whyisitspicy1: i already addressed that! the white dog will be part of a future plot!
vena jugularis: kunyomi is the japanese pronunciationand onyomiis the chinese pronunciation. most of the time, kanji that are right next to each other are read as their onyomi. good luck with japan and i hope you don't romanticize it so much because japan is far from the dreamland everyonethinks it is!
...
"The UA Sports Festival! Where the hero world's inchoate little eggs aim for each other's throats and the top! Our grand yearly melee!" The shrills and the cheers of the audience deafen Hitoshi's ears. Present Mic is as good as a hero as he is as an entertainer and with his charisma and delivery, the audience's excitement heightens. "And let me guess, all you miscreants came to see them, right?! The freshly-formed miracle stars that shrugged off a mass Villain assault with wills of steel!—" Hitoshi grits his teeth. "The Department of Heroics' first years! You're here for Class 1-A, right?!" And as if they are nothing but side-characters, cannon fodders to the main characters, Present Mic continues: "And following, Class 1-B, here comes Classes C, D, and E from the General Education Department! And now, here are Class F, G, and H from the Support Department! Now for the Business Management Department..."
One of his classmates mutter bitterly from behind them, hissing under their breath about how UA is truly milking this event, making sure all eyes are focused on no one but Class 1-A, and treating the rest of the students as nothing but foils. Hitoshi watches Class 1-A huddle to themselves and murmur to each other. He tightens his fists, focusing entirely on Kugisaki and Fushiguro, first and third rank in the Practical Exams. (And the kids who just so happened to patch him up after his escapade to the internet café. Hitoshi watched from the convenience store, hesitant, and now, he does the same.) They are the same as always, secluded and sticking to themselves. Even when in the company of their classmates, it seems. And Hitoshi is not the only one looking at them curiously, tempted to get close; the glasses-wearing one with the brunette continuously drag their gazes to the duo.
Hitoshi focuses on Midnight instead.
"Now, now, fair play!" She chirps, responding to the audience's curious inquiries about her status as the 18 hero with an annoyed grumble. She flicks her whip. "Silence! My tenure here is perfectly on the level! Now, Player Representative!" Hitoshi jolts.
Kugisaki Nobara walks confidently to the small stage, her hair, for once, tied in a ponytail instead of letting it loose as it always is. Hitoshi had always been unnerved at her confidence and her assurance of herself. She walked like she knew what she was going to do, completely unbothered by the sudden silence of the crowd. Hitoshi catches 'only first in the hero exams' and 'did not even take the other first placers accountable', and he knows Kugisaki can hear them, he knows Kugisaki is well aware of their opinions but she does not care. She continues to walk, unaffected. And as she stands in front of the microphone, she tugs a strand of a stray hair behind her ear, clears her throat, the screens surrounding them showing off her Student ID. She had much shorter hair there, cropped to her shoulders with no signs of black roots peeking out as it does now.
"I'm Kugisaki Nobara, future Pro-Hero Duo with Fushiguro Megumi, First Place in the Practical Exams for Heroics," she announces to Hitoshi, to the rest of them, to the blaring lights of the cameras flickering at her face and to the audience begging to get a grasp of anything she can offer. The screen blacks out to Fushiguro's face upon the mention of his name. His eyebrows furrow. "I'm standing here as the Player Representative because I worked hard to get up here, because I stopped making excuses as to why this and that didn't happen—" Hitoshi flinches. "—I'm right here. I'm standing right here. So this is your chance. This is your only chance—" Hitoshi knows. Hitoshi knows better than anyone. He knows that second years do not get this much opportunity as the first years and by third year, changing courses is a lost cause. This is Hitoshi's only chance. He knows. He knows that.
"I'm here."
Hitoshi's stomach churns.
"I'm right here. And I'm waiting."
The crowd swirls with contempt, mostly from his side of the students. Hitoshi hears a redhead call Kugisaki 'manly' for her uplifting speech, another compliment from the same glasses-wearing boy from earlier, but all Hitoshi can feel is the discomfort swirling inside him, the things he could have done, the excuses he made during the Practical Exams when the Hero Society is as plain as day. It's hard for people like me, he knows that so he scratches away the guilt, the regrets, the what-if's and his hatred towards himself, and he thinks of now. He thinks of nothing but the different uniforms of Class 1-A, the favoritism, and he thinks that all that matters is his dreams.
