Chapter 35

"Everyone! Are your preparations complete?!"

"For fuck's sake, Iida," Kazuki cursed under his breath, bringing a hand to his forehead. He was already feeling like he'd get a headache any moment now with the crowd of people – and thus, emotions – that he could feel. Nevermind the fact that they were a few minutes away from going out there to face said crowd.

A crowd that would likely take no time at all to recognize him. Kazuki could almost feel how it would be once the first person mentioned it, the whispers spreading like wildfire. He wouldn't hear them, but he would sense them.

A hand was placed on his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts and making him turn towards Yaoyorozu.

"It's going to be fine. We are here if you need us," she told him softly, making him grimace. "I know what you said, but this competition isn't more important than you being ok. There'll be another next year, and the one after. I'm fine doing badly if it means I can be there for a friend."

"I mean, it'd suck-" Mineta started, only to get slapped on the nose by Jiro's ear-jack. "Fucking hell," he mumbled, glaring at the girl. "I was gonna add that I'd do it too anyway."

"I appreciate it, but I think it'd feel worse if I crippled your chances for a good impression," he commented, taking a deep breath in and trying to calm himself. "I'll be fine. I knew this was coming."

He said that, but knowing hadn't really helped all that much. Sure, he could prepare to the best of his ability so that he was a little more confident but… Yeah, it wasn't going to be easy by any means. He'd just have to make do with a bad situation, he supposed.

"If you are sure," Hagakure said from the side, and he could tell she was unsure. Although, that might have been overshadowed by the fact that she was feeling very nervous herself. He could guess why though.

They weren't allowed to use their costumes, which meant that she was basically going into this Quirkless, being forced to use the school's gym uniform for the event. Kazuki could understand that the school wanted to even the playing field, but it did feel really bad that his friend was being handicapped like that. 'Maybe I can help her though,' he thought, narrowing his eyes.

Something to keep an eye out for, he supposed.

If the opportunity presented itself… Then again, he supposed that was a bad idea. It could look bad on both of them if he helped her. On her, because she wouldn't be able to show what she could do in a bad situation and on him… Well, he wasn't too sure, but he supposed some might take offense to him going "against the rules" to favor his classmates over others.

Kazuki sighed.

"So, I won't let myself get left behind," he heard, making him turn to see Midoriya – in a rare moment of not being a nervous wreck – and Todoroki talking. "I'm going to go for it, with all my might too," the usually shy boy said firmly, a fire in his eyes that Kazuki didn't remember ever seeing there.

Todoroki tilted his head at him.

A little to the side, Bakugo grunted.

"Well said," Kazuki joined, making a few heads turn his way. "Everyone seems to have their eyes on us, so… Let's give them a good show, yeah?" he commented, looking around. He was trying to ride that determination that Midoriya was showing. This wasn't the time to hesitate or be nervous.

If he failed, he could feel like shit about it later.

Now, it was time to act.

"As if I needed you to tell me that, B-Movie," Bakugo scoffed, but he had an excited expression on his face. The crazy bastard was probably looking forward to blowing up some stuff and showing everyone that he was strong. For once, that was fine though, because that was the point of the Festival.

It was at that moment that they were called over the communications system.

'Show time,' Kazuki thought to himself, going over all the talks he'd had in regards to the event. He reminded himself of what Inui had told him, the encouragement his friends had given him and all the work he'd put into things. 'Let's do this.'

"The freshly formed miracle stars that shrugged off a mass villain attack with wills of steel!" they heard Present Mic announce, with some cheers being heard as they stepped out. 'Thanks for reminding everyone, teach,' Kazuki thought to himself. As if they didn't have a big enough target on their backs for the event already. "The Hero Course!" The cheers got louder then and Kazuki did his best to focus on them and not think about the bad emotions and the future. "The freshman year you are here for, right?!" he asked, receiving a very impressive response from the crowd. "Class 1-A!"

As they reached the outside, Kazuki grimaced at the spike of nervousness. It was expected, but he'd almost thought it wouldn't happen, considering… 'Ah, it doesn't matter,' he thought, taking a deep breath in to push away other emotions and moving to the side. The boy had given him the nudge he needed before, so Kazuki guessed it was fair to try to return the favor.

