On the other side of the wooden divider, the silence lasted for exactly three seconds.
".... um ... WHAT WAS THAT?!" Ashido shot up from the water, sending a splash in every direction. "Did you guys SEE that?!"
"I .. um ... That's .." Yaoyorozu said, eyes a bit wide while fixed on the spot where the water had surged moments ago.
"Was that a dragon?!" Hagakure practically vibrated. "That was a dragon, right?! Like—actual dragon shape?!"
"Yeah ... Where did that come from?" The girls turned to Jiro. The latter, without needing to be told, place her earphones jacks into the wooden barrier. Several seconds passed in silence. "Come on Jiro. Tell us what's going on."
"So? What is it?"
Jiro's brows furrowed with surprise. "Apparently it's Yuta."
"Yuta? Can control water?" Uraraka was stunned. "Since when does he do that?"
"Ribbit. That does sound odd." Tsuyu tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing just a bit.
Yaoyorozu frowned, still looking at the water. "Control over a liquid medium… that's… not something we've seen him do before."
"Maybe it's just part of his quirk?" Hagakure suggested. "Like ... he can control objects, right?So maybe water counts?"
"…Water isn't exactly an 'object, is it'" Uraraka tilted her head and asked with blinking eyes. "I mean .. back at the sports festival, he seemed only able to control pieces of things and not too many at once so .."
"Huh? Didn't he like control the earth on TV a few days ago ... Kinda like Mr. Cementoss does?"
That… didn't really help. Uraraka was thoughtful, slightly curious. "Perhaps he just got stronger while away."
"Details," Ashido waved it off. "The real question is ... did you guys hear Mineta scream like that?!"
That got a small snort out of Jiro. "Yeah. That part was pretty satisfying." Uraraka looked relieved. "At least he didn't make it over…"
"Serves him right," Ashido said, dropping back into the water with a splash. "Honestly, I don't even feel bad."
Tsuyu glanced toward the divider again. "He'll be fine, ribbit."
"Unfortunately,"
"…Anyway!" Hagakure clapped her hands together. "Crisis averted! Pervert neutralized and girls win again!"
Uraraka laughed. "Girls win again," she repeated. "Is that what we're calling it."
"That's exactly what we're calling it." Hagakure was already resettled in the water, invisible satisfaction radiating from her very being. "We should make it a scoreboard. Running tally."
"The score is one to zero," Jiro said. "In our favor. Against Mineta of course."
"Obviously against Mineta specifically."
"Should we add the one from the sports festival?"
"Obviously. That twerp hasn't had a win against us once."
"That wasn't a competition," Yaoyorozu said.
"It is now."
"Victory achieved, ribbit." Laughter bubbled up shortly after as the girls continued their bath.
Meanwhile, on the other side .. The steam hadn't even settled yet.
"…Okay, no—hold on," Kaminari said, turning fully toward Yuta, water sloshing as he moved. "You're just gonna skip over that like it wasn't insane?"
"I didn't skip anything," Yuta replied as he lifted Mineta up like a sack of salt. "He was climbing. I stopped him. Unfortunately now I have to take him to see the teachers just because." He paused.
"Hey .. Just asking ... Is there such a thing as a justifiable Homicide?"
The Hot spring went silent. "What the ... Don't just go acting all scary to change the subject now."
"…I'm not changing the subject," Yuta replied as he stepped out of the spring and grabbed a towel, all the while shifting Mineta's limp body over his shoulder. "I'm asking for future reference." For a moment, he felt Mineta's body twitched. 'Hmm ... Must have been a mistake.'
"I would not advise it but technically speaking, as long as it does not involve quirk use there are scenarios where .."
"TODOROKI!"
"What?"
"Don't encourage him to murder our classmate."
Todoroki stepped out of the water, towel properly tied on his waist. "Sorry, I was just giving an answer."
"Well please don't. Even Bakugo wouldn't be that extreme. Right Baku ....?" Kaminari turned around, slightly stunned to discover a missing silhouette. "Hold on, where'd he go?" The bench was empty. Bakugo's towel was gone. The door at the far end of the corridor had finished closing at some point in the last few minutes.
"…He left?" Kirishima blinked, sitting up straighter in the water. "When?"
