Chapter 8: Festivals

Review Replies

Yellowpikmin88: Oh god! Is this Tamiko going to be a second Dabi?! One vengeful neglected older sibling was bad enough. Now there are two of them! I hope Tsu gets to visit Mt Myoboku at some point to learn frog and toad summoning. Maybe she could intern under Fukasaku to learn sage jutsu.

Dragon Emperor0: I can neither confirm nor deny any speculation about Tamiko and her role in the story at this time due to potential spoilers. But yes, Tsu will be going to Mt. Myoboku–that much is inevitable.

ThermalsniperN7: Tsu deserves that summoning contract, let's be real.

carneyjarred: i hope you don't bring back tamiko because all it would be is canon himko mixed with kurogiri as a nomu with a different skin that's it and her quirk was not used that much in canon. Besides she got her revenge by making her parents feel shitty and they realized their mistake and as long as she is dead the guilt and reminder stays plus that and dabi already fulfills the role as the dead coming back to life as if it was not dead all along. plus twice can cover the infiltrator role just by using his clones especially if you give them a memory transfer system or a camera. plus you technically have a blood obsessive psycho in shukaku.

Dragon Emperor0: While you make some good points, I'm afraid that you're focusing on several small things and losing the big picture. Tamiko–if she was to be alive–would be the best way to explore the things we see in canon with Himiko in a completely different manner. As she'd serve as a cautionary tale to parents with quirks that are seen as villainous, a dark reflection/alternate path for Himiko she'd need to overcome to complete her character arc, a villainous foil for Ochako–basically being her Shigaraki–and being a talking piece on the importance of mental health and understanding in a world where quirks can so easily affect the psyche. If we were to cut her out, we'd lose all that.

ThermalsniperN7: Exactly. If we removed Tamiko from the equation, all of this would be impossible to make happen and the story would lose some of its luster as a result. We don't want that.

Monster King: Good job please continue

ThermalsniperN7: Continuing.

Dragon Emperor0: Here it is.

-UA Heights Alliance Dorms-

Izuku Midoriya was sleeping in the dorm room that he had moved into that previous day, his eyes closed as his body had long since gone into its requisite daily stasis period… But soon, something began to become unwell.

His muscles began to twitch at random intervals while his eyes moved erratically under his eyelids. He was also beginning to sweat, not from heat, but from what his mind was conjuring.

In said mind, he was shown an image of him being bound as his eyes were ripped out again, and he was forced to listen as his girlfriend Himiko was made into an Outer Path puppet, that the Nomu–many of them–had fun 'messing' with.

Unable to take it anymore, Izuku jolted awake, a look of horror on his face as sweat poured down his brow.

'Himiko…' He thought in a moment of weakness, which drove him to get out of bed and head to his girlfriend's dorm.

The boy's weak knocking wasn't enough to wake the others, but it was enough to wake up Himiko–as it was a sound she was able to recognize.

Rushing to the door, she opened it, revealing that Izuku was crumpled at her door–totally distraught.

"Izuku!" She gasped, kneeling down and cradling him. "What's wrong?!" She asked in worry.

His whimpers were the only answer she got as he clung to her, beginning to cry even more than before.

"Nightmare, that's gotta be it." The girl sighed as she hugged her boyfriend tightly.

Not even hesitating with her next actions, she brought him into her room and into her bed so he could sleep with a semblance of comfort. Even when they were falling back asleep, Himiko's heartstrings ached whenever she heard Izuku let out a whimper. She hated that sound so much.

"I'm here, my love. I'll always be here for you." She sighed, hugging him tightly into her chest, her soft body pressing against his.

It wasn't long before Izuku was asleep, and before Himiko joined him, she had one last thought.

'If I find the bastard that did this to my man, I'll fucking cut off his fingers!' She vowed before sleep claimed her.

(Later)

Himiko yawned as she woke up the next morning and went to brush her teeth with the other girls, when she noticed that Ochako, Momo, Tsu, Toru and Mina were all staring at her–all in various stages of their morning routines.

"What?" She asked after a beat passed.

"Umm, Himiko?" Ochako said.

"Isn't that Midoriya's shirt?" Toru questioned.

