Chapter 96
After an hour-long ride, time Izuku spent listening to music with Kyouka, the bus carrying Class 1-A stopped at a mountain pass, overlooking a vast forest with several other mountains in the distance.
While some mistook the scenic parking area as a rest stop, taking in the breathtaking view while looking around for bathrooms, Izuku's gaze was drawn to the black, Bentley-like car waiting nearby.
Shortly after everyone from Class 1-A had disembarked, the doors to the expensive-looking car opened, followed by the emergence of two women wearing similar but differently colored, cat-themed idol outfits. The first was a familiar, blonde-haired beauty with piercing blue eyes, a blue and white dress, massive paw-like gloves, furry boots, and a striped, blue and white tail. The second was a slightly taller woman with burgundy-red hair, brown eyes, and a nearly identical red, pink, and yellow outfit. Also, while it wasn't particularly important, she had a massive rack...
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Name: [Ryuko Tsuchikawa]
Title: Party Invitation Required
Quirk: Earth Flow
Bond Level: 99
Current Level: 43
Effective Level: 93
[Attributes]
Strength: 44
Agility: 38
Vitality: 649
Intelligence: 61
Dexterity: 61
Luck: 87
Free Attributes: 215
[Perks]
Party Invitation Required
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Name: [Shino Sosaki]
Title: Party Invitation Required
Quirk: Telepathy
Bond Level: 73
Current Level: 35
Effective Level: 63
[Attributes]
Strength: 58
Agility: 63
Vitality: 128
Intelligence: 81
Dexterity: 70
Luck: 89
Free Attributes: 175
[Perks]
Party Invitation Required
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Garnering everyone's attention, the busty, burgundy-haired Shino waved her paw-like glove and shouted, "Long time no see, Eraserhead!"
With everyone looking over at them, Shino and Ryuko started an abrupt, highly choreographed pose routine, the former forming a ring around her eye and shouting, "Locking on with sparkling gazes~!" while the latter followed up by making a heart shape with her paws before scratching the air and adding, "Stingingly cute and cat-like girls~!"
Wrapping up their routine, Shino and Ryuko struck finishing poses, the former crouching in the front with both paws sticking outward and one of her legs outstretched while the latter made a cheerleader-like pose with her right paw and left knee raised, both exclaiming, "We're the Wild, Wild Pussycats~!"
While Shino and Ryuko held their poses, Aizawa maintained a neutral expression, gesturing with his thumb toward the two cat-like women as he said, "These are the Pro Heroes: Pixie-bob and Mandalay. They're a bit eccentric, but they're veterans in disaster response and mountain rescue."
Easing out of her pose, Ryuko's left eye twitched as she said, "We could do without you calling us 'veterans,' Eraserbrain..."
Ignoring Ryuko's comment, Aizawa kept his gaze on Class 1-A as he said, "Anyways, the two of them, along with the other members of their team, will be assisting with your training this next week. Be sure to follow their instructions, as this training camp might be more integral to your futures than you realize..."
Piggybacking off of Aizawa's words, Shino, better known by her Hero Name, Mandalay, pointed to the horizon as she added, "That being said, can everyone see that mountain over there? The place you'll be staying for the next week is located at its base. Your first mission will be to reach our private lodge in the teams we assign you. Teams that fail to get there within three hours will be missing lunch."
"Meow, meow, meow~!" chimed Ryuko, known to most of Class 1-A as Pixie-bob, adding, "And to make things fair, we'll be grouping you based on your results during the Finals! Rank 2 will be grouped with Ranks 10, 11, and 20! Rank 3 will be with 9, 12, and 19. If you're confused about which team you belong to, feel free to ask! Just know that your time has already started~!"
Hearing Ryuko's explanation, a confused look marred Izuko's face as he raised his hand, asking, "What about me?"
