Time To Show Our Mettle!
The class walked through the dark corridors leading to the opening of the stadium, Izuku in the front. He winced at the bright light at the end of the corridor and took a deep breath, this would be it, after this the world would know that he was here, to be a hero.
He straightened his shoulder and smiled.
"YOU ALREADY KNOW THESE GUYS, RISING STARS THAT HAVE ALREADY FACED VILLAINS, THE MAINSTAY OF UA, IT'S HERO COURSE CLASS 1-A!" The heard the cheers from Present Mic's announcement, they all were nervous but there was no turning back now.
The light came and they passed it, revealing themselves to the crowd, all of them being deafened by the cheers they were getting. They made their way to a podium at the center of the field, no one was standing on it just yet though.
"Man I could get used to this!" Kaminari nodded to himself as he soaked in the glory.
"Moi can as well." Aoyama posed for some photographers in the stands, letting out a dazzling smile.
Izuku chuckled at his class' antics.
"NEXT IT'S THE SISTER CLASS OF OUR STARS, BUT THEY NO LESS SHINE BRIGHT, IT'S CLASS 1-B OF THE HEROES COURSE!" Izuku turned and watched as Itsuka's class came onto the scene, the crowd cheering again, but Izuku noticed it wasn't as loud.
Something which Monoma seemed to notice, "Could somebody explain to me why 1-A is getting more cheers than 1-B?!" He called out, and as more classes came out Izuku heard more and more people agreeing, 1-A got many cheers, something none of the other class or courses got.
Tetsutetsu grumbled when they all gathered in front of the podium, "Because 1-A's popular, they faced off against villains." He said.
Class 1-A did fight, something that Izuku had said when he was confronted with all the other courses at the cafeteria. They fought for their lives, according to Izuku.
"ALRIGHTTTT, THAT'S EVERYONE, NOT LET ME INTRODUCE OUR HEAD REF!" The sound of heels hitting the floor made male students shiver, "THE R-RATED HERO (or 18+ seen it both ways) IT'S MIDNIGHT!" The man declared loudly, and many of 1-A could swear they heard Aizawa groaning from the announcer's booth.
The R-Rated Hero stood proudly on a stone platform that held a podium, his eyes holding glee and her grin wide. She got many cheers from the crowd, most notably the male section of it, while many male students looked away blushing.
"S-Should Kayama-sensei really be wearing something like that?" Sero asked as he looked away.
"HELL YES MAN, THIS IS THE BEST!" Mineta drooled, though many ignored him.
Sato covered his eyes with his hands, "Yeah, gonna have to agree with Sero on this one.."
Though Midnight reveled in her student's embarrassment, soaking it in with a dastardly smile. "Hello everyone!" She declared, "Myself and cement hero: Cementoss will be acting as referees today, but before we get to that, we must have-" She whipped her… whip, the support tool pointing at a certain green haired boy in the crowd, "-the Athlete's Oath, brought to you by Izuku Midoriya!"
Izuku seized up in response, "Midoriya-kun here was first place in the public practical entrance exam with 137 points! With more rescue points than hero points! Midoriya-kun, come up here!" The boy, gulped.
He had given speeches before, for his class, but this would be on live television, broadcasted to all of Japan- no to the entire world! Could he do this? He didn't know, he really didn't know. He was nervous, too nervous, he had nothing planned either!
Why didn't All Might tell him anything?!
"Izuku." He felt someone push him forward and recognize the bubbly voice, "Good luck!" He turned around and saw Ochako smiling.
He- maybe he could do this. He sighed and bit down his worry, doing the breathing exercises that Tamada had taught him. He took the steps up the podium, seeing Midnight standing next to the microphone, the predatory smile she always had on her face making him feel like a rabbit and her a wolf, causing him to squirm.
Though he kept on and took the front stage at the microphone.
"Good luck Midoriya…"
"Give 'em a good ass speech kid!"
His two friends cheered him on. He looked to his side to see Midnight giving him an encouraging smile, not the one she usually had on, but an actual smile. He looked towards the sea of students and saw his friends smiling too.
Eiko and Mina were giving him thumbs up, with wide grins. Momo was just like Ochako giving him an encouraging smile, and Shoko was waiting for him to start, though he could barely make out a small grin on her face.
Bakugo saw Izuku's eyes go to him and the blonde nodded. A weirdly touching gesture for Izuku. Izuku's eyes went over the crowd, searching for a second he found his mother and Eri in a VIP booth with Toshinori.
He held a chuckle in and let out a sigh, smiling afterwards. "Hello, everyone, as many of you know, my name is Izuku Midoriya." He started. The crowd had been whispering before Izuku started, since it had taken him a while to begin, but they shut their mouths to listen.
