Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia nor any referenced series.

Now we left on a rather depressing note last chapter, I noticed some of the reviews discussing the two major scenes last chapter. All I will say is, things unfolded that way for a reason and will play a part in the story moving forward.

For the romance part, thanks Braeden1002 for pointing it out. I just have the habit of using harem to describe it but I did mean a Polyamory relationship. There are still two characters undecided, but quite a number are advocating for Momo. To be honest I wanted to include her last chapter, but could not find a proper time that would not break the flow of the story.

Polyamory Group (so far):

Itsuka Kendo

Setsuna Tokage

Nejire Hado

Hirooki Anakuro (Thirteen)

Rumi Usagiyama (Mirko)

Ryuko Tatsuma (Ryukyu)

Those asking for Uraraka, sorry I think she has enough stories where she gets the spotlight.

Chapter 5: Show Your Mettle

Contrary to what Itsuka believed, Izuku had not retreated back into the safety of his bedroom after witnessing another traumatic event so soon after his first experience. Then again it might be the fact that it was so soon, his mind might have subconsciously filed it away as a similar event.

Following the events of Kirio Hikifune taking her own life, Vlad King had immediately ushered both his students out of the area. The Pro-Hero had taken both of them to a mall back in Musutafu, treating both of them to lunch and desserts. They knew it was to take their mind off the event that had transpired and appreciated his kind gesture.

Vlad King had then dropped them off back at the Midoriya household, informing them not to mention a word about what happened until he gave them the clear. Citing that it was now considered a police case, a mandatory gag order is issued to witnesses to prevent the spread of misinformation. They agreed readily, neither wanting to think about it, let alone bring it up in a conversation.

Which was where the pair found themselves now, alone at home as Inko had gone out shopping with her longtime friend Mitsuki Bakugo. They had spent the better half of an hour in silence on the living room couch, either staring at the wall or browsing through their phone.

"..." Itsuka opened her mouth but ended up closing it again, the silence was suffocating yet she did not know how to break it.

"... I don't understand why she did it." Izuku was the one to break it instead, head tilted back and gazing at the ceiling.

"... huh?"

"Sato's mom... Kirio-san... I don't... I mean I do but..." He groaned, pressing both his hands against his face.

"I understand what you're trying to say..." Itsuka adopted a similar posture herself, as if trying to rub the memory from her brain.

"... she had nobody left. Sato was the only one left that cared about her... vice versa too. So like... I get it... Yet Sato would have wanted her to keep living right? To find happiness?"

"... maybe she didn't believe that she could find any." That left them in silence for a bit, she sighed and looked up at him. "... that was my first time witnessing a suicide."

"... same... well I do have some experience with it." Now that earned him a raised eyebrow from his childhood friend, he ran a hand through his hair. "How much do you know about the Quirkless population?"

"Eh? Err... I know that they constitute about twenty percent of the total population of the world. And that most of that number are from the older generation, as it is getting exceedingly rare to be born without a Quirk in every subsequent generation. Also the younger ones are ostracized due to this... and that's about it."

"... well as you know, I was considered Quirkless for most of my life. I of course still wanted to be a Pro-Hero so I took to the internet for help, I found a thread on a forum with the same topic... The comments were filled with people laughing at the original poster and some even telling him to kill himself."

"That's terrible!"

"I know... the forum was shutdown after the website was sued by the parents of the original poster, who had taken his life the week after his post. I was curious so I went to look up the statistics... research showed that seventy percent of Quirkless children don't make it to their twenty-first birthday."

"..."

"... you know I've thought about it too."

"WHAT?!" Itsuka shot to her feet at that, though he quickly followed up.

"Relax I'm still here aren't I... it was actually thanks to you. You know... that I didn't actually go through with it."

"Huh?"

"It was about a month after you moved up North with you mom. I had... a pretty rough day. One of Katsuki's friends was harassing this junior, so I stepped in to help out and then the kid begged me not to tell anyone. At first I thought he was afraid of the bully, turns out he thought it was embarrassing to be saved by the Quirkless boy..." Izuku laughed, mirthlessly, before continuing. "On the way home, I ran into a Pro-Hero who had just cleaned up a street mugging. I asked him for his autograph and if I could become a Hero like him even if I was Quirkless, he laughed at me and told me to stop dreaming."

"Izu..."

"When I arrived home, I overheard my mother speaking to one of her colleagues over the phone... she was saying how she wished that I would give up on my dream so that I wouldn't get hurt. That hurt the most... I never did tell her that... those thoughts finally swam to the forefront of my mind. It was so, so hard to drown out the voices... but I ended up calling you that night. And do you remember what you told me? When I asked if I could become a Hero?"

Itsuka closed her eyes, remembering the night in question.

"...I told you that you would be the best Hero ever. And... that I would believe in you even if nobody else did." She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks at repeating such a cheesy line but it was worth it, seeing his warm smile upon opening her eyes.

"Yeah... you know you were my Hero back then. I don't think I would be where I am right now if you weren't there for me... thanks Itsuka... for being the first person to believe in me."

