Chapter 184: Springtime Snowy Mountain Camping (2)
~Third POV~
[Spring Break, Snowy Mountain, Japan]
While the boys finished processing the scene, Midoriya blinked in puzzlement at Bakugo, and Todoroki noticed as he asked, "What is it, Midoriya?"
Midoriya, still looking bewildered, blinked, hearing Todoroki's question as he replied, "Hmm? Oh, nothing. Probably just my imagination…"
Bakugo, turning to the group, began to speak in a commanding tone, "Ears open, now. We got three jobs to start with: set up the tents, find food, and collect firewood."
With that, the boys split into three teams. The experienced Bakugo enlisted Kirishima and Ren to help set up tents for the group. At the same time, Midoriya, Kaminari, and Sero were responsible for fishing at the lake, which left Todoroki and Ida to gather kindling in the forest.
After assigning the teams, Bakugo, signaling the Food Force and Kindling Crew to set out for their respective destinations, said, "And break! Get out there already!"
Ren smirked as he followed Bakugo and Kirishima as he shouted before turning back to Bakugo, "Good luck, dudes!"
To show his enthusiasm, Kirishima punched one fist into his other open palm and openly said confidentially, "All right—gimme an order. Whatever you need!"
Ren agreed as he asked what Bakugo wanted him to do in a curious tone, "Same. Just tell me what you need me to do."
Meanwhile, Bakugo turned a shrewd eye to the snowy landscape around them he said, "Over there."
After a pause, motioning toward a flatter area. Ren asked hauling his tents, "The tents go here?"
Bakugo nodded as Kirishima, after hauling the group's tents to the spot, said, "Yeah. Nice and level here."
Placing the tents down Kirishima asked eagerly, "Then what're we waiting for?"
But before he could unfurl all the rods and tarps, Bakugo had another order in a serious tone, arms crossed, "First, we gotta pack the snow down to form a base. Gonna sleep like crap otherwise."
Kirishima grinned as he ripped off his gloves and applied his [Hardening] Quirk to his fists as he said confidentially, "That's a job for me, for sure!"
Taking off his gloves, Ren smirked, smacking his hands together eagerly, "Then let me help! The sooner we get this done the faster we can set those tents!"
Both raised their hands as they yelled, "ORA!!"
*BAM*
Both pounded a section of the snowy ground while letting loose with a war cry. Once they had finished, Bakugo popped open a one-person tent and masterfully smacked a stabilizing stake into the ground to hold the tent in place.
/////
[Snowy Mountain – Forest, Japan]
Meanwhile, Ida and Todoroki of the Kindling Crew arrived at the edge of the forest, where they were once again impressed by the scope of the facility Ida said, "Look at that! A full-blown forest!"
Todoroki muttered, equally impressed, "Crazy."
The two boys cautiously checked their surroundings before heading in. Towering trees of all types sprung from the ground, making the fabricated forest seem all too natural, and the dappled beams filtering through the canopy seemed like real sunlight as Todoroki asked curiously, "We're here for dry sticks, right? And maybe some big rocks to surround the campfire?"
Ida nods his head but also says in an informative tone of another material, "I might also suggest leafy branches as a barrier between our kindling and the snowy ground. The fire won't burn with too much moisture, after all. In any case, our mission to provide heat for the group is an essential one! Let's start gathering!"
Todoroki nodded as he said, "Sure."
They set off to complete their checklist. Todoroki swept aside snow to hunt for stones, while Ida—with a botanical guidebook in hand-picked up fallen branches. It was when Todoroki spoke up, causing Ida to turn to him, listening, "I gotta say, I didn't expect you to come camping. It's hard to get much schoolwork done during these work-study periods, so I assumed you'd wanna focus on that for now."
Ida nodded his head, agreeing with Todoroki's words, but explained with a smile on his face in a happy tone, "The thought did occur to me. But there could be plenty to learn from this camping experience too. Most importantly, I knew I would be out here with you, Yuki, and Midoriya. The chance to go camping with two dear friends surely doesn't come along all too often."
These final words came out a bit awkwardly, but Todoroki appreciated the sentiment as he said, "Yeah, I agree."
Ida smirked as he replied to Todoroki's response, happily excited, "Wonderful! Then let's enjoy this camping trip to the best of our abilities!"
Ida returned to gathering dead branches, but then he saw something that made him pause as he muttered, "What might this be?"
/////
[Snowy Mountain – Forest, Japan]
In the meantime, Midoriya, Kaminari, and Sero of the Food Force were peering through the thin layer of ice covering the lake. Beneath the ice, they could just make out fish swimming back and forth as Kaminari said, surprised, "Real live fish! In the fishy flesh! And tons of 'em, at that!"
Midoriya nodded his head as he said, equally surprised, "Looks like there'll be more than enough to feed all of all."
Sero, glancing at Kaminari, gave a small glare as he said sarcastically, "Assuming we find a way to catch any."
Kaminari, clasping his hands in apology, said sheepishly, "Look, I said I was sorry! I screwed up, okay?"
He'd been responsible for bringing the fishing rods, but he'd overslept and forgotten them as he rushed to pack. This got Midoriya thinking as he muttered out loud, forming a plan, "Guess we could make a rod using a tree branch. Hmm… And your tape would be perfect as fishing line, Sero, so all that's left is the hook and the bait …"
Given the survivalist nature of this expedition, the boys hadn't brought any food in their packs. They pondered in silence for a moment until Kaminari—getting gloomier by the second—rubbed his stomach and said, "Of course, I'm getting hungry now, right when it looks like fish is off the menu. If only we could scoop 'em all up at once somehow…"
Midoriya, with a start, widened as he said, "A net! That could be our answer."
