\\ Rini //
\\ At Home //
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The semester was finally over and Summer had arrived.
Summer had arrived.
Everyone was beyond excited for our well needed break. We had all come so far over the past few months despite my future-changing meddling. And although our class never had a first person experience fighting the League of Villains at USJ, or the handful of us running into Stain in Hosu, we still had an eventful first semester in comparison to prior First-Year classes at UA.
Once we were officially released from school, everyone took the first couple days to relax; Hitoshi and I included. He slept for a whole day and I spent my time sketching fashion designs. Then after he got enough sleep, he came over to my house and we played video games, watched movies, and more.
On the third day, I got a text from the girls about our pool-day. I mentioned it to Hitoshi that it was a girls only thing until he showed me a text from Midoriya saying the guys would be doing endurance training at the pool too and if he'd like to join. In the end, we both arrived at the pool and met up with our classmates.
Since I already looked ahead for the month, I knew the real reason why the boys were present: Kaminari and Mineta's plan backfired. The guys ended up swimming laps while we played volleyball. Then after a while the guys started a competition with the use of their quirks. In the end, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo were facing off against each other. . . But Mr. Aizawa intervened and told us to go home since it was 5:00 PM.
As we left the school grounds, Bakugo was pretty upset about not proving himself to be number one. Kirishima calmed him down a bit, and I observed as I walked behind them, until Bakugo slowed down and glanced over his shoulder at me. I knew judging by the glint in his eye what he was asking - whether he won the race - and I gave an amused shrug to answer without words that I didn't see the result. This made him return to his sulking with Kirishima making attempts to cheer him up.
As for Todoroki and Midoriya, they caught up to me and wanted to know who won too, and I told them the same honest answer.
It's been two days since then and today marked the end of our Summer freetime.
It also marked the end of my month-long visions range.
Meaning, I didn't know the calamity that awaited us.
"Are you ready for camp honey bunny? You packed everything you need right?" My mom asked as I made my way to the living room.
"I'm sure she did, love," my dad answered for me after walking out the kitchen with a snack in his hand. He then turned to look at me and smiled. "You did, right?"
I rolled my eyes playfully and sighed in amusement.
"Yes, of course. Can't you see how packed my bag is?" I gestured to the carry-on suitcase I dragged behind me. "I don't even think this bag size is considered acceptable. Hopefully Mr. Aizawa won't kick it off the bus or something," I added with a nervous laugh.
"That honestly sounds like something he'd do," my mom tried to hide her amused smile behind a dainty hand. . . And if I had to be honest, it looked like she had a reminiscent look in her eyes.
I dismissed the moment and remained completely unaware of the past relationship between her and my teacher.
"I guess you'll find out when you get there," My dad joked and took a bite of his protein bar.
Suddenly, a knock on the door grabbed our attention. I smiled knowing it was Hitoshi and clutched the handle on my suitcase before rushing to the door.
"Okay bye! See you guys in a few weeks!"
"Now wait just a minute!" My mom said as she and my dad followed behind me.
I playfully ignored them and flung open the front door to a startled Hitoshi.
"Hey- woah where are you going so fast?"
"Let's go before they smother us," I blurted.
He didn't have time to reply as I shoved him to start moving. When he didn't move right away, I grabbed his hand and started tugging him along as we ran out my yard. My parents made it to the door just as we made it out the gates.
"Rini!" My mom half yelled.
"Sorry but your gonna hold us up and the bus doesn't wait for no one!" I returned and made up an excuse. "Love you! Bye!" I quickly added.
"Bye! Have fun!" My dad replied with a calm wave.
"Be careful!" my mom called out with a hand outstretched toward me.
If only I knew that'd be the last time I'd see them before disaster struck, I wouldn't have taken this moment for granted.
Eventually, Hitoshi and I successfully made it to school. Upon arrival, we were greeted by our energetic classmates and shared quick happy greetings. However, it was shortlived when Mr. Aizawa appeared and told us to listen up.
"Now that you have finished your first semester at UA High, it's time for summer vacation to officially begin. However, don't think these will be months of rest for you Heroes-in-the-making. At this camp, we'll push you to go beyond your limits. You're aiming to become "Plus Ultra." He finished his speech.