"But you already knew that, something else you know is that I placed first in the entrance exam." He could already tell Monoma was scowling about 1-A bragging or something like that, but there were also other people doing that too.
"Damn Deku doesn't have to brag about it…" Bakugo mumbled, most likely infuriated that he didn't get first place in the entrance exam.
Izuku looked out to the stands, looking at everyone he could, "You all probably think I have a strong quirk, well you'd be right, I do." He said.
Aizawa squinted his eyes from the announcer booth, "What are you doing problem child?" He asked to no one.
Yamada, who was sipping on a slush, peeked his eyes over his glasses with a raised brow at his friend, straw still in his mouth. Then he looked back towards the student in question. 'You caught some attention Midoriya, but it might be more than just Shou's…' The blonde worried.
Izuku did ruin some villain's plans at the USJ, so it wasn't farfetched in the pro's mind.
Izuku gripped his hand in front of his face, One For All arcing across it as he empowered himself in the form of lightning. "But it wasn't always that way. When I was a kid my quirk was amazingly weak, I often got made fun of for it." Izuku said sadly before shaking his head "But I always stuck true to myself and my dream of being a hero, with my best friend by my side."
Bakugo smiled in the crowd of students, remembering his childhood of Deku and Kacchan playing heroes and villains against bullies.
The purple haired boy that confronted 1-A had his eyes widen. "You can't be serious.." He muttered. Someone with the power of Izuku, the leader of 1-A, was bullied for being weak? It almost seemed like a sick joke. But by the boy's tone dip, he could tell it was true.
"However, I'm not going to lie to any of you here today," Izuku continued, and the line made many curious. "There were many points where I wanted to give up, where I thought that I couldn't be a hero, because I was so weak."
Izuku was letting his walls down, not something he did often, he usually kept things bottled up. It took a week of pain and misery for him to tell somebody about his problems with Zandaka, but he needed to do this.
The other courses hated the hero course, more specifically 1-A, because of the USJ. Izuku wanted to mend that relationship. They wanted to know what the difference was between them and 1-A, and Izuku was going to tell them what was the difference.
Many reacted to his words with similar reactions.
Izuku called himself weak. Of course that wasn't how it was now, but he was calling his past self weak. Did he not like his past self? That was something a few of classmates could relate to.
"Brodoriya…" Eiko muttered, she could really relate to that, she hated her middle school self. Middle School Eiko was so unmanly, she didn't stand up for her friends and would never rise to the occasion.
And more than that, it was weird seeing that in someone like Izuku. He always stood up and fought, even when he didn't have to.
Shoko thought about when they fought during the battle trials, and how Izuku worked to break down her walls, he always did it with a smile on his face and he always lifted other people up to make them feel better. So seeing him put himself down was, unnerving...
"At the USJ-" Many reporters got to the edge of their sets, finally some information that UA was so reluctant to give! "-I felt that same weakness, I persevered, but did not come out unscathed. None of us came out of that unscathed." Izuku got quieter and let out a sigh.
"There was a point in my life where I was second guessing myself and my dream, I was older and was getting more mature, and with that maturity and dreams seemed more.. like dreams… unreachable." It hurt to say that, he knew it wasn't true, he was standing in the center of a stadium at UA giving a speech to the world, but just uttering those words hurt.
All Might, of course in his true form, watched on from his seat with Inko and Eri. He was worried for his successor. Inko herself wasn't faring much better. Eri was confused but was mimicking Inko's expression, even if she didn't comprehend the whole ordeal.
But All Might was worried about Izuku's self esteem, was he still thinking like this? If so he would need to talk to his student and comfort him, or maybe he could leave that to Izuku's friends, perhaps that would be a better option considering how close they had gotten over the few weeks at UA.
"When I was at that point something unbelievable, something life changing happened to me." The reporters leaned in, thinking they could make a story with just Izuku's speech alone! "I met my idol, All Might." Izuku smiled.
Inko raised a brow, "When did Izuku meet All Might?" She wondered aloud, while Toshinori was sweating bullets.
Izuku smiled at the memory of that day, it was one of the best days of his life, yet there was one moment where he thought it was going to be the worst, and he needed to speak about it. "I asked him if I could become a hero with my weak quirk." Izuku said and looked out to the crowd, "And he said no."
The crowd recoiled and started whispering and gossiping, shouts of "All Might would do that?!" to "was it a fake?!" Sounded throughout the stadium.
Inko gasped and adopted a look of anger, "I can't believe he would say that to my Izuku! I swear when I get my hands on him!"
Toshinori held his mouth in shock, 'Young Midoriya! Why have you forsaken me?!'
