Chapter 23- The UA Sports Festival


Homeroom came around again fairly quickly, and we were once again faced with the heavily bandaged figure of Aizawa, who stood facing the class with his usual bored stoicism. The last whispers of chatter died out as we faced down our homeroom teacher, wondering exactly what it was that he would unleash upon us today.

"The UA Sports Festival will take place in a few weeks." Aizawa announced suddenly and without ceremony "You need to start preparing yourselves for this event, as it will shape your future as a hero."

I felt a little stupid for forgetting such an enormous event in UA's calendar, I had watched the UA Sports Festival for every year for as long as I could remember, and I would always idolise the various students that performed amazing and seemingly impossible feats under the eyes of the entire nation. The Festival was one of the biggest events of the year, and most of Japan would be tuning in to view the festival.

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you how important for your careers that this event is." Aizawa continued, casting an eye over the class "Most Pro Heroes in the country will be scouting out this event, if you are able to catch their attention then that could be an enormous boost to your career once you graduate."

There was a slight wave of chatter from this announcement, and the general buzz of being noticed by Pro Heroes was high, everyone knew how important this was. I felt a little bad for not getting caught up in the buzz, but I knew that my circumstances meant that I wouldn't be the ideal candidate for Pro Heroes to pick up on. As well as that the idea of advertising my Quirk to so many people made me nervous, I knew that if the mechanisms of my Quirk were public knowledge then I would be at a major disadvantage in any future fights.

"Is UA sure that this is the best idea?" Yaoyorozu suddenly asked, silencing the chatter in the room "We only recently had a villain attack, are they not worried about security?"

"The UA faculty thinks that this is a good way to show the strength of our security measures." Aizawa droned on, not looking up from the papers in front of him "We're calling in Pros to help with patrolling the arena as well, so any attempt at an attack will be stopped quickly."

It made sense, and I agreed that it was fairly unlikely for villains to stage an attack on such a public place that was sure to be filled to the brim with Pro Heroes, especially after such a recent attack. The whole thing still didn't sit well with me though, and I couldn't help but feel a little paranoid, though I couldn't be sure if that was a good thing or not.

"This Sports Festival is one of the biggest events of the year." Aizawa continued on, his droning voice cutting short the chatter that had arisen from the room "The Olympics used to be the mainstay of sporting events, but the appearance of Quirks has caused them to shrink to a shadow of their former glory, and the world has turned to the UA Sports Festival as the replacement."

Well, no pressure then.

The rest of Homeroom passed quickly enough, Aizawa told us that we would have a lightened work load in order to have more time to prepare for the event, and he gave us other small pieces of information that would help us to prepare. Soon enough, the class had come to an end, and Aizawa moved to leave after telling us to go train in the free lesson that we had next.

I stood from my desk alongside the rest of the class, moving as quickly as I could while not outright running to the exit. Aizawa's temperament still hadn't improved whenever I was around, and I was still left with the voice in my mind telling me that I had done something to annoy him. Though he had brushed off my last attempt to find out what I had done, I wasn't about to drop the subject entirely. Aizawa had done a great deal for me in getting me into UA and preparing me for its challenges, and I didn't want to let him down through whatever actions I had taken.

My pathway was immediately blocked by a sight I hadn't expected, an enormous crowd of students stood outside of the classroom, all of them looking in to the room with expressions ranging from interest to something approaching resentment. When they saw me, their expressions all shifted towards me, and their sudden scrutiny was a little alarming, though I made sure not to show any weakness on my expression, lest they misinterpret what they were up against.

Bakugo's crass comments from somewhere behind me confirmed my own suspicions, these students were here to scope out the competition for the Sports Festival, and they were intent on seeing what we were made of. As expected, they had come to see Class A in particular due to the USJ, and it seemed that our class had already gained some level of notoriety after only a few weeks of being at UA. This was major nuisance, fame was something I knew to avoid, and the idea of being put in the spotlight due to Class A's reputation didn't sit too well with me.

