Chapter 3: The Sports Festival: Round 1

Present day, a few days after Toschi's funeral…

"So let me get this straight," Kaminari asked, "the zero-point bots used to be worth a hundred points?" Class 1-A was hanging out in the common room a few days after the funeral when Mei decided to drop by. As they all talked and laughed, Mei began talking about her cousin Toschi's time at U.A, eight years before them. She had just finished telling them about his results from the entrance exam and the Quirk Apprehension test when Kaminari had asked her the question.

"Yeah, they changed it a few years ago," Midoriya answered, "too many people were getting hurt trying to fight them, and some kids would ignore the rest of the villains and go straight for the big ones, so they decided to make them worth zero." Kaminari stared at him blankly for a moment, then his eyes lit up as he understood.

"So Mei," Uraraka asked the pinkette, "did Toschi participate in the school festival? Or did he drop out of the hero course before that?"

"Oh, no, he was in it. He dropped out a few weeks after, though." Mei took a sip of her soda. "Did you guys know his class is the reason you couldn't wear your costumes in the festival?"

"Oh, I wanna hear this," Mina said, scooching closer. Sato looked at his classmates.

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that MT. LADY was in his homeroom?" he asked. "I didn't even know she went here!"

"Forget that!" Mineta yelled. "You're missing the big picture! Mt. Lady was in Midnight's homeroom! Do you think she would have some pictures of her when she was our age? I should go ask her next cla-" He was interrupted by a strip of tape wrapping around his mouth.

"That's enough from you," Sero said. "Go ahead, Hatsume."

"Alright," she said, leaning back…

Eight years ago…

U.A. held their annual Sports Festival a few weeks after the start of the year. As expected, all sixteen of the students that made it into the final round of the First-Year's Sports Festival were from the hero course. Of the sixteen, eleven came from Class 1-B: Akijaso, Seishin, Reikokuna, Kushiro, Shikora, Netsuke, Omakase, Toschi, Moki, Sasaki, and Kurami. The other five were from Class 1-A. The students were all wearing their hero costumes, waving to their friends and family. Midnight and Cementoss would referee the one-on-one fights, and the pro hero Present Mic, the student's English teacher, was announcing the matchups for the first round.

Match 1: Reikokuna vs. Seishin

Match 2: Omakase vs. Akamachi (1-A)

Match 3: Masuku (1-A) vs. Moki

Match 4: Shikora vs. Murasashe (1-A)

Match 5: Sasaki vs. Katakana (1-A)

Match 6: Netsuke vs. Kushiro

Match 7: Akijaso vs. Murayama (1-A)

Match 8: Hatsume vs. Kurami

As the students gathered by their friends to watch the fights, three people approached Toschi in the student seating area. They all had pink hair and yellow eyes, and a little girl jumped across the row of chairs to him. "Toschi!" Mei yelled, hugging him and drawing laughter and adoring coos from his friends. "We came to see you fight!" she said. "When are you up?"

"Hey Hatsume, is that your sister?" Sasaki asked. Toschi shook his head.

"No, this is my little cousin Mei. Sorry Mei, I'm up last." She smiled.

"That's all right! I'll use this time to psyche out the other students!" She dashed off, and Toschi laughed, watching her whisper insults into the ears of the other students. Sasaki laughed, a deep booming echo.

"She's adorable!" He turned around to see Toschi hug the two adults and sit back down as they scooped Mei up and carried her to their seats. "Are those your parents, Hatsume?" he asked. Toschi's face fell, and Netsuke and Omakase winced.

"No, they're my aunt and uncle," Toschi sighed, "my parents aren't here." Sasaki looked at him in confusion, then Toschi spoke up again. "My parents died in a car accident a few years ago." Sasaki's face fell, and he placed a massive, comforting hand on Toschi's shoulder. "A group of bank robbers were running from the police, and they crashed into my parents' car." He brought his eyes to meet Sasaki, and Sasaki saw fire in them. "I'm going to be a hero so that criminals like them don't hurt innocent people. If they want to fight, then I'll end it before anyone gets hurt, or killed. That's why I want to be a hero."

"Well, now I feel bad," Sasaki said, rubbing his neck. "I wanted to be a hero so that I could show off my sweet muscles." He flexed his arm, and his belly wobbled. He sighed and looked down, crestfallen, as his friends laughed at him.