"...IZU!"

He was wholly unprepared for the human missile that was Itsuka, having launched herself at him in a tackle. Sobbing all the while as she clung onto him, he chuckled as he pat her on the back while his own tears dripped down his face. It took a while before both of them could compose themselves, managing to wipe the tears off their faces with the sleeves of their outfits.

"Guess we both really needed that cry after this morning huh?" His question causing both of them to laugh, now seated side by side on the cough.

"Very much so... what do we do for the rest of the day?"

"I was going to suggest sparring or training our Quirks since you know, the Sports Festival is coming up... but I don't think I really feel up for it at the moment." Izuku chuckled weakly, scratching his cheek.

"Same here... maybe we could just stay in and watch a movie or something then do the training thing tomorrow?" Itsuka suggested, earning a shrug from the green-haired teen.

"Sure why not. We could use something to take our mind off it. Let's get showered and change first, I'll see if we have anything to watch."

After having their respective showers and changing into more comfortable home-wear, they flopped down onto the couch again to watch some Hollywood movie featuring All Might. The Pro-Hero having done it after rising to popularity during his time in America, as usual the companies there wanted to milk him for profits.

The movie was decent enough, as expected of a big budget film, though they did discover something hilarious during the watch-through. And that was the fact that All Might could not act to save his life, the man sounded so fake despite just having to act as himself. They ended up having a good time, with more than a few laughs at the expense of the number one Hero.

Nearing the end of the movie, Izuku had received a text from his mother to let him know that she would be having dinner with the Bakugo family. She had extended an invite to the two of them, but they chose not to accept and have to deal with Katsuki and his temperament.

"Let me see if we have enough ingredients left for me to whip us up something to eat..." Izuku said, getting up from the couch and making his way to the kitchen.

"Wow that reminds me that I haven't gotten to eat your cooking ever since I got back." Itsuka mused, following him into the kitchen area.

"Hmm? I guess you're right, haven't had the chance since we've been so busy... nice should have enough stuff to get a decent meal." He muttered after having gone through the cupboards and fridge, placing the ingredients he found onto the counter top.

"Need any help?"

"Yeah sure!"

Itsuka helped to prepare the ingredients by washing and cutting them up, Izuku handled the actual cooking of the dishes and plating of the food. She helped to set up the table as he brought the dishes out, the quantity seemed large enough to feed a family of four but it was needed for their appetites.

Besides the bowls of steamed fluffy white rice, there were also a multiple dishes such as miso-glazed salmon, sauteed eggplant, beef and potato stew and finally accompanied by a bowl of hot miso soup.

"Itadakimasu!"

The pair quickly dug into their meal, Izuku had a look that combined amusement and satisfaction whenever his friend let out happy sounds with every bite.

"Come on Itsu, it isn't that good..." He laughed seeing her expression morph from happiness to a deadpanned one.

"Your cooking is so insanely good, it's literally only beaten out by Lunch Rush."

He flushed lightly at the unexpected praise, "I mean I only picked up cooking cause mom was always busy at the hospital, so I had to learn how or live off instant food which isn't very healthy. Especially since I was starting to work out back then so I had to watch my diet, taking into account I got the proper amount of calories and protein..."

"Izu you're muttering again." She laughed, seeing him palm his face after she pointed it out.

The rest of the meal passed in a flash, with some light conversation. Itsuka helped to wash the dishes since she insisted that he handled most of the cooking. With their bellies filled, they collapsed satisfied onto the couch once more and decided to watch whichever movie was on the television.

It turned out to be a random B-rated horror flick, to which they spent most of their time laughing at it. They had yet to notice it but they were seated so closely that their shoulders were brushing against each other. At least until Itsuka fell asleep from boredom during the final act of the movie, her head coming to a rest on his shoulder.

"...Itsu?"

There was no response and he did not know what to do in such a situation, though the awkwardness went away when he reminded himself this was his best and closest friend. And it was moments like this that reminded him that his friend was an extremely beautiful girl and that he liked whatever shampoo she was using.

As he let out a tired yawn, he realized how heavy his eyelids felt and how comfortable he currently was. Before he knew it, Izuku had fallen asleep as well. Slumped against the form of his childhood friend, the duo slept peacefully with only the noise of the television in the background.

Now the following morning was sufficiently awkward, with Inko only adding on to it by how much she squealed about how cute they were after she had reached home last night. Fortunately they had a valid excuse to escape the teasing, seeing as how they had to meet up with some of their classmates to train. Although the majority already had plans or stayed too far away, a handful had taken them up on their offer to train on Sunday. And the location they had decided on was Dagobah Beach, since it was Izuku's usual training spot.

Upon reaching the beach, they noticed that the rest of their training group for the day had already arrived. Excluding themselves, there were five others who had taken up the offer to train together. Setsuna, Pony, Tetsutetsu, Yosetsu and surprisingly Togaru were all dressed in simple workout attire.

"Yo Kendo! Midoriya!" Tetsutetsu was the first to notice them, shouting aloud and waving enthusiastically.

