Well, I spoke with my mother the other day, wishing her a happy Mother's Day and all that. Still, I also learned that she got those chickens she wanted as we live in the city, and we have a large garden. The only issue is that our dogs are used to killing just about everything in the yard, which is fine for the most part as that means rats and snakes… it also meant that they killed one of the chickens, and the second was just injured by recovered. Now, she has to teach them that chicken is not for killing, which takes time.

Chapter 25: Festival Opening

The day was sent. The U.A. festival was in two weeks. With their encounter with Bakugo as a match, the entire class threw themselves into training, not just to prove Bakugo won but to secure their spots at hero agencies where they could better themselves and take another step towards going pro. While the festival had replaced the Olympics for its Japanese audience, only the U.A. knew what the events would be, as they changed yearly.

The only consistent theme was that the first game weeded out most other students, leaving a majority from the hero course. Then they were turned widdled down further till only the best remained before they had the finals, which were always some sort of 1v1. Last year's finals were a chanbara match. All that meant was that students could only prepare for the games generally. With Midoriya, aside from adding to his regular workout by adding another 2km to his morning jogs, 100 push-ups, and 100 sit-ups, he also worked on his quirk.

As the days went by, he could be seen in the spare freezers for U.A.'s kitchen, pushing himself to reach higher temperatures even when not in his element. Did the cold hurt? Yes, but he used that feeling to drive him further and work on control as he couldn't damage the large walk-in freezer that Lunch Rush allowed him to borrow, so bursting into flames and roasting its entire was not an option. When not fully transformed, he worked with his steam augmentation to increase the speed at which he could access it and the power it granted him.

He wasn't the only one training. Monoma spent his days with bare-bones physical training, only occasionally popping by to copy his quirk and practice with it should the chance to use it come up during the festival. Other times, Midoriya assumed he was either by himself or working with others. Tokage made use of the training grounds to split herself into as many pieces as she could keep track of and then spread that as far as she could.

Kendo and Tetsutetsu found a spot in one of the training cities, the one trying to increase her power both in how much she could dish out with her punches and palm strikes, as well as how hard she could throw heavy objects like Tetsutetsu when entirely shifted to his steel form. Tetsutetsu, for his part, welcomed the chance to work on his strength and defense as he tossed around like a ragdoll into cars, buildings, and even the road and pavement.

Tsunotori worked with Shishida and Kodai at the USJ, seeing some students from class A, which included Uraraka. Still, while friendly, they spent their time focusing on their training, which took the form of Tsunotori trying to work on how many horns she could fire. Since they could support the average person's weight, she worked on trying to use two of them to fly in a sense. Kodai and Shishida helped as one worked on tracking her with just his hearing and smell before attacking. At the same time, Kodai added to the confusion by altering the size of the built environment.

Of course, they took time off to celebrate Tsunotori's sweet 16th, when the entire class saw her sending her birthday cards, and Tsu also sent one. They then met up to spend the day together at All Might Land, which was a blast for everyone involved. They got them some great pictures to add to what Komori suggested: a class binder filled with souvenirs, trinkets, and pictures of all their birthdays going forward. The day ended with just their friend group, Tsunotori, Midoriya, Monoma, Tetsutetsu, Kendo, Tokage, and Tsu, having dinner with Pony's family and giving her presents they managed to make or buy.

After a fun break from their training, they were back at it. While Kuroiro had no plans to put much into the festival with his plans of being an underground hero, he still trained in the shadows of many of the training grounds, zipping in and out of shadows, trying to get around as fast as he could, and learning to try and find the unnoticed spots where shadows or just the color black could exist. Kamakiri trained with his blades, trying to increase their cutting power and ways to blunt them to use them like the back of a single-edged sword.

Komori and Shiozaki trained together, also in the USJ, where they spread their vines and mushrooms as far as they could, even at times venturing into the conflagration zone to try and train their quirk's tolerance for the extreme heat and better the potency of their powers in more favorable conditions. Tsuburaba worked on lung capacity to create stronger, more intricate objects and weapons with them in the conflagration. Kaibara trained to increase how fast he could move and how much force he could pack behind his strikes when his quirk was active.

