The Sports Festival is finally here! Midoriya sighed shakily as he put on his uniform in the boys' locker room. He looked down at the Zonai gauntlet on his right arm, silently studying the glittering stones. The Sages surrounded him protectively.
Don't worry, Master. You got this! The Fire Sage gave him a thumbs up. The Wind Sage flew around him rapidly, causing him to giggle as the cyclone of wind tickled his skin.
The Water Sage waved his trident around majestically. This will be a day to remember, Master: the day a male takes the stage! Midoriya chuckled uneasily.
"With me being one of three males here, the odds of me winning are next to none." The Water Sage just laughed good-naturedly.
Yes, but you're the only male hero-and that enough will make you shine!
The Lightning Sage walked forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. Don't forget, Master, that you'll be surrounded by women that are only focusing on one thing-to win this. You're not here to find a girlfriend.
Midoriya resembled a strawberry at that sentence. "When have I ever made a move on a girl since I came here?!" The Lightning Sage quirked an eyebrow.
All I'm suggesting is that the women will use anything to get a man to do what they want. They all believe that you're a weak person because of your gender-don't give them that power.
Midoriya nodded, "Don't worry, I won't."
…..
Midoriya began panting in terror in the 1-A waiting room. He finished getting ready fifteen minutes ago and now that he was alone in his thoughts, lists of all the things that could go wrong were filling his brain. He curled into a ball and began trembling.
Maybe it's not too late to change my mind about being here…Maybe I can call Mom to come get me. Oh no I'm gonna throw up!
"HEY BUSH BABY!" Midoriya looked up to see a silhouette of a giant grow hovering over him. A soft 'ahem' threw him out of his shock and he turned to see his classmate, Fumikage, in the entryway. "Sorry about that, Midoriya."
Midoriya couldn't help but ask, "Your quirk is a male?!" Fumikage looked at him in amusement. He blushed and hid his face in his hands. "Sorry…" The raven-faced girl just smirked.
"It's fine." She walked over and sat next to him. "So…how are you?" The green-haired male groaned.
"I feel like I'm going to hyperventilate." Fumikage laughed.
"You should see Mineta. Girl is in a fetal position sobbing right now." Midoriya frowned.
"That's not funny."
"Come on, it's a little funny." Midoriya chuckled softly and looked down at his shoes. He sighed and looked at the girl beside him. "So…why is your quirk a male?"
The girl looked lost in thought. "As you can see, my quirk, his name is Dark Shadow by the way, is a sentient quirk. I think…that my quirk wanted to defend and protect me. And…in the world before quirks…males were seemingly more dominant and protective over the females. Not by a lot, but…that seemed to be the norm back then. So, it copied that society and chose to be a male. That's my theory anyway."
Dark Shadow formed again, seeming to glare at Midoriya. "COME ON! ARE YOU A MAN OR AREN'T YA?!"
"Dark Shadow…" Fumikage glared at her quirk, who immediately cowered and went back into her body. Midoriya let out a quiet "Wow…"
The door burst open, revealing a certain spiky-haired blonde; the rest of the class right behind her. The blonde glared at the scene, "Oi, Poe-girl! What are you doing with Deku?!" Fumikage sighed, rolling her eyes.
"He was having a panic attack, Bakugou. I was talking to him to get his mind off things. Although, I think you took us back to square one." She looked at Midoriya beside her who went back into a ball and shook. Bakugou growled.
"If the nerd can't take a loud noise, how can he become a hero?!" Midoriya trembled and wheezed.
Yaoyorozu walked forward and held out a steaming cup toward him. "I guess they don't have a tea bar in the boys' locker room, huh? I got a little overwhelmed myself-here's some peppermint tea."
Midoriya smiled gratefully as he took the cup, "Thanks." He took a tentative sip and let the warmth and light mint flavor soothe his nerves.
"Midoriya." That voice…
Xioko Todoroki stood before him. He did NOT want to talk with her-not after last time. In the corner of his eye, he saw Jirou glare at the girl.
"In terms of skill, we know that I'm stronger than you." Okay, he did not expect that. But it was true, so…
"Go on."
"So I hope you know that I will defeat you in this Sports Festival."
Uraraka spoke up, "Um, Todoroki? Why are you attacking Deku?"
Kirishima spoke up, "That's not manly, sis."
"Hey Half-n-Half." Bakugou walked between Todoroki and Deku. "The only one allowed to bully Deku is me, got it?" She reached behind her and gave Midoriya a little shove. Midoriya yelped, just managing to hold onto the cup that he was holding.
"Thanks Kacchan. I got this." Bakugou turned around to yell at him, but she saw the look in his eyes and uncharacteristically stepped back. Midoriya took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His green gaze bore into Todoroki.
