The two weeks leading up to the Sports Festival went by faster than anyone in class 1-A expected, and each student worked vigorously to hone their quirks and physical skills for the upcoming challenges. Himari herself enjoyed working with Kirishima to better her stamina in her water body, he was always positive in his criticisms and advice.
"I know lots of hero agencies will focus on you, so just be yourself Himari," Tenzin muttered as he watched his daughter rush around looking for her shoes.
"Are you gonna watch dad?"
He nodded as she plopped to the ground by the front door, "Yes, but I'll be watching your other peers for any who might want to do an internship with me."
"That's smart," She mumbled as she laced her shoes, "My classmate Kaminari is an electric user."
"I'll keep an eye out for him," Her father promised. "Isn't he also the one that turns stupid when he overuses his quirk?"
Himari snorted, "Yeah, it's kinda funny."
Her father chuckled, "Well, good luck!"
She smiled at her dad as she walked out the door, "Thanks, love you!"
Her mood brightened the closer she got to the school, and her smile became infectious when she met up with Midoriya. Both of their beams irritated Bakugou, but he kept his annoyance on the down-low as he watched Mari jump around in her seat on the train. The trio cooled slightly as they squeezed past the mass of reporters outside the school and met up with the rest of the class. Aizawa quietly led them to the stadium and down to a secluded waiting room, ordering the rowdy teenagers to stay put until they were called.
"Aw man," Ashido groaned. "I was totally hoping I could wear my costume!"
"Mina it wouldn't be fair," Himari muttered as she picked at her own gym uniform. "Only the hero courses have costumes."
"Yeah, at least everyone will be in uniform," Ojiro pointed out. "That will keep things fair, right?"
"I wonder what they have in store for us in the first round," Shoji wondered.
"No matter what they have prepared, we must persevere," Tokoyami stated.
"Right."
The door swung open and Iida walked in, "Everyone, get your game faces on! We're entering the arena soon!"
"Swallow your fear, swallow your fear!"
Purple eyes watched as Todoroki moved from his perch in the corner, "Midoriya."
Izuku frowned as he stared at his classmate, "Hey, Todoroki. What's up?"
"From an objective standpoint, I think it's fairly clear I'm stronger than you," The dual-haired teen bluntly stated.
"Uh..um yeah."
"However, you're got All Might in your corner, helping you out," Renji narrowed her eyes at the stoic boy's words. "I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you two. But know that I will beat you."
"What's with all these declarations of war lately?" Kamainari wondered as he shifted in his seat across from Himari.
Kirishima jumped from his seat, "Yeah, what's the big deal? Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started..."
"We're not here to be each other's friends," Todoroki coldly snapped. "Don't forget. This isn't a team effort."
"Being a hero has everything to do with team effort," Himari observed as Todoroki walked past her. "If you do everything alone, you will only fall faster."
"Then you are a fool," He muttered towards the water user.
"Wait a sec, Todoroki," He paused at Midoriya's words. " don't know what's going through your head or why you think you'd need to tell me that you'll beat me. And yeah, of course you're better than me. In fact, you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course. That's why you got in so easily."
"Midoriya, maybe you're being a little hard on yourself, and us," Kirishima whispered.
"No, he's right you guys. All the other courses...they're coming for us with everything they've got. We're all gonna have to fight to stand out. And I'll be aiming for the top, too."
The dual quirk user nodded, "Fine."
Renji rolled her eyes at the tension floating around the room, lightly shoving Katsuki's shoulder when she noticed his furrowed brows. The hothead growled slightly at her, but she brushed him off when Iida instructed everyone to line up so they could enter the stadium in an orderly fashion. The twenty high schoolers followed the sounds of cheering to a large entrance to the center of the stadium and waited in the hall as they listened to Present Mic's commentary.
"Oh yeah! Make some noise, all you rabid sports fans! Get those cameras prepped, media hordes! This year we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in sports festival history, guaranteed! I've only got one question before we start this show: Are you READY? Let me hear you scream as our students make their way to the main stage!"
