A yawn forced its way from my mouth as I sat by Izuku's side. The boy looked over and gave me a smile, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer. The heat from his body combined and mixed with my own tiredness and brought me dangerously close to falling asleep on his shoulder.
We were sat waiting in Class 1-A's designated waiting room for the last of our class to arrive, having been half an hour early. The room itself was fairly sparse with only a few benches and lockers lining the walls. A few tables had been set up in the middle of the room, along with some folding chairs around each of them.
For the sake of fairness, no one was allowed to wear their hero costume during the Festival. The teachers instructed us to change into our P.E. uniforms and wait in here until everyone showed up. I was a little upset at not being able to use my gauntlets, but then again, the school probably didn't want it's students hurting each other.
The room quickly filled up with our classmates, everyone off in their own groups as if we were still in class. I glanced over towards the door and spotted Mina and Yumi walk in while in the middle of an animated conversation, but the two made their way over when Mina saw us sitting together.
"Look who it is! The cutest couple in all of UA!" The pink girl giggled as Izuku and I's cheeks shone identical shades of red. The two girls pulled up a couple chairs and sat across from us.
Yumi looked at me and chuckled softly. "You look rather wiped out, Han. What's up?" I lazily raised my head off of Izuku's shoulder and rested it in my hands.
"I just couldn't get to sleep last night." Another yawn left me, as if to emphasize my current state. "I'll be fine, I just need to wake up a little more."
Yumi grunted in acknowledgement and sighed. "In that case, you better hurry. Looks like everyone is here. Except Iida, the slacker."
Izuku looked around the room for a second. "Actually, I don't see Uraraka, either. Where could they be?" He glanced down at his watch. "We're supposed to be heading out in a few minutes."
At that moment, the door opened and Ochako walked through, closely followed by Tenya. I'm not sure what had happened, but the brown-haired girl's cheeks were noticeably redder than usual. She stood next to the class rep as he let out a piercing whistle, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Everyone, get your game faces on! We'll be entering the arena soon!" Izuku got up and quickly stretched, letting out a satisfied groan as he did. He offered me his hand, and I gladly took it, getting up and pushing my chair in towards the table.
As Yumi and Mina did the same, I noticed a boy with short red and white hair make his way over to Izuku and I. He had what looked like a scar over the left side of his face, and his eyes appeared to be two different colors, although I didn't want to look too hard, in case he caught me staring. I had noticed him in class a couple times, but he mostly just kept to himself. And although I had wanted to, I never got around to asking for his name, let alone if I could call him by his first name.
"Midoriya." Izuku looked over towards him,
"Hey, Todoroki. What's up?" Everyone in the room has started paying attention to the two boys.
"From an objective standpoint, I think it's fairly clear that I'm stronger than you." The boy next to me sheepishly nodded, letting Todoroki continue. "However, you've got All Might in your corner, helping you out. I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you two. But know that I will beat you." His face betrayed nothing as the two boys stared each other down, before Todoroki turned to walk out the door.
"Wait a sec, Todoroki." Izuku stood and thought for a second. "I don't know what's going through your head or why you think you'd need to tell me that you'll beat me. And, yeah, of course you're better than me. In fact, you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course. That's why you got in so easily." He looked around at the rest of the class, who had all tuned into the conversation.
"We're all going to have to fight to stand out. So, I'll be aiming for the top, too."
"Oh, would you shut the fuck up, you damn nerd!?" Bakugo slammed his hands to the table and stood up, sending his chair skidding across the floor. "Stupid Deku. You talk about 'aiming for the top'. You shouldn't even be here!"
"You know that's not true, Bakugo." I stood in between them, my grogginess forgotten and replaced by my steadily rising temper. "Izuku has worked harder than anyone else at UA just to get to where he is today. If anything, he fully deserves to be here."
"Oh, you think so, Energizer Bunny?" I growled quietly as he took a couple steps towards us. Izuku grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze, trying to help defuse the situation before it got out of control.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I'm still going to beat you all..." Bakugo then looked directly at Izuku and I and snarled. "... Including you, Deku. And your pathetic excuse of a girlfriend."