Blinking, Himiko looked down and saw that she had put on Izuku's shirt by mistake when she woke up. This made her blush in embarrassment since it didn't help that he literally slept with her because of his nightmare last night.

"Yes–But it's not what you think!" The blonde told him. "We were just sleeping together because Izuku was having a PTSD nightmare." She explained.

That caused the rest of the girls to wince, understanding things now.

"Was it as bad as I think it was?" Jiro asked in concern, just now walking into the bathroom.

"Yeah, it was pretty… Bad." Himiko nodded as she and the girls turned and saw the earphone girl's state of attire.

Specifically that her hair was messy, her body equally disheveled, and she was dressed in one of Kaminari's shirts.

"Uh, why are you dressed in one of Kaminari's shirts?" The blonde blinked.

This caused the girl to stop mid-yawn, her eyes snapping open as she looked down–her face going tomato red, her earphone jacks standing on end.

"Um, uh…!" The girl gulped before something dropped from her pajama shorts.

The girls looked down, and were shocked to see an object similar to a tubular used water balloon–one colored electric yellow.

It was a condom–and a recently used one, at that.

There was a beat of silence before Mina and Himiko broke it.

"Holy crap, you and Kaminari are banging!" They exclaimed in unison, much to Jiro's embarrassment.

"Don't say that!" Jiro blurted, covering her face. "It's so embarrassing!" She groaned.

"Can you two not start anything? It's way too early for it anyway." Momo interjected so she could spare the punk girl any further embarrassment.

"Fiiiine." The two girls groaned.

"But you gotta give us the deets later, Kyoka." The invisible girl stated.

(Elsewhere)

Meanwhile, in the boys bathroom, a mirror was suddenly covered in expelled water while some one–fittingly–did a spit take while brushing their teeth.

Specifically it was Kirishima, as all the guys were staring at Kaminari, who was yawning and shooting out stray static like a well rested Pikachu–while being absolutely covered in hickies and love bites–and dressed in one of Jiro's Deep Dope shirts.

"... Who's gonna point out that Dunce Face is wearing one of Ears' shirts?" Katsuki questioned as he looked at the rest of the boys.

"I'm pretty sure you just did, Bakugo." Sero pointed out as Kaminari's groggy face snapped awake as he nearly zapped everyone in a five foot radius out of surprise.

"Wait, what?!" The human pikachu questioned as he looked down. "... I thought my shirt felt smaller than usual." He noted. Then he noticed something about Izuku. "Uh, Midoriya? You okay, dude?" He asked with a fair amount of concern upon spotting the bags under the Rinnegan bearer's eyes.

"PTSD nightmare." The viridian haired lad groaned groggily in reply, not even acknowledging that he was shirtless. This made the rest of the boys wince.

"Yikes." Kirishima winced.

"... Yo Kaminari, you still got that box of condoms Midnight gave us during last week's special ed class?" Sero questioned trying to change the subject, and causing the electric boy to give a wide and happy dumbass grin.

"Nope! Used 'em all!" He stated, the same cheeky Pikachu-like smile on his face.

"That's not a good thing, you dumbass!" Katsuki snapped in disbelief.

"Wait, with who?" Ojiro questioned, stopping mid brushing.

"Jiro." The electric boy replied in a dopey manner.

"... Holy crap, man, how'd you manage to do that without waking anyone up?" Kirishima questioned, now genuinely impressed.

"Her room is soundproof." The boy replied. "Aaaand she also has a ball and ring gag or two lying around…" He amended nervously.

"Jeez, I half expected the first ones to get their V-Cards punched to be Midoriya and Toga." Sato remarked with a blink.

"We're… Not ready for that yet." The greenette said with a shake of his head.

"Fair, fair." Sero nodded with a shrug.

"I'll be honest, I'm not sure I wanna know what's coming up next after the USJ." Kirishima sighed.

"I believe that's what we're all feeling." Iida sighed in agreement.

(Later)

Things weren't really the same as the kids waited for home room to start–but some of the kids did find ways to lighten the mood despite the circumstances. Himiko was snuggling with Izuku at his desk to make him feel better, while the other girls were pestering Jiro for details on what Kaminari did with her.

"Jiro, come on! There's gotta be at least one thing for you to share!" Tooru pestered.