Rin and Awase also trained together, working on accuracy and reaction time as Awase created barriers out of whatever they could find in the residential training. Honenuki studied up on previous events while he trained with his quirk, focusing on its speed and reach as he had the issue of leaving a path that his quirk followed, but if he could make it that the path could be returned to normal, but the target wasn't, that could be a real game changer for him.

Finally, Fukidashi worked on expanding the time he could use his quirk without getting a sore throat, training with Yanagi and Bondo. The one learned more ways to use her quirk despite its weight limit, while the other plotted how best to use his quirk in situations where it was just himself against opponents fighting at a range.

"Evening, Hado-sempai." Midoriya, wearing an oversized shirt with the word 'shirt' written on it and a pair of shorts, asked over his phone. The boy was in his room, waiting for dinner after having showered. The space was still a shrine to heroes, but he had replaced much of his All Might merchandise with Ryukyu posters, figurines, and dolls he had gotten over the last few months.

On his screen was Hado, who was equally dressed in more comfortable stuff as he lay on her bed. From what little he could see, her room was filled with all sorts of things and other curiosities that she must have collected over the years. "Hi, Midoriya! Are you excited for tomorrow? I know I am. This will be the year I don't fall asleep; I just know it!"

He smiled at her energy, as she had already told him the embarrassing stories of how her quirk left her having pretty terrible performances at both. While powerful, it relied on her stamina much more than most, so when she first started at U.A., she was nowhere near her current level and often would be left drowsy after even minimal use. It was so bad that she fell asleep during the first event of the festival in her first year, improving but still falling asleep the previous year during the 3rd and final event of the festival.

Despite her energy, which he found himself latching onto whenever he was nervous, he still felt that uneasiness in his heart. "I am, but I'm also a little nervous." At his response, Hado immediately switched from her cheerful self to a more concerned one.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Normally, he would close up, having gone years keeping his issues to himself, but Hado and Ryukyu… just had something to them that made him feel comfortable with them; they never seemed to have even a hint of impatience or judgment in their words, faces or eyes. It was nice.

Still, he brought his knees to his chest, keeping his phone up with his other hand. "Nezu explained why we're going forward with it, and I'm excited to participate since I've been watching Sports Festivals since I was 6, but…" He thought he'd be over it by now; he even got to attend a friend's birthday party recently, the first time in years, so why was this still weighing on him.

Hado immediately guessed what the issue was. "The villains?" She asked with a frown, as she recalled how out of everyone there, he would be effected the most by it. By the uncertainty and fear that came with knowing that the ring leaders behind it all were still at large.

"It's silly, I know, but I just can't stop thinking about them." He healed back to normal before the day was out and regularly burnt himself, even using a fraction of his power. So he couldn't understand why his injury that day stuck with him. It didn't make any sense.

Hado disagreed with that sentiment. "It's not silly at all! You're training to be heroes, but you're still first years. You haven't even had your first semester finals yet. Getting attacked by bad guys would make anything weird for a while." Mirio might have been being taught by Nighteye, who was more of a man of logic and numbers. Still, Ryukyu made it clear that emotions rarely made sense and that they shouldn't just be ignored even when they were irrational.

"So it's normal?" Midoriya asked, with Hado being quick to agree.

"Totally normal. In fact, I bet if you talk with your classmates, they'll say the same." Though she doubted they could understand how it felt to be torn in two, they could understand that feeling of helplessness and fear better than most. Indeed, better than her as while she had experience in the field, she had never been in anything close to the USJ.

Rolling onto her stomach, she placed her phone on her pillow, propping it up to keep her in light of sight. "Besides, it was super unexpected; they even told us 3rd years to limit our time on work studies because of it."

Midoriya was confused by that. "But you didn't."

Giggling, Hado nodded. "Yup! Helping save people and stop villains with Ryukyu sounded more fun than just laying on my bed, bored out of my mind." It wasn't like they were told they couldn't go to work studies; they just had to consider not doing so. Not even Tamaki backed out, showing that he really did have the heart of a lion under all that worrywartness.

"Well, there's my dad, but I can only play so many board games with him before that gets boring." Hado mentioned off-handedly.

"Is he bad at board games?" Midoriya asked as he didn't know that much about her parents; she rarely talked about them.

