"Midoriya Izuku. Exceptional grades, a clean record, and lately, an up and coming musician." Nezu hummed, looking at me file, while I watched him with a grin.
"Do you mind if I ask what you are? A dog? Tiny bear? Big mouse? What's going on here?" I asked as I poured myself a cup of tea before pouring it out on the floor.
"Oh, I know. You're a chimera! You're none of those things, and yet you have something that makes you better than me in the eyes of society. Your quirk means you, an unidentifiable animal, get you treated with the same level of humanity I did as a child. A plaything for the cruel."
It seemed I'd stumped even the wise principal of U.A. High School for a moment, before he adjusted his tie and cleared his throat.
"Sorry to interrupt, but let's say you expelled me for a moment. I'm the hottest thing in the country." I told him, pulling out my phone and going to Tweeter, dozens of videos of me going viral from different angles and video qualities.
"I'm not going to expel you. I understand that you're emotionally fragile at the moment." Nezu remarked, making me laugh as I stood.
"Of course you aren't. You can't afford the negative publicity that would gain you. Not when I called out an abuser and started a rally for people to stand up for those who need them. In fact, I'm going to walk out of this office and make out with the first cute girl I see. And then? Well, we'll see."
At the door, I turned, looking into his black eyes, serious as I could be.
"And principal? I'm not emotionally fragile. Right now, I'm put together exceptionally well. That's the scary part. I was coming undone before this."
Pausing, I smiled at him, giving a little wave.
"Welp, my friends are waiting. See ya!"
Laughing loudly, I walked out, spotting Jiro and her friends there, waiting with worry on their faces.
"What happened in the -" Jiro started, but I leaned down and kissed her, interrupting her, taking a moment to savor the feeling, a small part of me wishing that we were older, happy. That I'd chosen a different life.
"Oh, you know. The usual. Anyway, lunch is over, right? I've got class. But, I know you were listening anyway. It's what I'd do, so talk about me while I'm not here, okay? I love it when my name is on your lips."
One more laugh, and I turned to leave, whistling off key as I continued to leave the world speechless, jumping up and clicking my heels, stumbling as I landed, but I didn't fall.
Thank God we "kidnapped" me. It meant I could skip going to the studio for a while, walking into 1-A after class instead, and spotting an interesting sight. The same person who'd helped give me my scar. The son of Endeavor himself.
"Nice scar." I told him, watching him look up with disinterest before spotting my own face.
"So... You're Todoroki, right? You're the second best-looking guy with a scar here." I told him, seeing him look confused.
"There was a competition?" He asked, so dense that I had to wonder how he'd survived this long in the world.
"What? No, I'm making something called a joke. You might have heard of them, but it doesn't sound like it." I sat on his desk, engine guy immediately looking mortified.
"Please, don't sit on the desk! It's an insult to the institution we're a part of, as well as the students who have come before us!" He told me, waving his arms a little roboticly.
"I'm not gonna lie, dude, it must hurt to sit with that stick so far up your butt. But maybe that's why your posture is so excellent."
It seemed like he was resetting for a moment before opening his mouth for what could only be a truly beautiful rebuttal.
"How vulgar! What happened to the polite young man who came in here the other day?" He asked, looking so stupid, so rigid. He looked a bit like a living robot, but I could see the immediate regret as he spoke.
"I apologize, I didn't mean to speak so carelessly."
Standing calmly, I walked over, seeing him look a little nervous, the class quiet as I looked into his eyes.
"Forget about it. We all speak carelessly when we're threatened by someone much more handsome, charming, funny, tall... okay, you win that category, but only by a little bit." I told him, smiling as I joked away, like I forgot his transgression already. But how could I?
"I, uh, I suppose I am a bit taller than most." He laughed, coming alive a bit.
"I'll say. Man, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were Ingenium. I'm kidding, of course. I know you're related. Those leg engines give it away. Come by the workshop sometime, and let me look at them, okay?" I asked, checking my wrist, no watch there.
"Man, gotta get this thing repaired." I muttered, laughing at my joke as I sat in an empty chair, turning to face the majority of the class, sighing as I let the mask slip a little.
"Are you okay?" A blonde with a French accent asked, watching me spin in the chair.
"Weirdly, yeah. I've... never been as alive as i am these last few days. Some would call that a mental health crisis, I call that needing my guitar so I can belt out some sweet licks. Oh, I came in here to ask Todoroki about scar care, but somehow, I got distracted." Stopping my spinning, I stood a little dizzy, but I walked in semi-straight line to Todoroki and patting myself down, finding a journal in my pocket and handing it to him.
