Update as of September 2019: Fixed some flow and scenes of the chapter, and redid some dialogues with the confrontation scenes. The chapter's plot remains unchanged.

Know The Enemy

Two weeks go by, and it was finally time for the sports festival.

Lines stretched on for miles outside Yuuei's infamous metal gate, and fireworks exploded in the sky to fuel the already hyperactive fanfare of attendees and participants.

Hitoshi passed through the student only entrance without any difficulty and allowed himself to take in the sights. What used to be barren fields of green and walkways were now filled with food stalls, arcade games, and hero merchandise stores. Children ran around carrying balloons of their favored heroes, while news representatives interviewed audience, heroes, and students alike for their impressions.

Hitoshi kept his head low, and made sure he had a scowl on his face to throw away any reporter interested in interviewing him. It didn't take a lot out of him to look threatening since he couldn't sleep a wink last night. He knew about the stakes of today's event. He prepared for it; but it didn't erase the uncertainty bubbling on his chest.

He tried Nusumi's relaxation and breathing exercises, but it didn't help much. There was simply too much riding on his appearance, or non-appearance, in the rankings of this event. If he fell flat, then everything would be over.

Sensei tried to lighten the pressure on their shoulders with a talk yesterday. He reminded them that regardless of their performance, their journey to being a hero would not end. The loss would be the beginning of a new journey. There was always next year, but he will not tolerate the bare minimum after he spent hours investing time and effort on them.

Ultimately, his final sentiment made them feel as though failure, while accepted, shouldn't be their goal. Winning was. Hitoshi told the others about Sensei's failed hero recommendations for two consecutive years, and wanted to be different this time. Hitoshi wanted to repay his belief in him the right way; and the others shared his sentiments.

Hitoshi did his best to improve himself in the two weeks given to them. He improved, but not in the rate he would've liked. While Sensei fully supported their heroic aspirations, he was their homeroom adviser first; and hero trainer second. He only allowed them to meet twice a week for practice, and spent the following days reminding them to study.

Hitoshi understood his priorities, but it still didn't make the limited sessions seem fair. Out of everyone in the group, only he required another person to train with. Koharu can blast winds anytime he wanted. Koharu always practiced opening, and reusing his portals all the time. Nusumi was getting better with limiting the area of effect of her quirk; and Okami could transform whenever she wanted.

Hitoshi didn't have that freedom. He needed to spar with someone, or control someone. He couldn't practice on his lonesome in between breaks. Still he tried to make do. He maximized every learning moment but he still felt like it wasn't enough. Fumei sensed his growing frustration and offered to give him extra lessons, to which Hitoshi openly accepted.

Fumei kept their sessions together strictly for combat. Hitoshi would've wanted to use this time to improve his quirk, but Fumei explained to him that controlling one person wasn't going to help him at this point, so he resigned to the latter wanted. Even after two weeks of it, Hitoshi couldn't for the life of him, get any better with attacking. He improved in defense, but not much in offense.

Still, Hitoshi refused to lose. He wasn't perfect, but neither were they. "As if I'd go down that easy," he hissed.

Hitoshi crossed through the sea of people, and into the first year's stadium – his stage. The admittance line towards the first year stage was longer than the other years. Fans, media representatives, scouting agencies, everyone was present. Hitoshi didn't need need to ask why. Everyone knew, most especially those in general studies that people came to watch the infamous 1-A in action. They didn't care about the underdogs of the general department, or the kids in support or business departments. It was all about the hero kids.

Not that Hitoshi didn't expect that. This festival was the hero department's initiative afterall, they were just in it for the ride; and Hitoshi intended to steer that ride into his favor.

"Today's the day," Tenmei sighed, just as equally worried about today's event as Hitoshi was. He placed a hand on Hitoshi's shoulder, who then looked at it warily. What is it with people and touching him without his permission? "You doing alright?"

Hitoshi nodded. "I have to be. I just have a couple of things in mind."

Tenmei scrutinized Hitoshi's form behind his black shades. Hitoshi shuffled on his seat, growing a little awkward with the other's gaze. "Ah, I see," Tenmei said. "If it helps, I learned that punching a wall is an effective way to drive away anxiety."

