"I'm like 90% sure we're gonna get thrown off" Izuku mused as his classmates stood at the 'rest stop' Aizawa had ordered.
"Oh yes, that is almost certain" Momo said.
"You gonna go rocket roller skates again?"
"No, I think I'll just fall with everyone else" she said with a chuckle.
"…why?"
"You seem to keep forgetting that we're the class representative and vice representative of our class. Once we're down there we will be the ones they look towards."
"Aw man, I wanted to go full Tarzan though" Izuku muttered in a depressed tone.
"We'll be here for a week; you'll get your chance eventually" she consoled him.
"Hey eraser!"
The two turned to see two women step out of a car.
"Long time no see" Aizawa sensei bowed.
"Lock on with these sparkling gazes!"
"Stingingly cute and catlike!"
"Wild Wild Pussycats!"
"A four-person hero team who set up a joint agency" Izuku muttered "from what I know, they specialize in mountain rescue. This year's their twelfth workin-"
"I'M 18 AT HEART!" the blue one declared as she tried grabbing Izuku's face, only for her hand to go through it.
Still stopped his mutter session though.
"We own the whole stretch of land here" the red one said as she pointed "You're all going to be staying at the foot of that mountain."
"Huh? Then why did we stop here?" Uraraka questioned.
Izuku and Momo quietly moved to the side to avoid the rush to the bus they were sure would happen as their classmates realized what was going to happen.
"It's 9:30 am right now. If you're fast, maybe around noon?"
"Run for the bus!" Kirishima yelled as Katsuki walked up to Izuku's side.
"You going solo or sticking with the group?" he asked gruffly.
"I wanted to Tarzan but apparently I've got to stick with the group since I'm class rep" Izuku sighed as his class ran to the bus, only for the ground to start moving.
"I'll go ahead. I didn't get to nap on the bus cuz of Frenchie's yapping."
"wouldn't belt fit Aoyama more than Frenchie? Is he even actually French?"
Katsuki's answer was drowned out as the trio got caught by the earth slide and sent down.
"Kitties who don't make it by 12:30 won't get lunch!"
.
.
"Alright guys, split into groups" Izuku said as he clapped once to get everyone's attention. "we're doing tracking group, close combat group and range group."
"Close combat will lead the charge with me" Momo declared as she made a staff "Tracking will inform us which direction we are meant to move towards, and inform us of any threats."
"Range stay behind close combat. These earth beast things aren't that durable, so soften them up for the close combat teams."
The entire class (minus Katsuki, who went flying towards where Mandalay had pointed before he even landed) nodded.
.
.
"Oh, you're earlier than expected!" Pixie-Bob said loudly as the class dragged themselves out of the forest.
"Wha-you said 3 hours, didn't we take like double the time?" Izuku questioned as he supported an exhausted Iida.
"3 Hours is how long we would take. Sorry"
"…so you were just flexing?" Kirishima said as he collapsed on the ground, accepting his new place in the world instantly.
"We need food! We're still in time for a late lunch!"
"…truth is, there is no food" Mandalay said as she scratched her head awkwardly "we assumed you'd take till evening, not make it by 3. We're going to have to get that started at a big scale. We had enough for Bakugou at noon since he ate with us, but 19 kids might take a bit of time."
Izuku stepped forward.
"Is there a place we can sit and wait which isn't the ground?"
"Class-rep…truly looking out for us" Kirishima whispered with manly tears.
"of course! This is a summer camp you know! We had to keep places for you to relax ready so we can break you without any restraint!" Pixie-Bob said cheerfully.
Everyone ignored the comment about them being broken, instead focusing on the word RELAX.
Whoever said words have power was clearly onto something, because the very idea of comfort had the class fired up enough to pick themselves up and go where Mandalay told them.
Izuku and Momo glanced at each other and broke away from the pack, moving to introduce themselves to both of their temporary instructors.
"How polite" Mandalay commented with a chuckle while Pixie-Bob licked her lips.
"I'll be looking forward to you in your pro years she said with a smirk"
'What in the Mineta did I just hear.'
Momo stepped forward with the most diplomatic smile he had ever seen.
"Thank you. It's reassuring to hear that our instructors are looking so far into the future for all of our success."
Pixie-Bob backed down at that.
Izuku just…let that play out before moving to the kid like he hadn't just been hit on.
"Hey, I'm Midoriya Izuku. Nice to meet you!"
The kid lunged forward, his fist passing through the place where little Izuku was kept and almost falling if it wasn't for Momo catching him.
Izuku turned, eyes wide as he looked at the kid.
"…why?" he whispered, not having been hurt but still able to imagine the pain.
Momo, who had been about to reprimand the boy, was now giggling at Izuku's reaction.
The kid shrugged her off, walking away angrily.
"Why would you do that?" Izuku asked again, this time normally.
"I don't intend to hang out with guys who want to become heroes!"
"Intend?" Izuku muttered "How old is that kid?"
"I used words like that when I was around that age" Momo murmured.
"Yeah, but you had rich kid education."
.
.
"Mineta" Izuku warned for the second time "I tell Aizawa-sensei about this, and you're gonna be out of the hero course."
