The Sports Festival
Izuku did breathing exercises as he sat in the corner of their waiting room, his nerves were getting the best of him and he didn't want that. He knew it'd only get worse from here if he couldn't control himself now. He sucked in another breath before feeling someone pat his back. He turned to see it was Monoma, "Nerve Wracking, isn't it?" The boy asked with a slight smile, Izuku nodded with a nervous smile, "This is the price for being heroes."
Izuku smiled, the pats were oddly comforting in a way, "Yeah, just a bit, how are you doing?" He asked.
"Quite well actually." Monoma grinned a bit, "Oh how excited I am to squash 1-A. Just imagine how satisfying it'll be once they react to my quirk, perhaps I could use it on that Bakugo fellow, give him a taste of his own medicine, oh that'll just be so wondrous!" He said with stars in his eyes.
Izuku waved his hands, "D-Don't do that…! Please…"
The blonde put his hands up in protest before smiling widely, "I make no promises.." Izuku groaned.
The intercom turned on and Izuku instantly covered his ears. Present Mic was always the commentator for the sports festival. "ALRIGHT LITTLE LISTENERS! You've got five minutes until it's time to come out so get yourselves ready because you're gonna have an explosive entrance, YEAHHHH!!" The intercom shut off and Izuku sighed as he uncovered his ears.
"Midoriya." Kendo came to sit in front of him, looking slightly nervous as she messed with her hands. "I um… I wanted to do a speech, to get everyone's hopes up but… I don't know if it's a good idea or not." She sighed. Not being able to tell who was the stronger of them was really bugging her, she wanted to know so badly that it was stressing her out. Making her nervous when she otherwise shouldn't have been.
Izuku smiled though, "I think that sounds great. I'm really nervous right now and I think a speech would help. " He rubbed his neck. "Plus, you're really inspiring, with your fighting skills. I-" Izuku took a breath. "Quirks are everything to people, and that's all some heroes need or use, b-but you use your quirk and your martial arts skills. You're someone I admire. You're inspiring Kendo-chan.. So I think a speech coming from you would mean a lot." His smile widened until both Kendo and Monoma had to look away or ris being blinded.
The redhead smiled, his words actually meant a lot to her. She took a breath, "Thanks Midoriya!" She stood up with confidence and walked to the door and clapped her enlarged hands. To gain everyone's attention. "Okay everyone! We're about to go out, but I have a couple of words for you all!" She seemed to have gained everyone's attention as all eyes turned to her. It was a little nerve wracking, but also really exciting!
"Today, we are going to be in the spotlight!" Kamakiri smiled, and Izuku gulped. Everyone would see that, people all over Japan, no- the world! "Cameras and eyes will be on us! And we have to show the world that we are here!" She placed a hand over her heart. "Show them that we are future heroes!"
Kaibara smiled, "Alright, I'll admit, I'm feeling this!" He smiled.
Tetsu jumped out of his seat, "KEEP GOING, YOU'RE BOOSTING MY MANLINESS!!" Tetsu yelled as he felt like tearing his shirt open, he barely managed to restrain himself.
"Is that how it works?" Awase muttered to Tsuburaba to which the boy shrugged. "Dunno, he never really specified."
Kendo smiled, "We have a big challenge ahead of us, 1-A is strong, but I know that one of us can win! One of us can be at the top, and I believe in each and every one of you!" Izuku clenched a hand, no doubt Kacchan would be aiming for the top. 'But… so am I!' Kendo threw a hand into the air, "Let's go to the top and past it!"
Pony, Kuroiro, and Komori threw their own hands in the air. Izuku nodded to himself before he joined in with his friends. Tokage disconnected both of her arms and let them float in the air and Monoma put his arm up as well.
"Go beyond what we can today!" Kendo yelled as she felt her heart beating like crazy. Shishida, Shoda, and the rest of the class joined in, Tetsu yelling "YEAHHHH!" As he cried alligator tears.
"Go PLUS ULTRA!"
Izuku smiled as the class calmed down and Present Mic told them to come out, he walked to the front and held onto the doorknob, "This is it-" He pushed it open. "UA's Sports Festival…" Walking out of the tunnel, the crowd cheered and Izuku felt like passing out. "T-There's so many people…"
He could practically hear his mom crying as she watched him come out of the tunnel at home. 'I hope the apartment will be intact when I get home…' It was a long shot, but it was worth it to hope.
"I know, awesome, right?" Tokage smiled as she made peace signs at the crowd. "Look! They love me!"
"Awase, we're gonna be famous, man!" Tsuburaba threw an arm around his seat buddy. "Hell yeah!"
Izuku did his best to control his nerves as all of the first year student body came out. There were so many people, and all of them were his competition. It made him gulp before he took a deep breath, "I can.. do this…" He reminded himself.
Kendo smiled as she felt pumped up, this reminded her of all of the martial arts tournaments she had gone to growing up. Of course, this was on a much, MUCH larger scale and there was almost no correlation. But just like her old tournament, she was getting excited!
The rest of the class basked in the celebration as they stood in front of a stone platform. 'I wonder who the umpire will be…' He heard the clicking of heels on stone. 'OH NO!' The boy instantly seized up and he knew most of the other boys did as well.
There were a couple that he knew weren't, one of those being Kacchan. "The fuck's up with this bitch?" Bakugo asked as he stared at the R-Rated Hero. A noticeable tick grew on her head but quickly went away as she smiled and waved at the crowd. They seemed to get louder when she came out which made her more lively.
Her energy had caused her… assets… to bounce. "Someone should tell Kayama-sensei that her attire is a tad inappropriate for this event." Shishida said as his glasses shone over as he pushed them up.
Awase coughed into his hand, "nice." He got a slap courtesy of Shiozaki's vine. "How sinful..." She commented with a "hmph" as she turned away.
Midnight finally turned to the students and smiled, and it scared all of them. It wasn't a nice smile at all, it was a devious grin and they all knew that it was one that promised pain and suffering. Izuku gulped and tried his best to smile in return, something he had practiced ever since he was a kid because even when All Might was in trouble he would always smile.
"Now, a speech from the entrance exam's top scorer! Bakugo Katsuki!" The R-Rated hero announced as the crowd died down.
"You have got to be kidding me…" Tokage gave the blond the stink eye as he walked up to the podium. Monoma wasn't doing much better, he had a couple choice words that he kept to himself however. And then Izuku. 'He was the top scorer…..' Kacchan was at the top. And that's where Izuku had to be as All Might's successor. He was thinking, thinking about someone he'd have to beat.
The boy took a deep breath before letting it out, "Whatever happens today…" Some of the class peered at him as they heard him talk. Izuku looked up at the podium as Bakugo finally reached the mic. Izuku knew that Bakugo hadn't seen him, after all he was just a pebble in the boy's eyes, but right now he didn't feel like that at all. "I'm going to win…"
The blond growled as the mic echoed his sounds. "Just to let you all know-" He smirked, looking at all the extras that were gonna get their asses handed to him today. "I'm going to win."
…
"THIS GUY FUCKING SUCKS!"
"A-Awase-kun, NO!" The rest of the student body joined in, yelling about how arrogant Bakugo, and Class A, was in general. Iida was trying to yell over them, saying that Bakugo's words did not reflect on the entirety of Class 1-A. Sadly he wasn't heard at all.
