When I woke up again, nobody else was awake. After looking around for a while and finding a path through all the sleeping bags so I won't step on anyone, I walk outside and enjoy the early dawn air. There was a bit of fog hanging around and dew coated the grass, making it sparkle. The top of the sun was only just visible over the horizon and I remember we had to report to the fields at six, so I go back inside and grab my clothes. Some of the others were awake as well, stretching and yawning as they get their stuff together. I hear the sound of a few bumps and shouting from the room next door, where the boys were staying.
"No, you're not allowed in there!" I hear Iida yell, most likely chopping his arm in the air. I tilt my head in confusion and walk outside, leaving the commotion behind and sitting on the ground as I wait for Aizawa to appear.
"When we're at home, I have to drag you out of bed for you to wake up. Out here, you're up before the sun?" I hear Eijiro say jokingly, sitting beside me.
"You're one to talk. I heard you snoring." I shoot back, giving him a playful glare. He chuckles and leans towards me, his shoulder brushing my own. We sit in companionable silence for a few minutes while our classmates wake up and join us, then turn our attention to Aizawa as he goes over what we'll be doing.
"We haven't been focusing on developing your Quirks enough. This is why we're out here for this week, to undergo special training for each of your Quirks," He says, gesturing towards the field, "Bakugou, will you come up here?"
Katsuki rises and walks over to him, then picks up the softball that we threw as part of our tests on the first day.
"Your last score was 703.2 metres. See if you can beat it now." Aizawa says, taking out his tracker.
"I'll bet he can get over a kilometre now!" Denki says excitedly. I glance at him, then at Katsuki, not so sure about that. Sure, he had definitely improved and gotten stronger, but his Quirk? That was another matter. Regardless of my thoughts, I cheered for him as he pitched the ball with as much explosive power as he could create.
"Go to hell!!" he screams, and I watch, smiling slightly, as the ball soars away. A sudden feeling of nostalgia appears and disappears just as quickly. Aizawa holds up his phone, and I'm a bit surprised to see only 706.4 metres.
"As I've said, your minds and bodies have developed, but your Quirks are still untrained." He says tiredly, putting his phone away and then leading us to our training area.
~
Our first few days were rigorous. They consisted of training, training and more training. My own consisted of creating illusions so precisely and detailed that I felt my mind was splitting every time. I had learned to sustain up to three illusions at once, but not nearly as long or intricate as one. If I was only holding one illusion, you had to be absolutely certain it was fake or else you would be fooled. I learned not to only make myself invisible, but also other people. Sometimes, if he felt like it, Aizawa would make me trick the others as they trained.
"(Y/N) I SWEAR TO GOD!" Katsuki called for about the fifth time as I made him think he had seen a bear in the forest. I snickered, then was swiftly silenced by Aizawa as he forced me to do the next illusion. This continued for the whole time I was training and I felt extremely worn out by the end of each day, only to go into the building we were staying in and do the remedial classes.
~
"As a special treat due to all your hard work, we'll be having a test of courage tonight!" Ragdoll announced excitedly. I smiled. She had grown on me the most, being so bright and cheerful. My classmates cheered, happy to have a break for once. I raised a tired fist in response, but I wasn't sure I would even be able to stay awake. My other remedial class friends cheered as well, but suddenly Aizawa wrapped his scarf around all of us, dragging us off towards the building.
"Come on, it's time for your classes." He mutters. I sigh heavily, not sure if this was better or worse, while my friends protested.
"Come on, I wanna test our courage!" Denki shouts, struggling against the bonds. Our teacher clicks his tongue in annoyance but doesn't react in any other way. I just resign myself to my fate and want to get it over with quickly. After I sit in the class, spacing in and out of reality, I suddenly hear the telepathic voice of one of the pro heroes in my head.
"We've been attacked by villains! Requesting backup from Eraserhead and Vlad King!" she shouts, then gasps in pain. I wince, then stare ahead as Aizawa starts spouting commands. He was telling us to stay put, leaving Vlad behind to watch us, then dashing out the door.
"What's going on?" Mina asks. I get up from my seat and look out the window, then have to shield my eyes from the glare of an enormous blue fire. It covered at least half the forest that I could see, and to my right, I could see a massive cloud of pinkish-grey fog. It looked ominous and definitely not natural.