"Please, your voice is too calming. Just write it down so I don't fall asleep by mistake."
"Okay." He answered, like I was acting as normal as possible, just opening the book and flipping through the pages until he got to a blank one.
"Jiro! I almost forgot you were in here!" I suddenly declared after watching him a moment, walking over and peppering her face in kisses.
"Oh my God, you're so embarrassing!" She cried, her jacks wrapping around my wrist, pulling me closer until I pulled away.
"I can proudly say, without a shadow of a figment of a doubt, that I, Midoriya Izuku, love you, my wannabe Wednesday Addams."
A jack to the side, and I laughed, rubbing my ribs as I did, grinning like an idiot.
"Love you, too..." She mumbled, a chorus of awww going up from the other girls, while I playfully flexed, the boys cheering me on.
"Ahh, I've done it! I've accomplished my one true goal in life and got an alternative girlfriend!" I joked, this time expecting the jack and gently taking it in my hands, wrapping my fingers around it slowly.
"Midoriya, here." Todoroki spoke, walking over with my notebook, handing it to me.
"Thanks, I'll look into these later. I've actually got to get going. If I miss my train, my moms gonna flip." I told him, letting go of the jack and putting my notebook away.
"With that covered... someone, please add me to the group chat. Seriously. We all survived the USJ together. Let's make t-shirts, get our nails done, whatever. I'm a girly girl and a boys boy." I told them, finally taking my leave and Jiros' hand.
"You staying back?" I asked, no longer really paying attention to her classmates. Midoriya Izuku loved her. But I didn't.
"No... come on, dork." She told me, and i looked up with a smile, winking at Denki.
"That means train kisses." I told him, the midget with balls for hair looking at me.
"How does a guy with a face like that pull a girl?" He cried, and I stopped a second, wanting to hide, momentarily ashamed of myself, no matter what I said.
"Because you little weed, he treats me like a human being, not something he can grope, which he could if he wanted, because I trust him enough to do it. But he's too sweet to do something like that. You're just upset because your little Mineta doesn't stand a chance of ever being near a woman, so you have to touch all of us like the pathetic virgin you're going to be until you die. Now, I'm going to leave you to the mer-"
Somewhere between Jiro saying she trusted me enough and saying I was sweet, I snapped back to reality, her words sinking in, unclipping my bag strap and wrapping it around his neck.
"You like touching people? Do you like it when I touch you? Force myself on you? Does it scare you?" I asked, feeling his fear in every movement, relishing in it, his arms moving to his head, trying to grab his hair, but I pushed his face against the floor, his arms pinned under my knees.
"Midoriya, stop!" Someone told me, but I wasn't listening, feeling something wrapped around me, pulling me off as someone checked on the midget.
"That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you deal with sexual predators. No mercy." I gasped, feeling lightheaded. I wasn't sure I'd been breathing when I'd choked the little puke.
"Dude, you were scary. I thought... I mean, it looked like..." Denki started, not finishing.
"We thought you were going to kill him." The frog girl spoke, so upfront with her opinion.
"I was." I told them, and now that I was thinking, I felt good. I'd have done the world a favor.
"Jesus..." The redhead muttered, and I realized he was what pulled me off Mineta.
"He deserved worse than a sore neck." I told them, shaking off his arms and turning away, taking my bag strap from the floor and finding my bag in the doorway, putting it back on before I left, heading home without a word to anyone else.
Laying in my bed after school, I never expected what came next, just texting Jiro, who wasn't answering. God, even not caring about the girl I texted, I was still fifteen and anxious.
Then there was a knock on the door that I ignored, but I couldn't mistake someone screaming at my mother, running out to see a short man with blue hair, a man next to him with red balls for hair.
"Oh my god. You're that nasty midgets parents, aren't you?" I asked, seeing loathing on their faces.
"You should be ashamed for raising such a brute of a son!" Minetas' father cried, and I grinned at him, watching his husband turn to me, stepping forward like he wasn't half a foot shorter than me.
"I'm going to kick your ass." He threatened, but I laughed at him instead, walking to the living room.
"Come in, and step lively. I've got things to do." I told them, taking a seat on the couch, my mother and Minetas fathers doing the same.
"So, how much did your roach of a son actually tell you?" I asked, my mother standing nervously.
"I know you attacked him unprovoked! Just because he's short!" The one with red balls yelled, looking at me like I was the devil.
"I asked how much. List it." I demanded, watching the short one turn red with fury.
"Who are you to demand anything after what you did!?" He screamed, getting up and in my face.
