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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"Hm," said Hikage.
"His anxiety has certainly gone up," said Nana.
"But it isn't super anxiety."
"Uh, why do you sound disappointed about that?" asked En.
"Maybe All for One isn't watching?" asked Nana, not really believing it even as she said it. After all, when Toshinori had participated, she'd been his biggest fan. Not to mention Kotaro's soccer games…
"Not a chance," said Yoichi. "I bet he's just convinced himself of something stupid. Like UA changing the rules so that it's the top entrance exam scorer in the whole school who gets to do the oath, rather than the top scorer in the hero entrance exam."
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Ah, thought Hisashi as he slowly sipped a quirk from a failed nomu, UA must have been so impressed by his Izuku's natural talents that they had changed their rules about who gave the insipid welcoming speech. Of course, if they were going to change them for anyone, they would change them for Izuku. And Izuku's speech was much superior to anyone else's.
The nomu husk flopped to the floor and expired. Ah, what he wouldn't give to be able to drink wine again. It was much less messy.
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"I mean, is that really that stupid?" asked Nana. "It probably would be good to celebrate the other tracks as well, even if UA is hero-focused."
Yoichi shrugged. "If my brother thinks it, then it's stupid."
"Fair."
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"All of us," said Izuku, gripping the microphone stand, "are here, in this competition, for the same reason. To win." There were a few cheers and a distinct growl from Kacchan. "But winning– winning looks different to everyone. Some-someone from gen ed might want to join the hero course. A person from support will want to advertise their inventions. The business students want to polish their skills, win contracts, build– and build their brands. And in the hero course–" Izuku took a deep breath. "I-in the hero course, we want to show you, all of you, and- and ourselves, too, what kinds of heroes we can be." He raised his fist. This was All Might's pose, but he didn't think Mr. Yagi would mind. "I believe we can all win! Plus Ultra! Go beyond!
"PLUS ULTRA!" the other students screamed back at him.
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"Huh," said Third, scratching his ear. "That was actually pretty good."
"Hahahaha," chortled Yoichi, reaching out as if to embrace him, "you're coming around to the Izuku side."
Third leaned away from Yoichi. "What– What was that sound you just made?"
"My avuncular laugh! I'm working on a new one, since you said my other one sounded like my brother's."
En cleared his throat.
"Yes?" said Yoichi, turning towards him. "What is it?"
"I think I speak for all of us when I say, never make that sound again."
"I'd honestly prefer your All for One sound-alike laugh," said Banjo, looking rather ill.
Yoichi dropped his arms and curled his lip. "Seriously?"
"Seriously," chorused the other ghosts.
"Well, see if I share my popcorn with you guys, then."
"We can imagine our own."
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Izuku hurried back down the stairs. He wasn't running away, but it felt a little bit like it. He took his place between Monoma and Hagakure and breathed deeply.
"So, Wonder?" asked Hagakure, leaning towards him.
"It just felt like something that everyone helped me with," said Izuku, "and I'm always wondering what my quirk even is, so it fits there, too…"
"Surely," said Monoma, "you have a better idea of what it is after my generous guidance."
"Y-yeah, it really helped."
"Shhhh," hissed Iida from further up the line. "Ms. Kayama is about to explain the rules of the first event!"
"What a wonderful speech from our student representative!" The crowd clapped politely again, and the big screens all over the stadium lit. "Now, without any further delay, let's get the first event started. These are the qualifiers! It's in this stage that so many are sent home crying every year! And the fateful first event this year is… STAR SEEKER!"
"I don't know that one," whispered Hagakure.
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"Neither do I," said Yoichi, worriedly. "What is it? Is it new? Nana, Nana, do you know?"
"Hey, it's not like I participated in all that many of these myself! If it wasn't in the kids' presentation, I don't know about it!"
"I'm starting to wonder if anyone here went to school," grumbled Banjo.
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Ms. Kayama gestured expansively behind herself, and the ground rumbled as concrete slabs pulled back and something else rose up from below.
