Post Vitam

Chapter 178

There wasn't a lot of time to process the fact that they had just avoided a blow that could almost certainly have been lethal. The dust and debris from the newly formed crater had barely settled before the behemoth was sending another attack their way.

On some level Izuku felt glad that they had spent the morning so far fighting these things, if only because it meant they weren't all scrambling in desperation for a plan. By now they've gotten taking down the constructs down to a sort of artform. The only difference between the others and this one was its overwhelming size. That also meant though the creature had its own set of drawbacks, mainly it is undeniably slower than its smaller counterparts.

Izuku, having restrictions on him, had spent most of his time supporting the rest of the class with quirks he thought could help. His first response was to slow the behemoth down even more than its own weight was doing. However increasing the local gravity would only hinder the others so he opted for the next best thing, sending a wave of concrete to trap it.

Shouto instinctually picked up on this plan and started trapping it in hard ice too. It didn't take much for the rest of the class to get on board with the plan when it was clear that slowing down and trapping the creature was working. Those with quirks would contribute to that helped while the rest gave them enough of a berth to work.

When it was slowed down enough so that it was effectively stuck Katsuki who with the help of Izuku had perfected the projectile version of his quirk shot at it. The blast sent cracks rippling across the surface of the construct. A punch from Sato then had it crumbling and falling apart.

Normally the class would take a breath or even shortly celebrate taking down one of the constructs. Now however with their last break so violently and abruptly interrupted — the unspoken consensus was that they wanted to get out of this forest sooner rather than later.

Izuku was sent up to check how much further they had to go. Once back among the class Izuku was quite happy to report that during that fight they had moved even closer. The main campground was quite close now, he'd even spotted the roofs of the cabins.

Relieved by that news but still remaining vigilant the class continued on their trek to camp. Nobody was willing to put it past Eraserhead to not still have some sort of obstacle for them, even if they were so close.

It proved to be a good thing to stay wary as they indeed had to take down two more of the smaller constructs before they finally reached the main campground. What they found upon stumbling out of the trees though wasn't at all what they had expected. They thought that maybe they'd have to face class B being a bit snarky about not having to go through what they just did. If not that then maybe Eraserhead, Mic and the Wild Pussycats surprised faces once they realized it hadn't taken them hours upon hours to complete the task.

Instead they were faced with a small boy staring them down as if they'd just stolen his favorite toy. Just him and not a single other soul in sight. Izuku didn't know whether or not it was because he doesn't mind dealing with kids or because everyone else thought it might be yet another trap from his dad, but he was chosen to go talk to the kid. Chosen is a loose term though, he was effectively pushed forward by Sero and Ashido.

If they hadn't all just spent more than an hour in a forest with bugs and earth constructs attacking them he'd probably have protested such an action. However much like everyone else in the class no doubt, he was sticky with sweat, covered in dirt patches, hungry, thirsty and tired. Complaining about something so small was well beyond his stores of energy.

He accepted his fate and moved closer to the grumpy faced boy. "Hi, I'm Izuku Aizawa, but you can call me Izuku if you want. What's your name?"

The boy stared at Izuku for quite some time, seemingly struggling with something. He looked like he wanted to answer Izuku but kept thinking better of it at the last second. Eventually the boy had started to part his lips intending to say something when a voice from up ahead broke the silence.

"Kota? Where are you?"

He swung around and ran off into the direction of the voice. The identity of which turned out to be Ragdoll. Upon spotting Kota with Izuku and Class A behind him she nearly tripped over her own feet. "How are you guys here already?!"

"With effort..." Izuku sighed with exhaustion.

"I'd say so..." she chuckled. "Looks like Tiger lost the bet against Eraser. We really thought you guys would only get here around dinner time."

Kota seemed to have had enough of the interaction between them however and clicked his tongue in annoyance muttering "Stupid heroes." That however wasn't all he did, in a rapid motion he pulled back his arm with a formed fist. No doubt intending to show his great displeasure by punching whatever was nearest.

If Izuku hadn't noticed the motion, the height difference between him and Kota would have meant a connecting fist would have landed in quite a sensitive area... Luckily through a combination of increasing the distance between them and a telekinetic barrier of sorts meant he avoided the blow. Ragdoll gasped when she saw that.

"Kota! What are you trying to do?! Wait until your Aunt hears about this... Come here!" She commanded in a scolding tone while stepping closer.

Izuku cringed at that specific tone. Logically he knows Kota had behaved inappropriately and a light scolding was probably deserved. However with the topic of his mom being the focus of much of his current therapy, he couldn't help unconsciously linking her abuse and how Ragdoll reacted.

Without even realizing he was doing it he had stepped in front of Kota in a protective motion. He glared at Ragdoll with glowing eyes and she gasped and stopped in her tracks, instinctually recognizing the danger.

Katsuki sighed lightly and made his way to Izuku, placed a hand on his upper arm with the other on the back of his neck. He made Izuku look at him "Izu, she isn't a threat to the kid. I promise."

Izuku flicked his eyes between Katsuki and Ragdoll and then he looked down at Kota who looked wholly confused by Izuku's reaction of wanting to protect him. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, forcing himself to remember not every adult is like his mom. He nodded at his boyfriend, giving a weak smile. "Right..."

Kota slowly made his way over to Ragdoll but his face was no longer hostile like earlier. He rather looked like he was trying to solve a difficult math question.

Izuku didn't have long to wonder what that meant though because the rest of the Wild Pussycats and his dad with Mic came up behind Ragdoll. Izuku noted a disgruntled Tiger handing over something to his dad, no doubt the outcome of the supposed bet they had made.

"You are all filthy. Go shower and then head to the dining area for lunch." Everyone perked up a bit at the prospect of being clean again, well, as clean as you can be while camping. It was short lived though as Izuku noticed the sly smirk on his dad's face. His next bit of information confirmed Izuku's suspicion that his dad was having way too much fun for it to be anything good.

"You better enjoy it because apart from dinner tonight the rest of your meals here will be prepared by you as a group with Class B."

There were groans and some weak protests but nobody put up too much of a fuss, either too tired or not all that bothered. Izuku fell into the category of not being too bothered. With Katsuki there, they were guaranteed to at the very least have edible food, depending on how well everyone else would follow his instructions.