Rescue Training

"Today's hero basic class will be taught by All Might, one more teacher, and me," Mr. Aizawa announced during the afternoon session.

"What will we be doing?" Hanta Sero raised his hand, after some time Mirai took it upon herself to memorize her classmates' names, no matter how plain face they look.

Mr. Aizawa held up a sheet of paper with the word 'RESCUE' printed in bold, blue gradient letters. "Anything from disasters to shipwrecks. We'll be focusing on rescue training."

"Rescue huh.." Kaminari raised an eyebrow, "Sounds tough."

"Right?" Mina chimed in, her grin stretching from ear to ear.

Kirishima leaned forward, his arms folded across his chest. "Come on, it's the epitome of a hero's work!" His hands curled into fists, his sharp teeth gleaming as he spoke. "I'm so pumped!"

"Water disasters are my forte," Asui..er Tsu, as she would like to be called, added with a small ribbit.

"Hey," Mr Aizawa glared, "I'm still talking."

The students immediately fell quiet, their attention focused on their teacher.

"For this training, you can choose whether to wear your costumes or not." Mr. Aizawa pressed a button, and just like before, the walls slid open, revealing the cases containing their hero outfits. "Some of the costumes may limit your movement. The training area is a bit far, so we'll be taking a bus." He turned to leave, adding one final remark. "Well then, start preparing."

Everyone rose from their seats, Mirai did the same. As the class bustled with activity, students gathered their costumes and discussed the upcoming exercise. Mirai couldn't keep but feel excited for this too, battle training and combat in general is something she lacked. But with rescue, this was up more her alley.

┏━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┓

┗━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┛

"Hm?" Uraraka glanced at Midoriya, who had a face full of determination. Mirai could have sworn she saw steam coming from his nostrils. "You're wearing your gym clothes, Deku? Where's your costume?"

"Ah, it got damaged during battle training, so they're repairing it for me," he explained.

Mirai scoffed, "Gee, I wonder how that happened…" She sent a pointed glare in Bakugou's direction, but his back remained turned. However, she noticed the slight tensing of his shoulders at her words.

Suddenly, a high-pitched, airy sound of a whistle pierced her eardrums. "Gather up, class 1-A!" Iida declared, "To enter the bus smoothly, let's line up in two orderly rows."

The other students stared at him, not annoyed, but rather perplexed. It seemed like most people in this class had strange habits, such as pumping the air and subjecting Mirai's eyes to the high-pitched whistle. Despite Iida's instructions, the students boarded the bus with loud chatter and casual demeanor. As it turned out, the bus had seats lined against the walls, with rows of two seats at the back, rendering Iida's orderly lines unnecessary.

Iida hung his head, muttering dejectedly, "Damn, it's this type of bus."

Mina patted his back, an unbothered smile on her face. "All that effort for nothing," she said.

"I usually say whatever comes to mind," Tsuyu stated, her words sounding like a subtle warning as she turned to Midoriya.

"Uh… yeah, Asui?" Midoriya responded hesitantly.

"Call me Tsuyu," she insisted.

His smile wavered as he looked away and nodded.

"Your quirk is similar to All Might's," Tsuyu observed.

Midoriya's shoulders jumped even higher. "You… you think so? But… I… well…"

"As..Ts-Tsuyu," Mirai interjected, "You do have a point, though All Might doesn't seem to get hurt when he uses his quirk."

Kirishima chimed in, "But you know, it must be nice to have a simple power-boosting quirk. It's flashy and versatile." He extended his arm, his flesh turning rough and jagged. "My hardening quirk is only good for close combat, and it looks pretty plain."

Midoriya tilted his head to get a better look. "But I think it looks awesome! It's a quirk that's perfect for a pro hero."

Kirishima's eyes widened slightly before he smiled, examining his arm. "A pro, huh? But the hero world nowadays is all about popularity."

"My navel laser is pro-level in both appearance and strength." Aoyama stated proudly,

Mina placed a hand on his shoulder, her words blunt. "As long as you don't blow up your own stomach!"

Mina may be bubbly, but she's quite straightforward too.

"Well, if you wanna talk strong and cool," Kirishima said, "then it's gotta be Todoroki and Bakugou."

Mirai glanced over at Bakugou, who had his head resting on his palm, staring out the window. He blinked, noticing their attention, before clicking his tongue and looking away once more. It was strange; usually, when someone praised that arrogant blond, he would jump at the opportunity to exclaim and preach loudly about his strength. But he remained silent and minded his own business. It seemed like that was all he had been doing since that day.

