A/N: Oh boy this one was a doozy to write and took longer than expected thanks to work. I'm not sure how I feel about the obstacle course race, I don't think I write action scenes well and there was a LOT during the race. I might go back in and polish it up some later, not changing much really. I'm excited that we're getting to this point because stuff about Hikari's parents are finally starting to progress forward. I just wanna get it all out there already!

Thank you all again for reading, and thank you to those of you who left reviews. It makes my heart so warm. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own BNHA (obviously)

Rating: T (because what fun is it without cursing)

Summary: Genetics determine everything, your face and height, even intellect to an extent. In this world of quirks, it is even more pertinent now. Two villains conducted several experiments in crafting the perfect genes for any quirk. Hikari is the result of those experiments. Follow along as she sets out on a path to become a pro-hero by attending the best hero academy, UA.

Un-betaed so you're bound to find some mistakes.


Seven: Racing To My Future


The UA Sports festival was nearing closer and closer but that hadn't stopped the hero course from planning quizzes and projects for its classes. I knew with people like Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Midoriya I'd have a hard time being number one in the class with grades, but I was fine settling into the top eight or so as long as I could stand out physically, and the sports festival was where I planned to prove myself. I had two weeks to improve on where I was now. I had planned on asking Aizawa to help train me, and even fighting him, but since he was still recovering he had even less energy than before.

The final bell had rung a few minutes ago and I was finishing packing up my things, planning on heading to the faculty office to help my uncle home. My dads and Yamada-sensei had planned to switch off having Aizawa over for dinner until his arms had healed enough for him to really move them again, which was going to be a while still.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard several loud exclamations loudly from the door to our classroom. Looking up I found easily thirty or so people cramming against one another, craning their necks over one another to see into the room. How lovely.

"They're here to scope out to competition and see the class that survived a villain attack", Bakugo said, voice unwaveringly calm for him.

I stood with my bag and quickly joined where most of my classmates stood. Knowing Bakugo someone would end up pissing him off and screaming match would follow. He stepped closer to the entrance, the kids in front taking a step back. I'm sure he was glaring them all down.

"At least now you can see what a future pro looks like. Now move it extras!"

Iida and Ochaco jumped at his words, Midoriya looked like a nervous wreck.

"You can't call people extras just because you don't know them!", The class rep exclaimed, his arms waving wildly.

"So this is class 1-A? The news made you all out to be something special, but you just seem to be self-absorbed to me", a monotonous voice droned over the crowd.

A tall boy with purple hair that matched Kirisimha's in its unruliness pushed his way through to the front. He stood a few inches taller than Bakugo did, his irises the same striking shade as the unruly mop on his head, with bags to only rival my uncle etched under them.

"I wanted to be in the hero course too, but I didn't make it through the first round. But I have a second chance. Teachers can transfer in students they deem fit if they perform well in the sports festival. That means some of you would have to be transferred out", he hummed, voice dry.

Several gasps came from my classmates who were unaware of this fact. This school was tough, just because you were in didn't mean you could get complacent. You had to prove yourself and showcase your improvement as time went on.

"So, you better look out. If you don't bring your absolute best, I will take your spot from you. Consider this a declaration of war 1-A"

Iida facepalmed and Midoriya looked like he might faint. Ochaco glanced at me nervously, I simply nodded in response to her.

"Hey, that goes for me too!", a brash voice yelled from outside the door.

A boy with gray hair and angry eyes was trying to push through the crowd that had grown in the hall, to no avail.

"I'm from 1-B next door! You guys think you're so much better than us but you're really just a bunch of brats! I'm going to beat you all at the sports festival!"

"Why does everyone hate us now?", Midoriya and Ochaco groaned in unison.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Cuz competition is a bitch"

Bakugo continued walking out the door quietly, the crowd stepping back from him, a mix of fear and awe on their faces. The loud mouth from 1-B yelling louder since he was being ignored.

"Dude, don't just leave like that! It's your fault they hate us all now!", Kirishima whined, rushing forward.

"These people don't matter. The only thing that matters is that I beat them", Bakugo replied matter-of-factly over his shoulder.

Bakugo disappeared through the crowd without another word, the sleep deprived boy looking almost bored at his departure from the chaos that he had enticed.

"I'm so mad that that was such a manly exit", Kirishima cried wistfully.

"It was", Sato agreed.

"He certainly has a point", Tokoyami hummed.

"Well yeah but now this suck, everyone hates us!", Kaminari cried.

