Hey there, it's me again! Like I said, it's gonna start getting interesting after this, and while it is, I also try to stick as much as possible to the canon with a few personality changes here and there. Not much major, but definitely enough to show hey this person is making an impact on the others in minute ways. Without further ado, it's Sports Festival time and there will be a new person's POV introduced shortly.

And it would be blasphemy if you didn't so, Natewantstobattle's cover of Peace Sign, and Wake Up from Julie and the Phantoms. Enjoyy! (also, if you wanna leave a review of any kind, I'd love to read them!)


The Day of the Sports Festival

The day was finally here. The Sports Festival, do or die time to prove herself. She finally had a decent amount of control over her quirk, but it was still iffy, only really working if she truly focused on it. She still hadn't slept much, and unlike her classmates who were genuinely ready for this, she was just wanting a nap somewhere quiet. The bags under her eyes had gotten worse, and she's struggling to keep her eyes open despite the excitement around her.

"Salinsaa, you have to stay awake," Kaminari whines, shaking her shoulder a bit as she jerks up and groans. "You look like crap."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," she replies, rubbing her eyes and propping her chin in her hands as she sighs after. "Sorry, I'm just tired. I haven't slept well."

"Been nervous about today?" Kirishima asks, plopping in the seat he'd pulled over to her desk. "It's okay, you'll do amazing! It'll be super manly seeing all of us getting through today!"

"If we get through today," she mumbles. She groans and hangs her head, her shoulders slumping. This event is televised nearly worldwide, and she was going to embarrass herself in front of it all. She just wanted to crawl into a corner and sleep, maybe die while she was at it.

It's then she hears a small thunk on her desk, looking up to see an energy drink with green claws down the side. Bakugo is standing there, his hand on the top of it as he glared down his nose at her. His face was a little red, but she chalked it up to anger at the way he set the can down.

"Yes, Bakugo?" she says weakly, leaning back in her chair as she looks up at him. "Can I help you?"

"Drink this, you idiot," he tells her as he snatches his hand away. The can teeters a bit as he shoves his hands into his pockets and looks away, glaring now at the board. Kirishima and Kaminari share a confused look, but Kirishima is the first to shrug it off.

"Yeah, you look like you need it a lot more than he does," he tells her with a sharp toothed grin. "Need you for today!"

"You don't need me for anything," she sighs, but takes the can anyway, popping the tab and drinking it despite the sickly sweet taste. Kaminari starts chanting chug as she tries to finish it in one go, but can't, stopping about a quarter way down the can. She coughs a bit, shaking her head as she takes a deep breath. The blond cheers anyway, pumping a fist into the air as she sets the can down.

"Did that help?" he asks, smiling brightly at her. "Who knew Bakugo wasn't a complete jackass?"

"Kaminari, language!" Iida scolds from halfway across the room. He's steadfastly walking towards them, his glasses on the tip of his nose that he pushes up with one sharp movement of his hand. "And energy drinks are not a substitute for decent rest and focus! You are distracting Salinsa from today! Leave her be, you ruffians!"

"Ruffians?" Kirishima repeats, confused as he looks between Iida and Leinei. "Salinsa, are we bothering you?"

"No, actually you guys are keeping me awake," she says, rubbing the back of her head as she forces a smile. "Sorry, Iida, I didn't know. I'll finish it and put the can in the recycling."

"Right! Good luck today!"

She nods as he walks off. Kaminari sticks his tongue out at his back, making the redhead and the purple haired girl laugh to themselves. Leinei finished off the can and stood up, walking the can over to the classroom's recycling can before coming back and leaning on the wall next to her desk to ensure she didn't fall asleep again. It would be horrifying if she missed the call for the classes to report to the stadium.

"Oh, hey, Salinsa, you never did tell us how exactly your quirk works," Kirishima says, perking up as Bakugo plops himself in her seat with his feet on her desk. "Why did you need all those extra lessons with Mr. Aizawa anyway?"

"Oh, that…" She tilts her head back so it sits against the window as she stares at the ceiling with her hands folded behind her back. "Well, I had a hard time turning my quirk off, and he was helping me with that. I have to be looking at someone's face for it to work efficiently, but cutting it off before it ran out by itself was difficult for me, so he was helping me fix that."

"But you can turn it off now, right?"

"Yeah, if I concentrate on it," she admits. "But it'll get even easier with time. Only so much you can do in a time constraint, right?"

"Tch, just don't kill anyone with it," Bakugo growls, causing her to stiffen up. "What was that for? You flinched again."

"N-no reason," she says, her voice breaking. "Just still worried about how today is going to go."

And if I'll be the cause of any more deaths.