Kugisaki bows shallowly and walks away.
He will become a hero. He will become a hero with this Quirk that his childhood calls Villainous and Hitoshi vows.
Because this is his long-awaited chance. His one and only chance. And he will not stand by outside the convenience store anymore like he did, and he will make sure to not keep Kugisaki and Fushiguro waiting in that stage because this is his one and only chance.
Because there is nothing else he wants more than to be a hero.
...
The first thing Megumi does is swat Kugisaki across the head. He gets a kick behind his knee in return.
They planned for the speech together for the past few days and only managed to finish it last night, squeezing it in as they give pointers to Uraraka, Midoriya, and Īda every now and then, but at the end, Kugisaki does not go through the speech they had painstakingly made together. They even added some words of encouragements that were definitely not threatening, and they did not forget to put UA's trademark concerning the truth of becoming Pro-Heroes but of courseKugisaki just had to ignore the plan and spike everyone's perseverance even further but at the same time, Megumi admits that she relayed the message to Itadori well. Kugisaki and Fushiguro. Here. Waiting. You're not alone in this world. Come find us because we can't find you, and Megumi hates these implications. Because how hard can it be to find someone who acts like the sun? Bright and bold? Eye-catching and unrestrained or—or are they right about Itadori being trapped?
Kugisaki pushes away his hand from her, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably. "The speech was mostly for Itadori. These guys can suck for all I care," she shrugs, "It'll be easier for us if so." Megumi is tempted to roll his eyes, knowing that Kugisaki said the speech for the students as well.
He pauses. The uniforms don't suit them, he thinks—especially the sports wear. The vibrant colors are too unfamiliar. Megumi feels like there are so many eyes focused on them and this only worsened during Kugisaki's speech when the cameras had focused on him as well. And with her arms crossed, Kugisaki nods to Midnight's direction. Her shoulders are pressed together as if trying to make herself smaller. Megumi does not think those kinds of mannerisms suit Kugisaki so he puts both of his hands on Kugisaki's shoulder and presses on them, guiding them for her back to straighten. Confused, Kugisaki frowns at him. She realizes what he was trying to do and snorts. "I was cold," she laughs. Megumi turns away.
"All right! With that, we can move directly onto our first event!" Midnight continues as if Kugisaki's speech never happened. "Onto the preliminaries, as they are called! Lots of fine folks end up choking on their tears here year round! And this first year's round of destiny is the obstacle course!"
Both Kugisaki and Megumi cringe.
The both of them were never meant for stamina-built activities, Kugisaki moreso than Megumi. Her Cursed Technique gives heavy attacks, her Hairpin clearly more used for a 'one-time big-time' kind of thing—it is a killing blow, created to destroy anything that it touches while Megumi's, though more flexible with his skills considering that he can fight with his Ten Shadows, still has to consider the rapid drain in stamina it gives him as it makes him bith use his Cursed Energy and move around. Which is why, Kugisaki and Megumi, though they expected some kind of racing to happen in typical Sports Festival fashion, wants nothing to do with this obstacle course.
"It's a race between classes!" Midnight adds, the sound of her whip hitting the ground every now and then making Megumi feel a bit more annoyed at the situation. "The course makes a nearly four kilometers ring around the stadium. We always sing about freedom in our campus—" Midnight chuckles. "Well, this is what it's all about! You're free to do anything. Anything, so long as you remain within this course. So let's get cracking!"
Megumi snaps his head up. Already?! They did not even tell them what they were going through, just straight-up initiated the Obstacle Course without anymore prompting!
"On your marks—"
Megumi puts his hands together.
"Start!"
He jumps in the air and immediately gets caught by the broad back of Nue. With a quick nudge and a spark of Cursed Energy, Nue grasps Kugisaki by her collar as he watches her pull out both her hammer and her nails. "Wh—that's cheating!" Megumi ignores the sounds of protests that follow them but Kugisaki does not. He is pretty sure she is sticking her tongue out at them right now but he thinks it can be worse.
