The next few days passed by in a blur. Aizawa kept hovering and fretting over him, all weekend. It was strange, yet endearing, to see that side of his homeroom teacher's personality. Clearly, the mall incident worried him. Izuku was lucky to have him as his guardian. They even spent the day packing together for the training camp.

Soon enough, they were all standing in front of the bus. Ready to go on the summer camping trip.

Looking around, Izuku noticed the way his classmates were practically vibrating in their places. Each one of them showing various signs of excitement. Uraraka, Kirishima and Kaminari were jumping around, yelling and shouting about the fun they were going to have, while others showed subtle signs. Like the light tapping of Yaoyorozu's foot against the asphalt as she talked quietly to Jirou, or the slightly more enthusiastic shop of Iida's hand as he organized the class's seats on the bus.

Izuku realized, he really enjoyed watching his friend's antics, with a fond smile on his face. They've been through so much together. It served to bring them closer to one another. They were family.

As they clambered onto their seats, it came as a pleasant surprise to see that Shinsou was on the bus too. Apparently, he was going to participate in the training camp in hopes to later join the hero course when the next semester starts. It made him really happy to see that his friend's dreams were being set into place.

Izuku settles on taking the seat next to Uraraka. They had grown closer since the start of school. He enjoys the light conversation they have and ever has always found great comfort in being around her upbeat demeanor.

The bus starts up and Izuku finds himself slowly falling asleep as he listened to the soft chatter coming from his classmates.

The next time he woke up, it was to a gentle hand shaking him awake. Groggily, he opened his eyes to find a slightly amused Sero staring back at him.

"Hey man, the bus stopped, Aizawa said it was for a small break. I guessed that you'd want to take a break and maybe stretch your legs for a bit?" The dark-haired teen explained sheepishly as he waited to see Izuku's reaction.

Although slightly disappointed at getting woken up, Izuku was grateful for the thoughtfulness shown by his classmate. Slowly he got up and followed the other teen out into the field.

His classmates were all gathered in front of Aizawa. The teacher seemed to be waiting for something. The glint in his eyes made him swallow in morbid anticipation. He'd learned to know Aizawa's moods and this was the: 'I have logical ruse planned look'. What did Aizawa have in store for them?

His questions were answered when two figures emerged, seemingly, out of nowhere.

"Heya, Eraser!" One of the figures exclaimed loudly, once she got closer, Izuku immediately recognized her as one of the Wild- wild pussy cats, Pixie Bob. Behind her, stood Mandalay, the second member of the hero team.

"Rock on with these sparkling gazes" Mandalay singsongs as she strikes a dramatic pose.

"Stingingly cute and catlike!" Pixie Bob continued only for them to exclaim the end together. "We're the Wild-wild Pussy cats!"

"Class, these are the heroes that will be helping us this time. The Pussycats."

Izuku's eyes shown with excitement and anticipation. He remembered the section in his hero analyses book that he reserved for the Pussycats. They're a four-member hero team who all work under the same agency. They specialize in mountain rescue operations, they've been in business for twelve years now- He was cut off by a hand ruffling his hair. He looked up to see Shinsou. The latter had a knowing smile on his face. Izuku's face heated up as he realized that he was muttering.

"Hey! We're 18 at heart kid!" Mandalay exclaimed incredulity with a huff. The pout on her face gave her a look even more similar to that of a cat.

"This whole area here is our territory." Pixie Bob continued, undeterred by Izuku's previous muttering. "Your lodging is at the foot of the mountain over there" She pointed at a mountain that seemed to be too far to be able to reach.

"So, why did we stop here if it's all the way over there?" Uraraka asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"It's 9:35 now, I'm thinking... around noon, at the earliest."

Izuku's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen.

He thinks, he heard Aizawa mutter a quiet "Sorry kid" Before the mountain collapsed from under them and they were all falling down the hill.

The training has already begun.

______________________

Trying to ignore the ringing in his ears, Izuku shakily lifted himself off the ground. Around him, his classmates were in a similar predicament. Once they were all on their feet, they realized what they had to do.

Apparently, the start of their training consisted of trying to get to camp. It would be tiring since it was so far away but easy in hindsight. However, the rumbling in the trees made it painfully clear that it wasn't going to be easy.

Just as he finished his line of thought, huge monsters emerged from the forest. On closer inspection, he realized that they were a product of Pixie bob's quirk; Earth flow. The hero had the ability to create a variety of golem-like creatures out of the ground since her quirk allowed her to manipulate earth freely.

Gathering himself, he called out to his classmates. "Guys, these creatures are strong but if we work together, we can get passed them!"

He caught Iida's eye and the teen nodded in his direction. Looking back, he got similar reactions from his classmates. Just like that, they were off.

Izuku rushed at one of the creatures, One for All flowed through his veins as he smashed the earth monster clean through, providing an opening for the rest of his friends.

