Dagoba Municipal Beach Park - The Next Day
It was early in the morning when Izuku and Ami exited out of their home and started running. The twins ran around the neighborhoods, making sure they weren't getting too tired to continue. Izuku stayed ahead for most of the running. Ami would try to catch up to Izuku but would end up slowing down and controlling her pace. Fortunately, Izuku would notice Ami's speed and match with her. By the time they reached their destination, the twins were gasping for air. They took a short break and stared down at the water from the pier.
Izuku and Ami were both in awe at the beautiful view of Dagoba Beach. It was far from the heavily trashed site that it used to be.
Ami stared down at the beach and felt a smile form on her face. After two whole days of nothing but limping, Ami could finally run again. Knowing her limits, Ami wasted no time getting back out and using her legs again. The twins smiled at each other and made their way onto the beach. After setting up the goal line, Ami and Izuku walked to the far opposite side of the beach. By the time they reached the starting line, they took another break to collect their stamina for the jog. When they were finished, the twins took off down the beach. The speed in which they ran wasn't fast but it wasn't slow either. By the time Ami reached halfway she was falling behind Izuku and started to pant. Ami controlled her breathing, feeling sweat fall down her forehead. She winced as she ran, feeling tired already. She quickly stopped running and clenched her fists.
Despite taking it easy for two days, Ami could tell she was falling behind physically. She didn't want to stop running, but she didn't want to undo her recovery. Once she stopped running, she grabbed onto her knees and gasped, taking deep breaths. Being her brother, Izuku immediately reacted and stopped jogging. He walked up to her with a concerned look and stopped upon seeing her raise her hand at him. She motioned for him to stop, indicating to him that she was fine, though her breathing told him enough. After she had stopped running, she immediately lowered her face and stared at the sand, breathing in and out. As she stared down at the sand she felt her ponytail fall down her neck and touch her mouth, causing her to blow it away in exhaustion.
"Are you okay? We can take a break here." Izuku said, causing Ami to look up at him.
"N-no, wait… I'm good." Ami said, steadying herself. Izuku looked at her with concern for a moment before smiling. He knew she'd been wanting to go back to exercising during her recovery. That's why they were at the beach again. She needed to get back into shape again. Not just for school but for what was to come later. Izuku felt around his jacket and pulled out a bottle of water. While Ami was staring back at the sand, she saw Izuku's shadow on the sand approach her. Looking up at Izuku, she stared at the bottle and at the smile on his face.
"Here." Izuku offered, holding the bottle out for her. Ami stared at Izuku and felt her breathing get back to normal and smiled back.
"Thanks, Izzy." Ami said, grabbing the bottle from his hand. Releasing the cap, she took a drink out of the bottle and felt a lot better.
"After my time off from physical activity, Izuku helped me get started on my path to exercising. I was so excited to be able to run again, I practically ran out of our home. We wanted to run here again because of sentimental reasons but mostly it was because it would be our first time back here since the USJ." Ami narrated.
Ami put the cap on the water bottle and handed it back to Izuku. After a minute of stopping, Ami readied herself and stretched.
"Ok. I'm ready." Ami said, getting a nod from Izuku. The twins returned to their jog and reached the opposite end of the beach in just a few minutes. After a small celebration, followed by a quick high five, the twins sat on the sand and caught their breaths, relaxing on the clean beach.
"Feels good being here again." Ami said, panting in exhaustion. She stared up at the morning sky and felt her heart rate return to normal.
"Yeah." Izuku agreed, catching his breath.
"Thanks for slowing down for me." Ami said, looking at Izuku. Izuku looked at her with denial and shook his head.
"Whaaat? I didn't slow down. You caught up to me easily." Izuku stuttered, getting a giggle from Ami.
"Kacchan's right. We gotta work on our lying skills." Ami giggled, taking the tie off her ponytail. Her hair immediately dropped to her shoulders and became as wild as Izuku's hair.
"You did great, though, Ami. You just need to get into running more and you'll be caught up." Izuku said, supporting his sister's efforts.
"Yeah. You're right, Izzy. But still, I wish I could've done something for those two days other than go to school." Ami replied, turning her head towards the water. She stared at the waters and watched the tide come in, thinking about time. She glanced at Izuku and asked him a question.
"Hey, Izzy? What time is it?" Ami wondered.
"6 pm."
"Shouldn't we be getting ready for school, then?" Ami asked, causing Izuku's eyes to bulge.
"Ah. You're right!" Izuku panicked, rubbing the sand off his head. sprang up off the sand and bolted off of the beach, leaving Ami behind.
"Hey, Izzy, wait up. Don't leave me here!" Ami exclaimed, waving her hands in the air.
As soon as the twins headed home they prepared their daily routine. After a quick shower, Ami would exit the bathroom and let Izuku take a shower while she had gotten ready. After putting on her uniform and combing her hair, Ami grabbed her backpack and proudly walked out of her room. She was happy to finally ditch the cane she had to bear with for two days. Ami stood by the door, holding onto her cane with one hand while her other hand was holding onto her phone. She scrolled through news reports out of boredom. Nothing of importance seemed to have happened yet. A good sign for Ami that today was a good day.
"Alright. I'm ready." Izuku said, walking up to the door.
"How am I always ready to go before you, Izuku?" Ami laughed, teasing Izuku.
"Uhm. I don't know?" Izuku replied, wondering if quadruple checking his bag was too much. Ami rolled her eyes and smiled, putting her phone away.
"We're off to U.A. now, Mom." Ami announced, opening the door for Izuku.
"Okay. Have a good day, kids!" Inko shouted from the kitchen.
"We will, Mom." Izuku said, walking out of the house.
"Bye, Mom." Ami said, slowly closing the door.
"Oh, Ami. Wait." Inko said, getting Ami's attention. Ami stopped closing the door and poked her head back in curiously.
"Huh? Yeah, is something wrong, Mom?" Ami asked, curiously.
"No. Nothings wrong, Sweetie, I'm just-...so happy to see you walking again." Inko smiled warmly.
"...Thanks, Mom." Ami thanked her, giving her Mom an appreciative smile.
"You're welcome, Dear. Just take it easy for your mother's sake." Inko smiled, receiving a nod from Ami.
"I'll be careful, Mom." Ami assured her before closing the door.
Walking on the sidewalk, Ami twirled around the cane in her hands out of boredom. All she had to do was return the cane to Recovery Girl and she wouldn't have to see it or use it ever again. Izuku watched Ami twirl the cane around in her hand and smiled. He felt extremely happy to see her walk around without using it. For him, it felt like the last reminder of the USJ incident was finally gone. Ami stopped twirling the cane when she had spotted the bus stop in the distance. Glancing at Izuku, she felt an idea form in her head. The idea was followed soon after by a devious smile forming on her face.
"Hey, Izzy. Race you to the bus stop!" Ami exclaimed, immediately sprinting off towards the bus stop. Izuku was caught off guard by Ami's challenge and quickly ran after her.
"Wha- Hey, Ami, wait!" Izuku exclaimed, running after Ami. The twins smiled as they ran towards the bus stop. While Izuku was quite easily catching up to Ami, he kept himself from passing her and watched as she happily ran to the bus stop. Izuku was just happy to see her happy.
"The U.A. Sports Festival was in two weeks. The whole thing will be live on TV. There's no doubt that whoever impresses the audience will have a much better chance at becoming a pro hero one day. We won't know what the games will be until the first day. They could basically throw any sort of trial at us. And so, we have to prepare for all possibilities." Izuku narrated.
U.A. High - Training Ground
Ami stood in the middle of the training ground area, breathing rapidly. Her eyes were fixated on the target standing thirty feet in front of her. Staring back at her was a mannequin used for training. Between her and the mannequin was a trail of fire that reached 15 feet. Ami stared down at the flames caused by her flamethrower and inhaled the loose flames. She sighed as she swallowed the flames in her mouth and extinguished her quirk. She gulped and looked down at the ground, grabbing the bottle of water next to her foot. She twisted the cap open and gulped down her water until she barely had any left.
Between All Might's training and the USJ incident, the length of her flamethrower had slightly increased. This was a relief to her as it meant she wasn't falling behind in improving her quirks ability. But still. She stared at the mannequin with an annoyed look. The fire she produces in her body reached 15 feet. That was only halfway towards reaching the mannequin. As Ami wiped off the sweat that formed on her forehead, she groaned.
