When she heard the news about the Sports Festival, Inko couldn't help but be alarmed. It was subtle, but the way her hands trembled as she tried to eat was a dead giveaway. "They're holding the Sports Festival after a Villain attack like that?"

Ikumi nodded, poking at the pile of pork and rice in her bowl. Looking at Inko's anxious expression, she winced. "Yeah. I was nervous as well, but Principal Nedzu doesn't want people to think that U.A's afraid of Villains attacking."

Hisashi shook his head. "I don't really understand that line of logic. Then again, I'm not a supergenius like Nedzu."

Inko twisted the hem of her shirt. "Is Principal Nedzu sure that this is the best idea?"

"I… don't know?" Seeing Inko's expression, Ikumi hastened to reassure her. "But Principal Nedzu's making sure that there will be more Heroes and police at the Festival this year."

That didn't make Inko feel relieved, if anything it just made her worried. She fiddled with her napkin, twisting it in her hands. "If you're sure… It just seems a bit irresponsible, that's all."

"Maybe it is," Hisashi agreed, before turning to Ikumi. "But you can't hide away from risks like this all the time - especially if Ikumi wants to be a Hero."

She frowned, looking at Ikumi with a worried expression. "I just want you to be safe at school, Ikumi. Not - not worrying about maniacs trying to kill you."

"I know, mum." Ikumi gave her a determined look. Inko had seen that look a few times before, always when focusing on why Ikumi wanted to be a Hero. "But I-I don't want to back down because of the League of Villains. "

Hisashi chuckled at that, a huge, sharp toothed grin on his face. "There's my girl!"

He had to stand up to ruffle his daughter's hair affectionately. She squirmed, trying to get away. "Come on, Dad!"

"I mean it - you're going to beat them all into the ground out there!" Hisashi beamed at her.

Ikumi managed to duck under his hand. "But - but what if I mess up?" She blanched, slumping over and holding her head tightly. "Oh, no. I'm going to be on national TV and everybody in the country's going to be watching me and-"

Inko reached across the table to put a reassuring hand on her daughter's, uncaring of how small her hand was in comparison. For all her worrying, she did her best not to stifle her daughter, and set aside her own worries to offer some reassurance. "Ikumi, I-I know I'm stressed about how… sudden this Festival is," slight understatement on her part, "but it's just a Sports Festival."

"But - but it's one of the biggest events in Japan!" Ikumi whined. Her breath quickened as well as the tempo of her speech. "If I do poorly it's going to affect what internships I get and-"

Inko shook her head, giving her daughter a reassuring smile. "Don't worry so much about it. You still have two more years at U.A to make a big impression on them. Your father is right that you're going to be amazing - just do your best and try to have fun." She emphasised that last piece of advice with a gentle petting of her wrist.

Ikumi looked down at her plate, before returning with her own small, hesitant smile. "O-okay, mum."

"I know, sweetie. Now, how about the rest of your day?"

Inko knew that this wasn't going to be enough. Her daughter's class had been attacked by Villains so early in the school year already. She wanted nothing more than to take her out and put her into a course that wasn't going to attract attention from maniacs like the League of Villains. But at the same time, Inko knew that Ikumi had wanted nothing more than to be a Hero - not just to help people, but to inspire them.

Seeing Ikumi's face light up as she talked about her classmates and meeting with the other Class Presidents to discuss the Sports Festival, Inko knew that Ikumi was where she was always meant to be.

—

Minoru groaned as he walked to the bus stop. "Man, the Hero class is busting my balls," he grumbled, rubbing his head. Tsuyu barely reacted as they went on their way.

"We are having to make up for a Rescue Training trip we never actually did," Tsuyu commented bluntly.

Walking home with a girl was… different from what he'd expected it to be. Maybe it was because both of them had been threatened by a homicidal maniac who could disintegrate people by touching them. He had half-expected some hijinks of some kind to have happened like in anime.

"Yeah, yeah… But we're also having to work hard for the Festival on top of Heroics! And I mean, I know we gotta work hard for it." The memory of Aizawa with a face serious as the grave threatening expulsion loomed in his mind, making him shudder. "But does it have to be so intense all the time?!"