"Focus on what you have to do, Midoriya," he said, looking forwards instead of at the boy. He was probably already feeling a thousand eyes on him, no need to add another pair.

"Endo?"

"Think of this as heroics, you are here to do your job, be a hero," he said, looking at the stage where Midnight was standing as they approached. "The civilians don't matter unless they are in danger."

"I… Yeah… That makes sense," the boy muttered. A moment later, Present Mic started calling for the other classes to come in.

"There's a lot of people to look at too, so I wouldn't worry about the attention. You've improved a lot now that you don't break everything, your Quirk is good and you aren't an idiot. You'll be fine," Kazuki reassured, feeling a lot more calm now that he had someone else's problems to focus on. Helped him forget about his own for a moment, at least.

"You too, Endo," the boy replied, and for once there was no sign of his usual stuttering and muttering. "I'm sure you'll show everyone that you can be a hero too, because that's a fact."

"Yeah, we've both talked the talk now," Kazuki replied with a half-smile. "Time to walk the walk."

"Now, player representative!" Midnight called after an introduction. 'Is she looking this way?' Kazuki thought for a moment. "Kazuki Endo, from Class 1-A! If you could come and give your fellow students and the audience some words?" she "invited" him then, making him blink.

"... Would have been nice to know about this," he grumbled, already starting to move else he made an idiot of himself on National TV.

'Ok, just don't panic. You are fine, just be polite and generic. Being meh is worse than amazing but better than sucking,' he thought to himself trying not to appear too stiff as he started climbing the stairs to the stage and then positioned himself behind the microphone.

"First of all, I want to thank everyone that came to watch us compete and everyone that will do so from away from here," he said, keeping himself calm and his voice steady as he spoke.

It was a good thing he expected it, because there was a definitive shift in the emotions of the spectators as he became visible from everywhere. He didn't think they had figured him out yet, but his appearance alone had been enough. Good preparation though, he supposed.

"I want to wish every student luck," he added, giving a nod to the students looking up at him from the grounds. "But more importantly, I want everyone to pay attention, because we are all students of this institution for a reason. We'll be showing you just why to the best of our ability, from the Hero Course all the way to General Education," he said, scanning the several classes. He was a representative, after all, not talking for his class or the Hero Course. So he wanted to try and include everyone there. "It's what we do, after all. We do our best and go beyond. Plus Ultra."

"Well said!" Midnight exclaimed immediately after he was done, which he was actually grateful for. It stopped him from just standing there awkwardly after finishing, which he supposed was the point. 'Was that good? Was it bad? God, let it at least be boring instead of bad,' he pleaded in his mind. "And with that, we can move to our first event!" the woman exclaimed, waving her fan to the side and Kazuki felt a push of her hand so that he would get down the stage.

He tried not to rush down, but he might have failed a little bit.

"Not a bad speech," Mineta commented immediately after he reached his friend group. "I think some of the other courses appreciated that you included them, somewhat."

"That was the point, mostly," Kazuki mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. "I've been training with some of them. One in particular. I didn't like how they were focusing on us, honestly."

"That's really nice of you, Endo!" Hagakure told him, and he could almost hear the wide smile on her face. It actually was enough to pull a small one out of him.

"Togeike, I'm guessing?" Yaoyorozu asked from the side, a slight twitch of bad feelings coming from her. Did she not like the other girl or what?

"Yeah, although, some others have participated in one or two training sessions too."

"Onto the preliminaries, as they are called!" Midnight announced, pointing with her closed fan at a screen that appeared behind her to the side. "Lots of hopeful students end up choking on their tears after this every year and this year's first round is… this!"

'Obstacle Race… Why don't I like the sound of that,' Kazuki thought, narrowing his eyes. 'Nevermore time? Or maybe Beowolf? Might even be worth considering the Boarbatusk,' he considered quickly, trying to come up with the best way to approach this first event.

"We always speak about our freedom on campus, so…" Midnight said then, laughing very ominously behind her fan. "Well, this is what it's all about! You are free to do anything, anything at all, so long as you remain on course!"

