As Izuku once more stepped through the gates of Yuei, he looked around for any obvious signs of heightened security following the week of the school being closed.

No obvious changes had been made to the entrance from what he could see, other than a new door, nor could he see any obvious changes to the school itself.

He wasn't sure how to feel about that. Part of him would probably have felt better if the new changes made it easy to see that security had been upped from where it had been.

The side of Izuku that told him to analyze everything he ever encountered, told him that the new improvements were probably made specifically so that people wouldn't easily be able to tell what the changes were.

Around him, the rest of the school was entering, seemingly with no care in the world.

A couple of his classmates, tons of people he didn't know, a girl with messy dark green hair and sharp teeth who he instantly recognized as one of the girls who had laughed at him the last time he was at the entrance.

She didn't turn to look in his direction, but he felt his cheeks ever so slightly begin to burn from the memory.

He ignored those memories, just like he pointedly did not think about the incident with the chocolate milkshake from yesterday.

Right now, school was the only thing he wanted to think about.

I

-Ah, the prodigal asshole returns.-

Izuku didn't reply, instead focusing on the person Venom was talking about.

Aizawa, their assigned homeroom teacher had seen better days. He hadn't actually seen him since he and Mina had been teleported away, and the sight of the man sharply hammered into him how lucky he was to have a healing factor.

Unlike Izuku who had pretty much recovered completely from having his chest caved in, Aizawa had(According to Uraraka) had one arm completely broken, the skin on his elbow disintegrated, and his face smashed into concrete, every single injury of which he was heavily bandaged.

Both of his arms were in slings, though Izuku could tell that the way he moved them as he walked into the classroom was different in each, probably a result of the different kinds of damage he had suffered in each arm.

His head was so tightly bandaged that the only openings were two slits where his eyes were, and the top of his head where his long black mane flowed down over his bandage covered head.

Said black mane, also seemed way cleaner and less ragged than Izuku had ever seen it, suggesting someone had cleaned it while he was recovering.

All in all, he looked like he was about to fall over at any moment, and the way he moved as he walked suggested heavy pain with each step.

All in all, it made Izuku feel really bad looking at him, knowing he hadn't been strong enough to prevent what had happened to him.

It was a stupid thought of course, given he had had enough to deal with just surviving against Rhino, but it didn't change how he felt.

Several of his classmates greeted their sensei with worry, asked him if he was all right.

Aizawa though didn't seem to be in the mood for such sympathy, given his tone was the same unenthusiastic monotone he almost always used when talking to the class.

"Don't concern yourself with me…"

He paused before continuing, as he looked out over his class.

"...After all… The battle hasn't ended for you guys yet…"

Izuku tensed immediately at those words, and he wasn't the only one. Most of the class was immediately at edge, and half of them looked towards the window, as if afraid someone was about to burst in through the glass.

Behind Izuku, the purple haired Dwarf Mineta, exclaimed in absolute terror "More Villains?".

Aizawa let the tense situation hang in the air for about 10 seconds before he continued.

"Yuei's sports festival is approaching Boys and Girls…"

The tenseness burst like a popped balloon.

Even Izuku partook as everyone suddenly let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot this was a school." Kaminari let out while chuckling.

Shoji, the tallest student in the class, who Venom had once compared to a mixture between Lexington and Kakashi(Whoever they were) raised a hand.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, right after a villain attack and all?"

Aizawa did not show any more than his usual enthusiasm as he answered.

"It's a necessity. To prove that the school's new security measures and protocols are sound… Or that's the thinking anyway."

Izuku could feel a pang of frustration from Aizawa as he talked about the last part. He got the distinct feeling Aizawa might not agree with those who thought like that.

"In any case, compared to previous events, there will be five times the police presence of previous years, and there will be many times more pro heroes there than usual… And anyhow, our sports festival is still gonna be the best chance any of you guys are gonna get to lay the groundworks for your careers."

