Chapter 20: Sports Festival
Izuku was getting stuff from his locker. "That should be what I need for the first 4 periods," Izuku said. Ochako looked around to make sure nobody was looking. She then went up to Izuku. "Hey Izuku," she greeted him. "You know it's been quite some time we've been alone. You know with the whole USJ and then the Dorms kinda thing."
"Yeah, it's been quite some time, we've been alone." he agreed. "To make up for that, i was hoping you would agree to go on a date with me. There's this amazing restaurant that dad told me about. We can go there in like a day or two or whenever the school gives us permission to leave the campus. So what do you say?"
"Sure, but you know-" Ochako started as she walked towards Izuku, "It's also been a minute since we last ki…" but was interrupted by Iida.
"Midoriya, Uraraka. Thank god i found you, the teachers are calling everyone to the grounds immediately. Apparently there is an announcement they need to make and it's supposed to be super important for our future. I already told the rest of the class, only you 2 and Bakugou were left to be informed."
"Sure, I'll get Kaachan to the grounds. We'll be there in about 5 minutes." izuku responded.
Once Iida left, Ochako and Izuku started laughing like they had inhaled laughing gas."man, iida does not know how to read the atmosphere, does he?" Ochako said.
"Nope, he's more dense than I was back in middle school." Izuku responds. "Well, we should get going, I need to find Kaachan and bring him down as well. Knowing him he's probably busy listening to some music from his headphones." Izuku leaves followed by Ochako. They pick Katsuki up from his dorm room and arrive at training grounds.
At the grounds, students of all 4 courses of UA, the heroics, the business, the support and the general education course were assembled in groups chatting and waiting for the teachers to arrive.
The teachers arrive a few minutes later and along with them is class 1-A's homeroom teacher Shota Aizawa. The 1-A students immediately bombard the even more mummy like teacher. His head was wrapped in bandages and he was sporting a sling for his broken left arm.
"Uhhhh, Mr. Aizawa, are you healthy enough to be here?" Izuku asks with concern.
"My health is secondary when it comes to matters of the school. Now, the next 2 announcements are extremely important for everyone here because our fight is not over." he tells the class over a mic.
"W-what?!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"Dont tell me more villains!" Mineta shouted in fear.
"None of the above. We have the sports festival coming up soon." he answers the one question most people had in mind.
"W-wait won't it be counterintuitive to hold the sports festival now. Immediately after a villain attack." a boy from one of the other classes exclaves.
"The UA sports festival is one of the most prestigious events you can attend. You all get 3 chances. Once per year, and we are not letting some half-empty threats make us postpone one of the biggest events in japan." Nezu answered.
"However, we have taken the safety of all the students, spectators and everyone else. This year there is more of a crowd for the first years considering how 1-A survived a villain attack. So all the best to all of you and always remember to go beyond."
"PLUS ULTRA!" the students shout in unison. Todoroki was glaring at Izuku for some odd reason. He decided to shrug it off.
"Oh and before everyone leaves, you all have been given 2 weeks off to train. You can ask the teachers for help. Each teacher can take up to 10 children under their wing to train. You can also train with your friends or alone and all the gyms are free to be used but a teachers supervision will be required." nezu added before climbing on All Mights shoulder and AM walks away.
As the teachers leave, the students are discussing their plans for the Sports festival. The 1-A students are blocked by the students of class 1-B and some of the general studies students. Hayate was leading the charge.
"H-hey what gives, let us through, you're blocking the way." Mina said as she tried to walk away.
"Class 1-A, consider this as a challenge to all of you. You believe that just because you survived a villain attack, you are better than the rest of us." Monoma said. "Mark my words, I will be the one to pop that bubble of yours and show you the true strength of class 1-B."
"Oh please rat face, gamer boy has handed you your ass on more than one occasion. I highly doubt you will be able to stand in front of people like half and half, Deku or me." Katsuki said.
"Well, it's not like you stand a chance, all you'll do is blow shit up," a 1-B student said. "WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" Katsuki said, getting angry. He was about to land a punch only to be stopped by Camie.