'Which means someone is gonna try to take out the competition,' Kazuki realized instantly. It was what he'd have done himself, probably. Summon a bunch of grimm and have them interfere with other students. He couldn't do that though, because that'd likely make him look worse than he already was gonna look very soon. 'No, I have to focus on myself, leave everyone else alone,' he thought.

How sad was it, that in order for people not to judge him, he'd have to be completely self-centered?

"So, let's get this show on the road, people!" Midnight said. "On your marks!" Everyone around took their positions on the line and behind if they hadn't gotten there fast enough. Kazuki reached into his negativity pool, making his shadow darken and its black mist float up as his not-yet-formed grimm yearned to reach out. "Start!"

Instantly, he jumped, forming a Nevermore under him. He positioned himself in the space behind the mask, where it spiked up and grabbed onto that as if it were a handle. 'Let's go,' he thought as the thing took flight. A second later, he felt some pain, cold, annoyance, anger, hatred…

Looking down, he saw that Todoroki had used his ice power to freeze the ground where he ran, trapping several unfortunate students. It seemed that everyone remembered what he'd done in the Battle Trials though, because the other members of their class had managed to avoid the extra obstacle.

'Good thing I'm up in the… air…' he thought, before trailing off as he turned to look ahead. 'What the fuck?' he asked himself.

"Here come the obstacles!" Present Mic announced. "Suddenly and from the very beginning! The first barrier… the Robot Hell!"

'Robot Hell indeed… What the fuck is this?' Kazuki thought as he looked at the small army of Zero Pointers that they had in front of them. 'Ok… They're an obstacle. No need to face them. Just get past them,' he told himself, narrowing his eyes and commanding his grimm. He might need to use his Grimm Guard and maybe summon a few more Nevermore to-

'... Nevermind,' he corrected as he saw the gigantic robots get frozen solid. 'This is my chance though,' he decided, urging his Nevermore mount to go faster. He heard the students down on the ground exclaiming things and moving, there were Quirks being used somewhere behind, but Kazuki only gave them a passing glance to make sure nobody tried to snipe him or something.

They didn't.

Everyone seemed a little busy dealing with those right next to them, really. That and Todoroki's ice. 'Those robots look a little unstable though,' he noted idly, watching one of the Zero Pointers tilt a little and then hit another one as if it were a falling domino piece. However, it didn't bring down everything… instantly, that is. No, instead it took a few seconds in which everyone underneath could see what was about to happen.

Kazuki didn't see what happened though, because he was already pulling away from the robots.

"And Kazuki Endo pulls ahead already, taking advantage of the chaos that everyone else is causing, even surpassing the rather ruthless Shoto Todoroki!" Present Mic called through the speakers in the stadium. "Kid's already showing why he's the player representative!"

"A strong quirk, a stronger resolve and a good head on his shoulders," Aizawa said, his voice much more flat compared to the other teacher. "His chances are good, but…"

"As if I'd let you two get ahead of me!" a shout was heard then. "B-Movie! Half 'n half!"

Kazuki almost laughed at that. If there was a way to take the seriousness out of something, it was with Bakugo's nonsense. At that point, it might as well be funny rather than annoying. Or, at least, it brought a sense of normalcy if nothing else.

And Kazuki needed that.

He could feel it, the unease, the fear, the confusion, the affront. He knew what that was, the feeling growing in the crowd in the stadium. So many people were there, and just as he predicted, it was spreading. He'd hoped, he'd prayed… But it had all been useless.

'Focus,' he told himself, focusing on the words Inui had for him during those days when he voiced his nerves. He remembered what his friends had told him through his insecure moments. He reminded himself of how supportive Yamada and Aizawa were with their commentary just then. Even Midnight's little nudge when he was up on the stage…

He was not alone.

'I got this,' Kazuki told himself, taking a deep breath in and pushing through. He knew he was going to have to deal with that. He had dealt with harsher shit from people that mattered a lot more than a crowd of strangers. 'I got this… I'm gonna win this… I'm gonna show you all. I'm gonna show you…'

The Nevermore picked up speed as time passed, batting its wings to bring itself up. Under him, he saw Todoroki running, while Bakugo tried to catch up by pushing himself in the air with his explosions. He only had eyes for the goal though, which had him grinning.