Aizawa's eyes suddenly got a narrow look to them as he looked from one end of the room to the other.

"Anyhow, it isn't an event that can be canceled over a few Villains."

Holy shit. Izuku hadn't even considered the fact the sports festival was coming up. The whole invasion and the aftermath had completely driven it out of his head.

"That is all well and good, but we have a question. What the hell is Yuei's sports festival?"

Izuku hadn't even noticed Venom forming on his shoulder, but once again, he completely froze as everyone's eyes turned towards him, or rather the head of black liquid that was sprouting from his shoulder.

Aizawa just stared at Venom, seemingly internally debating whether to answer the question, given how you'd have to have lived under a rock not to know about Yuei's sports festival.

Or on the moon, as was the case here.

Finally, after a bit of internal debate, he sighed.

"After the rise of quirks, the old world of professional sports, in particular the Olympics, sharply reduced in popularity. More mundane sports simply don't have the kind of draw that it once had, in this new world of super-powered individuals."

"In the old days, the Olympics would always whip up the entire world, and especially the country hosting them, into a massive frenzy. Today, however, that job generally goes to super-powered contests. And given the only people who are allowed to use their quirks as they see fit are heroes… That generally means school tournaments."

"For Japan, that means that the government sponsors the highest-ranking school in the country, for a 3-day tournament, each day dedicated to one year's set of students. For the moment, that means us here at Yuei. As far as Japan is concerned, this tournament is the replacement for the Olympics of old."

"The pros will be watching us right?" Momo interjected, from two seats behind Izuku.

"They'll be there as scouts."

"Yeah!" Kaminari replied cheerfully, hands behind his head, in a relaxed pose.

"They'll be looking to hire us as sidekicks after we graduate after all. That's how it's done!"

To his side, Jirou, the girl with the long earlobes with horrible sonic powers continued that train of thought.

"And a lot of those Sidekicks will never manage to go solo. That's you Kaminari."

Kaminari got an annoyed and angry look at that ribbing, but Aizawa interjected before he could reply.

"All of that is correct. The Yuei sports festival is one of your biggest advantages compared to students from other schools. You'll be putting yourself out there for all the country to see. Every pro worth their salt will be watching the tournament, and yes, they will be scouting for potential sidekicks."

"If you manage to impress them, and make them take you in, you'll have both a good starting position for your careers, and you'll be getting valuable experience. If you manage to get picked up by a really popular hero, the better your springboard will be for when you graduate."

"That said… You have a very limited time here. This event takes place once a year, so you'll get three chances for this. Show the pros what you're made of and make something of yourselves."

I

The news of the sports festival coming up brought about a level of enthusiasm that Izuku hadn't experienced from the class before.

As the time for lunch finally came, everyone was chatting, talking, or discussing the upcoming tournament.

Several of the guys had huddled together to discuss it, Uraraka was putting on a show of kinda scary ambitious sportsmanship, and Tenya was talking about how his brother had performed.

All of it had made Izuku feel mighty… Uncomfortable? No out of place was probably more like it.

As the rest of the class chatted, he quietly made his way to a less populated part of the school to eat alone.

The place he found was by a set of stairs.

He closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind. It wasn't as easy as it had been yesterday, despite how quiet it was, but after about half a minute, he did manage to clear his kind somewhat, and he once more felt the emotions of everyone around him.

This time was a bit different than it had been then, in that, with a shock, he realized he recognized several of the flames around him.

Mina and Tenya had both headed to where he thought the cafeteria was, Iida alone, and Mina alongside a presence he was pretty sure was Tsuyu.

Mina was cheerful and happy, while Tenya was a weird mix between curious, worried, and nervous. He was far less sure of himself than he had made himself seem.

Somewhere else in the building, he felt two souls that burned brighter anyone else. Two small burning sun's, that he recognized as Uraraka and All Might. All Might was as deafening in Izuku's emotional sight as he was in person, though for different reasons.

