Once they safely reached the slide area, they were amazed. It's no wonder they called it the world's largest water park, as it had everything from attractions suitable for children to the most daring. Ashido, Uraraka, Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sakura watched the slides in awe. There were so many options to choose from that they couldn't decide on one. Fortunately, Ilda, as class president, suggested they set up loungers to put their bags on. In the distance, they spotted six loungers together that they could share among themselves, so they headed towards them.
Despite the large number of people, it wasn't enough to make it uncomfortable or difficult to hide Sakura's identity. The people were lively, and the children were having fun. As they headed towards the loungers, a couple of kids ran towards them playing chase. The boy who was being chased pushed Mineta, Ashido, and Midoriya, and also Sakura. But instead of losing her balance, he was the one who ended up falling, as Sakura didn't move an inch. Before the surprised boy and Ashido fell headfirst into the pool, Sakura extended her hands and held them.
"Be more careful when playing," Sakura said in a condescending tone. The other two kids stopped in their tracks, watching her with wide eyes. "We don't want an accident, do we?"
Mineta and Midoriya emerged from the water before spitting it out. Mineta was furious.
"Accident? That was on purpose! You won't fool me," he shouted, emerging from the pool with Midoriya, completely soaked.
Bakugo teased Midoriya, saying he looked like a wet broccoli, while other classmates helped both boys and tried to stop Mineta before he went after the kids who were still in front of Sakura, along with the perpetrator, who still held the pink-haired girl's hand.
"This is your fault!" the boy shouted, waving his hand before letting go of Sakura's grip and pointing his finger at her. "You pushed us on purpose!"
Of course, his excuses made no sense. Everyone agreed that the kids were the ones pushing people. Ilda stepped forward to give them a lesson in honesty, but the three kids ran away.
"You'll see!" one of them shouted, sticking out his tongue.
"You'll regret it!" another added.
"Brats! Let me catch them and..."
Kaminari lifted Mineta to prevent him from going after the kids.
"Mineta, they're just kids, no need to get upset," Midoriya said, a little nervous about his friend's attitude.
With a couple of screams from Mineta, Class 1-A and the U.S. students reached the loungers and left their bags.
Soon, the lively atmosphere infected them. The volleyball champions' fight was left behind, and the aspiring heroes, with so many options of slides, from one with rainbow waters to another supposedly made of candy, as well as one with bubbles, among others with different themes, some of them had already run off to have fun, while others stayed by the loungers deciding what to do.
"Sakura, let's go to the Doki-Doki slide," Lionel said, taking Sakura's hand. "They say it's the best attraction for couples. With this date, you'll realize that I'm your best option."
Sakura looked at him with a furrowed brow, unsure whether to be perturbed by the strange name of the slide or incredulous at Lionel's insistence on being the best partner for her despite her rejection. Fortunately, Ariett intervened to prevent Sakura from having to reject Lionel again, stepping between them and taking both of Sakura's hands, completely ignoring Lionel.
"Saku! Why haven't you gone on a slide yet?" she exclaimed with a cheerful and lively tone, clearly ignoring Lionel. "I won't allow you to stay there like a sourpuss who doesn't know how to have fun like others ."
Her last sentence was directed at her companion Theo, who was quietly lying on one of the loungers next to Tokoyami. Feeling a couple of gazes on him, he looked up at both girls.
"Your idea of fun is different from mine," Theo calmly replied before returning his attention to his phone.
Ariett puffed her cheeks. Correction, not only Lionel is strange.
"Come on, Saku, we WILL have fun," said Ariett, dragging Sakura along with her.
Since Sakura hadn't decided which slide to go on yet, she decided to go along with Ariett.
"Let's go to the whirlwind slide!" exclaimed Ariett excitedly. "They say the challenge is to hold onto your companions throughout the entire ride, and very few have succeeded!"
The idea sounded tempting. After the fight with the girls, relaxing for the rest of the day didn't sound bad, or so she hoped until their path was blocked by some guys who looked them up and down shamelessly.
"What are you doing alone?" one of them inquired.
"Ugh! Can't you just leave us alone?" Ariett complained, annoyed.
Although the comment wasn't specifically directed at the guys, they took it personally, and their sly smiles turned into bitter grimaces as they felt their pride being trampled in less than 30 seconds.
