Loading up onto the bus was a rather subdued affair.
It wasn't a lack of excitement or anticipation that had his normally rowdy classmates so quiet, though. He could feel the lively emotions running through all of them. Ready for the summer camp that they still thought was a reward.
No, the reason for their hushed voices and subdued excitement was quite obvious in the sleeping form of Iona bundled up in Izuku's arms. They'd had to wake up earlier than normal to meet the rest of the class at Yueii, and so Iona was catching up on her sleep. His classmates either liked her enough or feared him enough not to disturb her. He wasn't exactly sure which it was—though he suspected a bit of both—but it didn't matter so long as Iona got to sleep.
"Are you sure about this?" Eraser asked, next to him. Izuku noted with a hint of satisfaction that his voice was hushed too, despite his objecting to Iona's presence. "This isn't a family vacation, we're supposed to be-."
"Oh hush, Eraser." Nezu cut in from the man's shoulder. "We weren't expecting Etsumi to participate as a student anyway, so it's fine. Besides, the Pussycats already have a child living with them. The presence of another won't make any difference."
As Nezu spoke, all of his attention was focused on Iona. The rodent's excitement and pure joy was palpable even without 'Observation,' and even through his animalistic features, as was the undercurrent of anxiety. It was equal parts amusing and endearing to see one of the most formidable intellects on the planet brought to a standstill by a single little girl. Granted, this was the greatest little girl on the planet—though Izuku would admit he was hopelessly biased with that determination—and said greatest intellect had been named honorary family to her. One look at Nezu told Izuku that the rodent would do anything for her, and that suited him just fine.
He leaned in, lifting Iona a little closer, and Nezu's emotions surged just a bit. He crouched, carefully balanced on Eraser's shoulder, and leaned for a closer look. After a moment he reached a paw out and gently, carefully, placed it on Iona's head.
The excitement-joy-anxiety mixture gave way to fascination, and the warm-soft-heart-clenching feeling Izuku associated with seeing something adorable, the same feeling he was getting from a few of his classmates watching discreetly from the bus.
He stayed like that for over a minute, until Eraser decided he'd had enough.
He cleared his throat. "Nezu, the students have finished loading up. We need to leave if we want to arrive on time."
Nezu startled, then shook his head. "Right." He stood up. "Yes, of course."
He grabbed the end of Eraser's capture weapon and rappelled down the man's side. "Best of luck to all of you." He looked at Izuku. "I look forward to seeing the results."
Izuku smirked and nodded at him, before turning to follow Eraser, who was already heading for the bus. Nezu had finally confirmed to him not long ago that this so called "reward" for his classmates' performance during the exams was, in fact, an opportunity to force them to undergo further training. Following the revelation, the two of them had worked together to develop training regiments for everyone. Regiments that, with Nezu's input, tickled at some of Izuku's sadistic tendencies that so rarely saw light when he wasn't Oni.
Loading himself up onto the back of the bus, into the space specially arranged for him, he found Ochako in the seat directly in front of him, waving her phone at him with a conspiratorial grin on her face. Izuku's smirk widened at that. She'd managed to take a picture of Nezu, his paw on Iona's head. Eraser's exasperated expression just off to the side was the icing on the cake.
"Send that to me." He said, coiling up. "And Rei too, while you're at it."
"Already done. Actually, most of the class has it as well."
"Excellent."
Izuku took in the scenery passing by as the bus trundled steadily along, as they ventured farther from the city, until eventually they were traveling through areas without anyone in sight of even 'All Sight.'
The massive plot of forested land that the Wild Wild Pussycats lived on was a decent location to host this training camp. A large, unpopulated area which could be almost entirely controlled by Pixie-Bob, and which was supervised besides by a group of rescue-oriented Pro Heroes? It was almost a perfect place to unleash forty superpowered hero students without worrying about collateral damage. And even better, the isolation meant that none of the students would be able to escape as they were put through hell.
From a security standpoint though, Izuku wasn't quite sold on it. It was clearly something that Nezu and the teachers were concerned with, as the location of the camp had been kept from the other students specifically to prevent any kind of information leak. And sure, the isolated area and the overall secrecy were decent measures to take, but the forest didn't quite compare to Yueii. Previous incursions aside, Yueii was practically a fortress, and had the added bonus of not being miles from the nearest heroes or emergency services. But whatever; there was risk either way. And whether the camp took place with the Pussycats or at Yueii, Izuku would be present, and he was a fairly formidable security measure on his own, and his classmates were capable in their own right.
Several hours into the journey, they finally getting close to their destination. Izuku spotted the Pussycats' camp the moment it came into view as they rounded the mountain. At this distance it was still little more than a smudge against the next mountain, but a quick pull on 'Spectrum' had his vision magnified and the camp shown in greater detail.
With their destination so close, Izuku perked up a bit, keeping an eye out for the Pussycats. He knew that they wouldn't be waiting at the resort. In fact, they should be coming into view any second-.
Yep. There they were. The four heroes, as well as a child—identified by 'Appraisal' as one Kouta Izumi—who was likely the one Nezu mentioned earlier, were waiting at a scenic overlook area, just around the next bend in the road. Seeing them, excitement began building up in Izuku. He knew what was coming, had been the one to suggest it, and couldn't wait to see it happen. Already they were close enough that he could see creatures of stone and dirt at the foot of the mountain.
Soon the bus was sliding to a stop, prompting the students to start disembarking automatically, thinking they were at a rest stop.
Sero was the first to notice that something was up. "Wait." He said, looking around. "Where are we?"
At that prompting, the Pussycats leapt forwards, startling a few of the students as they introduced themselves with an over-the-top enthusiasm that only Pro Heroes could manage.
As they continued with their introduction, Izuku moved over to stand by Eraser, shifting Iona—who had been woken up by the commotion—up onto his shoulders.
As they watched, Eraser must've picked up on his rising anticipation. The man glanced at him with bits of confusion and surprise. He didn't say anything, but Izuku picked up on it easily enough.
"Surprised?" Izuku asked quietly. "That I could enjoy this sort of thing?"
"Didn't think you were the type to enjoy the suffering of others. Adrenaline junkie, maybe, but not sadist."
"Oh, I could make Nezu look innocent on my worst days, I'm just better at hiding it than he is. And don't act like this doesn't excite you too, just a little. I thought you liked messing with your students?"
Eraser didn't respond to that, but he couldn't hide the trace amounts of anticipation within him.
"The place you'll be staying at is over at the base of that mountain." Mandalay said, and Izuku tuned back in to the conversation. Some of the students were beginning to suspect that something was wrong.
"Then… why'd we stop all the way back here?" Ochako asked. She looked over at Izuku, and her dread increased when he just smirked.
"Oh no…" Ashido groaned.
"If you hurry, you might just make it in time for dinner, so you better try your best if you want to eat tonight!"
"Run for it!" Kaminari screamed. "Back to the bus!"
The students scrambled, but too little too late. Pixie-Bob slammed her hands to the ground and suddenly the mountainside exploded, carrying the students right over the edge. Izuku kept a careful eye on them as they fell, in case it became necessary for him to intervene, but the dirt at the bottom rose up to meet them, cushioning their fall.
