Chapter 78

Rocks dotted the boundary between beach and desert, creating a sort of grey border separating the two places.

Bakugo was leaping from rock to rock - I was right on his heels, albeit further back, so that I could observe the scene at my leisure.

The training camp was larger than I expected.

To the left, thirty meters further on, was a wooden shack: small and with a sloping roof, smoke billowed from a makeshift chimney. The smell of roasted potatoes and soup filled the air.

Behind it were two other huts - wider than they were tall - which I assumed to be the dormitories and showers. I gritted my teeth as I imagined spending the next few weeks sleeping with lice who only showered once a year, on their birthday.

Do poor people have fleas ?

To the right was the only cement building: two stories, flat roof. It looked like one of those schools where people had to do a week's walk to get there - the kind of thing you only see in third-world countries documentaries, the exact kind of place I'd never set foot in.

At least the sparkling sea saved things a little, turning the scene from 'abused child' to 'hungry but happy kid'.

The shimmering sand was nice too. It wasn't as incredible as the Dead Sea, but at least it was real sand, not like some beaches in the south of France.

I landed softly on the sand, which crunched beneath my soles.

The students were gathered in a semicircle around Aizawa, offering us their backs.

Damaged pieces of rope protruded from pockets and wrapped around fists.

At least they understood that the aim was to come back with the rope, not to cling to it...

My eyes slid to an invisible idiot and the green thing with her.

...or almost.

- And here are our latecomers. Go ahead, take your time. We've got all day.

Aizawa, jaded, watched us arrive under half-closed eyelids. All heads turned towards us.

- Todoroki ? Bakugo ?, exclaimed Yaoyorozu.

- I thought you'd arrived first, Kirishima said. You took off like rockets...

I gave Katsuki a thumbs-up.

- Tell that to Mr. I've-decided-we'll-take-just-one-route-and-that's-this-route-and-not-another one

Bakugo fulminated, foam foaming at the edges of his lips.

- Repeat it little shi-

- Katsuki, Shoto

Aizawa had activated his Quirk, his red eyes glaring at us. Katsuki froze as I swallowed my choosed insults.

- I'm sick and tired of seeing you spend your time fighting : it's going to stop here and now. (He addressed the other students) All of you, go and eat. We'll see you afterwards for your first training session.

The students moved away with more or less loud 'yes sensei', some perky and having already forgotten us, others glancing at us with amusement.

I ignored them, crossing my arms over my chest.

- Uh, sensei ?

- What ?

deku flinched under his gaze, biting his lips before looking at him again.

- For-for the rope...

His voice was so weak that, had there been wind, it would have muffled the croaks that served him as means of communication.

- Huh ?

Aizawa looked down at the rope linking deku to the invisible girl. Clearly they were among the students who had taken it too seriously and had almost merged in an attempt to tie themselves together.

- Go and see the teachers on the beach, they'll take them away

Aizawa then waved them off, and off they went.

Bakugo let out an amused grunt as they stumbled and nearly fell flat on their faces.

- You two

Aizawa watched us both for a long time, Quirk activated.

I couldn't decide whether he was doing it for a specific purpose or just to look busy until the last students were far enough away from us.

Far away, a large table filled with victuals had been set up on the sand, a pair of heroes - a man and a woman - welcoming the students. There was a child, too, running between each student to give them wet towels and soap.

To the left was a wooden building, like a hangar.

The kitchens, if the smell was anything to go by. Huts larger than houses lay just behind: dormitories and showers, most likely.

To the right, much further away, another building - this time made of cement - gave me the impression of a makeshift school. Behind it were rocks and a jetty: in the background, and all around, stretched the sea as far as the eye could see.

The last time I went to the sea was when I was ten. There was the old hag Teka...

Aizawa glanced over his shoulder, checking that we were alone.

- Really ?

Katsuki's false anger had evaporated like snow in the sun: he was looking Aizawa straight in the eye, looking more serious than I'd ever seen him before.

Our teacher deactivated his Quirk before glancing at me, then back at the blond.