Kaminari frowned as he pointed out the obvious tone, "Except nobody brought a net either. And Ren is with Bakugo now."
However, Sero, with a confident grin, said, before nodding to Midoriya, "You forgetting about my tape?"
Kaminari's eyes widened, lagging a few seconds behind in the inspiration department as he said, "Ohh, I get it!"
The boys found a few curvy branches nearby and bound them together with Sero's tape, creating a circle two meters across. From there, they simply wove a latticework of tape across the circular frame and added another branch as a handle to complete their DIY net.
When finished, it resembled a giant version of the little tools used to scoop up goldfish at Japanese festivals, as Kaminari said, "Now it's my turn to shine."
Midoriya nodded his head with a grin, allowing Kaminari to get near the net said, "Exactly. You zap the fish to incapacitate them, and I'll do the scooping."
He lowered the improvised net into the shallow water and shivered when it splashed up against his fingers Midoriya shivered as he exclaimed, "Brrr, that's cold!"
It was when Midoriya turned to Kaminari and pointed at the water confidently, saying, "Whenever you're ready."
Grinning, placing his hand on the net, Kaminari began the countdown and said, "Awesome! Three, two, one …"
*Zzzzz*
The burst of Kaminari's [Electric Control] spread through the water and zapped the nearby fish, rendering them unconscious and motionless. Without missing a beat, Midoriya swung the net through the water to collect the stunned fish as Sero said excitedly, "It's really working!"
Wiping his hands together, Kaminari says in an excited tone, "We're feasting on grilled fish tonight!"
Just as Midoriya was hauling their bounty out of the water, Bakugo, Ren, and Kirishima who had finished their tent task walked up to the group and said in an impressed tone, "Dang, what a haul!"
Kirishima ran up and stared at the fish in the net as Midoriya asked, "All finished setting up the tents?"
Ren smirked, followed by a chuckle as he said, pointing his thumb at Bakugo in an impressed tone, "Yup. You should have seen Bakugo's tent skills! Anyway, we got done so fast. I was thinking we could help you dudes out, but you did totally fine on your own!"
Kirishima looked at the fish they collected in an impressed tone, "Whoa, this one's a whopper!"
However, Bakugo snorted in a dismissive tone, eyeing their catches, "Hmph! Anyone who can't catch fish in a lake deserves an icy bath."
Ren is taking a look at the water's edge he spoke up in a confident tone, eyeing the fishes in the water, "Still plenty of fish in there, so we'll catch more tomorrow morning."
Raising an eyebrow, Bakugo replied, making his way over, "Yeah? That so?"
Bakugo stepped closer to the water's edge for a look. Just as he did, one of the larger fish in the net regained consciousness and performed a mighty flop into the air, nailing Bakugo in the back and pushing him into the freezing water.
*Splash*
Bakugo yelped, "Gahh!"
The boys yelled in surprise as he splashed into the cold water, "Bakugo! Are you okay, dude?"
*Splash*
The boys started to panic until Bakugo's head popped out of the water. Since Midoriya was closest, he extended an arm toward his soaked friend as he said, "Need help? Let's get you out of there quickly."
Bakugo flinched as those words echoed in his head and clicked, 'Need help? Can you stand?'
Somewhere in the recesses of Bakugo's mind, he recalled a similar scene from their childhood, when he'd fallen off a bridge into a shallow stream. Back then, that same childhood friend had been there to offer a helping hand.
That was the first in a series of bitter memories that had been gnawing away at Bakugo ever since, so his reflex now was to lash out in revulsion as he said sternly, "Mind your own business!"
Bakugo knew that his subdued response was evidence that he'd done some growing. Still, that thorny edge of rejection would always find its way into his tone of voice.
Perhaps Midoriya took note since he almost hesitated before saying, "But…"
Bakugo ignored the appeal and hauled himself out of the lake, but Midoriya found his resolve and placed a hand against Bakugo's forehead. Bakugo, smacking the hand away growled at him, "Getcher hands off me!"
After checking Bakugo's forehead, he asked in a concerned tone, all eyes on him, "Kacchan, you've got a fever. Wait, didn't you say your head hurt yesterday back at the agency? Are you sick? Did you take any medicine?"
The others detected genuine concern in his voice and came rushing over. Kirishima, panicking, asked the concerned, "You shoulda said something, dude! What now? We gotta let Aizawa Sensei know, and…"
However, Ren shook his head as he reminded them of Aizawa's words in a calm tone, "Not happening. We're trapped in here until tomorrow, remember? Our phones won't work either."
Kaminari gave the matter some thought as he said in a determined tone that the boys unanimously agreed, "That means we just gotta survive the night. Crap, Bakugo! You'd better find dry clothes before you get even sicker!"
All the worrying for his sake made Bakugo's eyebrows slant at dangerous angles as he shouted in an angry tone, "Enough! It ain't your problem! Besides, I can kill off a stupid cold through willpower alone!"
However, Ren shook his head, with Sero agreeing as he said in a concerned tone, "Nuh-uh. The only way to beat a cold is sleeping it off in a warm bed."
*Whip*
Before the furious Bakugo could react, Sero had wrapped him up with tape. Then Kirishima took charge by slinging his burrito of a friend over his shoulder as he said confidently with a thumbs up, "Hang in there, Bakugo! I'll get you back to the tents in a jiffy!"
Bakugo screamed at them to no avail cursing in an angry tone, "Put me the fuck down!! Do you hear me…"
Ren chuckled, following them in an amused tone, playing doctor, "No worries, guys. I'll be sure that our wild Pomeranian would be fine with Doctor Yuki on the case!"
Bakugo's eyes widened hearing that as he yelled out loud defiantly, "OH HELL THE FUCK NO!!"