Once More (My Hero Academia)

15: Sports Festival Begins!

"Now, for the athlete's oath," Midnight announced after everyone gathered around and the applause faded out, "Your student representative is... from class 1-A, Midoriya Izuku!"

Instantly, Izuku whipped his head toward Bakugo to observe his reaction.

Bakugo scowled but didn't punch Izuku or anything, which made Izuku a slight bit relieved.

"Must be because you got first in the entrance exam," Sero commented.

"The hero course entrance exam, you mean," A girl from general studies added sardonically from the side.

Izuku walked stiffly up to the podium and mechanically delivered the athlete's oath, which bored a lot of people but at least it wasn't a declaration of war or something.

"Now, without delay," Midnight announced, "let's get to our first event, the obstacle course race!"

The first-year students readied themselves as a large mechanical gateway clicked open, revealing the obstacle course. The gateway was more of a hallway, with a tall ceiling and narrow passageway. In order to pass through, there would be a big squeeze.

So... Izuku's not gonna do that.

"Racers, to your positions...START!"

The students dashed in the gate, but Izuku waited.

Summoning One For All, Izuku strengthened his body and lowered to a crouch.

Then, like a spring, Izuku burst into the air, into the gateway. However, instead of running into the crowd of students, who were pushing and shoving each other to get through, Izuku leaped toward the higher part of the gateway wall.

Landing on the side, Izuku stepped hard and propelled himself towards the opposite wall of the hallway. He used his quirk to leap from side to side in the air above everyone else until he made it through without even touching the ground.

Emerging from the starting gate, Izuku was now well ahead of everyone else.

"WOO! Class 1-A Midoriya Izuku is in the lead!!" Present Mic announced over-enthusiastically.

Todoroki was second, freezing everyone else behind him, although the rest of class 1-A was quick to realize Todoroki's trick and got away from the ground.

"I ain't letting ANY of you bastards go in front of me!" Bakugo's voice boomed from behind.

Izuku landed on the ground and halted. A shadow loomed upon him as the first obstacle entered his view: giant robots made their way towards the students, their mechanical hums reverberating in the air.

Izuku leaped in the air again. Using the robot parts as footholds, Izuku dodged the attacks of the machines and quickly made his way above and over the moving heaps of metal.

The sound of explosions and angry screams of "Deku" and "Half-n-half" blasted from behind, and Izuku knew that his childhood friend was catching up.

Izuku hurried away from the robot obstacle course, and Todoroki and Bakugo were still behind him, but not far now.

Izuku passed the second obstacle easily enough. It was a deep cliff with wires hanging around, but with his speed and a few large leaps, Izuku was able to keep his lead.

Then he arrived at the minefield obstacle. This one was a lot trickier since his quirk couldn't allow him to reach the other side without landing a few times on the ground. He would need to choose where to land carefully.

"DEKUUU!!" Bakugo was catching up, and the other pair of footsteps most likely belonged to Todoroki.

Izuku's body was getting slightly sore due to using his quirk for longer than his body was used to, but he was too close to victory now to bother. He kept his ground right in front of this final obstacle, his eyes darting across the minefield, searching for the quickest route.

Todoroki raced past Izuku, followed by Bakugo.

"A TURN OF EVENTS! Todoroki is now in the lead, followed by Bakugo! Why is Midoriya just standing there?!"

...Found it.

Izuku raised One For All to the height of his body's limit, then burst forward, straight past Todoroki and Bakugo.

He bounded across the minefield, taking no time to reassess where the mines were on the ground nor think of the two boys behind him. He followed the route in his mind, the fastest possible route.

"OOO! He's going so fast! Without triggering a single mine!" Present Mic screeched, "Unlike Todoroki and Bakugo back here, they still have to keep their eyes on the ground!"

"DAMMIT!" Bakugo yelled, then the sound of his explosion quirk manifested again, this time louder than usual. Following that was the sound of Todoroki's ice forming.

Izuku tried to focus on where he was going, but suddenly the moment his right foot touched the ground he was yanked back with a sudden force, and he landed on his elbows.

Izuku screeched: a mine was literally an inch away from his face. He was lucky that where his elbows and feet contacted the ground there were no other mines.

He whipped his head back to look at his right foot, and sure enough, it was frozen. Todoroki somehow froze Izuku's foot the moment it touched the ground.

Bakugo flew past over his head, and Todoroki sprinted past on a path of ice, close behind.

Without a moment of hesitation, Izuku shoved himself up, yanked his foot, and broke the ice, then crawled up carefully without exploding himself.

Bakugo and Todoroki were closing in on the finish line.

Part of Izuku wanted to chase after them immediately, but he stopped himself and took a deep breath.

He hadn't used the full version of this move since he came back, and he didn't know if his body was ready or not, but it was the only move that could help him win this race.

Izuku concentrated, hard. Then, drawing out 20% of his power instantly, he flicked his finger at the ground.

"Delaware Smash: Air Force!"

Without specialized gear to aid this move, it wasn't as precise, but it did the trick. The force of the blast propelled him forward in the air, while also erupting many of the mines below, their explosive forces further pushing Izuku toward the two leading boys.

His fingers burned in pain, but he gritted his teeth and fired again, this time completely catching up to Bakugo and Todoroki.

"Wha— Stay back, DEKU!"

Izuku landed on the ground right beside the other two, the minefield already far behind.

"I told you, I'm giving it all I got!" Izuku yelled, his eyes glued forward at the finish line, and with his quirk strengthening his entire body again, he dashed forward.

Present Mic's voice blasted from the speakers again, "Boy, that was so exciting! Geez Eraser, what do you teach your kids?!"

Without waiting for an answer, Present Mic shifted the topic back to the race.

"The one who made it back first to the stadium and won the first event of the first-year sports festival is..."

Izuku burst out the gate.

"... none other than Midoriya Izuku!!!"