waited for no other signal, running into the dark intricacies of the forest as a large, towering creature appeared out of nowhere, snarling and revealing brown rows of jagged teeth. Three more appeared right behind it. Izuku, Bakugo, Shoto, Iida, and I launched ourselves at the creatures, punches, explosions, kicks, ice, and vines were thrown into the equation as we manifested our quirks to defeat them.
My skin tingled, my senses have enhanced since training with Endeavor, if I pressed my palms to the Earth and concentrated in silence, I could begin to locate different temperatures throughout a location, pinpointing where people were located. I could also force my senses to detect where there was a large amount of Earthly materials or stone located, picturing roots to surge from the Earth and do as I pleased. That's how I realized that these creatures weren't real beings, they were made from the ground itself.
"Poor Pixie-Bob, how do I tell her that I can destroy the monsters she's created?" I asked, giggling while I pressed my palms together, watching the monsters dissolve at once. I would probably tire myself immediately, but spiting the catty woman seemed like fun.
I felt the stares of my classmates but I continued moving forward, "Come on, guys! I'm hungry!" I called to them, and with that, our battle through the forest began.
Quirks were seen everywhere as monsters appeared left and right, we began battling with ease. Mineta threw his purple balls towards creatures on the side as Denki and I ran parallel to each other, "Angel, let's do our new combo!" I nodded at the electric user's words, we both ran on each arm of the dirt monster in front of us, he landed on the back of the creature's neck while I looped my legs around his waist, clinging to Denki's back as I wrapped us both in vines. "Go, flea!" Electricity surged from his palms as he screamed, "1.3 million volts!" Neither of us were affected by his quirk because of the way I insulated us both with my vines. He gripped the back of my legs, keeping me attached to him as we flew off the burnt monster.
Thus, our day went by with battling these dirt things from Pixie-Bob as hours of fighting began to show in our movements.
The sun was lowering towards the Earth as we finally stumbled out of the forest into clearing, seeing the first buildings litter the area. I stayed close to the boys that helped initiate the battle between 1-A and the ground monsters. I didn't bother listening to the words Aizawa and Mandalay were saying, I was focusing on keeping myself from falling due to the way my legs and hands grew numb.
"Stop acting like you're falling apart. Exhaustion isn't a good look on you." Bakugo told me whilst pressing the back of his hand to my forehead, I knew he was checking to see whether I would faint or not.
I straightened myself out, "You always call me ugly so what's ever gonna be a good look on me, you prickly bas-" My words were cut off with Pixie-Bob running around my group, swiping her paws at Iida, Izuku, Bakugo, Shoto and I while we dodged her little romantic advances. I heard Mandalay mutter to Aizawa that Pixie-Bob was searching for a mate. "Pretty girl, you're the toughest kitty I've seen come here!" The frantic cat cooed while reaching to caress my face. When her paws were centimeters away from me, two hands simultaneously gripped my arms, pushing me backwards. I scowled, staring at the backs of Izuku and Bakugo while Shoto chuckled, giving me a glance.
The conversation shifted to age, while Pixie-Bob nearly clawed Midoriya's eyes out for the way he almost revealed their ages, but he only pointed at the boy that stood feet away from Mandalay.
I watched Izuku as he approached the boy who went by Kota, apparently he was Mandalay's cousin's son and something rubbed me the wrong way when I took in the young child's expression. He seemed full of bitterness, anger ebbing from his face as he glared at Midoriya. He must have some trauma, I know a kid with a tough past when I see one.
"Hey there, my name's Midoriya and I'm from the U.A High School Hero Course, it's nice to meet you." As Izuku stuck his hand out, Kota shifted his leg back before launching his fist into Izuku's groin. I squeaked, biting back the laughter as Iida and I ran to catch my friend, who was writhing and whining from his severe pain.
"What a low blow! You fiend of a child, a punch to the scrotum is unforgivable!" Iida's words nearly set me into guffaws but I held it together for the sake of Izuku's dignity.
I looked at Kota to see him glaring at us viciously, "The last thing I want is to hang with some wannabe hero." His child-like tone, and grit of his teeth noted me that his rage stemmed from an issue with pro-heroes, specifically someone close to him if he wasn't with his parents. "Wannabe?! How old are you, kid?" Iida's words comforted me, at least I wasn't the only one who was overly defensive with Midoriya.
I could hear the bits of Bakugo's and Shoto's bantering while I took my own lead and followed the small boy. We entered one of the buildings, a simple room with cushioned seats in the center. "So, what's your deal, Kota? Kicking my friend in the balls wasn't cool, if I was like you, I'd aim a kick to your area, too for revenge." I crossed my arms, studying the way his face only heightened with his irritation.
"You're a girl, but I'll still punch you."
"Whatever issues you have with pro-heroes doesn't mean everyone's like that. You were like me when I was your age, I was mad at everyone and their mothers for the stuff I went through. Look, kid, I don't blame you for your feistiness, but it can't last forever." I bent to his height, grabbing the collar of his shirt as I fixed it, "I'm telling you this because it took me years to smile again. You're missing out on life if you spend it angry at the past. Trust me." I released him, turning to leave and head to the dining hall Aizawa pointed out earlier.