"The second barrier! If you fall you lose!" Present Mic announced as Kazuki approached the aforementioned set of obstacles. "The Canyon!"

"No problem at all for Endo, however," Aizawa commented almost as an afterthought, and he was completely right. The second barrier was, after all, a set of rock platforms connected between themselves with thick ropes. All of them leaving a frightening space between them and a high fall underneath.

'Good thing I'm flying, huh?' he thought confidently. That is, until he saw something from the corner of his eye. 'Oh come on!' he exclaimed in his mind as a projectile flew towards him, piercing his mount's chest and causing it to start disintegrating.

"It won't be so easy, however,"Aizawa said. "His classmates won't just let him win, especially the rather competitive Todoroki, it seems."

'Fuck you, Todoroki,' Kazuki thought, narrowing his eyes. He pulled himself off the dead and falling Nevermore. Trying to heal it would take too long, especially with the icicle still inside it. No, it was better to…

Jump.

And so he did, using the falling creature to push himself in the air as he pulled on his negativity pools once more. He had hardly trained creating grimm in the air, which he imagined he'd have to work on, but… He could do it. He had quite the fall ahead of him, so time was something he had in spades.

"He's still falling!" Present Mic exclaimed dramatically. "Will the head of this race lose its first place like this?!"

"They wish!" Kazuki himself shouted. "I'm not done yet, not even close!"

The shadows extended from around him as if he were using Grimm Guard. In a way, he was, but in a very specific way. From his back, he created two Nevermore wings. He couldn't quite fly, unfortunately. He didn't have the instincts that his creatures seemed to come with, but the wings were enough to glide down instead of straight out plummeting to the ground.

Having bought himself some time, he started producing another Nevermore. From the corner of his eye, he saw Todoroki and Bakugo starting to cross the Canyon too. They were getting close, almost there…

They passed him…

And then the Nevermore was finished. 'Well, fuck you and your attacks, Todoroki. I might not be able to attack you, but I can block you just fine,' he decided, as he fell on his second mount. Pulling up once more, he continued creating more grimm. He pulled on the growing negativity around him to make more Nevermore. They'd be the literal meat shields for any attacks that came his way from then on.

"It'll take more than that, buddy!" Kazuki called as he caught up with the two just as they finished the second barrier.

"And now comes the final barrier!" Present Mic announced then and there as they came face to face with… an empty field? "Prepare yourselves, participants, for the hidden surprises of… the Mine Field! Open your eyes wide, kids, because you just might be able to see where the explosives are!"

'Or I can just fly over them,' Kazuki thought to himself as he commanded his creatures to take him across the field. 'No surprises this time though,' he decided, looking carefully at the students behind him. Bakugo was catching up rather quickly, that was for sure and Todoroki wasn't that far behind. The latter did try to send another projectile his way, but seemed to decide that was a lost cause when one of his secondary Nevermore intercepted it with its body.

'Take that, everyone,' Kazuki thought as he pulled ahead once more and did his best to keep things that way. Bakugo wasn't going to make that easy though, but that was fine. It was a competition and he was sure to give it his all if nothing else. 'Are you watching? Are you seeing this, mom?' he wondered.

'I'm gonna be a fucking hero,' he thought resolutely.

"Take-" Bakugo exclaimed then, pulling closer to where Kazuki was flying with his explosions and then going for an attack. Another of his guard flock flew straight at him though, wrapping its wings around the blonde and interrupting the attack altogether. The only thing that blew up then were Bakugo's chances of winning, because that certainly broke his momentum.

"Maybe next time, Bakugo!" he called as he continued his flight. Other students were making it to the Mine Field, but nobody could quite match the speed of something that could outright ignore the explosives. There were no flying Quirks around this time, it seemed. 'Unlucky,' Kazuki thought with a grin.

An explosion told him that no, the blonde wasn't done for yet, but that was fine. Kazuki would almost have felt bad if Bakugo was taken out like that. The other boy might be a pain in the ass and really fucking annoying, but he was also not that bad once you got used to his shitty personality. Besides, he was a classmate, and one that had somehow managed to make up for the terrible first impression (and several others).

