? Chapter 23 ?
The U. A. Sports Festival was to be held in two weeks. It was also going to be broadcasted live on the television. Of course, that meant that those who would do well have a much better chance of becoming Pro-Heroes. The festival itself was going to be a surprise as no one would know what the events they'll be participating in until the day of. But everyone was working hard from day one.

Well, everyone but Kimitsuki – whose ribs and legs were killing her every time she attempted to do more than a jog with them. As such, the day number one of her training was spent trying not to cry and soldier through her pain as she joined Izuku for an evening run along the Dagoba Beach.

"Are you okay, Tsuki-Chan?" Izuku asked for the umpteenth time as he tried to keep a pace with the lagging white-haired girl. "You should rest if you're hurting! It'll get worse if you continue with this!"

"This is okay enough!" Kimitsuki grunted, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "Recovery Girl suggested that I exercise well to get back on my feet properly. I'm sure I'll be fine in a week,"

"I think you're going to get worse," Izuku admitted in concern as he watched the girl throw some medicinal candies into her mouth. "You're taking a lot of medicines, aren't you? You're not –"

"I'm in my right mind, Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki insisted. "Come on, let's go – race you to the pier over there by the edge of the cliff, come on!"

Aizawa wasn't as relaxing when it came to the situation that Kimitsuki had brought on herself.

"This is all the more reason for you to learn how to work this capture weapon," Aizawa told the girl as he stood in front of her with his scarf. "Individuals with Quirks like ourselves must adapt,"

"Yes, Sensei," Kimitsuki replied quietly, her Quirk activated as she kept an eye on Aizawa's movements so she could memorise them and copy them. "I'll be careful from now," She looked at him uncertainly. "Sensei... I don't think I'm going to use my sword or my scarf at the festival,"

"You don't sound very certain about that," Aizawa responded, eying her sudden strange declaration. "Are you going to be a one-trick pony now? You should send in a petition for at least one of those. You can't rely on just your eye Quirk – there are students with Quirks that will counter you easily,"

"I know," Kimitsuki replied. "But I'm going to look rely on my Quirk!" She looked at him eagerly. "I've been practising well. It's a bit difficult to keep a hold on it at times but I'm better now,"

"Whatever you decide is up to you," Aizawa droned. "But I need you to pay attention to what I'm trying to teach you here. I don't want any slacking off in any case," Kimitsuki nodded quickly.

"Yes, Sensei," Kimitsuki answered, getting back into her stance so she could show off what she had just watched Aizawa attempt. "I'll do my very best,"

It took a week for Kimitsuki to completely recover from her injuries.

Of course, it wasn't an ideal situation but Kimitsuki was relieved when the bandages came off – at least she wasn't walking around as mummified as Aizawa was. The Nomu had really screwed them.

The rest of the class was having a better time with practises. Kimitsuki could hear Katsuki using his Explosive Quirk not far from where she practised with Aizawa at the school's forested area. Izuku and her were reutilising the Dagoba Municipal Park Beach for their training sessions.

Among her other friends, Tenya was working on his speed in the school P. E. Grounds while Ochaco was working on her Gravity and Mina on her acid in the U. S. J. Ruin Zone with Yuga and Eijirou. Tsuyu was using the indoor pools while Mezo and Toru were hitting the school gym. Hanta and Mashirao had taken over Ground Beta while Koji and Rikido also used the forest.

Denki tried to utilise any and all locations that he could find to practise his electricity capacity and Fumikage was trying to deal with the strong light with his Dark Shadow. Kyoka was training her earphones while Momo studied up. Shoto went home early for practise and Minoru...

Well, Kimitsuki didn't know what he was doing at his home and frankly, she didn't want to either. She doubted he was doing much because all he did in the classroom was complain about stuff.

Kimitsuki had been trying to watch her classmates with her Quirk activated to see what was up.

It was obvious that she would never be able to copy their Quirks but she wanted to get used to the way they carried themselves. She liked to people watch and her invisibility at times helped her out.

But it was unfortunate that she couldn't go out of her way to check out other people in the school while they practised. And being around Tenya at all times, she was discouraged by the diligent student regarding using her Quirk to recognise other students' Quirks as they passed them by.