Todoroki quietly slipped out the door next, I followed close behind, stopping to look the one who had threatened to take our spots from us.

"We're certainly not all assholes, but he isn't the only one to be worried about here", I said firmly.

His eyes were haunting up close like this, irises a vibrant violet, but his pupils were stark white, dark rings making them appear almost dead. I could feel a shiver go down my spine, something was different about him. The corner of his mouth twitched into a slight smirk.

"See you there"

I held his gaze a moment longer and then brushed past the people near the door. I knew this would be challenging but I didn't expect everyone to be so bold like this. I guess the USJ incident had caused a larger stir through the population than I thought.


"S'not like we asked to be on national television cuz a UA facility got attacked by villains", I grumbled through a mouthful of food.

"Hikari, chew first, talk second", Kazuo scolded.

I swallowed in a large gulp, "I mean, I know that anyone can be transferred in or out by teacher discretion, but there's something strange about this purple haired guy that came to poke at us today"

"Yes, but it did happen, so now you just have to deal with the attention and jealousy that will come from other students since you were in the spotlight of something so dramatic", Aizawa droned rolling his eyes.

I had helped him unwrap the bandages from his face to eat, the gauze still taped to his face. His face was still incredibly swollen, both eyes practically forced shut. I knew he'd be rolling them at me if I could.

"We'll start a new weight lifting routine to get some more muscle on you before the festival!", Toshio exclaimed excitedly, "I know my baby girl is going to go far with this! Even if you don't come in first place this year, you've gotta show off your quirk and how you can use it!"

I smiled wide at my dads and uncle.

"I know, but the attention like that makes me nervous. I don't like to be in the spotlight like that. The media sucks so much sometimes. I want to stay out of it like Oji-san", I replied brightly.

Aizawa's face twitched in what must have been an attempt at a smile but he groaned at the pain a moment after.

"I know Hikari, but you need to start thinking about your quirk and abilities more logically. You have a flashy quirk that the public will love, and it's uses are more practical in frontal assaults and defenses. You're more suited to be a mainstream pro than underground you know."

I stuck my tongue out at him and took another bite of rice. He was right, as he often was. I would best fit in with the likes of Kamui Woods and even Endeavor, considering our quirks were similar, than the underground world that Aizawa worked in. It's not that I couldn't be stealthy or do inside missions like him, that's what I had grown up craving. But, a part of me knew my skills would be wasted doing underground work. I just didn't want all the unnecessary hype or fame that came along with being mainstream.

"You mentioned you had a lot of homework, right? You can start that, I'll do the dishes tonight", Toshio smiled warmly at me.

I looked at him skeptically. "You hate doing dishes"

"I do, but you need to be in top form in two weeks, that includes homework. I can give you a bit of a break right now"

I chewed the last of my dinner, having ate faster and more than the other three had yet. My quirk took a lot of energy to work so that meant eating a ton. My eyes looked from him to Kazuo, his face encouraging me that this wasn't the other trying to pull something on me.

"Alright, but I still don't trust it", I shrugged.

I took my plates to the sink a room over, returning to kiss both my dads on the head, and then carefully doing the same to Aizawa. He mumbled something like 'get that affection away from me' and I headed up stairs to start in on my hero politics assignment.

I made it about an hour before I groaned and stretched out on the floor of my room, the textbook was just so dry and I was beginning to lose focus. My feet found their way atop the low table in the middle of my floor and pushed my notebook off it.

"Dammit", I sighed.

I stood heading for the door, deciding some hot coffee will help me make it through this assignment and then to bed. I opened my door to hear Aizawa's quiet voice drifting up the stairs.

"We really ought to tell her sooner rather than later"

"How are we even supposed to bring it up at this point?", came Kazuo's strained reply.

"What, like she's never asked about her birth parents before?", Aizawa stated tartly.

I froze in place. Why were they talking about that?

"Of course she has! But she's been so busy with training to get into UA and all the insanity since the start of the school term that she hasn't brought anything up in a long while", Toshio whispered back.

"We also don't want to push it, what if she doesn't have any interest knowing anything about them anymore? We don't want to be intrusive"

"She has to know"

I spun on my heel and quietly shut my bedroom door, sitting down at the table. It didn't make any sense that they would be talking about that? And yeah, I hadn't thought about it in a hot minute, but it was also hard to bring it up. I didn't want them to think that I thought they weren't being good enough parents and I didn't love them. We also had zero information about my bio parents, I had just been dropped off at a hospital. We didn't even know my exact birthday, the hospital had guessed that I had been a few days old so the estimated it to be November 5th which is what we always celebrated, not that I was huge on my own birthday anyway.