- Follow me

*

The cement building was indeed a school : there were two classrooms, all on the ground floor. A chalkboard and wooden desks were lined up one behind the other, the smell of fresh paint permeating the atmosphere.

Aizawa removed the security strip that closed the access to the upper floor and beckoned us up. I paused in the doorway.

What I had thought was an attic was not: there were tables, chairs, half a dozen computers and at least forty flat screens hanging from the walls and ceiling.

I frowned.

Is it me or the ceiling...?

- Is this...?

Bakugo brushed against my shoulder and ventured into the control room, his attention turning to the first screens on our left. One showed images of the oasis and its foliage, but the rest of the surrounding screens were completely black.

It was the same for the other three screen sets on the left.

- Almost all our cameras and microphones in the oasis were fried, hissed Aizawa. And all at the same time. Care to explain?

I stepped into the room, carefully observing each of the screens still lit.

Kitchens, common rooms, shower entrances, bedrooms, training grounds, the forest behind the dorms...

- Denki went berserk, Bakugo replied, his lips tight. He roasted everything because of a damn insect

Everything but the desert.

I straightened up.

I looked around the room again, pretending to make only a brief inspection.

One door, two double windows with sliding glass - not openable from the outside - three office chairs and...

- A spare bed, I said, pointing with my chin to the bed in the corner of the room. Is there anyone else here ?

Aizawa gave me a long look before leaning back against one of the desks, arms crossed over his chest.

- Katsuki. (The blond straightened imperceptibly) What did Shoto tell you?

- So it wasn't a lie ?

He ran a hand through his hair, his face slightly tense.

- He told me about the girl, at the beginning of the year. The one who was at USJ... And also about how you think there's a traitor in our class.

- You told him about Ashido?

Aizawa looked deeply surprised.

- Because I shouldn't have ? (I laughed as briefly as contemptuously) You threw us into a forest with a distress rocket without telling us what to do, and Bakugo took it as a class in wild. If I hadn't told him and we'd overheard something we shouldn't have, you'd have ended up with two dead teenagers on your hands.

Aizawa's eyes darkened.

- Believe me, I don't like using two students who haven't even got their provisional license yet any more than you do, he spat. But the principal expects that.... anyway, it was a mistake. Now tell me about-

- He's expecting us to be attacked, isn't he ?

Neither Katsuki nor I were stupid enough to let him conduct the conversation as he saw fit : he wanted our information, and we needed answers. It was possible to satisfy both parties.

Aizawa remained silent.

- Besides, I wondered

I let my fingers slide across a computer keyboard before turning back to Aizawa.

- How come he expects us to be attacked ?

He arched an eyebrow.

- What's your point ?

- Does he expect us to be attacked like you'd expect snow when it's very cold, or...

I squinted.

- Does he expect us to get attacked because he's made the vilains want to attack us ?

Katsuki's eyes widened.

- Are you using us as bait ?

Incredulous, the blond turned to Aizawa.

He himself hadn't taken his eyes off me for a second.

- ...you're surprisingly clever, Shoto. More than I could ever give you credit for.

I shrugged.

- You didn't answer my question : one or two ?

- Two

I nodded, absent-mindedly observing the bed.

All Might or someone else ?

Bakugo was on the verge of eruption.

- You're telling us that you've brought us to a camp just to lure peacock-head and his cronies, and that we're going to die there ?!

Aizawa didn't flinch.

- You can always pack your things and leave, nothing's stopping you

It calmed him down immediately.

- Tss, as if I was the kind of guy who would shit himself in the face of a handful of villains.

I smiled thinly.

Hit Bakugo's ego and you'll have him in your pocket.

I continued my tour of the property, stopping this time to watch the replay of the 1-A students having lunch with the familiar-looking couple and the cannon kid. What was his name again ?

Karmi ? Kenbi?

- Why don't you tell me what you saw and get it over with ?

- You seem to be in a bad mood, sensei, I remarked

He glowered at me.

- Please hurry

- There's not much to tell. We were the first to arrive, then the moron and the ass-sweeper showed up. Then we moved around and saw Darth Vader and the psychopath. Ochaco screamed and we found her with the Frenchman. Then the moron blew everything up.