Jiro was silent as her face turned red as she buried her face in her hands.

"... I think I have a zapping fetish." She whispered. "He would get me face down and on all fours before grabbing my arms from behind and zapping me." She elaborated softly. "... And I really liked it." She added.

"Damn. That's new." Mina blinked.

"... Did you guys just use the rubbers or was there any raw action?" Himiko asked as she left Izuku alone for the time being.

"... Yes and yes." The rocker girl admitted.

"Seriously?!" Tooru gasped in shock.

"Damn, Jiro, I didn't know you were such a freak!" Mina exclaimed, much to the punk girl's embarrassment.

"Don't say that so loudly!" The poor girl begged.

It was then that Aizawa, still wearing his casts, walked into the room. Everyone took their seats as class began, and the man was quick to notice Izuku's new sunglasses, but decided against mentioning it.

"Alright everyone, I have an announcement to make." He told them. "The UA Sports Festival is coming up in a couple weeks." He continued.

"Is that smart, given what happened recently?" Himiko asked in concern, subtly referring to what happened to Izuku.

"I can definitely understand your concern." The man acknowledged, picking up on her hint. "This is meant to show that the threat has been dealt with. Security is being tripled to keep any villains at bay and ensure no one gets any ideas." He told the class.

"Here's a better question: Is it wise for me to basically flaunt the Rinnegan in the Sports Festival?" Izuku questioned.

"If I remember correctly, you mentioned wanting to try coming up with alternate applications of using your eyes' abilities–this could be a good opportunity to test them." Aizawa pointed out. "Additionally, you have been making use of sunglasses and blindfolds, so hiding your eyes shouldn't be difficult." He added.

"Point taken." The viridian haired teen conceded.

"This is important, so you best not slack off on your training." The erasure hero stated before he shot a knowing glance at the two resident couples. "That goes double for you four." He added.

"R-Right!" The couples in question yelped.

(Later)

Everyone was pretty hyped for the Sports Festival, with all of them going into various stages of excitement.

Izuku was actually kinda anxious about the whole thing.

"Don't worry. You have nineteen people ready to break someone's bones if they have to." Himiko told her boyfriend assuringly.

"I guess so." The boy sighed. "Hey, guys, throw something at me." He told them.

"Huh?" The rest of the boys uttered in confusion.

"Why?" Sero asked on their behalf.

"I need to test out something new." The Rinnegan user replied.

The rest of the 1-A boys looked confused, but Kaminari threw a pencil at him… And it stopped mid air!

"What the?!" The boys gasped.

"I call this new move: Limitless. By using Almighty Push and Universal Pull at the same time in a small and perpetual manner–I can basically create a force field of literal infinity around me." Izuku stated, plucking the pencil from the air and twirling it–the object turning blue, red, and then white to emphasize the point.

"Nice." Katsuki nodded with an impressed look.

"But won't that fry your brain?" Kaminari questioned.

"No. It's not a quirk, so I can pretty much maintain this indefinitely if I use the Preda Path to constantly feed myself chakra from nearby areas or Natural Chakra." Izuku shrugged in reply. "I've also been working on a smaller version of Planetary Devastation called Attraction Blue, which uses Universal Pulls attractive force to make itself a mini black–or blue hole." He continued, the pencil flashing blue again. "Second is Repulsion Red, by condensing Almighty Push's repulsion on a single point–I can basically create a repulsive singularity that will repulse a target to the point of destruction." He added. "And third, is Hollow Purple, where I combine red and blue to create a singularity that applies the value of zero to the target–erasing it from existence." He concluded, snapping his fingers.

"How long did it take you to come up with all this?!" Sato had to wonder in shock.

"About as long as we were out of school." The boy shrugged. "I also have another thing to show, but I'll save that for the big event." He added.

"I feel like we're gonna get the shock of a lifetime…" Sero shivered along with the rest of the boys that weren't Izuku.

Chuckling slightly, Izuku turned and blinked when he saw Ochako in his face with an intense look on her face.

"Izuku, I'm gonna do my best!" She growled in fierce determination.

"Still planning on making you mom and dad proud?" Himiko smiled at her friend. "You go girl!" She smiled, hugging the brunette tightly.

