Chapter 27: UA Sports Festival Second round
'So, I have a target the size of a planet on my back, one-million points to protect, and everyone out to get me. But then again, that's nothing new' Izumi thought as she stood in the middle of the field, alone 'To top it off I can't use Durandal, I have a new quirk that I can't risk using, and a bunch of ghosts living inside of my head that I can hear occasionally'.
They had fifteen minutes to build their teams, but Izumi was all alone because no one wanted to team up with her due to having such a massive target on her back. Heck, even Hitoshi and Neito didn't want to team up with her and had already formed a team with Yui and Himiko.
Midnight had gone over the rules a bit more. Each person would be given a headband with their points value on it, no one headband with everyone's combined points total on it. This means that, even if she lost her headband, she'd still have the point value of her teammates. But that means nothing unless she had teammates, which as it stood now, she didn't.
"You should really try and control your muttering, Izumi," Durandal said, standing beside her "Also, what's this about ghosts?".
"Quirks playing up" Izumi replied "I'll tell you later".
"Hey Izumi," Ochaco said beside her, causing Izumi to jump in surprise with a yelp.
"Ochaco!" Izumi blurted out as she faced her friend "What are you doing here!".
"To help you of course" Ochaco replied with a bright smile "I'm not going to abandon you over something like one-million points. I made a promise to you, remember".
'If you fall again, I will be there to catch you' Ochaco promise echoed through Izumi's mind. Tears started to pool around her eyes as a smile slowly formed on her face "Thank you!" she cried as she lept forwards and hugged Ochaco, her anxiety made her think that Ochaco would be among those who wouldn't want to team up with her.
Ochaco just took it in stride as tears gushed out of Izumi's eyes. She was more than used to this kind of thing. Honestly barring teams being chosen for them, there was no way she wasn't going to work with Izumi during this event, she was going to need all the help she can get to pass the second round, and in Mother's name she was going to help her get there!
Of course, she wasn't the only one who wanted to help Izumi "What's up Izumi!" Mei suddenly said as she zipped over to them.
Once again Izumi jumped in surprise in response to Mei's sudden appearance "Mei, what are you doing here".
"Simple, using your current fame to my personal advantage!" Mei replied with a smile.
Izumi and Ochaco sighed, yep, this was to be expected. Mei just wants to use this as an opportunity to show off her babies.
It wasn't well known, but there weren't just pro heroes here, there were representatives from tech companies from all over Japan here as well. Their eyes were on the support students and the equipment they built. But most of the time they were more interested in the second and third years, due to those students having had more time to build equipment. Mei stood out among the first-year support students as she was the only support student who was decked head to toe in gear, or her 'babies', with everyone else only wearing one or two pieces of gear.
Mei zoomed closer to Izumi "If I team up with you, then I'll be in the spotlight! Part of the team that everyone is keeping their eyes on!" she said as she got closer "That means my super-cute little babies will inevitably be seen by the big company CEOs who're tuning into the Sports Festival! And following that line of reasoning, this is the best way for me and my marvellous gadgets to get recruited".
Durandal sighed "At least this allows Izumi to use some form of support gear. Other than me that is".
"Why's that?" Mei asked, sounding surprised.
"You didn't make me, remember" Durandal replied "I'm registered as a piece of Izumi's support gear, but hero course students aren't allowed to use their support gear unless it is absolutely necessary to use their quirk. She doesn't need me to use her quirk, ergo, I can't help her during the sports festival".
"WHAT!?" Mei shouted, "That's dumb! How can you show off your capabilities without taking part?".
"That's how the festival works Mei," Izumi said "It's to give everyone else a chance".
"WELL, I call bullshit!" Mei said before she pressed a button on her wrist bracelet. Moments later seven metal crates fell from the sky and landed around them, opening up to reveal a large amount of gear.
Izumi and Ochaco's jaws dropped. This was an excessive amount of gear Mei was showing them, excessive! There were boots, drones, gloves, headwear, and armour. It's like she just dropped an entire armoury on them.
"We're going to show them the importance of support gear!" Mei said with a smile.
"Wait, these crates are numbers one to eight, but crate number three is missing," Durandal said, examining the crates "Where's that one?".
"Don't worry about it!" Mei said before turning towards Izumi and Ochaco "So, what do you girls want to use!?".
Izumi and Ochaco just stared at her with mouth agape, shocked by the sheer amount of gear Mei had managed to create. In only three weeks! How the hell was she able to achieve that?!
"When did you have time to build all this?" Ochaco asked, looking around.
"I've been very busy!" Mei replied.
Izumi meanwhile was just looking around at the large amount of stuff Mei just dropped on them, recognising a lot of it as being based on gear pro heroes use, just modified by Mei. How the heck did she have time to build all of this?
"Izumi," A voice said quietly behind her
The green-haired girl turned to see Chiharu standing a bit away from them "Can I join you? No one else wants me on their team".
"Sure you can!" Izumi said with a smile. She knew Chiharu was going to be out of her element here, having accidentally found her way to the second round, so she was going to need help.
"Thanks," Chiharu said "To be honest, I'd rather not be teamed up with you. I don't exactly want to move on to the third round. Hell, I don't even know how I managed to get to round two in the first place. But, now that I'm here I might as well give it my all. Plus Ultra and all that".
"Well, that's four people," Ochaco said "We've got a full team now. Now all we need to do is sort out our formation and game plan".
"And what babies we're bringing with us!" Mei added with a smirk.
"Babies?" Chiharu said looking very confused.
Izumi shocked her head, already planning their team strategy. She couldn't bring Durandal with her, and he couldn't support them during the second round. But, he could still help them during the planning stage, and oh boy, was he good at helping them choose what gear they needed to use. It helped that Mei had a catalogue of her babies.
They had decided that Izumi would be the rider, with Ochaco in the front of the formation, Mei on the right and Chiharu on the left.
The gear they had selected was all for mobility and flight. All three of the horses were wearing Mei's mobility boots, high-tech boots that allow the user to hover, improve their footwork, and had what Mei called a Landrunner system, something that allowed them to drive across the ground like they were using motorised skates.
Mei's gear remained unchanged from what she was wearing during the obstacle course, but she had left the Rorsch behind since she wouldn't be able to use it, as well as the jetpack, replacing it with another backpack that she said was a surprise. Chiharu was wearing wire arrows, similar to what Mei was wearing, giving them additional mobility when in flight. Ochaco was wearing auto balancers to prevent her from falling and keep her steady when they were in flight.
And then there was Izumi, who was wearing a jetpack, a pair of glasses that acted as a sort of HUD, a bracelet that controlled a small drone (since Mei would be unable to control it herself) that would help her identify threats and relay it to her HUD, and a pair of prototype gloves that Mei said would help her to create powerful air blasts like she did during the USJ.
"Seriously Mei, when did you have time to make all this stuff?" Ochaco asked as she examined the gear they had "This should have taken weeks to make!".
"I've been busy!" Mei said with a smile "Very busy!".
Izumi sighed "Well, at least we have an advantage. You girls do know how to roller skate?" she asked. Her three teammates nodded "Good, we should be able to move around quickly then. Just a small word of warning. When we're in the air, you three will have to guide us. I, don't do well with heights so I'll have to have my eyes closed whilst we're in the air".
"Don't worry Izumi, I'll handle our air mobility!" Ochaco said with a friendly smile.
It was then that a robot came around and passed them their headbands, each one having their points value on it.
Izumi looked down at her headband, one million printed on it. Everyone else was going to be after this headband, which meant, they'll be after her. It'll be nice if she could keep hold of it, but with so many people after it, she didn't know how she could keep hold of it.
"Wait, what were the rules concerning headbands again?" Izumi asked, looking up at her teammates. An idea having just formed in her mind.
