The days after the attack at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint was a wake up call to the students of Class 1-A.
Many of them were able to dispatch the villains sent to attack them with relative ease. At first, they had rejoiced at their victory, and how seemingly simple it was to incapacitate their adversaries.
Yet, when the dust settled and everyone was able to speak to one another, it became clear to them that the invading force knew exactly who they were. They had even managed to separate many of the strong members up into areas where they wouldn't have been useful. Bakugou in particular was shaken once he realized how weak his attacks felt in the downpour of the zone he was sent into. Todoroki felt similar emotions, but said little about his weakness. He could wipe out large sections of the conflagration zone's infernos, but the heat would melt the ice (and the villains that were encased in it) faster than he would have liked. Luckily, it was that same heat that kept him from giving himself severe frostbite as he sent his icy half of his quirk out in large swathes across the dome.
Both teenagers had been unable to eliminate the fodder villains in time to stop the escape of Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Had All Might not been there in time, it was likely they would have been systematically wiped out.
The words that Kurogiri taunted to Ochako summed up the class' collective feelings completely. They were powerful, and they were fit to be heroes given the proper time and training. But that didn't make them heroes. They were still students.
Most classmates kept up their social habits and smiles, but that tense reality didn't leave them. If anything, they all began to train with renewed fervor and passion.
Aizawa entered the classroom, covered head to toe in bandages. Almost the entire class jumped to their feet, exclaiming that he shouldn't be here in the condition that he is in.
"Don't worry about my current state. Lessons are going to continue, and I'm going to teach them."
The class quieted, but no one was particularly convinced that he was going to be truly okay.
"Before we begin," he stated in his signature monotone voice, "I'd like to remind you all that, despite recent events, the school is going to continue its scheduled events. The Sports Festival is coming up, so I suggest you prepare for it. Pro Hero agencies from across Japan will be watching, and this is the biggest opportunity you have to appeal to them."
Momo was the first to speak up. "I know you said 'despite recent events,' but so soon after a villain attack?"
"The Yuuei administration consider it a showing of our crisis management team to continue. In addition, we'll be having a significantly larger security detail guarding the place."
After answering a few more questions about the specifics of the Sports Festival, he dismissed homeroom.
Izuku sat in his desk, fiddling with his pencil. Everyone around him was so excited for this event. The only exception was Mineta, who had been trembling since the mention of villains.
Iida walked up to him, moving his hands in an almost robotic motion. "Midoriya! Are you not excited for the Sports Festival?"
"Well, no, it's not that-"
"Izuku... Iida..." A guttural voice growled behind them. It sent shivers down their spine.
The boys turned and collectively dropped their jaws as they saw that the source of their tension was none other than Ochako. She had her fist clenched in the air, radiating a powerful aura.
'She's going to give brother a run for his money with a face like that.' Izuku mused.
"Let's do our best!" She grunted.
"Uh... Uraraka... You seem pumped up..." Iida carefully chose his words.
Mina piped up. "Isn't your name supposed to mean 'carefree?'"
"Maybe she's on her-" Mineta's comment was cut off as Tsuyu stuck out her lounge and smacked him on the face.
"I'M GOING TO DO MY BEST!" She cried, causing everyone to uncomfortably cheer with her.
Lunch break rolled around, and Izuku left for the cafeteria with Iida and Uraraka.
"So, Uraraka, you seemed very upbeat about the festival. What's your reason for becoming a hero?"
The girl seemed embarrassed, mumbling something as she rubbed the soles of her shoes into the floor. "Money."
Izuku raised an eyebrow. "You joined because you wanted the money?"
"Well, I mean, it's not for me! My parents run a construction company. I used to help out a lot moving equipment, and..." She leaned into the wall. "...well, they told me they would rather I pursue my dream than help them out. So I want to make a lot of money so I can send them on a nice vacation!"
Izuku felt a little better when she explained her answer. When she had originally just said she was in it for the money, he had to fight a wave of disgust from rolling over him.
"But... you're basically going to get no vacation for yourself. They might be a little sad if you couldn't go with them."
She opened her mouth to respond, but paused when she processed what the green haired teen told her.
"Even so... They'll just have to settle for watching me save the day on TV while they're kicking it back in Hawaii!"
Izuku smiled back. Uraraka continued.
"So what about you, Iida? Why are you training to be a hero?"
He pushed his glasses up, replying strongly "Well, I don't prefer saying this out loud, but..."
He paused dramatically. 'He's going to say that he wants to continue his family's heritage of pro heroism.' Izuku internally deadpanned.
"I want to continue my family's heritage of pro heroism!" He said with gusto. "The Iida family line is known for their dedication to helping those in need! I want to live up to my brother, Ingenium. He's the coolest hero I know!"
