Chapter 17: The Bus of Despair and Uninvited Guests
Two days after the cafeteria stampede incident, the atmosphere in Class 1-A was buzzing with a different kind of energy. Shota Aizawa stood behind the podium, his tired eyes scanning the room with their usual lack of enthusiasm.
"Today," Aizawa announced, "we have a special Hero Basic Training class."
He held up a card with the word RESCUE printed in bold blue letters.
"Rescue training!" Mina Ashido cheered, pumping her pink fists in the air.
"Rescue?" Natsu tilted his head, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "Does that mean we're gonna save a cat stuck in a tree? Sounds kinda boring."
"That is an insult to my kind!" Happy protested from Natsu's desk, crossing his arms indignantly. "Cats are agile! We don't get stuck!"
"Are you even considered a cat?" Denki Kaminari asked, looking at the blue, winged creature with genuine confusion. "You hatch from an egg, right?"
"It's not cats," Aizawa interrupted, glaring at the noisy corner. "Disasters. Shipwrecks, landslides, fires, floods. We're going to an off-campus facility to simulate all these scenarios. It's training to save lives in the worst conditions."
Natsu's eyes lit up at the word fires. "Oh! Okay, now it's starting to sound interesting!"
"For this training, you can wear your Hero Costumes," Aizawa continued, pressing a button on a remote. The wall shelves slid open, revealing the numbered suitcases. "However, keep in mind that some of your costumes might not be adapted for rescue tasks."
"Sensei," Midoriya raised his hand timidly. "My costume... it was destroyed in the combat training. It's still being repaired."
"Use your gym tracksuit," Aizawa replied flatly. "You can equip whatever support items you have available. Get moving. The bus leaves in ten minutes."
Natsu froze. The smile vanished from his face. The word echoed in his brain like a death sentence.
"B... Bus?"
The Changing Rooms.
The locker room was filled with the sounds of zippers, rustling fabric, and excited chatter.
"Man, rescue training sounds awesome!" Kirishima grinned, hardening his arm. "It's a different kind of manliness than fighting villains!"
"I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted, pulling on his black vest. He tightened his white scale-patterned scarf and flexed his arms. "I don't care what disaster it is! Fire, water, wind—I'll crush it!"
"Aye!" Happy cheered, strapping on his little green backpack. "We're ready for anything!"
Natsu marched out of the locker room, radiating pure optimism. He walked down the hallway with a spring in his step, imagining heroic scenarios where he saved civilians from burning buildings.
"Nothing can stop me today!" Natsu declared as he stepped out into the sunlight.
Then, he saw it.
Parked at the curb was a large, rectangular, metal vehicle with four wheels.
The School Bus.
The color drained from Natsu's face instantly. His knees knocked together. The aura of a powerful Dragon Slayer evaporated, replaced by the trembling of a terrified child.
"No..." Natsu whispered, backing away. "No, no, no! I'm not getting in that thing!"
"Come on, Dragneel!" Iida blew a whistle, waving his arms robotically. "Class 1-A! Line up in two rows according to your student numbers! Boarding will proceed in an orderly fashion!"
"I'm walking!" Natsu turned around and tried to bolt. "I'll run! I swear I'll beat the bus there! Look at my legs! They are built for speed!"
"Natsu, stop being a baby!" Sero grabbed his left arm. "The facility is miles away! You can't run there every time!"
"I'd rather die from exhaustion than die from nausea!" Natsu roared, clinging to a lamppost with a death grip. "Let me go!"
"Happy! Help us!" Kirishima yelled, grabbing Natsu's other arm.
Happy was already sitting comfortably inside the air-conditioned bus, waving his paw from the window. "Sorry, Natsu! These seats are super spongy! Good luck! Aye!"
"You traitorous cat!!"
"Shoji!" Sero called out. "We need backup!"
Mezo Shoji, the tallest student in the class, stepped forward. He didn't say a word. He simply expanded his Dupli-Arms, creating a wall of limbs. With three arms, he pried Natsu off the lamppost, and with the other three, he stuffed the struggling Dragon Slayer into the bus like he was packing a stubborn suitcase.
"NOOOOOOO!!"
Hisss. Thud. The bus doors closed.
Inside the Bus.
The vehicle hummed to life and began to move.
In the very back row, the mighty Natsu Dragneel had been reduced to a puddle. He was draped over the seat, his face a shade of blue that clashed horribly with his pink hair. His cheeks were puffed out, and his head bobbed loosely with every tiny bump in the road.
"Urrrp... stop... the world... is... tilting..."
Sitting in the adjacent seat, Mina Ashido leaned over the aisle, resting her chin on her hand as she watched him.
"Wow," Mina said bluntly, poking Natsu's shoulder. "You really are pathetic, Natsu. You looked so cool in your costume five minutes ago."
"Don't... talk... to me..." Natsu groaned, covering his mouth with a trembling hand.
"The bus layout didn't really match Iida's plan, huh?" Tsuyu Asui noted, looking around the open seating arrangement.
"True," Kyoka Jiro said, twirling one of her earphone jacks. She turned to look at Midoriya, who was sitting nearby in his blue gym suit.
"By the way, Midoriya," Jiro said casually. "I've been thinking. Your Quirk... it's really similar to All Might's, isn't it? The super strength and the way you smash things."
