A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

The Sports Festival Begins~

-x-X-x-

What worked for two would not work for all. More than that, it didn’t really work for Izuku. Setting himself up as an antagonist force to the rest of the Freshmen might have worked to motivate them into giving their all towards beating him, but it would also be dangerously close to marking him as a villain. And that was counterproductive to his plans.

Not to mention, he’d already told All Might what his plans and ideals were. He’d told the other man that he wouldn’t go out and tell the world that he was going to be the next All Might because he wanted to build a world where the next All Might wasn’t needed. Frankly… it was time to put his money where his mouth was, wasn’t it?

As everyone stares up at him, some expectant, some glaring, some grinding their teeth, Izuku gazes back at all of them. He meets the eyes of some of the angrier students and watches them flinch back in the face of his implacable nature. He smiles slightly at that… and finally begins to speak.

“Heroics Course…”

Immediately, Class 1-A and 1-B straighten up, while everyone else bristles. That is, until…

“Support Course…”

There’s a little confusion that ripples through his fellow Heroics Students now, even as those of the Support Course all straighten up, looking surprised but also a little pleased to even be acknowledged by Izuku. But then to be fair, most of the people in the Support Course weren’t actually trying to get into Heroics. Most of them were exactly where they wanted to be, making gadgets and supplying support as they would be in the future once they graduated as well.

“General Education...”

The same could not be said for the final group Izuku mentions. Everyone knew that the vast majority of U.A.’s Department of General Education were the rejects. The failures. The students filling up the Freshman Class of General Ed had all tried to get into Heroics… and wound up not being good enough.

That didn’t mean they weren’t worth Izuku’s time though, or that they couldn’t wind up being Pro Heroes in the future. It was just a natural consequence of there being very limited spots in an institution as prestigious as U.A. was. With only two Heroics Classes, there were always going to be way more ‘have nots’ then there were ‘haves’.

Most of Gen Ed doesn’t perk up at the sound of his voice calling out to them. Some of them do. Some of them are intrigued by where he’s going with this. Most are still green with envy though and scowling up at him. Izuku doesn’t let it get to him, of course. What sort of man would he be if he did?

Still, the end result of his slow, methodical start is that he has everyone hanging on the edge of their seat for this next bit.

“None of that matters.”

There’s a bit of an explosion of noise at that. Even Midnight behind him lets out a small bark of laughter, caught off guard by his brazen and blunt words. Meanwhile, the assembled Freshmen don’t seem to know WHAT to think of it. The Heroics Students clearly do feel like their positions matter. They won them fair and square. But they also all know Izuku is stronger, faster, and just plain better than them, so they’re all pretty subdued. Support and General Ed… not so much.

“NONE OF THAT MATTERS!”

Izuku’s voice raises over the tumult, echoing through the stadium. His words drill into their heads with just a little help from a Quirk that makes sure everyone doesn’t just hear him but listens to him. The rowdy crowd of students quiet down for a moment as the effect washes over them, and Izuku speaks into it, his voice quieter, his tone even, but his confidence nevertheless unwavering as he crosses his arms over his chest.

“Are we not, all of us, students of U.A.? Heroics, Support, General Ed. It doesn’t matter what course you come from. Here and now, you earned your chance to be here and take part in this Sports Festival. That’s why I say none of it matters. Because this is the moment where anything can happen. Where anyone can shine and show themselves to be more than just a silly little label.”

Deafening silence as they process what he’s saying and do the mental equivalent of double takes. Because he can’t be saying what they think he’s saying, right? Izuku lets his smile grow into a wide, wicked grin as he gazes out at all those adorably confused faces.

“I’m not saying it’ll be easy. But nothing worth doing ever is. You applied to U.A. in the first place to make something of yourselves. Well here’s your chance. All of Japan is watching… all of the world, even. You better give it your all, because you can bet everything that I will.”

With those final, mildly antagonistic words, Izuku thrusts his fist high into the air.

“U.A.!”