An enthusiastic cry from Present Mic brought Toschi's attention to the stage, where the fight was about to start. Reikokuna's costume consisted of simple cargo pants and hiking boots, and he was shirtless, showing off his incredibly toned muscles to the crowd. Seishin was wearing a flowing white cloak with black designs along the edge, and a veil over her face. Toschi could see that the designs on her costume were skulls and bones, fitting for her "ghostly" theme and personality. Midnight snapped her flogger, and the battle began.

Reikokuna began to change; his arms swelled and grew, while his legs shrunk down. His face grew flat and his brows jutted out as he became his usual animal form: a silverback gorilla. He roared and charged across the stage towards Seishin, who had begun to levitate and become slightly transparent, cloak flowing around her. As Reikokuna leapt, arms raised to smash her to the ground, she darted towards him, flowing into his chest and disappearing. Reikokuna landed on the ground and shook his head, roaring, until he finally stood still, eyes grey. He turned and began to walk towards the border of the stage, then began to run. He leapt into the air over the border and Seishin slipped out of him as Reikokuna regained control over his own body. He instantly shot his arm out and grabbed her, throwing her in front of her as he changed into a bat. He flapped his wings, hovering above Seishin, who was groaning on the ground, arm over the boundary.

"Seishin is out of bounds!" Midnight called. "Reikokuna wins!" A cheer rose from the crowd as he turned back into a human and bowed. He turned and offered his hand to Seishin, who huffed and looked away, but accepted it.

"I should have stayed in for a little longer," she pouted, "I would have gotten you if I had."

"I'm sure you would have," Reikokuna responded, nodding his head. "I barely had enough time to avoid going out of bounds myself." As they cleared the stage, the next two contenders walked onto the field. Omakase wore a full-body black skin suit that left his fingertips and toe tips exposed, and had a strange set of goggles on his face. They had eight "eyes", six of which were actually cameras. It allowed him to see in every direction around him, as a spider can. Akamachi, the student from Class 1-A, had on a green suit with intricate metal plating on the chest.

The match started, and Akamachi stomped his foot down. Instantly, a forest of trees shot up around the stage, obscuring the audience's view. The crowd heard rustling, but otherwise, they couldn't dee anything. Reikokuna and Seishin rejoined their classmates to watch the fight. As the crowd waited, a massive burst of webs shot into the air and wrapped around the forest. The trees creaked and groaned as they bent inwards, then finally uprooted, flying towards the center. Omakase whirled the trees around like a whip, launching them at Akamachi, who quickly grew a thick net of vines, catching them. The vines shot forth, and Omakase narrowly avoided them, leaping into the air. As he landed, a thick branch whipped around, crashing into his head. He flew back, but shot a web at the ground, catching himself before he flew out of bounds. As he groggily looked up, a vine cracked like a whip, striking him in the chest. He fell back, and was about to get up when Midnight interrupted him.

"Omakase is out of bounds! Akamachi wins!" The crowd roared as Omakase looked down in shock. His left leg was over the line. He sighed and walked back to the waiting room.

"That was a tough fight," Sasaki said. "I could have easily won, but it's tough for most people to counter something like that." Netsuke nodded as Moki stood up, flapping her wings and flying into the air. She landed softly on her side of the stage, reaching into a pocket on her costume.

She had a simple tan wrap around her chest and a set of cargo shorts. A brown belt wrapped around her waist and held several small pouches. She pulled out a metal object and fastened it to her beak; it was a metal shroud with an extremely sharp point. She waved to the crowd, enjoying the attention as her opponent came up. Masuku, the 1-A student, was wearing a dark grey skin suit with gold accents across the chest and waist, and had a set of white leather gloves on. She narrowed her eyes and took a fighting stance, observing Moki, who was fiddling with one of her head feathers, rocking to the beat of an imaginary tune. She noticed Masuku looking and removed her beak shroud, giving her a big smile and waving. "Hi!" she called. "I'm Moki! You're Masuku, right?" Masuku ignored her, and Moki pouted, folding her wings. "Rude."

"Match three, start!" Midnight called, and Moki quickly reattached her beak shroud as Masuku placed her hands on the ground. The sand on the stage began to swirl and gravitate towards her, and as Moki flew into the air, the sand glowed bright orange. It cooled down, and a glass spear shot at Moki. She swiftly dodged, catching it in her talons. She shot towards the ground like a warplane, dropping the spear at Masuku and pulling up. Masuku sent a wave of molten glass at the spear, which melted into it. She launched more glass at Moki, who dodged and narrowed her eyes, reaching her talons up to a pouch on her belt. She pulled them out, and Toschi saw a glint of steel. She rocketed down, claws up by her chest. A glass spear shot up, and her talons flashed as they shot forwards. The glass disintegrated as her metal-reinforced claws slashed through it. Masuku ducked as Moki's talons raked through the air just centimeters above her head.

