The U.A Sports Festival, an annual sports event that has replaced the Olympics in spectacle and grandeur in the hearts and minds of the Japanese people. The day before festival saw the air abuzz with youthful excitement as student and teacher alike prepared for the festival. Expectations were sky high as Pro-Heroes from across the nation would be present to scout out the students as prospective interns at their respective agencies. Fame, wealth, prestige, regardless of the students' goals in their pursuit of professional heroics, the Sports Festival was their time to shine.
The same applied to the students of Class 1-A who were chatting up a storm amongst themselves, much to Aizawa's annoyance.
"Quiet down, you lot!" he ordered through his bandages, "It's way too early in the morning for this."
"But sensei, isn't it nearly lunch break?" asked Kaminari. The rest of the class nodded in agreement. It was fifteen minutes till the lunch bell rang.
"Exactly. Too early." Aizawa ran his hand through his hair. "Look, not to rain on your parade here but I expect all of you to perform at your best tomorrow. Don't let the villain assault on the USJ get your head swimming in silly ideas like pride and arrogance. Pride cometh before the fall so keep on your toes." As he said that, he leered towards a certain arrogant blonde.
No hard feelings existed between him and Katsuki Bakugou but never let it be said that Aizawa was anything but perceptive. He observed how he interacted with his peers, how he acted, how he spoke. So far, he gathered that the young man had quite a few complexes of his own. It made sense considering that most children with Quirks equal to his would have spent their whole lives being praised for their Quirk and nothing but their Quirk. Coming to UA usually gave kids like those a bitter dose of reality when they meet others that surpass them by miles. With Todoroki and Yaoyorozu Momo present along with that trouble child, Izuku's victory over him in the Battle Training trial, he knew Bakugou had swallowed quite the pill.
Glimpses of that arrogance still flared within those eyes of his—quite the glare—but Aizawa could tell that Bakugou's focus would be to improve himself to reach the top. He had the drive and the fire, that Aizawa knew. But seeing how he acted around the class president, along with his attainment of a second Quirk, he hoped that the wayward kid set his sights in the right direction. After all, there was no point in losing sight of the journey for the goal.
Speaking of losing sight…
Two weeks earlier
Aizawa hurried off to the conference room after the students have been escorted out of the school. It annoyed him that he had to put off that talk he planned to give Izuku but this took precedence. A villain had broken into UA again, this time threatening the life of Principal Nedzu. Ridiculous didn't even begin to describe what was happening. No sign of intrusion, no scuffle, no cracks, no tracks, not even a sound but the siren still rang, and armoured vehicles brought the students home early.
For it to get this bad, the villain must have been highly dangerous. Cold jitters spread from his gut. As he marched into the conference room, he hoped that he could walk away trusting everyone present.
Despite the school's budget might imply—with giant state-of-the-art robots and entire city block-sized training grounds—the actual rooms used by student and staff were rather average. As average as expensive prestigious schools got, anyhow. The conference room where this emergency meeting of utmost importance was being held was no different. Plain white walls, a table and a set of chairs along with an interactive projector screen, one would be forgiven in mistaking such a room for a barebones office.
Yet, it was in this barebones office where figures of the highest order sat down. Aizawa knew this. It was no secret that Principal Nedzu kept an inner circle comprising of staff. Here in this room was the inner circle within the inner circle. Positioned in their humble chairs were Toshinori, Principal Nedzu, Detective Naomasa, Shuuzenji Chiyo and the Deputy Minister of Heroic Security, Higashikata Josuke. Not to be confused with the Ministry of Heroics.
"What happened?" asked Aizawa.
The people in the room all turned to address the bandaged hero. "Ah, you came in right on time, Aizawa," said Principal Nedzu, a cup of green tea in his hand. "We were just about to get to the meat and bones of the situation." He then motioned for Aizawa to have a seat.