"I'm not going to use my Quirk in corridors, Iida-Kun," Kimitsuki assured Tenya for the umpteenth time as they walked over to the cafeteria together. But her eyes were out looking for that person.

Shinso Hitoshi

There was something about him that really made Kimitsuki want to check him and his Quirk out. She hadn't expected someone to go out of their way to actually challenge them with a declaration of war. But he had done that. And that piqued Kimitsuki's interest regarding his abilities and ambition.

However, there was no sign of that boy anywhere. Kimitsuki wished she could seek him out but she only knew his appearance and that he wasn't from the Hero Course. What will she tell people for it?

Can you tell me where I can find an indolent boy
with tufty purple hair and threatening tendencies?

You should wait until the Sports Festival, softie.

It was finally the day of the Sports Festival and Kimitsuki was anxious, having been unable to sleep properly the night before. She had packed up her essentials in her waist bag – which mainly included medicines in any case that she started to have a panic attack again or struggled with any other problem. And she headed out of her home, deciding that she would like to have a walk before it.

However, before she could really head out of the building, Kimitsuki was informed by Granny Haruna that the Oba-San in Apartment 117 wasn't doing good again and the white-haired girl decided to go up to her and help with cooking and eating breakfast before she went off for her Sports Festival.

"You're going to appear on TV, Kimitsuki-Chan?" asked the elderly woman as Kimitsuki carefully fed her the last spoonful of porridge and placed the bowl down.

"Yes, Oba-San, I'm going to be on the television," Kimitsuki answered gently as she gathered all the dishes onto the tray and stood up. "My school is going to have a sports festival today,"

"What channel is it going to be on?" Oba-San asked as Kimitsuki walked into the kitchen to place the dishes in the sink to be washed. "Can you leave the channel on for me?"

"Of course, I will," Kimitsuki replied. "Wait just a moment, let me wash these dishes really quickly," She hurriedly but carefully washed the dishes she had used and wiped them clean. "Let me help,"

Switching on the television that was in the bedroom to the proper channel, Kimitsuki returned to the living room and helped the elderly woman across the room to her room, taking a hold of most of her weight so she wouldn't get hurt. Kimitsuski carefully laid her down in the bed and made sure that –

"Are you comfortable, Oba-San?" Kimitsuki asked and the woman nodded. "I'll be leaving now, please take care of your health... remember to take your medicines, I'll set some water nearby,"

Quickly finishing up with the rest of the work in the apartment – mainly cleaning up the mess – Kimitsuki placed the pitcher of water on the side table and then bid her goodbye with a deep bow.

"Good luck, Kimitsuki-Chan!" called the elderly woman after the white-haired girl as she left the apartment. Kimitsuki and bowed her head in gratitude. "I'll see you on the TV,"

"Oh, my, you're still here?" Granny Haruna asked when she saw the young girl come out of the creaky elevator and into the lobby. "You should hurry to school! Your festival is going to start!"

"Yes, I'm going to head out right away," Kimitsuki replied. "Please check on Oba-San in a few hours. I've given her breakfast and placed medicines on her side table, please take care of yourself, too,"

"Of course, I will, you big softie," Granny Haruna said. "Come on, let me see you out. Good luck with your Sports Festival, okay? I'll be keeping a watch on the TV! Do your very best!"

"Thank you very much," Kimitsuki said, bowing deeply and parting ways with the woman by the street and heading off toward the bus station to catch a bus rather than a train.

It was mainly because Kimitsuki knew that the trains would be crowded to the brim with people heading to the same location and she didn't want get caught in that. She was pretty sure no one was going to help her out like Katsuki did in the cafeteria corridor. So, taking the bus was her only way.

The streets by the school were also very crowded but Kimitsuki, along with the rest of the students, were asked to take the backway inside the school to avoid the crowd, media and other trouble.

Kimitsuki took the back gate and got her student card checked out with others before she was let inside, hiding herself right behind the giant Sports Festival arena. She was pointed out to the 1st Year locker rooms to join her classmates. She felt flustered at the sight of her seniors walking around.

At her class's locker room, Kimitsuki found out that she was supposed to dress into the school P. E. uniform rather than the hero costume that she usually wore. This made her a bit uncomfortable.

