Two words. "Pain" and "exhaustion." That's all I feel as my tired feet carry me closer and closer to the end of the woods. As my wavy vision adjusts to the evening light, I can make out a building behind four figures.
Tojuta drags his feet just behind me, his shirt just about shredded now, and he's missing a few small patches of quills. He too looks ready to collapse any second now, though I'm proud he didn't pass out somewhere in the middle of it all.
Samae's steps look the most stable out of all of us, but that doesn't mean he's definitely not tired. His knuckles are pretty scraped up, and his bared teeth show his stubborn perseverance.
Finally, Auxi has her forearm wrapped in her own bandage, and about half of the wraps she had to begin with are gone. To no one's surprise, she looks worn out as well, and her hair is a mess.
Once we near Mr. Aizawa and the Pussycats who met us back at the cliff side, we all breath a huge sigh of relief and exhaustion. Tojuta and Auxi fall to the ground to sit down with Sato and Kirishima. I give my forehead a final wipe to get the streams of sweat pouring down over my face.
Sero tiredly looks up at the red cat. "You said it would only be like three hours."
"Yeah, now it's like five in the evening or something," Auxi complains, staring up at the sky.
"I guess we timed it based on how long it'd take us. Sorry."
"Now you're bragging about how much better you are?" Sato asks. "That's so mean."
"That's garbage," I pant. "Then I take it you screw yourself over by summoning dirt monsters to fight every thirty seconds? Cuz those things just kept coming."
"I'm starving!" Kirishima yells, clutching his stomach. "This is hell!"
"Mewmewmewmew!" the blue cat, or Pixiebob, seems to laugh behind her gloves. "I thought it would take you kids even longer! But you did much better against my dirt monsters than I thought you would! You guys were seriously great. Especially the four of you!" Here she points at Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Iida. "It seems like you've quite a bit of experience!"
She suddenly dives at them to fawn over the four. Uncomfortable of the experience, I glance aside. Tojuta looks up at me, still panting.
"So, you think this is gonna be the drill every day?"
"Dude, if we know Mr. Aizawa, he'll probably go on to say that all that was just a warm up."
"True," he groans.
"Uh," Midoriya stutters from behind Pixebob, "speaking of peoples' ages-." Whenever we were talking about that, his statement is stopped by the blue cat's paw, which, again, is shoved into his face.
"Choose your words carefully, boy," she hisses.
His scared voice comes muffled from behind. "I've just been wondering since we got here earlier, who is that kid? What's he doing here?" He points at the boy with the horned hat we saw with them earlier this morning.
"Oh, this little guy?" the red cat clarifies. "He's actually my cousin's son; he just lives with us now." She talks to the younger kid this time. "Don't be shy, Kota. Say hi to everyone. You're gonna be around them for the next week."
Staring at the kid and hearing him to be shy, I would at least expect him to be hiding behind his guardian, but instead he's standing stiffly by himself and angrily glaring at us. One thing's for sure, he is not happy that we're here.
"What's his deal?" Samae growls among us.
"I think he's just pretending to be tough," Auxi assumes. "I have siblings, so I know little kids have a way of doing that. He'll back away and go hide once we try to talk to him."
Wanting to make a good impression, Midoriya escapes Pixiebob's grasp and walks over to introduce himself. "Hey there. My name's Midoriya. I'm from the UA High School hero course. It's nice to meet you." He leans down and offers a hand to shake. However, Kota pulls his fist back and jabs it straight in Midoriya's lower. My eyes widen in surprise as a screech of pain squeaks out of my classmate.
"What a low blow!" Iida exclaims, skidding to Midoriya's side to prop him up as Kota simply walks away with his eyes on the ground and his hands in his pockets. "You fiend of a child! A punch to the scrotum is unforgivable!"
As if to answer, the little brat scowls over his shoulder at him, hatred flickering in his eyes. "The last thing I want is to hang with some wannabe heroes!"
"'Wannabe?!' How old are you, kid?!"
I glance at Auxi, who's color has drained away from her face as she looks on in terror. "Were your siblings anything like that?"