"No idea," Kaminari said, still staring at the door like it might explain itself. "He was literally just .."
"Maybe he left earlier. He did seem to be in a bad mood ever since the Forest beasts."
"Bad mood is kinda his default, though," Ojiro muttered.
"Well .. Yeah, but…" Kirishima scratched the back of his head, frowning slightly. "This felt ... I guess that's kinda fair."
"Yep. It's probably a short term brood. He'll be fine," Sero replied, soaking in. "Damn this feels good. Aren't you guys coming back in?"
"Nah." Yuta didn't bother adding to it. He adjusted Mineta's limp form over his shoulder, squeezing some of the water out of his towel with his free hand before draping it properly around his waist. "I'm off."
The door slid open with a soft clack, then shut just as quietly behind him. "…Man," Kaminari exhaled, leaning back again. "Today's been a lot."
"No kidding," Sero added. Todoroki didn't stay long after. He had been drying off for the past few minutes at the far end of the bench. The moment that was done, he pulled his shirt on, buttoned it from the bottom up, and stood.
"Night," he said. Bath time didn't last much longer as everyone began leaving one by one.
"Midoriya?" Iida called out.
"Huh?"
"You're the last one in there. Hurry up before you prune."
"Oh ... Right." Midoriya, startled from his thoughts, quickly got out of the spring. In the process, his mind couldn't help but wander back to when Bakugo left the room after the water dragon display.
Midoriya rubbed his hair dry, gaze drifting briefly toward the door Bakugo had left through. '…Kacchan's probably just… being Kacchan.' He couldn't really tell. Sometimes Bakugo got louder when something bothered him. Sometimes he just left. There wasn't exactly a clear pattern and Midoriya had learned a long time ago that trying to pin it down too neatly didn't really work.
It was somewhat funny actually. He had known Bakugo for so many years and to the point of predicting his combat movements, but for his internal thoughts? ... Those were still a bit hard to read.
'To think I still don't understand you that well.' He dried off, changed, and walked out into the corridor where the last traces of steam were already dissipating into the cool mountain air.
'Though there's a lot I don't understand, isn't there?' The bunkhouse hallway was dim. Most of the others had already gone ahead. Iida's footsteps were audible somewhere further down.
Midoriya walked forward, mind filled with countless thoughts. He had spoken to All Might just the night before about a lot of things. He heard it firsthand. All Might was unable to fight and would officially retire as a pro-hero. The police had simply decided that it would be better to hold out for a few days instead of dropping it now with the state of things. Gran Torino had also spoken to him as well. It was the same news.
"That was probably my last fight kid. Toshinori's as well. Which means time's unfortunately up for us. Henceforth, the future needs to be left to you young people. To do that ... You'll need to be stronger than you are now, at a faster rate than you're progressing to deal with whatever comes next. Else, who knows what'll happen."
Retirement. It seemed the older generation of Heroes were quickly having to lay down their capes before the new ones could take over. 'However,' He paused as he turned a corner, looking at the scars on his hands.
The devastation that had occurred in Kamino, then Tokyo appeared in his mind. 'I'm still far from matching that.' He was supposed to get stronger faster ... But for now, using that power still seemed like an impossible task. He had only just figured how to limit the power to 5%. Bakugo of course, went into a fit of rage during that period when it was shown. He hadn't managed to adjust himself to everything yet.
This however .... Was far from enough. The only good news, if he could even call it that, ... The perpetrator behind it all was dead. Even though his body was stolen not long after .. but according to All Might, they suspect it shouldn't be the League of villains. Though with Shigaraki still out there .. who knows what they would do.
Midoriya shook his head, trying to clear the mental fog. Even with the mastermind potentially gone, the vacuum left behind was already being filled with chaos. Every time he turned on the news, it felt like the world was slipping through the fingers of the remaining heroes. 'Too many tragedies have happened in such a short time, just as Kaachan said.' And then there was Yuta.
In the Sports Festival, they had felt like they were on the same track, even if Yuta was a few laps ahead. But since Hosu, it felt like Yuta had stepped off the track and taken flight. Literally.
'It's probably the same thing that happened to us at the USJ.' Shigaraki's attack on the school had been focused on class 1A. The perilous experience that could have cost them their lives had at the end of the day, made them stronger by giving them firsthand experience.