There were two things that instantly struck Izuku as he felt the two of them.

The first was that Venom had been utterly, and completely right. All Might was in constant, awful pain. It was horrible, absolutely horrible just how strongly that pain made him burn.

It made Izuku feel sick, just how much pain he was in.

The second was that compared to all the other flames Izuku could feel in the dark void, the two flames burned in a way, unlike all the rest.

It was like… There were several fires, stacked around both of them. Like a ball, with a smaller ball inside of it, with a smaller ball inside of that one and so on.

If Izuku had had any doubts left that Uraraka wasn't All Might's child, this sight killed them. It was ASTONISHING how similar their souls burned.

There was one thing however, that shocked him about this sight the closer he observed it. And that was the difference in how bright they burned.

He initially had thought both burned equally bright.

He was wrong.

The reason he had thought that, was due to both of them burning so much brighter than all the rest.

But to his shock, he realized just how much stronger Uraraka's flame was than All Might's.

Uraraka's fire burned strong bright, like a small, eternal sun.

All Might's flame wasn't constant, it was sputtering, like a fire that had to fight against the wind blowing it out.

The shock broke his concentration, and with a start, he returned to his regular senses.

For a moment, he just stood there taking deep breaths, before finally fishing out his bag, along with his food for today.

"YEESSS…. Finally!"

Said food was a bag of chocolate nougats.

Having assured himself that he was alone here, Izuku squatted down and opened the bag.

He blushed as he took a nougat out, remembering yesterday.

He'd have to find some better, more sustainable way to enjoy chocolate. He couldn't sneak away every day during lunch to enjoy it.

For now though… The pull was too strong. He HAD to eat some. He'd already felt the cravings when he hadn't been able to buy some before heading back to school.

As he bit down, the euphoria shot through him! His brain suddenly became both foggy, yet so much more ALIVE! His whole body felt ALIVE! His tongue most of all, as it savored the glorious, glorious taste in his mouth.

He was so out of it, that he didn't even notice he had consumed all the bag until he was entirely finished with it, at which point he felt a pang of annoyance.

Then, deep and utter shame.

The cravings though had gone away. He felt completely, and utterly satisfied as he went from squatting to sitting down on the stairs.

"Ahhhh…. That's the stuff! You guys should be happy my kind doesn't know this exists. If they did, they'd launch massive armadas to conquer it's source!"

"... Good thing they don't then."

"Yesss… We'll get it all to ourselves! We love this planet!"

Izuku just sat there, perfectly content to just sit out the rest of the break. Venom, however, had other ideas.

"Now that we have filled up on food… Shall we discuss the tournament?"

"...Okay? What do you wanna know?"

"Well, for starters, we begin with the basics. What the hell are we supposed to do exactly? Aizawa's half-assed explanation only covered the political aspects of the thing. What do we actually compete in?"

"Oh, okay. Well, two-thirds of the actual exercises change each year. The tournament is divided into three parts, the first generally roots out the majority of participants, and the second removes the wast majority of those remaining. At the end, the part of the show that everyone actually comes to see happens. The fights. All the remaining contestants are set up against each other in a brackets tournament, where you either incapacitate your enemy, or you throw them out of the ring."

"So it literarily is just a Shonen tournament."

That… Was kinda a weird way to put it.

"In that case, we will have to train then."

"...I'm pretty sure that's the whole point of going to this school."

Venom snorted.

"We're talking REAL combat here. Not the kind of sanitized crap your teachers will try and hammer into you. No, what we will teach you, is what we have learned over the course of thousands, upon thousands of hosts."

Well, that… Didn't sound ominous at all.

"Anyhow Izuku… You know how in Video games and anime, the protagonist will spend the vast majority of screentime trying to figure out their ultimate technique, that will define them in battle?"

"Um… Yeah?"

"Well fuck that shit, we'll just teach you the best move we know from the get-go. It's time we really delved into the art of battle, Klyntar style."