Chapter Text
Izuku could feel the trap. The whole thing just felt wrong. They hadn’t needed another stop yet. Aizawa had been insistent on no more than one stop every hour. It had only been twenty minutes since they had left the gas station. For another thing they were stopping in the middle of nowhere. They had just pulled off on the side of the road onto an overlook. But worse than any of that, the thing that made Izuku sure that something was afoot, was the smirk hidden in Aizawa’s eyes as he told them to get off the bus.
“Be ready,” Izuku murmured to Momo as they stepped off the bus.
“Wha-” she began to ask, but a quick shake of the head from Izuku cut her off.
He put his finger to his lips and let his eyes flick over to Aizawa. The erasure hero stood off to the side. He was looking at his watch and tapping his foot impatiently.
Izuku looked back over to Momo and she gave him a nod that showed she understood. Izuku went back to scanning, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
A little blue car pulled into the overlook. The engine idled for less then a second before two figures leapt out of the car.
“Sorry we’re late Eraser,” the first woman said.
“It’s been awhile,” the other winked.
“Whatever,” Aizawa sighed.
The colorful outfits and cat like gloves made them instantly recognizable. “It’s the Wild Wild Pussycats!” Izuku shouted at the same time the two women did.
“Who?” Kirishima asked.
Izuku turned excitedly. “They’re one of the premier hero rescue squads in all of Japan,” he explained. “They’ve been active for twelve years now-”
Izuku cut off as the world slowed around him. His head whipped to the side to find Pixie Bob lunging towards him. Weird. His eyes flicked to where Mandalay and Aizawa were, but they didn’t seem concerned. Izuku noticed a young kid had joined them. With a tilt of the head he let time speed back up and ducked under her extended arm.
“They debuted after an avalanche had covered that big ski resort on Mt. Fuji,” he continued as Pixie Bob stared at him in confusion. “They specialize in mountain rescue.”
“You’re right,” Pixie Bob nodded before lunging at him again. Izuku ducked under the blow. “But we’re 18 at heart. Ya got that?”
“Yes ma’am,” Izuku nodded.
“They’re going to be helping out with your training camp,” Aizawa explained.
“Yep,” Mandalay nodded happily. She threw an arm out towards the cliff and the forest that extended below. “In fact we own this entire area.”
“That’s so cool!” Uraraka exclaimed.
Mandalay’s finger shifted till she was pointing right at the base of the mountain in the distance. “Our base is right over there,” she told them.
“But it’s so far,” Momo murmured.
“Yeah,” Kaminari agreed. “Why’d we stop so far away sensei?”
Izuku’s eyes went wide with realization.
He heard the murmurs of his classmates as they came to the same realization.
“Let’s get back to the bus guys,” Sero offered. His voice sounded thin, like he was trying extra hard to sound calm.
“If you make good time you might make it by lunch,” Mandalay laughed.
The murmurs of his classmates turned to panicked screams as they all began racing towards the bus. Pixie Bob bent down towards the earth. Of course, her quirk was earth manipulatuon. She could mold the earth and send them all flying. Izuku locked eyes with Momo.
The light of creation glowed just as the earth began to surge up beneath them. Lightning crackled across Izuku’s skin as he ran forward. He seized the rope from Momo’s hands and ran back to the guard rail of the overlook. He tied it off with a quick knot and dashed back. He wrapped the rope securely around each of the screaming students, starting with those closest to the edge. By the time he secured the last one the ground was already sloping to the point that he was losing his footing. He scrambled for purchase, and just before the ground turned into a ninety-degree slide towards the forest below, he leapt up into the air and over the surge of earth.
Izuku landed in front of Aizawa and the others in a low crouch. One for All and Reflex slid off of him and the world came rushing back. He was panting, more from the tension then the effort, but his breaths felt too shallow.
“Oh, one of them managed to avoid the trap Eraser,” Mandalay remarked. She seemed surprised.