"Hey, don't you have much confidence in yourself?" one of the guys intimidated, using his height to try to intimidate her. "You're not the only girl in this place."
Both girls raised an eyebrow. Had they approached to insult them? Who were the weird ones here?
Emboldened because they didn't receive a response, the guys pressed on.
"Why don't we go for a walk? We know where to have fun," another one of them proposed.
"No," Ariett replied. She took Sakura's hand, who let go of it when the guys blocked their path, and tried to push them aside, but they stopped them.
"Hey, is this how you treat us?"
"Yes," Ariett instantly replied.
The guys were speechless for a few seconds, until their wounded pride demanded vengeance.
"We were just being nice! A rude girl like you should be grateful that we took pity on inviting you out, and the other one should know that her face is so horrible that's why she hides it under a big hat so we can't see her."
The boy's hand who had just spoken reached out towards the hat covering half of Sakura's face, intending to take it off. But before he could do so, his hand was pushed away.
"Taking advantage of being the majority to harass isn't allowed," said Midoriya sternly, flanked by Ilda and Todoroki. They had gone out for a stroll in search of some snacks, thinking that it would soon be time for lunch and that probably no one would want to leave the facilities. On their way back, they noticed a few guys surrounding a couple of people, apparently harassing them, so they approached. It was then that Midoriya realized that the harassed people were Ariett and Sakura. The three dropped their bags of food and quickly went towards them, just in time to prevent them from touching Sakura's hat.
The guys were slightly surprised to be caught, but then they laughed.
"Harassment? These girls started it, we just want to show how awful they are," said one of them, reaching out again towards Sakura's hat, but a hand squeezed his wrist harder than necessary. He almost felt his wrist starting to cool down, unless it was fear making his body temperature drop.
"Don't you dare touch her," warned Todoroki. The guys felt a chill run down their spines as they saw the cold and threatening expressions of the three.
"We... we didn't, it wasn't harassment, right, girls?" said the sweating guy.
"Yes, it was harassment," Ariett responded emotionlessly, before her eyes filled with tears and she moved her arms dramatically. "These guys are too much for us, helpless girls who just came to have fun after some exhausting days. They intimidated us, harassed us, and even told us we should be grateful they wanted to take us out to have fun."
Ilda, being the gentleman and man he was, couldn't stand to see that injustice anymore. As the Class 1-A delegate of Japan's top academy and future hero, he couldn't let that disrespect slide. A dark aura surrounded him and the guys slowly turned to look at him, pale at the sight of his glasses shining with the reflection of the sun.
"W-We're sorry!" shouted the guys. But that wasn't enough for Ilda, who pulled out a rope from who knows where and tied up the guys.
"I can't allow these guys to go around randomly harassing women. Midoriya-kun, Todoroki-kun, I'll personally take them to the authorities," declared Ilda, dragging the guys to the nearest park assistant booth while starting his diatribe about what it means to be a respectable man and how bad harassment is.
"Are we strangers?" Todoroki asked Ariett, as the American girl had spoken to them as if they were completely unknown.
"No, she was just... Well, she—" Midoriya tried to excuse unsuccessfully. Actually, he didn't know why she had acted like that either. Just saying yes would have been enough, even if they didn't say anything, they had witnessed how the girls were being harassed, and now they seemed to be acting as if nothing had happened.
Letting out a tired sigh, Sakura approached the guys and patted their shoulders.
"Don't dwell on it too much, she's like that. Shoto, she's not a stranger," Sakura replied, emphasizing the last part to her friend, who began to see how the gears in his mind faltered in trying to understand Ariett, which only caused Midoriya's gears to also start failing in trying to find an explanation. "She just wanted to have fun."
"Saku! You're taking away the fun," Ariett said with a pout. "Since you've done an amazing job as the saviors of the 'unprepared' damsels, we're leaving now."
"Where are you going?" asked Midoriya.
"To the whirlwind slide!" Ariett exclaimed excitedly.
"Do you want to come?" Sakura asked.
Both of them immediately agreed.
Upon reaching the top of the slide, Ariett stopped humming. Fortunately, the line wasn't very long, so they wouldn't have to wait long.