Hitoshi considered it for a moment, then he felt phantom pains on his knuckles. The idea didn't seem all that helpful anymore. "Why a wall?"

Tenmei shrugged. "Not sure either, but whenever I do, the pain on your hand overshadows the nerves, and before you know it, you're feeling a whole lot better."

"I don't think I'll try that," Hitoshi said, " but thanks for making me feel better."

Tenmei clapped his back for good luck then joined Kimura and Nusumi as they calmed down Makito's growing anxiety attack with comforting words in the corner.

Hitoshi glanced at Makito and shook a little as he felt some of her nervousness pass on to him. He brought his hands together and started uttering Nusumi's relaxation mantra. It grounded him a bit, until he heard Tastumaki cry aloud.

Tatsumaki knelt in front of a dented wall while cradling a swollen arm. Tenmei shot up and scolded Tatsumaki for heading his advice too seriously. Okami hollered beside Tatsumaki and called him a weakling for not breaking the plywood.

She clenched her fist and jabbed a tight fist through the wood. A loud crack; then people from the other room screamed as Okami's arm slipped through the hole. She cackled madly, while Katagiri scolded Okami for her immaturity and lack of respect for school property.

Kamimura on the other hand helped Tatsumaki up and naturally healed the swelling on his fists. Tatsumaki tried to hide the blush on his cheek as she did.

Their moment was suddenly cut short when a camera flash alerted both of them. Nusumi made a soft guilty squeak and tried to make a run for it. Tatsumaki scrambled after her, demanding that she delete the video. They fell to the floor and wrestled for the phone.

"Oh my god, you guys," a boy with a clean and straight cut bluish white-almost transparent hair with glimmering, almost transparent blue skin gasped as he peeked through Okami's hole on the wall.

He trained his phone along the side and said, "Something unbelievably weird just happened. So I was just waiting for the festival to start right? Then wow! Someone punched through this solid wall. Clean straight through it. That has got to be someone really angry, or incredibly strong student. Could it be a hero student? Oh! I hope it's a hero student."

He pushed his head through hole and grinned at Okami and Katagiri, who couldn't help but stare confounded at how odd this situation is. The male students seemed to sparkle as light refracted off his skin. "Hello there ladies, which of you lovely goddesses punched through this poor wall, hm? I am, and everyone is dying to know."

"Who is… everyone?" Katagiri frowned, leaning down a bit to look straight into the boy's phone.

He ignored her after the seemingly stupid question then turned the camera towards Okami. "You punched the wall?"

"Y- Yes?" Okami mumbled.

"Why?"

"Uh… To help with the nerves?"

The boy blinked before laughing mirthfully. "Oh my god, that's so genius! I want to do it too. Ragadi –" he called a friend from his side and handed her the camera. "Hold the phone, I'm going to leave an impression."

He cracked his glass like hands then prepared himself to break through the wall. Katagiri shook her hands and earnestly tried to talk reason into him, but couldn't. It wasn't until another voice rang from behind the wall that called out to the boy that he stopped.

"Hoseki! What did I tell you about vlogging during school hours!?"

The sparkling boy, quickly retreated from the hole and winked at Okami. "See you around big strong lady. Break a leg out there."

Okami frowned, unsure of what to make of the introduction. Katagiri then grabbed Okami's arm and led her out of the room to report the damages properly. Okami apologized repeatedly for her brash nature but Katagiri ignored all of them. They bumped into Fumei on their way out, and the blond's gaze followed after them, confused.

Fumei looked over to the broken wall, then to Nusumi who lay defeated on the floor while Tatsumaki held her phone in triumph. He then looked at Hitoshi at the corner and raised an eyebrow.

"Long story."

"I... see," Fumei said. "Well, everyone copes in their own way. How are you holding up?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Good 'cause this is going to shake things up a little." Fumei blonde raised three bond papers on his hand then laid it down on the table. He called for the other hero prospects present to gather around; and a few curious heads also joined in.

Hitoshi scanned over the files and frowned. Why did Fumei have this?

Koharu picked up one of the printed papers, and Shirogane, who had just passed by him, looked over his shoulder and asked, "Aren't these... students from 1-A?"

