I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.
Sports Festival: Tournament
Lee sighed as he leaned back against the wall, letting his food digest. Almost instantly, Mina and Toru leaned on his shoulders.
"Don't get too comfortable," Momo said. "We need to head back in a few minutes."
"Chill out," Lee smiled. "I've got a timer set on my watch for ten minutes from now." He double checked the timer, before folding his hands pleasantly on his stomach again.
"Seriously, Yaoyorozu," Mina said, yawning. "Take a load off. We'll all need to be rested for the games anyway."
Momo sighed, "I suppose a short nap won't hurt."
"Exactly!" Toru smiled. "Just lay down. Close your eyes. Enjoy yourself. We even left Lee's lap open for you."
"Wait, what!?" Momo and Lee both gaped, both blushing.
"Hey, if you don't want it, I'll take it," Mina said.
"Don't I get a say in this?" Lee asked.
"Oh just do it, Yaoyorozu," Toru said. "No one's going to say anything."
Momo blushed again before Mina rolled her eyes, shifting to sit in Lee's lap instead, cuddling into Lee and patting the ground beside him.
"Seriously, I'd like the right to decide whether or not people sit on me," Lee said.
All three ignored him, and Momo sat beside him. Instead of leaning on him, however, she leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. Mina shrugged, she and Toru pulling his arms around the two of them, then wrapping their arms around him.
"You know, you two aren't exactly subtle," Lee said.
"Good," Mina smiled. "Then maybe you'll eventually decide to stop ignoring us."
Lee rolled his eyes, tilting his head back just as Momo's weight settled on his shoulder, Momo already asleep.
"Wow, she really must have been tired," Mina said.
Lee sighed just as he felt Momo slipping forward on his shoulder. He snatched his arm back from Mina and quickly wrapped it around Momo, holding her upright. She mumbled something in her sleep and wrapped her arms around him, tucking her head into the side of his neck. He smiled slightly, and Mina groaned.
"Why's she always stealing the spotlight?" Mina asked. "She didn't even want to sit with you. Is it because her costume's super sexy?"
Lee chuckled, Mina rolling her eyes and laying against him again. He tilted his head forward, gently kissing her on the top of the head, then did the same for both of the other girls, Toru squeaking in surprise as he did. Mina sighed as he did, but cuddled closer anyway, Lee resting his chin on top of her head, in place of wrapping an arm around her.
"You're really going to be like that, aren't you?" Mina asked.
"I'm not ignoring you," Lee said. "I'm just trying not to make a mistake."
Mina smiled, cuddling closer, Toru doing the same. Le smiled and held Momo a little tighter as well, Momo reciprocating on basic instinct. They remained there in silence for a little while before his alarm went off, waking Momo. She didn't sit up, or pull away, and instead simply reached up to his watch and shut it off, then rested her hand over his on her abdomen.
"We should probably get back," Momo said.
"Probably," Lee agreed.
For a moment, no one moved. Finally, Momo stood, nudging Mina with her foot. Mina sighed heavily and stood, pulling Toru up with her, and Lee finally stood up. Before he could go anywhere, however, all three girls hugged him. he was a bit surprised that Momo did as well, but after a moment, they pulled away and all smiled.
"Let's go win these games, shall we?"
Lee grinned and nodded, all of them walking toward the entrance to the stadium. As they arrived, they found Uraraka and Kyoka talking to Mineta, looking confused.
"What's going on?" Lee asked.
"Oh, uh, I was just letting these two know that Mister Aizawa said the girls have to put on cheerleader uniforms for the cheer contest going on after lunch," Mineta said.
"Really?" Lee asked, squatting down to get in Mineta's face. "Because, you know what happens if you're lying, right?"
Mineta swallowed hard. "I-I'm serious."
Lee narrowed his eyes before standing. "Alright. It's your ass on the line. I'm going to head into the stadium. See the rest of you in there."
He walked away, leaving the girls to change, and found the rest of the students were heading into the stadium. The DJ was making some announcement about side games for the students who were disqualified already to play, as well as about having brought cheerleaders for the crowd. Lee stopped, realizing there was, in fact, no cheer off. He turned just as the One A girls walked onto the field. Momo spotted him and he shook his head. Annoyance filled her face instantly and she threw her pompoms down, Kyoka slapping her forehead. Lee sighed as he turned back to the arena as the DJ announced that the remaining participants of the games would be fighting a tournament.
"So, wait, is it always a tournament?" Mina asked as the girls reached the rest of the students.
"The finals are always a one-on-one competition but they switch it up every time," Sero said. "Last year it was a foam sword-fighting match."
"Come closer and draw lots to see who you're up against," Midnight said, holding the box. "Then enjoy watching the recreational games before we start. The sixteen finalists have the option of participating in those activities or sitting out to prepare for battle. I'm sure you all want to conserve your stamina. "I'll start with the first place team."
