Galaxy Creator of Pisces: Thank you! I'll take the "keep up the good work" for all the other stories I still have to edit lol.
The next day was the sports festival. Luffy had no time to prepare or practice. And he wanted to look good, even if he wasn't the best. But he was strong even if he hadn't practiced for it specifically. And there was a lot of endurance training at Shiketsu. He would use that.
He asked Ace to watch the sports festival if he did well. I promise I will. I have to go, break is over.
Okay!
They were told that their performance with the sports festival would show pro-heroes who they were and what they were made of and then would offer internships. Luffy knew who he wanted to intern under. He had been sent a synopsis of what would happen at the sports festival in case he did make it and nobody had told him what it was all about.
He wanted to intern under Endeavor. Hawks was inspired by him, Ace worked with him and he was Todoroki's dad. And he was powerful. He just didn't know if he'd be offered a spot since Endeavor had never liked him being able to keep up with Todoroki. But he hadn't seen him in years. So he was just unsure.
They were all very excited the next day, and changed their clothes immediately. Luffy had his costume face shield on for extra support. He was nervous about this, seeing so many people with quirks. He knew the glasses worked, but if they fell off, it would be the worst case scenario.
The students were nervous, but buzzed. They were wearing their gym clothes and not their costumes this time. All of them were in their classes' break room, sitting nervously, being in front of millions on TV and thousands in person. Todoroki was grumpy over something, and Luffy had a feeling he was thinking of Endeavor. He had not once used his fire ability, wanting to spite him.
He suddenly challenged Midoriya, since he seemed special to All Might. Luffy hadn't been there to see this, but took Todoroki's word. He wasn't a liar. Then Midoriya replied that he'd surpass Todoroki. Luffy didn't interfere, didn't ask if Todoroki was okay. When they were told to come out, Luffy put a hand on Todoroki's shoulder with a smile, a show of support. Todokori nodded.
Class A and B came out at the same time, and Luffy sensed some animosity. Once they all gathered, the crowd cheered. Luffy saw just how many people were there, and saw enough with mutant quirks that they would overload him. Nothing happened and he relaxed substantially. "Here they are, the first years! Let's hear some cheer!" Present Mic said, the commentator. The crowd did just that.
Luffy was shocked when he was asked to speak since he was the highest scorer in the entrance exam. "Here he is! Out on medical leave but finally back, it's Luffy! He was the highest scorer in recent UA history on the practical entrance exam!" Luffy felt uncomfortable, but took a deep breath and went to the microphone. He was honest, like Hawks was, but charming.
"I don't what to say other than for everyone to do their best and have fun, even if your best right now isn't enough to take the top spot," he said simply, giving his classmates a thumbs up, making eye contact with class B as well. The crowd cheered, and Luffy walked back off the stage.
"My god, that was stressful," Luffy said honestly, earning some laughter from his friends around him. Iida said it was a good speech nonetheless. Midnight was dramatic about this whole thing, saying they'd be exhausted and having hell with this. Luffy's speech was much different, telling everybody to have fun. Hmm.
The first activity was an obstacle course, and that they could use their powers however they wanted. Luffy was smart and was one of the first to get in the entrance area. When the whistle was blown, Luffy immediately flew over the first obstacle, the robots from the entrance exam. Luffy would leave those to slow down the others. He was going as fast as he could when he came across the second obstacle.
He flew across while dive bombing all of the first cliff jumps, dooming people who couldn't reach. The ropes also were severed. Then he flew on, as fast as possible. Present Mic commented that Luffy was going too fast for the camera to keep track of. Luffy grinned at this, and the entire obstacle course was cleared for him in three minutes, most of the time taken up by dooming the others.
He flew through the short hall and landed easily on the grass in the stadium again, getting cheers. "And Luffy comes out first! It's not surprising since he's close with the number three hero, Hawks!" Well, everyone already knew. He was in the news about it and his classmates knew as well. It was only a surprise to the audience who hadn't known that fact.
