With camp falling upon us, I'm trying to get some more meditating time in. I don't want to take my own observations all the wrong way, but I can't help but feel like I'm slacking off. Now that I think about it, it's been quite a while since I last earned myself another flame, not since the USJ. And we're going to be pushed to our limits and beyond; I'm going to need all the support I can call upon.

I feel like my plans fit well with what we were instructed. None of us are to take any sort of vacations over summer break, so if I'm going to be cooped up at home, might as well spend it wisely.

It's complicated what I'm thinking during my sessions, but I guess I'm really just listening around me, contemplating my surroundings and stuff. I even imagine my problems and events as a game of Shogi, trying to determine what my next best move would be against this opponent I call life.

What about Dad though? How long ago was it since I last heard of him?

That would be right before internships.

Internships? Dang. He's sure missed a lot. My internship, Hosu, my practical; I wonder if I'll ever get a chance to tell him about all of it.

Remember what he said: I'm never alone. I'll see him again, just wait. At least I got an entire list to go off of.

Yeah, an entire twelve chapters in my perspective.

Suddenly confused by my own thoughts, I open my eyes and glance side to side.

. . . What??

Whatever that's about, I look around me to count the flames while I have my eyes open. Six. I know I'm getting impatient, but I want something to show my personal progress. Then there's the fact that I've lately been thrown into a lot of trouble involving me having to fight. I need to make some advancements.

I close my eyes again, but only for a couple seconds as I hear a buzz on my nightstand, indicating a message on my phone. While I'm awake, I might as well. I extinguish my fire and stand up to view my notification.

Midoriya: Hey! Mineta and Kaminari just invited me to the school pool for some endurance training. I figured I'd invite the other guys while I'm at it. Wanna come?

Mineta and Kaminari? For endurance training?? Those two are some of the laziest people in the class. I doubt that's the case.

Either way, I'm just not sure about the offer. I was never that much of a swimmer; plus water a literal counter of my quirk. At the same time, I was just thinking how far I've been falling behind. Might as well. I text back.

Me: Sure, I'm down.

Midoriya: Great! See you there!

I close the contact and feel another vibration to the +4.

Tojuta: You guys going to the pool, too?

Samae: Yeah, Midoriya invited me.

Me: I'm coming.

Auxi: Wait. 'Too?' I'm about to head down myself with the girls, but I wasn't invited by Midoriya.

Tojuta: Huh, convenient.

Samae: Well, he said it was some others' idea, so maybe that has something to do with it?

Wait a second. Midoriya said it was Mineta's and Kaminari's idea, and now we know the girls were going. Those dorks! If there's one thing those two have in common, it's trying to get a girl in one way or another! And at the pool, no less! Heh. Jokes on them though. Since everyone's going, we have more than enough people to keep those two in line.

—————————————————————————————————————

I step off the twenty bus and walk through the high security gate onto campus. I know where the campus pool is from here, so I get walking. On the way, I happen to see Tojuta slowly strolling on the sidewalks as well, staring at each of the buildings.

"Kuiru," I call to him, and he looks up.

"Hey," he waves and jogs to me.

"You okay? You look lost."

"I'm fine, I just have to clue where I'm going."

"Makes sense. I only saw the pool a few times while going to training fields and stuff." I continue on and motion for him to follow. "C'mon, it's this way, like we're going to field beta."

"Oh, that's what that fence is! Coming." He hurries along, glancing aimlessly at the many buildings around us.

We finally pass a covered fence and walk around it to the entrance of the locker rooms. I blink as we round the corner to see Uraraka and Asui standing at the doors, thankfully in the school one piece suits.

Uraraka sees us as we approach and waves, getting Asui's attention. "Oh, hey, guys."

"Hello," Kuiru replies while I just nod a greeting.

"What are you two doing?" I ask.

"We're waiting on Auxi and Ashido to play in the pool."

"We decided to play a game of volleyball, but there are going to be seven of us. The teams will be uneven, so someone will have to sit out the first game. So we're seeing who will get here first to fill the last available spot." Asui adds, glancing at both of us. "Some of the other boys are already on the deck, stretching. You guys joining us?" Here she looks at Tojuta, whose eyes suddenly widen.

"Nah," I start. "We're just-."

