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Behind the leaders of the obstacle race followed the rest of class 1-A and quite a few kids from classroom 1-B. All eyes were on Midoriya as he was being praised by the enamored public. Todoroki was left a bit speechless as to what had happened throughout the obstacle course. He thought he was a shoe in for first place and had it in the bag with just his ice quirk. More than once his quirk was taken into consideration when they designed the challenges and it humbled the boy from how arrogant he had been going into this whole thing.
Forty two students total qualified to compete in the next event. Understandably, there was a break for the sake of the contestants and to give the audience a moment to relieve themselves or do whatever else they wanted to do. Up on the bleachers was a hero who arrived to witness the performance of one particular competitor in specific. A piercing glare that Todoroki could recognize and feel no matter where he was. They caught each other's glare and locked off in a moment of intensity before Todoroki broke it off and walked away from the man he was here to prove wrong.
UA Sports Festival Vendor Area
Inside the black German automobile of a food truck, the black laptop Haru had been using to keep an eye on things was flipped shut. He was proud of those who made it so far and muscled through everything he threw at them. By no means was this a pleasurable experience, but it did make the man feel confident that these kids were on the right path so far. He got up out of the driver's seat when his phone started to ring and let him know that Inko was wanting another video call. Unlocking the phone revealed a teary mother close to bawling at Haru.
"He did it! Oh my god, he did it!"
"Of course, how could he not?"
She just wanted to let out all of her pent up emotions being bottled up watching her son go through so much and come out on top. A large amount of relief followed by immense joy and pride would do that to a lot of mothers watching their children. They talked for a bit while Haru did his best to promise to go see if Izuku was okay for Inko as soon as they ended the call. One last goodbye ended the video feed and left Haru alone enough for him to make one last necessary call discreetly before he went to check up on Izuku. He tapped the concealed earpiece twice and was connected immediately to the head officer from earlier.
"Sir? How can I assist you?"
"Where are we with ETA?"
Some silence with the background noises indicating the near completion of the preparations necessary for the operation Haru wanted done.
"Package is within schedule and is due to meet the first checkpoint in roughly point five hours."
"Be sure to contact the team above and get everybody into position now. I want them to be ready now."
"Sir."
The feed went dead as Haru hung up and went on his way to check up on Izuku. After locking up his shop for a moment, he took his time to enter the backstage area of the UA arena and approached the infirmary up a few floors.
UA Arena Infirmary
It was a bit of a blur for Izuku as he slowly came to with a few aches and bruises making him groan in pain. He could barely focus the light hitting his eyes before he realized he was being hugged by something rather pink. Mina was rather enthusiastic in embracing Izuku and seeing him finally awake after such an ordeal. He instinctively began hugging her back when he saw Iida also there calling out to more people outside the hospital room he had somehow been admitted to.
"Everyone, he's up!"
Everybody from their usual circle had returned and saw that Izuku had indeed returned to the land of the living. They weren emotional or distraught; the look they gave him was one of pride and congratulations. It still disoriented him a little and all he could do was ask one important question.
"... Wh-where am I?"
Iida had been the one to dutifully respond before Momo could get a word in edgewise.
"The arena infirmary. I must say; for a school infirmary, this is a very large and well equipped medical facility by itself."
Peeking into the hall had only confirmed Iida's assessment of the facility. ESD medical support along with regular nurses and doctors were busily attending to the students being hauled in from the sports festival. Nothing too serious for many of the students, but being knocked around like they were still was something that these medical professionals wanted to double check on. It seemed like the rooms were filled to capacity when in reality it was far less complicated than that.
The first event usually cleared out the most amount of contestants in a less than gentle manner. With over half the students now being admitted, there still would be enough room for them and some more if the medical staff needed the extra space. By no means did the government skimp on providing the country's hero academies with anything less than the best. Seeing ESD medics support the regular doctors and nurses was something to behold indeed.
"Izuku, you seriously were amazing! I didn't even know you could do that!"
Ochaco sang his praises and made the boy feel a little sheepish from being given such compliments by the bubbly girl. Off to her left and standing at the foot of the bed were Kyoka and Momo. They both gave him a look that only communicated how happy they were that Izuku pulled through like he did. Mina stood up and just gave him a caring smile.
"Good work, Ikki."