"Oh? Aren't those your friends?" Ariett asked, pointing to two guys who were a couple of places ahead of them. They were Bakugo and Kirishima. As usual, Bakugo seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason.
"They're Kirishima and Ka-chan," Midoriya said.
A mischievous smile formed on Ariett's lips. Although the line wasn't very long, the two guys were almost at the starting line. Ariett stepped out of line and went straight to them.
"Katsuki, Eijiro, thank you for saving our spots!" Ariett said, almost reaching them. Sakura, Todoroki, and a nervous Midoriya followed her. "We had to do that thing, glad we made it in time."
"Oh, Ariett, Sakura, Todoroki, Midoriya, so you decided to come," Kirishima said excitedly.
"Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?" Bakugo growled at Ariett as she approached confidently. "Wait, wait, why do you have to stay..."
He couldn't finish speaking because Ariett covered his mouth with her hand.
"Oh, Katsuki, you're such a joker! After all this time knowing each other, why should we talk differently?" Ariett exclaimed, making sure everyone could hear her.
A large vein bulged on Bakugo's forehead. Midoriya, beside him, paled at seeing Ariett so carefree with Kachan; if she kept this up, she was going to turn him into ashes. Worst of all, she kept covering his mouth while she spoke, and beside her, Todoroki, Sakura, and Kirishima were talking as if nothing was happening.
"Next," said the employee in charge of the slide.
It was their turn. Ariett let go of Bakugo's mouth and stepped forward to the front.
"You'll see, brat!" Bakugo shouted, gritting his teeth in anger.
"Come on, we don't want to wait any longer," Sakura said, pushing Bakugo by the shoulders.
"Damn gum!" Bakugo cursed, being dragged to the starting point.
With the six of them in front of the annoyed employee, he began to give instructions for the challenge: they had to stick together, sitting on the slide in single file with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front. At the end of the ride, there would be a camera to commemorate the moment, and if all participants stayed together, they would receive a prize.
It didn't seem so difficult.
"I won't let Deku get near me!" Bakugo shouted.
"Ugh! I want to be in the front!" Ariett complained.
"T-touching Ariett or Sa-Sakura," Midoriya stammered, aware that they were in swimsuits.
Sakura began to feel annoyed realizing that these three were the ones causing the most trouble, while the others waiting in line were starting to get impatient. They seemed like kids from the shinobi academy. No, not even the youngest students would behave like this! For a moment, she understood and sympathized with Kakashi; maybe they were a real headache when they were younger.
In Konoha, Kakashi sneezed forcefully. "Who's talking about me?" he lazily thought.
Bakugo positioned himself in front to prevent anyone from getting killed, with Ariett behind him as a consolation prize for not coming first. Kirishima stood behind Ariett, followed by Sakura, who secretly preferred not to hear Ariett's comments about wanting to see her cry or something of the sort. Behind Sakura was Todoroki, and finally Midoriya, to avoid conflicts with Bakugo and to not have to touch Ariett or Sakura.
"Is everyone okay?" Sakura asked.
Each responded with a yes or a grunt in their own unique tone.
With no further objections, they settled on the slide platform. Once Sakura stood close to Kirishima, who was chatting with Ariett and Bakugo, and finally hugged him around the waist, she discreetly admired the different anatomy of the boys in this world, while cursing the girls for making her so aware of them. Suddenly, she felt a touch on her back and turned to Todoroki.
"Is something wrong? Do you want to switch places? You can swap with Kirishima," she offered Todoroki.
He blinked a couple of times.
"No, I'm fine here," Todoroki responded as he moved closer to Sakura, almost hovering over her. "Does it bother you?"
She was about to say no, but the words stuck in her throat when he placed his hands on her waist. She felt her skin tingle at his touch on her bare skin. She hadn't minded walking around the park in her swimsuit until now, but strangely began to be aware that she was only wearing two pieces of clothing and Todoroki was practically on top of her with just a swimsuit. Her cheeks flushed as she realized she was between two guys, one she was touching biceps with and the other touching her waist with nothing covering them.
"No, I'm okay," she murmured softly, turning her face forward.
"Are you sure?" Todoroki asked, leaning towards her, speaking so low she could barely hear him.