"Ugh. Who am I kidding. I'm never gonna reach that without my lighter." Ami whined, dropping to the ground. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths in exhaustion, feeling the Sun's warmth on her face. Laying on the ground, she squirmed and put her hand in her pocket, pulling out her lighter. She frowned as she held it in her hand, flicking the lighter off and on. As she did so, she started to think about her predicament with a depressed frown. She wasn't allowed to bring any items for the sports festival. A fact that opened up a big problem for her.
Despite how much her natural fire's range and power had increased, it still wasn't good enough. She could lift herself off the ground with it, sure. But without her lighter to replenish her flames and give her quirk a boost in the sports festival, then she'll be stuck with using her natural fire for most of the sports festival. And she'd have to hope that other students activate fire quirks around her.
Her natural fire had its own limits. She can't hold it long enough in her mouth without it extinguishing after 10 minutes. And the amount of fire she can breathe out would only last for so long. If she was going to have any chance of lasting long in the sports festival she needed to improve her natural fire.
Ami sat up off the ground with a determined face. She huffed and got herself off the ground. She turned around and stared at the dummy, an idea forming in her head. If using her flamethrower move couldn't reach it, maybe her other move could. She stared up at the blank faced mannequin and put away her lighter. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she reopened them and activated her quirk. She felt the flames enter her mouth once more and immediately went to work. She swirled the flames around with her tongue and felt the fire collect and morph into a ball.
"I remember when I did this at the combat training." Ami thought, remembering the last few minutes of the game. The image of a gigantic Dark Shadow flooded her mind. The adorable sentient bird quirk was truly threatening at that size.
"I made a fireball in my mouth and set the metal door on fire from far away." Ami thought, thinking about her move. She remembered the feeling and the urgency of the situation.
"I remember I was tripped to the ground while my quirk was still activated. Because of that, my natural fire was extinguished and I had to use my lighter then." She remembered, taking a firm stance on the ground.
"But it didn't do much. And it only replenished an empty flame. It didn't boost it. Which means…" Ami stopped herself as she started calculating the distance in her memory. She couldn't remember how far the metal door was from her during the combat exercise, but she still hit it anyway.
Ami stared up at the mannequin one final time and clenched her hands, opening her mouth wide open and spitting out a large ball of flame towards the mannequin. Ami unclenched her hands and panted, watching the flame head towards the target with anticipation.
"C'mon. C'mon." Ami prayed, feeling like the world had slowed down around her. As the ball of flame flew closer and closer towards the mannequin Ami's smile slowly opened.
FWOOSH
The mannequin erupted in flames, instantly getting covered in fire. Ami smiled wide and felt her jaw drop, gasping in awe.
"Holy crap. I did it! I reached the mannequin and I didn't even use my lighter. Yes! Haha! Woohoo! Yes! Yeah!" Ami celebrated, raising her hands in the air and jumping around.
CLAP CLAP CLAP
Ami immediately stopped celebrating and raised her eyebrows, instantly dropping her hands and wrapping them around herself. She heard the clapping behind her and felt turned around and immediately felt her eyes bulge out of her sockets once she caught sight of who was standing behind her. Ami looked down at the small innocent looking mouse person staring up at her and felt a sense of dread flow through her.
"Oh my." Principal Nezu commented, staring at the flaming mannequin.
"Pr-Pr-Principal Nezu." Ami said, nervously looking at the animal principle.
"That fire really is something." Nezu said, poking his head around Ami. Ami slowly turned around and hesitantly stared at the burning mannequin. Upon staring at it, the support holding the mannequin up had disintegrated in the flames, causing the whole mannequin to break apart into ash and smoke. Ami's frown hit the ground as she watched the fires consume the mannequin until it was a husk. He turned her head back around and looked at Nezu, who was staring intently into the flames. Ami quickly inhaled the flames behind her and felt the fire hit the back of her neck before travelling around her neck and entering her mouth.
Exchanging eye contact, Ami hesitantly smiled at Nezu, showing off the flames that poked through her teeth. Seeing a tiny bit of smoke emit through her mouth, she quickly swallowed the flames and deactivated her quirk. She gulped and smiled widely again, putting her hands behind her back. There was no getting out of this situation. Ami tried to hide her fear through the panicked smile on her face. She felt like Izuku after getting scared.
"I am so so sorry..." Ami apologized, realizing she just damaged school property in front of the principal. Principal Nezu looked at her with an innocent smile, if she didn't think she was about to get banned she'd think it was adorable. Principal Nezu shook his head and grinned, waving his hand.
"Oh, no worries, miss. Accidents do happen. Though if you wanted target practice, please remember the fireproof mannequins are further in the back of the equipment room." Principal Nezu reminded her, nodding his head.
"I did not know that. Thanks." Ami thanked the small principal. Inside her head, she felt her eye twitch at the reminder.
"There were fireproof mannequins? Aw man..." Ami thought, hiding her face in embarrassment.
"But uhm… What are you doing here, Principal Nezu, sir?" Ami asked, coughing awkwardly.
"When I heard the first years were going to start practicing today I just had to go see it. You're all doing such a fine job preparing for the sports festival." Principal Nezu complimented.
"Oh. That makes sense." Ami said, trying to relax, "How's everyone else so far?" Ami wondered.
"Doing wonderfully. Ashido is spraying acid on the buildings. Kirishima is jumping off the roof. And Bakugo is setting the forest on fire!" Principal Nezu exclaimed with strange enthusiasm.
"When you say it like that it doesn't sound right." Ami pointed out, feeling her smile return to her.
"I see you're practicing with your quirk but what about your brother? Where is he? Principal Nezu asked, curiously.
"Izuku? He's uh, exercising right now, I think? He's been doing his own thing. We usually do exercises together, but when it comes to quirk training we kinda have to go off on our own." Ami explained.
"I see. Is it because of the nature of his quirk? Nezu inquired, getting a nod from Ami.
"Yeah. It's less flamy and more punchy so it's not like we can practice on each other." Ami said. She gulped at the thought of going against One For All at the sports festival.
"But it is mutated so who knows how he's doing?" Ami stuttered out, rubbing the back of her head.
"Mutated? So that's how you're hiding it. Well done." Principal Nezu complimented, nodding his head. Ami's eyes slightly raised out in confusion at Nezu's response.
"What?" Ami asked, wondering if she had heard that right.
"Wait, does Principal Nezu know?" Ami thought, staring at the smiling Principal.
"Uhm... say Principal Nezu. You wouldn't happen to know abou-"
"About All Might? Yup." Principal Nezu blurted out.
"Huh? Wha- Really?" Ami stumbled, surprised to hear the answer.
"Mhm. I am the Principal after all. I was aware of All Might's search for a new successor and offered him the job as a teacher so he could look for them among the students here. But it turned out he already found the successor before even showing up here."
"Well, at least I don't have to keep it a secret from you." Ami sighed, relaxing a bit.
Hey, Principal Nezu. I have to ask you something." Ami requested.
"What is it? Is it about the sports festival?" Nezu asked.
"Yeah, actually." Ami nodded.
"Then don't be shy. I can answer any question you have." Principal Nezu said, raising his arms.
"Do you think I can bring my lighter in with me?" Ami hoped, smiling nervously.
"Nope." Nezu instantly replied, shaking his head.
"Aww…" Ami whined, slightly slouching in disappointment.
"The only students allowed to bring items to the sports festival are the students in the support course. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but that's only for rare occasions and requires certain criteria needed. And knowing the extent of your quirks power, I'd say you don't need it." Principal Nezu answered, professionally. Ami frowned and sighed, standing up straight.
"Well, it was worth a shot." Ami said out loud.
"Anything else?" Principal Nezu asked.
"So when you say we can't bring anything does that mean we can't use our costumes?" Ami questioned him, getting a quick nod.
"That is correct."
"So then what are we wearing?" Ami asked, saddened to hear his previous response. Ami was hoping she'd at least get to wear her costume.
"All students will be wearing the school gym uniform for the entirety of the sports festival." Nezu answered, honestly.
"Oh. I guess that makes sense." Ami commented.
"Was that all you wanted to know?" Principal Nezu wondered.
"Actually, I have one last question." Ami replied, putting up a finger.
"Alright then." Nezu nodded, smiling up at Ami.
"Do you really think I won't need it? My lighter, I mean?" Ami wondered. Nezu heard her last question and smiled more noticeably. He adjusted his tie and replied truthfully.