"They are," Fumei said in that tone of his that usually meant business. Hitoshi, like the others, instinctively stopped to listen like they were about to be given specific tasks for the session. "These hero kids are the ones you should avoid at all cost."

Shirogane stared intently at Fumei. Hitoshi was familiar with that look. She was trying to read and understand him.

"What exactly do you plan to do with these?" she asked in a low accusing tone like she just discovered something about Fumei on her own.

"Relax," the blonde assures her. "I'm not here to like, single them out as targets. Just a warning so no one gets hurt any more than necessary while trying their best."

"Liar," Shirogane snapped, and everyone looked at her, shocked.

Hitoshi never saw her as this confrontational before. Even when she was trying to prove the legitimacy of her quirk to him, Shirogane was calm and collected. She stated his traits and reservations like reading them off a book. Right now, she was emotional about proving a point. Hitoshi didn't know what that meant for her, or Fumei.

"What do you really plan on doing with these?"

The tension rose as everyone glanced at Fumei, who held this aura of unnatural calmness around him despite being called out for his actions. He drilled his fingers on the in thought before he sighed, "Studying our biggest opponents. Going into a fight with any of these people will definitely end in a loss. I promised everyone in my team that I would make them stand out. The only way I can do that is they're aware of who they shouldn't cross. Starting with this one -" he pointed to a familiar ash-blonde hair with a crimson eyes.

"Katsuki... Bakugou…?" Makito read out the characters of his name. "H - He ranked first in the entrance test."

Hitoshi reached out for the paper and read over the specifics of Bakugou's quirk, Explosion. Not only was Bakugou smart, but his dexterity with his quirk was beyond those expected of his age. He was a cut above the rest, and his personality even worse. Somehow, Hitoshi understood why Fumei's wanted to inform them about him.

Bakugou was too aggressive. Hitoshi never stood a chance against him, but the idea of poking the bee's nest with a stick was too tempting. He wanted to wipe that smug asshole's grin off his face with his own hands. He'd do it in the right moment.

Shirogane crossed her arms, obviously displeased with Fumei's response. "We don't need these. It's a sports event not a battlefield. Everyone's here to have fun, not compete with each other."

"For you maybe," he said. "But this doesn't really concern you now does it?"

Shirogane flinched. She avoided Fumei's eyes, and refused to meet them again after getting another read of him. "That's not the problem here," she snarled. She steeled herself and glared at Fumei, who looked indifferent other threats."The problem is invading the privacy of other students just to benefit us."

She snatched the paper from Koharu's and quickly read through it. Her face grows slightly more disturbed and sighed. "Did you even read what's in this?"

"More or less, yes." Fumei confessed.

"Then you know there's information here that are for staff eyes only!" Shirogane cried. "Are you telling me we should know about these too?!"

Tenmei scanned through the pages. "She's... right. Where did you get this?"

"Okay, so maybe it's more than what I need," Fumei said, "but that's not my fault. I got this from Akusa."

Everyone's looked at Akusa who was seated on the corner with Blanksheet. He carried his cat on his shoulders then walked over to their small meetings with a disinterested look in his eyes. "I see my work has gathered plenty of attention."

No one in class has quite figured out Akusa yet. They knew he was dangerous but not why. They all agreed that he was more intimidating to approach than Hitoshi was, so a few of them avoided him as much as possible. He would occasionally join free conversations in class and has a tendency to ruin it by flaunting his superior knowledge on the subject, or a related subject.

It soiled conversations fast, so no one wanted to include him. Even Fumei who tried to befriend him despite their initial animosity gave up completely after their sparring match. They kept a civil relationship on the surface, but everyone knew how much hated they each other. So, it came as a surprise that Fumei would ask Akusa for something.

"You asked him to investigate the hero class?" Shirogane asked, voicing out their collective concern. "I thought you hated his guts."

"I do," Fumei said while he glared at Akusa. "But I didn't ask him, Nusumi did."

Nusumi tilted her head and shrugged. "We're aiming to win here. I've read knowing your enemy helps you gain an upper hand or something. And besides! Akusa has like, grade A gossip. I don't know how he does it, but I can't let all that talent go to waste."

