Chapter Text
Izuku’s trusty red boots finally cease crunching the chaotic dirt into submission, and instead root like the trees around him. With a beaming smile he spreads his hands wide.
“Here it is!” he cries triumphantly, gazing at the beautiful sight before him. An old Western style log cabin stands in the center of the woods. The golden afternoon sun shines at a long angle making the reds of the wood contrast with the lime-green moss growing upon it. A stone chimney adorns the left side, accompanied by a stone foundation and a creaky wooden staircase leading to an old green door.
“It looks… quaint,” Uraraka says.
“It looks unsanitary,” Iida says.
“It looks like a crack-den,” Todoroki supplies unhelpfully.
Izuku huffs. “Come on guys, it’s not that bad! Perhaps it hasn’t aged as well as I thought it would but… come on, this is me and Kacchan’s childhood camping spot! We had so much fun playing in this abandoned cottage.” He walks toward the building, trying to climb the stairs to dispel his classmate’s trepidation. His hopeful smile doesn’t waver as the rotted hunk gives a protesting sigh and sags a solid few inches.
“I’m sorry Midoriya, but it looks like we could get tetanus simply by touching that door handle,” Iida says, wringing his hands.
“You can kind of tell why it was abandoned,” Uraraka says, ducking her head.
Izuku climbs the steps to a porch that wouldn’t pass a building code even in the 1800’s. “It’ll provide shelter from the elements,” he says, voice starting to sound unconvinced to his own ears.
“Midoriya… “ Todoroki’s deadpan expression somehow conveys pity. “It doesn’t have a roof.”
Izuku’s smile finally falls a few notches, but he sucks in a breath and his stubbornness does not let him concede. “Why don’t we just take a quick look inside?” he says, and reaches for the door handle. It disintegrates the second he touches it, so he tries just pushing the door open instead. The green color on the door parts as his hand nears, leaving a brown spot of bare door in the shape of his hand. He pales. “Oh, the moss moves. Great.”
The door swings with a hideous creak and a shower of splinters.
“Welcome home!” Izuku stands in the doorway beckoning the other three over. They don’t budge for about a minute but eventually collectively decide their wellbeing is not as important as preventing Izuku from ever feeling disappointment.
The inside is what can be considered marginally better. The floor seems to support all of their weight, at least for now, and all the grimy windows let in plenty of light because they’re mostly broken anyway. It even has some beautiful spray painted murals from other passerby.
“Hey, there is a roof! See, Todoroki? It’s just really sunken in, so you can’t see it from the outside.” Izuku points proudly upwards at the bulging mass of what may have at some point been a ceiling.
“And that’s a good thing I suppose,” Iida says, taking off his glasses to rub at the bridge of his nose.
“Hey look, here’s a plus, running water!” Uraraka says, running over to a pump that looks like it existed before the house was built. With some effort she budges the squeaky handle.
“Wait, Uraraka don-!” Izuku cries.
The pump begins to shudder wildly, accompanied by a thudding that crescendoes into a high pitched whine. Then, everything goes still. Something black, fuzzy, and huge, drips its way out of the pump and onto the floor, landing with a squelching plop.
Uraraka screams, Iida yelps, and Todoroki catches fire.
***
Izuku stands tall and tries not to cry. It’s majestic really, watching the cabin erupt into flames while trapped inside a globe of ice. It was just his favorite childhood camping spot full of history and memories, no big deal.
“Alright, I made it thick enough so the fire will melt the ice without spreading to the rest of the forest,” Todoroki says, dusting off his hands. Half of his T-shirt is gone, but he doesn’t seem too bothered about it.
Tears prickle Izuku’s eyes. “I’m sorry everyone,” he says and sniffles. “I really messed up this time. I promised a deluxe camping experience and instead the cabin was destroyed, and now we’ve gone on this four hour hike for nothing.”
