Their Hero Academia

by Zylly

Twenty-five years after Izuki Midoriya and the rest of Class 1-A first set foot in the halls of U.A., their children begin their own hero academia. What adventures and challenges await the newest generation of future heroes? Can they possibly live up to the standard their parents set? Will they put Aizawa into an early grave? Or will this be the most Plus Ultra class of them all?

35. Chapter 31: Lunchbreak!

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 31: The Sports Festival Part 4: Class 1-A Takes a Lunch

Katsumi had a problem. She should have been happy, having made it to the final round of the Sports Festival. Sure, she hadn't come in first in either of the previous events, but all she had to do was pound a few heads into the ground and she could take home the gold. The last round called for fighting. She was good at fighting, with and without her Quirk. Making it this far was ample opportunity to show off all of her (Wo)-Manly skills.

Yes, she should have been happy. She was anything but. The Tournament's first round matches were based upon scores and that meant that she'd be fighting Izzy in her first battle. Which she couldn't do, obviously. The thought of raising a hand to Izzy, let alone using the explosive power of her Quirk, was enough to make her want to throw up. While the others talked and laughed and ate in the mini-cafeteria provided for the competitors, she just sat at one of the tables banging her head on the table. She hadn't even eaten anything yet.

A soft clatter alerted her to the sound of a tray being set down next to her head. "Go away, Toshi," she said, without looking up. "Or if this is Kana, go away, Kana. I'm just going to sit here until I die. ..And if this is Izzy, then I don't actually mean it, but I need you to leave me alone. I don't want to talk about it."

"I can accept mistaking me for Tetsutetsu, but to mistake me for some of your classmates… for shame."

The nails on a chalkboard voice of Shiro Monoma was enough to make her lift her head up. Bad enough he lived across the street from her at home, bad enough he was at U.A., bad enough he had somehow made it through both rounds of the Festival so far, but now he was talking to her, when all she wanted was to be left alone to have an existential crisis in peace? Bad enough that he had, wait, he had brought her a tray of food?

"Is there a reason you're breathing my air, Monoma? You fall off your high horse and get lost?"

Monoma smirked that annoying smirk of his. As far as she knew, it was his default expression. Resting Monoma Face. "I simply want you at your best when I beat you, Kirishima-Bakugo. It would hardly be sporting to beat you when you were weak with hunger."

Katsumi narrowed her eyes. "You've got to the count of zero to get yourself out of my face, Monoma."

He placed a hand over his heart, feigning offense. "Here I am doing you a favor and this is how you respond? That temper of yours is hardly becoming of a Hero-in-training."

She started to get up. She had absolutely no patience for his brand of nonsense and sneering, boastful face today. "Trying to make me angry isn't going to do you any favors. It might just make me pound your face in more when I do fight you."

For just a second, she was certain she saw fear flicker across his eyes, as though he was capable of realizing he was dangerously close to crossing a line. He laughed, slightly nervously. "I'm glad you've got such confidence in my ability to win," he said. He took a bow. "And I suppose confidence in yourself as well, if you expect to move on. Not… entirely undeserved. I will say… some part of me would relish the opportunity to properly face you in battle and properly show you just whose skills are superior. I might even thank you for letting me prove myself in such a fashion."

With that, he turned on his heels and walked off, leaving Katsumi alone again.

"What… what just happened?" she asked aloud. She was pretty sure there was some kind of half-hearted compliment buried under all of that bluster. And there was the food thing.

Sitting back down, she let out a puff of breath. The food did smell good and she was hungry. She'd burned a lot of calories using her Quirk during the first two rounds.

As much as she hated to admit it, he'd had a point. Whatever happened, it did her no good not to be at her best. As her papa noted, self-care was very important. She supposed even a stopped clock like Monoma was right twice a day.

She was happy to let Izzy have her spot. One thing both her parents had taught her was that she didn't have to prove anything to anyone except for herself, a lesson her dad admitted he'd learned the hard way. If she could act with a clear conscience, then they'd support her.

That did mean she wouldn't have the opportunity to fight Monoma. The blond rat just might make it a few rounds in, if he got lucky. She would have really liked to have smacked him around a bit and not have to worry about getting in trouble for it.

