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As he stepped onto the bus, Yasha was confident he had everything he needed. He was a bit over-packed, even for the beach-- a beach umbrella, a tarp/blanket, a couple gallons of water in a cooler bag, enough sunscreen to give the sun cancer, spare batteries for his phone-- but he was comfortable with carrying all of it, as long as it meant he could do what he came here to do. "Oi, oi, oi. You coming, O'Hara?" He stopped in the doorway to look back at the lagging American on his phone. "Hm? ...o-oh...uh...were we just supposed to enter the bus? I thought...jeez...gotta remember I'm not in America anymore. Uh, yeah I'm coming..." The two ended up sitting together on the bus, and Yasha was practically vibrating the seat-- which was notable since, at this proximity, it nearly drowned out the engine of the bus. Benjamin noticed Yasha's general noises and shrugged some. "I take it you're excited for the beach, huh Yasha?" Yasha looked up. "Oh, uh." He cleared his throat. "No, not really. Saltwater gums up my tool hands, I'm at a greater risk of heatstroke than most, and of course there's... sand..." He shuddered, then shifted back to his usual cheerful tone. "Pretty much everything about the beach is a horrible experience for me!" He smiled toothily. "Yikes..." Benjamin shook his head slightly. "Annnnd you're still okay with going? Despite the threats and risks that it brings you?" Yasha nodded emphatically. "Oh, totally. It's all worth it." "Uh-huh...alright, I'll bite...why is it worth it to you?" Yasha's expression, to the extend he had one, became suddenly serious. He glanced around, as though there were someone listening, though of course, nobody was. "Alright, don't tell anybody, but..." He leaned in and whispered. "I really just came to see the girls in their swimsuits. Think about it: Seigi, Konpaku, Ukemei-- all of them. In swimsuits." Yasha's faceplate was already red, and he had no skin above the neck so of course he couldn't blush, but there was an actual puff of steam from roughly where his nostrils would be as he straightened back up. Benjamin was surprised by this sudden turn of events as Yasha confided this information to him. The general thought of it, actually caused him to blush some. He looked around, before putting a hand on the chair, having a spider crawl out from his hand to sit on the chair, just as a lookout. "...that's why you were gung-ho about this? ...also do we need to even add Rei into this category?" Benjamin whispered back to Yasha. No going back with this conversation. Yasha nodded and huffed again, producing more little puffs of steam and folding his arms. "Even a cold girl like Konpaku can look good in a swimsuit, O'Hara. Heck, even a plain-looking girl like Sanada looks good in a swimsuit. It's science." Benjamin was still silent for a bit, before raising an eyebrow. "...uh, isn't Ren a guy...?" Yasha's eye twitched. "Not again..." he wheezed.

A lot had happened in the past few hours. A little too much for Emi to really handle. Turns out the whole robot T-Rex thing was a test. It was a little annoying to her that the teachers would throw them into the deep end like that so quickly, but it made sense. Kind of. Not much use arguing about it, really, if this is how one becomes a hero. The rest of the day, and the week for that matter, was a blur. So much new information, so many new people, so much new… well, everything. It was a little overwhelming, but exciting nonetheless. All of the teachers seemed nice enough, and the first week left Emi excited for what was to come. History with Ruby Heart was a little dull, but after seeing the punishment for not laziness on other classmates, Emi made sure to pay attention while attempting to act interested in the lecture whenever the #5 Hero happened to shoot her a glance. The week was soon over. "That wraps up class for today, students! It's been a great first week, hasn't it?! I hope that we continue to get closer as a class! I also want to thank you for being patient with me! I was never a good student, so being on the teaching end is really quite strange! Oh! And don't forget! Please have your parents or guardians sign your permission slip for our field trip to the beach! You won't be able to go, unless they say so! Get home safely, everyone!" “Really? A field trip in the second week? Are they even teaching you over there?” Mr. Kikuchi skeptically scanned the permission slip, eyebrows furrowed. “It’s just a little break, dad. Since we’ve all been working so hard.” He wasn’t convinced. “It’s the beach. I can practice using my Quirk there.” Emi coldly followed. Just as coldly, he responded. “Fine, I’m going to sign this. Make sure it doesn’t get in the way of your studies.” He quickly signed the paper and headed for his room, closing the door. That was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Emi gleefully ran to her room, excited to start packing for the next day’s events. Throwing everything into her bag, she hopped into bed and went to sleep. The next morning, Emi was halfway to the school, going through a mental checklist for the third time to make sure she had everything. Sunscreen? Check. Towel? Check. Permission slip? ... Her heart sank. She didn’t remember putting the slip in her bag. Sure enough, after frantically rummaging through it, there was no paper. With a defeated sigh, she turned around and raced home. By the time she grabbed the permission slip off her desk and made it to UA, most of the students were already on the bus. Emi ran onto the vehicle and threw herself into a random open seat. She tilted her head back, catching her breath. Made it!