"They said that each team will be given four headbands, each headband having the points value of one of the team's four members," Chiharu replied "And that we have to wear them around our heads".
"And that's all they said?" Izumi asked, getting a nod from Chiharu.
The green haired girl smiled. She had an idea.
Once the fifteen minutes were up, all the assembled teams scattered and formed into their cavalry formations. Most of the teams were from the same class, like team Phantom Thief with Neito as the rider and Hitoshi, Himiko and Yui as the horses. As well as team King Explosion with Katsuki as the rider, with Jack Mantis, a boy with a bug-like head, Real Steel, a boy with messy grey hair and messy eyelashes, and Maboromicamie, a girl with fawn-coloured hair and a bust on par with Izumi's, as the horses.
Wait, how the hell can she tell what the girl's bust size is?
There were a few interclass teams, like team Freezerburn, with Shoto as the rider and Tenya, Rikido, and Dragon Shroud, a boy with black hair, as the horses. As well as team Tentacole, which had only one horse, a large boy with six arms who was using them to make a protective tent around his back. Which, she knew for a fact, had Minoru, Tsuyu, and Vine, a girl with green, thorn-covered vines for hair, hidden inside. And as much as she hated that it was Minoru who came up with the idea, she had to admit that it was smart. They had practically made it impossible for them to lose a third of their headbands.
She should also probably learn the names of 1-B students, she couldn't just refer to them by the hero names after all.
Midnight stood on the stage with a smile, Durandal sitting beside her ready to rush to his master's aid if something bad happened to Izumi. Hopefully, nothing will.
"Everyone remember the plan?" Neito asked his three horses.
"Yep," Hitoshi and Himiko replied, with Yui replying with her characteristic "Mm".
Meanwhile, over with Katsuki's team, the blond bomber was hyping up his teammates, or his 'Bakusquad' as Setsuna likes to call it, which was only missing Yosetsu "All right you three. You want to show the world why you're here? Well then prove it! Prove to those watching us why you deserve to be here!".
Tetsutetsu and Togaru grind, whilst Camie just smiled and said "You got it fam!".
Katsuki sighed. Why did he agree to have her on his team, or let her hang out with him? Oh right, because her quirk is fucking useful and because he has no desire to fuck up another person's life again. That's why.
Meanwhile, back with Izumi and her team, the green-haired girl was feeling nervous. Everyone was gunning for her headband, which she had decided to wear back to front, the one-million printed on it facing her forehead and hidden from sight. Her three teammates had done the same thing, hiding their points value, which was kind of pointless as everyone already knew what they were worth points-wise.
'Alright, remember Izumi, keep the team moving. Don't stop for anything' Izumi thought, feeling slightly uneasy at being held above the ground. She was worried about being dropped, but she trusted her friends not to do that. 'We don't need to gather anyone's headbands. Just protect our own'.
Midnight smiled before she raised her whip "Is everyone ready!" she announced, giving the students a few moments before shouting "And begin!".
All hell immediately broke loose as what felt like all of the quirks being aimed at them as almost every team went after her. Also, they were now sinking into the ground.
"What the hell!" Chiharu shrieked as the group sank "Why are we sinking?".
"Must be one of the one-B students!" Izumi said, "Momo did say that one of the recommended students could soften anything he touched!".
"Shit! We'll be trapped if we stay here" Ochaco said in a panic "Get ready to jump guys!"
"No wait!" Izumi shouted, "Let us sink!".
"Why-" Ochaco was about to ask why before she noticed just for far they had sunk down. With their hands just above the floor "Oh those poor fools" she said with a smirk before the ground solidified around them.
Meanwhile, team Battle Fist, which had Juzo Honenuki, a boy with beige-coloured spiked hair and a complete lack of lips revealing his teeth, as the front horse, continued to charge at team Usako.
"Hah, we've got them!" Juzo said as his fellow horses, Reiko and Mashirao charged forwards with him "Now that million points are-" before coming to a complete stop when the ground beneath his feet exploded, forcing the team to take a few steps back "What the hell?".
"Mines?" Itsuka gasped "When did UA mine the pitch?" she wondered as another mine went off beneath Juzo's feet, forcing them back further "Wait, there wasn't a mine there before," she said as another mine detonated, forcing them back even more.
The other teams around them faced the same issue, the ground beneath their feet exploding and forcing them back. None of them knew where the explosions were coming from, but they knew that it had to have been coming from team Usako. They just didn't know who was making them, or how?
The students from 1-A all thought it was Mei's doing since she was known to make things explode. But that was not the case here. If anyone was paying attention, they would have noticed that Chiharu had placed one hand on the ground and had made a minefield around them, one that was growing larger as teams were forced away from them "Well, this made setting up a minefield so much easier," she remarked with a smirk. Despite having spent some time around the 1-A dorm, she never told them what her quirk was, even though she had given them a few hints.
"Good work Chiharu," Izumi said with a smile "Just keep them back".
"What about those who can reach us from outside the minefield?" Mei asked.
"Leave them to me," Izumi said before she noticed Tsu's tongue coming shooting towards them 'Sorry about this Tsu' she thought, making a mental apology as she flicked her finger, sending an air burst towards the tongue and forcing it back into Mezo's protective tent.
"Not doing that again, ribbit," Tus said, rubbing her tongue.
"And would you look at this! Team Usako has somehow surrounded themselves with explosives!" Present Mic shouted, "How have they done that?!".
"I have an idea," Eraserhead said. He knew Chiharu was the one creating the mines, but he wasn't going to say it. The students were going to have to find that out on their own.
"It's been three minutes and already people have given up on getting the one million-point headband!" Present Mic said, "It's become a free for all!".
"Logical" Eraserhead added, "Why waste time going after an impossible objective when there are far easier ways to get points".
Meanwhile, team King Explosion just stood back as they watched several teams try and fail to approach team Usako. The mines didn't seem strong enough to cause a team to fall apart, but strong enough to keep them back.
"You know, that girl with the blue skin looks a lot like that Chitose Kizuki woman," Camie remarked in one of the few sentences that made sense.
"Who?" both Tetsutetsu and Togaru asked, sounding confused.
"Chitose Kizuki, executive director of Shoowaysha Publishing" Katsuki replied "Met her once six years ago when she came around to my mother's design studio to purchase a new outfit. She accidentally used her quick, which allowed her to bestow explosive properties on anything she touched" he said. He actually found the woman's quirk to be 'quite cool', but not as cool as his own "And yes, she does look a lot like her because she's her daughter. They have the same last name".
"Oh right, forgot about that lol," Camie said.
Katsuki shook his head "Her quirk's obviously a mutation of her mothers. We can't get anywhere near them without blowing up" he said with a smirk "Good thing I can fly-" he said before he was cut off by the feeling of his headband being removed from his head. And he wasn't the only one, Tetsutetsu and Togaru also had their headbands taken from them.
"Well well, not very observant are you," Neito remarked, spinning three of team King Explosion's headbands around his finger, four more headbands around his neck "I expected a lot more out of you".
Katsuki slowly turned towards team Phantom Thief with a snarl on his face "What did you say? GET BACK HERE!" he shouted before his team gave chase.
Neito's team stopped with his back to Katsuki showing total disdain for Katsuki "For the student who got second place you show a remarkable lack of situational awareness" he said before he turned back to look at Katsuki "But then again, bullies tend to tunnel vision when they spot their victim".
Katsuki's eyes went wide in shock. How the hell did this ex-, did he know that? He never spoke of his middle school years to anyone here. Ok so he did say a few times that he wasn't a great person to be around, but he never said anything about being a bully. Especially to this git.
"Nabu's a small place, you know," Neito remarked with a smirk, causing Katsuki's face to drop "You hear a lot there, especially when you have a new transfer student".