Luffy gave a simple wave and then turned to the large TV screen and watched what the others were doing. Todoroki and Bakugo were in the lead, neck and neck, having easily made it across what Luffy had messed up. Many were unable to cross with the ropes, but they did make it using their quirks in a smart way.
Modirya was a surprise when he used smarts instead of his quirk, coming up close to Todoroki and Bakugo, blowing up the mines beneath them so he was in front. He crash landed and flipped a few times, which looked painful, and actually made second place. Todoroki was third and Bakugo fourth. Bakugo didn't look angry at Luffy, but Midoriya. Luffy hadn't done anything to him personally, but Midoriya had bypassed him by strategy and took second place.
The winged teen knew that his classmates were not surprised with Luffy's speed, but had all aimed to be after him. Nobody could keep up with his speed, even if he had run the whole way. But why use all your energy in the first lap?
Once everybody was out and on the field again, Midnight explained the next activity. A cavalry battle. And the points were based on the order of who came in first. Luffy's points were highest, at 10 million. The ones who placed after him steadily were lower score amounts. Luffy was unfazed, and saw that nobody was looking at him like they wanted to get his points. But why? Were they afraid? That was no fun.
He was asked to group with others, and he ended up with Hagakure, Jiro and Sato. He didn't know them well, or their quirks. "I'll be front if you guys want. My wings are heavier and would be hard to be on top." They were fine with that. Jiro and Sato were the back horses with Hakagure on top. "I can go fast, but I don't know if you guys can't keep up. Should I go at a normal pace?"
Luffy sounded so easy going. He was proud that he felt similar to how Hawks was. Easy going but still with a smile. Jiro and Sato asked for him to not go too fast. "I can put my wings up to guard Hagakure on both sides."
"Yeah! We already have so many points we'd pass even if we got no more headbands," Hagakure said happily. Luffy said he'd do his best. They got into position, Luffy in the front, his wings behind him and unfurled to be on either side of Hagakure, pretty much shielding her from anyone making any contact. Luffy told her to wear her headband backwards so nobody could get it from the back easily.
She did that, and the match started. Their strategy was to stay safe, Luffy leading them to the best places to stay out of the way. They kept Hagakure safe. Whenever someone came over, Luffy would deter them with a strong flap of one of his wings. Then one group came from the front, and reached down to Luffy, who dodged by and had his wing easily touched.
Then the guy started screaming and fell to the ground.
"What the hell?!" Luffy and his group shouted. The game was paused as the kid writhed on the ground. The three he was with were all shocked, no longer in formation. "What's wrong with him?" Luffy asked in worry. He was still focused on keeping everyone away with his wings. Midnight called the game to pause, the clock paused at six minutes left.
"He copied your quirk!" one of them said, Midnight trying to get the guy to stop screaming. "What is your quirk?!"
Luffy said his quirk was hard on his own body. It wasn't surprising that a body not adjusted to all of Luffy's quirks would be painful. After ten minutes, he was back and up again, able to get back in position and far from Luffy, his looking at him in almost fear. "W-Well, the game is no longer paused. Continue!" and the battle resumed.
They easily kept their 10,000,390 points, Luffy's wings doing most of the work. Hopefully he could show his strength in the next round, as long as they kept their headband, he would advance. And they had the highest points left, not losing their headband or even coming close to losing it.
Hagakure got off and they got out of formation, giving high fives. Jiro asked, "Is your quirk really that painful on your body?"
Luffy said that it was hard before he got used to it. So for the other guy to get it suddenly, it wasn't surprising that it was painful. The final contestant made it, the top five teams. Luffy's, Midoriya's, Bakugo's, Todoroki's and one from class 1-B. So, 1-A dominated the festival so far.
Midnight announced the winners, and that the next activity would be one on one battles. Luffy was excited, hoping he wouldn't be against Todoroki. But if they both were finalists, they'd fight regardless. There was a break before the fights would begin. Jiro and Hakakure didn't look happy with this, seeing everyone they'd be against.