But indulging in her desire to punch him in his stupid face would mean selling out Izzy. Maybe it was arrogant, but she knew she could take her if she wanted to. Izzy was strong as all get out, silk hiding steel. But she didn't have the kind of fighting instinct that Katsumi did, the sheer desire to push beyond all limits.

"I really hope karma's watching," she muttered to herself. "Because I should be getting some big points for this."

Mika waited until Shiro was sitting down at a table with Kana Tetsutetsu and Anime Fukidashi before she approached, plopping down next to him and putting an arm around him. "So, Shiiiiiiro," she trilled, "didja tell her?"

He gave her an incredulous look. "I have no idea what you're talking about." A lie. She could read him like a book. She knew where he was ticklish; he had no secrets from her.

"I really wish you'd stop trying push Katsumi's buttons like that," Kana said. "One of these days she's just gonna slug you and I won't be around to pull your fat out of the fire."

Anime blinked her too-large eyes. "Do you know something we don't, Mineta?"

Mika fixed Shiro with a look. He couldn't possibly think he was hiding this. "Did you tell Kirishima-Bakugo that you're in love with her?"

Kana suddenly started choking on her drink, while Anime just started laughing, putting a hand over her mouth while she giggled and looking for all the world like a looped piece of animation. "Mika," Kana said, "you can't just make stuff up like that!"

"I… I don't know what you're talking about!" Shiro insisted, speaking quickly and stumbling over his words. "Why, the very idea…!"

Mika just kept giving him a look. Shiro was an incredibly smooth talker, but he couldn't talk his way around her. She was far too familiar with his particular strategies for misdirection. "Uh-huh."

In the face of this, he looked down, his shoulders slumping. "When did you find out? I thought I was being so careful! Did Akaya tell you?"

Akaya knew? Now that was interesting, but not exactly surprising. Akaya Koda was remarkably perceptive and hardly one for gossip. "She didn't tell me," she assured him. "I think we both know her better than to think she'd go spilling secrets, no matter how many exotic seeds you bribed her with."

But Shiro just looked so beaten by the news that she knew his little secret that she couldn't help but feel bad about it, just a little. She gave her former boyfriend an affectionate little squeeze. "I'm pretty sure I knew before you did. I have special senses for all things sexy. And if it makes you feel any better, this was after we broke up. Pretty sure you weren't two-timing me or anything."

"Wait, you weren't joking, Mika?" Kana asked, having finally found her voice again. She fixed Shiro with one of her 'you're about to get smacked' looks. "This is why you were watching her with the binoculars and sneaking around all the time? Not because of your stupid rivalry that only exists in your head? Were… did you make that origami explosive crane from last month? What the hell?"

"This is getting embarrassing," Anime said, a large sweat drop appearing next to her strawberry-blonde hair. Mika didn't even begin to understand how anything about her worked. She moved, faster than Mika's eyes could follow, shifting to a leaning forward position, elbows on the table, chin in her hands. Her eyes had somehow gotten even larger. "For Monoma! Please continue!"

"Yes, it's true, all right?!" Shiro snapped, probably louder than he'd meant to. All eyes were on their table for a moment as all other conversation in the cafeteria stopped.

"He's fine folks!" Mika said, giving everyone a disarming wave. "Kana just threatened to smack him again! He's admitting he deserves it!"

That got various head shakes and mutters, most of them about "Monoma being Monoma" and "probably deserved it." Most of the former came from others in 1-B, while the latter from 1-A. Either way, Shiro had enough of a rep that it was easily believable and no one followed it up.

"I was going to tell her," Shiro said. "After I'd proven myself at the Festival. I know she respects strength and doesn't think much of mine. Or me in general. So if I did well… then I thought I might stand a chance."

He frowned. "As it is… I'm likely to be eliminated by my second or third match at best. I might be able to beat Kocho, but my odds of survival go down dramatically after that. Hardly the victory I wanted."

Kana reached across the table and gave him a gentle knock on top of his head. "You get one non-steel smack for that," she said. "Because you're being an idiot, if you think that's how she thinks. Katsumi recognizes strength, yes, respects it, yes, but that's not all she bases her life on, or even attraction. She's not going to be impressed by some kind of "prove yourself to her" display of strength."