As Ryuko has specifically referenced Ranks 2 and 3, Izuku, the current Rank 1, felt he had been intentionally overlooked. To his surprise, Ryuko made a scratching gesture as she replied, "You're too overpowered, my dashing little kitten. This is meant to be a serious challenge, so allowing you to participate will make things unfair and much too easy for whoever ends up on your team. But don't worry; we have something very special in mind. Be a good little kitten and wait."
With little choice but to heed Ryuko's instructions, Izuku patiently waited for the rest of Class 1-A, including Bakugo and Toga, to descend the cliff and enter the 'Forest of Magical Beasts' below. Around the time the last group had departed, Aizawa approached him, surprising him quite a bit by asking, "What's my Bond Level...?" in a neutral tone.
"Uh...sixty-eight?" replied Izuku, feeling a little awkward at the realization that Aizawa was a part of the group that 'knew' what he was up to behind the scenes.
Standing with his hands in his pockets, Aizawa complained, "Though I suppose it's for the best, 'liking you' is a pretty troublesome prerequisite for joining your Party..."
Recovering from his embarrassment, Izuku shook his head, asserting, "It isn't a metric for how much a person likes me, per se. A good example is Katsuki Bakugo. He's been threatening to 'murder' me since we were kids, but his Bond Level is 95, only five points from the 'maximum.' To that end, it's more accurate to say that Bond Level is a marker of familiarity or trust. You and I aren't particularly close, and I haven't given you any reasons to trust me, so it's not surprising our Bond is weak."
"Hmmm...that's not completely irrational..." replied Aizawa, staring off into space with unfocused eyes. The truth was that he felt appreciative toward Izuku for his actions during and immediately following the incident at USJ, but, at the same time, he viewed the green-haired youth as a destabilizing element within the classroom. It was clear he didn't want to be there, but, despite making a minimal effort, he remained firmly at the top of the Class due to the sheer ridiculousness of his Quirk...
Intruding on the conversation, Shino(Mandalay) made her way over, asking, "Have you already told him what kind of training he'll be doing, Eraser?"
Shaking his head, Aizawa lazily replied, "No. I asked him what my current Bond Level was, and then he made some conjectures about the nature of bonds revolving around familiarity and trust."
Exhibiting an expression of intrigue, Shino responded with a curt "Oh?" before directing her curious brown eyes to Izuku and asking, "Can you tell me what my and Pixie-bob's Bond Levels are? Everyone in the Wild, Wild Pussycats is your fan after witnessing your performance during the Sports Festival and catching your interview a few days ago. Pixie, in particular, is quite fond of young kittens with lots of potential..."
Seeing no reason to keep it a secret, Izuku casually replied, "Yours is at seventy-three, and Ryuko's is at ninety-nine..."
After initially blinking in surprise, an awkward smile gradually developed across Shino's face as she remarked, "That's...quite a bit higher than I anticipated. You must have left quite the impression on Pixie during your previous training session. She never mentioned you were on a first-name basis..."
Adopting a wry smile of his own, Izuku revealed, "It was something she decided on the last day of our training. She also put her number into my cell phone but told me to wait until graduation before calling..."
Drawing attention to himself, Aizawa exhaled a long, clearly exasperated sigh before staring at Izuku and stating, "Rather than training to become stronger, it's my opinion that you should focus on disciplining your heart and mind. The Principal and school have made concessions for you given the severity of the situation, but you're going to hurt someone if you don't learn to restrain your 'nature'..."
"..."
Imagining Nemuri sharing the results of her 'analysis' with Nezu and the other faculty members, Izuku couldn't help frowning. It was doubtlessly something that benefitted him, but he was starting to get frustrated by the notion that everyone around him viewed him as a sex-crazed beast...
"Now, now, no need to be so serious," said Shino, waggling her left index finger. "Midoriya-kun bears a heavy responsibility, so I think it's fine if he indulges himself while there's still time. Once the Meta World Transveral phenomenon reaches Japan, we're all going to be super busy."