“Oh, Deku, don’t say that!” Uraraka puts a solid but delicate hand on his shoulder. “You know we didn’t mind coming up here with you, and we still got a good experience. It’s about the journey, not the destination, you know?”
“You sound like my therapist,” Todoroki mutters.
“Thank you,” Uraraka replies.
Iida clears his throat. “I do agree that this journey has been fun, but perhaps, since we won’t be staying the night up here, we should begin our trek back. The sun seems to be moving quite fast.”
“Oh, I’ll just have a helicopter come pick us up.” Todoroki pulls out his phone. Uraraka’s face drains of color.
“A-a helicopter?” she wheezes.
“Oh right, there’s no reception up here. Oh well, guess we’re walking.” Todoroki promptly pockets his phone into his jeans.
Izuku can’t help but crack a small smile at the kind way his friends are trying to cheer him up. “Alright!” He throws a fist in the air, suddenly rejuvenated with excited energy. “Follow me, I’ll take us home!” He marches past the wet mess of ash and water and towards the oncoming sunset.
“But Midoriya, that’s opposite of the way we came,” Iida cries.
Izuku looks over his shoulder, green eyes electric and wild. “Trust me, it’s a shortcut!”
***
“Alright, so we may be just a teeny tiny bit lost,” Izuku says, hands on his hips and staring at a collection of trees that he swears he’s passed three times already.
“You don’t say?” Uraraka grits out. She’s clutching her bare arms, probably regretting her choice of a cute pink button up tank top over practicality. Izuku is always dressed to be prepared for any situation. Today is no different: from his head to toe, outer shell, rain-resistant, bug-proof, thermo-regulated jumpsuit, to his 11 kilo backpack. He probably looks a little too much like the product of an orgy between a caterpillar, trash bag, and turtle, than he would have liked; but it serves its purpose.
A bug whizzes past Uraraka’s ear and her eyes roll back as her self-defense reflexes kick in. The bug gets demolished by her special karate death chop, and the buzzless corpse slowly floats up into the sky.
“Impressive,” Izuku murmurs with wide eyes, scrambling to grab his notebook and jot something down.
“Ugh! I’m tired of these stupid mosquitos, they’re everywhere! How has Todoroki not gotten bitten yet? He only has half a shirt!” Uraraka groans.
“Oh, I’m keeping the skin on my left side at a molten temperature so anything that happens to land on me will instantly be incinerated off,” Todoroki says matter of factly. Izuku turns another page and starts muttering as he writes.
“I guess that’s why Todoroki has decided to continue wearing the half burned shirt, even though it’s basically a useless piece of scrap fabric at this point. He can’t heat up his right, so he can’t defend from the wildlife surrounding us-”
“No, I can freeze off anything on my right side too. The shirt is just a fashion statement,” Todoroki says.
Izuku glances up from his notebook. “Oh,” he mutters.
Iida is turning a little red in the face and his cheeks are puffed up like he’s about to explode.
“Iida, are you alright?” Izuku asks.
Iida lets out a large breath, and then his hands start waving wildly. “Have we all forgotten that we’re lost in the forest with no way to contact anyone at near nightfall? Not to mention our excessive quirk use despite the rules stating very clearly they were only meant to be used in survival scenarios due to the possible danger they could cause to the local wildlife? We are wasting time walking in circles. I propose we work on building a shelter before our shreds of daylight escape us.”
Iida takes the group’s stunned silence as an opportunity to emphatically adjust his glasses.
Todoroki takes a step forward.
“I disagree. I trust Midoriya, and I believe he can find the path home before nightfall, so there’s no point in wasting time looking for sticks to build a shelter,” he says.
“But he literally admitted to being completely lost!” Iida sputters.
“Are you saying you don’t trust Midoriya?” Todoroki questions, looking down his nose.
“Of course not, I’m just saying we’re past the point of argument,” Iida cries.
“What kind of friend are you who questions Midoriya’s direction sense. He is training to be a hero after all,” Todoroki says.
