In the time leading up to the U.A. Sports Festival, Zen and Kitsuna grew closer. He had come to have a bit of a crush on her. They worked together, alongside Kyosuke, during rescue training at the U.S.J. building. Zen and Kyosuke became rivals, although Zen was already stronger. In their class, Zen was voted Class President, with Kyosuke being his VP. They continued their classroom activities, all-the-while preparing for the Sports Festival. It then finally came. The Sports Festival was about to begin.
The stadium was packed, civilians and pro heroes alike filling the stands. The first-year students are called to the stage, where Midnight talks about the Festival, explaining what will happen. She then calls on Kitsuna as the class representative. Kitsuna walks onto the stage, taking her place at the microphone.
"Greetings, everyone. Get ready for fantastic festival, 'cause all of us are gonna give you a good show!" Kitsuna said, looking at Zen and Kyosuke in particular.
The Sports Festival finally began. The first event was the classic obstacle race. As it begins, Zen, Kitsuna, Kyosuke, and Ketsugi all take the lead immediately, with Ketsugi leading the charge. He avoids most of the villain bots placed in the first leg of the race, while his other three classmates take down a few. They catch up to him shortly, the four of them reaching the next area, known as the City, a small grouping of semi-built buildings, forming a tangle of obstacles. Ketsugi uses parkour and his speed-typr Quirk to make his way through the City, while Kyosuke uses his tendrils to swing himself through it. Zen and Kitsuna use their Quirks to jump to the top, both racing for the lead. The two of them are the first to make it through, with Ketsugi and Kyosuke eventually getting it done, however, most of the other students had caught up to them. Zen and Kitsuna continued to fight for the lead, eventually making it to the final area. As they ran, they both fell into a pitfall trap.
"Aw, geez." Zen said, standing up. He rubbed the back of his head, having hit it against the dirt wall.
"This is the last obstacle?" Kitsuna said, dusting herself off.
"Race ya to the finish!" Zen said, jumping out of the pitfall. Kitsuna laughed as she did the same.
The final area, known as the Pits, caught most of the students off guard. It's nearly impossible to see pitfall traps got many of them, some students even getting stuck. The race eventually concluded, with Zen having won, Kitsuna coming in second, Kyosuke making seventh place, and Ketsugi making ninth.
The top 40 students advanced to the next round, with Midnight announcing it would be Capture the Flag, with each student having a point value based on the previous event, with the exception of first place, whose point value was 10 million. The flagpoles had five flags on them, one large flag and four small ones. The large flag had a point total of 100, while the smaller flags had the team's individual's points. The four small flags were allowed to be taken without the big flag. The students then made 10 teams of four, Zen, Kitsuna, Kyosuke, and Ketsugi making a team. Their team value totalled 10 million one hundred and five points. The game of Capture the Flag began, a ten minute timer having been started. Knowing that as long as they protected their flag, which had the four points values strung up as smaller individual flags, that they would win, Zen told the others to simply stay on the offensive. Out of the corner of his eyes, Kyosuke saw the 10 million flag get pulled from the flagpole.
"Hey, that's ours!" Kyosuke said, shooting a tendril towards the floating flag. He missed however, as the flag sped away.
The flag had been taken by another student from 1-A, who had a telekinetic Quirk. Zen activated his Quirk, turning his elements into power. He ran towards the team that stole his flag, grabbing his flag, plus their entire flagpole. Avoiding the other team's attempt to take back their flag, Zen returned to his team, placing his flag back on their flagpole. He then stuck the other flagpole in the ground, then surrounded them with a wall of ice, protecting them. His team watched as the others teams struggled to get as many points as they could. Occasionally, someone would try to destroy the ice surrounding Team Zen's flag, but always failing, as he would constantly repair the ice. The 10 minutes eventually ended, with Team Zen placing first.
They Festival takes a shirt break, giving the students a chance to breathe. During their rest, Zen and Kitsuna strike up a conversation.
"So, after all this time, I realized that I actually don't know your Quirk. I mean, I know what it basically does, but, what exactly is it?" Kitsuna asked Zen, thinking about his power surge during Capture the Flag.
"Well, I can generate and manipulate fire, water, air, ice, snow, and electricity. Manipulating pre-existing forms of them is much easier to do. I can also manipulate certain metals and most forms of earth, such as dirt and sand. I can also turn my first six elements into energy, causing my physical abilities to grow, although it costs me the range from using them normally. My Quirk, however, can't be used much, as using it at full power can put me in the hospital, so I use it at smaller percentages. Earth and metal manipulation isn't affected by this, however. Currently, individual elements can be used at 20% max power, while altogether, I can only use 10%. I have noticed, however that isolating my power boost into certain areas allows me to use higher percentages, which is what I did during our Quirk Apprehension test. Oh, also, my eyes change color depending on the element I'm using, and turn rainbow if I use my power boost." Zen explained. During this time, Kyosuke and Ketsugi walked in.
"So, do you have a name for your power boost?" Kyosuke asked.
"No, not really." Zen said.
"How's about Zen Style?" Ketsugi suggested.
The other three looked at him. Zen thought about it for a moment.
"That's actually very fitting. Thanks man." Zen responded.
"So, what's your Quirk called, Kitsuna?" Ketsugi asked her.