"Calm down kaachan. If you guys wanted to declare war on our class, let me reciprocate that. I am accepting all your challenges on behalf of our class. Don't hold your punches and neither will we. If you want a fight then you will get a fight. Because 1-A will not back down without a fight." "You tell em, Deku!"
"YEAH!" the rest of 1-A agreed.
Hayate stood in front of Izuku. "Deku, you think you have a chance of beating me at the sports festival, well i hope you can prepare a great 'cheer up' party for yourself and your class, because the one to win the sports festival is going to be me."
"Keep dreaming, shit head." katsuki said. "You've seen what happens when izuku gets serious. There are only 2 people who can win the sports festival. Me or deku. And you better believe it!"
"You didn't have to quote naruto, Kaachan!" Izuku said, "But you got a point." They fist bumped. "Also, Shinso, I look forward to seeing you at the festival." Izuku tells a purple haired boy.
"Shinso? Where did you see him?" Ochako asked.
"Well if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Midoriya." a purple haired boy greeted them. "It's been some time hasn't it?"
"Sure has Shinso. How's your training going?" Izuku asks him.
"Good, not as good as it would have been under Ryujin-Sensei, but it could have been worse, so I'm not complaining."
"Well, Shinso, wanna join us for training at sensei's place? I'm sure he'll be happy to have you." Ochako asked.
"Sure, I would just have to let uncle know that I'll be off campus for the 2 weeks. I presume we'll be staying at the dojo itself and that the blonde couple will be joining us?"
"We'll be staying at the dojo but Kaachan and Camie won't be joining us. They wanted to train separately since he wanted to beat me and all that. Same goes for Camie." Izuku explained.
"Alright. Well, I should leave now, I'll see you in the evening when we leave. And don't worry about the permission slips, I'll get them for you two as well. Meet me at the 1-C dorms around 4?" Shinso asked.
"Sure, it's enough time to pack our stuff and let the class know. Bye dude." Ochako said."Bye guys, see you later."
Izuku, Ochako, Camie and Katsuki began to walk in the opposite direction of Shinso.
As they made their way to the common area they saw Jirou crying on Momo's shoulder. "I guess that whole ghost couch thing must've freaked her out bad," Izuku said. "No it's not that," Momo explained. "What is it?" Kenshi asked.
"It's my band," Jiro told them, "They just….. They just…. They up and replaced me!" she cried into Momo's shoulder. "What?" Izuku and Kenshi asked, "Why?!" "Why would they kick you out?" Momo asked.
"Because they think I care more about my dream of being a hero than I do about the music," Jirou said, "They just threw me out and replaced me with someone….. My ex." Momo was shocked by this.
"That's a horrible thing to do," she said. "I know," Jirou said muffled, "I feel like I should just give up the whole music thing. I'm not sure what i should do anymore." jiro said. "I don't want to give up music or being a hero. I'm not sure what i should do." she continued as she cried onto momos shoulder, "I feel like I'm a failure."
Kenshi made Jirou face her. "Don't you say that," he said to her, "Everyone has their down moments and their lows. When I wanted to have a career as a pro hero, but my father didn't support that idea at first did I give up? No. I kept going forward, because I had the next best thing; My mother's support and encouragement." People were listening to Kenshi.
"Besides, those guys are probably just jealous because U.A saw potential in you but not in them," he continued, "Remember that you're surrounded by people who will help you accomplish your dream, no matter what it takes." Jirou stopped crying. "You might be right," she said.
"I know I'm right," Kenshi said, "You guys made me feel welcome at U.A, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't return the favor." Jirou smiled.
She then gave him a tight hug. "Thank you," she said. Momo smiled seeing Kenshi befriending the 1-A clan. Mineta went to Kenshi's ear. "Go for the boo-" A second later, he was tied up in a bag.
Tsu turned to Tokoyami. "Wanna help me throw this in the trash?" she asked. Tokoyami nodded.
"Sure." tokoyami said as he took the bag from Tsu and they went out to the trash can.
"I'll be right back," Kamianri said as he left the common room heading somewhere.
About 10 minutes later, the whole class was sitting around Jiro trying to console her and get her mood back up when Kaminari came back from wherever he went.
"Guys, I just spoke to Aizawa sensei and I may have some news." Kaminari said, addressing the class, focusing his sights on Jiro. "Since the sports festival is coming up, and if you guys are up for it the school is allowing us to perform live in front of the spectators and everyone. Like a music performance."