Unable to refute Shino's words, Aizawa returned to staring off into space with a pensive look. Nezu had forwarded the information related to the MWT phenomenon to the 'core' teachers of UA, so they all knew how dire the situation was. There was no known method to prevent breaches from appearing, and the monsters within seemed to get stronger over time. By the time the phenomenon reached Japan, several smaller countries were expected to be completely overrun...
Seeing Aizawa stare off into space, seemingly removing himself from the conversation, Shino turned her attention to Izuku, narrowing her eyes as she said, "Now, about your training..."
With Shino allowing her words to trail off, tension began to build in Izuku's body as he prepared himself for an arduous trial. Instead, after remaining silent for several seconds, Shino stuck out her tongue before stating, "For now, how about the two of us chat to increase our familiarity and improve my Bond Level? Since Pix–I mean, since Ryuko is busy playing with your classmates, there isn't much we can do to help you improve. We could try sparring, but unless you limit yourself quite a bit, I don't think I'd be able to land even a single hit on you."
Though she didn't know what her Level and attributes were, Shino had been informed that Izuku's 'base' Strength and Agility were at least 200. In other words, he could casually lift more than a ton and move upwards of seventy meters per second, even without enhancing his mobility with Blackwhip. She was confident in her speed, technique, and flexibility, but based on the recordings she had seen, Izuku was on an entirely different level.
Adopting a wry smile, Izuku replied, "Sure...let's talk...". He felt like Shino had pulled the rug out from under his feet, but he also knew there wasn't much she could do to help him improve. Aizawa's Erasure didn't work on him, so even if the two of them teamed up to try and defeat him, he could toss them around like ragdolls. Aizawa was extremely adept at defeating opponents stronger than himself, but technique could only go so far when his opponent was several times stronger, swifter, and had 'exponentially' greater reaction time...
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Contrasting the three hours Class 1-A thought it would take to reach the lodge, placing their arrival around 12:30 PM, it was well after 5 when the first team showed up. Ryuko's Earth Beasts weren't particularly difficult to defeat, but they were inexhaustibly relentless. More importantly, most of the teams had no way of determining if the direction they were moving in was correct, so several ended up 'way' off course before Shino used her Telepathy to guide them back on track.
By the time the last team arrived, just after 7 PM, Izuku had increased his Bond with Shino to 84 and Ryuko to 100. He had also been introduced to the final two members of the Wild, Wild Pussycats, the first being a petite woman with emerald green hair and large, completely round, uncommonly yellow eyes and the second being a large, muscular man with short brown hair, a small, triangle-shaped beard, and a prominent upper lip that looked like he had undergone plastic surgery to make himself look more cat-like. Far more concerning was the fact that the latter wore a brown, idol-like dress, a pair of oversized cat paws, a cat-ear headpiece, and a robotic cat tail, matching his teammates. His Bond Level was also the second highest among the entire cat-themed group...
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Name: [Tomoko Shiretoko]
Title: Wide-Eyed Cat Girl(Intelligence +20, Dexterity+50)
Quirk: Search
Bond Level: 83
Current Level: 33
Effective Level: 61
[Attributes]
Strength: 29->50
Agility: 37->50
Vitality: 95->100
Intelligence: 67->200
Dexterity: 58->100
Luck: 91->112
Free Attributes: 0
[Perks]
[Healthy Body], [Fleet-Footed], [Area Scan]
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Name: [Yaware Chatora]
Title: Musclebound Otokonoko(Strength +20, Vitality + 50)
Quirk: Pliabody
Bond Level: 96
Current Level: 41
Effective Level: 93
[Attributes]
Strength: 143->200
Agility: 44->50
Vitality: 267->400
Intelligence: 59->100
Dexterity: 113->150
Luck: 107->109
Free Attributes: 0
[Perks]
[Neko Punch], [Healthy Body], [Shear Resistance], [Cat's Intuition], [Maidenly Litheness], [Lucky Boy]
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(A/N: Fear the cat boy(man/woman/thing)...)