"Tsubasa!" Midnight yelled, snapping her whip. "Be careful! Any serious injuries will result in your loss!" Moki rolled her eyes, but sheathed her claw covers. She launched herself into the sky, then swooped around and narrowly avoided a storm of glass. She grabbed Masuku's arm and threw her into the air, then caught her as she fell down. She flew her to the side of the stage and gently set her down outside of the boundary. Midnight cracked her whip. "Masuku is out of bounds! Tsubasa wins!" Moki took off her beak shroud and waved to the cheering crowd, smiling. She turned to Masuku, who was grumpily dusting herself off, and held out her hand. Masuku stared at it for a moment, then smiled and shook it. As the two left to their respective rooms, Sasaki stood up.

"I'm going to be up after this, so I'm going to go get ready. See you in the semi-finals Hatsume!" Toschi waved to him as he left, then greeted Omakase, who had just returned from seeing Recovery Girl.

"Great fight, Omakase!" Netsuke said. "That was really close!" He smiled and rubbed his jaw.

"Thanks, those trees hit really hard." He stretched, then sat down between Netsuke and Toschi. "Who's up next?"

Toschi looked out at the stage. "Shikora's up, and she's against someone from 1-A, Murasashe, I think." The two contenders walked out onto the field; Shikora was wearing her usual makeup and hairstyle, but had a pink skirt and a white coat as well. She had thigh-high white stockings and black shoes, and she was fiddling with one of her pockets. Her opponent, Murasashe, was wearing a dark green gown with a snakeskin pattern. They bowed to each other, then took fighting stances. Midnight started the match, and the two acted instantly.

Shikora's pockets flew open and dozens of sheets of paper flew out, circling her. Murasashe rose into the air, and Toschi saw that her lower body was that of a snake. Her tail coiled around, and her hair rose up, like a cobra's hood. Several sheets of paper folded up into darts, and Shikora thrust her arm forwards. The darts shot towards Murasashe, who spun around and whipped her tail at them, knocking them to the side. Shikora narrowed her eyes, and several more sheets of paper began folding themselves. They combined and folded, and a massive paper snake landed on the ground, hissing. Shikora tilted her head, and the snake slithered forwards, fangs bared. Murasashe leapt at the paper snake, and as the two grappled, Shikora ran towards her. She leapt in the air as a long paper rope swirled around her, and threw the end around Murasashe. It wrapped itself around her, and as she looked up, she saw Shikora staring down at her, a paper sword pointed at her. Murasashe sighed. "I give up."

The whip cracked. "Murasashe surrenders!" Midnight called out. "Shikora wins!" The crowd roared, and all of the paper floated back into the air, returning to Shikora's pockets as she waved to the crowd. The two exited the stage, and Toschi his classmates cheered as Sasaki walked out, waving. Sasaki and Moki had become the class's most beloved students, due to their infectious joy and humor. Sasaki's costume consisted of fireproof pants and cast-iron boots. He once boasted that they weighed more that Moki did; it was later discovered that a single boot was heavier than her. He had really big feet, and Moki weighed almost nothing, not only because she was incredibly short and skinny, but also because that, as a bird, she had hollow bones to allow her to fly easier. Netsuke waved goodbye to her friends, and left to the changing room to prepare for her match.

His opponent was Katakana, a girl from Class 1-A. She was wearing a yellow suit with black accents across the back and arms, and a set of antennae protruded from her head. A set of transparent wings sprouted from her back, occasionally buzzing. She looked at him in disdain, rolling her eyes. Midnight cracked her whip, signaling the start of the battle, and Sasaki grinned. His cheeks puffed up, and he spouted forth a river of lava. Katakana tried to take off, but an arc of magma forced her to duck. She looked up at him in shock and found that her vision was obstructed by black stone. She whipped her head around frantically, seeing walls of lava cooling into a thick cocoon of obsidian all around her. The roof closed off, and everything went pitch-black. She faintly heard the crowd cheering, muffled through the ground. She nervously buzzed her wings and instantly clapped her hands over her ears as the obsidian reflected the high-pitched sound back at her, the sound echoing through her prison. A dull thud cut through the noise, and the walls shook. She heard the booms coming closer, and a fist broke through the side of the wall. She screamed and backed up as the hand grabbed onto a large chunk of the obsidian and clenched, shattering the rock like ice. Sasaki poked his head inside, concerned.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "The match is over, Midnight said you were immobilized." Katakana shakily nodded, taking deep breaths as she stood up and exited her sarcophagus. She heard a sickening crunch behind her, and turned to see Sasaki take a bite out of a chunk of obsidian. She stared in confusion, and he wiped his mouth. "My body doesn't produce actual lava, it's just really hot and has high pressure. I eat rocks and stuff that melts into lava." He casually walked away, biting the rock like an apple. She looked to Midnight, who was just as confused as she was, then buzzed her wings and hovered over to her dressing room.