The blond laughed and eventually Midnight had to shoo him back to the crowd, where he was yelled at even more by other students, but he used his quirk to make them back off.
Something that made Nezu sigh. "Really, he hasn't seemed to have make much improvement with his anger management, perhaps his sessions should be moved to three times a week after all." He wrote in his tiny notebook as he sipped a glass of tea.
"I thought he'd be taking this seriously, but it appears not." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Perhaps expulsion will be a necessary action to take after all." Humming, he shook his head. "No, instead I'll let him go on an internship and see if a pro can whip him into shape." If not well then… expulsion would be needed.
"Man Aizawa, your kid's kind of blow…" They all heard Present Mic say over the speakers in the stadium to which Bakugo gained a tick mark on his head.
"Aren't you supposed to be an unbiased party?" Aizawa glared at the man that had forced him into doing commentating duty, with all of his injuries he couldn't deny the man the chance as he was dragged to commentate.
The man shrugged, however, "Eh, I say it how I see it." Monoma smiled to himself at Present Mic's words.
"Alright, now allow us to introduce you to the first event!" Midnight yelled, trying to move past the bad atmosphere that Bakugo's "speech" had created. The student body begrudgingly decided to move on and Midnight was thankful. "Now, Present Mic, what will our first event be?!" She asked with glamor.
They all heard the man suck in a large breath as he audibly smiled, "IT'S GONNA BE AN OBSTACLE COURSE, YEAHHHHH!" Izuku covered his ears at the man's yell, he still didn't like loud people, despite getting more accustomed to them over the time he had been at UA.
His wincing stopped as he let out a breath, 'Obstacle course…. Ok…..' He had done research, watched as many prior sports festivals there had been as he physically could. He had been preparing for this moment his entire life, everything he had ever done had come to this moment. And as the stadium wall came down, to lead them to the course they had to run, Izuku realized one thing. "I'm not ready-"
"GO!!!!" With the yell, Izuku's instincts kicked in as he felt elbows and bodies shove into him. It reminded him of when the press broke into school, though this time he was going to get out of it on his own. He wouldn't have his friends there to help him every time after all.
The tunnel suddenly became cold as he looked to the front, seeing a mass of ice. "Someone has a strong ice quirk, cool… NO, nerd out later!" He charged up Full Cowling and jumped up, not even noticing his impromptu pun, hitting the ceiling of the tunnel before blasting out of it entirely. 'Just like how Gran Torino would do it…'
"WOAH, CLASS B'S IZUKU MIDORIYA COMPLETELY BLOWS PAST CLASS A'S SHOUTO TODOROKI'S ICE TRAP!" Izuku lost himself for a second, the name Todokri was very familiar but he threw the thought away as he ran forward. And felt fear wash over him, the goliath that had required him to use One For All for the first time, "BUT WILL HE GET PAST UA'S TRAP, THE NEXT PART, ROBOT INFERNO!"
"Zero pointers!" There were other robots strewn about but Izuku wasn't focused on them. He instead gazed at the giant Goliath before feeling wind push past him, seeing many applicants moving to finish the race.
Yaoyorozu, Iida, Tetsu, Tetsu but Red, Honenuki, Tokage, and "Kacchan…." Izuku's power increased to his five percent base as he charged. "MANLY MY MAN!" Tetsu yelled as Izuku easily ran past him with his increased speed. Izuku smiled, he liked Tetsu's compliments. They felt nice and helped lift him up.
However what he didn't like was the zero pointers stopping in place as they were trapped in a glacier. He squinted his eyes as he heard them creak, they weren't…. "T-They're not stable!" He yelled as he pushed his quirk from five to seven and put as much force as he could into his step.
It was probably safer to just stay behind, but Izuku wanted to win! "To tell the world that I'm here!" The robots crashed down and Izuku sighed as he felt himself be pushed forward by the excess force created by the crash. Landing on his feet, he relaxed.
He looked ahead, seeing the one that he guessed was Todoroki staring back at him as he situated himself. His stare was… cold. Like it was rather angry that Izuku hadn't been crushed by that robot. It reminded Izuku of a villain if he was being honest.
With the rest of the group, no one had moved forward, wondering if anyone had gotten trapped in the rubble. The casing of the zero pointer pushed out until a red man busted out, "IF THAT HAPPENED TO ANYONE ELSE THEY WOULD'VE DIED!" Kirishima yelled as his uniform was torn.
And then suddenly, Tetsu bursted out of the same zero pointer not feet away from Kirishima, "IF THAT HAPPENED TO ANYONE ELSE THEY WOULD'VE DIED!" He yelled, his uniform much the same.
Monoma looked between both of them and sighed, "Perhaps there are more similarities between our gracious class and the scoundrels of 1-A than I thought." Though then he remembered that it was someone from 1-A who had caused the zero pointers to crash and almost hurt dozens of contestants, "But then again…" He smiled and started to run, he was going to win, no. He was going to beat 1-A!
The greanette heard the familiar sounds of explosions and cursing behind him and he had to swallow down his fear. Flashes in his mind, explosions, smoke, burning light, his skin being torn, crying as he patched himself up in his bathroom. "No…" It was different now! He had a quirk, he had friends, and nothing was going to stop him from achieving his dream!
Izuku dodged all the other robots that were along the track, smashing into ones that he couldn't avoid and smiling as he tore them to shreds. "Plus Ultra!" He would win! Because All Might told him to!
The Symbol of Peace smiled to himself, seeing Izuku blast through robots. It was exciting and a little nerve wracking. "He's made so much progress in just the couple of weeks he's been here at UA." He sighed fondly to himself as he looked at his successor on one of the jumbo screens they had in the stadium. The boy's eyes held determination that was unrivaled by anyone else in the tournament.
"With no help from you!" All Might froze and robotically turned to his right, before looking down and seeing his old mentor. "Nice to see you too, Toshinori." The old man said.
The Symbol of Peace coughed blood before wiping his face, "Y-You too… sensei…" He stared wide eyed at his old mentor. Why was he here?! What was he doing here?! "W-What are you-"
"Came to watch the kid."
"But you never watched my sports-"
"Like this one more than you." All Might hung his head at his mentor's words. "He's smart, creative, and can think on his feet. He's not as gifted at using the quirk at full power like you so he has to think his way out of situations." All positives in Torino's eyes.
Gran Torino thought back to a news report he had seen years ago on his busted up TV. A UA student that had blasted through the Sports Festival with ease, got first place with virtually no risk of losing at any point in the thing. Of course he knew it was Toshinori but still, it made him wonder. "You grew cocky because of your power, that's how All For One wounded you, you weren't used to being hurt, to someone being an equal to you." He thought about a day that had long since passed.
All Might sighed and looked down in shame, feeling his wound twitch at the name of his old nemesis he grabbed it with a wince, "I'm sorry.. sensei…"
Gran Torino shook his head, "He also used Nana against you, for that.. I can't blame you." Gran Torino sighed as he stared at one of the large screams in the stadium, displaying Todoroki before going to Izuku. The old pro smiled at the eyes of determination on the boy's face. "But what I can blame you for is the stupidity you've shown all your life, ever since then all you've done is make horrible choices."
The Symbol of Peace nodded along, not resting after his battle with All For One, decreasing his time limit because he thought the public needed him, risking the lives of his students because he was out and about with the public.