Nabu. That was the school Izumi went to after she left Aldera. But if this Phantom Thief went there as well, then it was more than likely he knew Izumi, and what happened to her at Aldera.
Oh shit!
"Oh, while I have your attention. You're kinda famous, aren't you? For being attacked by that sludge villain last year" he said as he blocked a kick from Katsuki with his arm, the explosive blond trying to get him to shut up before he said something he didn't want him to say. But was shocked when he saw that the arm used to block him had turned to steal "How'd it feel to be the victim for once?" he spat as he outstretched his other hand towards Katsuki, and unleashed a large explosion into the blond's face.
"What the hell!" Tetsutetsu gasped "That's my quirk, you bastard!".
Neito ignored him as Team Phantom Thief used the opportunity to rush past team King Explosion and take Camie's headband before rushing off.
Togaru growled, "We're not going to let them get away with this!".
"No, no we're not," Katsuki fumed as his team gave chase to team Phantom Thief.
Neito smirked as Hitoshi, Himiko and Yui ran as fast as they could. He and Hitoshi had known Izumi the longest, and sadly were her only friend at Nabu. Whilst they didn't know what exactly happened to her at Aldera, she unintentionally dropped a few hints whilst muttering, including the name of her tormentor. Katsuki Bakugo 'I know I'm not the main character of this story, my quirk isn't exactly flashy like everyone else's' he thought as his team ran away from team King Explosion. He quickly glanced over towards Izumi's team, seeing the green-haired girl was busy fending off a pair of floating hands 'But, I'm ok with being a side character. Especially if it's to protect you!' he thought before a sudden burst of flame shot in front of them, stopping them in their tracks.
To their left stood team Freezerburn. Shoto had her left hand outstretched towards them "I think you have something of mine".
Neito smirked "By all means, come and get it," he said before he blew a mist-like substance from his mouth which quickly surrounded his team, hiding them in the smoke. Moments later the team burst out of the smoke, followed by three more copies of them. All running in different directions.
Shoto frowned, realising that Phantom Thief could copy other people's quirks, making him difficult to fight against. Well, she wasn't going to let that stop her.
Meanwhile, in the teacher's box, Kaina was grinning at the tactical display from team Usako. Allowing themself to sink closer to the ground to better make use of Chiharu's quirk. Yes, it did leave them immobile, but thanks to the minefield Chiharu had made around them, very few people could actually hit them. Yes, there was long-range quirks that could hit them, but in their current position, it'll be far too easy to knock Izumi off with such attacks, which would disqualify the team who did it, leaving only a select few who could try and grab her headband. And two of them had already given up on trying to get Izumi's headband.
"Isn't that the girl from the business course Gran Torino helped train her quirk?" Vlad King asked from up in the teacher's box.
"I believe so" Ectoplasm replied as Gran Torino just smirked.
Power Loader just sighed "Of course, Mei would team up with Izumi and outfit them with gear," he said sounding annoyed.
Meanwhile, Nezu was watching the teams battle it out, especially team Usako and the two none hero course students that were with them 'You seem to have found a good defensive strategy you four. Let's see how you handle things when the field gets wild'.
Meanwhile, in one of the side tunnels leading to a main field, a figure stood in the middle of the tunnel, just far enough in so that no one in the audience could see them.
"Well then," the figure said as three more figures approached them from behind "Let's surprise these little kittens~".
Back on the field most of the teams had given up on getting the one-million-point headband, but others hadn't.
"On the left!" Mei shouted as a floating hand approached them.
Izumi quickly turned towards the floating hand and sent an airblast towards it, sending it back.
"Damn these flying hands" Chiharu cursed "I can't deal with those".
"Don't worry," Izumi said as she flicked away another hand "I've got them".
"We're reaching the halfway point, let's see who's doing what!" Present Mic announced "Still in first place is team Usako, with their one-million points! Second place is team Phantom Thief! Third is team Creati! And fourth is team Tentacole! But don't get your hopes up yet, everything can still change!".
"Got you now!" a voice said before a floating head with long dark moss green hair, green eyes, and long and pointed teeth, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and bit her arm.
Izumi turned and looked at the head that had the audacity to bite her whilst growling like a wild animal, not really bothered by the pain from the head's teeth. She's had worse, far far worse.
The head just growled as it continued to bite her before slowly calming down and looking towards Izumi, who was rather unimpressed "Oh" the head said before Izumi grabbed it, removed it from her arm, and threw it away. Sending an airblast after it just to be sure "FOUL!".
"Well, as long as we can keep this minefield up we should be fine," Mei said with a smirk.
"Well well well, kittens. You all seem to be having fun," a female voice purred into their minds, and by the looks of it, the minds of all the other forty-four students taking part owing to the surprised looks on everyone's faces. This one sounded like an adult, not a child-like, so it wasn't Eri "Let's make things a little bit more interesting".
Suddenly the ground shifted violently. It took all of Ochaco, Mei and Chiharu's strength to maintain their stability and keep Izumi up as the ground beneath their feet shifted.
Once everything had settled down, Izumi quickly looked around them. Gone was the flat ground, now a hilly meadow, plus they were no longer stuck in the ground "What the?".
"Well, there goes our defensive advantage," Ochaco said.
"Who the hell did this?" Chiharu asked.
"Rock on with these sparkling gazes!" a female voice suddenly said over the loudspeakers.
"We've come to lend a paw and help!!!".
"Coming out of nowhere".
"Stingingly cute and catlike!".
Izumi and her team turned towards the stage and saw a hero group they weren't expecting to see today.
"Wild, Wild Pussycats!!!".
Izumi immediately went into fangirl mode and let out a loud squeal "It's the Wild, Wild Pussycats!" she said as the four members of the Wild, Wild Pussycats, Mandalay, Pixie-Bob, Ragdoll, and Tiger posed on the stage. She then let loose a fangirl infodump before Ochaco, Mei and Chiharu shook her a bit.
"Ladies, gentlemen and everyone in between! Please welcome the thirty-second ranked heroes, the Wild, Wild Pussycats!" Present Mic announced "And their leader and UA's new Rescue Training Specialist, Mandalay!".
"New Rescue Training Specialist!" The four members of team Usako blurted in surprise as Mandalay herself broke off from her teammates with a twirl before bowing.
"Well that's one way to introduce new staff," Durandal remarked.
"They've hired Mandalay?" Ochaco asked, sounding surprised.
"It makes sense. She does have a teaching licence" Izumi said "As do the other three members. They run a summer camp for hero course students. UA probably hired the entire group as well".
"Girls, we've got a problem," Chiharu said, "My mines are gone!".
"What?" the other three girls said, sounding surprised.
"What do you mean, gone?" Mei asked.
"I can't see them. They're all gone" Chiharu replied.
"I think they were all destroyed when Pixie-Bob used her quirk to shift the terrain" Izumi observed "That, coupled by the fact that we're no longer half submerged into the ground, we are now vulnerable".
Her point was quickly made when a laser shot past her. A quick glance to the side revealed team Yuga approaching them. Yuga himself, a young man with a slim build, a rather feminine face, and long blond hair, and had a belt around his waist. Stood atop his team.
'Huh, that meta ability seems familiar' the voice of the Gearshifts owner (Because she still didn't know his name!) remarked.
"MOVE!" Izumi shouted as she activated the jetpack and closed her eyes. Putting her trust in Ochaco to guide them when they land. Which was now much harder due to the uneven terrain.
She felt the air around her pass by as they flew through the air, kept up thanks to Mei's mobility boots and Ochaco's quirk, but they couldn't stay in the air indefinitely, and soon she felt herself slowly fall before shuddering slightly.
"We've landed!" Ochaco shouted.
Izumi opened her eyes, seeing that they were on the ground moving swiftly over the uneven ground.