It felt nice to get in a win once in a while. He definitely could get used to something like this. Another sudden realization came over him while his thoughts wandered back to the sports festival.
"How long was I out?"
Kyoka was the one to put Izuku at ease with her response.
"Don't worry, dude. There's a break happening right now and we still have time until we have to get back. Thankfully you look like you can still kick some ass."
Izuku winced a little; though standing up and flexing his muscles told him he was almost perfectly functional as is. He was certain that he got beaten up worse than this after taking so many shots from those turrets. It was something he didn't think too hard on as he stretched and got caught up on everybody else's placement in the race. Outside the door and out of sight stood Haru while keeping a blonde boy company as they listened in on the conversation. Feeling satisfied, the blonde stood to return to the green room.
"You know, he doesn't resent you. If you go in there; I'm positive he'd thank you for what you did."
Katsuki just stood there and thought about it before responding to his mentor.
"It wouldn't make him understand…"
Whether or not Bakugou held it against himself or Izuku for creating this split between them was yet to be determined by the temperamental boy. Haru could only wish the boy the best in his journey and offer whatever help he can when he needs it. He waited until Katsuki turned the corner before entering the infirmary and saying hello to the conscious Izuku.
"Hey guys, I see you all are taking in the sweet taste of victory."
All of them turned to the white haired man and bid him hello. A pleasant conversation of congratulations and praise helped to boost the morale of the students about to return to the arena and participate in the next event.
Fifteen Minutes Later
It was only Izuku and Haru left in the room as everybody else decided to go back early before the next event. Haru had held back the boy for a moment to discuss something of importance before letting him go.
"Izuku, after this next event will come the one on one fights. There's something I need you to promise me before then…"
A solemn look on haru's face cued Izuku in on what was being asked was going to be a very personal thing he should take seriously. Haru knelt down as he did and looked to the boy with nothing but sincerity.
"You're still young and have yet to reach your full potential as it is right now. To see that progress be stunted would be unfortunate; though that's not why I'm asking this of you."
His hands took Izuku's much smaller right hand into his as he looked into Izuku through his eyes.
"Don't hurt yourself using this power. You'll be tempted to push yourself and it'll make you react in a way that will cause certain decisions to come up. I'm asking you not to follow that compulsion. Please…"
The look in Haru's eyes was a look that Izuku wasn't familiar with. Perhaps there was something he felt that was familiar in a way; it still shook Izuku to see Haru so vulnerable. It was like Haru had no control and was begging him out of a deep need for Izuku's safety. That was it. He realized it was because Haru didn't have control and didn't treat Izuku's decision as something he could make for the boy. All Haru could do was ask Izuku and trust the boy's decision.
"... Okay. I'll try."
Small and unsure was the smile on Haru's face as he nodded and gave the boy a hug of thanks for listening to his request. Izuku returned the hug and began to see that Haru didn't want to see the teenager hurt; it may be something that he knew may be an inevitability that day.
Twenty Minutes Later
Back outside and in his van; Haru had his laptop open with a minimized window off to the upper right corner of the screen with other windows with readouts and camera feeds giving him a real time update of current events that were taking place far away from the sports festival. The selection of students and their teams of four were chosen to participate in the human cavalry battle. He did his best to watch over events while he completed a very delicate operation separate from the happenings of the sports festival.
What had happened so far was that there had been a delay in the convoy approaching the vacated mountain road. A transport of a heavily armored truck carrying quite the yield of a valuable substance Haru wanted to get his hands on. Several other armored vehicles and some odd dozen security guards were all working in tandem to guarantee the safe and secure transportation of what was being moved in the largest vehicle in their caravan.
Inside of the vehicle was a very expensive and very experimental form of fuel that the American company Terraworks Inc. had developed as another form of fuel. There was an R&D lab in Europe that the company wanted to get the fuel to for further development, but it was a legal mess for them to get it through European customs as it were. It wasn't explicitly said by the company, and going past that would reveal that the company was hiding the fact that this stuff was one or two steps away from becoming a particle explosion that could take out a skyscraper with just a fraction of what they were moving.
