Eleven
~Kana's POV~
Arriving back to UA High after spending Thursday watching the news coverage of the 'Infamous Shadow Clans annual pranking hysteria' was a bit of a letdown if Kana was honest. They'd gone from having so much adrenaline fueled fun only to go back to pretending they were high school students working to become heroes. Kana sighed, leaning on her hand as she watched her fellow UA students gossip about the Shadow Clan.
"I heard they fought against All Might." Kirishima said to Denki and Bakugou with excitement and awe. Kana had to admit, seeing Kirishima admire their thievery felt a bit odd since she didn't think he'd think it was 'manly'.
"Tch, more like ran away." Bakugou drawled. 'Well that's typical for his ego' Kana thought.
"Does anyone know why they attacked on the same day as the USJ incident?" Momo asked. Kana looked at her to see she was talking with James and Mina mainly. Shoto answered,
"I'd imagine they were testing the Heroes reactions to see if they were affected by the USJ event. Although I fail to see if this was the relevant information they were looking for since the Pro Heroes wouldn't be affected by this." Kana could guess he had almost been into their reason for pranking, but from what Shina had said, it was their 'reward' for being in school.
"Maybe it was their Annual Prank?" Midoriya said. Kana looked at him. She didn't think anyone of their age range would have figured this out but, she supposed she had to give it to him, he was tenacious when it came to pattern recognition.
"What do you mean Midoriya?" She asked him. He brightened the same way he did before he was going to go into his feverish madman ramblings.
"I did some research on them last night as I'd never heard of them before but the news said they were famous and wow, I learned a lot about them." Midoriya said. Kana felt a twinge of fear go through her for a second but his next sentence abated her panic. "I don't know how many are in the clan since the reports are all sketchy but I do know that their leader is called Sunfire. She and her clan have stolen a lot of things from basic bank robberies to jewelry stores to actually stealing the Declaration of Independence from the US." Kana had to snort at that.
"There is nothing funny about that Kana." Iida reprimanded her.
"I'm sorry but they stole the Declaration of Independence? From the US?" Kana asked in faux disbelief. "What else did they steal the English Queens jewels?"
"Uh, yeah they did." Midoriya said. Kana sweat dropped.
"What?" Denki asked. "How have they gotten away with that?"
"I'm not sure but it is pretty impressive the things they've stolen. They stole the Mona Lisa as well as the Pink Panther* from France and even the Japanese Emperor's royal robes*."
"And how does their pretty impressive and probably fake rap sheet have to do with an annual 'prank' Deku?" Kana saw Midoriya nod his head at being brought back to the main issue.
"Right, well when I was researching I saw that every April 1st, a trend emerged when they would prank whatever city they were in for April Fool's day."
"Okay but it isn't April." James spoke up. Midoriya wilted.
"Maybe they did it to throw everyone off?" Kana suggested. "Though I'm not sure why they would prank two cities in a year. Unless it's a personal goal."
"That's the thing though," Midoriya spoke up like he was a conspiracist unraveling a juicy mystery. "They didn't prank anyone this last year. Except a few days ago I mean. Everything I researched on them seemed to die off around February. Like the clan disappeared."
"Well they came back with a vengeance." Sero spoke up.
"Uh guys?" Mina called, looking at her phone. "I got curious and looked them up while you were talking and, does this look familiar?" She turned her phone around to show a picture of Sunfire in battle from last year's fight in Hong Kong. Her suit was different, more sheer to allow light to reach her skin easier. Her mask was up, covering her face but her eyes glowed golden while her red hair flew around in the obvious wind like it was wildfire. She looked like the embodiment of fire and light. Kana was secretly proud of her picture taking skills as she had been the one to take that shot between fighting the Chinese thugs.
"Isn't that the same villainess we saw at the USJ?" Kirishima asked Bakugou and James.
"That's her." James confirmed. "If she's as fierce as she looks it's no wonder she dodged me." Kana gave him a dry look that he smirked at before he winked making her blink both eyes reflexively. She stuck her tongue out at him.
"I thought you didn't like hitting girls?" Mina asked. James deadpanned.