"Yes I do. You have an interesting quirk with tons of potential. I've seen how you've used it in the past watching your performance in the entrance exam as well as from official reports. Your ability to collect fire from other quirks, too, may just give you the boost you need. I have faith that you'll do the best you can at the sports festival. And if you're still worried about underperforming there are plenty of ways to make an impression at the sports festival." Principal Nezu said. Ami stared down at the Principal and felt her smile widen.
"Hmm. Thanks. I'll do my best, Principal Nezu." Ami bowed, getting a smile from the Principal.
"Splendid!" Principal Nezu exclaimed, clapping his hands. Ami giggled at the way the Principal clapped. Coming from him those words meant a lot. It even reminded her of her past.
"Oh dear. Look at the time. I must really be off now. Best of luck to you and your brother at the sports festival." Principal Nezu said, staring at the time on his watch.
"Thanks, Principal Nezu. I'll keep training hard. I won't disappoint!" Ami exclaimed, pumping herself up.
"That's the spirit!" Principal Nezu exclaimed, "Oh. And clean that up will you, please?" Nezu said, running off. Ami heard the Principals order and cringed. She remembered the charred remains of the mannequin were still on the ground. She turned her head and stared at the mess and frowned. She forgot all about the mannequin.
"Aww…" Ami sighed, disappointedly. She stood up off the ground and looked for some way to clean the mannequin. While doing so she had a smile on her face.
"After talking with Principal Nezu, I trained harder than ever. First, I practiced aiming my fireball on more mannequins. Fireproof mannequins this time." Ami narrated.
Ami stared at the fireproof mannequin with a determined grin. She activated her quirk and felt the flames rising to her mouth. Twirling her tongue around, she condensed the fire and spit it out onto the mannequin. Staring at the fireball, she watched with optimism as it reached its target. The mannequin was impacted by the flame and was immediately engulfed in flame. Rather than breaking apart like before, the mannequin stayed standing, living up to its fireproof name.
"Yes!" Ami exclaimed, raising her fist in the air.
"After that, I practiced on the track by running with my quirk still activated. Running with fire in my mouth wasn't a problem. I've done it before. What I needed practice on was increasing my stamina so that I can do even more strenuous activity with my quirk still activated. That of course also applied with exercise."
"96...97...98….99….100." Ami mentally counted. Trying her hardest to do pushups with her mouth on fire.
"The work was hard. But if I did it right. I might be able to prevent myself from losing all my fire if I were to get hit in the stomach again." Ami narrated.
Ami ran as fast she could down the track. She stared up ahead with exhausted eyes and could see the finish line in the distance. Seeing victory approaching, Ami narrowed her eyes and composed herself, breaking into a fast sprint towards the finish line.
The fire present in her mouth had dried up her body. Yet she still stood strong, a feat that showed her increasing tolerance to lack of water. Sometimes she'd stumble in her run, nearly extinguishing the flames in her mouth, but she still pushed on.
As she ran down the track, Iida would watch from the finish line. He and Ami both had use in using the track. So they worked together with Iida timing Ami's laps while she timed his.
"You're doing great. Almost there!" Iida shouted, getting a tired nod from Ami. When she reached the finish line, Ami would immediately drop to her knees and pant heavily. Everytime she did this, she would struggle to keep her mouth closed as the flames pushed themself out of her mouth. Sometimes she would gasp for air and accidentally set fire to the ground beneath her, freaking Iida out. Other times, she'd managed to control herself long enough for Iida to approach her.
"Well done, Ami. That was faster than before. I'd say you're getting better at this." Iida said, congratulating Ami.
"You've earned this." Iida said, handing over a bottle of water. Ami turned her head and stared up at the water bottle in Iida's hand and felt like death was coming for her.
"Tha-thank you, Iida…" Ami mumbled, keeping the fire inside her mouth. Tiredly raising her hand up at the bottle, she gagged and accidentally breathed fire. The action caused Iida to quickly sidestep out of the way and avoid the flames. Ami would immediately stop herself and extinguish her flames, apologizing several times to Iida.
"Once I managed to get used to running with my quirk still activated. It started to get easier to do laps. Eventually, I could breathe fire and run at the same time. That even applied to using my fireball, though while running my accuracy was next to zero. After two weeks had passed, the training had paid off. I could run farther while fire was in my mouth and by controlling the amount of fire I brought to my mouth, I could prevent myself from dehydrating faster. After the amount of effort I went through for the sports festival, the two weeks had gone by fast. And, before I knew it, it was the day of the festival." Ami narrated.
Day of the Festival
"Izuku. Ami. You two be careful and don't get hurt." Inko said. Izuku tied his shoes while Ami was once again standing by the door.
"We won't." Ami and Izuku said in unison.
"I'll record the whole festival in HD." Inko said, enthusiastically. Seeing their moms enthusiasm made Izuku and Ami chuckle. She seemed just as excited to watch the festival as they were to be in it.
"Do your best, kids." Inko said, grinning excitedly. Ami and Izuku stared at their mom and nodded.
"Okay, we're off!" Izuku said, exiting the building.
U.A. High
Fireworks exploded from above as the doors to U.A. High opened. Thousands of citizens and tourists entered the school grounds, excited to see the performances for the students taking part in the festival. Shortly after the largest crowds had entered the school, reporters showed up crowding the entrance. The reporters and news crews waited for security to let them pass. One of these reporters was a familiar female reporter that was tired of waiting.
"This security line is huge. What's the deal?" She complained, staring at the crowd of reporters hogging the entrance. A reporter behind her got her attention as he explained the situation.
"A bunch of villains did just break in. Of course the school's being stricter this year." The other reporter explained, blocking the sunlight with his hand. He stared up at the glass building ahead and spoke up.
"Some people think they shouldn't be holding the festival, considering what happened." The reporter pointed out. The female reporter's eye raised at the man and felt a devious smirk grow on her lips.
"Perfect! Nothing gets ratings up like a little controversy!" The female reporter smirked, "Plus, everybody will tune in to see Class 1-A!" she exclaimed, sensing opportunity. Today was a good day to be a reporter. Inside the festival grounds, tons of vendors were lined up selling souvenirs, hero items, and festival foods. People from all over were lining the streets, staring at the scenery and the products on display. Many of them were smiling and waving at heroes that passed by.
"I'm always psyched to see the third years since they've got the most experience with their quirks. Plus, it's their last chance to show their worth." A man said, walking around the festival.
"Nah, this time it's all about those powerful first years. I can't wait." His friend countered, excited to see their quirks.
"Hey, did you hear that Endeavor's son is one of the first year students? Can you imagine?" A woman asked, surprising the two men.
"No way, seriously?" The man asked, receiving confirmation.
"Man, the stands for the first years are gonna be packed." His friend said, hoping to find a seat. A short distance away, three heroes walked amongst the crowd of people wearing badges that signified their role as security. The heroes patrolled the festival grounds ready to deal with any problem. At least, they were patrolling the grounds until one of them had gotten hungry.
"I'll take one order to go, please." Mt. Lady ordered, surprising the vendor with her appearance. Kamui Woods and Death Arms stood behind her, waiting for her to get done. The vendor running the shop smiled excitedly at the pro hero standing in front of him.
"Whoa! Mt. Lady, is it really you?" The vendor asked, excitedly.
"And hold the salt, will you?" Mt. Lady requested. The vendor wasted no time preparing his food for the pro hero.
"Of course! That's gonna be ten bucks." The vendor asked, surprising Mt. Lady with its price. She took a second and felt around, realizing her wallet was missing. Feeling her lack of money, she knew she'd have to resort to persuasion.
"Eh? Um… oh, no, my money's in another costume." Mt. Lady pouted, making herself look cute. The vendor stared at the attractive pro hero and felt his nose bleed.
"So hot! This is on the house!" The vendor said, feeling persuaded.
"Aren't you a dear?" Mt. Lady smiled, disappointing the two heroes behind her.
"Have you no sense of shame?" Kamui Woods asked, shaking his head in annoyance. Death Arms also shook his head in disappointment. After her order was complete, Mt. Lady led the group while happily enjoying her snack. People waved and greeted them politely as they walked by. The heroes would politely wave back in return. After a while, Kamui Woods stared at the stadium ahead and wished he wasn't working security. He and the other heroes beside him also wanted to attend the Sports Festival for one reason.
"I was hoping I'd get to do some scouting while I was here." Kamui Woods admitted.