That was definitely true. Mika would hardly call Kirishima-Bakugo a friend, but her own finely tuned Sexiness Senses had been more than capable of picking up on the fact that the explosive girl had only had eyes for Izumi Todoroki for a long time. And while Todoroki had her own, quiet strength, it wasn't the kind Shiro was thinking of here. Of course, Todoroki was definitely asexual, so she could have told her that wasn't going to go anywhere, but she hadn't been about to get in the middle of that. That would have been a good way to get blown up.

"What am I going to do?" Shiro asked. He looked so utterly despondent, sadder than she had ever recalled seeing him.

"Okay," Mika said. "Time for the expert to weigh in…"

"No, no, no," Kana said, cutting her off. "As the only one at this table with any sense, let me handle this."

Mika crossed her arms. "Well, sure, if you want to do things the boring way…"

"To the victors!" Takuma held up his water bottle and waited expectantly for his tablemates—Kimiko, Kenta, and Kocho—to raise theirs. Kimiko had insisted that Kocho join them. He and Kenta hadn't had any objections to that, and in any case, arguing with Kimiko was just a good way to get smacked. Kenta sat to his right, while the girls sat across from them.

Sure, he hadn't made it to the final round. Neither had Kenta. But he'd gotten to show off some of what he could do during the Obstacle Course. And he thought, even if he'd been eliminated, he'd done a pretty good job at Quirkball, lasting until the final seventeen. His Acid Tape had done a good job of ball and crowd control, keeping a few people stuck and catching a lot of balls right out of the air. He'd just gotten unlucky in the last part of it.

Too bad, really. His Quick was well suited for the Tournament Round, since he could have easily tied someone up or made the ground sticky or slick. Heck, just being able to let loose with a more acidic shot of Tape would have broken through a lot of defenses.

So he hadn't made it all the way. There was always next year. And none of it was going to stop him from adding "Obstacle Course Champion" to his Viewtube resume.

It beat Dad's first Sports Festival by a longshot though. One Sero getting flash frozen by a Todoroki was enough for a lifetime!

The others clanked their water bottles against his. "To the victors!"

"Seriously, though," Takuma said. "Really great job, ladies. I'm glad at least one of us made it."

"Figured it wouldn't be me," Kenta said. "I didn't even get to use my Quirk at all during the whole Second Stage. Maybe I ought to just stick with the showbiz thing instead."

"Hey, that's loser talk!" Kimiko said, trying to reach across the table to smack him, but Kenta leaned back and out of her reach. The sleeve of her uniform passed harmlessly through the air. "No fair!" she whined, pulling her arm back and crossing both over her chest. Takuma knew his invisible friend well enough to read her body language as petulant. "You need a smack for that!"

"Not that I'm agreeing with the smack part, bro," Takuma said, in-between bites of food, "but she's got a point. Your Quirk's great. Remember rescue training? You're, like, the literal jaws of life."

"What is your Quirk, exactly?" Kocho asked. The butterfly—no, moth, she's explained that—girl was sipping some kind of high nutrient smoothie, extending a long proboscis from her mouth to sip it up. She'd told them, somewhat embarrassedly, that she couldn't eat solid foods, just liquids, due to how her Quirk affected her anatomy. For Takuma, who'd grown up with a best friend who could and had eaten more things that he could even list, it made no difference. To say nothing of the things he'd dared his younger brother, Haruto, to eat when they were kids.

"I can, ah, I can eat anything," Kenta explained. "My teeth and jaws are super-strong and I can digest pretty much anything."

Kocho nodded at that. "Sounds useful to me," she said. "Though I guess not in Quirkball. Did you get anybody out?"

Kenta shook his head. "Managed to tag a few people, but not enough to eliminate them." He did manage a small smile though. "I did hit Kirishima-Bakugo once, though. So that's nice. I mean, she'll probably kill me later, but I did it."

"What's her deal anyway?" Kocho asked. "She's kind of scary."

Takuma had to laugh at that. "Calling her "kind of scary" is like calling Deku "kind of heroic." She's terrifying."

"She's… just intense," Kenta said. "Really competitive. Focused."

"She's no fun," Kimiko said. "I mean, maybe if she was good for a little gossip or something, but she doesn't date, doesn't ogle anybody, nothing worth sharing with anybody! How'm I supposed to work with that?"