“Pathetic,” the boy at her side sneered. “You just left the others behind?”
“Umm, no, not exactly,” Izuku shook his head.
Pixie Bob stared at him. She slammed the mound of earth back into place and scanned for the others.
“Hey what’s the big idea,” she yelled at him with a wagging fist. “There isn’t anybody else.”
Izuku hesitantly pointed her attention to the rope tied to the railing. The Pussycats both ran to the railing and stared down. Izuku, Aizawa, and the kid followed behind.
“No way,” Pixie Bob said under her breath as she stared.
Izuku looked over the edge to find his classmates dangling along the rope, each a few feet apart.
“You all still have to make it on foot,” Aizawa called down the rope. Izuku looked up to find his teacher standing by where he had tied the rope off, a sadistic grin on his face. Without any other warning he pulled on the end and undid Izuku’s knot.
The students fell the rest of the way. Their screams echoed up making Izuku grow pale. He felt especially bad for Iida who had been the first person tied up and thus had the furthest to fall. Aizawa turned back to Izuku and the others.
“I warned you it wouldn’t work if you gave them warning,” he sighed.
“Yeah yeah,” Pixie Bob pouted.
“Go on problem child,” Aizawa told Izuku. “You have to go too.”
“Yes sir,” Izuku sighed with a nod. He leapt up onto the guard rail, standing tall on the thin metal with little issue. He turned back to Pussycats with a smile. “It was nice to meet you guys,” he called cheekily and with that, he pushed off the railing and flipped off the cliff.
Izuku took the opportunity to enjoy himself as he fell. It had been a long-time since he had had a good to reason to launch himself off someplace this high. Actually, he wasn’t sure he had ever jumped off something this high before. The cliff was definitely taller than the buildings he was jumping off with Miruko and he couldn’t think of anything else tall enough to be comparable.
The feeling of the wind slowly whipping past his face was almost soothing. The drop of weightlessness in his stomach was one of his favorite things in the world. He felt the smile spread across his features as the ground slowly came closer.
The other students were only just starting to untangle themselves from the pile they had landed in. Luckily no one seemed to be hurt. Izuku wondered if Pixie Bob had softened the earth in preparation for their fall. It seemed like a dangerous stunt to pull if she hadn’t done something.
Mandalay was shouting something down at them, but he couldn’t make it out with the distortion from Reflex. If it was important then the others would tell him about it.
As he got close to the ground Izuku spun around so his feet were pointed at the earth. As he landed, he shifted into a quick roll and popped back up on his feet.
“We get it,” Bakugo sneered as Izuku let go of his quirk. “You’re good at falling.”
“Bakubro come on,” Kirishima chuckled. “He tried to save our asses. Thanks for trying Midoriya.”
“We should get underway,” Iida declared as he excitedly chopped his hand through the air. “We don’t want to miss lunch.”
Izuku chewed at his lip as he thought through their situation. They were a good way from the mountain Mandalay had pointed them towards. He could get there rather quickly himself, but he didn’t want to leave his classmates behind. Nor did he think they’d like the idea of him carrying them there. If they went at the pace of their slowest then they wouldn’t make it until after sundown.
Izuku looked up as a couple of his classmates screamed. A giant behemoth lumbered out from the trees. It looked like a mix between a dog and a dinosaur.
“Devil Beast!” Kaminari shouted as he stared at the creature.
Bakugo launched himself forward and blew the head of the beast clean off. Earth rained down on them all as it fell over on its side, crumbling away.
“So Pixie Bob made them with her quirk,” Izuku murmured. “I wonder if they’re sentient. She probably wouldn’t be able to control more than one or two at a time otherwise.”
As he was musing about the creatures three more leapt out of the forest.
“Izuku you’re a genius,” Momo laughed. “I have an idea.”
***
“Whew,” Pixie Bob sighed as she hopped out of the car. She eyed Eraser as he was walking off the bus, his gross yellow sleeping bag under his arm. “God do you still have that thing?” she called teasingly at him.
