Chapter 46
IKnowNothing
....What?
- Location
- I got lost so.....Where are we?
"Ever think you're pushing your students too hard?" Shouta spared his fellow teacher a glance. It was past ten, and the two men were eating dinner before retiring to bed themselves. Vlad had sake. Shouta settled for tea, his plate half-finished with rice, pork and green beans.
"What I do with my students is my own business."
"I know, but I saw the damage done in your clearing." Vlad took a sip of his own sake while ignoring Aizawa's protest.
"I'd rather have my students be ready for anything, and not come in half-cocked."
Vlad eyed the man. "I'm not sure if that was an insult directed at me."
"They're training to be heroes. And the world is an unfair place." Shouta took another breath. "Better to push them here where they can afford to fail." Shouta said as he set down his bowl.
Vlad grunted, conceding the point and the two fell into silence again.
"By the way." Vlad raised a quiet eyebrow as Aizawa broke the steady silence; "I need to borrow one of your students."
Vlad narrowed his eyes. "If you think that you're going to use one of my students to build up one of yours, you're mistaken Aizawa."
The scraggly-haired teacher fought the urge to roll his eyes. He neither cared, nor had the inclination to waste time on Vlad's misplaced inferiority complex; but if he needed convincing so be it.
"Iron sharpens iron." Shouta replied. "It'll benefit your student just as much. If you help me with this, I'll owe you."
Vlad said nothing for a moment before grunting where he sat. "Hmmm… fine. Out with it."
(X)
"Alright class," Aizawa declared as he looked at Class 1-A the following morning. Everyone was sleepy and rubbing their eyes. "Glad to see you wake up on time."
"Didn't help for Tiger to come roaring into our rooms…" Kaminari winced.
"Deal with it." Aizawa drawled. "Now then, there is going to be some unique facets to this three week camp. We have come here to strengthen your quirks, that is true. But we can't simply focus entirely on that, so yesterday was considered a 'conditioning' day, so to speak." He began to elaborate. "And today will be an exercise day. During our duration here at camp, we will be having intermittent days of conditioning and exercising. Ten days, with day eleven being a break day." He pulled an item out, it being a calendar. Peter could spot the characters for 'Conditioning' and 'Exercise', with Conditioning being written in red and Exercise in blue. The break day, on the eleventh day, was written in green. "Then we finish with the remaining ten for the duration of this camp. Same pattern."
Groans rang out from the class.
"If I remember correctly, this takes us out to August… we'll have only a few days before the Fall Term starts up!" Iida declared.
"I will be going through each of your training sessions and giving you your instructions. You will be following this until lunch break. For now," He reached into the folder, pulling out some papers. "On this sheet you'll find your partners for today. Group up with them, and go to the allocated spot here in the camp." He began to pass them to each student as Peter took his, quickly identifying who his partners were.
Parker, Aoyama and Ojiro. Combat and Awareness Training.
"Fan out and get to your spots. I suggest you do some stretching as well. Parker, Ojiro, Aoyama, with me. Uraraka, a moment."
Peter perked up, turning as everyone else began to fan out to their respective training locations. It was 5:30 in the morning, the sun wasn't even high in the sky yet.
"First off, how are you three feeling?" Aizawa uttered quietly as Uraraka, Ojiro and Aoyama drew closer.
"After drinking plenty of water I am better, Sensei. It helped that I had a big dinner too." Aoyama declared. "Although I wish I could have breakfast too…"
"When your break comes in six hours, you can eat whatever you want then." Aizawa replied.
Aizawa turned to Uraraka. "Did you eat and drink enough too, Uraraka?"
"Yeah, I should be good to go…" Uraraka nodded. "Put me in that ball! I'm ready to rock with my fresh new uniform!"
"And you Ojiro? Are you good to go?"
"Yeah," The blonde tailed boy rubbed the back of his head. "Pixie Bob apologized to me last night and Ragdoll cleared me too." He gripped his fists. "I missed a whole day. I can't fall behind now!"
"Let me know immediately if you feel any symptoms. I had something in mind for you and Kirishima but," He turned, and Peter saw his gaze as he saw Kirishima walking with Sato, the two of them chatting. "We can save that for another day. So I came up with something light to help you catch up with your peers." Then came the explosive blasts from Bakugo as Peter rubbed the inside of his ear. He turned, seeing Bakugo take off, and Iida yelling as he dashed off after him. Were they racing?
"Sure thing Sensei."
"Okay. Uraraka, head to your spot. You won't be in the ball, you'll be with Yaoyorozu for today. If you have any questions, ask Mandalay. She'll be in your area for today."
"Right!" The girl trotted off, although not before collecting a water bottle from the giant pyramid of various water bottle cases. Peter raised his hand slightly, and Aizawa turned to him.
"Come with me." He turned, and Peter and the others followed him through the clearing outside the Lodge and towards one of the surrounding plateaus as Peter saw Tsuyu climbing her plateau using her tongue, yet her tongue was downward and she… was lifting Izuku up! He could see the green blur latch onto an outcrop, then lift his arm to pull Tsuyu up the cliff face.
Aizawa sighed. "Seems they're getting the right idea of it. Must have asked Tiger for clarification" Peter looked at his sheet, seeing that Bakugo and Iida had the simple terms of Endurance Race and Izuku and Tsuyu had Cooperative Climbing. He looked over the other exercises, seeing Uraraka and Yaoyorozu with Gravity Weight + Production Speed + Marksmanship Training.
"Wonder what we are going to do?" Ojiro asked. "Combat Awareness?"
"Heck if I know. Least it's not boulders." Peter uttered. It was a workout sure, but man that was drudge work to the extreme as he looked down, rubbing his blisters. "Got a bit boring after a while."
"Don't worry, you'll wish for boulders." Aizawa commented, facing ahead as Peter looked up, intrigued.
"I have faith that I will learn something of value and strengthen myself today." Aoyama beamed before he turned. "Ah, it seems Kaminari is shining this morning!" Peter looked at his sheet again. Kaminari was paired with Tokoyami and it read…
"Shadow Beast Taming?" Ojiro spoke aloud.
"Makes sense." Peter replied, hands in his pockets as he folded his sheet. Kaminari could use his electricity to make light, a perfect counter to Tokoyami's Dark Shadow.
"By the way," Aizawa mused, "You'll be getting a new partner in this exercise too."
"We will?" Aoyama asked.
"Who?" Peter asked as they arrived at a separate clearing, about fifty meters or so in diameter as Aizawa stood towards the center with a box of sorts. Peter's eyes widened. Off to the side was an outhouse, and a… kiddie pool full of some liquid.
And there was Pony, yawning as she leaned against a tree as she turned, seeing the group. At the sight of them, the girl perked up and trotted on over. "Good Morning Sensei!" She spoke in English. "Hey Peter."
"You're early. Good." Aizawa replied in Japanese.
"Pony? You're our partner?" Peter asked, and the blonde-haired Texan nodded.
"Yep!" She beamed lightly. "Vlad-Sensei asked for me to meet Aizawa here this morning. So I will be with you guys for the day!"
"Heh, nice to see you again Tsunotori." Ojiro waved.
"Good morning to you too!" Pony exclaimed as she yawned. "Haven't woken up this early since I helped out Pa on the farm back home!" She said as she stretched her arms out.