"It's a great idea and all ,but we don't have a band." Tokoyami said.
"We have Jiro," Kaminari said, "she is like a walking talking music band on her own, she knows like 3 or 4 instruments she can teach us some basic stuff and we can put up a performance. What say Jiro?"
"I'm not sure if i can perform." Jiro said. "And I don't know if i can teach all of you and get you ready in 2 weeks."
"Hey you don't need to teach us," Izuku said. "We might just have a small band already. I mean kaachan knows how to play the drums and ochako and I sing. I also play the guitar but i'm not that great at it."
"Oh shut up, Deku." Katsuki stated. "Your skills on the guitar are amazing."
"And Momo knows the piano."
"It's true," Momo said, "As part of my classical training, I've learned the piano since I was a little girl."
"So we have a basic band ready." Ochako said.
"Not quite, We could use another guitarist," Momo added.
"I'll do it!" Mineta said jumping up. "Mineta I don't think you can play because of your character design," Izuku commented.
Someone picked up an axe and played a rich guitar riff. Everybody turned to see Kenshi. Needless to say, everyone was amazed. "Whoa!" Kaminari said. "Dude, that was amazing," Mina said, "I had no idea you could play the guitar!"
"It's not really that hard, it's just like playing Instrument Legend," Kenshi commented, "The only difficulty I had was with the F chord."
"You know what, let's call Aizawa, Mic and the other teachers and you guys can put up a short performance for them and let them decide." Kaminari said. "What say?"
"Sure, I guess." Jiro said.
"Hang on guys," Mina said, "There's another ingredient we need. We gotta have special effects, and some dancers!"
She pulled out her laptop and showed everyone a video. "Like this right here," she said, "Aside from the music playing, there's also a disco ball and dancers, lasers and so much more." "But who can pull it off?" Izuku asked. "Maybe I could help with that," Todoroki said.
He showed everyone a diagram of some staging ideas. "Ooooh," Mina said. "That sounds spectacular," Toru commented. "Oh yea this is gonna work!" Ochako said. "I think this will definitely get the crowd hype," Iida said.
Later….
"Alright!" Izuku said, "We have everyone's role ready for the sports fest performance!"
The Band Team: (Izuku, Kenshi, Momo, Kyouka Ochako, Katsuki)
The Effects Team: (Todoroki, Kirishima, Sero, Tokoyami, Camie, Koda, Aoyama)
The Dance Team: (Iida, Mina, Mineta, Shoji, Kaminari, Tsu, Sato, Toru, Mashiro)
"Alright guys, let's rest up," Izuku said, doing his Class Rep voice, "Starting tomorrow we're hard at work with training and practice!" "YEAH!" said everyone.
Later Izuku was grabbing his lunch from the line. When he turned around he saw Ochako smiling. "Deku, wanna accompany me?" she asked.
"Sure, let's take some lunch and we can eat it wherever you want to go." Izuku answered as he picked his lunch tray and followed ochako to the roof. Later they were enjoying their food. Ochako scooted herself towards Izuku. "I should try not to make him too uncomfortable," she thought to herself. But little did she know, Izuku was scooting towards her as well.
"So, All Might's quirk huh," she said breaking the ice. "Yeah," Izuku said, "Its basically just enhancing the characteristics of the quirk I already have. But to keep from being exposed, I'm only using a small percentage of it. Basically what I've been doing with Power Stack."
Ochako got closer to him. "So Deku," Ochako said, "Now that we have some alone time, maybe we could….." She begun to close her eyes and then…. "Hahahaha!" someone laughed, "Young Midoriya IS HERE!" All Might arrived.
"Dad Might!" Izuku said, "What's up?" "Lunch, that's what's up," All Might said as he held a little lunchbox, "You wanna eat with me?"
Ochako giggled. "That's adorable!" she said. "What do you say?" All Might asked. Izuku looked to Ochako who nodded. "I'll see you later, ok," Izuku said. She smiled at him. "Oh you can come as well Young Uraraka."
