Quick Note: Hi everyone! I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to publish. The original version of the chapter didn't save, and afterwards I had writer's block. So in short, sorry for the long wait, but hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, and hopefully it won't take as long to publish the next one ^^'

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Saika's POV

I always locked my door at night; it was something my parents always told me to do. It was common sense, really. And because I always locked my door, I expected to be able to sleep in peace, not have my door broken down by a blueish-silver-haired barbarian who went on to use me as her makeshift punching bag.

"Kimika! Stop it!" I ignored Kimika's lazy punches and groggily looked up to see Yumi, awkwardly standing to the side, pulling on Kimika's shoulder as she tried to pry her off of me. She looked positively panicked, probably expecting me to hop out of bed and toss Kimika out my open window.

"If this idiot doesn't get up in ten seconds, I'll do more than punch her! If she sleeps in for any longer we'll all be stuck here waiting for little Miss Princess to wake up before we actually get to train! I am not waiting another second for her to get up and–"

"Alright! Alright! I'm up! Geez," I sighed, sitting up and shooting Kimika the hardest glare I could muster. She didn't falter under my gaze. Huh. I finally found myself a worthy opponent. Besides her rotten personality, of course. "Now do you mind getting out?"

With an exasperated huff Kimika folded her arms and stormed out of the room. Rather comically, might I add. Yumi simply shook her head. "Sorry, Saika. I tried to stop her, I really did. But she insisted on, uh, how did she put it...? "Getting that stupid, useless, annoying, lazy–""

I put my hands up in a hasty surrender, chuckling weakly. "You can stop there. She hates me, I get it." Lowering my hands, I raised a brow. "What's she on about anyway? I'd never expect her of all people to be excited about training, of all things."

Yumi blinked owlishly. "You don't remember?!" Her sudden outburst shocked me. I almost threw my pillow at her from the 'fight or flight' reflex she triggered. "We're going to TDL to train! How do you think we'll become heroes if we don't–"

I began to zone out. If Yumi didn't stop soon, we'd be later than we already were. With a long sigh I stood up and began pushing Yumi towards my door. I scowled upon noticing the broken lock. Kimika would definitely owe me a generous amount of money to repair that.

"And don't even get me started about–"

"Yeah, bye." Yumi's rant was interrupted when I slammed the door in her face. I turned on my heel and began rummaging through my drawer. I'd have to plan Kimika's downfall later.

***

Just as I had expected to enjoy a peaceful slumber, I also expected to see Mr. Kaeshio awkwardly standing before our class. I was not expecting to see a strange man with a rather contagious grin plastered on his face, gesturing wildly at our class.

"Hello students of Class 1-A!" He was surprisingly amiable, a welcome change from dealing with Kimika's difficult personality. And — as if she read my thoughts — she subtly cast a malevolent glare in my direction, which I coolly ignored.

"I'll be taking over for Mr. Kaeshio today," he continued. "We'll be meeting up with a pro hero at TDL to train."

After he didn't offer an explanation for Mr. Kaeshio's absence, I assumed he was sick, or possibly drowning in paperwork.

"So, I'm going to kindly request that you all board the bus, single file, and find a seat in an orderly manner. Remember, the quicker we are, the more time we'll have for training!"

Everyone echoed a loud "yes, sir!" and began walking towards the bus. Apparently Teijo was already on the 'board the bus single file' case because he had practically teleported next to the bus door and began to chop his arms dramatically, barking orders at our classmates who all wore looks of 'it's way too early to be putting up with this'.

I boarded the bus and took a seat next to Yumi who'd snagged a window seat (lucky her). After everyone had settled down, (including Teijo who, after some convincing, boarded the bus before the teacher whom he'd insisted board before him; probably his attempt at a gentlemanly act) the substitute teacher turned to the bus driver and soon we were on our way to TDL.

It was only then that I realised he'd never introduced himself. I quickly turned to Yumi, gently nudging her with my elbow. "Hey, you're into hero stuff...what's our teacher's name?"

Yumi's brown eyes darted towards the teacher who had engaged in idle chatter with the bus driver. She looked back at me and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've never seen him before."

"What? That's impossible! You're, like, the big brain of the hero community!"

Yumi's brows shot up at my weird compliment and she shrugged once more. "I don't know. He's probably a smaller scale hero. You know, like one that works at an agency..."