From below them, Todoroki speads through the path, icing the grounds and putting most of their competitors out of the commission. Before Megumi can fully tell Nue to go faster, Nue is put into halt at the appearance of the familiar robots they had decimated back in the Entrance Exams. "Here comes the obstacles, and so suddenly too! And from the very outset, the first barrier will be Robo Inferno!" Just as Megumi hisses at Kugisaki to do something about it, Todoroki, surprisingly, moves first, pulling the ice from the ground and stretching it into the air and—Megumi growls. "Nue!" His Cursed Technique narrowly avoids the ice that had tried to get to them, his control slipping for a moment with the suddenness of it. He definitely did not expect Todoroki to turn around a little, eyes meeting one another and looking mildly disappointed and unsurprised that his attempts in putting down Megumi's 'birdie', as Kugisaki calls it, failed.
Megumi leans forward. "Faster, Nue—"
"As if, Pokémon!"
"Fushiguro, focus!" Kugisaki shouts.
Megumi never really did expect much from his classmates, putting his guard down around them because honestly? Megumi does not find them threatening, does not think they can do anything else but rank first in this situation so when Bakugō haphazardly climbs the frozen robots with startling ease and jumps to Megumi's Ten Shadows with a burst of energy, he does not expect this. But Present Mic does with a loud burst of laughter: "And 1-A's Bakugō has abandoned the ground and vaulted over their heads, wisely putting out the biggest threat—1-A's Fushiguro's cheat-like Quirk!" He is not a cheat, Megumi vehemently denies as he dodges an explosion aiming at his throat.
Bakugō screams something about him being a Pokémon Trainer but Megumi struggles to hear this as he clutches on Nue's feathers, and urges it to swerve. "Nue!" The bird does as told, flipping in the air and catching Bakugō unaware. He falls and though Megumi did say that he does not want any of his classmates getting more injured than they are, he cannot help hut get a sense of satisfaction from Bakugō's fall. He needs to be humbled a little, after all. Nue flies.
"As expected of those who've ran past, lots are from 1-A!"
But it does not stop there.
The whole Class begins aiming for Megumi's so-called cheat-like skill and once again, renders him surprised when one of Sero's tapes whips to his direction and tugs Nue by its foot, dragging him to the ground. The boy laughs heartly. "Sorry, Fushiguro! That bird is just a cheat!" And Megumi grows annoyed. He dispels Nue in an instant, startling everyone watching and Kugisaki curses right at his face. He loops an arm around her waist, and just as they fall, his twin hounds rise from the ground and catches them. He tries to hold down his embarrassment. He has not ridden his hounds ever since he was a kid, since he was in elementary school! And now, he is rendered to riding them instead!
"There's little time they have to spend dead in their tracks. And now, each of their experiences has become their source of encouragement," Aizawa's voice echoes almost in foreshadowing, "It's drowning out their doubt and hesitation."
Kugisaki suddenly jumps from the dark hound carrying her to the white hound Megumi is riding. Before he can even shout at her in surprise and what the hell she is doing, his arms already catch her and Kugisaki's back is already pressing against him. "Make sure I don't fall!" She growls. Megumi moves awkwardly, half of his body turned to Kugisaki's direction while the rest is faced front to maneuver the hounds. He watches Kugisaki smash her hammer to the nails dancing in her palms and the vibrant colors of her Cursed Energy becomes terribly familiar. The nails embed themselves in the wandering robots and with a flick of her wrist, explosions ring in the stadium and this is what makes Present Mic cheer: "Class 1-A's Kugisaki's infamous attack! The same one she had used to decimate through the robots back in the Practical Exams! This is our Player Representative, everyone!" Megumi pleads for them to not inflate Kugisaki's ego any further.
"Well then, Missy, if the first barrier was such a cinch, then whad'dya think of the second one? You fall, then you're out! If you don't like that idea, maybe you can crawl—" Present Mic hollers. "This is the Fall!"