He felt a jolt of fear from Iona as they all vanished over the edge.
"Are Chako and Tsu gonna be okay?" She asked, fingers clenched in his hair.
"They're fine." He promised, raising a hand to pat her head. "Pixie-Bob made sure that they landed safely."
The Pussycats' attention focused on him at his words, except for Pixie-Bob, likely too focused on controlling the earthen creatures below.
"So, you're Deku." Mandalay said. "I must say, with this training plan you and Nezu came up with… you really don't plan on showing them any mercy, huh?"
"More mercy than our enemies." He responded. "As much as I would relish the opportunity to deal with the League myself, it would be best if the rest of them were prepared for an eventual encounter."
She shrugged. "Fair enough."
Turning to Eraser, she nodded at him. "Eraser. Good to see you again. Shall we head over to the camp?"
"Lead the way."
"So, is Etsumi the real deal?" Mandalay asked as Shouta made it to her and the others. "Nezu told us about him, and I don't imagine that he's one to lie about his students, but is the praise he gave Etsumi actually warranted?"
Shouta glanced back towards where Etsumi was heading towards the building that he and the other students would be staying in, carrying a pile of bags with one arm and patting the kid—Iona—on the back with the other, smiling at something she'd said.
"Honestly?" Shouta started, looking back at her. "Yes."
At her look of slight surprise, he continued. "I try to make a habit of judging my students a bit more harshly than necessary, all the better to make sure they're properly prepared, but based on everything I've seen so far, none of that praise is undeserved. In terms of raw power alone, he's able to match up to All Might, and just in skill he'd be more than a match for most current Pro Heroes. He's got the situational awareness and instincts of a pro hero. Plus, he's dangerous in ways that go beyond outright combat."
He grimaced. "Let me put it this way. He's the most dangerous person in any room he walks into, and it's warranted, and he knows it."
There was also something else. Not quite a theory, but… a thought, perhaps, that had begun to form when he first saw Iona and learned that Etsumi had adopted her. But that wasn't something the Pussycats needed to hear, it wasn't something he'd even had much time to consider.
"My my, Eraser, you make it sound like he's practically a Pro already."
Shouta shrugged. "None of them are that far off. And we still have over two years to drill everything else into them; we haven't even started on things like public relations and working with the police; but I get the feeling that if we were to turn Etsumi loose now, he'd do well."
Mandalay hummed in thought. "What about you, Ragdoll? Does your quirk show you anything worthwhile about him? Any weaknesses for us to shore up?"
Ragdoll looked confused, still looking towards the building, probably tracking Etsumi through it.
"…I don't… think so." She answered after a moment. Then, "…no. Nothing that we would be able to do anything about at least. Certainly nothing we'd be able to use in a fight against him. In that respect, he has no weaknesses."
"Is something wrong?"
Ragdoll was silent for a few moments. "Something about him is making my quirk react weirdly. It's almost like he's… More?" She shook her head. "I'm not sure what, just, more."
"What's really weird is that I feel the same thing from the Bakugou kid. He also feels more, somehow. But with Etsumi it's significantly more pronounced."
Shouta furrowed his brow. Strange. Had she not mentioned Bakugou, Shouta would've been prepared to just shrug off what she'd said as another oddity of Etsumi's. He was reaching that level of tired with him. The same level that he had with Oni, where learning something that by all rights should be impossible, outlandish, or otherwise strange is swept away or ignored entirely because of course.
Of course Oni can fly without wings when he always used them before, or transform parts of his body that Shouta had never seen before, or heal from wounds that would have been life threatening a few years ago or shrug off hits that would've incapacitated him a few years ago. Of course Etsumi happened to finish all of his education nearly a decade ago. Of course he was on Nezu's level and could fight toe-to-toe with All Might, of all people. Of course he was able to give off a killing intent so potent that it rendered someone unconscious.
Of course Etsumi made Ragdoll's quirk act up in a way she clearly hadn't seen before. Why wouldn't he?
But she had mentioned Bakugou. For some reason, he was also making her quirk act up. That had him thinking.
He recalled the conversation he'd had back before the final exams, with Nezu, Chiyo, and All Might, and then with Bakugou. He recalled how they explained to him that All Might's quirk, One For All, could be passed along; how it had been passed down to All Might, and how it had now been passed down to Bakugou.
That Ragdoll's quirk was reacting weirdly to him… it begged the question of whether that was because he now had two quirks, or because one of them was arguably the single most powerful in existence, having been developed over multiple generations. Maybe there was some other explanation for it, but those two possibilities were the only ones he could come up with.
And of course, if either of those ended up being the cause, then what was the reason for Etsumi also eliciting the same reaction, just more intensely? Assuming there weren't any other explanations, then either Etsumi's quirk managed to be more powerful that One For All, which Shouta could believe, as he'd seen him match up to All Might with seemingly little effort, or Etsumi also had more than one quirk; more than two if the more intense reaction was any indication.
Shouta tilted his head, staring off towards where Etsumi had gone. Which was it? One quirk that was powerful almost beyond belief, or multiple quirks, which was something that was almost harder to believe.
"Okay, but the real question," Pixie-Bob cut in, interrupting Shouta's thoughts, "is who was that cutie that Etsumi brought with him? She is adorable."
"His daughter, apparently." Shouta answered. "Adopted. Her name's Iona. Nezu gave him permission to bring her along."
"She looks so sweet. I wonder if her and Kouta will get along."
Shouta tuned out the conversation, turning to head towards the buildings. He'd go find somewhere to lay down and think while he waited for the students to arrive. They were skilled, and Pixie-Bob would likely have to up the ante with her earthen monsters to match them, but it would still probably take them most of the day to arrive.
In the meantime, he needed to keep thinking on this newest oddity. He was missing something, he just knew it.
Izuku's audience stood off to the side, watching him with wide eyes and radiating shock and awe. And it was just as well that they did. His hands blurred as he worked and any time he moved his body to another part of the room, it was too fast for the—unenhanced—eye to perceive. The smell that permeated the room was divine.
He was cooking, and while normally he would not utilize his speed to this degree, he was cooking for forty-eight people. There was a great deal to prepare, and maybe, just maybe, he felt like showing off just a bit. It wasn't often that he cooked for anyone not in his family—excepting Tsuyu, who was a semi-regular guest for dinner—and he wanted to put on a show.
Judging by the Pussycats'—and Vlad King, who had wandered over while searching for Eraser—reactions, he'd been successful.
They had, of course, offered their help more than once, but Izuku turned them down. In fact, the original plan was for them to prepare all of the food themselves, until Izuku offered to help and completely took the kitchen over. The only part that hadn't been done by him was a little bit of stirring and mixing overseen by Iona, because he just couldn't say no to her wanting to help.
With a flourish, Izuku finished the final piece, setting it down and turning to look over the room, holding his arms out and up.
"Bow before our culinary skills!"
Iona giggled off to the side, bouncing in place. Izuku patted her head as he moved towards his audience.
"That was… impressive, to say the least." Mandalay said, expression under control but still giving off awe. "I watched the Sports Festival, so I already knew that you had some pretty enhanced abilities, but I never thought about stuff like that being applied to mundane things like cooking."