The rest of them looking over after hearing his shout, the seaweed-haired girl gaining a devious smirk at seeing them arrive together. The duo felt like they had exchanged one source of teasing for another.

"Broccoli and Carrot, arriving together eh? Anything you want to tell us?" Her words causing the others to look at her before switching over to look at the two, who had started to sweat nervously.

"O-oh we just live... close to each other! That's all!" Izuku managed to blurt out a seemingly believable excuse, which Itsuka capitalized on.

"Yeap! And we're used to working out together since we live close by, so it has become sort of a habit I guess."

The rest of the group seemed to take it at face-value and merely nodded before going back to stretching, though Setsuna had this particular expression that said she did not believe them entirely. After finishing up their light stretches, they gathered in front of Izuku.

"Wait a minute, why is everyone crowding around me for?!"

"Well you were the one who suggested this impromptu training session." Setsuna pointed out.

"Also like, you're super smart right Midoriya!" Tetsutetsu shouted out with a laugh.

"You can explain to me in English if I don't understand..." Pony said with a sheepish smile.

"You defeated me, so you are the one I acknowledge." Togaru huffed, looking off to the side.

"Hah... I think what these tsundere meant to say is that we noticed how adapt you were at analyzing our fights as well as our Quirks." Yosetsu explained.

"Oh! Well I'm flattered... I..." Izuku hesitated slightly but the image of Sato flashed through his mind. "Okay let's do this!"

The green-haired teen had them explain every aspect of their Quirk that they had discovered or knew off, as well as the ways that they had tried to use them. This was so that he knew where they currently stood, helping him understand the areas they were lacking or needed improvement on.

The easiest two to pair off had been Tetsutetsu and Togaru, since Togaru would not have to worry about harming his opponent with his blades. At the same time, Tetsutetsu would be getting practice in on dealing with opponents that wielded weapons. For their Quirks, this training would help increase the durability of both their blades as well as metal skin.

The next sparring duo he assigned was Setsuna with Yosetsu, the seaweed-haired girl was slightly disappointed with not being able to tease her favourite duo. Izuku explained that the point of their spar was for Setsuna to work on controlling more pieces with finer control, Yosetsu was to work on his spacial awareness, reaction speed and ability to use his Quirk on the fly.

"Okay now that they're settled... I want both of you to try to capture me." Izuku pointed at both the remaining teens, which happened to be Itsuka and Pony.

"Huh two on one eh? Don't blame us for not taking it easy on you!" Itsuka smacked a fist into her palm, which Pony cutely tried to imitate.

"That's right! We're going to kick your ass!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Izuku smirked, the familiar green lightning of his Full Cowl surrounding him as he brought it up to ten percent. 'That should be more than enough for a spar.'

Immediately he had to dodge a pair of flying horns courtesy of Pony, which was followed up by leaping over an attempted grab by two enlarged hands. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the pair of horns curve around mid-flight. Thinking quickly, he tucked in his limbs to rotate his body midair and landed with a handstand on Itsuka's still outstretched fist. Izuku launched himself off using his arm strength in the direction of the Horn Cannon Quirk user.

"I got you!" Pony exclaimed excitedly, slipping back into her native language.

The girl had fired off another pair of horns directly at him while the other two were still shooting towards him from behind, Itsuka hitching a ride by grabbing onto them. Izuku did not waste the energy to reply back, merely giving her a small grind as he flicked a finger downward. The resulting air pressure launched him higher, out of the way of the horns, as well as kicking up a cloud of sand.

As the two girls sputtered as they were assaulted by the spray of sand, he exploited this opening by dropping behind Pony and aimed to knock her out. However the horned girl felt his presence behind her and so dropped into crouch, dodging his chop and launched a donkey kick at his sternum.

Izuku grunted as he blocked the attack with a cross guard then ducked under a flying kick from Itsuka, who had used Pony's crouched form as a launch pad. He now had one opponent on either side of him, his childhood friend settling into her favoured Karate stance while Pony took on what he recognised as a Boxing stance.

A couple of seconds ticked by before the two attacked him simultaneously on some sort of hidden signal, Pony coming in high with a haymaker while Itsuka came in low with a sweep. Izuku grabbed the incoming fist and pulled her forward off balance, allowing the low sweep to knock him off his feet. Falling backwards, he tucked in his feet and braced them against Pony's stomach.

"Shit!" She managed to shout before he launched her away with his legs, Itsuka managing to catch her by enlarging one of her hands. "Izuku is really strong... fast at thinking."

"Yeah that has always been his strong point, he could analyze his opponent even in the middle of a spar." Itsuka muttered, placing Pony back onto her feet.

"How do we beat him?"

"Before he awakened his Quirk, I just had to be faster or stronger than him... but now..." Itsuka nibbled on her lower lip, teal eyes raking over her opponent to find a weakness.

Unfortunately the reprieve did not last, Izuku decided that he had given enough of a breather and resumed his attack. He threw a fist forward with about twenty percent of his power, the pressure shockwave knocking them apart. Pony found herself as the target once again, her basic training in boxing not being able to keep up with his fluent grasp on several different martial arts.