The response was immediate. My hand whipped through the air, and connected with Bakugo's cheek with a loud smack. I heard a few gasps from the crowd around us, and Izuku immediately grabbed my arm.
Bakugo reeled back in pain and held the side of his face, cursing madly. "You bitch! I'm gonna fucking kill you!" He took a few steps towards me before Eijiro and Denki stepped in front of him and held him back.
"Calm down, Bakugo! You did kind of ask for it!"
"SHUT UP! LET GO OF ME!"
"Not unless you want to get kicked out of the Festival for fighting, man!" The boy growled in anger and spun on his heels, stuffing his hands into his pockets before walking off towards the other side of the room.
"Hannah?" Izuku's voice brought me back to reality and I looked at him, realizing only now what I had just done.
"I'm sorry, Izuku. I know you two are friends. I just-"
"No, you don't have to apologize. What Kacchan said was out of line." He looked past me over at the blonde boy, silently steaming over by a window. "I'll try to talk to him after the Festival, okay?" He looked back at me and gave me a smile, before bringing me into a hug that I eagerly accepted. We shared a brief kiss, much to the delight of some of our our classmates, before the sound of Present Mic's voice rang through the entire building.
"Hey! Make some noise, all you rabid sports fans! Get those cameras prepped, media hordes! This year we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in Sports Festival history, guaranteed! I've only got one question before we start this show: Are you ready?!"
Izuku turned to the rest of the class, a determined look on his face. "Well, everyone, it's time." He received almost unanimous head nods, and after Bakugo begrudgingly made his way over, the whole of Class 1-A stepped out into the hallway towards the cameras and bright lights of the arena.
VVVVV
As we stepped out of the tunnel and onto the grass of the arena, my anxiety started skyrocketing. It was finally starting to sink in that I was about to compete in the UA Sports Festival. There had to have been hundreds of thousands of people in the stadium, all of them cheering as Present Mic introduced us to the world.
"This first group are no strangers to the spotlight! You know them for withstanding a villain attack- the dazzling students lighting up your TVs with solid-gold skills. The hero course students of Class 1-A!" I shook my head and forced myself to take as deep a breath as I could, then looked over at Izuku, who looked like he was about to have a small panic attack.
Before I could think about comforting him, he reached over and found my hand. He looked over at me, a light blush on his cheeks and a nervous smile on his face. I shot a smile back at him and nodded to him, giving his hand a squeeze. He took a breath and nodded back to me, a sparkle in his eyes telling me that he was ready now.
Our class stopped on a large square of concrete, taking up a majority of the middle of the open area. In front of us stood a small, raised platform, with a single microphone set up towards the left side. I got the feeling I had forgotten about something, but Present Mic's voice rang out through the stadium again and interrupted my thoughts.
"They haven't been getting nearly as much screen time, but this next group is still chock full of talent! Welcome hero course Class 1-B!"
Class 1-B! I almost forgot about Shiro! She was so excited about being able to be in the Festival yesterday. I glanced quickly over towards our neighbors as they made their way out of the tunnel to try and catch a glimpse of the white-haired girl, but I couldn't see any sign of her.
I tapped Izuku on the shoulder as the other classes were announced and came out. "Hey, do you see Shiro anywhere? She's not with her class." He looked over towards where 1-B had gathered, his eyes searching through the growing crowd.
He shook his head after a few seconds. "No, I don't think she's here. I hope everything is alright, she was really looking forward to being able to be in the Festival in the first place." I nodded, growing concerned with her absence, but before I could linger on it much longer, the pro hero Midnight made her way up onto stage and raised her signature whip into the air.
"Now, the introductory speech!" I heard most of the boys behind us start muttering to themselves, as the R-Rated Hero's costume didn't leave much to the imagination.
"Silence, everyone! For the student pledge, we have Katsuki Bakugo!" A cloud of shocked silence rolled in over us as the aforementioned boy disinterestedly made his way through the crowd and up the stairs, stopping in front of the microphone. The entire stadium went quiet in anticipation of what he had to say.
"I just wanna say I'm gonna win."
