A/N: Thank you Ryujomaru15 for the review. I live for another day thanks to you!

This chapter shall be the start of the Tournament arc, which will disclose some plot points brought forth in the last arc regarding Netsui's presence in the canon. Of course, such implications can and will change aspects of the original, some more than others, although right now I can only think of things that will predominantly affect class 1-B.

Now, with that out of the way, for the next god knows how long, who wants to be sad?

No one?

Well, fuck you then. Read.

The promise of a better tomorrow didn't come for the mentally exhausted teen. Netsui kicked back at his seat, the feeling of regulated U.A. school attire foreign to his senses as he languidly closed his eyes. Hot breath escaped past gritted teeth, his arms swinging at his sides as the morning homeroom had finished some minutes ago - the young man couldn't place the time for the life of him -, and Blood-sensei left through the door first to deal with some urgent faculty business about 1-A, meaning usual unsupervised classroom behavior.

Idle chatter and tattle tales around him turned to white noise, a pressing force on the top of his temples. He raised a swinging hand to rub at the ghostly ache, the skin smooth and normal as ever, though the everlasting sensation of tenderness resided still despite recovery. His body was more or less perfectly fine, no side effects from having it torn to shreds by waves of bullets, yet the small migraine called him to attention.

Netsui groaned silently. 'Everyone's so focused on what happened to class 1-A they don't even know of yesterday's kidnapping, probably.'

'Yes, albeit sad to say it is quite fortunate the media is giving the villain invasion more attention than the heinous amount of murders yesterday,' Akuma said, though a hint of a head shake was prominent. 'Their waffling priorities, for once, have worked in our favor, if it can even be called that. Even so, a public statement from those two you managed to save would give me some peace of mind,'

'For me, I just hope they got out okay,' Netsui sighed, cracking open his eyes to look at... a pair of steel irises grinning madly from ear to ear. Needless to say, the unsuspecting student spat at Tetsutetsu in petrified shock.

"Surprise!" Tetsu hollered, waving around an arm to greet his friends while the other was hidden behind him, who was currently in the middle of an afflicting coughing fit. The metallic boy paid no attention to his friend's manners. "Yeah! Blew you right outta the water!"

Netsui cleared his raspy throat, addressing Tetsu with an annoyed look. "Was that really necessary?"

"Hehe, sorry about that," he said, though the intent was slightly lost with a content still plastered on his features. "Just wanted to add a little something extra with the present I got you,"

"Present?" Netsui inquired, an arched brow popping.

"Did you forget? Yesterday, I told Kendo-san to tell you I was getting you a souvenir, remember?"

"Oh that? You were serious about that?" the long haired student asked honestly.

"Well duh!" 'How hotheaded!' "What, this your first time getting a present or something?" a smirk grew across his lips, though his small irises still held a very Tetsu-passion within.

"From other people other than my dad, yeah," Netsui answered in a matter-of-factly. "No one ever gave me anything. Then again, I wasn't that good of a man to merit it..."

Tetsu gasped sharply, his smirk instantly disappearing from his visage and replaced with utter shock. He lost his composure, standing completely still in front of his friend, the awkward silence shifting the conversation. Netsui darted to his side as his astonished gape became too overbearing.

"No... presents...?" Tetsu broke the silence in a tone barely above a whisper. Netsui responded with a blank shake of the head. Tetsu pulled his head back, wiping away tears that had welled up in his eyes all of the sudden, much to the long haired student's confusion. "I... I never heard something so sad in my life, bro..." he whipped his hidden hand from behind his back, jolting Netsui into raising his hand defensively.

"Please! Let me be your first!" Tetsu declared, though from the conviction in his words it sounded like a confession. A waft of messy white hair contrasted by a vantablack plopped its head off its sleeping position, staring oddly at the duo.

Netsui lowered his hands to take what his friend was offering him. In his shaky palm, an intricate plastic model of a tall man stood, a hero according to his pose and crimson cape propped up by a grey-blue pillar keeping the illusions of winds bellowing against the hero. His bulbous biceps crossed across his pectoral muscles as the hero held his head to the skies. Overall, it was pretty generic looking if Netsui had to say.

