Izuku put his notebook away in his bag and turned to Tooru who was waiting for him to head out of school. The festival was near and they wanted to get one more training session in before it started. The rest of his friends were just about to congregate when Uraraka opened the door to 1A and a mass of other students were blocking the way.
"What's the meaning of this!? Blocking the hallway is an incredibly dangerous fire hazard!" Iida lectured the mass of students.
Bakugo sneered at all of them and pushed his way through without saying a word. A purple-haired student began speaking about wanting to see the class that beat a horde of villains. "You don't seem so impressed, who was the one who took out the monster?" He looked around and caught Izuku's eyes. "I'm here to declare war and take one of your spots in your class, maybe your seat." He said to Izuku.
Izuku was happy to be an observer to the whole performance go on until he was dragged into the center stage. He tilted his head and began to analyze every detail of the boy who wanted to declare 'war' on him. Once he had enough information, he spoke. "You took the entrance exam for heroics but failed. Your quirk isn't combat or more likely, doesn't work on nonliving things." The boy's eyes widen ever so slightly. "Probably a mental quirk, of what degree. I don't know. You relied on your quirk to pass without even working on your body, yet you want to try to take my seat?"
Izuku always hated when people looked at him like he was nothing. Before, he couldn't do anything lest more injuries piled up on him. Now, he could defend himself properly.
Izuku waited for him to respond but the purple-haired boy had nothing to say in the quiet. Instead, he turned away from 1A and left. "Midoriya is the scariest one here. All agreed?"
Five ayes were heard and Izuku turned to Mina who had spoken first. Jirou, Sero, Kaminari, Mina, and Tooru all had their hands up. Izuku felt his ears turn hot from the situation he found himself in. He looked at the window as an escape option but shook the thought out of his head. The rest of the class was quiet as they watched the group. The students outside began to disburse when they saw the show was over. Izuku heard another voice saying something about 1B but he ignored it.
"Can you guys please stop?" His embarrassment was slowly dying down as the gang moved into the hallway to leave.
"You need more praise, take it!" Mina teased the greenest member of their group.
"From what I understand, you're definitely behind with all the praise and other things friends bring along." Jirou smirked at him. She had become part of their gang soon after Izuku told her about his quirk. The rest of the gang welcomed her with open arms.
"Alright, leave the boy be. But back to what you did back there. You could read people like that on the spot?" Sero asked.
"Yea! That was some Detective show stuff right there!" Kaminari added.
"He gave most of the information already, I just said it out loud. He wanted a seat in 1A, he probably failed the entrance exam. The reason to fail would be a lack of physical strength or a lack of a physical quirk. Mental quirks are unique but against a nonliving being, he had to resort on his body." He spouted out, his friends listened raptly to his impromptu lecture.
"He's the leader of the gang, right?" Jirou asked the rest of the group, and they all nodded.
"I'm not the leader!" Izuku protested, they were out of the gates of UA.
"All vote for the green bean of annihilation?" Mina said, five ayes.
They spend the day training in the woods. They lightly sparred with each other as the day went along. They stopped early and sat to chat until they had to go home. Izuku told them what to expect from the festival games. First round weeded out the competition to a manageable number, second round they made it into a team game. And last was always a tournament. They all came along with their quirks and new ways of using them. The time came and they all made their way to the train station and made their farewells. Tooru gave Izuku her obligatory hug and boarded the train.
Class 1A waited for the festival to begin with everyone anxious for the start. Izuku sat with his friends as they chatted about the day to come.
"I'm just saying that we should get a prize or something for winning in the top three. I mean a medal is great but I'm thinking of a cash prize." Sero argued.
"That seems kinda trashy. I think so." Tooru said.
"No, I agree with Sero. A bit of cash wou-" He was cut off by Todoroki stopping next to their group.
"Objectively speaking I am-" Sound was absorbed and he was cut off. The two-tone boy glared at Izuku and he glared back.
Izuku released his quirk and spoke. "Are you going to use your fire?"
"I don't-" He was cut off again by no sound leaving his lips.
Izuku didn't want anything to do with someone who didn't use everything in their toolbox to be a hero. He understand why Aizawa never expelled someone who wasn't giving their all in the quirk apprehension test. The number two hero, power trumps all, he had grown to learn personally.
Todoroki turned away with an angry face and Izuku let sound work again. All of his classmates in the waiting room watched the interaction. "That was rude." Tooru pinched Izuku's arm slightly.
"He was going to monolog like some supervillain. It's kinda egotistical, don't you think?" Sero added as Izuku rubbed his arm.