"Yes Sir!" We returned.
Mr. Aizawa then wandered off to speak with Vlad King, which made us disperse and pick back up our lively conversations. I stood next to Momo, Hitoshi, and Tsu making light conversation about what to expect from this camp but I also listened and observed the others chat.
"I'm so siked! I've been looking forward to this camp all semester, Deku!" Ochaco beamed.
"Oh, yeah! Its definitely close, huh?" Izuku flushed red and said in a fluster.
"Hey what's the matter?"
"I'm just a little hot!"
"Huh?" She hummed, then she too turned red like a tomato. "Uh, let's hear it for camp!" She backed off immediately and started chanting alongside Denki and Mina.
I smiled to myself at their cute little interaction.
Suddenly, a strange aura could be felt radiating by the other bus. Immediately everyone knew who it belonged to and watched as the obnoxious blonde boy from Class B gave us a crazed stare.
"I heard some of Class A is taking extra courses. Does that mean they actually failed the final exams? That must be so embarrassing! Especially since you're supposed to be so much better than my class! All of you must be wallowing in shame-!" Monoma ranted hysterically before Kendo chopped him.
"Don't mind him," she said with a friendly apologetic wave and dragged him away.
"Monoma's scary," Reiko Yanagi muttered, drawing attention.
"Oh! The rest of Class B!" Midoriya pointed out.
"Its nice to see you outside of the Sports Festival. I guess now we're not technically rivals," Setsuna said before her eyes landed on me. "Its been a while since we hung out too, Rini-chan," she came over and pulled me into a side hug.
"Yeah, even though we see you at lunch sometimes it's like we barely see you or Shinso anymore," Riku added while coming to my free side and lightly punching my shoulder.
"You guys are dramatic," Hitoshi sighed.
"Sorry! Maybe after camp we can all hang out," I offered a warm smile and smacked Toshi's arm.
"Sounds cool with me!" Setsuna grinned.
"Me too," Riku nodded.
"Time to get on the bus!" Kendo announced while dragging Monoma behind her.
"Okay!" Everyone from Class B replied before heading to the bus.
"Well, guess we'll see you guys there!" Riku waved and followed after his classmates.
"See ya!" Setsuna added before disappearing as well.
Meanwhile right behind us a certain grape had drool pouring out his mouth.
"The girls from Class A and Class B. It's like a buffet of bombshells!"
"Dude, get yourself together. For real," Kirishima chastised him with a straight face.
"Attention Class A our bus is here! Everyone line up in seating order!" Iida announced while flailing his paddle arms around.
Everyone acknowledged his hollering and did as he instructed. Since Hitoshi and I sat at the way back of the class, we were the last to board. Three minutes later, I was the last to get on. As I reached for the handle and set foot on the vehicle, a chill ran down my spine and caused me to freeze.
What was that? I thought while looking back at the school.
The school sat idly on the hilltop as normal as ever and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The only thing that seemed strange was the random wind gust that shifted the trees and stirred up some leaves on the ground, making a soft rustling noise that resonated loudly over the dead silence. The same gust caused my hair to flow behind me and I felt each one of my long strands flutter and suspend in the air for a few drawn out seconds before falling gracefully onto my back as though nothing happened.
"Why aren't you on the bus yet?" Mr. Aizawa's tired voice snapped me from my trance.
"Oh, sorry. There was just. . ." I turned and apologized to him, but I looked back at the undisturbed area behind me and trailed off.
At my strange behavior, he stepped down on the middle step and looked around as well. Upon seeing nothing wrong with the surrounding area, I then sensed his worried gaze on me.
"There was just what? Is something wrong?" His tone changed to his serious Hero-Teacher tone.
My brows furrowed and I questioned whether the wind gust happened or not.
"No, it's nothing. It was just the wind, but it looks like it dropped out," I replied.
If only I knew. If only I heeded the signs.
Mr. Aizawa didn't say anything for a moment until he hummed and turned to get back on the bus, and I followed right behind him. He then stood to the side and allowed me to pass so I could sit down with the others. I sat next to Hitoshi in the back taking the window seat as everyone chatted away. Once we were on the road, Mr. Aizawa then decided to go over some rules.
