Beneath the flashy superhero society lurks a very, dark, and very cold underworld. Every time the villains have been driven back, they've retreated to the safety of the shadows, and those either brave or foolish enough to give chase either don't come back or change as a result. They always regain their strength. They, wait... until the perfect time to strike. Now, I believe it's time for the play to begin, so, Let's start.

Chapter 19: Theatre

Tomura Shigaraki builds a house of cards, he sits alone at the bar he and Kurogiri have made into the hideout of the League of Villains. "The master is good. I tried so hard to find out where those idiots were going, and he figured it out in an instant. Guess he really showed me up"

"It was worth having a team on standby, then wasn't it? Tomura Shigaraki."

The entire house collapses as Shigaraki huffs. "Hmph. I guess." The door to the establishment opens, the bell ringing as it does.

Giren lets out a huff of smoke as he stands outside the door. "I heard back from the union today. You can expect a delivery tomorrow. It was thrown together quickly, so it might not look like much. But quality is guaranteed."

"I must apologize for making such an unreasonable request." Kurogiri says as Giren enters more openly into the bar.

"Tell me, Shigaraki." Giren takes  another long drag of his cigarette. "Do you know why the union accepted this outlandish order of yours? 'Cause everyone's got high expectations of you. If the League of Villains steps into the light, then the scum hiding in the sidelines will follow suit. And if that happens, it means brokers like me win big. We'll be rolling in new customers. Crime pays."

"Oh, yes. You're gonna be so busy you won't be able to keep up."

Giren chuckles. "Looking forward to that. But..." All eyes are on Giren. "If the League fails, there is always the Ring of Fire waiting in the wings, especially after the second in command of them, Mako Tatsuya just made an appearance on I-Island a few days ago. Anyway, thanks." Giren walks out, closing the door with that ominous warning.

"The board is set with my pawns and their prey. Finally. Time for the real game to begin."

In front of the UA campus, Kyoreki Raijin stands separate from his class at the back alone. While the rest of the class are in their school uniforms, Raijin is not. He wears black jeans and a Powerman 5000 shirt while carrying his luggage and a guitar case over his shoulder. All eyes are directed forward at Shota Aizawa, their teacher and pro hero EraserHead.

"Now that you've finished up your first semester at UA high, it's time for summer vacation to officially begin." Aizawa scans the class, his gaze stopping on Raijin and turning into a glare. "However don't think these will be months of rest for you heroes-in-the-making. Raijin."

"I'm not a hero in the making. I'm just vibing at this point. First chance I get to transfer to a music school I'm taking that shit." Raijin jokes patting his guitar case. Momo Yaoyorozu sighs being the only person to stand near him that day.

"Sure." Aizawa rolls his eyes. "At this camp we'll push you to go beyond your limits. You're aiming to become "Plus Ultra!""

"Yes, sir!" All of Raijin's classmates shout in unison back to Aizawa.

Once Aizawa's done addressing the class, they have a few minutes to themselves, it's not long as the "peace" is broken rather swiftly by Class 1B's Neito Monoma barging into the class. "I heard some of Class A is taking extra courses. Does that mean they actually failed the final exams? That must be so embarrassing." He tries to play up what did happen when Raijin turns to him before anyone can respond.

"I heard you're the only one to fail from your class. Doesn't that make you the bottom bitch of Class B?"

"What was that?!" Monoma starts to shout, but is knocked unconscious by Itsuka Kendo who apologizes for his behavior and drags him away.

"Thanks for the heads up, Kodai." Raijin offers a thumbs up to Yui Kodai who walks up to him the pair pause for a moment, All eyes on them. "You, uh, you good there, Kodai?" She nods before looking into his eyes, she pats his shoulder causing him to chuckle. "Nah, I'm fine. I still need to talk with him about what was said that night, but I should be good for the camp." Yui nods again and walks away to board her classes bus with Class 1B, she is the last student to hoard their bus.

"The girls of class A and B. It's like a bombshell buffet." Minoru Mineta drools watching the skirts bounce of the class B girls.

"Dude get yourself together." Eijiro Kirishima comments.

"Oh no, let him try his shit. I'll kick him into the mud if he tries anything." Raijin cracks his knuckles standing threateningly behind Mineta.