"In this game, students must find - and keep! - the Special Stars hidden on this Stellar Stage! Speaking of which please give a round of applause to the heroes who put this stage together for us. Kamui Woods, Pixie Bob, Aquarius, Cementoss, Power Loader, and their agencies!"
Yes, Izuku could see the expertise of all those heroes at work. Cementoss for the underlying structures, Pixie Bob for the seemingly natural hills, Aquarius for the water features, Kamui Woods for the plant life and fantastic, if widely-set, trees, and Power Loader for the traps and robots that were doubtlessly hidden all throughout the 'stage.'
"But students will have to do more than seek and find in this game of combat keep-away! There's more than a handful of hidden hazards scattered around, and, what's more, stars can be stolen! Students will need to keep their stars until the end if they want to move on to the next event!"
There were cheers all around the stadium as Ms. Kayama paused, letting the microphone rest by her thigh. She brought it back up again, grinning. "What's that? You want to make it harder? Well, never fear, here at UA we're always ready to go Plus Ultra!" She waited again, this time for the choral response to die down. "Our terrific teachers are going to get in on the fun. They won't be using their quirks, but that doesn't mean they'll be going easy on anyone!"
This time, the cheer was more of a deafening roar than anything else.
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"My," said Yagi, "it does seem as if the ideas Nezu got from his discussion with the students bore fruit."
Shouta grunted. "Most of the teachers here are pretty popular," he admitted, grudgingly, "but at least some of that is probably idiots thinking you're going to go out there."
"I can't imagine how they think I can commentate on the event and participate in it at the same time."
"In my experience, logic like that doesn't factor into it."
Yagi sighed. "You're probably right, but at least the two of us can give them a good show from up here."
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"It is pretty cool how we have both Toshinori and Izuku's viewpoints," said Nana, starting to settle more into the fake cinema she and the other ghosts had collaborated on.
"Yep," said Yoichi, unfurling a VICTORY IZUKU banner, "two whole ways to watch Izuku being awesome."
"It's almost like having cable again," said Nana.
"Cable would have more channels," said Hikage.
"Well, sure, it's not literally cable. But after just having one channel since I died, unless I want to watch your reruns, it's a big increase."
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"Oh, UA is certainly a superior institution," said Monoma, shaking slightly, "to take our disparate thoughts and turn them into something like this… Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, you can never let them know this was our fault–"
"You know," said Hagakure, "I'm invisible, not deaf."
"We're so dead," muttered Monoma. There may have been a swear word or two in there as well.
"It-it's not that bad," said Izuku, uncertainly. Sure, in junior high people had ganged up on him for 'not pulling his weight' in group projects… even if he was the only one who had done anything…
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"I'm reiterating my desire to kill Izuku's junior high teachers," said Yoichi.
"You know," said En, thoughtfully, "if you could get him to mention any of that to his father–"
"You could get him to reveal his hideous lack of a high school diploma!" said Banjo, loudly, while Nana and Third dragged En off to one side of the mindscape.
Yoichi sighed. "Hisashi has a high school diploma."
"But did he earn it?"
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But UA was different! He had friends, now.
Still, he could see some of the things they had mentioned to Nezu reflected in Star Seeker. The need for something new, teachers on hand and close to competitors in case of an emergency, a dynamic activity that would pit students against each other…
"It isn't too different from a scavenger hunt," said Izuku. And at least it wasn't like they had to deliver the stars and remove themselves from the game to pass on to the next event. That meant they could support each other the whole time. It also meant that they were at risk of having their stars stolen the whole time…
"And one more thing!" said Ms. Kayama. "Don't forget to stay in bounds! If you leave the stage, that's it for your search and your stars!" A red line around the raised area of the stage pulsed with red light. "Now, everyone, step on up to the starting line! When it goes green, that's your signal to go!"
The orderly rows of students immediately dissolved into chaos, and Izuku had Danger Sense and Hagakure to thank for his untrampled state.
"Come on," she said, "let's find a good place to start from."
"R-right," said Izuku.
"Everyone seems fired up after that introduction, don't you think so, Eraserhead?" There was a quiet grunt that might have been Mr. Aizawa agreeing with Mr. Yagi. "I wonder if any of the stars have already been spotted."