The P. E. was still a bit form-fitted and she hadn't gotten around to getting herself a larger size yet.

In the end, Kimitsuki pulled on a white tank-top beneath her blue tracksuit, leaving the topmost button of the shirt to loosen it a bit on her chest. She felt she was being a bit informal and that was a problem. Yet still, Kimitsuki just gathered herself and headed off to the Class 1-A waiting room.

"Man, I wanted to wear my costume," Mina was saying as Kimitsuki entered the waiting room, and the white-haired girl bowed in greeting to those who noticed her.

"To keep everything fair, we can't," Mashirao pointed out.

"I wonder what the first round's gonna be..." Rikido lamented.

"No matter what comes, we have no choice but to deal with it," Fumikage replied sagely, and Mezo nodded in agreement with him as per usual.

Kimitsuki's eyes met with Katsuki's as he sat on a table to her left but as soon as she did so, he huffed and looked away. She rolled her eyes and looked away from him to see Izuku and Ochaco by another table, and decided to go to them. She had barely closed the door behind and walked over –

"Everyone, are you ready?!
We will be entering soon!"

It was Tenya who had shouted all this and Kimitsuki jumped slightly as he slammed the door open to their waiting room. Minoru, who was standing near her and Izuku, salivated at the female's chest.

"Hey, Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki breathed as she reached him, noticing how anxious he looked. She felt like her expression mirrored his. "How are you doing? It's hard to sit down, huh?"

"Midoriya – Kuroyanagi,"

Both Kimitsuki and Izuku turned to look at the person who had approached them and it was –

"Todoroki-Kun?"

"Um," Kimitsuki said, sharing a look with Izuku and glancing around to see that everyone was staring at Shoto in surprise, too. "What is it? Is everything okay? Do you need help with something?"

"looking at thing objectively," Shoto said as he looked down at the two of them. "I think I'm stronger than you both," Kimitsuki stared at him.

"That's... obvious, isn't it?" Kimitsuki asked. "You're a lot stronger than a lot of us here, actually," She had often stared at his body with her Quirk activated, seeing his swirling dual Quirk.

"But All Might has his eye on you two, doesn't he?" Shoto said and Kimitsuki frowned, her eyebrows knitted. "I'm not trying to pry about that. But I'm going to beat you – both of you,"

"Oh?" Denki asked as he spun around in his seat to face them. "Is the second-best in the class making a declaration of war against the best?"

"It's nothing like that, Kaminari-Kun," Kimitsuki said tensely, not taking her eyes off of Shoto, unsure what really prompted him to do this. "I may be the best in class, but it's not because of my Quirk,"

"Kuroyanagi-Chan, you shouldn't talk so negatively about your Quirk," Hanta said as he turned to look at them as well. "Your Quirk is pretty cool!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Eijirou said as he walked over to where Kimitsuki, Izuku and Shoto were in the middle of the room. "Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? Not now, we're about to start!"

"We're not here to play at being friends," Shoto replied, brushing Eijirou's hand off of his shoulders before stepping away from them. "So, what does it matter?"

"Todoroki-Kun," Izuku spoke up. "I don't know what you're thinking when you say you'll beat me, but of course you're better than me. I think you're more capable than most people... Looking at it objectively..."

"Midoriya, you probably shouldn't talk so negatively, either..." Eijirou said, unable to understand why both of the childhood friends were being so pessimistic regarding themselves.

"But, everyone," Izuku spoke up finally. "The students from the other courses are aiming for the top with everything they've got! I want to become the greatest hero! I can't afford to fall behind. I'll be going for it with everything I have, too,"

"Yeah," Shoto replied.

"In that case..." Kimitsuki said, swallowing slightly and looking at Shoto with resolution. "... I'll do my very best, too. Let's all work hard to become great heroes. I want to stand with everyone on the stage. My Quirk isn't very... nice, but I want to be a great hero, too,"

Kimitsuki nervously played with a strand of her hair as she stood behind Katsuki and in front of Izuku, waiting for their class to be called out. She glanced around the rest of her classmates standing in the corridor in wait and could see that many of them were as nervous as she was, but others weren't.

Why can't I be like that?

Izuku had often mentioned to her that her charms didn't lie in being authoritative and unapproachably expressionless. He had always told her that she suited someone understanding.