"Oh," I murmured and began looking around the bus. My gaze settled on Kousuke who was right across the aisle. He was gazing out the window absently, and Kimika — who unfortunately sat next to him — occupied herself by scrolling through an article on her phone.

"Hey!" I called out to Kousuke, only to have Kimika believe I was talking to her.

She snapped her head towards me and narrowed her eyes, spitting out a harsh, "what?"

I scowled and shook my head. "Not you, him." I nodded towards Kousuke and she rolled her eyes. Reluctantly she turned to the side and poked Kousuke, only to have him shift slightly and peer over Kimika's head to meet my gaze. Jerking my thumb towards the teacher, I asked, "do you know who our teacher is?"

Kousuke simply shook his head. "I don't know. Never seen him before."

This caught Kimika's attention. "I'm surprised you of all people wouldn't know about heroes."

I raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, aren't you the daughter of two pro heroes? I thought you'd be knowledgeable about this stuff, peasant." The insult she decided to squeeze into the end of her sentence made me seethe.

However, I managed to calmly collect my thoughts so I wouldn't blurt out a witty comeback, as awesome as it would've been. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not exactly a hero fanatic like dear Yumi over here." At the mention of her name, Yumi looked up at me, but upon realising I was talking to Kimika, she let out a soft sigh and turned away. "But I didn't know it was a crime to be born into a family of heroes."

For once in her life, Kimika was silent. I thought I'd stunned her with my undeniable wit, but she was simply too lazy to continue arguing and turned back to her phone without another word. She was an interesting specimen that Yumi should definitely consider studying for her hero journal.

It was silent for most of the ride after that, apart from the occasional remark Satoshi would make after Eitaro would say something harmless, yet still manage to miraculously get on the peach-haired boy's nerves. But the silence was soon broken when Teijo abruptly shot up from his seat, startling the short purple-haired boy who sat beside him.

"Excuse me, sir, but I believe we may be lost!" Teijo said. The teacher quirked a brow, but otherwise remained silent. "We've been on the road for a while now and I don't recognise the area any longer. Would you like us to contact U.A. for assistance?"

The corners of the teacher's mouth twitched. "Don't worry, dear student. TDL is simply far away from the school's campus. It's to ensure that if anything were to happen, all students on school grounds will be safe."

This seemed to ease Teijo, for the most part. The indigo-haired teen nodded and simply sat back down in his seat, stumbling slightly when the bus drove over a large bump in the road. But Teijo did have a point. When I gazed past Yumi's figure and out the window, I noticed we were in a rather...deserted area. When I turned to look through the window on the back of the bus, I couldn't even see where we'd come from. It was just the long, winding road we were currently driving down, along with the many trees lining the road that led deeper into the surrounding forest.

I guess U.A. learned their mistake from last time. They'd be minimizing casualties by keeping certain facilities far away from unsuspecting students. Still, that uneasy feeling that was beginning to consume me persisted.

I tapped Yumi's shoulder.

"Is it just me, or is this guy kinda shady?"

She shrugged, craning her neck to get a better look at the teacher, who was still engaging in idle chatter with the driver.

"I guess so. But I'm sure U.A. wouldn't allow someone suspicious to teach us. So I'm sure it'll be fine..." Yumi's voice trailed off, as if her sentence served more as self-assurance than anything else.

I slumped down in my chair, a vague sound of gruntled agreement emerging from my throat. I glanced over at the teacher for what seemed like the umpteenth time today. Expecting to see him engaging in a dull conversation, I carelessly looked. I almost jumped back in my seat when I looked up and saw him smiling, arm loosely hanging onto the chair in front of me.

"What's wrong, Ms. Todoroki? You seem fidgety. Are you feeling well?" he asked, that creepy smile an unwavering feature plastered on his face. My eyes quickly flickered around the bus. No one seemed to notice a thing, but I could've sworn that he wasn't here a few moments ago. Was his quirk teleporting? Or something different? If it were teleporting, surely, someone would be just as surprised as me to see him, towering over the students. After all, he hadn't enclosed any information about himself.

"I'm fine sir," I muttered, eyeing him suspiciously. "That reminds me - would you like me to call you sir, or Mr...oh that's right! I don't think you've told us your name yet, sir," I spat, the last 'sir' dripping with disdain.