"Are you guys going to do it?" he wondered. "You can probably drop out," he added. Jiro said she would try, even if she got paired with someone more powerful. Hagakure said so too, and put her shirt back on. They were matched up right after the break, where Luffy had flown off to get a sip of water and then back, landing with his classmates.
Todoroki asked if he had been bored with that group. "It was fine. We kept the points, and I was able to show my wings were strong enough to keep others away. But that guy copying my quirk was unexpected. I didn't know it would be so hard on someone else's body."
Midoriya was looking at him strangely. "So if your quirk was given to someone else, it would hurt their body?" Luffy said probably, based on what had happened. At least there seemed to be no longer term damage. "That's true. None of his bones broke."
Luffy was against one of the girls from class 1-B on the first round. The one with vine hair. He was the first one to fight. So after the short break, he went down to the stage, looking interested in what her power was. He hadn't seen it yet. He'd let her attack first.
When the match started, she didn't attack, so he sent a huge burst of air at her. She created a wall of vines from her hair, stumbling forward only a bit. Well, wind wouldn't work, he'd have to use more force. He didn't know how strong the vine wall was, but he kicked at him hard enough to rip right through the vine wall and send her flying out of bounds.
He saw her heading straight towards the wall face first, and realized he'd kicked too hard, flying there immediately to catch her before she slammed into the wall. "I'm sorry, I kicked way too hard," he said sincerely.
She coughed a few times and rubbed her back. "Thank you for stopping me from colliding with the wall," she said, and walked off the stage, looking like she was hurting.
"And the winner shows compassion! What a guy! But man, what is his quirk?!" Present Mic asked loudly. Aizawa said he hadn't seen him work enough to really get a feel for what his quirk was, but that he was strong. He didn't talk about the regenerative power. Luffy wanted that to be a surprise honestly. If anyone hurt him enough for it to cause him damage.
He headed back to the stands, flying up. Uraraka said it was really nice of him to save her. "If she hit her head hard enough, she could have died or gotten brain damage. I didn't want that to happen, even if I don't know her," he replied. The others nodded, understanding why he'd done it.
The next match was a weird one. Midorya nearly walked off the stage at the start, but then broke his fingers, and then pushed the enemy out of bounds. It was boring. But he won against someone from the other class like Luffy had. 1-A was looking to be in a good position so far.
Most of the following fights ended in minutes, and were pretty forgettable besides Uraraka and Bakugo's. Todoroki got Jiro out in a second, sending a huge amount of sharp ice in their direction, all of them leaning back far in their seats. "Jeez, what is he thinking?" Luffy asked, feeling the ice a couple inches from his face.
But then he melted it and there was nothing left to show it had happened.
Then the quarter-final rounds had Luffy against Iida. They were after Todoroki and Midoriya's battle, which was honestly a nightmare to watch as Midoriya's only attack was sending blasts of air by flicking his fingers, even though all of them were broken by the end. It made him cringe for every finger he used or reused. But it was more flashy than any of the other battles were.
Todoroki won, the stage destroyed, and with Midoriya out of bounds and heavily injured, all of his fingers and one arm broken. The others were wincing the whole time, and Kirishima asked what he was thinking. "I guess he really wanted to look strong? But, looking like he has no control over his quirk isn't the best, right?" Luffy asked. The others agreed, nobody liking the outcome of it. "It would have been an awesome match if I wasn't cringing the whole time."
"I know, right?!" Kirishima asked. "But man, he did his best to win!" Jiro asked how he could have even fought the next round if he was broken like that. "Good point."
Luffy was against Iida next, and both walked down the stairs, going on either side of the now repaired stage. Iida was fast, but already knew Luffy was faster. Iida was quick to turn when Luffy had moved to a new area out of the way. He didn't want to ruin Iida's chances to get someone to request him, so he let him show off before Luffy pulled his wings back and then threw them forward with his super strength, throwing Iida off the stage and onto the grass.
