"Hey Dad, can I raid your spare blood supply for perfectly normal reasons?"
"I put all the blood packs I could spare on the table. Whoops, glasses, hun." Mai ducked as Tadashi reached over her to catch his wife's glasses before they completely fell off her face. "I'll keep in touch for dinner, Mitsuramon," he added, using his college nickname for her.
"Hospital or police?" She asked, fixing her glasses and pouring him a travel mug. With his quirk, Tadashi would do contracting-like jobs for several groups, most frequently the hospital and the police. When he wasn't doing a contracting project, he worked on medical DNA research and experimenting with his quirk.
"Hospital," he answered. "Wait, don't you have a conference this afternoon?"
"Next week. Today I work from home." Mitsuremon worked for a support company and specialized in items for chemically-based quirks. She was often used as her company's representative since she was basically trilingual seeing as she grew up in a Spanish-speaking country, learned fundamental English, and moved to Japan for college.
"Yeah, didn't you see her hair?" Mai asked. When Mitsuremon was about to work on one of her items, she tied her sandy blonde hair back into a ponytail.
"What, her hair? Did she – oh, it's pulled back." Tadashi sighed in relief that he didn't miss a haircut. "See you tonight." He grabbed his drink and, with a final wave, ran off, nearly tripping down the stairs in his hurry out the door.
Mitsuremon rubbed her green eyes. "You know, if he's running late he should really just leave and not take the time to talk to us in the morning."
"What will you be working on today?" Mai asked as she swallowed down the last of her breakfast.
"Hopefully not fixing our clock," Ai joked and placed her dishes on the counter so she could finish putting her bag together. Although their mother was a great engineer, she was terrible at repairing things unless she put them together in the first place.
"I did not suffer through a c-section for this kind of derision," Mitsuremon responded. It was kind of funny to hear such a sassy reply in their mother's sweet and often soft-spoken voice.
Mai remembered how their problematic birth ensured the twins would be the only children that the Benihamas had. Mai was born first, and quite literally flew out of the womb, leaving the doctors to deal with a baby bat flopping on the floor until a minute later she transformed into a human baby (apparently this explained some things about the pregnancy). Meanwhile Ai was too energetic to let herself be born properly, preferring to spin around in the womb with her newfound space, so Ai had to be born via c-section. This took quite a toll on Mitsuramon's petite body which meant that was the end of the children.
Mai finished washing the dishes and grabbed her bag. "Are you ready to go, Ai?"
Ai's face lit up upon realizing Mai was going to walk to school with her. "Just about, I think I want one more blood pack for today."
"Here, I got it." Mitsuremon grabbed a syringe from the counter and extracted some blood from her arm. Ai's quirk worked better with their parent's blood since she and Mai were slightly anemic. It was a little disturbing how jaded the family was to extracting blood and having blood packs lying around (the former for Ai and the latter for Tadashi), but Mai supposed there were worse quirks to live with.
"Thanks." Ai tossed the vial of her mother's blood in her bag. "There are only so many times I can raid father's workroom for leftover blood packs."
"Well today's a big day," Mitsuremon said excitedly. "You two get to be part of the famous UA Sports Festival!"
"Eh, it's probably the UA Festival that least applies to us, but it's kind of cool I suppose." Mai shrugged. "Hurry up, Ai, I'm only walking with you so you don't use up your blood packs before the Sports Fest."
"Yep yep yep." Ai hopped up and the two hurried down the stairs.
"I know the Sports Festival is mostly for the hero students," Mitsuremon called to them as they reached the door. "But try to have fun today."
"Oh trust me, I plan to," Ai said with a mischievous grin. "I'm going to make those hero course kids work for it."
"Uh-huh," Mai nodded skeptically. It was a fun thought, but who knows if the first event would even be possible without hero training, especially considering all the physical aspects their department required. "Isn't this supposed to be a time for you and your classmates to show off the support items you made?"
"My items are still in the design stage." Ai shrugged. "Besides, I don't have enough time to mess around in the Department Studio." Mai knew this was because she spent all her time talking with her friends, but she didn't mention this. "I know it'd be helpful to land a good internship, but our mother's company already reached out to me."
"Ah, nepotism, where would you be without it?"
"Don't fall off the sidewalk," Ai snapped back before suddenly pushing Mai off the walkway. This led to a shout and a bit of chasing as Mai tried to get even.
"Don't make me run!" Mai exclaimed. "We need to save our energy for the Sports Fest!"
"Then don't try to push me back!" Ai called behind her with a laugh.
"You're such a brat."
"You started it."
"You started it when we were born."
"Then be the bigger sibling." Ai turned to jog backwards and pulled a blood pack from her bag. "I could do this all day." However, before she could consume it, she crashed into someone walking the opposite way. Mai figured this was adequate justice and, helping Ai to her feet after a good point-and-laugh, they made their way to UA High.
