Once their second long day of training was over, it was time to make dinner again.

This time, class B joined them in the cooking, and Shiori got a chance to reunite with Sen Kaibara. They hadn't talked much since she told him she wasn't looking to date anyone, so they had plenty to catch up on.

They were talking while Shiori prepared the seasoning and Kaibara brought her the ingredients.

Meanwhile, Bakugo and Kirishima were on dumpling steaming duties across the room.

Eventually Shiori laughed about something, which made Bakugo turn around to look. When he saw them, his expression went from regular angry boy to spiky-haired demon.

Kirishima look at him questioningly, wondering what made him so mad out of a sudden. He then followed Bakugo's gaze, and realized what was going on.

"Bakugo, calm down." the red-haired boy said, putting his hands up.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN CALM DOWN?! I'VE NEVER BEEN CALMER!"

"Right, but let's not act harshly, okay?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, weird hair!"

A few minutes later, Shiori finished her tasks and walked over to them. "Hey. What are you guys doing?"

"None of your damn business." Bakugo barked, walking away.

"What's up with him?" she asked, looking at Kirshima, who just shrugged in response.

---

During dinner, Bakugo continued to act like a jerk towards Shiori, to the point that everyone around seemed to notice.

So when they were putting the dishes away, she decided to confront him.

"Katsuki." she said, sternly.

He turned to look at her but said nothing.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Don't waste my time." he replied, turning to walk away.

But Shiori just used her Quirk to run and stop in front of him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, again.

"Don't you have better things to do than annoy me, you damn Stitch?! Like giggle like stupid round-face with that damn loser from Class B?!"

Shiori was slightly shocked for a second. "You've been treating me badly because I talked to Sen? He's my friend!"

"Do you think I give a damn about who you waste your time with?! He's scum, just like the rest of them!"

"Why do you do this?!" Shiori asked, frustrated. "Is it because you like me? Huh? Or are you just so egotistic that the idea of a person choosing someone else over you drive you mad?"

"SHUT UP!"

"NO! I'm not going to shut up! I told you I wasn't going to be with anyone, Katsuki, and I meant it. But I didn't have to do that. I don't owe you anything."

Bakugo looked at her with a mix of pain an anger on his face. Shiori could tell he simply didn't know how to handle the emotions he was feelings, and she feared he would explode.

"I- YOU- I SAID SHUT UP! JUST SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, OR I'LL KILL YOU!" he screamed, voice cracking with pain. "YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

Shiori's face suddenly softened. She never could handle seeing him suffer. "I'm sorry." she said, letting down her guard. "I'm sorry, Katsuki. I won't talk about it."

Bakugo froze. He had almost wished Shiori would be angry with him. It would have been easier. He'd never felt so small within himself as he did when he faced Shiori's expansive kindness.

"JUST- JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he snapped, storming off angrily.

Uraraka, who saw the fight from afar, made her way over.

"Shiori-chan, is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so." the girl sighed.

"What happened?"

"Bakugo is just angry. Frustrated, I guess. He just doesn't know how to handle it when things aren't under his control, and it scares him."

Uraraka frowned and looked up at her friend.

"Has he always been like this?"

"In a way, I guess. But we've been fighting a lot more now than we did when we were children." Shiori said, looking down to the floor. "I guess things are just easier when you are a kid. After all, skinned knees are a lot easier to fix than broken hearts."

---

After dinner, the Pussycats organized a game to test the courage of the U.A. students.

Class A and B gathered at the edge of the forest, while the pussycats explained the activity.

Except, of course, the students who failed the final exams. They didn't get to participate, since they had extra classes at night.

"Okay, so we will have Class B being the scarers, and Class A will leave in groups of three every few minutes." explained one of the Pussycats. "There are tags with your names written on them in the middle of the route, so bring those back with you.Those being the scarers aren't allowed to make direct contact, just show us how scary you are with your Quirks."

"The group that makes the most people piss their pants with creativity and imagination wins!" added the other pussycat, smirking. "Now, you'll draw numbers to determine your partners!"

The teams were sorted, and Shiori fell in a group with Bakugo and Todoroki.