I busied myself with finishing the assignment, determined to forget about the strange conversation for now and worry about it later. They probably had just found out some strange thing about the adoption case and they would tell me all about it later.


The two weeks leading up to the festival were incredibly stressful. I had added the heavy weights to my work out routine with my dad and practical training in the afternoons only continued to get harder. They seemed to be trying to work us down to the bone. Including with theory classes. Which is how I wound up studying in the library across from Bakugo for a math quiz the next day.

This was always one of the subjects I loved and excelled in, but I knew I had to study hard and commit all these formulas to memory. I answered practice question after practice question just to assure myself I knew what I was doing.

Bakugo also worked through questions on his side of the table, flipping between pages to check his answers, smirking to himself as he kept getting them right. I set my pencil down and stretched, leaning my head on my hands and closed my eyes. I was exhausted.

"Oi, Star-eyes. You better not be falling asleep over there", Bakugo snapped at me.

I opened them to see his cherry red eyes glaring at me, lower lip jutted out.

"I'm tired Blasty, and I know these equations like the back of my hand now", I yawned in response.

Bakugo rolled his eyes, "I'm gunna kick your ass again"

I snorted, "It was by half a point, and like fuck am I letting that happen again."

He rolled his eyes scowling at me, "No you ain't"

We returned to reading over notes and scribbling some answers down. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, wanting to tell him about the conversation between my dads and Aizawa I had overheard but I knew that Bakugo wouldn't care for personal talk like that.

"Hey, can I get some advice?", I asked.

He grunted in response, not looking up from his math.

"So, around a week ago I had overhead my parents and Aizawa talking about my birth parents and Aizawa insisting that I know something…which is weird because it was a closed adoption technically, since I was dropped off at the hospital, we don't even know my actual birthday, not that I like celebrating it anyways—"

"Wait, you don't even know your birthday?", Bakugo cut in sharply.

I shook my head, slightly surprised that he'd care, "No. They guessed me to be a couple days old at that point so they estimated November 5th. But I haven't thought about them in a long time, I've been so focused on getting in here and now school work that it hasn't crossed my mind much. But it was a really weird conversation, and I don't know what to do."

Bakugo eyed me, looking almost thoughtful as he stared at me. He returned to scribbling at his math.

"Well, if you wanna know about them just ask then. But fuck them for just abandoning their kid like that, what kinda parents do that? Weak people like that make me sick", he growled out.

I smiled softly at him, glad that he wasn't looking at me I knew he'd call me weak next for doing so. I opened my mouth to reply but what interrupted by a monotone 'excuse me'.

I looked over a table to find that Todoroki had taken up residence at it by himself, books and notebooks spread across it. I met his emotionless gaze, one steel gray and one vibrant blue eyes emotionless as he usually was.

"This is the library, can you keep it down please", he deadpanned.

I looked at Bakugo, his annoyance rising at 'the half n' half bastard' as he had so affectionately called him on multiple occasions. He opened his mouth to bite at him when I cut in to stave off any conflict in the library.

"Of course! Sorry about that"

His blank expression never wavered as he stared at me a second more and then nodded, returning to his own work. I looked back at Bakugo, who looked extremely pissed at me for interrupting.

"Hey, I'm done with this stuff, you ready to go?", I asked, quieter now.

His lip curled in annoyance, but he grumbled 'whatever' back to me. We packed our stuff up into our bags, he slung his bag over his shoulder and was already making his way to the exit. I followed after him, turning to look back at Todoroki again. His white and red hair split neatly down the middle of the back of his head. He was always quiet in class and I never saw him hanging out with anyone. He also intrigued me the same way Bakugo did, my curiosity of others demanding answers as to why he was the way he was, I blame Aizawa for this since he was so good at reading people and I had started to pick up on it too. Todoroki probably had the strongest quirk in the class, possessing both fire and ice at his disposal, though I still had barely seen him use his flames in our physical training, using his heat to only melt the ice he made when necessary.

"Hurry up, ya starry fuck", Bakugo called.

I blinked, having been stirred from my thought and turned on my heel.

"Coming!"


