Chapter Thirteen
"The Yuuei Sports Festival! Where the hero world's inchoate eggs and aim for each other's throats! And the top! Our grand yearly melee!" Present Mic announced cheerily.
The introduction excited every people in the stadium and in their homes.
"And let me guess, all you miscreants came to see them, right?! The freshly-formed miracle stars that smuggled off a mass villain assault with wills of steel! The Department of Heroics Freshmen class!" Present Mic continued, getting some cheers. It made the hero grin. "You're here for Class One-A, right?!"
As the aforementioned class went out of through their passage, the crowd went wild.
"And following Class B, here comes Class C, D and E from department of General Education!" Present Mic called out. "And now here are Classes F, G and H from Department of Support. Now for the Department of Management-"
As Present Mic went on and on about the departments and classes, some eyes followed a brunet who went out last from his class. Some heroes pointed fingers to his way. Some of the viewers gasped and called out their colleagues to inform them of a certain teen. Even children pointed him out, calling him 'onii-chan'.
Like any other, they were graced with the gravity defying brown hair and twinkling warm caramel eyes that looked orange in the light. The sturdy back, the graceful walk, the tall figure, the slender body and soft features that never deters how fierce the teen when it comes to saving others. All of those people who were saved and worked with this young man relieved the time they met him for the first time. The power, arrogance and ferocity, yet the gentleness and warmth that always and always assure them that things will be alright.
And right on camera, the viewers were graced with this lovely and exuberant smile that was directed to someone who called him out. And just like that, they knew he is the hero they were searching for in a long time.
"Seriously," Tsuna breathed as he looped his right shoe lace around his ankle and gave it a double knot with hard tugs for security. "this is freaking harsh."
"For you, it is." Katsuki huffed, as the first red light glowed.
The brunet laughed. "I was meaning for all of you." He got looks. "That obstacle course? I have done worse."
"Worse?" Someone from other department parroted. The second lit.
"You haven't seen an obstacle course-" The three lights got completed. He smiled pleasantly. "-made by a spartan demon spawn from hell with all his sadism and this chaos written on them."
"START!" Someone shouted.
Tsuna didn't really make a scene. He went with the flow until he got out. He laughed when Todoroki made the ground go icy and went to slide in it like a kid in a park. This was just walk in the park obstacle course. Reborn made things more dangerous than this.
When his intuition tingled as Mineta tried to attack, he leapt for his classmate to save him from a robot's punch. He bid the other a 'see ya', leaving him shocked before saving Kirishima and some guy from being smashed by a big robot that Todoroki froze and let it fall on them.
"Thanks Tsuna!" Kirishima called out when he dashed forward.
He laughed and waved a hand. "Be careful next time!"
With his intuition and quick reflex, Tsuna went around the robots, not even touching them and caught up with Todoroki. The other gazed at him with bewilderment that he only grinned before dodging a punch from a robot. He ran up to the robot's arm, up to the back and did a jump from there with his enhanced strength. He cackled when the robot went sideways and fell from his impact. Still, he caught up with Todoroki who tried to freeze him, but failed when he always dodges.
When they came upon The Fall, which is composed of these distanced flat surfaced rocks with ropes attached to each other, Tsuna didn't take a break like Todoroki did. He hopped from one rock to another. Dude, Reborn will even attach bombs on some rocks just for his sadistic glee. He laughed out loud when he almost fell, but caught his balance in the end. He thought he heard Todoroki shout his name in panic. He gave the other a peace sign before continuing to the other side.
When he turned back to check, he saw Todoroki catching up with Katsuki behind him. He waved at the blond to rile him up. His chuckle rang when Katsuki sent him the finger, before he cheered for those who are struggling then started running again to catch up with Todoroki.
"You're enjoying these." His classmate commented, almost out of breath. "You're not even out of breath."
"This is too simple. I did and had worse for years." He waved off before he pointed a spot. "Watch out, we have landmines up ahead."