Akusa rolled his eyes in offense but didn't say anything.

Nusumi was one of the worst cases of gossip girls in class. She knew just about everything that goes on being whispered and passed through word of mouth within the halls. Hitoshi wasn't surprised. Nusumi was talkative. If sharing rumors stopped her from opening her mouth, then he would make one up on the spot. After all, Nusumi didn't care for the truth, she wanted to speculate.

"Did he tell you where he got them?" Shirogane pressed.

Nusumi shrugged. "Does it matter? We have what we need!"

"Yes, it matters Nusumi!" Shirogane said. "This is classified information and we have it printed on short bond!"

Nusumi flinched and hid behind Makito. "Please don't blame her, she's only trying to help," the meek girl said.

Shirogane sighed, and backed off. "Fine. I'll ask Akusa then," - the masked teen arched an eyebrow up - "You didn't acquire this illegally... did you?"

Akusa chuckled. "I may or may not have."

"If you broke academy rules and regulations to obtain this, Akusa," Tenmei warned him. "Then you know I have to report you to Sensei. This will be a mark on your record. It's not my business to know what conditions were made to allow you into Yuuei, but I'm certain this will affect your standing."

Akusa shoulders shook as he laughed, amused by the threat. "Do what you will, vice president. I find no harm in empty threats. If anything, it makes you far more interesting than I thought you to be. I will be brief," he said. "Procuring information like this is not impossible in this day and age. Everything is on the internet, published for everyone to see. If you want to understand and learn about a certain person, you simply have to read."

"So you're stalking them?" Shirogane asked.

"Oh, nothing of the sort," Akusa said with a dismissive wave. "I'm not that desperate. I simply like to know people I surround myself with. When Nusumi came forward asking for my assistance, I found it necessary that I aid her as such. After all, how can I resist such a sweet girl?"

Nusumi giggled and slapped Akusa's arm like they've developed some sort of friendship right under everyone's nose.

Shirogane squinted and read more off Akusa that they couldn't see. "You have information on everyone, don't you?"

"Don't twist my words Shirogane-san," Akusa sneered. "I only want to help. Isn't that what being a class is all about?"

"That's…" They held each other's gaze for a minute, and Shirogane curled her hand into a fist. She saw something that made Akusa less trustworthy in her eyes than the rest of them, but didn't say it aloud. She kept it to herself, and buried it deep. "That's wrong."

"What if it is? I haven't hurt anyone."

"You will eventually!" Shirogane cried. "This goes against everything Yuuei stands for, regardless of whether they're enemies or not! If someone with wrong intentions gets their hand on this it will be on your head!"

"Naturally," Akusa nodded. "I claimed to take this predicament lightly."

"You lying –"

"Shirogane!" Fumei shouted, shocking half the class at the authoritative weight under it. It was the same voice he uses during training when Tatsumaki refused to listen to anything he said. Koharu picked up on it immediately and quietly pleaded for Shirogane to drop it.

Fumei's apathy usually followed when he ran out of patience.

"We can't change whatever Akusa did to get this," the blonde said. "We can't even prove it, so let's just stop. I promise to burn these right after we're done with it, happy?" he asked Shirogane, who looked between Fumei and Akusa before sighing in defeat.

"Burn it clean," she reminded him. "We can't risk it getting anywhere. Not with all the villain scare recently."

Fumei nodded, "Right. Thank you, Shirogane for understanding." Shirogane huffed and walked away, brows furrowed in defiance towards the blond and masked student.

"I think Shirogane is right," Hitoshi said. "We don't need to know who they are. We just have to do what we can."

"There's also no harm in knowing," Fumei said. "Remember what I told you."

Hitoshi nodded. He did remember, but he didn't want it to be the only thing he did. He wanted to win with honor and properly. This felt like cheating. "We don't need it."

Tatsumaki and Nusumi argued otherwise, while Koharu was with Hitoshi in his reluctance to use the printed information. Koharu scanned over the files then committed their names and faces to memory, "I'll just avoid them all until they become a direct problem." Then he left. Tatsumaki ran after him to convince him otherwise, but the brunette's mind was made it.

Nusumi pouted and picked up the other remaining two. "You really don't want to Shinsou? It would help you a lot."