"We're to stay here until the others have it under control. No questions, no disobedience." Vlad King says calmly as I look away from the window. My heart was beating hard and I immediately felt the need to go outside and help. What could I do, though? My quirk wasn't fit for fighting scenarios.
"What about everyone outside?" Denki asks frantically, obviously worried.
"Eraserhead is working on that. He'll be out there getting everyone in here. I'm here to make sure nobody gets in and starts trashing the place." Vlad say.
'I'm not just going to stay here while everyone else might be in trouble. If I use my quirk, I can turn myself invisible and leave a double behind just long enough for me to get away. I can look around and find someone who can actually fight if someone is in trouble.' I think to myself, slowly making my way to the front. Someone suddenly grabs my arm, pulling me towards the back of the room again.
"I can see it in your face, (Y/N). I'm not letting you out there." Eijiro whispers to me. I look up at him in surprise.
"I wasn't-"
"Yes you were. I'm not going to let you go for the rest of the night if that's what it takes to keep you in here."
"You're talking like you don't wanna go out there either."
"Come on (Y/N), that's not fair. You know I want to help too. Just throwing ourselves in danger won't solve anything though."
"I'm not throwing myself in danger!" I respond, narrowing my eyes at him, "I know you're worried but I want to go out there!"
"So do I! But we can't!"
"Why the hell not?!"
"We're not damn allowed to!!"
"Damn it, Eijiro! I can't stand here and just wait for someone to give us the all-clear!" I shout, forgetting everyone else in the room. It didn't matter though, as I ripped my arm out of his grasp and turned invisible.
"(YN)! Wait!" he shouts as I fling open a window and lower myself to the ground. I could hear my other classmates shouting as well but I block out their voices, disabling my quirk as I run into the forest. Their cries follow me through the woods, above all the crackling and hissing of the fires around me. I hadn't even noticed to begin with, but I had run directly into the blazing blue mass I had seen from the window. Heat prickles against my skin as a large branch suddenly snaps off a tree and falls towards me. I roll underneath it, hearing it hit the ground behind me, and keep running.
"God damn it, I need to get out of here." I whisper to myself, pausing for a brief moment and looking around. A gap between the trees that wasn't burning to ash like the others catches my eye and I run through it, hoping I was going in the right direction. Finally, I burst through the flames and straight into the unnatural mist. As I breathe it in, I feel my throat clogging up and my head getting fuzzy. I quickly back out and take a deep breath, realising I probably shouldn't try to run through here without something to filter out the mist.
I force myself into a jog despite wanting to run again, covering as much distance as possible. I wouldn't be any use if I was too tired to move. I stay along the edge of the mist, leaving the fire behind, and eventually come across a clear path. In my mind, I imagine this being the track the people doing the test of courage were using.
The test of courage.
'Oh god, they might be in that mist!' I think, resisting the urge to run straight through and check. I take another breath, keeping myself calm.
"Wait, (Y/N)?!" someone cries, surprising me. I look behind me, realising Tetsutetsu and the girl who could enlarge her hands were running up behind me.
"What are you doing here?" the girl asks. They were both wearing gas masks, and had a few extras with them.
"I wasn't going to sit still and wait for someone to tell me I was allowed to go outside again. Mind giving me a mask?" I ask. Tetsutetsu hands one over and I put it on.
"You sure about this? Weren't you supposed to be in the remedial class?" he asks as we walk into the fog together.
"Yes, I'm sure. Yes, I'm supposed to be in the remedial class." I answer, looking around to make sure we're not surprised by anything. I felt sure that a villain was hiding somewhere in this mist, waiting for us to lower our guard.
"What about everyone else? Are they out here too?" the girl asks. I shake my head.
"Just me. I was the only one with a quirk to sneak out."
Well, I wouldn't exactly call it sneaking. More of a "shout at my boyfriend then throw myself out a window" kind of maneuver. How sneaky.
"I think we should just search for other people who were caught in here. If they can't breathe..." Tetsutetsu says, trailing off towards the end. I shake my head, refusing to think about that.
