9

The work studies had occupied the entire winter break, and the first day of the new school term had finally arrived.

Just as the students of class 1-A were about to give a practical demonstration on what they had learned and accomplished over the break, Aizawa and Present Mic had gotten a call from Gran Torino, summoning them to the prison known as Tartarus. The authorities had realized that Kurogiri—a member of the League of Villains—was likely a Nomu created from the dead body of Oboro Shirakumo, who had been Aizawa and Mic’s friend during their own high school days at U.A. The two teachers had traveled to the prison where Kurogiri was held in hopes of finding out more, and the trip had paid off with a key hint concerning the Paranormal Liberation Front’s plot.

Later that very day, Aizawa comforted Eri over her horn—which had begun to tingle—and gave a pep talk to All Might, who was feeling uneasy over Midoriya’s recent growth. Meanwhile, the kids of class 1-A were all in their dorm building’s common area, holding a work-study share session and hot pot party to fire them up for the new term. Then, their next-door neighbors showed up.

“Knock, knock!”

Still gathered around the hot pots, the members of class A turned to the front entrance to see the girls of class B walk through the door. Itsuka Kendo was in the lead, with Yui Kodai, Ibara Shiozaki, Kinoko Komori, Pony Tsunotori, Setsuna Tokage, and Reiko Yanagi in tow.

“Please, come on in!” said Tenya Ida, stepping into his role as class president. He, Momo Yaoyorozu, Ochaco Uraraka, and a few others moved toward the door to greet the newcomers with shouts of, “Welcome, welcome!” This was hardly the first interclass visit, so no one was feeling particularly shy about mingling.

“Here—a little something from us,” said Kendo, handing Yaoyorozu a bag. “Just some drinks and snacks for after dinner.”

“You really didn’t have to!” said Yaoyorozu.

Denki Kaminari came running up to Kodai, who was carrying a few sofas that she’d shrunk with her Quirk.

“Lemme take those off your hands!” he said, stretching out his own hand in an overly eager attempt to look good in front of these girls.

“That’s fine. We got this,” said Yanagi, who used her “Poltergeist” Quirk to levitate the sofas out of Kodai’s hands and toward the sitting area. Noticing this, Rikido Sato, Koji Koda, and Shoto Todoroki shifted the existing ottomans and sofas out of the way to make room. Yanagi lowered the new furniture into place, and Kodai grew it back to full size by releasing the effects of her Quirk. His attempt to impress foiled, the speechless Kaminari could only grin awkwardly.

“Swing and a miss, Kaminari!” said Minoru Mineta, who had seen right through his friend’s intentions.

“Huhh? I’m a gentleman to everyone, though,” protested Kaminari. Mineta shook his head and beckoned with one finger.

“Listen, buddy … Having more girls around is always ideal,” he whispered.

“For real!” said Kaminari. “I want girls on every side of me! No dudes …”

“When I kick the bucket, I wanna be reincarnated as a hot pot …” said Mineta. “Think about it! Ladies on every side, all poking at you … Getting them all hot and bothered …”

“That would be … pretty great,” said Kaminari.

The boys were too caught up in the fantasy to realize that Kyoka Jiro had overheard them.

“Morons,” she said, clearly disgusted.

“Aw, come on. Can’t a coupla guys dream?” said Kaminari.

“Dream? More like a nightmare,” said Jiro, who felt an urge to protect the class B guests from her not-so-pure-minded classmates. Beside her, Tsuyu Asui suddenly looked toward the front door.

“Hmm? Will this be all of you?” she asked.

“Naw, the boys are coming too, of course,” said Kendo. “Might take a minute … given what they’re bringing. And seriously, class A—sorry in advance.” Class A wasn’t sure how to react to that preemptive apology.

“Sorry about what?” asked Mina Ashido.

Katsuki Bakugo stopped eating for a second and looked like he’d swallowed something bitter.

“If class B’s got something to be sorry about, you don’t gotta guess twice about who’s to blame,” he said.

The rest of class A came to the same realization, and suddenly, as if he’d been waiting for this perfect timing to make his entrance, none other than class B’s perennial troublemaker and class A hater came bursting through the door.

“Howdy! Kept you waiting, didn’t I? Dying of anticipation, I bet?” said Neito Monoma, whose intense love for his own class B fueled a powerful rivalry with class A, at least in his own mind.

“No. Nobody here was dying of anything,” said Todoroki, as he slurped down a string of chives that he’d chopped poorly. Ignoring the blunt retort, Monoma strolled into the building and practically skipped over to the bubbling hot pots on the table.

“There’s enough food for everyone and then some, so please, enjoy!” said Ida, prompting Sato to hand out bowls and chopsticks to the guests. But it wasn’t hunger that drove Monoma; the glint in his eyes was that of a critic.

“I see a soy milk hot pot,” he began. “And kimchi, over there? Then we have a yosenabe … and tan-tan sesame? Do I have that right?”

Monoma had correctly identified class A’s culinary creations, all four of which were fairly standard staples of the Japanese hot pot world. Each kid was sitting in front of his or her favorite of the four.

“Heh … A regular lineup of bog-standard clichés, I’d say,” said Monoma.

“Whaddaya mean? These are quality dishes,” said a troubled Sato—class A’s unofficial head chef. He had overseen the preparation of every hot pot there, and he wasn’t the type to offer guests anything subpar.

“Too true, Sato!” said Kaminari. “We all worked real hard on these guys, so you gotta try ’em before talking smack!”

“Kaminari … Do you really think I paid a visit to your den of inadequacy just to try hot pots made by class A, of all people?” said Monoma.

“Worry not!” said Ida, raising a hand emphatically. “We also plan to swap stories about our work studies in hopes of further edification!”

“All in good time … But I’m alluding to the hot pots prepared by class B! Ones far more delicious than these!” said Monoma.

Class A was stunned silent, and just then, the rest of the class B boys arrived at the front door. They hadn’t come empty-handed.

“We got the goods, Monoma!” said Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.

“Why’d you get to make a solo entrance, huh?” asked Kosei Tsuburaba. These two newest arrivals were gingerly carrying a hot pot of their own, as were Juzo Honenuki and Yosetsu Awase.

“Pardon us!” said Honenuki. “Ah, don’t worry about bowls and chopsticks. We brought our own.”

“How thoughtful of you!” said Ida with a bow. “Oh, are those hot pots I spy? I assure you, we had already made enough for your class as well.”

“Foolish class A …” said Monoma. “These hot pots are our way of throwing down the gauntlet! A competition is about to unfold, and we shall all learn whose concoctions are tastier!” He pointed a dismissive finger at class A’s pots.

Seeing that the declaration of war had left class A confused, Kendo apologized again.

“Sorry, guys. He just doesn’t listen to reason when he gets like this …”

Her weary smile hinted at her thankless role as Monoma’s babysitter. Meanwhile, the class B boys had set their two pots on the table.

“Smells yummers!” said Uraraka, who was the closest thing class A had to a gourmand. Not missing a beat, Monoma leaned in close to her.

“Right? Right? Just imagine how delicious they taste!”

“Eek!” yelped Uraraka.

“Go on, then. Give them a try! … Urk!”

A swift chop to the neck from Kendo put a temporary stop to Monoma’s madness.

“Sorry again,” said Kendo.

But Monoma was only out cold for a second; the sheer desire to see class A defeated seemed to animate his body and bring him back to life.

