"What the-"

At the exclamation, Kakashi lifts his head from his arms, peering blearily out towards the door. The hallway is packed, and not even in that whole 'the bell's gone and it's lunch time, last one there's getting scraps' kind of way. No, this is a 'there's people inside this room we wanna phase and we're not moving until we do' kind of packed. He remembers it well from his time at the academy; he hadn't reacted until they'd physically tried to stop him leaving. Then, Kakashi had wiped the floor with all of them.

"What's going on?" One of his fellow classmates, the pretty pink one, asks, rising to her feet. Quite frankly, Kakashi's more than happy to ignore the whole thing. What with this whole Sports Festival thing coming up, he would much rather mentally prepare for that clusterfuck. Hey, it's a festival where they're trying to sell themselves (as future heroes as opposed to the deadly-killing machines that Kakashi had been aiming for in his last big spectator sport), the last one he attended when tits up so he's got low expectations.

"consider this a declaration of war." War huh? Rising to his feet, Kakashi makes for the door, stepping around the gathering of his own classmates to better look at what awaits them outside the door. Ah, it seems like everyone is here. How cute. Tilting his head to a side, Kakashi meets the eyes of the purple haired one at the front, along with the loud one at the back yelling about being from Class 1B.

"Tch, I'm heading for the top, I don't care what you extras think."

"As much as I hate to agree with Boom-Boom-Pop here," Kakashi muses, jabbing a thumb dangerously close to Bakugo's mouth (he's not too worried about it, he's had his tetanus shot) as he scans the crowd, "he's right. You want to beat us? Fine. But don't expect us to hold back."

"Hatake-brat." A pinch grip comes down hard on his ear and Kakashi allows the hold to drag him back and away from the door. He glances up to Aizawa, waiting for the rest of the reprimand. "Don't dare start stirring up trouble as if you're not planning to scrape by on the skin of your teeth in the whole thing."

"Maa, how did you know?" Kakashi grins, eye curving before he peels them up to better look at his current sensei.

"It's exactly what you'd do. I'm here to tell you that is not an option. I expect you to give it your all. After all, you are the student that took down the biggest villain at USJ."

Kakashi twitches, a scowl forming beneath his mask. Looks like Aizawa's decided to start playing his games. Singling him out before all the other students in the year is, as certain a lazy bastard would once say, troublesome.

"Thanks for that, Sensei," Kakashi drawls, even as his cute little kohai comes to stand beside him. Shouto's got a series of bruises up his forearms from yesterday's Kakashi special, but he must have learnt something from it, given he'd asked for a repeat. Ah, it's cute. "Let's get going, Shouto-kun."

.

.

"Listen up, you smug masked-bastard," Katsuki snarls, getting right into Hatake's face with a snarl, hands clenched and sweat at the ready, "I'm gonna win this whole fucking festival, got it?" He grins, watching that single fucking eye blink, one, twice, then it closes into that fucking mockery of a smile.

"Maa, did you say something?"

"You bastard!" Katsuki reaches for the fucker's uniform, fist clenching in the fabric just as another hand catches his wrist. For a second, he thinks it belongs to Hatake before he registers the glove is a soft black that covers the fingers, not the leather fingerless shit Hatake wears.

Katsuki's eyes snap up to the one standing beside Hatake, eyes narrowing as he takes in the sight. The fuck, this is-

.

.

"Is that Hawks?!"

Rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand, Hawks flicks his eyes from the blond that'd been in middle of threatening Kakashi (cute, as if he'd stand a chance against the wonderkid), to the rest of the 1A students that have gathered around them. He's never seen the backstage stuff of a UA festival, what with having never participated in one himself. It's funny how they all group off into their classes, though more than a few are looking his way now.

He lets go of Sparky-Sparky-Boom-Boom's hand, slapping his now free hand onto Kakashi's shoulder. Kid better not grow any more, there's only an inch or so between them now. Not that height will mean much given his wings. If he needs the high ground over Kakashi for whatever reason, he'll have it.

"Well, Kakashi. This is it. The start of your career in the media as a hero. You're gonna go out there, keep that cool attitude going, the people like a hero they can trust. And your whole spiral of teamwork and 'I'll protect you with my life' is a great selling point. Here!" Hawks digs his phone out from his pocket, wiggling his arm over Kakashi's shoulder and spreading one red wing out behind him, in order to protect the identities of the other students taking part. He doesn't have their agreement to take a photo right now, does he?

"Smile!"

Kakashi, like a good little brat, does exactly that, single visible eye curving up.

"Ah, that's a good photo. The public'll love it." Hawks muses, uploading it with a quick tag of 'at the Sports Festival, wishing the Little Bro good luck!'

"Wait, public?" Kakashi snatches the phone from his hand but by that point it's already too late, uploaded and undoubtedly seen by a few hundred people in the first few seconds. Even if Kakashi deletes it, there'll be copies making their round soon after. Too little, too late.

"Heh, you know, if you uncover that pretty face of yours, you'll get a massive following, Little Brother."