"Nah, he's the king of them. If it's a board game, he's played and mastered it. He even makes his own money to help pay the bills since he's a house-husband kind of guy. Has been ever since mom got a promotion when I was little." Hado explained.

"Wait, then why did he quit his job?" Midoriya thought that was weird since his parents both worked. Though his father hadn't been home in years and just sent a cheque every month, Izuku tried not to think about what they meant.

As she shrugged and explained, Hado didn't have any of that baggage when it came to her parents. "Well, someone had to take care of me; they didn't want to get a nanny for that. Also, what mom makes is more than what they were making combined before. He just does the boardgame thing on the side cause he gets bored."

"What's this about me?" Someone asked off-screen, with Hado turning to them before smiling.

"Oh, hi, Dad! I'm talking to my junior. In fact, come here!" She aggressively waved at them. Was her door open this entire time? Midoriya didn't hear it opening.

"Dear, I'm busy with the roast." The other voice responded, contrasting Hado's bubbly, open nature with her father's monotone and robotic tone.

"It'll only be a minute, I swear!" Hado got off her bed, the camera giggling from the movement before she dragged her father into view, and immediately, Midoriya could see the resemblance between the two as the man, who looked to be in his mid-40s, shared his daughter's blue eyes, soft round face, and Periwinkle hair. However, it was cut much shorter and barely covered his ears. However, maybe that should be the opposite since she was the daughter.

However, where Hado-sempai was curious, friendly, and open about her feelings and thoughts, her father was the opposite; he looked as stoic as he had sounded earlier. That carried into the following conversation as the man barely spoke, just nodding, shaking his head, or rolling his eyes. Midoriya found the man more than a little intimidating. Still, there were cracks in this as whenever he looked towards Hado, or she did something wrong, his eyes lit up, and he smiled at her. Midoriya didn't blame him one bit for that. Hado-sempai was just that kind of person.

A few minutes later, he left them to get back to cooking. "Bye, Dad!" Hado waved him off as the man grunted back.

"I'm down the hall, not like I'm stepping out." With that, Midoriya heard the man walking off, and despite the rather impromptu and intimidating meeting with his senior's father, he felt better than he had when he called her. As he smiled, Koharu slithered onto his lap from her bed in the corner, the giant snake only bundling up half her length to cover his legs, leaving her head resting atop of herself, primed for Izuku to stroke her scaled scape, getting pleased hisses from the animal.

Yes, he had people to talk to, even if one of them didn't have arms or legs. He wasn't alone. "Remember, Izuku. If you ever have an issue, you can call your sempai, and I'll be there to help. I'll even fly over if I have to!" she told him, getting him to blush, but his smile didn't leave his face.

"I will. Thank you for that." He replied, genuinely grateful that he met her that day in winter.

"Hey, none of that, you don't need to thank me, silly; I like talking to you. You're like a tiny Tamaki." She replied, softly laughing near the end. Despite the comparison, which he had reluctantly agreed with, he focused on how melodic her laughter was. He liked hearing it.

"Well, I gotta go. I need to finish my homework before dinner, or I'll be too stuffed with Dad's cooking to bother afterward." Hado told him, and he laughed in turn as he had seen how lethargic she got whenever she had a large meal. Haya had to keep an eye on her because she would need Mirio's help moving his senior.

"Goodnight, Hado, and good luck tomorrow." With that, Midoriya ended the video call, feeling lighter than before. Yeah, it's definitely lighter. Now, he could focus on doing his best at the sports festival, proving that Ryukyu hadn't been wrong to invest her time in him and maybe, just maybe, prove to Kacchan that he had what it took to be a hero.

The following morning, and U.A. campus had been transformed with dozens of food, merchandise, and game stalls set up inside, leading to the main buildings and around U.A.'s purpose-built stadium, a structure so massive that for many first years, they wondered how they had never even seen it on campus as the signs outside said that the building could house 80-thousand people. Of course, just entering campus was a hassle as while students were required to arrive bright and early at 7 am, a massive line of vendors was already waiting to be cleared.

It wasn't just them as Nezu had been quite serious when he said that security would be drastically increased as not only were there uniformed police assisting in things, but everyone that entered, whether they be student, spectator, staffer, vendor, press, or even the pro-heroes requested to help patrol the grounds had to submit themselves and whatever belongings they brought to be scanned and searched. They also had to fill in their details, which was faster for students and staff who just had to flash their I.D.s. It took a quirk scan to confirm that they were who they said they were and that they were in the system.

