“No one should be standing on the bus, it is a safety hazard!”
Felix lounged in his seat, wistfully looking out of the window as though he was the protagonist of a lovesick movie. He took the time to bask in the peace while his class rep continued ushering Class 1A to quieten down. He had a feeling it was going to be the last few quiet moments for a very long time.
“Your bag’s awfully small, Felix. Are you sure you brought enough for the training camp?” Ochaco poked her head from behind.
“Well… I’m not exactly going to be training with you, so I’m assuming I don’t need much.” The boy shrugged nonchalantly.
“Right, Mister Aizawa mentioned that, didn’t he?” Izuku said. “So what will you be doing?”
“According to him, I passed the practical with flying colours, but bombed the written exam. So it’s going to be three whole days of intensive studying for me.” Felix sighed loudly. “Why do all these subjects have to be so hard? What does ‘Chemistry’ even mean?”
The bus slowed to a stop as Izuku gave him a solemn pat on the back. Felix got off together with his classmates, taking the time to admire the view from the small mountain. Green covered the land below for as far as the eye could see, and the fresh smelling breeze was doing a world class job at invigorating his senses.
“Does this even count as a rest area?”
“Huh, where’s Class 1B?”
“Mister Aizawa, I gotta pee.”
Felix walked past his chattering classmates to get a closer look at the cliff edge, but felt someone tug at his collar from behind. He turned around wide-eyed.
“Pagonis, stay with us for now.” Aizawa pulled the boy to his side. A duo of ladies dressed in feline costumes was standing beside him, as well as a grumpy looking boy who looked no older than ten.
The women jumped out without warning, twirling around as though they were filming some kind of commercial.
“Lock on with these sparkling gazes! Stingingly cute and cat-like! We’re the Wild, Wild Pussycats!”
Felix stifled his laughter at the corniness of their ending pose. It might have been extremely adorable if they were ten years younger, but it was clear that these women were no younger than twenty-five.
“These are pro heroes who will be working with us during the camp, the Pussycats,” Aizawa said, his dry voice a stark contrast to their bubbly introduction.
Izuku was practically jumping with excitement. “They’re a four-person hero team who set up a joint agency, and a veteran team that specialises in mountain rescues! This year will mark their twelfth year working-”
A gloved paw shoved itself in his face.
“I believe your calculations are wrong, kid. I’m eighteen at heart,” the ‘cat’ in blue whispered in a terrifying sounding tone. Izuku nodded meekly.
“Nice to meet you! We own this whole stretch of land here,” the one in red chirped, swinging the mood back again like a crazed hypnotist. “You will be staying at the foot of that mountain for your summer camp.”
There was a moment of silence as the class processed that information.
“So… why did we stop here?” Ochaco asked in an innocent voice, as though it was going to change what was about to happen.
“I think we both know the answer to that,” Tsu said, fully accepting their situation.
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“It’s nine thirty a.m. now.” Red cat lady looked at her watch, waving her tail serenely. “If you’re quick about it, you might reach by noon. That’s if you still want lunch.”
Class 1A turned slowly at their trainers, only then noticing Aizawa’s firm grip on Felix’s collar. The boy smiled helplessly at them.
“I… I think it’s time we get on the bus,” Sero said as the class made a mad dash for the stationary vehicle, friends and camaraderie be damned.
“You should have realised by now, class.” Sadistic pleasure coated their homeroom teacher’s voice. “Your training camp has already begun.”
Yells filled the air as Blue cat landed in front of the fleeing students, sending them flying down the mountain with a torrential wave of soil. Felix tried to rush to his friends, but Aizawa pulled him back firmly.
“Since this is private land, you can use your Quirks as you wish!” Red cat called out to the groaning students at the bottom of the mountain. “Come to the facility on your own two feet. You have three hours to get through The Beast Forest.”
The Beast Forest? Sounds like it came straight out of a video game…
“You’re not off the hook, Pagonis.” Aizawa released the boy, pulling out a huge stack of assessment books from nowhere. “You’re going to be doing these until your classmates reach. It would serve you well to familiarise yourself with the physical laws of this world if you’re intending to stay.”
Felix groaned.
~ ~ ~
For better or for worse, the poor student was less than halfway through his landfill of papers when he was called down for dinner. The Pussycats were nice enough to introduce themselves to him at least, and even brought him some snacks. Aizawa, on the other hand, only popped in occasionally to make sure he had not fallen asleep.
Apparently, the Wild, Wild Pussycats consisted of four members. Mandalay, a one-way telepath; Pixiebob, a geokinetic woman; Tiger, a gruff looking hero with a body made of rubber; Ragdoll, someone who could view the details on anyone within a hundred mile radius. The random child was Mandalay’s nephew, and was not actually part of the group.
“Thanks for the food!”
“It’s so good!”
“It’s on par with Lunch Rush’s cooking! Oh man, I could keep on chewing forever…”
Felix pressed himself up against the wall, making way for his classmates who looked like they could devour four cows and finish up with half a dozen chickens for dessert.
“You- Mm… Y-you shore got lucky, Felish…” Kirishima mumbled between his munchings. “Pixiebob’s Earth Beasts wer…were no joke.”
“Honestly, I’d take fighting those soil golems over Mister Aizawa’s assessment papers any day. I swear, it’s like he put an auto-replication charm on those books or something…”
“Sucks for you, Pagonis.” Kaminari invited himself into the conversation. “Man, I wonder if my extra lessons will be as intense as yours.”
“Ugh… don’t remind me of that.” Mina Ashido shook her head vigorously, her already pink skin flushing even more in annoyance. “We only failed the practical; why do we have to do theory lessons too?”
“Oh hey, training officially starts tomorrow, right?” Izuku said brightly, despite the exhaustion etched on his face. “I wonder what they have in store for us?”
Felix shrugged in an attempt to veil his nervousness. Every day the class spent here was a countdown to the League of Villain’s infiltration. He only hoped that there wouldn’t be that many casualties when his true teammates got here.
“I don’t know. Probably more assessments for me.”
~ ~ ~
Me and my big mouth…
Felix twirled his pen idly, fighting the urge to doze off. After six full hours, he was finally finished with the last question of his test paper. The boy looked out of the window, admiring the setting sun as well as his fellow classmates doing their quirk training.
“Hey! Where are you looking?” a shrill voice snapped.
“Calm down, Kota. I’m already done.” Felix put his pen down as the grumpy ten year old boy glared at him. “Do you really think I’m going to cheat in an unofficial test?”
The boy continued pouting. “Whatever. This sucks.”
Felix frowned. From what he heard from Izuku the previous night, this boy apparently hated heroes because his own hero parents were killed in the line of action. And being barely eight years old then, all he saw was that being a hero only invited tragedy to their loved ones.
Felix resisted the urge to strike up a conversation. The kid’s resentment was similar to his, but he had a feeling Kota wouldn’t appreciate him trying to play therapist. Besides, he wasn’t exactly a hero either. Inspiring the kid was probably more suited for someone like Izuku instead.
“This is a waste of my time.” Kota leapt out of his chair, mumbling to himself. “My hideout’s much better than this stupid place.”
Felix narrowed his eyes.
Hideout, huh?