Hello, everyone. So. I haven't been updating my fics on here because of reasons (they're lame reasons, don't worry about it) for the past six months, but I'm going to try and catch up with everything. I won't be able to do it all at once, but I'll be doing my best. To see all the chapters I've added to multichapter fics, just keep going until you don't see this message at the top of the chapter anymore. Sorry about this!
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"So, Midoriya," said Ms. Kayama, "putting together anything special for the Athlete's Oath?"
Izuku looked up from what was shaping up to be a fairly in-depth analysis of the second event of a sports festival that had occurred about a dozen years ago, a sense of dread pooling in his gut. "What?"
Ms. Kayama smiled, brows pinching together just a smidge. "The Athlete's Oath. You were the top scorer on the entrance exam, weren't you? I didn't get you confused with someone else, did I?"
"Oh, no," said Izuku, as he finally managed to put Ms. Kayama's question together with facts he'd known for years. "I forgot the Athlete's Oath."
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"Athlete's Oath?" repeated Yoichi. "What's the Athlete's Oath? Was it something Eighth had to do? Nana, do you know?"
Nana raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that all of you were here when Toshinori went here."
"Yeah," said En, "but that was about a hundred years ago."
"It was not," said Hikage.
"It was just as long ago for me."
"Sure, but he was your kid," said Yoichi. "Everyone remembers their kid better."
Nana made a face. She… couldn't actually dispute that. All these years later, she could still remember things like Kotaro's first day of school with blinding clarity.
… and Toshinori's first day at UA, for that matter.
"It's just a little… not a speech. A recitation. Just a few lines about playing fair and trying your best. Used to be the top student of the third years would do it, but I guess they must have the top students for the first and second years do it as well, now that they're televised as well."
"Is Izuku the top student, then?" asked Yoichi.
"The only test they've had is the entrance exam," said En with a shrug. "Ninth got top in that, so…"
"And so, Eighth's bribery has led to Ninth's downfall," said Banjo in a falsely serious tone.
"He didn't bribe anyone!"
"Izuku got in on his own merits!"
"Jeez, you guys can't take a joke."
Nana huffed. "I just don't understand why they're so excited about it. It's just a tiny thing. You can read it from a little card."
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As always, Izuku's first resort was research. He searched HeroTube for compilations of the most recent UA Athlete's Oaths, and hit play.
He watched the videos, chewing his lip. There was just so much to do, so much to say– How could he capture the spirit of Plus Ultra competition, his will to win and everyone else's, the honor of competing, the honor of speaking for his entire year, all in only a few minutes? In only a couple days, too.
And without stuttering.
He was going to die.
No, no. That was the wrong mindset entirely for a UA student with a shiny new hero name, much less All Might's successor! He could do this! He would do this!
He'd just… break down into tears a few times first.
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Nana felt eyes boring into the back of his head.
"Just a thing you can read from the back of a card?" asked Yoichi. "This guy's been talking for ten full minutes, and I don't think he's going to stop anytime soon!"
"I can feel you all judging me," said Nana, "but I've been dead for decades. It's changed. That happens."
"You don't have to feel me judging you, I'm doing it out loud."
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Izuku stared down at the pages and pages of repeatedly crossed out lines.
"I don't know why I thought I could do this," he whispered. "I couldn't even come up with a hero name on my own."
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"This really isn't a big deal."
"It's a huge deal! Do you know how dangerous public speaking is?"
Nana turned to squint at Yoichi. "When did you ever do public speaking?"
"Probably about the same time he went to school," said En.
"I did go to school! Why will you not let that go?"
"Bizarre petty grudges and jokes are pretty much the only thing we can hold onto," said En. "That and the quirk."
"Seriously, though, this isn't going to kill him."
"It isn't? What happens when my brother sees him on TV? Speaking for the hero class? "
"Oh, yeah," said Banjo. "That's a thing."
Yoichi threw up his hands. "How did you guys forget?"
" I didn't forget," said Hikage.
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"Maybe I should ask Dad," said Izuku. "He probably talks to lots of people for his work…"
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"No!" screamed all of the ghosts.
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"That's different than public speaking, though, isn't it?" He let his head drop onto his open notebook, heedless of the ink and graphite getting on his face. "At least it's only the first year speech."
He sat up with renewed energy.
"And there's no way it'll be worse than Endeavor's!"
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"That's the spirit!" cheered Nana.
"I thought we were the spirits," said Hikage.
"It's just an expression."
"Are we spirits, though?" asked En.
Banjo groaned. "Please, kid, don't start on that again."
