Chapter 12: Upcoming Sports Festival


Classes restarted on the very next day. And it was hectic.

I barely made it to class, with reporters still skulking about the district and ambushing our students left and right. I nearly got ambushed myself, if Taikou hasn't pull me away from their microphones. I think Shinsou did something with them the moment I wasn't looking. I sure hope he doesn't get into trouble for using his Quirk outside of campus…

The moment I walked into the classroom, I was immediately pulled to my seat by my invisible classmate and her pink-skinned partner-in-crime to 'interrogate' me.

"So? How did it go?!" Ashido asked excitedly.

"How did what go?"

"What, she says!" Hagakure shouted in agony, "Your date! With Kirishima?"

"Kirishima? What-Oh! You mean yesterday!" I realized, them nodding to it, "That wasn't a date. We just met on the streets and he treated me to a meal."

"Oh, my god!" The horned girl groaned, "Can you believe this girl?!"

"When a guy and a girl have a meal together, that's a DATE!" The invisible schoolgirl stated firmly, "Didn't you go on dates back in middle school?"

"…No?" I shrugged at their question, "I mean, I have eaten with Taikou before. And Shinsou. Sometimes both of them together. But those doesn't qualify as dates, doesn't it?"

"…Oh god, we have a late bloomer here…"

"And with a face like that, and that bodyline…"

I raise my eyebrow at their implication. I myself doesn't consider myself a late bloomer, it's more along the lines of not interested. Sure, I have considered maybe settling down one day, but right now I'm more invested into becoming a Pro Hero first. I'll look for romance after that.

If it worked with dad, why not me?

"Tatsuya-chan's lack of romance aside, did any of you guys watch the news last night?" Hagakure asked, getting nods from a few of us and me, "It's crazy that we've got a few seconds of screen time! But I guess no one notices me hanging out in the background…"

"Well, your costume is just gloves, after all…" I pointed out.

"We are a real big deal now." Kaminari exclaims, "The new channels LOVE us! We're basically celebrities!"

"Oh, get over yourself." Jirou tells them, "The famous Hero Course of Yuuei is attacked by Villains, that's all they care about."

"Who knows what would have happened if the teachers haven't shows up?" Sero noted, "It's terrifying to think about."

Conversations like that pop up left and right about the classroom, topics like the fight between All Might and Nomu as well as our possibly celebrity-like status being talked about left and right. I personally didn't want to think about that time any more than I really have to. After all, being at ground zero isn't all great, nearly getting blown away by their exchange isn't something I want to experience again.

And speaking of ground zero…

I took a glance to my left, Midoriya flinched when our eyes meet as he turns his attention to his desk with a slight ting of blush on his cheeks. Almost forgot about this little issue.

I'm not sure if the principal has told All Might about what I've told him, and who knows what the Symbol of Peace would do with that knowledge. If anything, he might be on guard around me from now on. The last thing I need is for the main character to be cautious with me…

Come to think of it, compared to later down the road due to the tutelage of Gran Torino, he definitely doesn't have proper training like some of our top tier classmates. Bakugou is basically the trope of the talented douchebag incarnate so he doesn't count.

I wonder if-

"Attention class!" Iida suddenly shouted from the podium, "Homeroom is about to begin! Everyone, please go to your seats!"

"Um… we're already in our seats." Sero points out for him, "And Ashido and Hagakure already went back to their desks a moment ago."

"Dang it!" He grumbles I witness him sit back down with a somewhat frustrated scowl on his face.

A few seconds later, the door to the classroom slides open to reveal not Aizawa, but dad instead, "Good morning, Class 1-A." He greets us as he slowly walks towards the podium, "I know it's not my time period, but with Eraserhead being as injured as he is, I am assigned as his substitute until he recovers."

"I am glad to have you here, sensei!" Iida greeted.

"As I am you. But sadly, we don't have time for pleasantries right now." He tells us, "After all, you all have to face one heck of a battle soon."

That caught everyone off guard as we all waited anxiously for him to elaborate. I am panicking in my own head as I wasn't expecting this at all! What battle is there?! I mean, I don't think there's anything after the whole USJ arc and the anime didn't provide any fillers like that at all-

"Of course, I'm talking about the upcoming Sports Festival."

"""SO ORDINARY!"""

