Today was the day, the day Class 1-A had spent the past two weeks preparing themselves day and night for. The U.A. Sports Festival. It was early in the morning yet crowds were already pouring in to fill the stadium whether it was heroes, civilians, or the media. Inko and Hisashi had already dropped off Izuku and Hayato so the two were already in the locker rooms, getting ready with everyone else. The talk of the town was to keep their eyes on the first years, more specifically Class 1-A. Following the attack on U.S.J, there was doubt as to whether holding such a public event was a smart idea for U.A. But Principal Nezu along with the other faculty assured everyone that security was quintupled and no harm was to befall anyone that day.
"Are you guys ready?!" Eijiro asked as he slammed his fist into his hand.
"I wonder what's gonna happen in the first round." Mina said as she and Mashirao were stretching.
"It doesn't matter, we have to work with whatever cards they deal us." Fumikage said as he sat down calmly. The door then slammed open to reveal Tenya running into the room.
"Everyone! Are you ready?! We will be entering soon!" Tenya announced making everyone who was sitting down stand up. Izuku took a deep breath and prepared to head out before someone caught his attention.
"Midoriya." Shoto said as he walked up to him. This surprised everyone, especially Hayato, Katsuki, and Ochaco. "Looking at things objectively, I think I'm stronger than you."
"H-Huh? I'm uh...not sure how to respond to that."
"All Might has his eye on you, doesn't he?" Shoto asked catching both of All Might's disciples off guard. "I'm not trying to pry about that. But I'm going to beat you." Shoto said as he gave Izuku an ice cold glare.
"Oh? Is the best in the class making a declaration of war?" Denki asked as Eijiro walked over to the two.
"Come on, why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? Everything's about to start." Eijiro said placing his hand on Shoto's shoulder. He responded by pushing his hand off and continued glaring at Izuku.
"We're not here to play at being friends. So why does it even matter?" Shoto asked before beginning to walk away.
"Todoroki, I don't know what you're thinking when you say you'll beat me, but it's clear you were better than me. You're more capable than anyone else and looking at it objectively...you are the superior person in every way." Izuku said before he stared at Shoto, with determination burning in his eyes. "I'm going to give everything I've got today."
"If that's what we're doing..." Hayato said as he walked over to where Hitoshi and Katsuki were both sitting. "Then I want both of you to bring it on." Hitoshi just smirked at this while Katsuki glared at him. He smirked and stood up, keeping his eyes locked onto him.
"I'm gonna crush you, and then I'll take down Deku and that icy-hot bastard."
"Then you better stay at the top." Hayato said walking past Katsuki.
"Hey!" Present Mic's voice echoed through the stadium making the audience erupt into cheers. "Pay attention, audience! Swarm, mass media! This year's high school rodeo of adolescence that you all love, the U.A. Sports Festival, is about to begin! Everybody, are you ready?! It's time for the students to enter the first-year stage!" Trumpets began to sound and the crowd and faculty watched intently as Class 1-A proudly walked into the middle of the arena with Hayato and Izuku leading the pack. "It's the huge battle where fledgling heroes sharpen their swords once a year! The miraculous new stars who overcame enemy attacks with their hearts of steel, everyone give a big round of applause for hero course's Class 1-A!" Hisashi and Inko began to cheer loudly as they spotted the two, while on the other side of the stadium: Raito and Towa sat and immediately located their son. "They haven't been getting as much airtime, but this class is also full of talent! Hero course's Class 1-B! Next up, general studies' classes C, D, and E! Support course's classes F, G, and H are here too! And finally, business course's classes I, J, and K! All of U.A.'s first years are here now!" The middle of the arena then filled up as the remaining first year students as the crowd began applauding louder.
"Time for the player pledge!" The majority of the male students and even the men in the crowd all fought blushes or controlling themselves as a woman wearing a skin tight white body suit under dominatrix clothing walked onto a metal stage with a whip in her hand.
