It was Monday, the first day back at UA after the USJ Attack. The various students of Class 1-A were sitting, patiently awaiting the return of their homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa.
"Are you sure he's coming back?" Mina had whispered as she nervously fidgeted in her seat.
"Yes... I was worried about him being well enough to come back already, but Momo and Shinso went by this morning to check on him and said Recovery Girl gave him the all clear." Tsuyu explained as Mina nodded.
"He needs to take it easier man, if I went through all of that, I'd be out for weeks." Kaminari commented as Jiro snorted derisively.
"If you went through half of that, you be dead. Mr. Aizawa's a real Pro." The musical student teased, her earphone jack poking Kaminari's head.
"Still though, I'm not sure this is a good idea, Mina." Tsuyu added, the three looking at the smiling pink girl.
"Just trust me, what could go wrong?" She declared as if that solved the issue. "But I hope Sato and Shoji come back soon..." The pink-hared girl added sadly as she glanced at the pair of empty seats.
"I overheard some of the teachers saying they'd been discharged from the hospital, but their parents are worried after what happened at the USJ, to let them return." Jiro replied, the quartet glumly staring at the floor.
Any arguments were cut short as the door opened, a mummy entering the room.
"Welcome back Mr. Aizawa!" Several students shouted, a small eruption of cheer going off at the apparent return of their teacher.
"Please be quiet and sit-down class, we have more important things to discuss than my recovery." The hero calmly ordered as the class quieted down, obeying him. "Now then, class was cancelled last week, so we have a lot to catch up on. I'll start with the most important thing first... the UA Sports Festival is coming up in just two weeks' time. I expect you all to give your best 'Plus Ultra' performance." Mr. Aizawa explained as the students nodded emphatically. "You can consider this to be an exam grade. Anyone who fails to give their best can, and have been, dropped from the Heroics Course and replaced with a student from either the Support Course or General Studies. Don't get overconfident just because of the position you're in, there are plenty of students eager to pull the rug out from under you if you drop your guard, and some with Quirks less suited to fighting robots, such as myself." Mr. Aizawa continued to lecture them as the class nodded nervously, the weight of their task layed out for them.
"Now then, I'll go over the changes from previous years Sports Festivals. Due to the recent attack on the USJ, we're instituting a stricter attendance standard than in previous years. That means that unfortunately, most of your families won't be allowed to attend, but the Principal has graciously arranged for exclusive streaming to any who fill out the required forms. If you would like to sign up, please let me know after class, and I'll get you a copy of the paperwork." Mr. Aizawa continued to explain.
"Additionally..." He continued to explain the Sports Festival, and most of the students listened intently, although a few began to nod off, the excess of information too much for their smooth brains.
Soon after, the students all filed towards the lunchroom, some with steam pouring from their ears after trying to cram in all the learning they'd fallen behind on after the attack.
Izuku half expected the hallway to be crowded like in his dream, which was weird since it was the first time he'd seen Shinso there, but at this point he felt more comfortable with his visions.
As he sat down at the usual table, Kendo looked across at him, a worried look on her face. "Hey Midoriya, you doing alright?" The 1-B Class Rep. asked kindly.
"Oh, uhmm, yeah, I guess everyone would've heard about the attack by now." Izuku replied, jumping as two trays were set next to him with a loud clack.
"It was terrifying." Uraraka added.
"Those heinous villains! I heard Bakugo had to have his jaw wired shut after fighting one of the main villains." Iida gossiped, or at least as much as the strict student could gossip. Izuku refrained from correcting the assumption that Kacchan's injury came from the villains.
"Just make sure that next time your bad luck doesn't involve the rest of us." Monoma scolded as the three 1-A students glared at him, only held back as Kendo chopped his head, smushing it into his plate of rice.
"What the hell Monoma, that's totally not okay to say!" Kendo returned fire, ignoring the grumbling of her classmate. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what's got into him." The big sister of Class 1-B apologized.
"Gomusendai." Pony copied her Class Rep. causing several of them to chuckle.
"But it's true, the school is cracking down because they got attacked. As much as I want to show off the training we've undergone, shouldn't we wait until things have calmed down to have the Sports Festival?" Monoma pointed, Kendo preparing for a second karate chop when another voice cut in.
"You're not the only one who feels that way." Shinso cut in, taking the seat next to Monoma, Momo following behind him as she sat next to Kendo.
"Sorry we were late; I had a thought that I wanted to check with Mr. Aizawa." Yaoyorozu clarified.
"It's fine, but what do you mean Shinso, don't feel like you have to accept Monoma's rudeness." Kendo interrogated as the table turned to look at the lavender-haired boy.