Toshinori, better known to many in his muscular form as All Might, grimaced at his lack of greeting towards the VIP. 'Straight to the point as always…' was what his idealistic colleague probably thought. Still, if the deputy minister felt slighted, he did a great job at hiding it as he gave him a small nod of acknowledgement.
With a clap, the principal declared, "Alright, let's recap what we have on the table so far now that everyone's here."
Detective Naomasa took this as his cue to take over as he stood up. "Right. Following the incident at the USJ and the recent infiltration that happened today, we have gathered several pieces of key evidence. Firstly, from the successful and subsequent failure of the apprehension of the leader of the League of Villains, we have confirmed that All for One is still at large—" "Failure?! What do you mean?" Toshinori cut in.
"A break-out occurred at the penitentiary where he was being temporarily held this morning," said the detective. "I'm sorry, Toshinori. I wish I could have informed you sooner."
"It's fine," said Toshinori, "I'm sorry for cutting you off. Carry on." There went that plan to clear things up with his late mentor's grandchild…
With a nod, Detective Naomasa continued. "As I was saying, All for One is still at large. Through Shigaraki's arrest, we can now confirm that the League is a front to his ulterior motives. What those motives might be are yet to be determined but security will be increased to ensure the safety of the students."
'So far, still reasonable,' thought Aizawa. That explained the presence of armoured police vehicles—something that he'd see more of as the festival starts—but that didn't explain the required presence of an actual minister. Deputy or no, it was exceedingly rare that the government got involved in heroics outside of legislation. A loud creak screeched in his ears. Never mind then, he was going to have an answer.
Standing tall with an air of natural pride, Deputy Minister Josuke Higashikata thanked the detective for saying his piece. "Good evening, everyone," he greeted the room while fixing his pompadour. "As I'm sure people in your line of work are familiar, I deal with Heroics-related security issues. Well, my boss does that but that's beside the point."
A good chuckle or two made its way around the table. Aizawa didn't. So what if the guy had a sense of humour? Just get to the point.
"Regardless of what my duties are," the minister resumed after clearing his throat, "Principal Nedzu has contacted us on something prior to today's incident. While meeting with him was part of the agenda, this infiltration provided a neat little opportunity to be blunt about it."
However, before he went on, he glared at everyone in the room. "How many people in this room know of the 'second Quirk' case?"
Aizawa perked up at this, nodding in agreement.
"Good. If anyone said anything other than 'second Quirk' or 'unidentified Quirk', I would have had to kill them on the spot."
.
.
.
"What? There are people in this world that can shape-shift. I'm not taking any chances." Nedzu had a good laugh at that.
"Get on with it," Aizawa grumbled.
"Okay, okay" said the minister, his hands up in exasperation. "This second Quirk that belongs to one of the students in UA is known as a Stand, as I'm sure Nedzu and Toshinori can testify. While pre-Quirk superpowers existed, Stands can be considered the true progenitors to the Quirks that we know today." As if to prove his point, a ghostly arm engulfed his own, eliciting a gasp from Toshinori. Aizawa watched with curiosity and unease.
"People with Stands, such as myself, are few and far between. This is a fact that has remained unchanged since time immemorial. However, according to the testaments of the late Jean Pierre Polnareff, these Stands originated from a virus found on a meteorite that crashed over a hundred thousand years ago. In a twisted form of viral evolution, it weeds out the weak by killing them off and empowers the strong by granting them powers. Real supernatural powers.
"Of course, when the chances of a host surviving are slim, propagation would be difficult. It is theorised that the virus evolved into a weaker strain of itself to increase its host's chances of survival. The infected will live though their powers would never be as suited to them as Stands."
It was a lot for the participants to digest. Even Nedzu, Aizawa noted, appeared to be having difficulty taking it in. He didn't blame him. All at once, the answers Aizawa hoped for came through but they came with even more questions. Izuku possessed a Stand, he knew that much now, but why hasn't there been a case of a student Stand user throughout the school's entire existence? Were all Stands as powerful as Izuku's? Are Quirks literally just weaker Stands? Where were all the users hiding?