"Damn it, don't scare us like that!" I shouted. Dad, seriously?! You couldn't have start with that first?!

"But wait, is it really such a good idea to host it?" Kaminari asked worriedly.

"Didn't Villains just sneak in?" Jirou added worriedly.

"Yeah, they could all attack again." Ojiro noted.

"According to the administration, it is a necessity in order to show that the threat has been handled and the school is still as safe as it always has. Additionally, they are planning on beefing up the security for this year." Dad explains, "With that being said, the Sports Festival is an important event that impact all students in Yuuei. It's not something we can cancel willy-nilly."

"Because the nation's top heroes will be watching too, right?" Yaoyarozu asked, "They'll be scouting for us!"

"They'll be looking to hire us as Sidekicks once we graduated. That's how it's done." Kaminari noted.

"But then some Sidekicks would never manage to go solo." Jirou bit out, "They're sidekicks FOREVER. That'll be you, Kaminari."

"G-Grgk!"

"NATURALLY!" The emphasis on that word brought everyone attention back to him as dad continues to explain, "You'll gain valuable experience and popularity if you were to be picked up by a big-named Hero. But the window for such a thing is small, miss it and your careers might never take off. So, shows the Pros your best, and strive for your future the best possible way you can."

"You only get one chance per year, which means three chances in your lifetime. If you are planning to be an aspiring Hero, this is one event you can't afford to miss out. That means you better work hard and not slack off, understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good, then class is dismissed."


Once our class is released for lunch, the excitement from that announcement earlier this morning bursts open, everyone all chattering and talking about what they would do at the festival.

And with everyone all busy with their own things, I decide to make my move.

"Hey, Midoriya?" I calls out to the green haired teen who flinches at my voice, "Sorry to bother you, but can I talk to you for a moment? In PRIVATE?"

"S-S-Sure! Of-Of-Of Course!" He nodded nervously.

As he went to apologize to his two friends, Iida's eyes met mine. For a moment, he seems to have an intense stare, before he adjusted his glasses and assuring his friend with the same eccentric movements he is known for. Huh? What was that about?


We both made it outside to a small corner near the stairs, where there's not much traffic considering it is in the opposite way to the cafeteria.

After checking for any possible eavesdropping, I turn my attention back to the future No.1 Hero. He can't stop shaking his knees, his back is hunched forward, and whenever our eyes meet, his eyes immediately look the other way. God damn, it's like I'm looking at a puppy! All those fanart of him is right, he is a damn cinnamon roll!

"Calm down, will you?" I asked worriedly, my frustration leaking into my tone a little, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not Bakugou." I let out a small growl at the same time, "It's about All Might and you."

"Hrk! I-I see…"

"Let me first assure you." I place my hands on his shoulder, noticing that I'm a couple inches taller than him, "I would not breath a word about All Might to anyone, or the nature of your quirk to him."

"Re-Really?"

"I swear on my heart."

"O-Okay…"

"Good." I nodded with a smile as I let go his shoulder, he somewhat eases up a little to my relief, "And lastly, I want to help you."

"Huh? He-Help me?"

"Yes, help you." I repeated myself, "Look it is obvious that, if I may be blunt, you lack any REAL proper training besides the usual strength training and cardio workouts. And, a lack of a better word, behind the curve compared to rest of us in the whole quirk department."

"T-That's true… It's troubling." He noted grasping his hand a little, "I'm still having trouble controlling how much I use at one time." He then blinked a little, "Come to think of it, there is this one time–"

"Ah-Ah-Ah! Save that for All Might." I tells him, "He has way more experience than I do. He'll know what to do." He nodded and I continue, "What I am proposing is that you could train with me!"

"Huh? W-With you?"

"Yeah!" I nodded, "I know a guy that practices martial arts and has been teaching me for about…" I counted a little, "About five to six years now? If I ask, he might teach you a few things too! Maybe it can help with regulating you-know-what, with the whole control the flow of the body energy and all that. Not to mention that my quirk is somewhat similar to 'it'. What do you say?"

"Of course! Martial arts are famous for their controlling the flow of energy in their body, and One-For-All is somewhat similar…" He then starts mumbling non-stop, a sight that I am quite familiar with personally, in this life and the previous one. Got to say, it's kind of weird and endearing at the same time.