In the two weeks of prep I had managed to gain a little muscle and cut some fat down thanks to Toshio's weight training and extensive sparring. My body had become lean, looking like a true hero in the making. My diet has also been upped to a little more than 3000 calories a day because of the energy I was using between working out and my quirk. My ability to create stars depended on the amount of energy I could expend from my metabolism along with elements found in stars (we think, the doctors we had visited to get a better grasp on it were still so fascinated with it) and so I had to eat all the time. Which I currently was doing.

It was the morning of the festival and my nerves buzzed at the back of my mind, but I focused on the grilled fish Toshio had prepared for me. I had awoken earlier than my dads, deciding to do some yoga and stretching in my room before they woke up to help kill the nerves. Toshio sat across from me, reading the news on his ipad. Kazuo came down the stairs, hairbrush and elastic in hand.

"Can I do your hair for you my love? I want you to look your best today since it you'll be on TV!", Kazuo cooed.

I nodded as I stuffed another roll of nori and rice into my mouth, giving him a smile. The actual festival I wasn't too nervous about, though we wouldn't know what we were doing there until it started, it was the being on live television that I was terrified off. The entire nation was going to be watching and more importantly, the pro heroes scouting for sidekicks or even those to sign straight out of school as heroes to their agency. This was one of the most important moments of my life, and I had to prove myself.

Kazuo brushed through my long hair until it was tangle free and then began braiding it, humming absent mindedly. He always was the one to do my hair and dress me as a small child, and the one who took me shopping now. Toshio was good at putting my hair in a ponytail as a kid and encouraged athletic wear, especially since we spent so much time in the gym.

"We're having a bunch of people from the gym over today to watch you", Toshio commented, sipping on his coffee.

"That's so sweet of them to come watch with you two. I wish that you guys could be there in person though", I replied, fiddling with my phone.

He gave me a smile, "I know Hi-chan. Tickets go fast and are so expensive! But hopefully next time. And if not definitely your third year! But we'll cheer you on from here, I know you're going to do great"

"And no matter what, we are so proud of you and everything you've accomplished so far", Kazuo added, kissing me on the head.

I checked my hair in the camera of my phone. Kazuo had dutch braided it to the crown of my head and then secured it into a pony tail, my hair still hitting between my shoulder blades. I ran my hand across my undercut and turned to him smiling.

"It's perfect, thank you!"

"Oh, anything for you", he squealed and hugged me tight around the neck.

"Daaaaaad", I whined, making fake choking noises.

He laughed and let go, "You better get all your stuff together and head out, you'll need to catch the train soon and you don't want to be late!"

"I wouldn't dream of it", I answered.

I took the stairs two at a time to my room, I grabbed my sports bag that had my PE uniform, my fire-retardant sports bra and compression shorts, I felt like I was going to be burning through some clothes today, and my water bottle. I had gotten permission to wear my silver boots from my hero costume, after submitting a ton of paper work, saying that I'd otherwise be blowing up my shoes and that it wouldn't be safe for me to be running around barefoot. The school had agreed but the shoes would be waiting for me in the locker room.

After getting the (huge) bento lunch I had packed the night before out of the fridge and kissing both my dads goodbye, I stuffed my feet into my shoes and headed out the door, ready to face my future.


I sucked down my iced coffee, despite the warning of caffeine causing jitters I was exhausted, as I entered the waiting room for our class. More than half of my classmates were in here, most of them chorusing hello to me. I waved in response heading off to find my locker, my beautiful shiny boots inside. I hurried to the bathroom to change, checking that the braid my dad had done was still intact, and headed back out to get my boots on.

"This is so exciting isn't it! I'm so nervous to be on TV!", Ochaco babbled as she rocked back and forth on her feet.

I nodded in reply, tightening the laces, "I know. The media attention for this event is crazy!"

"So is the security! Did you see all the pro heroes walking around outside!", Kiri exclaimed sitting down next to me. "I saw Kamui Woods! And I hear that Endeavor is here in the first-year arena also! The number two hero!"

I sat up and looked at him in confusion, "Well of course, don't you know?"

"Know what?"

I was cut off from replying as said 'what' opened the door and walked into the room, as expressionless as always. He silently headed to his own locker and then to change. I looked back at Kiri lowering my voice.

"Todoroki is Endeavor's son. How can you not know that?", I whispered.

"Wait, what!", he exclaimed.

I shot my hand out over his mouth and shushed him.

"Endeavor's real name is Todoroki Enji, he isn't nearly as secretive as All Might, he's out in the public all the time. Todoroki lives up to his recommendations, but who do you think recommended him in?", I gritted out through my teeth, trying not to be overheard.

