It's time for the next chapter of Project Velocity. Last time the second event of UA's Sports Festival was wrapping up. King of Hill had been chosen by fate and after teaming up with Shoji, Ochaco and *ahem* Mineta, it seemed Izuku's team was going be able to get a easy fight in the third event. Until the other student managed to get through Izuku's onslaught of rock and Mineta's minefield of his quirk. With the combine efforts of student from 1-A, but mostly 1-B Ochaco and Izuku were momentarily put of action. Allowing them to force Shoji off the top of the hill and when all hope seemed lost for the team, Izuku was forced to do something drastic.
And now all of Japan knows who he is. And just how will the public react to a student at UA have a quirk of a villain? All will be answer, but first we have finish this festival.
As always I do not own MY HERO ACADEMIA or any of it's characters.
With that, let's start off with a bang
The crowd fell silent as without a word, Izuku began to stand up, using Ochaco's shoulder to brace himself. Then he took a forced step away from her, turning towards the edge of the platform. He walked along Mineta's minefield until he reached the end and began walking down the side of the hill. Every step he took, it looked like he was ready to fall over and pass out, but he continued to walk. Ochaco was frozen in her spot like the rest of the stadium could only watch as Izuku didn't stumble and fall once. When Izuku reached the grassy area below he didn't let up, not until he walked up one of the tunnels that lead to the hallways.
Once he was out of view, Izuku leaned against the wall and took a few labored breaths. The squeal of wheels caught his attention, causing Izuku to pull his head away from the wall and look to his left. Only to see A droid rolling up with a wheelchair, so he pushed off the wall and stumbled over to the wheelchair. As Izuku lowered himself into a chair, his leg finally gave out causing him to fall the rest of the way into the wheelchair.
Then the droid turned around and began pushing Izuku to Recovery Girl's office. As the wheel continued to squeak against the floor, Izuku felt his body begin to fall asleep. First, it was his feet and the feeling slowly travelled up his legs. Then his arms went limp and his left arm fell off the armrest and landed in his lap.
Izuku closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against the pillow of the wheelchair. He didn't reopen his eyes until he heard the sound of a door opening. Opening one eye Izuku looked around and saw he had been taken to Recovery Girl's temporary office. A second droid rolled up to him and along with the first, lifted Izuku into the air and carried him over to a bed.
The two droids then stepped back then walked off, as Recovery Girl walked over and began examining Izuku's body. While it felt like his body was asleep, whenever Recovery Girl applied any pressure, Izuku felt a dull but aching pain rising in that area. A pain that didn't disappear when Recovery Girl moved on. But it was pain Izuku knew how to handle, it might slow him down, but give him a chance to rest and he would be …. Izuku's thoughts were cut off as Recovery Girl pressed down on his right forearm.
Izuku's entire body flinched and his right arm shot away from Recovery Girl's touch. The dull pain in his body suddenly became red hot and Izuku clenched his jaw. Through the pain, Izuku heard Recovery Girl explain, "Your nerve had begun to shut down. It can feel like those pins and needles you get when muscles fall asleep. But they were still sending signals that you could feel something. It seems your right forearm was still firing strong enough to get a signal through, waking up the rest of your body."
"Oh bad is it?" Izuku asked as forced the pain to the back of his mind, trying to make it disappear but it won't.
"Well you're not as bad as you were after the USJ, so you aren't going to die. But," Recovery Girl took a step back, "You pulled nearly every muscle in your legs, so I don't know why you thought walking was a good idea. You're lucky you didn't tear a hamstring. Your midsection and left arm are showing signs of extreme exhaustion. Your left knuckles are torn up, I don't know what you were punching but you're lucky you're now showing bones! Then there's your right arm, beyond the multitude of cuts and bruises, you fractured your radial bone and dislocated your wrist! Just how the hell are you conscious?"
Izuku knew he should have expected her to chew him out, but wasn't expecting her to well at him for being dumb and breaking his body for a dumb festival. Sometimes he wonders if the sweet old grandma nurse his classmates told him about existed.
"You shouldn't swear, it shows weak verbal skills." Izuku said then gave a pained chuckle.