Midoriya stiffened. He began to sweat profusely. "Eh?! R-R-Really? I-I don't think so! I mean... uh..."
"Wait," Kirishima interrupted from the front, saving Midoriya without realizing it. "All Might doesn't get hurt when he uses his power. Midoriya just breaks his bones."
Midoriya exhaled, his soul nearly leaving his body in relief.
"But speaking of flashy Quirks," Kirishima turned to look at the back of the bus. "Natsu's power is pretty crazy. It's not just generating fire like Todoroki."
"Yeah," Mina nodded. "I mentioned it in the cafeteria, remember? He actually eats fire. And he breathes it out like a literal dragon."
"It defies the laws of physics," Momo Yaoyorozu added, looking back with curiosity. "To consume thermal energy and convert it into physical stamina... his internal organs must be structured completely differently from a human's."
"Hey, Natsu," Kaminari called out. "How does that work? Is your stomach made of asbestos?"
Natsu raised a shaky hand. He tried to speak, to explain the ancient magic of Dragon Slayers, but all that came out was a weak wheeze.
"Dragon... lungs... scales... stomach... bluuuurgh..."
His hand flopped back down.
"I think he's trying to say it's magic," Happy laughed, munching on a snack.
"Magic?" Kaminari chuckled. "That's a funny way to put it. You fantasy geeks are dedicated."
Suddenly, the bus slowed down and came to a halt.
"We're here," Aizawa announced. "Stop chatting and get off."
The class stood before a massive dome-shaped building. It was colossal. Standing at the entrance was a Pro Hero in a thick, white space suit.
"It's the Space Hero, Thirteen!" Uraraka gasped, clasping her hands. "I love Thirteen!"
"Welcome to the USJ!" Thirteen greeted them with a polite, gentle voice. "I have prepared various disaster zones for you: shipwrecks, landslides, fires, windstorms... everything you need to learn how to save lives."
The students walked inside. The interior was even more impressive than the outside. It was an entire world contained under a roof, with a large central plaza and a fountain, surrounded by different terrain zones.
Natsu stumbled in last, dragging his feet. He was still dizzy, his vision swimming slightly. He leaned against a railing, trying to stop the ground from spinning.
"Ugh..." Natsu rubbed his temples. "Why does the ground feel like it's moving?"
Thirteen and Aizawa began to explain the lesson—how Quirks could be dangerous if used incorrectly, and the importance of rescue over combat.
While the class listened intently, Natsu's condition began to shift.
It wasn't a gradual recovery. It was instant.
Sniff.
Natsu's nose twitched.
Sniff... Sniff.
The dizziness vanished. The nausea evaporated as if it had been burned away by a sudden surge of adrenaline. His pupils contracted into vertical slits.
He stood up straight, his posture shifting from a sick child to a predator on high alert.
"Natsu?" Happy whispered, noticing the sudden change. "What's wrong?"
"A smell..." Natsu whispered, his voice low and tight. He ignored Thirteen's speech, his eyes locking onto the central plaza down below near the fountain. "It smells... wrong."
"Wrong?" Happy shivered. "Like... old fish?"
"No," Natsu growled. "Like rot. Like malice. Like death."
At that exact moment, the lights in the massive facility flickered.
Bzzzt... Bzzzt...
The main floodlights died, then sputtered back on dimly. The water in the central fountain sputtered.
Aizawa stopped talking. He spun around, looking down at the plaza.
In the center of the open space, right in front of the fountain, a tiny black dot appeared in thin air.
It swirled. It expanded. A vortex of purple and black mist tore open the fabric of reality.
A pale, sickly hand covered in severed hands emerged from the mist. Then, a thin man with messy light-blue hair stepped out, his face obscured by a disembodied hand clutching his face.
Behind him, a hulking monstrosity shuffled out—a creature with jet-black skin, a beak like a bird, and an exposed brain.
And then came more. Dozens... no, hundreds of thugs, villains, and mutants poured out of the dark portal, spreading out into the plaza like a swarm of cockroaches.
"What is that?" Kirishima asked innocently, squinting his eyes. "Is this like the entrance exam? Has the simulation started already?"
Natsu took a step forward, putting himself in front of the girls. His fists ignited spontaneously, the fire roaring to life.
"No..." Natsu said, his voice deep and vibrating with a growl. "Those aren't actors. Actors don't smell like bloodlust."
Aizawa shouted suddenly, his voice carrying a tone of urgency the students had never heard before.
"Don't move!! Stay back!!"
Aizawa grabbed his yellow goggles and snapped them onto his face. His hair stood up on end.
"Those are real villains!!"
A terrified silence fell over the group.
Down in the plaza, the man with the hands—Tomura Shigaraki—looked up at the distant platform where the students stood. His voice was raspy, scratching through the air.
"Where is All Might? ... We went through so much trouble to bring this crowd... and he's not here."
His single visible red eye narrowed through the fingers on his face.
"Maybe... he will come if we kill a few kids?"
On the platform, the fire on Natsu's arms grew hotter, distorting the air around him. He didn't feel fear. He felt instinct.
"Real villains?" Natsu bared his fangs in a ferocious grin, tightening his white scarf. "Finally... someone I can hit without holding back."
"Natsu!" Aizawa barked. "Don't be reckless! This isn't a game!"
.
.