"Yes," he concluded. "I don't need to know everything about them to defeat them with what I have." Hitoshi turned to leave, but Fumei held him back.

"Wait." Hitoshi looked back. "At least hear me out on just one."

Hitoshi groaned. "Fine. What's his name?"

"Izuku Midoriya," Fumei said. Hitoshi was not familiar with the name. "He has enhanced strength and speed that's oddly similar to All Might's. I know you're a fan of his, so I thought you might want to know about Midoriya at least."

All his life, Hitoshi has only ever wanted to be like All Might. It took him a long time to realize that no one, or he will never be, like All Might. It hurt to think that someone in his year was gifted the exact thing he had been wishing for since he was a child. Enhanced strength and speed. It was a very powerful quirk fitted to a combat hero.

"He's not as loud as Bakugou or Todoroki, but he took down the only zero pointer during the exam on his own. His quirk has huge drawbacks but it's very strong. He'll be competing for the top, so avoid him as much as possible."

"Got it," he hissed.

Nusumi bit her lip, showing a hint of nerves after being confident for so long. "Do you think we'll do great out there?"

Fumei nodded. "Of course you will. Just have fun, and remember to be smart. You worked hard to get here." He turned to Hitoshi and continued, "These four are big threats, but we shouldn't underestimate the other classes too. They could have surprise contenders, and I'd rather not be caught surprised. Let's win this for Sensei."

It was finally time.

"LET ME HEAR YOU SCREAM! IT'S TIME FOR THE MUCH AWAITED YUUEI SPORTS FESTIVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!" Present Mic's screamed through a mic as he opened the event for all to see and enjoy.

Hitoshi breathed deeply as the voice hero continued to hype up the crowd and prepared them for the first round of students.

"FIRST UP… YOU KNOW WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT! THE ONE, THE ONLY, MIRACULOUS RISING STARS WHO BRUSHED OFF A VILLAIN ATTACK WITH THEIR STEELY WILLPOWER. FIRST YEAR HERO CLASS A."

The stadium blew up in a deafening chorus of cheers that echoed al the way to the end of the tunnel they were asked to line up in.

"Yeesh, that's loud," Hadesu whined, while Shiosai shifted uncomfortably in front of him. The fire head frowned and placed a comforting hand on Shiosai's shoulder. "We need backup here."

Shiosai signed something to Hadesu, but the latter couldn't understand it. "Sorry dude, I don't read hands but uh… hang in there." Shiosai groaned and pressed his hands closer to his noise canceller headphones closer to his ears.

" And here come classes C, D and E from the Department of General Education! "

Katagiri and Tenmei led their group out of the gate with heads held high. The crowd still cheered for them, but it wasn't as grand or enthusiastic as the hero class' own. Present Mic was their teacher for English, but he didn't even bother giving them an introduction as impressive as the hero department.

"Talk about favoritism," Tatsumaki sneered as they trekked towards the center of the field. While he agreed on Present Mic's biases, Hitoshi decided not to be petty about it.

Thousands, if not millions of eyes watched them all over Japan. He knew they were not the reason they watched on television, or came here for. It was the budding new heroes from the hero classes that they waited to shine. However, that didn't matter for Hitoshi because they will notice him soon.

"Well, I don't blame Yamada-sensei," Doe shyly added. "He is a hero first, and our English instructor second. The festival is also the hero department's event, we're only here because it's a school wide event and everyone is involved."

"Don't say that Shanti!" Fukuro said. "We won't settle for being ignored!" She shook a fist in righteous fury at the commentator's box.

"We're here just to make them look good," said some students in the neighboring class.

"Right?" agreed another. "Hard to get motivated to win if it's like that all the time."

They formed lines lines in front of the stage where the 18+ Hero, Midnight stood confidently. She flashed a charming smile for the crowd then struck a pose that doesn't leave much to the imagination. Hitoshi earnestly looked away.

Midnight cracked her whip and took on another sultry, yet confident pose. "Now for the athlete's oath! Your fist student representative, Katsuki Bakugou!"

