Chapter 32: Sports Festival (1-3)
As Izuku was walking down the hallway towards the locker room, he saw Endeavor walking in the opposite direction. Izuku remembered what Shoto told him earlier, and tried to clamp down on his emotions. Now was not the time.
Endeavor, however, decided to talk to him. "You there, you are my son's opponent next round?"
"Y-yes sir." Izuku stopped and looked up at him.
"I have heard about you - the young man with an enhancement quirk."
"Yes, that's me."
For some reason, Endeavor smiled. "Good. You will be a good test for my Shoto. With his quirk, he will someday surpass All Might."
The anger Izuku was trying to keep in check escaped, his face twisting into one of defiance. "I am not All Might."
"Hmph. That much is obvious. But nevertheless, your quirk lets you have super strength, which is the important part. It is a good match for my Shoto. We will know-"
"I am not done!" Izuku suddenly cut Endeavor off. "I am not All Might. I hope to be like him one day, but I will not be him. But you know what else? Todoroki - Shoto. He isn't you. He is his own person. That much should be obvious, but apparently it's not."
"Now listen here!"
"No, you listen! I don't care about whatever issues you have with All Might! But Todoroki and I - we aren't part of that! I am not letting myself get dragged into whatever feud you are fighting! I'm here to learn how to be a hero! And you know what else? I am going to surpass you. Not because I'm stronger than you. No, I'm going to surpass you because while you conduct this stupid feud, I'm going to go out there and help people."
Izuku felt his nerves giving out, so he quickly turned around and walked away.
Less than a minute with Endeavor, and Izuku had to rethink his entire plan for the next match. He knew he shouldn't do it, that he should focus on winning. But something about Endeavor's tone set him off. It made him realize that underneath it all, Shoto didn't need a rival.
Shoto needed someone to reach out and help him.
A few minutes later, Izuku was called out to the field for his match. As he walked to the starting position, he felt Shoto's stare boring into him. Once he was at his designated spot, he turned and matched his stare.
"If you refuse to use your fire, you are going to lose."
Shoto's lip turned downward. "I can't wait to see you try."
They both got into a fighting stance, and moments later Midnight's voice rang out.
"Begin!"
Immediately, Shoto opened the match by firing a stream of ice straight towards Izuku, hoping to freeze him in place and claim a quick victory. Izuku countered by balling his fists together and swinging, using a 6% smash to generate air pressure. He felt the approaching ice explode into a shower of fragments and mist, its advance halted by his attack.
Looking across the ice-strewn field at his opponent's shock, Izuku couldn't help but smile. His assumptions were correct. He was going to be sore afterwards, but he could outlast Shoto. As long as his opponent was insistent on holding himself back, there was no way he could win. He would freeze himself long before Izuku would run out of strength. Now that he had established that fact, he felt much more confident in confronting Shoto.
Taking a deep breath, Izuku began clearing his mind.
Shoto stood in stunned silence for a moment. Izuku had actually managed to stop his attack. Maybe he should have gone all out like he did in the first round. But he had underestimated him, and Izuku had already shown that to be a mistake. Other than Endeavor's fire or Katsuki's explosions melting the ice, he has never faced someone else who was able to stop his ice completely.
Izuku was confidently walking towards him, and he launched another wave of ice, only to see Izuku use another two-handed smash, stopping it a second time. But a moment later, when the air cleared, Izuku wasn't there.
"I told you!" He didn't have time to react as Izuku appeared right next to him, punching him right in the chest. Shoto felt himself double over, as Izuku grabbed his right arm to throw him.
Shoto was able to encase Izuku's arm in ice, distracting him enough that he was able to slip free. Needing space, he created ice under his feet and slid away, giving himself some distance as the ice on Izuku's arm shattered, a green light dancing between the falling fragments of ice. Izuku locked eyes with Shoto and began running towards him.
"You don't get it, do you? You are better than this!"
Shoto saw the energy dancing along Izuku's arm and barely had time to throw up a wall of ice between the two of them.
The wall caught his attack and exploded in a shower of ice. But Izuku was nowhere to be found.
"You're acting just like your father." Once again Izuku appeared out of nowhere, his words enough of a warning for Shoto that he could block the punch.
Shoto didn't have time to think about why Izuku wasn't using his smash attacks against him.
"You don't know what it's like!" Shoto spat back. "Everything he put me through!"
"In that case, prove you are better than him!"
Shoto was forced backwards as he blocked the incoming attacks, Izuku had made the mistake of trying to grab his right side last time, and now was using his greater agility to stay on Shoto's left side. It was preventing him from going on the offensive.
"That's what I'm doing! That's why I refuse to use my fire!"
"You said it yourself, your quirk is unique. That means nobody else has it, only you. So why are you letting him hold you back?"
Shoto surrounded himself in a circle of ice, stopping Izuku's next punch. Knowing that it won't last, he followed up by summoning a column of ice under his feet, propelling him upwards, before forming a slide which he used to cross the arena. Landing, he looked down at his arm, and saw the frost beginning to coat it.
Izuku's warning at the start of the match was proving true. He needed to end this - and fast, before he was unable to use his ice anymore. It was a strange feeling, being pushed to his limits like this.
Normally it only happened during one of his 'intensive training' sessions with his father. But facing Izuku it felt different, somehow.
Looking back, he realized his mistake immediately. He was so distracted by Izuku's words, that he had taken his eyes off of his opponent, and lost track of him again. He quickly created a wall of ice behind him, and jumped forward as he heard it explode, spinning around in midair to land facing his opponent.
"Isn't it hypocritical, insulting me for not using my full strength, when you aren't using your full strength either?" Shoto launched a much larger wave of ice at his opponent. It was a risk, but he was running out of options.
Izuku clenched his teeth as he saw the glacier speeding towards him. Silently apologizing to all of the people who will be upset with him later, he put full power into two of his fingers, flicking them at the upcoming ice wall. The strength of the air pressure he was able to create was not only strong enough to completely stop the incoming wave of ice, but it also blew most of the built up ice out of the arena.
