Chapter 14: Pre-Festival Shenanigans

The school closed for a week for renovations. It reopened the week of the sports festival. During lunch on the first day back, the Outcasts sat at their usual table in the corner.

"So, sports fest, what's the game plan?" Denki started.

"I'm going to show off all my babies!" Mei shouted.

"I'm only going to use Black Whip. The less people know about my quirk's capabilities, the better. Also, I need the practice," Izuku announced.

"I plan to be as confusing about my quirks activation as possible. The last thing I need is for my career to get wrecked by a sports festival. Yes, I have counters for widespread knowledge of my quirk, but I don't want to deal with the unnecessary hassle," Hitoshi added.

"I have my mechanical arms. I usually use them to hold extra things in the support lab, but I modeled them after Koro Sensei, so they'll work as great weapons if I tweak their placement and add a bit of armor," supplied Ituna. "Ritzu has gone radio silent too. I presume she is also working on the sports festival and doesn't want to give us an unfair advantage."

"Hey Denki, we should focus on quirk control with you this week. Your conductive shoes should be ready by the festival, and your new hero costume and support gear should be ready by next week." Izuku smiled at the electric teen. "I'm still not over the look on your face when you found out that Keigo is Hawks."

"We spent the weekend having a sleepover at the number three hero's apartment. How did you expect me to react! How are you so nonchalant about having Hawks as a brother figure? He's Hawks!" Denki cried.

"I wonder which animal he themed your hood after," Hitoshi pondered.

"Wait… How does Hawks count as an Outcast?"

"He associated with the kid with the brainwashing quirk."

"That's all it took for your class to shun the number three hero!?"

"Ya, and the fact that half the class had a crush on him and couldn't look him in the eyes as a result."

"Bummer."

Izuku snapped his fingers to grab the group's attention. "Time to talk strategies."

"Not that grin again," Denki groaned. "It's traumatizing."

"That's the point," Ituna deadpanned. "At least, I think it is. I would be very concerned if he hasn't been doing that on purpose."

-x-x-x-x-x-

There were a few stray minutes between the end of Cementos's lecture and the end of the school day, the perfect time for the class gossips to pounce.

"Hey! Midoriya, is it? I'm Mina Ashido! My friend here is Ejiro Kirishima!" A girl with cotton candy pink hair and bright pink skin announced.

"I can introduce myself, Mina," the redhead sighed. "Sorry about her ambushing you like that. She's been this way since middle school."

"Hey!" Asido whined. "Anyway," she perked back up. "What's the deal with you and Mr. Eyebags sitting next to you? And for the record, are you a guy, girl, or whatever else?"

"Hitoshi and I are close friends, and I am a boy. Although, my former classmates are still debating that last one."

"I told you they thought you were a girl. They still thought you might be a girl, even after the beach day!" Hitoshi interjected.

"To be fair, I did wear a shirt. My shoulders would get a nasty sunburn if I didn't."

"You're a boy." The group gathered by Izuku's desk turned to a pale-faced Todoroki. The heterochromatic boy's face began to heat up, and he slammed his face into his open textbook. "I am a fool. A disgrace. My father will crucify me," he mumbled. He raised his head to look at the ceiling as if repenting to a higher being. "I thought she was a cute girl, but I was wrong. My father will kill me for thinking of a boy that way, or kill me for being too dense to realize otherwise. I leave everything to my dear sister, Fyummi. Just bury me now." The group blanched at the boy's tone. Izuku was scared that Todoroki was actually in danger. It was a real possibility based on the two's first interaction.

"Oh, the poor boy is having a gay panic! Kiri, we have to help him!" Mina cried. She grabbed Kirashima by the arm and dragged him over to help her comfort Todoroki. "There there," she said as she patted him on the shoulder. "I thought he was a cute girl when I first saw him too. He's an excellent actor, and Mr. Eyebags didn't help when he called him his girlfriend. Don't worry, though! I, the great Mina Asido, will teach you everything there is to know about finding cute girls or guys if you're onto that. I'm not here to judge. I'll just teach both!"

"Mina, slow down! He hasn't even introduced himself yet!" Kirishima tried to pry his bubbly friend off the socially awkward boy.

"Thank you, Ashido-sensei. Your teachings shall be invaluable," Todoroki thanked with wide awe-filled eyes. Has he really never interacted with anyone outside his family before!?

"He's so pure!" Ashido cried. "Kiri, we have to protect him."

"Don't forget that he can freeze an entire office building in two seconds!"

(The introvert [SHOTO TODOROKI] has been adopted by the extravert [MINA ASHIDO])

On the other side of the classroom, one Katsuki Bakugou had pushed several desks together to display the professional-grade costume designs he made with his mom over the impromptu break.

"Oi, Roundface. I'm tearing apart your costume first!" The explosive teen yelled.

