The day after the exams, we head back to school for an update of our summer vacation. It's an odd, but welcome change to find the midget's seat empty. Toru sits atop it, chatting with Momo. 

"I could get used to this," she sighs. 

No sooner has she said that than Iida is rushing up to her, making chopping motions and yelling at her to get down. Of course it's easier to listen to Iida than ignore him, so she returns to the floor. 

Sato, Kaminari, Eijiro, and Mina are crowded together, a shadow covering their faces. According to our teacher's threat, because they failed the practical final, they won't be going on the camping trip. I'm positive I failed my written finals, so I'm certain I'll face the same fate. 

The door is yanked open to reveal our teacher on the other side and so we all run for our seats. "Once the bell rings, you should be in your seats," his tired voice says as he looks at the silent classroom. "Morning. Unfortunately, there are a few of you who didn't pass your final exams. So when it comes to the training camp in the woods…" Aizawa reveals that terrible grin of his and I know something bad is coming. I failed. And I'll be sentenced to summer school hell! "...everyone is going!"

The four who had failed the practical jump out of their seats, cheering. I perk up at this as well, smiling with the rest of the class.

"We really get to go to camp?" Eijiro exclaims. 

"Seriously?" Mina squeaks, tears of joy in her eyes. 

"Yeah," our teacher confirms, his usual bored expression back in place. "The good news is that no one bombed the written exam."

I let out a breath of air I didn't even realize I was holding and let my head fall to my desk with a resounding thud. Tears of relief threaten to fall, but I hold them back. Koda reaches over his desk to rub my shoulder when I sit back up. 

"Five failed the practical," Aizawa continues. "Badly. Two teams of course and then Sero failed as well."

We all look over to the poor boy as his eyes seem to pop out of his head. "Agh, crap. I knew it. Mineta made it to the gate, but I didn't do near enough to pass. He's not even in the class anymore and he passed!"

"Allow me to explain. For the practical battles, the teachers made sure to leave a way for the students to win. Otherwise, you never would've stood a chance. We were interested in observing how you each worked together and approached the task at hand."

"But didn't you promise that the teachers wouldn't be holding back?" Ojiro points out, his tail bristling. 

"That was just to get you on edge. Besides, the training camp will focus on building your strength. Those who failed need those lessons the most. We were never going to separate you." Another creepy smile cuts across our teacher's face. "That was just a logical deception we used."

Iida shoots out of his chair next to me, practically shocking me out of my skin. "Mr. Aizawa, this is the second time you've lied to us! Aren't you afraid we'll lose faith in you?"

Ochaco leans over to address the boy, "uhh, a little blunt there, Tenya."

"That's a good point," Mr. Aizawa replies. "I'll consider it. But I wasn't lying to you about everything. Failure is failure."

My skin crawls at the look he's sending the celebrating students. "We've prepared extra lessons for the five of you." They immediately deflate, sitting back down sadly. "Frankly, they're far tougher than what you'd face at summer school. Now, Aoyama will pass out these guides. They will tell you everything you need to have prepared before the trip."

Our teacher hands the French boy a stack of pamphlets which was probably a poor decision on his part. The boy takes eight whole minutes just passing them out. He walks between the rows theatrically, turning so his eyes sparkle in the light when he hands each person their copy. 

"We're going over this together, so there isn't any confusion," Aizawa says when Aoyama finally takes his seat again. "Open to the first page."

•°•°•°•

When school finally lets out, we as a class gather at the front of the room. 

"This is gonna be great!" Ojiro cheers, looking at his pamphlet. "I'm so glad we're all going together!"

"Looks like we'll be at the training camp a full week," Iida says. 

Midoriya looks over his shoulder at the booklet. "I've gotta find a bigger suitcase."

"Yeah, I don't even have a bathing suit," Kaminari chimes in. The fact surprises me a little, but I guess it makes sense with his quirk that he tries to stay away from water. "Guess I need to buy some stuff."

"Guys," Hagakure chimes to get our attention. "Since we're off tomorrow and we finally finished exams, I have the best idea! Why doesn't Class 1-A go shopping together?!?"

"Hey, yeah!" Kaminari cheers. "We've never hung out as a class before!"

"Bakugo!" Eijiro calls out as the blonde tries to walk out. "See you there, right?"

"I can't think of anything more annoying," he growls, exiting the class.

"Will you come, Todoroki?" Midoriya asks as said boy puts on his backpack. I try not to look like I'm listening too intently, but I want to hear his answer. 

"I visit my mom on my days off," he responds without batting an eyelash. 