"Man these Landrunners are neet," Chiharu remarked "It's like roller skating without having to move your legs".
"Just keep your feet steady and lean into the turns and you should be fine," Mei added.
"And team Usako is on the move!" Present Mic announced, "The one-million points are once again up for grabs!".
'Six minutes, that's all we have to hold out for' Izumi thought as everyone quickly took notice that they were on the move. Most of the teams that were now after them were without their headbands, having lost them earlier in the match, and were now gunning for them 'But they're not going to make it easy for us'she thought as she ducked underneath another laser as several other quirks went off in their general direction.
The group kept moving as fast as they could, dodging and evading the other teams until they suddenly got launched when moving over a mound caused them to stumble slightly when they landed "Damn it! The Landrunners were not designed to move so quickly over such uneven terrain. They work best on flat surfaces. We're going to have to slow down!".
"Damn it" Izumi cursed as Ochaco, Mei and Chiharu deactivated their Landrunners and resorted to the age-old method of getting away from your problems. By running away from them. Not easy when you've got ten or so teams of four people chasing after you with their quirks. But, Izumi was able to keep them back with her air blasts. Her fingers were starting to hurt no due to all the finger-flicking she'd been doing, but she was sure that she would be able to hold them back for the last six minutes. And for four minutes, she was rather successful at keeping the others at bay. There were a few close calls, especially when she had to close her eyes during the jumps, but she was able to keep everyone else back.
Suddenly a large wall of ice formed in front of them. Izumi wasted no time in destroying it with an airblast.
"Usako!" a voice Izumi had only heard once before shouted.
The greenet turned to see team Freezerburn waiting off to the side. Shoto's arms were bathed in ice and fire, her entire team missing their headbands "I'll be taking that headband of yours!" she said before she waived her arm and formed a wall of ice around them.
Meanwhile, team King Explosion was busy chasing down Team Phantom Thief. Neito's little trick of making decoy copies of his team may have distracted team Freezerburn, but not Katsuki's team. Camie was able to tell which of the four was the real team since she could easily tell an illusion from the real thing.
Seriously, how can she be so smart but so dumb at the same time?
Anyway, Katsuki was not going to let that smug quirk-copying bastard get away with taking their headbands and his excessive taunting. But his taunts fucking hurt, as did the explosions he kept blasting into his face. Despite being a jerk, the ability to copy someone's quirk was actually pretty fucking useful when you think about it. But its usefulness becomes fucking annoying when he's constantly copying your quirk and blasting you in the face with it! He was starting to get rather pissed off with the guy.
"GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD!" Katsuki shouted.
"Well, aren't you just persistent?" Neito said with a smirk before he turned to face Katsuki "I can see why you call yourself king explosion. You're always exploding" he said before he laughed "Face it, the only thing you're the king of is-" which was as far as he got before a beanbag impacted his crotch, shutting him up.
Katsuki couldn't help but wince at the sight, with Tetsutetsu, Togaru, Camie, Himiko and Hitoshi joining in as well. Hell, even the normally expressionless Yui winced as well. Yeah, he really didn't like the guy right now, but fucking hell he didn't deserve to be nailed in the balls by a beanbag!
"That, got to have hurt," Togaru remarked.
"Should have used my quirk," Tetsutetsu remarked.
"I'm sorry about that!" Momo shouted from the other side of the field.
Neito tried to say something, but what came out sounded more like a whimper. Katsuki, not really feeling great about this but not allowing this opportunity to pass by, rushed past team Phantom Thief, taking all of the headbands that were around Neito's neck as well as his own plus Hitoshi and Himiko's as well.
"Karmas a bitch!" Katsuki said with a smirk as he put the large hoard of headbands around his neck 'And I'm still paying back mine'.
"Yeah, we got our headbands back!" Tetsutetsu said with a smirk "Take that one-A!".
"Now we can go after the million points" Togaru smirked with a feral grin.
"No, forget about the million points" Katsuki retorted, looking up at the scoreboard "We've got enough to pass to the third round! Let's focus on protecting what we have".
"Are you sure about that?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"Positive" Katsuki replied "Camie, recreate what Phantom Thief did when he copied your quirk and make decoys. We may not have a million points but we're still a target!".
"Got it fam!" Camie said before she exhaled, creating a mist that surrounded them. Moments later they burst out of the mist, followed by three decoys, all running in opposite directions.
As they ran, Katsuki looked over towards the large barrier of ice that surrounded team Usako. The one-million points were tempting, but taking all but one of team Phantom Thief's headbands had given them enough points to guarantee that they'll pass onto the next round. Better to be sure to pass than take an unnecessary risk and lose everything.
That, and he was still feeling very pissed off after chasing team Phantom Thief around the field for most of the round, and a part of him wanted to take that anger out on someone else. And he did not want that someone else to be Izumi.
Back inside the walled-off area, teams Usako and Freezerburn stared each other down. The green-haired successor of All Might, VS the icy hot daughter of Endeavor.
The two riders stared at each other, watching, waiting for someone to make the first move. Izumi knew she had the advantage here. Shoto's team had no headbands and were desperate for points, with so little time left, their only hope of passing now was to get the one-million-point headband. Meaning that they couldn't sit around forever. They had to act quickly, lest they don't get enough points to pass.
She did not have to wait long, as moments later Shoto waved a hand towards her and sent a wall of ice towards them. Izumi reacted quickly and sent an airblast towards it, smashing it up. But no sooner had she destroyed it, Shoto had sent a wall of fire towards them.
Izumi could only watch as the wall of flames rushed towards them, unable to move out of the way and reminding her of the hundreds of burns she'd received at the hands of Katsuki.
She quickly covered her face with her arms, but no sooner had she done so she found her entire world moving to the side. Her head turned as the wall of fire passed by her, feeling the heat as the wall passed her by. Still confused by how it missed
She looked down to see that her teammates had jumped to the side out of the way. In her fear, she had forgotten about her teammates, but they clearly hadn't forgotten about her. She also noticed something else, they were up in the air.
And she wasn't scared.
Now yes, they weren't that high up in the air. They didn't use the jetpack during the jump so they could only go so high, but even at this height, she would have been feeling somewhat queasy. Not enough to cause a full-on panic attack, but enough to make her feel scared of the descent. But she wasn't feeling that. Why?
She would have thought about this more, but the shudder caused by the landing brought her back to now. They still had to deal with team Freezerburn.
"Damn it" Shoto cursed "We're not going to be able to get that headband at this rate," she said. Ever since team Phantom Thief took their headbands they've been unable to get any more or retrieve them. Those one-million points now represented their only shot to get to the next round. But they had to grab them first.
"Don't worry, I have an idea!" Tenya, who was at the front of the team "Hold on!" he said before he fired up his engines and shouted "Recipro Burst!".
Rikido and Hiryu had to hold on very tightly as they suddenly found themselves shooting forwards at great speed. Shoto herself had trouble keeping herself stable.
"What the!" Izumi gasped as team Freezerburn shot past them, her headband being taken in the process.
"And with twenty seconds to go team Freezerburn has taken the one million-point headband from team Usako!" Present Mic said loudly.
"Got it!" Shoto smirked as held Izumi's headband.
"Don't be so sure about that yet." Eraserhead said deadpan "Look at the scores".
"What?" Shoto said before she looked up at the scoreboard and gasped. Ten points, that's how many points her team had. She quickly looked down at the headband and, sure enough, only read ten points. This wasn't Izumi's headband, it was Chiharu's. But how did she grab that one by mistake?
She looked back over towards team Usako and realised that Chiharu still had her headband. She had taken Izumi's headband. Why did it only have ten points on it?
She gasped when she realised that all of them were wearing their headbands back to front, with their points value hidden "She wasn't wearing the one-million point headband!".