"Oh that's almost the best part about it." Izuku responded. "Sure, it's fun having the power to move faster than sound or knock down buildings with a swing of my arm, but being able to cook, type, write, and everything else just as fast is where the real fun is. That's half the reason why my analysis is as successful as it is, because I can get them written so fast."
"Impressive." Mandalay repeated. "I-."
"Do you have a girlfriend yet?" Pixie-Bob blurted out. "You-."
Her words cut off as Ragdoll slapped a hand over her mouth, almost tackling her with how quick she moved.
"I think what she meant to say was: Now that the food's all done, we'll take care of carting it out and setting the table. You've already helped enough."
He saw Vlad King try to slip away as she said that, but Tiger caught him by the neck, forcing him to stay.
Izuku raised an eyebrow at Ragdoll, a bit confused by the dread she was feeling, then shrugged. "Fine with me. My classmates are almost here anyway, I'll go see how they're doing."
He gestured towards Iona. "C'mon, let's go check up on them."
"Okay!"
"Ryuko you cannot do that!" Tomoko scolded as soon as she was sure Etsumi was far enough away, and as soon as Vlad wasn't in the room, keeping her voice down. "I know how you've been feeling recently but this is a very big no-go."
"What do you mean?" Ryuko complained. "He's perfect. Strong, reliable, good looking, and he can cook? He's perfect husband material!"
"No! I'm telling you, you cannot approach him about this sort of thing."
"Wait." Shino cut in. "What are you talking about?"
Tomoko bit back a sigh. "My quirk. When I used it on him, the closest things to weaknesses that I could find were mind control and basically anything sexual in nature. I didn't get anything specific, but surely you can put two and two together and figure out what that means."
Ryuko groaned in dismay, head falling backwards. "Shit."
"Yeah, so maybe let's not try to find a husband during this training camp?"
Shino brought a hand up to her mouth, thinking. "What should we do about this? Do we even do anything at all?"
"I say absolutely not. My quirk did that sort of halfway thing with this. Like, yes, those are technically weaknesses because they would hurt him, but there's a very good chance that anyone who tried to use them against him would be hurt much much worse. So, maybe let Eraser know, assuming he doesn't already, but otherwise I say steer clear of this entirely."
"Hmm. I agree. Eraser's good, and there's a reason that Yueii stands at the top. If nobody over there has seen anything that's cause for concern regarding him becoming a hero, then it's not our place to start stirring stuff up."
Shino turned to Ryuko. "Also, yeah, maybe calm down a bit while the students are here."
Ryuko huffed, slightly subdued now. "Fine."
"You all look like you had fun." Izuku remarked as his classmates trudged out of the forest.
Each and every one of them looked about dead on their feet as they dragged themselves into the clearing next to the buildings, many collapsing to the ground as soon as they made it.
He counted five middle fingers raised in his direction, though 'Observation' revealed no real heat behind any of them. Ochako was responsible for two, but dropped them as Iona rushed forward, almost bowling her over completely.
"Chako!" She yelled. "You're okay!"
"Of course I am." Ochako reassured her, patting her head. "I'm a hero student. It was nothing we couldn't handle."
"Come on now." Izuku continued, doubling down. "It was only a several-mile trek through the forest while under constant attack by hordes of earthen monsters. Surely it wasn't that difficult? This is Yueii, you all should know by now that-that was not the worst thing that'll be thrown at you while we're here."
"This was… supposed to be… a summer camp!" Ashido complained between breaths.
"It is a summer camp. Just one designed to put you through your paces. I don't recall anyone saying that this trip wouldn't be for training. Sure, Eraser told us that this was to be a reward for our performance, but that word is very subjective."
There were quite a few defeated groans from a number of them. Izuku decided to take pity on them and made his way to where Ochako was collapsed on the ground, reaching a hand out to her. She took it with an exhausted smile, and let him lift her to her feet. Iona lifted up with her, now weightless, much to her delight. A moment later, the Pussycats emerged from the building behind him.
"You all did well." Pixie-Bob called out. "I actually had to put a bit of effort into it, and was fully expecting to have to call my monsters off just to let you get here, but you made it through. We still have a week to see where you really fall, but for now you can consider me impressed."
"Now then." She continued, turning back towards the building. "I think we've worked you hard enough for now. Time to eat and rest so we can work you even harder tomorrow."
"Food?" Someone asked. Izuku could feel hope blooming in his classmates.
"We made dinner!" Iona announced. "I helped!"
"And you did a very good job." Izuku said, pulling her from the air and into his arms. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Setting her on his shoulder, he gestured to his classmates with his free hand.
"Come on, let's eat."
"Oh my god, Etsumi." Kirishima said through a mouthful of food. "I almost forgot how good of a cook you are. This is amazing."
"Glad you like it. It's the least I could do after suggesting you be thrown off a mountain."
Most of the movement and conversations around him ground to a screeching halt at his words. Their side of the room was quiet for a full three seconds before no less than six sets of fists slammed the table.
"You!" Kaminari yelled. "That was your idea!?"
"Oh yes." Izuku answered, with his best shit-eating grin. "Nezu was quite pleased with the idea."
Kaminari and a few of the others glared at him. Their irritation was palpable even without 'Observation.'
"…If I wasn't so exhausted, and still so hungry, I'd electrocute you. Not that I'd actually expect it to doanything to you. Friggin… Demigod." The last bit was muttered under his breath.
Izuku chose to take pity on them once more. "Would it make you feel better if I had to fight off an army of Pixie-Bob's monsters too?"
"I mean, a little, yeah. Would it kill you to just, I don't know, not be perfect for like, ten minutes?"
"I don't know about all that, but I'm sure Pixie-Bob wouldn't have an issue with setting something up later in the week."
Kaminari narrowed his eyes at Izuku. "…Fine."
With that, most of his classmates seemed to be satisfied. A number of them still radiated irritation and anger, but their exhaustion and hunger won out, and before long the conversations started back up and the side of the room was back to normal.
All but finished with his own food, Izuku looked over to where Iona was busy being the center of attention on 1B's side of the room. None of them had met her before, and just as she had with 1A, she'd completely won them over almost immediately. She was absolutely soaking up the attention, having the time of her life. Kemono was out and having fun too, though he kept coming back to Hagakure, clearly favoring her over everyone else.
With her pure joy on the edge of his mind, courtesy of 'Observation,' not even the presence of Shinsou could dampen his mood.
During one of their correspondences as they planned out all the students' training regiments, Nezu informed him that Shinsou's performance in the festival, making it further than any other non-hero student—of those who actually wanted to make it into the heroics department. The support student evidently didn't—was enough to warrant serious consideration. Consideration that granted him a seat in a heroics class.
In that same conversation, Nezu told him that Shinsou was being added to class 1B. He didn't ask for any specifics, but he mentioned that with how severe Izuku's reaction to his quirk had been, it was for the best that they not be in the same class. Izuku was inclined to agree.
He'd improved by leaps and bounds with Tamako's help, and he held no hard feelings for what happened, but he also had no desire to interact with him. Unfortunately, judging by how Shinsou kept looking at him throughout dinner, with guilt and apprehension almost radiating from him, it seemed like he'd be doing just that.