I shook my head and saw Izuku and a few of our classmates immediately facepalm. Boos and jeers were tossed at us by the other classes, as well as most of the crowd, as Bakugo walked down the stairs and back into the crowd. He walked by Izuku and I, making it a point to bump into both of us on his way by.
As the crowd started settling down, a screen appeared behind Midnight with the words 'First Game' displayed. The pro hero walked to the edge of the stage and rested her whip on her shoulder.
"Without further ado, it's time for us to get started! This is where you begin feeling the pain! The first fateful game of the Festival!" She waved her whip above her head, and the screen started rotating through all the different options, like a giant slot machine.
After a few seconds, the screen stopped on an event. What looked like a yellow man running around cone, along with the words 'Obstacle Race'. Okay, that sounded easy enough, we used to do these all the time back in middle school. Although, I keep forgetting that this is UA. There were bound to be plenty of nasty surprises in store.
"All eleven classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium." She again raised her whip, but she looked down at us and licked her lips. "I don't wanna restrain anyone, at least in this game. As long as you don't leave the course, you're free to do whatever your heart desires!
"Now then, take your places, contestants." She motioned over towards a distinctive red gate in the wall of the arena to our left. Above the gate were three lights, none of which were lit, however. Through the tunnel was a dirt path, presumably the rest of the obstacle course. I couldn't see any further beyond that, so I was completely in the dark about what we'd find.
"Hannah, what's the plan?" I looked over at Izuku as he tightened the laces on his shoes. I thought about it for a second and shrugged as he stood back up.
"Get through the tunnel in one piece and go from there. Afterwards, we'll probably have to think things up on the fly."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. And do you see how narrow the tunnel is?"
I nodded and looked at him. "Everyone's probably going to try and get through all at the same time."
It was his turn to nod. "I think it may be best if we hang back and see what happens."
"That is probably the best idea." We looked at each other, light blushes and smiles quickly crossing our faces. I hadn't realized how in sync our minds had become over the past month. We've been with each other so much in that time, I guess it was bound to happen eventually.
Midnight's voice ringing out through the arena brought us back to reality. "Alright, contestants. Are you ready?" As she spoke, the lights above the gate lit up green. Izuku and I set our footing, along with everyone else, and an eerie silence filled the air as even the crowd went silent.
The final light lit up and a buzzer sounded, signaling the start of the race. Everyone rushed into the tunnel trying to be one of the first to get through. Izuku and I tried to stay near the back of the group, but we were both getting shoved and bumped by other students. If our hands weren't gripped together as tightly as they were, we would've been lost in the current.
Eventually, Izuku must've realized our plan wasn't really working. He started picking his way through the crowd, pulling me along with him. We worked our way towards the front of the group and managed to emerge out on the other side of the tunnel, surrounded by students.
Izuku craned forward to look up ahead and glanced over at me. "I think there's still about 50 people in front of us. Come on, we need to hurry!" I nodded and matched his speed as we quickly made up ground on the others ahead.
However, a chill ran through the air and the people in front of us suddenly stopped. A glaze of ice raced along the ground towards us. There wasn't enough time to stop, so I did the only thing I could do.
"Izuku! Jump!"
"Right!" We launched ourselves into the air, watching as the ice rushed underneath us, continuing on to trap the other students just behind us. I landed back on the ground and my feet immediately slipped out from underneath me. Izuku tried to stop and catch me, but he kept sliding and almost lost his own balance.
Managing to twist around in the air, I put out my hands to break the fall. But when my weight settled on them, they slipped out from under me, causing me to faceplant into the icy ground. Pain shot through my mouth and cheek, and the metallic taste of blood covered my tongue.
"Hannah! Are you okay?!" Izuku carefully made his way back over to me, helping me sit up.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." I spit out some blood and looked at him. "I think I just busted my lip." He gently helped me up, being careful not to slip and bring me down with him. I gave him a smile, a dull ache in my bottom lip making its presence known, as we slowly made our way off the ice.
"Todoroki must be up ahead. I don't know anyone else who can control ice like that." We stepped off the ice and back onto the dirt path. Izuku put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me again with concern. "Are you sure you're okay? You're still bleeding."