Izuku laughed, scratching his neck. "Calling your brother your favorite is kind of cheating, though!"
"What about you, Midoriya?" Iida replied. "You had to have joined for some reason."
He scratched his neck a little harder. "...It's a bit hard to put in words, really. It's like... I want to change the world, you know? And enrolling in Yuuei seemed the best way to do that!"
He looked at the other two. They seemed to take it at face value, nodding with determination.
"You're doing it just so you can do heroic deeds? How noble!"
"Yeah, Izuku, I wish my reason was as pure hearted as yours."
Izuku laughed again. "No, please stop it!"
They chatted for a while, before Izuku excused himself for the restroom. The moment he was out of sight of his classmates, his smile dropped. He hated acting like that. It was the same smile he gave to his mother and teachers every year before he got here.
He washed his hands as he was about to exit. Another student was there, someone he had never seen before. They had purple hair, and enormous bags under their eyes that seemed like they would fit more on Aizawa's face.
"Aren't you that late bloomer?" He asked.
He smiled back to the student. "Yeah! I don't recognize you, are you in the General Education division?"
The other student slightly winced, before nodding. "Unfortunately."
Some silence passed. Neither moved to end the encounter. The purple haired teen spoke up.
"I heard you called out Present Mic during the practical exam."
"Oh, that?" Izuku mused. "Oh yeah, I told them that the test put people with quirks that had non-offensive capabilities at a sever disadvantage. Now that I think about it, anything that worked on people and not machines basically shut you out of the test. They said there were alternate routes to the hero department..."
"That would be the sports festival they are referring to."
"But even then, it still favors physical attributes. It's just a poor system to begin with... but I can't think of a better alternative."
The two continued washing their hands in silence.
"Well, since you know I'm the late bloomer, you probably know my name. What's yours?"
The other student seemed standoffish, before slowly replying. "Shinsou Hitoshi."
"Nice to meet you, Shinsou."
The other boy stared at him for a while, before responding. "I take it you've heard of my quirk?"
"No, why would I?"
The other boy cast an annoyed glance at him. "When people learn what my quirk is, they have two reactions. They either treat me warily or they hide behind a fake smile. And Midoriya, yours' is the fakest I've ever seen."
The moment that statement set in, Midoriya's smile dropped to an expression that mirrored Shinsou's.
Izuku's hand twitched as he forced it from instinctively reaching up to scratch his neck. "Guess I need better practice then. What's your quirk?"
"You'll find out during the festival."
With that, the purple haired boy walked past him, out the door to the hallway.
By the end of the day, Class 1-A couldn't be more pumped for the festival. However, when they opened the door to leave, it was made apparent that they weren't the only ones. It seemed everyone in the entire school had decided to camp outside their doors, waiting for them.
"So this is the fabled class that withstood a villain encounter?" Someone jeered.
Bakugou took the scene in stride, walking calmly to the door. "Scouting us out? There's no point to doing that, you extras aren't going to beat us anyway."
Half of the class reeled from the boy's answer, trying their best to differentiate themselves from him. Izuku's ears perked as he heard a familiar voice among the crowd.
"So this is what the illustrious hero course is like? You're going to make me disillusioned."
Shinsou pushed his way into the front of the crowd, looking directly into Bakugou's eyes. "You know some people couldn't make it in and were forced to choose separate courses, right? That's what the sports festival is for. We can get considered for a transfer to the heroics division if we perform well enough. And the opposite is true, too."
He glanced around to the members of the class. "Don't get to comfortable in your positions at the top, because you can be transferred out to make space. And if you slip up, I'll be sure to sweep your feet out from under you. Consider this a declaration of war."
Another kid in the back jumped above the crowd, yelling. "You're the students who survived the villain attack, huh?! Well don't think that makes you better than us! We'll- Hey don't ignore me like that!"
Bakugou pushed his way into the crowd, walking off.
Kirishima called after him. "Hey, where do you think you're going? You're just going to walk off like that after you made everyone hate on us?"
"It doesn't matter." The blonde called back. "As long as you make it to the top, nothing else matters."
Kirishima closed his eyes as he exclaimed, "So... So manly!"
Shinsou looked back at the rest of the class, and saw something that interested him. Midoriya was in the back, unnoticed by the rest of the class. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. The look on his face... Shinsou had never seen someone look so hateful before. It was obvious that the boy with the explosion quirk pissed him off with his last lines.
The two students eyes met, and Izuku's expression morphed into shock, then into a more neutral tone. His fists remained tightly wound.
Izuku sat in the bar, huddled over a blank paper. He chewed the pencil in his mouth nervously.
"The festival is tomorrow... It's gotta be just right!"
Kurogiri stood behind the bar, mindlessly polishing glasses. "Are you still unable to think of a suitable opening speech? I would think making something inspirational would be easy."