"Attention, Class A, our bus is here." Iida shouts gathering everyone. "Everyone line up in seating order!"

Most follow his orders, except for Raijin, Bokasu, Bakugo and himself somehow. Once on the bus, Aizawa begins to address the class.

"We'll be on this bus about an hour before our first stop. Make sure you stay focused." Aizawa says to no one paying attention.

Raijin for his part is staring out a window with his earbuds in, he's not disrupting anyone, and stays to himself. He does carry in his backpack a bag of Hot Cheetos that he munches on sporadically, but otherwise he's just listening to his Spotify playlist.

An hour later, the students are let off the bus at a rest area. Raijin remains on the bus well after everyone else has gotten off. He stares at the forest, ultimately it's Bokasu who taps him on the shoulder.

"Hey, you in there?"

"Huh?" Raijin asks taking off an earbud.

"We're at the rest stop, come on stretch your legs."

"This isn't a rest stop." Raijin comments as the two walk to exit the bus.

"Aizawa said this would be the rest stop."

"Oh no." Raijin says as he exits the bus, and sees a person exit a car parked nearby.

"Heya, Eraser." A woman says as she stands. Raijin's eyes widen recognizing her before anyone but Aizawa.

"Long time no see." Aizawa bows. Raijin groans as quietly as he can watching as the woman along with her companions make a flashy debut to the rest of the class. While the rest of the class is focused on the Wild, Wild Pussycats, Raijin takes notice of a child with them who glares at all of them.

"These are the pro heroes you'll be working with at the summer training camp."

"They're a four-person hero team who specialize in mountain rescues!" Midoriya shouts excitedly. Raijin would be taken aback if he hadn't already seen Midoriya with a journal that's filled with notes about heroes and his classmates.

"Yes, we all know who the pussycats are." Raijin says with a clap. "They were founded when we're around 4 or 5." Raijin comments putting a hand on Midoriya's shoulder.

"Yeah, this is their 12th year working as a-!" Midoriya is interrupted by one of the Pussycats, Pixie-Bob, as she comes flying at the two boys though Raijin throws Midoriya in the way, she grabs his face with her paw gloves.

"I'm pretty sure your math must be off. I'm 18 at heart."

"At heart is not the same as physical or psychological age." Raijin hums. "Trust me I'd know." He walks away to the edge of the cliff looking down at the forest.

"Everyone, say hello." Aizawa orders.

"Hello! Nice to meet you."  Most of the class shout in unison. Raijin instead kneels down next to the child and offers him a small bag of hot Cheetos.

"We own this whole stretch of land out here." Mandalay says as she walks to the fence line overlooking the cliff. "Everything you can see. The summer camp you're staying at is there at the base of the mountain."

"That's far." Many of them say in unison.

"It was actually bestowed to us by an old friend, a former hero who gave it to us many years ago." Mandalay explains, Raijin's eyes widen for a second as he stares in the direction of the camp before he scoffs and spits down the cliff side. "The current time is 9:30 in the morning. If you're fast about it, you might make it there by noon."

Raijin rolls his eyes. "Alright everyone, over the fence and down the cliff." All eyes turn to Raijin. "See ya down there losers." Raijin leaps over the fence and with a kick off the fence he starts free falling down into the forest as all the other students watch in horror. As he falls he takes a deep breath and reaches to his backpack he finds a button on the side, and after pressing it the machine whirs to life, Raijin feels the energy surge. "First Evolution, Lightning Pillars." He mutters and from his feet shoot out green beams of electricity that propel him high into the sky but also leaps and bounds forward as he hears many of the students be dragged down into the forest by Pixie-Bobs quirk.

Aizawa overlooks the forest and watches Raijin stay above the tree line as he traverses, Mandalay and Pixie Bob watch with him. "He's just like his mother." Aizawa comments as he watches Raijin dive into the forest for a second before emerging through a smoke cloud caused by himself.

"His mother?" Mandalay asks.

"Kyoreki Raijin." Aizawa points him out to the women with him. "His mother was someone who mentored the three of us."

"Wait, that's Asumi's kid?" Pixie asks.

"Makes sense he was so willing to jump into the fray like that. He grew up in these parts." Mandalay stares at the boy, using his Lightning Cords to drag one of Pixie's stone golems into the air before he uses a lightning bolt to cut clean through it. "Don't you think you've got them on a pretty crazy schedule, Eraser?" Mandalay asks.