"It's-"

"The most awesome, badass Crimson Riot figure I have ever seen in my damn life!" Tetsutetsu more than happily stated, the shine in his eyes glowing the more highly he spoke. "When I saw it, I knew I needed to have it for my collection-"

'That's concerning,'

"- but then I heard you got into a bit of a tussle while we were out, and I thought you needed something to take the edge off. Then I remember you had close connections to Crimson Riot, got a bit jealous and bought this for you,"

"Wow. You really like him, huh?" he asked sheepishly, though part of him was asking how he knew of his fight. Or if Tetsu knew how serious it actually was.

"Are you kidding me, man?! His whole manly guts are the reason why I want to be a hero in the first place, I owe him my whole life!"

"Well, I'll be sure to tell him that, but..." he winced as he was forced to tell him the truth for once. "I'm actually not that big of a fan of Crimson Riot,"

"What?!"

"Not really, no. I just know the guy, is all,"

"So modest! So lucky...!" Tetsutetsu bit the back of his hand as tears welled up in his eyes, Netsui looked at him with a sheepish visage. The metal boy took a deep breath before continuing. "Keep it. I want you to have it as a way of me telling you how cool you are, and how much our bond means to me, man!"

"That's..." a little sob manifested in his throat, teetering his vocals into a whimper but the multi quirked student caught it in time, swallowing the lump. "...so nice... thanks dude,"

"I knew you'd like it, bro. This way, we can both be Crimson Bros together, forever, how 'bout it?" before Netsui could question the title any further, Tetsu planted a rough elbow on his friend's table, an open hand cranked towards him. "Crimson Bros?!"

Netsui's eyes darted between Tetsu's ardent grin and his tough looking clawed hand, blinking as the information processed in his mind. He let out a wholehearted bout of laughter. "Hell, why not?"

Netsui met the strong boy's hand with his own, confusing the rest of the class as they began assuming the two started an arm wrestling competition. Honenuki and Awase had approached the duo, demanding they would go against the winner, though the opening of the classroom door broke their efforts, rushing back to their seats in a hurry alongside the other calmer students. Netsui fit the Crimson Riot model on his backpack to the best of his ability.

"Excuse both of my absences, class," Blood king-sensei passed through the door, his eyes furrowing further than usual. "There was an emergency two days ago, and today I was supposed to quickly fill in for another teacher, but it seems he got back up without telling the faculty... again..." their teacher stated tiredly, muttering something along the lines of 'Stubborn' and 'Nightwalker', or so the class heard, as he reached to sit down at his desk.

"Anyways, as I was saying, I hope you all had a very productive day off yesterday," the class nodded in unison, a pleasant smile etched onto everyone's features, with the exception of one, more forced than others. Blood King noticed him with a quirked brow but resumed with his speech. "Good. You'll need all the help you can get with the U.A Sports Festival approaching,"

As Blood King expected, the classroom had erupted into loud cheers and jovial chatter, nearly knocking some chairs and desks down from the zeal, but an authoritative hand up caused them to sit back down and keep quiet, to the relief of a bundle of messy white hair holding its head with an arm.

"It is? Already?! Holy shit!"

"Awase! Language!"

"Ah! Damn, pardon my french!" the spiky haired boy shrunk slightly into his chair. "Got too ahead of myself there. Gotta say though, having seen the Sports Festival every year since I was a kid," Awase brought a hand to his chin, turning to Honenuki who sat beside him. "It feels even better to be on the other side of the action. Especially when adding class competition to the mix,"

"Oh yeah, I reckoned the festival would do that for us first years. It wouldn't be the biggest event of the country if it meant it'd pull back punches," Honenuki thought out loud. "Just try not to make too big a fuss when the crowd recognizes me over you,"

"As long as ya don't whine when they stop after I kick the living crap outta ya," a cocky smirk spread through his lips, though with apprehension because of Blood King burning a searing hole behind his neck.

"Geez, the mouth on you. Looking forward to beat it out of you," Honenuki clenched a determined fist in front of his face.

"What, ya jealous that I got one?"

Honenuki gave a deadpanned look. "That was a low blow."

"Sorry..."