"But Bakugou is always pissed off, so he'll never be popular," Tsuyu said.

Bakugou jumped at that, gripping the wall pipes that separated him from Tsuyu. "What'd you say, frog-face?!"

Tsuyu didn't even flinch as she pointed at Bakugou. "See?"

"You know, it's quite telling that we only just met, but you've made it abundantly clear to us that your personality is like crap stewed in sewage," Kaminari chimed in.

"Yeah, okay, Mr. Vocabulary. How about I pound you?!" Bakugou threatened.

Mirai chuckled as Midoriya's hands were buried in his ears, likely in disbelief that his bully, Bakugou, was being teased. UA students were really something else.

"We're almost there. That's enough," Mr. Aizawa said as the students all responded in unison, "Yes, sir," some more lowly and begrudgingly than others (Bakugou), as the bus slowed to a stop near a large glass dome.

Waiting for the students was a short person in a white space suit design, using what appeared to be a puffy jacket instead of an actual suit, a black helmet with white eyes, and a pair of yellow boots. Mirai knew this hero, although she wasn't as much of a hero fanatic as Midoriya. Thirteen was a hero specialized in search and rescue, having saved over a thousand people during his time as a hero. Now, he had started contributing his time to teaching future heroes, much like the other teachers.

"Let's go inside, future heroes," he said, opening his arms as everyone bowed their heads. "Thank you very much!"

If everyone was awestruck by the sight of Thirteen, their jaws dropped as they stared at the landscape consisting of various domes, shades of red and dark blue, a lake, a ship, and even a dangerously looping waterslide. There was a rocky, mountainous area filled with cliffs, and a destroyed urban environment with buildings in precarious conditions. It was an impressive sight to behold.

"Wow!"

"Is this Universal Studios?"

"Shipwrecks, mudslides, fires, storms, and much more," Thirteen listed. "I built this training center to prepare for any incident and disaster. It's called the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short." Thirteen pointed, one leg raised.

Mr. Aizawa approached Thirteen. "Where's All Might? He's supposed to be here."

Thirteen leaned close. "About that, senpai…" Then he said something Mirai couldn't hear as he raised three of his fingers.

Mr. Aizawa sighed. "He's so illogical. Well, it can't be helped. Let's begin."

"Eh… before we start, I would like to say a thing or two… or three… or four… or five…" Thirteen began.

'It's increasing,' Mirai thought.

"As you all know," Thirteen continued, raising a hand, "my quirk is called Black Hole. I can suck in anything and turn it into ash."

"And you've used it to save people from all sorts of disasters!" Midoriya chimed in as Uraraka nodded rapidly.

"Indeed," Thirteen nodded. "However, my power could easily kill. I've no doubt there are some among you with similar abilities."

Everyone seemed to reflect on Thirteen's words. Sure, the possibility of accidentally killing someone was always a chance, but as future heroes, they preferred not to think or dwell on such a thing.

"In this superhero society, quirks are certified and strictly monitored, so it may seem organized. But please remember that each of you has a quirk that can easily kill with one mistake. In Aizawa's physical test, you saw your own power potential. In All Might's battle training, you saw the danger of using powers against people. This lesson will be different. We'll learn how to use your quirks to rescue people. I want you to go home knowing your powers exist not to hurt people, but to save them." Thirteen bowed. "This is all. Thank you for listening."

Everyone applauded him, with Iida enthusiastically shouting, "Bravo! Bravo!"

"So," Mr. Aizawa said, "first, we will—"

But before he could finish, trails of electricity shot through the lines of light that surrounded the dome. The waterfall in the center flickered, and at the front, a black and dark purple hole emerged, widening until it burst into a wall. Then, a hand crept out from the hole.

"Stay in one group!" Mr. Aizawa ordered as he gestured to the pro hero. "No. Thirteen, protect the students!"

"What is the…" Mirai's eyes squinted as figures started appearing through the wall.

"Is this like the entrance exam?" Kirishima asked. "Has it already started?"

"I don't think…" Mirai started to lean forward to get a closer look—

"Don't move!"

The students flinched back. Mr. Aizawa put his goggles on. "Those are real villains."

The revelation hung in the air, leaving the students stunned and at a loss for words.

Ironically, they came just when we were about to start our training to save people.