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Kaminari waved furiously from across the field as the purple-haired boy next to him did his best to hunch into his uniform and disappear. Far behind them, Snipe sat reading a paperback novel. "Hey! Welcome to our awesome training montage!"
"You can't have a montage in real life," said Jiro.
"Watch me!"
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Once everyone arrived, Iida started chivying them all into a loose circle. Well, Izuku reflected, Iida obviously wanted them in an exact circle but… even Izuku could see that was never going to happen. Then Iida cleared his throat portentously and Yaoyorozu stepped into the center.
"Thank you for coming, everyone," she said. "Especially those of you who aren't in 1-A, we understand this is a leap of faith, and what we're doing here is a little radical. For today, our goals are for everyone to get to know each other and to start working out strategic teams. So, let's start by just introducing ourselves. I'll go first…"
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The purple-haired boy was named Shinsou Hitoshi, and he had thus far been very reticent about his quirk. About talking at all, really, which was interesting, given his attempt at a declaration of war earlier.
Interesting, not strange. In a similar position of not-quite-enmity, Izuku would probably be on the lookout for potential weaknesses, too. As long as Shinsou waited until the third event, though, that was fine. It wasn't as if everyone in class 1-A didn't know each others' quirks already.
That was all a very uncharitable way of thinking about Shinsou, though, and Izuku felt a little guilty thinking about things like that. He wanted to become a hero, too.
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"Alright," said Yaoyorozu, "now, remember, the first event is the elimination event. Our researchers say we'll probably be racing, competing for some limited resource, or trying to avoid being tagged out in some way. Even with the teachers trying to be unpredictable, the number of students does limit them. All of the events we've been able to brainstorm favor mobility, so you want to be in a group that you can move well with. Defense is important, too. Bakugou, at minimum, is a problem, and we have to assume the other classes will target us."
"Bakugou's the crazy guy who chased Midoriya down at lunch the other day," said Kaminari to Shinsou at a volume that was obviously meant to be a whisper, but fell far short of the mark.
"He's not crazy," protested Izuku. "He's just. Passionate."
Everyone regarded him dubiously.
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Predictably, the groups initially split along lines of friendship, acquaintance, and obligation. Yaoyorozu and Iida walked around for a while, trying to keep the groups more or less equal in size before settling into their own class leadership group, along with Monoma.
"A waltz of darkness and chaos," muttered Tokoyami, barely getting out of the way of Satou, as his group, consisting of himself, Ojirou, Sero, and Hagakure, trundled towards a shadier spot.
Hatsume laughed. "If you think this is chaotic, wait until the sports festival!"
"She's right," said Uraraka. "So, Midoriya, what do you think we should do?"
"Eh? Me?"
"Your battle trial plan was quite impressive," said Tokoyami. "Your strategic acuity will cast a long shadow in the sports festival as well."
"I don't know about that," said Izuku. But then he glanced at Monoma. They probably only had about ten minutes left. "I guess- I guess the most obvious thing is for us to be a rocket."
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"Ow," said Uraraka, rubbing her head.
"I think," said Iida, also nursing several bruises, "we should have come up with a better way to steer before we tried that. And brake."
"Yeah… We did go fast, though."
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"But, Hatsume, your, um, your ba- your inventions–"
"Call 'em my babies with your whole chest, grappling hook."
"I think your babies would help any team, but that you'd do really well with Yaoyorozu. And Uraraka and I should probably be on different teams, since we both have flight-capable quirks. Even if we both have time-limit issues…"
"Aww," said Uraraka, "you're probably right. I was looking forward to working with you, though."
"What about Fumi and me? We can be on your team, right?" asked Dark Shadow.
Tokoyami ducked his head and tried to push Dark Shadow down. "Don't ask questions like that."
"I don't know if that'd be a good idea, since Bakugou's explosions can make a lot of light."
"That just means we're destined to be arch-nemeses!"
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Izuku sat down next to Hagakure, Aoyama, and Ashido.
"Okay, Midori!" said Ashido. "Come up with a super move for us!"
"I'm sure you will come up with something that sparkles," said Aoyama.
"Uh, um," said Izuku, flustered. "How about, um, Aoyama, is your laser just light? Maybe it could go through Hagakure - if lasers going through you doesn't hurt."
"No, that's one of the first things my quirk counselor tested," said Hagakure. "My parents wanted to make sure that all the light going through me wasn't going to give me turbo cancer or something. The real problem for me is that for me to do anything with my quirk, I'm going to have to be naked. We have to wear our PE uniforms for the festival."
"Oh, non," said Aoyama. "I've been given an allowance for my belt, surely they would give you one for your suit. Anything else would be quite unfair."