Sure enough, towards the end of the meal, as some of the students began cleaning and others started heading for the hot springs after the Pussycats announced that they could use them, Izuku found himself face-to-face with Shinsou. For a few moments, they just stared at each other as Shinsou either tried to figure out what to say, or to work up the nerve to speak.
"…I'm sorry." He finally said, surprising Izuku.
"For what happened at the festival." He continued. "I wasn't trying to- to trigger anything with my quirk. I was angry and just trying to prove-."
"It's fine." Izuku cut in, waving him off. "Apology accepted."
He felt relief from Shinsou, which prompted him to continue. "I'm sorry as well. I did antagonize you rather harshly beforehand. And as for my reaction during our fight… It's not your fault that I don't have a particularly favorable history with mind control quirks. It's a weakness of mine that has since been rectified. So… I apologize."
"I-."
"That being said." Izuku continued, interrupting whatever Shinsou was about to say. "While that weakness has been removed, and though I will have no issue interacting with you in the future to help you along in becoming a hero, I think it would be in everyone's best interest if you never use your quirk on me again."
He leaned in, placing a hand on Shinsou's shoulder and lowering his voice. "Should it happen a second time, I will ensure that there isn't a third."
Izuku moved past him, patting his shoulder as he did. "Congratulations on making it into the Hero Course. Work hard and you'll be quite the addition to heroics."
He left Shinsou standing there, now with a bit of fear running through him, but with no less relief.
"You scared him after he came to apologize?"Tamako asked.
'Of course.' He responded. 'It's quite nice that he apologized, and I meant every word of my own apology, and what I said about helping him become a hero, but I needed to establish a precedent. While I'm confident that I wouldn't react the same way if he used his quirk on me again, especially with your help, I'd prefer to not have to deal with it at all. And really, it'd be best for everyone if we don't have to put our practice to the test. The last thing I want is to have an adverse reaction like that in a situation that isn't as isolated as the festival was. Had anyone else been near us when that happened, they would've been unconscious as well, or worse.'
It really was quite nice that Shinsou apologized. He certainly hadn't been expecting it, and there had been scant few times in his life where someone had done something to him, and then apologized for it. Though, it seemed that, as with a few other aspects of his life, this particular one was also on an upward trend. With Shinsou's apology, Inko's—no matter his reaction to it and his opinions on the matter—Yagi's after exposing his secret, he'd gotten more apologies in the past few months than in the rest of his life before.
In any case, it made him happy. And now he was almost glad to see Shinsou in heroics, instead of mostly indifferent.
If Izuku thought that the feeling of his tail sinking into hot sand on the beach was nice, then submerging into a hot spring was pure bliss, barely even comparable. He'd already been expecting it to feel good, and even then he still almost melted the second he entered it.
He sighed as he leaned back against the edge, spreading his wings to either side to submerge them as well. This… this was the life. He would have to talk to the Pussycats about coming back here sometime, obviously bringing Rei along with. Either that or he'd have to see about acquiring his own spring. One way or another, this was too good to never experience again.
Based on the joy and contentment he could feel from Iona, over on the other side with Ochako and the others, she was enjoying it as well.
Actually, everyone seemed to be enjoying it. Izuku felt nothing but contentment, joy, and relief from everyone around him.
"Hey, Etsumi." Kirishima called out.
"Hm?" Izuku picked his head up to look at him.
"So… since you apparently planned out all of our training here too… what exactly are you going to have us doing? I don't wanna tempt fate by saying it couldn't get any worse than what we did today, but…"
Izuku tilted his head back, closing his eyes as he considered his answer. Many of the others had tuned into the conversation.
"Well, I'd hate to give too much away and spoil all the fun… but for the most part you can probably expect to do much of the same of what you were doing before the Sports Festival." He answered. "There were some alterations of course, but the main things you all need are still strengthened quirks and experience using them."
He took a moment to stretch his arms out over his head, before lacing his fingers back behind it. "You might have already guessed based on the intensity of the welcome, but this will not be a week of careful, measured growth. You will be thrown into the fire and told to climb your way back out."
There was a chorus of groans from both sides of the spring.
"You know what?" Kirishima said. "If they let us use this spring afterwards, I think I can live with whatever we're through."
A few sounds of agreement rose up.
"Hey, what about you?" Mineta cut in. "I know you're stronger than all of us, but you're still in this class same as us. Are you going to be doing anything this week?"
"Oh, I imagine I'll end up sparring at some point, either with our hero babysitters or with some of you. But see, I've already been through the fire, which is why this camp and the Pussycats probably won't have much to offer me."
"Remember." He continued, lifting his head to look at all of them. "My confidence, or arrogance, depending on how you look at it, does not come from nowhere. I am afforded the right by the same things which granted me my skill and power in the first place."
The relaxed atmosphere had died a bit with his words, but it was quick to return once he laid his head back down, closing his eyes to focus on the kaleidoscope of emotions around him and his tentative plans to own a hot spring for himself.
"And then we got to go to the hot springs and it was like a big pool but really warm! They didn't let me go in with Zuku, but I got to go with Chako and Tsu. It felt really nice!"
Rei let out a soft laugh, having just been barraged by a full play-by-play of Iona's day.
With the day all but done, Izuku and Iona were calling back home just as she and Rei had done for him during the I-Island trip. They'd found a secluded spot in the camp, where Iona sat up on Izuku's shoulder while he held the phone out for the video call.
"That's wonderful, Iona!" Rei said. "It sounds like you're having lots of fun out there."
"Yeah! And Zuku said there's gonna be lots more tomorrow! He said I'll get to watch everyone use their quirks! And that he'll show me how to an-ah-lize them!"
"Oh really?" She looked at Izuku. "Turning it into a family business now?"
"If I can manage it." He answered with a grin.
"The other class was supposed to be there, right?" She asked, before turning her attention back to Iona. "Did you make any new friends?"
"Yeah! They're all really nice! There's Pony Tsu- Tsuna-."
"Tsunotori." Izuku supplied.
"Yeah! She talks kinda funny, but she has Horns! And hoofs instead of feet! And then there's Reiko Ya-na-gi. Her name is kinda like yours. Her quirk is so cool! She made me float! But not like Chako does it. It felt like someone was carrying me, but there wasn't! And then-."
Izuku and Rei smiled fondly as she went off on another tangent.
"I think it's about time to start winding down for the day, yeah?" Izuku interjected as soon as there was a pause in the conversation. He bounced Iona on his shoulder just a bit. "What do you say we go for a short flight before bed?"
Iona gasped, eyes wide with delight. "Yeah!"
"Alright, tell Rei bye, then we can go."
"Okay!" She waved at the phone. "Bye bye Rei!"
Another soft laugh. "Bye Iona. I love you."
"Love you too!"
Izuku smiled, just loving that this exchange was happening, that it was possible.
"Talk to you tomorrow." He said.
Rei nodded. "Be safe, have fun."
"Always."
With that, he ended the call.
With Iona bouncing excitedly on his shoulder, he didn't waste any time in making his way outside, moving out into the same clearing his classmates had arrived at.