Aizawa blinked.

Slowly.

His lips puckered into a thin line, his eyes reduced to two slits.

The veins on his neck became visible, taking on a terrifying purple hue : I didn't even give him time to open his mouth.

- In order they are Kaminari, Iida, Tokoyami and Aoyama.

Aizawa is almost as creepy as my old man when he makes that face.

- Yeah, that's what I just said

- Is that all ?

- Kaminari seemingly destroyed the Iida's engines before they reached the oasis, Monoma used Tokoyami's Quirk and found us straight away, then Urar-

Aizawa straightened up.

- Has Monoma seen you ?

- He did. It was downright suspicious, too. We were about fifty feet apart and he looked exactly at the place where we stood. Especially since we were in the trees, and hidden in the dark.

- I think it had something to do with Tokoyami's Quirk. He used it with more ease and facility than I'd ever seen darth v...Tokoyami do. It was... strange.

Suspicious. Shady. The exact kind of thing a villain would have done.

- Very good. Carry on.

- After that Ochaco screamed, and Kaminari blew it all up.

- Three times, I added absently. She screamed three times. Then it was Kaminari's turn.

Aizawa and Katsuki were staring at me.

- What ? I have an absolute memory

- Is that all ?

- I don't know what more you want to hear, Katsuki said impatiently. We told you everything until the cameras stopped rolling. After that, too many groups arrived at the same time, and let me remind you there were only two of us

- He's right. Everything we just told you was the most significant. After that we just had time to make a vague round to try and see what everyone was doing, but that's all

- Who were the last to leave, apart from you two ?

- Kirishima and Séro

There is no pattern, no logical schema : the arrivals, the departures, the groups themselves... everything was random. Whatever happened, it happened after the cameras went off.

Aizawa remained silent for a few moments, lost in thought. I exchanged a glance with Katsuki.

Slowly, I crept across the room to the makeshift bed: there was a bag underneath, and if I-

- Why weren't Iida's machines working?

- Kaminari blew them up after getting scared by a scorpion in the desert, I replied distractedly.

- And how do you know that, since we were perched in the trees ?

The lie left my mouth with the fluidity you'd expect from a full-time liar.

- I read it on his lips

Aizawa arched an eyebrow : Katsuki looked at me, disillusioned.

- You have an absolute memory and now you can read lips too. Another notable thing you can do, or are you saving that for a future coincidence with great timing ?

- I'm just talented, Katchan. Really. I was born that way.

It just took me twelve years of ninja arts training, a bundle of chakra and inordinate ambition.

- You're just shady

- The fact that I can leap from tree to tree doesn't surprise you, but the fact that I can read lips does ?

- Who learns to read lips ?

- We're not all destined to be heroes, you idiot

Katsuki's eyes lit up, his attention piqued.

- You don't want to-

- You can talk later, cut Aizawa. If you have nothing else to add, sweep the floor.

I glanced at him in annoyance, suddenly irritated.

- You're execrable Aizawa-sensei, you know that?

He crossed his arms over his chest.

- Coming from a teenager whose shoulders struggle to support his head, I'll take that remark as a compliment

- And what are we supposed to do in the meantime ? Keep an eye on the oth-

Aizawa cut him off.

- You won't. (Jaw clenched, he continued:) Getting you involved was a mistake, and don't expect it to happen again. Once you're out of here, you'll forget everything that's happened, is that clear?

He looked at us in turn, waiting for us to surrender to his orders without flinching.

- Difficult to do, given that we're going to be hit any day now by fucking villains, spat huffily Bakugo

Aizawa turned to me.

- He has a point

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the smug look on Bakugo's face as he crossed his arms over his chest in a way that said '2 against 1, there's nothing he can do'.

Aizawa sighed before massaging the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

- You know what? Do as you please. Nezu didn't give any instructions once we got to camp : be discreet no matter what you... undertake, and try not to render the mission null and void. Otherwise, the spy might ask for an impromptu extraction and that would be a disaster - I guess I don't need to explain why.

If the heroes are already ready to intervene, then why say that an impromptu extraction would be a catastrophe ? Unless Nezu...