"Or you could ask Hatsume, see if she can make something for you that would work temporarily," suggested Izuku. "She's really eager to work with everyone. Or even just plastic clothing, from Yaoyorozu." They'd all have to be careful not to overtax Yaoyorozu, though. Anything else would be unfair. She had to save something for the final event.
"Okay, okay, okay, but what about super moves?" asked Ashido.
"Or some things we can do during the event, anyway," said Hagakure.
"Well, if you're with Aoyama, like I said, and his laser can go through you, that could be a really good way to get in a kind of sneak attack. No one expects a person to be in the same area an attack just went through."
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"Lowest setting first, mademoiselle?"
"Just hit me already, Twinkles! I can take it!" shouted Hagakure from the other side of the field.
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"Are- are you okay, Aoyama?" asked Izuku, after they'd tested Aoyama's laser on a number of settings.
"Oh, oui, my quirk just upsets my stomach somewhat, you see. And it seems as if Hagakure is, how should I say this, my natural enemy."
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(In truth, Aoyama was feeling ill, but not because of his quirk. Rather, the problem was his quirk's origin. The man had demanded that Aoyama keep an eye on Midoriya - and, if possible, make him win the sports festival. A minor thing, really!)
(If only Aoyama had the courage to defy the man.)
(He hoped Midoriya would be able to survive whatever All for One had planned for him.)
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All for One sighed. He wondered if he could find a good enough disguise quirk to take Izuku out for ice cream after he won the sports festival. Or after he lost and was properly filled with hatred for hero society.
"Sensei?" said Ujiko. "Are you alright?"
"No. You're being incredibly boring."
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"Ashido, how acidic does your acid have to be? And is it always the same substance, just at different concentrations, or can you make different substances, as long as they're acidic?"
"Um," said Ashido.
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"I think that's it for me, today," said Ashido, sitting down. "I'm going to have to drink, like, a dozen liters of Gatorade or something. You're brutal for someone so cute, did you know that, Midori?"
"He'd have to be, to get through the entrance exam without using a physical quirk," said Hagakure, dragging Ashido back up. "Come on, we still have the gym for fifteen, and I want feedback."
"You're both brutal."
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"Um," said Izuku, sidling up to Shinsou, notebook in hand. "Your quirk is a mind control type, right?"
Shinsou, scowled down at Izuku. "It's Brainwashing," he said, rather gruffly.
"Oh, wow, that's great. Mind control quirks are actually perfect for hero work, but the stigma means hardly any heroes have one. Like, you could stop a fight before it even started, or get villains to surrender right away, or help civilians who are too panicked to move properly, or heroes who are compromised, or who would otherwise have trouble cooperating with each other, for whatever reason. It's really too bad that the entrance exam is all robots."
Shinsou stared at him.
"Any- anyway, I've heard that some- some quirks can interact unexpectedly with mental quirks, and I've noticed you're not- You don't seem to be using it, much, even though we have permission here, and… Um. Just saying, you can practice on me, if you'd like."
"Oh! Or me!" said Kaminari, popping up seemingly out of nowhere. "We should test and see if you can get me when I'm in wheyyy mode, or Satou when he's powered up!"
"What does that even mean?" demanded Shinsou. He allowed Kaminari to drag him on, however.
"Oooooooh," said Izuku, his plan to test out the 'hallucination' thing Mr. Yagi had explained all but forgotten. "That's a great idea! I'll take notes!"
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"I know it's a little disappointing that we didn't get a chance to appear to Ninth," said Nana, "but don't you think you're overdoing this a little?"
Yoichi rolled over so that he was face up in his Bog of Despair. "No," he said, before rolling back over.
"Forget that," said Third. "Am I the only one at all disturbed by how he's picking apart all the other kids' quirks?"
"Yes," chorused the other ghosts.
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Izuku stood at the classroom door for several blank minutes. Where was everyone? Did he… Get the date wrong? No, there was enough security outside to defeat a small army. Which was probably the point, come to think of it. Was he late? Had he missed the sports festival? When he was the one giving the opening speech for the first years?
Forget public humiliation, he was going to be expelled. As soon as Mr. Aizawa saw him, he would–
"Midoriya, what are you doing here? Why aren't you in the prep room?"
Izuku squeaked. Then he registered what Mr. Aizawa had said. "Prep room?" he repeated. "Oh, yeah! The prep room! Thank you, Mr. Aizawa!"
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Shouta sighed as his number one problem child scurried away. How illogical… But there would be time to work on his memory and situational awareness in the future, and it would be downright hypocritical to scold him about it now.
He shuffled into the classroom, careful about his bandages, because he had just been scolded by Recovery Girl. The lights buzzed when he turned them on, more obvious without the students there… although they did have competition from the roar of the crowds in the festival stadium.
