Magical Girls

"Now, get off the bus."

After the bus stopped, everyone disembarked one by one, following Shota Aizawa's instructions.

Kirishima stretched and yawned. "No wonder it's in the mountains, the air is so much fresher!"

Jilan took a deep breath as she got off the bus. The air on the bus was a bit stuffy, and the fresh air made Jilan feel much more refreshed.

We're currently halfway up the mountain, but the bus has stopped here instead of continuing uphill. Does this mean we'll have to hike the rest of the way?

Jilan looked back and saw that another bus had stopped somewhere, but there was no sign of the other bus behind her.

So Class A isn't training with Class B this time... I guess the outdoor area with its lush trees must be Ibara Shiozaki's favorite place.

At that moment, Jilan heard the sound of a car whizzing by. A black car rushed down the mountain and drifted to a stop in front of everyone.

The car door slammed open with a bang, and a hand wearing a fluffy cat-paw glove waved at Shota Aizawa: "Long time no see, Eraser Head!"

"Long time no see." Shota Aizawa bowed deeply as if he were seeing a senior.

A pink cat darted out first, transforming like a magical girl, chanting a slogan as she performed actions. "A shining heart, a beautiful light, twinkling to illuminate the evil in the world, passion like a flame!"

A blue cat suddenly appeared. "Pure as ice, purify your filthy soul!"

The two simultaneously struck a pose as if they were joined together, shouting loudly, "Let us shower you with love! WildWild! We are--pussycats!"

Opposite me were two women dressed as magical girl cats, wearing Ogami cat gloves. One was a chestnut-haired woman with red hair, and the other a blonde woman with blue hair. They didn't look very old, no more than thirty, but their clothes seemed more like something elementary or middle school girls would wear. Therefore, there was a jarring feeling, like they were forcibly cosplaying characters they didn't fit into...

Everyone in Class A fell silent; they couldn't put into words how they felt about the performance they had just witnessed.

Denki Kaminari covered his mouth with his hand and whispered, "This is so awkward... I'm about to have a severe case of embarrassment."

"I agree." Everyone around couldn't agree more. Their eyes were vacant, and they began to doubt life itself. Even Jilan felt as if her retina had been struck.

"I suspect I've wandered into the wrong place..." Kyoka Jiro herself.

However, two people do not appear to be included in this list.

"Awesome!" Minoru Mineta exclaimed, his breath hot from his nose, almost fainting with excitement. "To see middle-aged women enduring such embarrassment to perform as magical girls—this has always been my dream! Married women magical girls are the best! This must be God's compensation to me!"

"Grape, you have quite a wide range of interests..." Everyone consciously kept a distance of three meters from Minoru Mineta.

Midoriya also looked excited, but his excitement was clearly directed at Minoru Mineta's. "This is a joint agency, a four-person hero group, Pussycats!"

Midoriya excitedly introduced them to everyone, "They are a highly experienced team specializing in mountain rescue, with 12 years of experience..."

Before Midoriya could finish speaking, a furry cat's paw covered Midoriya mouth. The blue cat stared at Midoriya with dangerous eyes. "Your heart is eighteen!"

"My heart is eighteen!" Midoriya repeated hastily.

Another group of old women who care about their age... Jilan thought of several old women related to "purple" for a moment, but the next moment, he seemed to see a red spear and a spatial rift shaped like an eyeball unfold in front of him, and he quickly stopped imagining.

Shota Aizawa coughed and said, "These two are members of Pussycats, your training officers for this forest training camp. Don't be rude, say hello."

Everyone bowed their heads in unison and shouted, "Please!"

"Hmm... aren't they quite cute?" The woman dressed in red cat-themed clothing nodded in satisfaction and introduced, "My hero's name is Mandalay, and this one next to me is American Shorthair. Please take good care of him."

Although it looked a little awkward at first glance, the sense of incongruity wasn't so strong once the woman became serious, or once everyone got used to it. After all, Pro Hero wear all sorts of combat suits; how could they not be used to them?

Then, Mandalay pointed to the woods below the mountain and explained, "This whole area belongs to us, and your accommodation is at the foot of the opposite mountain."

"Hey, it's so far away, why is the car stopped halfway there? Could it be..." Everyone had a bad feeling.

With a forced laugh Hanta Sero backed away, saying, "No, no, how could that be? Let's go first..."

Mandalay rubbed its paws against its face. "It's 9:30 now. If you're quick, you can get to the meeting point by 12:00. At the latest... anyone who doesn't arrive by 12:30 won't get any food!"

"No, no... We have to go!"

Everyone thought they would be having a camping trip in the forest, but they didn't expect to have to do resistance training as soon as they arrived on the mountain. Unwilling to accept this, they all ran back!

However, the American Bobtail landed as lightly as a cat, blocking their way to the bus, its paw touching the ground—

In an instant, the solid earth seemed to transform into a sea, rising high like waves, one after another, carrying them to the edge of the cliff and throwing them off!

"Hmph, how dare you laugh at my age! Even a well-behaved cat would get angry!" The American Shorthair smugly patted the dust off its paws.

Shota Aizawa stood aside without stopping the American Shorthair's actions, but said in a deep voice, "Everyone, the training camp has begun. It's up to you now."

No one expected that the land they relied on would abandon them. Without any warning, they were all thrown off the cliff. Although Jilan had been prepared, and the power of the Hamon was already flowing through his body, he could have used the Hamon to stick to the ground and avoid being thrown off. However, after thinking about it, he did not do so, but instead let himself fall down naturally.

The soil beneath the cliff was also manipulated by the American Shorthair, which softened the ground like a hovercraft before they even landed, so no one was injured despite falling from such a height.

"Hey everyone, this is private territory. You can use your Quirk freely!" Mandalay gripped the fence above, looked down, and shouted maliciously, "From here, you'll walk to the base within three hours, crossing this Beast's Forest. We'll be waiting for you there!"

"Beast's Forest, what's with this game-like name...?" Everyone turned around and looked at the seemingly endless, overwhelming forest behind them, and couldn't help but shiver.