"But still, choosing that boy, it was one of your few good decisions." Gran Torino smirked a bit to himself as Izuku charged through another bot before blasting forward with power. "What wasn't one of your good decisions was telling the boy to tell the world that "he's here" honestly so laughable."
"H-He told you…?" All Might asked.
The pro nodded, "It was one of the reasons he wanted to improve the most." All Might looked on in worry as his gaze shifted from his mentor to his successor on screen. "The boy's got tenacity though, he never gave up. Even when I planted him in the dirt with my boot." He smiled at the memories.
All Might did smile a bit at that too. "Yeah, he's always been like that…" Even when training, he pushed himself far past his limits. Despite it being detrimental to him in some cases, All Might did admire that drive that the boy had.
"I just hope that it doesn't cause the end of him, like it did you." All Might hoped for that too.
Izuku smashed through a final robot before charging forward after Todoroki. "WOAH! FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD PLACE HAVE ARRIVED AT THE FALL! OR AS I LIKE TO CALL IT THE PIT OF DOOM- ow hey! Shouta not cool!" The boy smiled to himself. Yamada-sensei was always fun even if he was a little over the top.
"For legal reasons, I must state that was an exaggeration and we have systems in place to make sure no students die." The monotone voice of Eraserhead was clear for all to hear.
The man only paid attention to Hizahi's words. So far, he actually hadn't been paying attention to the festival all that much. Because of his new injury under his eye, just keeping it open hurt like hell and for once he had time to rest.
Izuku gulped when he arrived right in front of "The Fall" though, even with Eraserhead saying no students would die. It looked like a bottomless pit! "H-How is this real..?" He asked himself before smacking his cheeks. No falling into an endless line of thinking about how much money UA had and how they did things that no other institution could, or would, do.
Seeing Todoroki already skating pass on what seemed like a wave of ice, and then Kacchan soaring over while yelling about how he would kill Izuku and "Icyhot" made Izuku snap into "Game mode."
The boy grabbed onto one of the connecting ropes that lead to one of the standing stone formations and hung onto it as his legs dangled over the void. He felt a little fear. "It looks endless…" He quickly looked up and charged One For All into his shoulders and arms before climbing forward. "I will.. show them I'm here!"
Monoma powered through the group of robots, dodging and running forward. With how the beginning had gone in the tunnel a lot of time was wasted, he had no reliable quirks right now. He was grimacing in anger as the blond of 1-A just flew over everyone while screaming. "DEKU, GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD, YOU TOO ICYHOT! I'LL KILL YOU!!"
"Uncouth fool…" He whispered to himself as he saw almost all of his class and 1-A pass him. Even going into this, he knew he'd be at a disadvantage, it still stung though to see it put out so blatantly in front of him.
He stumbled a bit when he felt something impact his back, looking he saw a floating arm giving him a thumbs up. Staring at it in shock, he laughed before grabbing it. "Thanks… Setsuna-chan…" Feeling the familiar power of her quirk spread throughout his body, he smiled.
The hand floated out of his grasp and opened itself up for a fist bump. He sighed and indulged it before it floated away. "That girl…" He grinned to himself.
He disconnected his torso and floated over groups of robots, easily evading them now. No muscle pain or muscle exertion either. "I love this quirk.." And perhaps the person that had it as well. But he'd never admit that. "Plus Ultra..!" He yelled to himself as he charged forward.
Bakugo easily blasted over the rest of his so-called "competition." In reality, they were just a bunch of chumps, not even worth the dirt under his shoes. He caught sight of the green haired bastard as he soared right over him, his teeth clenching and feeling like they were about to crack. "DEKU! GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD, YOU TOO ICYHOT! I'LL KILL YOU!"
He wasn't going to lose to them! No way in hell! He refused to acknowledge Deku and Icyhot was just another stepping stone that needed to learn their place. No one at this school was on his level, they were all below him damn it!
Feeling his forearms twinge in pain from overuse he grit his teeth, "SHUT THE HELL UP!" He yelled, as if his arms could hear him, as he started losing altitude.
"WOAH LOOK AT CONTESTANT BAKUGO KATSUKI, LITERALLY BLASTING THROUGH THE COMPETITION!" Present Mic smiled at his own joke as he turned to Aizawa, only to see the man deadpanning at him, "I thought it was good…"
"I am gonna blast through these extras!" He yelled as he rolled onto the ground, his wrists and forearms were twinging, beating in pain, and he hated it. He hated everything about it, he wanted his gauntlets, they gave him so much power. And he loved that power.
"WOAH, LOOK OUT FOLKS, CONTESTANTS BAKUGO KATSUKI AND TODOROKI SHOUTO ARE ENTERING THE MINDFIELD!!!" Present Mic yelled as Bakugo looked up to see a dirt track. "THEY DON'T HURT TOO BAD BUT THEY WILL THROW YOU FOR A LOOP!" Bakugo welcomed the challenge.
Izuku panted as he pulled himself off of the last rope connected to land, falling onto the ground as he looked up to see the minefield, Todoroki and Bakugo off a ways away. Iida was around too, slowly walking around the mines, some few other contestants were strewn about too. Everyone was doing that. No one was going fast.
And that made Izuku smile. "The purpose is to slow everyone down so people behind have a chance to take the lead…" He quickly realized. He had lost his placement with the Fall, climbing the ropes took a considerable amount of time and gave some people the opportunity to pass him.
But he could earn his spot back right now.
Gran Torino laughed out loud as the last obstacle of the course was shown, All Might turned robotically towards his old teacher. "S-Sensei.. what's so funny?"
The pro crossed his arms and grinned as he sat back in his seat, which was rather large for his small body. "With my training-" Or as Toshinori and Class B liked to call it, hell, "-he's hyper aware of his surroundings now. He includes them into his strategizing, or-" They watched as Izuku crouched down as his body sparked with Full Cowling, "-He knows how to expertly avoid things."
All Might tilted his head as he watched the big screen, the camera they had was focused on Bakugo and Todoroki, but you could still see those at the beginning of the mind field. They were focused on Izuku.
Who took off like a bullet.
The boy smiled with glee as he expertly ran over all the mines with Full Cowling at five percent. There was just enough difference in the dirt they were under that they were noticeable to the naked eye, and Izuku's eyes were far above normal. Well not really, but he tended to focus on seemingly unimportant things sometimes. He was surprised that it was coming in handy for once.
Iida looked up as the green blur passed him, he barely caught sight of the familiar green locks. "M-MIDORIYA??" He yelped.
Izuku's heart was in his chest. He- He could win! "I'LL KILL YOU ICYHOT!" Or maybe not. He felt himself slowing down as fear invaded him, his body wanted to shrink in on itself. Explosions, the popping sound of Kacchan's explosions made him quake.
"HEY, CONTESTANT KATSUKI BAKUGO, WHAT THE HECK MAN! USING YOUR QUIRK ON CONTESTANT SHOTO TODOROKI! NOT COOL!!!" The boy clicked his tongue before continuing forward, not risking getting penalized.
Todoroki gave Bakugo a glare as he also continued forward, trying to go faster than his opponent. He wasn't using his quirk, if he did it'd give other people a path to the end and he didn't want to help anyone. He wasn't here to make friends.