I wiped some blood away from the corner of my mouth and gave him a nod. "Izuku, I'm fine. Come on, we're falling behind." He followed me as we increased our pace, heading up a small hill that the path curved over. There were a few male students ahead of us who had passed us when I slipped.
We were already starting to catch up to them when a robot emerged from the treeline and slammed it's arm into one of the boys, sending him flying through the bushes on the other side of the path. We slid to a stop as the robot took aim at them.
"It's one of the robots from the entrance exam!" I looked ahead of us and saw that the rest of the students were stopped ahead of a large clearing. I looked past them and my breath caught in my throat.
"Not only that, Izuku!" I grabbed his arm and pointed out in front of us. "Look up there! Aren't those the zero-point robots?!" He looked out towards were I was pointing. Several large robots, easily higher than most of the buildings in the city, blocked the way forward.
"Yeah... Do they expect us to get past them...?" As he spoke, one of the large robots was encased in ice, before toppling over towards the group. I assumed that it must've been Todoroki again.
I shook my head quickly. "I don't know. But either way, we need to get by. Come on!" He nodded and followed as I charged my legs, and delivered a straight kick to the small robot that had been holding off the group of boys. It had tried to block the attack with its arm, but instead had it ripped off by the force of the attack.
Izuku deftly dodged a punch from another robot, before picking up a piece of the robot Todoroki froze off the ground, the robot behind him in hot pursuit. But before I could think about turning and dealing with it, Izuku pivoted on his foot and swung the piece of robot around, taking off the pursuing robot's arm and rendering it useless. He tucked the piece under his arm as we approached the rest of the group who was still staring in awe at the hulking robots in front of them.
"Izuku, keep running!" We started picking our way through the crowd. "I'll cover you if any of them go for you!"
"Got it! Be careful, Hannah!"
"I always am!" We emerged from the crowd at full sprint, a few of the students yelling at us to stop. I dropped back behind Izuku to keep watch of the robots, and be ready if one of them made a move. My eyes from one to another as we got closer, before I saw the movement I had been looking for.
The robot closest to our left moved to block us, cutting off the exit. I leapt forward and gently tugged on Izuku's shoulder, pulling him back as I took point in front of him. I heard him stop running behind me, and I put all of my focus on the robot as it made its attack.
I sent charge into my arms and back in preparation as the robot swung it's arm towards me. Planting my left foot in the ground, I used the momentum I had built to bring my right arm forward, simultaneously sending the charge in my left arm over into my right to give me an extra boost.
"SMAAAAAASSSSSHHHH!"
I made contact, pain immediately shooting through my entire arm, and my hand going completely numb. The robot's arm flew back from the force of my attack, shedding pieces and eventually flying off, landing a ways down the path. The ground shook as the robot itself spun and crashed to the ground, destroying the barrier separating the path from the forest.
I clenched my eyes together and fell to a knee, holding my arm and hand to my chest. A tear fell from my eye as I tried not to let anyone see how much pain I was in. I knew my hand was broken, at least, and I mentally chastised myself for not even thinking about holding back. Now, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to participate in the Festival anymore.
"Hannah!" I turned to see Izuku quickly making his way over. The other giant robots were preoccupied with the students, who had started making their own attempts to get by. The boy knelt down next to me, the concern on his face evident to anyone around. "Hannah, are you alright?"
I shook my head and gasped quietly as a fresh wave of pain racked through my hand and arm. "No. I think my hand is broken." He let out an audible sigh filled with worry and looked down at my hand, which had started throbbing painfully and was turning an angry red and blue color.
He grabbed my good hand and helped me to my feet, looking behind us to check the progress of the other students. The ground shook as explosions rang out and a few of the robots fell to the ground, their pieces littering the area behind and around us.
"Do you think you can make it to the end of the race?" I nodded and gave him a small smile.
"Definitely. If there aren't any more robots, anyway." I winced as another spasm ran through my arm. "Besides, Izuku. You know me." I took a breath and looked over at him, grinning through the pain.
"I'm tougher than I look." He searched my eyes for any sign of hesitation, but once he saw I was dead set on continuing, he smiled and gave me a kiss on the forehead.