"WHAT!" Her three teammates gasped.
"What is this?! Usako wasn't wearing the one-million-point headband!" Present Mic said, sounding surprised.
"There's nothing in the rules that says you have to wear the headband that has your points value on it," Eraserhead said with a smirk. Creative thinking like that is important for being a hero.
"But, if she wasn't wearing the million-point headband, who is?" Hiryu asked before a loud klaxon sounded across the field.
"And that's the time!" Present Mic shouted bringing a stop to the second round "
"In fourth place, we've got team Creati! Third place is team Tentacole! Second place is team King Explosion! And in first place, having managed to keep hold of the one-million points, WE HAVE TEAM USAKO!".
"W-we lost," Shoto said, a shocked look on her face. How did she lose? Victory was in her grasp, and yet, she failed.
A smile slowly formed on her face before she started to laugh, surprising her teammates.
"Shoto, are you ok?" Reiko asked, looking surprised.
Shoto continued to laugh, ignoring the shocked and confused looks on her teammates' faces. 'How's your so-called masterpiece now, father?' she thought as she laughed. Despite having lost she couldn't be happier. her bastard of a father had won all three of his sports festivals. But she just failed to make it to the third round, something that never happened to her father. She wanted to use this as an opportunity to show the world that she was nothing like her father. And what better way than to not make it to the third round? yes the loss still stung, as she wouldn't have the opportunity to show off her combat skill, but it stung a lot less than a gold medal would have.
Meanwhile, with Izumi and her team, the green-haired girl was looking wide-eyed at the scoreboard "W-we won" Izumi muttered. They won? They had won! She smiled slowly before she raised her fist into the air "We won!".
"Yeah!" Ochaco said with a smile "We got through".
"Oh yeah," Mei said with a large smirk "And we got to show off my babies!".
Chiharu smiled sleight before suddenly looking panicked "Oh crap, I'm in the third round now!".
"Oh don't worry, Chiharu. You'll be fine" Ochaco said as she and Mei helped Izumi get back down onto the ground, tears pooling around the girl's eyes.
This was beyond what she expected to come from her first-ever sports festival. First place in the first two events was far, far from what she expected. She never thought that she would make it to the third round. But to achieve first place back-to-back was astonishing.
She suddenly lept towards Ochaco and hugged her tightly, tears gushing out of her eyes. The force of which resulted in the gravity girl's headband coming loose and falling off, revealing its value.
It was the One-million point headband.
Izumi knew that there was no way she was going to be able to keep hold of her headband, it was too much of a target. But those of her teammates weren't, even if they were high value as well, the one million was a bigger target. So, she gave it to the one member of the team she trusted the most, Ochaco whilst taking the lowest value one, Chiharu's.
She'd done it, she had made it to the third round, the one V one matches. Now it was time to show the world what she was really capable of.
Meanwhile, somewhere outside of UA, in a very well-furnished room, a man with black spiky hair and wearing a fancy red two-piece suit, was sitting at a desk watching the sports festival from his computer.
"Well Shoto," the man said as he leaned back in the chair holding a cigarette between his lips, his lower jaw nothing but burnt flesh "Better luck next time," he said as he snapped his fingers, generating a small blue flame.
Chapter 28: Intermition
"Well, that was an exciting second round," Midnight said, the forty-four students who had taken part in the second round standing before her whilst the four members of the Wild, Wild Pussycats stood behind her on the stage "All of you performed admirably out there, but sadly, only sixteen of you can pass onto the next round!".
The names of the members of the four teams who had passed appeared on the screen behind her. Usako, Gallastram, Chiharu Kizuki, Mei Hatsume, King Explosion, Jack Mantis, Real Steel, Maboromicamie, Creati, Red Riot, Venus, Anima, Tentacole, Vine, Grape Juice, and Froppy.
Izumi was happy that she had managed to get through to the third round, but she was disappointed that her friends Hitoshi and Neito didn't pass, and annoyed that Katsuki was able to pass in their stead. But then again, it's difficult to keep away from him for long. Gods knows she knows what that's like, he can be a persistent bastard.
That, and getting a beanbag fired at you from a cannon was bound to hurt. Especially when it hits you in the privates. Thankfully Momo made him an ice pack.
"To those who passed to the third round, don't celebrate just yet. You still have the one-on-one battles to go through" Midnight said "But to those who did not pass, do not worry, you will still be able to show off your talents during the recreational games after the lunch break!".
Once they were dismissed they all made their way towards the tunnels and out of the arena.
"YEAH!" Inasa suddenly shouted, startling everyone around him, who were mostly students from 1-A, as the students of 1-B and the two general education students had split off "That was such a hot-blooded match! I LOVED IT!!!".
"Wow dude, chill," Denki said "Yeah, I admit it was fun but please, keep the noise down, your voice echoes like mad in these tunnels".
"Since when were you so knowledgeable when it comes to acoustics?" Rikido asked.
"I'll give you three guesses" Denki replied "And the first two don't-OW!" he said before Kyoka poked him lightly with one of her jacks.
Kyoka just sighed and shook her head.
"Hold on, Inasa, how did your team lose their headbands?" Ochaco asked, "You surrounded them with a tornado".
"Ur, yeah. We did" Inasa said, sounding embarrassed "But the tornado I formed may have blown off our headbands and we were unable to retrieve them".
"Our hubris led to our downfall" Fumikage added, having been a member of Inasa's team.
"Well at least you two had cooperative teammates," Hanta said "The general education student we paired up with was just so self-centred. He refused to be a horse, insisting on being the rider so that the 'world could see him sparkle'." he said with a groan "It would have been better if he was the front horse and used his quirk sparingly. But he didn't, and kept leaving us open when he had bowel problems".
"We should have gone with the other general education student who passed" Kyoka added "He might have been more cooperative".
"Honestly, I don't think it would have changed much," a boy wearing a gas mask said beside her, causing Mina to jump.
"AWhaywdhadu! When did you get here!?" Kyoka asked loudly, having not heard the boy walking beside her.
"I've been here the entire time," the boy said "I didn't exactly have anyone else to leave the arena with. So I left with the nearest group, which ended up being you guys".
"I take it that you must be Sadao then," Fumikage said.
"Yep, that's me," the boy said with a nod "Sadao Atsushi, general education class one-E. I teamed up with some of the one-B students".
"Ok," Denki said, "So, you wouldn't know the other general course student who made it to the second round?".
"You mean Yuga right?" Sadao said before shaking his head "Sorry, but I believe he's in class one-C. Most of the students who failed the practical part of the entrance exam but still managed to get into UA are put into one-C. I never took part in the practical".
"Oh yeah, I've heard about that," Izumi remarked "That's the class where most general education students who managed to get onto the hero course through the sports festival come from. I've always wondered why that was".
"Well now you know," Durandal said.
Izumi nodded before turning to Sadao "Well, you did well to get this far. Also sorry that you didn't manage to get to the third round".
"Ah don't worry about it," Sadao said "I didn't want to get onto the hero course anyway".
"If you didn't want to be a hero, then how did you pass to the second round?" Toru asked.
Sadao sighed "One of the one-B students picked me up and carried me to the finish line, having mistaken me for one of his classmates" he replied, "I have no idea how he managed to do that seeing as I'm wearing a gas mask and have two tanks on my back. Something none of the hero course students have".
There was a choir of 'oh's' from the surrounding hero course students "So why do you have that when you're a general education student?".
"It's for safety reasons," Sadao said "My quirk is dangerous. I can generate a poisonous, sleep-inducing gas. If you inhale it you will be basically comatose until it's treated. I'm not immune to it either, so I wear a gas mask so that I don't accidentally knock myself out. And the tanks on my back act as both an oxygen tank and a storage tank for my gas, just in case I accidentally produce some".