In its current state it was unstable enough as it was. The container that was keeping the substance stable wasn't nearly as durable as the truck it was being moved in. A very temperature sensitive and complicated piece of engineering to maintain temperature, humidity, even the amount of static electricity and radiation in the air was being filtered and maintained by the machine. It linked like a jet engine placed on it's back with a fluorescently blue liquid being kept in a glass window where the intake would have been. It was necessary to maintain visibility at all times as the change in luminescence or color could indicate an unwanted radical change of chemical makeup.
Inside of the van was a female researcher and other officers sitting next to her in silence as they were being moved to the next plane out of the country. She had a hand in developing the fuel and was trusted to remain with the liquid containment in any case of unwanted reactions. It was simple enough work for somebody like her, and being trusted enough to move with the substance itself was not a task to underestimate in importance.
Doing a simple diagnostic of the containment unit was something she regularly did and it was for everybody's benefit. Another assessment of the machine was being completed when she began to notice along with the other officers that the truck was starting to slow down. She curiously looked to one of the security team in the truck with her and he radioed the driver as to what was happening.
Outside
"... There's an obstruction up ahead sir. Looks to be some sort of construction crew of sorts… Understood."
The officer's passenger exited the vehicle after the driver pointed his head to the construction workers doing some sort of survey of the land. Up ahead the road was closed off with signs warning of falling rocks and landslides. It wasn't necessary to be aggressive in any way with civilian workers, so the officer slung his rifle to his back and asked the foreman of the group what was happening. His Japanese was good, but there still was a heavy American accent present.
"Good day to you! Could I ask what's happening right now?"
The workers took a gander at the rather well equipped convoy and reacted as anybody would faced with a small army out of nowhere.
"Uh, yeah… Uh, the, uh, road condition was reported to be poor and we were sent in to do an assessment if there could be a potential landslide or possible collapse. These mountains have caverns that could lead to the formation of sinkholes…"
Information like that tended to not be as serious as it usually meant for people like them. Having a government roadblock served them well in most cases since it just meant that less people were likely to stumble across their work. This was a common thing to circumvent and just go through with little issue. Plus, it was a bit of a time crunch since their flight needed to be at the next airport in just a few hours and they were already cutting it short. The officer reported it to the drover and the driver relayed it to the team lead seated with the researcher in the truck.
"... Proceed as planned. Give them any clearance necessary and let's be on our way."
Easily enough when they asked for clearance; one phone call was made by the crew leader and so he moved the roadblocks out of the way for the convoy. The entire operation was once again underway and left without obstruction towards their next destination. What the security team didn't know was that the call made by the foreman was a call to a very different location than any sort of government land survey consensus.
Deep Below the Mountain Road
It was time to move in and wait for the right moment to blow the charges set up high above in the man made cavern. Officers were all already in position and were waiting patiently for the moment they needed to move in and secure the primary objective. For the next few minutes; no one in that cavern moved a muscle until the target arrived at the designated spot. The sensors were picking up the vehicles far above and gave the team a visual as to when to blow the top.
Closer and closer it got to the prepared area. It was exactly as wide and fast as they predicted it to be. The convoy was now partially above and needed just a little more distance before it was going to go off. Right as it hit the mark; a detonator was hit and from above came down a shower of earth and rock.
Above the Cavern
Things were going smoothly as nothing that could have indicated a weakened mountain rock face happened and left the transport free to cruise to the final objective before they took off for China. Another expectedly successful job for them. A wrench that caught itself in the spinning gears of their smoothly operating vehicle of a mission was the sudden sensation of an earthquake shifting the orientation of the truck ever so slightly.
Now wasn't the time to hesitate for anybody in the convoy as they needed to get out of there immediately. He slammed on the back of the drivers cabin to get them to reverse and get away from the collapsing earth. This wasn't possible for the vehicle as behind them the road buried itself under a massive landslide and was now a one way street. Slamming on the gas and getting through the still intact road was all they could all do before the mountain swallowed them all whole.
The winding road made it difficult enough to go above the speed limit and now the whole place was starting to wobble like a wire fence in a storm. Inside the truck, the scientist did her best to brace for impact in her seat. Terrified wasn't the right word for how utterly horrified she was that this may be her last few moments on the face of the earth. The fuel had thankfully been secured into the floor in cases of minor collisions or rollover. If they lived through this then years of her life's work would still be fully realized.