"[Excuse me!] I'm sorry for yelling, but I wanted to get everyone's attention... I really don't know if this was right, wrong, or whatever, but I CAN say that my actions come from a life-threatening situation. I've been in one before... [Oh God, here goes nothing…]" Ren looked up from his notebook, roused from his brooding by his rival’s shouting. His first instinct was to angrily dismiss whatever she was about to do as the boisterous antics of a typical American, but when she revealed a large scar across her right eye, he felt compelled to look and listen. "In... a life or death situation, you have to [make a move]. Er, just do what has to be done. It's not the time for thinking it through, it's the time for action. Thinking can just make things worse. It probably is a little too far to have us think a glitch like that would happen, but I think it was good practice. And I am [humbled] to receive praise for just letting my limbs carry me." Ren’s indignation was quickly replaced with begrudging respect for his rival. Not only was her Quirk powerful, but she had experience using it in a situation with real danger, perhaps multiple times. Even if his Quirk was similar, he would need to work harder to make up the difference. Unclenching his fists, Ren took a deep breath, clearing his thoughts of his future redemption and focusing on the next class. --- While their first day at the academy was perilous, at the end of the day, hero school was still school, complete with classes, tests and classmates to contend with. Ren applied himself wholeheartedly to his studies, working feverishly on his assigned readings so that there was time in the evening to prepare for the sports festival. The only time he paused during the day was during lunch time, using the rare gap in his schedule to calm his busy mind and practice his breathing techniques with some yoga practice. It was during these rooftop meditations where he made a friend. Omuro Yumi, the student who had ultimately finished off the Thunderjaw, had been spending her lunch time on the roof as well. While at first she had been a silent observer at first, content to simply share the space, Ren was pleasantly surprised when she asked him if she could join for a session. For as long as he had started practicing, yoga had been a solitary activity for him, learning the movements off of the Internet. However, despite only leading her in practice once, he found himself looking forward to the next time she would join him. As Friday drew to a close, he was surprised to find that there was a field trip the following Monday. It was rather unusual to have a trip so soon after classes had started, but learning about the history of heroics from one of the top 10 heroes was just as unusual. However, in Ren’s mind, even a day at the beach could have opportunities to improve himself and even see how his fellow classmates were outside of the classroom. Arriving home late at night after spending the evening at the school pool, he saw his mother sitting at the dining room table from across the foyer, tapping away at her phone. Clutching the permission slip in his hand, Ren slowly approached her with a token attempt at a smile. “Tadaima!” Hearing no response from his mother, he walked into the dining room, seeing that two set meals had been prepared at the table. Feeling his stomach grumbling, Ren put down his bags and took a seat at the table. “Thank you for dinner mom! Itadakimasu!” As he started to eat, he noticed that the meal had gone quite cold, with even the miso soup cooling to room temperature. As he ate the cold rice and fish, he noticed that his mom had stopped whatever she was