There’s a brief pause… and then, not quite as one but nearly so that it doesn’t really matter, the entire Freshmen Class responds by doing the exact same thing.

“”U.A.!!!””

As Izuku smiles proudly, there’s an amused huff from behind him, and a quieter voice clearly meant for only him reaches his ears.

“Not bad kid. Not bad at all.”

Glancing back at Midnight, Izuku just flashes her a cheeky grin… to which she responds with a lick of the lips and a salacious smirk of her own. Oh-ho? Something to explore later, perhaps. For now, Izuku steps off the stage and back among his classmates, receiving a surprising amount of shoulder grabs and back slaps and words of camaraderie from all of them.

His words have definitely had an effect… but then, Midnight’s next words also have quite the effect.

“Alright you brats! Focus up! The First Event of the Sports Festival is an Obstacle Race… and it starts in thirty seconds!”

Everyone jolts at that, their eyes going wide as they all tense up, trying to prepare themselves. Midnight grins, clearly enjoying getting them all riled up.

“The Obstacle Race will be out of the Stadium through that door over there, all the way around the Stadium itself… and back into the Stadium through that other entryway over there!”

As she points, everyone’s eyes follow her fingers to the entrances she’s mentioning. Izuku, meanwhile, is humming in thought. An Obstacle Race… on the face of it, a race around the Stadium seems almost too easy. Until one takes into account the word ‘obstacle’. He could have cheated of course. He could have had Nana tell him about every aspect of the Sports Festival from start to finish. Hell, if not her, he could have had Rumi do it instead. Or even Ryuuki.

All of them were heavily involved as members of U.A.’s faculty. But he hadn’t. He didn’t want any special treatment, truth be told. After all, he was already so far ahead of the pack it wasn’t even funny. That said… he’d have to stay on his toes for these so-called ‘obstacles’.

“Ten seconds left, brats!”

Everyone starts shifting from foot to foot, looking towards the first exit that Midnight had pointed to. On the wall of the Stadium, a stoplight suddenly lights up, starting at red. Then, as the seconds tick down, it turns yellow. Izuku’s hands curl into his fists and he calls upon One for All, while bolstering the Stockpile Quirk with a number of additional fitness Quirks. His muscles bulge from the power beneath his gym uniform.

And then… green!

Izuku takes off like a speeding bullet, though of course he’s not the only one. Everyone makes a beeline for the exit, some faster than others. He supposes he shouldn’t be surprised that Shouko manages to get in the front right alongside him as they make their way down the tunnel at the head of the pack. One would think it would have been Ida Tenya instead, seeing as the young man’s Quirk was all about speed. But… he’s too nice, in the end.

“OUT OF MY WAY!”

An explosion behind them causes Izuku to grin a little. Ida might be too nice, but Katsumi… well, she was something else. He doesn’t even have to look back over his shoulder to know that the explosive blonde has blown her way up into the top of the tunnel’s space with her Quirk, breaking free of the pack she’d found herself squished in.

Just as they reach the end of the tunnel in fact, Izuku feels her shadow falling over him. In that moment, he, Shouko, and Katsumi are all neck and neck. He wonders briefly if maybe he should have given everyone else the same spiel he gave them after all… but no. He gave everyone the right speech. It’s just that these two girls are absolutely insane, highly competitive… and perhaps more motivated than expected to win the whole Sports Festival.

Wasn’t like Izuku could go around offering wagers and deals to EVERYONE in the Freshmen Class, after all.

Looming in front of them as they break free of the Stadium Tunnel are the first obstacles they have to face. Numerous massive robots bar their path, making Katsumi growl out something about ‘worthless Zero Pointers’. Shouko doesn’t say anything though, preferring actions to words. Ice explodes out from her feet, propelling her forward even faster than before… while also aiming to trap everyone behind her as it seeks to catch THEIR feet in its frozen clutches.