In the end, I am a big softie, huh?

There were times when Kimitsuki wondered what her classmates would've thought had she not been on TV, had All Might not praised her, had she not helped people out during entrance exam...

Family-Killer Kimitsuki

In all honesty, Kimitsuki was waiting for that nickname to return to her one day, and she feared that day immensely. She wasn't even sure if she liked the renewed interest in the murder of her family.

"Hey! Pay attention, audience! Swarm, mass media!

This year's high school rodeo of adolescence that you all love,

the U. A. sports festival, is about to begin!

Everybody, are you ready?!"

Present Mic's sudden loud announcement made Kimitsuki jump slightly, extracting her from her thoughts and she blushed deeply when several of her classmates turned to look at her curiously.

"It's time for the students to enter the first-year stage!"

Kimitsuki followed her friends as they finally made their way out of the corridor and out to the arena. She shook her head to make her bangs cover her face slightly as she peered up at the stadium. It was filled with thousands upon thousands of people – all of them looking down at them.

They're already cheering, huh?

"The U. A. sports festival!" Present Mic was speaking. "The huge battle where fledgling heroes sharpen their swords once a year! Anyway, these are the guys, right? The miraculous new stars who overcame enemy attacks with their hearts of steel! Hero course, Class 1-A, right?!"

"Th-Th-There are so many people..." Izuku stammered out from next to Kimitsuki while he looked around with eyes as wide as saucepans. "Isn't that right... Tsuki-Chan?"

"Will we be able to give our best performance being watched by so many people?" Tenya questioned, quite as taken by the amount of people around them.

"Um, I believe this is also an important part of training to become a hero," Kimitsuki breathed, blushing slightly. "It's quite difficult... but I suppose a hero must know not to be fazed..."

"Man, he's going overboard with that praise!" Eijirou exclaimed. "I'm getting nervous!" He looked at Katsuki, who was walking right in front of him. "Aren't you, Bakugo?"

"No, I'm just getting more into it," Katsuki replied and Kimitsuki glanced over her ash-blond friend to see a rather intense expression on his face.

"Ka-Chan... really is the greatest when it comes to nerves, huh?" Kimitsuki mumbled to herself, and she looked away when Katsuki turned his red eyes to meet with hers.

"They haven't been getting as much airtime, but this class is also full of talent!" Present Mic said. "Hero course, Class 1-B! Next up, general studies Classes C, D, and E! Support course, Classes F, G, and H are here, too! And business course, Classes I, J, and K! All of U. A.'s first years are here now!"

"We're just here to make those guys look better, huh?"

"I'm not really feeling it..."

Those were the words that met Kimitsuki's ears as the students from other courses made their way to the arena as well. Her lilac eyes met with Shinsou Hitoshi's purple eyes as he walked a few feet ahead of his classmates – not leading but seeking solitude. His face was expressionless as he stared.

I wonder what he's thinking?

Kimitsuki wanted to use her Quirk on all of these people around her but she took in a deep breath and removed her eyes away from Hitoshi and back in the front as Pro-Hero Midnight took the stage.

"Time for the player pledge!" Midnight called out to the audience once all students were in front of her. She whipped around her flogger whip to catch everyone's attention.

"What is Midnight Sensei wearing?" Eijirou asked as he blushed at the sight of their Modern Hero Art History teacher in her Pro-Hero costume.

"That's an R-Rated Hero for you," Denki replied, and Kimitsuki was not surprised to see that he and most of the other boys were blushing at Midnight, too.

"Is it okay for her to be at a high school even though she's R-Rated?" Fumikage questioned, not sounding much bothered or impressed by this.

"Yes!" Minoru cheered, and Kimitsuki grimaced at the way he was leering at their teacher with salivating mouth and sparkling eyes. She would never get used to this.

"Quiet, everyone!" Midnight called out, swiping her flogger-like whip to interrupt their chatter. "Representing the students are... Bakugo Katsuki and Kuroyanagi Kimitsuki from Class 1-A!"

?

A/N: Thank you for all the kind words ^^
? Chapter 24 ?
Kimitsuki looked up in surprise and momentarily wondered why she had been picked as the student representative and the player pledger. It was then she recalled her record since applying to U. A. High School that she realised why her name had been taken. But she didn't know how Katsuki...