"Y-yes," she responded, tempted to slap herself for thinking that way. She wasn't like Kakashi, Jiraiya, or the idiot Naruto, much less like the pathetic Midoriya. The hairs on her neck stood on end as she felt Todoroki's warm breath on that area.
"Are you ready?" asked the attendant.
"Yes!" shouted Sakura, Ariett, and Kirishima.
"Good luck!" shouted the attendant and pushed Midoriya.
The six plummeted down the slide at breakneck speed. Sakura's hat flew off, and instinctively, they held on tighter to the person in front to avoid being thrown off. The ride took them in different directions, sometimes to the right, other times spinning 360 degrees, passing through transparent and fun sections of the slide. However, the laughter and fun didn't cease.
Suddenly, in a sharp turn, Sakura felt cold and something flew backward, hitting Midoriya in the face.
"Ack! What i-i-i-is th-this?" he couldn't finish the sentence as he took the object that blocked his view. He froze, as pale as a ghost, and the next moment it seemed like all the blood rushed to his head, "S-Sakura, you! Yo-"
Sakura looked down and gasped. Her bikini had flown off! Midoriya, in shock, let go of her hand, detaching himself from Todoroki.
"Your bikini!" he shouted before being blown backward.
"Midoriya!" Todoroki yelled.
Bakugo, Ariett, and Kirishima turned to see what was happening.
"Don't look!" Sakura exclaimed, pressing herself against Kirishima's chest.
The latter was stunned by the surprise as Midoriya flew off with a piece of swimwear. When Kirishima felt Sakura's body against his back, his mind went blank, and he released Ariett's hands.
"What?! Don't leave me with this crazy guy!" Ariett yelled before being taken down a different path from them.
"Who are you calling crazy?" Bakugo's voice echoed as they disappeared.
Sakura held onto Kirishima tightly as he shook. Then, she opened her eyes wide as she realized what she was doing and pulled away from him.
"Don't you dare look or I'll break your bones!" she shouted.
"Careful!" Todoroki warned from behind them.
Both looked up just in time to be hit by another intersection. Sakura let go of Kirishima, who went through the right side, while Sakura and Todoroki went through the left.
<<How did this happen?>> Sakura wondered mentally as she was dragged along with Todoroki. They passed through some scenes with Sakura on the verge of fainting and Todoroki with his eyes closed, unaware that they passed under the shark tank swimming above them.
Soon, a couple of signs appeared; they were about to fall into the pool, which meant one thing: the photograph.
"Sakura," Todoroki called.
Without thinking twice, he turned Sakura towards him, snapping her out of her catatonic state, and pulled her to his chest. Sakura was about to yell at him, surprised because, of all people, he was the last one she believed would make a move like this. They were skin to skin, and his arms held her tightly, but then some flashes appeared. The cameras! She immediately hugged Todoroki back and buried her face in his neck. He was helping her from not appearing semi-naked in the photos.
The camera flashes passed, and they finally fell into the large pool. Around them, people swam and played inside the pool, unaware of the embarrassing incident they had just experienced.
Once they began to float, Sakura wanted to pull away, but Todoroki tightened the hug. Sakura looked up at the boy.
"Don't move away, they might see you," Todoroki whispered, looking away. If he let go, there was a possibility that someone would see her.
Both their cheeks were tinged with red, and they felt every inch of each other's chest. It didn't help that their breaths were heavy, causing them to rub against each other involuntarily.
Awkwardly, they remained floating in the water, embraced, unsure of what to say. They never imagined something like this would happen even in their wildest dreams. Both tried to avoid each other's gaze for as long as possible.
Sakura cleared her throat.
"Um, thank you."
"Why?" Todoroki asked.
"I was so surprised that I forgot about the cameras at the end of the slide. If it weren't for you, now the pictures..."
Oh, right, not far from here, there's a shelf where people can go to see the funny photos taken at the end of the slide. Some just go to see the embarrassing poses they sometimes appear in, and others to choose which photo they want as a keepsake. If they had captured photos of her without the top of her bikini...
"Don't worry, I actually feel sorry for hugging you," Todoroki whispered, embarrassed.
Sakura chuckled softly.
"Of all, I think I'd rather be with you in this situation," Sakura said. Her embarrassment gradually diminished as the two talked. Definitely, Todoroki is a very reliable person who could hardly imagine being a pervert like others she knows.
