This Thing A Quiet Madness Made

Chapter 14

The first day of their training camp was off to a poor start.

It was nearly sunset by the time class 1-A emerged from the Beast's forest, battered and exhausted from the seemingly endless waves of hostile creatures supplied by the woods. They had spent nearly half the day painstakingly carving out a path through the onslaught of monsters, a task that became ever more difficult as they grew tired from the strenuous physical labor, their quirks now well and truly depleted. As the students trudged their way onto the campgrounds, they were quickly greeted by the startlingly upbeat Pussycats.

"Hey, not bad!" Pixie-Bob grinned at the class, hands on her hips as they lugged towards the wooden cabin. "You guys did well!"

"Why doesn't it feel that way...?" Yaoyorozu sighed, tiredly wiping the dirt from her forehead.

"Hey, hey! You don't look as beaten up as your friends," Pixie-Bob slung an arm around Naoko's shoulders and tilted her head with a grin, "are you sure you helped?"

In trying to hide her surprise, Naoko only smiled awkwardly, opening her mouth to respond before Pixie-Bob's bubbly laughter interrupted her.

"Mandalay would definitely tell me off if she heard that! Don't worry- you know I'm just kidding!" the blonde grinned, throwing her other arm around Yaoyorozu and squeezing them both in a crushing hug, "I'm sure you all did great! Dinner is waiting for you, by the way. Don't get left behind!" she grinned before racing away towards Tiger.

"She's... energetic," Yaoyorozu mused tiredly, staring after the pro-hero.

"Yea.... Anyway, we should go, Momo. The others are already inside," Naoko smiled, patting her back softly.

The two quickly made their way into the large dining hall inside the cabin where the rest of their class had already begun lining up for dinner.

"Naoko! Yao-Momo! Over here!" Uraraka called, waving them over to where she sat with Midoriya, Iida, and Tsuyu.

"Hey," they greeted, setting their trays onto the table. They let out a sigh of relief as they sat down with aching legs- the first time they had been able to sit in hours.

"Hi, 'Suki," Naoko smiled at the explosive blonde as he sat down forcefully next to her. Behind him trailed Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero, all of whom waved and grinned tiredly back at her as they settled themselves. Bakugo, on the other hand, completely ignored her greeting and opted instead to begin aggressively shoveling food into his mouth, drawing an amused grin from the girl.

"If that was the first test, I wonder what we'll be doing tomorrow?" Tsuyu croaked, pressing a finger to her cheek.

"Our teachers planned this training camp for maximum efficiency!" Iida declared, his enthusiasm seemingly unwavered despite the sour burning of his overworked muscles. "We have to work hard so their efforts are not wasted!"

They finished their dinners quickly, words passing occasionally between the group as the dining hall filled with steady chatter and the clanking of silverware. Once they had their fill, they were all herded over to the hot springs to clean off. Following a pleasant bath- uneventful save for a bit of commotion from the other side of the divider- the seven girls eagerly retreated to their shared room and rolled out their sleeping mats, plopping down with exasperated groans.

Their muscles aching and their minds worn, the students soon fell asleep without much effort.

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