Two weeks have passed and all of the nation's attention was focused on UA. The audience filled up the seats of the 1st year's stadium.
"Do you think this year will be good?", a pro hero asked.
"Let's just wait and see. But I believe that there's bound to be some diamonds in the rough", another one answered.
A young woman with grey hair and silver eyes sat down on a chair. She was wearing a white chestplate, white gauntlets, and white boots. Her body was outfitted with a black body suit. Metal wings sprouted on her back with the right one being white while the left one being black.
"Let's what you got, Mitsuji", she said.
###
"C-C-Calm down… I can do this. Just think of them as vegetables…", Mitsuji muttered.
"You're too nervous. Just think of this as one huge game and you'll be fine!", a voice behind him said and tapped on his shoulder.
Mitsuji turned around and saw a guy with short spiky black hair and glasses.
"W-Who are you?", Mitsuji asked.
"Purorakudo Gemu. I'm your classmate", he said and offered his hand.
Mitsuji shook his hand and he smiled.
"We might be classmates but I won't be holding back. However, that doesn't mean that you should be nervous", Purorakudo said.
Another boy walked towards them. He had long shaggy brown hair and had odd eyes. One of his eyes was light blue while the other was flame orange.
"Hey Drakefire! Are you ready?", he asked.
"Ah! You bet I am! I'm just hyping up a classmate of ours", Purorakudo answered.
"Sheesh. You're just adding more to the competition", he then looked at Mitsuji.
"Ah! You're that nervous guy in the first match. I'm Drake Smith. Let's see if we can both make it to the finals", Drake said.
"Attention 1st year students. Please proceed to the gate. The event is starting soon", the speakers announced.
"Well. Good luck to you!", Purorakudo said and walked away.
Drake waved his hand and followed him.
"What's up with those two?", Mitsuji asked himself.
###
"EVERYONE! ARE YOU READY?!" Present Mic asked and everyone in the audience cheered.
"Audience! Watch as the clash of adolescence unfold before your eyes! Mass media! Be sure to record this moment into history as today, the first step of future heroes begins!", Present Mic shouted into the microphone.
"Beginning with the first class, the hero course, 1-A!"
Class 1-A walked outside of the corridor and towards the arena. Mitsuji almost had a heart attack when he saw the number of people in the audience. Also, standing on a wide space made him uncomfortable. But…
Everything's going to be fine. I just have to believe in myself like how Senpai believes in me, he thought.
"Next up! The second class of heroes, 1-B!"
20 students walked out of the corridor.
"Also, here comes the General Department, Classes C,D, and E!"
More students walked out.
"Support course, Classes F,G, and H are here too!"
Students equipped with gadgets walked to the arena.
"And last but not the least, the Business Course, Classes I, J, and K!"
Students who didn't seem to be interested at the sports festival casually walked towards the arena.
"All of the 1st year students are now here! Are you ready young listeners?!"
A man with long blue hair tied up in a ponytail climbed up a stage and faced the students. He was wearing a full body suit that was sky blue in color.
"Who is he?", a pro hero asked.
"Dunno", another one answered.
"Ah. Ako-sensei is the umpire for this year huh?", Aome asked.
Nagusawa Ako was a pro hero and a teacher in UA. He was the Modern Literature teacher for the 1st year student. Not much is known about him as he doesn't interact much with his students and no one even knows his hero name.
"Time for the player pledge. Representing the students is Daichi Hisakawa from Class 1-A", he said in a serious tone.
A boy with hair and red eyes walked towards the stage and looked at the mic.
"I pledge to have a positive attitude and accept responsibility for my participation by following this code of ethics: I will encourage and demonstrate good sportsmanship. I will be a good sport and play fair. I will put winning and losing in perspective. I will not engage in any unsportsmanlike conduct such as booing, taunting or refusing to shake hands, or using profane language or gestures. I will never question an official. I will give 100% in games. I believe in myself and my abilities. I will learn from my mistakes. I will treat other players, officials, and fans with respect. I will remember that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I will remember that sports are an opportunity to learn and have fun", Daichi pledged.
"Why is he the one doing the pledging?", Runa asked.
"Well… I heard he placed first in the entrance exams", Tang answered.
"Him? He doesn't look strong at all", Narruk asked.
Daichi walked down from the stage and everyone looked at him. He wasn't even fazed at the number of people staring at him.
