Essence of a True Hero

Electrified

Kon'nichiwa minna! OpalHippocampus799 here with chapter 8 of "Essence of a True Hero." After a trying day and restless night, Class 1-A and 1-B are back at it to improve their fighting skills. The students will be facing off again, but this time it will be one on one, which means no one can speak for anyone else. Take that Izuku!

Denki Kaminari's P.O.V.

    Aisawa-sensei woke us up bright and early for another day at this accursed summer boot camp. I yawned as I sat up in my niche next to Eijiro and Bakugo's sleeping bags. Eijiro was slowly waking up as well. When we caught each other's eyes, we had a silent argument about who would suffer today. Yesterday, Eijiro did it, so I lost.

    I looked uncertainly at the sleeping form of Bakugo while Eijiro prepared for the day. Bakugo liked waking up when he woke up and no time other than that. We learned that yesterday morning when Aisawa-sensei had dragged us through this routine the first time.

    I decided to get dressed first. While Eijiro had held his own against Bakugo the previous morning, he had ended up so exhausted that he hardly wanted to get himself ready for the day. I had helped him before we hurried to breakfast.

    Once in the school uniform, I nervously nudged him and spoke softly as if to a sleeping bear, "Bakugo? Bakugo, it's time to wake up."

    "Five more minutes, you useless nerd."

    That was a normal response when he was still trying to sleep. I tried again, "Bakugo, you need to get up."

    "Go away, Deku!"

    A miniature explosion erupted from his hands, so I dove for cover. When I peered again, I saw Izuku coming to us and kneeling over Bakugo. As much as I feared for his life, I was happy that I wouldn't be the one to receive Bakugo's wrath or at least have to face his explosions.

   "Ka-chan," he spoke firmly, "you need to get up. If oka-san finds out that you've been sleeping in, she'll have your head."

    Bakugo shot up at that and looked around, shouting, "I'm up!"

   When he noticed that it was only Izuku and that everyone left in the cabin was staring at him, he charged, "Deku!!"

    Izuku, however, had vanished from sight. Next that I saw him, he was on the threshold smiling in good humor, "Get dressed first, Ka-chan; then you can beat me into next week."

    To say that with a smile on his face must have taken a lot of courage and a low self-esteem. Bakugo knew how to beat someone into next week. I had seen that first hand. My only hope was that Izuku would fare better.

    I got up quickly, hearing Bakugo's mutter, "I'll get that useless nerd. He'll regret ever coming to Yuei."

    The first line was also normal coming from Bakugo, but I looked over in the direction that Izuku had left fearing for his life after hearing the second. Bakugo never talked about anyone like that. He might have treated us like dirt sometimes, but once you got to know the guy, he had his own way of being caring.

    As we walked to the students who were preparing our breakfast, I asked, "Is he really that bad?"

    Honestly, it was a rhetorical question. I knew the answer. Even if Izuku had surrendered, I like the guy. He had been so knowledgeable yesterday; it was uncanny. I would have expected him to have already been studying at Yuei for this past semester; I wish that he had been there. Besides, I could tell that he liked us; furthermore, that he didn't want to hurt any of us, but Bakugo's face twisted at my question as he clicked his teeth, "That useless wannabe never understood, always stuck his nose in places it didn't need to be. Now he says he's got a quirk and thinks he's some hot shot."