"What?" Izuku asked, quite as shocked as Kimitsuki was as the green-haired boy turned to look at her and their childhood friend. "It's both Tsuki-Chan and Ka-Chan...?"

But Kimitsuki was already hurrying to pace up with Katsuki as the two of them hurried over toward the stage together. She wondered if Katsuki would think of her stealing his thunder again somehow.

"Well, Kuroyanagi-Chan was first and Bakugo was second in the entrance exam, weren't they?" Eijirou pointed out to Izuku, watching the two climb up the stairs.

"in the Hero course," interjected one of the students from General Studies, glaring at the them all.

"It's obvious she hates us," Hanta observed, sweat-dropping.

"And it's all Bakugo's fault," Denki groaned, shaking his head.

Katsuki grunted, his hands shoved deep in his slackened pants and Kimitsuki let out a small sigh as she walked up the stage ahead of him. He glared at her and she knew that he was giving her a few seconds to go first and she rolled her eyes lightly, having had enough of his strange behaviour.

It was difficult for Kimitsuki to take the stage in front of so many people and not to mention all those who would be watching from home. She took a deep breath to calm down and held up her head.

Be assertive, you idiotic softie.

"As the representative, I pledge," Kimitsuki said into the microphone softly. "To show exhibit appropriate sportsmanship and to compete with fellow first-years with civility and dignity. I pledge to put winning and losing in perspective and not engage in any unsportsmanlike conduct, and to remember that this is an opportunity for a healthy competition and to learn from our mistakes,"

Kimitsuki bowed deeply to the crowd and stepped back, motioning Katsuki to take the microphone next. She almost waited with a bated breath, knowing what he would do. Even without her Quirk on his lips. She knew.

"I pledge..." Katsuki said nonchalantly as he stared blankly at the crowd in front of him and Kimitsuki chewed the inside of her cheek. "... that I'll be number one,"

Midnight grabbed her head and Kimitsuki let out a deep sigh as their class 1-A groaned loudly at Katsuki's persistent 'overconfidence' and the rest of the classes started to boo and abuse them.

"What the heck!"

"Stop messing around!"

"You sludge bastard!"

"Don't be so full of yourselves, Class A!"

"Why are you doing something so disgraceful?!" Tenya shouted over at the student from his class, knowing it was going to ruin their image as a whole once again.

"At least become a nice bouncy step for me to jump off of," Katsuki responded.

"How overconfident can you get?" Tetsutetsu shouted from where Class 1-B was standing, looking at their fellow Hero course class with great distaste. "I'll crush you!"

But Kimitsuki didn't bother to apologise for Katsuki's words at all. She wasn't his babysitter anymore and besides; she knew he wanted everyone to come at him with all their might or he won't be satisfied. And she also knew well by now that he didn't care if he made the rest of them collateral damage.

Ka-Chan and I are more different than ever now.

Our paths are really diverging from each other.

"Time to go back down," Kimitsuki said rather straightforwardly to Katsuki as she walked ahead of him down the stage and Katsuki raised his eyebrows at the sudden cool edge to her voice.

It wasn't due to what he had just done
or else she would've apologised to embarrass him.

That was how she kept him in line.

Katsuki followed Kimitsuki down amidst to the boos and wondered what was suddenly up with her. He hadn't expected her voice to go this cold. He wondered if she was annoyed that she had given such an elaborate speech and rather than getting applause for it, she received abuse due to him.

"Never mind Bakugo-Kun," Tenya spoke up when Kimitsuki and Katsuki reached their class. "Your pledge was wonderful, Kuroyanagi-Kun, as one would expect from the number one student!"

"It's nothing like that, Iida-Kun," Kimitsuki replied with a sudden, more characteristic, bashful smile and Katsuki rolled his eyes at how her voice repossessed its sweetness. He really hated her and Tenya being Co-Class Reps.

Once back in his place and Kimitsuki back in her place just to his left, Katsuki glanced at her expression to try and decipher what was up with her but noticed her looking off elsewhere curiously. He followed her gaze to see that her eyes were locked with that General Studies boy from earlier.