“Well?” he asked. “Shall we get this competition started?”

“Competition? Nonsense. Why don’t we all just enjoy this meal?” suggested Ida.

“Ohh, I suppose you’re all scared of losing to our hot pots. Tell me—are you scared, Bakugo?”

“Huh? Couldn’t care less,” answered Bakugo, not taking the obvious bait.

Having failed to light class A’s shortest fuse, Monoma was at a momentary loss. During the battle training between the classes, he’d been caught off guard by Bakugo’s growth, which he’d called “character development” at the time. Monoma was always one to think on his feet, however, so he now set his sights on the kimchi hot pot that Bakugo was enjoying.

“No, I’m afraid your cooking can’t compete with ours in the least. Take that kimchi one, for instance. Looks to me like you’ve just tossed some kimchi in a pot and called it a day! No creativity! No imagination!”

Bakugo set his chopsticks down with a loud clack.

“You got beef with my kimchi hot pot, do ya?”

“Beef? No, I’m simply tossing out my thoughts,” said Monoma.

“Toss some of this down your stupid throat first, then!” said Bakugo.

“I actually prepared the soup base for this hot pot,” added Sato. “And Bakugo provided the spicy elements, with lots of tasting and adjusting along the way! It’s not just spicy, mind you. The rich, savory blend is complex enough to complement the pork belly and veggies!”

“You poured that much love into it, Bakugo?” said Eijiro Kirishima, moved by the kimchi hot pot’s stirring backstory. “That explains why it’s so darn tasty!” he continued, now standing. “Listen, gang—I think we oughta accept this challenge, since there’s no way our pots will lose!”

Always the types to go with the flow, Kaminari and Hanta Sero cheered on the decision, and with that, it was settled. Some brought up the concern that each taste tester might just vote for their own class’s creations, but in the end, the members of classes A and B agreed to rely on the honor system; they swore on their pride as future heroes to give the prize to the tastiest hot pot of all. To start, class B would try class A’s.

“Mm! Tasty!”

“I could go for ten bowls of the soy milk one!”

“Wish I could pour the kimchi broth over other food as a topping!”

“Gotta be the yosenabe, for me.”

“I could seriously get addicted to the tan-tan sesame hot pot.”

Class A was thrilled by the positive reactions to the food they’d made.

“You guys got good taste!” said Sato, brimming with pride.

“Hah. What’d they expect?” gloated Bakugo.

“Not bad, I guess,” said Monoma, who seemed unshaken. Far from it, his smile was brimming with confidence as he reached for a pot lid.

“But the time has come for you to try our masterpieces. I now present … our first hot pot!”

Monoma removed the lid, and when the steam cleared, class A let loose a collective gasp at the sight of marbled beef, scallions, and konjac noodles jammed together in the bubbling broth.

“Th-that’s sukiyaki!” cried Uraraka, who could barely contain the drool threatening to escape her lips.

“Sukiyaki’s cheating!” roared Kirishima—a self-professed meat lover. His panic was a clear sign that he was close to breaking, and who could blame him? The salty-sweet sukiyaki stock combined with beef had a way of stimulating the primal urges of one’s appetite.

“Note that we’ve cooked it in cast iron, no less. Impressive, isn’t it?” said Monoma. “We recommend adding eggs to this one.”

On cue, Honenuki, Tsuburaba, Hiryu Rin, and Niren-geki Shoda produced bowls holding raw eggs (already cracked) and began ladling the sukiyaki on top. Uraraka gulped in anticipation before downing a mouthful of sukiyaki beef and egg, which immediately made her slump over in absolute bliss.

“D-delish!” cried Kirishima, who proceeded to inhale the rest of his sample. So moved was he by the experience that onlookers half expected his clothes to rip apart and burst away in ecstasy.

“Wow,” said Midoriya, preparing to switch to full-on analysis mode. “The savory beef is complemented by the sweet and salty stock! And it’s so tender and buttery that my tongue practically slices clean through it! Combine that with a fresh raw egg, and you get a rich blend that I can only describe as ‘happiness in flavor form.’ But to be honest, the vegetables have even more potential for greatness than the meat. Boiling them in stock with all that melted fat creates perfect harmony with their innate sweetness and freshness! And the egg is the ideal finishing touch to bring it all together. Yes … the egg is the conductor, the meat is the vocalist … and the various vegetables are the orchestra, forming a grand opera of—”

“Nobody asked for a freakin’ metaphor!” said Bakugo, tossing an empty plastic bottle. The impromptu projectile wove its way between Sero, Kaminari, and Fumikage Tokoyami to bounce squarely off Midoriya’s noggin.

“Excellente aim. ☆” Midoriya’s neighbor, Yuga Aoyama, raised his wineglass of soda in Bakugo’s direction.

“Heh. The tide turns toward the sukiyaki,” said Monoma to himself, observing how enthralled class A was by the first offering.

“I dun think our hot pots have thrown in the towel just yet!” shot back Kirishima.

“Your tune will change when you try our second,” said Monoma, lifting the lid off the other pot. It contained some sort of white fish and vegetables.

“Is that s’posed to be seafood stew?” asked Kaminari. “But I only see that one kind of fish. Kinda lacking, yeah?”

“Enough talk. Have at it,” said Monoma, with the confidence of a man who’d already won. His classmates distributed bowls with a bit of the white fish topped with ponzu soy sauce, scallions, and a puree of grated radish and carrot.

“W-what the heck? Too tasty!” said Kaminari, tears forming in his eyes. It was such an emotional response that the others half expected his clothes to burst off.

“Ribbit!” said Asui.

“A delight for the senses!” said Tokoyami.

“Yum!” said Dark Shadow. All of class A’s taste testers shuddered in ecstasy, overcome by the ordinary-looking white fish. All were astonished by the flavor, though none had yet identified what type of fish it was. None, that is, except for Yaoyorozu, who had been focusing on her bite for a moment.

“I believe this is … longtooth grouper,” she said. No one seemed to be familiar with the species.

“A sea fish of the Perciformes order and Serranidae family,” she continued. “Perches, sea bass, and groupers, if you will. Similar to the saw-edged perch found in Kyushu. In any case, they say that consuming longtooth grouper will leave one dissatisfied with all other fishes for the rest of one’s days, so impeccable is its flavor. Making this the king of all hot pots, I’m afraid.”

“She’s not wrong—it’s a high-grade catch, that grouper,” said Monoma. “Shishida’s family sent us some, just for this purpose.”

“M-must’ve been pricey, huh …” said Uraraka, nearly trembling at the thought.

“Not at all, in this case. They themselves received it as a year-end gift,” said Jurota Shishida, whose beastly appearance was at odds with his elite upbringing and impeccable etiquette.

“A bank-breaking fish … as a year-end gift …” mumbled Uraraka in disbelief.

“Pull it together, Ochaco,” said Asui, handing her friend a drink.

Monoma stood and addressed the room.

“We’ve all tasted every hot pot, yes? Now it’s time to vote! Sit yourself down in front of your pick!”

The kids were reluctant to follow his orders, and Kaminari voiced what was on everyone’s mind.

“They were all super tasty! It’s like you’re asking us to pick a favorite family member or something!”

“Too bad! In a competition, you have to choose. Now do it!” urged Monoma.

They’d staked their pride as future heroes on picking honestly, so they began to shuffle around. Most of the votes wound up concentrated around the sukiyaki and grouper stew.