"Here's the deal. We'll be on this bus about an hour before our first stop. Make sure you stay focused-"
"Why aren't we blastin some music?!" Denki hollered.
"No one should be standing! That is a safety hazard! Please stay seated!" Iida chastised and yelled at Aoyama who was posing up a storm for absolutely no reason.
Meanwhile the majority of the class was chatting away loudly or looking at their phones. Only a few were silent - Todoroki, Bakugo, Tokoyami, Shoji, and Koda - while typical Class 1A chaos ensued.
"Why do I bother?" Mr. Aizawa sighed before muttering to himself, "Well I guess this is the only time they'll have to fool around."
From that point forward, time flew by faster than expected. Hitoshi napped and I tried to do the same, but I ended up scrolling through my phone. I was looking at the news since that bad feeling lingered on my mind. To my surprise, nothing popped up on the news.
When the bus finally stopped for our hour break, everyone disembarked and looked around. We were pulled over on a bend by the cliffside that overlooked a forest. The luscious green treetops stretched for miles and the Class admired them except for Mineta who scrambled around for a bathroom.
I wandered over to the fence and tried to get a closer look but suddenly felt that chill run down my spine again.
Something definitely isn't right, I thought while glancing around.
"Hey, you have your capture scarf on you right?" I quietly asked my best friend.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I have it wrapped under my uniform. Why do you ask?" he replied.
"Just a feeling. . ." I trailed.
"Huh. This isn't much of a rest area." Kirishima suddenly declared.
"No. . . And where's Class B?" Jiro pointed out.
"You don't really think we stopped here just so you could stretch your legs, do you?" Mr. Aizawa stated.
And there it was.
"Please, sir, the toilet." Mineta begged with his hands between his legs, but Mr. Aizawa didn't spare him a look as he turned his attention to the black parked car.
"Heya Eraser," a woman's voice came from the mysterious car and gained our attention.
"Long time no see," our tired teacher replied.
Suddenly two women hopped out of the car wearing flashy cat costumes. One red and one blue. They performed a quick skit to show off their costumes and land in a pose after saying:
"Your feline fantasies are here! Say, "meow."
"Purrfectly cute and catlike girls!"
"You can call us the Wild, Wild Pussycats!" They said in unison.
Everyone just stared at the two.
However, upon closer inspection, I recognized them. . . Then I recognized the little boy standing unbothered beside them. . . And then my heart sank as flashes of one of my past visions came flooding back.
As Mr. Aizawa introduced them, with some input from Midoriya, my lavender eyes never left the little boy as I recalled the tragedy that became of his parents.
Two years ago, his parents known as WaterHose fought a crazy strong villain whose quirk allowed him to grow muscles multiple times stronger than anyone else. With my future vision I informed Nighteye that there should be at least a dozen Heroes - or even All Might - to bring the man in. My mentor did send backup, but the villain still managed to single the couple out and attack them.
Their injuries proved too much and they were now stuck in a coma with no signs of waking up.
Since they could no longer take care of their child, I found out from Nighteye that he was being looked after by a relative AKA Mandalay. Although the outcome in my vision was a worse fate, I still hold myself accountable for their comatose state. Nighteye and my parents told me that I shouldn't be hard on myself, that it was an unfortunate error in judgement during the fight, but I still felt guilty.
"Everyone, say hello," Mr. Aizawa stated, snapping me from my somber thoughts.
"Hello, nice to meet you!" The class chimed together but I greeted with less enthusiasm as I glanced at the little boy.
The boy seemed to sense my gaze and suddenly stared directly at me. I froze and didn't look away, taking the opportunity to see the hidden sadness and anger behind his eyes. Without realizing it, I was giving him a soft sympathetic look, and his brow raised curiously until he quickly looked away with a glare.
I am so sorry, I thought.
Hitoshi noticed where I was looking and frowned upon seeing my upset expression. He did a double take at the boy then it eventually clicked for him too considering I confided my failure in him years ago. He was the one who helped me through my troubles after all.
Without saying a word, he gingerly grabbed my hand and gave it a light squeeze. I snapped out of it and glanced down at our hands then at him, meeting his reassuring purple eyes. I knew what he was conveying: "it wasn't your fault"
I briefly closed my eyes and gave a tiny nod. He gave one final squeeze before letting go.