I'm so tired…

It was then that the bell sounded and the announcement went off for the students to change and report to the stadium pitch. Leinei felt sick to her stomach as Izuku opened the door, revealing the other students standing out in the hall and blocking their way. They all were glaring and trying their best to look intimidating. In her exhausted state, they were succeeding. She just wanted to sleep, not taking in what Bakugo had said about them, just trying to scope out the competition and telling them all to die before walking out of the classroom.

The locker rooms were a hub of activity, the girls talking with nervous excitement about the possibility of the upcoming events. Leinei didn't take any of it in, her brain just autopiloting through her changing into the gym clothes with her long sleeved shirt still on under it. It wasn't until there was a bang and a pair of pink hands catching her that she realized she'd fallen asleep standing up and smacked her head against the locker door.

"You sure you wanna participate today?" Mina asks as she sits down on a bench to lace her shoes up. "You don't look well."

"I'm just waiting for the energy drink Bakugo gave me to kick in," she dismisses, waving her hand before switching feet to tie the other one. She pauses for a minute, shaking her head as she momentarily forgot how to do the process but remembered. "I'll be fine, thank you though."

"If you aren't, just say so," Yaoyorozu tells her, hand against her chest as the purple haired girl stood and smiled at her. "Don't push yourself."

"I won't, don't worry."

And so they all head to the stadium pitch, Leinei bringing up the rear and trying to stand as tall as the others around her. Everyone walked with their heads up, looking proud to be here and, honestly, a lot more well rested than she was. Bakugo was at the front, Kirishima and Kaminari not far behind him but still further away from her. She could hear the cheers of the stadium audience, the screams, the whoops, the clapping.

For a moment, she was back at Shiketsu, the screaming of students, the yells of the teachers ringing in her ears. For a moment, she was drowning once more in the darkness of her past, being dragged down grasping claws digging into her skin, but the bright sunlight of the stadium as she walked out onto the pitch brought her back to the present. These yells and screams were happy, pushing her forward instead of down. And for the first time in the week she'd been here at UA, the excitement her classmates had been exuding caught onto her. Her heart's pounding her chest, her face flushing as they stood in lines while Bakugo did his "I'm going to win" speech. A few groans were garnered from the rest of the class, Iida trying his best not to yell at his classmate. Leinei just smiled and chuckled at his audacity. For a moment, she felt like she could win this thing. Maybe she would.

After Bakugo walked away from the stage, the wheel began to choose the first event, spinning off the sheer tension of the classes watching it. Midnight was doing her job to hype the crowd, waving her flogger and snapping it as the wheel came to a stop.

"Our first event will be the obstacle course!" She announces into her microphone, explaining the basic outline of it before dismissing the classes into the door. Everyone booked it at once, cramming each other into the space that seemed to be shrinking the more people that slammed into it. She tried to keep up with her classmates, but got jostled to the back by the others, nearly tripping over her feet as she got slammed into the crowds once more. The shoving and pushing began, shuffling her around almost painfully.

Leinei couldn't see over the sea of people, couldn't hear her friends over the yelling of others. Someone elbowed her in the stomach and she nearly threw up, another person shoving her into another and stepping on her heel. She heard explosions, a crackle of ice, jeers of unfamiliar voices.

That must've been Shochan and Bakugo...not surprising…

I'm so tired…

She shoved someone back as she was punched in the back. More memories of Shiketsu came flooding back as someone taller than her elbowed her in the nose. She heard it crack and tasted blood in her mouth. Tears beaded her eyes as she struggled to stay in control, yet another person punching her in the back as they struggled to get through.

At this rate, I'm never getting through! I have to get through!

I need to prove I belong here.

How do I get through?

She almost lost her footing as she was shoved forward again, Present Mic's voice coming over the speakers to announce Shoto's win over the second obstacle and onto the third. She fought a tired groan and shoved someone off her. Her chest was tight, but she didn't care. She would fight the rising panic and the terror for now. She had to; everything was on the line here and now. No time for her to be the pathetic creature she usually was.

"Stop shoving me!" she growled, her eyes turning purple as her quirk turned on. Immediately four people around her dropped, only to have that sudden space be filled with more people. She kept trying to push forward, people looking back and dropping as they did so. Eventually, the desperate screams and groaning to get through became whimpers of fear and pain. She finally got through the entrance, leaving a trail of general studies students behind her. Her nose was still steadily bleeding as she imagined the door and closed it as she climbed over the hill of ice Shoto had left behind him.

I'm so tired…

But I have to keep going. I did good so far. I have to keep moving forward!

"Holy crap, Eraserhead, is that your new transfer student?!" Present Mic asked Aizawa as they watched them from the announcer's box. "She just dropped like ninety kids!"