"To be fair," Takuma said, "she hasn't actually killed anybody. That we know of, anyway. She mostly just yells. A lot. At everybody."

That wasn't really as comforting as he'd hoped it was.

"Speaking of gossip," Kimiko said, "where's your boyfriend?"

"With his sister," Takuma explained. "They're 'strategizing for the coming conflict ahead.'" He shrugged. "She's gonna be fighting Midoriya."

"Ooooh!" Kimiko squealed. "Lovers turned bitter rivals on the field of battle! Will it end in tears? Or perhaps a victory celebration later?"

"Lovers?" Kocho asked.

"You do know the camera's not running, right?" Kenta asked. "And I'm pretty sure they haven't even kissed yet."

Kimiko reached out across the table ineffectively again, trying to smack him. "What? You know you're supposed to be filming when I get dramatic like that! What's wrong with you!?"

"I can't believe it!" Shota Shinso said. "You guys all made it! That's so awesome!"

For once, Isamu couldn't help but share in the purple-haired boy's enthusiasm. He'd taken a lot of hits during Quirkball, but he's also managed to survive and was going on to the Tournament Round, which was something he'd never expected to happen. He hadn't managed to make a fool of himself on national television and in front of an audience of hundreds of people, which was good. He could just picture his mom watching from home, his dad watching from the tiny black and white television he kept behind the counter of his convenience store, both of them cheering him on. He had to make them proud.

Shinso didn't even seem to care that he hadn't made it. What he wouldn't have given for that kind of confidence. But his friends probably all had internships waiting for them just on their names alone. He was the one who had to make a mark.

At least his first fight wasn't against anyone he knew. Some of his others might be, but at least he wasn't starting out with that. His opponent was going to be Sasuke Kido, who had been on his team during Quirkball. Kido's Quirk was Force Field, an energy field around his body that he could use defensively or form into solid objects. Against Isamu's speed, it was going to be an odd match up. His best shot lay in the fact that Kido couldn't do both at once: he could either protect himself or shape his force field into something to attack with. Isamu could work with that. He'd like to keep his ace in the hole for later, if he could, but that was an option if he had to.

"Sorry you didn't make it," he told Shinso. "I tried not to aim for people who weren't in our class, but…"

"All's fair in love and Quirkball," Tokoyami said. She's been extremely impressive during Quirkball, wearing Frog-Shadow around herself like a suit of armor, fighting defensively and only occasionally sending her familiar out to strike. It had worked really well, considering she'd finished with the second highest score in the second round.

"Don't worry about it," Shinso agreed. "I still get to watch all of you guys! I'll be cheering for everybody!"

No surprises there either.

"You doing all right, Izumi" Isamu asked.

He'd seen her medication routine plenty of times now, but it was always just a little shocking to see her take her pills. Some of them were very large and made his own throat close up just looking at them. And she'd worked herself to near exhaustion during both stages of the Festival. It had been a practical bonding moment between himself and Kirishima-Bakugo when they'd both brought Izumi to Doc Clock after the Second Stage. She'd been diagnosed with exhaustion and told to rest up as much as she could before her first fight in the Tournament. With her having done pretty well during Quirkball, it mean her Tournament round was a little late into things. Hopefully that would be enough time.

"As well as can be expected," she assured him, taking the last of her pills with a swig of water. "But my strength is returning. I am certain, though, my mother and Aunt Mei will wish to look at the workings of my regulator harness after this. It is performing its job quite well, but this is the first time it has been so thoroughly pushed."

"Makes sense," he agreed. And she did look a lot better, what color she had had returned to her pale features and she no longer seemed like she was going to pass out. "You nervous about fighting Kirishima-Bakugo?"

Izumi slurped noodles into her mouth before she spoke, seemingly weighing each word heavily in her mind. "I've known Katsumi all my life," she said. "She is exceedingly formidable, even without her Quirk. But I am hardly a novice with mine, even if I am less suited to grappling and "throwing down," as they say."

Izumi looked down for a moment, finishing the last of her food. "But that is not what I am worried about." She pushed back from the table and stood. "If you will excuse me?" she asked. "Asuka, Isamu, good luck to you both."