"I really didn't know. No wonder he's so good", Kiri shrugged.

I nodded, and chugged the rest of my coffee, and grabbed a protein bar out of my bag to munch on despite the large breakfast. The bicolored boy was still such a mystery. He was always quiet in theory classes, but gave good criticism in our practical training. He could be a bit blunt with them though which could come across as harsh. I never saw him sit with anyone during lunch and he avoided people like the plague. Aizawa always said that my curiosity would be my downfall since I couldn't keep my nose out of anything, despite him also quietly sticking his nose everywhere too.

Iida burst through the door, "Come on! We're entering the arena soon!"

The class stirred at his loud voice. Todoroki however walked away from the door and right up to Midoriya. The shorter boy looked nervous at his approach.

"Midoriya. From an objective standpoint I think it's clear that I'm the stronger one. However, you have All Might in corner. I won't pry and I don't care. But know this; I will beat you" Todoroki droned.

Gasps came from all over, my own eyes widening in shock at one of our own classmates declaring war on another. Kirishima got up from next to me and approached them both, putting a hand on Todoroki's left shoulder.

"Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? Right before we get started too!", The red head exclaimed.

Todroki jerked his arm back to knock Kirishima off, not bothering to turn around to answer him.

"I'm not here to make friends. Don't forget that this isn't a team effort"

He turned to stride out of the room, but Midoriya spoke up.

"Wait a second Todoroki. I don't know why you felt the need to tell me this. And yes, you are better than me. You're probably the best one in here. He's right. The other classes are coming at us with everything they got", Midoriya calmly said.

Todoroki stopped and turned to face him, the hint of a glare in his heterochromatic eyes.

"We'll all have to fight to stand out. And I'm aiming for the top too", Midoriya level his eyes at him.

"Fine"

He turned and stalked out of the room. I could hear Bakugo huff in annoyance. This sports festival is a lot of things. Our chance to show off and prove ourselves worthy as heroes in training. For those who didn't make it into the hero course a second chance. But it also emulated the cut-throat world of competition in the profession. Most heroes relied on popularity just as much as their skill to rise through the ranks. I did not want to tread on the friends I had made in just a short here, but I was blood thirty to prove myself.


We walked into the arena to Yamada-sensei hyping us up citing the recent media coverage from the USJ. The stands were absolutely packed. There were always people dying to come watch the festival in person, but typically the Third years arena looked like this since they had the most experience.

I was in between Bakugo and Kirishima as the other first year classes were announced alphabetically and filtered out and to the stage where Midnight awaited us, dressed in her provocative hero costume. It was necessary of course because of how her quirk worked, her skin needed to be readily exposed, like mine did. That didn't stop the boys from blushing and grape head from getting a nose bleed at the sight.

"And now for the student pledge, we have Bakugo Katsuki!", Midnight cried cheerfully.

The blonde walked to the stage, hands in the pockets of his track pants. His face stoic as whispers ran through the crowd of students.

"He did come in first in the exam, but they still chose him to be the class rep?", Midoriya whispered fretfully.

"Only first in the hero exam", a girl cut in sharply.

I rolled my eyes, everyone here hated our class, much thanks to the boy walking to the microphone. All eyes and cameras trained on him.

"I just wanna say", he spoke without emotion, "that I'm gunna win"

My mouth dropped open at his bluntness to the entire nation, other students booed around me. I could hear Iida shouting his disapproval for his words from somewhere ahead of me. I looked at Kiri, also just as shocked, and grinned.

"He's not wasting time so neither should we!"

Ruby eyes met mine with a determined stare and he nodded as Bakugo returned to where we were. The blondes face was serious as he looked me before turning to looked back at Midnight.

"Now, let's see what the first event will be!"

The screen behind her whirred through several event options. They did this to make it seem random to the crowd but Aizawa mentioned that they did choose the events ahead of time so they would have enough time to prepare, some of them were insane. The events came to a stop and it displayed "obstacle course".

"Obstacle course it is then! You will be running a race along a 4 kilometer track on the outside of the stadium! As long as you stay on the track anything goes! Get ready and take your places!", Midnight called, gesturing to the gigantic red gate.

I moved with the mass of first years towards it, the business students separating out and heading to the stands to run their own simulations on the crowd and gain experience, no interest in physical tests like this was going to be. I glanced around me, Kirishima to my right, Bakugo slightly ahead and to my left. I glanced behind me and saw Ochaco and Midoriya together, his unruly green hair standing out. I gave Ochaco a wave and she nervously waved back.