"We own this whole stretch of land out here. Everything you can see. The summer camp you're staying at is there at the base of the mountain," Mandalay explained and got our attention again.
"That's far!" Everyone voiced in shock.
"Uh, then why did we stop all the way up here instead?" Ochaco asked with an uncertain tone.
"I'm afraid we both know the answer to that." Tsu stated, causing everyone to put two and two together.
"That can't be right," Sato shook his head.
"Um. Back on the bus. . . Quick. . . Let's go," Sero whimpered.
"Good idea. Load up," Kaminari added with a nervous smile.
"The current time is 9:30 in the morning. If your fast about it, you might make it there by noon." Mandalay said with a mischievous smile.
"No way. . . Guys save yourselves!" Kirishima's words echoed as he ran off to make a dash for the bus.
"Holy crap!" Mina added in the same panic.
Everyone began scrambling for the bus, but I held back Hitoshi with a tight grip. I managed to look a quick thirty minutes ahead and knew what would happen, so I pulled him towards the edge of the cliff instead.
"What-"
"Just trust me!"
"Kitties who don't make it there by 12:30 won't get any lunch!" Mandalay yelled over everyone's panic.
"You should have guessed, students. The training camp. . ." Mr. Aizawa nonchalantly began as they all attempted to get back on the bus.
Just then, Pixie-Bob blocked their path and gave them a devilish smirk. I knew what would happen so I told Hitoshi to get his capture scarf ready. Unfortunately, Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki noticed us running in the opposite direction a tad bit too late.
". . . Has already begun."
Mr. Aizawa's words were the last thing we heard before everyone got swept over the side of the cliff in a rockslide due to Pixie-Bobs quirk. Because Hitoshi and I jumped before getting caught up in the dirt, our descend wasn't as bad as the others. We swung off the trees using his capture weapon and landed safely on the ground, whereas our classmates were recovering from the landslide groaning.
"Good news! Since this is private land you can use your quirks as much as you want to! You've got three full hours! You should be able to make it to the facility in that time. That is if you can get through The Beast's Forest," Mandalay yelled down at us.
"The Beast's Forest!?" Midoriya exclaimed.
"That sounds like a name right out of a fantasy game," Kaminari commented.
While everyone grumbled, Hitoshi turned to whisper:
"That boy. . . He's Waterhose son?"
I silently nodded with my eyes downcast to the grassy forest floor.
Hitoshi sighed and rested a hand on my shoulder.
"Wanna talk about it?"
I shook my head 'no' and swallowed my sorrowful emotions.
There's nothing to really talk about. I failed to ensure their safety and provide a better future for Kota. I wish I could go back and change that but I can't, I thought bitterly.
"Oy, couldn't have given us a warning?" Bakugo walked up to us and grumbled quietly. And following right behind him was Todoroki and Midoriya rubbing their necks.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't look ahead quick enough to warn you all. . . Sorry about that," I softly apologized, my eyes still cast to the ground and my mind still lingering on Kota.
I didn't realize I came across as gloomy and the guys instantly changed their demeanor. They all gave me sad or guilty looks.
"It's alright! We're fine so don't worry about it!" Midoriya quickly whispered and reassured me, his hands waving back and forth frantically.
"Yeah, it's our fault. We should have been more alert," Todoroki added with a quiet and reserved voice.
"Tch. We should've known the adults would pull something like this on our first day," Bakugo turned and crossed his arms.
I finally looked up, and at my sudden movement, they all met my gaze with soft concern in their eyes. I didn't understand why they were suddenly acting so nice until I realized my saddened thoughts were reflecting in my behavior. I quickly fiddled with my hair and shone a tiny smile.
"Oh, uh, right. . . I should warn you guys-"
". . . I guess there's no use complaining. Might as well get going," Kirishima suddenly declared, cutting me off and our little huddle.
Since we were under the trees, we turned to acknowledge the others and at that exact moment Mineta rushed past us to go deeper into the forest to relieve himself. . . But then a huge dirt monster came stalking out of the shadows.
"We're all gonna die!" Sero and Kaminari screamed from behind us.