Despite the work out we just went through, Samae gets up from his knees and growls, "Just wait; I'll show him wannabe."
"Chill, dude!" Tojuta warns. "It's not your place."
"Enough playing around," Mr. Aizawa calls. "Get your stuff off the bus. Once your bags are in your rooms, we'll have dinner in the cafeteria."
Auxi immediately brightens up and glances at him. "Food?"
"After that, you can bathe and sleep. Tomorrow, the training starts in earnest." He turns to the building behind him and points to it. "You better get a move on."
"Yes sir," we all groan and keep walking.
—————————————————————————————————————
Thanks to the red Pussycat, Mandalay, we were able to find the bus and grab our luggage. From there, we bring it to our proper gender rooms. The beds are just pallets on the floor, but it's better than nothing, I guess. Some of the boys were still so tired that after hauling their bags and things into the room, they just crashed onto the comforters. They'd probably still be there if Iida hadn't reminded us of our growling stomachs.
Most of us hurried to the cafeteria, which brings us to now. We stand patiently behind the doors with the girls until Mandalay opens them up.
"Alright, kitties," she calls and presents the long tables behind her, where Pixiebob is still setting a few things down. "Dinner is served."
Starved, we marvel at the vast arrangement of food. The tables had it all; meat, rice, vegetables, anything fit for a proper dinner. We hurry to the seats with exclaims of delight. Tojuta, Samae, Auxi, and I all pick seats near each other at the end of the table.
We students clap our hands and smile wide. "Thank you!" With that, we quickly grab our chopsticks and reach for the buffet. The room is filled with chatter of classmates and clatters of chopsticks.
It's all so good! Whether due to my enormous appetite or the food's deliciousness, I find myself carefully scooping clumps of rice into my mouth. I seriously haven't eaten anything all day, so I try my best to make the most of the meal.
"So good!" Tojuta cheers. "I might end up eating back all the calories I lost in the woods!"
"Same!" Auxi joins. "I wanna know how they did it!"
Pixiebob skates behind us with a dish of beef and stops at Samae. "You want something else with that, or are you just living off rice?" she asks, offering the platter she's carrying.
"Oh, this is just an appetizer," he answers before offering his plate. "Load me up!"
"Hey, wait, you got meat over there?!" Kirishima exclaims from the other end to the pro.
"Yeah. Geez, it's like you guys haven't eaten in a week or something." She smiles. "Anyway, today's the only time we'll be doing this for you, so make sure you kids enjoy it."
"Thank you!" he and Kaminari call out.
Tojuta looks up with a mouthful of stew. "Wait," he starts before swallowing. "'Only time?' Are we going the rest of the time without food??"
"Doubt it," I answer between chews. "All this is probably enough for leftovers, so I think she means that."
"Quit living every hour without worrying about the next!" he scolds. "Making plans is kinda important in life!"
"So is just eating. I'd rather live in the pleasurable moment than think about the pain we've suffered before and later on."
He sighs. "I guess you're just that flexible." He then looks up at the other side of the room. "What's up with him?"
"Who?" I take a second from my food and follow his gaze. Walking away from Mandalay is the kid with the hat and deep scowl. What was it? Kota? "Him? He must still be dwelling on the fact that we're sticking around."
"The little brat'll suck it up," Samae growls. I can't help but agree in my head. Life's tough, and sometimes you just have to live with it. Still though, what's his attitude for?
—————————————————————————————————————
After dinner, Mandalay suggested we hit the hot springs in the back while they do a quick clean up. I'm not usually comfortable in water, but my aching body said otherwise. So, I find myself in a towel and soaking my legs in the hot bath with the other boys of the class. Tojuta's over with Ojiro and Kaminari, lightly splashing each other, and I know Samae's somewhere around here seeing how long he can hold his breath. It's just weird though, cuz like Kirishima, his hair actually drops down around his face in a true surfer style. The only one not among us boys is Mineta, who is just standing over by the wall, staring at it, and mumbling to himself every now and then.