From the conversations going on around me, it seemed that the majority of students around me were from the General Studies stream, and it was clear that they held a small amount of resentment for the Hero Course. I couldn't blame them for that, I knew full well that I would be in one of those classes if it wasn't for an enormous stroke of luck, and I would surely be resentful of the Hero Course if my life had taken a different path. The situation made me reflect for a moment, though I felt that I had earned a place for myself in 1A, I knew that I wouldn't have had a chance to get into the class if not for Aizawa's timely intervention.

That last thought reminded me of what I was doing in the first place, so I ignored the many sets of eyes on me and started to move through the crowd, looking for wherever it was that Aizawa had slipped away to. I cut through the crowd with a mixture of gentle nudges and muttered sarcastic comments, I wasn't looking to annoy the students that surrounded me, but I had better things to do than listen to them mutter about 'Lucky Hero Kids'.

Luckily, their attention was drawn by the twin spectacles of Bakugo threatening his way through the crowd and a student from Hero Class B loudly challenging Class A to a battle during the festival. Class B was an interesting outlier, and though I had barely seen any of them in passing, they were logically on the same level as us, so they would likely be a significant threat during the festival.

I made my way out of the back of the crowd and kept moving, though I was mainly operating on instinct, as I had already lost sight of Aizawa in the crowd of people. Walking past a few more doors yielded nothing, but I kept moving in the hope I'd run into him.

I clearly wasn't paying attention though, as the next thing I knew, I'd walked straight into someone.

A flurry of paper flew to the ground, and I reflexively moved to gather them up, muttering a stream of apologies as I felt my face start to burn, just what I needed…

I handed the still slightly disorganised stack of papers back to whoever it was I had bumped into, and I finally looked at them, hoping that they weren't too annoyed. It was a girl I vaguely recognised as a member of class B, though I had only even seen the class from a distance. She had short silver hair that covered one of her eyes, and a tired expression in her visible eye that certainly mirrored my own. She was… well, she was surprisingly attractive, and I tried my best to crush that errant thought as soon as I was able to process it. Where the hell did that come from?

"It's no trouble, really." Her voice was fairly flat, though it did sound slightly friendly "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Thanks." I chuckled, trying to disarm a little of the awkward tension that I was fairly sure only I was feeling "I admit I was a little distracted as well."

"I concede that point, I suppose the recent announcement has played on all of our thoughts." She continued, taking the papers from my hand and holding them under her arm "Our coming trials will surely be vexing, but it is our lot in life to struggle to overcome them."

I was silent for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what she had just said. I realised that she must have been referring to the Sports Festival, and I silently thanked Tokoyami for preparing me for this conversation, as this girl's verbose mannerisms were fairly similar to his.

"I guess so." I replied, and I couldn't help but feel I was speaking a little too plainly "I'm afraid I don't have any insights to share, UA is certainly fond of throwing surprises at us though."

"Indeed, I suppose that we had best prepare for the worst." The girl continued; her voice so grim it put me in mind of a funeral procession "Oh! Where are my manners?" Her voice brightened slightly, and she appeared to liven up "Reiko Yanagi, it's good to meet you."

"Hitoshi Shinso." I responded to the bow she had given me with my own, and the encounter became at least a little more relaxed "I assume you're from Class B?"

"That's right, and I take it you're from our counterpart class." I nodded in confirmation, and she continued "It seems that some sort of rivalry has already established itself between our two kingdoms."

Yanagi looked over my shoulder, and following her gaze behind me showed Bakugo getting into a fairly spirited shouting match with a few of the Class B students, and Kirishima was caught between pulling Bakugo away and loudly announcing his manliness at how he declared war on the entirety of UA.

"That's Bakugo." I chuckled, turning back to face Yanagi "Try not to take it personally, he's like that to everybody."

"I see…" Yanagi sounded a little apprehensive, which was perfectly understandable given the scene that was unfolding behind me "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance Shinso, and I wish you the best of luck at the coming Festival."

"And to you too." I inclined my head slightly in recognition, dimly aware that I had lost sight of Aizawa during this exchange "I'll see you at the festival."

She smiled slightly and nodded, and we walked past each other, heading towards our respective destinations. I was irritated that I hadn't managed to catch up to Aizawa, but meeting Yanagi had been interesting in it's own way, and not just because it was the first time I had talked to somebody from Class B. She was… there was something that-

"Oh! You should know something else!" Yanagi called out, and I turned to face her "Try and steer clear of Monoma from our class, he's a little… obsessive. To say the least."