The other stared at him in incredulity. He shrugged, waved off the other to run ahead, before stepping on a hidden mine and immediately used his flames to zoom him forward, just as the bomb went off. He grinned at his classmate who blinked in shock. Yup. They entered Mine Field.
When they heard more explosions from the back, Tsuna glanced back. He pulled Todoroki to the side when Katsuki came flying in with his explosion quirk. When Katsuki started to attack his companion, he left them for it and trailed behind him, not directly to where Katsuki's fire of course.
Then suddenly, they heard a loud explosion from the back. Tsuna almost felt himself jump from his skin with it. It reminded him of how explosive Kyouya, Mukuro and Hayato's fights. When he looked up, he saw a flying board and a familiar green head flying in the sky, overtaking the four of them. The two competitive teens in front of him went hard to go faster too. When he saw Izuku almost falling and tugging his board, his eyes widened in realization before he dodged just as the board touched the ground hard, and a landmine exploded between Katsuki and Todoroki.
Tsuna pushed the two forward. Todoroki recovered quicker than Katsuki and went on before the blond did. And like how it ranked, Izuku came first before Todoroki then Katsuki and him. Although he isn't out of breath, he went to the side and rested there.
He felt rather nostalgic with the explosions and the obstacle course in general. He remembered his family. Heh. He suddenly wants to-
The brunet moved his head to dodge a punch. He quirked an eyebrow to a guy who tried to hit him.
"Don't just stare at me, you shit. You were laughing at us." The other student growled.
Tsuna looked up to the monitors to see if the teen in front of him is there before smirking. "Oh. Pride hurts?"
"You-"
"Oi." They looked over the other's shoulder to see Katsuki glaring at them. "Get the fuck off him or I'll fucking kill you."
They watched the disgruntled student go for the passage.
"Thanks, Katsuki." He expressed.
"You're too happy-go-lucky sometimes." The blond scowled before hauling him through his collar. "We're gathering there. Come on."
"Yes Sir!" He saluted, earning a grunt he chuckled at.
When they got introduced to the next course of action, Tsuna extracted himself from Katsuki's side. Human chivalry is a teamwork. He didn't really search for people going for his group. He wanted to approach Izuku, but it looked like they already formed a team. He bumped to some purple head who smirked at him. He only stared at the guy before smiling at him too. He knew he took the other by surprise.
He was standing by the corner when he got approached by a lady with shoulder-length black hair, a guy with tied black hair, and a guy with mihawk blond hair and distinct features of an animal. Tsuna blinked and smiled at them when they greeted him too.
"I'm Sao Yamato." The guy with mihawk blond hair introduced himself. "I can run fast."
"I'm Daisuke Inao, I can control the earth surface." The guy with tied black hair said with a shy smile.
"My name is Yua Amane. I can make things invisible." The only lady in them answered.
"Wait." Tsuna blinked as his intuition started to form a strategy. He grinned. "We'll make a great team. I'm Tsunayoshi Sawada, Tsuna is okay. And I have flames. What ranks did you get?"
"I'm thirty-first." Amane answered snappily. "That's one-five-five right?"
"Yup. I'm one-ninety-five." He informed.
"I have one-seventy-five." Yamato supplied with a hand raised.
"I came after Amane. One hundred sixty." Inao answered. "With those added up, we have six hundred eighty-five."
He nodded in a thoughtful expression. "True. With the use of Amane-san's quirk, we don't really have to do anything but sneak around and exchange headbands here and there."
"O-Oh." The only lady with them uttered in shock.
Tsuna smiled pleasantly. "You didn't really thought of that, did you?"
"I can't make myself invisible though." Amane replied, crestfallen a little.
He waved off a placating hand. "That can be arranged. My Dying Will is peculiar, you know. I'll make you see some magic later."
Amane brightened a little.
"I can erase our footprints." Inao volunteered, snickering. "I like this strategy of ours. Sneaking around and doing playful things while they go all rowdy."
"I'll do the running then." Yamato nodded, smiling as mischievous. "So who'll be the head?"