"Yeah, well, tell that to your blond friend." Recovery Girl said, finally understanding why some doctors took up smoking in their older age, "With the little stamina you have left, my quirk isn't going to be able to do much. It'll take care of the surface injuries, if you're lucky, but it will most likely knock you unconscious."
"Then might as well get started." Izuku said as he shifted around a bit to get more comfortable.
Recovery Girl just shook her head, as she walked over to a small refrigerator and pulled out an IV bag. As she walked back and began to hook Izuku up to the IV bag, the crowd started yelling again, "Sounds like they're yelling about you and an old villain."
"Lady Nagant?" Izuku asked with a labored breath as the exhaustion started to hit.
"A question for another time, Midoriya. For now rest, without Eri's quirk, you might not be ready in time for the third event." Recovery Girl said as she turned the nuzzle on the tubing, allowing the IV to supply nutrients to Izuku.
Izuku nodded, and then he closed his eyes. Activating her quirk, Recovery girl's lips reached forward and kissed Izuku's cheek. A small green glow appeared around his body and soon he relaxed and his body went limp. As the bruises and cuts disappeared, Recovery Girl saw a single tear. Trying not to read too much into that, Recovery Girl pulled out two small wraps of medical gauze. First, she relocated Izuku's right wrist and then wrapped Izuku's hand and up to his mid forearm in medical gauze. Then to finish it off, formed a cast over Izuku's right forearm.
Once everything was said and done, Recovery Girl sat in her chair and looked at Izuku. The yells of the crowd could still be clear, all demanding to know who Izuku Midoriya was. "At this point it doesn't matter if you're Lady Nagant's son or not. People are going to be coming after you, I just wish you knew the truth."
Up the teacher's booth, Eri had hidden her face in Inko's arm when the yell had begun. Seeing her big brother like that reminded Eri too much of all the others who had tried to save her. He looked so broken and defeated, like how all the heroes did after Overhaul fought them. He always made sure she saw how they looked before and more importantly after he killed them. Izuku's current status was all too similar to those, for Eri's liking.
After a while Eri withdrew her head and looked up at Inko, "Mom is big brother okay?"
"HE'LL BE JUST FINE, I'M SURE YOUNG MIDORIYA. RECOVERY GIRL IS THE BEST HEALER IN THE WORLD, IT MIGHT BE SOME TIME BEFORE SHE'S ABLE TO USE HER QUIRK, BUT I'M SURE YOUR BIG BROTHER WILL BE READY TO FIGHT WHEN HIS TIME COMES." All Might said in a soft voice as it was clear Eri was high-strung and he didn't want her to be scared of him.
"Why isn't she able to use her quirk right away?" Eri asked.
Principal Nezu looked at Inko, who was intently looking out the window, looking over the crowd of pro heroes. It was clear her mind was somewhere else, meaning she most likely didn't hear her daughter's question, "Recovery Girl's quirk is a lot like your's, it uses a person's energy to heal. But unlike your quirk, where you use an external source of energy, Recovery Girl's quirk uses a person's stamina to heal their body." Eri recognized the word stamina as Izuku had explained it and when a person was low on stamina that meant they were tired.
"And my big brother is really tired right now. From fighting everyone one" Eri said, showing she knew what the principal meant.
"Yes, your big brother used a lot of energy to win." Principal Nezu said and would have further explained it, but the volume of the crowd rose again. If the situation got any more out of control, the pro-heroes could start to riot. Thankfully after the break-in from the League of Villains, many of the teachers had begun to brush up on their crowd control skills.
"Are they still yelling at big brother?" Eri asked as she heard the pro heroes down below yelling his name, "Why are they yelling at big brother?"
Principal Nezu felt all of the teachers in the room look at him, looking at him to answer, "Perhaps they believe he and his team should not have won. His team member had nearly fallen off the top of the hill, perhaps there are those who believe he did fall off. However, sometimes people will act without reason making their actions unexplainable."
"Like the man and his work?" Eri asked and didn't notice as all of the teachers flinched, as they had all been informed of her past situation. But then seemed to break Inko out of her thoughts, as she hugged her daughter more tightly.
"Like we've told you before, some people are just evil and some just act without reason," Inko said. She hugged Eri again, using it to hide her own tears. She had heard each and every single yell. Calling her sister a villain, a traitor and her adopted nephew no better, why couldn't they see how wrong they were? Did they all believe the media and their lies? Inko had spent many nights thinking over that day, going over everything her sister had told her. But still, she couldn't make heads or tails of what Kaina had told her. Who was she not supposed to trust?