"Have you been through this before?" Todoroki asked, surprised.
Her eyes widened, she put her hands on his chest, and pushed him a bit to look him in the eyes.
"No!" Sakura shouted before they both looked down, remembering she was topless. Instantly, they hugged again, though both thought if that was better.
"We better find Midoriya and the others," Todoroki murmured quietly.
Sakura knew he was right, but how were they going to move in the crowded pool if she couldn't separate from Todoroki because she didn't have her swimsuit and if they swam hugged, it would raise suspicions? Fortunately, they didn't have to move because they were spotted.
"Sakura, Todoroki!" Midoriya shouted amidst the sea of people.
They both turned towards his voice. There he was, swimming towards them.
"There they are!" Ariett's voice was heard.
Bakugo and Ariett were coming towards them from another end.
"Todoroki, Sakura!" Kirishima shouted, who like the others found them.
It's not like it's very difficult to find a girl with pink hair, and especially Todoroki's peculiar half-white, half-red hair.
"Sakura?" Sakura tensed upon recognizing that voice. She pressed herself closer to Todoroki's body, who hugged her tighter when they saw Lionel in the water from another direction, who, like the others, found them, and seeing them so close, was heading towards them.
"Shit," Sakura cursed. Of all the people who could find her, one of those who definitely was on her long list of not-to-be-found was Lionel.
Now what were they going to do?
Uraraka, Jiro, and Asui were returning after riding the rainbow slide and were now heading to the sun loungers to see if any of their friends or the girls were left to go to the underwater-themed slide. On the way, they ran into Sato, Koda, and Shoji.
"She'll surely be surprised if we take her to see the fish under the sea," Jiro said.
"Maybe we can take her to the aquarium while we're in Japan," Sato suggested.
"We can ask Aizawa-sensei to organize a field trip!" exclaimed Uraraka excitedly.
"I don't think the academy would allow a trip to the aquarium without an educational purpose," Asui pointed out.
"What if we learn about marine life?" Uraraka insisted.
"I highly doubt that would count," Shoji responded.
On the way, Uraraka abruptly stopped when she felt a cold breeze pass by her side, but there was no one there.
"Did you see that?" Uraraka asked, puzzled.
"What thing?" Jiro asked, turning to look at her because she had lagged behind.
Before she could respond, all six of them jumped when the scream of a woman echoed in the pool. A young woman covered her chest with her arms, she had lost her bikini. This was followed by the scream of another woman and then another, all in the same situation, until they heard Ariett's scream in unison with a loud splash in the water.
Ariett, swimming in the pool, abruptly stopped feeling her bikini disappearing; meanwhile, Sakura, who had panicked, struck the water with her chakra-infused fist, creating a wave that pushed away her friends and the strangers who recognized her. Ariett threw her wool, enveloping the entire pool and blocking the view of everyone present, both inside and outside the water.
People had to swim against the waves that were created, but fortunately, these were cushioned by the pink wool that suddenly appeared in the water. When the water stopped churning, Todoroki loosened his grip on Sakura.
"I don't think they're going to find us that easily, Ariett's wool blocks us," Todoroki said.
Feeling relieved to have a great wall protecting her, Sakura was able to relax and leaned her forehead against Shoto's chest, but soon realized what she was doing. The two separated and turned around, back to back.
"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered.
"It wasn't your fault," Todoroki murmured.
With one problem solved, they now just had to find a way to get out of there without being discovered. They had two options: find Midoriya and ask him for the swimsuit or get out of the pool and have Yaoyorozu help. However, in both options, there was a risk of being discovered.
"Damn it! Why did you create a wave?" Bakugo shouted, suddenly appearing.
Both Sakura and Bakugo froze as they found themselves face to face. Sakura's mind short-circuited. How had Bakugo arrived so quickly? Before she could react, Bakugo reached out and pushed her head down, leaving only her head peeking above the water.
"What does this mean? Why are you like this?" Bakugo yelled, averting his gaze.
All of Sakura's embarrassment disappeared, giving way to her explosive anger. She swatted his hand away to uncover her head and covered her chest with her other hand.
"What does it mean? I'm not going around deciding to take off my bikini, it flew off on the slide!" Sakura replied, frustrated.