The teacher gave me a funny look, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, Saika," Yumi nudged me softly, "He just told us his name. It's Mr. Kakushi."

The teacher nodded at the sound of his name. "I'm a little disappointed that you weren't listening, Ms. Todoroki. Please pay attention," he said, his smile slowly fading. Somewhere behind me, Kimika scoffed.

Resisting the urge to snap my head back and yell at her, I instead kept my eyes trained on the teacher. Something didn't feel right.

"Is that all Ms. Todoroki?" His cloying tone made me recoil into my seat. I swallowed thickly and nodded stiffly, letting out a breath I was unaware I'd been holding the moment he turned on his heel and walked back to the front of the bus.

"Uh, Saika," Yumi said, "Are you sure you're okay? You've been acting really weird."

"I'm not weird! You're weird!" Normally I would exude more confidence while making my witty remarks, but I was far too confused to put any effort into insulting my dearest friend.

"That's rich coming from you," Kimika remarked, but I wisely held my tongue (although I stuck my nose into the air for good measure, just to ensure she was aware of my undying hatred towards her).

Yumi exhaled through her nose and pinched her eyes shut. I could only assume she was silently praying for a moment of peace where Kimika and I weren't constantly at each other's throats.

"Well, I still don't trust him." I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head. "I'm sure he's got ties to the mafia."

Yumi simply shook her head and turned away.

"Yumi?"

She was silent.

"I see how it is."

Usually the silent treatment didn't affect me, but given the current circumstances it only made me feel more alienated.

I could only assume Yumi thought the situation couldn't escalate any further. I proved her wrong the moment I stood up.

"Stop this bus right now!" I screamed with my palm ablaze. "Or I'll set it on fire!"

"What are you doing?!" Teijo leapt from his seat with a frantic chop of his arm. "Somebody stop this woman!"

"Ms. Todoroki–"

"Don't you 'Ms. Todoroki' me! I should be 'Ms. Todoroki-ing' you! Now I want answers Mr. Man, or I'm taking you down with me."

"Mr–?" The teacher shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. That was certainly an underreaction. I was expecting him to spout some colourful vocabulary or even tackle me out the window in an act of self-sacrifice.

"Saika, stop it." My gaze flickered to Kousuke who spoke in a warning tone. His visage remained neutral yet his eyes betrayed him — I could see the worry clouding them. "We don't need any casualties during the first week of school."

"What are you going to do?" I snapped back, the flame hovering above my palm growing slightly larger. "I want answers and I want them now."

"Can someone please return her to whatever institution she escaped from?" Kimika groaned, tapping her foot impatiently. Her and Mr. Man were more alike than I thought — they were both untrustworthy and completely apathetic towards my empty threats.

"Hush!" I leaned forward and jabbed her shoulder with my free hand. She let out a hiss of disapproval and scooted further away from me. "Stop the bus right now or I'll light it on fire!"

Mr. Man, for the first time that day, had dropped the mirthful act and pressed his lips into a thin line. His eye twitched and for a second I thought I'd broken him.

"Saika, this is absurd–" Yumi began, hesitantly tugging at my sleeve with pleading eyes. I ignored her (she could consider that payback for the silent treatment).

"My point remains valid," Kimika said.

"For once, I agree with her." Satoshi murmured, jerking his thumb at Kimika. "Ponytail's gone insane."

"I'm. Not. Insane." I spat. Surprisingly my foolproof argument didn't convince them. "Now, I'll say it for the last time — stop the bus now."

"You heard her," Mr. Man finally spoke. He roughly slapped a hand on the bus driver's shoulder and leaned forward. "Stop the bus."

A suffocating silence permeated throughout the entire bus the moment it screeched to a halt.

"Now you've done it," Yumi murmured.

"Ms. Todoroki," Mr. Man said in a hushed tone. I gulped. "May I have a word with you outside?"

"Uh–"

"Well? You wanted the bus to stop, didn't you?" While he was technically correct, I'd imagined the scenario to play out differently. I was hoping he would obey my every command and no consequences would befall me. Maybe I should confer with Yumi before following through on my spontaneous plans.

"Well, I mean–"

"See me outside, now." A terrifying smile formed on his lips and a forced laugh bubbled up his throat. He nodded curtly at the bus driver who opened the door for him. Mr. Man stepped outside and began pacing back and forth, possibly plotting my inevitable demise.

