Chapter 75: Test your courage gone wrong

Thus, the reason for this dark and hot place is for them to adapt to various situations so that they would be fine in the future when encountering a fire incident. The darkness was mostly to force them to think of the most creative way to use their quirk to light up the place together with their classmates. For example, Yuga's rainbow-y light-y sparkles are reflected on Shoto's ice block, allowing for a disco-like environment. Of course, students like Momo also help by creating light-related items to help light up the place.

Furthermore, the training camp was located in the middle of a forest. And where there is darkness in the middle of nature, there are bugs. These various conditions help with their mental fortitude so that they don't freak out in the presence of small things like bugs.

Finally, there was music in the background. It sounds great and melodic at first, relaxing even. But the more a person hears, the more 'restraints' there are on their body, similar to having extra gravity on their body. The only way to resist this is to have a high mental fortitude, but if their mental fortitude was weak, the restraints on them would only serve as a workout for them.

Of course, Shido wouldn't make it impossible for them to move, that would defeat the purpose of 'training' in the first place. He made it so that when a person's mental fortitude was too weak, the restraints would only have up to twice the original gravity pressing all around his body. It wouldn't stop them from moving, but it would also make it so that they would need more stamina to do what they could usually do easily.

These various factors, when combined, help train their muscles so that when their quirks are improved, their body and mental fortitude don't lag behind. After all, Shinso's quirk, 'brainwash', wasn't the only one that affects the mind. There might be villains out there who have a quirk that affects their mind as well.

After that in-depth introduction of the entire training plan, Pixie-bob mentioned that together with rubble crashing down and floods, fire incidents in cities were the top three most common accidents in cities where villains run amok.

"Alright now, that's enough of class A. Let's get started with class B as well." Pixie-bob has started to recover from her depression and began facilitating class B's individual training plan.

*****************

Evening, 6 pm

"Like we said, the pampering ended yesterday!!" Pixie-bob had officially ended her depression and was back to her usual cheerful self.

"Wanna eat? Then you gotta cook for yourselves!! Today is curry!!" Ragdoll was shouting beside Pixie-bob as both of them pointed towards the various ingredients that were needed for curry, lying on the table.

"Yes, ma'am..."

After the exhausting day, everybody was filled with sweat and dirt as they tried to resist the heat from Shido, hot water from melted ice, the blinding light from Yuga that sometimes shined directly into their eyes, the gentle music that restricted their movements and many more.

They simply didn't have the energy to reply loudly anymore as the remaining energy that they were saving up for was needed for them to cook their dinner.

"Bwa ha ha ha! You all look worse for wear!! That's why this is no mere kitty chow you'll be making!"

Tenya seemed to have attained enlightenment as he mentioned,"But of course...in times of disaster and evacuation, someone needs to fill the bellies and soothe the souls of fatigued citizens. That, too, is part of rescue operations..."

The more he thought, the more he was convinced that he was right in his deduction. He turned towards his classmates and encouraged all of them,"Naturally, UA never misses a teaching opportunity!! So let's make the tastiest curry in the world, everyone!!!"

Shido and Shota heard what Tenya had said and both of them looked at each other and nodded while thinking of the same thing.

'Iida's handy to have around.'

Meanwhile, Eri looked at the instructors in suspicion, not believing in Tenya's reasoning in the slightest.

While the students made curry by themselves, the teachers, together with Eri, were having pre-made food that Shido had ordered beforehand. There was no way that Shido would cook, not that he knew how to, and the rest of the teachers were used to eating city-made food rather than the healthier organic, forest-y food.

The wild, wild pussycats didn't have food from the city for a long time, so they also decided to ditch making their own food and took Shido's one as well. Shido didn't mind since he had ordered for many people.

While they were having fun talking to one another in the cabin, Shido looked out of the window and saw Izuku heading towards a mountain top.

Mandalay saw where Shido was looking and explained,"Don't worry, he probably noticed that Kota hadn't eaten and went to deliver food to him."

"Kota lives alone at the top of the mountain?" Shido asked curiously.

Mandalay shook her head and replied,"No. He just goes there whenever he's in a bad mood." After noticing Shido's curious look, she proceeded to explain fully,"Kota really detests heroes. He'd probably look up to heroes too, if he'd been raised normally."

"Normally?"

This time, it was Pixie-bob who replied,"Mandalay's cousins were Kota's parents. They were heroes who died in the line of duty. Two years ago, they were protecting civilians from a villain. There's no better way for heroes to meet their end...an honourable death."

Mandalay said,"But a boy who'd only just started learning about the world couldn't understand that...because his parents were his entire world. To him, it was like they had left him all alone. But society just kept praising them...saying that what they did was great and noble..."

Mandalay paused for a while and let out a sad sigh.

"I don't think he likes us very much either...but with no other relatives to rely on, he cooperates...to Kota, heroes are nasty people he can't understand."

"I see..." Shido shook his head and didn't say anything anymore.

*****************

After a fulfilling dinner, everybody had free time from 7 pm to 10 pm before it was their bedtime where they could do anything they want or need, including bathing, as long as they didn't wander outside to the forest.

"Yawn...it's time for bed..." Mina yawned sleepily as she stretched her pink limbs.

Eijiro agreed with her and was about to head towards his futon when a hand suddenly grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"Nope. You five are coming with us." Shido and Shota said simultaneously as they grabbed the five failures of the class.