"Alright, let's get going."
VVVVV
Izuku and I quickly made our way down the path, trying to make up time that we had lost while he was checking on me. Todoroki was able to get even farther ahead and Bakugo had blasted his way past shortly after we got going again.
I hugged my hand up against my chest as we ran, every step sending another small jolt of pain up through my arm. I knew I was still hopped up on adrenaline from earlier, and I hoped that it wouldn't wear off until at least after the race. If my hand and arm were hurting this much now, I didn't want to imagine how bad it would be after it wore off.
We turned a corner and a large fissure in the ground appeared ahead of us. Stone pillars rose up from below, and it looked like each one was connected to the other with tightropes or planks. Todoroki was sliding across the tightropes using his ice, while Bakugo casually blasted his way over, bringing him to within arms reach of the other boy.
Present Mic's voice rang out from the stadium, noticeably quieter but still easily understandable. "For those of you who thought the first obstacle was easy, let's see how ya feel about the second one! If our contestants take a spill, they're out! If they wanna pass this test, they'll have to get creative. It's "The Fall"!"
Izuku and I stopped near the edge of the cliff, my curiosity carrying me closer to look down into the abyss. I immediately regretted doing so, as the drop to the bottom caused me to start feeling dizzy and back away into the arms of the green-haired boy behind me.
"How are we gonna get past this?"
"I don't know..." I looked out ahead of us, my eyes bouncing between the different pillars, and then out towards the two boys on the other side who were quickly disappearing behind the treeline. An idea began forming in my head and I glanced over at Izuku.
"How would you feel if we jumped over?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I can charge my legs enough to get us both over in just a couple of jumps... assuming I don't overshoot." I could almost hearing him mulling the idea over in his head. From behind us, Tsuyu leapt far ahead of us and landing on one of the tightropes, the frog-girl's Quirk making the crossing look unfairly easy.
"Are you sure, Hannah? You're already hurt pretty badly."
"Izuku, do you have a better idea?" After a few seconds, the boy nodded and looked at me.
"Let's do it."
We took a few steps back as more students started catching up. He wrapped his right arm around my shoulders, and I hooked my left arm around his back and under his other arm, noting that he was still holding on to that piece of robot he had picked up. We made sure we had a good grip on the other, before we looked at each other and nodded.
Our legs and feet moving together, we started building up momentum while I focused charge into my legs. Familiar blue electricity sparked through the air as we neared the edge of the cliff, before I launched us into the air, Izuku helping out as much as he could.
We quickly flew through the air and landed on a pillar in the middle of the fissure, harder than I thought we would. The jolt sent a fresh wave of pain through my arm, forcing a small cry from my throat. I fell forward and rested my head on the ground for second.
"Hannah?"
"I'm fine. One more." He nodded and we backed up to the edge of the pillar. We waited so I could built up more charge, before surging forward and leaping off the other side. I made sure to aim us farther out so that we could land softer, and so that we wouldn't break our legs on impact.
A cloud of dust rose behind us as we landed on the other side of the gorge with a good amount of speed. Izuku and I slid to a stop, both of us trying not to lose our balance and take the other down with us. I unwrapped myself from him and crouched down, taking deep breaths to try and cool myself down. Izuku gently put his hand on my back, as Present Mic's voice rung out through the area.
"And now, we're finally approaching the last obstacle. Everyone had better tread carefully. You're stepping onto a minefield!" Izuku and I quickly looked up ahead and then at each other. A minefield?! How could that be safe in any way?
"Someone's already made it to the final obstacle?"
"Must be either Todoroki or Bakugo. They're the only two ahead of us." He nodded and grunted in agreement, before the pro hero spoke again.
"If you look carefully, you can see where those little bombs are buried, so keep your eyes on the ground, folks." He paused for a quick second. "By the way, those land mines were designed for the games, so they might be loud and flashy, but they're not all that powerful. Just enough to make you wet your pants!"
"Oh, that's good!" Izuku breathed a small sigh of relief as I stood back up, hugging my hurting hand and arm tightly to me. "What do you say, Izuku? Shall we go give them a run for their money?"