His eyebrow twitched, ever so slightly. “Yes,” he grumbled.
“Eraser you gotta take better care of yourself,” she laughed, shaking her head. “At least tell me you’ve washed it in the last ten years.”
He just glared at her, which honestly made her more concerned for his health than her safety.
“How are they doing Ryuko?” Mandalay asked as she walked around the other side of the car.
“Hmm,” she mused. “Well I haven’t felt any more of them get destroyed in a while. So, either they decided to go with a stealth approach or they’re dead.”
“Doubtful,” Aizawa told them. Without another word he turned and walked off towards the tree line behind the house.
“What does he mean ‘doubtful?’” Pixie Bob asked, doing her best Eraser impression. It wasn’t too hard she just had to glower and put as much exhaustion in her voice as possible.
“I don’t know,” Mandalay shrugged and walked after the hero.
Pixie Bob followed after too, Kota a few steps ahead of her. The four of them gathered near the trees. At first Pixie Bob didn’t understand, but then she heard it.
The sound of her Devil Beasts echoed out from within the forest. They sounded angry. Like they were chasing something. Green flashes of light began shining through the branches. Then, suddenly, the green haired kid came sprinting past them with three of her babies hot on his tail.
The second they made it into the clearing, the kid flipped back and dropped a harsh kick right on the head of the closest beast. Pixie Bob watched as her beautiful child crumbled to dust and the students on its back began to cheer as they fell to the earth. Less than half a second later the other two were destroyed, one in a fiery explosion, the other trapped in a block of ice.
Pixie Bob stared at the scene with wide eyes. Mixed in with the dirt from her creations were the students of Eraser’s class. Some seemed a little dazed, but all twenty of the kids were there. She checked her watch; it wasn’t even past ten.
“How?” Mandalay murmured beside her as the students began getting up and dusting themselves off.
Aizawa let loose an overburdened sigh. He took a step forward. “Good job,” he grumbled. “But just because you made it here early doesn’t mean you get to slack off. We’ll be starting individualized quirk training as soon as you unload the bus. Now hop to it.”
The students went straight to the bus without complaint and made their way into the lodge. Pixie Bob could only stare at the bustling crowd before her. She felt the smile creep on her face. She didn’t notice the shaking of her laughter until the tears started to come to her eyes.
***
Izuku watched as Eraserhead called out each of his classmates and set them onto weird personalized tasks to help them with their quirks. He felt a pang of sympathy for Uraraka and Shouto as neither one’s task was overly kind and the blowback was sure to be unpleasant. The only one whose task might have been worse was Bakugo, who, despite never complaining about it, Izuku was sure suffered from a myriad of shoulder issues due to his quirk. Eventually the only one left before Aizawa was Izuku.
“Midoriya,” Aizawa called as he looked up from his clipboard. “Nedzu has designed your training regiment for the week personally.”
Izuku felt a small smile creep on his lips as he squirmed at the unease in his stomach. “What would he like me to do sensei?” he asked.
“You’re going to work on using the speed aspect of your quirk without the enhanced perception and reflexes,” Aizawa told him. Izuku was sure he could see a sadistic grin in his teacher’s eyes as he was told what his task would be. It didn’t instill him with a great deal of confidence.
“Yes sir,” Izuku nodded.
He could see the benefit. One for All had paired wonderfully with Reflex, but he couldn’t, or maybe shouldn’t, be dependent upon that relationship. If he could focus his natural reflexes and reaction time than he could potentially be even faster, even when using Reflex. And if anything ever happened that he couldn’t call on his quirk any longer than he would still be better prepared to deal with any threats.
“Good analysis Midoriya,” Aizawa interrupted him. “But if you continue to mumble about state level secrets than they won’t be secrets for very long.”
Izuku flushed at his sensei’s words. “Sorry sir,” he apologized and ducked his head.