Shoto was staggering backwards by the strength of the counterattack, and only thanks to the quick creation of an ice wall was he able to stay in the arena. When he recovered his footing he saw Izuku walking towards him - and he was stunned by how angry he looked.
Izuku held up his left hand, displaying the two shattered fingers, swollen purple and hanging at odd angles, for Shoto to see. "I don't use my full power because I can't without breaking myself! You don't have this problem! And if you keep this up, you're going to lose!"
Shoto looked down at his hand, and finally admitted to himself that Izuku was right. He was beginning to slow down, overuse of his ice taking a toll on him without using Endeavor's fire to balance his internal body temperature. He saw green light wrapping around Izuku's arm, and threw up another wall of ice in front of him, temporarily stopping Izuku's attack.
He knew it wasn't going to hold, but it gave him precious seconds to think.
He is strong, but there is more to him than just raw power. If that was the case I could have chosen Bakugo or Yaoyorozu as my rival just as easily. No, he is also incredibly intelligent, able to not only grasp a situation quickly, but also to look at the options available to him and find the best solution. Not only that, but he backs his strength with compassion in a way that I have never seen outside of All Might.
He looks down at his left hand. And if I don't use my fire, I am going to lose. Worse, I am going to lose against someone who is only using a fraction of his power. He is right - he has a reason to hold himself back, and yet, he is still willing to do whatever it takes when necessary.
So why am I holding myself back?
Izuku's words echoed in his mind. My quirk is unique. My father may have contributed to half of it, but by pairing it with ice, it is no longer his. Everyone else is giving their best effort.
Shoto swore he heard his next thought in Izuku's voice. So why are you not giving it your all?
His thoughts were broken by Izuku punching him in the face, sending him flying across the arena. He somehow managed to throw up an ice wall to keep himself inside the arena, and he scrambled to a standing position. Already Izuku was running towards him, his arm glowing green, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
Taking a deep breath, Todoroki decided to take Izuku's words to heart, and activated his fire.
Izuku found himself thrown backwards by the explosive expansion of air, and when he landed he saw Todorki, his left side covered in flame, as he was rebalancing his body's internal temperature.
"Just so you know, you only have yourself to blame for what happens next."
Izuku gave him a fierce grin as he got onto his knees. "I wouldn't expect any less!" Taking a risk, he charged his legs to 8% strength and leapt at Todoroki, who launched an attack of ice and flame dancing between each other at him. As he was flying across the arena Izuku began to wrap himself in One For All's energy.
The crowd gasped as the arena exploded. Ice was flying in every direction. Present Mic was screaming something incomprehensible as the crowd waited for the dust to clear.
When everyone could see again, they saw that Shoto was still standing in the arena - barely, the ice wall he was using was all but destroyed. Meanwhile, Izuku had been flung out of the arena, laying in the grass several meters away.
Midnight appeared hesitant to enter the arena and congratulate the winner, but Shoto didn't seem interested in the theatrics. Once he had realized what happened he walked over to where Izuku was laying on the ground and offered his hand.
"Next year, you'd better be able to fight me with your full strength. After that performance I expect nothing less from you."
Izuku smiled as he took his hand, unsteadily pulling himself up. "Y-yeah. I promise I won't stop until I can use my full power without hurting myself!"
"I am holding you to that." Izuku saw Shoto's lip turn ever so slightly upward.
Midnight finally approached the two, her microphone in hand. "My my, such a passionate display of sportsmanship! Two opponents, strengthening each other." She licked her lips seductively. "These are the most exciting stories!"
Once Izuku was standing, he tested his legs, and winced at the pain. One of his ankles was twisted and swollen from hitting the ground so forcefully. He really needed to get better about using his quirk defensively, he thought to himself as he waved off the medical robot, and began limping off the field.
Meanwhile, Midnight had dragged Shoto back to the arena and held up his arm. "And we have our winner, Shoto Todoroki!"
As Izuku limped into the hallway he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.
"Deku! Are you ok?"
He turned and saw Ochako running towards him.
"H-hey. I've been better."
Ochako closed the gap between them and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He began to protest but she cut him off. "You're limping, now it's my turn to help you."
Izuku silently nodded and let her help him down to Recovery Girl's temporary infirmary, where she laid him down in a bed.
Recovery Girl just sighed as she inspected his hand and ankle. "Why did you go and have to do that to yourself?"
Izuku at least had enough shame to look embarrassed. "I-I was angry." He admitted, looking away from Recovery Girl. "He called me a hypocrite for not using my full strength against him."
"Well he's dumb!" Ochako said. "He knows why you don't!"
"I know." Izuku admits, looking at his hand as Recovery Girl kisses it, the purple fading and fingers beginning to straighten as bone knit itself back together.
Recovery Girl handed Izuku several of her special gummies as he felt the wave of exhaustion kick in, before she began the process of bandaging his fingers, making sure they would mend properly.
"Are you going to let the villains goad you like that? You know once you become a professional you can't just expect me to patch you up after every fight."
Izuku flinched at that. "You're right. I need to get better about it."
Recovery Girl let out a resigned sigh. "At least you acknowledge it. I'm sure there are people around you who don't like seeing you hurt yourself needlessly either."
Izuku looked over to see Ochako nodding in agreement at that, before looking back down to focus on his hand.
As Recovery Girl was finishing up, Himiko burst into the infirmary, glaring daggers at Izuku.
"H-Hi Himi."
"Idiot. Why did you do that?" Himiko crossed her arms.
"Do what?" Ochako asked, confused by the accusation.
"Umm, if I didn't goad Todoroki into using the fire part of his quirk I would have won." Izuku admitted.
There was no use hiding it, he was pretty sure Tomoe would have reported everything, if she wasn't just using her quirk on Himiko. He looked down, watching Recovery Girl remove his sock to wrap his ankle.