Seeing her partner struggling, Itsuka borrowed a page from his book by slamming an enlarged palm down onto the beach. This resulted in a shockwave of sand rippling outwards, unbalancing the two combatants and giving Pony an opportunity to create some distance to fire off her horns.

Izuku felt the blunt side of the horns ram into his chest, knocking him back into the incoming fist from Itsuka. Just as he was about to block the blow with his shoulder, he was met with no resistance to his surprise. Turns out that she had shrunk her fist back down and enlarged her other fist that had slipped under his guard, resulting in a clean uppercut connecting.

"Oof-" The impact of the blow was enough to knock him clean off his feet, as well as empty the air within his lungs.

Before he could recover, the presence of the horns made itself known again by slamming down onto him from above. Another plume of sand exploded forth, this time caused by his body impacting with the ground.

"Did we get him?" Pony asked hesitantly, two of her horns floating around the sand cloud.

"I don't think-"

"Nice shot."

Izuku stepped out from the cloud, brushing the sand off his body.

The horns reacted immediately, flying towards him from two different directions with Itsuka and Pony charging at him from the other two. He slapped aside the punch from Pony, dodged the high kick from Itsuka then launched himself into a horizontal aerial spin to dodge the horns aiming for his head and legs. Tucking in his head and arms to shift his center of gravity, he performed a perfect upside down split kick that caught both of his opponents in the chest.

Izuku came out of his aerial maneuver in a handstand and flipped himself back onto his feet, after which he noticed that both of his opponents were laid out on the sand gasping. Worried that he might have placed too much power into that final move, he rushed over to help.

"Ah I'm so sorry! I still can't fully control my strength!"

"Hah... no... it's fine... just a little... winded..." Itsuka gasped out, accepting the helping hand to get back on her feet.

"...Izuku too strong." Pony pouted as she was helped back onto her feet as well.

"Yeah holy shit! Midoriya what the hell was that last move?!" Yosetsu shouted, alerting the trio to the fact that the rest of their group had paused to watch the end of their spar.

"Broccoli that was insane! I don't think I could even pull off that move with my flexibility and control over my body!" Setsuna whistled in appreciation at the skill involved.

"FIGHT ME NEXT MIDORIYA!" That was Togaru's contribution and was followed by Tetsutetsu's shout.

"IT WAS SUPER MANLY!"

"T-thanks everyone but it wasn't much... Itsuka has done it before too!" Izuku reflexively deflected the praise causing his childhood friend to roll her eyes.

"Izuku I can do a split kick while upright. You pulled it off in the middle of an intense fight while upside down."

"Yes! It was seriously amazing!" Pony added on.

"W-well I had a lot of help getting to where I am now..." Izuku said with a small smile as he remembered his tough training regime before exhaling loudly. "And that's what we're doing here too, helping each other to get stronger!"

"Yeah!"

With a reinvigorating shout, the group got back into their training routine. Quirk training lasted for another thirty minutes before they were granted fifteen minutes of rest. Then it was followed by Izuku and Itsuka taking them through their daily workout sets, which some handled better than others.

"Ohhh... this sucks..." Pony groaned from her spot on the beach gazebo's floor, where they decided to take their breaks since it was much more comfortable than laying on the sand.

"You can say that again..." Togaru muttered, face down on the wooden boards.

"What the hell kind of training is this... it's torture..." Yosetsu was splayed out like a starfish.

"And how are they completely fine after all that..." Setsuna grumbled, propped up against one of the gazebo pillar and watching the remaining three members of the group.

Izuku and Tetsutetsu were currently competing to see who could do the most number of push-ups in a minute, initiated by the metal Quirk user and now refereed by the orange-head. For the sake of fairness, no Quirks were utilized and Itsuka was using her phone to keep time. Though unconsciously, her gaze did drift over her childhood friend's toned arms as the muscles bulged and contracted.

"Time's up!" She called out as the timer hit zero, allowing the two boys to collapse onto the ground.

"Seventy-five!"

"Damnit I only got to sixty-five!"

"Looks like the winner is Broccoli." Setsuna pointed out, watching in amusement as Tetsutetsu slammed a fist onto the ground.

"I demand a rematch in the future!" The manly teen pointed at his opponent.

"Sure, I'll be looking forward to it!" Izuku chuckled as he pulled his drenched tank-top over his head, revealing his hard-earned chiseled physique to everyone.

"Wow..." Pony was alternating her eyes between the displayed body and the sky, face flushing even more than after the workout.

"Damn..." Setsuna whistled, not even hiding her stare as she ogled his muscles.

"..." Itsuka was silent but her gaze was locked onto a rivulet of sweat that dripped from his chin, flowing down between his pectorals, abs and disappeared into the waistband of his shorts.

"Wow you girls sure are thirsty." Yosetsu said bluntly, getting laughs out of Togaru and Tetsutetsu while the girls all blushed.