“Whatever,” Aizawa waved him off. “I want you to navigate the forest using only your speed. Each time you complete a lap around the property I want you to check in with myself or Mandalay who will then relay that info to me. I’ll be keeping track of your times.”
“Yes sir,” Izuku nodded and began to feel the rush of adrenaline that came with the rising waves of One for All.
“Oh, and Midoriya,” Aizawa called over his shoulder as he turned around. Izuku looked up to see a smirk in Aizawa’s eyes. “Try not to break anything too far out in the forest. I doubt even Jiro would be able to hear your screams.”
Izuku smiled back and gave a nod before dashing off into the woods.
***
Izuku showed up to dinner covered in bruises and small cuts. It wasn’t the tree trunks he was having a hard time with so much as the multitude of branches that whipped across his skin and he could hardly see as he ran.
He had tried running on the ground and leaping through the tree branches but either way there were just too many things that cut at his face as he ran. He was up to maybe fifteen percent by the end of that first day of training, and he was rather proud of that.
“Whoa,” Uraraka gasped as Izuku sat down next to her at the table. “What happened to you?”
“Had a fight with just about every tree in the forest,” Izuku shrugged as he dug into the stew that the Wild Wild Pussycats had made for them as a welcome gift.
Momo took one look at his face before the light of her creation began to glow on her arms. She pulled out a small tube and handed it to him before going back to eating.
Izuku raised an eyebrow and waited for some sort of explanation. It took a minute before she looked up and noticed.
“It’s a neomycin sulfate-polymyxin B sulfate-Pramoxine Hydrochloric acid cream,” she explained. Upon seeing the still confused look on his face she huffed a sigh. “It’s Neosporin Izuku. You shouldn’t leave such dirty wounds untreated.”
“Thanks,” Izuku nodded. He pocketed the tube; it wouldn’t really do anything to apply it before he got to wash the cuts with soap and water.
“I can’t believe we have to make it through a whole week of this,” Uraraka groaned as she shoved away her bowl. She still looked a little green.
“Indeed,” Iida nodded. His blue hair was slick with sweat as it clung to his forehead.
“All right you lot,” Mandalay called as she stood up from her seat. “We’ve got one last surprise for you. Tonight, you’ll all get the chance to enjoy our world-famous hot springs to help soothe those sore muscles.”
A round of cheers went up from all the students as they celebrated the news. Of course, Aizawa, always ready to ruin their fun, chose that moment to chime in.
“You’ll be expected to work just as hard tomorrow as a result so don’t go wasting time and be sure to get plenty of rest,” he informed them. The grin in his eyes at their groans had Izuku shaking his head.
The thought of a scolding hot bath in the summer heat really didn’t sound all that nice to Izuku, so as the others began rushing off to grab a change of clothes, he relaxed at the table and continued to eat his food.
A few others stuck behind as well. The heroes and the young boy who had been with them the entire time, Koda and Shoji were sitting together though neither one was talking, and Momo had stayed at the table with him to continue eating her food. They had both been served over sized portions but looking down at his now empty bowl Izuku had to admit that it wasn’t anywhere near enough for either of them.
“I’m gonna go ask for another bowl,” Izuku told her. “Want me to grab you another too?”
“Yes please Izuku,” Momo nodded as she passed him her empty bowl with a smile. “Thank you.”
Izuku got up and headed over to the table where the Wild Wild Pussycats sat with the big pot full of stew. Izuku cleared his throat and got their attention.
“Would it be possible to get another serving for myself and Yaoyorozu?” Izuku asked.
“Oh?” Pixie Bob mused with a raised eyebrow and a strange smile. “Did you enjoy my cooking so much?”
“It was very good,” Izuku nodded.
“They need higher calorie diets for their quirks,” Aizawa informed them. “Take the whole pot Midoriya.”
Izuku nodded and was about to grab it when the boy butted in.
“And what if I wasn’t finished yet?” he snapped at both Izuku and Aizawa.