doing on her phone and was silently staring at the empty space on her side of the table. Swallowing nervously, Ren hazarded to speak again. “Dad is working late tonight?” “Of course he is...Last minute calls with a European client, so he says.” Unsure how to respond to his mother’s icy remarks, he simply returned to his meal, trying to finish it off as quickly as he could. “Ren...You’re coming home late now as well…” “Sorry mom, I have to get ready for the sports festival and I forgot to call you after class.” His reply was met with an icy silence. Hoping to change the subject, Ren took the permission slip and handed it to her. “The class is going on a field trip and I would like to go. Would you be able to sign it?” Ren recoiled as his mother suddenly burst out of her seat, sending her chair crashing into the marble floor. “Go ask your father, since the both of you are doing things on your own anyways.” Without another word, his mother stormed out and up the grand staircase. Letting out the breath that was frozen in his lungs with a sign, Ren finished the rest of his meal in silence. “Gouchisou sama deshita.” --- Monday had arrived in what felt like a blink of an eye. Handing the digitally signed copy of the permission slip, Ren entered the bus, where several of his classmates had already taken seats. While he was relieved that his father was able to sign the slip, the simple response of “Approved” in the return email implied that he had signed it like any other work document. Did he consider his son’s life just another project? As Ren looked for an empty seat, he spotted Yumi sitting near the back, reading a book and surrounded by unoccupied seats. As he passed by Yasha, he could not help but feel that the boy was avoiding his gaze in a quiet desperation, the complete opposite to his buzzing excitement just a moment ago that shook the entire bus. Unsure how to really react to this strange reaction, he just gave a polite wave to him and Ben as he made his way to the back of the bus. Reaching his seat, Ren gave a friendly wave to Yumi as he placed his bag onto the seat. “Good morning Omuro-san! Will you be swimming today? "I'm afraid not," Yumi replied, holding up a hand and charging up electricity around it, "If my body gets wet, I can have trouble using my Quirk." Before she built up too much charge to release it safely, she opened the window next to her, stuck her hand out, and fired the little bolt onto the ground next to the bus. “Ah, I can see how that can be a problem,” Ren replied as he looked the smoking pockmark in the concrete where the bolt had landed with . "I was hoping to bask in the sunlight or something, but it looks like that won't happen either. What about you?" “I was planning on swimming, but if the weather gets any worse, I might join everyone else on the shore. It’s a shame, I was looking forward to swimming in water without chlorine.” "It doesn't seem like a cloudy day will stop some of the other students in this class." Even if it was only brief, Yumi cast a glance over in the direction of Ayane. Ren followed Yumi's glance to Ayane, who was busy talking Hakaro's ear off. She probably wasn't the best example to learn from for making good choices, though. "Either way, it shouldn't end up raining while we're out. I took a look at the forecast this morning before leaving home. This should be about as bad as it gets today." “Well, I hope they're right. It'd be a shame for everyone to make a fuss about going to the beach, only to have something like rain ruin the whole thing. Here's hoping for a normal day at the beach.” "Here's hoping for a normal day where we can kick back and relax some."