“Aw, c’mon, dudes!” said a shocked Kirishima, who’d picked the kimichi pot. “Even you, Bakugo? You went for the grouper?”

Bakugo revealed his plate, on which only a small lump of the radish puree remained, topped with ample chili powder.

“It was good,” he said.

“No wonder they call it the king of the hot pots. I’ve learned a lot, today,” said Sato, wearing the profound look of a humbled top chef. He had also chosen the grouper stew. Midoriya and many others had similar expressions, having been unable to resist the flavor of the prohibitively expensive fish.

“Heh … The votes are in, and class B wins by a landslide! Ha ha ha ha!” said Monoma, unaware that his classmates were looking almost apologetic. He was only getting started.

“And since you’ve lost, I believe the rules call for some kind of punishment, right?” he said, bloodlust in his eyes and voice.

“Nobody said a damn thing about that!” protested Bakugo, speaking on behalf of his own stunned classmates. Monoma was undeterred.

“Oh? I suppose you’d rather say ‘Good match, friend’ and have us go on our merry way? No, it’s only natural for losers to suffer a penalty. Or should we assume that class A is a bunch of pacifist peaceniks?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” said Ida. “But these rules ought to have been made clear before the competition began!”

“Tell me, president of class A,” said Monoma. “We all hope to be heroes someday, right? Do you think villains will politely lay out the rules of engagement before doing battle?”

“Do you mean to say that you and the rest of class B are playing the part of dastardly, unreasonable villains in some sort of simulation, for our benefit? How admirably self-sacrificing of you!” said Ida, fully seduced by Monoma’s tactics. Before the rest of class B could say, “That was never actually the plan,” or the rest of class A could stop the runaway Ida train, it was decided.

“Very well!” said Ida. “It’s only sportsmanlike that we accept our penalty!”

“Speak for yourself!” screamed Bakugo, to no avail.

Monoma declared that class A would face penalty by yaminabe, which was a fun enough idea for Kaminari, Ashido, and Toru Hagakure to change their tune and be on board.

“What’s a ‘yaminabe’?” asked Todoroki.

“I’ve never experienced it myself,” started Midoriya, “but you used to see them in old comics a lot. The yami means ‘dark,’ and nabe means ‘pot,’ so we’ll have to eat from a hot pot in complete darkness, with no way of knowing what we’re about to put in our mouths or what’s been added to the mix. It works as a penalty since people can add ingredients that you … normally wouldn’t expect, so to speak.”

“I see!” said Ida, who’d also needed an explanation.

“When I first heard about the yaminabe, I thought it was yummynabe, like a yummy pot of food!” said Tsunotori, who, as usual, was excited to experience a new aspect of Japanese culture. Even the other members of class B, who’d seemed embarrassed by Monoma’s little rampage, were starting to express interest. Many had learned of the concept from comic books, but few had ever participated in one in real life.

And so, the yaminabe prep began.

Bakugo started to slink off to his room, saying, “Like hell you’re roping me into this,” but a dash of Monoma’s standard provocation was all it took to rope him into it.

With the room illuminated only by the glowing fire of the tabletop gas burner, class A closed their eyes, and class B tossed various ingredients into the pot.

“Hmm? Something smells sweet!”

“That all better be food! Cuz I just heard something go ‘clank’ on the bottom.”

“Now I’m smelling … something rotten? Fermented, maybe?”

Every new contribution to the pot added its own unique smell, resulting in a complex, unholy blend of aromas. Class A was growing steadily warier about their prospects, so Kendo did her best to reassure them.

“Don’t worry! Everything in there is definitely edible!”

“I wouldn’t be so quick to claim that,” quipped Monoma, not wanting his rivals to feel reassured.

“Knock it off, Monoma,” said Kendo.

“A feast of darkness …” said Tokoyami.

“A pitch-black banquet …” said Shihai Kuroiro. Both boys couldn’t have felt more at home in the dark room as the pot bubbled away.

“And now, the yaminabe is served!”

Monoma’s triumphant declaration echoed through the dark.

“Hold up a sec!” said Kaminari, who was fidgeting around. “I gotta use the little boys’ room! Too much soda, y’know!”

“Ah, me too!” said Ojiro.

“Samesies!” said Ashido.

“Moi as well, ☆” said Aoyama. “But rest assured that even the toilet bowl will sparkle and twinkle when I’m through with it. ☆”

“You guys chicken, or what?” mocked Sero.

“Naw! I’ll chow down as soon as I get back! Though, uh, don’t wait up on our account,” said Kaminari.

There had to be an exception in the rules for natural bodily functions, so the four members of class A were allowed to shuffle off (carefully, in the darkness) to the nearest bathroom.

“Tell me, class A! Are you ready to face the yaminabe?” said Monoma.

Resigned to their fate and filled with trepidation, the kids of class A began taking turns to pluck something out of the pot. The chivilrous Kirishima volunteered to go first.

“Huh? What the heck … ? Kinda limp … Smells like a veggie … Tasty, though!”

“That’s gotta be the spinach I tossed in! It’ll power you up!” said Tetsutetsu.

“Something actually good for the ol’ bod? Thanks a ton, Tetsutetsu!”

And so the bonds of friendship between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were made even stronger by a bit of spinach in the dark. Next up was Ida, who, as class president, felt obligated to take one for the team.

“Here I go …” he said nervously, as he grabbed something with his chopsticks, popped it into his mouth, and began to chew.

“It’s quite … gloopy. Mushy, perhaps? Like a lump of pure gluten …”

“That would be the body of the Lord …” said Shiozaki.

“A body, you say?” said a shocked Ida.

“In the Christian faith, bread symbolizes the body of Christ,” explained Yaoyorozu.

“Me next!” said Uraraka. Her random pick made a satisfying crunch as she bit down and kept chewing. “It’s cucumber!” she said.

“That’s from me,” said Yanagi. Uraraka chewed a bit more and offered a final thought.

“Y’know, that’s not half bad!”

“I might as well go,” said Asui. Her tongue analyzed the hard, round item she had plucked from the pot.

“Is this a hard candy?” she asked.

“Bingo! It’s a lozenge!” said Komori, following up with her distinctive “shroom, shroom” chuckle.

“Once the broth washes off, the lozenge alone is tasty enough,” said Asui, as she continued rolling the candy over her tongue. Hearing it swish around, Tsuburaba was reminded of the joint battle training exercise when Asui had wrapped up his entire body with her long frog-like tongue. He suddenly felt a kinship with the candy in her mouth.

Sero was up next, and his prize was something soft and mushy.

“Yech! Is this a piece of apple?” he said.

“Yes, it is!” said Tsunotori. “I put the apple in the pot! I love apples! In anime, people often put fruit in the yaminabe!”

Tokoyami nearly gasped upon hearing this. Little Eri was already a fellow apple lover, and now Tsunotori too?

The apple-fan trio … We shall have to chat about our love of apples at some point …

Todoroki drew something hard from the pot. Something that clacked against his teeth when he tried to bite down.

“That was quite a noise, Todoroki!” said Ida.

“I hope you didn’t crack a tooth?” said a worried Midoriya.

Todoroki spit the item onto his plate and poked at it with a finger.

“Too hard to eat,” he said. “Some kind of shell, I think.”

“That would be my escargot!” said Monoma smugly.

“I told you, nothing inedible!” said Kendo, who, in the darkness, couldn’t deliver her usual chop to the neck.