He walked over to his desk and knelt to retrieve his stash of jelly pouches, especially the coffee ones. Which he also wasn't supposed to have, but what Recovery Girl didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Or cause her to hurt him, which was the more pertinent issue from his perspective. If he was going to survive announcing the first year's festival by himself, he was going to need them.
Now weighted down, he started hobbling back to the stadium and the announcer's box. Jelly was heavy, as it turned out.
Recovery Girl really would kill him if she found out. He sped up. Not a lot. Just a little. Just in case. He certainly wasn't moving as fast as Midoriya had.
He made his way through staff passages, avoiding most of the crowds and pleasantly nodding to heroes who had been asked to come serve as security. Finally, and in good time, too, because his stupid injured body was starting to get winded, he reached the announcer's box and opened the door.
"Yagi," said Shouta, "what are you doing here?" He shook off the sense of deja vu.
"Oh," said Yagi, brightly. "Young Aizawa! I was getting worried that something had happened to you. Principal Nezu thought that you could use some assistance here, with young Yamada being otherwise occupied."
And so he'd replaced one loud blond with another. He couldn't even be that mad about it.
"You have any training for this?" he asked instead.
"Well, not for announcing sports events in particular," said Yagi. "But I have a lot of media and commercial experience and I've been practicing cheering on my students!"
"Right," said Shouta, who was feeling as if he'd somehow asked a stupid question. "Just don't show too much favoritism."
"Oh, I'd never! After all," and here he grew much more grim, "you know as well as I do, the risks of putting too much attention on young Midoriya. Besides, young Yamada gave us a 'cheat sheet!'"
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Izuku, dressed in his PE uniform, stumbled into 1-A's prep room.
"Hey!" said Kaminari. "It's Midoriya! We were getting worried about you, man!"
"Ah, y-yeah," said Izuku. "I wound up going to the classroom instead."
"Huh," said Jiro, "you'd think your quirk would have warned you against that."
"Um, yeah," said Izuku, "but I guess it wasn't really dangerous to go to the wrong spot at first? Especially since I got here okay, eventually, right?"
There was a murmur of agreement, but with a slight uneasy undercurrent.
"There's not any real danger in the sports festival, either, though, is there?" asked Yaoyorozu.
"I- I mean, there's the danger of getting beaten up?" And he'd been able to feel danger from wrong answers on a test before, so… This should be the same kind of thing, right?
Yaoyorozu nodded. "Right. There is that."
"Don't worry, Midoriya," said Uraraka, "I'm sure you'll be fine. We did so much studying for this, after all." She held up a fist. "I'm feeling confident! That's for sure!"
"Yes!" said Monoma, who twirled over with Aoyama. "I, too, am confident that we will defeat those philistines in class 1-B, not to mention everyone else!"
" Oui," said Aoyama, "our performance will be tres magnifique!"
"Don't forget we have allies in other classes, you two," said Yaoyorozu, slightly exasperated.
"Yes," said Monoma, "but neither of them are in 1-B. We have the excellent Mock and the ingenious Brigid to support us."
Ashido sighed heavily. "Speaking of support, I sure wish I could've used my costume."
"It's to keep things fair," said Ojiro with a shrug.
Iida power-walked into the room. "IS EVERYONE GOOD AND READY?" he shouted, clearly as nervous as Izuku, but trying to cover it up with sheer volume. "THE EVENT'S ABOUT TO START! Ahem. Where is Todoroki?"
"Oh, jeez," said Ashido, raising a hand to her lips. "He never came to any of our practices, so I just sort of forgot he should be here…"
Honestly, so had Izuku. Todoroki had quite the presence, but he could also fade into the background with surprising ease. Maybe it was just because he hardly talked? More importantly, what had happened to him? Was he sick? Did he get lost like Izuku did? Did he get kidnapped by people trying to get at his father? Endeavor might not have the social and political weight that All Might could bring to bear, but Number Two Hero wasn't an empty title at all. Maybe he–
Izuku's thoughts ground to a confused halt when Todoroki casually walked into the room.
Oh. He was just late.
Todoroki stood up in front of the room, clearly intending to make some sort of address.
"Er," said Izuku, "Todoroki, what is it?"
"Objectively speaking," said Todoroki, "I'm stronger than all of you. Even if you're all working together… even if All Might has his eyes on you, Midoriya, no matter the reason… I will beat you."
"Did he just… declare a rivalry with… all of us?" asked Sero, quietly. In the hush that followed Todoroki's words, he might as well have shouted.
"Can you do that?" asked Kaminari. "Is that allowed?"