Izuku held in a chuckle, he wasn't done talking yet, the crowd jumped to conclusions too much. "Not without hard work and not without a heroic spark." He added. "If I wanted to be a hero I would have to work hard and I would have to show I had the heart of a hero, and so after that day I trained till hell and back, I got a chance to prove myself and ever since then I knew that this is what I was meant for." Izuku smiled as the crowd started cheering for All Might's encouraging words.
Inko visibly calmed down and Toshinori sighed in relief.
Izuku switched his gaze from the crowd to the gathered students in front of him, "I remember the other courses asking me the difference between hero course students and them." The elemental said, more gossiping sprouting from the crowd.
Itsuka looked at Monoma, 'Please don't do something that Monoma would do Izuku..'
Momo held her hands in front of her and smiled at Izuku, he was going to do something big, she could feel it. Ochako had the same feeling, she just adopted a feeling for whenever Izuku would do something amazing, ever since the Bakery Fire Incident.
"Allow me to tell you." Izuku nodded.
The purple haired boy raised an eyebrow, wondering what the boy was going to say, along with many of his classmates and coursemates doing the same. Even those in the business course doing so.
What was Izuku Midoriya going to say?
Izuku to a deep breath before speaking, "Nothing." He said.
The crowd and group of students were so silent the only thing that could be heard was Bakugo giggling like a little girl. "Fuck, he's always gotta do stupid shit like this, it's so funny I can't even get mad about it." The boy covered his mouth.
Izuku smiled and decided to elaborate, "There is no difference between us, only the opportunities we've been given, I had a chance to prove myself, many of you have not. Even in the entrance exam which is skewed to participants with more combat oriented quirks."
Aizawa raised a brow in his booth, surprised that a first year had noticed the major flaw of UA's entrance exam. He smiled a little bit under his scarf. "Smart kid…" He was still a problem child though.
Izuku held up a fist, "So your time to prove yourselves is now, your time to show the world what you can do is now. Allow each of us to push each other to the limits, and show the world what the next generation of the hero industry is all about, in fact I want you to go beyond your limits of yesterday and find a new limit today!"
Izuku raised his fist into the air, "Go beyond!"
"PLUS ULTRAAAAA!" The gathered students and crowd cheered, Izuku almost thinking that the whole city, no the whole of Japan was cheering with them. The boy panted as he stepped back from the microphone, giving Midnight a bow, before stepping off the stage.
When he got back to the class he could practically see Eiko bouncing, "Midoriya! That was so manly!"
Izuku waved a hand, "Kirishima-chan, it really wasn't that big of a deal."
Tokoyami shook his head, "Thou art undermining thine achievements Midoriya, thine words and resolve is inspiring." The bird headed teen commented, making Izuku blush.
Momo stood in front of Izuku and smiled, her eyes glimmering like they did whenever she talked about studying, "Tokoyami is right Izuku, your story and words were very touching! Though I don't believe we'll have to time to dwell on them.."
Izuku rose a brow, "Eh? What do you mean."
Izuku felt a tug on his arm, turning he saw Ochako gesturing to him to look at the podium. The boy turned around, thanking Ochako with a nod and a smile, Momo taking a spot on his right while Shoko was a little in front of the three of them. What Izuku saw was Midnight with a spinning wheel.
"What a touching speech Midoriya-kun! Now allow us to move on and select the first event!" She gestured to her wheel which began to spin.
"WHAT'S THE FIRST EVENT GONNA BE, WELL FOR ALL THOSE WATCHING AT HOME YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO SEE AFTER THIS AD BREAK!" Present Mic declared from the announcer's booth. "FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE HOUSE, CHECK IT!"
The spinning wheel started to slow down, slowly but surely, all the students paid attention to what event they would have to be put through to prove themselves.
"What's it gonna be."
"How do I gotta crush the rest of a competition."
"The maze? Maybe a 5 kilometer race?!"
The wheel slowed even more until it eventually stopped. 'The first event is always a solo event..' Izuku thought as he stared at the decided event.
"The first event-"
"IS THE OBSTACLE COURSE!" Midnight started and Present Mic finished, the crowd hearing Aizawa groan again from his blonde friend's loud noise.
Izuku closed a fist, the obstacle course would be the first event, and he would have to do his best, he closed his eyes and focused on making a strategy. 'I can use lightning and One For All in tandem for speed, if I need to make any quick adjustments I can switch to wind…' Izuku decided his plan, he would add on if need be later on.
He nodded to himself.
"Make sure to keep a level head Midoriya, don't get too distracted." Tamada said and he nodded again.
A side of the stadium opened, nearby Cementoss had his hand on the wall so Izuku presumed that it was the pro's work. "ALRIGHT, ALL PARTICIPANTS LINE UP AT THE STARTING LINE, THOSE IN THE BUSINESS COURSE MAY HEAD TO THE STANDS!" Present Mic called out and the students quickly dispersed.