Izuku was clueless to all this as he had just finished wiping his face with a towel, instead taking the words literally and attempted to offer his bottle of water to the girls. They looked at the bottle then at his lips then back to the bottle before abruptly looking away, getting more laughs from the other boys and further confusion from Izuku.

Putting the strange matter behind him, he looked at the time before deciding to get in one more session of training before lunch. This time he sent Itsuka to join Togaru in using Tetsutetsu as a punching bag, which the teen was all to glad to welcome, as he wanted to help Pony with her martial arts.

"So what are we going to be working on?" Pony asked curiously, stretching lightly as directed to by her friend-cum-trainer.

"Hmm, can I ask you a question first?" Getting a nod of agreement, he carried on with his question. "That form you used earlier, it was boxing right? Who taught you that?"

"Ah it was my father desu! He was a pro-boxer so he taught me when I told him that I want to become a Hero!"

"I see, your form wasn't bad but that brings me to my actual question. Your Quirk, it is a Mutant type that let's you launch, control and regrow your horns at command. However it also gives you absurd leg strength, you could do serious damage when combined with your hooves. Such as when you kicked me earlier in our spar, I felt the power behind that blow!" Izuku was about to go on his rambling spree when he noticed the slight frown forming on Pony's face. "Pony?"

"...huh? Oh sorry Izuku... I just... don't really like my hooves." Her voice was subdued, different than her usual upbeat personality.

Izuku could tell what happened in her past already, since he too had been the subject of bullying though for different reasons. He did not have to be a genius to infer that her peers had teased her about her hooves, resulting in her feeling self-conscious about them.

"...were you bullied about them?" He decided that getting straight to the point was for the best in this case and seeing her eyes widen in shock, he knew he had hit the nail on the head.

"H-how did you know?" Pony blurted out in English.

"Remember during one of our homeroom classes, I mentioned that I can't fully control the strength of my Quirk?"

"Yes, you said that you could injure yourself."

"Well you see, the reason for that is because my Quirk only manifested a year before I came to U.A. High. So for most of my life, everyone thought I was Quirkless and as you can guess, I was bullied for it. Something that is all too common for Quirkless individuals."

"Wow! That means you only had your Quirk for a year and you're already so good at using it! That's really amazing!" Pony practically had stars in her eyes as she shook her fists up and down in excitement.

"Thank you. As I said, I had plenty of help. So Pony, I know where you're coming from. However it is your Quirk and only you can decide what to do with it. You can either try to hide it away or... you can use them to become an amazing Hero and prove yourself to those people who made fun of you."

"I... I... I want to become a Hero!"

"Then I'll need a lot of your time, especially if the Sports Festival is already next weekend, as I will be teaching you a different kind of martial art. One that can take advantage of your petite frame and strong leg power but it will require a lot of time. You definitely won't be ready by the time of the festival but... it should help."

"I understand and I will do my best Izuku-sensei!"

"E-Eh?! Sensei?!"

"I read that it is polite to address a person teaching you as Sensei. Is it wrong?" Pony asked, a confused look on her face.

"I m-mean... it's kinda embarrassing you know..." Izuku replied while scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Oh! Then I will call you Sensei only during training. Is that okay?"

"Err... I guess that's fine. Now to get you started, there's a reason I asked you to stretch to limber up..."

The rest of the morning was spent with Izuku introducing the martial art to her, demonstrating several moves that he favoured using in his own style and starting her on training them. The others were also hard at work with their own exercises, each of them taking time to provide feedback to their sparring partner. And soon lunchtime arrived and the group found themselves at a comfy eatery that Izuku frequented.

"Why am I not surprised it's a Donburi (Japanese Rice Bowl) place?" Itsuka teased him lightheartedly when she saw the menu.

"Leave my Katsudon addiction alone you coffee maniac!" Izuku fired back, earning laughs from the rest of the table.

After a small interval of them deciding on what to order, an elderly lady approached their table to take down their orders. Izuku, who was familiar with the old lady, assisted in ordering for them. It did not take long for the orders to arrive, a piping hot Donburi was placed down in front of each of them.

"This is really good!" Pony said after eating a spoonful of her Oyakodon (Chicken and Egg rice bowl).

"I love it!" Yosetsu shouted as he dug into his own bowl of Pork Katsudon (Cutlet bowl), similar to what Izuku ordered.

"Much better than most places I've been to." Setsuna agreed after taking a bite of her Spring Onion Gyudon (Beef bowl).

"Its. Super. Manly." Tetsutetsu somehow managed to get out between mouthfuls of his Curry Beef Katsudon, which was what Togaru ordered as well.

Something the group found out that morning was that Tetsutetsu and Togaru Quirks had similar upkeep issues, mainly needing a high iron diet. Both teens had ordered the set meal that came with an additional bowl of stir-fried spinach, fried mussel nuggets and had opted to change their white rice for brown rice.

"It is pretty good..." Itsuka admitted with a smile, taking a sip from her cup of iced coffee.

"I told you so!" Izuku declared with a laugh, earning a friendly elbow to the side from her.

"Hmm not as good as your cooking though." Before he could reply to her comment, someone else interjected.