To his dismay, time was up. The Deputy Minister had to return to his office. However, before he left, he mentioned one tiny detail. So tiny, it might even be insignificant at first…
"Ah, I almost forgot," said Aizawa just as he finished putting his books in a stack, "due to the recent break-in a few weeks ago, UA has decided to call in some additional security from the Ministry. This means that some of your watchers might land you an internship with the government as the Deputy Minister himself is said to be attending."
"A break-in?!" said Mineta, "The reason we were escorted out of the school early was because of a break-in?!" His face appeared to turn pale.
"You mean, you didn't hear?" Kirishima asked, "I thought the PA system made it loud and clear that day that someone broke in. Man, these villains sure have it out for our school, eh?" He then pumped his fist with a toothy grin. "Never mind that! The government's going to be watching us too!"
"Don't they do that already?" Tsuyu chimed in. "And isn't having our school broken in twice in a row pretty disturbing?"
"Yeah but the Deputy Minister of Heroics will be coming too!" Kirishima replied before caressing his hair. "I mean, have you seen the hair on that guy? He looks so manly and cool! I've already gotten my sights on working under Red Riot's agency though working for the Ministry wouldn't sound like a bad idea!"
His fellow classmates grimaced with some letting out pity chuckles. There was nothing wrong with working for the government, they all agreed to that. Heck, some might even be more enthused about it than Kirishima. But while the Deputy Minister of Heroics was many things, 'cool hairstyle' was not one of them.
Aoyama simply flicked his golden bangs aside. "Hon hon! How simple, as befitting your personality and Quirk. As for moi, I am confident that my sparkling, shining beam will attract the finest of internships!"
The whole class shared a good laugh.
"What? I am serious."
"Yeah, you sure are, buddy," said Kaminari with a snicker, "You sure are."
The carefree atmosphere was something that class president Izuku Midoriya appreciated. However, he noticed that a few people in particular did not share the same sentiment. From his seat, he noted that Kacchan, Todoroki and Uraraka looked anything but happy. For Kacchan, he had known him long enough to tell that the creases on his childhood friend's forehead indicated his ultimate desire to be No.1. He could not get a good read on Todoroki since he never got to speak with him much and he never said much to begin with. Uraraka, on the other hand, made him worry.
Normally, the bubbly girl would have been to first to chime in, maybe add a blunt remark or two to either Kirshima or Aoyama with a carefree laugh. Instead, she sat still in her seat, her gaze sharp yet looking off into a place no one could see. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen much of her at all for the past week or so. He frowned.
Something must have happened sometime after he met Uraraka by the beach that day. He knew he felt something was amiss when he came across her after his morning jog. He might be overthinking this—she could just be looking for a change of pace in her training—but it was weird to meet her there on a weekend when she had never done so before. He should know, he made it a point to jog there every morning to build up his stamina.
However, try as he might, he could not recall anything else from that day. He remembered his usual workout routine, his successful test of One for All and that embarrassing breakfast with Uraraka but nothing else past dinner. He supposed he went to bed after dinner, but it didn't feel right. Something was amiss and he couldn't put a finger on it.
He shook his head. He could figure that out later. Now, he had a duty as the president of class 1-A and as a friend to ask if Uraraka was alright. Once the lunch bell rang, he made his move. Weaving past the throngs of students in the hallway, he reached out for her shoulder.
"Uraraka!" he called out. The sudden jolt from her did not escape him.
"D-Deku! You scared me!" said Uraraka as she turned to meet him. She avoided his emerald gaze and fidgeted. "Is there something you needed?"
"Are you okay?" he asked.
With a smile, she replied, "I'm not sure what you mean, Deku. Of course, I'm fine!" The tug Izuku felt from his grip told him otherwise.