Once cleared, they saw how guests were given their tickets and told to keep them on their persons at all times, except for children 10 years old and younger. This wasn't done because they could be asked to present it to one of the guards or pros but because Nezu had informed the entire student body in the days leading up to the festival that those tickets were being tracked for the duration of the festival and that they knew who was assigned which. It seemed excessive, but when villains had proven that they were bold enough to strike at U.A. better over-prepare and not need it, correct?

Once one got through the rigorous security, they entered a festive fever dream as those same stalls were in full swing by 9 am, with hundreds going about and having the time of their lives with friends and family, grabbing a quick snack, buying some hero merchandise, or playing a couple games before the festival kicked off. All were run by lucky vendors who managed to secure themselves a permit and paid the fee, which, along with the 15% those vendors paid back to the U.A. at the end of the day, was just one of the many ways that the school made millions off this one day.

Normally, the attention would be on the 3rd years, the students for whom this would be their final performance before breaking out into the real world. Students who had 2 years to refine their craft and skills to a much greater point than they had ever been. But this year was different as one didn't need to wait long before they heard people talking about the class attacked by villains and came out unscratched. First years they might have been, but the news had been doing a lot to build 1-B up as genuine contenders for the ones to watch.

This was countered by people who claimed that their encounter was merely a fluke and that the real ones to watch out for were class A, not for any actions or achievements they might have had, but because of the pedigree of its members as among their sister class's roaster, there was the Flame Hero: Endeavour's youngest child, the youngest scion of the Iida pro hero family and the heiress to the Yaoyorozu conglomerate.

While Monoma took offense to that, and Midoriya understood his feelings, it was pretty nice to hear that they had their supporters as well, though nerve-racking as it was to see how many people were present. "Don't let them get to you. So what if class A has better name recognition? We were the ones that went up against villains and got some valuable experience doing so." Kendo reminded them all and placated some of the more offended classmates as they waited in their changing room.

"There is also the fact that we can use this chance to prove ourselves the superior class." Monoma noted with a rather devilish smirk.

"Cool your jets. We only know of one asshole in class A. It would be rude to judge the rest by just Bakugo's behavior." Kendo reminded him, as they hadn't had time to speak with all of them, especially during their training where they largely ignored one another, they had had the chance to talk with Tsu, Uraraka, and Iida when they swung by their class the other day.

But that did leave Awase with another question. "Who are their class reps, Kendo? Have you met them?"

Kendo blinked before taking a moment to recall the details. "Yeah, they chose Iida as their class rep and Yaoyorozu as their vice rep. They're not bad, I would say they're pretty great people, but Iida does tend to be a stickler for the rules." Iida seemed stiff and robotic but had his heart in the right place, whereas Yaoyorozu was more decisive and approachable but also seemed rigged. Kendo wondered if it was because of their wealthy upbringings, as she was sure that what Yaoyorozu's parents gave her as a monthly allowance would probably count as a down payment for her family home.

"I'm a little nervous. The folks couldn't make it, but they're going to watch it all live." Fukidashi worried from his seat as Komori bounced over, the girl like the rest of them, wearing their P.E. uniforms rather than hero costumes. "Don't let the heat get to you, shroom. This is just the first stage to shine and prove we can do it. I'm going to need to really impress people." She told him, getting him to sigh in relief and wish her g Yaoyorozu conglomerate good luck since they knew she aimed to be an idol-type hero.

Tokage, however, noticed that the shorter girl was shaking, so she walked over and gently grasped her hand. "Hey, it might be every gal for themselves out there, but if you need help, you can rely on us." She told her, Komori's smile getting a little more genuine as she nodded back. Their conversations ceased when a depressed Midoriya opened the door to the waiting room. "Everyone, they're going to call us to the field soon. Please be ready."

"What's up with you?" Monoma asked as Midoriya had a cloud of depression over him as he slumped into the room.

"They said that I couldn't have Koharu with me, something about her being an unneeded companion." He replied that he had to hand her over to Midnight a few minutes before. The heroine seemed to share his sadness but needed to follow the rules. As far as he knew, his beloved friend was to be taken to his mother so she could keep an eye on her, with Izuku having no thought about how that would surely freak out the rest of the spectators close to her in the stands.

