It was the day of the festival, and class 1-A was relaxing before the start of the first part of the festival. Shouto walked up to Izuku.
"Midoriya," he started. "on an objective basis, I think I'm stronger in terms of practical raw power. You've managed to catch All Might's eyes though. I'm going to beat you." at his declaration, Izuku gave a sad smile. He could tell that Shouto had some sort of baggage, but to feel that misdirected hatred thrown at him was upsetting; anger was a natural emotion that could be used productively, but hate just clouds the mind. 'He needs help' was the thought that came to Izuku's head, 'And I'm going to try'. His gaze hardened as he responded.
"I don't know what brought this up, but I've studied martial arts for so long; skill will always give an edge over power. If you think it'll make you a better hero, then I'm going to make that victory a hard one!" His chi flooded the room with the only emotion he was feeling: determination. Shouto had to collect his mind at the phrase 'if you think it'll make you a better hero'. All his classmate was worried about was helping him get better, for no reason than wanting to help. It was a refreshing feeling; not having any expectations from someone other than being a better 'him'. He gave a small smile.
"OI! Don't think that you can take both of us on, Deku!" Katsuki bellowed, causing the two to look in his direction. "Don't fall behind, Half 'n Half, or I'll lose another stepping stone!" the class made a double take at the explosive teen's nickname for the dual-quirk user.
"Then let's see who wins this!" Izuku spoke his ultimatum while putting his clenched fist in between the three. The new rivaling trio fist-bumped in agreement as the teacher called the class to the stadium.
Izuku walked with his class to the main arena as President Mic announced them with everyone else. With the way he worded the introductions, everyone's attention was focused on class 1-A; the other classes were making 1-A their main targets. There were some cat calls and obscenities shouted when Midnight walked to the podium as she, by title, was 18+ and reffing for freshmen.
"Calling the player representative of freshmen, Izuku Midoriya!" she announced. As the Green haired teen was walking up the steps, he heard his class talking to each other.
"Wait, didn't Deku and Bakugo tie in the entrance exams?"
"Only in the physical, Midoriya said he got first in the written portion, so he technically was first."
"Fucking written exam and the bullshit scores..." As the teen walked to the podium, he realized just how many people came. Taking a deep breath, he started the speech from memory.
"The only thing that dictates our success in this festival are four things: training, instincts, use of any abilities that we have, and determination. Everyone has their shot, but even if you don't win, take your loss and use it to grow; a hero isn't decided on their powers, but on their heart. May this be the day everyone: student, teacher, and audience, remembers for years to come. Plus Ultra!" his words fueled everyone in the school to give cheers as any nervousness was washed away.
"Nicely said. And with that out of the way, it's on to the first Event!" the screen behind Midnight lit up at her announcement with the words 'obstacle race'. When everyone was at the start the countdown began.
Jesse was glad she had the day off and was spending it with Inko at her house. The sports festival would be rough on every student, but parents would worry; she was there in case Izuku did something severely dangerous or, gods forbid, hurt himself and caused Inko a panic attack. The women turned to the screen and they saw everyone running at the start.
"That kid, Todoroki," the she-wolf pointed at the ice user who froze almost everyone at the start. "He pulled a bold move."
"There's Izuku!" Inko shouted as, sure enough, he and many of his classmates jumped over the scarred teen's opening move and the other students. The robots then came into camera view just as a short kid with purple hair was batted aside.
"THE FIRST OBSTACLE HAS APPEARED! THE ZERO POINT ROBOTS FROM THE HERO ENTRANCE EXAM: THE ROBO INFERNO!" the commentator explained what they were as the two women continued to watch. Todoroki froze a couple them in just the right position that the collapsed just after he ran through, blocking the other students. Izuku took point and cleared the debris for himself and his competitors.
"Even when he's competing, he still helps others." his mother said with pride. When a robot landed on a student, Inko gasped.
"Like I'd die!" the camera picked up the redhead's words as he tore through the metal. Jesse doubled over at his anger induced rant at Tetsutetsu nearly identical quirk. She remembered the outlier Cross-Stitch doing the same when he found Starhealer and Fiara were both regenerators as well. Izuku grabbed a scrap plate of metal for some reason and ran towards the next obstacle: The Fall.
"She reminds me of Desmond…" the therapist held her head as one student, Mei, seemed to only participate in the festival for showcasing her gadgets. There was a groan as the support girl also called her equipment her 'Babies'.