"I don't but when I'm trying to save someone and I miss? That stays with me until I can correct it. It's part of my stubbornness as a cat. We remember these insults."
"Wow." Denki looked nervous as James glared at him. No doubt they were both going down the 'laser' catastrophe incident a couple weeks back.
"He's still insulted I didn't give him the remote when we were kids." Yuto murmured to Tokoyami who chuckled. James ear twitched and a paper ball went flying at Yuto who blocked it with his hand. The ball went flying back at James who caught it easily.
"Anyone know where our teacher is?" Tsu asked. "I don't think Aizawa was able to come in since he was still in the hospital."
"They are late, this is not very professional of them." Iida stated. "We should all lead by example and wait diligently."
"We're already in our seats Iida." Ochako said with a smile. "Can't be more prepared than that."
"If there was," Kana said with a smile, "you'd be the first to know." She shared a smile with Ochako as Iida seemed to think it over. Before he could agree or argue the door opened.
"Morning!" Aizawa's unmistakable voice came out muffed.
"Mummyzawa!" Kana gasped quietly. Beside her Denki and Kirishima snickered.
"Glad to see you doing well." Kana doubted Aizawa was doing well. If she'd learned anything watching Shina over the years, she was guessing Aizawa was mentally pushing himself through untold amounts of pain and discomfort to be standing before them.
"Lord Bingus has judged you fairly and blessed you." James intoned as if he was a sage or great monk.
"Who the he-"
"Don't ask." Kana interrupted Bakugou. He glared at her but she didn't react "If you're curious I'll explain later."
"Tch."
"My health isn't that much of an issue. Not when you have something bigger to think about." Aizawa continued to speak, bringing Kana's attention back to him.
"Another test?" Yuto guessed.
"USJ redo?" Kana asked, wary about the implications of that.
"Not more villains!" Denki cried. "We just survived the last by a sliver."
"The UA Sports Festival."
"That's so ordinary!" Everyone called out.
"Should we really be focusing on a festival after the USJ attack?" Iida asked. Kana quietly agreed with him about that. As Aizawa talked about the Sports Festival and what it would entail, she let her thoughts wander on the implications of this next chapter in their school life.
The Sports Festival was a highly publicized event that showcased the students and their Quirks. It essentially made them all out to be prized show dogs while everyone either awed at their Quirks or thought of how they would progress in the future. Heroes would know of them and their Quirks and be liable to hire them in the future once they'd graduated. The other side of the coin was a blade as not only would heroes know their potential, but so would future and present villains. This was going to be complicated for them as anyone who looked closely at them could potentially figure out their true identities based on their Quirks.
Kana mentally sighed as she started to take notes of the regular class lessons. It would be easier to not attend the festival, but then again she doubted that would go over well. UA wouldn't cancel this. It was tradition and with the recent USJ conflict, it made sense if they put forth a strong showing by continuing on with the Sports Festival given how huge it was. It wasn't something that could be planned or cancelled in a day. She guessed the higher ups were going to use the Sports Festival to show the world they were tougher than the villains who had tried to break in.
She would have to gather as much info about it for Shina. Either way they played this, they were going to compete whether they liked it or not.
Two Weeks Later
~James' POV~
"This place is packed." Shina murmured as she walked into the UA grounds with them. James grunted absentmindedly as he was too busy thinking of the upcoming competition. The last two weeks, Shina had stepped up their home training to better prepare for the showing. Of course it was their fault as they had begged for her to help them with this as despite it not really mattering in their overall goals, it was a competition, and they were nothing if not competitive. Shina had worked them to the bone to teach them some new tricks and hone their speed and flexibility to not only work better together but also to fight well with each other when they were doing jobs.
The extra training from the last two weeks meant they hadn't done any more jobs. Normally James wouldn't have allowed it as, like any teenager, he liked routines especially dangerous ones that had the potential to cause a rush of adrenaline but he wanted to beat Bakugou and Todoroki in the 1V1 portion part of the festival. He didn't really care about any other portion of this festival.
"Hey fur for brains," Kana flicked his shoulder pulling him from his thoughts of beating Bakugou.
"What?" He asked in irritation.