At his words, the mass of teenagers started to pour from the multiple entrances around the stadium. Himari kept herself standing tall as she strode into the sunlight next to Katsuki and Kirishima, keeping her nerves leveled as the crowd cheered at the sight of her class at the front of the group.
"This first group are no strangers to the spotlight!" Present Mic cheered over the speakers. "You know them for withstanding a villain attack...the dazzling students lighting up your TVs with solid-gold skills. The hero course students of class 1-A!"
"Uh...I didn't know there'd be so many people," Izuku mumbled as he glanced at the thousands of people watching them from the seats.
"Just ignore them, Izuchan," Himari whispered over to her childhood friend.
"Don't help the nerd," Bakugou huffed. "Focus on your own shit."
"I hope we're still able to give our best performances even though all these eyes are watching us," Iida said as he walked alongside the green-haired student. "I suppose it's just another aspect of being a hero. We all have to learn to get used to it."
"Present Mic sure did talk us up a lot," Kirishima smirked. "Kinda makes me nervous. How you feeling, man?"
"I'm not worried," Bakugou smugly stated as he shifted his hands around in his pockets. "Makes me wanna win this thing even more."
"They might not have as much screen time, but this next group is still chock full of talent!" Renji turned slightly at their teacher's loud claim. "Welcome hero course class 1-B!"
She eyed the purple-haired girl, Murasakino if she recalled correctly, walk alongside a ginger girl with a long side ponytail. She also noticed Tetsutetsu hotly eyeing her class from the group and a blonde boy giving her a look that sent odd chills down her spine. She turned her head back around when she felt a rough hand take her own and she offered Bakugou a small smile at his gesture. He grunted but kept her fingers laced with his, and she closed her eyes as she took in his calming caramel scent.
She was thankful nitroglycerin had such a sweet smell.
"Next up, general studies classes C, D, and E! Support classes F, G, and H! And finally, business classes I, J and K!"
Himari kept her gaze away from the rest of the first years as they made their way to the center of the grassy arena where a raised stage was set. She stopped close to the front of the platform and watched as Midnight appeared and made her way up to the microphone set on the stage.
"Give it up for all of UA's first-year contestants!"
Cheers raged around the stadium once more and the first-year students shifted slightly as they waited for the female pro to address them, "Now, the introductory speech!" The arena quieted as her velvet tone echoed through the air.
Kirishima and a few of the guys in the class looked away from their scantily dressed teacher, "Someone should talk to Ms. Midnight about what she's wearing."
Kaminari nodded, "Yeah, that costume should come with a warning."
"Is that really appropriate material for a high school game?" Tokoyami wondered.
Himari spared a glance at Katsuki and noticed his lack of blush, "You okay, blondie?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" He huffed at the petite girl.
"Midnight seems to be bothering the other guys," She mumbled as she glanced down at her feet.
"Ehh, I've seen prettier," Purple eyes looked up in slight surprise at his nonchalant comment. "But I'm not going to let anything knock me off my game."
"Me either," She agreed as she squeezed his hand, smiling when she caught his minute smirk.
"Silence, everyone!" Midnight called to the crowd of students. "And for the student pledge, we have Bakugou Katsuki!"
Renji and the whole of class 1-A watched in shock as the ash-blonde shuffled to the front of the crowd and up the small stairs at the side of the stage, "Uh...he's the first year rep?" Midoriya muttered worriedly.
"I guess that hot-head did finish first in the entrance tests," Sero grudgingly admitted.
A sigh echoed nearby and the teenagers turned to see an annoyed girl, "Only for the hero course exams."
"Oh, right."
"That girl obviously hates us."
"Can't make everyone like you."
"Well, we have Bakugou to thank for them not liking our class," Kaminari groaned.