Izuku entered the shade of the tunnel leading out of the stadium, controlling his breathing just a bit with his eyes closed, he got a feeling for his- Zandaka's quirk and One For All, he clenched his hands and opened his eyes. "This is it."
"Time to beat all these extra's asses." Bakugo popped his knuckles and let out a feral grin. "This is what I've been waiting for!"
Iida adjusted his glasses as he pulled up his pants legs, "Time to show Tensei that I can live up to his and our parent's example!"
Ochako slapped her cheeks to get rid of her nervousness. 'Mom and dad are gonna be watchin' I can't give up now!' She massaged her wrists which were decorated with sweatbands that she had gotten once with Izuku and Momo, "I'm gonna do my best!"
Momo clenched her fist and thought about all the possible items that she could make to help her in the obstacle race, she could make a scooter or maybe even a pair of rollerskates. There was a lot that she could do, so she had to make a choice. She nodded to herself, "Alright, skates would be best since it allows for more dexterity."
Eiko clapped her fists together, "I'm gonna run through this entire course! And I won't regret anything that I do." She nodded. She wasn't going to regret anything ever again, she would face anything head on, including this obstacle course!
Shoko sighed, she had seen him in the crowd, near one of the entrances in the stands. Then there was what Izuku had said. Something was quite clearly wrong, Endeavor had said something to Izuku and she didn't like it in the slightest.
But she wouldn't let him distract her, she would do her best to keep on fighting without being held down by him. She let out a breath, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to use her fire here, with so many eyes, what if her mother was watching? Would she be disgusted at the sight of her using her fire?
She shook her head to dispel those thoughts, she needed to focus and do her best, and she needed to pass the obstacle course. Izuku had moved so much farther ahead than the rest of them and she didn't want to fall behind, she would catch up to Izuku!
She let out a breath, "No matter what happens, I'm going to catch up to him, I'm going to be a hero too." Her voice was monotone but held conviction.
"ALRIGHTTTT! EVERYONE ON YOUR MARKS!" A light at the end of the tunnel lit up, a bright red color. "GET SET!" The color changed to a light yellow-
The man held a pause, allowing nervousness to slip into the students.
He grinned, "GO!" The light turned green and everything sprung forth to start the obstacle race. However they didn't realize the obstacles had already started.
Izuku grimaced as an elbow embedded itself in his back, with another hitting his stomach. 'Of course! The first obstacle is the tunnel itself, it was so obvious!' Izuku chided himself as he took a deep breath. "Wind Style: Push Back!" With a burst of air, Izuku sent the surrounding people away from him, giving him enough time to charge up One For All and make it out of the tunnel, what he saw surprised him.
Shoko was going wild, she had created a field of ice at the end of the tunnel, making it hard for people to get out, and she was surfing on her ice to get ahead of the crowd. "Resourceful." Izuku muttered as he saw some people who got through the trap.
Ochako was using her quirk on herself and leaping horizontally, essentially floating, across the field.
Tokoyami was using Dark Shadow's claws as leverage and was somersaulting himself with them, making getting across the track easier.
Momo had weird, ice climber-like shoes that she used as she ran across Shoko's ice, when the path of frozen water ended she took them off and her feet glowed, a sign of her quirk, and soon she had rollerskates on.
Izuku noticed someone from 1-B seemingly floating, with only their torso, while carrying their lower body in their arms. He slapped his cheeks as he heard Eiko yell a battle cry as she ran past him.
"Stop observing, and run!" He told himself as he crouched down, 'One For All: Full Lightning!" The powers he had been gifted arced across his body as he pushed the power to nine percent. The surrounding students all watched in awe as Izuku seemingly shot off like a bullet.
Bakugo was using his explosive blast to fly across the track, trying to catch up to Shoko. "I'm not gonna let you beat me half n' h- THAT'S FUCKING BULLSHIT!" The boy yelled as an electric green blur passed him.
Izuku slowed down as he passed more and more people, eventually catching up with Shoko and seemingly Iida, though the boy was a bit behind them both. Shoko heard the static and cracking of Izuku's electricity, she turned and saw him, her eyes widening a bit, but they returned to normal. "Of course you'd get past it, why am I surprised." She said.
Izuku was going to retort but was cut off by Present Mic announcing the next part of the Course, "WATCH OUT, BECAUSE THESE BEASTS MADE OF METAL WILL SHOW YOU THEIR METTLE, IT'S ROBO INFERNO!"
Aizawa groaned and looked at his blonde friend with a critical glare, "Did you just rhyme metal with mettle?" He asked under his breath, his friend smiling and nodding in response.
