A Long Journey

" Sora, are you finished packing?" Her grandmother's head peeked through the door just as she had closed the carry bag.

" Yosh, all set!" The girl said proudly after managing to defeat the crammed bag.

" The bag though... It seems lighter than expected." Her grandmother placed a hand on her jaw as she looked at the blue mass on the ground. " Are you sure you took everything you need? Everything I've given you?"

" Yes yes Grandma, all is in there." Sora pointed at the sack about to burst at any moment.

" It's just, I'm a little worried about you. This is the first time you leave my side for this long." Her grandma's complexion softened. " And there was I-island too..." The woman murmured

" Grandma! I'm 15 now. I can take care of myself!" Sora folded her arms and puffed her cheeks. " I don't want to be treated like a kid for the rest of my life! Plus, we'll have teachers around. What would possibly happen out there in the camp."

" Right, maybe I'm overthinking." Heaving a short sigh, Yui smiled at her, giving her a hug and placing a kiss on her forehead. " Very well then. I shall leave you. You need to get up early don't you. Sweet dreams, dear." She smiled while slowly closing the door behind her.

" You're treating me more like a kid now, Grandma." Sora sweat dropped. Still, that's how her grandmother was. She was very thankful for her love and care that made it up for her nonexistent parents.

" A training camp..." Sora slumped down on her futon, her face beaming with excitement. " I wonder how it will be. I can't wait!"

She rolled on her bed, her heart throbbing rapidly in her chest before stopping to pick her phone as it buzzed. It was Iida, reminding them once again of the time of the gathering. As diligent as ever, Iida-kun.

As she scrolled through her messages, her red eyes fell upon a certain name. There was no contact from that number for almost half a year. Yumei didn't contact me much. Even when I call her, it only lasts a few minutes. She said she is quite busy with something now.

Sora sighed flinging her arm to the side and letting the phone slide of it. " Hope she is fine."

________________

The 1st day of the training camp finally came. A quite dewy morning. Until a certain voice yelled...

" I'm late!!!!!"

Sora rushed out of her house, almost slipping and falling. She promptly tried to smooth her hair down as much as possible. " Why today of all days... I totally forgot to set my alarm!"

She met with Yuu who came to check on her halfway to his house, only for him to be grabbed by the wrist and tugged behind her. " Wait, Sora..."

" We're gonna be late! Aizawa-sensei's gonna punish us!"

Imagining the angry face of their homeroom teacher, Yuu as well hastened his pace. " It's finally here, the first day of the training camp!"

" I can't believe it. I could swear it was just yesterday that we were running down this same road in our new uniforms!" Sora smiled at him.

" It's been half a year since that. And I have to say, you haven't grown an inch taller since then, Sora." Whisper teased.

" Don't be a meanie! I'll grow at the right time! I'll be as tall and as beautiful as Grandma!" She stuck her tongue out at him.

" Here she is acting in a childish way again." Whisper chuckled.

Yuu couldn't hold back the smile that formed on his face. A lot of things happened during that half-year. He had been through a lot, he fell down and struggled up again. There were many times he felt useless. There were many times he regretted not being able to do anything. Hard as it was, he felt he managed to grow through that time.

" Whisper..." The ghost blinked as he was addressed, looking down at his master. Yuu bore a smile on his face, his eyes yet fixed forward. "I did my best."

Whisper smiled at him proudly. " You did. Still, it's not over yet. ' Plus Ultra', right. You will have to work even harder." He pointed his finger forward. " Let's go at full speed, soldiers!"

" Sir! Yes sir!"

________________

" Didn't you say we were late?" Yuu turned to the girl who had a confused look on her face as they set down their luggage in the bus boot.

" We made it again."

" You didn't make anything." Iida walked over to them. " You're 15 minutes late. 15! Minutes!"

" Sorry, Iida-kun..." Sora sweat dropped.

" Now that everyone had gathered, let me tell you this." Aizawa walked over to them. " UA High has finished its first semester and started summer vacation. However..." Sora could swear his glare could burn into a boulder. " Those of you trying to be heroes will not receive days of rest. At this summer training camp, we'll have you aiming for even greater heights, for ' Plus Ultra '!"

" Hai!"

" My heart is beating fast! I can't wait to set off!" Sora pumped her fist in the air.

"You're not the only one." Whisper pointed at Uraraka, Ashido and Kaminari as they danced and chanted ' Training camp '. " Everyone must be really excited. Though from my experience with UA..."

He glared down at them with a malicious smirk. " It's bound to be a hellish camp."

" Don't jinx it!" Yuu cried, covering his ears.

Monoma popped from who knows where, mocking their class for having people failing their practical exams. Everyone sweat dropped when Kendo hit him on the scruff of the neck to shut him up, apologizing as she dragged him away.

