It was lunch time now, and just like Pixie Bob said the day before, they had to make their own food. The class ate and laughed together. Many jokes were being thrown around about today's training.
"Kota, it's time for dinner!" Mandalay called, "Kota!"
Izuku noticed Kota walking into the forest.
"Kota..."
~{On The Clifftop}~
Kota sat alone on a rocky stump in front of his cave, which he considered his secret hideout, and glared at the faint light that was where everyone was eating. The sounds of crickets echoed around him, the gentle breeze grazed him, and the small number of insects that were around him ignored his presence as they rushed between the cracks in the ground.
Kota looked down into his lap, completely ignoring the sound of his stomach grumbling.
"Heroes... Villains... All they do is fight using their stupid quirks. They're that desperate to show off to the world... It's sick." He thought as his stomach grumbled once more.
He then heard some footsteps and a voice, "You're hungry, aren't you?"
Kota snapped his head to the right and clenched his teeth as he saw Izuku walking towards him with a plate of curry in his hands.
"I can hear your stomach. You can eat this curry if you'd like." Izuku offered, giving him a sad smile.
Kota shot to his feet, "You...! How did you find this place!?"
"Ah, sorry... I followed your footsteps..." Izuku confessed, stopping a few feet away from the boy and looking down at him. "I just thought you might want to eat something..."
"Tsk! I'm fine. I don't need any food." Kota scowled. "I told you, didn't I? I don't intend to hang out with you, so get out of my secret hideout!"
"Secret hideout?" Izuku repeated as he glanced at the cave.
Kota then looked down at the ground, his cap shadowing his angry eyes. "Getting into trying to improve your quirk. It's gross..."
Izuku tilted his head in confusion, "Gross?"
"You want to show off your power that badly?" he gritted between his teeth.
'That's what he thinks They're doing?" Izuku thought, furrowing his brow in anger for a moment. Yet he decided not to confront him on that and sighed, then moving on to what else he came for.
"Your parents... Could they be the water heroes, Water Hose? The ones who had the water quirks?"
Kota's eyes grew with shock, but right after, he immediately felt his anger boiling up once more.
He turned to him in fury, "Did Mandalay tell you!?" he demanded to know.
"Ah, no! Well..." Feeling guilty, Izuku then bowed. "sorry I did end up overhearing a part of it... I just connected the dots with what I knew." he looked up again and turned his head, admiring the landscape with a sad look, "It was an unfortunate incident I remember. I can't even imagine what you've been through after you heard about it..."
Kota's fists shook as he turned his back to Izuku, "Shut up..."
"Hm?" Izuku turned back to him.
"Everyone's crazy... Calling each other stupid names like 'hero' and 'villain'... Killing each other with their quirks. Talking, training, using their quirks to show off how strong they are... That's how you get killed... It's so stupid."
Izuku's eyes held a look of understanding, 'It's not just heroes... Kota hates quirks and the whole concept of the superhuman society we live in. He only thinks about the negative influence quirks have had. The heroes that wish to use their quirks for the popularity and money... the villains that hurt others due to their selfish needs. But... it seems the part he hates the most, is how they can get themselves killed from fighting each other... Just like his parents...'
He looked down, 'Shigaraki and Stain both have a similar mindset... But Stain believes that the heroes that only work for selfish reasons are society's problem while Shigaraki just seems to hate All Might and society as a whole. He hates the whole concept of heroes in the first place and wishes to get rid of them to show people that there is no peace...'
"What if you got nothing else to say then leave me alone!" Kota shouted at Izuku
But Izuku didn't move feeling his own emotion about to be let out and it irked Kota
"Didn't you hear me! I don't want to talk to you, why can't you all just leave me alone!? I already said this before, I don't want to be friends with anyone who wants to become a hero! So get away from me!"
Kota turned his back to Izuku and started to march away with Izuku his eyes changed feeling Venom taking over his body....and he was letting him
"I didn't come to this camp to become a hero."
Kota stopped.
He partially looked back to Izuku with a confused look.
"What did he say?"
Izuku stared out the scenary with a look of sadness
"Heroes are people who are willing to fight and sacrifice themselves for the sake of others without expecting anything in return, heroes are people that give hope and comfort to those who are in the need of help, heroes are people who keep fighting to win no matter what the odds are... I'm none of those things Kota."
Kota fully turned his body to face Izuku, still angry but confused as to what he was saying.