"Yeah." He agrees. "We're hoping we get an entire second semester's worth of knowledge in them here. That's going to take an intense amount of work. But the rewards'll be worth it. They'll get permits to use their Quirks if there's ever an emergency. And provisional licenses that'll allow them to work as heroes. Most importantly, with all the villainous activity we've been tracking they need to be able to defend themselves. I trust that I can count on you, Pixie-Bob." Aizawa says.

"Leave it to me! Oh wow, my furs standing on end!"

While Raijin races ahead killing a few of them as they come at him piecemeal, he does ultimately, make it to the camp sight first. Followed swiftly by Bokasu who trips over Raijin's backpack as it's cooling down. Raijin's arrival time is 10:25AM. Bokasu's is 1:45PM. The pair are the only students who get to enjoy lunch. By 6:40 in the evening the others of Class A arrive. The two boys who are well rested and have had hours to do other things watch as they arrive ragged and covered in filth and sweat.

"You said it would only be, like, three hours!" Sero complains.

Mandalay smiles. "I guess we timed it based on how long it'd take us. Sorry."

"Come on now, this is why I said to jump." Raijin says having taken a shower hours ago, he stands clean as a whistle with a rather condescending smirk, as well as a bowl of ingredients.

"I'm starving! This is hell." Kirishima shouts.

"Dinner will be served when it's done Kiri." Raijin frowns. "Also, speaking of time and ages, not about you Pixie."

"Good." She glares at Raijin.

"Ms. Sosaki, ma'am. I have a question, had it for a few hours now. Who's the kid? He's not yours that much is certain."

"Oh this little guy?" Mandalay looks to the child standing near her. "He's my cousins son. He lives with us now. Don't be shy Kota. Say hi to everyone. You're gonna be around them for the next week."

Midoriya walks up to the kid, Raijin watches wearily as Midoriya extends a hand and winces slightly as the kid punches him in the nuts. The tries to walk away but turns glaring at Iida who shouts at him for hitting Midoriya below the belt. Raijin recognizes his glare, and takes a deep breath.

"The last thing I want is to hang with some wannabe heroes."

""Wannabe?!" How old are you, kid?" Iida asks.

"Iida." Raijin steps forward handing his bowl of ingredients to Bokasu who takes them to the kitchen for him. "Not now." He says quietly. Iida sees Raijin's stare as he looks to the child, Iida looks back at the kid walking away from the class before returning to Raijin's stare. "You see it too."

"He has eyes like yours." Iida says softly.

"You see it too." Raijin repeats walking away. An hour later Raijin serves dinner to the class alongside Bokasu and the Pussycats. Raijin stands over his classmates. "Note for my Classmates. This is the only day the Wild, Wild Pussycats will be cooking dinner for the class. Starting tomorrow we cook our own dinner with resources provided. Now eat what I, Bokasu and the Pussycats made y'all." With his announcement complete he washes his plate of food and walks into the forest alone.

Later that night while the rest of the class sleeps, Raijin returns, Aizawa stands waiting for him. "Well?"

"No. I won't speak on it." Raijin tries to walk past.

"What were you looking for?"

"I don't want to talk about it, EraserHead."

"That's Mr. Aizawa to you."

Raijin turns back. "This doesn't involve you. This is between my mother and I." Raijin glares.

"I know your mother owned this location before she gave it to the Pussycats when she died." Aizawa says quietly. "She was going to give it to me originally before she died."

"And." Raijin stands next to Aizawa.

"I said no. But I was told your old room is untouched."

"Maybe I'll spend the night in there." Raijin says yawning as he walks away.

"What were you looking for?" Aizawa asks again.

"Nothing important to you or my classmates." Raijin closes the door. He walks the silent halls of the building, before he returns to his old room he finds Mandalay taking care of Kota with Midoriya standing in the room speaking to her.

"...Most every one I know wants to be one. It's my dream. So, it's just wild to me to think that a kid his age is against heroes. Hates them, even."

"My aren't you observant, Midoriya." Raijin speaks up from the doorframe.

"Ah, Kyoreki, you're back." Mandalay smiles.