"Hold on!" Eijiro said. "Where's Ojiro?"
Everyone looked around, frowning. Finally, Toru pulled out her phone, dialing Ojiro.
"Where are you?" Toru asked. "The games are starting." She was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Wait, for real!?"
"What is it?" Midnight asked.
"He said he got food poisoning from eating something he's allergic to by accident," Toru said, hanging up.
"Man, that is some rotten luck!" Midoriya said.
"I suppose I'll have to disqualify him, then," Midnight said. "Since we're one person short, we'll have to move up someone from the next team down. Tetsutetsu will be taking his place."
"Thank you!" Tetsutetsu said excitedly, eyes watering.
"Now, everyone draw lots!" Midnight said.
Everyone who was advancing moved forward and drew lots, then were assigned a spot in the brackets.
"Pay attention to the brackets, my dears!" Midnight said, snapping her whip. "These are your opponents!"
The names appeared on the screen and Lee raised an eyebrow. Midoriya was first against Lee, Todoroki was against Sero, Denki was up against the ginger girl from One B who was identified as Kendo, Iida was up against the Support Course girl Mei Hatsume, Mina was up against Toru, Momo was up against Fumikage, Eijiro was up against Tetsutetsu which both of them complained about instantly, and Bakugo was up against Uraraka.
Lee glanced at Midoriya, who was staring at him worriedly. "Don't worry. You'll do great."
Midoriya nodded, smiling, and the DJ announced an interlude while the side games began. Lee decided to sit them out, so he to sit just inside the hallway. After a few minutes, Mina and Toru sat with him, then Momo a couple minutes later. They all retook the same positions as before, Momo even leaning on his side without complaint this time, and Lee smiled, wrapping his arms around Momo and Toru, resting his chin on top of Mina's head.
"Good luck in our fight, Toru," Mina said.
"Same to you," Toru replied. "And to you two as well."
"Thank you," Momo smiled. "I think the one that will need it most is Lee, though. If you beat Midoriya, you'll be up against Todoroki next."
"Ruling Sero out already?" Lee asked.
"Sero's skilled, but he's not beating Todoroki," Momo said.
"Well, I'm probably going to throw the fight for Midoriya," Lee said. "I just need to ask him something first to be sure."
"What?" Momo asked.
"It's not important," Lee said. "I'm just curious about something."
Momo seemed to accept his answer and they settled into a comfortable silence. Lee closed his eyes, feeling all three girls drift off to sleep. He began to drift in and out as well, but after while, he was woken when the DJ began to yell, thanking the pro hero Cementoss for something. He blinked a couple times to clear the sleep from his vision before looking to the side, seeing Cementoss was finishing making a cement fighting stage. He sighed, looking down, only to stop, realizing that Momo had, at some point, again begun to hold his hand, and Mina and Toru were holding both him and each other now, with the hand Mina had around Toru holding the hand Lee had around it. He sighed. He actually kind of liked sitting with them like this. It was strangely comforting. He felt kind of bad for knowing that Mina and Toru both, quite obviously, had feelings for him but not doing anything about it, but as he'd said before, he didn't want to make a mistake, like choosing one before he was certain that that's the one he truly wanted to be with. They were only fifteen, after all. Their feelings could change easily in the future. He might not have feelings for the same one he did by the time they graduated U.A. and went on to live their lives as heroes and sidekicks.
Finally, he sighed, gently squeezing the two at his sides and kissing the top of Mina's head, all three stirring. They all sat up, taking their arms back and allowing Lee to do the same before standing. The girls headed to the waiting room to find the others while Lee walked out into the stadium, since he was up first against Midoriya.
"Let's welcome our first fighters!" the DJ was saying. "Whoa. He looks kinda scared in that picture doesn't he? It's Izuku Midoriya from the Hero Course, Class One A! And his opponent is...The fastest man alive, Lee, also from Class One A!"
Lee walked up onto the battle arena and watched Midoriya silently for a moment. Midoriya was smiling, but it was a nervous smile.
"The rules are simple, immobilize your opponent or force them out of the ring!" the DJ shouted. "You can also win by getting the other person to cry uncle! Bring on the injuries because we've got our very own Recovery Girl waiting on standby! So, put your morals aside and don't be afraid to play dirty! But of course, no life-threatening crap, folks. It's not allowed. Real heroes use their power to throw people in jail, not kill them!"
"I'll stop anyone who tries to get too rough," Cementoss, the ref for the tournament, said from his cement throne off to the side.
Lee sighed, looking to his exoskeleton's arms and retracting them to his elbows, the arms folding outward until they overlapped against the back of his upper arms. He walked forward, Midoriya moving to meet him, recognizing he wanted to talk first. "No hard feelings about however this ends, yeah?"