"She's always needed." He mumbled out, pouting as Tsunotori came up and gave him a hug, one that he returned.

"Oh, chin-up, Midoriya! We have a festival to win, isn't that right, guys?" Kendo asked him and the class, who met the question with a resounding cheer. As they got up to leave, Monoma approached Midoriya.

"Midoriya. Remember that, friend or not, I won't hold back out there when I'm gunning for the top." Midoriya blinked like a deer in headlights before he smiled in return, his eyes flashing at the moment.

"I wouldn't want it any other way. After all, we must show everyone we can go plus ultra today."

"Hey!" Present Mic's voice and image appeared on the big screen to the roar of the audience and fireworks going off overhead. On the massive screen, the voice hero was shown in full HD quality for all 80 thousand people in the stands cheering for him and the coming event.

Waving towards the crowds, or more accurately, towards the unique ring set aside for the hundreds of cameras and photographers. "Pay attention, audience! Get our good sides, mass media!" Those media personnel, representing media groups, big and small, local and international, were responsible for broadcasting the events live to a live audience that, at the moment, was well over 40 million people tuned in. All watched the event of the year on their T.V.s, computers, or homes.

And as the ringmaster of it all, Present Mic continued to ready them for the show of the year. "It's time for your favorite time of year, a chance to watch the best of brightest that the U.A. has to offer to compete to see who stands head and shoulders above them all, the U.A. Sports Festival!"

"I'm your commentator for this event. Clap your hands for the one and only Present Mic!" Present Mic introduced himself to the roar of his small but dedicated fanbase. Laughing it up, he directed the cameras within the commentator's book toward the second person. "And while great, I'm here with my co-host, the Blood Hero Vlad King. Have anything to say, Vladdy?" Vlad was still wrapped in bandages, but his face was clear, and his arm was free.

Truthfully, this was meant to be Aizawa's job, especially since Vlad was still on mandatory sick leave. However, as much as Recovery Girl would beat his shins later, he still wished to see his students make him proud in person. "I hope that the students bring 110% to the events." The gruff man kept it short.

"Lovely, so without further ado, let's kick things off with the first year! Are you ready?!" He asked, with the crowd cheering somehow getting louder. Banners were waved that had class letters on them or even names, most of which were the more recognizable names of Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and Iida. But a small number were for other students, being flown by friends and family who managed to get tickets.

"The first to enter the field, they haven't had the chance to make a name for themselves, but don't let that fool you; it's hero course class 1A!" Present Mic directed the cameras towards the entrance, where class A walked out, some looking slightly nervous with how many people were present. At the same time, some, like Bakugo, seemed to take offense to the fact that they were 'unknown' at the moment.

"Following after them, they've already had the chance to fight real villain folks, so they're battle-tested; it's hero course class 1B!" Stepping into the light of day and the flashes of thousands of cameras, Monoma and Kamakiri took a little too much joy in how Present Mic announced them, especially when they saw the look of rage on Bakugo's face. At the same time, others looked on in slight jealousy at their greater reputation.

"There's more people here than I thought." Midoriya stuttered out, praying that he didn't trip as he walked as he would sooner turn to ash and live on after that.

"Part of being a hero, I guess. The cameras will always be on us." Tokage stretched her arms over her head, flashing the crowd a sharp tooth smile.

"Man, he's really hyping us up. It kinda makes you nervous, doesn't it?" Tetsutetsu asked, to which Kamakiri just smirked.

"Nervous? Hell no, I'm ready to fight!" Kamakiri replied.

"Next up, we have the jacks of all trades, general course classes C, D, and E!" Looking towards the 3 classes introduced at once, Midoriya felt it was telling that the hero course was the star attraction before. And it seemed like he wasn't the only one to realize that as most of the general studies students approaching didn't even look excited to be there, he wouldn't be surprised if more than a few would have opted out if given a chance.

"Following them, we have the gearheads and tech wizards, the support classes of F, G, and H!" With this new group, Midoriya could tell that at least some of them were eager to participate. Many had some piece of gear on them. Was it all support gear that they needed for their quirks?

