The day had finally come. Class 1-A gathered together in our school uniforms a few minutes before our bus was supposed to arrive. Momo, Jirou, and I watched as our classmates danced around, chanting "camp!" over and over until they grew tired.
I didn't know it until then, but Class 1-B would be going too, though their bus was different than ours. When the buses arrived, we guys let all the girls get on first. Meanwhile, Mineta watched, trembling and frothing at the mouth as he bit down on his wrist. Saliva dripped from his arm and formed a pool on the ground, right between his shivering legs.
"Dude, what is wrong with you?" Kirishima asked him, but Mineta was in his own little world and didn't hear him.
I ended up sitting next to Todoroki since Jirou took my seat next to Momo, and Iida was already sitting next to Midoriya. Besides, he and I didn't really get the chance to talk much at Universal, so I figured now would be my best chance.
As the bus traversed through the wilderness and the rest of our classmates began to settle down, I looked over at Todoroki, who was glaring out the window, seemingly lost in thought.
"How has your summer been so far?" I asked him. He didn't turn to me; he just kept looking out the window.
"It's been fine. I've mostly been training and visiting my mother in the hospital when I have the chance."
"Oh, is she alright?" I asked.
"She's... Getting better," he told me. I didn't want to pry, so I left it at that. There was an awkward pause for a moment; I wasn't really sure where to take the conversation. To my surprise, Todoroki was the one to change the subject.
"Your Quirk. You have two of them, don't you? Your spider Quirk and your electric Quirk."
"Yeah, I think it counts as two. We're sort of the same in that respect, huh?" I told him.
"Exactly, so I've been wondering something. Is one of your parents a spider?"
"Huh!?" I was dumbfounded, but Todoroki was dead serious.
"Well," he said, turning toward me. "My mother is where my ice half comes from, and my father is where my fire half comes from, so I figured something similar must've happened to you."
"No, dude," I shook my head. "My dad had a radio wave Quirk, which might explain the electricity somehow. My mom, though, is Quirkless. And is definitely not a spider. Just a Puerto Rican woman."
"I see... My bad, then," he said.
"Oh, no worries. I mean, I'm sure there's probably some spider ladies out there somewhere."
Todoroki blew a puff of air from his nostrils, fogging the glass a bit. "Maybe so. I have another question, though. Why is your electricity changing colors all of a sudden? What's that about? Is it some sort of upgrade like in those old anime our great grandparents used to watch?"
"You sure are nosy about my Quirk..." I told him.
"I like to know what my rivals are up to. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'll see for myself anyway."
"Well," I paused. "It's less that I don't want to tell you and more that I can't. You know the situation you were in with Stain and how your father 'saved' you all? Let's just say that I found myself in a similar situation."
Todoroki looked at me. That look told me all that I needed to know. Just like how the truth of what happened with the Sinister Six was covered up, the Stain situation was similarly changed to fit whatever agendas UA wanted to keep.
"I see," he told me. "So this was done to you?"
"Yeah. And I still don't know the effects, yet. I've been a little scared to push it too far. I'm hoping at camp, I can actually learn more about it now that all the teachers will be around in case anything bad happens."
"You're a smart guy, I'm sure you'll figure it out." Todoroki went back to gazing outside his window. That might've been the first time the dude has complimented me; it meant a lot coming from him, and he was right.
About half an hour later, the bus pulled over atop a hill overlooking the campground. We all got out of the bus to stretch our legs; however, Aizawa had other plans.
"This is our stop," he said.
"Wait, what? But I need to pee!" Mineta squeeled.
At the same time, a car pulled up and two girls hopped out, each wearing matching idol-esque dresses with big kitten mits over their hands. The one in red had short, brown hair, while the one in blue had long, blonde hair that went past her shoulders. The two of them hit a little jig before posing like magical girls and introducing themselves to us.
"We are the Wild Wild Pussycats!"
Everyone, outside of Aoyama, who probably thought their poses were cool, stared at them blankly. A small child approached them from behind, wearing a red baseball cap. I could tell by the way he looked at us that he had some sort of attitude. I chopped it up to him, probably being annoyed with the two cat ladies.