"You're getting that look on your face like you wanna kill." Yuto stated flatly. "Chill out. It's a competition not a death match."
"It's war." James clenched his fist as he smiled wide. He saw Shina roll her eyes dismissively.
"If you talk like that I'm going to withdraw you saying your stomach is hurting you." James gulped as he shrunk in on himself.
"No! Sorry." Shina sighed.
"You've gotta tone down those urges to maul another loud Alpha brat kid. One of these days I'm going to start carrying around a water gun and shoot you when your get too bloodthirsty."
"You wouldn't dare." James hissed.
"She said the same thing about the Hashi remember?" Yuto added. "Now look, it's a weekly occurrence." James remembered that, he had thought it was just an empty threat after watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but no, no it had not been an empty threat. He mentally shuddered as he remembered cold water dousing him as he'd tried to stay balanced on a pole. Those had not been good days.
"It wouldn't be weekly if you two would just do what your told." Kana muttered.
"Quiet muppet reject!" James snapped. Yuto started laughing while Shina hid her face by turning away suddenly to cough. Kana's pink eyes widened before they narrowed dangerously at him.
"Hush it roadkill." James turned up his nose at her.
"You smell like one." Kana growled but Shina grabbed Kana's ear before she could launch herself at him. Shina also grabbed his ear with a heavy sigh.
"We're in public you two. Knock it off." Shina's fingered increased pressure before she let him go making him run his ear as it throbbed in pain.
"That hurt!" He whined.
"Be nice." Shina admonished as she looked around at the crowds. "Any idea where I need to go to find my seat?"
"I thought you weren't going to watch in person? You said you were just coming for the food." Yuto asked Shina.
"Yeah, it involves being around people." James added. Shina was a massive introvert at heart and preferred to not engage in large public gatherings unless forced into it. Instead of watching from home like he'd thought when he'd woken up this morning, she was freshly showered and dressed! Even her hair, which was usually just down, was pinned up and out of her face. She looked like a normal civilian, a regular member of society!
"Hey!" Shina snapped. James jolted as she whacked the back of his head. "I can be a regular member of society when I want to be."
"Did I say that out loud?" James asked as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah. I thought Yuto was the savage one." Kana snickered as Shina glared at the two of them before she sighed and sniffed the air and a smile came to her face.
"Oh! I smell gyoza." James didn't bother to try and correct himself. He'd said what he had said and he'd meant it. No use apologizing in that. Plus, he doubted Shina would pay them much attention now that she was distracted with her favorite food.
"We should go check in with the rest of our class." Yuto said. "Aizawa did tell us we needed to check in once we got here." James nodded. They had asked Aizawa if they could come in with Shina since she had said she was coming in person a few days ago and this was the response they'd gotten. Of course they hadn't known she would actually stay to watch them participate. It was lousy thinking on their end honestly.
"Okay, I'll let Shina know. You two can go ahead." Kana told them as she then jogged to where Shina was standing in line. James and Yuto turned and started walking to their classroom knowing Kana would just portal to the classroom when she had stolen some of Shina's Gyoza.
"Are you going to go crazy in this competition?" Yuto asked James as they walked into the relatively silent halls under the arena. "I know you've been training harder than Kana and I have these last two weeks but that's no reason to go all out." James hummed as he focused on his hearing to make sure no one was in their vicinity as he answered his cousin.
"I know the only reason we were allowed to compete was because Shina taught us some alternative moves than our uh… anti-hero moves, and I remember the compromise we made in order to compete so despite how much I want to, and I really, really want to, I won't go all out." Yuto assessed him as he said these words that practically killed him to say aloud.
"Hmm," James knew Yuto doubted him and he understood. Didn't mean he didn't like the doubt, but he knew the risks this festival put on them. No one knew the Shadow Clan's Quirks but given how flashy they'd been during their Prank War, it wouldn't take one intrepid civilian or reporter to figure it out. Which is what Shina had helped them train for the last few weeks. She still worried he knew but he was betting everything ended up okay for now.
When they joined their classmates in the 1A prep room they easily heard the murmuring through the door. When they walked in Yuto left him to join Tokoyami, Jirou and Shoji. James himself plopped down at the table beside Momo.