" Sometimes, I feel sorry for her." Whisper sweated.

" That boy would be definitely put into Slytherin," Sora noted.

Yuu face palmed. " It's not time to think about your favorite fantasy book now." He lowered his hand, looking at the other bus parked next to theirs with the whole of class B huddled by it. " So they're going to the training camp as well."

Both classes went for their respective buses, Iida tried organizing them by seat number as they filed in. But everyone ended up sitting wherever they wanted. Yuu and Sora sat on the right seat of the raw before last, however, that didn't last. Soon, the whole class were jumping from one seat to another, chatting among themselves. Even Yuu had moved to Iida and Midoriya, leaving her on her own there.

She could have joined Uraraka and the rest but she was feeling very tired to chat with them. She couldn't sleep at all the past night due to her excessive exhilaration.

She fished out her smartphone and earphones from her pocket and played a certain piece of music before leaning her head against the window, taking in the green meadows and the beautiful azure sky.

The soothing sights, coupled with the calm music playing in her ears made her mind at ease. Before she knew it, her head was lolling down as she fought to stay awake.

She was fully awakened when Jiro approached her. " Can I sit here? It's so noisy there." Sore peeked over the heads in front of her to see an energetic Iida rebuking a swanking Aoyama.

" Understandable." Sora sweat dropped at the blunette as she slumped next to her.

" What are you listening to?" Jiro asked her, peeking at what was playing. The song had no name, only numbers, like a date and ID.

" Oh, you want to hear?" She said unplugging her earphones. Jiro plugged hers and her eyes widened slightly at the music.

" That's awesome. I've never heard such music before!"

" I've got more if you want to hear." Jiro then scrolled through the white head's playing list. There were some famous songs, but most of it consisted of soundtracks similar to the one she heard at the very start. They didn't have names, only numbers.

While Jiro was checking her phone, Sora sweated when she thought she heard Aizawa saying it was the only time they will be having fun. Taking a glimpse at the now-shaking Yuu, she was sure she wasn't mistaken.

" Sora..." She looked back at Jiro who was rather befuddled as she showed her the soundtrack she was currently playing. " They're awesome, I've never heard them before. And there are no names too. Where did you get these tracks?"

Sora smiled broadly at her. " That you see..."...

________________

Not long into the ride, Aoyama began to feel sick and nauseous due to looking at his own reflection in a hand mirror. Seeing he wasn't feeling well, Todoroki allowed him to have his seat so he could lay down on his back and had to use a small adjunct seat. Sora thought it was a kind gesture from him, but frankly speaking, the boy seemed too big for the seat. Although Midoriya, Iida and Yuu offered to exchange seats, it would be too small for them too, even for the slim Yuu. Not that Todoroki was willing to make his friends uncomfortable.

Sora apologized as she sidled past Jiro and tapped the boy's shoulder. " Todoroki, you can switch with me. I'm rather small so that chair would fit me well."

" Thank you, but-"

" No buts. It would prove nothing so stop being stubborn. And really, I could literally sink into that chair. Plus..." She chanced a glance at a sleeping Aizawa before whispering to the boy with a jittery smile. " Apparently Aizawa-sensei has something in store for us, so you better rest while you can."

" Shirogane, you don't have to do this. We can always throw this perverted shrimp in there, it would fit him better. " Said Sero with his thumb thrust at the ball-haired boy next to him.

" Nah, it's safer if he stayed there surrounded by boys rather than running loose."

Todoroki took her words into account, he gave her his seat and settled next to Jiro who scooted towards the window. True for her words, with her small build, the chair wasn't any less comfortable for her.

The trip was spent trying to make Aoyama feel better, ranging from trying to press a certain pressure point (Todoroki almost took on the task but thought better about it, saying he was the hand crusher after all, something that send Sora, Iida and Midoriya into a fit of laughter.) to playing games and telling stories. Asui had a rather interesting one about the time she almost got spirited away.

" Say, is that possible though, Seijin-chan, Whisper-chan?"

" Frankly speaking, we never know of spirits who would resort to that," answered the boy.

" Well, all you hear is rumors right." Whisper pointed. " Nothing set in stone yet, no one you actually know got spirited away. No proof whatsoever. Although, while we do not know of that, I know some spirits who would lure away children and feast on their emotions, being the easiest to express them. Maybe that was the same for you too, Asui."

" You're saying playing with me and showing me that serene place was to get a snack?"

" Pretty much the case. You should be thankful you didn't run into a spirit that would favor fear." Yuu gulped, remembering some unpleasant story from his past.

When the bus stopped, Aoyama was pretty much himself again. As they disembarked from the bus upon Aizawa's urging, Asui pointed out how sweet their classmates were for taking care of the sick Aoyama. Sora had to agree, her class was growing on her with each day...