“It’s perfectly edible! The insides, that is,” said Monoma.

Meanwhile, Tetsutetsu was getting excited.

“Well, what’s the soup taste like?” he asked no one in particular.

“Kinda hard … to pin down an exact flavor,” said an unenthusiastic Sero, which only served to get Tetsutetsu more worked up.

“Can I try it? Please?” he said.

“Here,” said Todoroki, extending the ladle in the direction of Tetsutetsu’s voice. Mineta, Sero, and several others encouraged the class B boy, saying that any real man would be guzzling this stuff by the mouthful, so Tetsutetsu scooped a generous portion of the mystery stew into his bowl.

“Whoa! Smells super nasty! Makin’ me lose my appetite!” he said, just before chowing down anyway. A medley of mismatched ingredients went down his gullet all at once.

“Urk!” said Tetsutetsu, fighting the urge to vomit.

“Dumbass …” said Bakugo.

“Hard to describe other than gross as heck! You gotta try some, Monoma! It’s real nasty!” said Tetsutetsu.

“You don’t seem to grasp the point of this penalty exercise, you fool,” said Monoma.

But the yaminabe was so disgusting that Tetsutetsu felt obligated to share the misery with his classmates, so he went around the circle, saying, “Just a bite, yeah? Nastiest thing you’ve ever tried, I swear!”

Honenuki, Kojiro Bondo, and Manga Fukidashi felt too guilty refusing, so they agreed to a spoonful each. All dry heaved, and Fukidashi said, “Makes a guy wanna HORK.”

“May I try it too?” asked Tsunotori, who was beyond curious by this point. “No. Not my cup of tea,” she declared in English, after the jarring experience triggered her to switch from Japanese to her native tongue.

“How about you, Kendo?” said Tetsutetsu.

“Fine, just a little,” said Kendo, agreeing impulsively. She sipped the soup and immediately wanted to hurl.

“It’s bitter and sweet and pungent and sour and spicy … Yep, totally nasty!” she said.

“The bitter part’s gotta be from the coffee you added, Itsuka. And I bet my natto contribution made it pungent,” said Tokage nonchalantly.

“Don’t forget the fermented tofu, courtesy of Rin!” added Awase.

“And I bet it’s sweet cuz of Shoda’s honey,” said Sen Kaibara. “Plus, the ice cream I tossed in.”

Others chimed in, explaining how they’d added chocolate, cake, a hamburger, potato chips, strawberry milk, a banana, pineapple, and several other foods horribly suited for a hot stew. Hearing this list left Midoriya and the others who hadn’t sampled it yet trembling with fear, especially since Tetsutetsu had already scooped out the solid ingredients, leaving them only with a concentrated dose of the sickening broth. One after the other, Midoriya, Bakugo, Tokoyami, Jiro, Koda, and Hagakure gulped it down and nearly gagged. As a penalty, the yaminabe was a roaring success.

“Phew! Really needed to go,” said Ashido as she and the other three finally returned from the bathroom. They too were encouraged to drink the refined broth, but they couldn’t seem to scoop any up. The lights came back on and revealed that the yaminabe pot was completely empty.

“Aw, I really wanted to try some,” said Kaminari, sounding disappointed. This earned side-eye from Monoma.

“I never took you for a schemer!” he said with a nasty sneer. Kaminari realized what he was being accused of and grew indignant.

“I mean it! It’s not every day you get a chance to try a yaminabe,” he said.

“Huh? You’re suspecting us of foul play, Monoma?” said Ashido through pouted lips and puffed-out cheeks. Ojiro and Aoyama were also visibly offended—not that Monoma would ever be rattled by the likes of class A.

“Motives aside, the fact remains that some of class A managed to evade this penalty, yes? I suppose I shouldn’t expect more from this gang of reprobates.”

Tension suddenly filled the air, but before Kendo could deliver a karate chop to the instigator’s neck, Tetsutetsu threw an arm around Monoma’s shoulders.

“Sorry, guys! He’s not all bad, I swear. He just can’t help the trash talk sometimes!”

“Trash talk, Tetsutetsu? Hardly,” said Monoma. “I’m saying that this probably doesn’t sit well with our dear friends in class A. I know that class B simply wouldn’t accept it if members of our ranks were to sneakily avoid a penalty.”

“Hey, listen here—” said Ojiro, but Monoma cut him off.

“Of course! You can’t accept it either! You four must have been eager to face your penalty! The way I see it, the only solution is another contest!”

This announcement left both classes stunned. Monoma wanted to taste those sweet, sweet class A tears again, but after the hot pot feast, most of the others present just wanted to relax.

“Another contest?”

“Ugh, enough of all that.”

The girls were fed up with Monoma’s nonsense, but it wasn’t Bakugo’s style to walk away after losing.

“Fine—but know that we’re gonna achieve total victory this time,” he said.

“Ooh, good attitude!” said Monoma. “And our next arena will be …”

“Not so fast. We get to pick now,” said Bakugo.

“Let’s not be so hasty with further contests!” said Ida. “Besides, when will we get around to discussing our work studies, per our original intentions?”

“A sauna endurance battle, seriously?” said Hagakure. “What the heck is fun about getting uncomfortably hot and sweaty?”

“Don’t ask me. I dunno why old men love hanging out in saunas,” said Komori, tilting her head in confusion.

“Mm,” said Kodai, clearly agreeing with the other girls.

Despite Ida’s protests, Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, and the other “manly” boys had leaped at Bakugo’s suggestion for a sauna showdown. As such, every one of the boys was now in the bathing area battling it out, while the girls had stayed behind for an after-dinner tea party. Far from a stiff affair, it had mostly consisted of them just sitting around, drinking tea brewed by Yaoyorozu, eating the snacks provided by Kendo, and chatting about this, that, and the other thing.

“I actually love the sauna whenever I’m visiting a hot spring or bathhouse. I can’t stand the heat for too long, but there’s just something special about sipping on iced coffee once you’re out of the hot box,” said Kendo, between bites of dessert.

“Way to sound like some old geezer!” teased Tokage.

“Pshh, shut up …” fired back Kendo.

“I love it too! Specially the way your body, like, tightens back up when you dive into the cold bath afterward!” said Ashido, squeezing a couch cushion into her chest to illustrate.

“Eh? I hate that feeling,” said Jiro, shaking her head. “What about you, Momoyao? You a fan of saunas?” she asked.

“Yes, I used ours a lot when I lived at home,” said Yaoyorozu as she prepped more tea. “It’s wonderful for one’s metabolism.”

“You got one in your house?” asked Jiro.

“Yes. My father loves a good sauna, so he imported an authentic one plank by plank from Finland,” said Yaoyorozu as if this was a perfectly common thing to do. The girls of class B weren’t quite aware of the Yaoyorozu family’s absurd wealth, so they went a bit wild upon hearing this.

“Did I … say something wrong?” asked a trouble Yaoyorozu. Jiro, Ashido, and Hagakure—who had all been to the mansion—reassured their friend that she hadn’t committed a faux pas.

“The one in your house—is it big?” asked Tsunotori.

“I can’t speak to its relative size, but it can fit about fifty people, I suppose,” said Yaoyorozu.

More oohs and ahs from the class B girls.

“That’s, uh, loads bigger than the ones at our local bathhouses,” said Uraraka.