"Uh, someone should talk to Ms. Midnight about what she's wearing." Eijiro said as both he and Denki were both blushing at the woman as well.
"That costume should come with a warning label."
"Is that really appropriate apparel for a High School event?" Fumikage asked making Hayato shake his head.
"Quiet! Representing the students is Katsuki Bakugo from Class 1-A!" Midnight announced making Katsuki begin to walk over to where she stood. Everyone in Class 1-A hesitantly watched as they knew what Katsuki was about to announce to everyone.
"I pledge...to be number one." Katsuki said plainly making everyone in Class 1-A sigh or scream.
"I KNEW HE'D DO THAT!" The crowd of student then erupted into boos or insults while Katsuki kept his back turned to them.
"Why are you doing something so disgraceful?!" Tenya asked angrily waving his arm at Katsuki.
"At least be a nice bouncy step for me to jump off of." Katsuki said as he walked down to rejoin the crowd.
"You see what he's doing, Izuku?" Hayato asked earning a nod from his best friend.
"He's driving himself into a corner." Katsuki walked past them and bumped shoulders with both of them. "But it's just like him to get everyone tangled in his mess."
"Now, let's get started right away! Every year, many drink their own tears here! Now, here's the first game!" Midnight announced as a screen appeared behind her, with a roulette spinning on it. "This year, it's..." The roulette stopped and revealed the first game of the festival. "The Obstacle Race! All eleven classes will participate. The course will be the outer circumference of this stadium, about four kilometers!" The screen then showed the outside of the stadium and a circle with three different points highlighted as arrows went through them. "The selling point of our school is freedom, so as long as you stay on the course: it doesn't matter what you do!" A nearby gate opened and all the students crowded in front of it as they prepared themselves to run. Three green lights lit up above the gate and as quickly as they turned on, one light turned off. Then the other. The majority of the students took a deep breath as the last light was ready to turn off. "Start!" The last light went off and all hell broke loose as all the students tried forcing themselves through the small exit at once, shoving each other to make it through first.
"Okay, here's the play-by-play! Are you ready to do the commentary, Mummy Man?" Present Mic asked as he turned to see the still bandaged Aizawa sitting next to him.
"You're the one who forced me to come."
"Let's get started right away, Mummy Man! What should we pay attention to in the early stages?"
"This part right now."
Inside the exit, it was absolute carnage. Every student trying to force their way through separating all of Class 1-A. The next thing they all knew, a blast of cold air went through the exit and to the outside, freezing the majority of the students in place. Shoto then burst through as the ground behind him froze.
"If you can't handle that then there's no way you deserve to be a hero!" Shoto yelled before turning around to see Mashirao jumping, Katsuki propelling himself off the ground, and Momo creating a pole to vault over the ice.
"Hold up!" Katsuki yelled before two blurs rushed past them on the walls. The ones currently running minus for Shoto stopped running and watched in shock as they recognized the blurs.
"What's this?!" The crowd watched in amazement as the cameras focused and saw that Hayato and Izuku were running on the walls using their Quirks until they passed Shoto. The three stopped as the ground began to rumble and from it, the robot villains from the practical exam appeared with three zero-pointers towering over them. "The first obstacle is called Robo Infer-" Present Mic was cut off as the three leaders activated their Quirks.
"OUT OF MY WAY!" Hayato ran past the villains, Izuku used Full Cowling to punch through the legs of zero pointer, and Shoto froze another in place and ran past it. The zero pointers that both Izuku and Shoto attacked crashed into one another and into the ground, blocking off the path for the other students.
"The first ones through the first barrier are Shoto Todoroki, Hayato Kiryuu, and Izuku Midoriya from Class 1-A!" Present Mic announced making the crowd cheer, especially Inko while Hisashi looked at his son in shock. "But how will they fare against the second obstacle?!" All three arrived at the second obstacle and looked at the makeshift canyon with poles connecting around to the platforms leading to the other side.