"And besides...what's the point of being a hero....when I don't have a quirk to begin with"
"But... then why are you in that class!?" Kota asked angrily.
"I'm not in the class like I said, I'm not here to be a hero....I just owe of the Principal of my school a favor and this was it...to join the training of the class of students who are aiming to be heroes
"Huh?" Kota's eyes widened.
Izuku walked towards Kota with a serious look on his face
"You don't just hate heroes, you hate everything new about this society because you've focused on the negative aspects that quirks have caused. You hate how people use quirks to show off to one another, you hate how heroes and villains fight each other for their own personal needs ranging from money to power, and you hate how many lives have been taken within the bloodshed that quirks have caused."
"What, are you going to say!? That I shouldn't hate them, like that other guy said!?" Kota shouted.
"I was actually going to ask something instead."
"What is it?" Kota growled.
"Do you hate your parents?" Izuku then asked.
Kota's eyes widened.
"Do you think your parents left you behind? That they kept fighting just to 'show off' and gain the power and money they desired? That they fought for selfish needs?" Izuku continued.
"Shut up..." Kota grumbled, his hat shadowing his eyes as he clenched his teeth.
"If you really hate the idea of using quirks to fight and kill one another, if you hate the people who do such a thing, then your parents fit such a description don't they? Fighting and ending up dead because they tried to 'show off' their quirks and power towards a villain?"
"Shut up!" Kota shouted louder.
"They must've been quite the terrible heroes and parents, for them to just leave their son behind because of their own selfish needs."
Kota's eyes shot a glare at Izuku, his eyes tearing up, "SHUT UP! MY PARENTS WEREN'T LIKE THAT!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, causing many birds in the trees nearby to get startled and fly away.
Izuku didn't shed a look of guilt on his face that was stoned cold
"Then what type of heroes were they?"
Kota felt his hands shaking, "Th-They were..." His head looked down at the ground, tears dripping down. "They..."
Kota fell silent.
Izuku narrowed his eyes, 'He can't think of what kind of heroes they were? Or does he think that his negative ideas might've actually been caused because of his parents and that he now just realized it?'
Not hearing anything out of him, Izuku tried a different approach.
"Listen closely Kota. In this current time, people like to categorize the world like this: There are heroes, villains, civilians, and vigilantes. Heroes and vigilantes protect civilians from villains, civilians treat villains and vigilantes as if they're evil because of how they break the law, but they treat heroes like saviors. Villains break the law and hurt both heroes and civilians for their own goals, depending on what type of villain they are."
Kota kept his hands clenched into fists.
Izuku continued, "But just because someone is a hero, doesn't mean that they're a good person... From what I've seen, there are heroes that fight for selfish reasons such as fame or money, hardly thinking about civilians and just thinking for themselves. But... Sometimes, despite fighting for those types of reasons, despite certain heroes not having the main goal of self-sacrifice for anyone, they can still be good people, they can still be heroes to someone."
Izuku looked down. "Even if they become heroes to help earn money for their family..." He remembered Ochako's situation.
"Even if they become heroes to make everyone proud..." He remembered Iida working hard to impress his brother.
Izuku looked back up, "They are still good people. They still fight for someone."
Kota didn't say anything, there were only the sounds of sniffles coming from him.
"So let me ask again Kota. Your parents. What kind of heroes were they? Were they the kind to work for the sake of money or fame selfishly? Did they work for the sake of saving people in general? Did they fight to make someone else proud? Or were they just people that used their quirks to show off and completely abandoned you?"
Kota's grip loosened up. "They... were..."
Kota remembered watching the news about his parent's demise. The media even said themselves that the Water Hose were wonderful heroes, arriving on the scene to stop a villain from massacring dozens of people, using their quirks to distract and even heavily cut the villain's left eye before they met their gruesome fate.
Kota raised his head, pained tears went down his eyes and dripped onto the ground. "Th-They were the best heroes... They just wanted to help people..."
Izuku paused his movement for a moment as he analyzed Kota's answer. He then went to move on.
"Then don't you think it's unfair for you to negatively think about all heroes and quirks when your parent's used their quirks to become the 'best heroes'?"
Kota looked back down again. "I-I-"
"You kept the mindset that heroes and villains only used their quirks to demonstrate their power and kill one another, using them to show each other who was stronger. But now, you've just realized that your parents didn't have reasons even close to that when they used their quirks. Their goals were never about showing off, it was just to save others and make you proud."