She looked like she was heading over to Kirishima-Bakugo's table.

"Any idea what's going on there?" Isamu asked Tokoyami. Asking Shota would have been pointless. The little guy was a good friend and enthusiastic, but not exactly quick on the uptake.

Tokoyami navigated a piece of food past her beak, before speaking. "Where those two are concerned… it is very complicated."

Isamu shrugged. He wasn't about to get in the middle of that. Izumi may have been his friend, but Kirishima-Bakugo scared the hell out of him. And their momentary truce to get Izumi some post-Quirkball help was likely long expired.

"Anybody see where Midoriya went?" he asked instead. "I figured he'd join us."

Shinso shook his head. "I saw him getting food, but I didn't see where he went."

"I think he was going to talk to Sora," Tokoyami said. "I saw him going off with her and her brother."

"Think he's going to be okay fighting her?" he asked. "She is his girlfriend."

"Why wouldn't he be?" Shinso asked. "What difference does that make?"

Tokoyami looked at Shinso for a long moment. "…We'll talk later. *chirp* But I suspect they'll work something out. Toshi is quite sensible."

"I sure hope so," Isamu said. "Gonna be a hell of a tournament…"

Izumi sat down across from Katsumi, waiting patiently for her friend to acknowledge her. An empty food tray next to her suggested that Katsumi had, at least, eaten something, which was good. She would be the first to admit that she was not always good with reading people, but, barring having apparently missed the signs of attraction for several years, she was generally pretty good at reading Katsumi. From the moment the Second Stage had ended and the results had been posted, she has seen a difference in Katsumi, something beyond the usual worry she usually expressed over her. Something was very wrong with Katsumi, but she could not tell what.

"Oh," Katsumi said, once she noticed her. She looked as those her mind was a million kilometers away. "Hey, Izzy. You look better."

"I am, thank you," Izumi said. When it became apparent that Katsumi was not going to engage in conversation without further prompting, she realized it was going to be up to her. "Are you going to tell me what is wrong? Or am I going to have to guess?"

Katsumi stared at her for what seemed like too long a moment. "It's nothing," she said. "Just got some stuff running through my head."

"Are you upset because you did not place first in either event?" Izumi asked. "You still managed to advance to the next rounds. And that is where placements are truly decided. You and I have both seem many reversals over the years in the final rounds."

"Nah, I know that ain't it. I mean, yeah, I wanted to do better, but I'll take it." Katsumi seemed cagey and evasive, as though unwilling to answer completely truthfully.

Katsumi stood, but did not look at Izumi. "Listen, Izz, I…" She trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words. Something Izumi never would have expected of her. Katsumi always spoke her mind. This reminded Izumi far too much of when Katsumi had confessed her feelings. But those feelings had been laid bare and they had reconciled in the face of them, determined to move forward. What else could there be?

"I gotta go, Izz," Katsumi said. "I'll see you in the arena, okay?"

She opened her mouth to protest, but closed it, then nodded. "All right," she said. "As you wish, Katsumi." She could have pressed the matter, certainly. But with so little time before the Tournament, perhaps that was not wise.

She wished she had better answers.

"So we are in agreement?" Sora asked. "We both give our best, no hard feelings, and then resume our natural girlfriend and boyfriend state afterwards?"

Toshi had been worried when his girlfriend had pulled him aside, along with her brother. Especially since he wasn't sure what fighting her would mean for their fledgling relationship. He'd hoped they could put it aside long enough to go against each other and it had turned out that Sora was already thinking the same way he was.

"We are," he agreed. "Can't go Plus Ultra if I'm worried about what will happen when I win."

"If you win," Sora corrected. "But thank you, Toshi. I have enjoyed your company so far and would very much hate to lose it in the event of my victory."

And then she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. For just a moment, Toshi was certain that the world had gone electric, lights exploding behind his eyes, and his face set ablaze. He was pretty certain he said something, but his language skills had been left somewhere far behind.

He came back into focus at the sound of Tensei clearing his throat. "As happy as I am to see that you have preemptively settled your differences," he said, "my sister and I require time to strategize before the Tournament. I am sure you understand."

"Yeah, I understanding the… thing that I gotta understand…"

He heard Sora giggle. "Good luck, Toshi! May the best woman win!"