"What do you think?" He asked. "Ready to fly?"
"Yeah!"
"Alright then." He picked her up off of his shoulder and settled her in his arms, making sure that she'd be secure and that she'd be able to see all around.
"Hold on tight." He said, spreading his wings. Her tiny fists gripped at the collar of his shirt.
As gently as he could, he took off, launching the two of them into the air. Iona squealed in delight as the ground dropped out from underneath them, even as she clenched her eyes shut. After a few seconds though, she managed to open them again. By that point they'd made it a few hundred feet into the air, and Izuku was leveling out. She gasped as she looked out and saw the forest valley laid out before them. The sun was just barely visible over the edge of the mountain, casting the valley in gold, red, and orange, and drawing the clouds above in sharp contrast.
Izuku looked around at the valley, figuring out a route. Around the valley once or twice should be good enough.
Twisting slightly, eliciting another squeal from Iona, Izuku curved off to the right, heading for the edge of the valley.
Iona was fast asleep by the time Izuku landed, utilizing a precise, stealthy application of his flight quirk for a much steadier landing than he'd be able to get with just his wings, Just to avoid jostling her. Making sure she was secure and sound asleep in his arms, he slowly made his way back into the main building.
Moving through, he came to a stop in a living room area, not far from his destination, as he came across Mandalay, who looked up from what appeared to be his training plans spread out in front of her.
Her eyes flicked to Iona in his arms, and Izuku felt that same warm-heart-clenching emotion from her.
"She's a sweet kid." She remarked quietly, smiling softly.
Izuku nodded in agreement. "She really is."
"Eraser said you adopted her?"
He nodded again. "Right at the beginning of Summer."
"It's a bit odd for someone as young as you to do something like that, but I'm glad you did. I haven't known her for long, but I don't like imagining her in an orphanage."
Izuku tilted his head at the sudden mixture of negative emotions swirling through her. Sadness, guilt, regret, frustration. His thoughts went to the other child present in the camp. Kouta, who'd spent the day staying as far away from everyone else as he could without leaving the camp, who'd been giving off a worse cloud of emotions than Mandalay was now, and whose family name didn't match any of the Pussycats. He was the likely reason for Mandalay's emotions.
The boy's name and quirk matched up to those of a hero duo that had been active a few years ago, before both dying to a single rogue villain. The Water Hose duo, most likely Kouta's parents.
It was a shame. Both that it happened in the first place, and that it happened nowhere near Musutafu. They weren't the most popular or well-known heroes, but they were good at what they did, and Izuku had liked them. He would've gladly gone after the villain himself.
He was about to ask, to see if his assumption of Kouta's parentage was correct, when Mandalay spoke up.
"You're probably already aware, but we're planning to wake everyone up pretty early to get started. As soon as the sun rises. It's not going to be a fun wake-up call for any of you, so it might be a good idea for you to get up even earlier for her sake."
Izuku nodded. "I'll do just that. Thank you for the warning."
Mandalay nodded back, and went back to work on whatever she was doing with the training plans. Izuku took that as his cue to leave.
Quietly, so as not to disturb Iona, or any of the others who were already asleep, Izuku entered the dorm area and coiled himself up in a corner, settling back against his tail and holding Iona to his chest, taking up his position for the rest of the night.
Sunrise came quickly, and with it, their wake-up call. The Pussycats stormed through the sleeping areas, raising hell and seeming to take great joy in doing so. Thankfully, Izuku saw them coming and had plenty of time to vacate the building before it all started, allowing him to avoid both them and the pandemonium of several superpowered hero students being awoken in such a way. It also allowed him to wake Iona up at a much more pleasant pace. She wasn't any happier than any of them, of course, as she also hadn't gotten enough sleep, and gave him the most adorable stink-eye he'd ever been on the receiving end of. But it was better than the treatment everyone else got.
With everyone awake, the Pussycats were quick to herd them all to the same clearing they'd arrived in yesterday, where Eraser was waiting for them. Iona was left a short distance away, barely awake and only still upright because Kemono was holding her steady. Class 1-B had been gathered in a different area on the other side of the camp with Vlad King.
"I hope you're all awake and ready." Eraser began. "Because it's time to get started with the main point of this summer camp. You all have shown decent improvements since the start of the year, and the training stint just before the festival gave you all a good boost, but now it's time to kick it up a few notches."
"With that said…" He nodded towards Mandalay.
She stepped forward. "We've been filled in on what Deku had you doing leading up the Sports Festival. Your training regiment here will be largely the same, but altered to push you much harder than ever before. This will not be easy or fun. It's not supposed to be. The point of this is to push you to grow as quickly as you can without killing you."
Ragdoll stepped up next to her and handed over a stack of papers.
"We've got everything written out here. There's one for each of you. Come get yours, then one of us will show you to your designated area. Ragdoll will be keeping an eye on all of you with her quirk. So we'll know if you're hurt or anything like that, but we'll also know if you're slacking. So make sure you take this seriously."
Izuku leaned back, a smile on his face, as his classmates started moving, taking and flipping through their training plans, slowly filling with dread as they read. More than one shot him a venomous glare before spreading out to where they'd be setting up.
Izuku was about to head back to Iona, who was starting to fall back asleep, when Eraser stopped him.
"Etsumi." He called. "Before you wander off…"
He pulled a softball from his pocket and tossed it over. Izuku snatched it out of the air.
"Throw it."
Izuku tilted his head. "After everyone has left?"
"The others know what you are. This is for theirbenefit." He gestured towards the Pussycats.
Izuku shrugged. "Alright." Then, raising his voice. "Yaoyorozu!"
He beckoned her over. "Would you mind making a pair of noise-canceling headphones for Iona?"
"Uh, I suppose?"
Holding out her now-glowing arm, the headphones dropped into Izuku's hand.
"Much appreciated." He said, moving towards Iona.
Within moments, the small pair of headphones were firmly secured on her head and Izuku was next to Eraser. He noticed that the man had plugged his ears with a pair of small foam plugs.
"Alright." He said, shaking his arms out. "Let's see if I can't get it into space this time."
Smiling, Izuku grabbed hold of his quirks.
Heat and raw power flooded his body as everything fell into place. His muscles bulged, straining at his shirt, and the acrid stench of ozone filled the air. From across the camp, there was a sharp flash of shock and disgust from Jirou. Glancing over showed that she was staring at him with an expression to match.
A handful of errant sparks trailed across his arms as he drew back, muscles tensing. Finally, he pulled on 'Air Cannon.'
"For reference." Eraser said. "The last time he did this, he threw the ball 8.83 kilometers. The only student with a greater score was Uraraka, who managed an infinity."
"And I can't very well just let her hold the monopoly on that record, now can I?"
Izuku shifted his weight, and with a grunt, his arm came forwards, launching the ball with every ounce of strength he could muster. A careful application of his flight quirk on just his arm boosted it further. There was a shattering explosion as his hand and the ball broke the sound barrier before the throw was even complete. His eardrums ruptured, and the ball was launched with an explosion of air as 'Air Cannon' gave it the final additional push. All across the camp, students and heroes alike clamped hands over their ears.