"As long as he held himself back, I could fight him to a stalemate. In that scenario, Todoroki was going to wear himself out first and I would have won. But once he used his fire, the only way I was going to win would have been with two broken arms, and probably a broken leg as well."
Ochako gasped. "Why?"
Izuku looked up and gave the two a shaky smile. "Because he needed help."
Himiko frowned and shook her head. "You are way too caring for your own good."
"I wanted to show the world the kind of hero I want to be." Izuku admitted.
"What are we going to do with you?" Himiko squeezed his shoulder. "At least you had the good sense to not break your arms this time."
Izuku smiled at his sister. "You would kill me if I did."
Everyone laughed at that, lightening the mood.
Once Recovery Girl had finished up, she dismissed Izuku and chased the three of them out of her infirmary. In the hallway Izuku hugged Himiko, before they split up and she returned to the Class 2 seats while he and Ochako returned to their own seats.
Looking around, they only saw Tsuyu sitting there. "Where's Tenya?"
"He received a phone call. After that he left in a hurry, kero."
"I hope he's ok." Ochako said as she sat down.
"Me too."
Luckily, there was enough damage to the arena that even with the visit to Recovery Girl, they made it back in time to watch the other semi-final match. Izuku fished his notebook out of his bag and propped it open on his legs. He knows Momo has been experimenting over the past few weeks, and is curious to see what she has come up with to counter Katsuki.
"You're really into this, aren't you?" Ochako asked from beside him.
His left hand was wrapped in bandages and she had to help him with the stairs due to his ankle, but he wasn't letting that slow him down. Even if she didn't like his eagerness to help others at his own expense, his drive was inspiring.
Izuku nodded. "In terms of raw combat power, Bakugo has the edge. But Yaoyorozu has spent the last two weeks analyzing everyone's quirks, so she has the knowledge advantage in the fight. I want to see what she came up with to counter him!"
Ochako felt a pang of jealousy, but pushed it down. Momo was both smart and good looking, but there was another member of the quirk analysis class she was more worried about. It hurt every time she thought about it, but she wasn't sure how she could even compare to Emily. She just had to hope the upperclassman wasn't interested in Izuku that way.
Everyone's attention was pulled towards the field when Mic announced the final two competitors of the semifinals, Momo and Katsuki. They both confidently strode onto the field and fell into their respective fighting stances, as they waited for Midnight.
"Begin!" Midnight called out.
Katsuki opened by launching himself across the field, attempting to stop Momo before she could use her quirk. Momo, anticipating this, removed the top half of her gym uniform, revealing a red tank top underneath and freeing her arms. She threw the uniform at her opponent and used the distraction to duck under Katsuki's initial attack as a large pair of gloves popped out of her shoulders and landed on the ground.
Scooping them up, she rolled away and shoved her arms in them. Even from a distance, Izuku immediately recognized what they were. A pair of gloves off of a blast suit, looking like the schematic he saw Momo studying last week. She wouldn't be able to create a full suit, but with her hands and forearms covered, it would give her some protection from Katsuki's explosions. Creating a staff out of her shoulder, Momo then went on the offensive.
Katsuki tried to stop her with an explosion, but Momo raised her arms, using the gloves as a shield to protect herself, before swinging the staff, catching Katsuki by surprise and knocking him off his feet. She tried to swing the staff down and hit him again, but he rolled out of the way before propelling himself backwards with his explosions, hopping to his feet before charging back in.
Katsuki switched up his attacks, using his explosions to maneuver around Momo and hit her from angles faster than she could react. Momo responded by trying to create padded shields to absorb the worst of the blows. She was able to stop some of his attacks this way, but too many were getting through. Katsuki realized that aiming for her arms was pointless, so aimed his attacks at his torso and legs, where she couldn't use her quirk due to the clothing.
Despite that, Momo was still putting up a good fight. She was learning Katsuki's moves and adjusting her own style to counter them, coming up with ways to block more of his attacks and even landing a few solid hits in return. She was also using the smoke Katsuki was creating to create small landmines, each one filled with an adhesive. She just had to maneuver him to land on one.
After watching for what felt like an eternity, Izuku's eyes went wide as he finally realized Momo's plan. "Oh no."
Ochako turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"
Izuku pointed to the mines scattered around the arena. "She's hoping to trap him with those. This is bad."
Ochako looked at the mines and saw them, her eyes going wide as she remembered her own fight. At the same time, they noticed that Katsuki had also worked it out, as he suddenly stopped attacking. Pointing his hand towards the ground, he fired off a massive explosion.
The resulting shockwave caused all of the landmines to detonate, covering a large portion of the arena in glue. It was also enough to knock Momo off balance, and Katsuki ended the fight by rushing forward and delivering a kick to her gut, sending her stumbling backwards, falling into a pool of adhesive.
Everyone saw Momo struggle for a moment before yielding, and Midnight stepped out to declare Katsuki the winner. Katsuki accepted the win, while Momo pulled her hands out of the gloves and created a bottle of solvent to free herself, before walking off the field in embarrassment.
Before the final match, Izuku saw that Katsuki was saying something to Shoto, but couldn't make out what was being said, especially not over the roars of the crowd.
When Midnight announced the beginning of the match, the fact that Shoto was back to using ice exclusively had Izuku worried. He had hoped that after their match, Shoto would be more open to using his fire, but that wasn't the case. Instead, he opened the match by firing a massive glacier, similar to the one he used to trap Hanta during the first round.
Nobody could see Katsuki, but a few seconds later, everyone heard the explosions coming from within the glacier. It didn't take long for one side of the glacier to be blown outward, an angry Katsuki emerging from within. He yelled at his competitor and then began his own attack.