"This isn't gonna slow me down!" Shoto jumped onto one of the poles and began to slide forward by creating ice under his right foot and making more behind him to push him.
"That goes for me too!" Izuku yelled as he activated Full Cowling and began to jump across to each platform as quickly as Shoto was making it to them too.
"Wait, you bastards!" Hayato took a step back and activated his Quirk before doing the same as Izuku until all three reached the other side. But when they turned around, Katsuki was hot on their tails in the air: firing explosion after explosion to boost himself.
"Damn it!" Katsuki yelled as he landed behind them and joined the three to fight for first.
"And now it's time for the last barrier, a minefield! It's set up so that you can tell where the mines are if you look carefully!" Present Mic announced as the four reached a long strip of land with raised clumps of dirt visible across every inch of it.
"This doesn't affect me!" Katsuki yelled as he jumped forward and used his explosions to soar through the air.
"Wait, Bakugo!" Shoto yelled as he froze the ground in front of him to make a walkway.
"I'm not gonna lose!" Izuku yelled as he used Full Cowling to jump across the ground, narrowly missing each mine.
"This isn't where I fall behind!" Hayato yelled as he ran through the minefield, even stepping on the mines, but narrowly avoiding the pink explosions that followed. The four quickly made their way through the last obstacle before feeling their powers reach their limits. They deactivated their Quirks once they were clear of the minefield and ran as fast as they could through the home stretch leading back to the stadium.
"These kids are insane! The other first years are barely past the second obstacle! What're you even teaching them, Eraser?!"
"I didn't do anything. They fired themselves up on their own." Aizawa said as he, while no one could see it happen, proudly watched his four students enter the hallway. "To be number one, it's all anyone wants. But my students shoot for the top by challenging one another."
"U.A. Sports Festival, first year stage! Who could've predicted how this turned out?! The first person back in the stadium is..." The crowd watched as out of the four shadows becoming more visible through the entrance, only one kept the lead before running back into the sunlight. "Izuku Midoriya!" The crowd erupted into cheers while Hisashi and Inko proudly hugged each other seeing their son had one the first event of the Sports Festival. Izuku turned to meet the gaze of his mentor and saw the pride and excitement in his eyes as Hayato patted his back. He turned around to see the results and saw that following him, Shoto had made it, then Hayato, and finally Katsuki.
"Damn it!" Katsuki yelled as he grabbed his forearm in pain.
"What was that power?" Shoto asked as he stopped to take a breath while a cold mist came off his right side. He looked at Izuku in shock before walking away.
"Now the remaining contestants are coming in one by one!"
"Deku!" Hayato and Izuku turned around to see Ochaco running up to them. "That was amazing! How can you two run on walls?!"
"Hayato thought about it and if we both go as fast as possible, we can run on the wall for a few seconds." Izuku explained hiding a blush from his friend but Hayato caught it and began to snicker. "Oh look, Yaoyorozu arrived." Hayato turned to see the entrance and covered his mouth in shock as Momo's shirt was open from the front while she trudged in. Izuku snickered as elbowed Hayato on the arm teasingly, only to be met with an elbow to the gut.
"The top 42 made it to the second round, don't worry if you didn't make it: we'll have more activities for you all to participate in later on. But now it's time to reveal the second event, the Cavalry Battle!" Midnight announced after the results showed that both Classes 1-A and 1-B had passed to the second round, along with two extras from the Support Course.
"No way..." Denki said exhausted from the first event.
"This Cavalry Battle will be point based, depending on the placement you got when you came in: you'll be awarded a set amount of points! And for coming in first place, Izuku Midoriya is worth ten million points!" Midnight announced freezing Izuku in place.
"Ten...million..?" Izuku felt all eyes turn to him as if he was injured prey against a pack of 41 predators.