Megumi tugs on Nue, the hounds melting into his shadow as he and Kugisaki are dragged into the skies again. Present Mic reacts to this as expected. "And there it is again! Fushiguro's cheat-like Quirk! Kugisaki's just getting pulled on by Fushiguro! Wh—" Megumi is actually more comfortable with Kugisaki staying put but with Present Mic's words, this eggs Kugisaki on.
"Who did you just call useless, you bastard!"
"Kugisaki, no one—"
Kugisaki suddenly stands up and Megumi becomes forced to slow down Nue despite his need to just want to get this over with but of course, Present Mic had to put fire to Kugisaki's trembling pride. Megumi grabs Kugisaki's ankles. "Kugisaki, sit down—" Kugisaki, however, does not listen and drops her nails to where the cliffs lie. And the moment it nears the ropes, she snaps her fingers. The explosions are the only things that Megumi hears, overshadowing the shouts of protest.
"And there we have it! Kugisaki eradicates her opponents—" Megumi pulls Kugisaki by her shirt. His arm is around her once again and this time, he makes sure she stays put because she is putting unnecessary amount of effort on the both of them when they can just use Nue to speed through. "—but this does not stop our future heroes! Todoroki only becomes faster and he now uses his ice instead of the ropes! Bakugō manages to go through as well and—" Present Mic lets out a sharp whistle. "It seems like the students are being forced to take the longer path to the side now! Kugisaki! How Villainous!"
Megumi wonders why people are trying to make Kugisaki react so much. She is only going to get angrier, more violent, and she is not really the type to hold back when egged on and that is exactly what is happening but Megumi has long since lost his patience. "Kugisaki, save that for later," he grumbles.
The screens suddenly focus on them, specifically with the way Megumi has an arm around Kugisaki. He cringes, knowing what is about to come. Present Mic. Present Mic. He surrenders. "Hey! Hey! Flirting during the Obstacle Course is a no-go!" Megumi wants to get this over and done with.
"The players in the lead are separated from those bunched up in the back! But I won't say how many are pulling ahead, so don't get complacent and keep moving forward!" Present Mic does not help even. Megumi is a hundred percent sure that after this Sports Festival, Class 1-A will only be further alienated by the other students and there is nothing they can do about it. Not after Present Mic's introduction from the beginning made it seem like they 'shrugged off the Villain Attack in USJ' when even Megumi and Kugisaki, who has more experience than their whole class combined and has dealt with more killing blows than they can count, had to be saved by All Might who only managed to beat the Villain through the skin of his teeth. UA is putting their students against one another and for what? For the cameras? For the experience? Whatever it is, Megumi does not like it. Nor does he like the fact that their classmates are constantly trying to put him and Kugisaki down specifically.
The more Present Mic speaks, the more Megumi grows irritated. "And now, we have come to the hidden final barrier! Its true form is none other than—" Megumi sighs. "The mine field right out of Rambo 3! It's set up that if you look carefully, you can see where the landmines are placed! Strain your eyes and feet!"
This is the much easier obstacle, obviously.
Megumi leans forward, pushing in his Cursed Energy into Nue to move faster and he should have expected it. He really should have expected it but Megumi reels back in surprise when a barrier of ice rises from the ground just as it had earlier. His head slams against the back of Kugisaki's. He swerves to the other side, already reading Kugisaki's behind before she even says anything. Her nails push through the ice, the cold tickling Megumi's face as he pushes forward but of course. Of course.
Another loud explosion rings from the back and at first, Megumi assumed it to be just another student tripping over the mines but as a shadow looms even above his Nue, Megumi grits his teeth and leans even more. Nue presses on but the edge of Midoriya Izuku's plate pokes first, and the next thing Megumi knows is that he is heading straight for the ground along with the deafening cheers of the crowd.
Midoriya's name is all he hears.
...