"She was talked up by two Pro Heroes," Aizawa replies duly before sighing. "Do I have to be here?"

"You agreed to help me, so yes," the loud blond replied before looking back down at the reference sheets for the students. "Anyway! Leinei was transferred into UA after taking a year off for personal reasons, based on recommendations by one high ranking Pro Hero and one mid tier Pro Hero! Her quirk is called Relive, which causes the receiver to relive a memory or emotion! I guess she's one to watch, huh?"

"She has gone through a lot to get where she is," Aizawa responded, slouching in his seat with a sigh. "She's excelled in the past few days that I've had the job of teaching her. Let's see how far she goes before I start placing bets."

"Oh, now you're a betting man? That's-AND THE KIDS FINALLY MADE IT TO THE MINEFIELD!"

"Minefield?" Leinei repeats, her face flushed from the praise from Aizawa as she gets to the Fall. She watched the few others that were behind, catching glimpses of Iida skating across the ropes and Ochaco floating her shoes and clothes before trying to cross. She bounced foot to foot, her heart slamming into her ribcage as she tried to decide what to do. Present Mic announced that Bakugo and Shoto were neck and neck, spurring her to step onto a rope and almost falling, getting her ankle twisted in it before she completely fell. She dangled there for a moment, fighting the urge to throw up again as she swung back and forth.

You have to keep going! You can't stop here now! You're almost there! Even if you don't place, you still got this fair, and Aizawa praised you!

But I'm so tired…

She used the momentum of the swinging to bring herself up far enough to grab the rope and get her legs around it before starting to pull herself along to the other side. Others were passing her, finding much easier ways to get across than what she was doing. The rope was burning her legs as she slid across, her clenching one eye shut as she finally got to the other side and had to pull herself up onto the ledge.

She barely gave herself a second to breathe as she rushed into the minefield. This is where the majority of the others were bottlenecked at now, a massive explosion sounding off as Izuku flew overhead. She fought the urge to laugh as she saw him flying on the piece of metal, only to have another explosion go off a few meters ahead of her to stop her exhausted titters before starting to navigate her way through.

Boom!

A student to her right went flying to the side, the rush of wind nearly knocking her off balance as she tried to avoid what looked like another buried mine. There was a click underfoot, her eyes widening as dread filled her stomach.

I'm too tired-

The explosion launched her a few feet forward, rolling a few feet as she hit another mine and was sent flying upwards this time. She lands back on the ground again, knocking the breath out of her lungs as she hears a crack, her vision swimming and her ears ringing. She got to her feet as she coughed, staggering a few feet before avoiding another mine and getting her breath right, starting to run as a few others got ahead of her. Izuku was announced the winner, Bakugo and Shoto right behind him. There were a few others getting through before she got back to the pitch, doubling over to hold her knees as she caught her breath.

Her body ached, she was scraped and bruised with a broken nose, but she made it. She got through and placed for the second round. She was so proud of herself, tears starting to well in her eyes as she stood up and used her wrist to wipe them away.

"Hey, Salinsa, you placed too!" Kaminari says, waving at her as he walks over to her. She smiled at him despite her tears, but started to feel dizzy. She raised her hand to wave back, starting to take a step forward to congratulate him back and catch up with him and Kirishima. His smile turned to a frown as her knees gave out from under her, her eyes rolling upwards as she crumpled to the ground. "Salinsa!"

He ran over as she laid there, scared to touch her as a few other of her classmates surrounded them. Kirishima had come over and tried to wake her up as Yaoyorozu covered her mouth. Mina started calling for help, trying to get someone's attention. Midnight saw the commotion and came over, her eyes widening as she saw the collapsed student.

"Alright, give her some space," the Pro called as she waved the other students away. Kaminari and Kirishima stayed, unsure what to do while their friend was unconscious. Bakugo was lingering near the edge of the ring, eyes narrowed as he watched them and unsure of what to do himself. Midnight brought her communicator up to her mouth as she started to report what was going on and how to proceed.

"Is she okay?" Kirishima asks, Midnight nodding with a smile to try and reassure the worried boys. "She's gonna be able to finish the festival out right?"

"We just need to get her to Recovery Girl so she can rest, but I don't think she's going to be able to participate in the rest of the games today," she tells them. A team of medics with a stretcher come over, setting it down before gently easing the girl onto the cloth and picking her up.

"We can go with her, can't we?" Kaminari asks her, watching them go. "Or should we stay here?"
"I think your friend would want you two to stay here," Midnight assures them, grinning now as she hugs herself. "But it excites me so much seeing you worried over her! It makes me feel so warm!"

What did you do to yourself, Short Stack?