"And last but certainly not least, the masters of the pen and directors of the play that is life, the business classes of I, J, and K!" In contrast to the previous support students, where some walked onto the field eager to show what they could do, most business students strutted onto the field with a sense of purpose to their steps and confidence in every movement. Still, Midoriya could tell that despite that, they were even less excited than the general studies students, they merely hid it better.

As the last of them made it to the field, Midoriya wondered if perhaps the festival should have been voluntary since so many of the non-hero students didn't seem to want to be there. Thinking back on it, it made sense, as in all the festivals he watched, the hero course dominated, with most of the other courses being eliminated in the first round and whatever few remained to be near purged during the second event.

Knowing all that, it seemed unfair to make them participate anyway. It was like handing students a test with materials you know you didn't cover in class. Sure, some might have read ahead if it was even in the syllabus; some might just be those who study weird stuff and chanced onto the materials the test covers. But the majority wouldn't be so lucky.

His attention, along with everyone else's, was taken when a certain pro strutted onto the stage set up with as much confidence as a sly fox and the appearance of a world-class supermodel. It didn't matter that he had been in her class for almost a month now; Midoriya still blushed and looked away as Midnight stepped into the limelight.

"And let us give a U.A. welcome to our umpire for this year's first-year Sports Festival, the Rated-R hero, Midnight!" Present Mic was introduced as the sex symbol of a heroine posing for the cameras. Midoriya was pretty sure that he was hearing an increased number of clicks from cameras, not just the media but probably hundreds if not thousands of people in the stands, which made his face all the more red.

Awase pat him on the back. "Hey man, at least you didn't pass out this time, progress." He groaned at that reminder of their first class when Midnight locked in on him and seemed to enjoy turning him into a red-faced fish.

"Do these people have no shame?" Shiozaki asked, looking towards the crowds in disgust at how openly horny many were acting to Midnight's presence. Her teacher was only making it worse by leaning into it.

"I'm surprised that U.A. can get away with having her as the umpire, but if her costume already cleared the legal requirements, I suppose there's no legal reason to bar her." Shishido cleared some steam from his classes.

Whipping out her cat tail/pompom, Midnight stated. "It's time for the athlete pledge, which will be given by the student representative, Izuku Midoriya of class 1-B!" With that statement, everyone turned towards Midoriya, who went pale at the fact he would need to do that.

"Why me?" He whispered, his social points dropping faster by the minute at the thought. He could handle speaking in front of his class, but who thought he could handle talking to an audience in the millions?!

"Why him?!" Bakugo asked the same question, though he was more concerned that he was being snuffed out of the limelight that was rightfully his.

"Why not? You did finish with the highest score on the entrance exam." Kaibara shrugged, which only angered Bakugo all the more to be reminded that he came second to the fire-loving bastard.

But he wasn't the only one irritated by that statement, as one of the general studies students remarked. "The hero entrance exam, you mean."

"Right, my apologies." Kaibara awkwardly apologized as Midoriya was nudged forward, his steps stiff as a robot's. He slowly walked up the stairs onto the small stage. Midnight stepped aside to let him have the microphone, but not before giving him an encouraging smile.

Turning to the students and the tens of thousands in attendance, his face was as impassive as stone, but those who knew him could tell that it was a front as he was panicking on the inside. Panicking, he was as he screamed at himself in his head over what the hell he was supposed to do, as it was taking all he had not to break and duck under the stage. He remained silent, deadpanned, and even the crowd quieted as they awaited what he would say, no doubt believing it would be something profound, impactful, or just confident.

His lips turning into a wobbly smile, Midoriya raised his fist to the air and squeaked out. "I strive to do my best, compete with honor, and respect my fellow students during this event." He barely finished that before nearly teleporting behind Kendo's back with the rest, leaving the crowd to wonder what his deal was. At the same time, Bakugo laughed at him for his shallow confidence. His classmates wondered as Kendo patted his head if Monoma was right and that Midoriya had a brave meter. He had burned through just about the entire thing as if he did.

"That's your best?" Another person in general studies asked while a pink-haired, pink-skinned girl from their sister class asked another question.

"How did he fend off villains again?" Midoriya would have told her that he wasn't fighting on a global stage and was fighting for his and his friends' lives…but that would require him to speak up, so he stayed silent as Kendo kept an eye on him. But with that rather strange athlete's pledge out of the way, Midnight moved things along.