"Wait wait wait! Hold on a minute! Broccoli boy here can cook?!" Setsuna waved her hand in his general direction.

"Eh? Yeah I've been able to cook since young since my mom is usually busy at work. So I kinda picked it up."

"Oh speaking of which, shouldn't we restock on ingredients before heading home later?" Itsuka asked casually, having remembered they emptied most of the kitchen stock.

"Hmm? Oh sure, I think we're out of your breakfast cereal also." He replied back without thinking and it was followed by a bout of awkward silence.

"HUH?!"

The table exploded into noise.

"YOU TWO ARE LIVING TOGETHER?!" Setsuna shouted the loudest, burst up from her seat and causing the rest of the customers to look over.

"Shhhhh! Setsuna please! Other people are staring!" Izuku hissed as he nervously glanced around at the other members of public.

"Ah sorry..." The seaweed-haired girl slunk back down into her chair but quickly leaned forward over the table. "You're not getting out of answering the question though!"

Izuku and Itsuka shared a look of defeat before sighing then looking back at their classmates' eager expressions, they decided to get it over with.

"...fine. Yes I am currently staying with Izuku and his mom."

"Woah! So are you two like dating?" Yosetsu raised the million dollar question right off the bat.

"NO!" The both of them vehemently denied, unknowingly releasing a knot in the gut of the other two female students.

They then proceeded to explain how their current circumstance came about, with Itsuka having moved back into town alone and them being childhood friends. After a few more questions, the rest of the group were satisfied and agreed not to disclose the information to the rest of the class.

Fortunately, the rest of their meal passed relatively peacefully. With only Setsuna teasing them that they had supplied her with an endless repertoire of teasing material, earning a sigh from both of them. Finally they decided that it was time to depart, Izuku moved to settle the bill but was denied by the elderly store owner.

"But Matsuya-baachan!"

"But nothing Izuku-chan. After you saved me a year ago, I've always been meaning to repay you. You always refused to dine for free, so let me treat you this time since it's the first time you brought friends over." The elderly woman, Matsuya, patted his hand gently.

"Yo Baa-chan! What did you mean by Midoriya saving you?" Togaru was the one who asked, interested in learning more about his self-proclaimed rival.

"Huhu, it was about a year ago. I had ended up closing late for the day to settle some last minute accounts. I was on the way home and got accosted by two young punks, they demanded I hand over all my valuables. Fortunately, Izuku-chan here was on a late night run and came to my rescue." Matsuya hummed as she recalled the incident.

"What happened?" Pony asked this time.

"He managed to subdue both of them without using his Quirk, so it didn't break any laws. He then called the police and waited with me for them to arrive. At the end of the day, the two were arrested and Izuku-chan became my Hero."

Izuku blushed when he realized all the attention was now on him, "It wasn't much... my body just moved before I realized it."

"That's super manly!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed, slamming his fists together.

"He's right, that was really heroic of you Izuku!" Itsuka praised, he saw the warmth in her eyes and that caused him to flush more.

Seeing that he was on the losing end, Izuku surrendered and allowed for Matsuya to treat him on this occasion. The group bid their farewells at the train station, with Izuku and Itsuka breaking off to head to the grocery store.

"I can't believe you never told me about saving that old lady!" Itsuka poked him as they were walking down the street.

"I just never thought it was a big deal..." He saw that she did not fully believe him so he quickly added on. "Plus I didn't want to worry you..."

"Hmph..." That seemed to do the trick as the orange-haired girl huffed and turned away from him and started walking faster.

Izuku sighed, allowing a small frown to form since she was not looking. He really did not enjoy lying to his best friend but the memory was one that he did not like recalling.

A month before meeting All Might

Izuku had just gotten done checking with the elderly lady, who had introduced herself as Matsuya, when he heard the sounds of a police car approaching. Making his way over to the two unconscious thugs, he decided to wait beside them until the cops arrived in case they awoke.

Soon the police car, with lights flashing, pulled up alongside them and two middle-aged officers exited. One of them went to check on Matsuya, since she was the victim, while the other approached him.

"Are you Midoriya Izuku?"

"Yes, I was the one who made the call."

The officer nodded and proceeded to inspect both of the thugs, checking over their bruises and that they were still breathing. The man cuffed them, took out a small notepad and scribbled something inside before standing up.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Not at all, I'll be happy to help in any way possible!" Izuku agreed readily, it was his dream to be a Hero who helped people after all.

"Hmm okay... so just to clarify you were passing by this area and saw these two attempting to mug that elderly lady over there?"

"Yes, I was out on my run when I saw it happen."

"Okay, so you saw the attempted mugging and decided to intervene. You managed to take these two out without injuries, it also looks like they were taken out rather easily given the lack of evidence of a brawl."

"I have some experience in martial arts and they did not know how to fight, so I chose the most efficient way of detaining them since I would not have been able to restrain two adult males if they were conscious."

The officer nodded as he wrote it down, "And you did not use your Quirk during this attempt?"

"...no I did not."

"I would like to warn you that we will be crosschecking with the victim and the perpetrators for their own accounts also."