Tsuyu gave him a flat stare. "You know, you could have transferred out of the Hero course if it's too much."

Minoru briefly paused as his mind wandered back to after the Initial attack.

After the USJ…

In the privacy of his own room, Minoru looked at the paperwork in front of him. "A-alright, Minoru, you got this," he muttered. "Yeah, it's just… a transfer form to General Studies…"

The official letterhead of U.A seemed to taunt him as he stared at it. He giggled. "Yep, just-just gotta fill this out and give it to my dad! So he can send it to U.A!"

After the USJ, he had been terrified. There was no way he was going back to being a Hero student. No way at all.

"It's just a little thing," he muttered. "You can do it - I mean, you're weak, pathetic, uncool, you've fantasised about every girl in class…" His pen shook in his grip. The thought of him having to face a villain again gave him a cold, dreadful anxiety that creeped like cobwebs down his spinal column "You look like a baby in spandex in that costume! Just - just run away. Like you always do!"

Minoru gripped his pen tighter, the fragile plastic almost threatening to shatter under his grip. "I mean, everybody will understand - I'm just not cut out for it. At least Tsuyu and Class Prez Midoriya - they'll understand. I-I can live with being a coward… Right?"

With that, he made up his mind. He stared at the papers, then in one swift motion, grabbed them and crumpled them into a ball. "Oh, no," he whimpered as he dropped them into the bin.

In the present, Minoru sighed. "Alas, unfortunately, I'm too good a person for that." Tsuyu gave him an odd look, which he ignored. "B-but anyway, we've got trains to catch!"

"You're kind of weird, Mineta," she said bluntly. Still, she actually walked with him to the train station. And she wasn't beating him up for looking at her, so… that was nice.

Later that evening, Minoru felt even more confident when he hoisted that trophy. After giving up his chance of living a normal life where he wasn't at the mercy of crazy Villains trying to kill school kids barely into their first week of high school, Minoru wanted nothing more than to grab that opportunity the first chance he could.

—

It was a strange thing to admit, but Mezou had never used his phone very much before going to U.A. Apart from keeping contact with his parents and the few friends he had made, there just hadn't been the need. Back in the countryside, there hadn't been any kids who had actually wanted to talk to him - the few children who had come close had usually been taken away.

(The best case scenario then had been when their parents had just dragged them away, shooting him filthy looks as if it was his fault. It had been worse when they had decided to 'teach him a lesson' in front of their kids. )

Him and his parents had never been much for things that weren't strictly necessary. Mezou didn't understand how other people could hold onto so much clutter. His family had books they read, a couple of laptops for work, utensils and cooking equipment and mobile phones to keep in contact. The times he had gone over to a friends' house, he had been surprised at how much stuff other people seemed to need.

He had known at U.A would be different since it was a major city, but he was still surprised and happy at how open the other students in his class were and how they just saw him as another person rather than a freak with 'cursed blood.'

After a harsh set in the gym to try and prepare for the Sports Festival, he pushed himself up, mopping his brow before opening his phone. It was an older model, reinforced to handle his increased strength and just new enough to run the groupchat Kaminari had chosen.

He couldn't help but sigh as he scrolled to the messages. The electric student had been affronted when he had seen how outdated his operating system was. "Dude - my man - why - you need to update your phone like ten times! You - you don't even have any games on here, man! Why?!"

"I never needed my phone to do anything else before," he'd replied.

At Kaminari's outraged stare, he'd simply shrugged. "It sends texts and can make phone calls as I need to. I've never really wanted to have games on my phone either."

Kaminari had stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. But apart from asking Mezou how he could live life if he didn't have games on his phone, he hadn't acted like Mezou was odd for not wanting apps. Just downloading the group chat app seemed like a reasonable measure. That, and it made it easier to communicate with the rest of the class - he had used it a couple of times to ask for help with homework.

He opened the app, scrolling through the comments and posts his classmates had made.

CrimsonManly: hey koda could we get a cute animal pic in here man? No reason I just wanna look at cute animals.

BunnyFan: here you go.