Outside of the vehicle revealed a rather hopeless story for the convoy as the road suddenly gave out from under the vehicles and dropped the many vehicles and trucks into a chasm that sealed itself shut after the landslide above swallowed the remainder of the road above. In a sudden jarring stop, the scientist hid her head of blonde hair against the back of her seat hard enough to make her lose consciousness. Immediately she was plunged into the black and remained there for however long she was out.
Some Time Later
"Doctor… Doctor… Doctor."
She had a headache unlike anything she's felt as she woke up from a rather jarring nightmare she could have sworn had her falling to her death. Reality had set in as the officer had been standing on the wall of the interior rather than the floor. Behind him his other security officers were situating themselves as they hadn't been as unfortunate to lose their consciousness as the scientist had.
"You okay, doctor? Any injury or damage?"
"Uh, no. No, i-tit's just a headache. I'll be fine."
He assisted her in getting out of her seat and up onto her feet. More importantly she had to double check on the containment unit. No damage and it was perfectly fine as fine was being mounted sideways after an accident. Looking around to the others and feeling something slightly off it wasn't like they were under rubble or on the ground at all.
"Are we… Are we hanging from something?"
A hand held up silenced her as the security lead knelt down to the ground and listened in. Barely audible were sounds of what was something akin to gunfire. It was far too faint for him to confirm and it was far too strange of a situation to try and leave the safety of the truck. Looking back on what the scientist said just now; it really did feel like the truck was hanging from something with how subtle the truck had been swinging. Not much time was left for the team to be curious and figure things out one step at a time as they felt and heard the truck begin to move.
Not back and forth or side to side. What baffled everyone was that it felt like an elevator was taking them down further into the mountain. The officer realized that this was perhaps all a trap and yanked the researcher behind him and his remaining ben behind the as two officers narrowed their sights onto the truck door while the others scanned the walls in case of an unexpected breach. They had weapons drawn and were ready to open fire on whatever decided to make itself known to the trapped convoy.
All of it came to a halt as the truck suddenly felt as though it touched down on solid ground. The officers were only getting tenser while the scientist was breathing heavily with how scared she was. Really, she prayed that this was just her having a nightmare after falling asleep during the trip through Japan. Even as a scientist, her logical mind still couldn't quite wrap itself around the idea that she was perhaps going to die today.
Outside the truck came the very subtle and faint noises of movement. Each man was ready to fight their way out of the container or at least take down as many of these kidnappers with them before they bite the bullet themselves. A moment of everything going still and everyone holding their breath in anticipation was interrupted with a drilling sound and the sudden appearance of these sparking holes being cut into the sides and top of the sideways truck. The holes were about the size of a softball and far too narrow for a person to enter through. They couldn't leave the doctor on her own and had to stay in formation while watching helplessly as these things kept cutting and puncturing the cabin space.
The holes were cleared and all went silent before a fog-like gas began to pump into the room from the sides and suck the remaining oxygen from above. It happened too quickly before anybody could cover their face and stop themselves from breathing in a healthy amount of the strange gas. It didn't hurt to breathe, but every single lungful made each person feel as though they were skulling a bottle of whiskey or whatever alcohol of choice they had in their minds. The researcher was out cold in a matter of seconds while the other men were fairing a bit better than she did.
They all went from woozy to struggling to stand just as quickly as the researcher had passed out. It felt like the gas was plateauing in its effectiveness and was leaving everybody else still awake just inebriated. It was better than nothing, but even that was a fleeting thought as the security lead looked up at the hole made earlier after hearing some sort of noise coming out of it. A rather small looking robotic device peered down on them as the others weren't even aware that it was there. Without even trying, the robotic device was in fact a portable turret that picked off all the surviving security officers with a single round to the head each.
Once it was confirmed that every threat was rendered harmless; the truck was cut open so that the roof of the armored truck was completely removed. A team of officers all moving to clear out their equipment and prep the fuel for transport were working in perfect synchronization to first remove the actual package and install their fake with a massive amount of explosives with a somewhat similar effect of reaction to the fuel being removed. The bodies were left where they were. One officer heard something in the comm link and followed these orders as they came.
"Yes sir. You two!"
Two of his command stood to attention at his call.
"Get medical to prep the remaining survivor for transport!"
"Sir!"
"Sir!"