I nodded my thanks and waved my farewells, though I wondered what exactly could be so bad about a Class B student that it warranted a warning from someone from their class. Yanagi had clearly seen Bakugo loudly challenging and threatening everyone nearby, and the thought of there being someone similar or even worse from Class B wasn't the best thing I had heard all day. I don't think my ears could take the strain of two Bakugo's at once, I could almost feel the migraines setting in already.

I suppose it doesn't matter for now anyway, I would find out whatever was going on in a few weeks. I still had most of a free period left, and getting a head start on my training didn't sound like a bad idea.


The two weeks of schooling and training vanished far too quickly, and before I knew it, the day of the Sports Festival had arrived, and all of the hype around the event had reached a fever pitch. Throughout the last two weeks, I had sparred with Shoji, Tokoyami and Tsu on several different occasions, though I had made sure to keep some of my techniques to myself, knowing full well that we could likely clash during the Festival. I had worked myself to exhaustion the day before, knowing that I would struggle to sleep otherwise, though I had somehow still managed to wake up feeling tired, just my luck…

I left home with well-wishes at my back, and the knowledge that my family would be cheering me on from home was a comforting thought, though it did little to lessen the nerves that followed me at every step. Even on the bus that took me to the arena, every conversation that I overheard was about the impended Sports Festival, and it was strange to hear people talking so reverently about an event that I was going to take part in in just a few hours.

The stadium itself was crowded beyond belief, and civilians and Pro Heroes mingled openly as they made their way to the seats of the arena, clearly eager to get to their seats and watch the event. Various stands sold different types of merchandise and food, and there was even a stand taking bets on the outcomes of the various stages of the festival. A cursory examination of the Class A board showed every student to have odds of exactly 1/20, likely because we were all complete unknowns to the outside world.

Moving through the crowd, I spotted the side entrance that would get me access into the participants area of the stadium, guarded by Snipe and another Pro that I didn't recognise. I was waved through the door without even showing my student ID, Snipe presumably recognised me from USJ. The first year rooms were right at the other side of the hallway that I walked into, and I shuffled by a trio of third year students that were conversing in the middle of the hallway. One of the trio, a tall blonde boy with a muscular frame was talking about the possibility of his clothes falling off during the event. I was about to process that remark, but I shook my head and kept moving, unwilling to engage with whatever rabbit holes of madness presented themselves to me.

The Class B room was before mine, and as I walked by I could hear one of the students giving a dramatic and fairly aggressive speech about how they were going to beat Class A and claim the title of superior hero class for themselves. The reaction from the rest of the class was fairly muted, but the crazed voice that gave the speech was clearly unperturbed by this fact, and he continued to talk about how great they were. I made a mental note to avoid whoever it was that was speaking, and moved to the changing rooms at the end of the corridor.

A sign affixed to the door of the changing rooms informed me that in the interest of fairness, Hero Class students would be unable to use their hero costumes and would have to wear the normal UA physical education uniforms. It was a fairly frustrating restriction, but both understandable and fairly expected, as every student I had seen so far was wearing these uniforms, and I doubted that UA wanted to give the Hero Course such a drastic advantage. It was still a pain though, as my capture tools (if they had been replaced yet) would have been extremely helpful.

I changed as quickly as I could from my casual clothes into the UA Sports Uniform, throwing my clothes into a locker and moving to leave the changing room again. The UA Sports Uniform wasn't as comfortable or well-fitting as my Hero Costume, but it was light enough that it probably wouldn't restrict my movement during the tasks of the day.

I entered the Class A room to see who had arrived so far, and saw that about half of the class were already changed and ready for the Festival, stretching and warming up in preparation for whatever awaited us. The usual overprepared students were here in the form of Iida and Midoriya, and they were joined by Uraraka sitting around one of the tables in the room. Todoroki was there as well, though he typically sat in one of the corners of the room, he seemed to prepare his own company, which I could certainly respect.