Back with Izuku, he and Shoko turned their attention to in front of them where they saw the zero pointer from the entrance exam, along with a few of the other point bots as well.
Shoko was not impressed. As a recommendation student she didn't have to fight these robots, and they looked very easy to beat with her quirk. She continued to skate, freezing over robots and spawning a giant glacier that froze the behemoth that was the zero pointer, she felt her spine shiver at her excess ice usage and she decided to use a technique Izuku had theorized about.
She activated her flames, not even for them to become a torrent or visible to the cameras but enough to warm her body with small flickers of fire that danced across her skin. It stopped her from being cold and allowed her to continue skating across with her ice without any discomfort.
Izuku ran through the field of robots, hearing the sounds of the missiles and firearms the robots had in the background, though he chose to ignore it for now.
He reached the end of the track, Shoko a little bit behind him and who he presumed was Bakugo a bit behind her going by the sound of explosion, and rose a brow in confusion. "A.. giant pit?" He asked aloud.
"THAT'S RIGHT MIDORIYA!" He heard Present Mic even though he was outside the stadium, "THE NEXT OBSTACLE IS THE FALL, YOU MUST CROSS THIS PIT, DO IT HOWEVER YOU CAN, JUST DON'T FALL BECAUSE YOU'LL DIE!" He said cheerfully.
Izuku shivered a little at his wording but then he heard a sigh coming from the speakers on the course, unlike from the stadium.
"To all listening, do not worry, if they fall they will not die, UA has countermeasures to make sure such a situation does not happen." The tired voice of Aizawa was heard.
Izuku nodded to himself as he crouched down, the sound of Shoko's ice creation, Bakugo's explosion, and now even Iida's engines getting louder. "One For All!" He grit his teeth as he pushed the quirk to 11%, he felt the percentage lock into place and he added wind to the mix, "Full Gale!" He jumped high into the air, though he did not get far enough to reach the first platform of the pit.
Though the crowd noticed that Izuku did not fall traditionally, instead he seemed to be gliding, "I can't fly completely yet, but I can do this!" He turned around, having his arm have where the start of the course was. "One For All: Full Gale: Wind Cannon!" A gust of pressurized air came out of his hand and shot Izuku across the pit.
The gale of wind added with the gliding he had created with his wind allowed him to land on the other side rather quickly, though it took multiple bursts of wind cannons and he felt his hands wincing in pain.
"My body can handle the elements, but wind accidentally creates cuts as a side effect, along with One For All.. I need to stop so I don't ruin my hands.." Izuku muttered as he started losing altitude.
He landed at the other end of the pit, he put his hand on his knees as he stood in a squat.
"WOAH, WHAT'S WRONG WITH MIDORIYA?!" Mic shouted and the crowd looked at a big screen in the stadium, seeing Izuku panting.
"What's wrong with my baby?" Inko asked aloud as she and Eri watched on. All Might had a look of worry on his face as well, what was wrong?
Aizawa narrowed his eyes and stopped slouching in his chair, staring intently at one of the monitors that him and Yamada had to watch the participants, the one showing Izuku. "Problem Child, why do I feel like you're going to give me a headache?" He asked as the screen displayed Izuku's breathing getting worse.
The boy himself started coughing, 'What's going on?' He wondered. But then the pain went away, he breathed deeply as air invaded his lungs. He stood straight and looked around, maybe it was someone's quirk? But he saw nothing.
"What was that..?" He coughed in between words.
He clenched his hands to get some feeling back in his body, and his hand, which earlier felt like it was in pain due to overusing wind cannon too much, felt fine. He looked down to his hand to see it was fine, his cuts that were on there were gone.
"I didn't heal myself, what is this..?" He asked.
The excess Gales that injured you were a loophole young one, with Shigaraki's advancement the quirk works to circumvent those
He heard Zandaka's voice and he froze. Shigaraki? Who was that? Was it one of her accomplices? He clenched his fist one more time, he could worry about that later, he had to finish the course.
And judging by the explosions he was hearing he needed to start moving now.
He squatted and started up One For All to 8% and started sprinting to the next obstacle which was-
Momo and Ochako
"WELCOME TO THE FINAL OBSTACLE, THE MINEFIELD, THE BOMBS DON'T HURT TOO MUCH BUT THEY ARE A LITTLE SCARY AND PRETTY LOUD, SO IF YOU DON'T WANNA LOSE YOUR HEARING THEN YOUR BETTER NOT TOUCH THEM!" The two girls heard as they approached the pit.
Ochako huffed as she started to calm her breathing, "Someone- already- made it to the final obstacle?" She asked.