What the hell is going on between these two now?

There was nothing that Katsuki found interesting about that purple-haired boy and he couldn't understand why Kimitsuki was finding him so interesting. Or why Hitoshi was looking back at her.

It would've been better if these boys were still scared of Kimitsuki's Quirk.

"Now, let's get started right away," Midnight called out. "U. A. does everything 'right away', huh? Every year, many drink their tears here! Now, here is the fateful first game! This year, it's..."

Kimitsuki watched as a large wheel of fortune appeared behind Midnight and spun around rapidly for a few minutes before coming to a stop right at:

Obstacle Race.

"... this!" Midnight exclaimed. "All 11 classes will participate in this race. The course will be the outer circumference of this stadium - about four kilometres! Our school's selling point is freedom! As long as you stay on the course, it doesn't matter what you do! Now, take your places everyone!"

Kimitsuki quietly followed with her classmates to one of the many the stadium exits and glanced around to see just how many students were there. She knew that going through that narrow exit -

It's going to be just like the cafeteria debacle.

Activating her Quirk, Kimitsuki focused on everyone's muscles to see that they were tense and ready to run, and quickly calculated a way for herself through the pathway to get into the lead first.

Keep in the lead, and if someone tries to attack

- only defend with the shield.

That was the strategy Kimitsuki had thought of right now. But she didn't know what else was going to be out there in front of her. What if there were obstacles none of her Quirks could help her with?

Let's just hope for a position in the top three this time, huh, Kimitsuki-Chan?

There were many people around her who were in the same boat as her. In all honesty, had it not been for her interest in electronics and her Black Flames, she would've been in General Studies, too.

"Start!"

Midnight's voice jumpstarted Kimitsuki and she went sprinting through the people as fast as she could with her Quirk aiding her movements to avoid getting hit. She easily manoeuvred through the crowd and before long, she found herself in the lead, barely getting out before others got stuck.

"Okay, here's the play-by-play!" Present Mic shouted in the background. "Are you ready to do the commentary, Mummy Man?" Kimitsuki almost stopped to see if Aizawa really was with him.

"You're the one who forced me to come," replied Aizawa, the Mummy Man. Kimitsuki's heart leapt, knowing that she will have to do really well because he was watching over them closely.

Both All Might and Aizawa Sensei, huh?

"Let's get started right away, Mummy Man," Present Mic said, clearly not catching the ire in Aizawa's voice at the nickname. "What should we pay attention to in the early stages?"

"This part right now," Aizawa replied straightforwardly.

Kimitsuki glanced over her shoulder to see that Shoto was not that far behind her, and that he had used his Ice Quirk to fully freeze the corridor floor, capturing most of the students' feet down along. She could barely be relieved that she didn't' get caught in that great crowd and suffocated herself.

"Owww!"

"What the -?"

"It's freezing over!"

"I can't move - so cold!"

But there were quite a few of their classmates who had managed to completely evade Shoto's sudden move - Katsuki, Momo, Eijirou and Yuga, who all used their Quirk to get into the air.

"Naive, Todoroki-San!" Momo exclaimed.

"I won't let you get away so easily!" Katsuki shouted angrily as well. "You half-and-half bastard!"

With some struggle, most of the remaining Class 1-A managed to get out, too. And so, did some other students. Kimitsuki noticed that Hitoshi was being carried on the shoulders of other students but she didn't bother looking for Quirks when she noticed that Shoto was trying to catch up to her.

Run, run like you're being chased by the paparazzi!

Shoto attempted to send the floor in front of him to freeze as well but Kimitsuki instinctually heated up her special shoes and avoided getting herself frozen in place - they were natural enemies at this.

Regaining her senses and putting more strength into her legs, Kimitsuki continued to sprint with all of her might. She didn't want to lose this position so quickly. She knew she could never come number one in this race but she didn't want to lose it so quickly. She wanted to put a good look.

Everyone's watching.

When Kimitsuki looked back for the second time to make sure that Shoto was attempting any attack at her, too, she noticed that unexpectedly, it was Minoru who was catching up to them. He was using his head for once (beside his Quirk) and throwing those sticky balls in front of him on the ice, using them to bounce ahead, getting closer and closer to Kimitsuki and Shoto.