Katsuki had discovered Shoto's weakness, just as Izuku did. Shoto was too focused on ranged attacks, that if someone was fast and able to get inside his defenses he was vulnerable. He had his ice to freeze an opponent, but as long as he didn't use fire attacks, an opponent who was fast enough to stay on his left side could minimize the threat he presented.
Despite Shoto handicapping himself, he was holding his own against Katsuki. He was adapting, keeping distance and forcing Katsuki to slam into his ice. The competitors traded brutal blows back and forth for the next several minutes, neither relenting. Somehow, Shoto was continuing to push on, despite the frost buildup on his right arm.
Izuku furrowed his brow as he watched. It didn't make sense for Shoto to hurt himself like this. As far as he could tell, Shoto still had not fully accepted himself. And just like his match with Izuku, he would lose against Katsuki if he didn't use both halves of his quirk. Shoto had to recognize this.
Maybe it was too much to hope for, Izuku thought. He knew all too well how long it took Himi to accept herself fully. But he still had hoped that the effect he had wouldn't have worn off before the final match!
Having lost his patience, Katsuki finally launched himself in the air, unleashing a new attack that Izuku hadn't seen before. For a brief moment, everyone saw Shoto ignite his fire, bringing his body back into equilibrium. The crowd watched in anticipation to see how he would try and counter Katsuki's attack.
Instead, Shoto looked up to the bleachers and locked eyes with Izuku, before extinguishing his fire. He had just decided to accept the loss, and seconds later he took the full force of Katsuki's attack, being thrown out of the arena.
Katsuki noticed what he did, since he started arguing with Midnight immediately after she declared him the winner, yelling and trying to wrestle her microphone away from her until she was forced to use her quirk to sedate him.
Izuku couldn't help but stare at Shoto, watching as he stood up and quietly walked off the field.
After the arena was cleaned up, Izuku was called to prepare for the awards ceremony. He stood up and left for the gathering area, leaving his bag with Ochako.
Under the arena, Izuku met his other classmates and was ushered onto the third place podium with Momo. They watched as a now-awake Katsuki was continuing to argue with the teachers, saying he refused to accept the victory. There was a brief argument, before Hound Dog had managed to wrestle quirk-suppressing cuffs on Katsuki, and then, with the help of Ectoplasm and Cementoss, chained him to the podium.
It was extremely awkward for everyone involved, if Izuku was being honest. He didn't know why they were making such a show of it, and made a note to ask Nezu why they went through the trouble later.
Finally, after everything was ready, the stage began to rise. Once they had stopped, All Might walked onto the stage to present the students with their awards. First he placed the bronze medal around Momo's neck, which she humbly accepted, and then he turned to Izuku.
"Young Midoriya, you have the great makings of a hero, and I wish to present you this bronze medal for the skill you have shown today."
Izuku felt himself tearing up as All Might placed the medal on his neck. "I'm sorry All Might. I wanted to win, but I just couldn't do it without giving up who I want to be."
He felt All Might's hand on his shoulder. "Don't cry, young Midoriya. You held onto your convictions, and showed everyone what is truly important to you. In a way, that itself is a form of victory."
All Might then moved over to Shoto, and Izuku watched as Shoto was also talking with All Might, but he couldn't hear what was being said over the cheers. Finally All Might walked to Katsuki, and looked at him awkwardly, between his struggles against his bindings and his shouts about not wanting the medal because his opponent didn't take him seriously. Despite Katsuki's efforts, All Might somehow managed to hang the gold medal around his neck anyways, and stepped away, letting the four students have their moment of glory.
When the three students arrived at the apartment that night, Ochako was more prepared for Inko ambushing them. Right on cue, once the door opened Izuku was pulled into a tear-filled hug.
"Oh Izu! I'm so proud of you!"
"T-thanks mom." Izuku returned the hug
"Although you still hurt yourself." She chided him. "Why do you keep doing that?"
Izuku laughed nervously as he pulled away. "I um, needed to prove a point? But it could have been worse! I could have broken both of my arms… and my legs."
"Don't worry mom, I would have killed him if he did that." Himiko said, earning a laugh from Inko.
Ochako at least was able to slip her shoes off before she was grabbed by Inko. "You were so brave facing off against Bakugo!"
Ochako returned the hug. "Thanks! He deserved it."
That earned a laugh from Izuku and Himiko.
"Next year Uraraka's going to have to beat him properly!" Himiko declared.
After Inko finished hugging the three, she ushered them all into the living room, where they settled onto the couch while she went to prepare the tea. Ochako had already been warned that, despite the fact that everyone saw the event live, they were not going to break the sacred tradition of the Midoriya household and the four of them were going to watch the sports festival together.
Once they got to the individual rounds, Ochako saw that Inko had wrapped Izuku in a hug during his match. To her surprise, when it was time for her match to begin, Inko and Himiko switched places, and Ochako found Inko wrapped around her during the entire fight, tears staining her shoulder.
While it stung to watch her failure a second time, the presence of the Midoriyas was helping. Although Ochako would never admit it out loud, Inko was closing the gap between her hugs and her own parents' hugs.
After they finished watching the sports festival, they celebrated with Katsudon for dinner. After dinner Inko also served mochi treats for dessert, much to Ochako's delight. It was a nice surprise to lift her spirits after how hard she took her defeat.
She was glad to have become Izuku's friend, and for his family to accept her so openly the way they have.
Chapter 33: Sports Festival (2-1)
It was the second day of the sports festival, and that meant it was Himiko's turn to show off. She couldn't let Izuku take all the glory, after all!
Ever since the USJ incident, she has been pushing herself even harder than normal. A fire was lit inside of her, filling her with a consuming need to get better. This League of Villains, whoever they were, had attacked her family, the first people to actually care about her and give her a chance when nobody else would. She would make them pay, and she intended to be there when they finally received justice.
And what better way to see how she has improved than the sports festival?