Iida sped past him and rammed his leg into on the other monster's head as Todoroki froze the other with his ice. The creatures were strong but so were they. Even people whose quirks didn't work on the monsters, like Kouda or Shinsou, were able to hold their own.

They worked in tandem, like a well-oiled machine. Even Bakugou seemed to be hanging back and helping others if they faced any difficulty.

_______________________

It wasn't until 5 that they reached the camp. By then, the whole class was trying not to collapse where they stood. They were all soaked from head to toe in sweat and dirt. All of them breathing heavily and wanting to just curl up on themselves and fall asleep.

"Oh! You're here! We actually thought that it would take you longer!" Mandalay exclaimed excitedly, her upbeat attitude only initiating groans from the class.

"And you dealt with my earth beasts pretty easily, too. Not bad... Especially you four." She pointed at the four who made it back first. The group consisting of Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugou, and Iida.

Ignoring the way Pixie-bob was currently jumping around them, Izuku's eyes wandered to the small boy that seemed to be standing aside. He was on the cliff too, he remembered seeing him just before everything went to hell.

"Hey, the boy. Who is he?" He asked curiously, wanting to know why they had brought a kid here.

"Oh!" Mandalay seemed to perk up at that. "This is actually my nephew!" She turned to face the kid before calling out for him. "Kota, come over and say hello, you'll be spending a week with these guys after all!"

The boy scuffed and glared at them, not bothering to do anything. It was, however, Kaminari's brilliant idea to approach the boy instead. He got a kick to the crotch as a response. The boys all winced in sympathy as Iida went on a tangent about the disrespect of such actions.

"I can't abide jerks who want to become heroes." The kid muttered as he walked away. Not even glancing back at the chaos he ensued.

The commotion was only stopped when Aizawa decided to step in "Enough of this. Go get your luggage from the bus, drop your things off in your rooms, then come to dinner in the mess hall. After that, you'll bathe. Then it's bedtime. The real training starts tomorrow." His voice was steeled, no space for argument. "Hurry up." That got the class moving in a pace that seemed impossible for how tired they were.

___________________________

Dinner was relatively uneventful, everyone was too busy eating. However, it wasn't until they found out that the bath was an actual hot spring that Izuku was faced with a rather worrying dilemma.

He watched as his classmates undressed in the boy's locker room. Each one of them not even thinking twice about going to the hot springs in just the towel wrapped around their waists

Izuku, on the other hand, was trying to work himself down from a panic attack. How was he supposed to bath in front of everyone without them finding out about the scars that littered his body?

One look at him and everyone would know. They would all see the truth, the painful and gruesome truth that was carved on his body. Scars that spoke of years of misery and torment. Years of torture and abuse. Scars that were a horrible testament of how broken he really was.

Izuku feared the looks they would give him. The looks of pity and sadness that would cross their features. The glint in their eyes that meant that they'd never look at him the same way again.

He didn't even realize that he had started hyperventilating until a hand clasped his shoulder.

A soft voice whispering in his ear to calm down, to breathe. He looked up to see heterochromatic eyes staring intently back at him. Worry evident in the usual blank eyes of the fire and ice user.

"Midoriya, what's wrong?"

Most of the other students had left for the springs by now. It was only him and Todoroki now. On a second glance, he could see Shinsou lingering by the door. A similar look of concern adorned his features.

"Midoriya?" Todoroki called out again.

By now, Izuku's breathing had come to a semi-normal pace. Moderate enough for him to stutter out a response.

"T- the hot springs... we'll be in nothing but t-towels r-right?"

"If anything, Midoriya, I think you are the last person that should be ashamed of their body. If the way you flipped me the other day was any proof of how strong you are." Shinsou muttered quietly. A smirk gracing his features.

It was Todoroki that responded instead. With a slight shake to the head, the half and half user spoke. "That's not it Midoriya, is it?" His voice was soft, holding no judgment whatsoever.

The greenette shook his head in response.

"Is it because of the scars?" Shinsou's eyes widened in realization at Todoroki's words. His mouth contorting into an 'o'.

Izuku nodded slowly, his head bowed down in shame. He was being pathetic, what hero couldn't even be brave enough to do something so simple as bathing in front of others.

"Hey, Midoriya." Todoroki's voice didn't waver as he called out for him. "Look at me." His eyes lifted up to see a look of sad understanding on the teens face. "It's okay, you can wrap a towel around your shoulders, I can ask Aizawa to give us one of the big ones. We can sit with you and prevent the others from getting too close too." Shinsou nodded from his position near the exit.

"T-Thank you guys."

He didn't know what he did to have such good friends. He promised he'd make it up to them later.

__________________________

His friends ignored him for the most part, only shooting him curious glances for the most part. They seemed to understand his need for privacy as he practically used Shinsou and Todoroki's bodies as human shields against the other's stares.

It was all going relatively well, calming of the sort. His body relaxed as the heat coming from the water seeped into his aching muscles. His peace, however, was interrupted when Mineta decided it was a great idea to peep at the girls that were bathing on the other side of the wall that separated the two springs.