"They are who you will be working with at camp," said Aizawa. "They're pro heroes."
"Wait, I know them!" Midoriya exclaimed. "They're a team of four who specialize in mountain rescues! Aw, man! They've been around forever, like since we were kids! I think this year marks-"
Before Midoriya could finish, the blonde-haired one stuffed his mouth with her paw. She picked him up, his feet dangling, and said, "I am eighteen at heart," very coldly.
What the hell are we about to get into, man? I thought.
"Anywho," said the brown-haired one. "See the base of the mountain over there?" She pointed a few miles North of where we were standing. "That's where you'll be staying."
"And we're supposed to descend the mountain, aren't we?" I asked.
"Wow, Aizawa, this one's smart..." said the brown-haired cat. "It's nine o'clock. So if you're fast enough, maybe you can make it back before noon. And if you don't make it back before 12:30, then there's no lunch for you!" A devious smirk started to form, and I noticed her tail begin to wag.
Everyone started making a break for the bus, but it was too late. The blonde one placed her paws on the ground and caused the mountain to collapse. "Training camp has begun," I heard Aizawa say as we students plummeted down the crumbling mountain.
Luckily, we all landed on the ground level safely. Once the dust cleared, we could hear the brown-haired one yelling from where the bus was parked. "You have three hours! Though the Beast's Forest might slow you down! Bye!"
Mineta was the first to run into the forest, holding his crotch as he yelled something about wanting to find a place to pee. However, before he got too far, the 'Beast' showed itself. It was the hulking humuncoulous with claws and fangs, walking on all fours like a gorilla. If Mineta did have to pee, I'm sure he pissed himself as that monster towered over him.
Kouda started pleading with the monster to stop, but despite having the ability to control animals, the monster ignored him.
That means this must be some sort of artificial monster, probably the result of a Quirk...
The monster raised its hand, ready to turn Mineta into actual grape juice.
"Thank God..." I whispered.
"Morales!?" Midoriya scolded me before dashing into the forest, snatching Mineta before the monster could stomp him out. The monster's fist hit the ground, obliterating the ground and creating a crater that was almost Mineta's grave.
"I was just kidding... I wasn't gonna let him die... Probably." I muttered before running at the monster with my fist reeled back. My body began to emit gold and blue electricity before I fired off an electric beam, just like I did against the Sinister Six. The wave of energy blasted a hole through the monster's chest, causing it to stumble backward. Todoroki then froze its legs while Midoriya hit the monster in the head with a powerful uppercut, blowing off its head. Then, Iida and Bakugo finished it off with attacks of their own, reducing it to dirt. This only confirmed my theory: one of those cats must've been controlling it with her Quirk.
"Great work, everyone," said Yaoyorozu.
Meanwhile, I could hear Mineta mumbling to himself.
"I think I peed myself..."
For the next eight hours, we blasted through dragons, dinosaurs, and other mud monsters until we finally made it to camp. The sun was setting as we limped toward Aizawa and the others. Everyone had given everything they had, and I mean everything. I couldn't even shoot webs anymore, and my electricity was starting to hurt my skin.
Midoriya tried to introduce himself to the kid who was following the cat girls around. Apparently, he was Mandalay's, the brown haired one, little cousin. The child of her cousin, to be exact. When Midoriya walked up to the kid, he punched him in the balls as hard as he could.
"The last thing I want is to be around some wannabe heroes," the child said.
Bakugo laughed. "I like this kid."
"I bet you do..." I said.
"He's just a mini version of you," Todoroki said.
"Huh!? I'll blast both of you, shut the hell up!"
"We all know you don't have the energy for that right now..."
He didn't admit it, but I was right. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't even produce a single blast with his Quirk in that state.
Luckily, we were still allowed to eat dinner after we unpacked our bags. The cats prepared us a feast with anything you could think of. Beef, chicken, rice, pork, veggies, fruits, sushi, fried fish, dumplings, steak, potatoes... It was wonderful. And it was the last meal they'd cook for us at the camp. Cooking would be our responsibility from then on.