The explosions stopped, and Izuku took a deep breath. The wind was rustling his hair, his feet were leaving and touching the ground, his heart was pumping loudly in his ear, adrenaline flooded through his veins. "I…." He gulped, his throat was dry, Todoroki and Bakugo were in sight, he could reach them. "I…." He let out all the air, his feet pounding the ground, "I…." He felt One For All rising, from five to eight percent. "Will…. WIN!!"
One Final step and Izuku exploded forward, he was faster now, even the three percent jump was noticeable. He had trouble controlling it, and hit some land mines, but he was gone before the explosions could hurt him.
"WOAH, LOOK AT MIDORIYA IZUKU OF CLASS 1-B, HE'S GO-GO-GOING!" Mic yelled, drawing everyone's attention to the boy.
Gran Torino grinned.
All Might gaped.
Vlad King cheered.
And Aizawa, "H-How…?" The kid, he wasn't that strong, he didn't have that much finesse with his quirk a month ago. Where did it come from? When did he get so… "Useful.."
Mic turned to his friend as he shut off his mic. "Something wrong Shou? You're injuries acting up again?" The blond asked and reminded Aizawa of his current state of mummy hood. Though he got a head shake in return. The blond tilted his head before returning back to commentating. "WOAH! LOOK AT MIDORIYA GO!" The man yelled and Aizawa was brought back to his thoughts.
Izuku Midoriya had passed both Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo. Two of Aizawa's top students. "How…" He muttered quietly to himself. The boy passed both of his students and didn't slow down. It took both of them a moment to realize and they stopped their fighting and started using their quirks to catch up. Seemingly not caring about the rest of the competition now.
Bakugo shot off using his explosions and Todoroki rode a wave of ice. But they weren't fast enough. The boy, Midoriya, was still ahead of them. "How." He asked himself once more.
This wasn't supposed to happen, he had seen it with his own eyes. The boy's.. uselessness. He was a liability, a hindrance at best. So how was this happening? How had he improved so much? And in such a short amount of time too? They'd barely been at UA for a short while, not even halfway through the first term.
"CLASS A'S TODOROKI AND BAKUGO ARE TRYING HARD BUT THEY CAN'T SEEM TO CATCH UP TO CLASS B'S MIDORIYA! LOOK AT HIM GO! WOAH WOAH WOAH!" He didn't even get mad at Hizahi's loudness, he was just… confused.
They passed the minefield and Izuku's power was starting to lower in percentage, that didn't mean he still wasn't giving it his all though. "Come on—" He could picture All Might smiling. "Don't stop—" He could see Gran Torino huffing, trying to hide a smirk. "Keep going!" And Kan-sensei giving him a wide grin filled with pride.
Explosions and ice forming were happening behind him, but he couldn't hear them at all, the tunnel, the end, it was so so close. He could taste it. Victory. He could win! He paused as he entered a crouch, getting low on the ground.
The crowd paused, WHY WAS HE STOPPING NOW HE WAS SO CLOSE! "WHAT'S MIDORIYA DOING!!!!!!??" Present Mic yelled as he grabbed his head. Aizawa narrowed his eyes.
Though Gran Torino smiled and Toshinori looked at his mentor with eyes of confusion, "He…. He's copied your fighting style?" The old man didn't answer, but instead.
His grin widened.
Izuku's mind was whirling, everyone was slow as his thought process shot off. 'A much larger concentration of power than I can normally handle, my burst style but at a greater scale, but for a shorter instance of time. Just like what Gran Torino-sensei does…' He pictured the old man. Hitting a surface and a great amount of force being produced from his boots as he shot off again like a bullet, the air from his boots only being there for a fraction of a second.. 'One For All: 15%' He felt his body creak, but…
If he was telling the world he was here, then he was going to do it showing gratitude to someone who had helped him the most.
"GRAN TORINO STYLE: AIR BURST!" Like a rocket, Izuku shot off in a trail of green lightning, however the power was quickly scaled down from 15% to 5%. The amount was only needed for the initial burst as he still had the momentum. Bakugo's eyes widened. WHEN DID DEKU GET THIS FAST?! Todoroki was surprised as well, he thought he was the strongest, but then this boy showed up out of nowhere. Who was this kid?
Izuku smiled as he shot into the tunnel and out into the stadium, a wide smile on his face. The crowd was silent. And then Present Mic sucked in a breath. "IN FIRST PLACE WE HAVE CLASS B'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!" He yelled, and the crowd joined him in celebration.
"I- did it…" He panted as his lightning died off. "I-" He looked at the stands, spotting All Might and Gran Torino far off in the crowd., "I DID IT!" Izuku cheered, smiling while crying slightly.
"HE DID IT!!!!" Inko Midoriya was elated as she flooded her apartment building and cheered on Izuku from the couch at their home. Already on her third box of tissues, she estimated that she would be needing a couple more.
"DEKU!"
'Oh no… I did it…' Izuku waited but the explosion never came. He looked back to see the boy passed out in Midnight's arms. "W-Wha-"
His teacher smiled, "We know the situation between you and Bakugo, Midroiya. You don't have to worry about anything." She promised with a smile. But it wasn't her usual one that sent shivers down the spines of all male students. It was a genuine one that actually made him calm and remember that she was a hero. "Relax for now, we have to wait for everyone else." She walked away leaving Bakugo passed out on the ground, though gently.
He probably wouldn't like being shown held like a baby by the R-Rated hero on national television. Todoroki stood, switching his gaze from the prone Bakugo to Izuku. He squinted his eyes slightly before shaking it off. "Next round.. is mine…" He whispered.
Izuku smiled to himself as all of his friends came in, Tetsu's metal skin receded as he panted for breath and cheered with all the energy he had left. "Midoriya! You were first! Dude, that was so MANLY!"
The boy rubbed his neck, "T-Tetsu-kun, it's not that big of a deal… really…"
"MIDORIYA MY FRIEND!" In came Monoma, his body disconnected at the waist. The boy floated before he was standing in front of Izuku, he reconnected his body and smiled. "Truly splendid! Sticking it to those 1-A scoundrels! I've- I'VE NEVER BEEN MORE PROUD!"
The trio laughed and smiled until the rest of their friends came in. Tokage came in right after Monoma, a little miffed that the boy had done it faster than her with her own quirk. But he may have picked up extras on the way too after observing the competition. Kendo and Yanagi arrived after that, and soon after Pony did too.
The quartet of girls approached them, drenched in sweat and panting for breath. "Ok, that- was a little tough, I'll get 'em that." Tokage sighed as she sat on the grass of the stadium. "But- we made it through."
"For some it was harder than others…" Kendo sighed, her quirk had helped with the robots but other than that she had a rough time.
"We all made it through our conquest and that's all that matters." Yanagi stated as she was for once on the ground and not floating. "Though I do wish that it hadn't been as.. grueling as it was." She massaged her head.
Pony just looked at all of her friends and smiled. "Proud of you guys!" It warmed their hearts.
"ALRIGHT, HURRY UP AND GET UP! THE FIRST 42 CONTESTANTS MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ROUND OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL! EVERYONE ELSE, BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!!" The students all winced, not being prepared for Present Mic's screaming with all of their exhaustion.
"Still feel bad for that guy's parents…" Awase muttered.
"Oh yeah, didn't he make them go deaf?" Tsuburaba asked. "Yup."
The students all gathered once more, those that didn't pass had left to go sit in the stands in designated seating areas. All of Izuku's class had moved onto the next round which made him really happy. They were his class, not just a class that he was in because he had to go to school.