"Ah, I see. That's safety support equipment you're wearing then" Izumi said. Safety support equipment being support equipment designed to allow people with dangerous quirks to live a normal life.
"Yep, can't safely leave the house without it," Sadao said "Caused a few issues for me over the years".
Izumi nodded. But now that she's gotten a better look at him, he seemed familiar somehow. But she couldn't place where she'd seen him before.
Oh well, she could worry about that later.
"Oh fuck I have to fight you guys now!" Chiharu suddenly blurted out, a panicked look on her face as she suddenly realised what passing to the third round meant.
Mina just patted her shoulder with a smirk "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do well".
Izumi shook her head before she joined the members of team Phantom Thief "Sorry you guys didn't get through to the third round".
"That's ok," Neito said with a smile "We weren't aiming to get to the last round anyway".
Izumi looked at him with a confused look "What?".
"We weren't aiming to get to the third round," Hitoshi said. "In fact, Himiko and I weren't planning to use our quirks, and passing to the third round would be very bad for us since it'll make people focus on us, and our quirks. Which is a bad idea considering how useful our quirks are the less people who know about them".
"The less people who know what we can do, the better" Himiko added with a smile.
"Oh!" Izumi said with a smile, realisation on her face "That's quite smart" The one downside of the sports festival, it shows everyone in the world your quirk and what you can do with it. Very good if you want to become a limelight hero like herself, but very bad if you want to become an underground hero like Himiko and Hitoshi, whose quirks work better the less people know about them. Case in point, Eraserhead. She only knew of him and his quirk because of the sports festival. That footage was on the internet, it was out there and could be found with something as simple as a Google search. It's why very few UA hero graduates became underground heroes, the sports festival made it difficult to avoid the spotlight.
"Wait, if that was your plan, why did you end up with so many points?" Durandal asked.
"Simple, we were a distraction" Neito replied "Since we had no intention of passing to the third round, we decided to run a distraction, and keep the more dangerous teams away from you"
"And Yui joined in because she didn't feel like she was ready to fight in the third round" Hitoshi added with Yui nodding in agreement, even if that wasn't her only reason.
Izumi looked at her friends with a look that was a mix of confusion and surprise. They protected her? They deliberately went out of their way to keep people away from her. That's why Katsuki's team never went after her, and probably why she didn't see Shoto's team until close to the end. They were busy dealing with team Phantom Thief.
Tears started to form around Izumi's eyes before she leapt forward and brought Neito, Hitoshi, Himiko and Yui into a hug "Thank you!" she cried as she hugged them, the Midoriya waterworks once again on full display.
"Is that normal?" Sadao asked, looking at the fountains of tears coming out of Izumi's eyes.
Most of the class nodded "Yep, that's normal" Ochaco replied with a smile, making a mental note to make sure that Izumi had plenty of water during the lunch period.
"Well, I am glad you appreciate our help Izumi," Neito said before he broke off from the hug and turned towards Momo "Also Momo. I hate you".
"I said I was sorry!" Momo replied.
"You shot me in the dick again!" Neito chided, not happy that Momo shot him in the dick again, especially since he told her not to.
"I was aiming for Itsuka," Momo explained.
Izumi smiled as she continued to hug her friends. Whilst she was happy that her friends had kept Katsuki distracted and away from her, they wouldn't be able to do that during the third round, the one on one fights.
Whilst she was excited about it, she was also worried. There was a one in fifteen chance that she would be up against Katsuki during her first round, and she was unsure if she would be able to face him. Even with all the support she was receiving, she was still scared of him. And even if she didn't face him during her first match, she would probably still face him during one of the other rounds. He was strong, strong enough to be able to make it to the finals easily.
She just hoped that, no, prayed for a miracle that would prevent him from fighting her, because even though she had a quirk now, there was no way she could beat Katsuki.
Meanwhile, in another tunnel, Katsuki sighed as he walked through the tunnel, a frown on his face. Tetsutetsu, Togaru and Camie walking with him. He was feeling, disappointed. Yes, they managed to get to the third round, but it felt hollow somehow. Not helped by what Phantom Thief said to him.
"Hey, guys!" Yosetsu said as he walked over to them, Bakusquad "Good work out there. Glad to see that we've got some people from our class moving on to the third round".
"Yep," Tetsutetsu said with a smile "Shame we only got six through. Would have been nice if most of us passed to the third round".
"Don't forget, one-A only got eight members of their class through," Togaru said "Plus two non-hero course students. With any luck, we'll beat them all, right Katsuki?".
"Yeah," Katsuki murmured, not really focusing on the conversation
Yosetsu, Tetsutetsu, Togaru and Camie looked at him with concerned looks on their faces "You ok there Katsuki?" Yosetsu asked.
"I'm, fine," Katsuki said with a frown.
"You're sure?" Tetsutetsu asked, sounding concerned "You don't sound fine. Is what Phantom Thief said still bothering you?".
"What did he mean by, bullies tend to tunnel vision?" Camie asked innocently.
Katsuki sighed. Might as well get it over with "Remember what I said on the second day of UA, that I wasn't a good person? That's I've done things that I've come to regret" he asked, waiting until his friends. Huh, friends. It felt odd calling people friends, up until a year ago he would have just called them extras who were just following him around.
Anyway, he waited for them to nod before continuing "Well, you know that slime villain incident I was involved in last year? Well, prior to that I, I was a bully" he said, noting the shocked looks on his friend's faces "I used my quirk to hurt people for, personal enjoyment" he said, because as much as he would like to say he hurt Izumi for her own good or for some other reason, he had to face the truth. He enjoyed hurting her, far too much.
"You, were a bully?" Camie said, sounding horrified.
"I mean, I can understand that you could be one," Togaru said with a frown "I may have hurt people deliberately as well. But that was me lashing out at people in retaliation for bullying me. But you-, why?".
"Because I was an idiot with an overinflated ego and no one was trying to stop me and set me straight," Katsuki replied "Everyone kept telling me that I was great and was going to become a great hero. I kept saying that I was going to become the greatest hero in the world, and I had almost everyone kissing up to me. But I never acted like a hero. I believed that a hero's duty was to beat up villains, nothing else. I only ever used my power to hurt people, sometimes for the dumbest of reasons. Hell, I once hit someone just for wanting to go to UA, even though they wanted to go onto the general education course. I know that how I acted was in part to no one trying to curb my attitude or setting me on the right path. But no one tried to stop me or tell me that I wasn't acting like a hero, they just let me do whatever I wanted. But I know that's not an excuse for what I did. I hurt people, insulted them-" 'Told someone to kill themselves' "-. I'm trying to change, but ten years of acting like you're the next best thing since All Might doesn't change overnight".
Katsuki noted the shock and horrified looks on his friends' faces, which he expected. Finding out that your friend spent most of their life as a bully would be shocking, especially when you yourself had been bullied in the past as well.
"Ok, how the hell did you get into UA then?" Yosetsu asked with a snarl, "UA has an anti-bullying policy!".
"I'm here on probation" Katsuki replied "Because of what I had done I had shown signs of improvement before I could apply to UA, and if I was successful in getting in, I would be on probation. That's the only way I was allowed in. One fuck up and I'm out. Not just out of the hero course, but out of UA period. With no ability to apply to any other hero course or school. And that's if I'm lucky" he explained, not saying that if he was unlucky, he could end up in juvenile detention with a villain ranking, depending on just how bad his fuck up is "There are other things as well. I have to attend weekly therapy and anger management sessions, even though I was already doing those, and had my costume modified. There are supposed to be gauntlets on my arms to store my sweat, but I'm not allowed to have them until I can prove that I can use them safely, and own an explosives licence. Which I won't be allowed to apply for until my second year" he said "Sounds dumb since because of my quirk I had to research a lot about explosives so that I don't accidentally kill someone, but, I always wanted to go to UA, It was my dream school. So, when I was told by a woman who had a sniper rifle in her arm that I was barred from every hero course in Japan unless I changed, I took every option available to me so that my dream of becoming a hero did not die!".