All of this went off without a hitch and even had the benefit of obtaining a very valuable source of information regarding the package. The bus had been lowered by straps crossing the top of the cavern that also allowed for earth and debris to fall through the bands and catch the bus without dropping it down to the bottom. The other jeeps and smaller vehicles were not as fortunate and just fell through and hit the bottom at full force. Any remaining survivors after they crashed were shot on sight and left there.
Now all that was left was to pack up and bury the rest of the evidence that this was anything but an unfortunate act of god.
UA Academy Sports Festival Vendor Area
With one last look at the completed operation; Haru closed out the other windows and just focused his attention on the final moments of the human cavalry game. Things have heated up since the start and only increased intensity from there. Each team was affixed by points from their position in the obstacle course and it landed Izuku in everybody's reticle. His headband was a guaranteed pass into the finals and it was difficult for him to find a team for himself.
Even Mina left Izuku to try and find a different team as Bakugou had somehow recruited her into his team. It must have been too much of a risk for even her to try and stick to Izuku; not that Haru could blame her. The ever so kind and open Ochaco joined up on Midoriya and the rest of his ragtag group of heroes in training.
Mei Hatsumei had a decent enough work ethic and had been a brilliant, if not slightly off centered, support hero in training. He saw her being more objective with her goals as a hero and could see how she was going to move into the world of patenting her tech. Toyoyami Fumikage was the head of a black hawk with a quirk that manipulated the shadow he possessed. It wasn't an absolute form of control as the shadow had been known to go a bit berserk in extensive darkness and shrivel up in broad daylight. Despite his talk of shadows and darkness; Haru saw potential for him to become a hero well regarded by both his peers and the public.
Some of the other contestants were exemplary on their own and were racking up the points like it was taking candy from a baby. The one who had other parties of four had been giving him their point bands with a rather vacant stare in their eyes. Another user with a sneaky ability to copy quirks had been locked off with Bakugou's group without any significant success in grabbing his headband. He may have had the boy's quirk, but none of the skill or training that elevated Katsuki above his quirk was there.
Iida hadn't teamed with Izuku and in fact was against him with Todoroki's team. The amount of mobility he offered to the team with his leg engines was quite the boon and it left Midoriya fending off Todoroki from his headband. Time was almost down and the band that hung off of Izuku's head was still taunting the ice user. His pride had been bruised over and over again and it was agitating the usually calm boy beyond his normal levels. Iida had a slight understanding and was pushing just as hard to try and retrieve the guaranteed win.
They were in the top four already and this seemed to be a way to just knock down the competition for Todoroki. Everyone else had predictably gone after Izuku's group over and over while getting their own bands nabbed as they did so from other groups like Todoroki's. The two finalists were squared off and were going for one last charge into the fray with everything on the line. Izuku's group couldn't just keep shaking off Todoroki's at this point. It was now or never and both teams had it out for the final possession of the band.
Both charged each other and met in the middle in a jousting like fashion. In a last act of offense; Izuku went for broke and just made a grab for Todoroki's headbands. It was a reaction for the boy, but Todoroki used his heat quirk to produce enough force to repel the hand reaching for his neck. A look of shock marred the boy's face as he just realized what had happened. Izuku took advantage to snatch at Todoroki's own personal headband and did it in a way even he didn't know he could do.
To get close enough, Izuku tucked his arms close and entered Todoroki's space. When Todoroki caught Izuku's band; there wasn't any resistance as Izuku swung at his chin in an uppercut. Todoroki just barely bent backwards enough to clear the space. His mission was complete. He had the guaranteed win and it was his victory. It should have then felt like a victory for the boy who won the faceoff against Midoriya. The clock ran down and looking back at his rival of the sports festival made Shoto realize he was now missing his own headband. Izuku had allowed the other boy to get close by baiting him with his own and snatching away the headband in that uppercut he thought he dodged.
Izuku took the moment to raise up the headband and show it off to Shoto in a gesture that told him that he wouldn't get rid of him that easily. There was still the matter of the final competition and the headband that he got off of the ice user was just enough to push his team position to fourth. The time was called and only the top four were deemed the only contestants to participate in the finals.
UA Sports Festival Vendor Area
Without a second to regard his still open van; Haru got up and out to go and find somebody he knew would be looking for Shoto right about now. Somebody that Haru wanted to keep Todoroki away from at all costs. He couldn't let that son of a bitch get near his son after all that had happened all those years ago.