BunnyFan: [image attached: kitten ]

Mezou opened the picture, and was rewarded with a picture of several kittens lying in a huge heap, their tiny eyes shut in sleep. A couple of them stared at the camera with huge eyes, enough to melt the toughest hearts.

ShadowDarkness616: The eternal darkness of my soul has been quenched by such overwhelming light.

DancE.T: eeee so cute!

: I just want to hug them all! Where do you find these, Koda?

Humantaser: how many cute animal pics do you even have man

Humantaser: like you've posted a hundred pics or something.

Big guns big hugs: I haven't seen any duplicates. They're very cute.

IngeniumFan1 (mod): These are indeed adorable kittens, Koda!

Mezo shook his head, turning his phone off. It was definitely a different experience from when he was growing up - even though middle school had been better than his hometown, people had still looked at him like he was something unusual.

Time and again, U.A was proving to be something different.

—

Toshinori had to admit, there was a certain irony to using All Might's tower for a covert meeting with his friend Detective Tsukauchi. But, he reasoned, taking a sip of coffee, who would poke around his tower in Tokyo when All Might was currently teaching at U.A? Who would think that All Might was so weak that he looked anything like Toshinori when not using his Quirk?

So Toshinori could casually meet Detective Tsukauchi in the middle of his own agency, hidden in plain sight. Just a pair of office workers talking business, nothing suspicious.

He sighed, poking at the tiny slider he had ordered rather than the small mountain of bread and meat he could have eaten in his prime. "Have you found anything out about this League of Villains?"

Tsukauchi shook his head. "As I said at U.A, there's nothing on these men. We're doing DNA tests on the blood Shigaraki left behind, but it's still going to take a week or so before we can report anything concrete."

Toshinori hadn't gotten his hopes up in that regard. He grunted, switching to the other matter on his mind. "And has anything changed with Yokoyama?"

At that, Tsukauchi looked even more tired. "The doctors are monitoring him, but he hasn't had any positive change." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "But for his safety and ours, anybody displaying the same symptoms has been put into a Quirk induced coma."

He shifted uncomfortably. "That seems rather severe, Tsukauchi-"

"I know, Toshinori. But we don't have a choice." Tsukauchi sighed. "Otherwise they're going to tear themselves apart trying to attack anybody they can see."

"...It's that bad?"

Tsukauchi nodded grimly. "They're still as aggressive as they were the day the League attacked." He frowned. "We've checked their systems, flushed their systems clean of Trigger or any other psychoactive drug and they're still in a murderous rage. The MRI's we've done show no sign of brain damage or infection that could explain this rage - which means, whatever it is, is caused by a Quirk."

Toshinori looked at his friend with concern. "...So what are you planning to do?"

"For the moment, we're keeping them sedated and monitoring their condition while keeping the press away from them." Tsukauchi sighed. "And we're going to keep an eye out for any Trigger deals that are going down."

He took a small bite of his slider, forcing it down. "Have you gotten any other leads?"

Tsukauchi shook his head, jabbing a finger at the reports in front of him. The photos in there were mostly focused on the USJ. The biggest common factor these photos had was how much red was in each. "No, not yet. We've been interviewing the other C-and D-grade Villains about what happened and their stories are consistent - the affected just started acting aggressively and attacking everybody around them all of a sudden."

Toshiori hummed. "I can see why they thought it was a reprisal of the Villain Factory. Still…" A thought struck him. "Did these Villains see anybody get close to those afflicted before they started attacking?"

"The only ones who were willing to talk to us weren't close enough to see if anybody had administered a drug - anybody close enough was usually the first victim," Tsukauchi noted grimly. "Still, we'll keep asking questions. We're going to find whoever was responsible for making an innocent like Yokoyama a murderer."

Toshinori nodded, glad to hear it. It wasn't perfect, but the law did make provision for a person who had been forced to commit a crime or act of Villainy under the influence of another Quirk. It had had to adapt like that, ever since Villains like Dictator had taken centre stage by taking over entire crowds and forcing them to attack others. That and the Villain Factory incident Tsukauchi had helped to resolve had provided key legislation changes.