"Glad to have ya here Pony." Peter smiled softly. He saw her look back, his brown eyes looking into her big blue ones.
"Same here Peter. We finally get to train together too!"
"Are we here to train or have a social hour?" Aizawa grumbled, and Peter rolled his eyes. Pony perked up.
"Eep! Sorry Sensei…"
"Anyway, you're all going to be training together." Aizawa answered for him as he knelt down, opening the box. "Parker, your quirk is called 'Spider', yes?" He asked, and Peter's brown eyes met his light obsidian orbs.
"Yeah." He replied curtly.
"Your Precognition ability attached to it, got a name?" He asked rhetorically. The others didn't know, but he…
"Spider Sense."
"Well, here's a question class." He said, turning towards the other students. "What are the strongest senses that a Spider possesses?"
"Could it be Sight, Sensei?" Aoyama raised his hands dramatically. "They do have eight eyes after all!"
Peter sniggered a little, until he felt Aizawa's eyes on him and he shut up, running a hand through his hair.
Ojiro shrugged. "Can't say I know."
"Hey Pete do Spider-I mean," Pony caught herself, stopping her English question. "Peter, do Spiders have noses?" She asked in Japanese.
"No. They don't have ears either." Peter replied, hands in his pockets as he looked back at Aizawa, who had a similar pose.
"And by process of elimination, that should help." Aizawa elaborated. "To clarify, a spider's strongest sense, despite having eight eyes, is not sight, but touch and smell. They don't have noses, but they have sensory organs in their feet."
"Or on their pedipalps." Peter replied, speaking that last term in English making Ojiro and Aoyama tilt their heads. He lifted his fingers to his mouth, imitating fangs. "Their fangs."
"Ahhh."
"Ca a du sens."
"Parker's on the money, but given how it is your quirk you should know everything about it. From my observation of this Spider Sense of yours, it's in need of improvement. Going back to a spider's senses, their heightened sense of touch also allows them to sense vibrations in the air and ground via the hairs all over their body." Aizawa spoke. "Hence, we will do a unique training regimen for you four. One day will be hard physical or quirk training, and on this day, you three will be working in tandem to tag and hit Parker." He opened the box, reaching in and pulling out some long black cloth with two large soft pads. "While he wears this." Peter eyed the box as he took the item, noticing the term 'Yoruha Rehabilitory Support Company' on the side.
"So I wear this blindfold?" Peter asked.
"Put it around your eyes," Aizawa elaborated. "You will wear this for the exercise."
"Hours being blindfolded… sheesh." Peter muttered. "The earmuffs I take will blot out a lot of sound? They don't look all that, well, deafening."
"Put them on and see for yourself."
The American did so, his ears felt the earmuffs clamp down slightly and…
Silence.
"Can you hear me?" Aizawa's voice came in from the right side, making Peter perk up.
"Yeah." He spoke aloud. "I can."
"Good, you're in the center of the clearing, so stay where you are. The muffs are connected to my phone, so you'll only be able to hear me. I'll fill you in alongside Ojiro, Tsunotori and Aoyama. You three." Aizawa spoke. "Your task in training will be to tag or hit Parker. Aoyama, use your lasers to strike from afar. Climb and use any terrain you see fit, but you must remain outside of the clearing."
Peter heard Aoyama confirm with a "Oui!" over the speaker as he scratched his nose a little. "Ojiro, that kiddie pool over there? That's filled with a unique sticky substance that you're going to put on the tip of your tail. Your task is simple. Tag Parker with it. Parker, avoid it at all costs. Consider Ojiro's tail swipe an instant kill."
"Got it." Peter replied. He heard Ojiro give a "Understood."
"Tsunotori, you can remain both in and outside the clearing. You will be airborne on your horns and you will be aiming to shoot down Peter using the blunt ends of your horns. You're to keep harassing him and try to steer him to being stunned by Aoyama's Navel Laser or get a hit in by Ojiro. Be creative."
"Okay Aizawa-Sensei." Tsunotori's voice acknowledged.
"I'll come back to check on your group later. Get into position. On my mark, your training starts." Aizawa's voice spoke out as Peter took a deep breath, shaking his limbs as he could hear and see nothing.
Gotta focus…
Nothing. Nothing.
Peter avoided some… mass that missed him, hitting the ground with a crash. Aoyama's laser!
"No word of warning here?!" Peter barked in indignation.
"Villains won't give you a warning unless they're incredibly arrogant, powerful, or stupid; same with your opponents." Aizawa replied in his ear with all the excitement of a bored college professor.
He felt the Tingle again, jumping up before recognizing his mistake. Blindfolded, he couldn't see where to latch a web to, not to mention distance, stability or anything else.
He hung in the air and even though he could feel the approaching danger, there was only so much he could twist to try and avoid it before Pony's horns cracked solidly into his side, driving the air right out of him.
He tumbled, hitting the ground in a roll before swiftly scrambling out of the way of what he could only assume was a tail swipe from Ojiro.
Blind and deaf he only felt a vague threat in front of him, where Ojiro evidently was before an impact knocked his foot out from under him, leaving his leg with a faint feeling of uncomfortable static and heat.
He didn't have much time to dwell on the peculiar feeling of Aoyama's laser before he threw himself almost flat on his ass to avoid Ojiro's tail swipe from smacking him in the face, quickly rolling to dodge Pony's horns that came down from on high.
Six hours of this?!
He didn't think he could grow to dislike his paranoid teacher any more
(X)
Useless.
It was all useless.
As he looked out the window from the lodge, Izumi Kota saw those wannabe heroes do their exercises en masse with his Aunt Shino and her friends going about, helping and giving them praise.
"Stupid…" The brown-haired boy scoffed, looking back at his phone as he swiped and tapped as he played his game, Grand Blue Order. In the background, he had the weather channel on but it was low. It was one of his more favorite shows, Highway thru Hell.
He doubted that Aunt Shino liked him watching a show with that title, but Kota didn't care. Seeing mostly quirkless people, or people with weak quirks, helping people on the ice-laden roads of Hokkaido in the winter made him feel content. He didn't know why.
Maybe because people like that were heroes in helping people overcome forces of nature like snow and rain. They weren't like the gloryhogs who praised heroes that never come home to their families.
He furrowed his brow, continuing his game as a commercial came on and droned on about how there was activity in the Pacific. It was typhoon season…
Nah, they were far away from a typhoon landing here, plus the camp was inland. Most of them tended to go to the Philippines or China anyway.
(X)
"Good job on your first half of training today." Aizawa spoke out, looking at the ragged, sweat-drenched, and exhausted Class 1-A plus Pony. Peter was leaning against a post, the custom blindfold/ear muffs around his neck as he looked up at Aizawa. He had several of those paint splotches on his leg, and he looked about, seeing Aoyama with his hand around his stomach, Pony rubbing her bloodied scalp, and Ojiro looking as tired as he was. "Your two hour break starts here. Wash up and eat. We kick off again at one p.m. Tsunotori," The girl perked up. "Thanks for coming by, we'll be expecting you more here during the coming days."
The girl nodded and bowed. "Right, sensei." She said, wiping her brow.
"Vlad wants you to reunite with him down in Class 1-B's training area. Wash up and join him, he's planning on some speech or light post-training activity. I'll see you in two hours." He turned to the rest of his class. "That'll be all." With that said he walked back into the lodge.