UA Sports Festival Arena
All the students were once again on the outside and were socializing freely amongst themselves. Some minor grudges that were easily mended had formed, but soo the incident was just water under the bridge as they went to grab something to eat before the final event. Mina wondered out loud where Izuku was and failed to notice that one entrance tunnel over was him and Todoroki staring down one another after Shoto asked for a private audience with Midoriya.
"Uh, what was it you wanted to ask?"
Nearby
A man sporting a flaming mask made from his ability as a pyrokinetic went down to the ground level to go and find his son for his need to further influence his son's development. Another man who was just as large and broad as him called to him like one would after seeing a coworker from an old job.
"Endeavor! Good to see you!"
It was far from good for the other hero as he just scowled at the number one hero as the one just below him on the rankings.
"Last we spoke was ten years ago, wasn't it? We should go and catch up over some tea. What do you say?"
"Go give your tea to someone who cares. I'm hitting the washroom."
All Might cut off the other hero's exit with his inhuman speed and just kept trying to push for a conversation.
"What with the cold shoulder? I just wanted to say how impressive your son is when he hasn't used the other half of his quirk."
Endeavor began to eyeball the insistent hero with suspicion and annoyance.
"So what? What do you want?"
"I'm wondering how you trained and taught him! I'm dying to know."
A sneer at All Might as he just kept walking past the American hero made it evident that Endeavor wasn't really in the mood for any sort of antics from his rival.
"With that sort of carefree attitude, you're just as stubborn as ever. Just remember this…"
A look rather sinister marred the face of this supposed hero as he walked away.
"He will become a hero that shall surpass you one day. That is why I made him!"
"Is that right?"
Behind All Might came a voice that he could recognize as somebody he knew. Turning to his left confirmed it to be Haru standing with one foot slightly higher on the steps as he had both hands in his jacket pocket.
"You barely have the right to be near him. What the fuck possesses you to think you did anything but fuck him up like you did?"
The temperature started to rise in that hallway as Endeavor began to reciprocate the same hateful gaze Haru was shooting in his direction. All Might felt a little out of the loop as he could see that these two were once acquaintances of sorts. Though far be it that they used to be friends with how much hatred was choking the atmosphere around them.
"You…"
"Well, look at you. You're not completely brain dead after all. Good to see that your skull isn't just filled with horseshit."
One slow step after another towards Endeavor only served to raise the heat in the enclosed stairway more and more. Even All Might was finding it hard to breathe comfortably as Haru and Endeavor were now staring down at each other with just three or four steps separating them. It just held at a tense standoff while All Might saw something turn from hostile to murderous as Haru decided to set off the can of gasoline with one final spark.
"When you go and take a shit; will you be thinking of me?"
Across his face came a condescending grin with real venom as Haru clearly knew something that All Might was lacking to say something like that to Endeavor. There was no time to even think about it as Endeavor started up his quirk and wound up for a punch as Haru reached behind him to go for something to use in response to the flame user. A single explosion that sent people into a bit of a panic sent concrete dust and chunks of concrete out from the top and bottom of the stairway. What was interpreted as an explosion from an unknown possible threat had actually been All Might preventing a bloodbath.
Haru had his curved knife wrapped tightly in his fist while grabbing at All Might's forearm while Endeavor had his fire increase in volume all over his body. Both men had been pinned to the walls and were staring daggers at one another as they were partially buried into the walls. That was cutting it close as he had to use a bit of force to stop these two men from killing each other at a school event. His golden suit had been burned at the right sleeve from his reckless intervention.
"ARE YOU TWO INSANE?! THIS IS A SCHOOL, YOU ABSOLUTE CRETINS!"
They weren't listening to him as they just kept trying to stare a hole into the other man's skull. This was getting nowhere with these two being in such close proximity to one another. Without another viable option he took Endeavor off the wall and shoved the man down the stairs. Endeavor caught his footing easily and turned to get back at Haru. All Might wasn't having it and pointed in the opposite direction with a glare of his own.
"Not here!"
He didn't like it, but the hero was right. Getting his hands dirty and killing Haru in a school would mar the public image he worked hard to maintain. The two men gave each other one last glare as Endeavor shot one last insult over his shoulder at Haru.