Seriously, having one of Japan's six heroes who are permitted to flat-out kill villains, AKA a fucking Death Dagger, tell you that you're not allowed to apply to any hero course in Japan, is a lot more eye-opening then say, some no-name hero who isn't even in the top one-hundred telling you the same thing. The only thing that could have been more eye-opening was if All Might himself was the one who had told him that.
The others seemed a little understanding of what he was going through. Yes, they weren't going to forgive him for his past but-.
"But, what was that about a victim?" Camie asked, "Because I remember him saying something about a victim?".
Katsuki sighed. Might as well elaborate on why he was doing this "There was one person who I had known since we were children who was quirkless. They were the one I bullied the most" he said, refusing to mention Izumi by name or give any hints as to who she was, lest his friends try and help him resolve this. It wasn't because he didn't want the help, he already had plenty of that, but because this was a delicate situation and their interference could mess everything up "This shit started when my quirk came in, and theirs didn't. I saw them as weak and useless, and back then, I saw everything they did as a way to look down at me, even staying away from me, which was a smart thing to do because I bullied them every single day" he said before he paused for a bit "Something happened. It wasn't the sludge villain thing, but I did something, something I would later regret. They transferred to a different school after the incident, and I started seeking help".
"They transferred to Nabu. didn't they?" Togaru asked, getting a nod from Katsuki "And let me guess, your victim is in the other class?".
Katsuki frowned before nodding "Yes. I won't tell you who they are, only that they weren't in team Phantom Thief. But yes, they are here, on the hero course no less".
"Wait, does that mean that a member of one-A is quirkless?" Camie asked innocently.
"No you-" Katsuki spat before he stopped himself and breathed in and out for a few seconds before continuing. The anger management lessons were helpful, but he still had a long way to go before he didn't explode every time someone said something he either didn't like or was just plain dumb "No, they're not quirkless. I saw them during the entrance exam and they had a quirk. I don't know where they got it from, but I think they were just misdiagnosed and had a very obscure quirk trigger. The doctor who diagnosed them was arrested for misdiagnosing several people, including some rich girl whose family sued him out of existence" which probably wasn't what happened, but since Tsubasa and his family just vanished after Dr Tsubasa was arrested, it's a reasonable assumption.
"Gods" Tetsutetsu gasped "To spend so long thinking they were quirkless. I can't even begin to fathom what that would be like," he said "Why haven't you apologised to them yet?".
"Don't you think I haven't already thought about that?!" Katsuki said loudly "I bullied them for ten years! A simple apology isn't going to just fix this! It's going to take something a lot more meaningful, and even then, they probably won't accept it," he said "Look, I know what I've done was wrong, I realised that. But I am trying to change. And, I want your help to do it. Due to my attitude I never really had proper friends, just classmates whose presence I tolerated. They kind of left me alone after the incident".
A part of him was calling him weak for asking for help, saying that he didn't need it. But that kind of attitude got him into this mess in the first place. Back when this all started with Izumi just wondering if he was ok after a fall. That was the first time he felt scared, the second being almost drowned by that slime villain. It was the first time in his life where his quirk couldn't help him. How was he supposed to blow up a big ball of slime anyway?
Silence filled the corridor. Tetsutetsu, Togaru, Yosetsu and Camie still coming to terms with what they heard. It's not every day that you find out that one of your friends was a bully and used his quirk to hurt people, which is even more shocking when their training to become a hero, and when a few of them were also victims of bullying.
"I'll admit, I've just lost every ounce of respect for you I had," Togaru spat, causing Katsuki to flinch. Yeah, he was expecting that reaction from him "But, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that you are trying to change. You haven't exactly acted like a bully so far".
"I'd have to agree with Togaru, bullying someone just isn't manly," Tetsutetsu said "But, you said you're trying to change, so I'm willing to help you".
Yosetsu looked a bit indecisive for a few moments "Ah fuck it, I know I've done some dumb things in the past, so I might as well help you out".
Camie was quiet, uncharacteristically quiet. It was shocking how quiet the girl was after this. She probably wasn't taking the news well. Couldn't really blame her.
"Thanks, guys," Katsuki said with a slight smile "I appreciate your understanding of this shit".
"Don't worry about it," Tetsutetsu said "You messed up, we get that. Everyone messes up at one point in their lives. The fact you've also recognised you were wrong and are trying to change helps".
"Anyway, we should be getting to the cafeteria," Togaru said "Lost a lot of calories during the last two events".
"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up with you later. I've, got to clear my head" Katsuki said before he turned and walked off.
Well, that went better than he expected it to go. Yeah he may have damaged his friendship with them, but it wasn't permanent, it could still be fixed. It helped that he didn't torment them or act like a total bastard whilst he was at UA. So the bridges between him and his friends had not been burnt down yet but will need some repairing.
It was just a shame that the bridge between him and Izumi had long since burned down, and the river that had once separated them had become an impossible ocean. There was no way the friendship they had when they were kids before his quirk came in, could be rekindled, not after he violently destroyed it. It was pointless to try, so he was going to focus on seeking forgiveness. Even if it's just as impossible.
Meanwhile, in a room specially reserved for the top ten heroes to relax in during the intermission.
"Well, this year's first years seem impressive," the Ninja Hero, Edgeshot remarked as he sat down, the grey-haired man having been quite interested in the first years "But, there is a lot that they need to improve on. Especially those from one A".
"I would have to agree with you on that one," the Fiber Hero, Best Jeanist said, the denim-clad hero busy combing his hair "They have promise, but they are still children. There is much they still have to learn".
"Still, to think villains would try and attack them so early into the year" the Dragoon Hero, Ryukyu said with a frown. The dragon woman, whilst glad that her niece wasn't involved in the attack, was still horrified that it happened, especially due to how many people died during the attack "I'm just glad that none of the students were killed. I can't fathom just what they went through, seeing so much death at such a young age".
"They may look like they are fine, but they are far from healed" the Flaming Hair Hero, Burnin remarked, flexing her fingers "The mental strain of such an ordeal will be with them for years. Good thing UA's taking good care of them".
"The fact that none of them dropped out of the hero course is remarkable" the Fighting Hero, Daidōji remarked, leaning against the wall with a slight smirk "I would have expected at least one of them to have dropped out after the USJ. the fact that none of them did is a testament to how resilient they are".
Daidōji was a tall, muscular woman with long, flowing black hair and reddish-brown eyes, as well as the owner of the largest bust in the room. She was wearing a tattered navy blue gakuran and matching coloured cap with metal epaulets, a rope belt around her waist and tengu-geta on her feet. Her J cup-sized bosom (which none of the other female heroes in the room were totally jealous of, nope) was wrapped up in a sarashi, with bandages wrapped around her hands and wrists.
She was a hero with a strong sense of justice but has a very 'Punch first, ask questions while punching' personality, as well as a love of meat. She's also good friends with Mirko, for reasons that should be painfully obvious.
"They're a good class with a strong sense of comradery. They've got each other's backs" The Turbo Hero, Ingenium said with a smile "My younger brother told me that one of his classmates made a speech about how none of them had quit after the USJ, showed me a recording of it too. Quite inspiring. Plus they've spent most of their time helping each other train for the sports festival despite knowing full well that they'll be competing against each other".
"Let's not forget about the students from one-B, or the ones from the other courses," the Digger Hero, Lagann said, "Even with all the attention on one-A they're still giving it their all out there. Six of them even managed to pass to the third round, as did two non-hero course students".