Rolling out of bed, she began her morning routine. When it was time to get dressed, she opened the case containing her hero costume, and pulled out her bodysuit. After Mirio's embarrassing accident last year, UA had added an exception to the support gear rule allowing infused clothing to be worn during the festival, and in fact encouraged its use. Recalling what happened, she felt herself blushing at the thought of having a similar quirk-related accident on national television. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she began to put the bodysuit on.
After she and Izuku were ready for the day, they said their goodbyes to Inko and left for the train station. As they were walking through the station, several people recognized Izuku after his performance at the sports festival, and they stopped the pair to congratulate him. It was cute, seeing Izuku turning red and stammering at all the attention. It reminded her a lot of what she dealt with last year, although she was proud of the fact that she was getting better. Hopefully Izuku will figure it out as well.
When they got to the school Ochako and Tsuyu were already at the gates, waiting for Izuku. Saying goodbye, he ran off to meet them. Himiko waved goodbye to the first years before she walked towards the stadium to change and meet her own friends.
She knew she was getting close to the locker room when she heard Emily's voice drifting down the hallway. Entering the room, she saw that she had already cornered Tomoe and was rattling off a list of potential obstacles they could encounter during the first event.
"Really?" Himiko asked as she dropped her bag on the bench.
"Why not? We know the first event, why not plan ahead?"
"Because we're all going to make it anyway." Himiko stuck her tongue out.
"It's true, and what you are doing does seem to go against the spirit of the rules." Tomoe added.
"You're no fun!" Emily pouted, but put her tablet away.
"Besides, we can't exactly plan ahead when we're pro heroes."
"Says you! I plan on keeping an extensive database of local villains."
Himiko rolled her eyes. "Of course you would."
Himiko removed her school uniform and slipped her gym uniform over her bodysuit, before stashing her bag in a locker. "Shall we?"
The three girls left the locker room, continuing down the hallway to the gathering area for their class. When they arrived, they found the last two members of their little group were already there, talking to each other.
"Are we ready to do this?" Habiki turned his attention towards the approaching girls.
"Of course!" Himiko replied, a grin on her face.
"I've got a title to defend!"
"I just want to do well enough for an internship." Tomoe said humbly.
The five of them talked for a few minutes, passing the time as the rest of their class filed in, before the ceremony began and they were called onto the field. As they walked out, it felt like the energy around today's event was calmer than it was yesterday. Without the media frenzy surrounding them, it felt like less of a spectacle. Himiko was thankful for that.
Once all of the classes were introduced, they watched as Midnight performed the introduction. She stepped onto the platform and greeted the crowds, building hype for the morning's events.
"And now, it's time for the opening speech of day two! As the winning first year of last year's sports festival, Emily Song will give the opening speech today!" Midnight pointed her microphone towards class 2-B.
With a smile on her face, Emily looked at her friends before she left them and climbed onto the stage, taking the microphone from Midnight.
"Class two! Last year we had a unique opportunity, with only half of the hero students we were expecting in the sports festival. That gave many of you a chance to shine, when you otherwise would have been overshadowed. This year, we have two full hero classes again. Don't let that discourage you! You each have quirks that are useful in their own way! Now is your time to show that off! Let the world see what you can do! Even if you're not in the hero course, you are still a student of UA! It's time to show that everyone in the school goes Plus Ultra!"
Himiko couldn't help but stare. She knew Emily had changed over the past year, but her speech really drove the point home. She didn't even call out her rivalry with Fuwa! As everyone watched, Emily returned the microphone and with a graceful leap, jumped off the stage, landing in front of her classmates, taking a dramatic bow before returning to her friends.
"So, how'd I do?"
"Much better than yesterday's speech!" Habiki responded.
"That's not a high bar to clear." Atsuko replied, causing everyone to laugh.
"My my, what a passionate speech! No wonder she won last year!" Midnight raised her hand. "Now then! For the first event, let's see how the second years do on the new obstacle course!"
The giant wheel appeared behind Midnight, but rather than spinning it merely showed the description of the obstacle course. Midnight went over the rules of the race a second time, for the sake of anyone watching who missed the first day. After she was done, she directed the second years to the starting area.
As the students began walking over to the entranceway that was the starting line, most of the hero course students began breaking into smaller groups. As she was looking around, Himiko noticed that small groups were also forming among the general studies and support students.
"Looks like we may have competition on our hands this year." Himiko observed.
"Good! It feels gross to just assume the first forty spots are for the hero course." Emily responded.
"What has gotten into you?"
Emily shrugged, and turned away from Himiko. "I want to feel like I earned my spot. It's not as fun when we are basically given free passes to the second round."
For the second time in the span of a few minutes Himiko couldn't help but stare. Emily's competitive streak was well known among all of the hero students, but this felt different somehow. She liked it, and couldn't help but wonder what happened to cause the change.
"Begin!" Midnight's voice was heard over the loudspeaker, breaking Himiko out of her thoughts as instincts kicked in and everyone took off.
The gate was unchanged from the previous day. That meant that just like it was for the first years, the gate was too small for everyone to fit through all at once. Thanks to Atsuko, this wasn't going to be a problem for Himiko and her friends.
Atsuko created a ramp that the five of them ran up, and then four of them rushed over everyone's heads. After Himiko leapt off the edge of the invisible platform, she turned around. Without having to keep a platform together for the rest of the group, Atsuko was able to quickly catch up, creating much smaller platforms under her feet as she moved, literally running on air as if it was solid ground.
When the five of them were reunited, they broke out into a run. They didn't have to go very far until they found the first obstacle. Someone had used a quirk to grow an entire forest literally overnight, and they were approaching the edge of it.
"The forest is seeded with traps." Tomoe reported. "We are going to have to be careful!"
Slowing down, the group let Tomoe and Himiko take the lead, and they began to push through the forest. They were able to avoid a few obvious traps, but before they could get very far Himiko made a mistake. Stepping on what she thought was just an ordinary leaf, she heard a snap underneath her foot, followed by a whooshing sound.