By my feet in the water, Sero sighs. "Man, after all that hiking, I was actually kinda scared this trip wouldn't have any sort of free time."
"I know how you mean," I reply. "I mean, what was the point of handing us the entire brochure if we wouldn't do any of it except the field work?"
Samae's head suddenly pops up, and he takes in a restoring breath. "How'd I do?" he asks Sero.
"Uh..." He shrugs. "Sorry, I lost count. But I'd say maybe, ummm, twenty seconds?"
"You serious? Dude, I was under longer than that!"
"Okay, man, just go again! No need to get worked up about it."
I smirk at the two, comparing their current hair state and realizing how similar they look.
"Uhh, are you over there talking to yourself again, Mineta?" Midoriya's voice pulls my attention to the pervert as he stumbles and presses the side of his head against the tall, wooden fence. Concern builds up in me and forces me to listen closer to him.
"Bathe, my angels," he moans. Oh crap, that's right! The girls' bath is literally right behind that wall! It's like he's straight looking to get expelled! He continues to play in his twisted fantasies as Tojuta and I glance at each other in somewhat horror.
"It's too much for him," Kaminari warns.
"Really?!" Tojuta exclaims. "Even after Jiro's attack in the locker room? He can't learn, can he?"
"Augh!" Iida groans and stands to stiffly march to him. "You're to stop this at once, Mineta! What you're doing is demeaning! For both the girls and yourself! It's sinful behavior!"
The short boy only looks back at him with an understanding expression. "Now I know why I have this quirk." You cannot be serious. He grabs a ball on his head. "It's because walls are meant to be climbed!"
"Mineta, come down there this instant!" Iida yells up at him from below. Despite his commands and everyone else's insistences, the boy keeps climbing, leaving behind a trail of drool falling toward the deck.
"He's gonna fall," Tojuta says. "Yurei, can you pull him down?"
"Hey, I'm not gonna be a part of this. He's getting himself in trouble, and I say he'll get whatever'll come."
As I am giving my statement, another figure appears at the top of the wall to meet Mineta. Wait, is that.. Kota? What's he doing up there?
Before I know it, Kota raises his arm over our classmate and swings it across his face, pushing him off and down the wall.
"I'll get you for this!!" Mineta screams at him as he falls.
"Yurei!"
Fine. I follow my gut and Tojuta's scream and summon my flames under my classmate. I feel his presence around them and give the command to grab him. His descent slows until I feel him stop just over Iida. Half relieved, half disappointed, I sigh and pull him over to the water, still keeping him seven or eight feet over.
I glare at him, beyond annoyed, and he recovers from shock right side up, staring me back. At last, he lets out a sigh. "Phew! Thanks, Se-." Before he can finish, I simultaneously force my flames down and extinguish them, listening to the sensational sound of his bellyflop echo among us.
Somewhat satisfied, I pinch my brow and sigh. "Someone please remind me how he's in this school!"
Before I can get a good answer, we hear a yell of surprise and look back up at Kota, who's now a little over the edge. I stand from reflexes, but before I can do anything, Midoriya jumps out onto the deck and leaps at him. To our enormous relief, our classmate lands with the boy safely in his arms. He's passed out, but doesn't appear to be hurt in any way.
I sit back down as Samae stares up at the top of the wall. "Whadaya think happened?"
"He probably saw the girls and hurriedly jumped back," Tojuta answers. "I mean, I would probably do the same thing. Plus, his blush and bloody nose give it away."
"Well, I'm glad he's okay," I get back to it.
"Uh-huh." Tojuta raises a thumbs up at our green-haired friend. "Good job, Midoriya!"
Midoriya looks back up at him. "Uh, thanks. I'm gonna take him to Mandalay. Be right back." With that, he carefully zips to the door.
Iida remains standing and raises a hand to grab our attention. "Class A, I believe we should be stepping out as well. We have a long day ahead of us, and our sleep should aid us in tomorrow's training."
"Right," we all agree and leave the water for the lockers.