Beads of anxiety-induced sweat formed on my forehead and I hesitantly stood. All eyes were on me and I could tell they were all collectively suppressing the urge to mutter 'I told you so'.

I stepped outside, hands gripping onto the handrail, with the lingering suspicion that if I let go now, I'd probably never re-board the bus.

His impatient gait finally came to a stop and he looked down at me with malice clouding his eyes. I gulped and inhaled deeply, hoping the walls I'd hastily built up wouldn't crumble. I just had to stay brave, but that was easier said than done.

"What's with that look, Ms. Todoroki?" He leaned forward with a forced grin and arms folded behind his back.

I tugged at my collar and choked out a laugh. What was I supposed to do now? It was too late to try and ingratiate myself with him but far too early to concede. I was in far too deep and there was no way I could ease out of this cataclysm now.

It was time to purge myself of the fear tainting my being. I straightened my back, puffed out my chest, and with an extravagant hair flip I quipped:

"You are, unequivocally, the biggest fraud I have ever laid my eyes upon."

The awkward silence was palpable.

I had expected that to sound a lot more...awesome in my head. But, nevertheless, it evoked some kind of reaction out of him. He had begun gritting his teeth and clenching his fists and the veins in his neck were suddenly more prominent.

He was enraged.

"Ms. Todoroki–" There it was again, the sickly sweet voice that shook me to my core. "–not once in my many years of..." he sucked in a deep breath, "teaching have I ever met a student that has the gall to accuse me of being a fraud."

"Well, there's a first for everything."

His eyes narrowed a considerable amount. I would have glared at him through slits too, although I feared that would make me susceptible to whatever tricks he had up his sleeve if I constricted my line of sight.

"You boorish brat!" He screeched, his entire body trembling with rage. "Didn't your parents ever teach you basic manners? I can't get a word out of my mouth without you making an idiotic remark! Honestly, my mental endurance weakens each time you open that gaping mouth of yours. What will it take for you to just shut up and let me do my job?"

I couldn't suppress a shiver of fear. Still, I smacked my lips, standing my ground. "No."

Mr. Man looked at me. His back straightened, and all the remaining cheer in his eyes had fully dissipated.

"It's now evident that no lengthy lecture will do you any good." He pursed his lips and paused. It was a rather prolonged pause, one that allowed the tension in the air to grow thicker. "Get back on the bus."

At his behest I hastily spun on my heel and stumbled onto the bus. I blinked once, twice. I was still dizzy with confusion and fear. As I hesitantly walked down the aisle I felt as though I'd been abruptly snapped out of a reverie. It was hard to discern the difference between reality and fiction.

Yumi seemed to be the only one to pick up on my wary look. Nudging my shoulder as I sat down, my green-haired friend knitted her eyebrows together in perturbation, unease seeping into her features.

"Hey, you okay? What happened out there?" she whispered quietly, occasionally flicking her cautious gaze towards the teacher, who was preoccupied with rubbing his temple and groaning.

"I...um..." I paused, struggling to find the right words to convey the sudden sense of fear and dread that had taken possession of my body. Despite my incoherent words, Yumi seemed enthralled.

"What did he say to you? You've never acted like this before."

Her words gripped me.

'You've never acted like this before.'

She was right. To think that Mr. Man out of all people could make me afraid. The idea was ridiculous. So what had that wretched guy done to me? What was his quirk?

My fingers clutched Yumi's shoulder. Trying to look as discreet as possible, I lowered my voice down several notches.

"Okay, this might make me sound crazy, but I'm convinced that Mr. Man over there is a villain." I was surprised by the raspiness and fear that struck my usually confident voice, and felt my resolve to stop him waver with the fright that took hold.

Yumi gave me a skeptical stare, but was chewing on her lower lip, as if she were piecing together the red flags the teacher had raised.

"Are you-"

"Yes I'm sure!" I snapped back shrilly, roughly shaking my smaller friend. "Come on Yumi, use your brain," I hissed, tapping her forehead. "Don't let Mr. Man fool you! He's evil!"

Yumi rubbed her head, blinking to steady her dizzy gaze.