"Now, let's get started and see what will be chosen for the first event! The first event will be the qualifier, where we'll trim the fat, so you all better bring your A-game!" Midnight stated, bringing back some of the energy that had been lost.

"And this year, the first event will be…" She waved towards the screen behind her, which kept cycling through choices so fast that they couldn't tell which was which before it eventually landed on him. "An obstacle race!"

"All 11 classes will compete in a race whose track is the stadium's outer ring, around 4km! As the name says, there will be obstacles along the path that your students will have to contend with. But as our school's selling point is freedom, the only restriction for this race is to stay on track! Anything else goes!" Midnight smiled as she said that, with many of the students already thinking of ways to make liberal use of the lax approach to rules.

With that explained, they were directed to the entrance to the track, which is the largest one by far and framed with red; at the very top sat four lights akin to those found on race tracks. The hero students were placed further towards the back, with the general further towards the front, probably to give the others a fairer chance, as little good as that would do.

As the 3 green lights turned on, Midoriya, despite his nerves and the millions of eyes on him, eyes that no doubt wrote him off, thought back to what Hado had told him last night, that he should have fun. Ryukyu called earlier and mentioned she had taken the day off to watch him and Hado's performance, telling him he should do his best and remember why he was there. As the lights shifted to red, he declared that he needed to show the world that he could be a hero and that those who supported him hadn't wasted their time.

Taking steady breaths, his heartbeat slowed, but his temperature rose. Each breath released from his mouth was hotter than the last before it was replaced with steam as he opened his eyes and locked onto the last light. When that last light shifted, Midnight yelled, "Start!"

That unleashed the floodgates as the over 200 students all rushed for the path, which, while incredibly wide, was far too narrow for such a number as they quickly found themselves squeezed against one another through the confined space, something Midoriya suspected was by design. As Present Mic and Vlad started their commentary, Midoriya felt the temperature in the space suddenly drop, to which he instinctively rapidly increased his own.

This proved to be an intelligent play as a large gust of cold air blew through the tunnel from behind him, carrying with it a wave of ice that didn't just cover the floor, freezing people up to their shins in place, but climbed along the walls and ceiling before exploding out the front, coating the walls of the stadium in a thick of ice. Midoriya saw the culprit running ahead, leaving a trail of ice in their wake. "Sorry, but this is a race." The boy, no doubt from class A, said as he rushed ahead.

Midoriya wasn't about to let him just pull that stunt and get away with it as he easily escaped the ice thanks to his high body temperature and rushed ahead, jumping over the heads of the pack. He wasn't the only one that had either quickly escaped or dodged the ice entirely as Kamakiri, Kendo, Monoma, Shiozaki, Tokage, Shishida, and Tetsutetsu, through their own methods, were hot on their would-be freezer's tails. Along with them were 3 others from class A.

"Like I'll let you freeze me and get away with it!" Midoriya yelled towards the bi-coloured-haired boy, who looked surprised that so many hadn't fallen for his little trick.

"That was a foolish move to think we could catch all of us!" Shishida called out, entirely shifting to beast mode in the blink of an eye. They weren't the only ones, as many others from class B showed their hands and were hot on their tails. The ice trick was nothing more than a pause, not a stop to their movements. Midoriya tensed his muscles upon landing on the now ice-covered track, breathing out a jet of hot steam before he raced ahead, struggling to keep traction with his shoes before recalling how Koharu moved and using that as inspiration.

Instead of running, he skated, shifting weight from foot to foot and using his balance and weight to steer and guide him forward, twirling mid-strike to blast out steam as a sort of propulsion. He kept in well within running for the top three spots as he gained on 2nd place Tokage, who was flying overhead having dissembled herself into 8 pieces.

The race was on.

And that's where I'll end things. I admit I expected to finish more, but I'm happy with what I wrote here. Good thing, too, as a substation in the area is down, so my power is out. Any time I save means that my computer doesn't die on me.

Also, this is a reminder that the first chapter of my O.C. story should be posted this week, so be on the lookout for that one. But as for this, the next chapter should be out on June 25th.

Special thanks to my Patrons(s):

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Austin McConnell