"Let's just hope they're all oka-"
"GET DOWN!!" he suddenly shouts, tackling me to the side. A gunshot screams out from directly above us, the bullet soaring over our heads. I realise that, while I was distracted, a villain had approached from the mist and was now standing above us, his gun pointed at where my head used to be. The villain was wearing a school uniform, a heavy-duty gas mask and oxygen tanks. From the folds of his clothes, waves of mist poured out.
I don't get the chance to thank Tetsutetsu for saving my life before the gun is pointed at us again. Tetsutetsu activates his quirk, shielding me from the next shot, grunting as it pings off him. The girl we were walking with had disappeared. The third shot hits and I hear the small sound of cracking metal.
"Tetsutetsu, you okay?!" I ask, slightly frantic now. He groans in response as a fourth bullet hits him.
"You can't keep this up forever, you know. Use your head a little, won't you?" the villain says, pointing the gun behind him. Tetsutetsu realises what he was aiming at and throws himself in the way, saving the girl who I thought abandoned us from being shot in the head.
"Tetsutetsu!" she shouts. His mask cracks and falls away, a small trail of blood leaking from his forehead.
'He plans to kill us.'
As soon as the thought strikes me, I'm up and running, planning on taking the villain by surprise while he's distracted. As soon as I'm about to try to snatch the gun from his grip, he whirls around and points it at me. I feel like everything goes into slow motion as he takes aim at my head and his finger curls around the trigger. My eyes widen in surprise, my vision swimming. In that moment, I feel everything around me. My friends, gaping at me in shock. A passed out bird in the undergrowth somewhere. The moisture in the air. Suddenly, I feel a yank behind my stomach, a split second before the trigger is pulled.
"(Y/N)!! NO!!!" Tetsutetsu shouts, scrambling to his feet, forgetting for a moment that he can't breathe. I feel the bullet passing through me, but there's no pain. There's... nothing. I stumble forwards, collapsing to my hands and knees, panting heavily through the mask. For some reason, I felt extremely tired and out of breath now.
"What... what the hell?!" the villain above me shouts, stumbling backwards, "I'm sure I just shot you!!"
I give a shaky laugh, realising he must have missed. It was the only explanation for what just happened. I stand up slowly, the villain stumbling back and tripping over as I rise above him.
"Guess you missed." I say, grinning in relief. The villain grits his teeth and raises the gun again when the girl snatches it from him and tosses it away, out of sight. Then, instantly, she activates her quirk, her hands growing to almost seven times their original size. She starts swiping at the air, the gusts formed from her movements dispersing the mist.
"There's no way we'll lose this easily!!" she shouts. Tetsutetsu stands up too, activating his quirk again and rushing forwards, punching the villain square in the face. The villain's mask fractures, then breaks apart entirely as the now-revealed kid falls backwards, unconscious. Tetsutetsu takes a deep, shuddering breath, deactivating his quirk and falling backwards, panting with exertion and oxygen deprivation.
"We did it!" the girl celebrates.
"Yeah... yeah we did it, Kendo!" he cries, raising a tired fist in the air. I laugh shakily, swaying on my feet, and Tetsutetsu notices.
"Hey, are you alright?" he asks, sitting up. I nod, pressing a palm against my left eye, forcing myself to stand upright.
"I'm fine. Just shaky from almost being shot in the face." I say, smiling. He frowns, standing up and approaching me, then forcing me to sit down.
"About that... how did you manage to avoid it?" he asks, "I mean, he was pointing that gun directly at you!"
"I... honestly don't know. I just felt really weird for a few seconds and then I was on the ground, unharmed." I say.
"I saw you... flicker. In the air, just before he pulled the trigger." Kendo says. I look at her sideways, confused.
"Flicker?"
"Yeah, you disappeared just long enough for the bullet to go through you and then you were back."
"I saw that too. I thought it was just your quirk. Wasn't it?"
"Definitely not. I can only create illusions with my quirk."
"Weird..."
We sit in silence for a moment, and I'm thankful to notice that neither of them were too badly injured. It could have been a lot worse than it was.
"Let's go. We need to go back to the campgrounds and get this guy locked up." Tetsutetsu says, standing up and nudging the villain with his foot. He doesn't move at all, completely out cold.
"You punched him hard, huh?" I ask, standing up as well and fighting the nausea that hit me.
"Of course. Obviously. He almost shot both of you and shot me at least three times."