The class watched expectantly as the blonde paused in front of the microphone, facing the entire student body with a dull look on his face, "I just wanna say…" He glanced around and his ruby eyes brightened slightly as they locked on amethyst ones. "I'm gonna win."
"I knew he'd say something like that!"
"What did you say?!"
"Class 1-A is so full of themselves!"
"Get him off the stage!"
The massive crowd of UA students raged at his claim, but Himari still gave her arrogant friend a humored smile. She knew it was not just a spout of pride that made his utter those words, but a promise to himself. He wanted the world to know he would make it to the top, but she also knew he could have phrased it in a softer tone. But then, soft was never a word truly used to describe Katsuki if she thought about it.
"Why would you be so disrespectful?! You're representing us all!" Iida cried.
"Not my fault the rest of you are just stepping stones to my victory," He rashly grunted as he walked back down the steps to stand once more by Renji's side, ignoring the heated gazes he received.
"I'm gonna crush this overconfident jerk!"
"I can't wait to knock him down a size!"
"Without further ado, it's time for us to get started!" Midnight stated once the students had calmed slightly. "The first game is what you normally call a toss-up. This is where you begin feeling the pain! The first fateful game of the festival! What could it be?" A screen turned on behind her and the onlookers, as well as the students, watched earnestly as a multitude of options spun around a wheel, finally stopping on 'Obstacle Race.' "Ta-dah! All 11 classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium. I don't want to restrain anyone, at least not in this game. As long as you don't leave the course, you're free to do whatever your heart desires."
The people watching from above cheered as one of the walls in the arena opened to reveal a new entrance for the obstacle course. "Now then, take your places, contestants."
Renji quickly followed her classmates that started to rotate closer to the doorway, glancing towards the giant opening. She didn't know what laid beyond on the course, but she knew that 11 classes with 20 kids each would mean around 220 teenagers would be trying to cram their way through that starting line. While the opening was giant she knew everyone going at once would leave them crammed like sardines. She looked over and noticed Todoroki looking from the opening to the mass of students and figured her must have realized the same. Since most of the years had a large chunk of kids taken out during the first round Renji knew less than half of that 220 would pass onto the second round.
The start of this race could easily determine a person's fate in the Sports Festival.
She rolled her shoulders and focused her energy. She knew that the fastest way through would be to liquify her feet and propel her part water form with her hydrokinesis, but she knew not to waste too much of her energy on the first round. Since it would be smarter to conserve it to the second round so she could make it to the tournament at the end of the day.
Three green lights flashed above the entrance and many of the students crouched into a sprinter's form to prep their bodies for the race. The lights slowly turned off one-by-one and Himari smirked as she felt her molecules vibrating faster at each light change.
"Begin!"
She shot forward in a flash of water, tucking herself against the side of the wall to keep her body away from any attacks that could come from behind. She heard other kids screaming to make it through the gate, but frowned when she noticed Todoroki and a few others from her class keeping pace with her.
"And we're off to a racing start!" Present Mic cried out. "How about some color commentary, Mummy Man?"
"How did you talk me into this?" Aizawa's annoyed voice rang over the speakers and Renji chuckled at his discomfort.
"What should we be paying attention to in the early stages of the race?" Present Mic asked again.
"The doorway."
The water user snorted at her teacher's dry comment and was glad he made the same conclusion as most of his class had.
"Hey, Hey!"
"You're trampling me!"
"This is too narrow!"
A shift in the temperature of the hall had Himari rapidly jerk her feet further up the wall, luckily just missing Todoroki's ice attack on the ground as he zoomed past her. She glared at the dual-haired boy trapping most of the other students, but ignored the guilt swimming in her gut as she saw him fly out of the other side of the tunnel. She rushed after him and used his ice trail to lessen the fiction on her liquid body, increasing her quirk's speed even more.
