Chapter Eleven: Starting Line
Hizashi is pumped. Ratings for last night's radio show are great and today he gets to announce for the sports festival. His life truly is an amalgamation of everything he wants. A life where his professions, hobbies, interests, and social life can co-exist.
He hums in delight as he presses the elevator button. A few moments pass and the door slides open.
"Morning, Yamada-sensei."
He once again runs into Kotogara. Her tone is bright and she rocks on the soles of her feet while holding a large bag in each hand. She must be eager. It's understandable. The sports festival is something to be hyped about even if eagerness isn't a trait he attributes to her. Still, it's great seeing such a positive expression. Joy is an important part of life. "Gooood Morning, Kotogara. It's still pretty early. Couldn't sleep?" He's up so that he could get to the arena before others arrive to do a final round of tests and adjustments with the equipment.
"I slept enough. Are you going to be alright? You had a show last night, right?" Does his student listen to his show? That would be super amazing.
"No need to worry about me, kiddo! Worry about the challenges ahead of you today. Speaking of—" The elevator door opens on the ground floor and the two exit and make their way to the front entrance together. "—your sister and parents cheering you on?" He's met the other Kotogara child several times. He's seen Kotogara with her father once, and he's never met her mother.
She doesn't answer straight away. Some teens are embarrassed by their parents' involvement in their life. That might be the reason for her hesitancy. He hopes that's the reason. He understands that work culture often isn't the best. People often work overtime, plus after work corporate gatherings, and other things like that. Still, he fully believes that parents should be an active role and presence in their kids' lives. It's why he never wants to be a homeroom teacher. Nezu has tried convincing him a few times, but Hizashi knows he would be over invested in their lives. He's content teaching alongside everything else, so he's kept it that way for his own health and balance."
"Eiko isn't into these kinds of things. I told her not to feel obligated to watch if she doesn't want to. She would be bored the whole time." Hizashi is aghast. It's the sports festival! How can someone be bored? Sure, people usually incrementally take more interest depending on which year the students are in, but they are anything but boring. "Dad will probably watch the highlights. Work and all."
He fixates on the word probably and the lack of mention of her mom. There's plenty of single parents. That alone isn't anything of concern, but it does add to the mental list he has of the girl. Kotogara frequently overthinks her words before speaking. Doesn't speak much about herself unless prompted. She apologizes a lot as if it's second nature. She's uncomfortable in group settings. Extremely independent. He's frequently witnessed the sisters bring home groceries. How hard it is for Kotogara to accept compliments while accepting criticisms without doubt. The amount she talks about her sister, but not about anyone else. That's a little less than two years of observations. He's been able to deduce that much between their run-ins and classes. Nothing he can solidly report. There's plenty of reasons she's the way she is. It is enough for him to keep watching for further signs. He hopes he's wrong.
"You don't have to worry about that! The cameras are top of the line, so remember to do your best to stand out. Best of luck, listener." He enters the taxi waiting out front. If she wasn't a student, he would have invited her along for the ride. He is her teacher, though, and he has zero doubts that there will already be a lineup of people, including reporters, like the years before. U.A. is already under enough scrutiny without someone writing a twisted article about how a staff member and a student arrived together.
Kotogara passes her bag to her other hand, so that one would be free to give a light wave.
Hizashi brushes himself off having finally made his way inside without letting others get early access inside.
"Hizashi!" It only takes a few seconds after his arrival for Nemuri to spot and yell at him. Her arm links with Shouta as she drags him with her with her heels clacking with every step. He has long understood it's her motif, but will never understand how she runs in those heels without breaking them. "Talk some sense into him! He refuses to listen to me."
"You don't have to be so dramatic. I'm perfectly capable of surveying." Hizashi blinks and starts to wonder whether he really does have an early onset of hearing problems. Shouta wants to work during the sports festival? Who is he kidding? Of course, Shouta wants to work. This is the same man who tried to run away from medical care the moment he woke up. It's been a little over two weeks, but that isn't all that long for his condition. He's still recovering.
"See! Listen to him! I would drag him around at my side to keep him out of trouble if I didn't have to move around so much and had to supervise the matches. The last thing he needs is to be within distance of students attacking each other with little regard of everyone else." She places a hand on her hip. "You're in a booth. Take him with you and make sure he stays seated."
"I'm a grown man. I don't need babysitting."
Hizashi ignores him by throwing out his arm and giving a thumbs up. "Good call, Nemuri! Leave it to me." It's great Shouta cares but overworking himself would only hurt him some day.