After dinner, we all took a dip in the hot springs. There was a wall dividing the boys and the girls, but that didn't stop Mineta from acting like the little freak he is at just the sound of the girls splashing around on the other side.
"The food was nice... But I'm still hungry for something else..." Mineta whispered to himself as he stared at the wall dividing us. He started rubbing himself on the wall, saying something about heaven being on the other side. I wasn't paying too much attention to him since the wall was thick and there wasn't any way he could blast a hole through it.
"Bathe, my angels..." This could not be ignored; the other boys started looking at him as he described what was on the other side.
"How naive of our teachers... Allowing us to bathe simultaneously... They're all probably pressing their naked bodies together as we speak..." Mineta shuddered. His vivid description of his fantasy stunned us all. A couple of the guys were blushing as they imagined it; hell, even I couldn't help but get a glimpse in my mind of what that might look like. We were teenage boys, after all. However, there is a limit to this sort of thing, a boundary that should never be crossed, and he was about to pass that threshold.
"Mineta! Stop this at once!" Iida said, arguably the only guy who probably didn't even picture a single woman in his head that night. Mineta ignored him; I don't think he could even hear him. He was too busy talking to himself.
"Now I know why I have this Quirk... It's because walls are meant to be climbed!"
Mineta started pulling the balls from his head, using them to climb the wall. Iida ran over to him, trying to pull him down, but it was too late. Mineta kept climbing, mumbling about training and plus ultra. He would've made it to the top, too, if I hadn't been there.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop being a predator, you little shit!" I fired a web at his back, just before he'd reached the top. I then yanked him backward, slamming him onto the concrete, only holding back enough not to kill or seriously injure him. I wanted him to be hurt enough that he would feel it tomorrow, or maybe even the rest of the week. Maybe he'd think twice before acting out like this again. I'd been waiting to hit him real hard since I first met him, but I didn't have a good excuse yet; however, there was no way I'd get in trouble for preventing literal sexual harassment.
Mineta's head balls protected his skull from any serious injuries. His back was all scratched up, though. Tears were streaming down his face, but I could tell that he was really trying hard not to start weeping.
"Mineta, are you alright?" Midoriya asked. He and Iida were the only ones to check up on him.
"Morales, what is your problem!?" Iida scolded me.
"Was I supposed to just let him do that to our classmates?"
"No, but you didn't have to hit him so hard."
"I didn't hit him; the ground did. Blame gravity."
"As your class rep-"
"I don't give a damn if you're my class rep, Iida. Before anything, we're classmates. Friends. Who would I be to let my friends, the girls in our class, continue to be harassed by this freak! What is wrong with you guys!? Were you seriously going to just sit around and let that happen? And you call yourself heroes. I bet some of you probably would've done the same in his shoes, huh, Kaminari!?"
"Hey, man, relax. I mean, yeah, I act a little dirty-minded sometimes, but I wouldn't go that far. Besides, with my Quirk, it's not like I could've stopped him. I'd fry everyone."
"You encourage him! That's almost as bad! What about the rest of you? What excuses do you have? Doing nothing isn't much better. Todoroki!? Midoriya!? Bakugo!? You want to lead the class when it comes to showing off how strong you are, but when it comes to defending our classmates, you're quiet! You wanna be heroes? Then act like it! A hero doesn't stand by when they know someone is about to do something bad. They step in. They circumvent it. I am sick of you guys letting this go on. And don't get me started with Aizawa. He knew Mineta was in the class, yet he still permitted boys and girls to bathe simultaneously. What a joke."
I got out of the water and left the hot spring, taking one last look at Mineta before I left. He and I made eye contact briefly before I rounded the corner.
I eventually put on some clothes and climbed onto the roof of the main building to cool off. I went a little crazy on my classmates back then, and I wish that I had handled things differently, but I still stood by everything I said.