At first, Inko thought it was Mareo and the Project Velocity program, but after keeping a close eye on everything Izuku and Bakugo had been put through, nothing seemed too bad. Sure some training exercises would seem excessive, but Izuku and Bakugo always seemed okay with them. And Mareo always seems to have their back, even when they did get in trouble. Inko was sure the time she had caught the boy or had been told by Mareo wasn't every time they had done something irresponsible. Mareo and everyone from his team stood by the two boys, supported them.
However, it was questionable if the program still would. They did when Izuku's quirk was a secret, but now that everyone knew, would Mareo just leave the Midoirya family to fend for themselves?
Inko had foolishly hoped that everyone would have been able to move on, but deep down she knew it was only a matter of time. And now the fear of Lady Nagant was coming down and it was being directed at her son.
Down on the field, Ochaco was running down the hill. Her mind was still working over the yells of the crowd, but her body had taken to running down the hill. She ran up the tunnel Izuku had disappeared into, yet as her shoes started to squeak against the polished floor her mind caught up. Ochaco took a moment of pause while looking around, she wanted to be there for Izuku as a friend. Yet all she saw as she looked around was an empty hallway.
"Damn it." Ochaco cursed as she turned and hit her fist against the wall. The dull sound echoed through the empty hallway and Ochaco pulled her fist away from the wall. There weren't any cracks in the wall, but as Ochaco lowered her fist a few crumbs of cement fell to the ground. She was losing her grip, she wasn't here to make friends or train to become a normal pro hero. Madam President believed Izuku Tsutsumi was a threat to society and if left unchecked then everyone would fall to the persona of Izuku Midoriya.
Ochaco was here at UA to keep an eye on him, not to become his friend. Even if everyone else saw him as a hero, she was supposed to always see him as a villain. Be able to always see through the lie and see Izuku for who he truly is. But for the past few days, Ochaco couldn't do that. She wasn't just calling him a Midoriya but was thinking of him as one as well. And to Madam President that meant she was compromised and Ochaco knew the consequence of her being compromised.
Ochaco then looked over her shoulder and down the tunnel. That accident with the jumbotron, something about it felt wrong. Not the fact that everyone learned what Izuku's quirk was, but the act of one camera staying focused on Izuku, was deliberate. Planned, but who?
Ever since that first day of UA, possibly since the entrance exam, it was clear the teachers were watching Izuku as well. They were mostly doing the same as Ochaco, keeping an eye on him. They most likely suspected he was Lady Nagant's son, even if they didn't they would suspect something and would be cautious. They would be trying to determine where his loyalties lie, meaning a stunt like the jumbotron won't be in Principal Nezu's playbook for the situation.
No, it was someone who had a hand in that little stunt. It was jarring and came out of no way, but what better way to grab everyone's attention? Even Ochaco was stunned for a moment, seeing Izuku and his transformed arm on display for all of Japan to see. But then she looked around and found all the cameras pointing in other directions. Many were pointed up to the sky while others had been turned to the sky, which must have been done at Principal Nezu's command.
Still, there was one camera left, pointed at Izuku. A view that automatically took over the jumbotron, letting everyone see Izuku's quirk. It sounded like something Madam President would do, to no longer allow Izuku to hide in plain sight.
It was how Madam President always operated. Act and just let the consequence roll without a second thought. And using the jumbotron it sounded like an underhanded tactic she would use. With that thought Ochaco turned from the tunnel and ran down the hallway. She ran towards the Class 1-A locker room. After nearly kicking the door off of its hinges, Ochaco rushed over to her locker and pulled it open.
Rummaging through her locker Ochaco found her phone and pulled it out. After dialling that memorized number, Ochaco held the phone up to her ear. The phone only buzzed once and her handler's robotic voice came through, "Well done so far Uraraka."
"Where is Madam President, I need to speak with her." Ochaco demanded, her voice as stern as her exhausted body allowed her to sound. She was here to keep a watch on Izuku Midoriya, but Madam President was sleazy enough to make sure the whole world saw Izuku's transformed arm, but it wasn't the plan, it had never been the plan.