"Feel free. A bit hard to use a Quirk when you don't have one." Izuku shrugged, his words giving the officer pause.

"Sorry, did you say that you're Quirkless?"

"Yes, diagnosed at the age of four. Two joints pinky toe and all."

"That was incredibly risky young man. You did not know what Quirks these two could have had, you could have gotten injured." Listening to the officer lecture him after finding out he was Quirkless left a sour taste in his mouth.

"That's why I chose to knock them out immediately. What else should I have done?"

"You should have called for help. Be it us or for a Pro-Hero, instead of taking matters into your own hand. It could have ended badly."

"Officer, with all due respect, it is the middle of the night. There were no Pro-Heroes around and they would have escaped if I had waited for the police to arrive."

"That's what we have detectives for. The safety of the victim should be prioritized, money can be retrieved but lives cannot!"

"I managed to do both! Without a Quirk!" Izuku snapped, tired of being disregarded just for his status.

"You Quirkless people-!"

"TOJOU-SAN!"

The other police officer cut in, a frown on his face as he reprimanded his colleague with a look. Said colleague looked annoyed but just clicked his teeth and turned away to start loading up the two unconscious thugs into the back of their car.

"I apologize for my colleague's words. Please understand that he just has your safety in mind. If you'll excuse us, we shall escort Matsuya-san home before taking those two to the station." This officer was more polite, though there was still that look of pity in his eyes. "I believe it is quite late, you should be heading home too young man."

Before leaving, Matsuya had managed to slip him her name-card and told him to come visit one day. That was how he became acquainted with the elderly owner of the Donburi establishment, the way the night ended still left a bitter taste to this date.

Shaking his head free of those thoughts, he picked up his pace to catch up with his friend up ahead. That was all in the past, he was now on the track to becoming a Pro-Hero. Though he could not deny that a part of him would like to see that officer's face when he debuts in future.

"DEKU!"

The pair froze at the familiar voice that carried through the air, turning around they spotted the spiky blond-haired teen stalking towards them with his usual pissed-off expression. Though when their expressions locked, Izuku saw several different emotions flash through his red eyes.

"Katsuki...?"

Izuku realized that it has been a while since he met up with the teen, possibly ever since the U.A. Entrance Exams that day. Another thought flashed through his mind, Sato was his classmate. Now that brought up some memories he really did not want to deal with.

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere turned awkward quickly with the two of them just staring at each other, Itsuka let out a small cough that drew their attention.

"I can see there's a conversation that's waiting to happen... I'll handle the groceries Izu. See you at home."

"Thanks Itsu."

She waved as she walked off, leaving the two of them alone on the street. There was another period of awkward silence before Katsuki grunted and turned around to start walking.

"...the park."

He did not need to say any more, Izuku understood immediately. Musutafu community park was a small forested area that they had spent their childhood playing in, specifically the playground. Their walk there was in silence, not that he minded since it gave him more time to think about the conversation that was bound to happen.

It was not too long a distance, taking them only fifteen minutes to reach the intended location. Fortunately the place was not too crowded despite it being a Sunday, they chose a relatively secluded corner of the playground.

"...how's your class taking it?" Izuku did not need to elaborate on the matter, they both knew what he was referring to.

"Tsk... it's not like most of us knew him that well. We've only known each other for a few days... those extras that saw it happen have it the worst."

Izuku tried recalling the people who had helped him out in that fight, most of his focus was on the Villains.

"All of us had to attend a mandatory session with Hound Dog on Friday before we went to the funeral. It was so stupid, if you can't handle death then you have no place in becoming a Pro-Hero!"

"..." Izuku knew he wanted to say something but could not find the words to express himself.

"We defeated the Villains right! We captured almost all of them! We won! Sato sacrificed himself so we could win!" Katsuki voice had become raw with emotion, he had grabbed Izuku by the front of his tank-top.

"..."

"...we won. So... why doesn't it feel like a victory." His hands that were gripped onto his shirt were shaking, his teeth were grit together as he glared at him.

"...I'm sorry."

"Huh?!"

"I wasn't strong enough or fast enough to save Sato. I was right there but I couldn't do anything."

"It doesn't have anything to do with you! They attacked my class! I was the one who wasn't strong enough! If only I took care of the Villains faster...!"

The two teens stared each other down, neither wanting to back down. Then again it has always been like this between them, always having something to prove to each other.

"...do you remember what we talked about six months ago when I told you about my Quirk?" Izuku suddenly brought up, causing the other boy to blink and release him.

"...before or after your crazy ass decided to break your arm to prove to me that you just got your Quirk and couldn't control it?" Katsuki snorted.

"That's your fault! I had to prove to you that I really wasn't hiding my Quirk and did just get it!"

"Yeah, yeah. Potato, tomato."

"That's not even the saying!" Izuku retorted before calming down and looking at his rival seriously. "I was talking about our method to becoming number one."

"...win to save people."

"Save people to win."

"Tsk! So we both failed this time huh?" Katsuki huffed, crossing his arms and looking away.