"It's not..." Izuku trailed off. "It's got to be more than that. Kacchan is going to be listening in."
Kurogiri chuckled as he heard the caustic tone the boy used to utter the nickname. "Oh? And what exactly are you going to tell him?"
"I don't know!"
"What does Bakugou like the most?"
"That's easy. He wants to be number one at everything he can."
"Then how do you degrade that sentiment while encouraging everyone else?"
Izuku tapped the paper in thought, muttering nonsense. Eventually, the idea hit him. He scribbled down a few lines, a small smile creeping up on his lips.
His focus was broken as he heard the front door open. It was Tomura, whom he greeted with a large smile and a tight hug.
"Brother, you're back!"
Tomura patted him on the shoulder, telling the boy to let go.
"So, I heard that you're going to be in the sports festival. I've got a task for you."
Izuku looked up patiently, waiting for his orders.
"I want to taint the history of All Might and his precious Yuuei Academy. When you debut as a villain, I want them to understand just how vulnerable they were. So... I want you to win, Izuku. I want you to clear each stage and come in first. When they look back on Yuuei's winners, I want you to be there, showing just how pathetic they were that a villain wiped the floor with their faces. Can you do that for me?"
The boy immediately nodded. "They won't stand a chance!"
Most of the classmates in the 1-A waiting room were rather relaxed. Some were stretching, but many had just resigned themselves to sitting in the provided chairs. Izuku had sat in the corner, playing a game on his phone. His eyes snapped up when he heard his name get called.
"Midoriya." Todoroki announced, looking down on the boy.
"What is it, Todoroki?"
"Your quirk is quite powerful, but based on my assessments, mine is much stronger. Yet, it appears All Might has taken an interest in you multiple times. I won't pry into that."
Izuku finally paused his game, facing the boy fully. "What are you getting at?"
"...I am going to beat you." He stated, matter-of-factly.
Todoroki turned to leave, but before he could, Izuku stood up.
"I understand that your quirk is that powerful. You might be right. And about All Might... I want nothing to do with that man." He noticed that statement seemed to make some of his classmates uncomfortable. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to take this competition lying down. If you want to beat me, then do it."
With that, the waiting period ended, and the students began filing out into the main grounds of the stadium. Izuku gawked at the sheer size of the crowd, and winced as the cries of cheers almost deafened him. Present Mic had been yelling the whole time, likely introducing the classes. It was only his final sentences that brought him out of his daze, snapping him back to reality.
"And with that, we'll commence the festivities with a few words from our player representative! He had the highest score during the entrance exams, please welcome our very own Midoriya Izuku!"
The green haired boy breathed deep as he stood in front of the entire Yuuei student body. The microphone was placed right at mouth level. He gulped. Midnight nodded slowly, urging him to speak.
"Honestly, it feels like I'm in a dream. If you had spoken to me two years ago, I would have never thought I would be at Yuuei, let alone the heroics division!" He laughed a little. "I... I really am grateful for everyone who helped me get to where I am now. I hope that, despite this competition, we can all learn to work together and make the world a better place for everyone! After all, there's no point to being number one if you just destroy everyone beneath you. It's an empty, useless victory."
He paused, before finishing. "With that being said, everyone please do their best!"
He heard a lot of cheers from the crowd before him, and even more from those in the stands. He looked down at his group of classmates. Most were smiling wide. Iida was clapping loudly, tears streaming from his eyes in his usual over the top bravado.
Bakugou was glaring at him. Izuku pulled the corners of his lips up, closing his eyes only slightly.
To the rest of the world, he was simply smiling. To Bakugou, it was a sneer that told the boy he knew exactly what he said. He responded by gritting his teeth, and sending small explosions from his upheld fist.
Izuku hopped off the stage, rejoining his classmates. They seemed relieved that the boy had used the opportunity to somewhat assuage the budding animosity between the other classes and themselves. Bakugou tried to move his way through the crowd, but couldn't make it before Midnight began speaking once more.
"Now, let's begin right away!" With the crack of her whip, the screen behind her shifting to a roulette. "The first game is... Obstacle Race! This is going to be your qualifier round! Many will have their fill of tears in this event alone! You'll be racing around the perimeter of the stadium, and as long as you stay on the course..."
She licked her lips, in her signature '18 and up' hero style. "...anything goes! Now line up at the gate!"
The moment the countdown ended, it was complete pandemonium. Almost all the students rushing forward were stuck in the opening gate, the exit to small for everyone to flow through comfortably. Izuku blasted himself over the crowd, watching as the ground below him glaze over from Todoroki's quirk. He skated past the rest of the crowd, leaving them all behind.