"Yeah, too bad we're stuck working security this time." Death Arms agreed, turning back to look at Kamui.
"Looks like they called in pro heroes from all over to guard this thing. Quite a show." Mt. Lady noticed, looking at several heroes walking around the festival. She was about to take another bite of her food when a loud horn suddenly honked loudly, causing her to jump in fright.
HONK HONK HONK
"Wah!" Mt. Lady exclaimed, losing her grip on her food. Feeling her snack fall out of her hands, she quickly reacted and grabbed hold of her snack before it could fall off her arms.
"That was a close one." Mt. Lady sighed in relief. Remembering the cause of her near accident, she raised her head and looked around the festival for the source of the sound. Death Arms and Kamui Woods were also caught off guard by the loud honk and stood side-by-side looking for the source. Death Arms squinted his eyes and looked ahead and saw a couple of families gathering around a fire truck.
"Over there." Death Arms stated, pointing towards the fire truck. Mt. Lady followed the direction of Death Arms finger and saw the fire truck from a block away. She squinted her eyes and stared at the fire truck as it came into view. When she did this, she noticed a familiar figure sitting in the driver's seat of the fire truck.
"Hey, is that Backdraft? I didn't know he was gonna be here?" Mt. Lady asked, not expecting to see him. Kamui Woods got sight of the fire truck and nodded his head.
"He's here representing the Musutafu Fire Department. He'll be attending the sports festival." Kamui said, remembering he had heard the news from Backdraft himself.
"I bet he'll be scouting in there." Death Arms said, folding his arms. He felt a little jealous for Backdraft. As the heroes approached the fire truck, Mt. Lady noticed another person sitting in the passenger seat. She narrowed her eyes and tried to get a good view of him, but the blue tint over the fire truck's front window gave her a hard time distinguishing features of the person. The best she could make out was the goggles on top of what looked to be short red hair.
"Who's the guy with him?" Mt. Lady asked, staring at the man in the passenger seat. Kamui Woods and Death Arms squinted their eyes at the man in the passenger seat and examined him. They couldn't see much but they did notice his stoic expression and the top part of his costume. From far away, a piece of his costume looked like a scarf but upon closer inspection, they noticed the scarf was attached to the man's left shoulder. Even stranger were the small holes in the extra fabric. The look of the man's stoic face and costume seemed familiar to them but they couldn't put their finger on who he was.
"Hmm? I don't know. But he looks familiar?" Kamui replied, wondering who Backdraft was sitting next to.
1-A Waiting Room
"Aw, man. I was totally hoping I could wear my costume." Mina pouted, tugging at her uniform. Just like Ami, she too wanted to show off her hero costume to the world.
"At least everyone'll be in uniform. That'll keep things fair, right?" Ojiro stated, catching Mina's attention. His attempt to make her feel better did enough to convince her.
"I wonder what they have in store for us in the first round?" Sato wondered, anxiously clasping his hands.
"No matter what they've prepared, we must persevere." Tokoyami said, getting a thumbs up from Dark Shadow.
"Right." Shoji nodded, agreeing with Tokoyami. Ami smiled and agreed with what Tokoyami said. She looked back at her own table and listened to the excitement coming off the group sitting with her. Everyone looked happy except for Bakugo, who was sitting quietly in the corner glaring at nothing.
"This festival is gonna be so awesome. I can practically hear the audience cheering from in here." Kaminari smiled, feeling pumped. Kirishima and Sero nodded in agreement at Kaminari's words. He wasn't joking, they could hear the excited cheers from the audience above. Though, the concrete did a well enough job muffling the sound.
"I heard a ton of heroes are gonna be watching, too. Think of all the chances we could get here!" Kaminari continued, receiving nods from the table.
"Hey, do you think any of the famous heroes we know are gonna be watching?" Kaminari asked, piquing the table's interest.
"You bet. It's like what Mr. Aizawa said, this event gets more views than the Olympics. No doubt all our favorite heroes are watching." Sero said.
"Anyone in particular you hope is watching?" Ami asked.
"Nah. I'm not picky. I just want as many heroes as possible seeing me." Kaminari answered.
"Same here." Sero said, pointing at himself.
"How 'bout you, Ami? Any hero you hope is watching?" Kirishima asked.
"Well? There is one hero I hope is watching." Ami said, putting a hand on her chin in thought.
"Who is it?" Her friends asked in unison.
"Backdraft." Ami said.
"I've heard of him." Kirishima said, smiling, "He stopped a fire near my house once." Kirishima mentioned, thinking of the past.
"Why, Backdraft? Sero asked, curiously.
"Isn't his quirk about water? That's like the opposite of your quirk, Ami? Kaminari pointed out.
"Yeah, but I always liked water-type heroes. Even if they were the opposite of my quirk. I used to like other heroes more but, you know, after my quirk and all, I started seeing things differently." Ami said, getting nods in understanding. From what they knew about Ami, it took a long while for her to embrace her quirk. Bakugo, most of all, knew what she thought of herself. To him, it was pathetic and pitiful.
"But, I hope he's watching because of what he said to me last year before me and Izzy got into U.A." Ami admitted. Bakugo raised his eyes towards Habanero after hearing that. He knew what she was talking about. He did not want to be reminded of the Sludge Villain another time.
"Wait? You talked to him in person?" Sero asked.
"Yeah. I used my quirk to put out a fire and it really tired me out. At the end of it, Backdraft thanked me for getting rid of the fire. He even recommended joining his agency if I became a hero." Ami said, leaving just enough details out to keep the Sludge Villain out of the picture.
"Wow, he asked you to join his agency? That's awesome!" Kirishima said.
"Seems like you were scouted before we even started the year, huh?" Sero inquired
"Yeah." Ami laughed.
"Though, it never would've happened if I didn't stop the fire. So I am pretty thankful." Ami said, glancing at Bakugo. To her surprise, Bakugo was also listening to her conversation. He heard what she said and realized she was thanking him. He scoffed and darted his eyes away, looking off at a wall.
"Met your idol at my expense, Habanero." Bakugo thought, staring off at a wall. Ami watched Bakugo look away and smiled. It wasn't a real thank you but it was enough for him to understand what she was getting at. The talking continued for a minute until they were interrupted by the sound of the waiting room door opening up. They all looked at the door and saw Iida walk in with a serious expression. It was all they needed to see to know it was almost time.
"Everyone, get your game faces on! We're entering the arena soon!" Iida announced, causing the class to prepare themselves. Ami smiled to herself, ready to show her stuff at the Sports Festival.
"Swallow your fear, swallow your fear, swallow your fear." Mineta repeated, warming himself up.
"Midoriya." Todoroki said, getting the attention of the twins. Ami heard her last name from Todoroki and turned her head in confusion. She stared at Todoroki and watched him approach her brother, causing her to raise an eyebrow. She wondered what the cold teen was walking up to her brother for and listened in. Ami stared at Izuku's face and could tell he was also surprised to hear the name from Todoroki.
"Hey, Todoroki. What's up?" Izuku asked, staring up at Todoroki. The whole class turned their attention to the two students standing in the middle of the room. They were mostly interested to hear what Todoroki had to say. Bakugo stared at the cold expression on Todoroki's face and narrowed his eyes.
"From an objective standpoint. I think it's fairly clear that I'm stronger than you." Todoroki stated. Ami heard what Todoroki said and was dumbstruck. The statement seemed like it came out of nowhere to her. She was taken aback at his statement, not sure what to think.
"Huh?" Ami thought, looking dumbfounded. It was just as surprising to Izuku, too. Who slightly struggled to respond back. Bakugo heard the same thing and simply rolled his eyes at the statement.
"Uh-Um, yeah." Izuku stuttered, caught off guard by Todoroki's statement.
"However, you've got All Might in your corner, helping you out." Todoroki said, causing Izuku to gasp a little. Ami and Bakugo heard what he said and raised their heads up, paying closer attention to Todoroki. Bakugo kept a hand on his chin and glared at him with narrowed eyes. Ami gulped and did the same thing, feeling intense. Getting Bakugo in on the secret was enough for her to keep quiet. She definitely didn't want Todoroki to know about One For All.
"I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you two. But know that I will beat you." Todoroki calmly declared.
"Alright." Ami thought, hearing enough from the cold teen. She stood up from her seat and approached the two students with Kirishima behind her. Kaminari let out a nervous gasp and stared at the tense scene in front of him.
"What's with all these declarations of war lately?" Kaminari wondered, nervously.