Turning my attention back to the door, which looked way too narrow to for all of us here, Todoroki's distinct spilt hair was a few rows of people in front of me near the front. His whole body was tensed, ready to run and pounce, like a lethal predator. He was going to be one of the biggest contenders here, besides the firey boy to my left. I took in a deep breath and shook my body to loosen up as Midnight began the countdown, releasing my nerves and focusing.

"GO!", Midnight yelled.

The mass of bodies surged forward into the too small space, I kept my hands up and elbows tucked, pushing other away to try and get through. I had already lost track of both boys in the madness of everyone trying to push through. I could faintly hear Yamada-sensei and Aizawa's commentary booming through the speakers. Something about the door. Oh duh. This was the first obstacle. Alrighty then.

I pushed harder, making my way through the rows of people separating me from the light at the end. I was going to get out and get going. I was so close when a mop of split hair broke free of the struggling bodies, and just barely above the noise I could hear the noise of his ice forming, heading back to us.

"Sorry", I gritted out.

I pushed myself up using my neighbor's shoulders to some complaint as the ice swept through, freezing their feet in place. With the others next to me at the front stationary I wove through them, slipping slightly on the ice. I broke out into the light at last, along with Bakugo, Kirishima, and a few others from my class. I grinned.

I took off, skating on the ice and melting it with my feet, classmates on my tail. The wails and protests of those stuck came from behind me as I ran, not sparing it a second thought. I pumped my legs as I ran after him, feeling the others close behind. Todoroki looked back for a second, but kept on.

I didn't want to use energy on my quirk yet, I could fly ahead and catch up easily, but just running for now would do. Until Todoroki came to a dead stop ahead, those of us behind pausing quickly after. The stupid robots from the exam were here. One, two, and three pointers all rolling forward. And a bunch of zero pointers looming behind.

"This is crazy, we're gunna die!", I could hear someone shout behind me.

Todoroki crouched down, frost swirling around his feet, before throwing his hand straight up, ice encapsulating all the zero pointers. I stood admiring the expanse of his ice, I still hadn't seen him hit his limit before and it was nuts.

"Quick! Through the legs!", someone called.

They were quickly muffled by the sound of an explosion, and there went Bakugo up and over the zero pointer. I grinned, clearly a better and flashier way of getting over. I ran two steps forward and blasted off after him, Tokoyami flying by on dark shadow and Sero in close pursuit after with his tape.

I kept my arms out to balance myself as I descended, rolling when I hit the ground and continuing, Tokoyami only just ahead. I started to take leaping bounds using my quirk, to catch up with him. I heard creaking behind me, probably the zero pointers falling over thanks to being frozen off balance.

The adrenaline pumping through my veins was astounding, I hadn't gotten to use my quirk in such a fun way in a long time. Quirks couldn't be used in public unless you were licensed, and since mine was rather destructive my dads didn't let me use it inside when I was younger. But visits to my grandparent's cabin in the summer, and their large residence in the countryside, were private land. I ran amuck, scorching the grass as I jumped and tried to fly.

I threw my head back as the wind whistled in my ears, pony tail waving wildly behind me. The overwhelming feeling of joy from this was everything.

I rounded the corner and saw a giant gorge dug into the ground, with several platforms connected by ropes. Todoroki was literally skating through them, icing over the ropes with his right foot. How was his balance that good that he could just slide along them like that?

I increased my pace to get a good build up, and leapt over the side, warmth rushing my legs and stars bursting out from my shoes. I landed on the closest one taking a few running steps before jumping to the next one. Several others had caught up by now, I could hear Iida and Midoriya behind me, both noisy as always.

I kept my eyes trained ahead, Todoroki already making his onto the other side of the gorge. Bakugo was leaping from platform to platform as I was, propelling himself forward with his hands. I was halfway across when I went to leap again, when something collided into my back sending me off course and falling straight down.

"The hell!", I cried.

My hands reached out for the rope connecting the two, grabbing on to catch myself. I hung there for a second looking up. Tokoyami flew straight by with a sheepish look on his face, Dark Shadow sticking it's tongue out at me. Great, I'm glad a quirk is gunning for me. I flipped my legs up and crawled the rest of the way over to the next platform. A bunch of others were crossing over at his point, Iida shooting along with his engines. I'd have a harder time getting a good running start on the small platform now that I had to build up momentum again.

