Chapter Eleven: Too Easy
Hizashi was pumped. Ratings for last night's radio show was great, and today he would get to announce for the Sport's Festival. His life truly was an amalgamation of everything he wanted – where his desired professions, hobbies, interests, and social life could all co-exist.
He hummed in a good mood as he pressed the elevator button. A few moments later the door slide open.
"Morning Mr. Yamada."
He once again ran into Hanajima. She seemed…eager. He couldn't blame her. The Sports Festival was something to be hyped about, but eagerness wasn't something he ever attributed to the girl. Still, it was great seeing such positive expression. She also carried a bag in each hand, but couldn't tell what was in them.
"Gooood Morning, Hanajima. It's still pretty early. Couldn't sleep?" Hizashi was up so he could get into the arena before others and to ensure all their testing adjustments were set to go.
"I slept enough. Are you going to be alright? You had a show last night, right?" Did his student listen into his show?! That would be super amazing.
"No need to worry about me kiddo! Just worry about your challenges today. Speaking of—" The elevator door opened and the two exited and walked towards the front entrance together. "—your sister or parents aren't coming to cheer you on?" He had met the other Hanajima several times too. He had maybe seen Hanajima with her dad once, and he had definitely never met her mother.
Hanajima seemed hesitant to answer. Some teens were embarrassed by their parents' involvement in their life. Maybe it was that. He hoped it was that. He understood that work culture wasn't the best. People often working overtime and after-work corporate gatherings…things like that. Still, he fully believed that parents should be an active role and presence in their kids' lives. It's why he never wanted to be a homeroom teacher. Nezu had tried a few times but Hizashi knew he would be over invested in the kids' lives. He was content teaching alongside everything else, so he kept it that way for his own health and balance.
"Kaede isn't into these kinds of things. I told her she didn't have to come if she didn't want to. If I didn't she probably would have come out of obligation but also would have been bored the whole time." Hizashi was aghast. It was the Sport's Festival! Sure, people usually incrementally took interest by which year the students were in, but they were anything but boring. "My dad will probably watch through all the highlights later. Work and all."
Hizashi caught on to the word probably and the lack of mentioning her mom. There were plenty of single parents. That alone wasn't anything of concern, but it did add to the mental list he had of the girl. Hanajima often appeared to think over her words before speaking. Didn't speak much about herself unless prompted. She apologized a lot as if it was second nature. Uncomfortable in group settings. Extremely independent. The frequency he's witnessed the sisters bring home groceries. How hard it seemed for Hanajima to accept compliments while accepting criticisms without doubt. The amount she talks about her sister, but not about anyone else. That was a little less than two years of observation, but between their run-ins and classes he had been able to deduce that much. Nothing he could report to ensure her home life was safe, but enough for him to keep watching for signs.
"You don't have to worry about that! The cameras are top of the line so remember to do your best to stand out. Best of luck, listener." Hizashi entered the taxi. If she wasn't his student he would have offered the ride, but he was her teacher and he had no doubt that despite planning to be hours early there would already be a lineup of people and plenty of reporters just like the years before. U.A. was already under enough scrutiny without some twisted article about how a staff member and student arrived together.
Hanajima raised a hand and weakly waved.
"Hizashi!" Hizashi arrived at the arena and had Nemuri yell at him. Her arm linked with Shota's who she dragged with her every clacking step. He understood it was for her motif, but would never understand how she ran in those heels. "Talk some sense into him. He refuses to listen to me."
"You don't have to be so dramatic. I'm perfectly capable of surveying." Did Hizashi hear Shota correctly? He wanted to work during the Sports Festival? Who was he kidding. Of course, Shota wanted to. This was the same man who tried to run away from medical care the moment he woke up. It had been a little over two weeks, but that wasn't all that long of the time. Shota was still recovering.
"See! Listen to him! If I didn't have to move around so much and if I didn't have to supervise the matches I would keep him at my side, but the last thing he needs is to be next to students attacking each other." Nemuri placed her free hand on her hip. "You're in a booth. Take him and make sure he stays seated."