"My name is Ochako Uraraka!" The brunette yelled back.

"First off. Ditch the stupid heeled boots! They're clunky, and you'll twist an ankle! The skin-tight suit ain't helping either! None of those sorry excuses your idiot costume designer called armor pieces are practical! You're space themed, correct!?"

"Yes!"

"Cutesy doesn't suit you! How 'bout something more badass? Something Hans Solo-esque could work." The blonde grunted as he sifted through his designs.

"You've watched Star Wars?" a girl with aux cords for earlobes asked.

"It's a fucking classic! Anyway, Roundface, what about this?" Katsuki shoved one of his designs at Uraraka. It was a dark magenta design with hints of light pink and lavender. Padded black pants were tucked into combat-style boots, a soft pink utility belt at the waist. A top reminiscent of her costume's original design was under a simple jacket with silver and lavender stripes accenting the cuffs and collar. Fingerless gloves paired with arm braces adorned the costume's wrists, and a light pink headpiece with a built-in com-system, magenta, looped antennas, and a futuristic motif wrapped around the back of the head and completed the look.

"You weren't kidding when you said Hans Solo-esque," the girl with the strange ears commented. "All it's missing is a laser gun."

"Bakugou! It's great! Thank you so much. I'm submitting it right away!" Uraraka cheered.

"Earpone and Frogface, they didn't fuck up your costumes, so you can fuck off. Your next Ponytail!"

"Momo Yaoyorozu, what did you have in mind, Bakugou?"

"A decent god damned top and fucking shorts!" He slapped his hand on another design. This one was far more reminiscent of the original design than Uraraka's. "I get your quirk requires you to show so much skin you break nearly every dress code in the fucking country, but you can be somewhat decent about it! You have ripped the back of your costume twice already, and you hardly do anything with your front! You also don't make much of anything out of your legs, either! Your costume is completely backward."

The design had the same theme and color scheme, but the composition was far different. The entire upper back was exposed, a turtle neck and straps cris-crossing the sides and lower back secured the front of the costume, completely covering the collarbones and chest but leaving most of the stomach open. A tan utility belt stashed with high-calorie snacks and a pocketbook for notes and compositions of various items secured runner-style shorts. Short marron boots provided ample ankle support while leaving most of the legs uncovered.

"This is quite detailed, Bakugou. Thank you."

"Oi, Invisabitch, get your ass over here. Your costume is the worst of them! They make invisible fabrics!" The blonde shouted. He went through any design flaws he saw in the girls' costumes and a few of the guys' too. Instead of accepting any gratitude, he waved them off, yelling, "No point in being the best if everyone's too busy tripping and twisting ankles on their poorly designed costumes! I need to beat you all at your best!"

The rant droned on slightly after classes ended, and as everyone tried to leave, they were blocked by a large crowd. At the front of the group was a French-looking kid that sparkled as he spoke.

"Bonjour, mon ami," The french kid greeted. "I am here to issue a declaration of war from general studies. Some of us are willing to do anything to get into the hero course, and the Sports Festival is la meilleure opportunity. And just as we can be moved up, you can be removed." He sneered at class 1A. "Au revoir!" He called as he pushed his way back past the crowd.

"What's his deal?" Ashido pouted.

"They're just a bunch of extras scoping the competition," Bakugou scoffed. "OUT OF THE WAY, EXTRAS!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

The event more popular than the Olympics, the UA Sports Festival, began in approximately twenty minutes, and the first-year students were preparing in their respective locker rooms.

"I'm so bummed they won't let us wear our hero costumes," Sero, a black-haired kid with tape dispensers for elbows, groaned.

"That wouldn't be fair to the general studies kids. They're already at a major disadvantage, and I'd be unsightly if there was a lopsided mix of kids with costumes and ones with gym uniforms," Iida, the boy with engine legs, supplied.

"I'm just glad they let me have my new boots!" Denki declared, holding said boots in the air like a prized possession. They were just like the ones Izuku and Hitoshi had, but they were mustard yellow with a metallic sheen.

"Unless they have support tec in them, we're allowed to have whatever footwear we want," Izuku added, lacing up his own pair of boots. "I'm glad Keigo was able to get them rushed. That alloy they're made of is a pain to work worth."

"I think it's the same stuff Eraserhead's capture weapon is made of," Hitoshi added. "The metal alloy woven into the fabric is really conducive."

"If only the scarf wasn't such a complicated weapon, it'd be perfect for your quirk," Izuku lamented. "I think the other weapons we're getting you should work just fine too, and the gun Mei is making you is going to be great."

"Wait, Midobro, did you just say that Kaminari is getting a gun!?" Kirishima panicked.

"Are you that surprised? Shinsou has two of them," Todoroki pointed out. "Kaminari has joined their group and shall receive weapons and become mysterious as a result."

"I don't think that's how that works," Kirishima sighed.