'Now that I think about it, what is Ochako's reason for being a hero?' Izuku wondered, realizing he never asked the girl for her reasons for joining the hero course.

(Later)

"Hey, Ochako." Izuku said, getting the brunette's attention. "Why did you want to join the Hero Course?" He asked.

"It's kinda small compared to some of the others, but… It's for the money." Ochako confessed in reply. "But it's not for the reasons you think!" She added quickly to stave off any potential thoughts about her being shallow.

"Oh, right, you mentioned that your parents were strapped for cash." Izuku nodded.

"Not just strapped for it–more like poorer than poor broke." Himiko stated matter of factly, which Ochako nodded at.

"Is that even possible?" The viridian haired teen wondered, blinking behind his sunglasses.

"Trust me, sweetie, you'll believe it if you ever see it." His cat eyed girlfriend told him seriously.

"Buuut, things have been turning around since they got that exclusive contract from Principal Nezu." Ochako noted. "Things have really begun to look up for them, and that makes me happy." She added with a smile.

"Well, if that's the case. Then maybe money isn't the only reason you want to be a hero." The shaded boy noted.

"Yeah. It's to be a hero when other heroes need one." The brunette nodded resolutely. "That's… Always been a dream of mine." She added.

"That actually makes a lot of sense. Given your favorite hero." Izuku nodded.

"Exactly." The gravity girl nodded in reply.

Right at that moment…

"Young Midoriya is here!" All Might exclaimed as he appeared along with an amused Shinobu.

"All Might/Shinobu?" Izuku and Himiko said in unison. "What're you doing here?" They asked. "JYNX!" They shouted at the same time.

"We just wanted to have lunch with you both." The Otsutsuki woman chuckled at their antics as she held up a bento box… Wrapped in a baby blue cloth with bunnies on it. "Care to eat with us?" She offered.

"PFFFFFT! That's adorable!" Ochako snorted mirthfully.

(Later)

"So, what's up?" Himiko asked as they sat in a private lounge.

"We wanted to talk to you about the Sports Festival." Shinobu explained.

"And wanted to know how things in the dorms have been so far." All Might nodded.

"I… had a PTSD nightmare." Izuku reluctantly admitted, causing the two powerhouse adults to wince.

"I was hoping those had gone away by now…" Shinobu sighed.

"Would you like to be arranged for counseling?" Toshinori offered.

"No thanks." The boy told him as Himiko had him face her, holding out a piece of fried chicken for him to eat. "I think Himiko's got it covered." He chuckled.

"Say ah." She cooed.

Izuku rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses in amusement and opened his mouth with an 'ah' sound, allowing his girlfriend to feed him.

"By the way, has your tenant said anything yet, Himiko?" The Otsutsuki GILF asked.

"Nope, but I've started to hear a grumbling in my head, so she's stirring." The girl replied.

"Ah, I see." The woman nodded.

"And what about you, Young Midoriya? What do you plan to do?" All Might questioned. "The public doesn't know which student in UA has the Rinnegan, and your involvement in the sludge villain attack has been all but forgotten–so I'm curious as to how you'll keep them hidden." He continued.

"I was able to come up with some new abilities over the time off after the USJ, so mix those with my blindfold, and I should be fine unless someone removes the latter." The boy explained in reply. "Or if people start putting two and two together, but who knows?" He mused as Himiko fed him a pot sticker.

"I just hope that none of the girls at the Sports Fest start going crazy over you." The bakeneko girl pouted, eating some rice. "I do not need the competition." She huffed.

"And I don't need that drama." Izuku huffed in agreement. "Besides…" He sighed as he hugged her close before kissing her. "What would any other woman be able to give me that you can't?" He added.

"These two are practically a match made in heaven." Shinobu whispered to Toshinori, who chuckled in agreement.

"There is one move that I'm saving for the festival that I'd like your opinion on." Izuku chimed in, pulling back from Himiko reluctantly.

"What's it called?" The No. 1 Hero questioned.

"It's a special Spacial Jutsu/GenJutsu combination move I call Unlimited Void." The boy explained. "It essentially traps a person in a sort of pocket void that floods their minds with a flow of infinite information, rendering them immobile and open to attack." He continued, tapping his head. "Kind of like Tsukoyomi or the Mountain Toad Call Genjutsu." He added.