“Fine, fine! We’ll put it up to a vote then!” Iida sighs.
Uraraka face palms. “I can’t believe boys sometimes. This is literally turning into Lord of the Flies.”
“Wait- shh, guys! Do you hear that?” Izuku cries, waving his arms. Everyone turns to stare for a moment, and then all glance around quizzically as they strain to hear what he hears. Izuku takes a few cautious steps following the sound and ducks behind a tree.
“-ucking telling you it would be way easier if I just make a spark to light the fire.”
“But Bakugou, it’s more fun to do it the old fashioned way.”
“It’s not even the old fashioned way if you’re using your quirk!”
“Hardening my hands helps create friction faster.”
“Bullshit-”
“Kacchan!” Izuku jumps out behind the tree and bounds towards Kacchan and Kirishima’s campsite, tears of relief in his eyes. “What are you guys doing here?”
Bakugou and Kirishima sit stunned. They’re facing each other on two logs around a rocky divot in the ground, which is piled with tinder and debris. A small blue tent and two backpacks sit nearby. Kirishima has a stick in one hand and a sharp rock in the other. Kacchan recovers first, and his face shifts animatedly.
“DEKU?? WHAT THE FUCK.”
Kirishima throws out a hardened arm before Kacchan can fly into a murderous rampage and he looks at Izuku with an apologetic smile.
“We should say the same for you. We decided to go camping over break. I’m surprised you found us, this spot was supposed to be a secret.”
“IT FUCKING IS A SECRET, GET THE FUCK OUT,” Kacchan snarls, trying to somehow gnaw Kirishima’s arm away.
“Ah, I’m sorry to intrude. Normally I wouldn’t impose like this, but do you mind if we stay at your camp for the night? We’re kind of lost.” Izuku rubs at the back of his head. He’d taken the hood of the jumpsuit off because he was boiling alive inside of it, but his curls are now wilder than ever because of it.
“OF COURSE WE FUCKING MIND, GO DIE IN THE WOODS,” Kacchan says.
“Sure! The more the merrier. Just, what do you mean by ‘we’? You talking like royalty now?” Kirishima says, shark teeth pulled into a grin. His arm is still restraining Kacchan.
“Oh! They must not have followed me. Hold on.” Izuku turns around and backtracks. He finds his friends standing a few feet away from the tree he’d been hiding behind earlier. “Oh great, you’re here. Come on, Kirishima and Kacchan are willing to share their camp with us!”
“Bakugou didn’t sound too thrilled to have us,” Uraraka says, arms crossed.
“I agree with Uraraka. I am also sad to say we likely cannot share shelter, as they seem most unwelcoming, and the tent they brought will likely be for only two people,” Iida says, pushing up his glasses.
“I think Bakugou has just been looking for an opportunity to murder us, and out in the middle of the forest is the perfect place to dispose of a body,” Todoroki says.
“Don’t be silly!” Izuku grabs Uraraka’s and Todoroki’s hands and starts leading them towards the campsite. Iida, of course, has no choice but to follow them. “Kirishima is here to make sure Kacchan doesn’t murder us.”
“That’s right!” Kirishima beams as they enter the clearing. It’s really a great camping spot: near a bunch of cool formations like a cliff and a lake they’d passed earlier; and surrounded by the forest shade, but just open enough to set up comfortably.
“Oh god, he’s got the whole nerd-patrol with him!” Kacchan groans. “There is no fucking way in hell I am sharing a tent with ANY of those losers.”
Todoroki, Iida, and Izuku all suck in a breath to say something in return, but they’re all cut off by the thud of Kirishima’s giant backpack hitting the dirt.
“Well isn’t it convenient that I brought a jumbo, eight-person tent for just such occasions?” he says while pulling out a big canvas bag with a picture of a tent on it.
Izuku is practically scintillating with excitement. “It’s going to be like a big camping party!”