"Got it." The girl looked at Peter and nodded. "That was fun…"
"Think you enjoyed kicking my ass a little too much."
In response the girl stuck her tongue out at him.
"You're fun when you bounce around."
Pony saw Aoyama looking a little blue with his hands on his stomach. "He gonna be okay? He used that outhouse a lot…"
"He'll live." Peter said, "But get a gas mask if you want to go in there."
"Don't plan to," Pony chuckled, and Peter couldn't help but snort.
"Anyway, gotta go catch up with Vlad-Sensei. And Peter," she said, smiling softly. "It was nice training with ya."
"Y-Yeah, same." Peter nodded, smiling back as the girl ran back with a wave.
"Peter-san?" Said a voice as Peter turned, seeing Momo standing nearby. "We're about to head inside to wash up."
"Right, sorry." Peter nodded as he faced the class. "So ummm, should we do something here? Aizawa kinda left us hanging…"
"He did give us instructions so, who here knows how to cook?" Momo said, addressing the class.
"I can help, had to cook for my roommate here and there." Peter said with a shrug.
"I know how to make sweets mostly," Sado raised his hand.
"I help my mom in the kitchen a lot." Tsu spoke up, hand on her chin.
"I know my way around a little." Shoji added.
"Same." Todoroki commented, stepping forth.
"I know how to make a mean cup ramen!" Kirishima declared, earning him some glances and a giggle from a certain pinkette.
"I don't think cup ramen will fill us up, Kirishima-kun." Ashido patted his shoulder. "But A for effort."
"I know how." Cut in a voice, and Peter's jaw tightened.
"Ah, thanks Bakugo." Momo said.
"I-I can help too! I help cook with my mom a lot as well." Koda said.
"Wow! Almost half the class knows how to cook! And most of 'em are dudes!" Kaminari commented, and he got a sideways glare from Jirou.
"What's that supposed to mean…?" She said as her earphone jacks writhed like serpents. The blonde boy paled.
"Ummm, nothing!"
"Enough dawdling now. We have 2 hours." Momo said with a clap of her hands.
"Yeah, just gotta wash my face. Nothing a sink can't solve." Peter said with a shrug as he walked on ahead. "Let's get rolling."
And everyone on cooking duty went to the kitchen, everyone washing their faces and hands in the sink to clean up a bit as everyone got their aprons on.
"I'll set the tables." Shoji said. "Asui, care to help?
"Sure, and call me Tsu." The frog girl replied as she walked with the taller boy.
"I can handle rice." Peter spoke up as he looked about in the cupboards for multiple pans. They had to feed twenty people, so they would need plenty of rice. With several large pots, he got the water boiling as he watched his compatriots at work.
Even Koda was helping Bakugo by supplying him with green onions to chop up.
"Wow Bakugo! You're cuttin' them up fast!" The dinosaur-esque boy commented.
"Go and collect some red beans. I'll make paste out of 'em." The blond bomber growled out. "You know how to make rice balls?"
"Yep!"
Peter began to pour in the required rice as he saw Shoto at work cooking up the meat with Sado. Sado was applying sauces and marinades as Shoto kept an eye on and flipped over the meat. From the look of it, it was a simple flap meat steak in teriyaki and some chicken in a glaze of some kind.
Before long, the tables were set, a buffet kind of setup was established, and everyone had finished entering the dining area. Their order of the day? Steak and chicken bowls with green onions alongside red bean paste rice balls.
Peter scarfed his down, feeling satisfied as he saw his classmates go up to the line for seconds, with Iida diligently making sure everyone stayed in order.
(X)
It was honestly starting to become a routine.
Everyone went all out all day, they rested for a bit, lunch prep which was a pain and a half, then back to busting their ass until sundown, and then it was dinner prep, the most stressful time of the day.
Because after everything that was thrown at them, the gentle motions of being an adult were all the more grueling. Like, what were they even going to have? That was the true battle of the day.
Thankfully, Momo gave everyone a break and provided a meal plan with Asui's help. Simple, effective, and stopped arguments before they could really begin.
Most of the time.
"You sure we need this much spice?" Peter asked his dual-eyed classmate.
Shoto looked at him, and if Peter didn't know the boy, he might've thought that he was giving him a flat look. Instead, the New Yorker just shrugged his shoulders and went along with it. Shoto went back to cutting up some onions, which gave Peter a quick second to mix it in and…
Dang this was good.
"It's my mother's recipe," Shoto said, which made Peter do a double take.
The boy wasn't even looking at him, and Peter thought that he was the one that had a Spider-Sense.
"Well, thanks for sharing, it'll fill everyone up."
"I LOVE IT!" Kirishima yelled as he sipped the broth straight from the bowl. Everyone in the room was enjoying their late dinner as Peter surveyed the room. He was seated beside Shoto and Kirishima, with Izuku across from him as he chatted with Ochako and Tokoyami. Momo was with Jirou and Hagakure, and he could spot Koda chatting up a storm with a stoic Bakugo as he continued to eat.
How someone as kind as Koda could ever socialize with Bakugo was beyond hi-
"Alright everyone pack it up!" Tiger called, barging into the room, forcing every eating student to stop and turn. The tall man stood proud, grinning as Aizawa walked in after him.
"Finish up your meals pronto. We got a little activity planned."
The baggy-eyed teacher looked through each of the students with Ragdoll behind him, grinning like she always seemed to, despite Peter hearing some groans ring out.
"You kittens have done well! You're all on the sixth night!" Ragdoll exclaimed, "And as a little reward, we prepared a space for you to watch the stars for a little break before bed!"
"Teacher!" Iida said, holding up a hand. "What about the dishes though! We have eaten quite a lot and it is our duty to clean up. Won't that put us past Lights Out at ten?"
"We'll be doing dishes," Aizawa grumbled, "You're good to go. And don't worry, you'll be sleeping in a little tomorrow as a result of this. We'll get up at six instead of five."
"Thank you for the clarification!"
Huh, a star walk? That could be neat.
"Everyone feeling up for it?" Peter asked the room.
"I don't see why we wouldn't be," Kirishima said with a smile.
His response seemed to be a sentiment shared by the rest of the room. In fact, no one seemed eager to stay in the room after eating their meals. There was a small clank of a chair as Bakugo pushed off his seat to walk out of the room with his hands in his pockets. He noticed the eyes on him, and his eyebrow twitched in irritation.
"What? We got to fucking walk out there don't we?" he asked, walking out before anyone else could comment.
Next to Peter, Shoto stored his gear and wordlessly walked after him, which was the start of a tiny little avalanche of class 1-A following their explosive classmate. He dropped his stuff, and just at the door, Kirishima kicked off the frame with Izuku standing close by.
"Man, first the promise of a hot spring, now a night out? We're getting spoiled!"
"I-I don't think that's necessarily what they're going for," Izuku stammered out.
Kirishima shrugged, "Eh, whatever, I mean, it's still cool! I haven't had the chance to see the stars in a long time!"
"Can't exactly see much in the city," Peter agreed.
"A shame," Momo called from just ahead of them, "There's a simple pleasure of looking up at the stars."
"Yeah, but most people would like to look at other things~" Mina said, only to get a small smack from Jirou.
"Enough of that, you're going to give the boys ideas."
"Too late!" Kaminari called without any ounce of shame.