"Each team is worth the points of its members, each player will be given a headband that must stay on their forehead or from the neck up. The headbands are easy to remove but the more you score, the harder it will be to manage them. If your team loses all their points or if your team falls, you're not out. But since it's still a cavalry battle, you'll get a red card for attacks that are trying to make people fall on purpose and immediately disqualified!" Midnight announced making the majority of the participants look at her in surprise. "You have fifteen minutes to build your teams. Start!"
"Izuku." Izuku turned to see Hayato smiling at him. "Let's do this."
"W-What?! Aren't you worried about winning?! We'll be the main targets!"
"Stop being such a spoil sport, if we team up: we'll have the chance to make it to the tournament without question. I'm worth 200 points for coming in third, everybody who knows what he can do, wants Bakugo because they know his Quirk has several purposes in a battle like this." Hayato said before looking around, seeing the majority of the people had already begun to form their teams. "With you as a rider and me as a horse, we'll be able to either avoid or steal other headbands."
"But shouldn't we also get THEM?" Izuku asked as he noticed Tenya and Ochaco nearby.
"Ochaco would be perfect, if she makes us lighter then it'll definitely help us out in the speed department. But I'm not so sure about Iida." Hayato said as he saw Tenya head over to where Shoto and Momo were. "Since the beginning we've been outshining him, especially me since I'm the only other speedster. If he wants to stand out, he'll want to avoid us otherwise he'd just feel like our shadow."
"I see..." Izuku said before Hayato waved Ochaco over.
"Ochaco! Come on, we want you on our team!"
"Really?!" Ochaco asked as she happily ran over to them.
"Really really." Hayato said as he happily placed a hand on her head. He didn't notice that Momo was watching and she quickly looked away to turn her attention to her team.
"But we need one more person, we need someone who can provide the power we're missing. Speed isn't enough, we need to be able to repel and go on the offensive when the situation calls for it." Izuku said before turning to his side, looking at Fumikage who was standing alone. "Tokoyami, will you join our team?"
"A team with the three of you? Sounds interesting." Fumikage said before nodding. "I accept."
"Start!" Midnight announced as the fifteen minutes were up and all eleven teams made their way to the team of Izuku, Ochaco, Fumikage, and Hayato.
"Tokoyami!" Izuku yelled as he turned the headbands inside out and put one around his forehead.
"You got it! Dark Shadow!" A bird-like purple mass came from Fumikage's chest and reached for the ground away from the teams, effortlessly pulling them closer.
'By using Uraraka's Quirk to make us float, it makes mobility easier for us.' Izuku said before the ground began to pull Dark Shadow in.
"Good luck getting away from that." A pale boy with beige hair and his teeth visible on his face said as Fumikage recalled Dark Shadow.
"Who needs luck?" Fumikage said as Dark Shadow reached for another part of the ground and pulled them towards it.
"Good job!" Ochaco said happily before seeing Shoto's team running towards them.
"Bogies at 3 o'clock!" Izuku yelled making Hayato roll his eyes.
"Yeah yeah. Ochaco!"
"Release!" Ochaco pressed her fingertips together before quickly touching everyone but Hayato again.
"Gotta run!" Hayato activated his Quirk and ran past Team Shoto, as Izuku ripped a headband off of Todoroki's neck.
"Got one!"
"But we got yours!" Izuku turned to see a blond haired boy and his team running towards them recognizing them from Class 1-B.
"That's what you think." Hayato smirked and strafed to the side, narrowly avoiding him grabbing one of the headbands across Izuku's neck.
"Curse my aged bladder." Sorahiko said as he walked out of the men's restroom. As he made his way back to the faculty area, where he was allowed to sit being a retired U.A. teacher, he noticed a familiar white haired woman making her way to the woman's restroom. "Towa?" Towa froze in place and turned to see her aged father, now smaller with age, who was looking at her in shock.
"Papa?"
"My sweet Towa...what are you doing here?" Sorahiko asked before they heard an explosion coming from the battle along with Katsuki's insults.