"And Todoroki Shouto from class 1-A is the first out the tunnel, but wait! Someone's hot on his trail and I mean that quite literally!" The teenager turned at Present Mic's cries and grimaced at the form of Renji flying closer to him over his ice with her feet completely liquified. "Miss Renji Himari from class 1-A is using her beautiful water body quirk on only her feet to propel herself across the icy field! So cool!"
"Not getting ahead too far, Todoroki!"
"That was a dirty trick!"
"Gonna have to find another way to outsmart us!"
The girl smirked at the sound of her friends behind her and glanced back quickly to see many of the others in 1-A having been lucky enough to avoid his ice trap.
"I won't let you get away so easily! You icy-hot bastard!"
He tried to lay down more ice, but the students in 1-A avoided it expertly, "You froze me once and I won't let it happen again," Ojiro yelled as he used his tail to jump over the growing ice patch.
She hurried after her powerful classmate but paused when she noticed the whirring sound of gears up ahead. Her purple eyes zeroed in on a cluster of three and zero pointer robots from the entrance exam.
"Oooh! Enemies have shown up out of nowhere!" Present Mic's voice sounded over the area. "I bet we're in for a treat here! A test of strength and cunning! It's a Robo Inferno!"
Renji frowned as Todoroki lunged at them, using his ice quirk to freeze them as they charged at him. She solidified her feet and jumped out of the was as one of the frozen bots teetered over towards her and the others. Himari sneered but used the melting ice to fling the robots out of her way. She ignored the sounds of explosions and crashing behind her and continued to race after the dual-haired teen.
"And Todoroki moves to an early lead with a devastating display! Amazing! He's one we should watch. Almost unfair! Thoughts?"
"His attack was both offensive and defensive," Aizawa admitted.
Present Mic cheered, "No wonder he was let in on recommendations! He'd never even fought those Robo Infernos before, but they didn't stand a chance against his chart-topping moves!"
The second-place racer panted as she rushed after her classmate, frowning when she reached a chasm with pieces of rope connecting small platforms around the large drop. She watched as Todoroki iced across some of the ice and platforms, launching himself clean into first place without a doubt. Present Mic's voice started to ring out again but she pushed his loud commentary from her range of hearing, instead focusing on the task in front of her. She eyed the ropes carefully as other students started to catch up before she simply started to tightrope walk across. She avoided looser rope on her delicate trek and tried to ignore the sound of Katsuki blasting past her. An explosion from in front of her jerked her foot and she cried as she slipped from her spot on the rope, but sighed in relief as a familiar tongue wrapped around her waist.
"Thanks, Tsu!" The frog girl smiled from the rope next to her as she flung the white-haired girl onto the closest platform in front of them.
"Are you okay, Renji?" She asked as she reached the solid ground herself.
"Yeah, but what was that blast?" The two girls turned to see another explosion go off as dark purple smoke billowed from the impact. "Is that a fucking minefield?"
"Ribbit."
Himari huffed, "Come on Tsu, we should stick together. We can probably sneak through the field past mines that have already gone off."
"That's smart," Tsu noted. "But don't you want to catch up to Todoroki?"
She shook her head as she started to slowly cross the next rope, "Coming in first is a waste of energy right now. We just have to stay ahead enough to pass. Sticking close to the ice prince was my plan to avoid his tricks in the beginning, but now it's not worth it."
The other girl nodded her head and joined her friend in crossing the ropes. The two girls slowly reached the other side and watched as many others in the race rushed into the minefield only to be blasted out. Himari eyed Todoroki, Bakugou, and Midoriya flying through the air ahead of the rest scrambling for first place.
"Everyone better tread carefully," Present Mic advised over the speakers. "You're stepping onto a minefield! If you look carefully you can see where those bombs are buried, so keep your eyes on the ground, folks."
"There," She pointed to the thin ice trail Todoroki left behind as she crouched in front of Asui. "Hop on Tsu."
The frog girl jumped onto her friend's back and the water user liquified her feet again, starting to race after the boys as she had Tsu steer her in the right direction to stay on the winding ice track.