I took two long steps and pushed off the platform, stars exploding and pushing me forward. Three more jumps later and I touched down on the other side. I could see Tokoyami up ahead, along with Iida, Kirishima, that kid from 1-B that was yelling at us two weeks ago.

"I'm coming for you bird brain!", I yelled.

I ran forward as fast as I could, grateful for the amount of cardio that Toshio had made me do. I was sweating thanks to exertion and the heat of the sun bearing down on me, but my breathing was still under control.

I was gaining on Kirishima and the loud mouth, Tokoyami flying ahead still, Dark Shadow nowhere to be found at the moment. I leapt and shot forward with my quirk, Present Mic's voice announcing something but I was too focused to notice. I rounded the corner to hear several explosions, was Bakugo that pissed at something?

Turns out it wasn't really Bakguo, it was a minefield. Iida was trying to out run the explosions to no avail and was getting caught in the blasts of some. I could see Kirishima and Sero edging around them carefully. Todoroki and Bakugo were up ahead, actually fighting and trying to continue forward.

I shook my head and began tiptoeing around the small mounds of dirt, keeping my eyes trained on the ground. This was crazy. Clearly, they were just noisy and only just enough to send people flying, but the staff here was actually insane.

Bombs began going off behind me as people managed to tread on them as they tried to catch up. I glanced up seeing Tokoyami about 300 feet in front of me, Kirishima and Sero not far behind him. I grit my teeth, I was going to get that bastard back for almost knocking me into the gorge.

I took two more careful steps forward when a gigantic explosion sounded from behind me. My head whipped around to see a cloud of pink smoke spreading out across the field that was larger than it should have been considering the others I'd seen go off. I gaped at it as a figure flew out of it and over my head. It was Midoriya! On a piece of broken robot. He must have dug up a bunch of the bombs and piled them up to make an explosion that large.

That was when an idea popped into my head.

"Thank Midoriya!", I yelled.

My whole body flooded with warmth as I tensed and jumped, directly onto the two closest mines to me. They exploded and I shot stars out of my feet as they sent me skyward. My forearms lit up and I continued to propel myself forward with them.

"Oh yeaaah!"

I didn't make it anywhere near as high as Midoriya did, but it was enough to carry me to the other side of the mine field, and in front of Tokoyami. I descended a little too fast, and I dove into a roll and I hit the ground, coming up sprinting, the arena was so close. I wouldn't be first, but I knew I'd be close.

I made it through the arena gate, a little robot shouting 'SEVENTH' as I passed it. I breathed in heavily as the crowd roared as more people filtered in. I looked up to see Midoriya's face on the screen, he had managed to come in first thanks to that gigantic explosion. I glanced around to Bakugo gasping for air off to the side.

I wandered over to him, about to say something, but the glare he shot at me made me bite down hard on the inside of my cheek. He wiped a hand across his forehead and stomped back over to the stage that Midnight stood on. I sighed.

"Sorry about Dark Shadow trying to push you to your death like that", Tokoyami called behind me.

I turned and smiled, Dark Shadow sticking it's head up behind his shoulder, frowning.

"I'm not!", it crowed.

"We don't try to kill classmates!"

I laughed, "It's okay! Midnight did say anything goes. I'm sure if I had fallen somehow it would've been fine"

Tokoyami nodded, he rubbed at the feathers on his cheek.

"Let's head over, there'll be showing the results in a second"

We wandered over to the group that had begun accumulating in front of the stage, the results compiling on the screen behind Midnight. Midoriya in first, Todoroki in second, and Bakugo in Third. No surprise there. It was two students from class B that had managed to get ahead of me while I flew, then Iida, me, Tokoyami, Kirishima, Sero, and that loud mouth with the silver hair.

A lot of 1-B had seemed to make it, as the results kept scrolling. So had much of my own class, not many of the support or general studies made the top 42 cut. The boy with haunting eyes however had been one to make it at 27 which wasn't too bad considering I had no idea what his quirk was. I turned my attention back to Midnight who once again was waiting on the screen to decide what the next challenge was. It landed on Calvary Battle.

"How are we supposed to do a team event in this kind of setting?", I asked aloud.

"It'll be like the playground game, but with a twist! You will form teams of two to four. You all have a point value assigned based on place. Starting with 5 points at the bottom, increasing by 5 as it goes up. Except first place….is worth TEN MILLION", Midnight announced with a devious grin.