"The same you probably are, to see my son."
"Does he know you're here?" Sorahiko asked resting on his cane.
"No...Raito and I want to speak to him when we have the chance."
"You've seen what he can do?" Sorahiko asked earning a nod from his daughter.
"I never thought the Quirk I inherited from you combined with Raito's supercharge Quirk would combine into Super Speed." Towa said looking down a the ground.
"It wasn't mine, he has your mother's in him." Towa looked at him in surprise as he looked up at her and scratched his beard. "Raito and Kazuma could use their Quirks to supercharge their muscles, I use Jet to propel myself in the air, but your mother could travel at superhuman speeds because she had an insane metabolism. Hayato has a mix of your mother's and their Quirks to use his electrolytes to augment his abilities and his speed while keeping a normal human body." Sorahiko explained before looking at his daughter. "He's amazing, he has immense potential if he has even a bit of my Quirk within him. But, as to how he is...I'm afraid Kazuma left me in the dark about it."
"Kazuma told you about him?"
"Bah! I'm legally his new guardian, I'm not going to take in someone I don't know." Towa's eyes widened and her lip began to quiver hearing this. "But...know that my door will always be open to you if you want to see me or him. I can already tell that he has no hate for you, give him time to mourn Kazuma before you both try entering his life."
"Papa...are you sure?"
"You're my only child, why would I deny you such a thing when I can clearly see how much you feel like you made a mistake." Sorahiko said before beginning to walk away. "You should head back quickly, I think we're in for a rousing finale."
"Izuku...I can't go use my power anymore now." Hayato said as they only had two minutes remaining and still maintained their lead with only Fumikage's 180 points and Ochaco's 135 points being taken from them by Katsuki and Shoto's teams. Only four teams kept their points, the remaining eight wound up losing their points to the other teams except Team Midoriya.
"You did a good job playing keep away, we can't ask for anything more from you." Fumikage said before the four quickly dodged acid being shot by Mina on Team Bakugo. Suddenly a wall of ice formed on the side they jumped towards making Ochaco and Izuku hit their heads against it.
"Uraraka are you okay?!" Izuku asked as Ochaco rubbed her head in pain.
"My head hurts..."
"Sorry about that, but we're taking your ten million points now." Shoto said as his team of Tenya, Momo, and Denki rushed towards them.
"Dark Shadow!" Fumikage launched Dark Shadow away to escape but Denki chuckled and began to emit his electricity, making Dark Shadow return to him. "Damn it! With the light Kaminari gives off, Dark Shadow can't do anything!"
"Too bad your points are ours!" Katsuki yelled as he jumped towards them with tape wrapped around his abdomen.
"No way, they're ours!" The four turned around to see a gray haired boy that they recognized from Class 1-B heading towards them.
"Ochaco, let's throw Izuku in the air!" Hayato yelled shocking all of them, but Ochaco nodded and the two threw Izuku in the air, going higher and higher thanks to her Quirk.
"What are you doing?!" Izuku and Shoto yelled before Hayato swapped places with Fumikage, now leading the charge. They looked up to see Katsuki hot on Izuku's trail, ready to take all three remaining headbands in one go.
"Tokoyami, pull him in!"
"Dark Shadow!" Dark Shadow quickly grabbed Izuku and pulled him back on top of the three of them as Hayato took a deep breath.
"Too bad Kiryuu, I've been working on this for a while now. There's no one better to use it on." Tenya said as the exhaust ports on his calves fired up. "Hold on tight!" His three teammates held on as blue fire began firing from his exhaust ports. "RECIPRO BURST!" Team Todoroki shot past where Team Midoriya once stood and smiled as they looked at two headbands in Shoto's hands.
"Is that really the best you got?!" The four turned around in shock to see Hayato weakly smiling at them as Team Midoriya stood on the far side of the stadium. Izuku chuckled and flipped up his last headband, revealing it to be the ten million points they were fighting hard to keep.