"Then don't tell him" Mineta hissed from his position stuck on the wall on his balls "you can't have a hot spring and not expect peepers!"
"you can if you have decent people" Katsuki growled, looming over Mineta "Haven't we already talked to you about this? You really gonna keep trying this?"
"…some walls are meant to be climbed over!"
With that, Mineta went rushing up at a speed he must have thought was fast.
His leg was in Izuku's grip in less than a second.
Izuku pulled him down, slamming him straight on the water's surface.
"…is he out cold?" Kaminari muttered after a second of pure silence.
"I'll get him fixed up" Izuku said with a slight scowl as he picked Mineta up and fixed his towel to prevent accidental reveals.
[KID'S FALLING!]
Izuku dropped Mineta in a second, jumping forward where Kota landed in his arms.
"Kota-kun!" Izuku heard Momo's yell from the other side.
"I got him!" he yelled back "I need to take one more to med, so you're gonna have to take the kid!"
"Alright!" she confirmed "come to the entrance as quickly as possible with both of them please."
.
.
"he just fainted from the fear of the fall"
"So he'll wake up on his own then" Izuku nodded "that's a relief. Would you mind keeping my classmate tied to the bed for the rest of the night though?"
Mandalay nodded "I'd heard from Eraser that there was an embodiment of lust among the boys, so I had Kota keep watch, and your teacher gave me a belt thing for specifically for when you ask"
Izuku nodded, not voicing the question in his mind.
'If you knew he was gonna perv then why not stop him instead of doing this roundabout stuff?'
"Kota sems to have a negative view of heroes, doesn't he?" Momo asked, seeing Izuku's irritation. "That's a bit unusual for someone his age…"
"That's true" the hero sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "If he'd been raised normally, then he'd probably admire heroes too."
"Mandalay's cousin-Kota's parents-were heroes" Pixie Bob said as she walked in with two glasses of water for the students "but they were killed in the line of duty"
Izuku clenched his fists, nails biting into his skin.
He closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath as he saw the memories of thatday again.
Unaware, Mandalay continued "two years ago, they died protecting citizens. It was a respectable way for a hero to die, but a child barely aware of what's around him couldn't understand that. To him, whose whole world revolved around his family…"
"He thought they abandoned him" Izuku said softly.
Mandalay nodded "but society kept praising them for it. He doesn't like us much either since we're heroes, but he's here because there's nowhere else to go. Heroes are people he can't understand, so he finds them unpleasant."
Izuku nodded, finally releasing the fist he had made.
"Thank you for telling us something so personal" Momo said as she looked at Kota's sleeping face.
"I think we should return now" Izuku said as he turned towards the door "the rest are probably done with the hot spring, and we need to figure out an arrangement for them to sleep without something crazy happening. We'll see you in the morning."
.
.
Izuku couldn't leave fast enough, holding his breath as he left the infirmary and walking a bit before stopping halfway to the sleeping area.
Beside him, Momo put one hand on his shoulder while the other pulled up the hand that had been a fist earlier.
Izuku couldn't meet her eyes, not wanting to see the disapproval that would surely be there at spotting where his nails had dug into his palm.
"Izuku" she said softly.
He met her eyes.
There was no disapproving frown or lecture. All he found was a soft and understanding smile.
She dropped his hand, pulling his head down to her shoulder.
"this doesn't really work while we're standing." He muttered.
She sighed, letting him go as they started walking again.
After a few seconds, she asked the question she must have been holding since they found out about Kota's parents.
"did the similarities… bring back dark memories?"
Izuku stopped again, looking up at the sky as he pondered the question.
"I'm not sure" he said hesitantly "a part of me remembered that day. But more than that, there was a part of me that got angry."
"angry?"
There was still no judgement, only a want to understand.
"angry at myself" he sighed "I thought I got over all of this. I thought it wouldn't affect me but…that kid isn't like how I was. He's much angrier at the world."
"As opposed to…?"
Izuku turned to her with a raised eyebrow. She'd seen how he'd become withdrawn and quiet, only pulled out of his shell by Katsuki and the rest of his friends.
"I just got really sad, right?" he asked, partially to himself.
"You were angry too" she shook her head "you had this insane idea that somehow you could have done something."
"I still kinda do" he sighed as he scratched his head "I've gone over that situation thousands of times in my head, and there's just so many things that could have gone differently"
"If you keep focusing on what could have been, you won't be able to focus on what is" Momo said "the important part is that you were able to move past the anger."
Izuku nodded silently.
"I need to figure out what I did" he muttered "if I can, then maybe I can help the kid move on too."
Momo smiled.
"If anyone can do it, you can"
.
.
"The main thing you have to focus on is how it feels" Vlad King said as he and Izuku stood nearby while the rest of classes A and B worked on their quirks "making things is pretty straightforward for me since blood is a physical thing, but you have to focus on visualization."
Izuku nodded.
"it's just an idea I had, I'm not even sure if it'll work, but could you try and make something solid please?"
Vlad smiled at Izuku.