“If you’d like, you could all visit and use my sauna at some point?” said Yaoyorozu shyly, realizing how excited her friends were over the notion of a home sauna.

“Wow, y’mean it?”

“Yeah! Let’s do it!”

“I thought you didn’t like saunas, though?”

“Yeah, but it could be fun with a bunch of friends!”

“Wonderful! My parents would be delighted,” said Yaoyorozu, looking pretty thrilled herself. But then she noticed that someone in the circle was having a hard time speaking up.

“Erm, what about you, Jiro … ?”

Jiro fidgeted awkwardly, unable to find the words for a moment.

“You can count me out of sauna time, but I’d love to hang out at your place again, Momoyao.”

“Yes, of course!”

Yaoyorozu was the shining ideal of an unpretentious modern princess, and seeing that dazzling smile almost made Jiro reconsider her “no saunas” policy. That thought was interrupted by a news bulletin on the TV.

“This report just in: A villain arrested for robbery has escaped from the police station and is currently at-large. We’re being told that this villain’s Quirk is called ‘Snowfall.’”

“Uh, that police station’s in the next town over. Should we be worried?” asked Uraraka.

“I’m sure they’ve already got heroes on the job,” said Asui.

“Yeah, I bet you’re right,” said Uraraka with a relieved smile. Ashido took the news differently.

“Hey, you think that Snowfall Quirk could make it snow around here?” she said, shooting excited glances at the others.

“Come to think of it, it hasn’t snowed this year yet, right?” said Komori. “I wouldn’t mind some snow, shroom.”

“We’re talking about an escaped villain here,” said Kendo with a weak smile, chiding the more eager girls.

“Sorrry!” said Ashido.

“Just saying, shroom,” said Komori.

Suddenly, the girls heard a distant cry of “Hot, hot, hot!” from the boys’ bathing area. They grew silent, then exchanged weary glances.

“The boys really do seem to relish these competitions,” said Yaoyorozu, shaking her head with her hands on her cheeks.

“Futile conflict can only breed calamity,” said Shiozaki. But Hagakure didn’t quite agree, and she was hit with a flash of inspiration.

“Hey! How about we have a little contest? Like, a more peaceful one!” she said.

“Peaceful?” questioned Shiozaki. “A contest the Lord would condone?”

“Yes, sure, whatever!” said Hagakure. “How about, like, the Yamanote Line game, but instead of naming train stops, we go back and forth saying what we like about our homeroom teachers! First side to run out of things to say loses!”

The other girls were shocked by the suggestion, but they didn’t hate it.

“Should we?” asked Kendo. To which they all responded, “Yeah!”

“S’gonna be pretty hard for us to lose, since there’s a lot to love about our Vlad King Sensei,” said Tokage, throwing down the gauntlet.

“Yeah, well, Aizawa Sensei has plenty that makes him a winner in our book,” said Ashido, not backing down in the slightest. Though this game was admittedly less dramatic than the boys and their sauna, neither side here would be going down without a proper fight.

Meanwhile, the boys—with towels wrapped around waists and heads—were all still in the steamy, sweltering bathing area. They’d created a makeshift sauna by placing Todoroki in the center of the room and having him fire up the heat-based side of his Quirk. The participants formed a circle around the impromptu heat source, sitting on either stools or the edge of the bath itself. First class to throw in the proverbial towel would lose, and the temperature in the bathing area had already reached unreasonable levels.

“I have to say, Bakugo,” said Monoma, with sweat dripping down his once fair but now red skin, “I’m almost impressed at how low-down and dirty you are.”

“Huh?” said Bakugo.

“Isn’t it true that your Quirk grows stronger the more you sweat? In other words, your body is built to withstand the heat. In my humble opinion, it takes a certain type of loser to propose a contest where he has the clear advantage.”

“Hah. From where I’m standing, that sounds like a pathetic excuse for why you’re about to lose,” said Bakugo, who barely seemed fazed by the heat. Monoma might have been at a physical disadvantage, but he still had his sharp tongue.

“Enjoy that confidence while you can … because we still have our secret weapon to deploy! None other than Tetsutetsu!” said Monoma.

When transformed by his “Steel” Quirk, Tetsutetsu’s body was capable of withstanding even Todoroki’s blazing heat, but at Monoma’s suggestion, he had started off the contest with his flesh and blood body.

“That’s right! Still feelin’ lukewarm in here, if you ask me!” he said haughtily.

“Good going, Tetsutetsu! I’m just warming up too!” said Kirishima, another confident participant with a Quirk made to withstand heat. Aoyama, however, was feeling like a steamed lobster.

“I cry oncle … ☆” he said before leaping into the main bath, which was filled with cold water.

Mineta also left the battlefield soon after, grumbling, “How’d I wind up surrounded by naked dudes anyway … ?”

“Twinkly? Balls-for-Brains? You gotta be kidding me!” shouted Bakugo. But Mineta ignored the jab and beckoned Kaminari from within the soothingly cool water.

“Kaminari … Get over here, man. You’re no fan of the heat, right?”

“Naw, I’m still … in this game!” said Kaminari, addressing Monoma more than Mineta. Sweat dripped down his face and body, but since Monoma had accused him of chickening out of the yaminabe challenge, he was determined to outlast the class B provocateur. Monoma noticed Kaminari staring right at him and responded with a sneer. Unfortunately for him, two of his own classmates were about to wipe the smirk off his face.

“Sorry, can’t take it anymore … Feels like I’m leaking all over,” said Bondo.

“I’m at my limit too,” said Shoda. Both boys left the Todoroki circle and stepped into the cool bath.

“Bondo! Nirengeki! You two doing okay?” said Monoma, who was capable of genuine kindness and concern when it came to his own cohort.

“Aoyama, Mineta, Bondo, Shoda—I’ve prepared sports drinks for just this reason. Please replenish your fluids!”

Ida scurried over to the bath from the corner of the room and grabbed a few chilled plastic bottles from the cooler he was toting. He’d been opposed to the sauna battle from the start, but if it had to happen, he would prioritize the health and safety of all involved.

“That’s our Ida for ya!” said Mineta. This compliment and the words of thanks from the others made Ida feel proud.

“Only doing my duty as the president of class A!”

“We’re all grateful for that, Ida,” said Shoda.

“Nonsense, Shoda! You just take it easy now,” said Ida.

In the middle of the oppressively sweltering sauna, here was an oasis of congeniality; class A’s by-the-book president got along well with class B’s sincere and honest straight shooter.

But Ida’s icy cold sports drinks proved to be a curse in disguise. As the quitters gulped down sip after sip to quench their thirst, the sauna battlers less adapted to beating the heat saw only irresistible temptation.

“I can’t take any more …”

“S-same here …”

“Dammit, Four-Eyes! You’re screwing us over with that crap!” said Bakugo, noticing more of his classmates getting ready to quit. “Half ’n’ Half! Kick the temp up a notch!”

“You sure? Okay,” said Todoroki, obeying. The room suddenly got even hotter, and shrieks of “Nooo!” and “Cut it out!” rose from the boys who’d already been barely hanging on. Kaminari groaned and Monoma winced in pain, but the latter’s antagonism toward class A pulled him back from the brink and drove him to give his own order to Fukidashi.

“Fukidashi! Give us an onomatopoeia that’ll raise the heat!” said Monoma.

“Huh?” said Fukidashi. “Sure thing. Let’s see … BLAZE BLAZE!”