"Uh! No, we're just swimming!" Tojuta suddenly and quickly interrupts. "M-Midoriya just invited us for en-endurance training, so that's what we're doing! Just swimming!"

Confused by this spontaneous excitement, Asui and Uraraka glance at each other, until Asui slowly nods. "Um, okay..?"

"Not sure what all we'll be doing and don't know how long it'll be, so sorry, we can't join you. I mean, we would like to, but you know, busy with that."

Realizing this is my cue to move us along for him, I leave his side to the door and pull it open.

"I-if you want, you could-."

"Kuiru," I stop him, internally cringing at the door. "Stop talking, let's go."

"R-right!" He carefully follows me, but stops at the doorway and turns back. "Sorry, uh, girls, we should hit the date- deck!! We should hit the deck!"

"Alright," Uraraka smiles, somewhat uncomfortable.

"Have a nice work out, boys," Asui wishes.

"Th-thanks, you too. I mean! Ha-have fun, Uraraka and A-Asui."

"Tsu."

"Yes, have fun swe- Tsu! Yeah, have-."

"Come on!" I urge him and roughly pull him inside.

"Bye!"

I finally get both of us inside of the way to the locker room and stop to let Tojuta stand up on his own. He does, but he just keeps walking, eyes wide, jaw clenched, and other than blinking, not moving a facial muscle.

We make it to the lockers and pick ours on the same row but a little ways from each other.

I take off my shirt just as I hear metal banging where my friend is. I glance over to see that Tojuta had hit his head against the locker and is staring down at the bottom of the door, contemplating what just happened and possibly what Auxi told him last night.

"Yurei, what did I do??"

"You thought about it."

"Yes, I did."

I turn back to my locker, taking off my shorts and revealing my trunks I already have on. "Just get over it, dude; that was something we were just teasing you about last night."

"I know, but.. sorry."

"Don't apologize, just don't lose it like that again. That crap's just gonna distract you."

"I'll try." He thinks for a second. "Don't tell Auxoriya, please, or anyone."

"I won't."

Once we're finally ready, we walk outside to the pool deck. As Asui had promised, some of the other guys of our class are already present.

"Good afternoon, you two," Iida greets us. He's wearing a yellow swim cap and goggles, so I almost don't recognize him.

"Sup."

"Uh, hello." Tojuta leans to me. "Uhh.."

"That's Iida, dude," I point out, already knowing what he's confused about.

"Oh!" He looks back up at him. "Sorry! Didn't recognize ya for a second there. No glasses and stuff."

"It's quite alright; I've actually gotten that a few times by now," he chuckles. "But I'm glad you both decided to join us! Continuing your training with no one directly telling you to is extremely responsible!"

"Well, plus ultra, am I right?"

"Yes, I agree."

At this point we start to hear footsteps and laughing running down to corridor from the locker rooms to the deck. Soon, Kaminari and Mineta come into view, slightly drooling.

Iida raises a hand to greet them. "There you are, slow pokes."

Upon this, the two suddenly trip and slide to a stop. I slightly smile at this, recognizing it as a reaction to their supposed plans being ruined.

Mineta looks back up and frantically glances around at the other guys. "No no no!" And that confirms it. "What the heck are you guys doing here?"

Midoriya walks in from the hallway as well and presents everyone here to them. "Since we're doing endurance training at the pool, I messaged everyone to see if they wanted to come with us."

"You did what?" Kaminari complains, looking up at him as well before hanging his head and mumbling something.

Mineta leans over to him whisper something, and the two glance to the other side of the pool, where all the girls except Jiro are stretching. Kaminari again hangs his head while Mineta continues to stare.

"What's the matter with him?" Midoriya asks us, clearly clueless, while Tojuta distracts himself by joining Ojiro in toe touches.

"It's just a theory that's yet to be proven wrong or right," I start, "but I think those two were hoping to snag some peeks of our female classmates in swim wear."

"Well," Iida states, crosses his arms. "I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. I believed something was amiss here, but could not put my finger on it if what it was exactly."

"The idea just disturbed me when I started to put it together, so I figured they'd have more than enough supervision if we all came."

"Good call. Just the same, if we are all ready to start, I would like to continue on with what we originally came for."

Midoriya and I nod as Iida turns his attention to the Mineta and Kaminari to force them over. They groan loudly as our class rep picks them up under his arms and carries them over.

