It was two days after the attack.
The day before, classes were canceled for teachers to confront the media, talk with the police, and for students to take a breath after the horrible event that happened.
Izuku opened the door of his homeroom and conversations surrounding the attack flooded his senses.
"Good morning, Deku!" Uraraka waved, "we were just talking about USJ."
"Doesn't seem like there's anything else to talk about," Kaminari said.
"What do you think, Midoriya?" Sero asked, "about all this, I mean?"
"Uh..." Izuku weighed his response carefully, "I'd say it was terrifying, but the pros handled it, right? It seemed like a successful ambush."
"I agree, bro!" Kaminari exclaimed, "and All Might's fight? That was so darn cool, man."
"EVERYBODY TAKE A SEAT--" Iida ordered from the front of the classroom, even though everyone was seated already.
Then the door slid open, revealing Aizawa.
The teacher's gaze met with Izuku's for a moment, but from that simple look, Izuku could feel that so much between them had changed.
•••
Aizawa Shota walked into the classroom and his eyes instantly landed on Midoriya Izuku.
Two days ago, Shota had questioned Midoriya about his knowledge of the USJ attack.
...Time travel. That's what he said.
"A war against villains..." Shota had pondered Midoriya's words, then shifted his glance at All Might, "and you knew about this?"
"It's hard to digest, but I believe in young Midoriya," All Might said with conviction.
Shota looked back at the nervous boy.
"This girl you speak of...Eri...? Where is she now?"
Midoriya looked down, his expression remorseful.
"This bothers me every waking moment since I came back, but... right now, she's trapped. Abused. She's... hurting. But I know it isn't time for me to go save her yet."
The boy's voice trembled, and Shota could feel that he was pouring out feelings trapped deep down inside.
Of course, Shota must admit that he still had his doubts about Midoriya, especially after a villain attack that the boy obviously knew of beforehand.
However...
"If this is true," Shota said, "Stop thinking whatever you're thinking."
"Huh?" Midoriya looked up with confusion.
"To live a regretful life believing you're the only person in the world that can solve everything is not the mindset I teach my students. You chose to come back to UA; you should realize that you have everyone else here to help you now."
Midoriya seemed surprised for a moment, but then nodded, "Thank you, sensei."
And right now, despite the absurdity of the boy's story, Shota started understanding how All Might felt.
This boy might be worth believing.
•••
"WOOO!!" Kirishima cheered, "Sports festival, here we come!!"
"One step closer to being pro!" Kaminari exclaimed.
Izuku shared their excitement. The sports festival was actually something he really looked forward to.
"Wha... What's going on?" Uraraka's voice drifted from the classroom door as she opened it, and the sound of chattering attracted the class's attention to the door.
The entire hallway was filled with a crowd of students, blocking the classroom door.
"We can't get out... What are they here for?" Mineta said.
"Scoping out the competition, duh," Bakugo walked straight to the door, "since we survived a villain attack."
Bakugo halted right in front of the crowd.
"Move aside, cannon fodder."
Both students inside and outside the classroom gasped at Bakugo's audacity.
"Here he goes again..." Izuku muttered.
Then, there was a small, humorless laugh, and a tall figure stepped out from the sea of students toward Bakugo.
Izuku couldn't help but smile at the familiar figure he hasn't seen since he came back.
Shinso.
"Are all the hero students like this?" Shinso raised an eyebrow, gaze unfaltering despite Bakugo's glare, "Gotta say, I'm kinda disillusioned."
Shinso glanced at Izuku, "And you, you got first for the entrance exam, right? Consider this the time that you hero course students get knocked off your pedestals."
"A declaration of war, huh..." Bakugo said calmly, then suddenly started shoving his way out into the hallway, ignoring the shouts of surprise from other students.
"Dude, wait! You just gave us a whole mob of haters!" Kaminari screeched.
"Oh really?" Bakugo looked back, "well, I don't give a damn."
He met Izuku's gaze for a split second, "I'm heading for the top, anyway."
•••
Two weeks later.
The prep room buzzed with excitement and nervousness. The students of class 1-A just finished warming up, and they sat around in the room talking about what was about to come.
Izuku took a deep breath. For the first time, Izuku tried to forget about his mission. He'd have to admit, it might be a bit selfish, but today was the day that he would show the world he was here.
The sound of someone calling his name attracted his attention, and Izuku found himself face-to-face with Todoroki.
"Todoroki? What is it?"
"...All Might's got his eyes on you, hasn't he? " Todoroki said, "I won't pry. But, although you are capable, I will beat you today."
Izuku nodded, "You're very strong, Todoroki. But keep this in mind... everyone's aiming for the top. So I'm going for it with everything I got. The question is...will you?"
Izuku walked past Todoroki, patting his left shoulder.
Todoroki visibly tensed, but his expression was nonetheless composed.
"Right," Todoroki muttered almost inaudibly, "everyone's aiming for the top. Especially that old man."
•••
"WELCOME TO THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL!!" Present Mic's voice boomed from every possible corner of the huge stadium, "FIRST UP, WE KNOW 'EM, WE'VE HEARD 'EM, THE RISING STARS WHO BRUSHED OFF A VILLAIN ATTACK WITH STEELY WILLPOWER -- HERO COURSE, CLASS 1-A!"
Applause thundered in the stadium as the class walked out toward the center.
Following class 1-A were the other classes of the hero course, the general studies course, support course, and the business course. The students gathered in the center, where Midnight was standing on the referee podium.
"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!!!"