Ryia had been as surprised as Madelyn was upon hearing that Keres was from the Restless Marsh. The girl didn't really know that much about the marsh, nor its inhabitants, with the only thing she had known being it was a setting for many a spooky folktale that she had heard. The stuff all manner of unnatural monsters and the like would hang out. As such, Ryia couldn't help but feel worried for Keres - pointlessly so as she was clearly presently not in the Marsh - thinking what kind of terrors the girl must've had to brave through all of her life. Madelyn meanwhile, seemed to recognize the girl as a fellow student from the Mage Tower, calling Keres a witch in the process as well. Ryia was, once again, at a loss for words at this revelation. She didn't know much about witches either, other than that they were practitioners of magic and often of the bad variety. Curses and kinds of foul demonic magics. Keres, however, didn't seem bad in the slightest and she was a Chosen at that. Being all out of sorts, the girl didn't really comment on the initial reveal to all of it. She couldn't imagine that Keres actually being bad in any regards, and Madelyn's next comment had left her even more skeptical. Thinking back to the council member they had met, she could only imagine that the one that Keres would try to curse - if she was into cursing magic - would've been that woman. And thinking more about how the woman acted, Ryia couldn't help but just ask, "are - are you sure it wasn't the other way around?" Before an answer could come, though, the girls were interrupted by someone coming into the spring. Ryia went wide-eyed in confusion and shock as the person who walked in was absolutely unmistakable. Even turning away from the moment, water splashing into her face, she was still left with nothing but shock. Turning back to face him, as the boy seemed incredibly confused but looked towards all three of the females, the girl started stammering out, "wh-wh-what are you doing!?" Reflexively, as she stammered this out, she stomped her foot on the ground. A wall of earth appeared between the draken and the girls, blocking his sight of them and splashing everyone with water yet again. Looking at the wall, then back to Keres and Madelyn, clearly embarrassed by just about everything, the girl said, "o-oh. Oops. I uh...I'll - er..." Realizing that the Draken had just been drowning as well, the girl quickly changed topic saying, "R-reinaan are you uh...not drowning?"

The week was nice for Diana. Sure, she had no one to go home to, but school was fun. No one seemed to really care about her eye, and most of the class seemed pleasant. There was a weird feeling someone was staring at her sometimes, but she wrote it off as her paranoia. All that said, the beach trip was not something she was looking forward to. Stupid sand. Stupid salt water. Stupid exposed skin. She got the slip signed so she could hang out with the class, but what could she even do? Cause she sure wasn't going to swim. As she got onto the bus, she saw Takehiko waving her down, beckoning for her to sit with him. "[Hey], what's up?" "I understand if you're uncomfortable sitting with me, but I may require your aid in ascertaining the location of an individual who I shall refer to as an 'undesirable' in relation to this trip. He is a good man but mislead in the fact he asked me to attain photos of my own classmates and as such I believe is deserving of a light-hearted prank. I decided you'd be the best to talk to since you might be the most... well there's no polite way to say this, but, uncomfortable with your body?" "...[Aaaaand] you need me why?". "Because I need help keeping an eye out in case the idiot decides to try and show up. Especially if this becomes something dangerous from what you said I think I'd trust you to be the one to get him out so he's still alive when I give him an earful." "[I see...]" Diana muttered. She expected he was treating her like a general brute, but this was... not as bad as expected. "I guess I don't plan on swimming, anyway, so I guess I can look out." She leaned back into her seat with a sigh. It was a decent excuse, but still, that just put her on edge for what seemed like a nice field trip. At least she'd be ready if an other signs of trouble showed, as well. And hey, maybe that would make it easier for the others to enjoy.

The following week of class was nothing to write home about, each seeming as unqualified as the last. One of them couldn't even be assed to show up on the first day of class! She noted that they seemed rather young to be teaching them. Still, it wasn't all bad - at least they were actually teaching them, even if they seemed to be better at teaching regular classes than actual herosim. However, any hopes that she had that things were looking up vanished when, at the end of the week, they were going to the beach. For some reason. She showed up on that Sunday, visibly annoyed. Truth be told, the slip they had given her was crumpled up somewhere in her backpack - she had planned to just pretend this whole thing didn't exist. What's the point of giving them permission slips if they were just going to give her father one anyways!? She almost considered not showing up anyway, but whatever was waiting for them at the beach was nothing to the nagging her father would have given her if he found out she skipped out. Crossing her arms, she entered the bus, scoffing as she passed by Glory. Unfortunately for her, the back of the bus was already taken. Shame too, she was looking to sit by Hoth Topic again. She knew he wasn't going to talk; after all, despite being the person she sat next to the entire week he was somehow the person she knew the least about. Just the way she liked it. She settled to sit next to Cat Girl. Nat didn't quite have a good read on the girl, which meant she wasn't going to talk too much. Plus, unlike most of these idiots, she seemed somehow more annoyed about the trip than she was. Tsubasa's face was planted on the window as Nat sat next to her, aggressive meowing and growling coming from her. "You seem excited." Natalia say with a hint of annoyance. "Thrrrrilled," Tsubasa said, slightly muffled as her cheek was still pressed against the window. "I didn't think there was a place I could go worse than the classroom so soon here." "Tell me about it." Nat replied, crossing her arms. "First the stupid test, and now this. What a joke." "At least the test was in a city." The girl looked over to Nat, clearly distressed as she continued. "But this is the beach! It's nothing but sand! Do you know how hard it is to run in sand? You can't climb sandcastles either." Nat shook her head. "I was talking more about it being a waste of time and resources." She rolled her eyes, glancing over to the cat girl. "But I guess the sand thing is annoying too. Not like it matters. This whole thing is probably just another pop quiz." "Ehhhh, really? That sucks." Tsubasa slumped further into her seat, placing both of her feet on the seat in front of her. "Let's hope it has nothing to do with whales." Whales?

