Daily Meme
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This chapter is the prelude to the arc of the second My Hero Academia movie, Heroes: Rising. You can find the summary in the Auxiliary Chapter.
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The cold seeped into my bones as I dropped onto the rooftop, arms behind my head, eyes stuck on the sky. The concrete was rough, but meh. Moon was bright, stupidly big, too white. It looked like someone microwaved a pancake until it glowed and forgot to hit cancel.
It was one of those rare winter nights where the sky actually gave a damn... no clouds, no pollution swirl, just a flat open window to space. Quiet too, like the world decided to pause for a bit. Even the city down below had the decency to shut up for once.
I could hear the wind sneaking around corners, brushing across the buildings like it was trying not to wake anyone up. I didn't mind the cold, and I damn sure didn't mind the quiet.
"Cozy up here, are we?"
Nezu's voice dropped behind me like a warning message on the news. I flinched, like I heard a monster sneaked up on me. Because it did.
"I was until the rat infestation started," I said, still not moving. He was always like that... no footsteps, no breathing, just poof, surprise principal.
He scuttled over and plopped down next to me.
"I prefer 'mammalian executive genius,' but to each their own."
I rolled my eyes, "You prefer a lot of things. Doesn't mean you get em."
He didn't rise to it, just smiled, letting silence fill. He liked doing that. Like he thought I would spill something if he just stayed quiet long enough. Joke was on him. I was excellent at saying nothing.
"Nice moon," he finally said.
"Thanks. I made it myself."
He gave a tiny snort. I kept watching the sky.
"Don't suppose you came up here to discuss the moon."
"I did not." He tilted his head like he was trying to figure out if I was about to cause him a heart attack or just mild property damage.
He pointed somewhere past the dorm towers, dunno, north, south, not good with directions. "I decided to send you on a vacation before the next internship starts."
I glared at him. "What now? You are doing something nice? Could've fooled me."
"You make it sound like I ordered a hit on your relaxation," he said.
"You kinda did. You show up with your cryptic 'I did not shit on the carpet' stare, and now you are handing me a tropical brochure?"
"Would you believe it is not a trap?"
"No."
He scratched his ear. "Fair enough."
I sat up, brushing dust off my back. "Where?"
"Sorashima. Close to Nabu."
I blinked. "You are sending the class to the ass-end of nowhere because...?"
"Because you've all been burned out. And because if I let Midnight run the retreat alone, she will turn it into a swimsuit photoshoot for the school newsletter."
"...You say that like it is a bad thing."
He gave me a sideways look. "Midnight picked the itinerary. Do not make me regret it."
"Too late."
He clicked his claws together like that settled it. "Pack swimwear. Bus leaves in two days."
"And what? We just lounge around while Endeavor screams into a fire somewhere?"
"You are provisional heroes. You will help with locals, patrol, drills. Low-pressure work. Sorashima is barely populated."
I stared. "So basically free labor in tropical cosplay."
"If you want to call it that."
"You paying us?"
"I am giving you beach days and plausible deniability."
"Tch."
He stood, dusted his suit, then glanced at the moon.
"You will like it. Quiet, no villain activity, isolated but pretty. Perfect for mischief."
"That was... alarmingly specific."
"Goodnight, Ryuu."
He dropped off the rooftop like a man who said everything he needed to say and didn't want follow-ups.
Two days later I was crammed into a bus full of half-awake teenagers, a backpack jammed between my knees and an elbow from Kaminari slowly creeping into my ribs from the neighboring seats. His earphones were blasting something with too much bass and not enough brain cells.
"Bro," he whispered loudly, which defeated the point, "please tell me you brought extra sunscreen. My quirk cooks me like chicken if I tan too fast."
"You say that like I am your skincare dealer."
"You are, bro. You are my skincare sugar daddy."
I stared, "Call me that again and I am swapping your sunscreen with lube."
Nejire beamed up, "Kinky!"
Mina leaned over the seat behind us, already in her beach shirt and oversized sunglasses, even though we were still two hours from docking.
"Don't give him ideas," she said. "Next he will ask you to lather it on for him."
"I would let him," Kaminari said.
Tsuyu thwacked him with a rolled-up pamphlet. "You would let a vacuum cleaner if it hummed sweetly."
He held up his hands in surrender. "I like attention, sue me."
Nejire was just front, leaning out the window like a golden retriever. Every time the road curved toward the coast, she would yell, "Ocean!" like it was a new discovery.
Beside her, Yaoyorozu was doing a headcount with the kind of energy you would expect from someone managing a daycare full of over-caffeinated raccoons.
Shoji sat near the back, arms folded, clearly regretting everything. Iida tried to hand out safety checklists. He got ignored in record time.
Mom was sitting next to me, Eri in my lap, hands clapping against my jacket.
"I never been to beach," she said, wide-eyed, all innocent.
Mom turned her head like a turret and shot me a look that said 'This is your fault' with the heat of a thousand kettles. I didn't even argue. It was my fault. Should have taken her earlier. Probably should have taken her lots of places. Zoo, aquarium, literally anywhere that wasn't my room or recovery girl's office.
"Next time we are going to a place with penguins," I muttered.
Eri gasped like I had just revealed the secrets of the universe. "Penguins?!"
"Yup. They wear tuxedos. Very fancy."
She made a high-pitched ooooh sound, then leaned forward to whisper, "Do they talk?"
"Only if you know the secret penguin handshake."
"I wanna learn it!"
Mom rubbed her temples like the headache was setting in early. "She is going to believe that, you know."