"The boyfriend of one of the girls he's sexually assaulted." I told him, seeing something in his eyes change.
"He wouldn't!" The redhead cried, but his husband backed away and walked to the door.
"Let's go dear." He said, the redhead following quickly.
"Have a good day! And if you think of filing a lawsuit, remember who has the money for dozens of lawyers, was in the right morally, and that your son will go to jail a lot longer than I will!" I called, the door slamming shut while I sat back and sunk into the couch.
"Is Jiro okay?" My mother asked, and I shrugged.
"She won't text me back... I almost killed him, y'know? I was going to choke him to death, but his classmates stopped me." I told her, reflecting on it. I didn't care that he'd almost died, I cared that they stopped me.
She sat next to me, my poor, poor mother, and I realized that all the pain and confusion that I felt she experienced right along with me.
"I'm so tired. I wish life wasn't so hard." I muttered, and no matter what side of this I was on, I was tired.
She rubbed my shoulder lovingly, in the way only a mother did, and I relaxed, my worries on the back burner while I scrolled through my socials, until my phone rang.
"Midoriya Izuku speaking." I answered, yawning a bit.
"Midoriya, kid, you're topping the charts on Tweeter! We can use this momentum for your album sales." Mr. Kanon told me immediately, not wasting a second of time.
"I'm fine after being kidnapped and mutilated. Thanks for asking. No, I'm not going to use my activism to push my music. Speaking of, I will use my music to push my activism." I told him, hanging up and thinking about my next moves. Which pawns did I need to move now?
First. I needed to put myself back in the good graces of class 1-A. While I did that, I'd work on the gear for them, integrating my own coding into anything I could. Of course, I'd be working on gear so I could compete properly in the sports festival. Okay. One thing at a time.
Leaving the house, I texted my mother after, the train ride familiar, even if it felt like another lifetime ago. Maybe it had been.
Knocking once, twice, three times, waiting until someone came to answer the door.
"Midoriya, is that you?" Mr. Kyoka asked, looking me with sympathy in his eyes.
"Is Jiro home?" I asked quietly, playing the part of broken teen easily. It was easy to live my truth.
Ushering me unside, he didn't look at me, ignoring my face and leading me to the living room.
"You have a lovely home." I told him, shuffling from another room catching my attention, Jiro coming out of her room, wearing pajamas. I'd never seen her so... vulnerable looking.
"I'm sorry." I apologized, but she simply closed the distance and put her arms around me, my own arms instinctively doing the same.
"Are we still... do you still like me?" I asked after a moment, not sure of what I was supposed to do next.
"I still like you." She assured me, and I felt a worry lift off my shoulders, even though I wasn't sure why. She was Midoriya Izukus girlfriend. Maestro loved Toga. So why did I want to stay in this moment forever?
"I just... I had to know." I mumbled, finally letting go.
"Now you do." She told me, letting go as well.
"Even though I'm a..." I felt my eyes water and changed my sentence midway. "Even though I look like this?"
She simply cupped my right cheek, careful not to hurt me, and looked at me. Why was I so insecure about this? I agreed to this. I agreed to be Midoriya again. I agreed to be ugly.
"You're so beautiful." She told me, and the tears spilled over, smiling weakly as I looked into her eyes, putting my forehead to hers.
After a moment, I spoke again, my voice cracking.
"You could do better than me."
She laughed and kissed my forehead.
"There is no better than you, idiot."
It seemed magical, but I had to end the magic. This was just how I made my way back into her classes good graces.
"Do you think the others will still like me?" I asked softly, and she nodded, her forehead against mine.
"We've been talking. You definitely went a little crazy, but it was understandable. Plus, I don't think he's going to do it again." She told me, and I pulled back to look into her eyes.
"You can take care of yourself, I know. I know that. But when I found out he'd been... I just... I snapped. You're not an object. You're not something for him to just belittle and conquer."
She rolled her eyes, blushing a little bit, which I didn't really understand, but I grinned anyway.
"See you tomorrow?" I asked softly, getting pushed gently toward the door.
"Can you be good?" She asked, but I turned, capturing her lips in mine, more than the quick one we'd shared earlier. This was real, and I felt like I was on another planet.
"Go." She told me as she broke the kiss, and I nodded weakly, just feeling like the rest of the world meant nothing as I made my way home.
Dinner, bed, unable to sleep as I thought about the way I kissed her. Why didn't it feel the same when I kissed Toga the first time? Had I just gotten used to kissing?
The first few days were awkward, my friends a little weary of me, but as they said, it was Mineta. No one seemed particularly happy I'd almost killed him, but no one would have been sad to see him go.