Peter couldn't help but cough a little, doing his best to look at the fantastically grown trees in the forest. Next to him, Izuku was doing his best to do the same, as was Uraraka.
It was hard to keep that up as Kirishima threw his arms around Peter and Izuku's necks. The two boys were pulled towards their more eccentric classmate as he grinned.
"Not a bad thing when everyone's looking at us climbing the leaderboards, right guys?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," Peter said, untangling himself from the boy's arm, though poor Izuku seemed to be having a hard time of it.
"I mean, yeah we gotta get a license and get through everything, but we're getting there!" Kirishima declared with a defiant clenched fist.
"Don't we have like, two years of U.A left?" Peter asked, somewhat seriously, only for the redhead to blink.
"I mean, sure, but why should that stop us?" he asked.
"Because you can't be on the leaderboards until we've gotten through school?" Momo asked.
Another blink from the redhead.
"That's not really manly."
"I don't think that being a hero and going through the proper steps is supposed to be… manly," Mina commented with a tiny giggle.
"It's something that needs to be done," Tokoyami, the boy speaking for the first time, "Regardless, I think we should be looking up."
Peter glanced up, and… whoa.
This far away from the camp, no lights, nothing from a city, the stars were out in full force. Nebulas shined down and the moon twinkled brightly. There was a small shift, and Peter saw everyone taking seats on the forest floor.
Bakugo took a rock, Shoto leaned against a tree, and most of the class just chose the ground, looking up.
Peter took the initiative and just laid back, arms behind his head as he let out a sigh, gazing up at the stars above.
He'd never had this, even back home in New York.
He could hear some mutterings, gossiping amongst friends as Peter looked around. Every one of his classmates, content. At peace.
He could live with that…
(X)
It'd been several days, but at last, they were finally there on their break day. Day eleven.
"Alright," Aizawa said as he stood in the kitchen, overlooking most of the students who were eager to get to work on eating their breakfast. "Today is a rest day. Just don't do anything stupid. Lights out will be at ten tonight, but meals are all up to your discretion, as usual." He then turned away. "That'll be all."
"Enjoy your day off Kittens!" Pixie Bob cheered as she followed Aizawa out of the room.
Izuku couldn't help but smile as he saw the rest of his class cheer.
"We can go swimming!" Ashido exclaimed.
"We can finally take a day to nap… Haaa…" Jirou sighed.
"Finally… liberation from the black…" Tokoyami muttered.
"That sounded so wrong in so many ways, Tokoyami-kun!" Hagakure chastised.
"So, what are you going to be doing with your day off?" Peter asked as he sat beside Izuku for breakfast. The green-haired boy looked at his friend as he munched on homemade waffles.
"Hmmm? Me? Well… I dunno really. Maybe I'll just take Kaminari's lead and take a nap." Izuku stretched his muscles a bit. "I could use it personally…"
"Don't blame ya." Peter murmured.
"But it would help to explore the national park right?" Yaoyorozu suggested. "After all, I would like to know what's beyond those plateaus and what not."
"Just lots of trees," Uraraka added, the brunette sitting beside the black-haired beauty. "And some hills. Although east of here are some cliffs and hills, at least from what I can remember from my internship… How about you Peter? What are you gonna do?" She asked.
"Going to try to hit up the hot springs, hopefully without too many people." Peter sighed, munching on some bacon strips.
"Totally unlikely dude." Jirou said. "That place is going to be a hot commodity for a while."
"I know that I plan to hit the pond for a nice swim." Tsu sighed in relief.
Peter sighed, resting his chin on his palm.
"I may just not even bother at this point..." He said a little more, looking embarrassed.
"Maybe you just need to be comfortable is all! We can go together, sit on the far sides of the spring." Izuku stepped, hand on his friend's shoulder. Peter turned, blinking as he wiped his lips. "I mean, this would be your first time in a hot spring, I wouldn't want you to miss out!" He said with a smile and a raised fist.
Peter took a deep breath. "Well… I guess…. I helped you way back when. If it's you… then okay. I'll do it with ya."
There was a sudden gasp and Izuku perked up from behind, seeing a set of floating pajamas. "Is… is this… forbidden love?!" Gloved cheeks up as if cupping cheeks, and the green haired youth can see the tinge of pink.
"No it's not!" Izuku and Peter said out loud at the same time, earning the laughter of mostly everyone around, and the two boys looked back, looking as sheepish as possible. Uraraka was stone-faced, and even Yaoyorozu couldn't help but giggle behind her hand.
"And so came together the Ace of Class 1-A and the former Dead Last," Jirou smirked. "Protagonists in a Young Adult Light Novel."
"Oh oh! Between the two, who is the Uke and the Seme!" Ashido asked.
"Whathat?" Kirishima asked, noodles in his mouth. Izuku paled while Peter pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I think you're going a bit too far on that one," Peter mumbled, "And I thought back home was crazy. I don't even know that Uke and Seme is..."
"Parker-kun is totally the Uke!" Hagakure stated. "Midoriya-kun has that big Seme energy~"
"Hmm." Jirou sipped from her water, the two boys feeling her eyes on them. "I can see it." Hagakure then let out… some kind of sigh.
"Can you guys stop! This is getting awkward!" Izuku gawked, fiddling with his fingers.
"No seriously, what's an Uke and Seme? From what I can gather it's defined as what's top and bottom and-" Peter caught himself, his jaw unhinged as it clicked, and even more laughter erupting about. He had his hand to his face, and Izuku felt his own face heat up like a tomato, head bowed low.
"This is crazy…" Peter muttered under his breath.
"Like the kind of crazy hero work you did back in America?" Uraraka asked, making Peter and Izuku perk up as the laughter began to die down.
"Ummm, what makes ya say that?" Peter asked.
"Well, remember the Entrance Exam? When you and Deku saved me?" She asked. "You had that costume on, and from what I can remember you were hopping around while turning those robots into scrap like no problem at all. So, did you have experience or so even back then?"
"Yeah, that costume with the metal legs did look pretty high-tech. You from a Hero family like Iida-kun?" Hagakure asked. Peter looked at his plate.
"Well, I did inherit my costume from my idol, and…" He looked up, then back to Izuku and everyone else. Izuku even followed his gaze, and eating his soba several feet away even Todoroki was interested. "Yeah, I did some hero work back then with him."
"Heh, well that answers a lot of questions," Uraraka mused. "Say, when were you going back to work on it as well? Your hero costume."
Peter's eyebrow twitched at the question. "Eventually…" Izuku winced a little. Peter was always a smart guy, always working with Hatsume and all. Maybe they didn't have the resources?
"Who was your hero mentor back in America, Parker?" Jirou asked as she ate some egg mixed with her rice.
"I'd like to know too." Izuku said, curiosity piqued. Someone with that kind of tech had to be a high-ranked kind of a hero too! Peter however chewed on his lower lip.
"He's-"
"Class, we have a special guest." Aizawa spoke out, but Izuku was too busy rubbing the back of his head. Peter scratched his neck as he reached down with his chopsticks.
"Well, he…"
"Hello everyone." Said a familiar voice, and Izuku turned as he sipped his water. He saw Peter looking on, face neutral but his eating motion stopped...