'Of course. I never get sorted with him, and now that we're fighting we have to be in the same group.' she thought, sighing.

---

After a while of walking in the dark, Todoroki, Bakugo and Shiori reached a small clearing.

Suddenly, a girl's head popped out from the ground, making them freeze with fear.

"What the--" Shiori was tense and had her eyes open wide.

"Just keep walking." Todoroki said, walking on stiff as a stick.

"Shut up and move!" Bakugo shouted, speed walking awkwardly.

Another few minutes went by, when Shiori started to pick up on a strange scent.

"Guys, wait." she stopped.

"What's wrong?" asked Todoroki.

"It smells like... fire. And something else... gas?"

Not long after Shiori finished her sentence, a purple fog started appearing from the middle of the trees.

"What the hell is that?!" asked Bakugo.

Because of her heightened senses, Shiori was already beginning to feel light-headed.

"Don't breathe it in! It's poisonous!" she said, coughing.

Bakugo and Todoroki covered their noses and mouths.

"This has to be a villain's doing." said Todoroki. "I'm worried about the others, but we have no choice but to avoid the finish line and get back to camp."

Katsuki frowned. "Don't tell me what to d--"

Shiori suddenly halted and held her arms out, stopping the boys from walking on. With a motion of her head, she pointed to a figure crouched on the ground in front of them.

"Someone there?" she asked, nervously.

"That's-- hey, who was the group in front of us?" asked Bakugo.

Todoroki frowned. "Tokoyami, Mineta and..."

They looked at the ground and saw a bloody severed hand.

"...Shoji."

The creepy figure was hunched over the hand like a hungry rabid wolf.

"So pretty... so pretty... No, I have to work. I was captivated." he said, slowly standing up. "Oh, no... what beautiful flesh. Oh, don't tempt me... I have a job to do."

"Is that a villain?" asked Todoroki.

"Well, it's not a Pussycat." said Shiori, sarcastically.

"What are we supposed to do if we can't fight, damn it?!" screamed Bakugo.

Suddenly, all the students started to receive a telepathic message from the pink Pussycat.

"Everyone, listen up! In the name of pro hero, Eraser Head, you are granted permission to engage in combat!" she said. "And we have discovered one of the villain's targets! It's is one of the students-- 'Kacchan'! He should try to avoid combat and acting independently!"

Shiori froze. They were after Katsuki. Why?

"Stop making so much noise in my head!" Bakugo complained, running towards the villain to attack.

Instantly, the villain's teeth began extend into long blade-like beams, cutting everything in front of him.

Luckily, Todoroki managed to raise a wall of ice to block the attack before the villain could chop-up Bakugo like sushi.

"Don't go rushing carelessly into anything!" said Todoroki. "Didn't you hear that? She said you're being targeted!"

"That damn Deku did something, I just know it." Bakugo complained. "They say fight then don't fight.... I don't give a damn what anyone says!"

He prepared to attack the villain again, but this time, Shiori appeared before him to block his way.

"Katsuki, stop it!" she growled.

For a second, Bakugo's eyes widened with surprise. He had never heard Shiori use that tone.

"They are after you." she continued. "I'm begging you, for once in your life, don't be reckless."

She was terrified. The idea of villains being after Bakugo sent chills down her spine.

Before Katsuki could respond, the villain interrupted them by shooting out his teeth blades, but once again Todoroki was able to stop them with his ice.

"He's good at using terrain with his Quirk." Todoroki said, watching the creepy man fly around using his blades as support.

"Yeah." said Shiori, summoning a katana from the back of her leg. "But so am I."

With that, she jumped up to attack him from the top of the trees. Shiori's father spend her entire life training her as a ninja, so she could use her speed as an advantage pretty much everywhere.

She managed to keep the man busy enough, by jumping from branch to branch, taking opportunities to strike with her sword when she could.

"Show me your flesh!" screamed the man. "So pretty!"

"HANDS OFF OF HER YOU CREEPY BASTARD!" Bakugo screamed. He was about to use his explosion Quirk, but Todoroki stopped him.

"No! If you use any large flames around here and the fire spreads, we'll be surrounded by flames and everyone will die. Do you get that?"