"Watch out!" Habiki yelled as he shoved her out of the way. Putting his hands up, he caught the log that would have slammed into Himiko, absorbing its kinetic energy and rendering it motionless.
"T-thanks." She said as she stood up and dusted herself off.
"They must have gotten tired of us dodging traps last year." Tomoe speculated. "They've gotten better at hiding them."
"That just means we have to get better at finding them! Come on!" Himiko adopted a bravado similar to Emily's, refusing to show weakness after a single mistake.
The group continued to push through the forest, now on higher alert, with Tomoe and Himiko continuing to lead. Whenever one of them was caught by a trap, the other three would step up to help. It was through this trial and error that they learned the various ways that traps were hidden, and with that knowledge they were able to increase their pace.
After what felt like an eternity, they emerged from the forest, only to be standing at the edge of a large body of water. Examining the artificial lake, they saw artificial islands dotting its surface. And when they looked into the water, they saw mines floating under the surface.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"They used landmines yesterday. Why would this be any different?" Atsuko pointed out. "Besides, it's not like we're swimming anyways."
Atsuko removed her shoes and began creating a platform for them to cross on. Unlike the entryway, the lake was much larger, and she couldn't create a single platform that would cover the entire length of the lake. Instead, she had to use her version of a moving platform. As her friends moved forward, she adjusted the length of the platform she was creating underneath them, extending it forward and removing the part that was behind them. It was slower than they would have liked, but it was still faster, and much safer, than swimming.
Unfortunately while they were able to outpace many of the other students, when they were about a third of the way across another group of students from 2-B emerged from the forest.
"Oh sweet, water! Easy mode!" Yuki exclaimed as she jumped into the water without a second thought.
Hearing Yuki, Himiko turned and watched as the other girl activated her quirk, turning her entire body into water. Once in that form, she was able to absorb a large amount of water from the lake itself, turning herself into a massive water golem. She picked up her teammates, before turning around and floating across the lake.
"I told you Midoriya, you're going down!" Yuki exclaimed as she glided past them.
"Not fair!" Himiko responded.
"Well then you'd better hope to catch up on the next leg!" Yuki taunted before picking up speed.
Himiko watched helplessly as Yuki pulled ahead of them, depositing her teammates on the far shore before she shed the excess water and emerged from the lake herself. Thankfully, nobody else was able to cross the lake as fast as Yuki's group did, and Himiko's group ended up being the second group to cross. Once again they found themselves at the edge of a forest, except this time they heard growling.
"What is that?" Tomoe asked as she pointed ahead, and they saw a giant beast emerging from the ground.
As if to answer her question, Present Mic was explaining the third encounter to the audience back in the arena. "Today we have a special guest helping us out, Pixie-Bob of the Wild Wild Pussycats! Together with her teammate Ragdoll acting as her spotter, she is creating fierce beasties for our students to fight through! Who will be able to make it through first?"
"Leave it to me!" Emily holds her hand up dramatically and fires off a light arrow at the beast, tearing a hole through its head and destroying it.
"We have to fight our way through."
With a sigh, Himiko grabbed Habiki's arm and walked over to a tree. With help from his quirk, Himiko removed several thick limbs. She gave them a few practice swings before tossing one to Tomoe. "Let's go!"
The group of five pushed forward. They were able to dispatch the first wave of beasts easily, but as they advanced deeper into the forest Pixie-Bob began to make stronger creatures to pit them against, slowing them down. They only hoped that the other groups in the forest were facing similar difficulties.
They were all relieved when they brought down the last creature and came to the edge of the forest. The only thing left between them and the finish line was a final stretch of open ground. Unfortunately, Yuki, Ryo and several other students from 2-B were already way ahead of them.
"Let's go!"
They five broke out into a run, unable to catch up with their classmates, but refusing to fall any further behind as other students began to emerge from the forest. It didn't take long for all of them to cross the finish line and jog back into the stadium, where the others who had already finished were waiting.
"Revenge!" Yuki called out to Himiko from where she was standing.
"No fair! Just because your quirk completely bypassed one third of the course!"
"I can't help it, they gave me a giant swimming pool to show off in!"
Himiko responded by sticking her tongue out at the water-quirk user, before turning back to look at her friends. It seems Emily had walked off and was arguing with Fuwa, which was unsurprising. Fuwa's short-range teleport gave her an obvious advantage for the second year in a row, forcing Emily to catch up during the later rounds.
Turning to the display, Himiko couldn't help but smile.
1st - Mawata Fuwa
2nd - Amaya Yuki
…
6th - Habiki Hideo
7th - Himiko Midoriya
8th - Tomoe Sakura
9th - Atsuko Hotoko
10th - Emily Song
…
While their placing slid from last year, her group of friends managed to remain in the top ten finishers. That would put them in a good position entering the second round.
As she watched the board populate, the final ten positions surprised her. All forty hero course students didn't make it in! There were five support students and four general studies students who managed to make the cut off. That meant seven hero course students didn't make it.
Himiko looked at Emily, as she was rejoining them. "Well, it looks like your speech did the trick."
Emily looked extremely satisfied with the results. "Good! I hoped someone may score higher than the bottom nine positions, but they're keeping us from being complacent!"
Everyone quieted down as the race concluded and Midnight walked back onto the field, their attention returning to the stage as she climbed back up.
"My my, what an exciting twist! We have nine students from the support and general education department, coming from behind to make it into the second round! Can they surprise us again? Let's find out as we reveal the second round!"
Midnight raised her microphone and the digital screen appeared, the wheel spinning before landing on 'quirkball,' with an image of two stick figures throwing balls at each other.
"A classic! This game has individual scores, so we won't have official teams this round, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make alliances with your classmates!"
Midnight took a dramatic pause before explaining the rules, holding up two sensors.
"Each person will have to attach two of these to easily accessible locations on your body. As you would expect from quirkball, your goal is to avoid letting your targets get hit, and to hit your opponent's targets."