Fukidashi’s “Comic” Quirk allowed him to make sound effects come to life, so when he uttered “BLAZE BLAZE,” a physical manifestation of the fiery words emerged and became a new heat source.

“Tch. So that’s how it’s gonna be?” said Bakugo. “Hey, Arms! Spin these towels around!”

He ripped the towels from the heads of the remaining participants and handed them to Shoji.

“Like this?” asked Shoji, as he used his multiple arms to swing the towels around, creating a mini cyclone of infernally hot air. This third spike in temperature brought about more moaning and groaning.

“I ain’t beat yet!” said Tetsutetsu.

“Don’t count me out!” said Kirishima. Neither hot-blooded boy was feeling discouraged just yet.

“Nope, I’m out …” said Midoriya, who got up and started making for the cool bath.

“Dammit, Deku! Show some guts!” screamed Bakugo, who threw a nearby bath pail so hard that it ricocheted off the floor and nailed Midoriya square in his privates.

“Urk!” grunted Midoriya, but before he could pass out and collapse, Ida rushed over and caught his friend.

“Look what you’ve done to Midoriya’s scrotum! Oh dear … We’ll have to ice the affected area!”

“Here. For Midoriya’s scrotum,” said Todoroki, who created a piece of ice in his right hand and slid it across the scorching floor to Ida, all while maintaining the heat from his left side.

“Much appreciated!” said Ida. He wrapped Todoroki’s ice chunk in a towel and applied it to the site of the damage.

“Oww …” whimpered Midoriya, sounding like a sad puppy. Despite their focus on enduring the brutal heat, the other boys knew that pain all too well and couldn’t help but sympathize.

“Another member of class A bites the dust, it seems,” said Monoma.

“Huh? Deku never made it to the bath, so he’s still in the game,” said Bakugo.

As the two de facto leaders argued, the room kept getting hotter, until all but the most stalwart couldn’t take it any longer.

“Ugh … I’m done … Let’s bow out, Kaminari,” whispered a pained Sero.

Kaminari had long since passed his limit in a stubborn show of defiance against Monoma, but he could tell that Monoma was just as stubborn, which only bolstered his determination. At some point, though, the heat started to rob Kaminari of his conscious mind, until he forgot what he was fighting for to begin with. His heart wavered, imagining how delicious it would feel to submerge his broiled body in the cool water of the bath.

“Hnngh …” he groaned, prepared to admit defeat at last, but in that moment, Kaminari heard a sharp, crackling sound. The temperature in the room took a nosedive, and he noticed that Todoroki was slumped over and was now producing not fire and heat, but freezing ice instead. The boys who’d been ready to call it quits—including Kaminari—rejoiced and breathed sighs of relief, but Bakugo’s eyebrows tilted at deadly angles.

“What’s with the cold shoulder, Half ’n’ Half?”

“Why, Todoroki … Have we at last discovered your limit, even?” said Monoma, who, despite his own immense relief, was never one to forgo the chance to deliver a pithy comment.

“That’s the ticket, Todoroki! Keep the ice coming!” said Sero.

“We wouldn’t mind an ice bath right about now!” added Kaibara.

Todoroki seemed to obey, because the room kept getting cooler. The boys’ broiled bodies were soothed by the below-freezing temperature, and it didn’t take them long to adjust. However …

“That’s too much, Todoroki!” shouted Ojiro.

“Todoroki! I believe Midoriya’s scrotum is quite chilled enough!” added Ida. The boys felt like they’d been air-dropped into the Antarctic with nothing but a towel around their waists, and the cold wasn’t letting up.

“All right, you … Enough of this crap!” said Bakugo, but as he attempted to stand, he muttered, “W-what’s wrong with me … ?” and slumped onto the floor in a heap.

“Bakugo!” shouted Kirishima, but when he tried to run to his friend, he also collapsed.

“Bakugo? Kirishima?” shouted Kaminari, who dashed over to the fallen boys. Both were fast asleep, as if they’d been knocked out.

“They’re snoozing? Weird time for a power nap … Hey, Todoroki, quit it with the cold stuff … Wait. Todoroki too?” said Kaminari, realizing that the source of the cold was also asleep.

“Hey, Midoriya! Ida? Koda?” said Ojiro, checking three of his classmates.

“Tokoyami? Shoji, Sero, and Sato too? What could be the matter?” said Aoyama.

Over in the cool bath, Shoda was frantically trying to keep Mineta’s and Bondo’s heads above water.

“Tetsutetsu? Honenuki?” said Monoma, noticing that his own classmates had slumped over.

“Whoa, Bondo and Fukidashi too?” said Kaibara

“What the heck is going on here … ?” muttered Kaminari, now frozen to the bone as he surveyed the bizarre scene.

Meanwhile, the girls in the common area were dealing with similar problems. In the middle of their good-natured battle over which class had the better homeroom teacher, Uraraka, Asui, Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Hagakure, and Kendo had suddenly fallen into sleeplike trances—and what’s more, some of their Quirks were misfiring. Uraraka was floating across the room, Asui was hopping around and croaking like a real frog, Yaoyorozu was producing matryoshka dolls nonstop, and Jiro just lay there, not moving a muscle.

“What’s the deal, girls? Cut that out!” said Ashido, the only remaining class A girl with her wits about her. She ran around shaking her friends like rag dolls, but they refused to snap out of it.

“Itsuka? What’s wrong, Itsuka?” said Tokage.

“Pony won’t wake up either,” said Yanagi, sounding worried. Like Jiro, Kendo and Tsunotori had fallen into a heavy, motionless sleep.

“Get down here, Uraraka! That’s dangerous, Asui!” shouted Ashido. Uraraka had floated all the way up to the high ceiling and now seemed to be stuck, while Asui was clinging to the glass of the common area’s tall windows.

“Mm!” said Kodai, eying the army of matryoshkas Yaoyorozu was unwittingly creating. In truth, Kodai didn’t hate the idea of a room full of nesting dolls.

Back in the boys’ bathing area, a few of the sudden sleepers were also firing off their Quirks.

“Hot, hot! Wait, that’s cold! Ack, hot again!”

Thanks to Todoroki’s “Half-Cold Half-Hot” Quirk, the room was violently fluctuating between murderously hot sauna and frozen meat locker. Sero’s “Tape” was also haphazardly launching from his elbows, plastering Ojiro, Aoyama, Kaibara, and Fukidashi to the floor and walls.

“Ugh, not my tail!” said Ojiro, knowing how painful it would be to rip the tape from his fluffy tail tip.

“Hot? Cold? Please, do make up your mind, ☆” said a weary Aoyama.

“I’ve had enough!” said a pissed-off Kaibara as he started to tear away the tape.

“Hang on!” said Tsuburaba, who’d managed to escape the tape storm. “Lemme set up an Air Prison for us, and …”

But before he could use his “Solid Air” Quirk to protect the remaining boys from the heat, cold, and tape, the floor suddenly turned soft and began to undulate. Honenuki’s “Softening” Quirk was to blame, since his limp hand had touched the floor as he fell asleep. Meanwhile, Ida’s engine-powered legs were pumping through thin air as he lay on his side, Bondo was squirting glue everywhere, and Mineta’s “Pop Off” balls were scattered about.

“What on earth is this about?” shouted Monoma, surveying the chaos.

“Dunno, but we gotta help everyone!” said Kaminari.