"He isn't alone." Mandalay says softly. "There are many in our society who don't approve of us. If he'd had a normal childhood. Maybe he would've admired heroes like you did growing up."

"What happened?" Midoriya asks.

"Raijin, you can answer that. I've known you long enough."

"Same thing that happens to most of us."

"Us?" Midoriya turns to Raijin.

"We lost a family member to this society, and no one batted an eye. No one cared." Raijin stares down at Kota. "When you say he's your cousins kid. I assume that means his parents died." Raijin looks to Mandalay.

"You're right." Pixie-Bob answers. "They were heroes too. But they were murdered, like your mother was."

Mandalay looks down, avoiding Raijin's gaze. "It was a villain. Two years back. Kota was still so small. They were killed while protecting citizens. Perhaps the most respectable way for any hero to die. But..."

"There's no way to explain that to a kid. Trust me people tried to." Raijin sits down placing a leg on his knee. "To a child, their parents are their entire world. Imagine losing that. Imagine the idea that in your mind, your parents left you behind to go die for someone else. Someone who forgot about them a year or so later." Raijin says softly his gaze falling to Kota again. "Mandalay, have you ever tried to tell him he'd be a hero like his parents?"

"No."

"That he should honor them by becoming a hero?" Raijin asks another question.

"No." She answers.

"Then you're already doing better than most of the people who took care of me." Raijin leans back. "He needs to not be pushed towards heroism, that'll make his hatred worse."

"Are you giving advice?" Midoriya asks.

"I'm telling them what happened to me and not to recreate the mistakes that made me who I am today. I hate heroes."

"But you're studying to be one."

"Begrudgingly." Raijin snaps at Midoriya. "I'm here because everyone in my life wanted me to be a hero like my mother was. Because even our teacher thought I'd be a hero like her. I don't want to be a hero. I don't want to have kids in the future and die in the call of duty, just to leave them behind hating what allowed that to happen." Raijin explains. "I don't want my kid to hate whoever the next All Might is, like I do." Raijin stands and exits the room leaving Midoriya with the instructors. He quietly walks to a room near the back of the building, on the door is a sign nailed to it, he ignores it and the dust covering it. He grabs the handle to the door and opens it inside, to Raijin, is a time capsule to nine years ago. A room for a child filled with action figures, some of his mother, a few of All Might, some posters for heroes of the time, several of his mothers, one All Might poster, three for Link under his Fox Abadon persona, one for the American Ghost hero, Danny Phantom. He walks into the room covered in a fine layer of dust and closes the door. Once alone in the room he sits against the door staring at the room until he falls asleep.

5:30 AM. The next morning

Raijin stands with the rest of his class out in the morning sun. Many of his classmates yawn with exhaustion and tiredness. Raijin kneels in the dirt, eyes closed in his head.

"Good morning, class." Aizawa speaks up. "Today, we begin a training camp that will increase your strength. Our goal is to increase your skills exponentially, so that each of you earns a provisional license. This will allow you to face the dangers that continue to fester in the darkness. Proceed carefully. Look alive, Bakugo." Aizawa tosses a baseball to Bakugo. "Try throwing that for me.

"Yeah sure. Like in the fitness test."

"Thanks right. When you first started school, your record was 705.2 meters. Let's see if you've improved." Many of the class cheer him on but when he does throw the ball Aizawa reads the distance actually traveled. "That was 709.6 meters."

"That's it?" Sero asks.

"You've had a single semester at UA, and due to your various experiences, all of you have definitely improved. But those improvement have mostly been limited to mental progress and technical skill. With a slight increase in stamina thrown in along the way. Your quirks haven't really grown that much stronger. Not on a fundamental level. That's why we)re now going to focus on improving your powers." Aizawa smiles, the same smile that drives fear into the hearts of many in class 1A. "This'll be so hard, you'll feel like you're dying. Let's hope you all survive."

A warehouse door opens and two people enter. One of them speaks, a young blond girl, Himeko Toga. "Hey hey. Special delivery from Tomura. He wants us to bring these along when we go, so I'm guessing there's enough for everyone." She smiles looking at the people in the warehouse. Entering behind her is Kizoku Ishigami.

"C'mon. I'm ready. Let's hurry up and do this." A man with a massive scare over the left side of his face smirks as he looks to Kizoku.