He wasn't afraid of them, they were friendly, they were his friends. And he was happy that they were succeeding. He knew most of, at least half, of Class 1-A moved on as well. Seeing familiar faces from the bus they took to the USJ. But other than that no one else really stood out to him.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S MOVE ON, WITH THE START OF THE NEXT EVENT WHICH IS GONNA BE-" A big screen that was situated within the stadium came to life as a wheel began to spin. Different names of events on it, the students watched with bated breath as it spun and began to slow until it eventually landed on- "CAVALRY BATTLE, LET'S GOO!"
Izuku nodded at himself, "..okay, but what else? There's always something more to the second round…" He remembered watching old sports festivals. There was always a catch in the second round.
Midnight took her spot at the umpire's stand once more. "Students will receive placements based on their performance in the last round!"
"Oh…" Izuku muttered. He'd have a target on his back. But at least other top placers would too.
"They will increase in increments of 5 points, last place has five points, 41st place has 10 and so on!" Kendo winced and looked at Izuku in sympathy. Everyone would be gunning for him, Todoroki, Bakugo, and anyone else near the top. "BUT FIRST PLACE-" Midnight struck her whip and smiled. "WILL HAVE TEN MILLION POINTS!"
"Oh no…." Izuku whispered to himself as he felt an immense weight situate itself on his shoulder. "Midoriya, my boy…" All Might prayed for the boy from his spot in the stands. Gran Torino sighed and his eyes took on a more serious look. "Now he'll know what it's like to be you.."
All Might turned to him with raised brow. "To be number one, to have everyone watch your every move, to have a giant target on your back." His mentor said. He nodded, remembering the USJ.
"You can do this Young Midoriya…" All Might said with hope and dread.
Yanagi and Monoma looked at their friend in worry. Even without it being directed at them, they could feel the weight of everyone's eyes as they gazed at him. The boy gulped and looked down, trying to hide as everyone's eyes were on him.
He sighed before looking back up. "If everyone's gunning for me.. then so be it." Izuku whispered to himself, trying to psych himself up and help himself deal with the nervousness he was feeling.
"ALRIGHT, YOU'LL HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO FORM YOUR TEAMS! GOOD LUCK!" Fifteen minutes of no Present Mic screaming in their ears, they would all savor it.
Izuku instantly walked to a group of students from his class, Shishida, Kaibara, and Tsuburaba. "G-Guys I-"
"Ya know, I do feel bad Midoriya, but….." Kaibara turned around, "Can't really team with you." The rest followed him. Izuku sighed, he understood, he really did. Didn't make it hurt any less though.
Then his eyes landed on a piece of blond hair. "M-Monoma-kun!" The blond turned to him and locked up a little. "Please team up with me, I promise I won't drag you down with my ten millions points!" He bowed.
Monoma sighed, "Midoriya, I have no qualms with your points." He said and Izuku got out of his bow. The boy looked regretful, "However-" He clenched a fist in front of him, "I see you as a rival, I want to challenge you, I want to be equal with you. So, please allow me to do this."
Midoriya sighed as he nodded. He understood it, sort of. But still. "I- I get it Monoma-kun… g-good luck! I hope you make it to the next round!" He tried to muster a smile, but he just couldn't….
Monoma smiled sorrowfully as he nodded. "To you as well, my friend." And walked away.
Izuku understood why people didn't want to team up with him, he understood how people felt about his points, he understood that Monoma saw him as a rival and wanted to compete with him. But… it hurt.
"M-Midoriya!" At the stutter, Izuku's attention was drawn to the voice that he instantly knew was Komori. He turned and his eyes landed on her. Though Kuroiro wasn't anywhere to be seen, that was a little weird, the two had been attached at the hip ever since the Battle Trials.
"Y-Yes? Komori-san?" He tilted his head a bit.
The girl gulped before nodding to herself, gathering confidence, "D-Do, you want to team up?"
Izuku made a choking noise before his eyes exploded with tears. "R-Really?! You'll team up with me?" He asked. She was a walking angel!
The girl nodded, "I- you were one of my first friends, and Kuroiro-kun already teamed up with someone else, so I wanted to team up with you shroom!" She found enough courage to smile widely.
Izuku nodded, rubbing his eyes with his forearm and clearing his tears with a smile. "A-Alright! Thank you!" UA really was the best, for once he had friends.
Speaking of, "Midoriya." The monotone voice made him jump as he turned around and his eyes landed on Yanagi. She seemed to smile slightly, "Did I scare you again? I apologize."
Izuku huffed before waving a hand, "I-It's fine…." He smiled awkwardly, "S-So what are you doing here?"
The ghost girl tilted her head, "I wished to partner up with you if it was possible. After all, it is most advantageous to partner with those you get along with, is it not?" The waterworks came back tenfold.
"YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!" They simply smiled as they waited for Izuku to get control of his tears. Eventually the tears stopped coming and he calmed himself down, "O-Ok." He looked at the two of them, many plans forming, however… "I think we should get a fourth member, if we can…" No one would want to team with him, but having another member would be really useful.
It would widen the arsenal of plans they could come up with which would be really useful and it would even the playing field. Mostly everyone would have teams of four, they needed one too. But still, no one would team up with him because of his darn ten million points.
"TEN MILLION!" A pink blur crashed into Izuku and grabbed him by the shoulders, rattling him a bit. He straightened out enough to see a crazed smile and a pair of equally crazy eyes. "Team up with me!"
"O-ok….."
Izuku sighed as he tried to calm his breathing and get used to the feeling of carrying Komori. She was the smallest so they all agreed that they'd have her as the rider and they'd be the horses. Yanagi and who he learned was Hatsume were the back legs and he was the front horse.
Hatsume was… interesting. They had learned that she was from the support course and had brought a bunch of inventions to display, that's why she had teamed up with Izuku. She needed publicity.
It was kind of funny if he was being honest with himself. They were allowed to use her inventions so they had Yanagi and her using hover boots, Komori with a jetpack. They were heavy, but with Izuku's strength and speed the weight was slightly negated.
They also had a sort of special rope connecting them, Izuku could boost his speed to the highest degree and they would still all be connected. They could use the hover boots to group and stay together too.
Komori flushed as she stood tall, seeing all the other teams staring at them, it was nerve wracking. "Komori-chan…" She heard Izuku mutter and she glanced down at him, "You're amazing…" She smiled at his words and nodded to herself, a little confidence coming to her. "Thanks shroom!"
Izuku smiled as he activated Full Cowling at five percent. They would need it, and he could keep up five percent for a very long time thanks to Gran Torino's training. "They'll be gunning for us from the beginning, so all we have to do is run. Yanagi-chan, you deflect targets and projectiles that come at us with your quirk if you can." The ghost girl nodded, she knew what she had to do.
"Komori-chan, if you can use your quirk on our opponents to trip them up." The mushroom enthusiast smiled as she thought about all the trouble she could cause with her precious mushrooms.
"Hatsume-chan-" Izuku could feel her grin, "-let your… b-babies cause havoc." He had blushed a lot when she first said that Izuku could use her babies. Took a while for him to figure out she meant inventions.
The support course student saluted. "Got it bossman!" She was strange, but a nice type of strange Izuku thought.