"If none of them have, then our students need a remedial lesson on assessing their environment. Not to mention all the pros here," said Mr. Aizawa, very dryly.
Izuku took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Right. Focus on the task at hand. Not much point in learning all those anti-anxiety techniques during quitk counseling if he didn't use them.
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"I think I see two of those stars already," said Yoichi. "Do you think Izuku will go after them?"
"Hmm," said Nana, "maybe if he was working on his own. He could get one or the other, then use float to stay out of reach of most of the other students. But getting a star too early is almost a liability. Unless you have a really good defense or stealth quirk, you'll get worn down by sheer numbers."
"Or if you've figured out a good defensive strategy with other students," said En.
"Eh," said Banjo, "I think not knowing what the event was kept them away from the main pitfalls in planning, but you know what happens to plans when they're put into practice."
"Against large but disorganized numbers, even simple cooperation can make a sizable difference," said Hikage.
"What are you talking about?" asked Banjo. "When did you cooperate with anyone?"
"I have dedicated my life to cooperation," said Hikage.
"He kind of did," said En. "With the whole, you know, living as a hermit thing."
"He would have done that anyway," said Banjo, waving his hand.
"That is true."
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A large, green, fifteen minute timer appeared on the screens scattered around the stadium. Written in large, bold letters over it was the word 'READY?'
Izuku wasn't sure if the tingling, electric feeling all over his skin was anticipation, Danger Sense, or Kaminari, a few meters away, unconsciously charging the air in his excitement.
The word above the timer changed to 'SET.'
The air itself seemed to shift as hundreds of students tensed.
'GO!'
Izuku activated Float as he lunged forward and pushed off the ground, then signaled his classmates towards the two stars he'd already seen– And there! A third!
"Oh, and that's A15, creating an entire ice palace in the northern grove, right off the bat."
"A decisive defensive move," acknowledged Mr. Aizawa. "Made more impressive by how he avoided trapping any of the other competitors."
"Indeed! It shows a great deal of care and dedication. Speaking of which, check out those springboard traps flinging students out of the arena! Power Loader really outdid himself this time!"
As Izuku rose up over the trees and the spikes of Todoroki's instant glacier, he saw Hatsume bounce up with her jetpack and Sero get launched by a combination of his and Uraraka's quirks. They weren't the only ones, however. A small group of people seemed to be climbing the air like it was stairs, and dear All Might, was that half of someone's head?
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"Wow, quirks are sure amazing," said Yoichi.
"We're ghosts living in the back of a teenager's subconscious," said Nana, "I think that at some point we have to give up on the idea of things being weird."
"I didn't say weird, I said amazing."
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"It seems as if some of our students have taken to the skies to find their stars," said All Might. "We have B12 taking up Rule and Comicman, Cellophane rising with the help of Uravity, Brigid, of the support course, using a jetpack, and Wonder, C5, Jetplane, and Lizardy flying with their quirks. What do you think of this strategy, Eraserhead?"
"Getting a big-picture view of a situation is frequently helpful, but it exposes you to attacks from below."
Even as Mr. Aizawa spoke, thorny green vines shot out of one of the more wooded areas and seized one of the general education students. A bright yellow star shape fell out of the student's grip, and was followed shortly thereafter by the student themself.
Danger Sense screamed at Izuku, and he dropped just in time to avoid a pair of long, spear-like objects. No– horns?
Izuku realized what was happening all at once. The students on the ground had assumed that, because he'd removed himself from the chaos below, he'd already gotten a star.
He dodged upward to avoid the next projectile, and saw Hatsume's jetpack take a shot. The metal body was tough enough to endure it, but apparently whatever B12 was using wasn't. He and the two other class 1-B students fell, but one of them summoned… A giant pillow made of the word POOMF!
Okay, sure, why not?
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"Quirks really are amazing," said Yoichi.
"You know what would actually be amazing?" asked Banjo.
"Giving Izuku your quirk?" asked Nana, sounding quite exhausted.
