Chapter 115: The Insolent Brat! Tiger's Hellish Warm-Up!

The clearing in front of the cabin was still covered in dew when Ren stepped outside and adjusted the collar of his suit. The cape hung from his shoulders with a weight he still wasn't used to, though he had to admit it did a good job keeping out the cold coming down from the mountain.

First day of rescue training! What kind of exercises are we gonna do? At this point I'm honestly scared to find out.

Behind him, Mina dragged her feet with her arms crossed and a scowl showing under her mask. Her hero costume looked flawless, though her sour expression completely ruined the heroic effect.

"Ugh...! I still can't believe it..." Mina grumbled, walking up with a sigh. "They yanked me out of bed like some stray kitten. Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to wake up with a voice talking straight inside your head?! I nearly had a heart attack!"

"I heard you scream from my room. For a second I thought the ceiling was caving in," Ren replied, not bothering to hide his smile.

"Don't laugh!" Mina pointed a finger at him, pouting. "I went flying, landed flat on my stomach, and to top it off, the tatami decided to betray me! I slid all the way into the wall!" She pressed a hand to her forehead, completely dramatic. "It was the worst start to a day in history!"

"I'd call that a free practice flight. You should be grateful," Ren said with a shrug.

The four heroes were already gathered in the middle of the clearing, each one in their cat costume in a different color. Ragdoll was the first to spot them and threw both hands up with a little hop.

"Meow, there are my favorite little kittens!" she exclaimed, wiggling the feline ears on her hood. "And they've already got their costumes on! How exciting! Ren, you look way more awake than last night! I'm so glad. How's that little head of yours? Feeling better?"

"Better," Ren admitted. "Sleeping without a dirt monster chasing me down the slope does wonders."

Pixie-Bob stepped forward immediately and planted herself right in front of him, invading his space without an ounce of shame as her eyes swept him up and down.

"And he's wearing a cape?!" she exclaimed, pressing her hands to her cheeks with a bright smile. "Now that's what I call committing to a look! Hey there, handsome... have I told you yet that I'm eighteen... at heart? And I'm not accepting any arguments about it!"

"You pull them off amazingly, no doubt about it," Ren replied without missing a beat.

"Kyaaa! And on top of that he knows exactly what to say to a girl!" Pixie-Bob fanned her face with one hand, completely enchanted. "You're such a menace, handsome!"

Mina pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a sigh.

"Uuugh, here we go again!" she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Don't they know how to do anything else or what?"

"It's a natural talent. I can't help it," Ren said.

Mandalay stepped forward. Her expression stayed kind, but the tone of her voice made it clear it was time to get to work.

"Alright, you two. Today we're going to focus on something every rescue hero needs to master. We'll set up a simulated collapse, with an injured victim trapped in the rubble, and you'll have to get them out without making their injuries worse. Up in the mountains, one wrong move can be far more dangerous than waiting for help. Understood?"

"The victim is a real person?!" Mina asked, her eyes already sparkling with excitement.

"Hehe. Relax, it's a mannequin with sensors," Ragdoll answered between giggles. "But it's super well made! It even yells and groans like a real person. If you move it the wrong way... beep! The sensor goes crazy and drops your score. The idea is to get them out safe and sound, got it, kitties?"

"Seriously?! That sounds super fun! Aaah, this is exactly why I wanted to come with the Pussycats! You'll see, Ren! I'm awesome at helping people! There's no way I'm losing to a pile of rocks!"

"I like that attitude, Mina," Mandalay said. "Even so, the warm-up comes first. Tiger will handle that. On a rescue mission, a solid pair of legs can make all the difference."

The big guy in the brown suit stepped forward, arms crossed, and the ground seemed to tremble a little under his boots.

"Exactly. I'm not letting either of you step into a disaster zone with your bodies unprepared," Tiger said. "First you build up those muscles. Then we talk about saving lives. A hero who runs out of strength doesn't save anyone."

It was right at that moment that the side door of the cabin opened and a small boy stepped out into the clearing. He wore a red cap with two horns on top, and he looked notably annoyed. He stopped a few meters from the group and stared at all of them.

Mina blinked, thrown off.

"Huh?! There's a kid?! Nobody told me!" Mina said, lighting up at the sight of him. "Aww, so cute!... Although... uhhh..." She laughed awkwardly while scratching her cheek. "I don't think he's very happy to see us, is he?"