"It's just what I said, I've heard plenty of the older students complaining about the stricter rules this year. Apparently, a lot of the things they've taken away were some of their favorite parts, like getting to have their families come and watch them. I didn't really understand, my parents never really came to any school events with their work schedules, but I guess we just don't know what we're missing out on." Shinso explained as the mood fell among the table, especially the Class 1-A ones.
"But that's not fair... we didn't ask to be attacked, and now we're getting punished for it!" Uraraka whined, small tears forming in her eyes. Izuku suspected it may have more to do with her parents not being able to come, but this gave them a better excuse.
"I guess... maybe the school just wants things to go back to normal but knows they can't just brush off the attack without seeming callous. The UA Sports Festival isn't just a massive event for the school, but for all of Japan. More people watch it every year than the last ten Olympics combined!" Midoriya argued, taking a bite of his food.
"it's not only that... the Sports Festival accounts for a large portion of the school's revenue. Support companies paying for spots, all the stands outside selling snacks and merch, even ticket sales... the school is worried something will happen if they're going this far." Momo explained.
"My older brother isn't even coming, although he promised to tune in to the finals, so he entrusted me with the name of the Iida hero family!" Iida announced, lightly lifting the mood.
Monoma didn't say anything, but the others could definitely see how down he was. Trying to bring the mood back up, Izuku teased the other boy, "So don't worry, I'm sure lots of pro heroes will get to see how 'superior' you are."
Despite the subtle dig, Monoma smiled.
"So, what did you want to check Yaomomo?" Uraraka asked, trying to change the subject as she shoved an entire mochi in her mouth.
"Well, you see..."
After the day's classes were over, the students stood, stretching out their joints with satisfied pops and cracks.
"Wait a moment, can I have your attention for a moment, please." Momo announced as the class turned to face the heiress. "With the attack, and the upcoming Sports Festival, I thought maybe we should do something as a class to settle our nerves before moving on. I checked with Mr. Aizawa and this Friday is only a half day due to the damage to the USJ still being repaired. So... I thought maybe we could go somewhere after class and just destress ourselves." Momo explained as several students smiled at the idea.
"But what will we do?" Kaminari asked.
"Well, I thought-" Momo interjected.
"Oooh, maybe we could go to the beach!" Hagakure suggested, fist pumping the air, nearly uppercutting a passing Iida.
"Well-" Momo tried.
"But it's still so cold, I don't want to catch a cold right before my big debut!" Kirishima countered, most missing the nervous quiver in his voice.
"That's why I-" Momo contended.
"What about the mall, we could all go shopping and visit the arcade!" Mina exclaimed cheerily.
"I'm not so-" Momo professed.
"Shopping with Mina and Hagakure, that feels like a Sisyphean task." Tokoyami argued, Jiro nodding beside him, although she was thinking about check out the new music store.
"Well, perhaps we could-" Momo opined.
"Hey, there's a carnival near my apartment building." Sero foretold, several students paying attention.
"Oh man, that sounds so cool." Jiro said.
"Yeah, I loved going when I was little, I must have spent at least 10,000 yen on the games." Izuku declared.
"And all you won was a stupid t-shirt!" Mina finished the meme.
"And the food..." Uraraka whispered.
"Yeah, I bet Sato would've loved cotton candy and funnel cakes..." Kirishima uttered.
"And Shoji's so tall that children would confuse him with one of the rides..." Hagakure stated.
"I was thinking-" Momo articulated.
"But it's on a Friday afternoon, won't all the kids be in school, so adults will come there, I don't know if we can get in?" Iida insisted.
"Yeah, and I know some carnivals serve beer at times like that." Kaminari claimed.
"My sister's taking her class on a field trip to the zoo." Todoroki mumbled as the class went quiet.
"That sounds cool man." Kaminari replied.
"Yeah, the zoo is fun." Koda signed.
"I wonder if they have frogs, ribbit?" Asui mouthed.
"Let's go to the zoo!" Everyone remarked, filing out of the room.
"I just wanted to know if anyone wanted to come over for tea..." Momo proposed, Shinso good-naturedly patting her back.
14 DAYS UNTIL THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL!
A/N: Hey guys, I know this chapter was really short, but a number of things were working against me on this. I need to have Aizawa announce the Sports Festival before I could move forward with the story, but I couldn't thnk of anything to add with it since in the canon, it was a shrt scene followed by a montage before we entered the Sports festival. Since its stretched out, I couldn't do that, I couldn't bulk the chapter out with Mineta whining about the Sports Festival, promting an explanation of it, and also... my grandma fell and broke her wirst and ankle, so I've been helping to take care of her until it heals, so I haven't had much time to write. Sorry.