"And he's out by a burst of air from his wings!" Luffy walked to Iida and shook his hand. Neither of them were hurt, so they returned to the stands. Again, the next two rounds were over in a second, leaving Bakuko and Tokoyami. Todoroki, Luffy, Bakugo and Tokoyami were going to the next rounds.
Luffy was against Tokoyami first, with Todoroki and Bakugo next. The ice user hadn't returned yet, but Bakugo was looking excited and sadistic, looking forward to possibly beating Todoroki. Luffy and Tokoyami went to the stage. Luffy knew a little about the other's quirk, but learned what it was pretty quickly. He observed the first attack, Dark Shadow coming out and reaching him.
Luffy got in the air and easily evaded, dive bombing and pushing Tokoyami out of the ring. But Dark Shadow did get a gash on Luffy's arm that bled before healing over quickly. He wiped the blood off with one hand and then rubbed it on his shorts.
"You got a good attack in, that hurt," Luffy joked as Present Mic freaked out over the regenerative power. Tokoyami said it was a fast match, but he was glad he got one attack in, even if it healed over. They shook hands and then walked back up the bleachers to their spots. Bakugo was glaring at him. Luffy liked Bakugo's attitude much more than the Three Jis.
The bomb user was entertaining to get angry, not completely annoying. Todoroki and Bakugo were against each other next. The moment Todorkoi walked out on stage, Luffy knew something had happened since his friend was almost droopy. And he was distracted. With that demeanor, Luffy was unsurprised that he lost by being knocked out of the ring. And he didn't look upset about it at all.
So, Luffy vs Bakugo. He could only see himself getting out by being thrown out of the ring. He knew it could happen, but at least he made it to second place, right? He flew to the stage, meeting a very unsatisfied Bakugo since Todoroki hadn't been himself or gone all out like usual. Luffy had to talk to him after the match.
Bakugo attacked first, mercilessly sending a huge plume of fire at Luffy, who stomped his feet into the stage so it didn't move him back. Once the fire dissipated, Luffy was badly burned, but all of the burns healed over, and the damage to his wings were repaired as well. New feathers growing in place over those burnt away. His shirt was full of holes now, though.
He let a huge gust of wind at Bakugo, who only didn't fly out of the ring back through his hands behind him and letting off explosions to keep him from flying too far. Luffy ran forward, slamming his foot into Bakugo's gut hard enough to make him bend over in pain. Luffy followed up with a punch to the face, causing his nose to bleed and then grab on to his arm, throwing him out of the ring and into the wall.
"And he shows no mercy to Bakugo!" Bakugo was furious, wiping his blood nose.
"You knocked me out of the ring, you prick!" Luffy replied that that was a way to get him out. "Your power is too fucking over powered," he snapped.
"Sometimes," Luffy said. "But you got second place, so that's good for you." He didn't say it rudely, just very calmly. When the stands were made for the first, second and third winners, Luffy jumped to the top spot, Bakugo on the left and Todoroki on the right. All Might gave them the medals, and Luffy thanked him for it. Bakugo took it and then burnt it. Mature, real mature. The ice user took his silently.
The crowd cheered for the winners, and afterwards, Luffy went straight to Todoroki. His glasses seemed to be fire proof as well, since the fire did nothing to them. He didn't even think of that happening, it would have been bad if they melted while he was in front of everyone.
"Are you okay?" Luffy asked. Todoroki nodded. "Why did you use the fire?" he wondered. He never used his fire.
"Midoriya is nosy, but he broke through to me about using my fire. It's my fire, and I forgot about Endeavor when I used it," he said. Luffy had never tried to encourage Todorkoi to make up with his dad after everything he'd done while he was still a child. He could never give an abuser the benefit of the doubt.
Luffy put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad something broke through. Clearly Bakugo isn't happy how he beat you," he joked. Todoroki smiled and said he'd probably be pissed at both of them for a while. "I can't believe he burnt his medal. That's a bit much." Todoroki nodded in agreement. "Well, that was pretty fun. Hopefully I'll get picked at some agencies."
"You will."