Mandalay let out an embarrassed laugh and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Oh, right... Sorry. I should've told you last night." She gave them a warm smile. "This is Kota. He lives here with us. He wasn't feeling great yesterday, so he preferred to stay resting in his room instead of coming down to greet you." Then she raised her voice a little, in a soft, affectionate tone. "Kota, would you mind coming here for a moment? Say hi to the k..."

"I don't want to say hi to anyone," he cut in coldly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And I wasn't sick. I'm just fed up with seeing people play at being heroes."

Mina, far from giving up, crouched down to his level and flashed him her best smile.

"Hiiii, Kota! I'm Mina Ashido!" she said with enough energy to melt an iceberg. "Hey, that cap is super cool! Wait... you like horns? 'Cause so do I! Well, actually, I've got real ones! Look, look, see them?"

She proudly pointed at her horns and let out a little giggle.

"That means we've already got something in common! Isn't that great? We could be on the same team of awesome horn people!"

Kota looked her up and down without so much as flinching.

"Having horns doesn't mean anything."

Kota looked away and adjusted his cap before going on.

"There's a bunch of people with weird bodies. They all think they're special, and then they go around showing off so everyone else will admire them."

He frowned.

"Heroes always do the same thing. They show off their powers and expect people to clap for them. I'm not interested in being friends with anyone like that."

And without adding anything else, he walked off toward the trees, leaving Mina with her hand still stretched out in midair and her smile half frozen on her face.

"Huh...?" Mina blinked as she watched the boy walk away. "Well... I guess I can't be liked by everyone."

Ren gave her a couple of gentle pats on the back.

"Sometimes some people just aren't willing to be our friends."

Mina let out a sigh, and after a moment she was smiling again with her energy renewed.

"Bah, don't worry about it! Maybe he just needs some time to get used to us! And if it turns out he never wants to be my friend... well, oh well. I can't force anyone! What matters is respecting how the other person feels!"

"That's a really healthy attitude, Mina," Ren said, giving her one last pat before pulling his hand back.

Ragdoll came up to them with an apologetic look on her face.

"A-Ah... sorry about Kota, okay?" she said, scratching her cheek. "He's really not a bad kid, I promise! It's just that... well, he went through something really rough a while back and he still hasn't quite gotten over it."

The ears on her hood drooped down a little more as she lowered her gaze.

"Ever since then, anything to do with heroes puts him in a bad mood right away. So don't take it personally, okay? Deep down he's a good kid... he's just a little hurt."

"Don't worry about it," Ren replied, brushing it off. "No problem."

Tiger cracked his knuckles and Mina flinched right away.

"Enough chatter," he said, turning around. "Ashido, Hayashi, with me. We're heading to the other end of the clearing. Warm-up starts now."

The two of them exchanged a quick glance and followed him. When they got there, Tiger turned to face them, chest puffed out.

"Listen up, because I'm not going to repeat myself," Tiger said, crossing his arms. "If you want to become real heroes, start by strengthening that body. There's no shortcut, and no Quirk, that can replace a solid physical foundation."

"Muscles are useless if you don't train them until they react on instinct. I want you to push them, take them to the limit, and make them grow. A worn out hero hesitates. A slow hero arrives late. And when someone arrives late, the consequences fall on the people they swore to protect."

"As long as you're training under me, I'm going to rip every excuse and every bit of laziness right out of you. Because when the moment comes to save lives, your bodies will have to respond before you can even think about it."

"Whoa, that sounds brutal, but also super motivating!" Mina exclaimed as she bounced in place, full of energy. "Heh, I like it! I'm ready for anything, Mister Tiger!"

Ren raised a hand cautiously.

"Quick question before we start," he said. "When you talk about working the muscles, would it be okay if I leaned on my telekinesis just a tiny bit for the heavier parts? Just so I don't hurt myself, I mean."

Tiger looked down at him from his full height, and a slow smile crossed his face.

"No Quirks," he replied firmly. "Just your body against gravity, and every urge to give up you're going to have to swallow. Because the day you run out of strength in the middle of a mission and you're still breathing, you'll understand why I put you through this. A hero who leans too hard on their Quirk is finished the moment they lose it."