So the work out gets underway. It's about just what I expected, chains of exercises with swimming in between each one. We work hard, each of us going at our own pace. I will admit, my eyes are sore nearly the entire time as I do have chlorine giving me a hard time.

After touching the wall on my final lap, I tread for a second before heaving myself out and sit on the deck, rubbing my eyes and groaning a bit.

"Don't be a wimp," a voice says before me. "The  chlorine reading is only about three."

I look up to see Samae standing over me holding a stop watch.

"Sure," I reply. "I'm not in the water that often, so I'm just not used to it."

"Well, you can always keep your head above the water. It's slower, sure, but if you're gonna cry at this, it's probably best for you. You're taking a breather, right?"

"Yeah, just for a second."

"Cool, that's all I need." He reaches out his hand with the stopwatch to offer it to me. "Time me. I'm doin' two hundred meters, down and back twice."

I take it, considering his confidence as he steps up on the diving block. "If Iida gets onto me for slacking off, I'm blaming you."

"Whatever. Just press the button as soon as I touch the water."

"Yeah yeah." He bends down, getting ready. "Take your mark," I warn him. "Go!"

In less than a heartbeat, Samae pushes off the block and throws his hands over his head to dive in. I watch as he strokes hard underneath the water then breaches the surface and thrusts his arms to pull himself. Water splashes up from his feet as he kicks, and by the time he reaches the other side as a fifty, I check the time. Forty seconds. Dang, he must've been on a team before or something, and he's not even wearing goggles.

Tojuta joins me to watch. "What's going on? You timing him?"

"Yeah. He's going two laps and is only on the first minute."

"You're kidding!"

Suddenly, Samae flips and turns on our side and pushes off again for his next lap, splashing water up at us. It's not that big a deal; we're already wet.

I glance down at the watch and read a minute, fifteen. It's definitely impressive. He's only swimming freestyle, but he's his turning head for air every fifth stroke.

I watch carefully as he comes speeding back for the final stretch and throws out his hands. As soon as they make contact with the wall, I stop the timer and look down at it again.

He throws his head back, panting hard. "H.. how'd I do?"

"Two minutes, eleven seconds."

"Woah," Tojuta marvels at the results and claps. "Very impressive, Hikari! I didn't know you were a swimmer."

"My quirk is literally called 'Shadow Shark.'" He pulls himself out with ease as he reminds.

"Well, yeah, but I thought that meant you prowl through shadows, not shred through water."

"Heh. You'd be surprised. How I move around in shadow is actually very similar to swimming. It's like pulling myself through a subspace void opened only when paths are made with shade."

"Man! You described it as a void. What does that feel like?"

"Well, I can see everything going on 'outside...' and.. I don't know. I never really think about it. I guess it's.. cold? I'm too focused on my quirk to notice. I mean, I was told it feels like nothing."

"Wait, you were told? As in others have done it?"

"Uh! Uh, I can take one person down with me if I'm touching them, but unlike me, they can't see, hear, or.. breath. Like going underwater."

"Wow, you'll have to show me some time!"

"Eh, um.. I'll think about it."

"Alright! Let's take a fifteen minute breather!" Iida announces, walking onto the deck with a large cooler and setting it down. "I brought these for everyone! Please drink up!" He forces back the lid to reveal iced orange sodas.

"Nice!" Sato exclaims.

Ojiro takes one out and pops the tab. "Thanks class rep."

"This is just what I needed!" Sero comments, taking a swig of his own.

"Ooh! Cool!" Tojuta hurries to the cooler. Samae and I follow, though I can tell something is on his mind. I decide it best not to pry. We step over Mineta and Kaminari, who are just about passed out on the ground, and each grab a can for ourselves. We pop the tabs and take a seat in the shade with Shoji, Ojiro, and Tokoyami.

"Hey, guys," Ojiro greets.

"Sup." Samae greets while I nod.

"Holding up okay?"

"I might have pushed myself a bit much. My side's killing me."

"And I've discovered chlorine hates me," I add before taking a drink of my beverage.

"I know what you mean," Tokoyami agrees.

Shoji pours a sip of soda down one of his tentacles that are forming a mouth and holds up a second to talk. "Samae, we saw your sprint earlier; you're pretty speedy."