"HAHAHA!" A loud boisterous voice can be heard, knocking Midoriya out of his trance as loud footsteps stomp up the stairs before All Might slides in front of us with a proud pose, "Midoriya-shounen… Is HERE!"

"…Just a quick question…" I pointed out with a raised eyebrow, "Why do always do that? The poses and the catchphrase, I mean. This ain't Jojo." Then the image of All Might doing such a pose, more specially the Jonathan Joestar pose, pops into my head, forcing me to push my hand against my mouth before I became a loud cackle of laughter, "On-On se-second tho-thoughts, you-you do y-y-y-you…"

"Ooooookay…?" I can hear All Might's eyebrow raising in response.

"Do you need something, All Might?" Midoriya asked.

"Ah, yes. I want to ask if you'll…" He then raises his tied lunchbox in a rather feminine manner with his hands raised to his chest with one holding onto the lunchbox, "Have lunch with me?"

"PFFTT!" I almost burst out laughing from that phrase alone. Add the whole girly posture and it made for quite a ridiculous scene that I never thought I have the pleasure of seeing.

"Oh! S-Sure…" He nodded before turning to me, "Um… Tatsuya-san… about the–"

I lift my hand up to stop him from talking as I gather my breath into order before turning to him, "Don't worry. You don't have to accept right away. Just try to tell me the answer by the end of school, okay?"

"O-Okay." He nods before following All Might down the stairs.

Well… guess I'll go for lunch.


"Hey! Genko! Saved you a spot!" Taikou calls out to me from our table. With him is our usual group of friends with the small exception of Kirishima and Tetsutetsu for some reason; although the chanting of people at another table with the two turfs of spikey hairs of red and silver is suggesting something, all sitting down and halfway finishing their lunch. However, someone else is with them this time.

"Hey there." Shinsou waved at me in his usual deadpan expression.

"Shinsou?!" I stated in surprise, my purple-haired friend is sitting at the table munching away at his omelet rice, "I didn't expect to find you here."

"He came to us, actually." Tsuyu tells me.

"He's a pretty nice guy." Pony stated with a smile, "If a bit quiet…"

I looked at him a raised eyebrow, he replies with his own and a shrug.

Now that I think about, I've should have recognized Shinsou the moment I met him. He is a fan favorite for a lot of people, and his appearance is rather distinct and obvious. Damn me and my lack of remembering plot…

"What about you?" Taikou asks me, "You're usually very early."

"I have some matters to take care of." I tells him as I sat down on the table, "Nothing much."

"Speaking of which… what are your guys plans for the sports festival?" Shinsou asks us, "It must be a really big deal for you people from the Hero Course."

"You have to remind me of that!" Taikou groans in agony as he lands his face in his hand, "I was looking forward to Golden Week, too…"

"Oh yeah, it happens on the tail end of Golden Week." I pointed out as I took a bite of my tempura prawn, "At least we'll have the most of it to prep for the festival." I swallowed my bite, "Well, I'll probably be jogging every morning and evening, maybe practice a few forms before breakfast."

"Want to meet up to train, then?" My sleepy-eyed friend asked, "It's been a while since we actually spar with each other."

"Sure, if I am able…" I nodded before turning to my childhood friend, "What about you, Taikou? Want to join us?"

"…I guess…"

"How about you guys?" I asked Tsuyu and Pony.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have my own training schedule to work on, kero." The frog girl stated.

"Same here." The American nodded, "But maybe next time?"

"Sure."

*SLAM*

My attention turns to the table I passed by before, where the crowd suddenly cheers as a harden arm of Kirishima is raised up with a victory cry.

"So…" I pointed at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Kirishima wants to see whose quirk is the better one and Tetsutetsu likes a good challenge." Taikou explains, "Guess we know the answer now."

"Boys will be boys." Tsuyu commented, me and Pony nodding in agreement.


"Now remember, you all only have two weeks to train and prepare for the sports festival!" Dad tells us with we all gathered at the track field in our gym uniforms, "So I don't want to see anyone slacking off today, understand?!"

""Yes, sir!""

Due to the upcoming sports festival, all afternoon classes are to be on hold from tomorrow onwards, as a way to let us have enough time to train for it. Got to admit, it would free up my schedule quite a bit and allow me time to practice my forms after school. Got to ask Shinsou if his classes are the same, that way we can link up for practice.