Hizashi's eyes sparkled. Oh~ That could be fun. Shota has always rejected being a guest host on his radio show, but now he could have the chance here and now! It would be better if Shota wasn't hurt, or if he didn't keep pushing himself so much, but he was happy to take advantage of the situation!
He stuck his arm out and gave a thumbs up. "Good call, Nemuri! Leave it to me."
Shota grumbled about not getting to decide, but that was his own fault for trying to push himself in the first place.
In hindsight, he probably should have invited Vlad King too. This might look like 1-A was getting preferential treatment as their homeroom teacher could more accurately input on their physical capabilities than Hizashi could. Especially with the special attention first years were getting this year because of the Villain attack.
He had been a little too excited to co-host with Shota when he realized this mid-way through the first event.
Forgive him.
Please.
…
"Thanks Minami!" Ochako – the girls had come to the mutual agreement of using first names except Tsuyu who insisted on being referred to as Tsu – swallowed another mochi. Momo grabbed a custard imagawayaki while Mina took bites from the okra salad. Minami thought it was nice. Sports day, even if this one was a larger event, was not the same without food to share.
"Instead of cooking you should have been training, dumbass," said Katsuki despite taking some of the cucumber salad with the takanotsume-based dressing.
Between sitting with the girls who had arrived so far and the positive reception of people taking the food she made to share, Minami felt somewhat emboldened. "I'm capable of both." She shrugged as she took a lotus root chip.
"Eep!"
They turned to Toru only to see Mineta reaching for food under her arm with his arm grazed against her breast. Toru was so happy she was wearing the gym outfit right now. Her own outreached arm was immediately pulled back and her elbow hit the center of Mineta's face sending him to the ground. His nose dribbling blood from the hit.
"Deku!" Ochako called the green hair boy as he entered the room. "You should try some."
Midoriya jolted as he was torn from his thoughts.
"Are you okay?" Ochako asked.
Midoriya could feel the nervous sweat run down his face. He should be happy that Ochako was talking to him, but despite training and preparation he felt the pressure from two opposing forces. He was three weeks into his quirk counseling sessions. His counselor stressed that there was no rush. That slow, progressive, development was better for his physical and mental health. They had gone over safety precautions and recommended activities for harm reduction and strength-building. Midoriya had let slip that his body wasn't strong enough for the quirk which only made him double down about building strength. That Midoriya should be treating his quirk growth as a marathon rather than a sprint.
All Might's time was becoming more limited, though, and the blond had expectations that Midoriya would use this opportunity to tell the world he was there. Now. He couldn't let his mentor and hero down.
Even if he had a straight answer to how he should behave there was still the matter that he knew there were amazing people in his class who could easily stand out. Bakugo and Todoroki came to mind specifically, and that was just from what he's seen. He remembers the heat radiating off Todoroki at USJ and there was plenty of talk about Endeavor's son competing.
It made him bitter. Midoriya was trying everything to catch up, yet his own overpower classmate may have been holding back all this time. How could he not be bitter that someone took their quirk for granted? He thought back to everyone who didn't believe in him. The jeers because he was quirkless. It wasn't fair.
"He's lost in that brain of his again," said Tsu.
Minami appreciated that Tsu seemingly spoke her mind without reservations. No guessing. No reservations. Just someone to take at face value.
"Todoroki." Minami tried to greet him as he joined the rest of the class.
He briefly looked her way before taking a seat and ignoring the class. He seemed more withdrawn than usual.
"Seems like Midoriya isn't the only one out of it," said Mina.
"Tsk." Bakugo hated it. First shitty Deku seemed out of it and now half-and-half is too. They should be focusing on what was in front of them. He still needed to beat Deku to a pulp from their battle exercise, and half-and-half was the only person he would feel good defeating. Everyone else was just extras.
…
"Gather around, mass media! This year, all your favourite high school kids will let their youth run free once again. The U.A. Sports Festival has begun! Everybody, Are. You. Ready?!" Present Mic rallied the audience hyping them up.
Cheers erupted from the thousands in attendance as students entered into the spotlight.
Minami glanced around. It was easy to feel small when the arena was so big. She internally chanted 'just have fun' to herself. She determined that she would have fun and do the best she could without the pressure of trying to impress others.
There were so many people, though that she hopes she doesn't fumble and make a fool of herself.