And Izuku spat out his water at the sight of All Might in his shrunken form, his Hawaiian shirt almost falling off his frame. "I'm Yagi Toshinori, one of the assistant teacher's at U.A." He said with a wave and a beaming closed-eye smile. "Nice to see you all!"
"What I do with my students is my own business."
"I know, but I saw the damage done in your clearing." Vlad took a sip of his own sake while ignoring Aizawa's protest.
"I'd rather have my students be ready for anything, and not come in half-cocked."
Vlad eyed the man. "I'm not sure if that was an insult directed at me."
"They're training to be heroes. And the world is an unfair place." Shouta took another breath. "Better to push them here where they can afford to fail." Shouta said as he set down his bowl.
Vlad grunted, conceding the point and the two fell into silence again.
"By the way." Vlad raised a quiet eyebrow as Aizawa broke the steady silence; "I need to borrow one of your students."
Vlad narrowed his eyes. "If you think that you're going to use one of my students to build up one of yours, you're mistaken Aizawa."
The scraggly-haired teacher fought the urge to roll his eyes. He neither cared, nor had the inclination to waste time on Vlad's misplaced inferiority complex; but if he needed convincing so be it.
"Iron sharpens iron." Shouta replied. "It'll benefit your student just as much. If you help me with this, I'll owe you."
Vlad said nothing for a moment before grunting where he sat. "Hmmm… fine. Out with it."
(X)
"Alright class," Aizawa declared as he looked at Class 1-A the following morning. Everyone was sleepy and rubbing their eyes. "Glad to see you wake up on time."
"Didn't help for Tiger to come roaring into our rooms…" Kaminari winced.
"Deal with it." Aizawa drawled. "Now then, there is going to be some unique facets to this three week camp. We have come here to strengthen your quirks, that is true. But we can't simply focus entirely on that, so yesterday was considered a 'conditioning' day, so to speak." He began to elaborate. "And today will be an exercise day. During our duration here at camp, we will be having intermittent days of conditioning and exercising. Ten days, with day eleven being a break day." He pulled an item out, it being a calendar. Peter could spot the characters for 'Conditioning' and 'Exercise', with Conditioning being written in red and Exercise in blue. The break day, on the eleventh day, was written in green. "Then we finish with the remaining ten for the duration of this camp. Same pattern."
Groans rang out from the class.
"If I remember correctly, this takes us out to August… we'll have only a few days before the Fall Term starts up!" Iida declared.
"I will be going through each of your training sessions and giving you your instructions. You will be following this until lunch break. For now," He reached into the folder, pulling out some papers. "On this sheet you'll find your partners for today. Group up with them, and go to the allocated spot here in the camp." He began to pass them to each student as Peter took his, quickly identifying who his partners were.
Parker, Aoyama and Ojiro. Combat and Awareness Training.
"Fan out and get to your spots. I suggest you do some stretching as well. Parker, Ojiro, Aoyama, with me. Uraraka, a moment."
Peter perked up, turning as everyone else began to fan out to their respective training locations. It was 5:30 in the morning, the sun wasn't even high in the sky yet.
"First off, how are you three feeling?" Aizawa uttered quietly as Uraraka, Ojiro and Aoyama drew closer.
"After drinking plenty of water I am better, Sensei. It helped that I had a big dinner too." Aoyama declared. "Although I wish I could have breakfast too…"
"When your break comes in six hours, you can eat whatever you want then." Aizawa replied.
Aizawa turned to Uraraka. "Did you eat and drink enough too, Uraraka?"
"Yeah, I should be good to go…" Uraraka nodded. "Put me in that ball! I'm ready to rock with my fresh new uniform!"
"And you Ojiro? Are you good to go?"
"Yeah," The blonde tailed boy rubbed the back of his head. "Pixie Bob apologized to me last night and Ragdoll cleared me too." He gripped his fists. "I missed a whole day. I can't fall behind now!"
"Let me know immediately if you feel any symptoms. I had something in mind for you and Kirishima but," He turned, and Peter saw his gaze as he saw Kirishima walking with Sato, the two of them chatting. "We can save that for another day. So I came up with something light to help you catch up with your peers." Then came the explosive blasts from Bakugo as Peter rubbed the inside of his ear. He turned, seeing Bakugo take off, and Iida yelling as he dashed off after him. Were they racing?
"Sure thing Sensei."
"Okay. Uraraka, head to your spot. You won't be in the ball, you'll be with Yaoyorozu for today. If you have any questions, ask Mandalay. She'll be in your area for today."
"Right!" The girl trotted off, although not before collecting a water bottle from the giant pyramid of various water bottle cases. Peter raised his hand slightly, and Aizawa turned to him.
"Come with me." He turned, and Peter and the others followed him through the clearing outside the Lodge and towards one of the surrounding plateaus as Peter saw Tsuyu climbing her plateau using her tongue, yet her tongue was downward and she… was lifting Izuku up! He could see the green blur latch onto an outcrop, then lift his arm to pull Tsuyu up the cliff face.
Aizawa sighed. "Seems they're getting the right idea of it. Must have asked Tiger for clarification" Peter looked at his sheet, seeing that Bakugo and Iida had the simple terms of Endurance Race and Izuku and Tsuyu had Cooperative Climbing. He looked over the other exercises, seeing Uraraka and Yaoyorozu with Gravity Weight + Production Speed + Marksmanship Training.
"Wonder what we are going to do?" Ojiro asked. "Combat Awareness?"
"Heck if I know. Least it's not boulders." Peter uttered. It was a workout sure, but man that was drudge work to the extreme as he looked down, rubbing his blisters. "Got a bit boring after a while."
"Don't worry, you'll wish for boulders." Aizawa commented, facing ahead as Peter looked up, intrigued.
"I have faith that I will learn something of value and strengthen myself today." Aoyama beamed before he turned. "Ah, it seems Kaminari is shining this morning!" Peter looked at his sheet again. Kaminari was paired with Tokoyami and it read…
"Shadow Beast Taming?" Ojiro spoke aloud.
"Makes sense." Peter replied, hands in his pockets as he folded his sheet. Kaminari could use his electricity to make light, a perfect counter to Tokoyami's Dark Shadow.
"By the way," Aizawa mused, "You'll be getting a new partner in this exercise too."
"We will?" Aoyama asked.
"Who?" Peter asked as they arrived at a separate clearing, about fifty meters or so in diameter as Aizawa stood towards the center with a box of sorts. Peter's eyes widened. Off to the side was an outhouse, and a… kiddie pool full of some liquid.
And there was Pony, yawning as she leaned against a tree as she turned, seeing the group. At the sight of them, the girl perked up and trotted on over. "Good Morning Sensei!" She spoke in English. "Hey Peter."
"You're early. Good." Aizawa replied in Japanese.
"Pony? You're our partner?" Peter asked, and the blonde-haired Texan nodded.
"Yep!" She beamed lightly. "Vlad-Sensei asked for me to meet Aizawa here this morning. So I will be with you guys for the day!"
"Heh, nice to see you again Tsunotori." Ojiro waved.
"Good morning to you too!" Pony exclaimed as she yawned. "Haven't woken up this early since I helped out Pa on the farm back home!" She said as she stretched her arms out.
"Glad to have ya here Pony." Peter smiled softly. He saw her look back, his brown eyes looking into her big blue ones.
"Same here Peter. We finally get to train together too!"