But it was easier to garner sympathetic ears for my slowly growing movement for equal treatment of the quirkless. I wasn't alone in how I'd been treated growing up. Turns out, if you value power over people, the people with power will usually abuse it.
I stayed busy working on gear for students and designing my own, still making sure to put my own code into it, but mostly focused on making sure my own was in top shape. I was going up against Hatsume, someone who hadn't even let me peek at her designs lately, and that worried me a bit.
A few days before the event, I approached the teachers' lounge, walking after classes.
"Ladies! Gentlemen! Chimera! All Mights creepy true form!" I exclaimed once the door was shut. Sure, I wanted to bring down the tower titan, but I'd do it as Maestro, not Midoriya.
"Midoriya, what has possessed you to possibly think coming into the teachers lounge is appropriate?" Powerloader asked as I stuck a sticky note to his helmet.
"The receptionist at Ongaku Carnival asked me to give you her number. She likes hamburgers and eggs, so... figure something out with that. Seriously, she's so out of your league. Don't blow this, because I recommended you." I told him, taking a seat and looking at All Might.
"Mr.Midoriya, is there a reason you're here?" Nezu asked, but I ignored him for now.
"Sup? Do you have any of those limited edition All Might cookies from Necso? I've been fiending for those for years, and they're so expensive."
"Midoriya! Enough!" Eraserhead yelled, and I put my hands up.
"Alright, alright. As a representative of Ongaku Carnival, I'd like to formally petition to perform during the first year of the sports festival. It'll make U.A. look good, it'll make me look good, and most importantly, it'll show our combined resolve to not let the League keep us down." I told them, watching staff look at me as though I'd asked them to pull their heads off and go bowling.
"Why on earth would we do that? You've been causing problems galore as of late." Vlad Kind told me, looking like he had goofy Halloween vampire teeth in.
My smile dropped and sighed deeply, leaning forward seriously.
"I need this. I need to go out there, and sing and give hope to people who are scared. To show them I'm not sfraid. That they didn't break me. I mean, I'm not even in the hero course, and look at me. I see myself in the mirror, and I remember the person I was. I want to inspire, and this event is going to be watched by the world. People will see me, and I'll be a beacon of hope." I told them, not sure if I meant it or not. The last few weeks, being Izuku, was nice. I almost wanted it to last.
Nezu crawled up into Eraserheads scarf, leaving me to wonder how comfortable that would even be, the principal very clearly in thought.
"Very well then. You'll play during the hour break between the second and third events. Present Mic, you'll be in charge of making sure his music doesn't become too vulgar." He decided, and I pumped my fist excitedly.
"Hell yeah! I'm gonna go tell my friends!" I cheered, running out of the room before running back and looking at All Might.
"Seriously, dude, those cookies are impossible to find online these days without going into debt." I told him, a whip crack from Midnight ushering me out as I laughed, feeling alive.
One more thing to juggle, but I didn't have to make up whole new songs. I just had to pick up my guitar and strum away on stage. I could do that. First, however, I had to survive the first two rounds. But I was a quirkless kid in the support course. I'd be using support gear. I'd level the playing field with my own best weapon.
It was finally the day before, and I had my song submitted, my gear as ready as it could be, and my body shaking with anticipation and... fear. The world. Everyone. They would see my face. I hated the idea, even if the country had seen me from the news and my secret social media that my manager couldn't access. So why did this feel differently?
A soft knock on the front door, checking the peephole and seeing a skeleton like man, standing there a bit awkwardly.
Once I opened the door, he seemed nervous, looking at me with a bit of hesitation.
"Ah, young Midoriya, kid. Good to see you." He told me, the two of us looking at each other before I figured I should be polite.
"Um, come on in?" I offered, spotting a container in his hands and stepping back so he could come in.
"Mom, a teacher from school is here!" I called out, leading the incognito incarnation of incredible intrusion and idiocy looking unfamiliar in a normal setting.
"Oh, why?" She asked, coming out of her room in a hurry, seeing my skinny teacher and looking at me curiously.
"Ah, how do you know this man again, son?" She asked, and I chuckled a little.
"Mom, meet All Might. All Might, meet my mother, Midoriya Inko." I introduced, All Might coughing up blood in surprise, my mother looking between the two of us skeptically.
"Is that really All Might?" She asked, and I nodded, All Might buffing up and posing.
"It's a secret. Don't tell anyone." I told her, the adults looking at me as I laughed.
"So, what's going on here? The top hero doesn't stop by for friendly visits." I pointed out, and he hurriedly handed me the bowl, a decently large Tupperware filled with cookies.