"I take it this 'Desmond' called his inventions by the same name?" Inko was acting innocent as her friend gave a horrified nod.
"What made it worse was that he made all sorts of apparatuses that replaced his legs based on anime and such; trying to make himself a drider cyborg for one." it was Inko's turn to laugh while she imagined the first test with such a peculiar set of appendages. They saw Izuku start stacking landmines from the final obstacle and using the metal plate as a springboard. He managed to make the plate hit another explosive on the landing by mistake and started tumbling like a cartoon character, with his forehead breaking the finish line tape. Jesse then had to start working on helping Inko to calm down from her son's "severely dangerous idea". 'Anima must be watching this with a smile' she inwardly groaned, as that kind of crazy stunt would be something he'd do.
"ahahahahaha!" Anima was laughing hard enough to elicit tears when he saw his disciple get first place through literally blowing himself up. he was watching the festival in the waiting room of the government building. The trial for getting him his hero license was keeping him from attending but thankfully everyone else in the building wanted to watch it as well, so the trial times were during the festival breaks.
"It seems your student has… unorthodox planning ideas." Nedzu deadpanned at his side. The principal usually commented on the seniors' festival, but he had to attend the hearing as Anima's consultant.
"He can come up with insane plans that blindside almost anyone, and they work too." the werewolf boasted about his student with pride. As there was a half hour break between the first and second event for all grades, so the two were called in for the next part of his appeal.
"If you really need to, you can use my age and hero experience as leverage. After you, sir." he opened the door for the animal.
"Now Here are the results!" Midnight declared as the screen showed the first 42 students.
"Only the first 42 get to Advance! I'm sorry for those who didn't make it, but take heart, the finale is still being prepared! Anyway, on to the next event!" the screen showed the words 'cavalry battle', and the referee started explaining the rules. The students stopped discussing with one another once she said last rule.
"The headband of the person who ranked first is worth a million points! You now have fifteen minutes." the 18+ heroine said as the timer appeared on the big screen.
"Fifteen, oh crap!" Izuku frantically started to try and team up with people, but with such a large target on his back, it was proving to be pointless until Ochaco wanted to team up. Tears were welling and all of the sudden Mei jumped into the fray. Announcing her shameless attempts to advertise her 'babies' with him.
"This is good, but I'm thinking of adding someone else if we can find- ah!" the green haired teen ran to his target.
"Tokoyami-san!" the shadow quirk user glanced over. "I'd like to ask you to team with me! I have a plan, but your quirk can cover the blind spots that it leaves open. If we can play keep away for the long haul, we're golden." the bird-faced student to ponder, then gave a nod.
"It seems that your method is sound on paper, but the field is where it's going to be pushed to the limits. I'm intrigued enough to join you in this endeavor." Izuku mentally cheered as they got into a formation. Fumikage was in front while Mei and Ochaco were supporting from the back. The signal was given, and everyone moved at once.
several minutes had passed and Izuku's team was managing rather well in keeping their points from the other teams.
"That kid of yours sure is something else. His plan is solidly built out of quirks that couldn't be more different." Thirteen commented to Toshinori.
"He's got a good head on his shoulders, that's for sure. Young Bakugo, in contrast, has a rather good team but isn't using it to his advantage. It seems those two are always a foil to one another." the haggard man saw that Katsuki had lost his headband, and was struggling. The when the timer had reached seven minutes, the students got even more frantic.
When Katsuki's team went for Izuku's horse, the million-point bearer had stopped for a moment.
"Do you even know your teammates' names?" he asked his rival before his team bolted away, pissing Katsuki off.
"After the fucker!" the explosive teen demanded, only for nothing to happen.
"He's got a point, do you?" Mina asked.
"It doesn't matter right now!"
"Answer us…" Sero left the threat unvoiced.
"Fucking fine, No! Now let's win this shit!" the team then was mildly satisfied and did as told. Izuku was already too far, so they changed targets.
"It seems your seeds of discord have withered." Fumikage had told Izuku, but the teen didn't look concerned.
"It was only for us to get some distance from Kacchan, now we just need to stay low…" he trailed off as Shouto's formation was in front of them.
"I'll be taking that headband now." the dual-quirk user calmly stated. Things had changed now, as Izuku didn't think they could hold that team off for the five minutes left in the event. Soon even Katsuki came around, making the million point team's situation even worse. Deciding it was time, Tenya made a gamble. He burst forth with a speed unknown to any of Izuku's team, taking the headband.