"Little Brother?!" The closest chorus, in clear shock and ouch, Kakashi's never mentioned him to his classmates? Man, it's almost like he's ashamed of him or something.

Kakashi frowns, folding his arms and stepping back from under his arm to better glare at him. It's cute but this little brat has put him through hell more than once. It's beautiful, being on the other end of it all.

"Wait, you've seen under the mask?" It's a redhead, probably from the same class as Kakashi given their proximity. "I've been watching this guy for weeks at lunch and I've never, never seen it come off! What's he like? Big teeth? Is he covered in acne?"

"Acne?" Kakashi scoffs, arms folding across his chest with a bemused look on his face. Hawks pulls up the collar of his shirt so as to hide his smirk, looking away from the brat.

"Nah, none of that. 'Kashi's ridiculously pretty under that mask. Why, when we went out to Tokyo for dinner, he took off his mask and the waitresses wouldn't leave him alone. He still gets the occasional love letter." Half of the class giggle, more and more of the UA students looking over towards them, trying to be subtle about making their way over. And hey, the more the merrier. And if it means dishing out some brotherly embarrassment on Kakashi, well, even better!

.

.

"Your brother is Hawks? The Hawks?! Number Three Hero, Hawks?!"

Running a hand through is hair, Kakashi folds his arms and watches as Hawks all but basks in the attention that's lavished on him, a small smile crossing his lips regardless of the hassle this'll all cause him (so much for being an underground hero). It's a good move in their ever-ongoing game of one-upmanship, 'how much can I irritate you until you break'. All in good fun, of course.

But if Hawks wants to bring the media into it, then Kakashi'll play along. He hopes the other is looking forwards to seeing his most embarrassing moments featuring on the web; Kakashi's been collecting videos for years. Just is case.

"Yeah. Hawks' my brother. Adopted, of course, what with my 'no-name orphan' status and all. All I can do is strive to live up to his amazing record, to keep trying and step out of the large shadow he casts."

"I'm only an inch taller than you, you melodramatic brat," Hawks points out, lips in an uneven frown, forefinger and thumb pinched by the left corner. "Well, good luck, 'Kashi. I'll be watching."

Hawks makes his way to the balcony, leaping off. His large, red wings spread wide, carrying him up and away from the contestants' room. Those that have already arrived in the audience burst into excited chatter at the sight of him. His flight is smooth, carrying up towards the presenter's box. Of course, he's going to be watching from nearby, why would Kakashi ever expect him to be sensible and not draw attention by watching from home? That would be silly.

"You share a close relationship with Hawks?" It's Shouto, one of the few people that Kakashi doesn't mind nosing into his personal life. After all, he's already been exposed to the kid's, what with his dad and all. Turn about is fair play and all, isn't it? Plus, if Shouto's gonna be his little kohai, then there needs to be some trust between them.

"The Hero's Commission took us both in when we were young, we've grown up together. Years of training, trusting one another, working together as teammates in whatever task we've been set; Hawks' said we're brothers, so, yeah." Shrugging his shoulders, Kakashi adjusts the headband on his forehead, until it lays flat and exposes his other eye. He doesn't plan on opening it, not yet anyway. He gets the feeling that Aizawa will have his head is he warps one of the other students away for a bit. It's not like it'd kill them; Obito's other dimension is filled with emergency supplies (he never knows when he'll need them, after all) and he had deposited the Nomu yesterday with trusted UA staff before he'd collect Shouto from his house. As for how he'd found out where Shouto lived… the UA security system was better than many he'd seen, but it wasn't ninja-proof. Kakashi had made sure to put the files back where he'd found them, so it was all good.

"So, you've been training for this your whole life too," Shouto says, quiet and low. Kakashi flicks his gaze over to the other, worrying his lip back and forth between his teeth.

"Yes. But I knew my limitations, I had knowingly stepped into this life and knew when to stop, when to take a break… Maa, based on the look you're wearing, I assume that isn't something you got to experience."

"All students, proceed to the entrance tunnel in Class order." The voice is electronic, emotionless. It quells the whispering students instantly. A harsh tension falls over them, heavy and suffocating. Even Kakashi can feel it; the urge to do well, to perform to the best of his abilities. He beats in back with practiced ease, shoulders rolling and muscles relaxing. He doesn't need to be the best, just do well enough to get to the next round. He's prepared, there's nothing that he cannot face and not handle. It's only an exam for students, there's no danger of permanent injury or death. Far from the worst thing he's ever handled. After the villain attack, it'll no doubt be a walk in the park for him. In fact, this whole thing will work more as an information gathering opportunity for him. After all, he needs to find Shouto-kun a sparring partner that'll be more on his level to stoke the fires of that friendly competition. He's already got Bakugo for the unfriendly fires. It's just a job of cracking into his tough outer-shell.

He sets his eyes on the blond in question, watching the brat shiver.

Yeah, he's got no idea what's coming for his ass.

Ah, Kakashi's missed being a sensei.