"Agreed," Midoriya nodded, offering his hand. "You're amazing, so you'll probably win, but I'm going to do my best anyway."
"Yeah, I'm not so sure," Lee said. "I'm actually challenging you to a no Quirk fight."
"Really?" Midoriya asked.
"Well yeah," Lee said. "Mine would make it impossible for you to land a hit, and yours breaks you. But first, I have a question."
"What's that?" Midoriya asked.
Lee dropped his voice to a murmur. "All Might's chosen you as his successor, right? The new All Might? I know your Quirk and his are a lot alike, albeit yours is imperfect. It definitely seems like you've got a strength Quirk that might actually rival his if you could ever learn to control it so you don't break your bones every time."
Midoriya stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Oh come on," Lee smiled. "I won't tell anyone. But for real. Are you supposed to be the next All Might?"
Midoriya hesitated before nodding.
"Then I suppose I know what I have to do," Lee smiled. "The next All Might can't lose to the likes of me, after all. Just make sure you beat the shit out of Todoroki."
Midoria's eyes widened before he nodded, smiling, voice still quiet. "Thanks. But I don't want you to throw the match."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Lee smiled. "I'm just not that good of a fighter without my Quirk."
He backed up several steps before taking a martial arts stance and Midoriya also took a few steps back, though he didn't adopt a martial arts stance, since he likely didn't know martial arts. Lee really only knew any thanks to what little Momo had taught him. After a moment he moved in first, darting forward and dropping, sweeping at Midoriya's feet, only for Midoriya to jump over it. Lee shoved himself to his feet in time to sweep a punch to the side, throwing his own. Midoriya stepped forward, catching Lee's arm before twisting and flipping Lee over himself, slamming him down on his back, as Midoriya had done to Bakugo during combat training. Lee spun himself, sweeping Midoriya's feet out from under him, the flipped, straddling Midoriya's legs and throwing a punch, only for Midoriya to knock it aside, making him punch the ground instead. Midoriya caught his arm and neck instantly, pinning them against each other before twisting to his feet and spinning, throwing Lee by the head and his right arm, accidentally straining Lee's neck in the process. Lee bounced and rolled to the edge of the arena before stopping himself. He pushed himself up and stopped, groaning and massaging his neck. He turned back to Midoriya as Midoriya threw a haymaker at him. He leaned back out of the way, then moved to throw a punch of his own, only for electricity to suddenly scream in his ears, his back lighting up suddenly. He swore, activating his Quirk and shooting around Midoriya and away from him, careful to keep his body between Midoriya and his currently electrified exoskeleton. As he stopped, he looked back, seeing blue electricity arcing over the metal constantly for several seconds before vanishing for a moment, then reappearing. It vanished a second time, longer this time, before reappearing again. A third, longer break, and it reappeared one final time for just a moment before fading entirely. He sighed, bending forward at the waist.
"What was that?" Midoriya asked.
"I'm not actually entirely sure," Lee said. "It's only happened one other time, and then only for an instant. You okay?"
"Yeah," Midoriya nodded. "It didn't affect me any. Are you?"
"Yeah," Lee nodded. "It doesn't seem to do anything to me. At least, not that I've noticed. Anyway, it should be settled down now. Ready to go again?"
"Yeah," Midoriya nodded.
They both charged, but when Lee threw a punch, Midoriya ducked, then rammed into Lee's gut, lifting him and continuing to run. Lee's eyes widened and he slammed a punch into Midoriya's side, then the other. Kidney punch. Liver Punch. Double hammer fist to the back. Midoriya's foot slipped as Lee managed to get his own to the ground and they stopped. Lee grabbed Midoriya by the sides and turned, throwing him.
"That was a pretty good idea," Lee commended. "But you'll have to try harder."
Midoriya stood and charged again. Lee threw an upper cut, but Midoriya blocked it at the wrist, grabbing it, then grabbed the front of Lee's shirt with his other hand and spun in a circle, actually managing to lift Lee off the ground. Then, he hurled him.
"You're kidding me!" Lee shouted as he flew ten feet before hitting the ground and bouncing. He flipped, slamming his feet to the ground, only to skid out of bounds, then sighed, deploying his exoskeleton's arms again. "God damn, Midoriya. You're a monster even without using your Quirk."
Midoriya laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "I just thought maybe getting a lot stronger would help me control it, so I did a lot of physical training."
"No kidding," Lee laughed. "Well, you earned this victory. The next one won't be so easy."
Midoriya nodded in agreement. "Thanks for making this one fair."
"Of course," Lee smiled. "We may be competing, but we're still friends."