"Most likely Shoko, Bakugo, or Izuku. Though I am more inclined to believe it is either Izuku or Bakugo." She said as she analyzed the pit, thinking of a potential plan to get through.
She saw Iida was balancing on the connecting ropes and using his engines to blast himself across the island sections of the pit, many students following behind him. Such as Tsuyu who was climbing across the ropes using her quirk.
Going across the ropes would be too slow, but with her quirk she couldn't make something that would give her enough airtime to just fly over the pit, unless she were super light but she couldn't think of anything that would help her with that.
She looked at Ochako as the brunette was trying to figure out a way to get over the pit herself. "I could use my quirk, but even with my training I might throw up…"
Suddenly a flip switched in Momo's brain as she approached her friend, "Hey Ochako-chan can I talk to you for a second?" She asked and the brunette turned to her.
"Um, we're kinda in the middle of a competition, Yaomomo." She responded.
Momo smiled, "Don't worry, I have a plan.
In The Stadium
The crowd watched as Izuku seemed to get his bearing, and for some reason checked over his hand before sprinting off to the next obstacle. The kid was weird, that was the opinion of many of the pros and observers in the stands, but he was strong. Impressively so.
They all saw him basically fly, though that came with the backlash of whatever happened afterwards which many did not like, though he seemed alright now. Many decided to keep tabs on him.
Though that's not to say he was the only one people had eyes on, the kids in 2nd and 3rd were striking as well. Todoroki and Bakugo. The daughter of Endeavor, one whose ice and fire powers many thought could rival Midoriya's quirk: Elements. Then there was Bakugo, whose quirk wasn't as impressive, it was just explosions which in all honesty was very dangerous for hero work if they weren't controlled, but he showed impressive mastery of them, even flying or semi-flying with them.
And then there were many other impressive first years, the second son of the Iida family, the Yaoyorozu heir, and a boy with a copy quirk named Monoma. All of which were very promising in regards to hero work.
There was a boy and girl whose quirks were very similar in what they did, Steel for Tetsutetsu and Hardening for Kirishima. They both seemed to plow through the course which was impressive but showed they didn't think too much.
There were even more impressive first years than that though and it was given the crowd, more specifically the pros, a hard time deciding who to take for internships. Many guessed they'd have to wait for the next rounds to see what they could really do.
"WELCOME TO THE FINAL OBSTACLE, THE MINEFIELD, THE BOMBS DON'T HURT TOO MUCH BUT THEY ARE A LITTLE SCARY AND PRETTY LOUD, SO IF YOU DON'T WANNA LOSE YOUR HEARING THEN YOUR BETTER NOT TOUCH THEM!" The crowd heard as Izuku approached what they saw was the minefield.
He seemed to stop when he reached it and began thinking.
"WHAT'S MIDORIYA DOING, HE'S WASTING PRECIOUS TIME!" Mic yelled out and the pros began whispering.
Inko scrunched her brows, "What's Izuku doing?" She asked as she saw Izuku squat down in front of the minefield and touch the dirt.
Eri wasn't quite understanding what was going on but she was curious as well.
Toshinori just chuckled. "With Midoriya's quirk and his thinking, no obstacle can stand in front of him.
Izuku
The elemental closed his eyes as he focused on the dirt, he used his seismic sense and could feel all of the mines in the ground, he knew he couldn't just run through but maybe he could do something else.
He distinguished the dirt from the mines and then he pushed down on the floor. The dirt of the track lowered, revealing all of the mines to see. Izuku didn't want to move the mines because he didn't think he'd have enough time to put them back and that'd give everyone an opportunity to skip an obstacle which wouldn't showcase their skills.
So instead he just made them visible, now he could easily run across them.
"WHAT HAS MIDORIYA DONE! NOW ALL THE MINES ARE SUPER DUPER EASY TO SEE?!" Izuku once again heard Present Mic yell as he squatted and started up Full Cowling, adding wind to the mix so he could adjust himself mid air if he was accidentally going to step on a mine.
"He did it so he'd have an easier time getting through, while now the process will be a lot easier. It took up a lot of time, diminishing the lead he had, now his opponents are catching up." The tired voice of Aizawa spoke, making Izuku look behind him to see Bakugo and Shoko blasting (literally in Bakugo's case) towards him.
Izuku turned back around and started sprinting, using One For All and wind to make sure he didn't land on any mines and instead the space between them.
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE DEKU!" He heard the screechy voice of Bakugo. He honestly wondered how his childhood friend had never lost his voice from how frequently he screamed at the top of his lungs.
And then he heard the woosh noise of Shoko's ice stop, he turned to see her hopping between the mines, a serious look on her voice as her brows were scrunched.