"Well, yeah," said Banjo. "Are you going to let me do it?"
"In the middle of a competition? Are you serious?"
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In the grand scheme of things, there actually weren't a whole lot of quirks that could be used effectively at long distances without support gear. That's what made Lady Nagant so effective when she was a hero, and so devastating when she turned villain.
However, in UA where most of the students had wanted to be heroes at some point in their lives, the ratio was much higher. Adding those to the support students' gadgets and weaponry made for a lot of attacks going up.
Sero had to stick his tape to a clump of rocks and reel himself down. Hatsume took several hits, and they were only mostly deflected by her own inventions.
But as the students on the ground clashed with each other, they had to turn their attention to defending themselves. After less than half a minute, few attacks were launched Izuku's way.
Then, almost on cue, the roar of Explosion drowned out everything else in the stadium. Izuku flipped himself over midair to look and grinned.
He'd been right! Kacchan really was awesome! He'd known Kacchan had wanted to fly since his quirk first came in. Well, since Izuku had compared his quirk to a rocket, but that was the same thing, really. And after Uraraka had shown him what her quirk could do, there was just no way he'd tolerate being upstaged. Then, seeing Izuku up here–
Honestly, thirty seconds was a bit long. Izuku couldn't imagine that it had taken Kacchan that long to get the star tucked into his half unzipped gym uniform top. He must not have realized that it was Izuku floating up here.
"Another student in the air! This one is, I believe, B17. That's quite a bit of explosive power on display!"
"Foolishly. He already has a star, and he won't be able to sustain that flight. What is he thinking?"
He let Kacchan get a little closer, and then dropped. The ground approached rapidly, and Izuku only barely caught himself before hitting the ground. Then, he was wrenched sideways, under the shade of one of the sparse groves of trees.
"Hi," Izuku said to Dark Shadow, a little confused. She and Tokoyami weren't supposed to be involved in the take-down-Kacchan plan. The last iteration had them providing cover to Jirou and Shouji, so they could use their sharp hearing to their advantage. The alternate grouping had been with Kouda, who was still a bit tentative when it came to physical combat.
"Hi!" she chirped back. "Fumi and I got separated from everyone else." Behind her, Tokoyami shrugged, seemingly resigned.
Danger Sense pulsed sickeningly, giving Izuku time to dodge before Kacchan descended in a cloud of smoke and fire. Dark Shadow squealed as she flinched away from the light.
"Deku," he growled, before a tumbleweed-like tangle of brawling students rolled in-between them.
"Ha!" shouted a boy with a blue and white bandana, emerging on top and holding up a star. "Hell yeah! Tell them that Weld–"
"Out of the way, extra!"
"Hey!"
Izuku was in the air again, waving at Kacchan. Dark Shadow slid up behind Kacchan, but he pushed her off easily with more explosions. Or maybe not so easily. As she withdrew, she grabbed the zipper of his uniform, and the star he'd tucked in there fell out. He cursed and fumbled for it, forced to extinguish his hands and fall in the process.
So, Kacchan still prioritized winning over beating up Izuku. Good. Izuku would've been disappointed in him, otherwise.
The boy with the blue and white bandana got to the star first and somehow fused it to the ground. A glance at the still-prone group of similarly fused students, and the way the boy's star was stuck to his own arm told Izuku that must be his quirk. Izuku had known someone in 1-B had a welding quirk - his class had researched more than the festival rules - but he hadn't realized it worked on organics, too. Wow, Izuku definitely had to put that in his notebook!
After the event.
"Take that, Lord Murder Explosion!" said the boy, dancing out of Kacchan's reach and into Kaminari's.
"Don't bother," said Izuku, still rising, and deliberately not looking at Kacchan. "He's got it fused to himself somehow!"
"Gotcha!" said Kaminari. "So, how're we gonna deal with Blasty, boss?"
Izuku cringed internally at the title. He was no one's boss! But this was part of the plan they'd come up with, so–
Kacchan screamed and exploded his star out of the ground. Then, he turned his baleful glare back up, towards Izuku, and took off again.