"Turning ideas into reality is what a hero is all about kid." With that, he pulled blood out of his glove that solidified into a staff.
"what does it feel like when you pull the blood out? And what did you visualize?"
Vlad-sensei hummed in thought for a second before responding.
"Feels like a slight pull, like how you might feel when your blood gets taken from a syringe. As for visualization, I don't need it anymore since it's instinctual. When I started out though, I'd imagine a plastic water bottle with a hole made in the cap with a needle. Then I'd just squeeze the bottle until enough water came out for me to use."
Izuku nodded as he wrote in his notebook so fast the tip of the pen was smoking.
"the downside of that was that I'd sometimes pull out too much or too less blood, leading to situations where I'd have to ditch the weapon and go hand-to-hand during my school days."
Izuku nodded as he finally finished writing.
"what about durability? Your weapons are much more durable than I'd assume since they're made of a solidified liquid."
His temp teacher nodded again.
"Yes, that was a problem initially too. It'd turn back into liquid after one hit, so I layered my weapons. Think of 3D printing. Rather than just filling a set Mold, the weapons I make are made layer by layer, so they can easily take and dish out hits."
Izuku nodded, and Vlad-sensei moved away.
"I'll check up on my class now. Find me if you need anything else."
With that, he left.
'The plastic bottle isn't a bad image to have' sixth said out of nowhere, slightly scaring Izuku.
'Oy Choso-kun, don't just start speaking like that. Midoriya-kun's gonna freak out.' Third said.
'Third? And Sixth?'
'yep'
'Yes. I felt you drawing on my power to attempt this new move, so I decided to make myself known.'
'We're not gonna get in your way kid. Just give pointers if you need em and compliments when ya figure it out.'
Izuku couldn't see Shanks, but he could somehow hear the grin.
After a second, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He clapped his hands together in the way he normally would to use Sixth's [BLOOD MANIPULATION], but didn't release the pressurized ball of light like he normally would for [PIERCING LIGHT].
He focused on the ball, trying to stretch it.
It did budge a little, edges on each side of his hand following the hands as they slowly moved apart, going from a dot in the air to something that resembled an egg before it stopped there.
'That must be its stretching limit' Izuku mused as he put his hands together again 'Maybe if I stuff more light into the ball, I can stretch it more.'
He tried the same, but it resulted in the same egg-like shape. Granted, the egg was glowing brighter and clearly had more energy inside it, but it wasn't what Izuku needed.
With a sigh he dispelled it before starting again, pulling his hands apart slowly.
This went on for hours, him trying to stuff the ball with energy and trying to stretch it, only to result in a glowing egg.
'Ninth.'
Izuku didn't even flinch this time, expecting one of the past wielders to pop up and give suggestions now that it was clear he was at a roadblock.
'it seems because of the difference between our body types, making constructs will require a different approach' Choso (the sixth user) continued. 'You will need to apply an approach different from mine or your teacher.'
Izuku nodded. 'Any suggestions?'
'My younger brother was a brawler type of fighter. He would layer stacks upon stacks of stacks of blood on his fists to enhance punches. Could that help?'
'I already heard about layering from Vlad sensei. I should work on that after I learn how to make the weaker form, no?'
'Not necessarily. Like he said about 3D printing, perhaps rather than stretching you should pile layers on top of each other.'
'Got it. I'll try that.'
He felt sixth's presence fade, and looked back at the floating dot with a sigh.
'Back to work I guess.'
.
.
'I FINALLY DID IT!' Izuku screamed in his mind as he held…a stick made of light in his hands.
'Nice job kid!'
'Good work, ninth.'
'That was quick.'
Izuku blinked. He didn't recognize this new voice.
'Um, hi?'
'Yo.'
...seriously?
'I believe you are yet to introduce yourself, fifth.'
'Ah, my bad! No wonder the kid was confused.'
Izuku chuckled as he sat down on the ground for a quick break.
'I'm Daigoro Banjo. I was the fifth user of one for all, and my quirk is Blackwhip. Seventh's wanted to meet you since third managed to contact you, but I guess I got moved up first huh?'
Izuku raised his hand.
'…this ain't class kid.'
'Right. My bad. Some of you guys can't talk to me?'
'Your body's still adjusting to the new abilities kid. These two had a stronger connection since you manifested their quirks, so they could talk willy nilly. I guess my voice reaching means that either you're about to manifest my quirk, or the connection with one for all itself is strong enough for us vestiges to be able to talk to you one by one.'
Izuku nodded as he finished writing in his notebook.
'So eventually, I'll be able to talk to all of you?'
'Yeah. Shouldn't take that long. I'll go back now, and take these two with me. Don't worry about, we can't see what you're normally doing unless you use your quirk, so don't worry about privacy.'
Izuku had the distinct feeling the guy was wiggling his eyebrows, and then all three of their presences vanished.
He sighed, before standing back up.
He clasped his hands, making the glowing egg before piling layers at the left side until it was basically a stick in his hands.
A little bit of shaping later, he held a katana replica made of light in his hands.
Idly twirling it, he started whacking at a nearby tree.
'Guess life's gonna get that much more interesting then.'