"Piece of shit."
"Eat yourself and die!"
"Enough!"
All Might couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Haru by the jacket and demanded to know what all of that was just now.
"What on earth is wrong with you?! Are you actually psychotic?! What on earth would possess you to do all that?!"
It wasn't up for discussion by the looks of it as Haru sheathed his weapon and grasped All Might by the forearms and removed himself from the man's iron grip. His current form may have weakened in comparison to the past, but by no means should an average person be able to so casually remove his arms like Haru did. Once freed, in absolute stoic silence Haru walked away by ascending the stairs. If All Might hadn't been in the darkness of the staircase and saw the expression on Haru's face, he would have been made for certain rather than guessing if he saw what looked like grief on his face.
A team of police officers came by to inspect what had happened just now and were all put at ease by All Might laughing it off as shaking hands with an overeager fan and letting the person go out of guilt. Things were returned to relative normality and the destroyed stairway was taped off for safety reasons. There was still something that was left unanswered for All Might as he returned to a nearby lounge for a spare suit and shirt.
What sort of history do those two have with one another for something like that to happen? Haru was completely willing to risk his life for one shot at Endeavor. The more he thought about it; the more confusing it was. As he spent time with Haru for months while training the young Midoriya; there was nothing that eluded him to having such a sordid past. He knew that Haru had been quirkless by the fact he'd seen the man's small toes having that joint near the end of them and being registered as such by the government.
So what was going on? There wasn't much he knew of Endeavor personally and it seems as though Haru knew who he was very well. It started when Haru mentioned Endeavor's son; so perhaps therein lay his answer to this whole mystery.
UA Sports Festival Tunnel Entrance
It was still a bit of a shock for Izuku to be suddenly called out to only be asked if he had been All Might's illegitimate child. He went from denying it to acknowledging it in a rather poor attempt to throw Shoto off his trail. Being clued in as well as he was let him see that it was futile to try and get a straight answer from Midoriya.
"Everything you're saying is just telling me that you're not his child. Whatever your reasons for being connected to him; it's clear you have no intention of telling me."
Clearly it was evident that Shoto had quite a polite and respectable nature about him. Having such a stiff and natural glare as his resting face gave off a very different impression for most people.
"You must know of the number two hero, Endeavor. He's my father."
A rather serious conversational bomb being dropped like that was not how Izuku thought this conversation was going to end up. Todoroki kept sharing his past with the bewildered Midoriya.
"He's been the number two hero for years now. If you're connected to the number one hero; that's all the more reason to beat you."
In one long winded explanation, Shoto revealed how his fathers obsession for the number one spot in the world led him down a long and difficult career in pursuit of this dream. No matter how much he tried, he never could take the number one spot from All Might. The obsession got bad enough for the hero to resort to eugenics and manipulate his way into the family of a quirk user to obtain her quirk through their children.
It was a marriage out of personal gain for Endeavor. Abuse and neglect led the mother into a spiraling depression that ended up giving Shoto his scar. He touched the scar surrounding his left eye as he replayed the memory of Izuku when his mother took boiling water and dumped it on his face.
The family his father built to feed into his obsession that Shoto was born into was broken before he had any say in anything. With his quirk of commanding fire being the most prolific connection to a man who had done nothing but bring misery into his life. His need for the number one spot was out of a need to prove the teachings of his father wrong. To send a message that being number one has nothing to do with anything his father has given him.
"You know you're more than an obsession, kiddo."
To their left was Haru emerging from the tunnel. A somber smile on his face as he approached Shoto and roughed up his hair and helped to set the few unruly locks that were sticking out too far.
"How are you, Shoto?"
"I've been well, Nakamura-san"
"I told you, call me Haru. Makes me feel like I'm your supervisor or something."
Not only did it seem like Izuku and Todoroki were connected through the men who gave them their quirks, but now even Haru had known both of them for some time now. It was a rather bizarre coincidence for the man to be almost everywhere Izuku happened to turn.
"Heya, Izuku. Good job today. You're really coming through, you know that?"
Being complimented like that did make Izuku feel like he can take pride in himself. Not much else happened in terms of a conversation with Haru excusing himself from the conversation and taking Todoroki with him.
"Sorry to do this to you; you think I can borrow his time for a while? I need to talk about something with him, alright?"