Netsuke and Kushiro entered the stage as Cementoss removed the obsidian. Netsuke's costume consisted of a black vest and shorts, and she had a belt holding several smoke grenades. Kushiro's costume was orange and reminded Toschi of a construction worker's outfit; she had a helmet with a spotlight on it, and was wearing gloves with metal knuckles. They extended to her forearms, where retractable chisels rested. They waved to each other, and Midnight raised her whip. "Ready?" she asked. The two nodded and got into their stances. Midnight brought her whip down. "Start!"

Kushiro flipped the chisels over her fists and dove down, fists flying. She quickly burrowed into the ground, a cloud of dust billowing out behind her. Netsuke looked around on the ground, then slowly picked up a loose rock and tossed it some feet away. It landed, and the ground under it collapsed, shredded to pieces by Kushiro's chisels. Netsuke placed her hands on her head, and her eyes flashed white. She threw another rock, and it landed. The ground stayed still. She smirked and tossed a smoke bomb down into the cavern Kushiro had excavated. A thick cloud of black smoke filled the hole, and Kushiro emerged, coughing. She whipped around, trying to see through the smoke. She could see glimpses of the crowd cheering, but heard nothing. Alright, she deafened me, and the smoke bomb took away my sight. Guess I'll have to use my other senses. She flipped the chisels up and placed her hands on the ground. She could feel a slight vibration through the cement as Netsuke's boots approached. She whipped around and threw out her hand, catching the kick Netsuke was aiming at her. Netsuke disappeared into the smoke, and Kushiro placed her fists on the ground. They began to smash down, the stage shaking as she punched faster and faster. The ground burst upwards, and a rush of wind blew the smoke away. Kushiro smirked and turned around, only to receive a kick to the temple. She staggered, but held her footing and leapt at Netsuke. The two traded blows, then Kushiro spun and slammed her foot into Netsuke's midsection. It hammered into her, and Netsuke gasped as the wind left her lungs. She felt something crack in her ribs, and collapsed. She wheezed as she tried to catch her breath, and threw another smoke bomb, rolling away. It exploded in Kushiro's face and she stumbled back, trying to fan the smoke away. Suddenly, her hearing returned just as she heard Midnight crack her whip.

"Netsuke is out of bounds! Kushiro wins!" She looked at Netsuke, who was staring at the line her hand was over, crestfallen. She walked over to her friend and smiled, helping her up. The two limped off stage together, and Cementoss began repairing the stage. Toschi greeted Sasaki as he returned to the student section, grinning.

"That was great!" he exclaimed. "Can you control the rate at which the lava cools or something?" Sasaki nodded.

"Somewhat. It depends on what type of rock the lava is made out of." He held up the piece of obsidian. "Like, for obsidian like this, I have to keep my inside at a certain temperature and pressure, and I need to eat high-silica rhyolite. Luckily, my dad owns a mining company, so I have plenty of options." He bit into the rock as the next two students, Akijaso and a 1-A student, Murayama, entered the arena. Toschi stood up.

"I'd love to watch this, but I should probably go get ready for my fight. See you guys!" His classmates waved to him as he left and descended into the inner hallways of the stadium, entering the waiting room.

He found the cardboard box that contained his hero costume. Unlike everyone else in his class, Toschi came from a long family of inventors, and he had elected to build his own suit. Not that he hadn't submitted a design to several companies; they had responded that the technology he was requesting didn't exist yet, so he chose to create the technology himself. He slipped into the skin suit and fastened the chest piece on, then pulled his reinforced gloves over his hands and lowered a mirrored yellow visor over his eyes. His final design was light blue with electric yellow accents streaking across his arms and chest, and linking to his boots. In addition, he had several pieces of yellow carbon fiber armor on his shoulders, knees, hips, and elbows. He pressed one of many buttons on his chest piece, and the yellow stripes on his suit began to glow, the fabric seemingly moving on its own. He had integrated nanobots into his suit, and they provided not only additional protection against heat, cold, and electricity, but could also form into various gadgets he deemed necessary. The visor had a small holographic screen that showed him diagnostic information for the suit, and also helped him aim when he was using his Quirk to move things.