"Are you sure? You've been looking quite down earlier, and I haven't really seen you in class this past week." The tugging pulled stronger but Izuku's hand would not budge.
"Please," he begged, meeting her auburn gaze head on, "Let me help you."
Uraraka flinched, her smile wavering. The shock in her eyes told a tale. What that tale was, he could not know but she was reminded of it.
"Deku, I—" "Please tell me. I might not know nor claim to understand what happened, but I want to be there for you, just as you have been there for me," he cut her off, a small smile accompanying his worry.
Her breath hitched at this, her cheeks flush with pink. "W-well, I, uh, I, you see—"
"Izuku, Uraraka!" greeted Iida from behind, "I was just looking for you two! Would you care to join me for—oh."
The two friends in question spun round at breakneck speeds, their heads redder than tomatoes. None of them spoke a word as they let their collective awkwardness fill in the blanks.
"W-wait!" blurted Izuku. "It's not what it looks like!"
"Y-yeah!" Uraraka chimed in. "W-w-we were just having a discussion!"
"A totally normal discussion!"
"Hm, hm!" nodded Uraraka.
Iida, who by then remained stiff in mid-wave, straightened his back and pushed his glasses up. "I see. I apologise for having interrupted this innocent, benign discussion you were having. Please, don't mind me. I will be on my way now."
"We told you that it's not what it looks like!" they pleaded in unison. Iida simply stared at the hand on Uraraka's shoulder.
"Hey there, young Midoriya!" boomed All Might, a small lunchbox wrapped in flowery cloth in hand as he peeked around the corner. "Want to join me for lunch—oh…"
Izuku's hand was still on Uraraka's shoulder. Why did he keep holding on?
No tears rolled down his cheeks but Izuku was crying. Uraraka hid her face in her palms and Iida just stayed there with a blank expression.
He didn't know which was worse: Embarassing himself in front of his friends and his mentor or the fact that Diavolo's wheezing and guffaws denied him the solitude of retreating into his mind.
xxx
After a solid few minutes of trying and failing to convince All Might and Iida that they were having a lover's quarrel, Izuku and Uraraka finally got to have lunch together. Setting their respective meals down on the table, they slumped into their seats with a tired sigh.
"We're going to have to live with this, aren't we?" Uraraka whined.
"Stop, I don't want to think about it…" replied Izuku, massaging his forehead.
But you already are, though.
'Shut up, Diavolo. Not now.'
I don't hear a denial.
With a groan, he sipped his green tea. Uraraka giggled a bit at this.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"Your Quirk's tiny face is on your forehead," she replied between giggles. "It looks like its laughing at you."
'Ha. Ha. Very funny, Diavolo.' "Oh? I guess even King Crimson thinks this whole thing is silly," he replied with a sheepish grin.
You mean, it isn't?
He ignored the don in his head for the tiny giggles his friend was making. He could not help smiling as she looked happier now than she was earlier. It helped that her laughter sounded pleasant to listen to.
"So, Deku," she began after her giggling stopped, her cheeks turning a shade of pink but her smile fading. "Did you really mean what you said? That you want to be with me?"
"W-well, in that I'd be there in your time of need, yes," Izuku replied after clearing his throat, his face redder.
"O-of course! That's exactly you meant!" she replied, her cheeks glowing pinker as she flailed her hands around. "Anyway, I suppose I should tell you. It's only right that I do so since it was my fault that it happened."
Any feelings of embarrassment got washed out by concern within Izuku. "What do you mean?"
Taking in a huge gulp of her lemon tea, she spilled her heart out. She told him about her parents' financial troubles and her motivations to be a hero, how they got harassed by loan sharks to pay up and her own troubles by their hand. Finally, she told him about that day. How she went to the beach near Dagobah to get away from the loan sharks, how she later got kidnapped by them for ransom only to break into his home the same night.
Izuku listened on, his brows creasing. His fists clenched tight. Anger boiled within him. Anger at the loan sharks for their deeds. Anger at himself for not noticing sooner. It was a burning rage that felt alien to him but for the first time, he embraced it. Whoever harmed her would pay.