1-A clamored in shock upon hearing Bakugou's name be called as though they weren't aware of it themselves. Hitoshi glanced over to their line, and pretty much guessed correctly. They knew Bakugou was one of their strongest members, but they didn't expect him to be the highest ranking student of their year.

Bakugou stood up on stage in a heavy slouch, and stuffed his hands deep into his pants pockets. He had a bored expression on his face that reminded Hitoshi of Akusa's introduction to the class. Only less, condescending.

"The athlete's oath," the hero started normally. Then he scoffed, breaking his blank expression with a mocking grin. He stared them all down with wild red eyes. "I'm gonna take first place, so don't bother trying. You'll all make great stepping stones."

No one took his version of the oath kindly. The crowd erupted in indignation. People complained, booed, and called him names as Bakugou reveled in their anger. He raised a finger at them before exiting the podium.

"Don't get too cocky 1-A!"

"I'll drown you, just you watch!"

"Why must you show contempt for the dignity of this event?!" one of Bakugou's peers cried.

"YOU DIRTY BASTARD. I'LL KICK YOUR FACE IN THE CURB."

"That overconfident ash-tray!" Okami barked and tried to pounce at him, while her friends held her in place. "Let go! I'll show him how hard I can bite."

Hitoshi's eyes carefully followed Bakugou's descent. Oh, how he wished he can topple him down his arrogant high-horse right away.

"That was a smart move," Fumei said.

Akusa hummed in agreement. "Declaring your dominance over others incites anger, and from anger comes chaos. It's an invitation for an open challenge. The more people attempt to take him down, the more he would succeed in proving that he is the best. It's an efficient promotion strategy."

"Or a stupid one. He's asking the entire school to have at him."

"I would've have done the same. Wouldn't you?"

"Nah, I like playing by the rules," Fumei chuckled. "Besides, I like surprising people. No one would even expect me coming."

"Miss me with that humble attitude," Kamimura groaned. "You two are practically mirrors of that guy. You two are enough for us to handle, now there's a third? It's a bit exhausting."

"I'm not like them!" Fumei said in offense. "I challenge people to do better, not just because I want to prove I am better than them. Unlike this guy," he jabbed a thumb towards Akusa, who merely rolled his eyes at him.

"Same thing, different approach," Kamimura dismissively said.

"To be compared to this idiot and the other," Akusa sighs. "What a cruel world."

"And now, without any delays," Midnight began again. "Let's get the first event started, the qualifiers round! Many students at this stage are sent home crying every year! And this year's first round of destiny is…" the screen rolled at her command, and hundreds of eyes waited with heavy anticipation as it slowed and –

"An obstacle course!" The crowd cheered along Midnight's announcement. "It's a race between every member of all eleven classes. The course is four-kilometer lap around the stadium itself!"

"Four kilometers? Easy!" Okami cackled. "You try running ten!"

"Our school preaches freedom in all things!" Midnight continued. "So, as long as you don't go off course, anything is fair game!"

"You heard her Toshi," Fumei whispered behind him. "No need to hold back."

"I know. But you should," he reminds the blonde. The last time Fumei was in a ranked exam, he almost killed people in favor to raise his own stats. "It's a race, not a death trap."

Fumei laughed. "You don't know that."

"You'll make it one."

Fumei shook his head in disbelief. "Right, right, no dropping eight tons of metal on other people, got it."

"Keep out of my range everyone!" Nusumi warned the rest of the class, who all grimaced in understanding. No one wanted to be around her once she's let loose. "I make no promises for injuries that may occur."

The gates lit up, each circle counted down to their ready. One orange bulb, another yellow, and – "START!"

A/N: And so the festival finally begins! Shirogane, who belongs to allebas, finally gets the spotlight she deserves. I really want to write her character more but doing so could reveal too much. For now, she's stuck being that voice of reason against two characters that are obviously hiding something.

I'm still accepting minor roles for 1 support and/or 2 general students for the festival so keep em coming guys. Also thank you for new follows and favorites, it means a lot to me. But hey don't be shy to leave some reviews too, those are used to water my crops and I am in desperate need of water in this heat. Anyway see you next chapter (whenever that may be) as it will be time TO RACE, suuuuuushi oooout!

Tatsumaki gets healed by his crush: 4