"Good morning James." Momo greeted with a smile that he nodded at. He felt his ears twitch when she leaned back and Mina's pink face leaned forward to flash a smile at him
"Hey James," Mina greeted. "Are you excited?"
"Morning." James yawned before he straightened up. "I'm as excited as I can be." Mentally he heard Kana's voice cackling in his head about him 'being sweet on Mina'. He didn't really understand her at times, as far as he knew, he treated Mina the same as he treated Momo. Like a friend.
"It came so fast." Momo murmured. "I'm certain we will put up a good showing."
"Yeah we trained extra hard." Mina cheered. "I've come a long way in my acid manipulation."
"Aizawa and the others have been working us to the bones a lot more lately." James said. "On top of our own personal training of course."
"How do you think you'll do?" Mina asked. "You've been training a lot more than anyone has to beat Bakugou." James shrugged.
"My Quirk allows me to stretch my body like a cat, my speed is 3X what an average person can run. Plus with my claws I can literally pull my body faster so if we have to run a race, climb or fight I'm good."
"You did beat Bakugou at the 50 yard dash at the beginning of the school year." Momo reminded them. James nodded, feeling daggers being thrown their way. No doubt Bakugou had heard that comment.
"That is true." James faked a wise tone. "If anyone can beat Blasty at that, chances are he's not all that great."
"Oi! Stuff it fur face bastard!" Bakugou yelled from across the room. James stuck out his tongue.
"Make me boom boom boy." Before they could jump at each other Iida stopped them with his jerky movements and loud voice.
"Calm down! Is everyone ready, the event is about to begin!" James settled down with a frown on his face. He was going to kick Bakugou's butt at this tournament and no one was going to stop him dang it!
"Wish I coulda worn my outfit." He heard Shoji say.
"They're not allowed due to the interest of fairness with all the other courses at UA." James' ears perked up as he looked at Tokoyami.
"I'm sorry what?" James asked in surprise.
"The other courses at UA participate in the Sports Festival remember?" Momo said like it was obvious. James blinked at her before he looked over at Kana who just entered the room.
"The other courses attend this festival?" He asked in Russian. Kana frowned at him but answered in Russian.
"Yes of course. You knew this didn't you?" James honestly had forgotten this little detail as he'd been too busy thinking about knocking Bakugou and to a lesser degree, Todoroki, down a peg. "You idiot you forgot?"
"I can't remember everything okay. I'm just one cat." He defended himself.
"You're an idiot is what you are." Yuto snorted. James looked at Momo and Mina with a deadpanned look.
"You two are so lucky you don't have siblings."
"I think it would be fun to have siblings." Mina grinned. Momo nodded.
"I've often thought of what it would be like to be an older sibling." She looked down sheepishly. "I don't mind being an only child, but I think it would have been amazing to have a younger sister. One who adored me. One I could have taught and spoiled."
"I think it would be fun to have a twin." Mina sighed. "I could have had a dance partner and we could have been the ultimate duo!"
"Speaking as the middle child, you're both dreaming and living in a fairytale." James said as he tuned into the conversation with Todoroki and Midoriya.
"Objectively speaking, I'm stronger than you. More capable." James turned his head to watch the two boys as Todoroki continued to talk.
"H-Huh?"
"I'm not about to pry into why that is, but I will beat you."
"Ooh, another declaration of war. This is heating up quickly!" Denki spoke.
"Who was the first declaration?" Kana asked him but James turned back into the conversation between Bakugou and Midoriya.
"Hey man, don't go picking any fights. We're about to go on." Kirishima tried to say.
"I don't care, I'm not pretending to be anyone's friend here." James raised his voice.
"Todoroki! I'm hurt!" He called. "I thought we were friends, pals, comrades."
"I barely know you." He stated. James clicked his tongue.
"Well, someone chose violence this morning." James muttered.
"Todoroki, I'm not sure why you felt the need to tell me you'll beat me. You're clearly stronger and I can't measure up to most of everyone here who are way more impressive than I am." Midoriya spoke.