"In a stunning move, Midoriya has blasted past his classmates from 1-A! I don't believe it, he cleared that minefield in an instant!"
"Wow, Midoriya's ahead of Todoroki and Bakugou?" Asui whispered as she and Himari continued to glide their way across the field.
"Neve underestimate Izuchan!" Himari giggled as they moved forward slowly. "But let's get ourselves out of the minefield before we congratulate him."
The two gently made their way out of the field and when Renji was lowering Tsu off of her back she heard Present Mic's voice ring out, "The first to make it back to the stadium is the first place winner! Midoriya Izuku is our champion!"
The girls smiled at each other before they took off racing towards the end of the line. The two passed the finish line together and Himari beamed when she saw herself in 12th place and Asui in 13th. They cheered and hugged each other as they waited with the rest of the racers who finished, most from their own class besides Murasakino of 1-B.
"Hey, Murasakino!" The panting girl turned at the sound of Tsu's voice. "Those whips you made to swing across the chasm were really cool!"
"Oh, thanks!" She smiled at the frog girl. "Asui right?"
"Yeah, and this is Renji," The gold eyed girl spared a glance at the sweating water user.
"Charmed you meet you both," Himari gave the girl a weak smile.
"Nice to meet you too."
The three girls separated after the short introductions to catch their breath, but Himari grunted when a rough hand jerked her up from where she was sitting, "Mari why were you so fucking far behind?"
"I'm trying to conserve my quirk, blondie," She grumbled as he dragged her further from the others. "Besides I knew you would shoot for the top. Not big on being boiled."
"I wouldn't blast you," He said. "Cause it'd be a waste of my damn time! Now zip your trap and rest."
"The first game for the first-years is finally over," Midnight called over her microphone on top of the stage. "And what a game it was! Now, let's take a quick look at the standing, shall we?"
The two childhood friends glanced over to the scoreboard and watched the results closely. Himari smiled at Bakugou's name in third place, but she knew he would be livid. She noted that Ojiro was in 11th in front of her and she gave her classmate a thumbs up. She also cheered when she noticed Kirishima and Sero in 9th and 8th place respectively. Both of the boys were surprised to see the girl lower than them, but she explained the trouble she faced during the second task and how Asui help her out.
"Only the top 42 will advance to the next round," Midnight explained to the students. "But don't be too down if you didn't make the cut. We've prepared other opportunities for you to shine. Now the real fun is about to begin. The chance to fully move yourselves into the limelight! Give it your best! Let's see what we have in store for you next. Will your wildest fantasies come to life? What could it be? The waiting is torture. Prepare yourselves..." The teenagers watched the spinning selection of tasks move again until it suddenly stopped on a task labeled 'Cavalry Battle.' "For this!"
"Cavalry battle?" Kaminari twitched. "I'm terrible at those."
"Huh? It's not an individual event," Asui observed. "I wonder how they'll split us up."
Midnight smiled at the kids, "Allow me to explain. The participants will form teams of two-to-four people as they see fit. In theory, it's basically the same as a playground game. But there is one difference. Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle course."
"I get it," Ojiro said from next to Renji. "A point-based system like the entrance exams."
"So that means each team will have a different point value based on which students are on it," Uraraka theorized.
"Maybe you should shut up and let me explain things to you!" Midnight yelled at the brunette. The girl shook as she apologized profusely to her teacher. "Now then. The point assignments go up by increments of five starting from the bottom. For example, 42nd place is worth five points, and 41st is worth ten. And the point value assigned to the first place contestant is...10,000,000 points!"
Purple eyes widened in shock as she watched all the heads in the crowd turn towards Izuku. She shook her head as she heard Katsuki chuckled next to her and she silently knew he would be gunning after their green-haired friend during the entire battle if he could.
Midnight smirked at the paling first-place boy, "That's right. It's survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow those at the top!"