Hitoshi and the guys took a frightening step back then looked at me incredulously since I wasn't moving a muscle.
"That's what I was going to warn you guys about," I sighed while watching the dirt creature make a swipe at Mineta.
"Please calm yourself my giant friend! You don't wanna hurt them!" Koda tried to stop it with his quirk, but it obviously didn't work.
Suddenly, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Midoriya flew toward the beast one after the other with Iida joining close behind. Todoroki froze its feet, Iida sent a strong kick, Bakugo blasted it, and Midoriya finished it off with a powerful punch. Soon the beast returned to it's original state as a pile of dirt.
Hitoshi and I looked back at the scene. Our four classmates were recovering from the spike of adrenaline and mildly panting. Then behind them the rest of our class came rushing forward.
Hitoshi then gave me a look but I shrugged since I was interrupted before I could warn them.
"You guys took that beast down in seconds!" Sato praised Midoriya and the others.
"It was awesome!" Sero added.
"They're relieved. And I relieved all over myself," Hitoshi and I heard the grape whine as he leaned against a nearby tree.
"You showed that thing who's boss!" Kirishima said to Bakugo. . . But the blond had noticed what we were up against.
"We're not done," he grunted.
As expected, another beast emerged from the ground but this time it had wings and flew over the treetops. Everyone stared at the sky in anticipation while I looked at my watch.
I only looked thirty minutes ahead. Judging by the amount of earth monsters Pixie-Bob sent at us within such a short time span had me questioning their math for us to reach the camp by noon. With that in mind, while the others were distracted by staring at the treetops, I asked Hitoshi to hold me for a minute as I looked six hours ahead. Meanwhile our classmates voices echoed in the background.
"Hey come on! Don't you think this is a little unfair?" Denki whined.
"What now? Do we run?" Mina questioned.
"Not good. If we don't make it to the camp fast enough then we won't get anything to eat!" Sato pointed out.
"He's right! We have no choice but to cut through these woods using the shortest possible route!" Momo declared.
"Ribbit!" Tsu agreed.
"Alright, let's go Class A!" Iida announced.
Just then, I woke up and quickly stopped everyone by raising my hands.
"Wait! I know the quickest route and plan! Sero, Midoriya, can you deal with this flying one in the meantime while I draw the plan out on the ground? Trust me, with my plan we'll get there quicker," I stated.
Everyone froze and looked at me strange. It was risky the way I flat out ordered them that way, but since Midoriya understood I used my quirk, he jumped to action without question and in turn caused Sero to do the same. This triggered a chain reaction for the rest of the class to listen to me.
"What kind of plan do you have in mind, Rini-chan?" Ochaco asked while looking over my shoulder.
I drew a quick diagram with my finger in the dirt showing our position, the camp, and all the spots where Pixie-Bob will eventually create earth beasts.
"If we charge straight through we're going to get attacked from all angles when we get to this point and it will slow us down," I pointed at a spot midway between us and the camp.
Everyone hummed in response.
"What should we do?" Kirishima asked.
"The best chance we have to reach the camp quicker is to split up and move in two teams. When one team reaches this point and acts as bait, the other team can swoop in and attack. Then we keep this strategy in rotation," I explained with my hands.
"Sounds good to me!" Denki gave a thumbs up.
"I'll let you know what type of beasts Pixie-Bob will send our way too when we reach certain points and who should attack," I added.
"That's a great strategy Rini-chan," Momo smiled and pat my shoulder.
Just then, Midoriya and Sero finished taking down the second beast and came back to look at the plan. When they got a look at my diagram and I explained what we would do, they nodded and we were ready to go.
"Lead the way, Rini-chan," Midoriya smiled.
"Let's get a move on!" Bakugo yelled with a grin and rushed off.
"Stick to the plan, Bakugo!" Todoroki called after the blond.
"I am!"
I shook my head at their antics.
"We got this," Hitoshi offered his fist for me to bump.
I returned the gesture and bumped his fist with my own. A smile spread across my face as I looked around at my classmates. We were aspiring Heroes training so one day we could make a difference in the world. We had come so far.
We had come so far.
"Let's go!" I beamed.