"Yes, yes, I understand - this'll be your chance to show the pros not only what you're capable of so you can get a name for yourselves, but also it raises the stakes the academy throws at its students while providing entertainment for the rest for Japan," he explained as his students ate at his every word. "But please try to remember the themes I told you on the very first day - as you may know, the Sports Festival is meant to substitute the Olympics, so besides athletics and skill, quirks will also be a prerequisite, meaning the standard is incomparable with the current stakes,"

"The Pro Heroes, the faculty, the media, basically the entire world will be watching you all compete this year, and I heard from the Principal this year's festival anticipation is off the charts,"

"Th-Th-The... the whole... w-w-w-wor-r-rld...?" a quiet panic instilled inside of Nirengeki as his pupils beat in his irises asymetrically. A hairy arm rested stiffly on his back, and the nervous couldn't find the strength to pull away.

With all that said, a hand shot up from the side of the class, and Blood King addressed it. "Shoot,"

Monoma stood up from his chair, his trademark pretentious grin gracing his visage. "Would it be safe to assume a good portion of the spotlight will be on the first years?" he asked with one hundred percent sincerity, the rest of the class giving a confused look. However, as they darted to Blood King's serious expression, hinting at a bit of truth to the odd question, their confusion dropped.

"Hmmm. Yes, I'm afraid so," Blood King crossed his finger together above the desk, resting his face on it as memories of the emergency surged in his mind. "I would like to say it's fortunate, but you can all figure out why. With the recent villain infiltration, the media saw the 1-A students being mostly unscathed as an immeasurable success for the heroes, which explains the spike in anticipation from last years'. Of course, with the Sports Festival so close to that incident, they saw the opportunity and..."

"Well, you can see where this is going," Blood King ended with a rhythmic digits tapping on the secretary, awaiting for the cumbersome situation to sink in to his students' heads. "As it stands now, the other heroics class is running miles ahead of us in terms of progression and publicity, a difference which if the media ends up noticing, won't win us a good overall image,"

"So, in other words," Netsui began after a moment of silence, twirling a pencil in his fingers. "Everyone and their mother's going to be focusing on Class 1-A specifically. Can already see the headlines regarding the festival already - the first years front and center,"

"And we'll just be seen as the background decorations," Tetsu added, slumping his anguished form on the desk, rubbing his temples as he gritted his jagged teeth. "At best. Like our training results haven't been bad enough..."

"Bad news on top of bad news, nonstop," Togaru remarked, his expression fallen as his insecurities surfaced. "I can't seem to get rid of this damned fate. Everything is trying so hard to throw me under the bus,"

"At least we're under the bus together," from his fidgeting position facing the wood of his desk, Nirengeki meekly said. "We have nothing to lose, so the only way is up... r-r-right?"

"Listen to yourselves!" Itsuka spoke up, catching the attention of her downtrodden peers. "That shouldn't justify slacking off now! Not at a time like this, when we need to be the most hopeful and put ourselves forward, and when we still had our dreams to guide us," she planted her palms firmly in front of her, drawing more than their attention to her. "What happened to 1-A was awful and the aftermath is affecting us, yes, but do you want to prove them right? To not respect us the same as the rest of students in the heroics course?"

The question pervaded in the air with an eerie truth if uttered would collapse the narrative the uncertainties built. Unable to vocalize or criticize the Class President, they simply resorted to scratching the back of their napes sheepishly, the reprimand settling in. Netsui, at the mention of his friends referring to dreams, caused his interest to spike. It sounded so much like the pick-me-up for him during the first day after school, but it cut deeper. He fondly smiled.

"That's what I thought. Hold your chin up high and go at your goals with all your ambition. Don't lose yourselves or you'll regret it for the rest of the school year," she sat down politely, her determined composure remaining and attesting to her title. The class nodded slowly as their cathartic resolve flowed back to them in unison.

"Kendo is absolutely correct," Blood King said, a hint of pride in his tone. "Now's your chance to make a name for yourselves and your skills to the world regardless, I suggest you take it as soon as possible, or you won't get another one until next year and the year after. Since the festival won't come for next week, you'll have plenty of time to catch up with the current bar," he stood up from his secretary, a curled fist drove towards the class. "Be strong as you head forward into the next challenge. Support one another throughout your ordeals as best as all of you can manage and-"

"Oh, I forgot," Kan-sensei slammed his palm against his forehead, though a knowing smirk crossed his lips. "What was U.A's motto again?"