"Oh, no need for that, I don't want to interrupt your discussion with him, I'm sure it will be about something important and I'll only be hindering you. So please continue." Ochako declined the request for lunch with the number one pro.
"Well, we should get going kiddo." All Might said. Izuku followed suit and went with him to the office. As soon as they went in, All Might closed the door.
"Hey dad, what's up?" Izuku asked. All Might poofed into his small form. "I heard what you guys were planning for the sports festival, a live performance with a dance party," All Might said, "Sounds like it's gonna be a blast." "It's gonna take a lot of work to pull off, but that's one of the things I look forward to," Izuku stated.
"Well, do you remember what i told you when you got my quirk?" All Might asked.
Izuku makes an all might face and says, "EAT THIS!"
All might face-palms, "Not that part Izuku, I meant the part regarding what One For All stands for. In the upcoming sports festival, I want you to show the world that hope is still there, I want you to tell them that YOU. ARE. HERE. And in the case that you win, I am willing to announce to the world that you are my son."
"There's no need to announce it to the world yet, dad. Even if I win, I would like you to wait till I have a better understanding and a better grip over One For All. I will show that world that hope is still there, and I will not let you down, Dad." Izuku said.
All Might smiles. "I know you won't Son," he said, "I'm proud of you." Izuku thought about Todoroki. "Somethings up with Todoroki though," he said. "I think that's better off as a surprise til the sports fest." All Might explained.
Later after class, Izuku was putting his books away. Ochako was behind him. "Psst, Deku!" She said, "meet me by the stairs when you're done ok?" She said. Izuku nodded.
"Uhh. alright." Izuku says. 'I hope everything's alright with her, she's been acting all weird today. Asking me to meet her in private again and again.' he thought.
Once he finished putting his books away he walked to the stairs and was suddenly pulled into a corner by someone. He felt his gravity being removed from him and calms down as he begins to float.
He sees an upside down Ochako. Technically, Izuku was upside down. He saw Ochako move her face closer to his, but stopped suddenly when they heard Aizawa's voice. She pushes Izuku out of the window, as Aizawa walks into the mostly empty hall to see Ochako there alone. He started to walk away. When the coast was clear, Izuku came back in, holding on to a window.
"Sorry for the sudden floating," Ochako said. "It's ok," Izuku said, "I know you wanted some alone time with me. It has been a minute since we had some alone time."
Ochako nodded and blushed. "Well, it's also been a minute since we…." She motioned towards herself and pointed at her lips.
"Wait, why is she pointing at her li… oh shit! It's been a minute since we last kissed!" Izuku thought, "We haven't shared a kiss since the hospital, god I'm an idiot!"
"I'm sorry Ochako, it's not like I didn't wanna kiss you…. This whole boyfriend thing is still a little new to me. Guess I'm not doing as good of a job at the whole boyfriend thing."
Ochako giggled. "This is new to me as well," Ochako said, "But these kinds of things should be more natural to us, since we're….. Dating. We just have to try a bit harder."
"Right," Izuku said.
Ochako got closer. "So…" she said.
"Oh, right, now's a better time than ever," Izuku said. He got closer to her. "Ok Izuku, you know what to do. Just take her by the wai….. The wai…."
He quickly took hold of her by the shoulders.
"Shoulders!"
"I love you Deku," Ochako said.
Izuku smiled and said, "I love you too Ochako."
She was getting close to him and closed her eyes. Izuku closed his eyes but moved slowly towards her head. Ochako sighed and took him by the tie. "C'mere," she said. They were finally about to kiss when…
"Round face, Nerd!" Katsuki said. "Kacchan/Bakugou?" they asked in unison. "I don't think i could've found you at a better time than this," Katsuki said, "Ryujin called and said that we have his ok to use the gym for training for the sports fest! I hope you're ready Deku, cause I don't intend to lose our upcoming sparring matches. See ya there!" He headed out.
Izuku and Ochako looked at each other for a minute and then began to laugh. "I can't believe he didn't notice!" Izuku said.
"I know," Ochako said, "He can be a little clueless sometimes."
Izuku continued laughing while Ochako held him by the neck. She then kissed his cheek to which he blushed. "I guess that will have to do for now," she said smiling, "Well we better hurry to the gym." She started walking away and he followed her.