"It's still too early. Besides don't forget, he said we shouldn't do anything flashy." Another individual, this one much younger speaks up.

"Yeah." Dabi speaks up picking meat out from between his teeth. "He acted like a spoiled brat when we first met. But suddenly, he's begun to take charge."

Kizoku steps forward. "This is gonna be nothing more than a warning shot. We'll pull those false heroes down from their shining pedestals."

Dabi smiles. "And in doing so, we'll create a bright new future for this world."

Hours have passed for the students of 1A, it's only after the many hours of training that Class 1B joins them. Raijin is the first person spotted by the class as he has a hand firmly planted on a the battery for a semi-truck. They watch as he forces a constant absorption and release of the electricity through his body, he uses the third evolution red electricity mostly while training, but he occasionally flickers into fourth evolution purple before collapsing to his knees taking large breaths. Yui stares at him, she takes an initial step towards him but stops as her teacher Vlad, speaks about their training.

Raijin looks over to the rest of his class training watching them each try their hardest his gaze falls on Bokasu, training alongside Iida, the pair are racing to do a 500 laps around the field the students are training at. He then turns away spotting class 1B. All of them watching him. He takes a singular deep breath and stands up, several of them note how parts of the back of his hair are now purple. As if dyed haphazardly and in blotches. He places his hands on the battery and starts absorbing more power he creams as he starts to expel the energy a massive sphere of electricity forming around him, it starts blue then turns red staying red for a minimum of twelve minutes before flashing purple for a few seconds and the cycle repeats with him collapsing to a knee.

That night Raijin returns to the lodges with the rest of classes A & B. Many of them are exhausted. Raijin takes a few deep breaths as he helps Yui stand herself on the verge of collapsing.

Pixie and Ragdoll stand before the pair standing behind a massive table of ingredients. "Now. Remember what Raijin said? We're not serving your food anymore!" "If you guys want to eat, you'll have to make your own meals. Starting with curry!" Ragdoll shows them the box for the food. Raijin rolls his eyes and sits Yui down at a table, she almost immediately lowers her head. "Oh, man, do you guys look exhausted." Ragdoll laughs at the students. "But that doesn't mean you can coast by making sloppy cat food."

Iida perks up as does Raijin and Bokasu.

"Oh! I see." Iida says stepping forward. "An important part of saving someone recovering from a disaster is providing for their physical needs as well as spiritual. Ah! This is a great opportunity!" Bokasu & Raijin glances at each other as they hear Iida's ramblings. "Let's make the most delicious curry in the world, everyone!" Many of the others agree monotonous, Bokasu and Raijin are the first two to step forward. "Ah, Raijin, Bokasu, I'd like to have you two as lead cooks."

"Fucking why?" Raijin asks.

"Well in. The single semester we)be had together, I've spoken with Ms. Yuki, or Sana as you might know her." Iida begins to explain.

"Ah the annoying member of that family. Which is saying much since she's related to Mr. Yuki." Raijin retorts.

"Anyways..." Iida interrupts. "She told me that you were a good cook, you knew how to make some good meals."

"And me?" Bokasu asks.

"You e said repeatedly this semester that your favorite food is curry."

"Yeah you got me there." Bokasu's shoulders slump down.

To start the fire, Raijin, Yaoyorozu and Todoroki do most of the heavy lifting. Raijin takes the position as head chef, with Bokasu making sure to do quality control. It takes maybe an hour to cook food for everyone in both classes but by the time they're done, everyone celebrates. Raijin walks over and sits with Yui, joining him is Bokasu, Setsuna Tokage, and Itsuka Kendo from Class 1B.

"If I got this at a restaurant, I'd happily pay double! Thanks Raijin! And you too Bokasu!" Kirishima compliments the chefs. "Man, I'm gonna eat every bite!"

"Wow, you're scarfing, Momo!" Ashido says surprised from her seat.

"Yes." Yaoyorozu says sitting up straight. "My quirk transforms lipids into brand new atoms to create inorganic materials. That means the more I eat, the more I can make."

"Like how poop works." Sero says offhandedly. He's then punched by Jiro shouting at him to apologize as Yaoyorozu's head slumps down. "Okay, I'm sorry!"