"Yeah, what's the big deal? Why are you pickin' a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started." Kirishima asked, putting a hand on the back of Todoroki's shoulder.
"Yeah. And that's my brother you're talking to." Ami said, walking up behind Izuku with narrowed eyes and arms crossed. Todoroki ignored Ami's looks and shrugged Kirishima's hand off his shoulder.
"We're not here to be each other's friends. Don't forget. This isn't a team effort." Todoroki said, turning around. Todoroki ignored the looks around him and walked off. Izuku stared at Todoroki as he was about to leave and frowned, clenching his fists.
"Wait a second, Todoroki." Izuku said, getting his attention. He stopped walking away and listened to what Midoriya had to say.
"I don't know what's going through your head or why you think you'd need to tell me that you'll beat me. And yeah, of course you're better than me. In fact, you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course. That's why you got in so easily." Izuku stated, tensing his body. The class listened to what Midoriya said and couldn't help but agree with him. Bakugo glared at Deku and said nothing. Ami was conflicted hearing what Izuku said. Going by what she saw at the combat training exercise and at the USJ, Todoroki was a seriously strong opponent.
"Midoriya, maybe you're being a little hard on yourself, and us." Kirishima said, trying to ease Izuku's feelings.
"No, he's right, you guys. All the other courses...They're coming for us with everything they've got." Izuku said, recalling what
"We're all gonna have to fight to stand out." Izuku said, getting Todoroki's full attention. He silently turned back around and looked at Izuku with his cold stare.
"And I'll be aiming for the top, too." Izuku said with a determined look.
"That's the spirit, Izzy." Ami thought, folding her arms back together. She gave Izuku a proud look behind his back, clenching her hands while crossed. Todoroki stared at the determination in Izuku's face and replied.
"Fine." He said, blankly. Bakugo watched Todoroki walk out of the waiting room and scoffed. He had enough of him already. He glanced at Habanero and saw the annoyed look on her face. It was the same face she made at Four Eyes during the entrance exam. He could tell she had enough of him, too.
"That bastard didn't even say that to anyone else. He thinks he's better than me just because of his stupid quirk? I'll show him Deku's not the one he needs to worry about." Bakugo thought, gritting his teeth. Meanwhile Ami stared off at the exit, thinking about Todoroki. In her head, she remembered the words she said to herself two weeks ago.
"I'll train hard just like Izzy. And when the time comes for me to prove myself at the Sports Festival. I'll be the winner." Ami remembered.
"I want people to smile whenever they see me. I want them to know that I'll be there to make their world a little brighter whether they're young or old. But to reach that dream, I'll have to get better, do better. I'll have to climb my way to the top just like everyone else. I don't necessarily want to be the number one hero, but if I want to make my mark. Then I'll just have to act like I do." Ami remembered, thinking about her goal. The thoughts she had towards Bakugo had also entered her mind as she stood there.
"Even if I go against you. I won't lose. And...if I have to, Izzy. I won't lose to you, either." Ami remembered, returning to reality.
"Shoto Todoroki. I'm not gonna lose to you, either." Ami thought, giving her best glare at the empty space in front of her. Kirishima took notice of Ami's glare and felt unsettled by it.
"Hey, Ami. Are you okay?" Kirishima asked, slightly concerned.
"Huh?" Ami asked, snapping out of her glare. Her face returned to normal as she stared back at Kirishima.
Sports Festival
"Hey! Make some noise, all you rabid sports fans!" Present Mic shouted, hyping up the crowd of spectators within the stadium. Hundreds of people, both citizen and hero, raised their fists in the air with excitement.
"Get those cameras prepped, media hordes!" Present Mic ordered. An entire row of reporters extended their camera lenses and pointed them towards the stadium ground.
"This year we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in Sports Festival history, guaranteed! I've only got one question before we start this show: Are you ready?" Present Mic asked, pointing his fingers towards the camera.
"Let me hear ya scream as our students make their way to the main stage!" Present Mic announced, receiving an uproar of cheers from the audience. At home, Inko watched the television with anticipation as the music kicked up.
"C'mon, babies." Inko said, waiting to see her children appear in view of the cameras. Among the crowd, All Might watched the entrance to the stadium with bated breath, thinking back to what he told Izuku two weeks back.
"I want you to introduce yourself to the world and proudly say, I am here!" All Might proclaimed. As soon as he thought of his proclamation, a smile formed as the first figures appeared entering the stadium. The crowd cheered louder as the students entered the stadium. The first group of students that appeared on camera was none other than Izuku, Ami, Bakugo, Mineta, Mina, Tsu, Iida, Ochaco, and Shoji.
Up in the stands, heroes were cheering and applauding the arrival of class 1-A. Among the heroes seated was Backdraft, who was clapping with the other heroes around him. Though he was here for official reasons, he was personally excited to see the talent the next future generation of heroes had.
As he stared down at class 1-A, he examined the faces of every student he saw. When his eyes focused on three students, his clapping immediately stopped. Memories of last year went through his mind, as he stared down at the three students entering the stadium.
"What? No way." Backdraft said, looking surprised. Sitting next to him was the same stoic man that he arrived with. The stoic man clapped for the arrival of Class 1-A and started talking to himself.
"So, this is Class 1-A?" The stoic-faced man said. As he was staring at the students, he noticed Backdraft had stopped clapping. The stoic-faced hero raised an eye at the Firefighter and asked him a question.
"What? What's wrong?" The stoic man asked, raising an eye.
"I can't believe it. It's the twins." Backdraft said, staring at the twins in disbelief.
"Who?" The stoic man asked, confused by Backdrafts lack of words.
"The twins: Ami and Izuku, I think. That's the kids I told you about. Those two tried to save that blonde kid with the explosion quirk from that Sludge Villain." Backdraft clarified, pointing as best he could with his hydrant arms.
"What? Seriously? That's them?" The stoic man asked, looking at Izuku and Ami. The stoic man was surprised to see the kids Backdraft had told him about with his own eyes. But he was mostly surprised to see they were both in U.A.
"I thought you said her brother was quirkless?" the stoic man asked, finding it hard to believe a quirkless kid could get in the hero course.
"I did." Backdraft said, remembering the exact words Ami had said to him.
"My brother, Izuku. All his life he's wanted to be a hero. We used to say that when we got our quirks we'd be the best hero duo ever. We wanted to be like All Might so much. But then… I got my quirk. And he didn't. People used to make fun of him for being quirkless. Saying a person like him could never be a hero…" Ami said. Backdraft remembered seeing the sad frown on Ami's face as well as the tears streaming down her face. Seeing anyone show emotion like this always made him sad.
"I'm his sister, yet even I didn't think it was possible…" She said. He took in her words and felt sympathy with her.
"Yet even now, he still wants to be a hero. More than anything. Even when not a single person believed in him, he still didn't give up. And after seeing him run to Bakugo, I realized that. So I wanted to know...Backdraft." Ami said.
"Is it possible? Can he be a hero even without a quirk?" Ami asked, loudly. Backdraft's mind drafted back to the present. He stared down at Ami and Izuku and felt himself get emotional. At some point between now and then, they had gotten stronger and closer. And now they were here in Class 1-A.
"Incredible. They got into U.A…" Backdraft said, feeling strangely proud. It didn't seem that long ago that he had thanked them for trying to save the blonde kid. The stoic man stared back down at the twins and examined their faces on the monitor. He could see the nervousness behind their brave faces. The longer he stared at the students of class 1-A the quicker he recognized them all. Class 1-A was the same class that got attacked at the USJ.
"So you're telling me that kid is in the same class that got attacked by villains at the USJ?" The stoic man asked, looking at Backdraft.
"Yeah... Wait. Wh-Huh? Yeah, oh my gosh. They had to have been there! I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been for them." Backdraft exclaimed, waving his arms around in distress.
"So, this Izuku kid faced villains at the USJ and lived? This'll be interesting." The stoic man said, staring at Izuku and Ami with great interest. On the man's shoulder, a small spark of flame ignited and poked its eye out of the extra fabric and quickly vanished underneath it.
Back on the ground, the students all stared up at the cheering crowd and felt the pressure get to them. Izuku, in particular, was surprised the most to see how many people were sitting in the stands.
"Uh… I didn't know there'd be so many people." Izuku said, gripping on to the collar of his uniform.
"I hope we're still able to give our best performances, even though all these eyes are watching us. I suppose it's just another aspect of being a hero we all have to learn to get used to." Iida said.