Observe and record. Observe Izuku's actions and record them. Watch for any signs that Izuku was going to show what Madam President claimed was his true colors. But the plan was to Allow him to naturally do so, let him believe he no was wise to his plan. So why was Madam President now flipping the script and trying to turn Izuku into a villain in the public eye? Observe and record.
"Unavailable, is there a message I can give her?" Ochaco's handler's robotic voice asked.
"I want to know why she messed with the jumbotron, I could tell that was her doing. UA is uncertain about Izuku's moral position, but something like that isn't how they operate. They would find out in other ways. I know Madam President messed with the jumbotron and I want to know why?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about?" The robotic handler's voice asked.
"That's a lie. Everyone has been watching the Sports Festival and to win King of the Hill, Izuku revealed his quirk. Now everyone knows what his quirk is and they're demanding answers, and I want to know why Madam President decided to make it public!" Ochaco yelled.
"Madam President is unavailable, but I will pass your questions along to her and have her call you as soon as possible."
"No, I want to talk to her now! She could have compromised my mission with that stunt." Ochaco yelled but then the phone line disconnected and the dial tone filled her ears. Ochaco yelled as she cracked the screen in her hand, and then she heard the door open behind her. She quickly stood up, threw her broken phone into her locker and slammed it stuck. She quickly turned around and came face to face with Bakugo, "Do you need something?"
"I came to get my water bottle that I put in here earlier. Were you on a phone call Uraraka, did I interrupt something?" Bakugo asked as he didn't move from the door.
Caught off guard by the lack of swearing, death threats and Bakugo calling her by her actual name Ochaco took a few moments to answer. After taking a deep breath, Ochaco brushed her hair back and said, "Yeah, I was on a phone call. With how well I've been doing, I figured my parents would want an update."
"Oh. It's just your tones didn't sound too happy." Bakugo said, as he closed the door and walked over to his locker. He opened it and pulled out a water bottle, he popped the top and down half of it, "If you were calling your parents, figured it would be good news."
Ochaco forced a smile onto her face and took a deep breath, "It was. I guess my body is still coming down from King of Hill. I barely did anything and it's only thanks to Midoriya we're in the third event." Ochaco was careful with her word, while Bakugo was a part of Project Velocity, it had always been Izuku as the one Madam President always wrote as the one to look out for. Yet that did not make Bakugo any less of a danger. If he suspected anything, then chances were he would share his suspicions with Izuku, "It's the same with scavenger hunt. Izuku gave me the emblem he had taken from a 1-B member. So I guess you could say today isn't going the way I had envisioned."
Bakugo clicked his tongue and down the rest of the water bottle. He threw it into the locker and closed it. Before walking away, he said, "And now we have to deal with this sh321 show about Lady Nagant."
Bakugo began walking now, as his words registered in Ochaco's mind. He wasn't questioning who Lady Nagant was or why she was the cause of everything. "Bakugo?" Ochaco asked, causing him to stop and turn and look at her, "You said Lady Nagant like you were familiar with the name."
"Well, everyone's b432ing about her?" Bakugo said, giving no indication that he suspected anything from Ocahco.
"She was once an old pro hero, why would you be familiar with her," Ochaco said as she looked Bakugo over. They might have both gone through a battle, but Bakugo was more refreshed than her. Was it possible that Bakugo knew who Lady Nagant was? And if he knew, then chances were Izuku knew. Did they know the truth? Had they been playing everyone as fools from the start?
"Well everyone's shouting her name, so obviously she was someone big." Bakugo said, then began walking away but then stopped, "You called her once an old pro hero, huh maybe that's why everyone hates her since she was one of the good guys before becoming a villain." Bakugo looked Ochaco over, then turned away from her with a click of his tongue, "That would explain this f432ing uproar."
Bakugo walked out of the locker room, leaving Ochaco by herself. Debating whether Bakugo knew the truth or not, he had been trained to hide secrets. Was he hiding a secret about Lady Nagant from Izuku, if so why? Ochaco banged the back of her head against a locker as the million different possibilities of what those two knew ran through her head. Yet to Madam President, the possibilities didn't matter, because to her the result was the same, another Lady Nagant.