“Kota!” Mandalay scolded the boy. “That was very rude, you need to apologize.”
The boy glared at Izuku before harrumphing and turning away from them all.
“You’re welcome to come sit with us Kota,” Izuku offered. “We’d be happy to share and chat with you.”
“And why would I want to talk to a bunch of losers like you wannabes,” Kota snarled. He slammed away from the table. He stormed off into the woods without so much as a backwards glance.
Mandalay gave a great sigh. “Sorry about that,” she said as she rubbed at her eyes. Clearly this wasn’t unusual for the boy. “Kota isn’t too keen on heroes these days.”
“Did something happen?” Izuku asked.
“His parents were the Water Hose duo,” Mandalay explained.
It wasn’t much of an explanation, but Izuku already knew the story. Murdered by the villain Muscular during an otherwise normal patrol.
“Oh,” Izuku offered lamely.
Luckily Aizawa came to his rescue. “Your stew is getting cold Midoriya,” he reminded him.
Izuku took his exit with a quick nod and brought the pot back over to their table. He and Momo dug in but he couldn’t help but look where Kota had run off.
***
The next day 1-B arrived, and they joined in on training alongside them around noon. Izuku only found out when he stormed back into the main clearing and saw that there were twice as many people. He didn’t get long to watch what they were doing before he was thrown back out into the woods for his next lap.
He knew a lot about the property at this point. He had gotten lost several times and ended up finding all sorts of places he never would have expected. There was a beautiful waterfall on the back side of the mountain that threw rainbows into the air. A field populated with wildflowers tucked behind a thick grotto of trees. And now he found himself climbing up to an overlook on the mountain to try and find his way back to the clearing where the others were.
The first thing he noticed as he came grinding to a halt was the young boy, Kota, sitting on the edge of the cliff. He was staring off at the horizon and Izuku was prepared to leave him be when the boy turned around. The moment Kota’s eyes landed on him the boy stiffened.
“What are you doing here?!” Kota screamed as he shot to his feet.
“I was trying to find my way back to the lodge,” Izuku defended himself, arms raised as he backed off from the boy.
“Well this is my hideout so just go away!” Kota snapped at him.
“It’s a pretty cool hideout,” Izuku offered. It was a weak attempt at a peace offering, but it was something at least.
“And it’s mine so get lost!” Kota screamed as he began stomping towards Izuku.
Izuku just gave a final nod of confirmation and took off in a flash. But he couldn’t get Kota out of his head. The boy was clearly upset, and if his hideout was any indication, he must have felt like it was just him against the world. Izuku just wasn’t sure what he could do to help.
***
“All right everyone,” Pixie Bob cried cheerfully. “Now that everyone is here, we’re going to give you guys another treat!”
The two heroics classes gave some cheers at that. They had overseen cooking their own dinners that night and it had been quite the adventure to say the least. Sato and Bakugo had ensured that the meal was edible, and quite good if truth be told, but it had been a close call on several occasions, what with Iida failing to understand how to peel a potato and Shouto trying to quick fry the beef using his quirk. Getting a chance to relax again sounded nice.
“We’ll be doing a test of courage,” Mandalay explained. “Class 1-B will go into the woods and try and scare the students of 1-A as they make their way through the set course and attempt to make it back to the lodge.”
“The remedial students will be sitting this one out and instead will spend the evening with me at the lodge,” Aizawa told them, much to the despair of several of the most excited students from 1-A.
With that the heroes set about breaking them off into groups. Aizawa led the students who had failed the final off towards the lodge. Mandalay broke the students of 1-A into pairs and gave them marching orders for when they’d be allowed to head down the path. Pixie Bob sent pairs of 1-B students off with maps as she smiled gleefully after them.
Izuku was partnered with Momo. He was immensely grateful he wasn’t the one to have to be alone. He didn’t give it much thought though as the two of them headed into the dark woods. He cracked a smile at the thought of “unknown horrors” awaiting them within.