"That's quite a potent Jutsu." Shinobu commented. "It's nice to see that you've taken up the trade well. I'm sure the rest of your class is liable to do so as well, if they feel the desire for it." She added with a smile.

"More than likely, yeah." Izuku nodded.

"So, how has everyone been adjusting so far?" All Might asked.

"Well, Jiro and Kaminari punched each other's V-cards last night." Himiko stated without really thinking–right before covering her mouth.

"Wait, what?! There's already one of those?!" The blonde hero yelped in surprise.

"I mean, After Himiko set them up at the start of the school year, they had been going out on dates pretty regularly… Especially after the USJ." Izuku nodded.

"Well, I guess we shouldn't be surprised that something like this would happen." The Otsutsuki mused. "What about you two? Planning any dates in the near future?" She inquired with a small teasing look.

"I dunno, are you two doing the same?" Izuku shot back with his own smirk, causing the two adults to blush in response at the tables being turned.

"My my how the tables have turned." Himiko purred with a cheshire grin.

(Later)

When classes were done for the day, the 1-A gang was going to head back to their dorms, but found themselves being held up by a mob of other students.

"Hey, what's the deal?!" Kaminari exclaimed.

"Do you have some kind of business with our class?" Iida questioned.

"I won't let you hold us hostage!" Himiko yelled.

"No, you idiot. They're scoping out the competition." Katsuki grunted. "Since we survived a villain attack on campus, they wanna see what the deal is." He added. "At least you know what a future pro looks like, now move it extras." He told them.

This caused all the kids to start panicking.

"What the fuck man?!" Himiko yelled.

"You can't just call people that!" Iida yelped.

"Yeah! Now they're gonna think we're assholes!" Kirishima added.

"What they think is irrelevant, especially since we know what we are." The bomber shot back cryptically, the class Jinchurikis picking up his meaning.

"I was hoping to see the so-called great hero course. But you just sound like an ass." A voice said as a purple haired boy with an appearance similar to Aizawa stepped up. "Are all the people in this class delusional, or is it just you?" He questioned.

"Bold of you to assume it's delusions we have when we can back up our claims." Izuku shot back as he stepped forward, having put on his blindfold.

"A blindfold. Guess that means you're what, blind?" The boy questioned, getting a shrug in return. "I wanted to be in the hero course, but unfortunately I had to choose a different track–Such is life." He sighed. "But I have another chance: The sports festival. If I do well, I could be transferred." He continued. "So consider this a declaration of war," He added.

"Heh, that's cute." Izuku couldn't help but quip with a chuckle. "From my perspective, this won't feel like much of a war." He commented. He then pushed past them and started walking away–while Himiko's eyes sparkled at what she just saw.

"Izukuuuuu~!" She exclaimed, jumping on his back as they left. "That was so cool!" She told him.

"Thanks, honey." Izuku smiled, grabbing and pulling her into a bridal hold as they made their way back to their dorm.

(Timeskip)

Two weeks later, after hours and days of hard and arduous training, it was time for the festival—and needless to say, things were hectic.

"This security line is huge, how the hell are we going to get in?" A female reporter groaned.

"Well, a bunch of villains did break in. Plus that battle caused half the campus to get damaged and one kid got his eyes ripped out—add to that the presence of the dorms—of course they're being stricter than previous years." Her camera man stated. "Hell, I've heard that a lot of people think they shouldn't be having the festival this year, given what happened." He added.

"Probably should've expected this, in that case." The woman sighed in acknowledgement. "That aside—nothing brings up ratings like a little controversy!" She grinned.

(Elsewhere)

"I was hoping to do some scouting while I was here." Kamui Woods sighed as he, Death Arms and Mt. Lady was busy patrolling the grounds.

"But we can't cuz we're stuck with security." Death arms nodded.

Mt. Lady was currently eating some Takoyaki when she saw a familiar face walking towards the first year stadium.

"Hey, isn't that the kid from the Sludge Villain attack?" She asked, pointing at Izuku as he walked across their path, currently wearing his blindfold.

"Hey, it actually is. Why's he wearing a blindfold?" Death Arms wondered.