"Good luck, Tsukauchi."

As Tsukauchi got up, he paused. "Toshi… Do you think that it could be him behind the League of Villains?"

At that, Toshinori stiffened, before slumping. "...It does make a certain amount of sense," he admitted. "Only he would know, truly, that I was weaker than my prime."

He just had to hope that All for One wasn't behind this. Even as his side screamed in agony, remembering the Villain's sneering face just before he had retaliated, he had to cling to the hope it wasn't him.

Upon seeing Toshinori's face, Tsukauchi sighed. "Don't worry, Toshinori. We're all behind you for this."

That small statement provided little comfort for him. He just had to hope that he had enough strength to deal with whatever horrors came next.

—

Togaru grinned at his friend/rival Bakugou at the door to U.A's gyms. "Fancy seeing you here, Bakugou."

Bakugou just grunted at him. "Stabby," he muttered, glaring at him. "Fuck off."

"Yeah, yeah, nice to see you too. Anyway, let's see if U.A's gym deserves the praise-" Togaru pushed the door open, and stared at the room beyond. "Whoa…" Next to him, Bakugou had a similar reaction, scowl wiped off his brow to be replaced with a wide-eyed look.

When they said U.A's facilities were world class, they weren't kidding. Everything gleamed like it was new. Every piece of equipment seemed to be designed to shift through multiple sizes. As Togaru watched, a student tapped a panel on the wall and it unfolded into a new set of exercise equipment.

They stared for a few seconds, before Bakugou shook himself. "Right, gotta train now," he grunted, stomping off to the lockers. "You can go run on a treadmill or some shit."

Togaru followed, throwing his change of clothes in a locker. He turned around, strapping on his Fitbit. "Alright, Bakugou, you go train. I just thought of a way to make training more interesting, though."

"What is it, Stabby?"

He grinned, pointing at a screen nearby. "You're signed in with U.A's fitness tracker to show how much effort we've made in a session, right?" Bakugou raised an eyebrow as he continued. "So, whoever has the most points has to buy the other guy a drink from the vending machine."

Bakugou scoffed at that. "I ain't here for loser shit like that, Stabby."

"Oh? Why's that?" Togaru grinned with faux innocence. "Are you not taking the challenge because you know you'll lose?"

He grinned when he saw his frenemy stiffen.

"...Oh, you wanna go?" Bakugou strapped his own Fitbit on, tapping on his phone furiously to access U.A's server. Smirking, Togaru stretched and started limbering up. Someone was going to finish the day with a lighter wallet, and Togaru was sure it wasn't going to be him.

—

To Ikumi's sensitive hearing, the sound of people exercising came from a couple of blocks away. Picking up her gym bag, Ikumi opened the doors. Ducking through the small door, she craned her neck, looking at the other people there.

For people who were a normal height, this gym would have been huge. For Ikumi and the others who exercised here, it was a reasonably cosy space. Part of that was due to the oversized equipment, built to withstand the intense pressures of oversized people. The gym had seen better days, and some of the equipment was dingy, but it was a well loved place.

"Hey everybody!" she smiled, heading over to the lockers. Here and U.A were the only gyms that she knew of that actually had lockers big enough to hold her stuff. A couple of other people on the machines and mats looked up, returning her greeting before returning to their workouts.

"Hey, it's Midoriya! How've you been, kid?" Ikumi looked up at the gym's owner as she put her stuff away.

"I've been alright, Hamasaki-sensei." She stretched, adjusting the plain white shirt that displayed 'exercise shirt' proudly. "I'm just here to get some extra training in for the Sports Festival."

The huge tiger man hummed. "Glad to see you back, Midoriya. Though I thought you'd be using U.A's gym?" Hamasaki sighed, briefly daydreaming about the world class exercise equipment. "I've only seen pictures of what they've got, and I wish I could get more!"

Ikumi shrugged. "I just feel more comfortable working out here, that's all." It was at this gym that she had really started to push herself to attain her dream of being a Hero - maybe she would go to U.A's gym with Kacchan eventually, but this was where she had gotten her start.

He grinned. "Attagirl! Anything in particular for your session today?"