Ami walked beside Bakugo and Kirishima and looked up at the crowd with a smile. Though she looked visibly nervous, a smile was a smile. She looked up at the hero section of the stands and wondered how many heroes she knew about were in there watching them. Though she could barely recognize any from far away, she held out hope that Backdraft was among them. She listened to Present Mic announce their presence and gulped, nervously waving at the audience. While doing so, she looked at Bakugo and noticed he was covering his eyes with the shadow of his hair. She wondered if he was feeling nervous, too.
"Present Mic sure did talk us up a lot. Kinda makes me nervous. How you feelin, man?" Kirishima asked, looking at Bakugo from behind. Bakugo's true feelings revealed themself to Ami as she stared at him. He had the same confident grin on his face like the one he had in the combat exercise. Ami wondered how he could be so confident with all these people watching them.
"I'm not worried. Makes me wanna win this thing even more." Bakugo said, showing zero signs of nervousness. Ami stared at his grin and calmed down, relaxing a bit.
"I wish I had your confidence." Ami thought, keeping her eyes on Bakugo and away from the crowd. Pretending they didn't exist seemed to be working.
"They haven't been getting very much screen time, but this next group is still chock full of talent! Welcome, Hero Course: Class 1-B!" Present Mic announced, receiving applause from the audience. Ami twisted her head back and stared at 1-B with curiosity. She stared at the students walking out behind her class and recognized some of them.
"Hey, it's that guy Bakugo ignored." Ami said out loud. She looked behind the metallic teen and recognized the green haired girl on his right.
"Hey, it's vine girl." Ami pointed out, getting Kaminari's attention. Ami gasped and waved at her, wondering if vine girl remembered her. Vine girl looked at Ami and recognized her, flashing a smile at her and a small wave.
"Do you know her?" Kaminari asked, staring at the vine girl with interest.
"Not personally. I saved her hair from turning to ash in the entrance exam." Ami answered, unknowingly destroying Kaminari's chances of getting introduced.
"Oh, hey. It's the guys Bakugo called extras." Kaminari pointed out. Ami looked to her left and noticed the other large group of students appear alongside Class 1-B. She also recognized the purple haired teen in the front looking like he had to solve a crime scene later.
"That's the guy that called Kacchan an ass." Ami remembered. Her words were just loud enough to get Bakugo's attention.
"I heard that, Habanero." Bakugo growled, glaring at Ami. Ami shrugged at him and stuck her tongue out in retaliation. He turned his head to look at the purple haired teen and glared at him.
"Yeah, you're right." Kaminari nodded, also remembering the teen from two weeks ago.
"Next up, General Studies Classes C, D, and E!" Present Mic announced.
"General Studies? Right, he said that's where he was from." Ami said, remembering what the purple haired teen told her and the class.
"Support Classes F, G, and H! And finally, Business Classes I, J, and K! Give it up for all of UA's first-year contestants!" Present Mic announced.
"I get the feeling we're just here to make the hero students look better." A General Studies teen said, looking at the students in the hero course.
"I can't wait for this thing to be over with." The girl next to him said. Most of the General Studies students knew they couldn't hold a candle compared to the students in the Hero Course. In fact, most of them didn't want to be here. The purple haired teen taking charge in front of the General Studies students listened to their complaints and remained silent. His classmates may not want to be here, but he knew he did.
After the classes had huddled together, they stood in the middle of the stadium waiting for the intro. Once they saw who it was that would be giving the intro, several students started to blush at the attire the teacher was wearing. The students were all well aware of this teacher. She was a popular teacher at U.A. and it didn't take long to find out why. Ami knew her as the pro hero: Midnight.
She stared at Midnight as she walked on the stage in her costume and felt red. Ami stared at her costume and blushed in embarrassment, completely stumped. Making a speech at a stadium with a hero costume like Midnight's was the stuff of literal nightmares for her. No matter how confident she could one day be she'd never have the strength to wear that.
"Now, the introductory speech!" Midnight announced. Up from the stands, several men in the hero stands ogled at the sight of the woman on the stage.
"Whoa! This year's chief umpire for the first years is the R-rated hero, Midnight!" A hero said, unable to take his eyes off Midnight.
"Amazing. Seriously, the other years don't know what they're missing." Another hero said, also unable to take their eyes off her. Above the row of heroes, Backdraft and the stoic hero were mostly professional, but even Backdraft had trouble not blushing at her.
"We sure that's a teacher here?" The stoic man asked, blushing at the women's hero costume.
"You should've seen her debut." Backdraft said, causing the man to raise an eyebrow at him. Back within the large group of students, they too were blushing in embarrassment at Midnight's appearance.
"Uh, someone should talk to Ms. Midnight about what she's wearing." Kirishima said, hiding his blush.
"Yeah. That costume should come with a warning." Kaminari agreed.
"Is that really appropriate apparel for a high school game?" Tokoyami asked, meanwhile Mineta was having the time of his life.
"Silence, everyone!" Midnight ordered, raising her whip in the air.
"And for the student pledge, we have Katsuki Bakugo!" Midnight announced, surprising everyone in class 1-A.
"Uh...He's the first-year rep?" Izuku questioned, shocked to hear the announcement.
"You're kidding?" Ami asked in denial, watching as Bakugo exited the crowd of students.
"I guess that hot head did finish first in the entrance tests." Sero noted, getting a nod from Izuku. Across from them, a girl in the General Studies classes heard Sero and sighed.
"Only for the hero course exams." The General Studies girl said, clearly annoyed.
"Oh, right." Izuku stuttered, looking at the annoyed girl.
"That girl obviously hates us." Sero whispered, frowning a little.
"Mhm." Ami nodded, glancing back at Sero. Kaminari cutted in and gave his own input.
"Yeah, and we've got Bakugo to thank for them not liking our class." Kaminari groaned. Bakugo approached the stage with Midnight and walked up to the mic. All eyes were on him as he approached the microphone with a blank expression on his face. To Ami, it looked like he was bored being up there. The students and the audience listened with anticipation as to what Bakugo was going to say. All the class could do was hope and pray that he wouldn't say anything bad.
"I just wanna say… I'm gonna win." Bakugo stated, calmly. All of 1-A collectively died inside as Bakugo made his statement. Their mouths dropped at the gall of his statement. Ami facepalmed harder than she ever did before. Honestly, she didn't expect anything else. She lowered her head and covered her mouth. The fact he said it with such a neutral expression with zero enthusiasm caused her to make a tiny laugh. In the stands, several heroes showed their disapproval by shaking their head.
"I knew he'd say something like that!" Class 1-A exclaimed in unison.
"What did he say?"
"Class 1-A is so full of themselves!"
"Get off the stage!"
"Why would you be so disrespectful? You're representing us all!" Iida shouted, chopping the air. Bakugo turned around and faced the students with an annoyed glare.
"Not my fault the rest of you are just stepping stones to my victory." Bakugo stated, matter of factly. He ended it by giving the students a thumbs down. After holding herself together, Ami uncovered her mouth and simply shook her head at Bakugo. The students in Class 1-B were appalled by the blonde's statement. Among the angry students was the metal teen from before.
"I'm gonna crush this overconfident jerk! I can't wait to knock 'im down a size!" The irritated metal teen shouted, crushing his fist in anger. Izuku looked up at the stage with a serious expression.
"I don't think it is overconfidence. The old Kacchan would have laughed while saying that, making it a joke." Izuku thought, watching as Kacchan walked towards him. Bakugo said nothing to Izuku as he approached him. Instead he brushed him aside, hitting his shoulder as he walked past. Izuku turned back and watched him walk away, his serious expression faltering into an unamused look.
"And turning all the rest of us into targets at the same time." Izuku thought. As he stood there in silence, the stadium's jumbotron came back on. Izuku quickly turned to look at the screen and saw the words, "First Game," written on them.
"Without further ado, it's time for us to get started!" Midnight announced.
"U.A. really doesn't believe in letting us catch a breath, huh? Ochaco commented, noticing how fast the event was starting.
"This is where you begin feeling the pain! The first fateful game of the festival!" Midnight announced, raising her arm in the air. As soon as she did, a large hologram appeared behind her. The students looked up at the screen and watched as the title rolled. They waited with bated breath as the randomizer moved.
"Here we go." Ami said, clenching her hands. She stared up at the screen and hoped for something simple. With events getting chosen at random, she needed it to land on something that could potentially show off her quirk.