“Right, of course,” said Monoma, suddenly sounding like he’d come to grips. “First, we need to get everyone away from Todoroki.”

Monoma’s quick thinking was just the thing to spur the others to action. Tsuburaba’s Solid Air provided them with footholds and shields to protect themselves from Mineta’s balls and Bondo’s glue, and Togaru Kamakiri’s “Razor Sharp” Quirk helped cut through Sero’s tape. Before long, they’d managed to drag their sleeping friends out of the bathing area. Only Todoroki remained inside, since it seemed like the best place to contain him while his Quirk continued to misfire. As for the boys who were flailing around in their trances, Monoma used Sero’s tape (which he copied with his own “Copy” Quirk) to bind them and keep them from hurting themselves. Similarly, the girls had used Shiozaki’s vines to grab Uraraka and Asui off the ceiling and window, and for the time being, they’d wrapped the pair in heavy blankets, for safety’s sake.

Reunited, the still-lucid boys and girls agreed that they’d better contact their teachers for help, but when they moved toward the front entrance, they were stunned by what they saw outside: snow was piled up on the other side of the window, to a degree one might expect in the frigid northern regions. The kids then tried calling the teachers but couldn’t get through. Perhaps they were busy dealing with the sudden snowfall?

“Where’d all this snow come from?”

“Ah, I think I might know …” said Ashido, who went on to explain to the boys that an escaped villain’s Quirk might be behind this. Even the girls—who’d heard the news story firsthand—hadn’t noticed the snow until now.

“So, we can’t reach our teachers, and it’s likely that this snow has them sealed in as well. Which means we somehow have to deal with this crisis ourselves,” said Monoma.

“Somehow? How, exactly? We dunno what’s causing this, even …”

“I think the hot pot might be to blame,” said Monoma, sounding uncharacteristically earnest. The others gasped, and Monoma continued.

“Note that only those who sampled the yaminabe have been affected,” he said.

“Right … That’d explain why Ojiro, Aoyama, Ashido, and I are okay,” said Kaminari, remembering their trip to the bathroom. But Shishida wasn’t convinced.

“If so, why are some of our schoolmates merely sleeping, while others are firing off their Quirks?” he asked.

“Maybe it’s about the amount they ate?” suggested Tsuburaba. “Tetsutetsu was gorging himself on the stuff.”

“But what was wrong with the yaminabe? We all agreed only to add edible stuff,” said Yanagi.

“Yeah, I just tossed in some strawberry milk,” said Tsuburaba.

“I picked squid ink,” said Kuroiro.

“And I added some nastycap mushrooms I found in the forest, shroom,” said Komori. The other members of class B volunteered their own contributions, until only Monoma remained.

“I put in escargot … salmiak licorice … schnecken gummies, and …”

“You added more than one thing? And salmiak and those schnecken things are famous for being the nastiest candies around!” said Kaminari angrily. Incidentally, Aizawa was a big fan of salmiak licorice.

“There was no rule stating only one item per person. Anyhow … my fourth thing was some more of those nastycaps that Komori must have forgotten,” said Monoma, as if it were an afterthought.

“Huh? I totally added all the nastycaps I brought …” said Komori. After a second, she gasped.

“Wait. Don’t tell me it was the ones in that plastic bag?”

“Yes? I assumed you were trying to spare class A from too much nastiness,” said Monoma.

“Those weren’t nastycaps! They were quirksnoozes! Poison mushrooms!” said Komori.

“Huh?”

“If any quirksnoozes were in that broth, then just a sip would be enough to put someone in a coma! Eating an actual piece of one makes your Quirk go wild! When I spotted some growing out there, I made sure to pick them all so I could dispose of them properly later!”

As it dawned on everyone that Monoma was unwittingly responsible for poisoning their classmates, they turned to the guilty party and gave him a death stare. He might’ve attempted to make an excuse, but the anger in their eyes caused him to reconsider.

“Sorry …” said Monoma.

The simple apology felt incredibly admirable coming from him, so the others decided not to pile on the guilt further. Besides, saving their sleeping friends was the top priority now.

“So, how do we counteract the quirksnooze poison?” asked Kaminari.

“There’s only one way, shroom …” said Komori. “We gotta feed them dequirksnooze!”

Kaminari was puzzled.

“The quirksnooze? Isn’t that what started this problem?”

“Not the quirksnooze. Dequirksnooze! It’s another type of mushroom that grows near quirksnooze shrooms.”

“Did you happen to pick some of those too?” asked Kaminari.

“Nah. Those ones aren’t poisonous, but they don’t taste good either, shroom,” said Komori.

“I guess that means someone’s gotta go mushroom picking …” said Kaminari. This prompted the others to glance toward the window, but the snow had already piled up too high for them to see even a sliver of the outside world.

“I’ll do it.”

“Seriously, Monoma … ?” said Kaminari.

“This seems to be my fault, so it’s only right,” said Monoma matter-of-factly. “Komori—can you give me detailed directions to the spot?”

Kaminari scowled. He knew it would be an uphill challenge if Monoma went it alone.

“Guess I gotta come with you!” said Kaminari.

“You?” said a shocked Monoma. “But you’re useless.”

“Huh?”

Kaminari only had good intentions, so the casual insult stung.

“It’d be dangerous out there all alone!” he said, getting up in Monoma’s face. “And I can be useful! Like, as a battery!”

“Hmph. I guess I can’t stop you from tagging along.”

“Knock it off, man. That whole hot-and-cold shtick isn’t cute at all when you do it!”

Kaminari was really getting worked up now, and the others were concerned.

“No need to get bent out of shape, Kaminari,” said Ojiro.

“Yeah! You know how this guy is,” said Kaibara, not exactly defending Monoma.

The group talked it over a bit more and decided that the dequirksnooze expedition team would consist of Monoma, Kaminari, Ojiro, Aoyama, Kaibara, and Komori. Everyone else would keep watch over their comatose friends, in case of any additional Quirk outbursts.

Komori was a key member of the team—since she was the one who knew the mushrooms’ location—so naturally, Kuroiro also volunteered. The others told him to stay behind, however, since his ability to meld with black objects wasn’t suited to venturing out into a fresh, white snowscape.

At first they assumed they could trek about on top of the snow, but then they realized it had already reached as high as the third floor of the building. Falling through the top and getting buried could be deadly, so the team decided to tunnel through on the ground instead. Before setting out, they changed into heavy clothes and coats, and Monoma copied some of the more useful Quirks available, even if he could only keep them in reserve for about five minutes.

When the front door refused to open more than an inch or two, Monoma reached through the crack and used Honenuki’s Softening Quirk to make the snow on the other side a little more cooperative. Once past the doorway, Kaibara took charge.

“My turn now!” he said. He spinning arms acted like drills that could carve a tunnel through the snow, all while referencing GPS to keep them on track.

Maybe Monoma was right … I am kinda useless out here.

Seeing the others contribute suddenly made Kaminari disappointed in himself, especially after all his big talk earlier.

“What’s wrong?” asked Ojiro, who’d noticed that Kaminari was in a funk.

“Nah, nothing,” said Kaminari, turning to Ojiro with a smile. But then he glanced ahead at Monoma, who was near the head of the pack. It had mostly been Monoma who’d put together the mushroom-hunting plan, and Kaminari was dumbfounded that the class B provocateur had gone about it with such a level head, given his usual propensity for snark and sarcasm.