With that, we ran head first into the forest and faced off against the earth beasts using calculated attacks, combo moves, and speedy tactics. Our class of twenty cut through Pixie-Bob's manipulated mounds of dirt with ease thanks to my guidance. Unfortunately, the Pro Hero seemed to catch on - or Mr. Aizawa told her to watch out for my strategic "Anticipation" quirk - and whenever we stopped one monster three would replace it.
This continued for hours.
Although I helped as much as I could with my quirk, we only managed to cut a few hours off our arrival time in comparison to what I saw in my vision. It was coming on 2:45 PM and our class dragged ourselves towards the camp grounds.
Since I didn't have a combat quirk like the others, I didn't engage the beasts as much as I should and acted mainly as bait alongside Hagakure, but I still performed flips and gymnastic moves in defense. Even though it wasn't much, I still felt just as exhausted and sore as the others. My arms drooped forward and I walked like a zombie towards the camp building.
Hitoshi mimicked my movements and followed just a step behind me. Unlike my dodge and run technique, he actually engaged as much as he could with his capture scarf. He looked just like Mr. Aizawa swinging around in the forest and performing his attacks with his binds. Which unfortunately meant he tired himself out too.
All in all, our class was completely exhausted and hungry.
Once we emerged from the forest, we spotted the Pussycats and Mr. Aizawa standing right outside the building. They were chatting about us but we barely heard their conversation as we came to a stop in the middle of the open area. Some of us collapsed on the ground and some leaned on each other. I opted to lean on Hitoshi and my best friend sighed but allowed me to do so.
"You said it'd only be three hours!" Sero piped up first.
"I guess we were timing on how long it'd take us, sorry!" Mandalay apologized, causing us to groan.
"Now you're bragging about how much better you are? That's so mean!" Sato pouted.
"I'm starving! This is hell!" Kirishima yelled.
"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!" Pixie Bobb supplied then pointed at Midoriya, Iida, Todoroki, and Bakugo.
The pro Hero then called dibs on them - which I found extremely peculiar - and started circling them. The guys braced themselves and tried to fend off her advances while everyone else watched in bewilderment.
"Mandalay has she always been like this?" Mr. Aizawa asked.
"It's gotten worse lately. She's at the age to take a mate," the other replied.
Okay. . . What? I thought while furrowing my brows.
"Uh, speaking of peoples ages- oomph!" Midoriya tried to raise a question but got a paw to the face.
"Choose your words carefully, boy," Pixie-Bob threatened.
"I've just been wondering since we got here earlier. . . who is that kid? What's he doing here?" He asked while pointing at Kota.
At his question, all eyes landed on the black haired kid and he kept a stoic expression despite the attention.
"Oh this little guy? He's my cousins son. He lives with us now. Don't be shy Kota. Say hi to everyone. You're gonna be around them for the next week," Mandalay answered before coaxing the boy.
I watched with bated breath as Midoriya made his way towards the boy. And since I knew what would happen next, I shook off my fatigue and followed after him, leaving Hitoshi to stand sluggishly on his own.
"Hey there, my names Midoriya. I'm from the UA High School Hero course. It's nice to meet you!" He introduced himself.
Just as I got to the green haired boys side, Kota looked ready to reel his arm back for the low blow until he met my gaze and froze.
"And I'm Rini Otani. Nice to meet you," I offered a friendly smile, but my tone held a certain amount of warning like you'd give to a little sibling about to cause trouble.
Kota held my gaze with a slightly startled look in his eyes - no doubt surprised I caught him before he could punch Midoriya - then he abruptly turned and walked off.
"Tch. The last thing I want is to hang out with some wannabe Heroes," he grumbled as he stalked off.
"Oh. . . Did I do something wrong?" Midoriya frowned.
"No you're fine. . . He's just not fond of Heroes." I pat his shoulder and whispered.
Midoriya turned and acknowledged my solemn comment with furrowed brows. I avoided his gaze by turning and looking at the ground.
"That brats got spunk," Bakugo pointed out with a tiny smile.
"He's like a mini version of you," Todoroki bluntly stated.
"What are you talking about?!" He shot back.
Before they could argue some more, Mr. Aizawa cut in and made his announcement.