Megumi ends up in third place, having been seated at the front and due to a disturbing coincidence, Kugisaki ties with Bakugō at fourth place. They originally would have had reached, at the very least, first place but Todoroki happened again, and the ice wall returned, making the both of them have to improvise as quickly as possible. For someone who implied that he will defeat Midoriya specifically, Todoroki seems to be out to get them. No. Megumi hunches to himself, feeling stares dig on his back. Everyone is out to get them, the Duo who stayed as a Duo even in the Sports Festival when it is an individual race. They had already argued about this beforehand, wondering how exactly they will go with it but Nitta ended their argument with a hand on their shoulders: "If you're trying to sell yourselves as a Duo, then stay as a Duo," and just like that, Megumi and Kugisaki calm down.
For some reason, Kugisaki and Megumi have been arguing a lot more the past few days even over the smallest of stuff but mostly concerning their classmates. "We're sorcerers! We're supposed to protect them," Megumi pulled on what Itadori would have said and for some reason, he became more desperate. There are little Curses wandering around and Megumi does not know what he is if not a sorcerer. So he clings to this; his wide-eyed classmates, a year younger than him, who genuinely want to be heroes but have little to no guidance. What is Midoriya even doing? His teacher is that bag of bones, right? Why is he not helping Midoriya use his Quirk more efficiently? Why does Midoriya not know that he needs to keep his fists close to him when he is throwing a punch? Why does he still trip on his own two feet? Why is he carelessly breaking his bones? Why is he settling for this?
"We're supposed to protect them from Curses," Kugisaki retorted, digging her finger on Megumi's chest, "Not from themselves."
"We're not having this conversation again, Kugisaki."
"Maybe we are! Because you're obviously getting distracted by these guys too much!"
"What are you trying to say?"
Kugisaki pursed her lips and for once, Megumi was relieved to see Hawks barging in their apartment in his typical exuberant fashion, colors vibrant and his wings even moreso. He blinked and aww'd. Kugisaki's annoyance turned to him instead. "Are Nobara-chan and Megumi-kun having a lover's quarrel?" Megumi and Kugisaki did not train with Uraraka, Midoriya, and Īda the next day, and it was Megumi who had to make an excuse as to why, saying something along the lines of Kugisaki not feeling well when Kugisaki obviously was because of how she was riling up Bakugō that day, getting into another screaming match now that she was more sure that their backstory and their files made it so that it was allowed for them to be more comfortable.
They did not walk home together then but Megumi finds Kugisaki on the couch with Nitta, hands in the air and complaining about Megumi of all people. Nitta just giggled sheepishly, unsure about how to react and when Kugisaki spotted Megumi, she grimaced, "Geh, it's him, Nitta-chan," but Megumi and Kugisaki still end up in the same room, Megumi is still kicked out of his own bed, and Megumi still sleeps on the futon. No apologies are exchanged because they know that they are both resolute with their opinions; Megumi wants to help because it is his job, it his him beinf Megumi, and he cannot just stand still and watch these civilians flail helplessly, and Kugisaki is Kugisaki. She cares when she cares, and she does not care when she just decides not to. Kugisaki is probably even more stubborn than Itadori, to an extent and Megumi prefers her that way.
The next day, they act like the argument never happened.
Megumi watches Kugisaki retie her hair. "I'm going to sock Present Mic in the face the next time I see him," she mutters under her breath and points at Megumi, "The next battle's gon'na be lead by me. That guy literally called me—"
"He didn't," Megumi sighs.
"He implied it!" Kugisaki replies too quickly. "We're a Duo! Of course we're going to work together. I swear, if Present Mic opens his mouth again I'm going to..."
Kugisaki's phone suddenly vibrates from her pocket. Megumi raises an eyebrow, surprised that she brought it with her. She returns the look and gestures to the pack around her waist where Sukuna's finger rests. Megumi grimaces. "Ah, it's Nitta-cha—huh," Kugisaki deadpans at the screen.
Megumi peeks from Kugisaki's shoulder. He scowls.
nitta-chan
congratulations, megumi-kun, nobara-chan!
akari-chan and i cheered a lot!
And there, in the screen, is a picture of Hawks with an arm around their Nitta-san, taken by the man himself along with the background of their match. Specifically the part where they had reeled away from the ice wall, their faces not the most pleasant out there.
"I hate him," and Megumi agrees.
even monkeys fall from trees