"Now how do we determine a winner you may ask? Well it's easy. Each person has been assigned a starting point total based on your placing in the first round. If your target is hit, you will lose some of your points, based on your current standing. So the higher your standing, the more points you stand to lose if you get hit! And of course, the more points someone will gain if they hit you."
She turned the sensor towards the students so they could see the faceplate, colors changing on it. "As you see, we have conveniently color coded the sensors, so they will display your current standing and points. The brighter the color, the higher your placing. Starting from black to show a person at 0 points, all the way to white for the person in second place." The sensor started emitting rainbow colors. "And for the special person in first place, a special color to make sure you stand out!"
Himiko lit up as she heard the explanation. Sure, she didn't have a quirk that would help her, but her speed and agility would both go a long way towards ensuring she makes the top sixteen.
Midnight had barely finished her explanation when Himiko felt Emily grab her arm and started pulling her away from the crowd, the rest of their friends in tow.
"Alright, so how are we going to do this?"
"The good news is all five of us can work together. The bad news is that there's not a single score for us to worry about."
"So that just means we need to share!" Emily made it sound like it was the most obvious idea in the world. "And if one of us gets too many points we just make sure to pass them around at the end."
"You mean you're not going after Fuwa's points?" Himiko asked.
"Oh, I'm totally going after those points!" Emily responded. "But if I get them I'm not going to grab anymore points, so the rest of you can grab them!"
"Seems reasonable to me, you think anyone else is going to collaborate?"
"Absolutely." Tomoe used her eyes to indicate the support students. "They are, for starters."
"Makes sense. So we just have to be careful to keep our points. Do you have us covered Suko?" Habiki asked.
"Of course! You can count on me." Atsuko smiled confidently.
After planning for a few minutes, they walked over to where Power Loader was standing and were each given a pair of sensors. Strapping them on, Himiko looked down at the one she attached to her shirt, currently a dark yellow, with her score being clearly shown.
7th - 175 pts
Walking over to one of the bins that have been scattered around, Himiko picked up a couple of the balls that they were going to be using, giving them a few practice tosses in the air. They weren't her usual projectile of choice, but she hoped she could be reasonably accurate with them - she would need to be.
"Begin!"
At midnight's call, a giant digital clock appeared above the arena, counting down from 60. To make things interesting, the students were not allowed to attack each other for one minute, before the fifteen minute game began properly. As the timer began counting down, portions of the stadium opened up, and various obstacles began rising out of the ground, creating a more dynamic arena for the students and audience as well.
"We should stand near one of those walls, it will be easier for me to protect us." Atsuko said as she pointed to one of the structures rising out of the ground.
"Lead the way!" Habiki called out.
WIth a nod, Atsuko sized up the various barricades that had appeared in the arena and took off towards one of them. The rest of the group followed closely behind, keeping an eye on the timer.
When the timer hit zero, a loud chime rang out, and the arena descended into chaos. Balls and quirks went flying in every direction as people tried to score some early points and gain an advantage. Unfortunately, with everyone in their group starting in the top ten, that meant that Himiko and her friends were obvious early targets.
Thanks to their trained reflexes Himiko and Tomoe were able to dodge the early barrage of balls coming at them. Atsuko was also safe thanks to her quirk, putting up a barrier to stop the early attacks. Unfortunately, both Habiki and Emily were not able to get behind Atsuko in time, and they lost their points in the early onslaught.
Emily saw her counter drop to zero after getting hit, and let out a frustrated growl. "Argh! Screw this, I'm going for Fuwa! I'll be back after I get her points!"
"Emily, no!" Tomoe called out to her friend, but it was too late, she was already running off.
"This is bad, we need her to play offense for us!"
Himiko sighed, frustrated by the American girl's sudden change. And Emily started out strong earlier today! Shoving those thoughts aside, she focused on making her opponents pay, and managed to tag a couple people who were trying to escape after their initial salvo. Unfortunately, as she looked down at her score, she discovered the students that she only had low point totals themselves.
9th - 230 points
"Standing here isn't going to get us anywhere, we need to move!" Habiki called.
"Agreed, we need to be careful but we need to go on the offensive."
"Lead the way. I can't help as much when we're moving, but I'll try!"
Tomoe began surveying the arena, trying to find a pattern within the chaos and come up with a plan. As threads came together in her head, she began running in a direction. Without questioning their friend, the others began following her.
Tomoe's deduction proved correct as they arrived just after another skirmish broke out among several groups, and they four were able to claim some points. Much to Himiko's satisfaction, Yuki was among the students in the skirmish, and she was able to tag her, claiming 205 points for herself.
"Hey, give those back!" Yuki yelled at Himiko, before she threw a well-aimed ball back.
Himiko dodged the ball at the last moment and responded by sticking out her tongue. "Make me!"
Unfortunately by claiming points and making their presence known, they once again made themselves a target. For the second time in a span of minutes, they had the attention of several groups on them.
"Um guys, we need to figure out a plan."
Atsuko stepped up and erected a wall between the four of them and the majority of their opponents, and they watched as several balls collided with the barrier and fell harmlessly to the ground. "Go!"
"We're doing this as a team!" Himiko insisted. "Emmy already left, we're not leaving you too!"
Seeing the determination on Himiko's face, Atsuko nodded. "Ok. Get ready to run in three, two, one… go!"
Atsuko brought down the barrier and the four fled. They were able to dodge most of the balls, but still one connected with Atsuko, dropping her points dangerously low.
As they fled, they accidentally ran towards another skirmish, and saw several of their opponents turn their attention towards them. The group saw the balls being thrown at them, but Atsuko was out of position to erect a barrier. They tensed up, preparing to take some losses before they attempt to reclaim points in a counterattack, only to see most of the balls hit by orbs of light and disintegrate.
"Geez, I can't leave you guys alone, can I?"