Izuku watched, terrified, fascinated, and more than a little thrilled. Right now, all he was doing was running away, but he was still putting that look on Kacchan's face.
He had to laugh a little, despite his nerves. This was so different from middle school.
"What are you laughing at, you goddamned nerd?" roared Kacchan. "Your pink-cheeked girlfriend won't be able to save you forever!"
Oh , Izuku thought, blankly, Kacchan doesn't realize I'm floating under my own power.
He could probably use that, somehow. Beings underestimated gave all sorts of advantages. But it also made Izuku mad. Kacchan hadn't even tried to research Izuku before this, had he? He just assumed he already knew everything. It was insulting.
But it was true that Izuku couldn't stay airborne forever. Or even the whole length of the event. Even if he could keep Float going for that long (which was by no means guaranteed), he still had to get a star.
And, for the next part of the plan to work, he had to get back to ground level and break Kacchan's line of sight while he was still raging.
Kacchan would be ready for Izuku to drop suddenly, this time. There was no way around that. Kacchan was smart, smarter than Izuku, and Izuku would be expecting it, if their positions were reversed.
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"Boo, no, Izuku, he's not smarter than you. He just got better grades because your teachers sucked. "
"That scene down there is missing something, though, isn't it?" said Nana. "Where are the teachers?"
"And the robots," added En. "I was hoping for some robot battles, they're always fun."
"The teachers are there," said Hikage.
"Where?" asked En, leaning forward.
"Ohh, I see," said Nana. "And the robots are there, En. Look at that, there, and there."
"Huh, that's going to be interesting."
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Izuku reoriented himself and got ready to drop. Neither he nor Kacchan had experience in aerial combat, but Izuku knew Explosion, and Kacchan didn't know Float or Danger Sense.
… It sort of felt like cheating, but Kacchan could have come to watch any of the class 1-A practices, just like Hagakure and Hatsume had gone to see the class 1-B practices. So, there.
He fell, feet first, towards Kacchan's face. Kacchan raised a hand to blast at Izuku, but wasn't able to keep his flight path steady with only one hand. He fell sideways, and they both missed. Kacchan quickly recovered, diving at Izuku with starling speed. Izuku arrested his descent and shot back up, and it was Kacchan's turn to miss.
"-that turned against villains! And there's an impressive dogfight shaping up over the south," All might was saying. "Aerial battles like this always remind me of my time working with the Angels in America. They're currently known for their Special-Class Villain Response work with Star and Stripe, but it's less well known that many of them are quirkless!"
"Wait, really?" None of the publications he'd read had ever mentioned that! He was sure he'd remember it! The Angels weren't exactly heroes, they worked for the American army, but they weren't not heroes, either, and Izuku had read about them when he was researching All Might's early career, and when he was reading about Star and Stripe. In both Japanese and English, too!
Not, like, nearly as much as he'd read about All Might himself, but still!
"Eyes on me, Deku!"
Izuku hadn't really taken his eyes off Kacchan, but it was nice of him to remind Izuku! Very sportsmanship-like!
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"Does Ninth know what sportsmanship is?" asked Banjo. "Because that's not it."
Yoichi sighed. "The next thing you'll be saying is that Izuku never went to school."
"You know, considering what his junior high was like–"
Banjo was cut off by numerous groans.
"I still don't believe either of you two went to school."
"I already told you about the fire truck incident. Why would he be so invested in winning a high school contest if he wasn't in high school?"
"First off, you didn't tell us anything, secondly, shoulding you call that the North Carolina National Guard incident? And thirdly the bastard isn't in government, and he still wants to win that, doesn't he?"
All of the older ghosts, even second, cringed with their whole bodies. "Wow, that is sure an optimistic view of the government you have there, Banjo," said Yoichi.
"Oh, come on, there's no way he could act normally enough to become president of a home owners' association, much less– Oh, come on," he said, noticing the tiniest shift in Hikage's expression.
"I was a building inspector."
"What does that even mean in this context? Give me a clue, man."