"Are we here to train or have a social hour?" Aizawa grumbled, and Peter rolled his eyes. Pony perked up.
"Eep! Sorry Sensei…"
"Anyway, you're all going to be training together." Aizawa answered for him as he knelt down, opening the box. "Parker, your quirk is called 'Spider', yes?" He asked, and Peter's brown eyes met his light obsidian orbs.
"Yeah." He replied curtly.
"Your Precognition ability attached to it, got a name?" He asked rhetorically. The others didn't know, but he…
"Spider Sense."
"Well, here's a question class." He said, turning towards the other students. "What are the strongest senses that a Spider possesses?"
"Could it be Sight, Sensei?" Aoyama raised his hands dramatically. "They do have eight eyes after all!"
Peter sniggered a little, until he felt Aizawa's eyes on him and he shut up, running a hand through his hair.
Ojiro shrugged. "Can't say I know."
"Hey Pete do Spider-I mean," Pony caught herself, stopping her English question. "Peter, do Spiders have noses?" She asked in Japanese.
"No. They don't have ears either." Peter replied, hands in his pockets as he looked back at Aizawa, who had a similar pose.
"And by process of elimination, that should help." Aizawa elaborated. "To clarify, a spider's strongest sense, despite having eight eyes, is not sight, but touch and smell. They don't have noses, but they have sensory organs in their feet."
"Or on their pedipalps." Peter replied, speaking that last term in English making Ojiro and Aoyama tilt their heads. He lifted his fingers to his mouth, imitating fangs. "Their fangs."
"Ahhh."
"Ca a du sens."
"Parker's on the money, but given how it is your quirk you should know everything about it. From my observation of this Spider Sense of yours, it's in need of improvement. Going back to a spider's senses, their heightened sense of touch also allows them to sense vibrations in the air and ground via the hairs all over their body." Aizawa spoke. "Hence, we will do a unique training regimen for you four. One day will be hard physical or quirk training, and on this day, you three will be working in tandem to tag and hit Parker." He opened the box, reaching in and pulling out some long black cloth with two large soft pads. "While he wears this." Peter eyed the box as he took the item, noticing the term 'Yoruha Rehabilitory Support Company' on the side.
"So I wear this blindfold?" Peter asked.
"Put it around your eyes," Aizawa elaborated. "You will wear this for the exercise."
"Hours being blindfolded… sheesh." Peter muttered. "The earmuffs I take will blot out a lot of sound? They don't look all that, well, deafening."
"Put them on and see for yourself."
The American did so, his ears felt the earmuffs clamp down slightly and…
Silence.
"Can you hear me?" Aizawa's voice came in from the right side, making Peter perk up.
"Yeah." He spoke aloud. "I can."
"Good, you're in the center of the clearing, so stay where you are. The muffs are connected to my phone, so you'll only be able to hear me. I'll fill you in alongside Ojiro, Tsunotori and Aoyama. You three." Aizawa spoke. "Your task in training will be to tag or hit Parker. Aoyama, use your lasers to strike from afar. Climb and use any terrain you see fit, but you must remain outside of the clearing."
Peter heard Aoyama confirm with a "Oui!" over the speaker as he scratched his nose a little. "Ojiro, that kiddie pool over there? That's filled with a unique sticky substance that you're going to put on the tip of your tail. Your task is simple. Tag Parker with it. Parker, avoid it at all costs. Consider Ojiro's tail swipe an instant kill."
"Got it." Peter replied. He heard Ojiro give a "Understood."
"Tsunotori, you can remain both in and outside the clearing. You will be airborne on your horns and you will be aiming to shoot down Peter using the blunt ends of your horns. You're to keep harassing him and try to steer him to being stunned by Aoyama's Navel Laser or get a hit in by Ojiro. Be creative."
"Okay Aizawa-Sensei." Tsunotori's voice acknowledged.
"I'll come back to check on your group later. Get into position. On my mark, your training starts." Aizawa's voice spoke out as Peter took a deep breath, shaking his limbs as he could hear and see nothing.
Gotta focus…
Nothing. Nothing.
Peter avoided some… mass that missed him, hitting the ground with a crash. Aoyama's laser!
"No word of warning here?!" Peter barked in indignation.
"Villains won't give you a warning unless they're incredibly arrogant, powerful, or stupid; same with your opponents." Aizawa replied in his ear with all the excitement of a bored college professor.
He felt the Tingle again, jumping up before recognizing his mistake. Blindfolded, he couldn't see where to latch a web to, not to mention distance, stability or anything else.
He hung in the air and even though he could feel the approaching danger, there was only so much he could twist to try and avoid it before Pony's horns cracked solidly into his side, driving the air right out of him.
He tumbled, hitting the ground in a roll before swiftly scrambling out of the way of what he could only assume was a tail swipe from Ojiro.
Blind and deaf he only felt a vague threat in front of him, where Ojiro evidently was before an impact knocked his foot out from under him, leaving his leg with a faint feeling of uncomfortable static and heat.
He didn't have much time to dwell on the peculiar feeling of Aoyama's laser before he threw himself almost flat on his ass to avoid Ojiro's tail swipe from smacking him in the face, quickly rolling to dodge Pony's horns that came down from on high.
Six hours of this?!
He didn't think he could grow to dislike his paranoid teacher any more
(X)
Useless.
It was all useless.
As he looked out the window from the lodge, Izumi Kota saw those wannabe heroes do their exercises en masse with his Aunt Shino and her friends going about, helping and giving them praise.
"Stupid…" The brown-haired boy scoffed, looking back at his phone as he swiped and tapped as he played his game, Grand Blue Order. In the background, he had the weather channel on but it was low. It was one of his more favorite shows, Highway thru Hell.
He doubted that Aunt Shino liked him watching a show with that title, but Kota didn't care. Seeing mostly quirkless people, or people with weak quirks, helping people on the ice-laden roads of Hokkaido in the winter made him feel content. He didn't know why.
Maybe because people like that were heroes in helping people overcome forces of nature like snow and rain. They weren't like the gloryhogs who praised heroes that never come home to their families.
He furrowed his brow, continuing his game as a commercial came on and droned on about how there was activity in the Pacific. It was typhoon season…
Nah, they were far away from a typhoon landing here, plus the camp was inland. Most of them tended to go to the Philippines or China anyway.
(X)
"Good job on your first half of training today." Aizawa spoke out, looking at the ragged, sweat-drenched, and exhausted Class 1-A plus Pony. Peter was leaning against a post, the custom blindfold/ear muffs around his neck as he looked up at Aizawa. He had several of those paint splotches on his leg, and he looked about, seeing Aoyama with his hand around his stomach, Pony rubbing her bloodied scalp, and Ojiro looking as tired as he was. "Your two hour break starts here. Wash up and eat. We kick off again at one p.m. Tsunotori," The girl perked up. "Thanks for coming by, we'll be expecting you more here during the coming days."
The girl nodded and bowed. "Right, sensei." She said, wiping her brow.
"Vlad wants you to reunite with him down in Class 1-B's training area. Wash up and join him, he's planning on some speech or light post-training activity. I'll see you in two hours." He turned to the rest of his class. "That'll be all." With that said he walked back into the lodge.
"Got it." The girl looked at Peter and nodded. "That was fun…"
"Think you enjoyed kicking my ass a little too much."