I froze.

The.fucking.genius.

- What if we- double-face ?

I brought a hand to my mouth, trying to curb the huge grin that tore my face in two.

- Are you having an asthma attack ?, worried Aizawa.

My shoulders trembled : I folded in half, arms clasped around my stomach, transfixed by jolts.

- It's just that- I just-

My breathing was wheezy as I hiccupped, trying to control my trembling because-

I burst out laughing.

It was a thunderous, ungainly laugh, bordering on hysteria - but I couldn't stop.

The hands that had risen to clap me on the back froze.

My laughter redoubled in intensity and ardor; I had to sit on the floor to avoid collapsing, my own bursts of voice vibrating me from the inside.

- What's... going on here?

Folded up as I was, I could only see Katsuki's shoes coming closer to Aizawa.

- I couldn't say, murmured the dark-haired man. He's your friend, you should know.

- You're the teacher. And I've only known him two months.

My cheeks ached, my vision blurred with tears.

- Don't-

A new fit of laughter took hold of me, even preventing me from breathing.

- It is-

My ribs hurt now.

I lowered my head, my nose close to the ground, inadvertently inhaling a cloud of dust.

My laughter turned into a coughing fit: my face turned red, my eyes became dry again, my hilarity turned into sudden concern.

I just swallowed a piece of dus-

A large, strong hand clapped me on the back to help me spit out what I'd ingested. A fingernailsized lump of dust flew out of my mouth.

I watched it flee to a dark corner of the room, disgusted.

- No more asthma attacks ?

I massaged my throat with one hand, nodding slowly. My face was still burning.

- I didn't know you were versed in part-time hysteria, Katsuki scoffed

My breathing was now more or less stable now.

I ignored Aizawa's outstretched hand and stood up on my own.

- Explanation ?

I dusted off my dirt-covered pants.

- I thought it was funny, I mumbled in a low voice, avoiding his gaze.

Bakugo blinked.

- You don't have to laugh very often for the one time I see you do it, you choke on air

Aizawa's face broke into an amused smile.

I gave him a sidelong glance that I intended to be indifferent, even though I was furious.

If you knew what I just understood, I can assure you you wouldn't be laughing.

- What was it you said ? That we should leave if we had nothing else to add ?

I turned on my heels, hands in my pockets, determined to leave the graveyard of shame.

- Didn't know you were the touchy type, Shoto, scoffed Aizawa in the distance.

I stomped down the stairs to prove that I didn't give a damn what he said. Katsuki passed me on the right and left first.

I walked behind him, the warm sand crunching under my cold soles, when one of the things that had struck me earlier came back to mind.

I stopped, contemplating the cement school.

- What are you doing ?

The height of the building does not match the measurements inside.

- ... maths

My eyes fell back on Aizawa, who was watching me from the doorway. Gone was the jovial air or the smile that had hovered on his lips for a few moments.

Now he had straightened up, no longer bothering to look stooped or exhausted.

He was half-draped in darkness, with only the lower part of his face in the light.

His black pupils - shining like a fawn's, slit like a reptile's - watched me with disturbing attention, almost as if he wanted me to say it for him.

- Huh ?

Aizawa's eyes lifted for a second on Bakugo before returning to me.

- Hurry up or the others will eat it all up. And don't count on me to keep anything for you !

The sound of furious footsteps came to me distractedly as I looked at the cement tower in a new light.

...interesting.

- I'm on my way

I walked away with my hands in my pockets and my brain racing; behind my back I was sure that Aizawa hadn't taken his eyes off me.

There's a third floor.

*

Author's note :

The noose is tightening rather fast...

It will be very important for everyone to know/understand where are the strategic places in the camp, which is why I will try to upload a map on the public space of my P@treon as soon as I can.

I strongly advise you to check it if you don't want to get lost in a few chapters.

Anyway, you know the drill : 250 power stones = sunday bonus chapter

If you want to support me/read ahead of schedule, you can do so on my P@treon, Nar_cisseENG

Tell me what you thought about the chapter in the comments/your speculations for what's coming, and see you in the next update everyone !