"Good. Keeps the magic alive."
Behind us, Mina was already standing up despite the moving bus, one hand gripping the luggage rack, the other trying to tug off her shirt. "Hey, is it weird if I already have my swimsuit under this?"
"No, it's expected," Kaminari said, nodding like a scholar. "You are the pink beach demon."
Toru reached over and pulled her back into her seat before she faceplanted into the aisle. "Sit down before Aizawa astral-projects here to kill you."
"Worth it," she grinned, then pointed two fingers at me and Eri like she was about to start something. "And you... I expect sandcastles. Big ones. Multi-tower. Maybe with working drawbridges."
Eri lit up. "Can we?"
I gave a nod. "Only if the beach survives after I am done with Kaminari."
"I accept this challenge," Kaminari said, already pulling a pair of ridiculous pineapple-patterned trunks out of his bag. "Behold. Peak summer vibes."
Iida glanced over from the front like he sensed a disturbance in the Force. "You are not changing on the bus, are you?"
"Relax, hall monitor," Kaminari said, "my vibe is still tucked in."
"That sentence should be illegal," Sero muttered.
Uraraka leaned over with a bag of seaweed snacks. "We are not even there yet and I feel like we are already on damage control."
"Damage control is beach tradition," I said, cracking a piece in half and handing it to Eri. "Just wait till someone loses their swim trunks."
Mineta, from somewhere near the front, perked up like a goblin who heard the words 'trunks and losing.' "Is there going to be a wardrobe malfunction?!"
Sato's hand casually covered his entire face like a closing shutter. "No."
"Not unless you are planning on dying," Tsuyu added.
Nejire spun in her seat and pointed back at me with a grin. "You are not allowed to tan too much! You will ruin the aesthetic!"
"Which aesthetic is that?" I asked.
She tilted her head. "Chaos."
Momo finally got everyone's attention with a notepad and an actual mini bullhorn she pulled from nowhere. "Okay! We got assignments, patrol pairings, meal rotations, and beach activity schedules!"
Everyone groaned like she just canceled summer.
"You are all provisional heroes," she said. "We are here to help the islanders too, not just lounge!"
Kirishima fist-pumped. "Manly duty accepted!"
Bakugo made a noise like he was about to explode just hearing that. "You say manly one more time, I am gonna bury you in the sand."
"Do it," Tokoyoami said. "He will just flex his way out."
"Damn right I will."
Yaoyorozu passed me a laminated schedule. I held it up like it was written in ancient runes. "So we have to build shelters, organize emergency drills, and help repair wind barriers... and then beach volleyball?"
"Weare helping," she said. "And then we are playing."
Eri tugged at my sleeve. "Can I help too?"
I nodded. "You are in charge of moral support."
"What is that?"
"You cheer us on and eat snacks."
"Okay!"
We arrived at Osaka Station like a clown car lost a bet and multiplied. Kids everywhere, bags slapping into legs, Iida trying to manage all of us like a glorified traffic cone. We were the chaos parade.
Class 1-B stood around like they weren't sure if they were on a field trip or about to get drafted. Kendo waved at me, I gave her a nod. Tetsutetsu had two giant duffel bags like he was moving in. Setsuna was already taking selfies with Mina, Hatsume popped out from behind a vending machine, goggles on, hands black from grease, holding up a half-assembled speaker like it was a trophy.
"Found the ship's sound system!" she shouted.
Monoma raised an eyebrow. "Was it lost?"
"No. But now it is better. I built this with spare parts."
Bakugo and Izuku were at it before we even got to the terminal gates. It started with shoving, turned into passive-aggressive walking speed contests, then escalated into an accidental quirk spark that singed someone's sleeve. I ignored them as long as I could, but when a vendor tripped over Izuku's foot and sent an entire box of steamed buns into the air like a meat-based confetti cannon, I cracked. After catching all the buns and handing them back to vendor of course.
"Both of you... shut up, sit down, or I will personally launch you off the dock with zero trajectory planning."
They stopped.
Bakugo muttered something that sounded like "damn nerd," and Izuku did his usual apology stammer, so I pretended I didn't hear either. Midnight showed up right then, rolling her suitcase with exactly one wheel functioning. She took one look at the mess and sighed like this was already too much.
"Don't worry, kids," she said, "no cameras this time. Except mine."
Kaminari perked up. "What kind of cameras?"
She smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know."
I would not. That sounded like a legally actionable mystery.
Mineta's head twisted around like he was trying to spot the lens.
"Down, goblin," Jiro said, nudging him back with a boot.
The ship was massive. Way bigger than what we needed. Probably because Nezu was compensating for something, or maybe just wanted to mess with us. Boarding took forever. We loaded equipment, meal prep boxes, personal bags, camping gear, two inflatable slides (why), and someone's karaoke machine. I refused to ask whose. I had guesses.
I caught Todoroki staring at the ocean like he was trying to freeze it with his eyes. Sato and Tokoyami were setting up hammocks in the shade deck like they planned to sleep through the whole thing. Mina was dragging a cooler labeled Emergency Smoothies. Ojiro, bless his predictable soul, was stretching on the main deck like this was gym class.
I watched him stretch and wondered how long it would take before someone fell overboard. My money was on Kaminari. Or me. I was about to jump.
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Mineta stoo in front of the crowd, shaking like a perv he was.
"Ever notice how some people read 155 chapters and still don't vote?"
crowd groans
"Like, what are you, emotionally constipated?!"
laughter
"You scroll harder than I simp."
laughter
"Even my rejection arc had more closure!"
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