In response the girl stuck her tongue out at him.
"You're fun when you bounce around."
Pony saw Aoyama looking a little blue with his hands on his stomach. "He gonna be okay? He used that outhouse a lot…"
"He'll live." Peter said, "But get a gas mask if you want to go in there."
"Don't plan to," Pony chuckled, and Peter couldn't help but snort.
"Anyway, gotta go catch up with Vlad-Sensei. And Peter," she said, smiling softly. "It was nice training with ya."
"Y-Yeah, same." Peter nodded, smiling back as the girl ran back with a wave.
"Peter-san?" Said a voice as Peter turned, seeing Momo standing nearby. "We're about to head inside to wash up."
"Right, sorry." Peter nodded as he faced the class. "So ummm, should we do something here? Aizawa kinda left us hanging…"
"He did give us instructions so, who here knows how to cook?" Momo said, addressing the class.
"I can help, had to cook for my roommate here and there." Peter said with a shrug.
"I know how to make sweets mostly," Sado raised his hand.
"I help my mom in the kitchen a lot." Tsu spoke up, hand on her chin.
"I know my way around a little." Shoji added.
"Same." Todoroki commented, stepping forth.
"I know how to make a mean cup ramen!" Kirishima declared, earning him some glances and a giggle from a certain pinkette.
"I don't think cup ramen will fill us up, Kirishima-kun." Ashido patted his shoulder. "But A for effort."
"I know how." Cut in a voice, and Peter's jaw tightened.
"Ah, thanks Bakugo." Momo said.
"I-I can help too! I help cook with my mom a lot as well." Koda said.
"Wow! Almost half the class knows how to cook! And most of 'em are dudes!" Kaminari commented, and he got a sideways glare from Jirou.
"What's that supposed to mean…?" She said as her earphone jacks writhed like serpents. The blonde boy paled.
"Ummm, nothing!"
"Enough dawdling now. We have 2 hours." Momo said with a clap of her hands.
"Yeah, just gotta wash my face. Nothing a sink can't solve." Peter said with a shrug as he walked on ahead. "Let's get rolling."
And everyone on cooking duty went to the kitchen, everyone washing their faces and hands in the sink to clean up a bit as everyone got their aprons on.
"I'll set the tables." Shoji said. "Asui, care to help?
"Sure, and call me Tsu." The frog girl replied as she walked with the taller boy.
"I can handle rice." Peter spoke up as he looked about in the cupboards for multiple pans. They had to feed twenty people, so they would need plenty of rice. With several large pots, he got the water boiling as he watched his compatriots at work.
Even Koda was helping Bakugo by supplying him with green onions to chop up.
"Wow Bakugo! You're cuttin' them up fast!" The dinosaur-esque boy commented.
"Go and collect some red beans. I'll make paste out of 'em." The blond bomber growled out. "You know how to make rice balls?"
"Yep!"
Peter began to pour in the required rice as he saw Shoto at work cooking up the meat with Sado. Sado was applying sauces and marinades as Shoto kept an eye on and flipped over the meat. From the look of it, it was a simple flap meat steak in teriyaki and some chicken in a glaze of some kind.
Before long, the tables were set, a buffet kind of setup was established, and everyone had finished entering the dining area. Their order of the day? Steak and chicken bowls with green onions alongside red bean paste rice balls.
Peter scarfed his down, feeling satisfied as he saw his classmates go up to the line for seconds, with Iida diligently making sure everyone stayed in order.
(X)
It was honestly starting to become a routine.
Everyone went all out all day, they rested for a bit, lunch prep which was a pain and a half, then back to busting their ass until sundown, and then it was dinner prep, the most stressful time of the day.
Because after everything that was thrown at them, the gentle motions of being an adult were all the more grueling. Like, what were they even going to have? That was the true battle of the day.
Thankfully, Momo gave everyone a break and provided a meal plan with Asui's help. Simple, effective, and stopped arguments before they could really begin.
Most of the time.
"You sure we need this much spice?" Peter asked his dual-eyed classmate.
Shoto looked at him, and if Peter didn't know the boy, he might've thought that he was giving him a flat look. Instead, the New Yorker just shrugged his shoulders and went along with it. Shoto went back to cutting up some onions, which gave Peter a quick second to mix it in and…
Dang this was good.
"It's my mother's recipe," Shoto said, which made Peter do a double take.
The boy wasn't even looking at him, and Peter thought that he was the one that had a Spider-Sense.
"Well, thanks for sharing, it'll fill everyone up."
"I LOVE IT!" Kirishima yelled as he sipped the broth straight from the bowl. Everyone in the room was enjoying their late dinner as Peter surveyed the room. He was seated beside Shoto and Kirishima, with Izuku across from him as he chatted with Ochako and Tokoyami. Momo was with Jirou and Hagakure, and he could spot Koda chatting up a storm with a stoic Bakugo as he continued to eat.
How someone as kind as Koda could ever socialize with Bakugo was beyond hi-
"Alright everyone pack it up!" Tiger called, barging into the room, forcing every eating student to stop and turn. The tall man stood proud, grinning as Aizawa walked in after him.
"Finish up your meals pronto. We got a little activity planned."
The baggy-eyed teacher looked through each of the students with Ragdoll behind him, grinning like she always seemed to, despite Peter hearing some groans ring out.
"You kittens have done well! You're all on the sixth night!" Ragdoll exclaimed, "And as a little reward, we prepared a space for you to watch the stars for a little break before bed!"
"Teacher!" Iida said, holding up a hand. "What about the dishes though! We have eaten quite a lot and it is our duty to clean up. Won't that put us past Lights Out at ten?"
"We'll be doing dishes," Aizawa grumbled, "You're good to go. And don't worry, you'll be sleeping in a little tomorrow as a result of this. We'll get up at six instead of five."
"Thank you for the clarification!"
Huh, a star walk? That could be neat.
"Everyone feeling up for it?" Peter asked the room.
"I don't see why we wouldn't be," Kirishima said with a smile.
His response seemed to be a sentiment shared by the rest of the room. In fact, no one seemed eager to stay in the room after eating their meals. There was a small clank of a chair as Bakugo pushed off his seat to walk out of the room with his hands in his pockets. He noticed the eyes on him, and his eyebrow twitched in irritation.
"What? We got to fucking walk out there don't we?" he asked, walking out before anyone else could comment.
Next to Peter, Shoto stored his gear and wordlessly walked after him, which was the start of a tiny little avalanche of class 1-A following their explosive classmate. He dropped his stuff, and just at the door, Kirishima kicked off the frame with Izuku standing close by.
"Man, first the promise of a hot spring, now a night out? We're getting spoiled!"
"I-I don't think that's necessarily what they're going for," Izuku stammered out.
Kirishima shrugged, "Eh, whatever, I mean, it's still cool! I haven't had the chance to see the stars in a long time!"
"Can't exactly see much in the city," Peter agreed.
"A shame," Momo called from just ahead of them, "There's a simple pleasure of looking up at the stars."
"Yeah, but most people would like to look at other things~" Mina said, only to get a small smack from Jirou.
"Enough of that, you're going to give the boys ideas."
"Too late!" Kaminari called without any ounce of shame.
Peter couldn't help but cough a little, doing his best to look at the fantastically grown trees in the forest. Next to him, Izuku was doing his best to do the same, as was Uraraka.