"My Quirk is called Ninetails. I can form up to nine energy tails, each tail making me stronger. Although, the more tails I have formed, the more primal I become. Currently, I can only use up to six tails while keeping most of my sanity." Kitsuna replied.
"Your turn, Kyosuke." Ketsugi said, turning to him.
"Mine's called Tendrils. I can form 5 black tendril from anywhere on my body. My arms can also turn into tendrils, but they substitute length for strength. I'm also weaker to fire." Kyosuke explained.
"Alright, Ketsugi, don't think you can get away. Tell us your Quirk." Kitsuna demanded.
Ah, oh, okay. My Quirk is Swift Pivot. I gain speed by performing a pivot, starting at 50 miles per hour. I have up to five pivots at a time, gaining 5 mph per pivot. The pivots are also great at helping me avoid attacks." Ketsugi explained.
"That explains why you always turn when you get a speed boost. It's actually pretty cool." Zen said.
They then heard the announcement saying the next event will soon begin. All students were called back to the arena, where they were told that four of the ten teams advanced to the next event. Sixteen students remained in the festival. The next event was revealed to be a combat tournament. The bracket was drawn, Zen, Kyosuke, and Ketsugi being on one side of the bracket with Kitsuna being on the other. Kyosuke and Ketsugi would be the first match of round one. Zen knew he would face one of them in round three, as he would have to face two others before them. He also knew that Kitsuna would reach the finals. The first match was then called, Kyosuke and Ketsugi walking to the arena.
The battle began, Ketsugi using one pivot to rush towards Kyosuke. As Ketsugi got close, Kyosuke sent out a tendril to trip him. Ketsugi, kicked the tendril, however, making it recall back to Kyosuke. They then came face to face, Kyosuke using his tendril to try and hit Ketsugi, who used a combination taekwondo and boxing to block the attacks. He used his strengthened kicks to deflect most of Kyosuke's tendrils. Kyosuke then sweeped a tendril towards Ketsugi's legs, who jumped to avoid it.
"Gotcha!" Kyosuke said.
A tendril caught Ketsugi's leg as he fell, slamming him to the ground. Kyosuke grabbed Ketsugi's other leg with another tendril, using them to throw Ketsugi out of the ring. Kyosuke won the match. Ketsugi sat up, knowing he lost the match.
"Damn it. Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Ketsugi let out in anger.
The other round one matches went underway, Zen and Kitsuna defeating their opponents with ease. During round two, Zen, Kitsuna, and Kyosuke, once again won. Round two's first match was Kyosuke versus Zen. They made their way to the arena.
"You know I'm winning this, right?" Zen said to Kyosuke.
"You can try." Kyosuke said, preparing for the uphill battle.
The battle then began. Zen shooting forward with wind. Kyosuke turned his arms into tendrils and formed the other three from his back. He tried to catch Zen, but was prevented from doing so. Zen had formed flames on his arms, making Kyosuke's tendrils retreat. Zen then struck Kyosuke with a flaming fist, making him stumble backwards. Kyosuke sent out his tendrils again, trying to strike Zen in the chest. Zen caught then tendrils, making flames again, burning the tendrils severely. Kyosuke knew he couldn't win with his tendrils, so he rushed Zen. The two went in for a Quirkless brawl, taking blows from the other. The whole time, Zen kept pushing Kyosuke back. Eventually, Zen pushed Kyosuke out of the ring. Zen won the match.
"You're too strong, man" Kyosuke said.
"You pack a mean punch as well." Zen said, rubbing his jaw.
The next match was a short one. Kitsuna easily beat her opponent. The final round and match was expected to be the most intense of them. Zen versus Kitsuna, the two students who were considered the strongest. The final round then began.
Zen and Kitsuna were standing on the arena, staring each other down. They were excited for the chance to face each other.
"This'll be fun." Kitsuna said, cracking her knuckles.
"Let's get to it, then." Zen said.
They rushed each other. Kitsuna formed one tail, with a second slowly forming.
"Zen Style, 5%." Zen said, turning his elements into energy.
The two collided, with Zen gaining the upper hand. The fought like animals, putting holes in the arena floor. Kitsuna eventually formed a second tail, with Zen upping Zen Style to 10%. Kitsuna began to gain the upper hand. Zen tried his best to turn the tables again, but to no avail. He knew that Zen Style wasn't the way to win. After dodging an attack, Zen deactivated Zen Style. Kitsuna took notice and formed a third tail. She jumped towards him, swinging a clawed hand at him. Zen narrowly avoiding the swipe thanks to his wind pushing him down. He then formed Zen Style into his right arm, managing to get it to 40%. He punched up, catching Kitsuna in the stomach. She was sent upwards. Zen blasted himself upwards, hitting her again. She was sent backwards, landing outside of the ring. Zen landed, having won the tournament.
"YES!!" Zen said, throwing two fists in the air. He pulled his right arm back down, feeling immense pain pulse through it.
"Damn." Kitsuna said, sitting up. She saw Zen running to her.
"You okay?" Zen asked, extending his left hand.
"That was one helluva punch." Kitsuna said, wincing.
"Sorry about that." Zen said.
After getting they got healed up, Zen and Kitsuna were called back out to the stadium. The top three students were then recognized. Kyosuke earning third place, Kitsuna earning second, and Zen earning first. The U.A. Sports Festival for the First Years then ended.