"We're here to overcome those walls! Plus Ultra!" The grape haired boy exclaimed as he started scaling the wall.

Iida was shouting at the shorter teen to behave himself, screaming at him to respect his female classmates while the other boys were either shouting too or just shaking their heads in disgust and disappointment.

Mineta had almost reached the top when the small fist of Kota connected with his forehead.

"A hero, really?! Try being a basic human being first!" The boy shouted before ramming his fist into the teens head. Effectively knocking him backward.

The boy was previously stationed up there in order to keep an eye on the boys. Aizawa having already warned the pussy cats about Mineta's pervert tendencies.

Mineta fell. However, this wasn't what made Izuku move. He watched as Kota seemed to lose his balance too. The boy falling down too.

Izuku's feet moved before he could think twice about it. He dashed out of the water and leaped up to catch the falling boy before he could injure himself on the rocks below.

He heard quiet gasps from the students behind him as soon as he landed safely back on the ground, a passed-out Kota in his arms.

Turning around slowly, he was met with the distressed looks of his friends. All of them speechless as they stared at his now barred upper body. The towel that was previously shielding his scars from the rest had been discarded at some point when he was busy saving Kota. Various looks of fear and worry were etched on their features. A pregnant silence settling between them.

The quiet only broken by Kirishima's horrified whisper. "Midoriya..." His tone was sad, his gaze looking at Izuku with a mixture of anger and gloom.

Without another word, Izuku ran out of the room. Quickly grabbing a jacket before hurrying to take Kota to the heroes.

________________________

"Must have passed out from fear of falling... thanks for bringing him here." Mandalay thanked him quietly as she helped him lay the still unconscious Kota on the couch in the middle of the lounge. "We put him up there on guard because Eraserhead had warned us about one of your classmates."

"I'm just glad that no one was hurt," Izuku replied quietly, his mind still reeling from the constant images that plagued his mind. The looks he got from his classmates. Strangely enough, they weren't looks of pity. He could've sworn he saw anger practically ooze from his friend's demeanors. He hoped that they wouldn't ask too many questions.

"You sure did act fast though" Mandalay continued quietly, unaware of Izuku's internal monologue.

Looking at the boy before him, he remembers what he said when they arrived. 'I can't abide jerks who want to become heroes'

"Kota... He seemed really opposed to heroes." Mandalay hummed in response, urging him to continue "All my life, I've been surrounded by people who practically worship heroes and want to become one themselves. I can't imagine a kid his age not wanting to be one too..."

"Right. In our society, there are few people who don't look up to heroes. He'd probably look up to heroes too if he was raised normally."

"...Normally? Wh-"He was cut off by Pixie bob's voice as she entered the room.

"Mandalay's cousins... were Kota's parents. They were heroes who died in the line of duty." She replied solemnly. "Two years ago, they were protecting civilians from a villain. There's no better way for heroes to meet their end. An honorable death."

It was Mandalay who spoke now, her voice was soft as she wiped the boy's forehead with a wet cloth. "For a boy who'd only just started learning about the world he couldn't understand that..." She let out a small breath. "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. To Kota, Heroes are nasty people that he can't understand. He only agreed to let us raise him because he didn't have any other living relatives."

The room settled in silence as the information sank in.

"Now, you need to go rest young man." Pixie Bob said after a moment, her tone somehow strained despite her upbeat demeanor. "Thank you again for saving him!"

_____________________

He walked back to the boy's lounge, contemplating what he had just learned. Maybe, he could try to change Kota's view on heroes. In his life, he met so many different viewpoints. They were all valid. Yet, he couldn't help but want to help Kota see the importance of the hero's roles in society.

He stopped just as he reached the doors that led to their rooms. Almost had forgotten about the events form the last few hours.

Todoroki and Shinsou were both waiting for him there. Todoroki was sitting, his back against the wall, while Shinsou was leaning against the opposite wall. As soon as they saw him, they both got to their feet, straitening up and meeting him halfway.

"Midoriya!" They greeted in unison.

"Look, I'm okay, just... tired." Let's get this over with." He mumbled as he walked passed them. However, before he reached the door Shinsou spoke again.

"If you're worried about them asking questions, don't. We already talked to them. They agreed to respect your privacy."

Izuku's eyes widened in disbelief. Did they really do that? For him?

"I- I don't- "

"Don't worry, they were all pretty shaken up. Mostly worried and angry for you. But, they all understand your wish for them to not talk about it." The purple haired teen continued.

"Thank you, guys... For everything." They both nodded their heads in response.

Izuku pushed open the door, and just like Shinsou had said, nobody asked any unwanted questions. Everyone treated him as if nothing had happened. He could feel a couple of eyes watching him but they weren't unwelcome. That night, he realized just how much his friends cared about him.

Maybe, someday he would be comfortable enough to tell them everything.