"You're coming though, right?" Eijiro asks, slinging an arm over my shoulder. I nod, closing the booklet in my hands so he can't see the page I was on. "Nice! I guess I'll see you there!" He runs out of the class after his explosive friend. 

I sigh, putting my pamphlet in my bag. I can't believe there's going to be hot springs. I mean at least they're going to be separated by gender, but it's still gonna be so weird. My stomach twists at the prospect of it. I'm much too self conscious to participate in that particular amenity. 

Another arm slinks over my shoulders. "What's up, Buttercup?" Kaminari asks cheekily. I pinch his wrist, sending him a playful glare as he jumps back. 

"Just thinking is all," I sign. 

"Don't you know too much thinking is bad for you?"

"Says the guy who failed the final."

He lifts a hand up to his heart, his face contorted in mock hurt. "Ouch, I've been wounded. Besides, it was the practical final. I passed the written one just fine!"

I smile at his antics despite myself. "Same difference. I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Would I be fortunate enough to get a goodbye kiss?" He leans forward, smiling devilishly. I send a hard smack to his abdomen and he winces. "Message received. See ya tomorrow!"

Laughing, I wave goodbye to him as I walk out. 

•°•°•°•

The next day, I arrive at the designated meeting place in the mall, by the escalators. Midoriya is muttering under his breath as usual and Tokoyami calls him out for it. 

"Woah, aren't those UA students?" Somebody calls out. I glance around to see a guy with a blonde buzz cut pointing to us. His friends cheer about our appearance in the mall as well. I'm used to it by now, so I send them a smile.

Eijiro suggests we split up to look for our own items and meet back here at 3. That gives us two hours to walk around and browse. 

I head out with Hagakure and Kaminari to find hiking boots. I hadn't needed any before, so I'm not really sure what to look for. We enter an outdoorsy store and find the shoe section. 

I debate for a while between a tan pair with red laces and a black pair with yellow laces, but eventually the black pair wins because they're more likely to go with any outfit I bring. After buying our shoes, we go to a swimsuit shop and browse for a while. Toru keeps picking out bikinis and trying to hand them to me, but I insist they would look better on her. Anything would look better on her. She's literally invisible.

Kaminari goes off on his own to find swim trunks as we search through the ladies section. He got way too impatient with the fact that we can't make any decisions. 

"Ooh, what about this one?" Toru chirps, holding up a zebra striped bikini. 

"I think you're missing the point," I illuse. "I want a one piece. Two pieces aren't comfortable for me."

"How about this?" I squeeze my eyes shut as I hear her pull two hangers off the rack behind me. 

"I swear to God, Toru. If this is another two piece, I'm gonna throw a fit."

"C'mon, just try it on!" She insists. I open my eyes to see her holding black high waisted bottoms with silver buttons on the sides and a white and black checkered long racer back top with a white bow on the front. I have to admit, it's not terrible. It's certainly better than the other ones she's tried to convince me to wear. 

"Fine, but if I don't like it, it's going back on the rack."

She hops up and down, cheering as I walk over to the changing rooms. I change into it, but run into a slight problem. 

"Hey Toru?" I illuse, knocking on the door. 

"Yeah? Do you have it on? Ooh let me see it!"

"No no, can you get me the top in a size smaller?" I ask a bit sheepishly, holding the other one over the top of the door for her to grab. 

"Sure thing! Be right back!" She snatches the bathing suit from my hands and I hear her footsteps retreat. I face the door, waiting for her to come back, uncomfortably avoiding looking at myself in the mirror. 

"Got it!" I hear from the other side of the door before a checkered top is chucked over. I scramble to catch it. 

I pull the swimsuit over my head. It fits much better than the other one had. I appreciate how long the top is so that it covers a good portion of my stomach. With a quick glance in the mirror, I have to say it complements me nicely, but still shows off my similarity to a skeleton. 

I open the door, hugging my arms over my bare stomach uncomfortably. I'm not prepared for the squeal that comes out of Toru's mouth, but in hindsight, I probably should've been. 

"Koto!! You look so hot!" I quickly shake my head, holding my arms around me tighter. She grabs my hands and, with surprising strength, forces them off me to get a full view. "This is adorable and it looks AMAZING on you! You're totally getting it, right?"

I shrug, looking down at the floor. 

"You have to! Look at how it shows off your body!" 

Something I don't want to show off, I think to myself as she continues her rant. 

"Your waist is so skinny I'm jealous!" 

Skinny doesn't mean healthy.

