"Are you ok?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"No, but I will be." I groaned.

I don't consider my time stopping to be cheating, but it's important to not be completely reliant on it. As a result of this thought process, I ended up flash-banged, taped,ear jacked, and mineta'd to the ground. Mineta was laughing his ass off.

"We should go get Araki. You can't continue training when we handed you your ass this bad." Jiro said.

"I hate all of you." I groan.

Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Mineta, and Sero were useful people to train against. I sparred with Araki only once. He stayed busy with Ida and Midoriya.

A lot of us trained outside our comfort zones after Aizawa told the class about the festival. Araki and Midoriya were becoming inseparable.

Araki really was a game changer. Anyone who paid attention would know that All Might had been getting less active over the years. Now, he was everywhere. If All Might wasn't here at UA teaching, he was seen on some internet clip. Rescuing, fighting, even helping one guy find his pet snake. All Might even started training directly with every 1st year hero course student for at least a little bit of time. I think this was mainly to cover the fact that he could now safely serve as a punching bag for Midoriya, with Araki on stand by, naturally.

"Actually, I'm done for today. I'm going to be training with Shoji and Ojiro later. See you guys!" Sero called out as he left


"Everyone, put your game faces on! We will be entering the arena soon." Ida loudly declared.

"Midoriya" Todoroki called out.

"Hey, what's up?" Midoriya asked.

"Objectively, it's fair to say I'm stronger than you." Todoroki points out, receiving no argument from Midoriya.

"However, it's no secret that your All Might's favorite. I'm not here to pry into your connection, but know that I will beat you." Todoroki calmly stated.

"These declarations are all over the place." Kaminari chuckled.

"Hey man, relax. Why are you picking a fight all a sudden?" Kirishima places a hand on Todoroki's shoulder.

"We aren't here to make friends." Todoroki shrugs off Kirishima and begins walking away.

"I don't know what's going on in your head, but yeah, you probably do have more potential than me and the rest of the class. Especially since I've only made this much progress thanks to Recovery Girl and Dende." Midoriya says.

"I resent that statement." I chime in.

"Hey, Midoriya, you aren't being fair to yourself, or the rest of us." Kirishima points out. Midoriya shakes his head.

"All the other students are gunning for us, because this isn't just some game. This our future. I'll be trying my best for first place." Midoriya shoots back his own calmly delivered declaration of war. I grin.

"I won't go easy on you guys. Blink at the wrong time, and you'll be opening your eyes to a juicy defeat, delivered to you on a silver platter by yours truly." Bakugo, Todoroki, and Midoriya look at me, then each other. Bakugo scoffs.

"Tough words, from the short fuck who wastes all his free time with shrinks every day." Bakugo got up and walked away.

Not going to lie, that really pissed me off. No one else in our class was forced to go to counseling, and none of them had taken the school up on that free trial run.


"This year we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in UA festival history, Guaranted!" Present Mic states on the event speakers.

The audience erupts into cheer as our class walks out. Present Mic gives us a grand introduction.

"I hope we're still able to give our best performances, even though all these eyes are watching us." Ida states.

"I'm all hyped!" Ashido gushed. Midnight took place to talk.

"For the student pledge, we have, Katsuki Bakugo!" Midnight declared.

"I guess it makes sense for that hot head to be student rep. He did place 1st on the entrance test." Sero tried to apply logic to the situation.

"Only for the hero course exams." A girl from another class sighed.

"I just want to say, I'm going to win." Bakugo sounded dead. The whole student crowd immediately turns against us.

"It's not my fault the rest of you are just stepping stones to my victory." Bakugo continued.

"He is the absolute worst." Araki whined.

"This festival is going to be a nightmare." Jiro groaned.

"The 1st game of the festival will be an obstacle race! The track is 4km around the outside of the stadium. As long as you don't leave the course, you're free to do whatever your heart desires!"

"Whatever happens, do your best, guys." Yaoyorozu says.

"Oh yeah!" Hagskure replies.

"I will show you all my brilliant shine." Aoyama ¿shines?

"Begin!" Midnight shouts. We all begin a mad sprint.

The doorway is crowded. While everyone else is thinking about rushing ahead, I have to keep the bigger picture in mind.

STOP

I find Yujin in the tight crowd, pick him up, and start booking it. There is no doubt in my mind that son from my class is about to show off.

GO

Ofcourse, I'm right. Todoroki freezes the ground underneath the huge mass of students. The others aren't slow to start utilizing their quirks as well.

"What am I, some damsel in distress!" Yujin shouts, punching me in the cheek.

"Shut up!" I turn my head so that my side eye can see Todoroki.

"You'll be eating my dust this whole event!" I laugh.

"Why are you carrying that guy?" He questions, but I don't respond.

"I won't let you two show me up!" Bakugo roars.

"I didn't expect so many to dodge my quirk. Especially so many from the other classes." Todoroki pondered. His attack was definitely effective, but a nice portion of the students were already gaining on us.

Mineta looked like he was actually about to slow Todoroki down. But he got sneak attacked by a robot. Up ahead, were multiple mechs of different sizes, but the most notable were the giant monstrosities.

"So this is what the other students had to face in their exams?" Todoroki questioned.

"Only you hero psychos!" Yujin shouted, still punching me.

"Prepare for some bullshit!" I scream. Todoroki was getting into action.

STOP

The asshole was definitely aiming for me, alongside those bots. But even Todoroki's freezing wasn't as fast as that Nomu.

I continue running. My supernatural speed and stamina would ensure that my time stopping would keep me in the lead.

GO

The rest of the class was now faced with partially frozen giants, falling towards them.

"Deku! To be a great hero, you need to be able to control your quirk. But still, until we have no other choice, team up with me. I'll heal you, and you'll be my personal weapon!" Araki yelled. Oh, that's even more bullshit.

The ground shakes and the air explodes as I hear the clear signs of Midoriya letting loose. Pieces of robot get sent flying me and Todoroki's way.

"Izuku Midoriya! He has an explosively powerful strength quirk, but it hurts him to use it! Helping him, is a power house, Dende Araki! He has super strength, super speed, super hearing, stretchy limbs and most of all, the best healing quirk ever seen in UA! A combo duo straight from hell!" Present Mic roared into the speakers.

Yujin tapped my back. A code. More tapping. Something to do with Araki, a secret. More to his quirk? And I thought I was pushing the limit of quirks. What other abilities could he have?


Yujin, Kibo, and Deku are all on guard, ready for a potential attack from the LoV. The rest of the students have almost no worry in the world.

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