Takehiko calmed down from his small attempt at rallying the other students, slumping as it didn't seem to have the intended effect. He gave a small sigh and scratched the back of his neck before starting to listen to Orikami, dutifully taking notes and keeping in mind what was expected of them. Once they were given out to the rest of the classes meeting all of the heroes seemed to go by like a blur, easily absorbing information, and seeming to excel in mathematics once they got there. He thought he was getting along for the most part with all of the teachers unless he was using his Pawns, although... he didn't want to say it but just being able to use them made him rather enjoy the school regardless! He took some time out of his days to try and hang out with Sun if he could ever catch him before he went home, although he... often tried to be a bit secretive about inviting him places, but had let the boy know he would always be welcome in his household should he wish. The first week seemed to fly by after that for Takehiko, constantly moving and working on things before his parents noticed a slip he had completely forgotten to take out of his jacket, "Oh! Yeah I uh, may want to get that signed if I want to go on this!" He grins a little as his dad took it and smirked, "Beach, eh? Hope ya got some cute gals in your class!" Takehiko let out a small sigh, "There's a couple but we're going to that school to focus on Hero Training, dad. I'm not going to belittle someone down to just how their body looks." His dad gave a snort, "Oh please, you and I both know you can think a girl is pretty and think about them in that way without being... eeeeh how do I put it? Skeevy?" Takehiko shook his head, "Even then what if that damages what other pro's may think of me in the future? And besides, I know you're just trying to get me on your side to get pictures!" He sighs and shakes his head, fanning his hand over his glasses, his father's eyes lighting up in excitement, "That's my boy, pleeeeease? I'll teach you... the recipe." Takehiko glances up towards him, eye twitching a little, "I know what you're doing, and I don't like it. If I take any pictures with the girls they will be sensible. Now would you please just sign the form?" He sighs, watching as his own father pouted and went to sign the form, before his mother walked in! "Oh, a beach trip? Get plenty of pictures of the boys and girls for me!" Takehiko frowned and rubbed his temple slightly, "I wonder if there's a way I can stay out of this..." _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Once the day of the trip came around, he noticed the bus was slowly filling once he managed to get there, "I need to get better about sleeping in..." He rubbed the back of his neck and gave a small stretch, glancing around before taking one of the second-row front seats. "I wonder if that Diana girl is around, I might need some help making sure my dad isn't an idiot..." He flicked his glasses up, before pulling out a cloth and starting to wipe them, "Idiot is gonna get himself hurt if he tries to do something like that." He placed the glasses back on his face, waiting for Diana and flagging her down to sit next to him once she stepped on the bus. "I understand if you're uncomfortable sitting with me, but I may require your aid in ascertaining the location of an individual who I shall refer to as an 'undesirable' in relation to this trip. He is a good man but mislead in the fact he asked me to attain photos of my own classmates and as such I believe is deserving of a light-hearted prank. I decided you'd be the best to talk to since you might be the most... well there's no polite way to say this, but, uncomfortable with your body?" "...[Aaaaand] you need me why?" "Because I need help keeping an eye out in case the idiot decides to try and show up. Especially if this becomes something dangerous from what you said I think I'd trust you to be the one to get him out so he's still alive when I give him an earful."