Homerooms were cut short with having the students change into their gym uniforms and ushering them to their designated holding area in the Sports Fest stadium. Mai swayed back and forth from her heels to the balls of her feet and back again waiting for the signal with all the other Management Department students in Classes 1-I, 1-J, and 1-K. There were some people complaining around her, some discussing logistics, and others planning how to network with the other departments' students. Wow was Mai surrounded by a bunch of nerds; this is why she hung out with Ai's classmates (that and she had never made friends without her sister). Finally the different departments were announced, and the first years strode into the increasingly rambunctious arena.
The Sports Festival Stadium was huge, with an expansive grassy area surrounding a central concrete square. In the middle of the square there was a 5-foot stage with stairs along the outside of it where the UA High teachers Midnight and Cementoss stood in their hero/teacher uniforms stood ready to arbitrate the event. In the front of the stage a simple microphone sat on a stand ready to dictate the festival.
"And starting off this year's Sports Fest is Class 1-A student and class representative, Meotooku Tomoaki!"
A black-haired and very put-together boy walked up the steps from the side of the stage and walked straight towards the microphone. He was holding his head up and seemed confident with all eyes on him, but then Mai noticed that his arms were shaking. As she paid closer attention she caught him barely trip on the stage and a shudder run through his body, something she recognized as the sheer terror of utter embarrassment as a fellow shy person who hated public speaking.
"Um," his voice probably hit five different pitches before settling. "Let's do our best and go plus -"
"ULTRA!" The stadium burst into another frenzy at the reciting of the school's motto. Meotooku wasted no time in getting off the stage and one look at his relieved face told Mai 'shy' was not a strong enough word to describe his feelings about public speaking, and, thinking about the quick and scripted nature of his speech, Mai's conclusion was cemented in her mind.
"If he wants to be a hero, he'll have to be way better at public speaking," She overheard one of the nearby Management students say.
Mai bit her lip; making a speech is incredibly more involved than publicly saving someone or making a brief statement, but she didn't expect a bunch of dorks to understand. "Maybe he's making a weak impression to surprise people during the events," she suggested.
"Interesting," the student nodded, ready to discuss any angle. "Then that would explain –"
"First years!" Midnight announced. "You will be fitted with three balloons on the back of your shoulders while we ready the stadium for the first event." A flood of volunteers poured into the arena and began attaching small yellow balloons to the students while Cementoss used his quirk to transform the concrete stage into a wall around the area's perimeter, locking the first years into an enclosed circle save for one exit Mai figured was intended for the volunteers. In the wall two stands jutted above the space, the larger one with an exit to the rest of the stadium, and the smaller one holding the teachers. As the students received their balloons they congregated towards the center, mixing around the classes.
"Hey, do I know you?" One of the students asked Mai, a boy with hair the same orange of fire and pale yellow skin that looked just off of normal at first glance.
"Eh, no?" Mai slowly shook her head. "Maybe my twin sister -"
"No, I feel like it was definitely you." He squinted a bit to remember. It was kind of awkward for Mai to crane her neck to meet his blue eyes. "That's it! You showed up at our class that one time!"
Oh no why remember that time? It was a day with a heavy downpour in the morning on one of the first weeks of the school year. Mai could fly to school as a bat no problem in the rain, but in the time it took her to transform and open the door her glasses became covered in water, and as she was half-blindly running to class she misread the Class 1-A sign as Class 1-K. She didn't know any of her actual classmates so when she didn't recognize the people around her she assumed she was just really bad at remembering faces. On top of that – what are the odds – it just so happened the person who usually sat in the desk she was in was absent that day until after she left. It took Mai until after the teacher, Mr. Aizawa, started class to realize she was in the wrong homeroom. Since she didn't want to disrupt class, she quietly transformed and as a bat crawled towards the door. Unfortunately, once she reached the front of the room Mr. Aizawa asked "Is there something I can help you with?" In a panic, Mai transformed back with a squeak and ran out of the classroom.
If that wasn't embarrassing enough, it wasn't the only time Mai ended up in the wrong classroom, but the second time wasn't really her fault. It was barely a week or so after the Class 1-A incident when Mai was running late (and Ai was even later) and in the frenzy of students trying not to be tardy someone in Class 1-G mistook her for Ai. He didn't hear her try to stop him as he dragged her to his classroom and by the time she was thrown into Ai's desk class started before she had a moment to explain and once again Mai found herself stuck sitting in the wrong class. Thankfully this time she had Ai, who ran into class a handful of minutes later apologizing all the way while everyone stared at her as if she were a ghost. When she finally noticed this, she stopped talking and turned toward her desk, eyes locking on Mai. Upon realizing what had happened she looked down and massaged her temple. "Oh Mai," she sighed. "You are – very bad at this."
Mai wondered how many of those students told the story to their friends and parents to make conversation, and just how many people now were spreading the legacy of Mai's awkwardness. Well, she supposed it was the only way she would be remembered so she might as well take what she can get.