The class took this opportunity to bellow out their determination.

"PLUS ULTRA!"

"There it is," Kan smiled as wide as his swelled pride.

The bell rung as the fourth period ended. Midnight exited the classroom for her noonday break, leaving behind her a class full of exhilarated albeit hesitant students, who had yet to leave for lunch break. There was too much on their mind to concern themselves with food as they cleaned up their desks.

"I'm pumped! I'm pumped!" Tetsutetsu flexed his arm like he was pumping iron. He turned to Netsui with hot blooded thrill. "Are you pumped, cause I'm pumped!"

"I can see that," Netsui said with a slight chuckle, amused by his passionate friend's antics, making room in his purple backpack to organize his school material, a task made difficult thanks to a certain present. 'Man, I shoulda asked him to give me the model after school. Too late now, hope I don't break it,' "Not too long ago you were depressed 'cause you thought you couldn't show off, now you're showing off. Itsuka really got to you, huh?"

His lung kicked at his chest with the force of his righteous laughter. "Like you wouldn't believe, bro! She kicked my ass, she's got my respect!"

'Men like you, Tetsutetsu, make me gobbsmacked...'

"I knew giving up my vote for her was a great idea. You gotta feel the same way, don'tcha?"

"Yeah, I can believe that," he said, trying not to be irritated at the futility of his efforts to not tighten the threads of his backpack as he slung it onto his back over one shoulder. "Why wouldn't I feel the same, though, with all that's been going on? Then again, do you honestly think I'd be a better choice as the President?" He gave his steel friend a look.

Tetsu looked up at the ceiling at the thought, images of President Shinshi going through his mind bringing to winces. "Guess you're right. No offense, but you'd probably be overly foreboding with how straight-forward you are,"

"Exactly," Netsui nodded curtly in agreement, his expression turning blank for an instant. "Probably..."

"Hey hey! You ain't gonna hear any crap from me," Tetsu waved his arms in defense, noticing his friend's mood swing. "You're my bro, I wouldn't even think about doing that to you,"

"No, no, you're welcome to do that," Netsui raised his own hand, inhaling a deep breath. "Hate to admit this, but I haven't always been this nice a guy as you think. If there's anything about me you'd rather not deal with, tell me. I have to take it, warts and all,"

"I..." for the umpteenth time today, Tetsu's visage froze as tears welled up in his eyes. "Such a manly spirit... I will! For you, my manly bro!"

'We'll see,'

Netsui offered an honest and not-awkward-at-all smile. "Thanks, you too,"

"Hey, um, I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Itsuka happily trotted beside the duo alongside a blank Yui and Komori who they weren't if they met eye contact because of her bangs. "We were just about to catch the early lunch special. You guys wanna come with?"

"Oh yes, please. I'm famished," as Netsui said this, his belly rumbled with an intensity that jolted Komori into hiding behind the oblivious - or simply not caring - Yui. "Might actually go for thirds this time,"

"Man, I'd love to just pound my protein with you guys, but I'm gonna have to decline," Tetsu said, shaking his head. "'Ppreciate the gesture though,"

"Oh come on, dude, why don't you wanna eat with your pals?" Netsui playfully punched Tetsu's shoulder, and the steel boy felt a pain spike which he refused to show. "What happened to Crimson Bros all of the sudden?"

"I know! But I need all the time I have to prepare for the Sports Festival, or else I'll get pummeled by you guys, or god forbid, Class 1-A!" Tetsu exclaimed

Netsui cocked a brow. "I'm pretty we aren't gonna fight each other right off the bat. At least, I think we are-"

"Not like that," Tetsu interrupted, pointing a steel finger between Netsui and Itsuka. "Like, getting upstaged, that sorta deal. Don't mean to insult you or nothing, but being shadowed by you kinda made me feel... like a backup plan, know what I mean. I figure I take your words to heart and use all my free time available to train, so I can show everyone that I can!"

Netsui and Itsuka blinked simultaneously, darting their eyes to meet each other in awe before returning to their hotheaded friend. "You sure?" Netsui started. "Lunch without you isn't gonna be quite the same,"

"Yeah, and we can make plans to train together later, if you want. We time until the festival, don't we?" Itsuka offered. All of her friends nodded.