"What's this?" I asked, holding the bowl up and looking at them.
"Cookies. They aren't the same shape as the limited edition ones, but the recipe was my mother's. I thought you might enjoy them." He told me, grinning as he puffed down into his skinny form, coughing again.
"You made me cookies?"
It was all I could say at the time, my eyes watering up as I set the bowl down and looked away.
"Yes. You said you were... "fiending," I believe was the term you used." He told me, and I laughed, crying openly now.
"Izuku?" My mother asked, worried, holding out her hand to me, unsure if she should do something.
"Why? Why take something little I said as a joke, and do this for me?" I asked, bawling now as I tried to wipe the tears away and stem the flow.
"Because, young Midoriya, I come to you with an offer. I was so wrong, so very wrong indeed. You have a heart tempered with patience, with understanding. But even a heart like that can only take so much, until I became the only one you could blow up on without hurting someone. You deserve good things, kid. You deserve to be a hero. I want you to know, I'll be rootin' for ya tomorrow." He told me, patting my shoulder as I finally managed to stop crying.
The whole thing left me shattered. At that moment, I didn't know who I was or what I was doing.
"I, uh... thanks. Thank you." I managed to tell him before he walked to the door and out of my house.
That made sleeping hard, but as I ate a cookie at two in the morning, I was reminded of better times when I was just a kid happy to have a snack, those thoughts my lullaby as I fell into a restless sleep, waking up late and cursing as I rushed out of the house, missing the last train of the morning, and my ticket to being on time.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" I yelled, running through the neighborhood as fast as my legs could take me.
"Language!" One of my neighbors yelled, but I was still running, too concerned with being late on today of all days. There was hope. If I could run to the next station, cutting through alleyways and by dumpsters, barely making it as I heard the train coming down the tracks.
"Hah! Uh, haha!" I laughed, needing to catch my breath as I boarded. I'd missed the train before, and I'd never caught it here before. It must've been my lucky day.
"Hey, you okay, handsome?" A voice asked, one I recognized, but it was impossible. There's no way she'd risk being caught.
All I saw was a girl next to me, her skin a beautiful soft brown, her eye different colors, one a dazzling pink, the other a mesmerizing purple, left and right respectively, tight curls that framed her face and ruggedly beautiful features perfectly.
"Uh, do you mean me?" I asked, still a bit out of breath, and she smiled before leaning in quickly, pressing her lips to mine, before I could react, her lips soft as clouds, and leaving me dazed before she pushed me onto the open train, the doors shutting as she waved, winking at me cheekily.
No way... she wouldn't. Not just for a kiss, right? She wasn't that crazy to do something so risky. Not my vampire.
"God, I wish I understood women." I muttered, my cheeks burning as I just rode the rest of the way in confusion, getting off and heading to my classroom.
So far, I knew Hatsume, who'd been a great help with some of my favorite support pieces, and Kōtaku from my first day. Man, I really dropped the ball on learning my classmates' names.
As soon as we did roll, we were ushered to the locker rooms to get ready to gear up before heading outside to line up, the stadium they were using packed with heroes and the ultra rich who could afford the seats.
Midnight was up on stage, explaining the competition for the fourteen people who didn't know what the hell U.A.s sports festival was. It wasn't like they'd replaced the Olympics as the most viewed sports program worldwide or anything.
Zoning back into her speaking, I shook the nerves out, grinning at a camera, before waving.
"...This years student representative will be Bakugou Katsuki."
"Booo! Give the privilege to someone human, not living garbage!" I called out, taking what I knew Bakugou wanted. The eyes were on me now, and even when they turned away, I was on their minds. It didn't matter what he said. A normal oath would just be forgotten. But Bakugou Katsuki didn't do normal.
"Make no mistake about it! I'M GONNA TAKE FIRST PLACE!" Bakugou yelled, and now everyone was booing him, while his class questioned why he was being such an ass even during an important event like this.
"You'll make great stepping stone, I'd say." Bakugou told them, flicking his thumb across his neck, before walking off the platform, his hands in his pockets as if he'd casually just told everyone to do their best.
Midnight quickly took the spotlight again, mostly to settle the crowd of student who were angry with Bakugou, but she was also bringing in a whole demographic of men who wouldn't normally watch the first year event.
"Now, without any delay, let's get into the first event! These are the qualifiers! This stage is where many are sent home crying each year! This year's first even is..."
She hit a pose, one arm behind her head, the other just gesturing, both hands pointed a screen behind us.
"This! A race between every member of all eleven classes! The course itself is a four kilometer lap around the school itself!"