"Those Mei and Chiharu girls performed admirably so far. I can't wait to see their performance during the third round" the Mighty Hero, Gurren remarked with a smile.
The Team Dai-Gurren hero duo represented the only hero team to have ever made it to Japan's top ten, the only other team to have gotten close being the Wild, Wild Pussycats.
Gurren is a tall and well-built man with short, blue, spiky hair and red eyes. With blue tattoos along both of his arms which extend to his shoulders and his upper back. He wears long, dark-brown pants with a double-grommet belt tied around his waist, a traditional Japanese sarashi, sandals, a red cape with his agency's logo on it, as well as a pair of flashy, red, triangular sunglasses. There was also a disproportionately long Nodachi by his side.
He's a boisterous, hotheaded and extremely determined hero who's also been voted as Japan's sexiest male hero four times in a row. Which caused a great deal of broken hearts (Midnight's being one of them) when it was confirmed that he was dating the Armory Hero, Yoko, who recently accepted a teaching position at Seiai Academy.
Seriously, the fallout was so bad that it caused a country-wide ice cream shortage.
Lagann meanwhile was a tall young man, taller than Gurren, with wild dark blue hair, deep indigo eyes and a strong lean build. He was wearing a dark blue jacket with red stripes along the shoulders and sleeves, brown shorts, white socks, and brown boot-like shoes. He also had bandages encircled around his abdomen, a pair of goggles on his forehead, and a small drill-like charm hanging around his neck.
He was a young, polite, humble, compassionate and brave hero who will stop at nothing to save those around him. A bit like Izumi really. Just ignore the small pig? mole? thing wearing sunglasses that goes by the name Boota that's currently sitting on his head.
"I'm going to be honest, I've never heard of a single management course student who's managed to get to the second round of the UA sports festival, let alone the third," the Wing Hero, Hawks remarked, holding a large bucket of chicken wings, "I thought they all skipped it in favour of showcasing their talents during the School Festival".
"They do, preferring to use the time practising economics," Best Jeanist said "But I am quite interested to see how well she fares against the hero students. This is the first time someone from her track has managed to make it this far. It'll be interesting to see a dual course hero student from the business course. There are far too few heroes who understand the intricacies of business management".
"That's if she meets the criteria to be given the choice," Edgeshot said "If she wants to be a hero, she's going to need to prove she's worth investing our time to train her".
Toshinori nodded. Since he had to save his time limit, he couldn't exactly be here as All Might, especially since he hadn't told the other top ten about what happened to him "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be quite surprised by her".
"It's a shame All Might couldn't join us," Burnin said as she walked up to Toshinori with a smirk that said 'I want to eat you up' "I would have liked to have heard his opinion on UA's first years, considering he's teaching here now".
Toshinori gulped. Unfortunately for him, Burnin had a crush on him. Which was problematic since she didn't know that he was really All Might, someone she didn't have a crush on. And that was a conversation he didn't want to have.
"Yeah, apologies about that, but All Might's with the other teachers," Toshinori said nervously "But I can assure you, that he is quite proud of how this year's first years are fairing. They are fine young heroes with promising futures".
"They better be," Mirko said with a smirk "That's the next generation of heroes down there. I'd expect them to be good!".
"And do any of them catch your eye, Mirko?" Toshinori asked.
Mirko waited a few seconds before she smirked and turned towards Toshinori. "One of them may have caught my eye, yes. And no, I'm not sending them an internship form. I don't do teaching or teamwork!" she said before she looked out of the large window and down onto the arena "Besides, I want to see how she fights first".
"It's that fluffy bunny Usako isn't it?" Hawks remarked, causing Toshinori to cough up some blood.
He was going to have some words with Midnight after this. Seriously, bunny? He knew Izumi chose Usako as her hero name but come on, it was obvious to anyone that those ear-like protrusions on her costume are a homage to his haircut. So why do people keep calling them bunny ears? They look nothing like them!
"So, what if it is?" Mirko said with a smirk "I'm withholding my final judgement on her until the third round. I want to see how well she does during the one-on-one fights!".
Toshinori shuddered. Just his luck that his successor would draw the attention of Mirko, the most aggressive hero he ever met. Seriously, the first time they met she asked to fight him. It wasn't a long fight, he just backhanded her into a wall, but she had been intent on fighting and beating him since. And now she was interested in Izumi. Oh dear.
"Just try not to traumatise her when you plan on visiting whatever agency she plans to intern with," Ingenium remarked.
"No promises," Mirko said with a smirk.
'I'm so sorry Izumi' Toshinori thought with a frown 'There's not much I can do to prepare you for getting Mirko's attention'. At least Mirko wouldn't plan to kill her.
Meanwhile, in one of the stadium's toilet cubicles. Yuga Aoyama was currently dealing with the downsides of his 'quirk', his bowels currently being emptied due to the strain of overusing it. Huh, his quirk, could he really call it that since it was given to him by All for One? Might as well since he was in debt to him. Yes, he disliked the idea of having to spy for that man, becoming a villain wasn't a career choice he wanted to pursue. But recently, he's been rethinking his stance on that.
He tried his best to get onto the hero course, but despite doing his best, he failed. He didn't get enough points during the entrance exam to get onto the hero course. It was a good thing that he had a backup plan and also applied to general education as well, just so he could get in through the sports festival.
He was still of some use to All for One, he could still gather intel on the hero course students from General Education, but it would have been a lot easier if he was on the hero course proper. But then the sports festival came and whilst he managed to get to the second round, he failed to get to the third.
How? How did he fail to get to the third round? He did everything he was supposed to, he formed a team of strong hero course students, and he used his quirk to help collect other people's headbands. So how did he fail? And how did that girl, Usako, manage to get first place in both events? She should have lost her headband. He should have been able to take it.
It quickly dawned on him what had happened. He didn't fail, his 'teammates' deliberately sabotaged him. He should have known they were against him from the start when they said that he would be better suited at the front of the formation, not on top as the rider as he should be. They deliberately allowed their headbands to be taken as well as deliberately slower so that they couldn't catch up to her. Earphone Jack said that she had good hearing, so why was she so bad at identifying threats and dealing with them?
It was clear that they were against him, that the hero course students didn't want him as a hero. That had to be it, they couldn't have known that he was working for All for One, so, the only other explanation was that they were against him. The only non-hero course students who passed were with Usako, clearly, they were friends with her.
And then there was Usako herself, that glory hound who got first place in the entrance exam, who also got first place in the first and second rounds. The one Tomura told him to keep an eye on. At first, he felt sorry for the girl, getting the ire of someone like Tomura wasn't a good thing, especially when they want you dead. But now he saw that as a good thing.
He was there on the same exam field as her, watching as she rushed around in that robot companion of hers that can turn into a suit of armour. How she was allowed to bring that with her despite not being allowed to bring robots with them, but clearly someone at UA let it slide so that she would have an unfair advantage over everyone else. And after seeing her quirk in action, she clearly didn't need a suit of power armour to help her, so obviously she was showing off. And now she has helped two people who weren't general education students get to the third round. Why couldn't she have helped him? Was he not deserving of a chance of becoming a hero? What did those other two have that he didn't?
Well no matter, if this is how they will treat him, then he might as well treat them like that in turn. All for One wanted him to spy and gather information on them and the school, then spy on them he shall. It won't be easy, he is a general education student, but he's already succeeded in gathering some information on them, gathering some more shouldn't be too hard. There was also plenty of resentment towards the hero course students, especially from general education, so finding like-minded individuals that can help him shouldn't be too hard. He was going to have his revenge against those in the hero course, starting with Usako.
His bowels suddenly chose that moment to disagree with him.
He gripped his stomach as his bowels emptied again. Plan revenge later, deal with bowel issues now. He could afford to do that, wait. After all, he knows All for One, and he's a master of waiting.