"What could it be?" Midnight questioned, waiting for the randomizer to stop. When it did stop, most students stared up at the hologram with a serious expression.
"Tah-dah!" Midnight exclaimed. Ami stared at the hologram and nodded, agreeing with the randomizer's choice.
"An obstacle course? Alright." Ami smiled, breathing a sigh of relief.
"All 11 classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium." Midnight explained, staring at a visual example on the hologram screen.
"I don't wanna restrain anyone, at least in this game." Midnight said, licking her lips, "As long as you don't leave the course. You're free to do whatever your heart desires." Midnight announced, receiving cheers from the audience.
"Now then, take your places, contestants." Midnight ordered, receiving nods from the classes. The students immediately formed into a tight crowd as they gathered as close to the stadium exit as possible. Ami looked at the serious expressions on her classmates' faces and adopted her own. She looked to her right and saw the serious expression on her brother's face. The twins made eye contact soon after, taking notice of the seriousness they had in their eyes. The twins both nodded at each other in understanding. They were going to do their best at this obstacle course. Staring back at the exit, they readied themselves for what was to come.
"I have to be smart about this. I'm still not able to control One For All, yet, so I have to be careful when I use it." Izuku thought, planning it out. The students stared at the three green dots above the exit and watched as one light turned off. Ami narrowed her eyes and prepared herself.
"It's gonna be a mess getting out of there if everyone tries squeezing through the exit." Ami thought, staring at the exit. She quickly took notice of the fact that everyone was standing far from the tunnel. Of course they were, they needed to see the countdown. She stared at the narrow empty tunnel and felt an idea forming in her head. Ami wasn't sure how much of a good idea it would be, but there was no better time than now. If everyone has to get through the tunnel to reach the obstacle course, then she'd have to block it.
"Alright, Ami. This isn't gonna do any of my classmates any favors. But it will slow everyone down." Ami thought, activating her quirk. The green lights atop the tunnel exit decreased down to one, causing every student to tense up.
"I want people to smile whenever they see me. I want them to know that I'll be there to make their world a little brighter whether they're young or old. But to reach that dream, I'll have to get better, do better. I'll have to climb my way to the top just like everyone else. I don't necessarily want to be the number one hero, but if I want to make my mark. Then I'll just have to act like I do." Ami's thoughts echoed in her head.
"Act like I do." Ami thought, remembering her words. She cracked a grin and flashed her teeth, leaving a small trail of smoke out of her mouth. As soon as the green lights had all vanished, Midnight shouted at the students.
"Begin!" Midnight shouted. Ami quickly slammed her foot on the ground, and spit out a large fireball into the tunnel at high speeds. Several dozen students took notice of the fireball flying over their heads and watched it enter the tunnel. Once it did, a huge fire erupted inside the tunnel. The intense heat from the fire stopped everyone in their tracks.
"Woah!"
"What the?"
"Where did that come from?"
"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry." Ami apologized, jogging by several students. The students in the front of the growing crowd stared into the fire and watched with awe as Ami casually ran into the flames. A few of the students used their quirks to deal with the fire, but found it difficult due to how much area the flames had covered. Within the crowd of students, Bakugo stared at the flames with a frustrated scowl. He grit his teeth in anger as he saw Ami carelessly run through the flames like they were nothing. He couldn't believe she'd use her quirk like that. He groaned and shook his head. He wasn't gonna let her beat him in an obstacle course. No way.
"Woah! The race has just started and right off the bat, a student has used their quirk to block all the contestants from leaving the stadium! Ami Midoriya takes the lead!" Present Mic shouted.
"Oh, Ami! Good job, baby!" Inko cried, watching the festival from home.
"How 'bout some color commentary, Mummy-Man?" Present Mic asked, looking at his heavily bandaged co-host.
"How did you talk me into this?" Aizawa groaned.
Back at the tunnel, Izuku ran into the tunnel and stared at the fire in awe. He watched Ami casually run through the flames completely unaffected and smiled. He quickly realized her reasoning and nodded to himself.
"I get it. With the amount of students here compared to the width of the tunnel, there was no way everyone could fit through. Ami, you figured it out. The first obstacle was getting through the tunnel!" Izuku assumed, keeping his eyes on Ami.
"She never did like being in crowds." Izuku thought, nodding to himself. Standing beside Izuku, Todoroki examined the smile on Izuku's face and narrowed his eyes. He quickly came to the same conclusion he did and stared back at the flames. Todoroki stared right through the fire and watched Ami exit the tunnel with a cold stare. A strategy quickly formed in his head as he watched her. Knowing what he had to do, he activated his quirk and felt the ice rising out of his leg and spreading underneath him. The students watched with wonder as the flames disappeared and were replaced by small sheets of ice. They were so preoccupied with staring that they didn't realize they had been imprisoned in the ice as well. Many students tried to move only to realize their legs were stuck. Bakugo could see the approaching ice and glared at it angrily.
"First, it was fire, now ice? Habanero, IcyHot. You're dead." Bakugo thought, activating his quirk. On the opposite side, Ami exited the tunnel with a happy smile plainly visible on her face.
"I can't believe that worked!" Ami said, twisting her head and looking back at the tunnel while she ran.
"Everyone's still inside!" Ami exclaimed, proud of her accomplishment. As she ran forward, she noticed a cold breeze escape the tunnel, causing her eyes to widen.
"Huh?" Ami said, confused. Her eyes shot open when huge sheets of ice formed around the tunnel exit, freezing the ground and the walls around it. Ami panicked and gulped, quickly turning her jogging into a fast run.
"Here they come!" Ami said, panic running.
"You figured it out, too, huh?" Todoroki said, running after Ami with a terrifyingly cold stare. Ami looked at the ground beneath Todoroki and noticed his ice freezing the ground beneath him. She yelped in fear of getting turned into an ice sculpture and booked it even harder. Meanwhile, behind Todoroki, a large explosion came out from within the tunnel, causing several students to run out covered in smoke. Todoroki turned his head and got a look at the source of the blast. The first person he saw was the aggressive blonde teen he knew as Bakugo.
"I won't let you get away so easily, you icyhot bastard! And you, too, Habanero!" Bakugo shouted at the two, flying into the air with his explosions propelling him. Ami looked up at the sky and saw Bakugo flying with his quirk and freaked out.
"He's gonna kill me!" Ami panicked, trying to outrun the approaching ice path. Alongside Bakugo, even more students arrived out of the tunnel. Yaoyorozu quickly created a pole out of the palm of her hand and impacted the ground with it, flinging her away from the ice. Aoyama fired off a laser beam from his belly and casted down a smile on the students below.. Kirishima broke through the ice with his quirk and jumped into the air.
"Here I come!" Kirishima shouted.
"Nice trick, Todoroki." Yaoyorozu complimented.
"Ami's fire was a surprise, but I've dealt with your ice before, Todoroki. It won't happen again." Ojiro smiled, evading the ice by flicking himself into the air with his tail.
"Go, Ami." Izuku cheered her on, trying not to fall face-first into the ice. Other students were slowly coming out of the tunnel now, trying carefully not to fall. Ochaco was among them, trudging along with determination in her eyes.
"Gotta wait for the right time to show off my quirk!" Ochaco said. Approaching behind her was the purple haired teen from General Studies. He surveyed the ice path and looked at the students ahead as he was carried by three other students. The students holding him up had a strange blank expression on their faces. It almost looked like they weren't caught in a trance.
"So they are good at using their powers, huh?" The purple haired teen noticed.
As Todoroki was quickly approaching Ami's position, he took notice of the amount of students catching up to them in the back. He was surprised they had managed to escape his ice.
"I didn't expect so many people to dodge that. Especially those from other classes." Todoroki admitted. He looked behind him and gasped at the unexpected figure coming right towards him. Up in the front, Ami turned to look behind her and gasped at the approaching purple kid.
"Mineta?" Ami exclaimed, surprised to see him get this far.
"That's me!" Mineta shouted, bouncing off his purple balls.
"Todoroki! You think you're so cool, but I've outsmarted you! Ha! How pathetic!" Mineta exclaimed, easily getting across the frozen path with the purple balls on the ground. He jumped into the air and grabbed a ball off his head, preparing himself to throw it at Todoroki. Ami watched Mineta fly towards Todoroki and was genuinely impressed at his jumping skills.
"That little perv isn't useless after all." Ami admitted, watching him leap into the air.
