Beast In The Woods

Camping

19 tired and dirty students broke out of the tree line and found what the trail Izuku left for them. Aizawa, Pixie Bob, and Mandalay stood there waiting as everyone stumbled out with many collapsing in relief that the trek through the woods was done.

"Well done! It took you a few fewer hours than we thought." Pixie Bob exclaimed and was about to continue but paused and looked over them again. "Wait, we're missing one!" She looked slightly worried when she recounted twice and was still short a student.

Aizawa's eyes sharpened and also agreed that one was missing and immediately identified it as the feral child. "Where is Izuku?" He looked at each one of his students.

Toshi looked around the camp area in confusion. "I figured he was here already?"

"We had him scout the path ahead for us to follow but we didn't see him after that," Yayoruzo said with worry about the class president.

There was a rustling on the other side of the clearing and everyone was startled to see a large brown mass emerge from the tree line with guttural growls coming from it.

"Holy Hell! It's a bear!" Kaminari exclaimed in surprise.

"There were bears in the woods!?" Hagakure shouted.

Koda ran ahead and began to speak to it. "Whoa whoa, this isn't a good place for you to be in. It's someone else territory, please leave." He held his arms out in a placating manner but stepped back at the strong odor of blood. "It's injured!"

With another growl, the bear was lifted and tossed on its side to reveal Izuku in his torn school uniform and covered in blood. "I have brought nourishment for the pack!" Izuku roared to the heavens. His usually green and black hair was streaked with red from having the field-dressed corpses drip on him.

"What the hell!" Pixie Bob said in shock.

"You got a bear!?" Toshi shouted at his friend.

"You got a bear!" Mina shouted in glee at her mate having gotten one of his goals.

"There are bears in the woods!?" Hagakure shouted again and looked in the tree line.

"Enough!" Aizawa shouted over everyone and it got quiet. He rubbed his face with both hands and let out a long stream of air through his clenched teeth. "Izuku, are you hurt?"

"Not anymore." Izuku shrugged casually.

Aizawa nodded along with that. "We have food already prepared. We can have this for dinner tomorrow." He nodded to the massive adult brown bear.

Izuku pouted at having to wait to dine on his prey. He looked down at it and sighed. "Kay." He said with a long sigh.

"One more thing to do, help Izuku put this guy away." Aizawa motioned to the bear and looked to his class.

There were many groans but they got to work with Sato stripping off his shirt again to help like he did before. Yayoruzo made a roll of wax paper and a simple table while Izuku hung the bear to skin it and cut it into manageable pieces. It didn't take more than a half hour with the help of his pack. While the kids dismembered the bear, Aizawa explained Izuku's more than unusual behavior to the other heroes.

A small child watched in some fascination as the teen took the bear apart but was distracted by the adults coming back from the talk with Aizawa. The two women were slightly red-eyed and Mandalay knelt to give Kota a tight hug without saying anything. He was worried as this was the way he was told his parents died but Mandalay didn't say anything else but pull back and give him a sad smile.

The final part of the bear was wrapped up and Shoji carried it off to the kitchen to place it in the walk-in fridge. The only part left was the skin which Izuku already had hung up away from the camp and the bear's head. He examined it and then took a bite of its cheek.