She paused to let that sink in. This was for anyone who wanted to quit, not a single soul moving away.
"Since our school preaches freedom in all things, as long as you don't go off the road, everything is fair game! That said, racers, to your positions!"
A wall opened, revealing the start of the course, and then three lights. Red. Red. Green!
As soon as it turned green, I saw the starting gate, much too small, but not a problem for those who were either able to go over or resourceful enough to do so, aiming my arm up and shooting something up at the balcony above the gate.
Reeling back, I felt my grapple pull me quickly, my feet leacing the ground, soaring above heads of students from every course except the hero, before the grapple let go, and I maneuvered just enough to prevent hitting the edge of the gate, my feet running across the wall for just a second before I bounced off it.
Small springs in my boots, each designed specifically for my body weight, producing extra force every time I lifted my feet. It was just one little trick I had, but I kept me far above most of the competitors for now, who were dealing with ice that Todoroki had laid down, some of them frozen in place.
"Hey man, not cool!" I joked, grinning as jumped, a giant robot fist missing me and hitting Mineta instead, my legs pumping with every ounce of my spirit. I had to show the world what I, a quirkless person, could do in a place where quirks reigned supreme.
"Every obstacle course needs obstacles!" I heard Present Mic, who was predictably announcing, starting with the first barrier, Robo Inferno!"
Damn. I heard someone mention the hero course students having to fight these things during their entrance exam, but this was crazy.
It didn't matter, Todoroki freezing them all, giving me an opportunity to grapple again, except they weren't exactly the most stable, my grapple suddenly turning into me being pulled faster than I could predict, leaving me soaring out of bounds quickly.
I looked around for something I could use, spotting a head of spiky red hair.
"Kirishima, catch!" I called out, and even though it was a competition, he turned, just as I shot a grapple, watching him turn to rock and grab it, while I reeled myself back in with a laugh.
"Thanks for the assist!" I told him, jumping off his shoulder and making sure to keep moving, hearing him behind me.
"Hey, no fair!" He told me, but he didn't sound upset, his footsteps rushing to catch up to mine, but my suit was designed to specifically push me to my limits and keep every movement as effective as possible. I didn't plan on wasting all the hours spent on it.
It looks like support course student, Midoriya Izuku, is currently in the top ten after a near disqualifying stunt!" Mic yelled, and I was spurred on, refusing to lose here, just sticking to the trail of destruction that everyone was making, until we came to a giant pit with rock platforms, connected to each other by thick ropes.
"Well, may as well waste a little fuel now." I decided out loud, jumping as far as my shoes would allow, before pushing activating a pack on my back, being shot forward as I struggled to control it, my back already warm from how hot it ran.
I needed to land halfway through, narrowing able to land on a platform before I jumped again, and one more big push sent me past Todoroki, who'd been leading the pack.
"We have a new leader! Get excited, mass media!" I heard, before I spotted Bakugou, soaring with his quirk like an angry rocket, a snarl on his face as I ducked out the way, barely able to keep from having him smash into me, likely just because he could.
That didn't stop me for long, running again as soon as I was up, Todoroki rushing past me as he used ice to propel himself.
"Yippee!" I cried, getting moment and jumping on the ice, using the springs to keep me from falling, the ice a better running ground than the dirt.
"Our leader has reached the final barrier, that is to say, this minefield!" Mic yelled, and I sighed. Of course. Well, if I kept behind Bakugou and Todoroki, I could just follow their paths.
Except I couldn't. The others were close behind, and I didn't know how many people were moving forward. I just had to keep moving, jumping and using my pack, blasting forward.
"This! This is what someone born with no power, what a quirkless is capable of!" I yelled, shooting a grapple forward and hitting a mine, jostling Bakugou and Todoroki aside before pushing past them, but my pack was burning me now, until it stopped, unable to push me any further, both of them quickly catching up to me.
At that moment, I had two options. Let them pass me, knowing I'd be unable to pass them again or take one hell of a risk.
Slipping out of my pack, I gripped the straps tightly before I brought it down onto the ground with all my might, the explosion propelling me forward and through the second gate.
There was only one thing to do as I spotted a camera, blowing a kiss as I fell, tumbling into the grass, laughing as I lay there, catching my breath.
"The one who made it back to the stadium first is... none other than Midoriya Izuku!" Mic announced, cheers going up, and it took a moment to hear them. To know that people were cheering my name for something besides a song or being that quirkless kid who was kidnapped.
For a moment, I relished in the sound, before arms wrapped around me.
"I'm so proud of you." Jiro told me, kissing me on my scarred cheek, and no doubt getting me in hot water with Toga when I got back to the League hideout.