It was hard to keep that up as Kirishima threw his arms around Peter and Izuku's necks. The two boys were pulled towards their more eccentric classmate as he grinned.
"Not a bad thing when everyone's looking at us climbing the leaderboards, right guys?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," Peter said, untangling himself from the boy's arm, though poor Izuku seemed to be having a hard time of it.
"I mean, yeah we gotta get a license and get through everything, but we're getting there!" Kirishima declared with a defiant clenched fist.
"Don't we have like, two years of U.A left?" Peter asked, somewhat seriously, only for the redhead to blink.
"I mean, sure, but why should that stop us?" he asked.
"Because you can't be on the leaderboards until we've gotten through school?" Momo asked.
Another blink from the redhead.
"That's not really manly."
"I don't think that being a hero and going through the proper steps is supposed to be… manly," Mina commented with a tiny giggle.
"It's something that needs to be done," Tokoyami, the boy speaking for the first time, "Regardless, I think we should be looking up."
Peter glanced up, and… whoa.
This far away from the camp, no lights, nothing from a city, the stars were out in full force. Nebulas shined down and the moon twinkled brightly. There was a small shift, and Peter saw everyone taking seats on the forest floor.
Bakugo took a rock, Shoto leaned against a tree, and most of the class just chose the ground, looking up.
Peter took the initiative and just laid back, arms behind his head as he let out a sigh, gazing up at the stars above.
He'd never had this, even back home in New York.
He could hear some mutterings, gossiping amongst friends as Peter looked around. Every one of his classmates, content. At peace.
He could live with that…
(X)
It'd been several days, but at last, they were finally there on their break day. Day eleven.
"Alright," Aizawa said as he stood in the kitchen, overlooking most of the students who were eager to get to work on eating their breakfast. "Today is a rest day. Just don't do anything stupid. Lights out will be at ten tonight, but meals are all up to your discretion, as usual." He then turned away. "That'll be all."
"Enjoy your day off Kittens!" Pixie Bob cheered as she followed Aizawa out of the room.
Izuku couldn't help but smile as he saw the rest of his class cheer.
"We can go swimming!" Ashido exclaimed.
"We can finally take a day to nap… Haaa…" Jirou sighed.
"Finally… liberation from the black…" Tokoyami muttered.
"That sounded so wrong in so many ways, Tokoyami-kun!" Hagakure chastised.
"So, what are you going to be doing with your day off?" Peter asked as he sat beside Izuku for breakfast. The green-haired boy looked at his friend as he munched on homemade waffles.
"Hmmm? Me? Well… I dunno really. Maybe I'll just take Kaminari's lead and take a nap." Izuku stretched his muscles a bit. "I could use it personally…"
"Don't blame ya." Peter murmured.
"But it would help to explore the national park right?" Yaoyorozu suggested. "After all, I would like to know what's beyond those plateaus and what not."
"Just lots of trees," Uraraka added, the brunette sitting beside the black-haired beauty. "And some hills. Although east of here are some cliffs and hills, at least from what I can remember from my internship… How about you Peter? What are you gonna do?" She asked.
"Going to try to hit up the hot springs, hopefully without too many people." Peter sighed, munching on some bacon strips.
"Totally unlikely dude." Jirou said. "That place is going to be a hot commodity for a while."
"I know that I plan to hit the pond for a nice swim." Tsu sighed in relief.
Peter sighed, resting his chin on his palm.
"I may just not even bother at this point..." He said a little more, looking embarrassed.
"Maybe you just need to be comfortable is all! We can go together, sit on the far sides of the spring." Izuku stepped, hand on his friend's shoulder. Peter turned, blinking as he wiped his lips. "I mean, this would be your first time in a hot spring, I wouldn't want you to miss out!" He said with a smile and a raised fist.
Peter took a deep breath. "Well… I guess…. I helped you way back when. If it's you… then okay. I'll do it with ya."
There was a sudden gasp and Izuku perked up from behind, seeing a set of floating pajamas. "Is… is this… forbidden love?!" Gloved cheeks up as if cupping cheeks, and the green haired youth can see the tinge of pink.
"No it's not!" Izuku and Peter said out loud at the same time, earning the laughter of mostly everyone around, and the two boys looked back, looking as sheepish as possible. Uraraka was stone-faced, and even Yaoyorozu couldn't help but giggle behind her hand.
"And so came together the Ace of Class 1-A and the former Dead Last," Jirou smirked. "Protagonists in a Young Adult Light Novel."
"Oh oh! Between the two, who is the Uke and the Seme!" Ashido asked.
"Whathat?" Kirishima asked, noodles in his mouth. Izuku paled while Peter pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I think you're going a bit too far on that one," Peter mumbled, "And I thought back home was crazy. I don't even know that Uke and Seme is..."
"Parker-kun is totally the Uke!" Hagakure stated. "Midoriya-kun has that big Seme energy~"
"Hmm." Jirou sipped from her water, the two boys feeling her eyes on them. "I can see it." Hagakure then let out… some kind of sigh.
"Can you guys stop! This is getting awkward!" Izuku gawked, fiddling with his fingers.
"No seriously, what's an Uke and Seme? From what I can gather it's defined as what's top and bottom and-" Peter caught himself, his jaw unhinged as it clicked, and even more laughter erupting about. He had his hand to his face, and Izuku felt his own face heat up like a tomato, head bowed low.
"This is crazy…" Peter muttered under his breath.
"Like the kind of crazy hero work you did back in America?" Uraraka asked, making Peter and Izuku perk up as the laughter began to die down.
"Ummm, what makes ya say that?" Peter asked.
"Well, remember the Entrance Exam? When you and Deku saved me?" She asked. "You had that costume on, and from what I can remember you were hopping around while turning those robots into scrap like no problem at all. So, did you have experience or so even back then?"
"Yeah, that costume with the metal legs did look pretty high-tech. You from a Hero family like Iida-kun?" Hagakure asked. Peter looked at his plate.
"Well, I did inherit my costume from my idol, and…" He looked up, then back to Izuku and everyone else. Izuku even followed his gaze, and eating his soba several feet away even Todoroki was interested. "Yeah, I did some hero work back then with him."
"Heh, well that answers a lot of questions," Uraraka mused. "Say, when were you going back to work on it as well? Your hero costume."
Peter's eyebrow twitched at the question. "Eventually…" Izuku winced a little. Peter was always a smart guy, always working with Hatsume and all. Maybe they didn't have the resources?
"Who was your hero mentor back in America, Parker?" Jirou asked as she ate some egg mixed with her rice.
"I'd like to know too." Izuku said, curiosity piqued. Someone with that kind of tech had to be a high-ranked kind of a hero too! Peter however chewed on his lower lip.
"He's-"
"Class, we have a special guest." Aizawa spoke out, but Izuku was too busy rubbing the back of his head. Peter scratched his neck as he reached down with his chopsticks.
"Well, he…"
"Hello everyone." Said a familiar voice, and Izuku turned as he sipped his water. He saw Peter looking on, face neutral but his eating motion stopped...
And Izuku spat out his water at the sight of All Might in his shrunken form, his Hawaiian shirt almost falling off his frame. "I'm Yagi Toshinori, one of the assistant teacher's at U.A." He said with a wave and a beaming closed-eye smile. "Nice to see you all!"
