Chapter 44: Sports Festival

A/N: To the guest, Ramsay. I'm using the theory that Koda can talk to animals but not order them. Animals only do his bidding because they don't have a reason to. I think so that is. Could be wrong.

"Are the preparations done?" Aizawa asked, entering Nedzu's office.

Nedzu nodded reluctantly, "I still can't understand why the hero commission interfered and basically ordered us to hold the festival," Nedzu said, clearly pissed off, "There has to be an ulterior motive but I can't find one," he groaned, clearly tired.

"I notified the other teachers and they all agreed to keep an eye out for the heroes we know are backed by the commission. All Might can be stupid but he's more than capable of watching several of them," Aizawa assured, "So what are you doing now?"

"I'm spreading out the parents' seats so that the trustworthy heroes can keep a lookout on them. After the USJ incident, the parents may be targeted," Nedzu said.

Aizawa picked up the piece of paper Nedzu had been writing on and grimaced, "Why did you place the Midoriyas, Hattoris, and Kaminaris right next to you?"

"I felt that Endeavour would not be too happy with them nearby,"

"But why next to you?"

"To discourage Endeavour of course,"

"I see. In that case, why aren't the Urarakas here too?" Aizawa glared daggers.

He saw Nedzu stiffen ever so slightly and raised his eye. He had never seen him get thrown like that, "Must have slipped my mind. I'm quite exhausted after all that planning," he tried to brush it off but Aizawa wasn't having it, "What are you hiding?"

"It's nothing,"

"Nedzu," Aizawa said with a tone but the principal shook his head, "I can't tell you Aizawa. It's best not to cast guilt over people who might be innocent,"

Aizawa frowned but had no choice but to accept the decision, "I'll go over the obstacle course with the other teachers again," he excused himself and left. But the gears kept turning in his head. He couldn't help but notice Nedzu said, people which meant there were at least two people he was worried about. What exactly did the three families do that had Nedzu so concerned?

Meanwhile, Nedzu breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected him to put up more of a fight but he had surprisingly let it go quite easily.

While Kaminari and Watanabe's father worked at the hero commission. Yagi did check out the Midoriyas and Hattoris. Yagi could be stupid but there was no way he could be that dumb. On top of that Torino had checked them out too and so had Tsukauchi. And both of them had impeccable judgment. For now, he'd give them the benefit of doubt but he would be keeping an eye on both of them and try to grill them if he could too.

"So, you boys nervous?" Ryuzen asked. The family was driving to the sports festival and we're understandably excited.

"A little bit," Izuku replied and Watanabe gave a confident smirk, "No way!"

Ryuzen laughed, "I still think it was stupid to hold the festival right after an infiltration,"

Inko nodded, her motherly instincts kicking in. I will have to have a word with Nedzu. What on earth was he thinking!?"

"But other heroes will be there too, on duty and off duty," Natsume pointed out.

"Yes but the students already sent the villains packing. Is it ok to showcase their abilities to everyone and paint them as a target?" Ryuzen pointed out.

"You do have a point about that," Natsume conceded. Inko also fell into deep thought. Ryuzen smirked in his mind, "Good, now Inko will drill into Nedzu about the festival and I will be able to get my information,"

The drive was mostly silent. Izuku and Watanabe were forming their own plans inside their heads and the parents didn't want to disturb them. The car finally reached the stadium and everyone disembarked. The entry zone for parents and students was marked differently.

They went up to the pro hero in charge, Ectoplasm, "Let's see here, Hattoris and Midoriyas. Your seat is right next to the teacher's box. Here's a map," Ectoplasm handed, "The students will have to go down to the dressing room and change into their gym uniforms and wait till they are called,"

"Well seems like we have to separate. Good luck Watanabe," Natsume kissed her son.

"Don't get too nervous, Izuku, just keep a calm mind and you'll do wonderful!" Inko said and gave him a big hug.

"Thanks, mom," Izuku returned the hug and ran after Watanabe.

The parents went to find their seats with the aid of their map. Inko's concern rose, however, because a preplanned seating arrangement evidently meant that Nedzu was taking the threat very seriously. So seriously, that he thought the parents could be a potential target. But she didn't understand why he seated them next to him. She shrugged and chalked it off as normal since they knew each other from the Aldera court case and a couple of others after that. Plus this way, she could get some answers for herself.

"Ah, Ryuzen, Natsume, and Inko! Come have a seat!" Kaminari's father beckoned.

"Ah Inko-san, good to see you again," Ochaco's mother greeted.

Inko smiled pleasantly, "Indeed. I'm surprised to see four families in the same place. I thought Nedzu would want them more dispersed,"

"I do!" Nedzu appeared from apparent thin air, "But you all are in more danger, so I kept you close,"

"More danger?" Temari, Denki's mom asked.

"Yes, who knows what Endeavour might do if he sees any of you,"

It took a moment for it to click that all the families at one point or the other had taken a dump on Endeavour. The families couldn't help it and broke into a fit of giggles.

As the laughter subsided, Inko confronted Nedzu, "I had some questions, Nedzu-san,"

Ryuzen started to pay attention, "Yes Inko-san?"

"Why did you go on with the sports festival after such a huge security incident?"

"Well, we had to maintain our reputation in the public eye and-,"

"Nedzu-san," Inko interrupted, "We both know you don't care about public opinion if it contradicts someone's safety. Judging by the fact that you preplanned the seating arrangement for the parents, you still think a threat looms. So what is the true reason?"

Nedzu cursed in his mind. He knew Inko wasn't a notorious lawyer for no reason but he hadn't expected such a fast questioning, "That concerns internal affairs, Inko-san,"

Inko gave a thoughtful look as if thinking whether she should say it. She glanced at Ryuzen and Jozu and leaned in closer, "Did the hero commission order you?"