They all took time to prepare themselves for the chaos and mayhem that awaited them in their next trial, but Izuku knew that with these three, he could do it. They could do it. "ALRIGHT!" Present Mic yelled, "TIME LIMIT IS UP, HOPE YOU'RE ALL READY, BECAUSE WE'RE STARTING IN THREE!"
Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"TWO!"
His body relaxed and he felt calmness take over him.
"ONE!"
His eyes shot open and shone radioactive green.
"GOOOOO!!"
Three teams instantly came for Izuku, of course one was Kacchan, the other was the boy who he knew as Todoroki, and the final one was Kamakiri. "WOAH, THREE TEAMS INSTANTLY HAVE IT OUT FOR THE TEN MILLION POINT TEAM! THEY BETTER WATCH OUT!"
"Komori! Spore field!" The mushroom girl nodded before dozens of mushrooms were made, they didn't do anything because of the amount that was made in such a short amount of time. But the other teams didn't know that and Kamakiri stopped. He knew that Komori was dangerous despite her appearance.
Though that didn't stop either of the 1-A teams. "GIVE ME YOUR DAMN POINTS DEKU!" Izuku fought the urge to shrink in on himself as he found his voice, luckily he won the inner fight.
Kacchan's team was strong, it had Red Tetsu (he still hadn't learned the boy's name) who was a perfect horse for the bomber boy, being able to handle the force of his explosions. Todoroki's team wasn't anything to sneeze at either, he had both of the reps of his class on his team! That- that should be illegal! And both of those teams were coming for them!
Izuku instantly knew that they needed to get out of there. "Hatsume-chan, we need to fly!" He was in game mode right now. And his mind was clear, they needed to stay away from other teams, they needed to survive.
The pinkette nodded and activated the hover boots as Izuku jumped. He smiled when he didn't feel the familiar effect of gravity bringing him down to the ground. "WOAH, WHAT'S TEAM KOMORI DOING, SOARING INTO THE SKY!" Present Mic yelled and the crowd watched as they flew.
"Midoriya, it's reaching the limit, we have to land!" Hatsume yelled. She'd need to work on that as soon as the festival was done… oh screw it! She'd work on that as soon as this round of the festival was finished!
Izuku nodded and upped his percentage a bit, Yanagi used her quirk and held onto all of her teammates with her quirk to soften their fall. They landed and Izuku winced as they sank into the ground. "Honenuki!" He yelled and looked up, seeing the skull faced boy.
Hatsume quickly turned the boots back on and they barely got out. "Midoriya! They need to cool down, they're burning up badly, they'll be out for a while!" She yelled with a whimper, her poor babies!
Izuku nodded, and looked at Honenuki before getting an idea. 'Just like the ball throw, but not as much percentage, lower it to something smaller but still something greater than I can handle. Don't break it, but create enough force for something dangerous.' He sighed as he nodded. "I'm letting go, keep hold of Komori!"
Yanagi nodded as Izuku brought his right hand up, using her quirk to keep Komori up. He got his hand into a flicking motion and charged up One For All. "Twenty percent Smash!" He flicked and a large amount of wind blew forward, knocking Honenuki away.
"GAH!" He put his hand back and gasped as Komori's foot was placed there, it hurt! He didn't think it'd be as bad as 100% but nope! His bones weren't pulverized, but they throbbed in pain.
It was probably worse because it wasn't broken, there was a certain feeling of emptiness when his bones had broken during the entrance exam and ball throw, but he didn't feel that now.
"Midoriya, are you alright?" Komori asked and he nodded as he focused on the other teams, taking quick deep breaths. She looked on in worry and quickly produced a mushroom and placed it in front of his face. "Eat, it acts as a painkiller."
Izuku smiled, remembering being in this situation before, he took the mushroom and quickly munched and swallowed it. "Alright, let's go!" He yelled and they ran away from an approaching team. Komori smiled slightly.
"TWENTY MINUTES LEFT!" A third was already done, they could do this!
Bakugo growled as Deku ran away, the fucking coward! He smacked the extra that was his front horse. "GO AFTER SHITTY DEKU, NOW!" Kirishima winced and nodded as he turned to bring Bakugo there.
However, before they could another team stood right in front of them. The grinning face of Monoma was clear to see. His team consisted of Tsuburaba as his front horse and Kaibara and Shishida as his back legs. "Bakugo Katsuki of Class 1-A, how very match I hate to see you here!" He yelled before his team charged forward.
They ran forward as he formed a plan, Midoriya wasn't the only strategist. "Rotate!" Quickly, his horses threw him up slightly and switched positions; they now had Shishida at the front. "Shishida-kun, full beast!"
With a yell the boy transformed, "RAH!" He smashed into Bakugo's team and the blond gritted his teeth as he hit them with an explosion, one which was blocked by Tsuburaba straining his quirk's range to block the blast.
"THE FUCK!" He yelled, before he felt a punch. Monoma grinned widely as he socked Bakugo. "Bastard…" He said through clenched teeth as he went to strike back.
Only to get an explosion to the face. "W-What?" He asked. Because his own quirk was just used against him!
Monoma smirked, he had to admit that this quirk was powerful, his shoulder stung a bit, and he did like it a lot. However, he did not like the person attached to it. He brushed his hand forward and touched Kirishima's hair. Remembering the boy was a carbon copy of Tetsu.
Bakugo grit his teeth and went for a retaliatory explosion, only for it to be blocked by Monoma using Kirishima's quirk. He smiled and he reared an arm back and shot it forward, before it began to spin like a drill.
Class A's blond winced as it tore into his stomach before his team pulled back. Monoma smiled, "Courtney of my classmate Kaibara." He said with a slight bow. What could he say? He liked putting on a performance.
Bakugo looked up with a glare. "I'll kill you…"
"I'd like to see you try." Monoma returned with a glare of his own.
Izuku ran with his team, Komori was using her quirk on everyone, sprouting mushrooms on opposing teams and causing them to freak out. "Ok- Ok, come on!" Izuku dodged another team, Yanagi and Hatsume using the hover boots to catch up, they weren't on full blast so they could last longer than earlier.
He jumped over a team that was composed of students from 1-A and Yanagi smiled as she used her quirk, taking the headbands with her. She quickly handed them to Komori, the mushroom girl took them with a smile as she traded out the ten million on her head for one of the ones Yanagi had gotten.
It was part of the plan, however the suggestion was made by Yanagi to make it harder to get. Everyone would think that the Ten Million would be on her forehead, and since they were pretty far away from each other it'd be hard to tell with their eyes.
The boy was panting, eyes shooting in every direction, hyper aware of his surroundings. No one was coming close, they were wary, which was good for them. But it took him a while to realize they weren't wary of him. No- they were scared of-
"LOOK AT TEAM TODOROKI GO, IN HOT PURSUIT OF TEAM KOMORI'S TEN MILLION POINTS! ENDEAVOR'S SON, BOTH OF CLASS A'S REPS, DO THEY EVEN STAND A CHANCE???" Ok, Izuku didn't like the favoritism, but he finally realized why Todoroki was so familiar to him.
It was Endeavor's last name. But Todoroki Jr. displayed an ice quirk?
He shook the thought away, he needed to stay focused. AND HE DEFINITELY NOTICED THE GLACIER THAT NOW BLOCKED THEIR RIGHT.