"Enough playing around. Get your stuff off the bus. Once your bags are in your rooms, we'll have dinner in the cafeteria. After that you can bathe and sleep. Tomorrow your training starts in earnest. You'd better get a move on."
After that, the class sluggishly followed his orders and marched toward the bus. Midoriya and I, nearest to Mr. Aizawa, turned and began following after them but I stopped when our teacher called me back.
"Otani. A word."
I shared a glance with Midoriya and turned to see Hitoshi pausing as well before looking back at our tired teacher. He held a blank expression like he usually wore but thanks to my vision I knew what we were about to discuss.
"Okay," I replied.
I sent the guys a reassuring look then watched as they left to get their bags off the bus as instructed. When I walked over to Mr. Aizawa, the Pussycats said they'll check on dinner and left us alone to talk. Once they were gone, I glanced around while anxiously fiddling with my hair and waited for the tough one-sided conversation to start.
"Rini," he sighed, and I finally met his gaze. "I noticed the way you acted on the cliffside earlier and just now with Kota. . . It's about his parents, isn't it?"
I froze then looked away. With a frown, I slowly nodded.
Of course our ever-observant teacher never misses anything.
Mr. Aizawa sighed again.
"You can not hold yourself accountable for that and burden yourself-"
"But I could have prevented it," I muttered.
"Yes. You could have. But sometimes these things happen that are beyond our control and we just have to let go and accept it. Please try to do that. I know it may seem impossible, but please try."
At his words, I let out a shaky breath and gave a nod. My reaction didn't seem convincing enough judging by his sigh, so he rested a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Please don't dwell on the past or it will rob you of your peace. . . Trust me."
I finally met his gaze and noticed how his eyes held sadness. . . Or rather grief. That's when I realized he spoke from experience and I empathized with my teacher.
"You can go now," he added after letting go.
Without saying anything, I gave a respectful bow and excused myself. Silence felt appropriate in the moment. It spoke louder than words. And as I walked away, I let his words repeat in my mind.
It's easier said than done but I'll try, I thought with a downcast expression.
When I got my bag and made it to the girls bunk room, everyone already got setup and changed. They were on their way out to get dinner as I entered, so I changed quickly and followed shortly after.
At one of the tables, I sat next to Hitoshi - who sat amongst Midoriya and the others - and they silently asked what Mr. Aizawa and I talked about. I told them a white lie saying he wanted to talk about my leadership skills in the forest and they bought it.
From there, dinner was relatively peaceful. All the boys practically inhaled their food as if they hadn't eaten in weeks. Pixie-Bob passed that very comment and told us we should appreciate the food because we'll cook our own meals starting tomorrow.
As we ate though, I felt a pair of eyes on me. I would glance around every so often but it wasn't until I finished eating that I caught the source: Kota.
He was standing at the door in the far corner and his angry eyes were fixed on me and the guys. When I caught him staring specifically at me, he froze and looked away with a much more angry expression but I noticed the childish pout he wore. Our distant interaction made me softly smile at his behavior and I quickly hid it before anyone else noticed.
After dinner, we washed up our plates then had to freshen up for bed. Since the hot springs were separated by a wooden wall, the boys and us girls bathed opposite each other. And as expected, Mineta couldn't handle it.
I told Mr. Aizawa what he would do and he passed the message along to Mandalay who then posted Kota at the top of the wall. . . But then after Kota defended us, he fainted and fell over to the boys side. Fortunately, Midoriya saved him. And unbeknownst to me, he found out about Kota's story from Mandalay.
After the incident, we finished freshening up and called it a night, the boys going to their room and us girls heading to ours. It took some time to actually go to bed considering Mina thought it was a great idea to have a pillow fight. It lasted a whopping ten minutes until Jiro warned that Mr. Aizawa was coming to shut us down. We scrambled to pretend sleep, and when he checked only to find us "sleeping" he sighed in annoyance and left. We broke out into giggles afterward and a few minutes later we actually hit the hay.
Everyone slept soundly without a care in the world that night.
But I had trouble falling asleep because that dreadful feeling returned.
I laid there staring at the ceiling, listening to everyone's soft snores and the dead silent outdoors. For whatever reason, not even a cricket made a sound. It unsettled me and I figured it wouldn't hurt to look ahead to see what tomorrow would bring.