The green-haired boy grinned at me and nodded, tucking the piece of robot he's been carrying his arm. "Let's do it."
VVVVV
"Just like that, a new student takes the lead! The rest of the competitors are catching up, too! Can our two leaders fight each other and stay in front of the competition?" Present Mic's voice carried out from the stadium as Izuku and I approached the aforementioned minefield, a large dirt clearing in the trees. Small circular patches of darker dirt marked where the bombs themselves were hidden, but they were closely packed together, so we would need to go slow to avoid being blown up.
Todoroki and Bakugo were just ahead of us, about halfway through the minefield. It looked like they were trying to fight each other while avoiding the mines, which gave Izuku and I at least a small chance to catch up. I prepared to start charging my legs, but Izuku put his hand on my shoulder.
"Hannah, save your strength. You'll need it if we make it into the next round, whatever it might be." He stepped past me and put his hand on his chin, looking out over the minefield, trying to think of a way to catch the two boys ahead.
"Alright, these land mines will go off if you step on them. They're not that powerful by themselves... but they can turn into a huge pain if you detonate a bunch of them."
He nodded to himself and looked behind us. "No one's going to be able to go through this very quickly. We can use that to our advantage." He dug the piece of robot into the ground, digging up one of the mines. "There's plenty of land mines buried here. If we can gather enough, we should be able to blast our way to the front."
Apprehension started filling me as I bent down to help him dig up more mines. "Izuku, are you sure about this?"
He shook his head and gave a nervous chuckle as he carefully put down another mine. ""Not exactly, but I couldn't think of anything else." We put down a couple more mines before he stepped back and looked at the pile we had made.
"I think that should be good." He looked over at me as I started cradling my red and blue hand close to my chest, my eyes clenched as I fought through new waves of pain. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and I was definitely starting to feel how hurt I actually was. The boy stepped towards me, sweeping some hair out of my face and laying a quick kiss on my forehead.
"How well do you think you can hold on?"
"I-I should be able to." He brought me in for a hug, being careful to avoid my hand.
"If I remember correctly from past years, if there are any injured students, there's usually a 15-minute break so they can head to Recovery Girl's office. We'll head over as soon as we can, okay?" His voice was soft and caring. I smiled and nodded as he bent down to grab the piece of robot he'd been carrying, wrapping a few wires that were coming out the side around his hands. He looked back at me and nodded as I walked behind him and wrapped my good arm around his neck, making sure that I wasn't choking him.
"Alright. Ready?" I adjusted myself quickly so that my arm wouldn't be squished against his back and nodded.
"Ready."
"Alright, here we go..." We took a small running start, before Izuku dropped us onto the pile of mines shield-first. The air rushed by us as we quickly rose up and out of the massive pink cloud of smoke created by the combined force of the mines. I made the mistake of looking down at the down, seeing how high we were causing me to grip on tighter to Izuku.
"Incredible! Whatever just caused that massive explosion, Class 1-A's Izuku Midoriya and Hannah Sato are suddenly in hot pursuit of first place!" I could just barely hear Present Mic over the sound of the wind passing by my ears, the pro hero sounding like he was jumping out of his seat.
As we flew over the two other boys, I vaguely heard Bakugo roar in anger, bringing a small smirk to my face. He probably didn't think I, or even Izuku, would be a threat.
However, we quickly started falling out of air, the ground rushing up to meet us. Todoroki and Bakugo had started catching back up to us, as well, Bakugo blasting himself through the air and Todoroki having created an ice path over the mines. Izuku looked back ahead and shouted over the wind rushing by to try and grab my attention.
"Hannah, I have an idea! Use the shield to launch yourself ahead!"
"What?! Why?!"
"Todoroki and Kacchan are catching us! The only way to stay ahead is to take another leap!" He tilted us forward and grabbed the bottom of our shield, forcing me to readjust myself in the air so that my feet were against it. I sent what charge I had left into my legs and pushed off, launching myself ahead of the boys.
I managed to completely clear the rest of the minefield, my feet finally finding the dirt path after a few seconds in the air. The impact with the ground sent another wave of pain through my arm, but with the finish line in sight, I gritted my teeth and keep moving forward.