At the other end of the room sat Shoji, Tokoyami and Tsu, and they all turned to catch my attention as I entered the room. I moved to sit with the three of them, and we settled into light conversation about the coming event, with everything from speculation on coming events to combat styles being talked about. Shoji lamented the fact that he had been sent a spare sports uniform than the one he normally used, which meant that he had to tear the sleeves from the shirt before he was able to wear it. The relaxed conversation helped settle my nerves, and it was easy to feel the wave of enthusiasm washing over me, though I knew the anxiety wouldn't fully vanish. I was dimly reminded of the visit we had made to the café a few weeks ago, and I made a mental note to suggest a visit after the Festival.

As we talked and prepared, the rest of the class filtered into the room, and soon enough all twenty of us were present and ready. The tension in the room was palpable, and the sound of the crowds filling up above us only added to this feeling, leaving the majority of the room feeling a little unsettled.

The tension was only broken when we all received the message to get to the entrance tunnels for the start of the Festival, and the class began to move out of the room. Todoroki had cut through the chatter with a conversation he was having with Midoriya, and it had quickly caught the attention of the whole class as they watched two of the strongest students in Class A square off against each other. I couldn't make out the specifics of what Todoroki had said, but the gist of his statement was that he believed himself to be stronger than Midoriya, and he was going to prove it by beating him during the Festival.

The declaration seemed to surprise the class, and a few of the students seemed shocked at such a dramatic declaration from the normally withdrawn Todoroki. I had noticed something else though, the cold focus in Todoroki's eyes was an expression that I had only ever seen in his father in his few TV appearances, and the expression set me on edge. In a sense, Todoroki was right, he was probably the strongest student in the class, and that was something I had no trouble admitting.

But the sheer arrogance of his words had annoyed me in a way I couldn't fully articulate, but I knew it put me in mind of all the swaggering idiots I had put up with in Junior High. And it was because of that fact that I moved to say something when he had finished his conversation with a surprisingly resolute Midoriya.

"Todoroki." I called out, my fellow student turning to face me with the same cold focus in his eyes as before "Don't get overconfident."

"What do you-" He started to reply, but I hadn't finished talking.

"We're all aiming for the top here." I shot back, gesturing to the rest of the class "Don't think that any of us will stand by and watch you win, you'll regret it if you do."

Todoroki looked as though he was going to reply for a moment, but he turned and left the room without another word, his stony-faced expression making it difficult to tell if my words had gotten through to him at all. I did notice that there was a slight clearing in the group of students were the two of us had stood, but the class began to move again soon enough, though they were more quiet than before.

"Where did that come from Shinso." Tsu asked, suddenly standing beside me "I don't think I've ever seen you so worked up before, ribbit."

"I don't know." I chuckled, though my answer was completely truthful "I can't stand it when people look down on everyone else."

"I guess I see what you mean." Tsu replied, her usual finger tic marking contemplation "But I'm still surprised you said anything, you're usually so calm."

"I guess it reminded me of something I didn't like." I finally answered, I was fully aware of how unhelpful that answer was, but I had no desire to delve into my own life at this moment "It's more of a warning anyway, if he just focuses on Midoriya, someone else could take him down and he wouldn't even see it coming."

Tsu just nodded, and I could only assume that that indicated some kind of agreement, or at the very least that she didn't have anything else to say. I had gotten better at reading Tsu's emotions and scant expressions as time went on, but I still struggled to read her sometimes.

Whatever else was going to be said had to be cut short anyway, we had started to make our way down the final tunnel that led into the stadium proper, and the light shone down the tunnel with some kind of abstract symbolism that I didn't care to contemplate. The cheers of the crowd were almost deafening at this point, and every step forwards seemed to get harder and harder as I drew closer to the entrance.

For some moment, a piece of advice from one of Aizawa's lessons came to mind just as I crossed the threshold. I was fairly sure that it was from one of the stealth training lessons I had gone through, though it could have just been about Hero work in general.

Don't draw too much attention to yourself, it only harms your chances as a Hero if you do.

Well, shit.


"We all know them as the class that survived an attack by villains, and I'm sure you'll agree when I say I can't wait to see what they're capable of!" Present Mic's voice boomed down the tunnel, the echo of his voice bouncing around the tunnel "Give it up for Hero Class 1A!"

I followed the rest of my classmates into the light at the end of the tunnel, thrusting my hands into my pockets to hide the slight tremor in my movements.