The ball was carried out of the range of 'All Sight' in the blink of an eye, and it only took a few seconds longer for it to vanish from eyesight as well, even boosted as it was with 'Spectrum.'
Izuku shifted his weight back, smirking as he cracked his neck and flexed his fingers. His hearing had already recovered.
Finally, after several more moments of waiting, the device in Eraser's hand beeped, and he lifted it up to reveal the infinity symbol displayed in place of a distance. The ball was now in orbit.
Izuku's smirk widened. At the shock from his classmates and the Pussycats, the more distant surprise likely originating from 1-B on the other side of the building, most likely due to the noise, and from the exasperation rolling off of Eraser.
The man looked over at the Pussycats, who were staring up into the sky where the ball disappeared. "Satisfied?"
Mandalay gave her head a quick shake, before looking at him. "Alright, you were right. Definitely no exaggeration."
Izuku ignored the conversation as he made his way back over to Iona, who was much more awake and giving off a bit of giddy excitement. She was almost bouncing in Kemono's arms.
He pulled the headphones off of her head, then caught her as she practically tipped herself out of Kemono's grip towards him.
"That was so cool!" She said in a stage whisper that was probably heard by heroes. "Can I try?"
"You certainly can."
"Hey Eraser!" He called out, interrupting the conversation. "Toss me that other ball you've got in your pocket."
Eraser did so after a moment's hesitation, apparently not willing to question how Izuku knew it was there.
"Alright." Izuku said, handing the ball to Iona. "Come over here and stand in the circle, and then you'll throw the ball as far as you can. Kemono can try after if he wants to."
Iona stepped into the circle, and Izuku noticed a few of his classmates watching not so subtly. Her face scrunched up in an adorable look of concentration and she flung the ball forwards.
Well, she more threw it almost straight into the ground. It rolled farther than it traveled through the air. Izuku immediately felt disappointment radiating from her.
"It didn't go very far…"
"That's okay." He reassured, moving in closer to pat her shoulder. "It was your first try."
He held out his hand as he spoke, and luckily Pixie-Bob understood. The dirt under the ball shifted and spat the ball towards him. He snatched it out of the air and handed it back to Iona.
"Here. Give it another go. And this time, try standing like this…" He turned her to the side ever so slightly. "And move your arm like this…" He gently guided her arm. "And when you throw it, try to step into it with this foot," he tapped her shoe, "and shift your weight with it."
He tried to demonstrate as best he could without having legs, and for a very brief moment considered transforming just so he could properly show her.
Despite his lackluster demonstration though, he felt understanding from her, and a new look of determination. He backed away, and noticed Eraser pretending not to look down at and reset the score device in his hand.
She drew her arm back again, and threw it, trying to replicate what he'd shown her. It was half correct at best, and her shifting her weight with the throw was almost completely mistimed, but despite that, the ball actually flew from her hand like it was supposed to.
And maybe there had been a slight nudge from his new telekinesis quirk to make sure it slipped from her hand at just the right time, but no one needed to know but him. The pure excitement radiating from her when she saw it land—a handful of meters away, but all the same—was more than worth it. The device in Eraser's hand beeped, and he held it up to show 9 meters displayed.
"Ah!" Iona exclaimed, looking up at Izuku. "I threw it!" She started bouncing. "Did you see? I threw it and it went all the way over there!"
"I did see!" Izuku said, scooping her up off the ground. "You did a very good job."
The Pussycats clapped and cheered from the sidelines, which only made her happier. A few of his classmates joined in as well, at least until Eraser silenced them with a look that had them returning to their given tasks.
Kemono appeared on the ground next to Izuku, and he wasted no time reaching down to run a hand over his furry head.
"What about you Kemono, do you want to try too?"
He nodded, right as Iona said "He does!"
"Alright." He said, patting Kemono's head and holding out his free hand for the ball. "Just like Iona did, stand in the circle and throw the ball as hard as you can. Try to copy what I showed her."
He handed the ball over and backed away, lifting Iona up onto his shoulder. There was a bit of surprise from the Pussycats at the sight of the floating ball, to replace the confusion from a moment ago. They must not have had the opportunity to learn about Kemono yet.
Just as Iona had, he stepped into the circle and drew back his arm, and when he threw, even Izuku found himself surprised. When Eraser held up the device, it displayed 70 meters.
The distance certainly wasn't spectacular by any metric, but it was much more than he'd been expecting. Comparing it to the results of the apprehension exam at the beginning of the year, he even scored higher than a few of Izuku's classmates.
He remembered that her doctor had described Kemono as having strength 'roughly equivalent to an adult male' but it seemed like it might just be a bit higher, basing it solely on this. It would be quite interesting to see whether or not he would grow alongside Iona or stay as is. If he did, and he was already this strong at four, then by the time Iona reached adulthood he would be more than a match for a fair number of heroes.
Iona cheered, loud and high pitched right next to Izuku's ear, shaking him from his thoughts, and breaking the onlookers from their surprise. Even Eraser had been shocked by the display, though he hid it well.
At her squirming insistence, Izuku lowered her back to the ground, freeing her up to run at Kemono. She jumped right into his arms, and he started swinging her around and bouncing excitedly, making for what Izuku was sure was a strange sight for anyone without extrasensory quirks. She was strangely silent though, despite the bright and shining excitement and happiness radiating from her. Maybe she was communicating mentally with Kemono? That'd be an interesting aspect of her quirk to figure out. If she could do that, was she even doing it consciously? That she was completely silent, without even any laughter led him to believe that she wasn't.
"Well done, Kemono." Izuku said as soon as they stopped celebrating. He moved closer and put a hand on both of their heads, ruffling hair and fur respectively.
"Very well done indeed." Mandalay cut in, stepping closer. "Now, before we go any further, there's something else we need to do. We respect the judgement of Nezu and Eraser, and we don't doubt that you're capable and probably don't have much to learn from us, but we would still like to confirm it for ourselves."
Izuku gave Iona and Kemono one last pat on their heads, before straightening up to look at her. "Sure. What did you have in mind?"
"Well, your demonstration earlier is probably a good example of your base physical ability, so we're going to fight. You versus the four of us. And out of respect for Nezu and Eraser's judgement, we won't treat you like a student we're trying to teach, but a proper opponent in a real fight. We'll come at you with everything we've got."
Izuku smirked. "Sounds like fun."
He turned to Eraser. "You joining in? The more the merrier."
The exhaustion rolling off of him was palpable even without 'Observation.'
"I'll pass. I know how proficient you are, and unlike you I don't fight for fun."
Izuku shrugged. "You're missing out then."
Reaching down, he patted Iona on the back. "Why don't you go stand next to Aizawa so I can have a little practice fight with the Pussycats, okay?"
"Okay Zuku. Be careful." She said, before she and Kemono both wrapped their arms around him. Izuku had to struggle to keep himself steady as his hearts clenched, and he actually missed them moving away to go stand next to Eraser.
He shook his head, committing what just happened to memory and focusing on the upcoming fight.
"So." He started, moving away. "Should we add any handicaps or loss conditions for me? Because if we're treating this as just any old fight, you won't be able to do much of anything."