"So burn this into your head. Here, you learn to move even without your Quirk... or you don't learn a single thing."

There goes my glorious plan to cheat. Goodbye, my sweet and reliable telekinesis, I'm gonna miss you a lot over the next few minutes.

Tiger didn't give any more explanations and dove right in. First up were laps around the clearing while carrying a log on the shoulder, and not just any log, a good thick one that took Ren a hellish amount of effort to peel off the ground without the backup of his Quirk.

"Pace, pace!" Tiger bellowed behind them. "You don't carry the log with your arms, you carry it with your legs and back! Ashido, excellent posture, that's how it's done! Hayashi, quit glaring at that log and get moving already!"

"It's just... this is hard!" Ren panted, wobbling under the weight. "What's up with these logs, are they stuffed with rocks?"

"They're from the mountain, and the mountain doesn't forgive!" Tiger answered.

When they finished the laps, they moved on to squats with a rock cradled in their arms, and after that, push-ups until Tiger considered each of their forms perfect, which took forever. To Ren's surprise, Mina was holding up with the pace much better than he was, her breathing ragged but a stubborn smile plastered on her face.

"Hey, hey, this isn't that horrible!" she blurted out between squats, gritting her teeth as she tried not to lose her rhythm. "It's like a super intense choreo, but with double the pain! Ha!... Ugh, okay, yeah, it does burn... but I can handle this!"

"How... do you... have... air... to talk?" Ren gasped, his arms trembling around his own rock.

"Hehe! It's years and years of giving it my all on the dance floor, lightbulb head!" Mina answered, all proud, though she almost lost her balance on the way down. "Wha?!... I-ignore that."

From the edge of the clearing, Pixie-Bob was watching them, sitting comfortably on a rock she'd lifted from the ground herself with her Quirk, waving one hand in the air.

"Come on, cutie, don't give up!" she yelled at Ren. "Those arms are looking amazing!"

"Thanks... for the... support..." Ren managed to say between push-ups, his forehead pressed against the grass.

Mandalay watched the scene with her arms crossed and an approving look on her face, while Ragdoll bounced from side to side cheering the two of them on with an enthusiasm that struck Ren as frankly cruel given the situation.

"Come on, kitties, you're doing amazing, meow!" Ragdoll cheered with a smile. "Mina, you've got the stamina of a total champion! And you, Ren, that suffering little face means the training is working!"

The sun was already fully up by the time Tiger finally sent them off to run sprints along the slope, up and back, with no rest in between. By then Ren had stopped counting and was focused on putting one foot in front of the other while his heart pounded in his ears and every muscle in his body screamed for mercy.

When Tiger finally yelled at them to stop, Ren let himself fall backward onto the damp grass and stayed there staring up at the sky, his chest rising and falling at top speed. Everything burned, and his legs kept trembling even though he was lying perfectly still.

I can't feel my legs... And this was just the warm-up. Simply marvelous, I honestly can't think of a better way to start the day.

"Not bad, rookies," Tiger grunted, without so much as a sign of fatigue. "But don't get carried away. That was barely the warm-up. Take a few minutes, hydrate well... and then I want you at the simulation field. You've still got a lot to endure."

And he walked off with the same calm he'd arrived with, leaving the two kids in a jelly-like heap on the grass.

Next to him, Mina was sprawled out in the same pitiful condition, but with an excited smile on her face.

"T-That was... super amazing!" she panted, raising a fist toward the sky with a smile. "Did you see everything we just did, Ren?! And we haven't even gotten to the rescue part yet!"

"Aaah, I can't wait to see what it'll be like! We're totally gonna get that mannequin out in the blink of an eye. You'll see, we're gonna become the best rescue team on the whole mountain! Let's give it our all!"

Ren turned his head, the only part of him still cooperating, and looked at her in disbelief.

"Where... do you... get... so much energy?" he managed to say.

"Huh?! Well, 'cause I'm amazing, obviously!" Mina laughed before letting her arm drop with a tired groan. "Besides, what kind of heroes would we be if we gave up now? You heard him yourself! If you throw in the towel, you're not gonna save anyone!"

Ren went back to staring at the sky and let out a long sigh.

A little bit of your optimism would be really nice right about now. This is gonna be one long day.

And somewhere in the clearing, Ragdoll's singsong laugh announced that their rest was already coming to an end.

*********

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