"Todoroki, you got your quirk when you were supposed to get it: at four years old. I awakened my quirk a little later…so yes, with your knowledge and strength, I know you're better than me." Todoroki kept her face cold and unchanging, staring Midoriya down.
"However, it's public knowledge to UA that you have two quirks: fire and ice. Not once have I seen you use your fire quirk. All of us have been using our all to be in this school and we're going to be using our all in the Sports Festival too. Can you honestly say with confidence that you can beat anyone using half your power?"
A very tense silence covered the room. Yaoyorozu reached out an arm, "Midoriya-"
Todoroki spoke up, "I know I can. Because I will do whatever it takes to prove to her that I don't need her power."
Mina frowned, "Todoroki, we might not know about you, but we're all studying to be heroes. We're all on the same side here-"
Todoroki interrupted, "We're not here to make friends. We're here to win. And that's what I'll do." She turned around, her bangs covering her eyes. "And I'll do it all without fire." No one uttered a single word as she walked away.
Midoriya frowned after her. What happened to her to make her reject her fire quirk that much?
…
"AND IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR THE ANNUAL UA SPORTS FESTIVAL! FAMILIES AND FRIENDS FROM ALL OF JAPAN COME OVER TO BE A PART OF THIS GLORIOUS EVENT! BOY, I NEVER GET TIRED OF BEING A PART OF IT! ISN'T THAT RIGHT, AIZAWA?!" The blonde woman grinned as the crowd of women (and a few men) cheered in excitement.
The black-haired woman glared at the hyper blonde tiredly, her arms crossed in defeat. "Why do you keep making me do this?"
"BECAUSE IT'S FUN, GIRL! NOW, LET'S WELCOME OUR CONTESTANTS FOR THE SPORTS FESTIVAL! AND THIS YEAR IS ESPECIALLY AMAZING!"
Aizawa widened her eyes and reached out a hand to stop her. "Yamada, no!"
"BECAUSE CLASS 1-A HAS A MALE IN THEIR CLASS! THE VERY FIRST MALE WITH A QUIRK: IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
The crowd stopped abruptly.
Class 1-A turned toward Midoriya, who turned pale as a ghost.
The other classes followed 1-A's example and looked at Midoriya.
A camera drone hovered over and took a recording of Midoriya's face, causing his figure to be shown on the big screen displayed in the middle of the arena.
Midoriya whimpered, "…Why?"
…
The crowd let out tiny sounds of confusion and interest of a male being in UA. Some of the women who had just graduated UA were sneering at the boy. A red-headed woman with flame for hair looked at the boy in greed.
The woman was wearing a flame-resistant, dark-blue kimono with dragons etched in gold in the cloth. The outline of the dragons had little openings, allowing her to release her flames. She was wearing silk leggings and kimono sandals. Tiger lilies painted in a fire-resistant solution were nestled in her hair, making her look delicate yet powerful. Her nails were a bright orange and red. She had a fan in her hand that she used to make her flames more potent.
This was the male in her daughters' class-the only known male in the world with a quirk. With his genes, her lineage will become stronger than All Might! That settles it-she was going to make that male her daughters' fiancé.
She will not take no for an answer.
…
All Might winced at this development for her successor. She knew that he would be revealed, but she didn't think it would be so soon.
….
Inko trembled in rage. Did that ditz of a blonde not know the meaning of the word 'tact'?! How dare she paint a target on her son?! She clasped her hands together, trying to prevent herself from contacting Izuku about the situation. Her son was going to be a hero; she couldn't always be there.
….
Aizawa grabbed onto her friend's shoulders and shook her, "Why are you such an idiot?!" The blonde looked at her with wide eyes over her sunglasses.
"What? This year is special because of that little listener! I wanted to make a cool intro for the little dude!" Aizawa growled in anger.
"You fed him to the wolves Hizawari!" Aizawa gestured to the arena cam. Midoriya had summoned Zelda (who was the size of a housecat) and was holding onto the dragon tightly, eyes closed and trembling. The dragon was rubbing her blonde mane against the boys' face.
Uraraka, Iida, Asui, Mina, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, Kirishima, and Kaminari had circled the male, preventing the other classes from moving forward in curiosity.
"Ahh…crap…" Finally seeing the damage she did, the blonde moved forward to the mic, "WELL WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY, IT'S TIME TO START THE MAIN EVENT! WE SHOULD START WITH THE NUMBER ONE STUDENT IN THE ENTRANCE EXAMS: KATSUMI BAKUGOU!"
The blonde walked up the stage steps, hands in her pockets. Seeing something happening, the crowd and students looked away from the green-haired boy and at the blonde. Midoriya sighed in relief and looked at his childhood friend.
The blonde looked at the crowd in disinterest and spoke into the mic. "I just want to say…that I'm going to become number one and win." Midoriya closed his eyes in exasperation and hid his face in Zelda's scales.
