Manifest Monsters

Part 20~Little Cardboard Box

Laughing, I read my book. I wasn't one who usually read comedy books but Yaoyoruzu had suggested it and I did not turn down book recommendations. Tiny jumped up as a knocking echoed around the house. I hopped up and grabbed my bag, whistling for Tiny to jump up my shoulder and Oshken to hide in my shoe. I picked up Bubbles with minimal effort before rushing out of my room.

Bursting through the door, I almost fell over as Tokoyami caught me. He chuckled as he greeted me. Tiny climbed on his shoulders and the ants landed in my hair. Tokoyami took Bubbles from my arms as he flicked my forehead. "You're meant to be resting your arms, not straining it by picking up machines."

"Bubbles is not a machine! She is a delightful- slightly idiotic- fish! And besides, my arm is fine! Recovery Girl is just overreacting since Aizawa did this to me and she doesn't want me to sue the school." I linked our arms as I skipped back to U.A. Tokoyami shook his head fondly as I smirked. Today, we headed off to the training camp!

I waved to Jiro and Yaoyorozu, letting Charlie escape my blood and run to their side.

Tilting my head to the side, I looked at Kaminari who was holding something behind his back. "What you got there, Kaminari?"

Kaminari smiled, practically jumping up and down. "Can you let out Oshy?"

I couldn't help but snicker at the name Kamianri used. Oshken would not be happy. We often used 'Oshy' to piss him off and it must have stuck. I tapped my foot on the ground as Oshken came out and hid under the table. Kaminari knelt down, still holding the item behind his back.

"Hey, Oshy. I made something for you! I remember you said you hated that you could only stay in the shadows or Midoriya's shoe so... I made you a comfortable travel pack!" Kaminari held out what looked like a cardboard box. The outside of it was decorated with keep out signs and warning stamps of varying colour, a single hole in the wall for entrance.

Inside there wasn't much. The walls were pretty blank, a pair of blackout curtains tied to the side so Oshken could close off the box. There was a pillow for Oshken to rest on and a small stack of cookies for him to eat. Oshken's eyes sparkled as he jumped from under the table into the box. He became a tiny version of himself as he walked about the box and pulled a cookie to the pillow, nibbling on the sugary delight. Kaminari seemed pleased by the reaction he got as he placed the box on the desk.

It wasn't long before classes were due to start so I removed Charlie- much to her annoyance- and sat down. Tiny climbed onto my lap as Aizawa walked through the door. He gave a questioning look to Kaminari and the box he was muttering to before deciding it was probably not worth the brain cells he would lose.

We didn't stay in the classroom for long. We boarded the bus and set out to our training camp. I let Kaminari take care of Oshken until we arrived, the electric boy keeping the box on his lap as he talked to Oshken. Tokoyami let me sleep on his shoulder as he daydreamed.

Eventually, the bus pulled up for a temporary stop. Mineta screamed as he ran out of the bus. The rest of us were less desperate to leave and as such, left with more dignity. I let out a yawn as Tiny squealed in my ears. "Tiny! What gives?!"

"It's the Wild Wild Pussy Cats Mandalay and Pixie Bob!" Tiny jumped on my shoulder, leaning forward excitedly.

"Since when did you care about heroes?" I raised my eyebrow as Tiny swatted me on the head.

"I don't, I care about cats who get to beat up bad guys!"

"You know they're not really cats, right?" Tiny huffed as he hit my head angrily and repeatedly. "Alright, I'm sorry!" I tried to cover my head as Tokoyami picked up Tiny and stroked her fur to calm her down.

Pixie Bob seemed to enjoy the show as she laughed. "You're right there, little cat! We are the Wild, Wild pussy cats!"

Aizawa thanked the Wild Wild pussy cats for letting us use their grounds as I watched. This seemed oddly uneventful. Aizawa never talked to someone unless he was forced to or it was important.

Sighing, I spun around, hoping he wouldn't notice me. Well, Aizawa didn't. Pixie Bob did. She jumped in front of me with a smirk. "Where do you think you're going?!" Pixie Bob pressed her paws against the ground as the Earth rose up and pushed us off the cliff.

"Charlie!" The blood flowed out my fingers as Charlie formed before me. Her eyes widened as she held out her hands stopping everyone's fall.

"Ow!"

Well, almost everyone. Charlie smirked as Mineta hit the ground at full pelt. It was lucky he didn't die. Charlie calmly lowered the rest of us to the ground before standing up proudly. She took a smug bow while changing her outfit to be of formal attire. "You called?"

I rolled my eyes at her antics as she turned back to normal. We could vaguely hear Mandalay shouting that we were allowed to use our Quirks freely and if we didn't make it back for lunch, we weren't eating.

Well, this was going to be a long day. The forest was infested with all manners of monsters and I had a couple close calls to my time limit for Charlie and the others. It was such a shame Oshken had been left on the bus as he would thrive in this setting. When we finally got to the other side of the camp, we were all tired and ready to collapse.

Strangely, we got complimented on finishing before they thought we would but that did not help. The Wild Wild Pussy Cats had made us a feast as we ate in plenty. Kaminari had retrieved a very grumpy Oshken who was not pleased from being left. I was basically falling asleep on Tokoyami's shoulder as Dark Shadow wrapped around me and slept on my lap.

I couldn't help but smile at Katsuki who was sleeping in Kirishima's arms.