—————————————————————————————————————
"GOOD MORNING, CLASS A BOYS!!" I suddenly start awake from a loud, commanding voice echoing in our room. "WHAT ARE YOU ALL STILL DOING LAYING AROUND?! YOU'VE GOT TRAINING TO GET TO!! UP AND AT 'EM!! GO GO GO!!"
I tiredly roll onto my side, pulling my pillow with me to cover my ear. Nevertheless, his voice keeps coming. "YOUR TEACHER'S ALREADY OUTSIDE WAITING FOR YOU!! HE'S DEFINITELY NOT ONE TO KEEP WAITING, SO GET TO IT!!"
I resentfully open my eyes a tiny bit to catch a glimpse of some of us already awake and begrudgingly sliding on their tracksuits. I turn my head to spy a larger man in a brown Pussycat costume with his arms crossed. And when I mean 'Pussycat costume,' I mean the same gloves, headgear, and even combat skirt. I wanna laugh at it, but the deadly seriousness on his face warns that I should keep my mouth shut.
He catches my stares and narrows his eyes. "That also means you," he coldly adds.
"Yes, sir," I loudly mumble and force myself to rise and follow the others. Once we have our outfits on, we file out the door past the new Pussycat. We make it to the lobby of the building, where another new cat is giddily waving around the girls.
She then notices us. "Aaahahaha!! Wow, you all look wiped, too! You better straighten up though! No matter your state, we're not letting you catch any catnaps today!"
It's too early for this.
The new cat excitedly points out over to a clearing. "Your teacher is out over past those groups of trees. He'll let you know what to do from there."
We follow our directions and leave to go meet Mr. Aizawa. I squint at the morning sun peeking past the mountains. We soon make it to the clearing Mr. Aizawa's at and gather around.
A few of us yawn and stretch as our tutor stares us down. "Good morning, class," he calls. "Today we begin a training camp that will increase your strength. Our goal is to increase your skills exponentially so that each of you earns a provisional license. This will allow you to face the dangers that continue to fester in the darkness. Proceed carefully. Look alive, Bakugo." He pulls his hand from behind his back, revealing a soft ball, and tosses it to the blond, who catches it no problem. "Try throwing that for me."
"Yeah sure. Like in the fitness test," he clarifies.
"That's right. When you first started school, your record was 705.2 meters. Let's see if you've improved."
"Oh, I get it!" Ashido exclaims as Bakugo takes the ball to an open space to perform. "We're checking our progress!"
"A lot's happened to us in the last three months," Sero observes. "Maybe he can throw it a whole mile now!"
"C'mon, get it, Bakugo!" Kirishima calls to him as he finishes stretching.
Bakugo smiles deviously ahead of him. "I've got this." He winds back. "No one blink!"
Despite his demand, I remember the lesson from back then and close my eyes to avoid dust blowing into my eyes. I brace myself as my classmate screams his rage. "DIIIEEE!!!"
A massive explosion sounds off before us, and we wait for Mr. Aizawa to present the results.
"That was 709.6 meters."
Huh?!
He shows us his phone with the presented number. Some improvement. I was kinda hoping for something as jaw dropping as Sero had offered.
"That's it?" Sero asks. "Kinda disappointing."
"You've had a single semester at UA," Mr. Aizawa continues. "And due to your various experiences, all of you have definitely improved. But those improvements have mostly been limited to mental prowess and technical skill with a slight increase of stamina along the way. As you can see, your quirks themselves have not improved much on a fundamental level. That's why we're gonna now focus on improving your power." He smiles grimly at us, increasing the intensity of the assignment. "This'll be so hard, you'll feel like you're dying. Let's hope you all survive."
Dying?! I already breath too much doing simple push-ups and pull-ups! Then there's the fact we're doing this an entire week!
I glance at Tojuta, who surprisingly looks drastically chill with this. I don't know about him, but despite my outward expression, I'm internally screaming.
With threats out if the way, Mr. Aizawa steps aside for all four of the Pussycats to take over. "Now students!" Mandalay announces. "We will be leading you to your specially designed training areas. Prepare yourselves."