Midoriya smiled and they left the stadium, heading up to the stands where the other competitors were waiting for their turns. Lee sat down in the seat saved for him between Momo and Mina, which he knew was his because as soon as he got close, Mina pulled him into it. Then, Toru dropped into his lap, resting her head on his shoulder, her ridiculously soft hair tickling the side of his neck. He hummed thoughtfully and reached up, trailing his hand through it. It was straight and reached about the bottom of her shoulder blades, maybe a little lower. He smiled and brushed his hair through the top of it quickly to mess it up and she yelped, shoving his hand away before whining.
"You're so mean!" Toru complained.
Lee chuckled. "Sorry, couldn't help myself."
"Now I look awful!" Toru whined.
"I think you still look great," Lee smirked.
"You meanie!" Toru accused. "Why're you teasing me?"
"To see how you'll react," Lee smirked.
Toru whined again before setting her head back on his shoulder. "Please stop."
He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her for a second before Mina took his left hand, slipping hers into it.
"Who do you want to win our match?" Mina asked.
"Which ever of you does better," Lee said.
"You could at least chose one to root for," Mina said.
"I'm rooting for both of you," Lee said. "Whichever wins I'll be proud of for winning, and whichever loses I'll be proud of for doing well. Besides, after I'm a pro, I'm still going to take both of you on as my sidekicks, so what difference does it make which of you wins this match?"
"That's assuming you'll even be allowed to go straight to pro hero status," Momo said.
"Oh I assume," Lee smiled.
Just then, the DJ announced Sero and Todoroki's match, the two walking into the arena. Sero started off by catching Todoroki and swinging him around to throw him out of the ring, only for Todoroki to activate his ice Quirk. A half-second later, there was a gigantic, spiked ice formation twice the height of the stadium filling half of it.
"That was...a little much," Lee said.
"Just a bit," Momo agreed.
"Tell the truth Sero, can you move at all?" Midnight asked, her entire right half also encased in ice, though she seemed entirely unconcerned with it.
"Are you kidding?" Sero asked, his head and neck being the only thing not encased in ice at the front of the ice formation. "Obviously not! My body is freezing!"
"Sero has been immobilized!" Midnight announced. "Todoroki is the winner!"
After a moment, the crowd cheered "Nice try" twice.
Lee sighed as Todoroki began to thaw Sero out of the ice. "This is going to take a minute."
"Yeah, probably," Mina said.
"Hey," a voice behind Lee said, Lee tilting his head back to look, seeing the General Studies student with the messy blue hair who had declared war on One A, Shinso.
"What's up?" Lee asked.
"You're the fast one, right?" Shinso asked.
"And you're the one who can brainwash people," Lee said. "I talked to your team after the cavalry battle. Your power's impressive. Powerful, but not offensive, leaving you no way to pass the practical application exam against robots. It's not a fair break, but I can see why you'd be planning to use these games to get switched to Hero Course."
"I doubt that'll happen now," Shinso said. "No one saw my Quirk, and since I'm not in the tournament, I'm not going to be scouted."
"So what are you doing here?" Lee asked.
"You said you were going to take your friends on as sidekicks, right?" Shinso asked. "Assuming you ever go pro? Then they really don't need to get scouted."
"I agree," Lee nodded. "But no, I'm sorry. I'm not letting you switch with one of them."
Shinso watched him for a moment before sighing, nodding. "Alright. I won't force you. Doing that's not exactly something that will make them likely to let me into Hero Course."
"There's another way," Lee said.
"There is?" Shinso asked.
"Find All Might, or one of the hero scouts in the crowd and ask them if you can show them your quirk," Lee said. "All Might would be the better option. Explain what your quirk is first, and why you're General Studies rather than Hero Course. People like you do fall through the cracks. They might scout you straight out of General Studies into being a sidekick."
"You think so, huh?" Shinso asked. "I'll give it a try. Thanks."
"No problem," Lee said.
Shinso walked away and everyone stared at Lee.
"What?" Lee asked.
"Are you two friends or something?" Iida asked.
"No," Lee said. "But I know where he's coming from. He wants to be a hero, but he couldn't make it into Hero Course because he doesn't have a Quirk specifically geared toward defeating robots. My sister was the same. Her Quirk makes her a super-genius. She's the one that designed my exoskeleton, at the age of seven. The problem is, she's not able to fight a bunch of giant robots to get into Hero Course, because her Quirk's not offensive. She could have gone to Support, but some problems came up in our family, so she had to give up on her dream to take care of those. I promised her I'd make her my first sidekick once I become a pro, and make sure she becomes a hero all her own."
"That's sweet," Momo said.
"So then you understand how people like Shinso feel," Uraraka said. "People who want to be heroes but couldn't get through the test."
"And I want to help them if I can," Lee said.
He glanced at the stadium again as the DJ finally announced the next matchup, Kendo and Denki.
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