"Shut up! I know!" Katsuki growled. He was shaking with the nerves of watching Shiori fight alone.

"Himura is the only one who is fast enough to fight him and dodge the blades at the same time." said Todoroki. "We can't retreat because of the gas, so you're going to have to trust her to handle him!"

Suddenly, a loud booming noise sounded in the distance, accompanied by a massive could of debris.

"What the--" Bakugo whispered.

The earth below them trembled as something massive headed in their direction.

Shoji then appeared, running with Mineta amidst the trees and a very beat-up Midoriya on his back. Following them, was Tokoyami's Dark Shadow - but it was now massive.

"Bakugo, Todoroki! One of you, please make some light!" screamed Shoji. "Dark shadow is out of control!"

Dark Shadow jumped up towards them, and just as Shiori dodged out of the way, it grabbed the creepy villain and smashed him on the ground, breaking his teeth and knocking him out.

"Well, that's handy..." Shiori whispered.

"GUYS! LIGHT!" screamed Midoriya.

Bakugo and Todoroki then both used their Quirks to make bright flashes of light, scaring Dark Shadow away.

"I'm a bad match-up for you." pointed out Bakugo, watching Dark Shadow cower away.

"Sorry..." said Tokoyami, sitting on the floor. "Thanks for saving me..."

"Tokoyami, are you alright?" Shiori said, jumping down from the trees and kneeling beside him. "You saved us too."

"Well, I'm glad I was able to do at least that." he smiled.

Then, moaning noises started to sound from the direction where the villain had fallen.

"We should probably tie him up." Shiori said. "He looks like he's waking up."

The group headed over to the villain, and using some of Mineta's purple balls, they stuck him to a tree.

"It'll have to do for now." said Shoji.

The man then suddenly let out a growling sound and began to attempt to bite Bakugo, who was closets to him. Luckily, with no teeth left, there wasn't much he could do.

"YOU WANNA DIE, FREAK?!" Katsuki screamed.

"I don't understand what makes him come out like that!" said Midoriya, looking at the bizarre-looking villain.

"Hunger" said Tokoyami, turning towards the man. "Were you thinking about flesh?"

"Were you thinking about killing me?" asked Bakugo, making threatening explosions from his palms.

"No one would blame you," said Shiori. "He's very annoying."

"HEY!" Katsuki shouted at her.

"Anyway, we confirmed that one of the villains' targets is Kacchan." said Midoriya, changing the subject.

"Bakugo?" asked Tokoyami.

"Are they trying to kill him? Why?" asked Shoji.

"I don't know. Anyway, I think the camp is the safest place since two of our teachers are there." continued Midoriya.

"I see. So now our mission is to escort Bakugo there, huh?" asked Tokoyami.

"But at the clearing, the pussycats are still fighting, so we can't go that way to avoid bringing more attention from the villains."

"Okay then we'll go straight across." suggested Shiori.

"We don't know how many villains there are!" said Mineta. "Its too dangerous."

"We can use Shiori's and Shoji's search abilities. Plus we have Todoroki's freezing, and if Tokoyami's okay with it, we have an out-of-control Dark Shadow." argued Midoriya. "Honestly, with this group, we could probably even go against All Might!"

Bakugo, who had been looking at everyone absolutely dumbfounded, finally decided to speak up.

"What's with you guys?!" he shouted.

"You walk in the middle." said Todoroki.

"Don't protect me, you scum!"

"Let's go." said Shiori, walking away.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

"Make sure you keep up." added Todoroki.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

As they walked, Shiori moved quickly to attach something to Bakugo's shirt.

She was so fast a normal person would have thought it was the wind, but the boy's senses were unnaturally sharp.

"What was that?" he said, turning to look at her. "Did you put something on my shirt?!"

"No, you must be imagining things." Shiori brushed it off.

Bakugo frowned suspiciously, but he didn't press further.

The group had been walking for a little while, when the hairs on the back of Shiori's neck began to stand up. Something was off.

She quickly turned to look behind her, and when she looked back forward, Bakugo was gone.

"Guys!" she screamed, voice filled with fear. "Katsuki is gone!"