'Wonder who else will make it,' Kazuki thought, trying to find some of his acquaintances. He didn't see anyone in his friend group, but he did see some other classmates other than Bakugo and Todoroki. Like Asui, who was starting the trip on the Mine Field. There were some students from other classes too, particularly a Support Course student that caught his attention. No attacks were coming his way though.

Apparently, now both Bakugo and Todoroki had decided he was too much trouble to bother. Good thing too, because he didn't feel like having to deal with much more of that. It was so tempting to just throw some Nevermore feathers at them or sic an entire one on them too, for that matter.

"I'm not gonna lose here too!" he heard Bakugo yell from underneath him, speeding up his explosions somehow. From the side, he saw Todoroki start to skate on his own ice to get faster too. Kazuki wasn't about to lose though. No offense to his classmates, he was sure all of them had things to prove…

But he was there for himself. He needed this. He needed the win, and he needed the positive image if he wanted his future to be bearable. So, they could try to get the win… over his dead body.

'Close enough,' Kazuki decided, checking the distance to the goal. Once he determined that, he commanded the Nevermore to stop flying and do a dive instead. It'd be much faster, that was for sure. Maybe it would make the difference, or maybe it wouldn't, but he had to do everything he could.

Half-assing it wouldn't do, at all.

Kazuki made himself small as he hung onto the Nevermore's mask. He had to make sure to not unintentionally slow his mount… more than he probably already was, that is. Turning as much as he could manage, he saw that Bakugo and Todoroki were dangerously close to him, but he still had the advantage. Their teachers continued commenting, but he paid them no mind. He was too busy focusing on the race, but maybe he could watch a repeat later.

An louder than normal explosion called for his attention behind them, making Kazuki – and the other two too, he noticed – turn to look. His eyes widened as he saw someone flying towards the goal. 'Is that Midoriya… surfing on air with a piece of metal?' he wondered, staring incredulously even as his Nevermore continued its dive.

'No,' he thought. He wasn't getting his win stolen from under his nose like that. He refused to allow that, not after being on the lead for the whole event. Not after getting his hopes up. Especially not when everyone was watching him, when he could be making a name for himself as something other than a walking catastrophe.

No. Fucking. Way.

He started lettinghis Nevermore disintegrate even as it continued diving. 'Less mass, less resistance,' he thought to himself as the creature started turning into black dust under him. 'Come on, faster!' he urged the half vanished monster.

Another explosion resounded behind him.

And then he reached the goal.

It was more of a drop than a landing, to be honest, but the remains of the Nevermore were enough to cushion the fall as Kazuki stood past their destination. The misty wisps of what had once been his mount surrounded him, but he didn't pay them any mind. 'I made it,' he thought, looking up. 'I made it, right?' he added, turning around.

And there they were…

Midoriya, Todoroki and Bakugo… Behind him.

'I made it,' Kazuki thought, grinning widely.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I was initially going to write an entirely different set of games for this but neither me nor my muse thought it'd make sense, really, other than by forcing the issue. The changes that would apply here would matter if the decisions were taken randomly, which I rather doubt, because they are those in the far past. More present changes don't matter, or so I think, since I imagine the Festival is planned out long before the start of the year, considering how close to it the event is.

So, we get the same games, guys, just to let you know.

Also… I honestly didn't know who was gonna win and what'd happen before it did. After all, there was a chance that someone would bring Kazuki down. There was a chance of the Midoriya miracle too.

Speaking of the latter, yes, I know I've made it so that he has full-cowling now… Which is why it was so close. In canon, I'm pretty sure Midoriya won by the skin of his teeth. In this run, he'd have been a clear first place instead, since he could reach further faster before going boom. Unfortunately for him, Kazuki was there this time too.

Now, onto other matters… I have great doubts about a grand total of one part of this chapter (and a bunch of smaller ones about the rest, but let's not focus on that)… And that's the speech. I honestly didn't know what to do there. I drew a blank every time I tried to think about it more deeply and so… I just went with whatever. Kazuki doesn't know what he's doing either, so it kind of works, I guess.

Anyway, with all that aside, I hope you liked it.

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, or if you just feel like supporting my writing, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Any predictions for the top three by the end of this Festival? I think I'll make this same question for every chapter of this, to see if people change their minds and so on.

See you.