"Weren't you taught how to tie knots? Even a primary school kid can do that!" Bakugo exclaimed.
"I can tie my knots perfectly well!" Sakura responded, determinedly.
"Well, it doesn't seem like it, I saw you without a bikini, and a while ago, you were very close to Half-and-Half," Bakugo said.
Both Todoroki and Sakura blushed as they remembered what happened.
"Sakura!" Midoriya shouted, appearing amidst the wool.
The three turned to look at him, and when Midoriya saw Sakura covering her chest with one arm, he couldn't help but feel nervous.
"Izuku, I'm glad you're here!" Sakura said, relieved, and pushed Bakugo aside to swim towards her friend. "Where's my bikini? How did you get here so fast?"
Midoriya opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to ignore the fact that Sakura had nothing on her upper body, but just thinking about it made him even more nervous.
"Deku! Stop being so annoying and speak up," Bakugo growled.
"Yes!" Midoriya shouted, forcing himself to stop looking at Sakura and focusing on Todoroki and Bakugo, who were watching him. "I had the bikini in my hand, but suddenly there was a wave, and I accidentally let it go. I tried to find it, but I couldn't, and then I heard you and Kachan fighting."
"I wasn't shouting!" Bakugo yelled.
If it weren't for the fact that, by this point, her dignity had flown away with her bikini, Sakura would have answered Bakugo, but she didn't have the energy for that. Her day off felt more exhausting than the time she had to go on an undercover mission with Shikamaru and Sai, with very few food rations and sleep as a luxury. With resentment, she looked up at the sky covered by wool.
"Come on! Is this all you've got?" Sakura thought, cursing the god above them who seemed to be enjoying their misfortune.
"Sakura? I heard your voice over here," Lionel's voice was heard.
Midoriya and Bakugo stopped talking.
"It's not true! I wasn't serious!" Sakura thought urgently. What was she going to do now? Being covered by Shoto wasn't an option, nor was swimming away from Lionel, as with his developed sense of smell, he would quickly find her.
"Sakura, do the illusion you did at camp," Midoriya said.
Of course! How clumsy! She lightly slapped her forehead for not thinking of that before. She performed the jutsu, and then, in the boys' view, the bikini was back in place.
How did things go so wrong?
"Here you are," Lionel said, but his smile turned into a grimace when he saw Shoto, Bakugo, and Midoriya. "Huh? What are you guys doing here?"
Great, he found them much faster than they expected. Even Midoriya, who usually avoids conflicts with his peers unless necessary, looked at Lionel with disgust.
"Are you okay? Didn't you lose your swimsuit? While I was swimming, I saw several girls scared because they suddenly lost theirs," he said.
Bakugo and Todoroki approached Sakura enough to partially cover her with their shoulders. Although she was using a genjutsu to hide her nudity, the two intervened because she was only using an illusion.
"Sakuuu!" Ariett shouted, appearing through the wool with tears in her eyes, swam to Sakura and took her arm. Behind her appeared Kirishima. "It's horrible, my bikini disappeared out of nowhere! Such terrible embarrassment! Why aren't you crying?"
"Is she really asking why I'm not crying in this situation?" Sakura thought. At least she noticed that Ariett, although she had lost her bikini, apparently used her own wool to cover herself.
"It's crazy, several girls are in the same situation," Kirishima said.
"Disappear out of nowhere?" Midoriya asked.
That didn't sound normal. With all the commotion about Sakura, they had forgotten that other girls were apparently having the same problem. This wasn't just an accident; something, or rather someone, was behind this issue. While she was on the slide, she felt like she had been touched, and she had believed it was Shoto, but in reality, it must have been the culprit.
A dark aura enveloped Ariett's body.
"Whoever did this will pay. The only one who can see me is my Theo!" Ariett shouted, with overflowing murderous intent.
"The culprit must have the power to camouflage themselves, that's why we didn't see them," Midoriya said.
"And there must be more than one. If they had gone down the slide before us, we would have noticed," Sakura added.
"Hah! Let's catch those perverts!" Bakugo said, smiling excitedly.