His team quickly turned around and came face to face with team Todoroki, now that Izuku had a chance to look at the boy, he realized the boy's quirk. "White side produces ice, the left produces fire. He doesn't seem to use his fire, or at least he wouldn't risk hurting someone with it, so… Guys! Stick to their left, our right!"
Komori and the others nodded and ran to stay on the boy's left. Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the team. "How does he know..?" He whispered.
"Todoroki! Is something the matter?" Iida asked as the boy's front horse. Todoroki sighed and shook his head. "Just focus on getting the band." The bi-colored hair boy responded with a cold voice to which his team nodded.
Iida faced Class B's representative, the boy had been… different. He held himself much differently than he did during the entrance exam, and he was raising his fist to them, "SMASH!" A blast of wind smashed into them as Izuku's left index finger now matched his right, Komori quickly made another mushroom for him to which he ate with speed.
Todoroki's team almost lost hold of their rider but they managed to hold on. Just barely.
Izuku breathed deep as they circled Todoroki's team, staying on his left side. They needed to bolt as soon as they could. "TEN MINUTES LEFT!" They were two thirds done with the time, almost done. The final stretch. "We can do this…"
There was also the fact that other teams were swarming for Todoroki. They were fighting in a corner, Izuku's team closer to the edge, so Todoroki's team was acting as the perfect shield for them. Along with the fact that they had their backs turned, they were an amazing target.
"Kaminari!" Todoroki yelled and the blond nodded as Momo created an insulated sheet and covered the rest of their team.
Izuku looked on as sparks danced across the blond. "Indiscriminate Shock!" He yelled as they suddenly danced with more vigor, more force, more power, "1.3 MILLION VOLTS!" The surrounding teams were toast, but their headbands remained.
"Yanagi…." Izuku whispered, she understood and was happy that the bands were barely within her range as she tugged on all of them.
Team Todoroki only saw them pass overhead as Komori threw them around her neck.
"WOAH, TEAM TODOROKI TAKES OUT A BUNCH OF OTHER SQUADS BUT IT'S KOMORI WHO GETS THE POINTS!" Izuku starred as the other team conversered.
"I can get us those points, but you'll have to be ready, I'll also be completely useless after I do this." Iida told his team as they prepared themselves. Todoroki nodded, no matter what was happening today, he was going to win.
He'd win by only using his mother's side. "Do it." He said and glared at Midoriya.
The boy could feel a shift in the air, something changing, this battle had just gone up a level. He tensed his body. "Full Cowling: 7%" The small change sparked more bolts across his body. His teammates felt the power, the heat, the warmth, and they trusted him.
"I can use my capture net Midoriya!" Hatsume yelled as she prepared to pull it out.
But before she could, wind passed them by, and headbands were ripped from Komori's face. Notably, her face and not her neck.
Izuku didn't have any chance to waste, they needed to get away.
Todoroki looked down at the points he had acquired, "95….60…..25…." He clenched his teeth, "None were the Ten Million, go back!" He yelled, for the first time his class heard actual emotion in his voice. Anger.
"Todoroki! My engines are stalled, I can't do much!" Iida yelled as they turned the horse around, but Midoriya's team was already getting away.
"I don't care.." He responded, before they knew it a second glacier spawned and swung around to trap Izuku's team from escaping, combined with the one Todoroki made earlier, they were boxed in. "Get them…"
Komori's team turned around to face Todoroki. Izuku gulped, before smiling. "Come on! Todoroki!"
The fight between Monoma and Bakugo had been at a stand still. Bakugo was outmatched by a level headed Monoma, one who wasn't letting his anger and complex get to him, but the boy's rage kept him going despite that.
Bakugo jumped away from his team to try an aerial assault, Monoma copied Tsuburaba's quirk and made an air shield using it, blocking the attack. Before Bakugo could curse at all, Sero shot out his tape and brought him back to his horses.
A complete standstill, and Monoma would keep it that way and more. He needed to take the boy's headbands, his points. He needed to make sure that Bakugo would not go onto the next round, for Midoriya's sake.
He promised to be the greatest friend he could, this was his chance to be so. However, he couldn't get the upper hand, no matter how much he tried!
Bakugo retaliated and threw more explosions, to which he used Tsuburaba's quirk again, but he was losing breath. His lungs weren't as developed as the boy's who the quirk belonged to.
The barrier cracked and he quickly switched to Kirishima's quirk, blocking, before decking Bakugo again. But the boy blasted back.
They weren't getting anywhere.
But Bakugo had had enough. The boy launched into the air and Monoma got ready to block again, however the boy seemed to dance in the air, quickly moving around as he used his explosions to change his trajectory. Monoma's eyes soared around, looking for an opening to block.
Bakugo grinned before he used his explosions before getting behind the opposing team.
Monoma cursed and turned around, quickly activating hardening, but Bakugo aimed for his horse, Shishida. The boy growled and tried to attack back, but Bakugo was gone with more explosions as he flipped in the air and sent a blast towards Monoma's face, one which also sent him back to his team.
Monoma rubbed his eyes, even with hardening, the light was blinding. "Damn it!"
"HEY, ASSHAT! LOOK WHAT I GOT!" The blond of 1-B opened his eyes as best he could, and caught headbands that were in Bakugo's hands. "They'll be a nice addition to what I've got going on here! Next one is DEKU'S TEN MILLION POINTS!"
Monoma growled and prepared to run after however, "SMOKESCREEN!" Bakugo used his quirk and created a giant smokescreen.
"Shishida-san, are you alright?" Monoma asked quickly.
"While the damage hurts, I can continue."
"Alright! We're going after him!"
Izuku stood defiantly as Todoroki's team closed in, thinking of what he could do. And that's when he heard it, "DEKU, YOU BASTARD!" Turning around, he saw Bakugo's team in the air, jumping over Todoroki's glacier barrier using a combination of Sero's tape and Bakugo's explosions. "Those points are mine Icyhot!"
"Hatsume-chan, the net!"
The pinkette smiled widely as she finally got to use it, aiming at Bakugo's team she fired. "Like that'll stop me!" Bakugo blasted it, but then was sent back by a force of wind, courtesy of Izuku.
"Midoriya!" Yanagi and Komori fretted over their friend who was now sporting a broken finger after using his index again. "It's fine…" He gasped for breath as Bakugo's team pulled him back.
The boy himself looked shocked, "Deku… hurt me…" He was still comprehending the situation and how much it angered him.
They didn't get a break though as Todoroki was instantly upon them again. He was reaching for Komori with his left hand, trying to get their points, "Keep Komori up!" Izuku yelled as he reached forward with a hand.
'Don't let it explode!' He charged up One For All quickly, too quickly, he could feel the power fluctuating, but his team was in trouble! He grabbed Todoroki's hand and swatted it away, both of them could see the flames that danced in the air afterward.
"He does have fire…"
"I-I used it…"
Izuku winced as his arm hurt a bit, but it was nowhere near as bad as his fingers. So that was good, it meant he hadn't used too high of a percentage, maybe around twelve if he had to guess. "Yanagi push!" The ghost girl did so and Team Todoroki was sent sprawling back.
Izuku ran Full Cowling making them a lot faster than other teams, including Todoroki and Bakugo's. Some people may have called it cowardly to run, but they had no other options, they didn't have the power to fight both Bakugo and the son of Endeavor at once.
They had to wait it out. It was their only option.