"Stupid." Raijin mutters as he finishes his second plate and walks it over to the sink to wash it. As he stands alone washing he notices Kota watching the students from a distance. He glares at them before turning away.

"Kota! It's time for dinner! Where are you?" Mandalay speaks telepathically to the students. None of them seem to notice, as they're too wrapped up in their conversations to notice. But Raijin watches Kota walk into the woods. Unbeknownst to him, was that Izuku Midoriya was also watching the child walk away.

Raijin quietly and with only Yui noticing grabs a small bowl and fills it with curry. He quietly walks into the woods after the child. Up on a cliff, Kota stares at the moon, his stomach grumbling.

"Ya know, anyone walking by can hear your stomach." Raijin says as he leans against a the cliff face. "I brought curry."

"No way! How'd you find this place?" Kota shouts.

"This was once my escape spot." Raijin says raising his eyebrows slightly trying to appear friendly to the kid.

"Your escape spot?" Kota asks.

"My mother owned this place before she gave it to Mandalay and the Pussycats. I lived here for a few months." Raijin says walking closer to the child.

"Get lost. I don't wanna hang out with you."

"Oh believe me, I don't wanna hang out with a prepubescent child either. But, considering you ignored Mandalay calling you for dinner, I figured you'd need something to eat."

"Spending your entire life, trying to improve your quirk. It's dumb."

"Yup." Raijin agrees with the child.

"All you want to do is show off."

"Sure I do kid. All I want to do is die like my mother did." Raijin retorts, this finally catches Kota's attention. "I'm being facetious by the way, or I guess you know it as sarcastic." Raijin takes a deep breath. "Look, I'm not gonna tell you, to believe in heroes, or to try to be like your parents, cause I was told that from the day my mother died. I know it's painful. I went through it too. I know exactly where you are and what you're feeling." Raijin sits down looking at Kota, the pair now eye to eye. "Believe me I think this stuffs crazy too. I still don't want to be a hero."

"Then why bother?" Kota asks.

"Cause, even if I don't want to be a hero, why drag the others down with me?" Raijin returns with a question. "I want to be a musician. I want to make music, not be hero for everyone to gawk at. But just because I don't dream of the same goal as my classmates doesn't mean I should belittle and make fun of their dreams."

"But why bother, calling people heroes and villains, with their stupid quirks."

"Yeah it is stupid. I agree. But you can't change what your born with or as." Raijin says, he sits on the edge of the cliff, both he and Kota look out to the forest. "Say, tell you what kid, I won't tell anyone about this place all you have to do is promise me you won't belittle the others, but you can hit them below the belt I won't stop you. Especially if you go after Mineta."

"Whatever."

"I'll consider that a yes." Raijin says as he pushes himself down from the cliff, falling into the woods below he protects himself by using his quirk to slow his descent near the end. Unknown to him Izuku Midoriya heard the entire conversation and only after Raijin left did he make his presence known.

Somewhere else near the camp, Toga watches a sparkle race along the trees. But she's to distracted to mention it by her mask. "I do not like this. It's so not cute." She complains, fidgeting with the mask.

"They were engineered for the Black Market, from what I hear. You should be worried that they work, not that they look pretty." Another person speaks up standing nearby, he wears a green helmet with a gas mask covering his face.

"Ugh. I'm just saying they could be a little more stylish. Is that too much to ask?" Toga waves her arms up and down like a toddler.

"Hi, darlings! Sorry to keep you waiting." Another person approaches carrying a massive object.

"Get to work." Another man speaks, his entire body covered in clothes and leather with hooks forcing his mouth open showing his teeth. "Get to work." Another person approaches, they have a lizard like complexion and wear a mask over their eyes similar to the Hero Killer: Stain's. Standing near the front of the group is a tall man in a cloak under a mask that covers his entire face. Dabi, and the leader of the operation. Kizoku.

"That makes eight of us." Kizoku says not turning to those with him.

"I don't care. Just let me loose." The cloaked man says growing evermore agitated. "I'm too pumped up to stand by."

"Shut your mouth, you crazy bastard." Dabi scolds him.

"We wait." Kizoku orders. "We're still expecting three more people to join our party. The league of villains made a mistake going after them with a bunch of random thugs at the USJ. Better to use a small group of elites. The first thing we have to do..."