Denki came running up, Momo following him.
"Dude, that was awesome!" He told me as we hit the most sound crisp, atmosphere breaking, sound barrier shattering dap of all time.
"You certainly showed both your tactical mind and resourcefulness." Momo told me, and for a moment, I was just a normal student, the glow fading as Midnight spoke.
"The top forty-two from this round will move on! Dying in suspense? The next event is... this!" The heroine told us, pointing to the screens again, this time one arm under her chin.
"Participants will, on their own, form teams of two to four members each and get into a horse and rider formation! The rules are fundamentally the same as those of an ordinary calvary battle. Just snag your opponents headband while guarding your own. There is, however, one exception. Each of you has been assigned a point value based on your ranking in the last event!"
"We'll earn points like in the entrance exam? Sounds simple enough." Sato deduced thoughtfully.
"So the point value of each team depends on its members!" Kirishima explained with excitement.
"I'm about to explain it, so just shut up already!" Midnight called, clearly annoyed before calming.
"Anyway, yes! Your individual points start at five, at the bottom. So the student who took forty-second place is worth five points. Forty-first is worth ten. Get it?"
Pausing, she smirked.
"But first place? First place is worth ten million." She told us, a grin growing on my face. Ten million, huh? Neat.
"I'm cool with that, although I'll be worth more July fifteenth, when my album drops in stores." I called out, giving a little product placement on the world stage before I let Midnight continue.
"The match will last fifteen minutes. Each teams members are determined by its members. The rider will wear a headband displaying the total number of points. Until the match ends, you'll all have to grab each other's points and maintain the ones you have. Any headbands you have must be worn above the neck or higher. More headbands mean more points, but it'll be a lot harder to manage. Most importantly, even if your headband is taken, and even if your formation is broken, it's not over 'til it's over!"
I could overhear a few students whispering together, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.
Midnight still wasn't done though, more rules on the way.
"Quirks are allowed, so it'll be a brutal battle! However, it's still a calvary battle! Maliciously attacking another team with the intention of making them fall will get you a red card! And that means you're out of the game!You've got fifteen minutes! Time to form your teams!"
With rules out of the way, my friends rubbed their necks and looked a little nervous.
"Ah, no, come on. I just spent the entire speech coming up with a minimal risk plan that would get us to the third event." I told them, but Denki shook his head.
"Sorry, man, but I've got to worry about potential scouts out in the crowd. I can't place my bets on your plan." He told him, putting his hands up apologetically.
"Alright, I get it, dude. Just make sure you make it to the third round."
We hit another perfect dap that pierced the heavens, and then I looked at Momo.
"You're the linchpin of this plan, so... Do you wanna hear it?" I offered, watching her debate her chances.
"I suppose... it couldn't do any harm." She told me, and now I looked at Jiro.
"You in or out?" I asked, and without hesitating, she nodded.
"I'm in."
Heading to a secluded spot, I whispered the plan. Momo would make a mask that I'd be locked into, as well as dozens of fake headbands as soon as we figured out what they looked so I could more easily hide the one I'd be wearing.
Jiro would use her quirk in combination with the gear I'd designed so long ago for my entrance exam, this time perfected, creating a small barrier. We just needed a fourth to maximize our defense.
"That's a very well thought out plan, but we're missing the fourth member to round out our numbers..." Momo mumber, looking for someone without a partner, and spotting the perfect edition to our team.
"Tokoyami!" She called, waving to her classmate and leading him back over.
"Yaoyorozu said you had a solid plan for victory. Is that correct?" He asked, arms crossed.
I gave him a nod, Yaoyorozu working on making the helmet for me.
"Why, of course, my avian friend. We need some serious defense, though, and dark shadow would make a great addition to the team. Welcome aboard."
"I didn't agree yet." He tried to counter, but I just went to get my headband, so I Momo could make as many replicas as she could before it was almost time, and I put the helmet on, the real headband underneath, and got locked in, tying the other headbands around my neck and head.
I could hear Present Mic as we got into position, saying blood begets blood.
"Remember the plan, and don't be afraid to get a little rough." I told my team, the game starting as Bakugou and his team began their way to us, stopped by a team determined to take his headband, and in turn getting third partied by another team looking for easy points.
Momo made marbles, throwing them out all around us, a shield on her arm, while Tokoyami and Dark Shadow stayed on the edge, ready in case someone managed to get through, Jiro prepared to put up the sound shield at a moments notice.