Bakugo readied himself again and Todoroki's team took charge, both closing in on them. Izuku squatted, "Hatsume!" He yelled. "On it!" She responded and he jumped, soaring into the air again.
'I didn't know if they had cooled down enough or not.. thank god they were…' It would've been horrible if they weren't.
But he still heard explosions, looking down he saw Bakugo chasing them into the air. "THOSE POINTS ARE MINE DEKU!" He yelled like a rabid animal as he chased them. Yanagi pushed with her quirk but that didn't stop him, Hatsume didn't have any more nets to use, and Komori couldn't do anything against the explosions with her mushrooms.
"YOU'RE DO-"
"AND THAT'S TIME! THE CAVALRY BATTLE, THE SECOND EVENT OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL HAS ENDED!" They all heard Present Mic scream as Bakugo froze mid air, staring straight at Izuku.
He could see the hate in the boy's eyes, the want to destroy Izuku. The crimson eyes told him everything that Bakugo was feeling. All the rage, the desperation, the pride, the hate, he could see all of it. And it made him quake.
But he looked back with his own glare. He had earned his spot at UA, and he was here to stay.
Bakugo flinched at Deku's eyes, that- it wasn't supposed to be like this! He felt himself get tugged on his back, probably Soy-Sauce Face using his quirk again, but he kept his eyes on Deku as his team came back down.
What the hell happened to the quirkless freak that cowered whenever Bakugo opened his mouth?
Izuku cheered with his friends as he smiled and slightly cried after the cavalry battle ended. Yanagi smiled, "Good job Midoriya, I knew we could do it." She smiled as she saw him smile, it was something always great to see.
"You two did great too!" Izuku said.
"Thanks shroom! I can't believe we got into the tournament!" Komori smiled widely, shaking with excitement. She didn't think that she'd get this far into the Sports Festival, it was a little bit nerve wracking if she was being honest.
"And Hastume-chan, you're… babies… helped a lot." The inventor gave him a thumbs up, as she was already working on the hover boots again. Izuku sighed, but then smiled, maybe she could work on his new hero costume?
Yanagi floated over, smiling as she pulled on Izuku's arm. "Come, we have to see our placement, but we have most likely gotten first place." She said, to which Izuku nodded and let himself be dragged.
It was a little embarrassing, and it hurt a bit as his arms still thumped in pain from using too much of One For All, but it was worth it. His friend was smiling, and that was really important to him.
"IN FIRST PLACE WE HAVE TEAM KOMORI WITH OVER TEN MILLION POINTS!" Present Mic yelled, the students and crowd winced as they covered their ears. But his shout was replaced by cheering, the crowd congratulating the four of them.
He could practically hear his mom crying in his ear, congratulating him on getting so far. Because she always was happy when he did something, not with how close he was to something. She'd be happy even if he lost in the first round of the tournament, because he had still gone so far during the entire ordeal.
"Those are my students!" Vlad King yelled over the railing as he congratulated the three of 1-B that were on Komori's team. "Kan-sensei seems quite proud of the three of us." Yanagi smiled as she heard Vlad King.
"IN SECOND PLACE, WE HAVE TEAM BAKUGO!" The blond of 1-A silently seethed as he glared at Izuku's team, he wanted first place damn it! Second place meant nothing to him! It was worthless!
"IN THIRD, WE HAVE TEAM TODOROKI!" The son of Endeavor narrowed his eyes at Midoriya as he clenched his left arm. "He… made me use it…" He hated it, he'd have to have a little talk with Midoriya. No one had made him use his fire, not a single member of his class.
So how did this guy from 1-B do it? How was he so strong and where did he come from?
"AND IN FOURTH WE HAVE, WOAH! TEAM SHINSO, WHO'S THIS GUY???" Present Mic exclaimed as no one knew who this contestant was, he wasn't from the hero course. He was a complete mystery to most of them.
Izuku stared at their team, the purple haired boy and his team. The three, Shoda, a boy with a tail that looked rather plain, and then….. Kuroiro. "Kuroiro-kun…" Izuku muttered slowly to his team.
Komori turned to him and sighed, "Y-Yeah, that's the team that Kuroiro joined, I wanted to team up with him but he quickly left after the one with purple hair talked to him." She frowned a bit.
Midnight smiled on the podium, seeing those that had moved on showing such excitement was rewarding for her. "We'll allow a small break before the official-"
"TOURNAMENT, YEAHHHH!" Present Mic yelled, his favorite part of the Sports Festival every year had always been the tournament. After all, it was the round that he got to do the most commentating in, it was always awesome for him.
Izuku nodded to himself, the tournament was always the last part of the Sports Festival. It was always a fan favorite too. However, two students had something to say. "Umm Miss Midnight," The tail boy raised a hand. "I-I would like to resign from the tournament." He said with a dejected sigh.
"O-Ojiro-kun, what are you doing? This is an amazing opportunity!" Iida yelled with arm chops.
Ojiro nodded and turned to his Vice Rep, "I know, but I can't remember the last round at all. I- I didn't earn it, the right to move on…" He looked back up to Midnight, "I won't regret this, I resign!"
Before the R-Rated hero could say anything, Shoda opened his mouth, "I would like to resign as well!" He yelled. "For much of the same reasons, Miss Midnight." The Twin Impact user said.
Izuku widened his eyes as he walked over, "S-Shoda-kun, you can't-"
"I've already made up my mind Midoriya." Shoda smiled, "Please, let me do this."
The successor of One For All frowned. "I- ok…" He didn't like it, at all. He stared at Shinso, the team's leader, as he saw Kuroiro looking around with confusion. "Komori-chan, I think the same happened with Kuroiro." He told the mushroom girl.
"I-I'll go talk to him…" She left to go talk with her friend. Izuku simply nodded.
"Do you think something bad happened?" Yanagi asked. Despite her monotone voice, Izuku could tell that she was worried about her classmates. Izuku didn't answer with a resolute answer. "I don't know…" was all he said.
Yanagi frowned and let go of his arm. "I hope everything will be alright." She said, "Me too.."
They were silent, Hatsume had left to go work on her inventions, and Komori had left to go talk with Kuroiro. It was just them, both worried about their friends, but they didn't know how to properly talk about it.
Izuku had never had to do something like that before, worrying over friends, as he had never had any. But now he had, and it was weird. Yanagi was just more reserved compared to most of her classmates, and while she was relatively open with Izuku there was something else that she also wanted to talk about as well.
She found her mouth opening before she could think about what to say. "Izu-"
"Midoriya." The two froze and turned behind them to see Todoroki, the boy's eyes held a cold glare for Class B's rep. "We need to talk."
END
Alright, so that's the end of the first part of the Sports Festival, sorry that this took so long but school is really kicking my butt, and Cross Country is taking up even more of my spare time. I'll try to have the next chapter out before September 10th, I think that's a good date to work with, but other than that I don't have anything about me to talk about, so let's talk about the chapter.
Originally, I was going to have each round be its own chapter, but I finished the obstacle course and it was only 5K words, and each of my chapters are at least 7 thousand, or that's the average I've been hitting. So I said screw it and did both rounds, so yeah. I hope you guess enjoyed the longer chapter I guess.
Now, onto the question of the day, do you guys want Izuku to win the tournament? Now, I always get frustrated when Izuku beats Todoroki in the Sports Festival because it's usually done in a horrible way, but I do have an idea for it to be actually believable. Just let me know what you guys think!