"It wouldn't be much of a real fight if there were." Mandalay responded as she and the other Pussycats moved to take up position on the other side of the clearing.
"Well, it's not much fun for me if this ends too quickly. So, for the sake of my own enjoyment, I won't use my left arm, I won't fly, and I'll refrain from moving at speeds that you wouldn't be able to react to."
"Suit yourself. So long as you can prove to us that this is confidence and not arrogance. Confidence is useful, but arrogance gets people killed."
Izuku placed his left hand behind his back, and held his right out in front of him. "Then come, and let me show you."
The Pussycats finished situating themselves across the clearing. Tiger stood in front, with Pixie Bob right behind, and with Mandalay and Ragdoll in the back. Pretty standard setup considering their quirks. Tiger was the only one with a quirk suited for direct combat, and so would be their forward fighter. Pixie Bob could do anything from manipulating the field to Tiger's benefit and Izuku's detriment, to creating an unknown—yet definitely significant—number of earthen creatures to supplement their numbers. Mandalay and Ragdoll were completely support-oriented, and so would stay in the back. Though, Izuku didn't doubt that, being Pro Heroes, all four would be proficient in combat, quirks or no.
Well, proficient for a human at least.
The world around Izuku began to fade away as he focused on his opponents, though not as much as it normally would, as Pixie Bob's quirk necessitated more focus on his surroundings than usual. He figured that, knowing his abilities, they would likely make the first move to try to overwhelm him and put him on his back foot, metaphorically. Tiger would likely move in immediately, with Pixie Bob supporting, either with her earthen constructs or with some form of distraction timed with Tiger's attack. He wasn't sure what Ragdoll could see in him with her quirk, but she would probably be relaying that to Mandalay, who would be directing the fight from behind.
Dimly, he noticed Eraser saying something, and then the Pussycats were moving.
To his surprise, the first to move wasn't Tiger, but Pixie Bob and Mandalay. Immediately Izuku's head filled with noise. A cacophony of sounds constantly shifting and changing. At the same time, Pixie Bob stepped forward, raising her arms.
The world around him began to tremble, and a smile began to work its way onto his face. He lowered himself a bit, readying himself for whatever she might try, holding back from just looking with 'Observation.'
She brought her hands together, and the impact seemed to resonate through the ground.
The ground split beneath Izuku, two massive slabs of earth rising up from either side to crush him. He let them, smiling at the Pussycats as they disappeared from view. The brief flash of fear he felt from all four told him that it was not a friendly smile. Whoops, might need to dial that back a bit. He was starting to have fun with this, and intended to enjoy it, but there was no need for Iona, or his classmates, to see that side of him.
As soon as the slabs were fully closed around him, he saw the rock soften and then fuse into one solid piece. Interesting. So they were serious about treating this as a real fight.
They knew of his abilities and started off with their only long-range fighter and were trying to incapacitate him as quickly as possible. A noteworthy effort, even if he'd purposely held back from rushing in the instant the fight started, and even though he could survive quite some time holding his breath like this.
Also interesting was the offensive use of telepathy by Mandalay. Against someone else it would probably be a useful distraction, but with a quick shifting of his own mind, the noise was shunted off to another layer just like he did with Tamako's thoughts to keep them separate from his own.
His smile widened when he noticed that he was beginning to sink. Further increasing their chances by making it harder for him to escape.
Well, it was probably time for him to move.
He flexed his tail, and the incredible force shattered the trap, though it held itself together under her power. Right away the damage was being repaired, Pixie Bob working to keep him sealed. And if he wasn't mistaken, the entire structure just shrank, compressing and trying to crush him.
Well now, he was seeing nothing but good things from Pixie Bob here. It was almost a shame that she stuck strictly to rescue work. Were she to switch to mainstream heroics, she would be a force to be reckoned with.
Moving his arm, meeting no resistance from the stone, he tucked it against his chest. Even then, the crushed rock forced aside by his arm was immediately softening and resealing around him. He took a brief moment to widen his awareness and confirm the positions of everyone around him before swinging his arm out with every bit of force he could muster.
In an instant, half of the stone block was missing, reduced to chunks flying out across the forest.
Demonstrating a decent reaction time—something which further improved Izuku's opinion of her—Pixie Bob immediately adjusted. A stone spike shot out of the ground before the first piece of debris even landed, ramming into his ribs with a force that would've impaled him without his shock absorption. At the same time, the remaining part of the stone block softened, collapsing on top of him,
This time, Izuku didn't let her finish. Pulling on 'Air Cannon' he stretched out his wings, then brought them down hard. The blast of air dispersed the practically liquid stone. He said he wouldn't fly, but he never said he wouldn't use his wings at all.
Then, raising his arm, he brought his elbow down on the spike that was still trying to bury itself in his ribcage. It shattered without resistance.
There was another great tremor through the ground and suddenly a stone hand bigger than he was erupted from the ground right in front of him. He swiped his arm through it, shattering it, only for a second one to emerge immediately through the rubble. He could've destroyed this one as well, but slight surprise at its appearance—Pixie Bob must've expected the first to be destroyed, and had likely already been working to form the second before he'd even moved—and his still-mounting excitement had him allowing it to make contact. He was curious to see where this attack would go.
And where it went was into a cluster of spikes that thrust up out of the ground behind him. The massive hand latched onto him, slammed him into the oncoming spikes, and the combined force of both had the tips of three spikes actually managing to penetrate his flesh and sink partially into his back before shattering, letting the hand drive him into the ground.
A swipe of his arm destroyed the hand, and when he got up, he knew it was with the unfriendly smile again.
It wasn't a significant wound by any means, especially since his several regeneration quirks had already forced out the fragments of stone and healed his back, but still, managing to actually injure him in the first place was quite the feat.
Izuku schooled his expression. And now he considered Pixie Bob to be one of his favorite heroes, by merit of her skill alone. She'd taken a more-or-less standard quirk and developed it to the point that she could fight someone of his level, if only barely. Sure, he wasn't fighting back yet, and wasn't exactly trying to defend himself, but all the same.
But now maybe it was time for him to start playing as well.
As soon as he had that thought, the ground beneath Izuku came to life. Dozens of hands—smaller than the ones before, closer to actual hands—erupted from the dirt to grab hold of him. In that split second as they closed in on him, Izuku considered how to go about shifting the flow of the fight. How best to respond to the effort being levied against him? As the hands clamped down on him, he reached a decision.
An exertion of 'Conqueror' and a flex of his tail had the hands crumbling away. Another flex of his tail sent cracks spiderwebbing across the ground as he launched forwards.
Pixie Bob immediately adjusted her strategy again. The ground beneath Izuku softened to the consistency of loose sand and began shifting underneath him, effectively killing his momentum. From ahead of him, more stone spikes shot towards him, and earthen creatures rose from the ground all around, immediately beelining towards him. Tiger rode towards him on one of the spikes.
Izuku smirked. Finally, someone else joining the fun.
He allowed the spikes to reach him, ramming against his chest with enough force to just barely overpower his shock absorption—though not quite enough to pierce his flesh again. At this rate, his shirt would be reduced to tatters by the end of the fight.