The crowd roared above him, and Akijaso opened the door, coughing. A wisp of smoke was curling up from his back, and his hair was singed. "Hey," he panted, "you up?"

"Yeah," Toschi said, eyeing him in confusion. "You okay?" Akijaso nodded, leaning against the wall.

"Apparently his Quirk was 'Fire Breath'." Toschi winced as Akijaso opened his mouth. His teeth and tongue were charred black, and a small trickle of blood leaked down his gums. "Evidently, my mouth is NOT fireproof, but neither was his skin. I'm lucky I had this leather coat on. Good luck! I might miss your match, I gotta go see Recovery Girl." He waved to Toschi and staggered out of the room. Toschi blinked, utterly confused, then opened the door to the stage and walked into the light.

The crowd was roaring, filling his ears. He ascended the stairs to the stage, where Kurami was standing opposite him. He had on a brown suit with leather padding on the chest, a leather helmet with black bug-eye goggles, black boots, and strange gloves that left his palms exposed. The backs of the gloves had small speakers on them, aimed down his arm. Toschi and Kurami locked eyes and smirked. Kurami had slightly mellowed out some in the past few weeks, but he was still just as arrogant and sly as he was when Toschi first met him. Midnight's whip rose into the air, and Kurami knelt down as Toschi put his fists up. The whip cracked, and Kurami leapt into the air. He soared nearly 50 feet straight up, and Toschi saw several springs retract into his boots. As he sailed down, he placed his hands together and pointed his arms at Toschi. He began to rub his hands together, and a high-pitched whine filled Toschi's head. His vision swam as Kurami landed on top of him, sending him sprawling into the dirt. He tried to stand, but he couldn't get his feet under him.

As he saw Kurami spring towards him, he managed to get onto one knee and rapidly pressed a series of buttons on his chest. His suit glowed, and two small speakers materialized on his shoulders. They emitted a low grumble, and he suddenly spun around, slamming his heel into Kurami's ankle. Toschi finally stood up, speakers still vibrating. Kurami aimed his hands again, but the sound was cancelled out by Toschi's speakers. He scowled and leapt towards Toschi, foot extended in a powerful kick. Toschi slid under him and trailed his fingers in the air. They snagged on Kurami's arm and he froze in the air, glowing yellow. Toschi quickly stood up and reared his fist back. He punched Kurami, and his visor displayed a small arrow showing the direction the force was applied. He readjusted his footing and delivered two more punches, then unfroze Kurami. He soared across the stage, boosted by the additional energy. He frantically tried to stop himself, but he overshot the edge of the stage and slammed into the stadium wall. He slumped down, unconscious, and the stadium filled with cheers. As Toschi raised his arms in victory, one voice caught his ear. He looked to the source and saw Mei, his aunt, and his uncle cheering. Mei climbed onto her father's shoulders and cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Go Toschi!" she screamed. "You're my hero!"

Class 1-A's dorm, present day…

Mei smiled as she thought back to that day. "You know," she said as she grabbed another soda, "even though I didn't want to be a hero, I couldn't stop myself from wondering what he felt then. The crowds cheering you on, the excitement of the fight…" She looked around at her friends, who were listening to her story, rapt with attention. "You guys are lucky."

"So what happened that they chose to ban costumes?" Midoriya asked. Mei thought for a moment.

"That wasn't until the final round, but the quarter- and semi-finals were kind of predictive of it." She looked at her phone, and saw that it was nearly midnight. "Do you guys want me to continue, or is it too late?"

"I really want to hear the rest of this story, Hatsume," Shoji said, and Koda nodded. "We'll be fine." She smirked.

"Well then, the first match of the quarter-finals was Reikokuna versus Akamachi…"

Author's note:

Well, this has been the longest chapter I've ever written. 4,500 words later, and the first round of the Sports Festival is complete! The next chapter will cover the next two rounds, and then I'll have the final round be a standalone chapter. I love that you guys are reading this story, and I hope you've enjoyed it so far!