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Kacchan tried to ram Izuku, next, and wrap his legs around him, but Izuku had no desire to engage with Kacchan that closely, and managed to push off. Kacchan swung around for another attempt, but Izuku thought he had enough distance to get him back on the ground, and near Kaminari.
If things had gone according to plan there, Shinsou would be nearby. Hopefully, Kacchan was distracted enough for Shinsou's Brainwashing to work. Shinsou hadn't wanted to reveal exactly how his quirk worked, which was fair enough. There had to be some easy way to avoid or break free of the quirk's effects, or else he wouldn't be so reticent. Right now, Izuku suspected a vocal trigger of some sort, but eye contact, emotional states, and attention were still possibilities.
Danger Sense spiked, and Izuku narrowly managed to avoid a volley of thorny vines. But he had dodged down, not up, and he wasn't able to avoid the vines falling on him and wrapping him up that way. Thorns dug into his skin, and he was yanked sideways and down. Branches and leaves smacked into him as he was pulled through trees.
When he was finally still again, he was hanging upside down and a girl with vines with hair was frowning down at him. Two stars hung in her hair like oversized ornaments. Kacchan was in a similar predicament.
"Only angels should fly so high," she said, menacingly.
This was bad. Izuku on his own didn't have anything like an effective counter for Shiozaki Ibara. Even class B's recommendation students would have been easier to deal with.
"And another two victims fall to Vine's web!" announced All Might.
"Stop making me sound like a spider," said Shiozaki, aggrieved. "I'm a holy warrior."
Luckily, Izuku wasn't actually alone. "Hey, Kacchan, are you really going to let this girl get in the way of our fight?" Ugh, he felt kind of gross just saying something like that.
Kacchan, predictably, exploded.
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"That kid needs anger management," said Nana.
"Yeah," said Banjo. "That's too much rage, even for me."
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All the vines near him were shredded, along with Izuku's ears. Angry Kaccan was loud.
But Shiozaki thought the attack was more against her than against Izuku - those were her vines he was blowing up - and responded in kind. They battled
Izuku, torn free of the vine keeping him hung up, rolled over, trying to think how he was going to cut himself free of the rest of the vines. Or, did he need to cut them? He gripped one of the inner ones with both hands and pulled as hard as he could, digging his fingernails into the skin of the vine. It was thin and flexible, not woody. Green, and soft, if fibrous, like new blackberry or rose vines.
With the right force in the right place, they tore.
Izuku had to assume that the relative weakness of the vines directly wrapping around him was at least partially purposeful, to prevent injury. Tougher thorns and more mature, rougher vines, would hurt.
Then again, Shiozaki's hair was green, too, and it had taken multiple strands of vines to hang Izuku's weight from the branches overhead. Maybe he could ask her about it. After he apologized.
He snapped three more vines, one after another, and the rest loosened enough that he could worm his way out. He ran from the increasingly loud and vicious fight between Kacchan and Shiozaki. It wasn't what they'd planned, but he wasn't anywhere near Shinsou anymore.
He looked up at Hatsume. Her role, at the moment, was basically control tower. Unfortunately, she was pointing at him at the moment, so–
Wait.
He'd only barely completed the thought when Iida zoomed up to him, Uraraka on his back. Both of them had stars, and looked like they'd mostly avoided battle, although Uraraka was vaguely green.
"Should we join that battle?" asked Iida.
Izuku shook his head, then hesitated. Shiozaki had two stars. "Do you think you're fast enough to get the stars from her hair?"
Iida nodded decisively. "If one of you grab them."
"Hop on!" said Uraraka, holding out her hand. Izuku took it, and she used her quirk on him.
Izuku still couldn't get over how different Zero-G felt from Float.
He gripped tight to Uraraka and Iida both as Iida accelerated. First, Iida ran away from the fight between Shiozaki and Kacchan, but he turned, making a wide arc and gaining speed all the while. They intersected several other fights. The first time, Izuku was too distracted by their speed to do anything, but Uraraka made a grab for the star under contention. She missed, but Izuku got the idea in time to keep her from falling off. They almost fell into a pit trap, next, saved from uncertain doom only by the combined application of Zero-G and Float.