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"He's got a point," said Banjo. "A rival is like a nemesis, or a girlfriend, you can only have one at a time."
"That's not true," said Yoichi. "You can have more than one girlfriend at a time."
En squinted at him. "Again, aren't you gay?"
"Multitudes, En, multitudes."
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"Aw, come on, man," said Kirishima, "do you really have to pick a fight with all of us, now? We're about to go on and fight anyway. Make your statement on the field!"
"I don't care. I'm not here to make friends." He shouldered past Kirishima and left the room.
"Uh," said Midoriya, "that… was something."
"Yeah," said Jiro. "Does he intend to just wait in the hall or something? We're all going to the same place."
Tokoyami shook his head, Dark Shadow mirroring him. "What a mad banquet of darkness."
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"Wow," said Yoichi, chuckling. "Sometimes I forget how needlessly dramatic teenagers can be."
All the ghosts, except Second, turned to stare at him.
"How needlessly dramatic teenagers are?" repeated Nana.
"Yes?"
"Have you not been sharing the same afterlife as the rest of us, or what?"
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The class waited in the tunnel, fidgeting, bouncing, flexing, whispering. Any minute, now, they'd be called in, to take their place on the field in front of the cameras.
Any minute, now.
"Is it just me," whispered Uraraka, "or is this taking a really long time?"
"I am sure our eagerness is only making time appear to be passing more slowly than it really is!" said Iida.
"No," said Monoma, frowning, "they really are starting late. I wonder if it's a problem with the cameras, or if something else happened. Midoriya, have you noticed anything?"
Izuku shook his head. "I d-don't think so? Just, um, just nervous for the event! I think. I hope nothing's– nothing's gone wrong."
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Shouta and Yagi bent their heads over Hizashi's so-called cheat sheet.
"I'm not reading this," said Shouta.
"This is… I thought we were supposed to avoid favoritism in these things," said Yagi, sounding incredibly confused. "What– What's this about a ruthless grand battle? That doesn't really… sound heroic…"
"Yeah, this is just typical Hizashi. Trash it and come up with one of those inspiring speeches you like so much."
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The intercom speakers crackled into life overhead.
"Welcome to the UA Sports Festival!"
"Is that…?"
"All Might!" squeaked a Gen Ed student several rows back.
"The once-a-year event where our new students show how they can go PLUS ULTRA!"
The crowd outside, in the stadium, cheered wildly.
"First, put your hands together for a class that has already faced some of the worst the world of villains has to offer and PERSEVERED! Class 1-A!"
Somehow, they managed to turn their initial rushed stumble into a confident march before they emerged from the mouth of the tunnel. Izuku squinted against the light at first, but recovered quickly and attempted to mimic Iida's wave.
"And next up, we have an equally worthy group of young heroes, who have been polishing their skills until they shine like the stars they are! Class 1-B!"
As the classes emerged, Mr. Yagi continued to read out names and short accolades, and Izuku started to feel like he was about to throw up. Oh, there were a lot of people here, and once all the classes came out, he would be speaking in front of them.
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"Well, this is it, guys," said Yoichi. "The last minutes of Hisashi not knowing Izuku is in the hero course."
"I'm still not sure why you think he doesn't know already," said Nana, crossing her arms. "You were listening to the conversation they had about hero names, right?"
"Are you kidding? That's how I know he has no idea. That was classic Hisashi, existing in his own world, having a completely different conversation than the other person. That's why he got my lab partner deported when I was an undergrad. He heard the word partner, and he immediately assumed our relationship was romantic." Yoichi shook his head sadly.
"New question," said Banjo. "Did All for One ever go to school?"
"When in reality, Chan and I had only just started discussing the possibility of a QPR…"
"No, seriously, what is that guy's level of education?"
"They had to go back to China… It was tragic. Almost as tragic as Izuku inheriting that particular personality quirk."
"Ew, don't talk about Ninth inheriting quirks from him," said En.
"I agree," said Hikage.
"Thank you," said En.
"That was indeed a tragic turn of events, Yoichi."
"Is no one else interested in whether or not All for One graduated high school?"
"Furthermore, I believe that the danger involved in a non-ceiling vaulting and the preceeding kidnapping would trigger far more anxiety that Ninth is currently experiencing."
"Er, thanks, Hikage, but you don't have to say 'non-ceiling.'"
"Hey!" snapped Nana. "Ninth's speech is starting, and I, at least, want to hear it."
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"Now!" said Ms. Kayama, brightly, snapping her whip to get the attention of people close to the stage. "The athlete's oath! Your student representative, from class 1-A, is Wonder!"
Izuku pasted on his best smile and climbed the stairs.