Shouta grumbles about not getting to decide. It's his own fault for insisting to join security in the first place.
In hindsight, Hizashi should have invited Vlad King too. He's happy to have his friend with him, but it might look like they're giving preferential treatment to 1-A as their homeroom teacher can more accurately give input on their capabilities. Especially this year with the extra attention 1-A is already getting due to the recent villain attack.
His excitement for co-hosting blinds him until later during the first event.
Forgive him.
Please.
"Thanks Yuko!" says Ochako.
The girls had previously agreed on using their given names, except Tsuyu who is insistent on the name Tsu. Still, Yuko doesn't expect her name to be said so enthusiastically as she sets out the food and snacks on one of the tables. It doesn't feel like sports day without food and food is central to showing care and bonding. Or so she thinks.
"I haven't had this for a while." Ochako takes another mouthful. "I miss my parents cooking. The downside of living alone."
Yuko blinks. "You live alone?"
Ochako finishes chewing. "Yeah. I live too far away. I need to do well to repay them!"
Yuko feels a bit of connection at that even if the circumstances are different. She does a bit of mental math before offering, "Sometimes we have leftovers if you want some."
She imagines the worst. Yuko hopes Ochako isn't constantly eating discounted convenience store food.
"Yes please!" Unabashedly, she accepts the offer.
She places the last two container on the table.
"You've been keeping the best from me!" Ochako immediately reaches for a piece of mochi. "Mmm." She places a hand on her cheek in delight. "Stop being so gloomy in the corner and come and have some."
Yuko looks to the other side of the room where Bakugou sits quietly. "You should have been training instead of cooking, dumbass." Despite his words he approaches and looks at the assortment before taking a bite of the chili flaked cucumber salad with the takanotsume-based dressing. "Don't look so anxious. It's your own damn fault for not preparing. At least it's actually spicy." Too many Japanse spicy options were not in fact spicy.
"I'm more so nervous about offering food that tastes bad than the competition. It's good that you both like it." The sports are on her, but she would be embarrassed if she made all this food only for no one to like it. "But if you like spicy, I suggest this." Yuko points with her chopsticks. "I don't know how we can be close to so many countries who pride themselves on spicy food and yet have mild spiciness as typical spicy. Probably for historical reasons between limitations on imports and the body of water that separates us." She might be rambling facts as she doesn't know what else to say.
More people start to dwindle in and come look at the treats. Momo grabs a custard imagawayaki. Mina takes a slice of okra. Shouji eats a grilled onigiri.
Kaminari joins in and complains. "It's not fair. What aren't you good at?"
"Plenty." Yuko doesn't elaborate. All the positive feedback does boost her ego and emboldens her.
"Eep!"
They turn to face Tooru only to see Mineta reaching under her arm with his arm grazing the side of her breast, outlined thanks to the gym uniform. Tooru's outreached arm snaps back to her torso and in the process her elbow hits the centre of his face sending him to the floor. His nose dribbles with blood from the hit.
"Deku!" Ochako calls him at the first sight of him. In this case right as Mineta fell. "You should come have some."
Midoriya jolts, torn from his thoughts.
"Are you okay?" asks Ochako thinking she scared him.
Midoriya feels the nervous sweat run down his face. He should be happy Ochako is talking to him, but despite training and preparation he feels the pressure of two opposing forces. His quirk counselor stressed to him that there's no rush. That slow, progressive development is better for his physical and mental health. That treating his quirk as a marathon rather than a sprint would be more beneficial. They had gone over safety precautions and recommended activities for harm reduction and strength building once he slipped his body isn't strong enough for his quirk.
However, All Might's time is becoming more limited. All Might as expectations that he's willingly taken on. He needs to use this as an opportunity to tell the world he's here. He can't let his mentor down.
Then even if he had a straight answer to how he should behave, there's still the matter of all his amazing classmates. There are plenty of people who easily stand out. Bakugou and Todoroki come to mind specifically, and that's merely from what he's seen of them so far. Todoroki is capable of heat as he's seen the steam himself. There's also talk about Endeavor's son competing and he doesn't need to be smart to put two and two together.
It makes him bitter. Midoriya is doing everything he can to catch up, yet his own overpower classmate has been holding back. How can he not be bitter that someone is taking their quirk for granted? He thinks back to everyone who didn't believe in him. The jeers because he was quirkless. It isn't fair.
"He's lost in that brain of his again," says Tsu.
Yuko appreciates Tsu for seemingly speaking her mind without reservations. No guessing. No reservations. Someone who she can take at face value.