Just don't look up.
"Man, they're treating us like we're just their foils or something."
"What a load of crap."
Minami looked over to where class 1-C was lined up as she heard the comments. They weren't supposed to be chatting, but it wasn't like anyone in the audience would be able to hear. She found Shinso within the crowd and gave a light wave. He clearly saw but didn't acknowledge her.
She could play that way.
Today was for competition. Whether it was Shinso or Todoroki, her new found acquaintances with the class 1-A girls, or anyone else here – it was time to disregard any connection one has to win.
"Now, Now. Fair Play." Midnight posed in the direction she thought would get her the best video angle while still facing the students.
There was chatter about the choice in teacher. Minami didn't understand why people were surprised. She taught at the school. How was refereeing any different than usual.
"Representing the students is Katsuki Bakugo of 1-A!"
Bakugo was called up to give a speech as class representative.
"Eh?! Our representative is Kacchan?" Midoriya yelped.
"He placed first in the entrance exam, remember?" said Sero. Minami had been one spot away from having to give a speech. She didn't know how to feel about that.
"Yeah, the heroics entrance exam." Minami could understand the disappointment of not having the attention, but the school was advertised as a heroics school. The audience was expecting someone from the Heroics Department to be the face of the student body.
Minami wondered if Bakugo was really the best person to represent, but he walked up on stage. He looked relax and without a care that all eyes were on him. She may question his vocabulary and social skills, but he often had an air of assurance. Maybe it was just her imagination, but whenever he wasn't yelling his head off he actually came across as reliable. Though, that may be because she saw uncontestable confidence in one's own ability was like a solid brick wall – a pillar of support and unyielding to the small things.
"I'm gonna place first."
The students protested his words.
Minami didn't think a speech was the time for one's personal declaration, but it was short and to the point and she just wanted to get into the activities so she could forget about the crowd.
Midnight took over to get the program back on track. "All 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. This year's first round is this!" Screens around the stadium lit up with the words 'obstacle race'. "It's a race between all 11 classes! The course makes a nearly 4 km ring around the stadium!" Minami felt some relief. When she heard obstacle race she was worried there would be some form of high endurance. She could do 4km.
Students went to the starting line. Minami stayed in the back. The last thing she wanted was to be trampled. She could make up a few seconds of lost time, but if she got injured this early then the day would be a long endeavor. Even then she needed to be cautious. Some would be aiming to take the lead off the bat and she knew some were itching to use their quirks.
"START!"
Minami let the air below her envelop her. She aimed to bypass the crowd by going over them, but it became an even better choice as Todoroki did what he always did. He immediately used his ice without hesitation leaving many entrapped. She passed Tsu who had stuck to the side of the walls to get through the crowd. Bakugo used his quirk to propel him. Sero used his tape to swing. She was surprised that Iida got caught in that attack, but she shouldn't think too hard on it. He was likely the fastest here, so as soon as he freed himself he would catch up in little time.
Her intentions were to land and run once passing the crowd but the trail of ice cancelled that decision. Skating was one thing, but she would fair no better than everyone else trying to move forward without slipping and falling.
Minami felt her adrenaline pump as her focus centred on what was before her. She watched as Mineta bounced from one hairball to the next – only for him to be punched by a robot.
It was the same robots from the entrance exam. She had wasted time on them back then purely on principle, but she wasn't about to make the same mistake again. This wasn't a simulation. This was an obstacle race. There was no need to beat it.
She went higher up. They hadn't given any rules about any height was about of bounds, so it should be fine as long as she continued to follow the track. She made it over as she scratched the back of her neck. She would need to use her quirk more later, so she should run while she can. She increased her speed as she made her way back down and began chasing after Todoroki.
"1-A's Todoroki has forged ahead and blocked the others in one fell swoop! That kid's harshhh. 1-A's Hanajima is right behind him though! Coming down at soaring speeds." Present Mic announced his play by play.
Todoroki gave a quick glance back. It was true. Hanajima was close behind him. He didn't plan to slow down, but now it really wasn't an option. In some ways her quirk reminded him of Inasa Yoarashi, but unlike Yoarashi he had never perceived her as a threat. He would have to throw her off at the next obstacle – if she could keep up.