The stadium was huge, and while I had fully expected this to be the case, nothing could really prepare me for the reality of how large the stadium was, and standing at the bottom of the stadium was a humbling experience. The stadium was packed to the absolute brim, tens of thousands of civilians and Pro Heroes and the sheer size of the crowd caused my breath to catch in my lungs. The reality of thousands upon thousands of spectators looking at me and the rest of my class fully set in, and the knowledge that millions of people would be watching from around the country only made the revelation more terrifying.

The sound of Present Mic announcing the various other classes of the first year was drowned out by the sound of my own heartbeat in my ears, and I had to force myself to breathe in order to settle my nerves. Eventually, the entirety of UA's first year classes were gathered before the stage that sat in the centre of the stadium. The R-Rated Hero, Midnight was giving the opening speech and whatever she was saying was disrupted by the sound of Mineta and Kaminari having some kind of freak-out right next to me.

At the end of her speech, Midnight announced that Bakugo would be giving the inauguration speech, and to pledge the start of the Festival. It seemed that he was given this job due to him getting first place in the Entrance Exam, which I suppose made sense, though anyone who had encountered Bakugo even once would probably have known better than to let him speak in front of a massive crowd. I could only wonder if whoever was broadcasting this event had the bleeping tool at the ready for whatever was about to be said.

Surprisingly enough, his speech was both fairly short and non-profane, to the doubtless relief of dozens of executives around the country. He had simply proclaimed that he would come in first and beat anyone else at the Festival. This, of course, had drawn a great deal of protests and anger from the other classes, as they were clearly taken off guard at Bakugo's supreme confidence and clear lack of concern over politeness. I could only smile slightly at their protests; they have no idea how lucky they were to get away as lightly as they did.

Once the protests and shouting had died down, Midnight explained the nature and rules of the first event, outlining how it would proceed. It was a fairly simple affair, an obstacle race around the outside of the stadium that contained several 'hazards' that would be used to impede the progress of the students. The length of the race drew some groans from a few students, but I had run longer when I was training, so I at least had that in my corner.

Of course, it was the 'hazards' that were cause for concern, and the ambiguity of that word was certainly not encouraging. 'Hazards' could mean anything from a few ditches to military-grade defences, and knowing UA, I was willing to bet that the latter option was more likely. The other interesting caveat was that students were free to fight against other students, as the school was clearly taking an 'anything goes' approach to the race. While the freedom to fight and defend myself was certainly helpful, it was an obvious trap to spend the whole race fighting while other people overtook you, so it paid not to get involved in protracted fights with other students.

What was more interesting was what that rule implied, as Quirk usage was clearly allowed in the race, not just to improve performance in the race, but to delay or attack other students. That meant that Brainwashing was a fully viable and approved options, and while some part of me didn't like the idea of using Brainwashing in something as banal as a race, this was the UA Sports Festival, and success here meant a lot more than just winning a race. While I knew that I wasn't aiming to catch the attention of every hero in the stadium, I still wanted to put in a good showing; and part of me wanted to prove myself, to show that I deserved a place in the Hero Course, even if I hadn't beaten the exam like everyone else.

Anyway, Brainwashing was on the table, though using it sparingly was the most sensible thing to do. I would have worried about how people would perceive me if I started using my power during the event, but everyone else would be going all-out, and so would I, consequences be damned.

Midnight gestured towards a large gate behind all of the assembled classes, and it gradually began to unfold in the most bizarrely complicated and convoluted opening sequence I had ever seen, the whole thing seemed to disassemble itself as it shifted open. Why UA couldn't have just used a regular gate was beyond me, but I guess it contributed to the spectacle of the thing in some way.

Beyond the gate was nothing but a darkened tunnel, though I could just about see some blurry terrain through the tunnel. Whatever awaited us was surely going to test everything we had learned so far, and a few curveballs were likely to come as well, and part of me knew that trying to guess what was going to happen was futile. As I waited for the starting signal to be given, I realised that Shoji, Tsu and Tokoyami were all standing around me, and we briefly shot glances to each other.

"Interested in a truce?" I asked, half-jokingly but also trying to gauge their reactions "We'll do better if we push through together."