"No idea. Fashion statement?" Woods offered.

"Maybe…" Death Arms hummed right as Himiko came flying out of nowhere and hugged the boy in a behind tackle hug, nuzzling herself into him. "But it seems to have some fans." He noted.

"That, or she's his girlfriend." Mt. Lady shrugged.

(Elsewhere)

The couple found themselves in the common room with their classmates as they were waiting to get called out, all of them dressed in tracksuits.

"Aw, I was really hoping to wear my costume." Mina sighed.

"Well since we're all wearing them, it's at least fair." Ojiro pointed out.

"I sure am worried about what's in store for the first round." Sato shivered.

"No matter what they have in mind, we must persevere." Tokoyami stated.

"Right." Nodded Shoji as Iida walked in.

"It's almost time! Everyone get your game faces on!" He exclaimed, causing everyone to tense.

"I'm a bit nervous about going on live television…" Himiko gulped as she sat in Izuku's lap, nudging him under his chin like a kitten.

"Just keep calm and everything will work out." Her boyfriend told her assuringly, kissing her softly. It was at this moment that Shoto approached him.

"Midoriya." The two toned boy said as Izuku reluctantly pulled away from his girlfriend, turning to face him.

"What is it, Todoroki?" He questioned.

"In spite of… Past events, to put it simply, it's clear that you are stronger than me. The Rinnegan makes that clear." The two toned teen stated. "I'm no fool; I know that there's a clear difference between the limits of quirks and shinobi era bloodline abilities." He added.

"I appreciate the compliment, but I fail to see what that has to do with me." The boy stated, keeping a sort of eye contact by following the boy's voice.

"I only wish to tell you that I intend to defeat you, regardless of your power." Shoto replied. "Know that I will beat you." He added, causing Himiko to snort.

"Yeah, right." She chuckled.

"We'll all have to fight to stand out, Todoroki. Let's not let that go unmentioned." Izuku pointed out as he got up, deciding to carry Himiko in his arms.

(Later)

Now was time for the big event, and it was obvious Present Mic was hyped up.

"HEY! You guys excited or what?!" He called from the announcement booth.

A volcanic eruption level cheering chorus was the answer he got.

"Aaaalright, let's get this show on the road!" The part time radio show host grinned. "First up are Hero Course classes A-B!" He began as Class A came out, Izuku using his stride to put on a veneer of confidence with Himiko was currently clinging to Ochako. "Next are General Studies classes C, D and E. Support classes F, G and H. And Business classes I, J and K." He added.

All around Class 1-A, it could be noted that some were giving them disdainful looks, which Izuku brushed off. He didn't care for such things.

As the kids all gathered around, they soon saw that Midnight was the umpire for the year—and unlike in class—she was wearing her hero costume. Typically in their literature class, she wore typical business clothes.

Her hero costume—was nothing like that.

"Is Midnight seriously wearing that on national television?" Kirishima whispered with a very minor blush of embarrassment.

"Yeah, that costume should come with a warning." Kaminari gulped, nervously looking at Jiro—expecting her to attack him—but instead, she was pouting.

Getting the signal, the boy pulled her close, causing her to squeak in surprise.

"Is that really appropriate apparel for a high school event?" Tokoyami questioned.

"… Would you like it if I wore something like that?" Himiko asked her Rinnegan using boyfriend.

"I'll appreciate anything you wear, honestly." Izuku chuckled in reply. "But…" He hummed, imagining Himiko in a similar outfit to Midnight, but without the bodysuit. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'd like that." He nodded.

"I'll see what I can do, then." The cat-like girl purred into his ear.

"Silence everyone!" The woman called. "And for the student pledge we have: Izuku Midoriya!" She continued.

"Of course they'd pick someone from the hero course." A student from general studies scoffed as Izuku walked up to the stage.

"That girl obviously hates us." Sero stated.

"Yeah, and we can thank Bakugo and Midoriya for them not liking our class." Kaminari added.

Friends or not, they were still peeved.

"Hey." Himiko said, causing the girl to look at her—and see a murderous gaze flashed her way. "That's my boyfriend that you're bad mouthing." She stated. "Knock it off." She added.