'Cute…' He idly thought before shaking his head and turning back around, he had a race to finish.
Momo and Ochako
"And you're sure this will work Yaomomo?" Ochako asked as the two readied a large slingshot-like device, most of the other participants of the race had already started attempting the pit obstacle and they were basically in last. Ochako was risking a lot but she trusted her longtime friend and there was no rule against teaming up either.
The girl nodded as they both secured themselves along the rubber band like piece of the contraption as the ends were held in my large poles of metal that were easily the size of Sato or Koda. "Absolutely, you just need to use your quirk on us, when he get into the air hold onto me and then I will create a device to help us navigate in the air." Momo said.
Ochako nodded and gulped as she touched both her and her friend, before wrapping her arms around the other girl. 'Don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up…' She chanted to herself as they both walked backwards making the rubber band strain as it stretched.
And it was at that moment that Present Mic noticed what was going on. "WHAT! URARAKA AND YAOYOROZU HAVE PARTNERED UP, IS THIS TO MAKE UP FOR BEING IS BASICALLY LAST PLACE?!"
Aizawa looked at his friend with a raised brow, "You do realize they started this before the majority of the rest passed them? That means they're banking on this idea, and if it flops then they can kiss their chances at advancing down the drain.."
The rubberband's strain ended as the two stopped walking backwards, Ochako was clinging onto Momo, "Are you ready Ochako-chan?"
"Ready as'll ever be…" She responded.
The two stopped resisting the rubberband and with no gravity affecting them they flew into the sky. They briefly heard Mic's scream of "WOAHHHHHHH!" but it was hard to hear because of the wind in their ears.
Momo ditched her UA shirt, showing her sport's bra underneath, her lower back glowed as something protruded from it, soon a glider came out and Momo grabbed onto it, reaching out for Ochako and grabbing her hand and helping the girl grip the hang glider.
Ochako looked at Momo with puffed up cheeks and the taller girl nodded, Ochako managed to put her hands together, muttering "Release". The two felt their gravity return as they started descending, though they were already far past the pit and could see three familiar heads of hair in front of them.
"Ochako-chan, get ready to roll, it will help nullify the pain of landing."
"Got it." The brunette nodded.
Izuku reached the end of the pit and started sprinting towards the end, One For All was making it easier but he lowered the voltage, staying at 9% for so long was starting to drain him. He heard a whooshing noise but he didn't turn his head, instead he heard a yell.
"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT PONYTAIL!" And he instantly knew what happened.
He heard the sound of rubble being hit and then people sprinting behind him as their feet hit the ground.
"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! URARAKA AND YAOYOROZU TAKE THE TO FRONT WITH THEIR TEAMWORK, BUT CAN THEY PASS MIDORIYA?!" Present Mic yelled, causing Izuku to look behind him to see his friends.
They were smiling at him as they continued to run, he noticed that Momo didn't have a shirt so he quickly looked in front of him again.
He heard the sound of Shoko's ice being surfed on and Bakugo's explosions, along with Ochako running on the ground and now rolling wheels, he assumed Momo made roller skates.
"I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU WIN DEKU!" Bakugo yelled as his explosions got louder.
"I want to win as well Izuku." Shoko said, determined as she upped the speed she created her ice at.
"Don't think I'm going to give up either ya guys!" Ochako hollered as she used her quirk on herself to make her jumps faster.
Momo continued to skate, her legs feeling like they were burning from it. "I will not give up either, I also want to win this competition!" She said, her voice full of emotion.
Izuku smiled and looked behind him, allowing all of his friends to see his face. "You guys are amazing and it makes me want to do even better!" His hair faded to black and his eyes turned crimson. "Because I don't want to lose either!" He turned to the end and he blitzed, his form looking like red and black lightning.
"AND IN FIRST PLACE WE HAVE IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
Izuku crossed the finish line smiling, his hair fading back to its usual color though the cameras did pick up on it, giving the pros another piece to work with about him. The crowd began yelling, Inko was cheering while smiling, Eri through her arms in the air as well with a look of happiness on her face. "Papa/ Izuku won!"
Luckily the crowd was so loud no one heard the papa line.
Toshinori smiled, though he was thinking about how to explain Izuku's new power to Inko since he was sure she didn't know about it. The only reason she hadn't noticed was because she was too excited about Izuku winning. "Good job, my boy…"
The boy panted as he squatted down and breathed deep, controlling his breathing before turning around and seeing his friends passing the line as well. Bakugo first followed by Shoko, then Momo and finally Ochako.
Momo and Ochako looked out of breath and he approached them with a smile. Though Shoko didn't look as tired it was obvious she was by her rapid breathing. "You- You guys did great..!" Izuku said with a smile.