"I've outwitted you, Todoroki!" Minoru was shouting at the boy behind her. "How pathetic! Take this! My special attack!" He moved around in the air. "Gra -"

But before he could show them his new special move, Minoru slammed away by a gigantic hand and Kimitsuki looked ahead of herself to see that several of the entrance exam faux villains were obstructing her path. But while everyone else stopped, Kimitsuki kept running at them anyway.

"Obstacles have shown up suddenly!" Present Mic announced excitedly to introduce both the students and audience to them. "Starting with... the first barrier! Robo Inferno!"

"Aren't those the zero-point villains from the entrance exam?" Denki shouted as all the students began to crowd around again at the sight of them, uncertain if they wanted to approach them.

"This is what they meant by obstacles?!"

"There are too many! I can't get through!"

"Seriously? The hero course had to fight those?"

"Is that Kuroyanagi? Is she crazy taking them head-on?!"

But there was no uncertainty in Kimitsuki this time around as she reached the gigantic robot and as it swung at her, she easily jumped around onto the back of its palm and used the crevices in the metallic structure to rapidly climb up the arm of the robot. She kept her eyes on its movements.

"Are you the same as them?" Kimitsuki asked quietly as she stealthily reached the back of the robot's neck, punching down at the metal and making it pop off. "Of course, you are,"

Kimitsuki blazed the wires up and jumped up as it started to fall forward. She used the back of the robot to rush down and off of it before it crashed heavily onto the ground and went running off.

The robot exploded behind her and distracted the other robots as well as the students to let Kimitsuki retain her position in the lead. But it didn't take long for an icy breeze to reach her and she knew without looking that Shoto had snapped out of his surprise and done something about it, too.

"Kuroyanagi and Todoroki from Class 1-A!" Present Mic shouted. "They both attacked and defeated their robots with one hit each! How elegant! Amazing! They're the first ones through, with Kuroyanagi maintaining her position in the lead! It's, you know, practically unfair!"

"Both of their actions haven been logical and strategic," Aizawa interrupted. "Especially Kuroyanagi's - who knew from her expertise precisely where the robot's weak point was located and administrated an aseptic attack right where needed without wasting any vitality,"

"Sensei is praising me... a bit too much," Kimitsuki mumbled to herself as she kept running in front of Shoto. "Admittedly, both him and I know it would've been even easier with the capture weapon,"

"As expected of someone who got in through recommendations!" Present Mic exclaimed. "He'd never fought them before, but those Robo Infernos couldn't get past his elite moves! As for Kuroyanagi - it was inevitable for her to succeed in this obstacle! She received the highest points in the Hero course entrance exam, after all! She's my favourite student for a reason! That girl!"

"You shouldn't be showing such favouritism," Aizawa interjected, and Kimitsuki shook her head at him - as if he hadn't done so earlier, too.

Having gotten through the first obstacle, Kimitsuki didn't know what to expect from the next. She didn't bother lowering her speed because she knew that it could be the last time she remained first.

Kimitsuki's eyes widened when she saw the second obstacle come out unexpectedly and before she could slow herself down, she ended up running over the first tight rope - only managing to get across the canyon with the help of her Quirk. She stopped at the next cliff and let out a deep sigh.

"Hey, hey!" Present Mic shouted. "The first barrier's a piece of cake? Then, what about the second? If you fall, you're out! If you don't wanna fall, then crawl! It's 'The Fall'!"

"I can't let them get to me so soon," Kimitsuki breathed and started to go over the next few tightropes without her Quirk, following the shortest route across the canyon.

Shoto caught up to her and Kimitsuki watched as he easily crossed her by, using his ice to form pathways for him. She frowned when she realised that she was now in second place instead.

Eying the cliffs with smaller distance between them, Kimitsuki decided to do as Katsuki would. She unbuttoned her shirt to leave her in the tank top and began to jump across with her flames.

After spending her entire life avoiding using those black flames, it was inevitable that Kimitsuki had also brought her tolerance for the heat it produced down as well. It was an unfortunate situation that Kimitsuki had been trying to fix in the recent weeks. Her tolerance still needed a lot of work.