"Where did he go!?" asked Midoriya.

"I took him with my magic." said a voice, coming from the trees.

On a high up branch, stood a villain wearing a white mask, a long cape, tall hat, which made him look like a magician.

"This talent isn't someone who should be on the hero side." he continued, throwing around two small bead-like balls around. "We'll take him to a stage where he can shine more."

"GIVE HIM BACK!" Shiori screamed, summoning her sai.

"Give him back? That's a strange thing to say. Bakugo doesn't belong to anyone."

"GIVE HIM BACK TO ME, YOU--" she lost her cool and jumped up towards the villain, ready to slash his hand off.

However, he simply disappeared out of thin air before Shiori could get to him.

A few second later, he re-appeared in the air above them.

"We simply want to show him that the path he's on now with its fanatical values is not the only path he can take. Kids these days are made to choose based on their values."

"Guys, it's not just Bakugo!" shouted Shoji, looking around. "Tokoyami's not here either!"

"Taking Tokoyami was an improvisation on my part." shrugged the magician. "The villain you faced before, Moonfish... he may not look it, but he's a cutthroat on death row whose appeal was dismissed. With a violent nature that tramples that cutthroat down one-sidedly, I decided he was good, too."

"You bastard!" Shiori growled.

"Himura, calm down." Todoroki said, as he quickly attempted to trap the villain in a wall of ice.

But once again, the man simply vanished away, reappearing elsewhere.

"Sorry, tricks and running away are my only redeeming features!" he said, as he began to fly away with Bakugo and Tokoyami.

"No!" Shiori screamed, running after him. She jumped from tree to tree as fast as she could, using her fear of losing Bakugo as fuel.

"We can't let her go alone!" said Midoriya.

"We can't keep up, though!" said Mineta.

"But we can get try to offer backup! Let's go!"

Shiori's Quirk made her as fast as lightning, but she was having a hard time catching a target that kept disappearing and reappearing.

Growling with frustration, she focused her senses and threw one of the sai at the villain. It only grazed his arm, but it distracted him long enough for Shiori to tackled him, making both of them crash into the ground.

"GIVE. HIM. BACK!" she yelled, standing on too of the masked man.

But suddenly, a gush of blue flames started making its way towards her, and Shiori had to move away.

She looked up to see a handful of villains standing around her.

Luckily, the others arrived, breathing heavily from running.

"Himura!" said Midoriya, running to stand beside her. "Are you okay?"

Shiori nodded, but kept her eyes locked on the magician.

"Mister, where is Bakugo?" asked a villain with a body covered in scars.

The magician opened his pocket, but he gasped slightly when he noticed the balls were no longer there.

"Looking for these?" asked Shiori, holding up them up in her hands. "I saw you put them in your pocket."

"Oh! Not bad! As expected from a U.A. student!" laughed the man.

His confident tone made Shiori worry. What did he have up his sleeve?

In that moment, the warp gate that attacked USJ appeared.

"Time to go." he said, as each villain began to walk into its purple vortex.

"But we didn't get what we came here for." said the fire casting villain.

"Oh, that? They seemed so happy that they rushed out here, so I thought I'd give them a present." said Mister. "It's a habit, one of the basics of magic, that when I fault something, it's because there's something else I don't want you to see."

The man then took off his mask, to reveal his mouth. He then stuck out his tongue, showing the real balls - Shiori had grabbed decoys.

"NO!" she cried. Without taking a second to think, she threw her other sai at his face, knocking both beads out of his mouth.

Shoji and Todoroki both jumped forwards to catch them, but while they managed to secure one of them, the  man covered in scars reached the other before Todoroki could get to it.

The beads reverted back to normal, revealing Tokoyami by Shoji's side, while the villain held onto Bakugo by the throat.

"Goodbye, heroes." he said, melting into the warp gate.

"KATSUKI!" Shiori screamed, desperately jumping after him.

"STAY AWAY, SHIORI!" he shouted back.

The portal then disappeared, leaving the students frozen with fear and helplessness.

Shiori looked up at the empty space before her, feeling anguish wash over her like a tsunami.

She then let out a