Katsumi, by dearth of being in the air already, doesn’t suffer this fate one bit. Izuku… doesn’t even try to avoid it. The ice meets his shoes and tries to crawl up his legs… and shatters uselessly as he pumps more power into them, not slowing down for even a second. Nor does he need to worry about his balance on the ice sheet that Shouko leaves behind in her wake either. A Quirk that grants him perfect balance no matter the terrain allows him to sprint across what would be slippery ice without a care in the world.

The three of them reach the robots together as a result, with Izuku pulling just a little ahead. Shouko takes care of the robot in front of her with a flashy ice attack that freezes the entire thing in what feels like a nanosecond, leaping up and then through it as it shatters around her. Katsumi just launches herself off of one’s head, pushing herself higher into the air to avoid their attacks.

Izuku meanwhile… well, when he finally does look back behind them, he sees that all of Class 1-A, perhaps as a result of sparring with and training alongside Shouko all these months, managed to avoid her little trap. Many of Class 1-B and the General Ed and Support Courses did not, unfortunately, but they’re breaking free in their own ways all the same.

Seeing all of this… Izuku doesn’t want anyone to get too left behind. Sure, he could easily slip through the massive robots and not only maintain his lead but increase it as well. But where would the fun in that be? Especially when… there’s four of the massive robots who have unthinkingly lined themselves up for him oh so perfectly.

With a savage grin on his face, Izuku calls upon more of One for All. Will there be comparisons to All Might after this despite his best intentions? Perhaps. But then, there are plenty of powerful brutes out there, aren’t there?

With a grunt, Izuku pushes off the ground with all his might and slams his fist through the first robot… and then the second… and then the third and fourth respectively. He tears a hole not through one flash-frozen robot like Shouko had done, but through all four of his targets with nothing but pure strength.

It does leave him mere seconds behind Shouko and Katsumi, but Izuku isn’t worried. The shouts of shock and awe from the rest of the Freshmen Class who have just witnessed this feat bolsters him, bringing a wide grin to his face. Heh, he might have a bit of an ego problem… but then, was it really an ego when you could really put your money where your mouth was every single time?

The next obstacle is a lot more boring though, to be honest. A massive pit filled with platforms atop stone pillars that in turn had ropes strewn between them for people to use to cross to the other side. Shouko slides across the ropes and platforms alike with ice on the soles of her shoes, treating the whole thing like an extreme, hardcore ice rink. Katsumi has to come in for a landing a couple times before blasting off again, using her explosions to hop from platform to platform.

Izuku… Izuku takes a page from Katsumi’s book. He leaps. But he doesn’t leap from platform to platform. He leaps from one side of the obstacle to the center platform… and then leaps again to the other side of the obstacle entirely.

In an instant, he’s ahead again. Through his enhanced hearing, he picks up Katsumi’s strangled gurgle of shock and fury at seeing him pass her once more. He also picks up a huff of anger from the much quieter Shouko as well. Even as he sprints onward, reaching the third and final obstacle of the race, Izuku can’t help but tilt his head to the side in amusement.

The final obstacle… is a Mine Field. He can feel the mines under the ground ahead through a Tremor Sense Quirk. He can also see the massive red signs shouting ‘danger’ as he approaches. It’s funny that they put so many ground obstacles in this little obstacle race of theirs. It really seems like it gives those with any Quirk capable of putting them in the air an unfair advantage.

Then again, Shouko has been ground bound this entire time, hasn’t she? He’s not sure why she hasn’t thought to take to the skies like Katsumi has, maybe with some kind of ice slide that she constantly forms in front of her or something. Maybe she will when she realizes what they’ve been confronted with here.

Knowing those two are right behind him and that the rest of the pack is still traversing the pit and pillars… Izuku hesitates for a brief second. Not visibly of course. But internally, he speeds up his perception, massively slowing down the world around him as he considers how he wants to do this. Does he want to win this first event? Of course he does. But how does he want to win?

Should it be close? By the skin of his teeth? Or should it be an overwhelming victory on his part? Is there a middle ground to be found somewhere instead? Hmm…

Izuku considers Shouko and Katsumi. And he considers his own plans and the Sports Festival as a whole. And then… he makes his decision.

[ ] Make it a close victory - 8%