The conversation had practically ended anyways, so Izuku had no objections to speak of. He and Shoto walked off towards his food truck as they engaged in conversation for their entire walk. It really did bring in the question about who Haru was to be so involved in Todoroki's life like he was. Less obvious was the way that Haru subtly acted and how it felt to engage with him. Was there something that happened for Haru to look guilty as he interacted with Todoroki?
His time was getting shorter and shorter for him to get something to eat before the next part of the competition. Izuku rushed down the hall and turned the corner to be slightly caught off guard by Bakugou just leaning against the wall.
"Ah, Ka-chan! Sorry, didn't see you there."
All Izuku got in response was a hum and little else. Bakugou was headed towards the cafeteria like Izuku and said nothing else. It wasn't explicitly said; though Izuku took this as a rare moment where he could hang out with one of his oldest friends as they went to go eat.
In Katsuki's headspace was the memory of Haru looking at him and patting his head with a rather sad and guilty look in his eyes. He didn't know if it was because of him or that Todoroki kid; but something about them made him remember something that was really affecting the usually confident and caring man.
UA Sports Festival Vendor Area
His ever familiar kitchen that Haru commanded like Odin did valhalla. The kitchen was already up and running with the sign now reading private catering with Shoto sitting on one of his stools. There was some light banter going on as Haru started mixing in two different flowers and water to make soba noodles.
"School's been good? Any trouble, so far?"
"No sir. Not that I can recall."
It was nice to catch up with somebody Haru felt that he owed quite a lot to. Least he could do was meet up and see how Shoto has been since last they shared a meal and just talked. The dough was taking shape with everything being prepared to cut the noodles with his knife.
"That's good. Y'know, I hope that someday I don't have to remind you about calling me sir and all that."
"Oh, I apologize S-Haru-san."
A genuine smile that got Shoto to loosen up as he was about to be served some of his favorite soba by somebody who he owes a great debt of kindness towards. In no time at all the noodles were being chilled with the dipping sauce and other grated vegetables being the last thing to finish up the meal.
"I ran into your dad earlier…"
So that was what Haru wanted to speak to Shoto about. Those two never liked each other and no matter how many times it happened, the hatred never tapered or faded after years of animosity. He could remember only one time when they both came face to face and only one had sent the message that the other would never get over them. It was one of the only reasons why his father tolerates Haru's presence in his son's life.
"Is that so?"
"Mhm."
Once it was plated and ready to go, it was presented on a beautiful serving tray with the scent of the flour accenting the lovely arrangement.
"He's an ass, but he's still your father. You don't have to hate him like I do. What he did was horrible and disgusting and you have no reason to accept that part of him. It's your contempt for him that I worry about."
Haru poured Todoroki a glass of water as the boy took his first bite of the noodles. Just as delicate and wonderfully soft with the saltiness from the sauce helping the flavors meld. He truly couldn't think of another soba he's had in his life as masterfully made as Haru's soba.
"If you let him be the focus of what you want to accomplish then it's just you doing the thing you never swore to do."
There was always a way for Haru to break things down to an understandable explanation for those he wanted to help understand something. It gave Shoto something to consider before he had to return to the festival and make the decision on what it was he was going to do from now on. He becomes number one with his dad's quirk, he loses. He becomes number one without the quirk, his dad still gets what he wants. Only Haru was aware of what sort of tangle he was faced with considering his own dad.
"Just know that I'm on your side; no matter what you decide on. Okay?"
For Shoto, to have somebody just say that to him and mean it was doing a lot to help ease his turmoil. In no way was it easier, but Todoroki felt like he wasn't as overwhelmed as before. He took his time to finish the meal and thanked Haru as he returned to the rest of the festival with his stomach full and his heart ready to decide on what he was going to do to help himself.
While cleaning the tray and glass, a memory played out in his head as he could remember the first time he served that boy a meal. It was one of the few real smiles he would see from the boy before the incident that closed off the boy's heart. He finished up and got back to watching the rest of the event on his computer while lighting another cigarette and popping open a beer he grabbed before sitting at the driver's seat.
Seeing that bag of shit again had him in a bit of a foul mood that only alcohol could help him with on an immediate basis. The final event of the festival was now in swing with the stakes higher than what any random spectator could have imagined.