"I'm only looking twenty-four hours ahead. Nothing major," I whispered to myself.
And as I said, I looked a day ahead. . . Only to see a crazy muddled day of training.
When I opened my eyes, I furrowed my brows and frowned. Everything looked normal. But since I was still paranoid, I grabbed my phone and went under the sheet to shield the light from the others. I quickly searched the news for anything out of the ordinary to see if anything important would be happening tomorrow or in a few days. I was simply searching for possible targets that the League of Villains might want to attack or possible disasters in general. My mind ran rampant with possible disasters as I scrolled through the internets results.
'Grand Opening Of New Stadium This Weekend'
Maybe the Stadium isn't structurally sound?
'Bullet Train Scheduled To Reopen After Week Of Maintenance'
Maybe the train isn't fixed and could malfunction?
'HPSC Sponsored Family Meet-and-Greet Hero Event Delayed To This Friday'
Maybe villains will attack that event?
I sighed at the negative thoughts racing through my mind and put my phone down. The nagging feeling only grew but I reassured myself that Sir Nighteye and the Pro Heroes will handle whatever it is that's nagging me. They've intercepted and saved countless incidents without my help during my months off in the past, so what difference did this month make?
With that final thought, I shrugged off the feeling and went to bed.
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\\ 3rd Person POV //
\\ Undisclosed Warehouse //
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"You lunatics memorized the plan and all the backup plans?" Dabi questioned the group of villains in front of him.
There in the dusty old warehouse were eight figures sitting or standing next to abandoned crates. From right to left they answered one by one.
"Yup!" Toga beamed from her place atop the stack of crates.
"Same here," Magne happily answered while sitting on a lower crate next to Toga.
"Absolutely! Nope!" Twice confidently raised his hand before crossing his arms and turning away abruptly. But Dabi understood his contradictory actions as a yes.
"Took a while but yeah I memorized them," Spinner answered.
"Ten pages front and back seems like an awful long script for our performance but I've memorized it like a true performer should," Mr. Compress bowed as he stood next to Spinner.
"Yeessh," a man called Moonfish wrapped from head to toe like a cocoon slurred.
"Speaking of ten pages, why are there so many contingencies again? It's only UA students we're going after, not a military operation," A young teen who went by the alias 'Mustard' sarcastically retorted while he leaned against another set of crates.
"Yeah, I agree with the kid. Why so many backup plans?" A bulky man named Muscular questioned as he sat on a crate.
"You freakin idiots didn't hear what the Boss said when you first arrived? Our main target, the girl with long pink hair-"
"Rini Otani!" Toga happily supplied.
"-has a Perception quirk. If she saw us coming, she would give those pesky Heroes a heads up. Which means they'd know our quirks and our every move before we even make one," Dabi ignored Toga and explained.
"Riiight," Muscular drawled out.
"I know that. But I still think its overkill," Mustard snappily remarked.
With a threatening and authoritative aura, Dabi dramatically lifted his right fist and set it ablaze with a vividly dangerous blue flame. The villains all snapped their gaze to the black haired male who wore a cold yet stern expression.
"I'm only going to say this once. Stick to the plan and don't screw this mission up. Like Shigaraki said, that girl got Stain arrested AND she stopped the League from killing All Might at the USJ incident. Capturing her is our only shot at securing our future to reshape this society and to expose those fake Heroes for what they truly are."
The blue flame user then shook out his fist and cut the fire show off. He sent an intense glare at each and every member as he spoke his next words.
"Top priority is to locate and catch that girl. She stands in the way of everything. If we leave that camp without her, Shigaraki won't be the only one unhappy. We'll also suffer hell from All For One himself. And I can't guarantee he'll let us live if we fail. Keep that in mind when we get out there."
At the mention of the most feared villain of all time, everyone present straightened up and took the matter seriously. They all knew about All For One. Even Mustard their youngest member knew.
Silently, everyone gave nods of understanding or hand gestures to say they acknowledged his words.
Dabi, satisfied with everyone's compliance, shoved his hands in his pockets and tilted his head back. He studied the rag tag team of villains with a blank expression then monotonously announced:
"In two days we move out."
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