Uwaah. I wish I was as confident as him, Mitsuji thought.
"The first game is the qualifier round. This year is the same as last year, an obstacle course", Nagusawa said.
"Many students lose here so you'd better not get your hopes up. All 11 classes will be part of the race. The entire course will be the outer circumference of the stadium which is around 4 kilometers. And doesn't matter what you do, as long as you're in the course, you can do whatever you want", he explained.
Everyone faced the gate that leads outside the coliseum. The lights on the gate started to go out and when the last one went off, Present Mic shouted "START!"
All of the students ran at once. However…
"Gaah! This is too narrow!", one student complained.
"Somebody help me!", Mitsuji heard someone say that… It must've been him but he removed that thought from his head.
He then noticed a dragonfly move its way past the crowd and exited the narrow gate. It then transformed into Daichi.
"The first one out is Daichi Hisakawa from the hero course!"
A student with four red tentacle-like things coming out of his back followed. He used his tentacles as legs and moved faster than a normal person running.
"Second is Kuroi Niriyama from the hero course!"
"Kufufufu. I'm not letting you get first place", Kuroi said.
Daichi didn't reply as he continued running.
More and more students got out of the narrow gate. And then…
"Woah! Flying at a great speed, we have Runa Tenshi from the hero course being in the third place!"
Runa flew and shot her feathers at Kuroi. He avoided them but he couldn't counterattack because she was too far above.
"Isn't that cheating? She's practically flying over obstacles", a pro hero asked.
"Anything is fine as long as they remain on the course", Nagusawa answered.
Everyone ran as fast as they could even Mitsuji. He didn't have any time to be nervous. If he was planning to win this, he had to be focused. After all, she believed in him.
But even if he was determined to win, it was not enough to make him go any faster. That was the harsh reality as he was somewhere in the 30th place in the race.
Damn it! Can't I go any faster?, he thought.
Narruk and Aome raced side by side with their enhanced speed and fought for the 7th place.
"Move, dog!", Aome shouted.
"You move! Halfling!", he shouted back.
Then they noticed something bright fly above them. It was Kai shooting out lasers from both of his hands and was flying due to the force of the lasers.
Got to close the gap as much as I can, Kai thought.
Kokoro sang a song about the speed of wind, the lightness of feathered birds, and the swiftness of a rabbit. She glowed and ran faster than she normally could.
Tsubaki held her breath and time slowed down. Everyone was moving in slow motion as she ran. However, it didn't take long for her to run out of breath.
It's a shame but I guess I have to pace myself, she thought.
"Yo, Tenshi", Nagai said.
Runa looked up and was surprised to see Nagai swimming above her.
"Let's see whether flying in the air or swimming is better", he challenged.
"You're on", she accepted.
Mitsuji looked around and saw that even more students passing him. And with everyone in the lead, he was bound to lose. He was getting nervous
Calm down… That's right! I hate doing this but…
1…2…
Electricity came from him and shocked everyone around him. People who were in front, side, and behind him couldn't escape his shocking attack. They collapsed to the ground and were fried. Mitsuji panted for a while and continued running.
They can't get in the lead if they are down, he thought.
"And a shocking move from Mitsuji Saiga from the hero course! By zapping his opponents out, he has less competition!", Present Mic commentated.
"Saiga?!", Aome asked, who wasn't affected since she was too far away, in surprise.
"He had the nerve to do that?", Kai, who also wasn't affected, asked.
"What a wonderful way to utilize his quirk. As I expected, he's dangerous", Jacob said.
An explosion occurred in front of the lead. Daichi and Kuroi looked and saw a lot of robots.
"They reached the first the obstacle! Robot Mayhem!", Present Mic announced.
"Whaat? It's just the same as last year", a pro said.
"Is UA running out of ideas?" another one asked.
There were several robots. Some of them were gigantic, some were flying, some had wheels, and some had legs. But all of them looked tough to beat and were equipped with missiles.
Now then. How will you get out of this, Mitsuji?, the woman with the grey hair asked in her mind.
Hey everyone! Good news! I'll be out soon so I can work more on my stories. But doctors say that I shouldn't overwork myself so there might be times I can't update. I'll apologize in advance for that. And… I'm calling those who still haven't sent OCs! Class 1-B still has slots (like… a lot of slots) and they're going to be featured in the next chapters!