There was one missing detail, however.
"How did you get away?" he asked, his mask of concern hiding his fury.
Uraraka avoided his gaze and squirmed in her seat. "It's… hard to explain. It almost sounds bizarre when I repeat it aloud. You see, after they beat me and were about to force me watch them do… unspeakable things to your mother, you disappeared."
"What?" he blurted, his anger turning into fear. Please don't let this go where he thought it went.
"You did! And then a man with pink hair showed up and killed all but one of the loan sharks," she explained. "He was a scary man with terrifying brutality. He stomped one of the men's head into a pulp." She shuddered just thinking about it. "But I know deep down inside that he was a good man."
Izuku, who kept quiet this whole time, asked, "W-what do you mean by that?"
A wistful smile formed on her lips, almost as though recalling a fond memory. "He had your eyes. I don't know how to say this better but only good people smiled like you. If… if I had a chance to meet him again, I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart," she said. "Thanks to him, my family and I were able to live free from the fear of unexpected knocks on the door. It was thanks to him that I got to see my parents again. I took the week off to spend some time with them. I'm sorry if I made you worry, Izuku."
As she said this, she gently caressed Izuku's shaking hand. Her tender touch brought him out of his trance and the shivering stopped.
Her face felt several degrees warmer when he reciprocated by placing his hand atop hers.
"It's okay. I'm sorry that you went though that horrible time," he said. "I wish I could have done something sooner."
"Silly Deku," she assured him, "there was nothing you could have done about it. Besides, I should be thanking you for doing this. It feels so much better now."
"You do?
"Yeah! Come on, let's finish up here and head back to class. We don't want stupid rumours going around in class."
He looked at the time and panicked. "Oh crap! We only have ten more minutes!" he exclaimed and began wolfing down his large katsudon. Uraraka laughed before following suit with more finesse.
There were a lot of things that needed to be addressed. Izuku knew this, Diavolo knew this. He was going to have that talk, that much Izuku was certain. As each mouthful of rice and breaded chicken passed through his gullet, he fought down the urge to hurl as the implications of what Uraraka told him sank in. But seeing the smile on her face, and the smiles of everyone around him, he willed himself to soldier on. As class president, he must not show weakness. As her friend, he must show her that everything was alright. Why? Because he promised her that he would be there.
Because he was there.
That talk with Diavolo was going to happen, he knew for certain. But for now, the festival came first. For the sake of his class and his mentor, victory must be attained above all else. Come hell or high water.
However, unbeknownst to him, that tiny detail Aizawa gleaned off of the Deputy Minister would come into effect sooner than any of them might have hoped.
Birds of a feather flock together, no matter how far.
A/N: Hey there, KobeNiku here! First off, I do apologise if this chapter seems a bit filler-ish because I just wanted to write something before getting into the Sports Festival. Secondly, wow, you people are Koichis, you know that? Absolute mad lads, the lot of you. Seriously, top ten in regular JJBA crossovers? For follows and favorites? You're mad and I am forever grateful. Thank you all so much for reading this story and for all the support. Since I now have an update schedule, next chapter drops the week after next. For those of you that read Data Collector, it's coming next weekend.
Once again, thank you and have a nice day.
Sincerely,
KobeNiku
A Word from Our Beta
Hey y'all, Mac here. I just wanna thank all you Mad Lads for making us number six on Jojo crossover favs. SIX. Not just MHA/Jojo. All Jojo crossovers. Let's try for number one. Plus Ultra!
P.S: I'm sorry for the update. Had to fix some glaring issues and errors that some of you have thankfully pointed out along with addressing some formatting mishaps from the last quickfix done from my phone. Also added a little bit more towards the end because it didn't feel right ending it where it ended. Again, if it has inconvenienced you or seems disingenuous, I am sorry.