Tsuna nodded to the only lady in their team, who blushed red. "Gentlemen, we have our queen."
Like Tsuna suggested, Amane became the head and the one who is wearing their combined scores. He got the right while Inao got the left. And at their front is Yamato. When the battle started, Tsuna urged Amane to use her quirk. The moment he felt it, he wove his flame on the quirk and pushed it to make Amane invisible too. When the lady exclaimed a 'waah', Tsuna knew he made the lady amazed.
He did it a lot of times, whenever some kids in the park can't use their quirks to play with their friends because they can't control it. They shouldn't be doing it, but that's what his Dying Will for, right? To give control. With so much practice, he can use it at will. If only he could do it with the other flames. Too bad.
The game began when they went invisible. The four kept themselves from snickering whenever they get one headband invisible before taking it and running away. Since they need a lot of headbands, they exchanged enough until they got the same number as their previous scores by getting three headbands. Everytime they get almost caught by others, Yamato will make them fly by running away. With Inao's earth quirk, he could erase their footprints and trip one team to make it easier for them to get their bands. When the game finished, Amane released her quirk and they let her down. The four looked at each other before laughing their asses out.
"Man, I know I've seen you laughing in the obstacle course, but I didn't know you'll be fun like this, Tsuna." Inao gasped, trying to catch his breath from all the laughing they did. "We've been laughing too much since awhile ago!"
"I don't feel exhausted." Yamato chuckled. "Unlike awhile ago, I don't feel tired from all the running we did."
"Well, that's the essence of sports festival." He raised a finger. "One, to have fun. Two, to get along with other classes. And three, to be sports." He grinned. "But frankly, this is the most fun I had for a school festival. I never joined any festival, other than those I attend with my Dad and Uncle."
"Now gentlemen," They looked at Amane who raised the three headbands with her cute smile. "Let's hear what they can say."
"Now shall we see who our top four are?!" Midnight announced from her perch. "In the first place, Team Todoroki!"
The four of them clapped. They saw how hard Todoroki's team fought to get the one million headband from Izuku's team.
"In second place, Team Bakugou!"
Tsuna doesn't know if he wants to laugh or something. Monoma from Class One-B was kinda troublesome. The brunet saw how good Monoma was in copying Katsuki's quirk, although not as powerful, it was still a bad thing for Katsuki's pride. The latter did go long with his own revenge. So Tsuna clapped for him.
"In the third place, Team Tetsute- Wait! Huh?! Hey! It's Team Shinsou! When did you make it so high?!"
Caramel eyes went orange to search for a purple head. The guy is a total menace. No wonder his intuition always warns him when to talk. He should probably tell the other that he shouldn't use it that way? Wait. He should consult his Dad first, right?
"And in the fourth place, we have a tie! Team Amane and Team Midoriya!"
The three of their team cheered while he clapped with them. When it was announced that it was lunch break and the events will resume at afternoon, he excused himself to the three and rushed for the door. He greeted his classmates as he makes his way and was about to take a turn when he felt a hand circle around his arm and another covering his mouth.
Since his intuition didn't alarm him, he didn't struggle and went along. He gazed to his captor and blinked at those red eyes that glances down at him from time to time. Tsuna wonders if Katsuki will become a good criminal if he doesn't want to be a hero. He's good at kidnapping and being explosive. Always angry.
"So..."
Tsuna stilled as he and Katsuki stopped walking. He looked to the side, to see Todoroki leaning on the wall by the entry. If he does recognize the voice who said that one word, the other must be talking to Izuku. The former must have sneaked out the latter to the side to have more privacy since they couldn't talk that well.
"What- What is it- What is it you want to say?" He heard Izuku queried.
"I'm saying what I felt about you was the same. Something too similar." Todoroki answered. "You... You're All Might's illegitimate son or what?"
Tsuna blinked and held on to Katsuki's hand to stop himself from laughing. That was the best theory he heard so far.
"Y-You got it all wrong! I- Well of course, that's exactly what a secret son would say, so I get if you don't believe me, but I swear that's not it!" Izuku vehemently denied and tried to explain.