"If everyone could return to their seats, we'll announce the third event and the groups for it." Midnight announced though Ochaco could barely hear her over the yell of the crowd.
As the majority of the crowd returned to their seats, Principal Nezu overlooked the mob of yelling pro heroes, demanding answers and sighed as he should have foresign this coming. The whole point of this festival was to give the students a chance to show their quirk and skill, so why hadn't they planned for this? Five minutes, ten at the most was all Principal Nezu would have needed to create a statement. Yet he hadn't, so was it wishful thinking on their part, that Izuku wouldn't use his quirk, that he might be arrogant enough to believe that he was strong enough to win without his quirk, yet evidence pointed to the opposite? Izuku could give his all in any fight against any one of his classmates.
But that didn't answer the question of: had they, as staff of UA, subconsciously planned to lay everything on one of their students and let him deal with everyone. What if Izuku didn't know he was Lady Nagant, Kaina Tsutsumi's son? What if he did? Was Principal Nezu willing to fight to keep Izuku in UA? How far was he willing to go, to keep Izuku from becoming a vigilante? Or worse a villain?
Would the Hero Public Safety Commission allow Izuku to stay at UA, and stay a hero? Would the public, or would they demand his expulsion, immediate arrest and transfer to Tartarus? From the sound of the crowd, it certainly sounded like they wanted that. There were multiple possibilities of what was known and what wasn't, multiple ways to handle the situation.
"Sir, what are we supposed to do? They keep demanding answers but we don't have any. We can't tell that we're still trying to figure it out for ourselves. What should I say?" Midnight asked, her voice coming through an earpiece in Principal Nezu and the other teacher's ears. Principal Nezu sensed All Might and the other teacher looking at him.
He thought for a moment, grateful Inko had taken Eri for a walk. That allowed Principal Nezu to be exact with his words, "First we need to find out who tampered with our monitoring system. Finding out who, will bring an insight into why. As for answering the crowd's demands, we say nothing because we have nothing to say. We have no answer, so we must give no answer. There is no need to give false information."
"We have to give the media something, give them an answer or they'll create their own. False headlines could destroy Midoriya's image more than a false answer." Mr Aizawa said.
"I second that. Midoriya's alliance might still be in question, but who's to say the next few days won't change that. He might feel he can't be anything but a villain, society might just push him to that edge." Present Mic said.
"And what of his coming fight? We can't simply have him forfeit, the media will run with that and portray that we're protecting him, might even be showing favoritism." Snipe said, "We can't do that to the little partner."
"Principal Nezu, we can't stay muted on this." Midnight said.
"Nor can we spread false information. UA has never faced a situation like this before, so we need to be very careful about how we handle it. If we say one thing, but Midoriya releases a statement that says something else, then the argument will become worse and it will be that much harder to give the truth. For the time being, no matter how loud the crowd is, we do not address the situation and finish the Sports Festival. The media may take it as we're not addressing it. But first thing tomorrow the time of smokes and mirrors will be over. We have a meeting with Izuku Midoriya, and have him come clean about everything." Principal Nezu.
"Principal, Sir, you forgot that Midoriya, along with Bakugo have most likely been trained within lies. In this meeting, he may say one thing, but the truth may be another. There is no way we can know he speaks the truth." Cementoss said.
"That's not the whole truth. Detective Tsukauchi, he was the one that handled the USJ break in. He and I are friends, his quirk allows him to know if someone is lying or not. We can bring him in on the basis that he's there to help spread the truth and be an ally to Young Midoriya." Toshinori offered.
"Excellent thought, All Might. Will he be able to come in tomorrow?" Principal Nezu asked.
"I'll give him a call and see," Toshonori said as he grabbed his phone and stepped out to make a call.
"With that planned, Midnight I believe it would be best to continue with the festival." Principal Nezu said.