"Still rude I say." Tooru pouted for only Izuku to see. She smiled when she saw his cheeks pink when he looked at her.
Izuku shook his head from the thoughts that plagued his mind for a moment. "I don't want anything to do with someone who held his pride over helping someone else."
"That's fair." Jirou nodded her head.
Iida came around the corner to the entrance and called out. "Line up based on your set number! It is time!" He chopped his arm up and down in a rapid-fire motion.
They made their way to the gate and Iida and Yayoruzo lead 1A into the open area. Izuku was almost going deaf with the noise that blasted him from the countless attendees. Jirou was next to him and was wincing at the noise. She began to poke him and Izuku got the message. He absorbed some of the sound energy and the area near him dulled. The amount of energy he was receiving was impressive, a wonderful opportunity. Jirou smiled at him and they made their way to the seats. Present Mic was announcing every class that walked out of the gates with a bit too much enthusiasm. He heard his homeroom teacher was in the box with Present Mic and he sounded annoyed, but that didn't surprise the boy.
Midnight walked on stage and began to speak into the microphone. "Welcome one and all to this year's UA Sports Festival!" The crowd cheered again and Izuku absorbed more energy into his core. "To start us off with the athlete's oath, the first-year representative. Izuku Midoriya!" She pointed her riding crop right at him.
Izuku had expected he would need to do the oath since he analyzed every Sports Festival he could get his hands on. Tooru gave him a thumbs-up while smiling and his friends nearby said encouraging words. He walked on stage and took the microphone, the crowd quieted.
"I will do my best to change society where your quirk doesn't determine your worth." He stared into Bakugo's eyes in the seated students. He could see his tighten jawline and then he turned to the rest of the watching crowd. "I will do my best to make sure those who hurt the innocent will get their punishment, no matter who they are. This is my oath." There was some scattered applause in the crowd and many eyes on him. What they saw was a determined face on a boy who grew up much too fast. Many narrowed their eyes at Izuku's words, some with better intentions than others.
Midnight gave out a nervous laugh and motioned him off the stage. "What spirit! Now, let's get the Festival started! For the first event, an obstacle race!" Midnight riled up the crowd again as she explained the rules.
Everyone scrambled to the starting line and prepare for the race to begin. Tooru found Izuku and gave him a worried look. Izuku smiled warmly at her and it put her at ease. "Do your best!" She said with a blinding at him before running to join the mob.
Izuku stayed at the back where there was open air above him. He took off his shoes and placed them near the wall of the arena. He then positioned himself in line for the exit of the narrow passage. He will wonder how this will end.
"Start!" Present Mic shouted.
Izuku crouched down and jumped while releasing a massive amount of kinetic energy from his feet. The ground below him exploded and he was launched into the air. He cleared the top of the arena and kept climbing into the air. The crowd watched in shock as Izuku began to fall. He released kinetic blasts to propel himself forward and he fell at an angle, skipping the narrow exit. He could see the whole course below him and he found where he wanted to land. There were robots from the entrance exam and a few zero pointers behind the smaller ones.
Izuku angled himself down and sped up his descent. Once he was sure he would land on top of the big robot, he moved to land on his feet. Absorbing the kinetic energy from the landing, he placed his palms on the surface and ripped out the electricity in the robot. The zero pointer shut down and Izuku felt a good amount of energy settled in his core. He looked back and saw Todoroki just getting past the smaller robots. Izuku made his way to the edge of the head and leaned off until he was falling off with his feet still touching the robot's head. With a loud boom, he released more kinetic energy to launch himself forward and causing the ten-story robot to fall forward.
Todoroki watched as the zero-pointer's head caved in from the back and tilted toward him. He didn't even know he was in second place.
Izuku looked back from his flight and watched as a glacier shot out of the ground and pierced the remaining head of the robot, causing it to stop in its tracks of falling. Izuku turned back and absorbed the landing before continuing to run with small kinetic blasts from his feet to propel him forward. Reaching the large cliff, he didn't pause and launched himself over the gap. He could hear Present Mic announcing what Izuku was doing but he tuned him out. He just kept running in long strides with the help of kinetic energy.
He arrived at the last obstacle, there was a sign to the side. "The minefield! Don't worry, it's more bang and boom!" The loudest hero ever said over the speakers.
Izuku paused and tilted his head in thought. "Possibly opportunity? Let's test just one." Izuku stepped on a mine with kinetic and thermal being absorbed. There was a bang and a pink cloud bloomed around a still Izuku. He grinned at his success. Izuku calmly walked through the minefield with an explosion going off almost every other step.
He walked past the finish line and looked back to see both Bakugo and Todoroki fighting to reach second place. Izuku narrowed his eyes at the frost covering Todoroki's side, something to note.
