"Everyone, are your preparations complete?" cried Iida. "We're set to enter very soon!"

Our class was gathered together in the waiting room of the Stadium. As everyone was gathering their wits and preparing to leave…

"Midoriya," said Todoroki, walking straight up to him.

"What is it, Todoroki?"

"On an objective basis, I think I'm above you in terms of practical strength."

He looked surprised, confused. "Wha? Uh, yeah…?"

"You've managed to get All Might's eyes on your, right?" asked Todoroki. "I'm not prying into that, but…I'm going to beat you."

"What's with this belligerence all of a sudden?" asked Kirishima, grabbing his shoulder. He shrugged him off. "Don't spring this on him right before - "

"I'm not here to play nice and make friends," Todoroki snapped at him, "but whatever."

"I have no idea what you want from me," said Midoriya "telling me all that. You're definitely stronger than me. In fact, you probably have more potential than anyone in the hero course. Looking at it objectively."

"C'mon Midoriya," said Kirishima, "Don't be so negative…"

"Even so!" Midoriya interrupted - or rather continued… "Everyone, even kids from other departments, are aiming for the top with everything they've got!" Something had changed in him now. This wasn't self-deprecation or false modesty, no…this was something else. He looked up to meet my gaze, and there was no wavering now. "So I can't let myself lag behind. I'll be aiming for the top too."

"Oh," said Todoroki.

Present Mic's voice boomed out as we walked into the ring. "Let me guess, you all came to see them, right? The fresh-formed miracle stars that shrugged off a mass villain assault with wills of steel! The Hero department freshman class 1-A!"

The venue for the UA Sports Festival was a gigantic, glittering arena, a circular stadium with seating for cheering thousands and a broadcast geared worldwide. Our fellow students joined us, class by class, until the entire Freshman year stood before the podium.

"Now, now, fair play!" announced the referee for our year, our teacher the R-rated hero Midnight, once everyone had gathered. After she'd rung us in, she called "Now, for your player representative: Katsuki Bakugou of Class 1-A!"

We all stared at Bakugou as he headed up to the podium, looking like he was about to explode. "Sensei, I'm gonna place first."

A massive angry boo of dissent came from the Freshman crowd. Everyone was annoyed with Bakugou's words, and looking at our class as if he spoke for each and everyone of us. In response, he said, "You'll all make fantastic stepping stones, I'm sure,"

Midnight said "Aii right, with that we can move directly onto our first event! Onto the Preliminaries as they're called! Lots of fine folk end up choking on their tears here every year! And this year's first round is…" she pointed to a screen, and the words came up. OBSTACLE RACE "This!"

"It's a race between all 11 classes. The course makes a nearly 4km ring around this stadium! We always sing about our freedom on campus. Well, this is what it's all about! You're free to do anything, so long as you remain within the course! So let's get cracking. On your marks!"

Everyone took their stance, headed for the gate. The buzzer rang. "START!"

Immediately, the gates out of the arena crushed half the students inside their walls. And before we could be crushed, ice began to encase everyone.

Ah, Todoroki.

It wasn't hard for me to evade his trap with a simple wrist jump.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Todoroki!" I called. He turned to face me."I ain't buying your bluff, Todoroki!" shouted Mineta, my classmate with the sticky ball quirk. "Now why don't ya swallow my killer move, grape ru-"

With a loud bang, he was swatted away and rolled across the ground.

I skated to a stop in front of a near army of robots that towered over us students, a seemingly impenetrable barrier.

"A Robo inferno!" shouted Present Mic's voice over the loudspeakers. "It's the Villain Bot that was worth 0 points in the Entrance Exam!"

"Where do they get the funding for all of this!" I asked.

Todoroki went blasting through the robots in a near instant. It was time to show what I was made of.