"It was five, Tetsutetsu."
"Close enough."
He grabs the back of the villain's shirt and stars dragging him along the ground, leading the way back along the path. I suddenly feel an intense pain in my chest, directly over my heart, and fall to my knees, panting heavily. I clutch my shirt, trying to stop the burning feeling.
"(Y/N)?" Tetsutetsu asks, turning around. His eyes widen in surprise as he takes in my pained expression and clenched fists.
"Take this, Kendo." he says, passing the villain to her and then sweeping me up into his arms, his expression giving away how worried he is.
"I-I'm fine, I just need a moment." I say as he starts jogging along the path, obviously trying to get me to safety as soon as possible.
"You've already done enough. Just rest, okay?" he says, glancing down at me. I frown at him.
"Says the person who got shot four times."
"Five."
"Close enough."
"That's what I said!"
I give a small laugh, deciding not to tell him I said four on purpose.
"Hey, let me tell you a story!" he says excitedly. I tilt my head up at him.
"Is this really the time for some campside tales?"
"It's always the time for campside tales."
"Fair point. Hit me."
~
I was so wrapped up in his stories that I had completely forgotten the pain I had felt and the mystery of my "flicker" during the fight. I hadn't even noticed that we had reached the building until he looked at Kendo to open the door, not allowing me to put my feet on the ground again.
"I can walk you know."
"I know. I just think you're going to fall over if you try."
"How rude!"
"About time you returned. What did I tell you about listening to me?" Aizawa asks from behind us, obviously having walked in after us.
"Uh... I, uh..." I stutter, suddenly at a loss for words.
"Don't worry about it. Glad to see you're safe." he says gruffly, "And you brought two other students back safely with you."
"Are you being sarcastic right now? Because I honestly cannot tell." I say.
"Me? With any sense of humour whatsoever? You must be mistaken." he says, completely serious. I laugh out of surprise. He raises an eyebrow at me before turning to the other two.
"You two are from Vlad's class, correct?" he asks. They nod.
"Good. Get (Y/N) to guide you to the room the others are in. Vlad will take care of the villain you've been dragging. Oh, and by the way, (Y/N)? Listen next time I tell you to stay put."
I sigh heavily as he turns around and walks out the door again. Tetsutetsu glances down at me and notices my troubled expression.
"You okay?" he asks. I sigh again and nod.
"I'm fine. Tired, sore and very done with everything that's happened tonight, but I'm fine."
"Well, I can't really ask for anything else, can I?"
"If you do I'll stab you."
"Bad mood. Noted."
I chuckle, then start directing them to the room I was in before leaping out the window with oh-so-much grace. We come to a stop outside the door and hear the others arguing inside about something, their voices too muffled to understand. Kendo slides open the door and everyone inside goes quiet. We were around the corner and out of sight so they hadn't seen me yet, but I wasn't sure if that comforted me or made me more nervous.
"I'm glad you're all right Kendo. Is that a villain?" Vlad's voice asks. Kendo glances back at us and makes a gesture for us to walk through with her, then nods at the teacher.
"He is. And I'm with Tetsutetsu and (Y/N)."
"Wait, (Y/N)?" Eijiro's voice asks. I could hear the worry dripping from it and it makes my heart twinge. Tetsutetsu walks through the doorway still carrying me and I give a shy wave to everyone as they gape at us.
"What happened to you?!"
"Are you alright?!"
"Where did you even go?"
"I was so worried!"
The last exclamation came from Eijiro. I smile at him as Tetsutetsu finally puts me back on my feet.
"I fought a villain and half-took a hit. I'm alright. I went out into that giant mist cloud we saw. And I'm sorry for making you worry." I respond, answering their questions. Eijiro stumbles forwards, then hugs me tightly. I could feel his heart beating through his chest, the feeling strangely comforting. I hug him back, burying my face in his shoulder. His lips brush against my temple.
"As sweet as this is, I'm gonna have to ask you what happened. Don't leave anything out." Vlad says. I pull back and nod at him, patting Eijiro on the head and then walking out the door with the teacher, along with Kendo and Tetsutetsu.
~
I am so very sorry for taking so long to write this. If it's any consolation, I made this one longer than most of my others. Sorry...