And then they were racing back to Kacchan and Shiozaki. Fast, faster, fastest–
And then Iida slowed, enough that Izuku and Uraraka could try grabbing the stars without breaking their hands. He must have learned that from his family, because Izuku didn't remember talking about that at all in practice–
But Shiozaki must have sensed their approach somehow, because she pulled herself up off the ground, not entirely unlike Sero, using one of the few branches left intact by Kacchan's attempts to escape. Izuku kicked off, reaching. His outstretched fingers brushed against the stars.
He curled away from a blisteringly hot blast on instinct, more than anything. Kacchan must be working up a real sweat!
But Izuku should probably focus more on how the force of that blast meant he was rapidly approaching the out-of-bounds area.
Uraraka, apparently seeing the same problem, disengaged her quirk, and Izuku caught himself with Float inches above the ground and sort of skipped himself to a gradual stop.
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" Did you ever figure out how to move horizontally without using the stockpile?" asked En.
"I'm starting to wonder if any of you paid any attention when you were with me."
"Sure we did!" said Banjo. "But it was a long time ago. And also kind of short."
"It was longer than yours, though," said Hikage.
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On the ground, Izuku patted out several smouldering patches on his PE uniform and had a brief tussle with a swirly-eyed support student with… taser nunchucks. Carrying something like that around when you didn't have any electrical resistance yourself was a remarkably bad idea.
But he'd done it! He'd gotten a star! Only one, as opposed to the two he was going for, but still! It was bigger than it looked from a distance, and reminded Izuku of a prop from a video game, all rounded, and fat around the middle.
A faint twinge from Danger Sense kept him from being completely blindsided by Mr. Yamada, but he wasn't able to keep his grip on the awkwardly-shaped star, and it was snatched from his grasp. He turned, ready to fight, but couldn't help but stare blankly, for a moment, at the sight of Mr. Yamada - Present Mic - in the UA PE uniform.
This– this felt like some kind of special event, for a hero fan like Izuku, but he was in the middle of a fight, how was he supposed to react…?
"And it looks like Wonder, after his meteoric path across the event stage, has been ambushed by none other than Present Mic! What a twist!"
"Since they aren't able to use their quirks, our teachers won't be using their usual tactics, and students would be wise to remember that."
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Like usual, Kurogiri watched the UA Sports Festival with his charge.
So why… Why did it feel so unusual?
Why did all of this feel wrong?
Shigaraki Tomura's debut as a leader of villains was only a few weeks ago. Perhaps… No, it must be that, and the change in perspective such an event caused. These child-heroes had already clashed with Shigaraki Tomura, and proved themselves to be a credible threat. Therefore, it was natural that this sports festival, as opposed to others, would engender a sense of urgency. Especially as Kurogiri had yet to make much progress in his goal of finding suitable companions for Shigaraki Tomura.
However… The feeling Kurogiri experienced as he listened to the announcers and watched the event unfold wasn't urgency, but nostalgia.
The feeling intensified as the main camera panned over to where Present Mic was confronting the green-haired boy, the one both Shigaraki Tomura and Sensei were interested in. The more negative of the two announcers was saying something, but Kurogiri couldn't hear it past the sudden thunder in his ears. The side screens showed Midnight - presumably as fanservice, she wasn't doing anything at the moment - and a crowd of heroes in the stands that included Ingenium as an audience reaction.
That, that, there, was what Shigaraki Tomura needed. A forceful blond, a depressive with lapsed hygiene, someone flashy, with a degree of showmanship, and someone friendly and easygoing who was nonetheless fierce and powerful in battle.
Yes. A set of personalities like that could form a bond that might transcend death itself.
Kurogiri closed his eyes, briefly. That was foolish thinking. But now that he knew what he wanted for Shigaraki Tomura, he could communicate his requirements to Giran.
And… now that he had some idea of what he wanted for himself… Unlike Shigaraki Tomura, Kurogiri wasn't supposed to have desires of his own, much less act on them, but as his half-lidded eyes roved across the screens, he couldn't help but wonder… What was a villain made for, if not transgression?