"Todoroki has finally surpassed Kuroyanagi to become the leader of the pack!" Present Mic announced. "But Kuroyanagi isn't too far behind! Look at her go with those black flames! So cool!"

Kimitsuki's ears suddenly met up with the sound of familiar explosions behind her and she didn't have to look behind to know that Katsuki had finally caught up to her and Shoto. She finally managed to get across the canyon and sped up to reach Shoto as quickly as she could.

"Oh, no!" Present Mic exclaimed. "Too bad for Todoroki because Kuroyanagi has passed him by to repossess her first position once again! That's why I like you, kid!"

"At least try to be more impartial," Aizawa deadpanned, knowing that beyond actually appreciating Kimitsuki as a student, Present Mic was trying to annoy him, too.

Shoto was brilliant when it came to using his Ice Quirk but Kimitsuki felt like he hadn't paid too much attention on his athletic ability (though it was still a cut above most) - because she was able to run past him rather easily. Even though she had spent a week with weakened legs, All Might's training...

"And now, we've quickly arrived at the final barrier!" Present Mic shouted. "The reality here is that it's a minefield! It's set up so that you can tell where the mines are if you look carefully! So, you have to exploit your eyes and legs!"

Both Kimitsuki and Shoto were at a disadvantage here, though if she had an Ice Quirk then she would've used it to create a bridge over the distance but she figured her was as cooled down as she was heated up from using their Quirks so early. But she was trying to preserve herself for later -

"See you on the other side, Todoroki-Kun," Kimitsuki said to Shoto and his eyes widened before narrowing when he saw a purplish shroud suddenly covered her body, purple ribcage encasing her.

Even though she had activated this ability and even though she had expected the pain, it still made Kimitsuki hiss as an intense pain arose in every cell of her body. Knowing that it would only get worse as the time went on, she quickly turned around and went running off into the mine field.

"By the way," Present Mic announced. "These landmines are for games, so they're not that powerful, but they're loud and flashy enough to make you wet your pants!"

"That depends on the person," Aizawa muttered, pointing out Kimitsuki, glad that she hadn't done anything embarrassing so far. "Kuroyanagi seems to be doing decently enough,"

"You're cool, Kuroyanagi!" Present Mic shouted, causing both Kimitsuki and Aizawa to sweat-drop.

Kimitsuki didn't dwell on the thought for long as she was trying to rush through the mine field as carefully as she could but also not as concerned because these landmines were not strong enough to penetrate through her shield as a few of them blew up around her in bright pink smoke.

Katsuki's explosions suddenly sounded closer than ever and Kimitsuki looked up to see that he was blasting his way over the landmines without landing on them. She was impressed and frustrated.

"This doesn't affect me!" Katsuki shouted. "Bastard, don't declare war to the wrong person!"

It was obvious that it was directed toward Shoto, and it was obvious that Katsuki was annoyed that the Half-and-Half Hero had declared 'war' against Kimitsuki and Izuku rather than the Explosive Hero. Kimitsuki ignored him as he blasted past Shoto, who managed to avoid him just in time.

"And now, we've got someone new in second place!" Present Mic announced. "Rejoice, mass media! It's the kind of development you guys love! Hey, hey, hey, the rest of the pack is also speeding up!"

Kimitsuki tried to get to the other side as the landmines exploded around her and desperately wished to get to the other side first while Katsuki and Shoto busied themselves grappling around.

"However!" Present Mic exclaimed. "Even as they push and pull at each other, which can the two of them remain at the top right behind good old Kuroyanagi! Kuroyanagi, you can do it!"

"Please be more impartial with me, too, thank you, Sensei," Kimitsuki mumbled to herself.

But she was quickly distracted when there was a gigantic explosion from behind her. Kimitsuki whipped around, wondering if Katsuki had attacked Shoto but she saw that it had happened beyond them, and it had caught their attention, too. And then, finally, Kimitsuki saw what had happened.

"There's a huge explosion at the back?!" Present Mic shouted. "What's with that force?! What?! Was it an accident, or did he do it on purpose? Class A's Midoriya is in hot pursuit with that blast!"

It was none other than her own best friend, flying above in the air, lying flat against the piece of metal that he had no doubt salvaged from a robot and used to blast himself into the air.

"Izu-Chan?!"

?