"Todoroki." Yuko greets him as he joins the rest of the class. He briefly looks her way before taking a seat in the far corner and looks down to ignore the class. He's more withdrawn than usual.
"Midoriya isn't the only one out of it," says Mina.
"Tsk." Bakugou hates it. First shitty Deku is out of it and now half-and-half is too. They should be focusing on what's in front of them. He still needs to defeat Deku to a pulp from their first battle exercise, and half-and-half is the only person he will feel good defeating. He's the only person who can at least put up a challenge. Everyone else are extras.
"Gather around, mass media! This year, all your favourite high school kids will let their youth run free once again. The U.A. Sports Festival has begun! Everybody, Are. You. Ready?!" Present Mic rallied the audience hyping them up.
Cheers erupted from the thousands in attendance as students enter the stadium and into the spotlight.
Yuko looks around. It's easy to feel small when the arena is so big. She's never been to an event like this, so the scale is something she can't fully process. She tells herself to 'just have fun'. To do the best she can without the pressure of trying to impress others.
There are a lot of people, though. She hopes she doesn't fumble and make a fool of herself.
Just don't look up.
"Man, they're treating us like we're just their foils or something."
"What a load of crap."
Yuko looks over to where she heard the comments and it's the lineup of 1-C students. They're meant to remain quiet, but it isn't like anyone in the audience can hear them. She looks a little further back to see Shinsou. She gives a slight wave. He clearly sees but doesn't acknowledge her, so she goes back to looking ahead in boredom. She hates standing still on command.
Today is a day for competition. Whether it's Shinsou or Todoroki, the girls from her class or anyone else here, it's time to disregard her connections to win.
"Now, now. Play fair." Midnight poses in the direction she thinks will get the best video angle.
There's chatter about the choice to have Midnight as one of the hosts, but Yuko doesn't understand why people are surprised. She teaches at the school and therefore a part of the staff. How is refereeing beyond her capabilities?
"Representing the students is Katsuki Bakugo of 1-A!"
"Eh?! Our representative is Kacchan?" yelps Midoriya.
"He placed first in the entrance exam, remember?" says Sero. Yuko was one spot away from having to give a speech. She doesn't know how to feel about that. Is she lucky she doesn't have to speak in front of a broadcast or is it a missed opportunity?
"The heroics' entrance exam."
Yuko understands the disappointment of not having the attention, but the school is advertised as a heroics school. The audience is expecting someone from the Heroics Department to be the face of the student body. She doubts many, if any, care about their other test results or qualifications.
Bakugou walks up on stage with his shoulders slumped and hands in his pockets. He looks so relaxed even with people's eyes of judgement and anticipation on him. She may question his vocabulary and social skills, but she admits that he has an air of assurance about him. Take away his competitive rants and substitute names, which is admittedly all too common, he can be reliable. Though, that may be because she sees uncontestable confidence in his abilities, much like a solid brick wall. Plus, he's competent in class. Does whatever work is given to them without complain unlike some others.
"I'm gonna place first." Ah, there's the absolutism they've come to know him for.
Many people protest his claim.
Yuko doesn't think a speech is the time for one's personal declaration, but it's short and to the point so she's willing to overlook it so that they can move on to the activities.
Midnight takes over the program to get back on track. "All right, with that we can move directly on to our first event! Onto the preliminaries! Lots of fine folk end up chocking on their tears every year. This year's first round is this!" Screens around the stadium light up with the words 'obstacle race'. "It's a race between all 11 classes! The course makes a nearly 4 km ring around the stadium!"
Yuko feels some relief. When she heard the words obstacle race she worried it would require high endurance. Four kilometers isn't nothing, but it's much better than the distance her mind conjured.
The students cram together in the small spaced used as the starting line. Yuko stays in the back. The last thing she wants is to be trampled. A few seconds is time she can make up. Falling or being hit by someone's quirk would lead to even further setbacks. She could probably put up a good start at the front to avoid the worst of it but so many others are trying to start as far forward as possible that it's not worth the fight.
"START!"
Yuko lets the air envelop her. It's much easier than making a bunch of steps. She wants to bypass the crowd and going over them is her best option. She's also hoping that few people will look up. She can think of a few people who would be able to knock her down and that's just her class. She reaffirms it's the best option when Todoroki does what he always does. He uses his ice the moment he can, leaving many trapped.
She passes Tsu who sticks to the wall to get around the crowd. Bakugou uses his explosions to propel himself forward. Sero uses his tape to swing. She's surprised Iida got caught in Todoroki's attack, but she shouldn't think too hard on it. Once he get's himself out, he's speed should naturally help carry his forward.