Meanwhile, Izuku stood in front of the mic before he tapped it a couple of times.

"I'll… Keep this brief." He began. "You all have come here thinking that you'll be able to show your quirks and your skills in the hopes of gaining great renown for your own personal gain and enrichment." He pointed out. "Be it to show you can stand with others stronger than you. To get back what you feel cheated out of, to get the eyes of benefactors—or just out of simple greed." He continued. "But I look around me and see nothing but… Wasted energy." He sighed.

This made the crowd boo at him before he made a ball of Hollow Purple energy, shutting them up and letting him continue as he dispelled it.

"What I mean is that we're all so caught up in proving ourselves because we feel like we have something to prove, one upping each other to gain popularity, and dragging each other down at something that should be fun for everyone—not just the hero course." The new sage began. "Because this is a festival, it's supposed to be fun, something us students use as a way to create memories that will bring us together and make us look back on our student years fondly for years to come. We're here to make the world better tomorrow than it is today, sure. But we're all students… So we should enjoy our time playing that part." He continued. "Because especially after the USJ attack—I think we've all realized—that it's not a part we'll be able to play for long." He added.

There was silence as the boy let out a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is, let's put all this competition behind us and have some fun for a change." He smiled. "Whaddya say, guys?" He asked with a grin.

The gathered students murmured amongst each other at this, some of it varying from positive to negative.

"This guy's trying way too hard to be a crowd pleaser." A general studies student from Class C scoffed.

"He is right, though. We aren't gonna stay students forever, and I want my memory of this whole thing to be a fun one when I'm older." Another student from class D pointed out.

"I agree, healthy competition is great, sure, but it's a real drag when it isn't any fun." A Class E stated. "It just turns everything into a total drag." He sighed.

"Amen to that." Himiko nodded.

This soon caused everyone to start smiling before the murmuring soon turned into a wave of cheers from the students.

"Such a motivational and down to Earth speech!" Midnight exclaimed in approval.

All Might couldn't help but smile as he felt a surge of pride well up inside him as his protege smiled at the praise he was getting.

'Spoken like a true hero.' He thought in approval.

'That's my nephew.' Shinobu thought with a proud smile on her face.

This was followed by Midnight revealing that the first event was an obstacle course, and sure enough—Izuku was already grinning like a madman.

'Finally—Time to have some real fun!' He thought in anticipation.

Dragon Emperor0: Hey everyone! And merry Christmas! Hope you guys don't mind, but we're giving you a Christmas gift in the form of new MHA story chapters. Hope you like them.

ThermalsniperN7: It usually takes us a couple of days or so to write out just one chapter, so we often go for quality over quantity in the end. Hope that's okay with you guys. Anyway… Poor Izuku in the beginning. That nightmare was brutal.

Dragon Emperor0: Yeah, didn't want to go into too much detail because it was just that fucked up, but PTSD nightmares are often even worse IRL, so what he experienced was tame in comparison—PTSD Lite, if you will.

ThermalsniperN7: Yeah. No reason to delve too deeply into something serious. And if you wanna call bullshit on how chipper he seems later in the chapter in spite of that, it shouldn't be uncommon for people to look for anything to take their minds off their nightmares. I know it, and so do you.

Dragon Emperor0: Second… Apparently Kaminari just got laid. Not that I'm surprised, everyone loves a pikachu, and thanks to Himiko, he and Jiro had already gone on a few dates before the USJ fiasco. So if Izuku and Himiko could get together after that, it isn't too big a leap to say that these two would be further along.

ThermalsniperN7: True that. And hey, Izuku's got some new moves based on a certain blindfold wearing sorcerer we all at least know of. That's gonna spell a lot of surprises later for sure.

Dragon Emperor0: Now for those of you wondering why he hadn't thought of using the blindfold/sunglasses earlier, or the moves, it's because he had been using his powers as they were told in books. He never experimented. And by the time he joined UA, he'd already been putting his eyes on display as a show of confidence—so he wouldn't have done it that early in the story, it wouldn't have fit his character yet… Well, that's the watsonian explanation. The Doyalist explanation is that we wanted to save it for season 2.

ThermalsniperN7: So yeah. That's what we have on that topic. Anyway, see you guys next time.