"Too bad! It's mine!" The group looked up to see Katsuki was about to grab the headband from him.
"Time's up!" Present Mic announced as Katsuki had just barely touched the headband before being pulled back by Hanta.
"Damn it." Shoto said as he jumped off his teammates, glaring at Team Midoriya.
"Now, let's take a look at the top four teams right away! In first place, Team Midoriya!" The crowd erupted into cheers as Izuku proudly held up the ten million point headband. "In second place, Team Todoroki! In third place, Team Bakugo! In fourth place, Team Tetsutetsu!" Present Mic announced as the points for the teams were shown on the screen. "We'll be taking an hour break for lunch before we start the last event!"
"Good job out there today." Fumikage said as he, Ochaco, and Hayato all left the stadium to get food. "Your immense speed mixed with Uraraka's Zero Gravity...quite an amazing match indeed."
"You did a great job, I don't think Dark Shadow minded being a makeshift grappling gun, did he?" Hayato asked as he opened his sports drink bottle to drink some.
"I would've liked fighting instead!" Dark Shadow yelled as he appeared from Fumikage's abdomen.
"When you've got something as valuable as we did: you gotta play it safe." Ochaco said as she happily pet him.
"Kiryuu." The three turned to see Tenya walking over to them. "I had risked it all to beat you...and in the end, I still ended up outclassed by you." Tenya said as he pointed to his exhaust ports that were currently sputtering.
"If I didn't use everything I had left to get us away from you guys, you would've won for sure." Hayato said as he quickly finished his sports drink. "I don't think that I could even consider reaching that speed again today, even if it was only for a second: my body is gonna hurt tomorrow."
"Well then, let's go get some lunch to ease this tension." Ochaco happily suggested making the three nod. "Where's Deku?"
"Todoroki wanted to talk to him, he'll meet us there."
"So, what's up next after this?" Eijiro asked as he sat with Fumikage, Tenya, Ochaco, and Hayato to have lunch.
"After the first two qualifiers: the remaining 16 students fight in a tournament." Tenya said as he remembered who had passed. "That would be you, Ashido, Sero, and Bakugo. Our team of Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, Todoroki, and myself of course. Midoriya, Tokoyami, Kiryuu, and Uraraka from their team. And from Class 1-B's team it would be Tetsutetsu, Awase, Honenuki, and Shiozaki."
"It's gonna be pretty exciting to watch, ribbit." Tsuyu said as she joined the group at their table.
"Gonna be pretty tough, honestly." Hayato said as he placed a spoonful of rice in his mouth.
"You're afraid of fighting Deku, aren't you?" Ochaco asked making Hayato shake his head.
"I'm not afraid of it, I'm worried about it. Izuku and I have been friends since we were four...when you put it into perspective, that's eleven years of friendship and brotherhood. I wanna win, so I won't hesitate or hold back against him."
"But, who's to say Midoriya will?" Fumikage spoke up earning a nod from the group. "Sometimes even the strongest bonds can overpower the will to win."
"We've just barely got the hang of his powers, I NEED him to fight me with everything he has so that he can keep learning to control it. Besides, Ochaco might want him to show off for her." Hayato said before continuing to eat, this time turning the topic of conversation to the girl sitting next to him.
"Wait what?!" Eijiro asked in disbelief before bursting into laughter.
"Ochaco likes Midoriya, ribbit."
"No way, you do?!" Eijiro asked making Ochaco bury her face in her hands. "Holy shit! You two should be a thing!"
"Who knows if they already are." Hayato said plainly. Ochaco slapped him in retaliation only for him to begin floating. "Ochaco!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Release!" Ochaco deactivated her Quirk only for Hayato to fall down and hit his back on the chair.
"Is this karma..?" Hayato asked as he stood up, holding his back in pain.
"Is speed healing one of the things your Quirk can do?" Ochaco asked holding her hands up.
"I wish..."