"Is take away their sense of peace and show them that their lives rest in our hands." Dabi interrupts Kizoku stealing his thunder.

"Really, gonna steal my thunder like that?" Kizoku finally turns back to deadpan at Dabi. "Fucking arrogant prick."

The following day is just as ruthless for the students of Class 1A, Raijin continued to work to master third evolution, as well as begin the process for mastering fourth evolution. He knows the origin for each form, he knows why they exist and how they came  about. But he hasn't mastered them yet.

Bokasu continues to race Iida, the pair not only running against each other, but engaging in hand to hand combat as they do, trying to knock the other over so they can have a moment to race a head and take the lead.

That night Bakugo and Raijin are the pair to take the lead cooking the meals. Bakugo as head chef, and Raijin makes sure it doesn't taste bad.

That night, after the meal and after dishes are washed Raijin joins his class for the game Pixie teased earlier in the day.

"Perfect. We've filled our bellies and cleaned the dishes. It's time for..."

"A totally awesome test of courage!" Mina cheers joined by the other failed students.

"Not so fast." Aizawa interupts. "It pains me to say it, but the remedial class will be having lessons with me tonight instead." Aizawa apologizes before continuing. "Your training during the day didn't impress me, so I'll be using this time, too." The remedial student complain, but can't do anything as they're dragged away by Aizawa.

"Okay, so." Pixie moves the conversation along. "Class B is going to start out as our scarers. When they're in place. Class A will leave in pairs every three minutes. There are tags with your names on them at the far end of the route. Your goal is to collect those."

"Revelry in the dark." Tokoyami says for the umpteenth time that day.

"Now, those who are scarers aren't allowed to make physical contact. Use your quirks to terrify the others. Got it?!" Pixie-Bob explains the rules.

"The winners are the creative students who make the most people piss their pants."

"Did we need that visual?" Jiro asks.

"No. We did not." Raijin frowns.

"I see. They're encouraging us to stoke our imaginations as we compete with each other,  all while showing us more uses for our quirks in the process!" Iida finds something redeeming about this training. "As expected of UA."

"All right!" Pixie shouts holding up a hand filled with papers of names. "Everyone draw to see who your partner will be."

The teams are as follows.
1. Fumikage Tokoyami & Mezo Shoji
2. Katsuki Bakugo & Shoto Todoroki (Oh I can hear fangirls screaming already)
3. Kyoka Jiro & Toru Hagakure
4. Momo Yaoyorozu & Yuga Aoyama
5. Ochaco Uraraka & Tsuyu Asui
6. Aka Bokasu & Minoru Mineta
7. Tenya Iida & Koji Koda
8. Izuku Midoriya & Kyoreki Raijin.

Twelve minutes pass. Raijin stares off away from the test of courage. While he hears screams from Hagakure and Jiro in the distance he doesn't pay much attention. His mind is nowhere near the class.

"Hey, Raijin?" Midoriya steps closer to his partner.

"Yeah?"

"Did you really mean what you said to Kota?"

"Oh you heard that? Freaking stalker."

"I'm not a stalker." Midoriya panics.

"I'm messing with you, nerd." Raijin sighs.

Meanwhile in the woods themselves Yui is confused as she's praised by her classmates for scaring the members of class 1A.

Raijin's gaze turns upwards, his eyes widening. "Hey, guys. That's black smoke. Somethings burning."

"Maybe a fire on the mountain?" Midoriya asks.

"I don't like that blue glow underneath the smoke." Raijin says quietly. Raijin turns suddenly as Pixi-Bob glows pink and then flies away from the students still waiting.

"First let's get rid of these feral cats." A person speaks as they stand over Pixie after slamming her to the ground.

"What? No way!" Mineta backs away in fear. "I thought they made sure no one could find us." Mineta bids behind Bokasu and Iida.

"So why the fuck are there villains here?" Bokasu grumbles.

Midoriya goes to move forward, but Raijin holds him back.

"This is bad." Mandalay stands with her sole remaining ally with the Class A students.

"Where's Kota?" Midoriya asks turning towards Kota's hiding spot.

Kota stands at his hiding spot staring at the burning forest, blue flames burn the trees, a haze of purple fog covering another section.

"Midoriya, we need to move, now!" Raijin says turning to race for the hiding spot.

Chapter End.