"All the guys will be all over you! And now that Mineta's gone, that's not a bad thing!"

Nobody would bat an eye at me any day. Especially not when I look like this. The best I would get would be an insult from Bakugo about looking like a skeleton. Maybe a few comments from Eijiro just to be nice. I don't need him to lie.

"Look, I can tell you're not convinced, but it's ten times cuter than any of those one piece suits you were probably going to buy. Do yourself a favor and buy something that makes you look hot!"

I sigh and turn around to face the mirror. She does have a point. It is cuter than most swimsuits I've found and it fits really well. There's only a tiny portion of skin on my abdomen left revealed and it's not like having fabric there would distract from my weight. 

I roll my eyes and brace for impact. "Okay, I'll buy it," I illuse, immediately getting tackled by the invisible girl in a hug as she squeals in my ear. 

"Yay! Let's go now so you can't change your mind!"

I roll my eyes and go back in the dressing room to take it off, but I stop to look at myself one last time in the mirror. The racer back surprisingly complements my broad shoulders, even if it can't distract from my noodly arms. I don't have to worry about anyone seeing my ribs since the top covers them. While I still have to fight the urge to cover my bare stomach, I can't deny that the suit complements my not so existent form. 

Hot? Never, I think, turning around to pull it off and change back into my clothes. 

Toru and I meet up with Kaminari again after we pay for our suits and leave. We decide to find a snack when an alert blares over the loudspeakers. 

"This is an evacuation of the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall. Please go to your nearest exit."

"C'mon guys," Kaminari says, eyes wide. He grabs our arms to keep us close as he braves the crowd in front of us. "We should find the rest of our class."

"Shoji said he's with Tokoyami, Midoriya and Ochaco out front. There was a run-in with a villain," Toru says, looking at her phone. 

We follow the current of people outside, most panicking. I get jostled around more than I would appreciate and have to focus to not break down. At least not when we're going to meet our entire class. But even so, the space around me becomes smaller and smaller as more people file out from the shops and join the crowd. 

Despite the building being an open-air mall, I take a deep breath of fresh air when we reach the exit, people finally spreading out to get to their cars. Kaminari leads Toru and I over to the rest of the group, now joined by Eijiro, Mina, and Momo. I notice police officers are speaking with Midoriya and Ochaco, so I go to stand by Eijiro as the rest of the crowd clears out. 

I take a shakey breath to calm myself down. Why are all these villain sightings always following us? I mean I get that we're heroes in training and all that, but we never hear anything about Class 1-B getting attacked or a hero class from another school.

Noticing my panic, Eijiro pulls me to his side, wrapping his arms tight around me. I lean into him, thankful for his comfort as we listen to our classmates recounts of what happened. I can't remember the last time I've had a friend that can calm me down this fast with just a hug, but I'm beyond grateful for his presence. 

From what I can gather, Ochaco and Midoriya ran into Shigaraki. Midoriya is taken to the police station to file an official report of the incident while the rest of us head to the train station. I board my train with Ochaco, waving to our friends as the doors close. 

I give her a hug the moment the train starts moving. "That must've been terrifying," I sign when we pull away. 

"Yeah, it was," she sighs, running a hand through her hair. I notice her eyes tearing up and becoming red, so I pull her back towards me. 

It's like the floodgates have been opened as she breaks down into hysterical sobs. 

"He's awful!" She gasps through her tears. I rub her back and try to be the best support I can. "And Deku...he was just taking it!"

I lead her off the train when we pull into the suburban Musutafu station and walk her to her house. Her parents rush out to hug their daughter as she falls apart. 

"Would you care to spend the night, Koto?" Her mom asks. I recognize what's implied, but she doesn't need to say it. They head off to work early in the mornings and don't want her to be alone when she wakes up. She's probably not going to sleep, so they want someone to be with her. 

Without a second thought, I walk through the threshold. 

------Author's Note------

Here's a picture of that bathing suit Koto bought! It's adorable and I want it!

Also... MORE FAN ART YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!!!!

More fantastic pictures from lovelyavvz!!! She's so beautiful and sassy in that first one! That little curl reminds me so much of Merida. She would totally do that. And the second, just HHHHHNNNNNNGETHFSWHIHXFH!!! Her and Todoroki as cats is something I didn't know I needed in my life.

And, by Amber_Knight86, a beautiful picture of Koto in her hero costume! Yes 👏 Yes 👏 Yes 👏 It's so gorgeous and the details are amazing!

You guys are amazing! I love y'all so much!!! ❤️❤️

As always, be sure to vote and comment if you enjoyed!