It feels like a cheat as she passes everyone. She's going as fast as she can without going so fast as to make herself nauseous. There's a long day ahead and it would be bad if she made herself sick because of the first activity. She also don't want to land and deal with the ice rink Todoroki is leaving in his wake. Skating is fun, but she doesn't believe that ice is smooth.
Ahead she goes!
It's not like they outlined any height limitations.
Todoroki notices a shadow. He looks up to see Kotogara so he forms an ice ball in his hand and tosses it up. His attention is then forced forward as two shadows appear before him. They're robots that others claim are from the entrance exam. He doesn't plan to slow down. He doesn't need to. This can't even be considered a threat. A nuisance, sure as Kotogara went on ahead of him.
Kodai can see those who got a head start up ahead which makes her feel better. That is until somebody partially destroyed one of the bots and a flying chunk of metal comes flying towards her. She keeps running having faith in her timing. She reaches out and at the first graze of metal, the piece shrinks and falls to the ground. Good.
She watches as Kuroiro merges into some pink hair girl's shadow as she uses equipment to maneuver around the bot. Good for him.
Kaibara jumps and makes his leg a drill to destroy the piece flying at him. Similarly, Kamakiri slices through the metal like butter.
Kodai abruptly stops when she sees vines start to protrude the ground. She runs to her left as Shiozaki attempts to use her vines to off-balance what's left of the bot. Shiozaki doesn't seem happy when somebody shoots acid at the thing while trying to deal with it herself. It surely would have been a sight for the audience to try and solo the thing.
She sees a shadow and looks up. Tsuburaba may not be the fastest, but his quirk is letting him make up time here as he solidifies the air to avoid the bot.
"Boom!" Fukidashi takes care of the rest by creating an explosion.
Sero approaches 'The Fall' and stops for a moment. He can make it work, but it doesn't mean this scenario isn't frightening.
He watches Uraraka struggle with her quirk. It's a failsafe, but it doesn't let her cross any faster.
"Ahahahahaha! What good is Class A now?" Sero watches as a blond from another runs across the pit like it isn't even there.
Sero snaps back into action. He gulps before jumping. He extends his tape from his elbow to wrap about the rope and uses the momentum to throw him upward on the next platform before repeating it as many times as needed to cross.
He admires Shouji who has the strength to hold onto the rope like a set of monkey bars. He doesn't even need extra arms to have enough strength. Then there's Ojiro who is extremely graceful. He knows he took martial arts but those moves more closely resemble gymnastics.
Sero runs on. This is his chance to surpass some people. Just as he leaves he hears Present Mic's announcement about the minefields and suddenly he isn't as confident.
Todoroki approaches the third obstacle and stalls. Unlike the other obstacles, the landmines may pose an actual problem.
"Huh? Wait. Here you have it! First place goes to Kotogara! Where did she come from?" Present Mic announces.
"She's been ahead from pretty early on," said Aizawa. He and Vlad mentioned that there were a few students who would be able to handle the obstacles fairly easy. They expect most, if not all, of Class A and B to pass anyway and there would be more challenges to trial them. Besides, while it might be easy it's not the best way to show off.
Todoroki grinds his teeth. That's supposed to be him.
"Like hell that Karatou came first." Bakugou blasts his explosions sure that he won't set any of the explosions off with his own. He declared he would win. Losing now looks horrible.
Boom!
Midoriya glides through the air. Something had given him the force to propel like a rocket.
"Damn Eraserhead, your class is insane! What are you teaching them?" Present Mic shouts into the mic.
Bakugou wipes the sweat off his face with his arm as he looks at the results. Dammit! Not only did he lose to Deku again. He lost to half-and-half by a milliseconds. Even worse, an extra won first place. Not just an extra. An extra who spent her time cooking instead.
"You might want to look out." Shitty Hair walks past Bakugou. "Miss Second Place seems to be coming for your first-place status." Bakugou never bothered with the entrance exam ratings except for three things. One: he was first and that's a given. Two: Deku somehow made top ten despite not getting a single villain point. Three: Bakugou was the only fucking one on the top ten list without hero points. Everyone else out there got buffed with extra points when they were clearly incompetent to deal with the basic threat of unintelligent robots. How the hell did Doe Eyes ever get second. She's literally like a fawn. Sure, she can answer questions in class, but so can he. Outside the more normal classes she's a fish out of water.
He ignores the disappointed chatter from those who didn't make it into the next round. They don't matter. What matters is that they move on so he can show everyone that this round was a fluke.
He will win. That's a promise.