Midnight nodded and spoke into her speaker. "Our short break is over and it's time to announce the third and final event of this year's UA Sports Festival." More questions came from the crowd, but Midnight did not address them. UA couldn't say they didn't still try to figure the situation out for themselves. The media could easily turn that into a story of UA unnecessarily putting their students in danger. Principal Nezu said the only way to play the game was not to play, "For the student that passed we have. In first place, we have Neito Monoma and his team of Itsuka Kendo, Kojiro Bondo and Setsuna Tokago. In second place, Katsuki Bakugo and his team of Eijirou Kirishima, Mina Ashido and Hanta Sero. Third place is Tsuyu Asui and her team of Denki Kaminari, Shoto Todoroki and Momo Yaoyorouz. And in fourth place, we have a tie. We have the team of Mezo Shoji, Minoru Mineta, Ochaco Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya tied with the lone student, Hiryu Rin. Hiryu Rin was able to steal enough points from Team Shoji to enter a spot in a tournament." With Izuku's name being mentioned the crowd got louder, and Midnight had to stop herself from giving in to the crowd, "But now it is time to move on to the third event of this year's Sports Festival. In years past, we here at UA have had some surprising finales, but this year we're stripping all of that and having an all-out-tournament style war, with the winner advancing to the next round.
"And now for the brackets" Midnight cracked her whip into the air. The jumbotron changed to a tournament bracket and the names of the students floated around. Slowly they fell into place until all were in their place.
"For Block A have Ochaco Uraraka versus Tsuyu Asui. Mezo Shoji vs Setsunna Tokago. Mina Ashido versus Denki Kaminari, then Kojiro Bondo versus Hanta Sero. For Block B the first fight will be Ejirou Kirishima versus Momo Yaoyorozu. Then Hiryu Rin Versus Katsuki Bakugo. Then Shoto Todoroki versus Istuka Kendo. Then to make it an even number Izuku Midoriya versus Minoru Mineta and the winner of that fight will go up against Neito Monoma. The first fight will begin in five minutes."
Ochaco listened to Midnight through the TV that had been wheeled into Recovery Girl's temporary office. Maybe so those who were injured could continue to watch the fights, or so Recovery Girl knew ahead of time what kind of injuries she had to deal with. Recovery Girl scoffed as it was announced Izuku was one of the two possible people that would have to fight an extra fight.
"I told them to put him at the end, not give an extra fight." Recovery Girl said. She knew she should have never medically cleared Izuku. He was still passed out in one of her beds and there was no telling if he would wake up in enough time. Even if he did, he most likely would have
"Aren't the fights chosen at random?" Ochaco said as she looked away from the TV over to UA's resident nurse, "Anyone could have gotten that spot."
"Sorry to spoil the illusion but the fights aren't as random as you think. From the moment the first event is over, the UA Staff begins to build the bracket of who would fight who." Recovery Girl said as she checked Izuku's pulse. It was slow and steady, but still there.
"But anyone could have won the King of the Hill. I mean Rin barely managed to match Shoji's points." Ochaco pointed out.
"A slight hiccup, and a compliment from the boy recently passed out on the bed, but quickly handled." Recovery Girl said as she worked to prepare her officer for everyone she would need to heal.
"What do you mean by that?" Ochaco asked.
"Principal Nezu gave Midoriya a card, believing he would pick a specific one, however, Midoriya's method of choosing caused Principal Nezu to quickly form some new brackets. And with Rin matching Shoji's point, another change had to be made. Originally Monoma from Class 1-B was supposed to fight your classmate Bakugo, however with the tie in points, Principal Nezu thought it would be entertaining" -Not to mention a good way to create a spot in case Izuku couldn't fight- "to add a 17th fighter. Monoma was moved to the edge of the bracket and Rin was put up against Bakugo."
"If the brackets aren't random, then how are the matches formed?" Ochaco was now curious about how much planning went into the Sports Festival below the surface.
"The main factors are skill levels and quirks. How the student will fare against each other, taking into account personal relationships and everyone's level of training." Recovery Girl then paused, "And though the rat will never admit to it. There's a hidden factor, how much of a spectacle two conflicting quirks can create." Recovery Girl then looked across the bed to Ochaco, who was sitting in a chair next to the bed that Izukus was lying in, "Your fight is up first and is starting soon, so I suggest you get ready."
And that's that. We get to see the effect of Izuku's quirk becoming publicly known from three perspectives. The parent, the friends and the mentor. But as the old saying goes, 'the show must go on." and it isn't over "until the fat lady sings" Or at least until Izuku makes Mineta sings soprano.
Next chapter in the start of the tournament with the first fight being between Ochaco and Tsuyu.
Next time: Laws of Space
Review and tell me what you think.