 "The same goes back to you. Just because you're big and love to fight doesn't mean I like watching you get clobbered either. but I'll do my best to stay safe. Just like you should too." The Incineroar only smiled before nodding "Heh...I promise I'll stay safe. Especially when we're this close from putting a stop to this." This here...this was what he knew was the most important thing right now. His new little ohana that he was wrangled into...the extension to his actual family. With a grunt, he got back up and prepared himself for the next room...no matter what came next...he'd be prepared! ...Randy was not prepared for what he saw...at all. The top dog out of all this, literally, was a Houndoom. And unlike the one he currently had the honor of fighting alongside with, this one seemed to have a darker...more menacing aura. It was plain to see and feel, after all...the bone chilling feeling and hair raising sensations that were present when they entered the room definitely proved this. What was more...was the husk of a woman that was only one gijinka: Arceus. The sight truly made his stomach churn and now...now Randy was really on edge about this. "Perhaps you expect me to tell you of my life, why I did this, what I have to gain from destroying god and rebuilding the world...But I tire of speaking to you lowly lifeforms. This has gone on long enough. Instead I will just show you how futile your efforts have been." "At least he's straight forward...unlike the others…" Randy shrugged, exhaling with a roll of his shoulders. Truth be told, knowing the past of this Godslayer probably would've been an interesting story to learn, but he doubted it would even matter now at this point. Though now it showed that this Houndoom was the genuine article of a Godslayer. This Dark Flame and even these flame acolytes being created to face them...it was quite impressive. Nevertheless, he didn't come this far just to lose. "I am the one who managed to make the creator god kneel before me! Destroying the likes of you will be child's play!" "What do you want, a dog treat?" Randy quipped, flashing a toothy grin. "Cause guess what Fido...fighting and beating one Legend isn't anything...creator or not. Come talk when you've more than one!" With a roar, Randy rushed forward towards one of the fiery foes and proceeded to do what he did best...fight. A swift display of Acrobatics and suddenly he was on the offensive of these fiery foes...though they seemed to be on par with him. Well...isn't that neat. Still won't change a damn thing. Randy thought, smirking as he unleashed a Darkest Lariat, his dark energy flaring to life on his arms...but at the same time...began to work with something. He used Fire Fang...and channeled it straight onto his arms, now fighting with a fire laced Darkest Lariat against these creatures. "Heh...it isn't 100% like your little gimmick...but I think this substitute works just as well!" Randy grinned, grabbing the creature and throwing them out of his way before rushing forward towards the Houndoom.

When the morning of the school trip came, Hideyo's anxiety had set in rather quickly. His permission slip was already signed, and he had what he needed for the day, but nevertheless, he was riddled with an anxious fear. What if's flooded his mind, self doubt came over him, and suddenly, as he sat up in bed, he didn't want to go. He couldn't even bring himself to smile. He was already dreading the day. And at that moment, the brightest star in his life knocked on the door and entered his room. "Good morning, sweetie. Ready for the class trip?" asked Juntei. Hideyo couldn't stop himself from brimming with excitement. His anxiety settled, his stomach stopped churning, and his face lit up. He spun around in a flare of stars, then emerged in his school uniform. "Yes!" he said with gusto. His mother laughed as she saw Hideyo perk up. "Breakfast is downstairs. Make sure you eat before you go." Hideyo was already busy in the bathroom brushing his teeth. "Will do!" Arriving almost dead last, Hideyo saw the school bus already half-full of students. Without hesitation, he entered the bus and greeted his classmates. "Good morning everyone!" he said happily. He made his way as far to the back of the bus as possible to the next available seat and pressed himself against the window. He would at least try to have fun.