The brunet suddenly had the urge to face palm at the greenet's reaction. He just confirmed his relation with All Might.
"Actually..." Izuku's tone went calm, but hesitant. "I'm going to ask you something. Why are you- I mean- Why me...?"
"The way you said that. 'That's not it.' In other words, you have some connection to All Might that you can't talk about whatever that might be." Todoroki drew out. He heard the miniscule gasp from Izuku before the other talked more. "You must know about my father, Endeavor."
Hate. Tsuna can hear the hate in Todoroki's voice. He suddenly felt conflicted when he remembered how that emotion felt while being directed to his own father too, his world's Iemitsu Sawada.
"He's the number two hero forever now." Todoroki informed. "If you're connected with the number one hero, then that means I need to win all the more. My old man will do anything to advance his position. He made a name for himself during his hero career firing all on cylinders. But it was never enough to outpace a legend like All Might, who was an unremovable mite in his eyes. And because he knew he can never hack it with his own power, he devised a plan."
"What are you talking about, Todoroki? What is it... You're telling me exactly?" Izuku asked, confused and uncertain with how their conversation is going to go.
"You know about quirk marriage, right?"
Tsuna and Katsuki looked at each other with that question. Both's eyes were wide as saucers.
"After the phenomenon started, it came into picture during the second, third generation." Todoroki started off. "Choosing mates solely to enhance one's own quirk to be inherited down the line. And forcing marriage for that purpose. A throwback to a bygone idea devoid of any logic. As a man of means and merit, he easily ingratiated himself to my mother's family and took possession of her quirk. All he wanted was to slake his own thirst and raise a hero to rise above All Might."
Tsuna felt the corner of his eyes water as the next words came out of Todoroki's mouth.
"Fuck him! I'll never be that piece of shit's tool! In my memories, my mom is always crying. She told me that my left side is ugly, and she dumped boiling water on me."
Tears streamed down Tsuna's face as Katsuki let go of him. He put his own hands over his mouth to cover his sobs and crouch down to stop himself from falling. To have such stupid idea, and drive the mother to do such a thing... Why? Why do such a cruel thing to a child?
"The reason I'm aiming to beat you is as a personal triumph. I won't use my shitty old man's quirk or rather, I'll become number one without needing to. This is my total disavowal of him."
The brunet tried to muffle his noise as he heard someone walking away.
"If you can't tell me anything, that's fine. You keep being All Might's something or other. And I'll climb over you using only my right side. Sorry I took your time." Todoroki ended.
Tsuna was about to move when he felt a hand grip his hair and forced him to stand down.
"Don't." Katsuki murmured above him.
"I..." They heard Izuku trailed off. "I've just been a beneficiary of outside help, all this time. That was true earlier too. I... The reason I'm standing here is because someone always saved me. All Might... I want to be like him. And I need to become strong to accomplish that, and become number one. It maybe a tripling motive compared to yours, but," A small deep breath and the voice became more confident and determined as he continued to talk. "all the same, I can't lose. Not only for myself, but to pay back all the people who helped me along the way. So I'll take that declaration of war of yours and echo it, I'm going to beat you, too!"
Tsuna stood up and pried Katsuki's hand from his hair. He walked away, head spinning with the information he got. He went for the bathroom to wash his face first before he continued his way to the restroom where His Uncle Hizashi and Dad should be waiting. When he came in, he couldn't help himself from sitting beside Shouta and hugging the man from the side.
God. He knows how cruel the world is. He had broken people surrounding him and making a home between them, even without any blood relation. But to think, that a man like Endeavor can do that just for his gain. Did he ever love his wife? His child? Was he only concerned with his rank?
He shook his head and hugged his Dad closer. He shouldn't judge the man like how he judged Shigaraki. He should set aside the strong emotions and try to see the man's view. But can he? Can he understand the man who only made a family without any home? Even Iemitsu was better. Iemitsu loved his wife. Does Endeavor love his wife? God.