"I'm sorry, but if I'm to discover my fighting spirit, then sacrifices hafta be made. I can't always be relying on you guys to help me out, I have to learn to fend for myself. I wouldn't be deserving of having guts if I did," the steel boy walked around the group, clenching his fists by his side with a deep, yet overly dramatic frown. However, he gazed up at them with a new shine in his metalic visage. "'Sides, we'll have plenty of other times to gorge on gourmet meals,"

Netsui watched the gleam in his eyes slide across his tough exterior like the ambition inside him was too much to keep in, resulting in a tiny segment radiant off his features. 'For such a valorous dolt, one must admit; this young man has the bearings of a front line soldier,' Akuma mused.

Netsui grinned. "You know what? You do you, dude. Not gonna stall you anymore than I have to, you sound like you've been thinking about this for a while,"

"Ditto," Itsuka spoke as Yui and Komori nodded behind her. "I'll definitely be disappointed that you will be alone, but I won't stop you from dreaming. Make sure you eat well, don't wanna find out you're skipping meals!"

"Ha! No problem, I brought my own lunch!" he fetched a crude, see through Tupperware containing pig liver filled with spinach. Komori looked at it blankly, then fainting on top of Yui, who's expression had not moved an inch. "Anyways, I'll se ya when I see ya. Feel free to join if you want, I'll be outside near the trees,"

"Nah, I'm good," Netsui waved as Tetsu paced further and further down the hall until he was but a speck in his line of sight. "Really hope he finds his fighting spirit, god knows he needs it,"

"I hope so too,"

"Oh well, enough about that already!" Netsui began walking backwards, front still turned to his girl friends. "I'm dying to know what this lunch special is all about. Oh, I bet it's chicken-"

"Um, Netsui..." Itsuka tried to call out to him.

"No, beef. Oooooh~, I can't get enough of the lunch guy's beef!" out of the corner of his agape mouth, Netsui began salivating at the prospects.

"It is beef but Netsui, watch where you're going." she reached out a hand for him to see.

'I haven't had the taste of fresh hunt in forever,'

"I have no idea what that means, but it sounds sooooo good!" too entranced by the images of gourmet cooking, Netsui failed to see the two walking towards him.

"Netsui! You're gonna hit-" but it was too late. With Netsui's rough exterior, it felt like bumping into a brick wall at moderate speeds as the pink girl fell down on her haunches, while Netsui only sensing a light tap hit his back. "-... oh dear."

"Eeep!"

'Oh crap! I hit someone!' Netsui thought in a panic as he whipped around to help up the victim of his incompetence. "I'm so sorry! I should've seen where I was going instead of...of..." he paused as he witnessed the girl on the ground.

'Shit...'

Fully hued in a pink complexion, the girl rubbed at the soreness on her head, wincing as the needles prickled near where her twisted horns were located, surrounded by pink hair strewn in all directions. A floating set of school clothes asked her if she was alright, and the pink girl nodded in return, turning her gaze to peer up at the looming man that caused her to crash. She had pure black sclera with yellow irises, staring at the trembling and profusely sweating boy curiously.

'Netsui, my friend, remain calm and steady,' Netsui failed to do as was told, the sweat dropping down his brows, inciting more scrutiny from all the girls. 'It doesn't seem she recognizes you, so plan your next move carefully,' Akuma slowly instructed, understand perfectly the gravity of the incident in front of them.

And so, Netsui did the only thing that came to his mind.

"TETSU!" he yelled out at the top of his lungs, sprinting away from the pink and transparent girl, blowing all of the bystanders away with his immense speed. "WAIT FOR MEEEEEE!" Itsuka, Yui, Komori and the girls became unable to see him in an instant as the dust accumulated the more he ran. The transparent girl offered a sleeve to pink girl, which she gladly took as they resumed their walk to the cafeteria, leaving the other girls flabbergasted - and partially unconscious.

"Wow." Yui said in nonchalant wonder, while her only conscious friend watched with twitching brows. A small smile crept across her lips. "Netsui's fast. Never knew."

A/N: Legitimate question - how many of you started reading this having no idea who All For One was, or began reading this after AFO vs All Might? Just curious.