He partly hesitated saying it, but Luffy confessed that he wanted to go to Endeavir's agency. Todoroki was shocked. Luffy grinned and said, "My brother is working there. I want to see him, and it would give me some skill I don't know about. I don't like him, but he could be useful."
Todoroki smiled and clarified that he wanted to see his brother. "Well, I would work, too, of course!" he replied, and laughed. "But yeah, I do want to see him."
His friend said he was glad things were working out for them, knowing it must be hard for both of them based on everything that had gone on long before. Then his friend surprised him. "I… think I'll go visit my mom. You're rekindling with your lost family, I should do mine. And I feel like I deserve to go to her now."
Luffy knew about what happened with his mom, and how she was in a hospital after that. Luffy smiled at him and said, "Looks like we're both growing in more ways than one."
"It's good to have you back." Luffy agreed that it definitely was.
-x-
That night, Hawks and Luffy were watching a rerun of the festival. Hawks was grinning the whole time, skipping forward to see Luffy's fights. He cringed when Luffy was badly burnt by Bakugo, but said he was so glad he could heal or he would have been horribly injured and his wings might not have grown back.
Luffy nodded, enjoying watching it, too. "I wish I fought tougher guys. Always winning… it isn't the most fun. I don't get any real challenges." Hawks pointed out that he'd only fought inexperienced kids. "I know, but still."
Luffy was in a very good mood. And then he talked to Ace about it, making the day even better.
The next day, they found out their offers to agencies. Most got at least one, but Midoriya got zero. Honestly, Luffy wasn't surprised. He'd destroyed his fingers while fighting, who would want to take on someone like that? Luffy, Todoroki and Bakugo had the highest amount. Luffy the most but only 89 more than Todoroki got and only 200 more than Bakugo.
He searched for Endeavor when he saw he was offered by Hawks. He took a photo of it and sent it as a text with a "Really." And an emoji of putting your palm to your face.
Soon he got a "jk" with a winky face. Luffy shook his head, and Uraraka asked what he was doing. He was reacting weirdly to his list. "Hawks offered, but as a joke," he said simply. He found who he was looking for, and was happy he got offered by Endeavor. "Todoroki, he offered. Is it okay if I go to his?"
"I'm choosing him as well. He's strong. I won't go as his son, but as a hero who wants to learn," his friend replied. It was cool, he'd be going with his best friend and brother. He actually doubted he'd see Ace at all. But it was worth a try.
He was startled, though, when they were abruptly told they would be picking their hero names. Luffy wasn't ready at all. He had no idea what to choose. He had originally thought to name himself "Argentavis", but that was a lie. And if it ever got out that he didn't have a bird quirk, then the name would be for nothing.
He wanted something personal to him. A name that was his own, not other heroes and random people he stole his quirks from. Something about him, being a person, unique. Not having to do with his powers, though. A name that was his own, his alone and would mean a lot to him.
Others were scribbling on their boards while Luffy's pen wasn't even uncapped. He could always just do his name, but he didn't really want to go that route. He still hadn't written anything when others started to do theirs, it had something to do with their appearance or quirk.
Luffy's appearance was nothing special. He looked normal. Well, besides his wings. Still, those wings weren't originally his quirk. He looked at his arms, seeing the scars. Those made him who he was, for better or worse. He had a few scars from his time with Hawks. Those were also what made him him. When Hawks was teaching him to cook, Luffy cut his hand badly. He remembered Hawks freaking out. Luffy had told him to "shut up and get a damn paper towel."
It was something they still joked about. If Luffy got hurt, even if he healed, Hawks would tell him to shut up and get a damn paper towel. He smiled at the memory. Not all of his scars were bad. They told the story of his life.
But he wasn't those scars, he was the product of them.
He couldn't come up with anything but his name. Not that having a hero name different would matter with someone with such recognizable wings.
For now it would just be "Luffy."
Well, they said these names were temporary. Maybe he'd come up with something better. He stood up and pursed his lips while holding his board up. Midnight asked if he was sure, just being his name. "Yeah. Or until I find something better."
It was probably temporary, but for now it was fine.