Ochako smiled and pumped a fist, "So did you Izuku!"
Her and Izuku high fived each other and then they rubbed their hands on their pants since their hands were so sweaty. Izuku turned to Momo and went to congratulate her too, but he turned pink when she saw how the girl was dressed. "M-M-Momo..!"
The girl tilted her head, "Yes?"
Izuku shook his head and unzipped his UA shirt, since he had a basic white t-shirt underneath, and handed it to her. "Here, put this on, this is on live TV, no one should see you like that.."
Momo chuckled and blushed as she took it, "That's very sweet of you Izuku, but you do remember how my costume looks, correct?" At the words Izuku's blush intensified.
"Yeah… about that, I've been doing research about costumes that need skin showing, and I've come up with new designs. It's just your suit can be pretty.. revealing and there's a lot of people out there that are kind of.. Weird, so maybe I could show them to you sometime?" He asked with a raised brow as he still had a blush on his face.
Momo smiled at how considerate Izuku was, she did know that her costume needed skin showing, she needed that for her quirk after all. But she was still a tad bit uncomfortable with how extreme the support company that worked on her costume took that. "Of course, perhaps we could have a lunch date and look it over?"
"D-D-Date!"
"A lunch date yes! My parents say they are sort of a meeting used to discuss things regarding work." Momo answered, though she did realize her mistake.
Izuku's blush died down, "Oh that makes sense, yeah we could do that. And great job by the way, you did great."
"Thank you Izuku." Momo said as she zipped up her shirt, it was a little tight around her chest but it was quite comfortable.
"Izuku." A monotone voice said and the boy turned to see Shoko, ice covering half of her body probably from the final stretch of the race, and she was shivering. "I need to warm up." She opened up her arms.
Izuku giggled, "Can't you do that by yourself now though?" He asked.
"That is not important right now." She responded and Izuku gave in. Giving her a hug, using the fire part of his quirk to warm her and remove the ice. Her shivering lessened until it completely stopped. She tapped his arm to tell him to stop and Izuku did so. "Thank you."
"You're welcome Sho and good job, you did amazing." He smiled and Shoko smiled smally back.
"You did as well, I tried to catch up to you but I couldn't. Though I am still happy that I was able to come in such a high placing, though I don't believe my father will be happy either…" She trailed off and got quiet, losing her smile.
Izuku lost his smile as well.
Just thinking about Endeavor made him angry, he didn't know the man all that well but just hearing Shoko's pain made his blood boil. Though he kept it contained, because right now he had to make her feel better.
Just like he had to do with Eri.
And due to his thinking about Eri, he did something he'd normally reserve for her.
He gave Shoko a head pat.
And he didn't even notice what he was doing as he smiled at her. "Don't worry about him right now, just do your best, even if he tries anything…. well we got All Might as a teacher and Aizawa-sensei too. He won't lay a finger on you." He smiled encouragingly.
Shoko blushed as Izuku retracted his hand and went to talk to Bakugo, who was cursing up a storm, she reached for the top of her head and touched the spot where Izuku's hand was. "Warm…" She muttered.
More and more students came in and Ochako and Izuku tried to cheer up Iida, who was sad that despite having a quirk suited for running, didn't come in the top five.
"Alright, we've had 42 participants pass the obstacle course, this is the cut off points, sorry to those that haven't made it. Better luck next year!" Midnight cracked her whip, "But enough off that let's focus on what's going to happen right here and right now!"
The spinning wheel came out once again, not giving the last couple of students any time to come down from their adrenalin rush. The wheel began to spin and the students watched on in wonder.
"Oh, please don't be something too dangerous!" Inko pleaded as she looked at Izuku who was in the middle of the crowd of students.
Eri watched on the spinning wheel before looking at Izuku's green tuft of hair in the crowd of students. "Papa, you can win." She whispered as she clenched her fist. She didn't know what winning entailed but everyone seemed to want to do that, so she hoped her papa could do that.
The wheel began to slow and eventually landed on cavalry battle, the students all looked on wondering what that would entail and how they could use their quirks to their foolest. But then the wheel ticked over by one more.
"IT LOOKS LIKE YOU GUYS ARE GONNA BE HAVING A PAINT WAR!"
Paintball.
END
Don't really have anything to say, sorry this took so long but I had to move my room around which took the whole weekend and then stuff with track happened so my week has been very hectic. It's not helping that I'm starting to read Naruto.
Anyways, did you guys like the chapter? I hope you did, if you didn't oh well..
I'm currently working on chapter 3 of Hope in The Dark, which is my Villain Deku story, if there is any story you guys want me to publish early just ask in the comments and I'll do so.
Though it'd have to be at least like 5 people.
Anyways, as always.
Jay out!