It was probably the same for Yuta. Since he joined the Hero course, he had experienced one perilous event after another. With a similar contrast, growing stronger wasn't that surprising. 'Come to think of it ... Unlike everyone else, With Yuta's return, Kaachan's probably put a lot of pressure on himself.' The thought struck Midoriya then and there.
It would also explain Bakugo's exit after the water dragon.
Midoriya slowed his steps mid thought. "…Maybe."
It made sense. Or at least it was a possibility.
Bakugo had never liked being behind. Not in anything. His reaction despite taking first during the sports festival was clear enough. And Yuta's return hadn't exactly been subtle. Even if no one said it out loud, it was there. "…But that's not really something I can figure out right now."
And even if he could, It wasn't his place to untangle it. He exhaled quietly, letting that line of thought go. Because if he kept circling around other people, he'd never get anywhere with himself. '… That said, what about me?' He paused, pondering the question. He hadn't had the chance to test his new power against anyone.
He had improved. A lot, compared to before.
But compared to what was needed. 'I've gotten used to channeling One For All all over my body .. perhaps I ...'
"Midoriya." He flinched and looked up.
Iida stood a few steps ahead, glasses catching the hallway light with a sharp glare. Arms crossed and a rigid posture.
Midoriya was stunned. "Um ... What?"
"…Why are you standing in the middle of the hallway?"
Midoriya looked down. He had, at some point, completely stopped walking. One foot slightly lifted like he had intended to take a step a while ago.
"…Oh."
He blinked.
"…Oh."
Behind Iida, a couple of their classmates passed by, giving him brief, mildly confused looks as they stepped around him like he was a misplaced piece of furniture.
"I have been calling your name for the past thirty seconds," Iida continued, adjusting his glasses. "You responded to none of it."
"I ... uh, sorry!" Midoriya straightened immediately, nearly tripping over his own foot in the process. "I was just thinking about—about ..."
He stopped. "…Things."
Iida stared at him for a moment longer. Then sighed.
"Please reserve your strategic analysis for appropriate locations. Preferably not in the middle of a public walkway."
"Right! Sorry!" Midoriya hurried forward, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed laugh.
_
The Next Day — 05:30 AM
The mountain air was biting cold. A sharp contrast to the humid heat of the previous afternoon.
In the distance, the sun hadn't quite cleared the peaks yet, leaving Class 1-A who stood in place, shivering in their gym uniforms. Some were rubbing sleep from their eyes, others were trying to suppress yawns.
"Morning students," Aizawa's voice came from up ahead.
He stood before them, looking just as sleep-deprived as everyone else.
Beside him stood the Pussycats, their energetic poses looking slightly surreal in the pre-dawn gloom.
"Today, your real training begins," Aizawa continued, his gaze sweeping over the tired teenagers. "You'll be pushing the limits of your Quirks to increase your capacity, speed, power and control. It will be grueling, and many of you will feel like giving up by noon."
He paused, his eyes narrowing as they landed on a specific spot in the lineup.
"However, before we get into the scheduled curriculum, someone has to get some things out of the way first."
A ripple of confusion went through the class.
"Huh? Out of the way?" Kaminari whispered, leaning toward Sero. "Is there like… a pre-test?"
"Maybe we have to run up the mountain again," Sero groaned. Fortunately, it wasn't a test. Just as the class murmurs continued, it was silenced soon after as Bakugo stepped out from the line. He didn't look tired. In fact, he looked like he'd been awake for hours, his eyes almost bloodshot.
"Bakugo? What are you doing?" The boy walked to the center of the open field without giving an answer.
Then proceeded to stretch a bit before looking at them. To be specific, his gaze locking onto Yuta, who was standing near the end of the row, still looking somewhat groggy. "You," Bakugo said, his voice low and vibrating with a suppressed emotion. Everyone blinked, then parted to the sides revealing Yuta right where Bakugo was looking at.
Yuta blinked, pointing a thumb at his own chest. "Me?"
He looked at Mr. Aizawa but the man didn't respond.
"Oi bastard ... Did you forget?" Bakugo said swinging his hands with an expressionless look. "I thought I told you back after the sports festival ... I want a rematch." Everyone's eyes widened.
"Now ... Get over here."
__
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