She managed a smile. "I'm trying to get ready for U.A's Sports Festival, so…"

Hamasaki bared his teeth, looking her over."If you want it, for the next two weeks I'll put you through the wringer, Ikumi. So get warmed up properly and we're gonna get started!"

Ikumi nodded, walking over to the bikes to begin her session. Adjusting the seat so she could sit comfortably, she started her warmup, lightly cycling to get her blood moving.

Only a couple of minutes in, and a familiar face came in. "Well, well!" Ikumi looked around, then down at a familiar face.

"U-Usagiyama-san!"

Standing at about two and a half metres tall, the solidly built brown-furred and white haired rabbit woman chuckled. "Been a while since I've seen you, beanpole!"

Ikumi shook her head. They'd been neighbours for a while now, and Usagiyama-san still called her by that name. "I've been a bit busy," she said.

Grinning, Usagiyama-san jumped onto the bike next to Ikumi after adjusting it. "U.A beating you up?"

Ikumi chuckled, rolling her shoulders as she pedalled. "Y-you don't know the half of it," she sighed. "After the USJ and Heroics classes, I-I've barely had the time to keep up with my studies."

Usagiyama-san shook her head. "Oh, I've got some idea about what it's like. At least you're not like my oldest daughter, going around and joining fight clubs when you're still in middle school."

Ikumi winced, her pace slowing down. "S-sorry for bringing it up…"

"Don't be!" Usagiyama-san grinned. "Sure, if I didn't already have white hair my little Rumi would have made me look like an old maid in my thirties, but she's mostly straightened out!" Her face fell slightly as she started pedalling. "Now, if only this," she patted her soft tummy for emphasis, "would get sortedout as easily, I'd be one happy doe!"

Ikumi chuckled a bit awkwardly, trying to banter back. "M-maybe you should stop eating t-those carrot cakes from Bespin Cakes after your workout?"

When Usagiyama gave her an affronted look, Ikumi looked away awkwardly. "S-sorry, that-that was really rude. I'm sorry-"

Usagiyama-san burst out laughing at that. "Don't worry about it, Ikumi!"

Ikumi managed a small smile that slipped away. Even knowing that Usagiyama-san was having a joke, it still felt bad.

"Though, I have to admit…" Usagiyama stared off into space. "Those carrot cakes are really good…"

"Hey!" Hamasaki gave them a mock scowl from where he was spotting another patron. "If you've got time to talk-"

"We've got time to work out, I know!" Cackling, Usagiyama got back to pedalling. Ikumi kept pedalling in embarrassed silence for a couple more minutes, before she finished her warmup.

As Ikumi walked over to the weights area, Usagiyama-san called out to her. "Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"Yeah, me and some friends from the U.A are going to go to the mall on my day off," Ikumi said, carefully gripping the barbell. "It'll be nice to have a chance to relax and talk with them."

She really needed a light-hearted day like that. Especially after learning that she was going to be delivering the Athlete's Oath at the Opening Ceremony for the Sports Festival.

AN: Some fun slice of life stuff!

Honestly it's fun to write this kind of stuff. With how much shit the cast goes through in the main story, it's easy to forget that they're just kids.

Poor Ikumi is going to have to do the Opening speech. Poor her. Why am I bringing it up? I would say that, in canon, nobody knew about it mostly because Bakugou at that point was less positively communicative than Todoroki.

And we've even got some other fun bits!

Why does Kamakiri have a rivalry with Bakugou? Apparently, Kamakiri considers Bakugou his rival in canon despite never having integrated with him beyond the Sports Festival at that point. This is more interaction than they had in canon, I'll give them that.

Many thanks to my editor Banchoking for putting up with my shit. Also thanks to my IRL friend, who goes by Monster Kohai 3 on Discord, who has given me suggestions and helped edit my autistic ramblings. Not just that, but since I forgot the last time, thank you Tank Man on Spacebattles for gifting my account a subscription to Spacebattles no less than 3 times for this very piece of fanfiction! You're a real one.

Please, like and comment! I do like all the cool shit you guys suggest.

Next time, Ikumi's going out with friends!