Izuku who kept the curry in his hand walked towards Kota
"Everyone has a goal that they wish to accomplish. And as of this day and age, people are forced to use their quirks to accomplish them, both heroes and villains. Even if there weren't quirks, there would still be people fighting to fulfill the goal they desire. Some are brainless goals, such as money or fame, but... There are many people with much deeper goals than that. So don't always assume that they fight and kill each other for simple reasons, you shouldn't hate heroes, quirks, or even villains for just that."
Izuku walked over to Kota, who kept his head down.
"You know your parents wouldn't want you to go hating quirks and heroes because of their death, otherwise, it makes it seem like you hate your parents for being heroes in the first place."
Kota let out one other sniffle. He was no longer as furious as he was before, but he still mumbled, "Shut up..." to Izuku.
Izuku stared down at the boy.
'He clearly knows that there's something wrong with his thinking, but he's too stubborn to accept it... There needs to be more than just facts for him to realize.'
Izuku crouched down and gently grabbed Kota's hand, placing the plate of curry containing on his hand.
"Just don't assume that everyone here is trying to become a hero for something selfish. You may even get saved by one of them someday."
Izuku stood back up and walked passed Kota and left
Kota kept still after Izuku left, not even bothering to look back to see where he had gone.
He then reached for the spoon and then placing the food into his mouth.
He chewed it until he swallowed it up a bit.
"it's good..." he grumbled.
With Izuku, he was seen walking until he stopped and trying to take deep breaths
'Venom...let's stop the training for a bit...can you..'
'Yeah...I'll turn them back on'
'Thank you'
And Izuku felt a bit more powerful and then walked towards his fellow peers will be.
_______________________________________________________________________________
It was the third night of training camp. Everyone had trained the whole day and eaten dinner. Now they were ready for the next upcoming challenge...
"Now, we've filled our bellies and washed the dishes! Next.." Pixie Bob began.
"...it's time for the test of courage!" Mina yelled in joy.
"We're gonna test it!"
"Sorry but for those who failed the exam will be taking classes with me"
When Aizawa said that...Mina Ashido, Denki Kaminari, Ejirou Kirishima, Hanta Sero and Rikido Sato all paused from there excited phase
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME?!"
Eraserhead who used his support gear started to drag them to the facility with the others who simply watched in pity
Pixie Bob began to explain the rules, "Okay, Class B will be the first to be the scarers. Class A will leave in pairs every three minutes. There are tags with your names written on them in the middle of the route, so bring those back with you."
"Revelry in the dark..." Tokoyami dramatically stated.
"Those being the scarers aren't allowed to make direct contact. Show us how scary you are with your Quirks." Pixie Bob further explained.
"The class that makes the most people piss their pants with creativity and imagination wins!" Tiger exclaimed.
"Stop it. That's filthy." Jiro said,
"I see! They're trying to make us refine out ideas by making us compete with each other, giving us more options for our Quirks in the process! A expected of U.A.!" Tenya shouted.
"Now, you'll draw lots to determine your partners!" Pixie Bob said as she handed slips of paper.
As they were waiting for their turn, they began to smell something....and Izuku's spider-sense went off causing his eyes to widen
'...Venom..'
'Yeah....looks like we have some unwanted guests'
"Is that smoke?"
Pixie Bob sniffed the air, "What's this burnt smell?"
"Black smoke..."
"Is something burning?"
"Could there be a fire on the mountain?!"
Just then a Pink glow surrounded Pixie Bob, she flew towards something.
"Pixie Bob!" Mandalay yelled.
"Those pet cats are in the way."
"Wh-Why?" Mineta said as he started to back away.
There were two unfamiliar and unfriendly figures standing beside Pixie Bob's downed state who was knocked out due to a blow to the head.
"I thought they made doubly sure... WHY ARE THERE VILLAINS HERE?!" Mineta cried.
PIXIE BOB!" Izuku yelled in worry as he was about to run straight to the two Villains But Tiger stopped him.
"Oh, no..." Mandalay whispered as she realized the situation they were in. They saw what was happening and immediately got into their fighting stance.
Izuku widened his eyes as he remembered something... or rather someone...
"Kota!"
Izuku clenched his fist and feeling his anger changing him even more....And it was... dark.
Chapter End