"Don't put yourself down Midoriya." Kirishima called. James wondered how Midoriya had these low levels of self-worth at times, considering he always seemed confident in himself, if a little docile. Maybe not as confident as Bakugou because even James had trouble being that confident. James wondered how anyone would be able to deal with confidence issues or how that came about. As a person James rarely felt that self-conscious about himself, anything he did he did with pride. He guessed it was due to his cat tendencies.
"Hey." He blinked out of his musings to look at Yuto. "Come on, it's time to go." James stood up and followed his class out to the arena.
~Kana's POV~
"IT'S CLASS 1A!" Present Mic announced as the entire class entered the arena.
"Oh wow," Kana murmured at seeing so many people in the stands. The noise level was epic. In the corner of her eyes she saw James' kitty ears were pressed flat to his head to try and block the loud shouts.
"This is a lot of people." Denki spoke up beside her.
"I suppose if we become heroes," Kana mused. "The entire country will be watching us as well."
"That's good though right?" Hagakure chirped up. "They get to see us at our best."
"And our worst." Yuto added.
"This is something we will have to learn to get used to." Iida stated as he looked around. Their class joined the large mass of UA students by the stage where Midnight stood with her handy dandy whip. Kana wondered if she ever used it on any of the students like a min would a ruler.
"Good to see all of you here. Now let's hear the Athlete's Oath from the Hero Course representative, Bakugou Katsuki."
"Oh gods, he's our rep?" Kana mourned the death of their classmates social status.
"This is gonna be good." Yuto murmured beside her. Bakugou didn't even clear his throat or smile like she thought he would. He spoke in a clear voice for all to hear
"Make no mistake about it. I'm gonna take first place." The jeering and booing from all around collided with James loud laughter at Bakugou's speech.
"Well at least he took us down with him." Kana groaned as she pinched her nose.
"Man, we gotta work on his attitude." Kirishima sighed.
"Aren't you his best friend?" Kana asked. Kirishima blinked at her before he gave a shy smile and scratched the back of his head.
"I mean, I'm trying to be his friend. You think we could be best friends?"
"If it's possible to tame an alligator it's possible to tame and befriend Bakugou Katsuki." Yuto stated. Kana couldn't help it, she giggled at the thought of comparing Bakugou to an alligator. "You're doing good." Yuto continued, ignoring Kana.
"Quiet down," Midnight called as she posted. "These are the qualifiers. It's in this stage that so many are sent home crying every year. The first course for the festival has been chosen, and it's," The board blinked showing the words 'Obstacle Course Race' in big bold letters. "An Obstacle Course Race!"
"Oh man." Kana whined feeling her spirit darken. She hated running long distances. She glanced to the side to see James grinning like a demon while Yuto shrugged and winked at her. "Cheater."
"You call it cheating but I call it 'playing to my strengths'." He grinned before he left her. Kana grumbled but pulled her hair back out of her face. She wasn't planning on using her portals much, maybe to give herself a boost now and then, but she was going to win this race on her own stamina.
"It's a race between every member of all eleven classes. The course is a good kilometer lap around the stadium itself." Kana shoved her negative thoughts about running to the side as she remember why she was doing this. Sure she could have faked being sick but honestly, she wanted to prove herself. Not to her family but to herself that if these would be heroes could do this, then so could she. She just needed to continue doing what she was doing, and prove to herself that no matter how much training she underwent, she could do it. If she did, then who knows, she could either become a good hero or a great thief, depending on what the future holds for her and her family.
"Racers, to your positions." Kana got into place off to the side of the large group. A claiming breath in and out had her feeling calm and centered. She was ready as the lights above the exit flashed before a loud yell sounded. "START!"
GM NASAI: *I know the Pink Panther diamond isn't real but... this is fiction and technically part of world building so shut it. *Again, not sure how valuable an Emperor's Robes would be but, culturally, I think they would be very valuable and important.
Do you realize how easy it would be to steal from the world's most 'secure' locations if you have a portal maker, neko boy, shadow boy and a light manipulator as a team? I may have made them a bit OP at thievery but the concept I promise, wasn't this awesome. Pardon me for taking a moment to appreciate the handiwork that went into their making.