All Might x Student!Reader (Boku no Hero Academia)

Special Chapter 27.2 - The Trip

Sometime later:

Bugs. They were everywhere. Crawling, flying, spinning webs, squirming through the air like a plague sent to torment you. You hated them—every single one of their creepy, crawling, biting bodies. They slithered into your hair, buzzed past your ears, and squirmed under your clothes. Why do these hideous things even exist? you thought angrily, slapping your neck as another mosquito landed. The mosquitoes were the worst—bloodsuckers that made your skin itch like crazy after they'd had their fill. You'd lost count of how many bites covered your legs. Even with your long-sleeved shirt, the cunning insects still managed to find ways to bite through the fabric. It was as if they were deliberately taunting you.

You shuddered, narrowly avoiding another spiderweb hanging between the trees. Spiders were another creature you couldn't stand. Just the thought of one lurking nearby, patiently waiting for its next victim to fall into its sticky trap, made your skin crawl. At least spiders weren't man-sized. Otherwise, you might have had to worry about being eaten.

Your group had been wandering the forest for what felt like hours. The clues left by All Might, supposedly guiding you to the hidden items, seemed more like riddles designed to confuse you. There were three items, each somehow connected to UA Academy, hidden in small boxes scattered around the woods. Each group had received a rough map of the area and three small cards with clues. The first clue was straightforward enough: "under the tree with blinking lights" in the northeast section of the forest. What that meant, though, was anyone's guess. The second clue was a little more cryptic: "where you may have trouble getting in" in the southwest. You assumed it was something high up, like a tall tree or a rocky ledge. The third was "where the bird flies with a branch in its beak" in the north. A nest, most likely—but in a forest filled with trees and nests, that wasn't much help.

And then there was the looming threat of failure. Midnight-sensei hadn't said what would happen if you didn't find anything, but you had the sinking feeling it involved running around the lake. The mere thought of that possibility sent a cold chill down your spine.

"Does anyone else feel like these clues aren't very helpful, kero?" Tsuyu-chan, or Asui-san as you still called her in your head, spoke up, her frog-like eyes scanning the trees.

You and Uraraka-san both sighed in agreement, feeling the weight of her question.

"I think All Might-sensei made these clues up last minute," you muttered, glancing around at the identical trees surrounding you.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Uraraka-san added, taking a swig of water from her bottle. "I mean, he only had fifteen minutes to hide the boxes."

"Yeah... so, I think we should focus on just one of the clues. There's no way we'll find all three." You held the clue cards in your hand, eyeing them as if they might magically reveal the answers.

"Which one do we go for?" Tsuyu-chan asked, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Maybe the bird one?" you suggested. "It's the most straightforward. We know it's probably a nest. The other two are too vague."

Uraraka-san nodded thoughtfully, but you hesitated, staring blankly at a nearby tree. A nagging feeling tugged at your mind, an instinct you couldn't ignore.

"I think..." you muttered quietly, your voice barely above a whisper. "We should go for the hardest one."

Both Uraraka-san and Tsuyu-chan stared at you, their eyes wide with surprise.

"The hardest one? Are you sure, (L/N)-san?" Tsuyu-chan's voice was cautious, a clear wince crossing her face.

You nodded, though your heart beat a little faster at their reactions. "Yeah, I'm sure. Think about it—everyone's going to choose the easiest clue. Why bother looking for all three when you only need to find one?"