It seemed that no one from Class 1-A had fallen trap to the ice sheets that froze most of the students in place. Izuku couldn't propel himself in the air as effectively as Bakugou. It took at least a few seconds to compress the air fully, and even then the air bombs he made couldn't move like the blonde's hands. In the end, Izuku resigned himself to the ground, using small air bombs to propel himself across the large swathes of ice, too fast for the quirk to freeze his feet in place.
Izuku was surprised to see Mineta rush to second place, using his pop-off quirk to bound around the stage like a hyperactive rabbit. He eventually closed the distance to Todoroki, prepared to unleash the special move he announced he would make. However, he was cut off as a large metal hand sent him flying away, far off the course.
Everyone momentarily stopped to gaze at what was their first obstacle; a group of Zero Point faux villains from the practical entrance exam.
Todoroki took little time to react. Izuku heard him mutter something about his father before gathering his power and freezing them all solid. He immediately dashed through, watching as the large behemoths began to break apart and fall on the rest of the contestants, kicking up a mountain of dust.
Izuku used his implosions to take care of one of the smaller villains in front of him. A large armor plate flew off, embedding itself into the ground next to him. After a moment of thought, he smiled, before grabbing the large sheet of thick metal and running with it. He ran through the onslaught of robots, using his new weapon like a bat to bash in any robots that stood in his way. Eventually he made it though, though he realized he had lost a lot of time and he was nowhere near first place.
Eventually, he came upon the second obstacle; The Fall.
It was a series of rock columns, with only a semi sturdy rope connecting them. Izuku watched as a girl from the support division used her gadgets to rocket across the obstacle, clearing half of it in one solid leap. Uraraka simply ran forward, floating over the entire thing. Tsuyu hopped between the platforms with little effort.
It was similarly easy for Izuku, who only had to blast himself carefully from platform to platform, making sure to not to shoot too far or not enough between jumps. When he crossed the obstacle, he saw that he had gained some ground above the others. He could actually see both Bakugou and Todoroki up ahead, the former catching up quickly to the latter. He looked back and saw as a group of people collectively threw Shinsou from gap to gap, his eyes gleaming with mischievous pride.
When he made it to the third obstacle, he realized why Todoroki wasn't using his quirk to slide around. It was a minefield. Should he ice the area, he'd give his opponents a chance to catch up. Both he and Bakugou had slowed significantly, though the blonde was still gaining ground.
Izuku gritted his teeth. At this rate, he'd never catch up. Well, he could, but the damage he'd sustain from creating a large air blast on himself...
He glanced down to the armor plating he still carried, realizing he still had it. He smiled again. This was going to be easier than he had originally thought. He placed the plate in front of him, and closed his eyes. He stood stone still, some students laughing at him as they passed him up. They didn't feel the tug of the vacuum on their clothes as Izuku continued to compress the air in front of him. After some time, he dove forward, and right as soon as the plate was directly above the massive air bomb he created, he let it implode.
Both Todoroki and Bakugou stopped as a large explosion rocked the ground beneath them, a large cloud of triggered explosives forming behind them. The air from the shockwave threatened to knock them off of their feet, despite how far ahead they were. They could see quite a number of students get thrown around from the blast, landing on untriggered mines and causing a chain reaction of explosions. The saw a single figure rocket out of the main cloud approaching them at a ridiculously fast pace.
It was Izuku. He was gritting his teeth and staring the two of them down as he sailed over them, far ahead of where they were.
"Dekuuuuu!" Bakugou lost all reservations there, blasting toward his rival. He occasionally touched the ground, and shouldered whatever blast occurred when he stepped on the wrong space.
Todoroki knew he wouldn't win without icing the ground beneath him, despite the advantage it would give to those behind him. He needed to be in first, he had to make it.
They both eventually caught up to him, fully expecting to overtake him by the time he hit the ground.
They didn't think he would do a front flip mid-air, and slam his armor plating on the mines between his two rivals.
Both of them were knocked to the side, as the explosion carried Izuku over the final mines in the dirt. When he landed, he abandoned the tool he carried with him, running forward with all of his strength. He could hear Bakugou and Todoroki approach him from behind, but by the time they reached him it was too late. He had already crossed the finish line.
'The first stage is over and I even managed to place first!' He thought as he threw his hands up in the air. 'I hope Tomura is proud of me!'
He cheered, falling to his knees. He heard the sound of someone stepping up behind him. It was Todoroki.
"I told you..." Izuku panted, "I told you that I'm not going to roll over for you."
A/N: Welp, new chapter is out, and we're going straight into the Sports Festival! Because of the length of this arc, I'm going to be doing this in sequential chapters. After that it's back to the weird asynchronicity you know and love!
Hope you like what I wrote, please leave your thoughts in the comments! Don't forget to look me up on my new Tumblr, my blog name is Auresalia!
Thanks for your support once again!