"Tsuna? Are you okay?" He heard Hizashi asked softly but worried.
"Leave him be." Shouta defended. "We'll eat after he calms down. He just needs a hug."
"Okay. You did well out there, Buddy. Your group was amazing."
"You didn't really use your quirks but you amazed most of the audiences and heroes. I'm proud of you."
He nodded. "Thank you."
After fifteen minutes of being attached to Shouta, Tsuna pulled away. They ate, having conversations about the festival. His mood brightened up at how Hizashi commented on how amazing the students were, while Shouta kept on being snarky and epitome of deadpan. Every jab on Hizashi put on his way, Shouta will deflect it. Sometimes, he and the blond will just give up on word glittering the noiret and just jump on him to tickle him.
"What happened?"
Tsuna paused from cleaning up their lunch boxes and looked up to his Dad. Hizashi went out after being called by a teacher for some recreational activities. "Ah."
"You're only like that when you're really really upset." Shouta noted, gazing at him straight in the eyes. It makes him squirm a little. "You appeared like you cried too when you came in. I know it wasn't the festival because you were having fun. Even Hizashi announced how you danced around Todoroki and Bakugou. Even at the chivalry."
"I just discovered something awful. That's all." He answered in a small voice while continuing the cleaning. "It made me upset because I couldn't do something to elevate the pain. That it's not my place to meddle too or stick my nose on it. I know when to back away, but I just can't..." He closed his eyes to control himself.
"Maybe you can do something that others can't." Caramel eyes opened and looked at Shouta. The latter smiled at him a little. "The Tsuna I know will not do anything. He'll make them come to him."
The brunet had to blink his eyes a lot of times before he pointed at himself in shock. "M-Me? M-Make them come f-for me?"
"Yeah." Shouta nodded indulgently. "Come here, Buddy."
He left the boxes and sat beside the hero, leaning his head light on the shoulder.
"Let's get sappy." He chuckled at that. "You should know that you're a magnet. When you open up, you get people come to you. When you close down, you leave people looking for you. When I first meet you, I want to know more of you. When I thought of giving you away to someone else, I couldn't stand of the idea. Once you come in to a person's life, you leave signs that you're there. It's the same with me, Hizashi, All Might, Midoriya, Bakugou and Nezu. It's the same with those people you saved and those people you lead. So if you want to help this certain someone, you don't need to do anything. You just have to be yourself and let them come to you."
"I really don't need to do anything?"
"Take my word, Tsuna. You'll see how well it will work out." His Dad vowed.
Tsuna looped his arms around Shouta. "I will never be able to live without you even if I was fifty-plus years old." He joked, half meant.
"We kept on growing, Tsuna. Even I learn new things I thought I won't need."
He nodded, humming in gratefulness. He's fifty-four years old, but he still can't live without advices. He knew his intuition knows what to do in some situations, but there's a limit to everything. "Thank you, Dad. I'll make you really really proud."
"Knowing you, you won't want to win. So let's settle for second or third place."
"You know me so well, Dad." He snickered.
After cleaning up, Hizashi bid him good luck while Shouta only smirked. He suddenly felt the pressure as the two went for the commentators' box. He went for the staff room and stored the boxes inside Shouta's office before going out. He can hear Hizashi already starting the afternoon event.
He should probably apologize to Katsuki after the announcement for the one-on-one battles. He did walk out from the blond without saying anything. He hopes the other won't explode on him. He'll see if he can do something for Todoroki too. The child must have been so full that he spilled everything to Izuku. He should probably offer a shoulder to lean on.
He was rounding the corner when his intuition told him dodge to his left. He did, and breathed a sigh because he was able to not bump on a hero. He bowed in apology before he went around the hero. But before he went on, he glanced by his shoulders to see Endeavor.
For someone famed as the second best hero, his fire doesn't have the intensity Tsuna can say he's satisfied with. Even Xanxus' wrath flames is much painful that those. He shrugged. Oh well. He hadn't seen him in action yet, anyway.
Too bad, he didn't see the hero looked back to see him too.