With self-improvement being the goal here, we all disperse into our selective groups while some just went solo like Bakugou and Todoroki.

I decide to head for the tracks to practice my running, my speed back in USJ is really lacking so I want to improve on my time. And I need to find some way to charge up my quirk without relying on a source of electricity. Wonder what else have a charge of electricity…?

"Hey, Tatsuya-san?"

Just as I was about to start my lap, Midoriya runs up to me, "I want to talk to you about… you know."

"Oh, sure. Want to go somewhere-"

"Oh, n-no! It's cool, it's n-nothing that serious!" He assures me with a sort of panicking waving of his arms, "It's about your offer." My eyebrows raised a little at that as he continues, "I've… talked with All Might, and he thinks that is a good idea as well. Although I would need to keep to my usual training routine, and maybe…"

I let out a small giggle at the start of his mumbling, "So…"

"Ah, I-I mean… I would like to accept your offer… to train with you."

"…I see." I nodded with a smile, "That's good to hear." At least now, he will have a much better chance dealing with the plot. With hope, he might handle Muscular without breaking his arms. I sure hope Budo will be around. It's better if a master practitioner teaches him instead of a couple of amateurs… but I guess sparring with us could work as it is…

"What is your address?"

"Huh? O-Oh! It's…"

With this, my plan to alter the plot begins…

To be continued…


Omake

"Fifty minutes?!"

"Yeah… my time limit is getting shorter by the day." Yagi Toshinori tells his student as he pours him a cup of tea, "I can barely maintain my muscle form for an hour now."

"It's that bad…" Izuku mutters to himself worriedly, "Sorry…"

The Symbol of Peace inwardly chuckles at his reply. He always knew that the young man is similar to him in many ways. Ambitions, determination, that drive to save others, even his personality in some ways. It's like looking into a mirror. "Don't apologize! We're so alike, you and I!" He laughed, "I wanted to talk to you about a few things, is all."

"Oh, okay…"

"Well, first thing first… Tatsuya-shoujo." Mentioning her brought a slight flinch in his student to his grim realization, "I take it that she has sought you out about One-For-All?"

"N-No! She didn't at all!" Izuku tells him, "Actually, she said that she wouldn't say anything to anyone. In fact, she wants to help me."

"Help you?"

"Yeah. She knows that I couldn't regulate One-For-All properly and wanted to help me with it." He then turns to his master and adding on, "Speaking of that, I wanted to tell you something about that. There was one time which that was no kickback when I used it!"

"Ah, I think I remember you mentioning that before." He stated, "Was there anything different about that time?"

"Different…? The only difference is…" The future no.1 Hero thought for a moment, and then came to a realization, "I've used it on… that black Villain…"

'…The Nomu?' Toshinori wonders about that. That beast of a man isn't exactly a normal person, with its multiple quirks and lack of a mind. If that is the case… "It might be due to its Shock Absorption Quirk taking the full impact of your punch, absorbing the recoil with it."

"Ah! That may be! It did feel like I was punching a cushion!" He then came to a grim realization, "I guess that means that I've made no improvements, after all…"

"It may seem so, but…" The teacher thinks for a moment, "Maybe you need a better visualization then the egg. Something to help you visualizing it. You could ask your classmates for help, if you can."

"Now that you mention it, Tatsuya-san said that she knows someone that could teach me martial arts to help regulate One-For-All." He stated, "And also stated that her quirk is similar to One-For-All as well."

"Similar…?" If he remembers Class 1-A's student profiles that he has re-read over and over again in the months leading to the start of the semester, her quirk is describes as absorbing electricity and using it to accelerate her reflexes. In a sense, it is similar to One-For-All-

"Oh my goodness…"

"All Might…?"

"Midoriya-shounen. I fear that Tatsuya-shoujo might have a better understanding of One-For-All than me…"


Yes! Sports Festival is on the way! Man, this is pretty difficult to write about, even though I have an idea on how to write it, but when it came to put down words…

Anyway, yes, Midoriya and Genko would be training buddies! I have a lot of ideas on how it may work, and his interaction with Taikou and Shinsou, especially the latter. I have already picturing the butterfly effect coming into play soon…

With that, I thank you for reading this!