"Two minutes, eleven seconds!" he brags. "That's my fastest two hundred yet."

"Impressive," Ojiro comments.

"Hey, you're looking pretty beefed yourself."

"I'm practically living at the gym," he says, flexing his tail behind him to show. "It's been kinda nice actually."

"Yes, we must all remained focused," Tokoyami adds. "I'm greatly hoping to improve myself every passing day, and wish everyone is doing the same."

"Yeah?" Samae asks. "What are you aiming for next?"

"Same as always— gain more control of Dark Shadow and help wherever I can. What is your next milestone?"

"I'm trying to be able to sink further down into lighter shadows. Like that, I can act more in daylight."

"Here's an idea," Ojiro inserts. "Have you ever tried hiding in things other than shadows on the ground?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, suppose you were in a dark room. Shadows would be everywhere, right? So my understanding would be that you can go in and emerge from anywhere, including the walls or ceiling."

"Y'know, I've actually tried that when I was little. I fell immediately."

"Well, no harm trying again."

"Yeah, I'll look into that later."

Tokoyami looks at me. "Come to think of it, when was the last time you achieved for yourself another flame?"

"I was just thinking about that this morning, and that would be the USJ. So that's my next goal."

"Well, training camp is right around the corner. Be sure to push yourself."

"That's my plan."

"You'd better!" A new voice calls from the door to the lockers. What?

The six of us look up at Bakugo scowling and marching aggressively to Midoriya near the pool. Okay, he's pushing Midoriya, not me. That makes more sense.

"Bakugo and Kirishima are here," Tokoyami observes. "Expect to have war declared on you."

"Wouldn't be surprised," Ojiro sighs.

"It look like he's just singling out Midoriya here though," Tojuta clarifies. "Don't you think he'll target just him here?"

Samae hits his chest with his fist and burps his answer. "No."

"Hey everyone!" Iida calls, raising his stiff hand. "I propose that we see which of the boys can swim fifty meters the fastest! A friendly race."

Kaminari stands with Mineta. "Yeah."

"That sounds fun!" Sero joins in.

"Let's do it!" Sato agrees.

Samae is the first to stand up in our group, lowering his gaze and smiling grimly to accept the challenge. No surprise. I just saw how fast he is. I'm obviously not that much of a swimmer, but there's no harm in trying.

"Iida!" Yaoyarozu calls as she approached him with the other girls. "Why don't you let us help you out with this?"

"Yes, please."

Ojiro raises his hand. "And quirks? Can we use them?"

"We're at school, so there shouldn't be a problem with that." Bakugo smiles grimly at this as Iida continues. "However, you cannot cause damage to your classmates or the building."

Bakugo marches up to Midoriya to challenge him while I think to myself. Crap. My quirk is literally not meant for swimming. How on earth am I supposed to coordinate the two? I look toward the diving blocks. I guess I can give myself more of a soaring start to carry a bit before diving in.

So, the races begin. We all line up by the side of the pool to be selected for heats with the girls as our audience. Uraraka and Asui come to the end of their line where Tojuta is ironically waiting for his turn. He stiffens up and nods a quick greeting before I force his head back to the front for Yaoyarozu to pick competitors.

Yaoyarozu creates a whistle for herself and points at each of us as she calls our names. "The first heat will consist of Mineta, Tokoyami, Koda, Seshin, Bakugo, and Kaminari. Take your lanes, please."

We follow her orders and step up on the blocks, bending down for the mark. Everyone to my right and Kaminari on my left looks just as determined as I am, but standing next to Bakugo, I can practically feel the heat radiating from him.

"Alright, on your marks! Get set!" She blows the whistle, and we all jump. I quickly surround myself with my fire, but just as I do so, Bakugo launches himself straight in the air and fires explosions behind him, sending harsh gusts at me and extinguishing two of my flames. I lose balance and land into the water as he yells something as he flies across.

Having the wind almost knocked out of me, I tread back up and take a deep breath. I practically give up as I stare down at the end to see Bakugo pointing back at all of us still in the water. "How was that, ya sidekicks?!"

"What do you think you're doing?!" Sero yells back.

Kirishima angrily points back at him. "You didn't even touch the water!!"

"It's called freestyle swimming!" he argues.

"Huh," I say aloud, mostly at Koda next to my lane who had given up to tread as well. "I was under the impression we were swimming."