There was suddenly another explosion behind me, the wind from it rushing by and blowing some of my hair into my face. I looked behind me and saw Izuku flying through the air towards me. Todoroki and Bakugo were engulfed in a pink cloud, but I quickly saw them emerge from it and give chase.
I heard Bakugo roar in anger. "What the hell do you two think you're doing, huh?!"
Izuku landed just behind me, rolling forward before finding his footing. "Keep running, Hannah! We're almost there!" We made our way into the tunnel coming back into the stadium, and I could hear the two behind us gaining, the chill from Todoroki's ice and the heat from Bakugo's explosions getting more intense.
The cheering of the crowd was ringing in my ears and through the tunnel, pushing me forward, as Izuku brought himself up alongside me. I prepared to cross the line with him, but then I felt a hand in my hair, grabbing a handful and wrenching my head back. A small cry of pain left my mouth and Bakugo slipped by as we crossed the line, Present Mic excitedly announcing the finish.
"Who would have imagined at the beginning of this race that the climax would be a non-stop mega-mix of surprises?! The first to make it back to the stadium is...
"Izuku Midoriya!"
The crowd exploded as the boy came to a stop and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. I dropped to my knees next to him as confetti started raining from the sky, vaguely hearing my name called out over the PA by Present Mic. I shot a deadly glare over towards Bakugo
Midnight made her way back up on stage, whip in hand as always. "The first game for the first-years is finally over, and what a game it was! Now, let's take a quick look at the standings, shall we?" Another screen appeared behind her, quickly scrolling through the first 42 students to finish the obstacle course. Izuku was obviously first, but Bakugo had snatched away second from me at the line. I ended up third and Todoroki fourth.
"Unfortunately, it does appear that a few students sustained injuries during the course of the game." I felt her look over in my direction, as I cradled my hand against my chest and Izuku had his arm wrapped around my shoulders.
"As such, there will be a 15 minute break where any injured student may go see our wonderful school nurse, Recovery Girl. For those watching live or at home, this would be a good time to restock on snacks or use the restroom before we continue with the second game."
VVVVV
Meanwhile, the eyes of a young man, not much older the students he was sat watching, followed two students as they made their way towards the nurse's office. He got up from his seat amongst the crowd and quickly made his way towards one of the many bathrooms in the stadium. The place was truly amazing, and he remembered at one point in his life, he wanted to compete in this very stadium while going to this very school.
But he guessed fate must've had different plans for him earlier in life. And he wasn't here to just be a spectator.
He reached the closest bathroom and pushed open the door, casually closing and locking it. Reaching into one of the pockets in his favorite navy blue hoodie, he pulled out an old flip phone and masterfully typed in a number, before holding it to his ear. The dial tone rang for a few seconds, before the user on the other end picked up.
"I'm guessing you're watching the television broadcast?"
"We are indeed, Yasutake. It seems the girl was telling the truth."
"Of course she was. You're holding her mother hostage. She wouldn't willingly do anything that would bring harm to her."
"Hmm, I suppose you're right." The sound of papers being moved could be heard in the background. "The information we received from her seems to be mostly correct. The Sato girl has a rather powerful electrical enhancement Quirk, handy in most situations. The boy, however..."
Long, black hair bounced between sharp, blue eyes as Yasutake shifted in slight impatience. "Midoriya hasn't used his Quirk yet. But, if the rumors are to be believed, he is All Might's protege. It's within logic he may still have something to show."
"You raise another good point." There was a brief pause on the other end. "As much as Tomura wants to move in, we can't risk making that move at this time. Not with all the pro heroes in attendance, and not while we're still so shorthanded."
"So, what's the call? Wait and see what happens?"
"For the time being, yes. Continue to observe Sato and Midoriya. Do not attempt to capture them. Am I understood?"
"Sounds like a plan."
"Good. Enjoy the rest of the festival." The call ended suddenly, and Yasutake stuffed the phone back into his pocket. He went over and unlocked the door, calmly stepping through and letting it close on it's own. Retracing his steps, he quickly made his way back to his seat, and retreated into his mind to wait for the second game to start.