To say everyone trained hard in the two weeks before the Sports Festival would be an understatement. But since I don't want to bore anyone with yet another training montage, let's just skip to the day of the Festival.
…
Green Mom was fussing over her child, of course. "Precious, please be careful and don't get hurt," she begged.
"Duh, Mom, of course I'll be careful." He was sitting down, putting on his favorite pair of red shoes.
"I mean it! These UH Sport Festivals are worse than the Hunger Games. They pit you kids against each other and make you beat each other up for our entertainment. Last year some kid got hurt so bad he had to drop out of the hero course. Remember that? It was all over the news."
"Mom, I'll be fine."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Okay…" She still fidgeted. "I-I believe in you Precious Green."
He could see that she was forcing herself to say that. "Mom, I'll be fine!" he insisted. "It's not like I'm gonna hurt myself so bad that I cause irreparable damage. It's just a sports festival."
She exhaled with relief. "You're right. I'm sorry." She ruffled his hair. "You know me. I aced Overly Protective Mom 101."
Green Boi hugged her. "And I'm gonna ace Being a Good Boi 101. I'll see you later Mom. Bye!" He waved goodbye as he ran out of the apartment. Green Mom waved goodbye. But her mom senses were tingling. She didn't know what, but she knew something bad was going to happen today. She clasped her hands, looked upward, and prayed, "Oh please let my child be okay. In the name of the fanfic, the fanart, and the holy meme ghost, amen." She dabbed.
…
UH was abuzz with spectators, news crews, and pro heroes. The UH Stadium (apparently this school can afford to build its own stadium) was filled to the brim with people cheering for these high schoolers. Call UH whatever you want, but that school really did know how to put on a huge sporting event.
Once they finished recording their stretching sessions for the season two opening theme song, Class 1-A waited in their waiting room, making polite chatter. Some students, like +Anima and Sugar Daddy, were a little bit nervous. Others, like Pinky and Spikey Red, were thrilled. And others, like Birdy and Six Arms, were calm.
Green Boi was extremely uneasy, since he still didn't have a good grip on Deus ex Machina. He had decided he would only use it as a last resort option. After all, he thought, I could prove to myself and to All American that I don't need a flashy superpower to be a top hero… or who am I kidding? Uggghhhhhhh…
When Glasses Guy burst into the waiting room and said, "Alright guys, get your game faces on!" Green Boi gulped and patted himself on the cheeks. Come on Green Boi. Now is not the time to panic. Focus. You've been training. You can do this.
Just when he got his mind right, Half White Prince Zuko approached him. "Bean Child," the elegant prince called out.
"Hm? Oh, um, hey Prince Zuko." This was sudden, weird and unexpected, as Prince Zuko rarely spoke to anyone in class. In fact, he had pretty much been a seat filler this whole time. So this strangely timed interaction caught the attention of everyone in class, especially Explodey Boi.
Prince Zuko got straight to the point, "You're pathetic. You know that right?"
Green Boi didn't need to hear this right now. And frankly he should have ignored Prince Zuko. But he couldn't. He felt this intense pressure, a sort of quietly powerful aura radiating from The Prince. Prince Zuko's mere presence emanated more authority than Engine Legs could ever dream of having. The Precious Bean couldn't walk away. He was caught in Prince Zuko's grasp. Green Boi lowered his head. He couldn't bear to look into the eyes of his Prince. He replied, "Y-yeah."
"You know that I'm stronger than you."
"Y-yeah."
"So why does All American favor you as his student?"
Although it was true that All American had been playing favorites during the two weeks of training, Green Boi really wished that Prince Zuko wasn't asking about it right now. The stupid fucking Sports Festival was happening in like two minutes. Why was right now the best time to be jealous of the teacher's pet? Is this some sort of mind game? What the hell is going on? Green Boi wondered. Yet he couldn't bring himself to speak. The Prince's royal presence was too much to bear.
"Hm. Anyway, I don't care why All American favors you. Just know that I will beat you."
Green Boi gritted his teeth. He wanted to tell the Half Prince to go royally fuck off. So he forced himself to look up into the Prince's eyes. He gazed at the burn scar on Zuko's left (I'm pretty sure it's the left?) half of his face. The eye on that side was icy blue. Whether that was because of his quirk, or a remnant of burn damage, Green Boi didn't know. All he knew is that he regretted looking into those intense, damaged eyes.
They weren't damaged as in physically damaged. All it took was one glance into those eyes, and Green Boi could tell that Prince Zuko was an emotionally damaged boi. Something had broken him so deeply that there was nothing left in his eyes but pure rage.
And not Explochan's type of rage. It wasn't Explochan's type of rage at all. Half Prince's rage had substance to it. It wasn't just a shitty personality. It was trauma. Green Boi could tell from one long look into the Prince's bitter eyes that this boi was an empty shell of a human being, fueled only by deeply-rooted hatred.
Green Boi froze. He felt like he was actually covered in ice. He felt the hair on his arms rise. His body started to shiver. He could have sworn that he could see his breath. Those eyes were so broken. They were so cold. He wanted to cry. Tears started to well up. Green Bean wished he could say something. Anything. But he couldn't. He just squeaked like a little mouse.
Fortunately, Red Head Dude came to his rescue. "Back up Prince Zuko," He placed a hand on the Prince's shoulder. "You had two whole weeks of training to be a dick to Green Boi. Don't do it the day of the Sports Festival."
Prince Zuko shrugged off Red Boi's hand. "Don't touch me heathen."
"Heathen? Did you seriously just call me a heathen?"
The Prince turned around and began to walk away. That's when Green Boi spoke up. He said, "Hey, um, Prince Zuko, I don't really understand what's going on in your head right now. I don't know if you're trying to psyche me out. But, like, of course I know you're better than me. Of course I know that you're probably the most talented student in this class—no, the whole hero course. I've seen you on the practice field. I've seen what you can do. Your quirk is amazing. There's no doubt about that."
Red Boi interrupted, "Hey, no need to kiss his ass Green Boi—"
"I'm not kissing his ass. I'm just saying the truth. You're talented Prince Zuko. But what does that even mean if you don't have any heart? Talent without passion is as useless as a notebook without a pen or pencil. There's so much possibility, but there's no way to access it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, Prince Zuko, I don't care if you think you're gonna beat me. I'm aiming for that number one slot. And I'm ready to fight for it."
"Very well then," retorted the Prince as he walked away.
While the rest of the class marveled at Green Boi's speech, Green Boi marveled at the Prince. Green Boi was blushing, and he placed his hands over his heart.
Explochan noticed. He growled and furrowed his eyebrows.