He just shrugs, so I paddle to the nearest wall. I pull myself back up and sit down to catch my breath.

"Are you okay?" In near surprise, I glance behind myself to see a floating, girls swimsuit to signify Hagakure standing there. "I have my hand reached down to help you up in case you couldn't tell."

"I'm fine," I reassure her, standing up on my own. "Good glory, you're quiet."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize; I guess it's just to be expected." I leave to the side of the deck to grab my towel and join the rest of the audience.

The second group consists of Sero, Aoyama, Todoroki, Sato, Kirishima, and Samae. Now that I've seen that you can practically skip the entire pool, I don't know where my money is here. Sure, Samae's fast, but his quirk doesn't exactly relate with the activity as well as the others' could.

"Everyone on your marks! Get set!" Yaoyarozu blows the whistle again, and the group hurried down.

As expected, Samae is paddling fast in the water but is gaining distance from Todoroki, who's sliding across on his own ice. Todoroki at last leaps off and lands on the deck. Samae finishes just a few seconds after panting hard and scowling his opponent.

"You're supposed to be swimming!" Kaminari and Mineta scold him.

We watch as Samae climbs out and sulks back to us.

"So close!" Tojuta encourages. "Good try."

"Yeah, bet I would've won if Todo-smokey knew how to actually swim."

I smirk at the name as I watch Tojuta leave to the blocks with Iida, Midoriya, Ojiro, and Shoji.

"Last group, on your marks! Get set!" She blows, and the five of them dive in. This everyone is actually swimming except Iida. He's riding across the lane line by propelling himself with his engined legs.

"You too, Iida?!" Kaminari yells.

You'd think someone with enough honor would follow the rules of a pool, but apparently not. Tojuta's already being left behind, but is still going. Midoriya on the other hand is paddling hard and charging himself with his quirk to move faster. Now this is close! The two are neck and neck at the final stretch!

Iida finally leaps from his line, but Midoriya pulls hard and slaps the wall. Everyone cheers as the two get out of the water. Finally, Tojuta touches the end and climbs out himself, walk to us, and sits down.

"I.. I tried."

"Good job, man," I answer. "Think it would've been easier without all those quills on ya?"

"Maybe. I tried laying them down as much as possible. Can't really tell a difference."

"It's time for the final race," Iida announces, calling each of the winners forward. "Bakugo, Todoroki, Midoriya, as winners of each heat, you'll fight first place. Understand?"

"Got it!"

"Yes."

Midoriya and Todoroki respond accordingly while Bakugo cuts his eyes at his rivals. "Listen up, scar face. Don't you dare hold back like you did in the Sports Festival! Bring everything you've got!"

Todoroki coldly lowers his gaze. "I will."

"You too!" he growls at Midoriya too. "Fight to win."

"Yeah, I will. I promise."

With declarations declared, the boys take their positions on the blocks.

"Then the fifty meter freestyle final race will now begin!" Iida announces, provoking most of us audience to cheer and encourage the competitors.

"Blow them away, Bakugo!"

"Don't kill the other swimmers!"

"You got this, Todoroki!"

"You can do it, Deku!"

"Do your best, everyone!"

Holding the whistle, Iida raises his hand. "Now on your marks! Get set!" He tweets and the boys leap off. However, instead of soaring off as they did in the past races, all of them choke up and fall straight into the water. Hold up, what??

"What happened??" Kaminari exclaims.

"Why aren't they using their quirks?" Sero asks.

"It's five PM," a familiar voice calls from the doors. Mr. Aizawa, with his hair raised and eyes glowing, steps onto the deck, causing Iida to instantly stand at attention. "You're authorized pool time is officially over. Hurry up and go home."

"Come on, just one second!" Kaminari complains.

"We were finally getting to the good part!" Sero inserts, gesturing toward the water.

Obviously ticked, Mr. Aizawa's eyes shine again. "Are you questioning me?"

"Not at all Mr. Aizawa," we all answer. Having no other choice, we grab our stuff out of the lockers and make our way home.

While we didn't get to conclude who was the fastest 'swimmer,' I believe the exercise was all worth while. Water. One of the few counters to my quirk. But I have a feeling I'll be facing even more contradictions to it in what's to come. Next up, summer camp.