They ended up splitting into three groups. The first, consisting of Ariett and Midoriya, would head to meet the others, check if they were okay, and explain the situation. Lionel and Kirishima would search the pool for one of the culprits. Lionel detected the lingering scent on Ariett's skin; at some point, they would have to come out of the water to breathe or find their next victim. Lastly, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Sakura headed to the beginning of the slide to look for the accomplice.
Uraraka, Jiro, Asui, Shoji, Koda, and Sato, along with everyone around the pool, were dismayed by the sudden appearance of wool covering the pool. Immediately, some of the staff started mobilizing to address the situation. They assisted people leaving the pool and provided towels to some women who didn't have bikinis to cover themselves.
"Someone must be behind this. It's too much of a coincidence that several girls lost their bikinis," observed Asui.
"We should meet up with the others," Shoji proposed.
The others agreed and headed towards the sun loungers until they heard Midoriya and Ariett's voices. Upon turning around, they saw the two emerging from the water. Ariett had her torso covered by her wool.
"Did they do that to you too?" Jiro asked.
"Yes! That bastard will pay! Only my Theo could see my pure and chaste body when he finally made it his!" exclaimed Ariett with a pitiful voice.
A bead of sweat ran down the others' heads, unsure if she was serious or not.
"Someone is taking the girls' clothes. Lionel and Kirishima are searching in the water. Sakura, Todoroki, and Bakugo went to the slide," Midoriya reported, nearly mentioning the incident with his own swimsuit but stopping just in time.
Luckily, nothing bad had happened to them so far. They continued their way until Uraraka suddenly stopped. By the time Midoriya realized it, the others were already far ahead.
"Uraraka?" Midoriya asked, confused, until he noticed she wasn't just stopping, but being pulled backward. "What's happening?"
Uraraka had been walking like everyone else when she felt something pulling at the top of her bikini. At first, she felt mortified, thinking she had been caught like the other girls. She didn't say anything because, in any case, if her bikini was removed, she would dive into the water where the wool was. But then she felt someone trying to untie her knot, although she had been cautious and had tied a double knot. It seemed to have worked, but now she was being pulled backward.
"They're pulling at my bikini," Uraraka said.
"What?!" Midoriya approached her and looked at her back. There was indeed a tiny hook attached to a very thin thread.
"They must be the ones behind all this!" exclaimed Midoriya.
"They're perverts," said Uraraka, annoyed. She was about to remove the hook, but Midoriya took her hand.
"No. This is our chance to find the culprits. If we follow them, we can find them and return Ariett's and the other girls' bikinis," he said.
If they use a method like this with such a small fishing rod, and they get away, it will be harder to find them. Especially because almost all the staff was focused on helping people out of the pool or keeping curious people away who wanted to get in, thinking it was part of a new event.
"Hold onto me," Uraraka said.
Immediately, Midoriya blushed, making Uraraka aware of what she was saying. She wasn't saying it that way! Uraraka stammered a couple of unrecognizable words before explaining that she could use her quirk to become lighter and both be dragged to the culprit. That said, Midoriya hugged her gently, and they both blushed as they hugged each other. As soon as Uraraka made them light, they shot out through the fishing rod.
They passed by a couple of people and stalls until they approached what seemed to be changing booths.
"He must be hiding there," said Midoriya.
Todoroki, Bakugo, and Sakura decided to ride the slide again, this time finding a slightly longer line. The news that wool would be found at the end of the slide in the pool had spread, attracting more people. Despite the wait, they remained patient. They watched closely the groups of people around them, especially those including women, in case they saw anything strange with their swimsuits or detected any tricks from the employee. They didn't rule out any possibility.
"Next," announced the attendant.
"This time we'll make it all the way down together," said Sakura, approaching the starting line. To avoid raising suspicions, they acted as if nothing had happened before. "Too bad the others didn't want to ride again."
"They're cowards," Bakugo replied, playing along.
As agreed, Sakura was the first to approach the starting line, walking a bit slower to give the perpetrator time to act. Suddenly, she felt a slight touch on her back and quickly grabbed the hand of the culprit.
"I got you!" she exclaimed excitedly, until she realized something was wrong with the grip.
"Now you're done, you damn pervert! You're going to regret it!" Bakugo shouted as flames erupted behind him.
"Help! Let me go!" the child cried out, scared.
The people in line and the attendant began to talk among themselves, confused by what was happening. The invisible person began to become visible. It was a child.