"Of course." Shoji replied, eyes narrowed and legs ready to run at any moment.

"Count me in." Tokoyami added, he was clearly readying himself as well, the dark swirling at his chest indicating that he was ready to unleash Dark Shadow at a moment's notice.

"Ribbit." Tsu confirmed, her expression was the same as ever, though I could see the determination in her eyes clear as day.

I made a mental note to thank the three of them once this was over, I was struck by their loyalty and friendship, and I couldn't help but feel that I didn't appreciate them for it enough. That was for later though, for the moment, I simply readied myself, knowing that an explosion of chaos was going to happen at any moment.

"Let the UA Sports Festival Begin!"


Author's Note

At long last, the UA Sports Festival begins!

It's gonna be a fun arc to write, and I've spent a fair bit of time planning out the fights in the arc, as there's gonna be a fair bit of variation. In canon, Shinso went out in the first round of fights, and rest assured that he's going to get a better showing this time.

The Obstacle Race is tomorrow, and after that there will be the Cavalry Battle, which will probably be split into two chapters as I want to avoid making it feel too rushed. I've mostly finished planning out the fights that will compose the conclusion of the tournament, and I can't wait to get to them.

I'm also happy to announce that we passed 100 reviews and 100 favourites on , which is a huge milestone and I'm so grateful for all of you that took the time to review, reading reviews is by far my favourite part of doing this, and I always enjoy reading comments and critique.

For those of you who follow this story and not my profile, I've recently published two new MHA stories. The New Heroes follows a whole class of OC characters and Underdogs follows Class 1B, and I'm really looking forwards to continuing them both. I'd appreciate it if you checked the stories out, they're only on the first few chapters currently but the stage is being set.

Another announcement is that this story will move to updating on Wednesdays and Sundays, as I'm trying to prioritise regular uploads rather than catching up on other chapters and burning myself out. The attempts I had made to write in excess of a Chapter a day for months on end were a sure-fire way to kill my love for this story, which was something I desperately didn't want to happen. So expect a more regular schedule from now on, and the full schedule for all of my stories will be on my user profile.

Thank you all, and I'll see you Sunday.

And to answer some reviews:

Raven Mordrake: Ah yeah, I remember seeing that page in the manga. It's a bit of a strange one for me since the manga volumes show a lot of costumes, but Midoriya's is the only one that gives prices. I think that it kind of implies that Midoriya's costume is homemade, and it shows Inko giving Midoriya the jumpsuit as a gift. I agree that it's a little ambiguous though, but for the purposes of this story I'll say that UA provides the costumes.

Donovan2771: Yeah that's pretty much what's going to go down, the Internship Arc will be the first Arc where I vary quite wildly from the canon timeline. Nothing in canon will be changing, but the focus of the arc will be away from Midoriya and Stain, and the arc will be an original story instead.

Alexanderjuarez499: Well, being a Hero in this universe is already quite a dangerous occupation, and that's a known and accepted fact in story. I'm not sure how events like this will affect Shinso, but I'll be interested to see how things pan out.

Shade: I'm glad you liked the nickname; I was pretty happy with it too. The fight was pretty fun to write, as I had to have Shinso put in a good showing while fighting a foe that he obviously couldn't beat. The Nezu section was fun to write as well, and Nezu's quickly becoming one of my favourite characters to write, and he'll probably be more prominent in the future. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

PasiveNox: I'm glad to see that you enjoyed the story, and I hope that you continue to enjoy the story as it continues. Thanks for reviewing.

Hubba Bubba: Wow, that's certainly some high praise, and I'm flattered that you enjoyed the story so much and wrote this review. Hopefully this next chapter continues to live up to your expectations, thanks so much for your support.

CrAzyVIBeSMyduDe: Yeah it's a pretty strange thing for UA to do, and the OVA showed it being All Might's idea, which is even stranger. It was meant to help the students with their mental fortitude though, and I guess I can see the logic in that.

Bambi7: I've been pondering Quirk evolutions for Shinso for a while, and it's been quite difficult to come up with something that's a good evolution while not making Shinso's already powerful Quirk totally overpowered. I've got a few ideas kicking around though, and it will probably be a while until they show up.