"It's time for your remedial lessons."

Mina, Eijiro, Hanta, Denki and Rikido looked at one another blankly before letting out defeated sighs of resignation.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!"

*****************

"Remedial group. Why've you stopped moving?"

Early the next morning, everyone woke up happily, save for the two teachers, Shido and Shota, and the remedial group.

"HNNGH!" Eijiro gritted his teeth as he tried his best to keep himself awake by pulling to a rubber headband with his head.

"Sorry, just...a little sleepy..." Mina said as she forced herself to walk.

"I told you this would be rough." Shota said, but his eyes were the reddest amongst everyone.

"Sato and Kaminari, reaching your limits is a matter of life and death. To increase that capacity, repeated and extended quirk use is key. Sero...in addition to extending your capacity, you need to strengthen your tape and increase its firing speed. Ashio, you need to improve your skin's resistance against your acid during periods of extended use. And finally, Kirishima, building those muscles and making your body even harder will create a nice synergy effect." As Shota advised, he pointed at each one of them and stated their weakness and solution as well as the direction they should be aiming at.

"But most importantly, you all have to make up for your piss-poor performances during the final exam!! Think about that when the others are doing fine and you are dead on your feet." Shota suddenly shouted as he glared murderously at the five students before turning towards his next targets.

"Uraraka! Aoyama! You guys, too. You didn't quite manage to fail, but it was a close call. You needed 30 points to pass, and you two got 35. So don't let up. You're all looking sluggish today."

Walking past every student, he said,"Always be conscious of who you are. That's the key to improvement. That's why you're out here sweating. Why we're riding you so hard. Keep it in mind, always."

Every student heard his words and began to ponder about it.

"Who am I...?"

Izuku was thinking about something when he suddenly noticed something. He turned towards Shota and staggered a little before asking,"By the way, Aizawa-sensei, this is the third day, but where is All Might....are the other teachers gonna come?"

"Don't look so limp. I just told you to stand firm." Shota sighed before continuing,"Anyways, as I explained before we left...we're keeping staff to a minimum to make it harder for the villains to pin us down, that's why you're lodging with the wild wild pussycats. As for All Might, he's more than likely one of the villains' targets, so of course, he won't be coming here."

Suddenly, the air turned a little heavier and gloomier as Shota continued,"For better or worse, he's a guy who tends to stand out. That's why..."

Izuku started sweating at his words,"I...I see..."

After a small announcement by Pixie-bob that they were going to have a test-of-courage later on, everyone became motivated and started training even harder. The entire training area was dark and hot yesterday, but it was darker and hotter today, causing all the students to undergo even more intense training.

After dinner, the time for the event came.

"Bellies are filled, and plates are clean! Next up..." Pixie-bob started but Mina ended the sentence,"The test of courage!!"

However, Shota had a smile on his face as he said."Sorry to break it to you...remedial group...you've got your extra lessons with us now."

"NO WAAAAY!" Mina's eyes popped out of her eye sockets and her jaw dropped as she exclaimed loudly.

The five students tried rushing into the forest immediately but Shota immediately restrained them with his scarf and dragged them to the cabin where they would have their remedial class.

"Sorry, but you were slacking during training earlier, so now I'm gonna cut into your playtime..." Shota said as he dragged them back to class, but he didn't sound sorry at all.

"WAHHH! Give us a break. Test our courage!!" They complained as they were dragged along the floor, but Shota didn't bother about their protests and proceeded to ignore them.

After the mini commotion, Pixie-bob continued from where she left off previously.

"Right. Class B will be on the offensive first. Class A will head into the forest in teams of two, one team every three minutes. You'll find name cards at the halfway point. Grab your own, and then come back here!"

Mandalay continued,"The scarers aren't allowed to make direct contact. They'll just be using their quirks to startle you as best they can."

"""So get creative!! Whichever class makes the other wet their pants more wins!!"" The other three wild, wild pussycats declared together while Mandalay just stood at the side.

"I see! it's an opportunity to work on our ingenuity through competition...as well as a chance for us to broaden the utility of our quirks! I expect no less of UA!!" Tenya inserted his own opinion while Shido just stood at the side and thought, 'This guy thinks too much.'

After twelve minutes the combination was confirmed and since there were an odd number of students left, Izuku was alone.

Shido was, of course, with Eri. They were the fourth team to enter.

Once they walked in, Eri immediately held Shido's hands in fear. Apart from the occasional chirping of the birds and insect sounds, the entire forest was abnormally silent.

Shido wasn't too afraid of the dark. He had lived in the shadows for a long time, this sort of darkness was merely child's play to him.

"Are you afraid, Eri~?" Seeing Eri's frightened face, Shido naturally wouldn't waste the opportunity to tease her.

"H-Humph! W-Who is scared?" Eri immediately snorted tsundere-like and let go of his hands.

"Are you a tsundere?" Shido smiled wryly but Eri didn't look back and just continued walking forward, albeit slowly.

Sighing, he walked forward and held her hand.

"I'm scared, alright?" Eri was about to wriggle her hand out of his hand when she heard what he said.

"F-Fine."

Smiling at Eri acting tough, he continued walking slowly with Eri while enjoying the darkness that the forest provided when suddenly he smelled something.

Shido frowned.

"Something is burning?"

*****************

If you want to support me or/and want 14+ chapters in advance, link:

https://www.patréon.com/spirits_everywhere