"He might actually get him." Ami thought, cracking a smile at the tiny purple kid.
Eat this! My special attack!" Mineta shouted.
"Grape Ru- WHAM
Ami's eyes popped out of her skull upon seeing Mineta get thrown across the course. She watched him fall into a bunch of bushes, making even her feel bad. In the back, Izuku had also seen the smack and felt his eyes widen.
"Are you okay?" Izuku asked, shocked to see Mineta get injured.
Vrrr. Vrrrr. Target acquired. Terminate them.
"Huh?" Izuku gasped, looking up at the robots in front of him. He stared at the bright red camera lense on its head and recognized the robot's design instantly.
"It's those robots from the entrance exam!" Izuku shouted.
"Ooh. Enemies have shown up out of nowhere! I bet we're in for a treat here! A test of strength and cunning! It's a robo inferno!" Present Mic announced, receiving thunderous applause.
Ami stopped running and faced forward. She gasped when she saw the huge metallic figure standing in front of her. It was fortunate she stopped running, otherwise she would have ran face-first into metal. Just as she stopped, a shadow enveloped her that was soon followed by a red glow that lit up her entire body. She looked up above and felt her jaw drop. Standing a foot away from her was the zero pointer. She wasn't expecting to see those robots ever again. The zero pointer took notice of her and looked down at her, illuminating her with the glow of its red eyes.
"You've gotta be kidding..." Ami said, her face turning red from the glow of the robot's eyes.
"Are those the zero-point villains from the entrance exam?" Kaminari asked, watching the zero pointer make its presence known with a loud honk.
"Seriously?" a student whined.
"This is what they meant by, Obstacles?" Another student complained, looking at the giant robots with denial.
"Where do they get the funding for these things?" Yaoyorozu asked no one. Ochaco and the rest of class 1-A were shocked to see the return of the zero pointer. Even worse, there were three of them. Ami stepped back in fear of the huge robots and noticed Todoroki appear in her peripheral vision.
"So this is what the other students faced in their entrance exams." Todoroki said, confusing Ami.
"What? What are you talking about? I saw you at the entrance exams half covered in ice. How could you not have seen it there?" Ami asked, not understanding how Todoroki could've missed seeing the zero pointer there. Todoroki gave her a quick glance with his cold eyes and then back at the robot.
"So you were at Battle Center C, huh? I wanted to see what the practical test looked like for everyone else. Then I left early." Todoroki explained. The zero pointer in the center sprang into action, raising its arm towards Ami and Todoroki. Ami panicked again and activated her quirk, feeling the flames rush into her mouth. While she was preparing to light the robot's arm on fire, Todoroki put his foot on the ground and froze the battlefield beneath him. Ami quickly stepped away from the freezing ice and watched as Todoroki's arm was covered in ice.
"They obviously went through a lot of trouble, but I wish they'd prepared something a little difficult." Todoroki said, releasing a wall of ice around him. He propelled himself towards the robot with his ice and glared at the robot with an intimidatingly cold stare.
"Especially since my dear-old dad is watching." Todoroki said, causing Ami to raise an eye at him.
"Your dad?" She questioned, slightly puzzled at the tone of his voice when mentioning his father. Ami watched as Todoroki waved his hand across the ground and flicked it up in the air, creating a gigantic wall of ice that came into direct contact with the zero pointers claw and arm. The ice quickly spread around the robots arm and easily enveloped the whole robot in a spiky body of ice. The robot stood there completely frozen, unable to make a single move. Ami had watched the entire thing unfold right before her eyes and gasped in shock.
"He just took it down like it was nothing..." Ami thought. She stared at Todoroki and noticed steam rising off his body as he clenched his frozen arm.
"He just heated himself up with his other quirk, too? So why doesn't he use his fire?" Ami wondered.
"Who the hell is he?" Ami asked herself, completely dumbstruck by the level of power and control in his quirk. Todoroki glanced at her and gave her a cold glare. His glare was a lot like Bakugo's. It was all she needed to see for her to know he wanted her away from him. Unlike Bakugo's glare, she wasn't used to seeing Todoroki's glare. Not wanting to piss him off, she took several steps back to appease him. After doing so, Todoroki wasted no time running ahead. Ami watched him as he passed the frozen zero pointer between its legs.
"Dude, he stopped the robots!" A student shouted, raising his fist in the air. Todoroki heard the students' shouts and decided to warn him.
"Careful, now. I froze them while they were off their balance. On purpose." Todoroki warned. Ami heard the warning and looked up at the robot and started to see the ice cracking apart on its body. The ice cold temperatures were too much for the gigantic robot to handle, feeling it's systems begin to crash. The zero pointer made its last sound as the ice broke apart its body. Ami gasped as the robot broke apart in front of her and panicked again, covering her face as a piece of the robot came tumbling towards her. Ami could see the debris coming towards her and activated her quirk as quickly as possible. She let out a huge blast of fire from her mouth and melted the falling debris mid-air. Returning to safety, Ami stopped her flamethrower and breathed a sigh of relief. She panted in exhaustion and gritted her teeth in anger, straightening her body.
"What the hell, Todoroki? That could have killed someone!" Ami shouted, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. Ami brushed off the small pieces of debris and dust off of her and groaned.
"Did he even care if that would hurt someone?" Ami wondered, surveying the damage left by the destroyed zero pointer. She looked on ahead and saw the other zero pointers up ahead and frowned.
"I don't know what your deal is Todoroki, but I've had it. Consider this my declaration of war." Ami said, feeling her anger take hold of her.
Author's Notes: Hello, readers! Thanks for reading the chapter. I hope you had a great day and I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter. There are things that I will discuss about the chapter down below. Before that, I have other things to say. In the interest of getting it out quickly, I might have missed a few things while editing. If I did, I will update the chapter immediately.
Second, this story is now on Archive of Our Own and Wattpad. The entirety of season 1 is on Archive and part 1 of season 2 will be posted there after this chapter is released here. As for Wattpad, only the first two chapters are on it. But I will be posting the rest of season 1 out there tomorrow. Now that that's been specified, we can begin talking about the chapter.
So this episode basically stayed the same for the most part. But you probably noticed the addition of Backdraft along with a new character. This stoic man is another pro hero who made his appearance in chapter 1 of season 2. He was the stoic man watching the news report before the transition to Gran Torinos house. I won't tell you who he is but Backdraft and the stoic man will be watching the events that are going to go down in the sports festival arc. But Backdraft and this new character will have a bigger role in the next arc.
Second, it was pretty good timing that I got asked if Ami and Todoroki would have an interaction. I had planned this part of the chapter out a few weeks back but I was only just now able to finish this chapter due to being busy with College. In canon, Izuku's first interaction with Todoroki would have been him saying he was going to beat him in front of everyone in the class. With the addition of Ami, she'd be mad at Todoroki's declaration of war and now she wants to beat him, too. Especially after how he took down the zero pointer with Ami still there. Right now, Ami considers Todoroki an enemy.
Also while watching the actual episode I realized Todorokk couldn't have taken part in the entrance exam because of season 3. I apologize for the error and will try harder.
After this chapter, the real difficult part will begin. I haven't written anything down yet, but I have a plan for how the rest of the obstacle course will go. I've even planned out the cavalry battle. Though the battle will be hard to write. Nonetheless, I think I'm prepared to face the challenge head on. If anyone has certain requests about what should happen in this arc please share them. I would love to hear your ideas. Remember to leave reviews and provide feedback that will help me improve the story. There isn't much to say this time, so I will end it here. Thanks everyone for reading and have a good day!
P.S. I forgot to answer reviews. Thanks for the comment about Ami's hero costume. I wish I could draw so it would be easier to explain but I'm glad you were able to visualize it with my writing. To answer the most recent review, my name is just a default name I use for every site. Ex: GuyWithAWattpadAcc and GuyWithAnArchiveAccount. But I'm going to be honest here and admit I've never seen Naruto. I only know character names and I only have the bare minimum of knowledge about the series. The only spoilers I'm aware of for Naruto are what I've seen throughout the years growing up. I do know who Might Guy is at least. Little bit of backstory about my life here but I didn't watch anime until I turned 15 and that was the same year My Hero Academia came out. So by that time I think Naruto had just ended and there was too many episodes for my ADHD to handle. So I'm really sorry about that. If you want me to watch Naruto I might some day but nowadays I'm too busy with College to start watching a big anime like Naruto. Anyways, Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a very good day.