"Listen up!" the brown cat shouts next and points at a few of us. "You, you, you, and you. From here, you'll be listening to ol' Tiger here." He selects Iida, Todoroki, Bakugo, and me to follow him. "Let's get to it!"
We begin to stick behind him as we part with the rest of our class. I wave over my shoulder at my friends before losing sight of them. Once we're a good five minutes from our friends, Tiger continues.
"Alright, you buncha sissies! Using your file descriptions, we prepared exercises for each and every one of you that is sure to push you past your limit and make you sick to your core! As your teacher explained, you will hate it with every fiber of your being! But, if you want to become pros, then you'll have to suck it up!"
As he finishes his small speech, we find ourselves at a fairly open field. There are a couple of metal barrels filled with water and a large, wooden board spaced a few meters from them. He instructs Iida to begin running the perimeter of the field. Having been given his training, he takes off. Next, he leads Bakugo and Todoroki to the barrels. Todoroki is to sit in one and alternate the temperature in the water to train his ability to change focus on his left and right sides, while Bakugo is supposed to dunk his arms in his own barrel filled with boiling water and fire off explosions to expand his sweat glands. The boys get to work as Tiger takes me to the square, thick platform.
"I suppose you know what to do from here?" he asks me.
I stare at it, confused, and shake my head. "I haven't the slightest."
"Well, from what your quirk description says, your power relies on spiritual flames. The catch is they can be put out, nullifying your quirk, correct?"
"Yes sir."
"That's what we're going to be working on! You've been strengthening your power through meditation, so the idea here is to do just that but while using your flames as well!"
"'Kay, I've learned how to multitask. . . So what's the board for?"
"That's what you're going to be using your quirk on! Tell me, how much weight can you lift with your fire?"
"Each flame can levitate about forty to fifty pounds, so altogether, approximately three-hundred pounds at most."
"That settles it!" He pushes me forward to the platform. "Go on, stand in the center of that thing and lift it up with yourself."
"Hold up, what?"
"You heard me; you'll be on top of the board while you're lifting it in the air. Up there, you'll be meditating."
I take a few seconds to debate on the fact that this is overkill. Whatever, it can't be that hard. I do what I was told and active all six of my flames around my platform and give the command to raise it up. I close my eyes and try to concentrate on my connection with my flames and feel the wooden surface press up from under me and levitate up. Tiger directs me to keep going up until I hear him call from under me to stop. I try extra carefully to keep it balanced and level. After a bit, I hold the position.
Now to meditate. Still standing, I bring my hands together and focus on my thoughts. Wait, Tiger said this had to do with my durability. How does this relate-?
My focus is suddenly interrupted by a loud scream. Annoyed, I look up just as Bakugo on the ground away from me throws his hands in the air from the barrel and fires off an enormous blast from his hands. I'm caught off guard and feel my spiritual connection quickly waver until vanishing from two of my supports. With my platform unbalanced, my platform suddenly tilts, jerking me enough to lose my remaining flames and falls to the ground, taking me down. I fall on my back and grunt at the pain.
I clutch my arm as Tiger looks down at me with his arms crossed. "Ow!" I growl. "Okay, what?!"
"Not so easy, is it?" he chuckles.
"'On earth?! Sir, I can't meditate like that, let alone keep my flames in tact in this play field!"
"Why'd you think we placed your station out here between these three?"
Iida suddenly rushes past, kicking up dirt as to prove the pro's point. I now get why he said I'm going to hate this.
"You say you can't do it, and in a real life scenario when you're flying yourself, you're still not going to be able to if you stay this weak! This exercise is made so that you'll be ready for when you do face harsh winds and other threats to your fire. Now get up and try again!"
I recall the race we had in the factory practice field and how I lost my flames and fell to the finish. That's been something I don't ever want to do again. Plus, I know there's no arguing with this guy, so I begrudgingly stand back up and quickly throw my flames out again and bring my platform up.
"You'll be keeping this up until the session is over," Tiger announces to me. "I suggest you make the most of it!"
"Yes sir!" I yell back, and brace myself for a hard few hours.