The two ran until they reached the second obstacle – 'The Fall'. A bunch of island rocks with only rope connecting them. Todoroki used his ice to glide across. Minami went back into the air to cut straight across while Todoroki abided by the rope path.
She had been training her quirk in other ways but this obstacle course really wanted her to continue to use wind. It was probably a good thing Tokoyami couldn't fly otherwise she would have to watch herself more.
Correction. Minami dodged a giant ice ball. Bigger than any hail she had ever seen. She looked at Todoroki as he threw another even while gliding. She went higher up hoping that would solve her problem but more kept coming. How far could he throw?
Todoroki approached the third obstacle and stalled. Unlike the other obstacles the landmines did poses somewhat of a problem.
"It doesn't mean a thing to me!" Bakugo blasted his explosions. Minami worried that one wrong move would injure everyone in the area. They probably weren't real landmines, but who knew what would happen. She increased her height. Bakugo had declared he would win, so losing now would look bad. He seemed hyper fixated on Todoroki. She imagined the wind enough that she may as well finish that way. Hopefully, she could use her quirk less in the next event. Or at least let her try her new skills!
At least she knows if she ever wants to quit being a hero she would be good at 'running' away from danger.
BOOM!
Minami looked back to see Midoriya gliding through the air. Something gave him the force to propel like a rocket.
1-A's standout trio were at it.
Minami would let them fight. Better for them to be focused on each other than on her.
BOOM!
"Damn Eraserhead, your class is insane! What are you teaching them?" Present Mic shouted into the mic.
Midoriya ran. He was almost there. He had managed to pass Kacchan and Todoroki, but he knew that wouldn't stall for long. The tunnel was right ahead. Keep going. He would prove that –
Something swooped in front of him at the edge of the start of tunnel. The gusts of wind making him take a step back to regain his balance.
Eh?!
Hanajima?
"Who could have predicted this outcome when the trial began?! The man who has returned to the stadium in triumph is none other than…"
Present Mic along with the rest of the crowd awaited the figure to return to the mainstage arena.
"Not a man at all! Where did Hanajima come from?" said Present Mic standing from his seat, not for the first time.
"She was following along the whole time," inserted Eraserhead. People's attentions were so easily diverted. He wanted to complain about Hanajima reverting to one quirk usage, but in this case it was just the most efficient use of it. This was also why he advised for an obstacle to have more of an air threat, but some thought the robots were enough. To be fair, the committee only had a list of people's quirks rather than know the student's application of them.
Hanajima felt her skin tingle. Ignore it. Ignore it like she had been training to do.
It was much harder when there was nothing to focus on. That's right. Something to focus on. She looked around. Todoroki and Bakugo stood near each other out of breath. Oh. She felt weird before using her quirk to avoid everything, but now it felt really weird as people were catching their breaths while she wasn't.
Bakugo grabbed his arm. Not only did he lose to Deku again, but he lost to a girl who used precious training time to cook. It didn't matter that the food was adequately spicy – and not some weak shit like most Japanese 'spicy' options were. Lazy Deadeyes was just an extra.
"You might want to look out," said Shitty Hair as he walked up to Bakugo. "Miss Second Place seems to be coming for your first-place status." Bakugo never bothered with the ranking aside from three things. One: he was first and that was a given. Two: Deku somehow made top ten despite not getting a single villain point. Three: Bakugo was the only fucking one on the list without hero points. Everyone else was out there got buffed with extra points when they were clearly incompetent to deal with the basic threat of unintelligent robots.
He ignored the disappointed chats of those who didn't make it into the next round. They didn't matter. What mattered is that they moved on so he could show everyone the results of the obstacle course were just a fluke.
He would win. That was a promise.
1. Thanks for being patient! It's been one weird week. From multiple earthquakes in a day felt (not enough for damage, but definitely scared me when my walls and floor started shaking), to work suddenly claiming I don't get vacation my first year in the position despite me signing that I just couldn't use it the first three months, to be having butter fingers and dropping everything constantly - to a variety of other stuff in between.
2. I almost wrote the obstacle course as a three legged race, but thought that was a little too cruel for a first round that cuts out more than half the participants.
