Chapter 15: Hide-and-Seek
"Someone, help us! The injured person here is fading fast!" Tenya Iida yelled up towards the top of the chasm with all his might. "We've been trapped here for a whole day!"
"Iida-kun is really getting into his role as a victim..." Thirteen glanced down into the ravine, then turned back to the students. "Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Bakugo. You four will be the first rescue team. You're free to use any of the tools provided over here."
"A stretcher with side rails, ropes, safety straps... these are all essential for rescue operations." Momo took inventory of the rescue tools, saying thoughtfully, "But there's less equipment here than a normal rescue team would have. Are we supposed to be actively using our Quirks...?"
"So, we need to decide who goes down. We'll need someone at the bottom to coordinate," Shoto Todoroki said, walking to the edge of the ravine. He glanced down. Uraraka was lying peacefully on the ground, while Tenya Iida, upon seeing them, immediately began waving and shouting.
"Help us! We need help! Someone here has a serious head injury!"
"I'm telling you, why make it so complicated? We can just blow up the whole valley!" Bakugo said, flashing his usual villainous grin. "And you're making me rescue Deku? That's a goddamn disgrace!"
"Have you lost your mind!? That's absolutely forbidden!" Momo said sternly. "Don't forget, there's an injured person down there whose condition is unknown! Are you not worried you'll hurt them by setting off an explosion without surveying the area first!?"
"Bakugo did come up with a plan, I suppose. It's just not a plan a normal person would think of," Tsuyu Asui commented with a calm expression.
"That guy gets so dangerous whenever Midoriya is involved..."
Shoto Todoroki turned his gaze to Momo. "Yaoyorozu, you create a pulley system. We'll use it to haul the unconscious victim up. Tokoyami will go down with the stretcher to look after the victim, and then you, Bakugo, and I will pull him up."
"Hold on, you bastard! Who gave you the right to order me around!?" Bakugo strode forward and grabbed Todoroki by the collar, growling. "I'm not taking orders from you!"
"Bakugo, don't be rash. This is the best plan," Fumikage Tokoyami said, speaking up for a rare moment. "Among the four of us, my Quirk is the only one that can effectively perform the rescue."
"..." Bakugo released his grip and took two steps back. Seeing Momo still standing there, he said impatiently, "Well? Hurry up and make the pulley! If you're not quick about it, I'll do it my way!"
Even with that aggressive attitude, it seems he's able to accept other people's suggestions now... Momo thought with a hint of admiration. As she did, two pulleys dropped from the opening of her hero costume...
"Tokoyami, can you handle it alone?" Iida asked with some concern. Won't it be unstable just pulling him up like that?
"We are never alone." The one who answered Iida was the dark monster that emerged from Tokoyami's cloak. It spread its arms, floating in the air like smoke but possessing a solid form. If Kira had been there, he would have undoubtedly muttered that this was some kind of heavily modified Stand attack.
After emerging from the cloak, Dark Shadow's body instantly grew larger. It grabbed both sides of the stretcher, supported it from below, and flew upwards, landing safely in the hands of Momo and the others waiting above.
Seeing Uraraka covering her mouth and giggling, Momo asked with a sigh, "Uraraka, what's so funny? According to the scenario, you're supposed to be seriously injured and unconscious right now."
"S-Sorry! Pfft... It's just that Iida's serious acting is too hilarious!" At the thought of it, Uraraka sat up, clutched her stomach, and burst out laughing again.
Next, Iida and Midoriya were also brought up successfully. Fumikage Tokoyami made his grand entrance, standing on the stretcher like a superstar, with Dark Shadow pulling the ropes. He slowly rose over the horizon, head first, then his crossed arms, his eyes closed. When he opened them, expecting a round of applause, he found that everyone was gathered around Thirteen-sensei, paying him no attention at all.
"Thirteen-sensei, this is so fun! Pick me next! I want to be the injured one!" Mina Ashido said, raising her hand high.
"I want to be the injured one too!"
"Pick me! Pick me!"
"..." Fumikage Tokoyami silently observed this scene, then sighed. He turned to face the large, still-unrepaired hole that All Might had made when he punched the Nomu. The wind blowing through it made his cloak flutter dramatically.
"A hero... is always alone," he said with his eyes closed, seeming to relish the feeling of being an unsung hero.
Kirishima excitedly nudged Midoriya with his elbow. "Midoriya-kun," he whispered, "what does Tokoyami even mean by that? It sounds kinda cool, though..."
"I have no idea, and I'm too scared to ask..."
Over an hour later, the training exercise ended, much to the reluctance of the Class 1-A students.
"You all performed very well! You have the true makings of heroes!" Thirteen said in summary. "Now that every student has experienced both rescuing and being rescued, which feeling do you think is better?"
"Rescuing, of course!" Kirishima said, rubbing his head with a smile. "Having the power to help but being forced to just stand by and watch... that doesn't feel good at all."
"Yeah!" Midoriya nodded vigorously in agreement with Kirishima. "The desire to help others has nothing to do with the size of one's power. As long as you can do something, you want to help."
The others around them all agreed. As students of the Hero Course, none of them were training so hard just to be the ones getting rescued.
"Is that so? I thought being rescued was the best part..." Minoru Mineta muttered under his breath. "You get to see Asui and Ashido leaning over you... Getting to enjoy all the perks without doing any of the work is the greatest feeling..."
Denki Kaminari gave Mineta a strange look. "Grape Juice, you're already disqualified as a hero..."
Soon, they followed Thirteen to the next training area—the Collapsed City Zone.
"The next exercise is to search for survivors in an earthquake zone. As you all know, our country is located in an active earthquake belt, so it's essential to be prepared for this kind of scenario!" Thirteen held up a watch. "Now, the 19 of you will be divided into two groups. One group will hide, and the other will have to find them in this collapsed area. You'll have a time limit of 20 minutes. The winning team will be the one that finds more people, or the one with more people who remain hidden."
Mina Ashido raised her hand. "Question! So it's like a game of hide-and-seek?"
"That's right. Simply put, it's hide-and-seek."
Tenya Iida raised his hand. "Question! There are 19 of us in total. We can't be divided equally, can we?"
Thirteen chuckled. "Haha, regarding that question, let me ask you all this: if Toru Hagakure were on the hiding team, who among you thinks you could find her?"
Everyone turned to look at Hagakure, who was currently only wearing a pair of gloves and shoes. If she took those off, she could be standing right in front of them and they'd never know.
Denki Kaminari nodded in agreement. "True. If Hagakure is on the hiding team, it's basically cheating. They'd have a guaranteed point, which is way too disadvantageous for the seeking team."
"Exactly! Knowing there's a naked girl right next to you, but not being able to feast your eyes on her... it's a world-class tragedy!" Mineta shouted, clutching his head, oblivious to the strange looks he was getting.
"What a pervert..." "Shameless..." "The embodiment of lechery..."
The girls huddled together, moving away from Mineta in disgust.
"Ahem. For that reason, Toru Hagakure will not be participating in this exercise. The rest of you, please form a line. According to your position in line, the first person will hide, the second will seek, and so on."
"Eh? I'm not playing?" Hagakure looked a little disappointed, but she quickly perked up. She clenched her fists and cheered them on. "Well then, good luck, everyone!"
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