Emily was coming up from behind them, her hands up as she shot her arrows at several other balls, stopping them in midair with her precision shots. This gave Atsuko the time she needed to step forward and erect a barrier, protecting the group.
"I don't know, maybe if you didn't leave us like that!" Himiko snapped back.
"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have done that." Emily at least had the sense to look ashamed as she rejoined them. Looking down at Emily's targets, Himiko saw that she had a comfortable amount of points, even if she didn't have the rainbow indicator to show that she had secured the ten million points.
"Fuwa outsmarted you again?"
"She can carry her targets with her in her clouds! It's hard to pin her down!"
"At least you got some points, that leaves you in better shape than most of us." Habiki stated pointedly.
That seemed to finally drive the point home for Emily. Himiko watched as her eyes looked at everyone else's sensors, several emotions flashing across her face, before finally settling on determination. "We have five minutes, that's plenty of time to get everyone across the line!"
"Talk fast. I'm holding them off for now, but I'm sure people are going to open fire as soon as I drop this dome."
"There!" Emily pointed in the direction where she had come from. "Fuwa is that way, which means that's where the heaviest concentration of people are. Atsuko drops a barrier, Habiki hits the ground with a shockwave, then we make a break for it, and you four tag everyone you can."
Himiko looked to each of her friends, and then back to Emily before nodding in agreement. She made a note to yell at the other girl later, but now was not the time.
"Ok, everyone ready?" Atsuko asked, turning towards Habiki.
"I've got this."
"Alright, here goes nothing."
Atsuko released her barrier, and immediately the five of them saw balls being tossed at them, hoping to catch them in the few seconds they were vulnerable. Emily proved to be on top of her game, however, and was shooting them all out of the sky. This gave Habiki the time he needed to use his quirk, releasing all of his stored kinetic energy into the ground and causing a shockwave that knocked several students off balance.
The five friends used the window to escape, running towards the heaviest fighting. As they approached they began throwing their own balls at their opponents, claiming a large number of points between them. Once they had been noticed by enough students in the large skirmish, Atsuko once again threw up a protective dome, shielding the friends.
"Ok, how are we looking?"
"We have 30 seconds left." Tomoe announced. "We need to sort this out quickly."
The five looked at their scores, and made a grim discovery. Four of them were in the top sixteen, but Atsuko was hovering at 20th place.
"This isn't fair!" Himiko cried. "She has done the most work out of all of us!"
"What about me?" Emily demanded.
"Maybe if you didn't leave us!" Himiko turned towards Atsuko. "Take my points, you deserve to make the cut."
Atsuko shook her head. "No, it's ok."
"No. If anyone shouldn't make the finals, it should be me." Tomoe declared, walking over to Atsuko.
"Tomoe, no! You deserve a spot just as much as the rest of us."
Tomoe grabbed Atsuko's arm and shoved a ball into it, knowing that her friend was unable to move without releasing their protective shield. "Stop being stubborn!"
"No, it's not fair!"
Tomoe smiled. "It'll be fine, I promise."
She then wrenched Atsuko's arm and forced her hand to touch the plate. Everyone watched as the points transferred over, putting Atsuko into 15th place. And dropping Tomoe down to 21st.
They heard the timer go off, announcing the end of the event.
Everyone was staring in shock at Tomoe. "Why?"
Tomoe shrugged. "As we saw last year, my quirk is bad for the elimination rounds. I can't even show it off with a demonstration like Himiko can. Any hero agency that I want to intern with will recognize that."
Atsuko dropped both her quirk and the ball and pulled Tomoe into a tight hug. "I don't like what you did, but thank you."
Tomoe smiled and returned the hug. "I'm sure I can think of ways for you to make it up to me later."
The five returned to the stage area, where Midnight was already standing on the podium.
"My, what an exciting round! Tales of bravery and sacrifice, of teamwork, and even a few lone wolves who struck out on their own and came out on top!"
She held her microphone up, and the scoreboard removed everyone below 16th place, expanding to fill the screen with the names of the sixteen individuals moving on.
"These are your finalists, ladies and gentlemen! How will they fare in the third round of competition? We'll find out soon! But before we take a break, how about we see what the brackets look like?"
Himiko waited in anticipation to see the final bracket. Unarmed combat was one of her specialties, but that was without quirks. She knew she was at a disadvantage against most of the field when it came to exhibition matches, but against the right opponent she may be able to score a win or two.
The board changed, and she saw the matchups:
T16:
Himiko Midoriya vs Habiki Hideo
…
Emily Song vs Akira Kin
Atsuko Hotoko vs Kurosawa Kado
Himiko smiled. Habiki had the advantage in hand to hand when he could use his quirk. But unlike last year, the advantage wasn't insurmountable. If she was on top of her game, she may actually pull off a win!
But just like last year, it would be without her quirk. Looking over at her friend, she decided she would ask him the same question she asked Atsuko last year.
As they were walking out of the bleachers, Himiko grabbed Habiki's arm and pulled him aside.
"Hey, do you remember the arrangement I had with 'Suko last year?" Himiko asked.
"Where you made a show of your quirk, yeah. You wanted to do that again?"
Himiko nodded vigorously. "I mean, I might be able to kick your ass, but I wouldn't get to show off my quirk!"
That caused Habiki to laugh. "You wish."
"Hey! I just have to be careful!"
"Sure, keep telling yourself that. You have the advantage when we're fighting quirklessly, but one good use of my quirk and you're done." Habiki smirked at her.
Himiko couldn't help but smirk back. "That just means I need to avoid getting hit!"
Her face became serious again. "So, about showing off my quirk?"
Habiki's smirk changed to a smile and he nodded. "Yeah, we can do that. Just let you drink some blood before the match and then we spar?"
"Yep! I wouldn't want to spar in your body anyways, you're too slow for me."
"Not all of us are training to be ninjas."
Himiko shoved his shoulder and gave him an exaggerated pout, before the two shared a laugh.