Freeze Frame

Chapter 101

OOH, OOH, OOH

I'M JUST ANOTHER KIND OF GIRL

AND YOU WANNA SEE MY WORLD

SO COME RUN AWAY

YEAH, YEAH

Third person pov

Screams erupted around the two picnic tables as people scrambled to get up and away from Vlad, who rose to his full height without seeming to realize how much it was scaring people. 1-B was definitely more confused than they were terrified, but the fear in 1-A made them worried enough to clamber away as well. Several quirks spun into gear as people hopped from their seats, full of panic and unsure of what to do as the lanky creature blinked down at them with his beady eyes.

Sometimes it really felt like 1-A attracted the craziest of the crazy. Because of course, at their secluded summer camp that nobody knew the destination of beforehand, there would be a Nomu. It was just their hellish luck at work once again! It was starting to get irritating-- the constant run ins with villains despite them not being full-fledged heroes yet. They just wanted to get through their first year without anyone dying! 

"It's a Nomu! Dammit! I thought this place was supposed to be a secret!" Jiro clenched her teeth as everyone huddled together, backing away from the pair of tables nervously. Lillian's brows furrowed as she stood, her eyes darting around in search of either Chad or Eri. Vlad never went anywhere alone unless it was to deliver food of some sort. Even then, Chad was usually nearby in his car. Vlad was trusted, but they were always concerned he'd be seen and taken away. After Hosu, everyone had their eyes peeled for Nomu or anything even relatively resembling them.

Vlad was relatively docile. If a police officer walked up to him and slapped cuffs on him, he'd probably just stand there. It wasn't until threatened that he acted, or until someone he chose to care about was threatened. He had a brain, and he was learning more and more everyday. That made him somewhat vulnerable in a sense. He didn't quite understand the concept of being sneaky just yet. His lack of subtly was displayed perfectly right in this very moment as he chirped at them curiously.

"Burn it already, Todoroki!" Mina squeaked in terror as the Half-and-Half boy calmly stood up, Izuku blinking dumbly before following. Hitoshi could only sit there and stare dumbly, wondering how things had gotten to this point. He was in the hero course. Neito was dead. He actually had friends, most of which actually lived with him for the most part, or had for a time at one point or another. A Nomu was standing here in front of him, holding a two boxes of Pizza and staring at him like a deformed dog waiting for praise. Bakugo was for once silent, his lips pressed firmly pressed together, and a defeated look in his eyes as he simply sat. 

Now don't get things wrong here. Bakugo didn't have anything against Vlad. He was just... well, he was a Nomu, and those weren't really socially acceptable in most situations. This was a flawless example of one of said situations. Vlad didn't need to be here. Bakugo had long since accepted that having Lillian in his life would mean Vlad was in his life. Even without Lillian, Bakugo had still interned with Chad. The Nomu was pretty much just a weird pet bat-parrot with arms and legs that really liked wearing khaki shorts and dumb Hawaiian shirts anyway, so it's not like he was the worst or anything. Just extremely weird and... definitely not supposed to be here. Bakugo wasn't sure why he bothered being surprised anymore.

"D-Don't worry, guys." Izuku finally got out after he got over his initial surprise. "He won't hurt you! It's just Vlad!"

"What do you mean 'It's just Vlad'?! It's a Nomu!" Kaminari sputtered. The few people around him scooted away as his skin began to spark. Lillian walked around the side of the table and over to him, intent on getting some pizza to go along with her curry. Not the best combination, but definitely not the worst either.