I was listening to some music with my earbuds, gazing up at the concoction of violets and blues filling the night sky. My music was so loud that I couldn't even hear the person sneaking up on me. When they touched my shoulder, I jumped and nearly dropped my phone off the building. When I turned to see who it was, I was shocked to see that it was Jirou in her skull PJs.
"Sorry! I thought with that Spider-Sense thingy, you'd know I was there," she said.
"It only works on threats... My body and mind know you wouldn't try to hurt me." I told her, catching my breath. "I didn't even know there was a way up here. Unless you can climb walls, too."
"No, I took the stairs. I could hear your heartbeat thanks to my Quirk so it wasn't hard to find you. You're still pretty mad, huh?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I guess word spread."
"Well, I heard everything as it was happening with my Quirk."
"Oh... Really? How much of it?" That was sort of embarrassing to hear. I wasn't doing it for any sort of recognition. It's why I waited to let him really have it when it was just the guys around. I thought it would seem a lot less performative that way.
"Well, I was listening the whole time to make sure that Mineta wasn't planning anything. I wasn't really eavesdropping or anything, just listening for him, really."
"I see. Why aren't you with the others?"
"Because I wanted to say thank you. On behalf of me and the other girls. You know, we tried talking to the faculty about him, but they don't really care. They just keep telling us 'boys will be boys'."
"I didn't know that..." I told her. It was even worse than I thought.
"Yeah... So really, you're the first person to do anything about him. Luckily, after you left, Iida and the other guys started to scold him for what he'd done. Iida especially let him have it. It's safe to say your little speech was effective, just not right away."
"That's good then. I'm glad."
"So, what're you doing up here?" she asked me, sitting beside me. I guess I didn't mind the company.
"Just listening to some music and watching the sky, I guess."
"What're you listening to?" she asked.
I answered by giving her one of my earbuds, she lay back next to me and looked at the sky as well.
"Isn't this that really old band. Rage Against the Machine?" she asked.
"Yup," I told her. "I listen to music like this when I'm trying to cool off."
Noticing how comfortable she'd gotten, I asked her, "You're not going to go back to the girls?"
"Nah, I don't really do the whole hot springs thing. I start comparing myself to the other girls, and then I start feeling a little insecure."
"Really? You shouldn't be. I think you're perfect how you are," I told her.
"Y- you think so?" she stammered. It was then that I realized that it sounded as though I was flirting with her.
"Platonically!" I blurted out. "Not that I don't think you're attractive because you're very pretty and I would be an idiot to think otherwise but I don't want you to think that I'm trying to make a move on you or anything especially after what just happened with Mineta because that would be kinda tone deaf!" I said all of those words in a single breath.
Jirou laughed at me. "Of course. Besides, you and Yaoyorozu are already a thing, right?"
"Well, I don't know about that one," I confessed. "We've hung out before and we study together, but I'm not sure if those count as dates. I don't really do anything that I don't do with the guys. We're just friends."
"Right, so you swing your other friends around the city?"
"Oh, she told you about that?" I asked, she nodded. "Well, maybe if they asked nicely."
"Swing me around sometime, then," she told me. She definitely wasn't asking either. I'm not sure she'd take no for an answer.
"When we're back in the city, sure. It's kinda hard to swing using the trees, they're too low to the ground."
"You'd better keep that promise," she scolded me, punching me gently.
"I will, I swear."
We silently listened to the rest of the song as we watched a cloud pass over the moon. When the song stopped, Jirou looked at me for a moment.
"Hey, Morales?"
"What's up?"
"Do you like Yaoyorozu?"
I hesitated for a second before answering, "Well, yeah. We're friends."
"That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking, do you like her?"
I looked at her, and she was oddly serious. This wasn't just a question, but an interrogation.
"I don't know," I told her. I'm not sure why I gave her that answer. Would I be wrong to say that part of me wanted to say no to see how she would respond? Maybe that's why I chose that answer. I wanted to see what she would say.
"I see. Well, I know something," she told me.
"What?"
I thought she was going to spill the beans and tell me that Momo had feelings for me. They were friends, after all.
"I like you."