Tiger was on him less than a second later, throwing a punch—boosted by using his flexibility quirk to turn his body into a springboard—that Izuku dodged with a lazy tilt of his head. The hero then displayed a decent situational awareness by avoiding Izuku's hand, which had been grabbing at him from a blind spot. Or perhaps that was Mandalay, watching his back from across the field.
Tiger twisted, latching onto Izuku and practically tying himself around his neck and head, blocking his eyesight and putting pressure on his throat, just in time for the earthen constructs to arrive.
Izuku laughed, even as he bladed his hand to start slicing through dirt and stone. He already held more respect and acknowledgement for Pixie Bob than when he started, but perhaps all of the Pussy Cats were worth it. The difference between a well-trained group of heroes operating like a well-oiled machine and the hordes of criminals with barely enough skill to use their quirk and breathe at the same time was like night and day. So much more fun to play with them. Granted, were he to engage in this fight as Oni then it would already be over just the same, but it was so much easier to enjoy this fight.
"Very good!" He called out, voice muffled. "Restrict my senses and my breathing. Either you take me out yourself or you make it easier for your team to do so. However, there are three things you've failed to account for."
"First." He continued, slicing through another construct. "I do not need to see to fight. I could rely on my sense of touch alone and still put you all in the ground. Second: My enhanced strength does not affect only my arms; every muscle in my body is enhanced to levels you can't comprehend, including those in my throat, which means you could squeeze all you want and not cut off my air."
"Third." He swiped a hand towards the ground with a bit more force, scattering the dirt and rock that Pixie Bob was trying to immobilize him with. "Were this truly a real fight, I would have already done things to you which I can't describe due to certain people present, but it involves certain things inside of you no longer being inside of you."
Choosing to ignore the endless stream of constructs for a moment, he grabbed Tiger's ankle. Time to start actually moving this fight forward.
"If you wish to avoid a crippling injury, I suggest you let go." Izuku threatened as he started to pull.
Tiger responded immediately, releasing his grip and letting the tension and Izuku's grip on his ankle whip him around to plant a fist to Izuku's jaw.
Izuku tilted his head in approval. "Not bad. Not necessarily good, but not bad."
With that, he whipped his arm around and threw Tiger into the sky, high enough that he wouldn't be an issue for a few seconds. He'd survive the fall with his quirk, or Pixie Bob could catch him. Assuming Izuku gave her the freedom to do so.
"Now then," he said, focusing on the remaining Pussycats, "shall we wrap this up?"
He swiped his hand through the air in front of him, disintegrating the earthen constructs and battering the Pussycats with a rush of air. Swinging his arm again even harder, he rushed towards them, moving a bit faster than before.
A wall of stone rose from the ground to block his path, several feet thick, but he chose to not let it hinder him, and instead passed straight through it like it wasn't even there.
He noted a flash of panic from Ragdoll, perhaps when she noticed him not slowing down. She warned the others, and Pixie Bob started falling back immediately, liquifying the wall to cling to him as she did. It wasn't enough though.
Izuku's hand shot out of the liquid stone to latch around her neck, lifting her up into the air.
An exertion of 'Conqueror' had the field freezing around him. It wasn't enough to drop the Pussycats, trained heroes that they were, but the force of it, limited as it was to keep Iona out of its effective range, was enough to disperse the liquid stone covering him and interrupt Pixie Bob's control of it.
She shook off its effects a moment later, and with a determination that even Izuku had to acknowledge, she raised both of her hands, willing the ground to mirror her. Two stone hands bigger than the ones before shot from the ground and latched onto him, squeezing him with an impressive force. At the same time, Tiger was coming back down for a landing. Izuku could see his plan with 'Observation.'
"Struggle all you want." Izuku said, voice once again muffled. "Nothing will loosen my grip."
Tiger's body bent and compressed with the force of the fall, and he used that to launch himself at Izuku. He struck the arm holding Pixie Bob with a force that Izuku actually almost felt. Without 'Shock Absorption,' he might've even ended up with a broken arm.
The failed kick left Tiger hanging in midair next to Izuku's arm. He stared for a split second, waiting just long enough to satisfy his handicap. When he finally moved, it was to catch Tiger in a headlock, trapped against his chest by the arm that still held Pixie Bob. Tiger's quirk meant that Izuku was free to put a bit more force against his throat without significant damage, so he did. Any tighter and the flow of blood to his brain would be cut off and he'd be unconscious in seconds.
"Do you yield?" He asked Mandalay, now holding their two primary fighters in his hand.
She hesitated for a moment, before nodding. "Yes. This fight is over."
Izuku dropped Pixie Bob and Tiger immediately, then rolled his shoulders as he let the rest of the world come back into focus.
He sighed, cracking his neck. "Such fun. You do the title of Hero justice."
The fight had drawn a few spectators. Short as it was, all of 1-A had stopped what they were doing to watch, and 1-B had since come around to this side of the camp, likely to start their own training, and had come face-to-face with this.
Izuku spread his arms with a smile, relishing the fear he could feel from students and teachers alike. "Anyone else? I haven't had nearly enough fun yet. Any who wish to try are more than welcome to."
Through his sadistic joy, he noted that there was nothing even approaching fear in Iona.
"Nope!" Mandalay cut in, moving between Izuku and everyone else, arms crossed into an X in front of her. "Let's not do that."
Izuku huffed, but pulled back all the same. "Spoilsport."
She relaxed slightly, turning back to him. "Maybe later. We'll have you switch out with Tiger once we start sparring, but for now you're free to do as you wish."
"So be it. I would very much like a chance to play with 1-B again. The Sports Festival was fun, but far too short."
She nodded, then a moment later, "Well done. It was a quick fight, but as far as I'm concerned, you deserve all the praise we've heard of you. Just make sure that confidence doesn't cross the line into arrogance. Never discount the ability that there might be someone out there who can overpower, outmaneuver, or outsmart you."
"Noted." Izuku said, mostly serious. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good."
Mandalay turned to all the spectators and shouted out, both with her voice and her mind, "What are you all staring at? Get back to work or no hotsprings tonight."
Everyone scrambled to return to their tasks, fear emanating from most. Izuku smirked, stretching his arms out over his head as he headed back towards Iona and Eraser. She rushed out to meet him halfway, almost jumping into his hands as he picked her up.
"That was so cool!" She exclaimed, eyes bright and smiling wide. "The dirt tried to squish you but you were like 'Bam!' and 'Whoosh!' and it was all gone!"
Izuku laughed, her excitement infectious. "I'm glad you liked it! It was rather fun for me too. A nice practice fight."
"Can I learn how to fight like that? I wanna be a cool hero like you!"
Izuku froze for a brief moment as he fought off both the warm feeling that made him feel like his hearts were giving out, and the violent gut reaction that shot through him at just the thought of Iona having to fight anyone. He staggered, insofar as someone without legs could stagger, before recovering.
"Maybe one day." He said, patting her back. "Let's wait until you're a bit older, and if you still want to become a hero, I'll teach you, okay?"
"Okay!"
"Now what do you say we go see what everybody's up to? We can pick someone out to start analyzing."
"Yeah!"
Izuku smiled as they set off, heading towards where 1-A had spread out. This was sure to be quite fun.