Colors in the Dark

[24] Kitties' Training Camp

No one passed up the opportunity to bathe in the hot springs, which were thankfully separated into the girls' section and the boys' section by a tall wooden wall. Ayami didn't know about the boys, but she and the rest of the girls were glad to wash the forest dirt and muck off of them after the long day, relaxing their muscles for the first time in what felt like years.

Ayami herself was neck-deep in the warm water, making sure her body wasn't visible from the surface as she ran her hands through her messy scarlet hair to clean it out. It was strange enough being naked on her own, but surrounded in other girls, all without clothes as well?

She just wasn't very comfortable. Call her too modest, whatever, she found it weird. Instead, she focused on rubbing the soothing water over the scrapes she had gotten from her fall and trek through the forest, an especially nasty one on her right forearm thanks to hitting some branches on the way down.

The sap from the trees luckily came off as well, which was a relief to the redhead girl. She was still facing mostly away from the others, seeing as Mina was shameless enough to sit on one of the rocks fully exposed, only her feet in the water. She couldn't have even put on a towel or a bathing suit?

Another reason Ayami didn't want to show herself off: her scars. Numerous thin lines covered her body thanks to years of abuse from the orphanage and multiple of her foster families, which had faded but never quite disappeared, leaving her torso, arms, thighs, and back forever marked by her past.

She didn't want to explain them to everyone else. So showing off, even to those she practically considered her older and younger sisters, was still a big no.

Out of nowhere, there was a shout from the other side of the dividing wall, likely Iida since "shameful" and "demeaning" were part of the vocabulary used, and the sound of something slimy climbing up the wooden surface grew higher and higher with each passing second.

Luckily, before it reached the top, Kouta appeared. Ayami could only hear, "A hero, really? Try learning how to be a good person first," before Mineta's scream pierced her ears and there was a loud splash from the other side of the wall, signaling the grape-haired boy landed back in the water.

"I'll get you for thissssss!"

Tsu sighed, glad the little perv hadn't seen them. "Ribbit, Mineta's the worst, isn't he?"

Ayami nodded, though she submerged herself even deeper into the spring, only her nose and up showing. Mina grinned from the rock, shouting up at the young boy. "Thanks so much, Kouta-babe! We owe ya one!" Ayami knew what was coming next and dipped her head fully under the water as Kouta turned, hearing his voice, just to see the shameless girl without any clothes and not even in the water, alongside all the other girls in the water, before he fell backwards.

She popped back up when she knew it was safe and yowled. "Make that two," as the thud of the boy arriving at the ground of the other side. "Is he alright!?"

Midoriya sighed. "He's out cold, but but he seems to be alright otherwise. I'm gonna bring him to Mandalay, just in case," his muffled reply answered. Mandalay, so that's one of their names. Mandalay is a breed of cat if I remember correctly, usually with dark fur... so probably the brunette.

She glanced back at Mina's face, trying to prevent herself from seeing the rest of the pink-skinned girl's body. That was all on you, Mina. I hope Kouta will be alright, since he saved us from Mineta and hopefully taught the little perv a lesson.

However, the yellow-horned girl noticed and laughed. "Well, that happened! Anyway, let's talk about love stories!" She gushed. "I think everyone here saw a certain someone hug a purple-haired boy from General Studies that she also happens to train with!"