Unfortunately for us, Bakugou was Bakugou, and as soon as he had two extra headbands, he rushed towards us, using his quirk to stay afloat while his team ran underneath to catch him should he need it.
"Dekuuuuuuuuu!" He screamed, but I was tired of that. I'd been tired for years.
"Oh, you're approaching me!?" I cried, putting up my fist before a shield popped out from my wrist gauntlet, not exactly the toughest material in the world, but it would do for a moment.
"Why can't you stay calm for once instead of flying off the handle?" I asked him, the sound shield going up, Dark Shadow doing all he could against Mina and Kirishima.
"Why can't you accept your place in this world!?" Bakugou yelled back, breaking through the shield barrier and attacking my shield, which I could see denting already. It was designed to withstand him, but I hadn't expected him to grow so strong in such a little amount of time.
"My place!? My place is right here, kickin' your ass!" I screamed, bringing my left foot up and just straight kicking him in the nuts with all I had.
"Whoops, wrong end." I told him sweetly, his team catching him while mine started to move backward, the shield barrier going back up.
Todoroki didn't even say anything, just blasting ice at my team, Dark Shadow breaking through it before rushing at Todoroki, only to get struck with electricity from Denki.
"Denki! It was said you'd destroy the sith, not join them! Bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness!" I cried, acting hurt with my friend.
"I hate you!" He cried back, and I grinned.
"You were my brother, Denki! I loved you!" I told him, tossing my busted back down and watching it expand.
"Fire in the hole!" I yelled, watching them scramble, Todoroki using ice to make a ramp and keep from hitting the ground.
"Move, move, move!" I told my team, the three of them getting as far away and as fast as they could, leaving teams Bakugou and Todoroki to battle each other.
"Well, eight minutes in, and the two top enemy teams have been temporarily bested. Not bad." I told my own, watching the other teams before I saw another team rushing us, an invisible girl sitting on shoulders of three others, before birds came down, attacking the sound shield, unable to get through.
"That the best you got!? I'm Izuku Midoriya, genius galore! With this team, I'm invincible!" I cried, Sato running towards the shield, swallowing sugar as he pulled his fist back, the shield breaking on contact, Dark Shadow taking care of him quickly, throwing him back against team Bakugou.
"Man, I can't believe we can carry you with that fat head you're getting." Jiro grumbled, and I wondered for a second if I was playing up the persona too much.
"Right? It should he easier, since it's full of hot air." I joked, scratching her head as I kept an eye out. Ten minutes in and no one was rushing us. They seemed to be fighting for easier points.
Of course, as soon as I had the thought, it seemed they ever single team wanted to test their metal, the shield holding for now, but the big boys were back to play, Todoroki taking easy points while Bakugou managed his way through the shield again, this time extra angry.
"Piss of shit! Kick me in the nuts like a bitch!?" He yelled, aiming for the lock on my helmet, but I moved to protect the ones around my neck, his eyes moving to them before he started grabbing at them, pulling them one by one while I fought him, trying to stop him, putting in all my effort before he pulled back, all my headbands in hand.
"Let's go." He told his team, my own taking the moment to try moving away from the chaos, occasionally fighting back someone who got lucky enough to break through the shield, only a minute left.
But what a minute it would be, Bakugou roaring in anger as he finally realized he'd been duped, rushing back at us, only to have Todoroki take his headband in a surprise move, and Bakugou having to settle with fighting other teams before he set his eyes back on me, grinning as he blasted off, just to hear Present Mic yelling.
"Ten! Nine! Eight!"
Bakugou had made it to us.
"Seven! Six!"
Bakugou was breaking the sound shield, my own being ripped off and tossed away.
"Five! Four!"
He had his hand wrapped around the lock, blasting furiously.
"Three! Two!"
He had the lock broken, my mask looser now.
"One!"
He'd pulled my mask off, his hand inches from my headband.
"Times up!"
And just like that, it was over. We'd won in the nick of time.
"In first place, the breakout star of the support course, Midoriya Izuku and his team, Yaoyorozu Momo, Kyoka Jiro, and Tokoyami Fumikage!"
Being put down, I couldn't hear anything else, the miracle that saved me so close that I there had to have been divine intervention.
"Dammit!" Bakugou yelled, his own team looking up at him before setting him down, looking unnerved by his behavior.
Jiro patted my shoulder.
"That was close."
Tokoyami nodded.
"Indeed. Another second, and we would have been eliminated."
I looked at them, and I wondered if I should have been more aggressive. They had their futures to worry about. I just wanted the spotlight. Speaking of.
"I have to go, I have to handle something." I told them, running off to get ready for my performance, my head full, and my heart heavy.