"Alright, what's your strategy?" Ai suddenly grabbed Mai's shoulders from behind her.
"Uh, to not?" Mai responded.
"Ah, going defensive," Ai nodded. "I guess I could accept my place and allow myself to fail this event with grace and dignity."
Her face did not look like she would be accepting anything with grace or dignity. "But you're not going to do that."
"Oh heck no." Ai grinned and started tying her hair back. "Hey look, a camera." She pointed to where a camera was positioned to put all the first years' movements on the jumbo screen and a worldwide television station. "Hi future husband!" She said with an enthusiastic wave.
There were still a few students who needed balloons strapped to their backs, but the overall energy was starting to ramp up. "I really wish we could wear our hero costumes," Mai and Ai overheard one of the hero course students say to her friend. "I mean uniforms make sense, but still..."
"Yeah," Ai joked to Mai. "Wouldn't it be great if we could wear our course costumes to the Sports Fest? It'd be sooo much cuter."
"Oh of course," Mai continued. "Nothing like having a Sports Festival in your professional suit." Ai laughed at the addition to her comment. "What are you even doing talking to me? Isn't this your time to network?"
"You're the business student, you should be the one networking." Ai shot back. "Besides, everyone here is busy preparing themselves for whatever we're supposed to do with these balloons." She gestured to where hers were attached to her back. "It'll be easier to talk with them if we're not competing in the event; first event's always the weed-out."
"Aren't you planning to go all the way?"
Ai half-shrugged, a malicious smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "My plan is to have fun, and if that leads to my elimination or it leads to my moving on then so be it." Mai was glad they weren't being directly put against each other with that excited look on her twin's face. "Don't you want to check out the other competitors with me? You know, to figure out who to avoid?"
"You mean so you can see who would be a fun target?" Mai side-eyed her sister.
"How dare you imply such a selfish intention!" Ai sputtered. "I just –"
"Ughhhhh this is such a waste of time." Okanate whined as she walked up to them. "I could make an essay-long list of things I could be doing in the time it takes them to start the first event." She put her head on Ai's shoulder. "Then I've got people complaining to me that they have to be here, others wanting my opinion on how to show off to support companies, and Shimoue won't shut up about 'the next generation of heroes.'"
"It's what you get for making yourself available to everyone as our class rep," Ai said, starting to braid Okanate's hair.
"Now I know why you turned down the position."
Mai pursed her lips, since she suspected Ai refused to be class rep to ensure Mai wouldn't fall into obscurity as the quiet sister of Class 1-G's representative.
"Hey, I like you as our class rep," Ai said. "You always smell like fresh tea."
"And I'm pretty sure you keep a market's worth of supplies in your bag," Mai contributed, remembering the multiple extra snacks, bandages, and pens she'd seen Okanate pull from her bag. "No equipment?" Mai added, noticing a lack of anything on top of Okanate's uniform (even Ai had a support belt to hold all her blood packs).
"No need," Okanate confirmed. "My little siblings aren't even going to watch the Sports Fest, otherwise I might actually try."
"Thank you for your patience," Midnight's voice broke through everything as it echoed across the stadium, reigning all the excitement onto her. "We will now announce the rules of the first event."
"Hey look, we're going to start this event while we're still young." Mai glanced over at Ai and Okanate to see if she got a decent reaction out of them, but suddenly felt self-conscious when she noticed a nearby first year laugh too.
"First, thank you to our volunteers." The stands cheered as the volunteers left and the cement wall became completely enclosed. "This first event will be a Battle Royale. Our students will go around popping one another's balloons while protecting their own." As she spoke, stairs grew from the wall leading down from the larger set of bleachers to just above where the first years could reach. "Once all three of your balloons have been popped we will be automatically notified and will provide you entrance to the student's stands. The last forty-eight students with at least one balloon intact will move on to the next round!"
"Forty-eight people then," Ai nodded. "That means about eight of us untrained students will move on as a bare minimum."
"But part of that group will probably include any General Studies students trying to transfer into the hero department," Okanate pointed out.
"Wait, there are still first years hoping to become heroes who aren't taking hero courses yet?" Mai asked. "Wow, that takes dedication; I would have given up on the dream at this point."
"You gave up on being a hero the moment you found out how many kids wanted it as their career," Ai countered.
"And what's wrong with being practical?" Mai defended herself. "I knew we couldn't all be heroes –"
"'And no sense working extra to earn such a difficult job,'" Ai recited, repeating Mai's words from middle school. "I totally agree you're much better in the Management Department, but honestly Mai, if it weren't for me –"
"Anyone who leaves this area will be immediately disqualified." Midnight finished. "We have Recovery Girl at the ready so don't hold back!" Midnight grinned in a way that made Mai uneasy. "Other than those things you are free to do whatever you want. Let the first event BEGIN!"