"You!" exclaimed Sakura, releasing the child's wrist in surprise. It was the same child who had pushed Midoriya and Mineta.
Todoroki held back Bakugo from jumping on the child. Unbeknownst to them, Midoriya, Uraraka, Lionel, and Kirishima were also surprised, as the children were none other than the ones they had encountered when entering the slide.
"Why did you do this?" asked Sakura.
The child, with no other option and too scared to flee, decided to speak.
"Because adults are mean. They think they're so smart and better than us."
"Just because of that, you decided to pull a nasty prank?" Sakura inquired.
"I'll kill him! Because of him, I couldn't complete the challenge!" Bakugo shouted.
"Stop, Bakugo," Todoroki intervened.
"Who said you could call me by my name! Let go of me already!" Bakugo exclaimed, growing more agitated.
If Bakugo continued to behave like this, they would have serious trouble. Sakura was about to intervene to calm him down, but before she could act, the child ran towards them and pulled down Bakugo and Todoroki's swimsuits to their ankles. Embarrassment washed over Sakura, who blushed intensely and screamed, covering her face with her hands.
"Haha! You won't catch me!" the child exclaimed amidst the commotion. Taking advantage of Sakura's distraction, he pushed her towards the slide.
However, to everyone's surprise, at the last moment, Sakura managed to grab the child's wrist and dragged him along.
"You little brat! I'll kill you!" Bakugo shouted, his gaze furious like that of a demon. He adjusted his swimsuit and launched himself down the slide.
"Bakugo, Sakura!" Todoroki shouted, quickly following after them.
From below, Lionel's and Midoriya's teams had already gathered the two children who had been causing trouble in the pool. They were currently being interrogated by one of the park attendants, and their friends had joined them when they heard Bakugo's furious shouts echoing from the slide, along with the terrified screams of a child and Sakura's complaints, asking Bakugo to back off and other incoherent words.
"I think they found the missing one," Midoriya said, with a sweat drop sliding down his forehead.
Finally, the three children were reunited, kneeling on the ground with a couple of bumps on their heads, courtesy of Bakugo before they could be stopped (he also had one, courtesy of Sakura).
"You're in serious trouble, kids," the water park manager said.
"And so what? Our parents are too busy to come see us anyway," the leader of the boys responded.
Despite trying to appear tough, the children couldn't fool the teenagers and the adult; their eyes filled with tears and their lips trembled incessantly.
"Yeah, our parents are important politicians, so they have more important things to do."
Sakura uncrossed her arms. For a moment, the image of the children overlapped with that of her beloved Team 7. She had a soft spot for them, and Konoha knew it. She sighed wearily before bending her legs to get down to the children's eye level.
"Why don't you come with us?"
The children, along with some of their peers, were surprised.
"After what you...?" Bakugo was interrupted by Kirishima and Todoroki, who covered his mouth.
"Are you sure about this?" Midoriya asked.
Sakura smiled at them.
"If they apologize and return the swimsuits they took, I have no problem," she said. "Anyway, we'll notify your parents. Do you want to play with us?"
The eyes of the three children sparkled like gems. In that moment, the boys understood what Sakura had understood. They were alone and just seeking a bit of attention.
"Yes!" they responded in unison.
With everything resolved and several apologies accepted, they played for a while in other pools with the children. They visited places of interest to everyone and ended the day dining together at a restaurant, once they got permission to bring the children, especially after discovering that Sakura Haruno was the one asking.
Almost at the end of dinner, the three children snuggled up in Sakura's lap, exhausted after a day full of activities.
"You look like a mom," Ashido said, amused, from the other side of the table.
The girls agreed. Sakura smiled sweetly as she fixed one of the children's hair.
"I didn't want to leave them. When I go back to my world, I want to open a clinic for children. There are so many who need the help of an adult," Sakura whispered, so as not to wake the children. "I don't want any more children to go through what my friends did."
Midoriya, on her left, placed his hand over Sakura's and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"That would be great."
"Thank you so much for today. I had a lot of fun," Sakura said to her friends.
The others returned her smile. On her right side, Todoroki discreetly leaned against her, as a sign of support.
Despite everything that happened in just one day, it was a memory that Sakura would cherish forever.