"You say that about almost everyone that you don't like though..." she muttered quietly, the words rolling off her tongue almost completely inaudible, as if she were worried me hearing them would trigger an outburst. The audacity of this girl.

"This isn't...this isn't supposed to be a 'boy who cried wolf' type scenario." My attempt at sounding stern backfired, but nevertheless Yumi could detect the seriousness behind my wavering tone. If being a hero didn't work out, she could definitely become the number one detective.

"Alright, I know you're not lying." She murmured with uncertainty. I bit back a frown. Couldn't she have a little more faith in her best friend? I wasn't some compulsive liar with a penchant for humiliating others — that was all Kimika.

"Then help me formulate a plan!" I hissed a little too loudly, but my voice was fortunately masked by the loud rumbling of the bus' engine. I cleared my throat and whispered, "As much as I hate to admit...you're better at strategically planning a person's downfall than I am."

Yumi blinked and choked back a surprised yelp. "I, um, don't think that's something to be proud of. And when have I ever planned someone's downfall?"

I shrugged. "I don't know...! Just, you're good at coming up with strategies, okay? I can't be the one doing everything here, anyway. The protagonist needs her sidekick to help out once in a while."

Yumi sighed softly. "So I'm a sidekick now...?"

"So you'll help?"

She seemed to think long and hard about my plea. A little too long and hard. I was almost about to open my mouth and question the strength of our bond (which had to be strong if we intended to overpower him with friendship), but she spoke before I could.

"I guess..."

"You guess–?!"

"Saika, I know you're not used to hearing a sane opinion, but if we don't understand the basics of his Quirk then we'll be at a huge disadvantage. Even if it is thirty to one, he could easily overpower us if his Quirk is something powerful that we aren't aware of. Not to mention he might have his lackeys on standby. You know, in case a student does figure out his true identity."

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. "Fine then, what do you think we should do?"

Yumi thought for a moment. "Have you got any clues as to what his quirk is?"

I hummed pensively and stroked my chin. "His Quirk seems to alter the way a person perceives events... But the only thing I have to go by is personal experience."

"Right...well, I think-"

Yumi cut herself off when the harrowing bus ride came to a sudden end. She violently jerked forward as the bus halted, catching herself mere inches before her head collided with the seat in front of her.

The bus immediately burst into noise with the sudden disturbance. The bus door swung open, and Mr. Man briskly walked out. The students rose from their seats, shuffling to the aisle in confusion before filing out the open doors.

"Sir, what's going on?" Teijo asked, pushing his way to the front of the crowd. His unwavering stance shook as the teacher didn't even spare him a glance.

Teijo turned to look at us, and I felt my own confidence quiver as fear seeped into his features, contorting his face into the anxious frown he rarely wore.

Mr. Man looked back. His reserved veneer finally cracked and his lips curled into a bone-chilling smile. He chuckled softly before clamping his lips shut, repressing the maniacal laughter that undoubtedly bubbled up his throat.

His shoulders shook one last time before his body went rigid. He narrowed his eyes, spun on his heel, and disappeared deeper into the forest, shielded by the cluster of trees that hid his presence. Much to my surprise, no one tried to stop him. Everyone just looked dazed.

As the reality and severity of our situation closed in on us, almost in unison, the class raced back to the bus.

The swarm of oncoming students seemed to alert the idle bus driver, and the moment we approached him, he slammed the doors shut in our face.

"Halt!" Teijo commanded, skidding to stop mere inches away from the bus. The bus driver's face contorted into a malicious grin.

Teijo immediately jerked backwards when, without warning, the bus sped off. He looked back at us with a restrained panic, and the atmosphere around us immediately chilled as our situation settled in. Here we were, stuck in an unknown place, without anyone knowing where we were and our only getaway ride gone.

Crack.

The class turned around when we heard the sound of movement coming from deep inside the forest.

"Er- who are those guys?" someone said behind me.

The class' sole attention was directed towards the mass of silhouettes approaching from the cluster of thick trees up ahead. It wasn't hard to tell who they were. Of course, there's that saying that you should 'never judge a book by its cover', but if the sinister smiles, bared weapons and evil glint in their eyes weren't a dead give away, then I don't know what was.

"Those," I gulped, "are villains."

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Welp. If you find any grammatical errors, punctuation etc., let me know so I can correct them! See you in the next chapter! :3