Nedzu grimaced an expression of distaste on his face but nodded. Inko knew the commission wasn't too popular with the public and had given it a lucky guess. She was ok with the answer and stopped her questioning, a comforting smile was given to Nedzu.

Nedzu sighed at the fact that Inko hadn't pushed for more. He didn't let anything slip that Ryuzen and Jozu wouldn't know already. He glanced at Jozu who seemed to have ignored the conversation. Faith gripped Nedzu that he was indeed innocent but his analysis of Ryuzen alarmed him.

Ryuzen was sitting more relaxed as if he had gotten the information he required but Nedzu couldn't think of anything he might have let slip. On top of that, he kept glancing at Hawks who was already on his list of possible commission agents. Nedzu didn't like this one bit.

"You guys are last," Denki said to Izuku and Watanabe, "Trying to get out of giving a speech to the crowd huh?" Denki teased Izuku who spluttered, "S-speech?"

"Well yeah, but the top scorer in the entrance exam has to give a speech. Midnight sensei told Watanabe to mention it to you," Denki said.

Izuku turned angrily towards his cousin who was whistling awkwardly, trying to hide behind Shouji's big body, "WATANABE! WHY?" Izuku demanded.

"I'm sorry, I forgot! I meant to tell you but then Aizawa-sensei told us to get ready to go to USJ and then the entire incident happened and I forgot," Watanabe apologized.

Izuku mumbled something under his breath that made Denki laugh, "I can help you with the speech if you want, Izuku," Momo said.

"It's not that Yaoyorozu, I just panic on stage," Izuku smiled shakily.

"Just look at Watanabe when you talk. You'll automatically convert all your anger at him into confidence!" Kaminari declared and got smacked by Jiro, "That's idiotic!"

"Hmph, what does it matter anyway, I'm gonna win anyway!" Bakugou declared.

Watanabe simply smirked and held up two fingers and a closed fist, "2-0," he grinned cheekily as Bakugou fumed.

"I'm sorry but who took defeated All Might in our training session?" Hitoshi said smugly, "That's right, me!"

"You lost the element of surprise. All of us know how your quirk works," Sato said. Hitoshi shrugged, "Guess we'll see about that,"

"Shouto's gonna go to the finals obviously considering Endeavour trained him," Sero said, meaning it as a compliment but all it did was anger Shouto who sunk further into his seat. However, Kaminari simply cleared his throat to bring attention to himself and pointed at himself, "Come on guys,"

The class laughed, "Kaminari and Hitoshi are going to be in the finals then kero,"

"Enough," Iida announced, "As classmates, we should all support each other!"

"Yeah, it is unmanly to argue about who's stronger. We'll fight it out!" Kirishima said with determination, "I think they are calling us," Tokoyami said. The dressing room became quiet and they did indeed hear Mic calling all the classes and introducing them as they walked in. The class rushed to their feet and walked to the door, "Wait, what order are we getting out in?" Izuku asked.

"You're the class rep," Uraraka stared blankly. Izuku gulped and froze in place, hearing Midnight call them, "Get going Class rep!" Bakugou pushed Izuku through the door. Izuku almost tripped at the sudden push but regained his footing quickly.

Mic ignored the trip and continued with his commentary, "The class that has been the center of news! They were attacked by villains but still persevered, it's class 1A!"

"Did they really have to introduce us like that?" Hagakure sighed.

"It is the truth," Aoyama said flamboyantly, basking in the glory.

"Now, for the player's pledge," Midnight waved her hand, the crowd quietened down, "Would the student representative, Midoriya Izuku please come up?"

Izuku clutched his hands confidently and walked up, "I-i pledge to try my best! P-plus Ultra!" he stuttered. The crowd roared. As Izuku walked back, whispers broke out.

"What, this is the top scorer in the entrance exam?"

"He's so scared, hah!"

"If he's the top scorer, the rest are easy game,"

Watanabe watched the mockers with a scowl but as Izuku walked past him, he flashed a grin. Watanabe's eyes widened in surprise but he chuckled as he understood what Izuku had done, "Trying to paint yourself as a weakling to draw attention away... good strategy Izuku!"

The board flashed revealing round one, "Let's get started right away!" Midnight waved her hand to another monitor which started flashing, "The first round is... an obstacle course!"

Watanabe nodded. He had already used his X-ray to try and find what the first round would be, so he knew the layout already. Midnight continued to explain the rules, "You will have to navigate the entire circumference of the stadium! The distance is approximately 4 Km. Freedom is our school's selling point so you can do as you please! The winner is the first one to circle around the stadium and come back! Any questions?"

The students shook their heads, "Good! Now take your positions!"

All the students moved to the entrance except Watanabe. Midnight stared at him, "Take your position,"

"This is my position,"

Midnight said nothing more. She smirked, however, thinking he had understood the first trap, where the entrance would get crowded and make them all get stuck, "START!" Midnight shouted. As expected, everyone got stuck and a situation akin to a traffic jam ensued.

"The festival is already off to a great start! As you can see, many of them are stuck in the entrance itself! But what's this? Todoroki has frozen them all and slid out!"

Midnight smiled seeing the ingenious move and turned to look at Watanabe. He still hadn't moved but she could see the gears turning in his head as he formulated a plan. He finally seemed to make up his mind and stretched, "Sensei," Watanabe asked.

"Hmm,"

"We just have to go around the whole stadium once right?"

Midnight nodded, "That is what the rules are,"

Watanabe smirked evilly, "Good," he said shortly and ran to the side door that led to the outside of the stadium. Midnight's eyes widened as he realized what Watanabe was planning to do, "He's going to finish it the other way," she whispered to herself and started laughing. It wasn't against the rules after all.

A/N: Hehe, time for some loopholes