Izuku turned back and sat down while absorbing the sound. He was growing stronger as he waited for the rest of the competition to pass the finish line. His gang joined him one at a time and sat next to him.
Tooru finished and joined their friends. She stopped and stood over Izuku with her hands on her hips. She stared at Izuku with narrowed eyes. "Did I hear right that you caused that big ass robot to fall?"
Izuku began to feel nervous for some reason he couldn't explain. "Yes, why?" Mina giggled at his side.
"And pray tell, how did you do it?" She raised an eyebrow that he could only see.
"I jumped over everyone and landed on its head. Then pushed off it after draining it." He explained, still confused as to what was going on.
"Uh hu, how high did you jump?"
Izuku felt that if he answered she would be upset. "I feel like I've made a mistake." He said slowly.
Mina burst out laughing and Jirou covered her mouth and then turned away with shaking shoulders. Sero and Kaminari looked at him with pity. "Oh buddy, don't think too much about it." Kaminari patted his shoulder.
"That's everyone!" Midnight announced. Tooru gave Izuku the 'I'm watching you' motion with her hand and they got up to join the rest who made the cut for the next event. Midnight then spun a wheel to determine the next event, a cavalry battle. "Last place will start with five points, and second to last will be ten. You get the idea, but first place will be worth one million points!"
Everyone turned to Izuku with hungry eyes. All except his friend who smiled in encouragement towards him. That made him feel very good inside. As soon as Midnight called the start of their 15 minutes of getting a group and planning, everyone scattered. His friends stayed and looked at him for the plan.
"You want to stay? Even if I will be targeted immediately?" Izuku asked everyone.
"It'll be fine! Probably, if not I'm sure with you on my team we can get enough points to get to the next event." Kaminari put his arm around Izuku's shoulder, the rest nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, guys but there can only be four per team and we are six." He explained.
"Dibs on staying!" Tooru latched onto his arm as soon as he finished.
The rest of the group smirked at the invisible girl. "So that's one, who do you want to stay?" Jirou asked Izuku.
"I can't choose between you guys, it feels wrong." Izuku could choose an optimal team but he didn't want to make anyone feel outside the group like he felt so many times before.
Mina saw through him and choose for him. "That's alright, I'll do it. Kaminari and Sero you stay. Me and Kyo can find another team! We'll see you in the tournament!" She hooked her arm with Jirou and she dragged her away.
"Well that's settled, what's the plan?" Sero clapped his hands and made everyone focus on their objective.
"Tooru, you'll be the rider. You have your suit on like me?" Izuku asked. They both requested for their suits to be worn since Tooru didn't want to be naked on live TV even though no one would see. And Izuku wanted to just in case he burned his clothes off.
"Yea, I do. But why do you want me to be the rider?" Tooru looked at Izuku with their arms still hooked together. Izuku only smiled in response as plans began to run through his head.
Izuku felt Tooru steady herself on his shoulders as Kaminari and Sero were to his left and right. The only thing visible was the headbands around Tooru's head. Once she got settled, she patted Izuku's head. Then she froze with her hand on his hair.
"My God, your hair is so soft." Tooru ran her fingers through his hair as she spoke softly.
"Really?" Kaminari heard and reached out with his other hand to feel. "You're right! It's very nice hair, what products do you use?"
Sero joined in and gave a sound of agreement. "It's so fluffy."
Izuku's face was burning as his friends felt his hair. "Can we focus, please?" He had to admit it felt nice to have someone run their fingers through his hair as Tooru did.
Mina and Jirou joined a team with another girl, Hatsume, from the support department and Tokoyami. The two girls from Izuku's gang watched as their leader blushed furiously. "Kyo, what are they saying?" Mina asked.
"Apparently, his hair is super soft. It does look nice." Jirou was curious as well.
"I'm so gonna try it when we're done." Mina smiled in anticipation.
"You both are close to Midoriya? He is a mystery in the way he acts. Aggressively distrustful with everyone yet like brothers and sisters with his inner circle." Tokoyami asked the two girls.
Mina's smile fell a bit. "There's a good reason he is distrustful, not my story to tell. But he is a good guy and a better friend. You should try and talk to him, he likes quirks." She smiled more as Izuku was teased by the others but smiled as he batted their hands away.
Dark Shadow watched with Tokoyami. "I will think upon it." Dark Shadow poked him. "He seems nice." The quirk said and Tokoyami agreed.
"Time's up! Everyone prepared yourself!" Midnight shouted and those who weren't mounted did so. "Ready? Start!" Chaos erupted immediately.