"Crap, I've lost track of who has how many points, so unless anyone else knows, we have to get their points! here's my plan." his team nodded at the idea and they ran towards Shouto's group. Izuku for the first time in the cavalry battle used his quirk, forcing Shouto on the defensive. Small flames came from his left arm only for an instant, blinding the green haired teen for only a second as he used the wind pressure of his arm speed to blow the flames out; it wasn't his role to get the points.
"TIME!" President Mic had called from the commenters booth. Izuku looked at his team.
"You get em?" they all showed the bands they snatched from Shouto while the inheritor of One For All distracted him and his team. At the announcement that they got third place the group cheered. Even if they didn't get first, they were still in the game. There was supposed to be a one hour break in between the second and third event, so everyone went to the locker rooms to unwind from the stress. Izuku felt a small nudge and turned to see Shouto silently ask him to follow. The duo walked to an unused entrance where the dual quirk user broke the uncomfortable silence.
"You blindsided me, so much so, that I broke my pledge. It's uncanny how similar your quirks are, so I'm going to ask; are you All Might's illegitimate child?" there was a pregnant pause as Izuku's brain rebooted to answer the odd question.
"You've got it wrong, but I guess that's what an illegitimate son would say. Anyway no, I'm not. But why are you…" Izuku's voice trailed off. Shouto took a breath and explained his circumstances; everywhere starting with his father's ambition to the quirk marriage, even where he got the scar, he told the teen he considered his rival.
"That's why I'm going to be the top hero without his quirk." Izuku saw that look again. there was so much hate in that gaze it was almost palatable. Izuku lent a verbal hand out.
"But it's not his quirk; it's yours. You aren't him and you never will be. If you won't go 100%, then it's insulting to think you can be the top! If you ever need help, know that you can talk to me." Shouto was then hit with Izuku's aura, and for the first time in years, he felt okay. It was similar to how he felt around his mother: safe and comforted. He steeled his face and walked away from that calm warmth, fearing his buried emotions would show. He ate his lunch in silence as he tried to collect his thoughts. When the time for the last event was almost ready, the students went outside to the arena to find a large raised concrete platform. There was some confusion from the commentator's booth about why the girls of 1-A dressed as cheerleaders, but as soon a Momo had shouted Minoru's name in anger everyone could guess what happened.
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!" President Mic called from the booth. "IT'S THE FINAL EVENT AND WITH SIXTEEN PEOPLE, IT'S GOING TO BE A TOURNAMENT! THE FRESHMEN OF UA ARE GOING TO BE PITTED IN ONE ON ONE COMBAT!"
"Well, waiting a couple weeks for the license with another week of mandatory hero patrol isn't the worst, just a hassle. Thank you, Nedzu." Anima had rented a car to allow the principal to watch his school's festival while he dropped him off at work.
"Think nothing of it. Call me vindictive, but I'll remember their face when I need to cheer up." the animal reassured the driver. The jury was dumbstruck when they were presented with the werewolf's birth records, and both of the defendants had to hide their laughter. When they got to the festival, Nedzu and Anima walked out while the martial artist gave the return address of the car to the person who would take care of it. With their UA badges, they went in back.
"Till next time, sir." the werewolf joked. Nedzu nodded and went towards the senior event to be just in time for their last event while Anima went to the freshmen course and found a seat with Toshinori in the front row.
"I take it everything went well?" the haggard man asked.
"As well as it could of. I have a mandatory patrol before they let me act as a proper hero. I was driving during the later half of the break; anything interesting I missed…." toshinori only pointed at 1-A's girls with a bemused expression.
"Young Mineta tricked them into the outfits somehow, but due to Hagakure's insistence, the other girls decided to take it in stride and make an improvised routine." despite the awkwardness of their coordination, the girls were using their lithe forms as they pulled off a well-made routine for the circumstances. Both men gave applause after their performance. Then it was time for the first match.
"Let's go see our beloved student."
I found out that sleep deprivation is a mildly consistent way for me to break through writer's block as I started writing this at sometime around 2 in the morning. Writing about the first event by the viewer's reactions was fun. I had intended to have this chapter cover all of the sports festivals, but as I hit 2500+ words, I knew that I'd have to break it up. Next up are the fights; There were a few changes that may surprise you! Until next time!