"The rider will have a headband with the team's total points on it so everyone knows how many points they're stealing"

Whispers shot through the crowd. I could almost hear Midoriya's panic at the announcement. It didn't even matter what you had placed, it could be anyone's game if you made it to the end with that headband. Or stole enough of the others. This wouldn't be the last event, the festival always ended with some kind of one on one fights with the top students. You didn't even have to come in first to move on. I had to make it to those fights, it was going to be the best place to show off.

My nerves ran wildly through my body at how close I was to where I wanted to be. This short-term goal had been pushing me since I had gotten my acceptance letter. I would make my dads proud. Show Aizawa that I was worthy to become a hero like him. And if there was anything to go by with their whispered conversation weeks ago, maybe I'd even get to make my biological parents proud. There was a lot of hurt still there from being left.

"You have fifteen minutes to make teams!", Midnight boomed through the speakers.

My eyes raked over the crowd of students next to me. I wanted to join with Bakugo, he would absolutely want to be a rider and I could handle his attitude. Not to mention between the two of us alone our points would be at 380. Which would be a good place to start building putting us ahead of others.

I spotted the blonde at last, he was surrounded by a bunch of our classmates, no doubt also asking to be in his team. I started heading towards them all. His red eyes darted in my direction and held my stare. He looked overwhelmed with the attention he was receiving, since he came in third and was incredibly powerful, but was just serious as he had been the whole day. He nodded once, answering my question without words.

I smiled and rushed the rest of the way over, bumping shoulders with the boy who had declared war on us as a class. His smirk was terrifying and his eyes seemed to stare straight into my soul. I glared at him and continued towards my favorite explosion boy.

"Let's kick some ass!", I yelled.

Some of the others had parted to let me through, not surprised but disappointed that I was joining him. He grinned manically at me, his drive to be number one was overwhelming and made me desire it too.

"Bakubro, let me be on your team!", Kirishima called pushing his way through.

His track jacket was torn to shreds around his neck thanks to his own quirk, but his eyes were alight with determination.

"Hey stupid hair"

"My name is Kirshima Eijiro! And our hair is almost the same! But anyway, let me join. You need a front horse that can handle your explosions because I know you want to be a rider. That's me!", He declared, pointing to himself.

Bakugo looked him up and down.

"I need someone with guts"

"Let's go get that ten million", Kiri grinned.

Bakugo narrowed his eyes for a moment before returning it.

"We're gunna win this", the blonde growled.

Kirishima brought our point value up to 545, but we needed another person, I was strong but I knew my arms would give out before the time of this event was up, and he'd balance better between three of us.

"We need one more, Bakugo. We'll be more stable that way", I added.

Bakugo's eyes traveled over the crowd of people who had backed up but hadn't wandered off yet since a team of four made the most sense, they were all hoping to make the cut. He glanced at me sideways before staring them all down.

"Oi, tape arms. Let's go"

"My name is Hanta Sero!", the lanky boy whined.

He shot forward with a smile on his face however and the surrounding crowd finally disappeared, grumbling as they went. I bounced up and down on my toes, this was a good team we had here.

"Okay shitty hair, you're gunna be in front so you better be able to take whatever I throw at you", Bakugo barked.

"That's why I'm here!", Kiri countered.

"Scotch tape will be on my left and star eyes will be on my right. You'll use your tape to help us grab headbands and slow down other teams, just don't make them fucking fall or well get a red card"

"Got it", Sero nodded.

"You", Bakugo jabbed his finger into my chest, "Gotta melt icy hot's ice with your stars. You can get the temperature high enough, right?"

I rolled my eyes, "Of course I can. You know I can just keep them forming under my skin to heat up whatever part I need. I've also been working on getting them to explode after I throw them, kinda like small supernovas. That takes a ton of energy though, so we shouldn't rely on that too much"

"You can make supernovas now?", Kirishima asked incredulously.

I grinned, "Hell yeah I can"

"Oi", Bakugo barked, focus shifting back to him.

"We're gunna get that 10 million headband from Deku, but we're gunna take half n' half's points too. We're gunna be the first-place team and advance no matter what, and I'll kick your asses later", he sneered, determination glinting in his eyes.

I snorted as we all nodded, Sero and Kiri looking slightly uneasy but excited nonetheless.

"You better not fuck this up"


A/N: Did ya make it? I hope you enjoyed it, and as always please let me know what you think!

Until next time! ~Vic