He can really get it done, huh …

Kaminari scowled at his own realization before trying to get into a different headspace. The sooner they pulled off this operation, the sooner all his friends would be safe and sound again. Even if it meant being the group’s whipping boy. But just as Kaminari was getting his groove back, Monoma said, “Kaibara! Stop for a second!”

“Why, what’s up?”

“I just lost the GPS signal. Most likely because of the snow.”

“What now, shroom?” said Komori.

Monoma thought for a moment.

“We know the general direction, so keep heading that way. We should run into a main road soon. After that, we turn left, and we should hit the forest before long.”

Kaibara started drilling again, but they never reached the promised road. They needed to get their bearings, so they began tunneling up to the surface of the snow, and the nimble Ojiro created footholds before hauling the others up with him.

Up top, a full-blown blizzard was raging. Monoma used an air shield courtesy of Tsuburaba’s Quirk to guard his face from the wind and snow in order to get a better look around them. Sadly, his flashlight was rendered all but useless by the blizzard.

“I believe it is my time to shine, ☆” said Aoyama, who spun around and fired off his “Navel Laser” to illuminate their surroundings.

“Ah! Over there!” shouted Komori, pointing at one particular tree in the forest.

“Sorry I got so off course!” said Kaibara.

“We’re all just doing our best in this emergency,” said Monoma. “But how about your arms? Not feeling frostbitten yet, I hope?”

“They still got some spin in ’em. Hurting a little, though.”

Monoma inspected Kaibara’s arms—which had just plowed through tons of snow—and said, “Let’s take a break.”

“B-but I can still …” protested Kaibara.

“No. The cold will shut down your body before you know it, so taking a bit of time to warm back up is the most efficient option. Besides, it’ll only slow us down if you’re a shivering mess,” said Monoma.

Kaminari realized his own hands were shivering too. The heat near the ground was preserved to some extent by the thick layer of snow on top, but the cold was still gnawing away at their bodies. And above the snow? The windchill from the brutal blizzard made it feel like minus twenty degrees Celsius. Komori was curled into a ball and clinging to Ojiro’s tail for dear life, and Aoyama was shivering violently while covering his stomach with his hands.

Luckily, Monoma had copied Todoroki’s Quirk, but he found it tricky to restrict the fire and heat to just his fingertips; it spread up his arm until his sleeve caught on fire.

“Careful!” said Kaminari, who grabbed a lump of snow with his shivering hands and pressed it against Monoma’s arm, putting out the fire.

“It-it’s out, right? Yeah. Good. You’re not burned?” said Kaminari, with clear concern in his voice. Monoma was caught off guard for a moment, but it didn’t take long for the sneer to return to his lip.

“Maybe you’re not useless after all,” he said.

“Dammit, Monoma …” said Kaminari, but his anger over the backhanded compliment subsided when he noticed a hint of embarrassment in Monoma’s expression. Maybe the snark was only skin-deep? That realization was good enough for Kaminari.

Monoma gave Todoroki’s Quirk another go, and the team huddled around the makeshift campfire, using Tsuburaba’s air shields to construct an invisible tent.

“Never has warmth felt so lovely, ☆” said Aoyama, stating what was on all their minds.

“Now, we’re nearly there,” said Monoma, looking as serious as ever. “It’s up to us to save the others. Class B is counting on us. Might as well help class A too, while we’re at it.”

“While we’re at it, huh?” said Kaminari.

“Hard for you to sound cool with snot dripping down your face,” quipped Kaibara, prompting Monoma to sniffle loudly as he stood back up.

“All right, let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

They trudged through the blizzard toward the forest—on top of the snow this time—calling out to each other as they went so as not to lose anyone. Once they reached the tree line, more bursts of Aoyama’s laser helped Komori spot the tree in question.

“That’s the one, shroom!” she cried.

“Great! Leave this to me!” said Kaibara. He drilled down to the base of the tree but stopped when he got close, for fear of damaging the precious mushrooms. The others started shoving aside the snow that covered the roots of the tree until Kaminari felt something squishy against his gloved fingertips.

“I think I found it!” he said.

“Yup!” confirmed Komori. She brushed away the snow surrounding the dequirksnooze mushroom and at last claimed the prize. The team cheered, with high fives all around, but Monoma didn’t allow them to rest on their laurels.

“The job’s not done. We need to get this back to the others,” he said.

“Darn right! No time to lose,” said Kaminari.

“But first, I need you all to promise me something,” said Monoma.

“What’s that?”

“Not a word about any of this to Vlad King Sensei.”

“Huh?”

“I only barely passed last term’s final exams,” explained Monoma. “If he finds out I’m responsible for this mess, I’ll be stuck taking remedial lessons, which means no work study for me!”

Kaminari and the others were agape, unsure how to respond to Monoma’s deadly sincere request. Basically, he didn’t want to get in trouble for screwing up.

“Are you for real, Monoma?” said Kaibara.

“What’s your own problem got to do with this one, shroom?” said Komori. Monoma’s classmates weren’t having it, so he had to go on the offensive.

“I know you wouldn’t want to cause Vlad Sensei any grief!”

“Which wouldn’t be an issue if you hadn’t almost failed your tests!” said Kaibara.

“Maybe it just so happens that that’s all I’m capable of!” spat Monoma.

Kaminari suddenly recalled how Monoma was the only member of class B sentenced to remedial lessons during their forest training camp. He was a quick-witted strategist in battle, but apparently academics were not his forte.

“Naw, I get it!” said Kaminari, with a glint of understanding in his eyes. He was painfully aware of how it felt to struggle with written tests. At first, Monoma didn’t know how to feel about the schmaltzy camaraderie Kaminari was pushing, but then he realized he’d found a willing accomplice, so he grinned.

“You’ll keep your mouth shut, then?” asked Monoma.

“You bet. And I’ll tell everyone who got poisoned to keep mum too!” said Kaminari.

“No, don’t tell them anything at all! They don’t need to know either!” said Monoma.

Class B comrades or not, the indignant Kaibara and Komori had been prepared to spill the beans to their teacher, but seeing Monoma and Kaminari quibble made them—as well as Ojiro and Aoyama—burst out laughing. They all understood Monoma’s desire for a work study, so in the end, they agreed to keep quiet.

The blizzard had died down in the meantime, so the trip back to the dorm building was much easier than the initial trek. As the conquering heroes chopped up the hard-won mushroom and fed it to their afflicted friends, they told the others who’d been holding the fort not to inform the victims or teachers about the accidental poisoning. One by one, their classmates came out of the deep sleep.

“What the hell hit me …” said Bakugo groggily.

“Seems like a case of hot pot gone bad,” said Kaminari, while shooting Monoma a knowing glance. Monoma flashed a sly grin underneath his feigned clueless expression.

“The hot pot?” said Bakugo.

“What, did someone add something rotten?” asked Hagakure.

The poisoning victims weren’t completely satisfied with the hand-waving explanation about the hot pot, but Monoma knew just how to convince them.

“That’s how it is with yaminabe,” he said. “You can never be sure what’s going into the mix.”

“That’s rich coming from the guy who suggested it!” said Kaibara, unable to hold back.

Needless to say, classes A and B swore off hot pots for a while.

The tumultuous first night of the term was winding down, and tomorrow the students would be busy with classes and work studies. Perhaps they wouldn’t have been quite so excited for spring if only they’d known of the horrors that fast approached.