Chương 68: Welcome to Camp
The Pussycats don't elaborate on Aizawa's explanation. Rather, one of them slaps her hands (paws?) on the ground, and the earth heaves. Rubble rises with the dirt sweeping the twenty students into the forest.
The daylight disappears as they fall under the canopy of leaves. The visibility isn't the best, and the terrain is fucking terrible. Large tree roots break up the earth, so finding easy footing on the ground is nearly impossible. Some of the students choose to travel along the thick branches of the trees instead.
The forest alone would present enough of a challenge, but that's not all they have to deal with. Aizawa mentioned animals. And just as Katsuki remembers that, a roar rumbles through the trees.
He curses. What a fucking pain.
He has half a mind to dash ahead with Izuku and leave the rest of the class behind, but Izuku has no such intentions. He communicates this with a glare before Katsuki can even open his mouth to make the suggestion.
Well shit.
Katsuki takes position in the vanguard of the group. His quirk is one of the best for attacking.
Behind him, Izuku calls out, "Kacchan can you hold the–er–whatever it is away for a second? I have a strategy."
He raises a hand in acknowledgement and waves him off. It's not surprising that Izuku has a strategy, but he is a little surprised that the class listens. Or most of their class plus the purple boy. Todoroki separates from the rest of the group, and he lands next to Katsuki with a thud.
"Fire is bad for a forest," half-and-half says.
It occurs to Katsuki that these are among the first words Todoroki has said to him. "Yeah, no shit," he replies.
A beast comes into view, looking like it was roughly hewn from boulders, and that's where their conversation stops. He isn't that familiar with Todoroki's attack style, but it's different enough from his that at least they don't run into each other. It takes less than a minute to put down the first attacker.
The rest of 1-A spring into action. Izuku lands a step behind them. "You two can just keep attacking, the rest of us will follow."
Katsuki glances behind him, and sees the class organized to make better use of their quirks. Sero and Tsuyu are both high in the branches, as lookouts. Koda has some of the friendlier animals gathering around him. Izuku taps him on the shoulder.
"Don't get too far ahead," he says.
"Well, don't fall behind," Katsuki says. "This might take awhile," he adds, remembering the grueling hours fighting golems before. "Tell the others to reserve stamina."
Izuku leaves again with a nod.
The strategy isn't perfect, and this is the first time they've even tried to work together as a group, but it goes fairly smoothly. Kaminari doesn't short himself out until the destination is in sight (very far in the distance, but still). THe rest of them have to take turns dragging him in the right direction. Once or twice he wheeee wheeees his way into a tree, and Katsuki nearly takes an earthy fist to the face because he's too busy trying not to laugh.
As they make their way through a seemingly endless forest. The afternoon drags on, and the light filtering through the leaves begins to dim. Katsuki's arms are sore from the excessive use of his quirk, and his palms are dry. The skin feels like it's about to crack. With the summer heat, at least, he has no shortage of fuel for his explosions. But it also means that he's getting dehydrated.
They're all panting and covered in sweat by the time they reach the clearing, but they make it in a little over seven hours.
The Pussycats and their homeroom teacher are all waiting for them. Aizawa mutters something that sounds like, took you long enough, but he can't be sure. The Pussycats make a proper introduction this time: Mandalay, Pixie-bob, Tiger, and Ragdoll. There's a kid hanging around in the background, too. Izuku asks about the kid, and Mandalay explains that he's her nephew.
Izuku turns to the boy, offering his hand. "Hello, Kouta, it's nice to meet–"
Quick as a flash, the boy attempts to punch him. Izuku partially dodges and the blow catches him in the side.
"I don't need a bunch of corny heroes," Kouta says, and walks away.
Katsuki makes his way to Izuku's side. As he goes, he tries to remember what happened to the Pussycats–if they made it to that last battle or not. They don't appear in any of his memories from that day, and he doesn't know if that's good or bad. He doesn't remember their deaths, but he doesn't remember their survival either.
He pushes those thoughts from his head. What matters is that they're still alive in this timeline. No villains have arrived to infiltrate the training camp. All Might is still the number one hero.
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