"All Might told me... that sometimes we can't save everyone. Not even All Might could." Izuku looked at his friend, seeing how uncomfortable he looked that his idol could declare such a thing.

"...then I'll just have to surpass All Might!"

"That's not what I meant... this is something I figured out just recently. A society balanced on one person's shoulders or one propped up by multiple shoulders, just think about that Kacchan... I'll see you at the Sports Festival."

With that said, he turned around and started walking away. Ignoring the intense drilling gaze of his rival that burnt hotly against his back.

"I'm gonna be the number one at the festival Deku! You hear me you shitty nerd!?"

Time passed in a relatively quick manner the following week, there were no sudden out of place events or surprises that occurred. Which was a good thing in the eyes of everyone at U.A. High, since this meant that the students and staff could focus on the upcoming Sports Festival.

Vlad King had definitely kept his promise of running them ragged into the ground with training, he had managed to bargain with the Principal to let his class have the afternoon for combat training. Of course they still had their normal classes in the morning, but every afternoon was spent working on their faults and Quirks.

Izuku had gotten special permission from Vlad King to supervise Pony's training during this sessions, having informed the man about his plan for the girl. The blood-control Pro-Hero was surprised but ended up agreeing to it, interested in seeing the end result.

Much to the green-haired teen's surprise, his homeroom teacher had also requested his help in observing and remarking on his classmates' Quirks during their training. Since his classmates did not object and some even welcomed it, he did his best to help them out. Asking questions to familiarize himself with their individual Quirks before point out ways in which they could make use of them.

Besides the training, there was only one event that stood out to Izuku during the week that led up to the Sports Festival. It happened in the middle of the week, when All Might had approached him...

"Young Midoriya! Finally found you! Could we... eat lunch together?"All Might asked after popping out from around the corner.

"...sure?" Izuku blinked, he wasn't sure what this was about but he apologized to his lunch group before following his mentor.

They situated themselves within the pantry room of the teacher's lounge, steam escaped from All Might's form as he released his hold on his Muscle Form. Gesturing for Izuku to take a seat, the man poured out some tea that he had prepared beforehand.

"...Izuku how are you holding up?"

"All Might...?"

"Just call me Toshinori or Yagi in here. I heard from Vlad King about the... incident at the funeral." There was a slight hesitation in the man's sentence, unsure of how to broach the subject.

"Honestly I'm fine Toshinori-sensei. I've also been to two sessions with Hound Dog-sensei, same with Itsuka... I... I also talked it out with Itsuka, I think that helped a lot too." Izuku fiddle with his thumbs, mentally erasing the image of Kirio's corpse that popped up.

"I see... that's good." Toshinori let out a sigh before a sudden coughing fit occurred, blood sipped out from the side of his mouth.

"Sensei!"

"Calm yourself young man... has it been almost a year? Since we've met and I passed on the legacy of One For All onto you."

"...about ten to eleven months ago."

"And now the time I can remain in my Muscle Form has deteriorated down to two hours, only a small ember of One For All remains within me." There was a brief silence before Toshinori looked up from his cup of tea. "I would like to talk to you about the upcoming Sports Festival but before that... tell me, how is your control of One For All now?"

Taking a look around, Izuku allowed his Full Cowl to spark to life around him.

"I can access 20% for my Full Cowl comfortably and can push it up to 25% if needed. For a localized One For All Smash, I think it's still around 40% to 45% if I don't want to injure myself."

"That's excellent news... However in all honesty, it is not enough. The time I have left as the Symbol of Peace... is quickly running out." Both of them felt their hearts clench at that statement. "And among those with villainous intent... there are some who've started to realize that."

"Like the attack on USJ..."

"Exactly. You've been granted this power, so you are my successor! This Sports Festival is an event that the whole country will be watching! So that means this is your chance, as the next Symbol of Peace to tell the entire world... I AM HERE!"

"Tell the world... that I am here." Izuku repeated and closed his eyes, thinking back on his journey that led up to this point.

"I assume that you already know how the U.A. Sports Festival works?" Toshinori asked, taking a sip of his tea.

"Yes, it's a method for the students of our school to showcase what they've got to the rest of the country. How well they perform affects the kinds of offers they receive, be it Internships or business opportunities."

"Exactly! So this is your chance to gain mass appeal for yourself!"

"Hmm I understand. There will be plenty of Pro-Heroes watching the festival to look for possible internships also, this would allow me the chance to broaden my horizons by working under a different Pro-Hero. I might even learn different ways to utilize my Quirk if I study under someone who is a suitable mentor for me, such as when I studied under you, Torino-sensei and Ni-"

"Yes yes, I get it that you get it! You really need to work on that issue of yours Izuku..."

"A-ah sorry, I swear it's a lot better than it was before..." Izuku chuckled in embarrassment at his mentor's chiding.

"Just remember, there is a slight difference between those who always aim for the top and those who don't. That drive that you have had ever since I've met you... never lose it!"

Izuku understood what All Might had been saying, that his path to becoming the next number one Pro-Hero started here and he needed to establish himself at the Sports Festival. With the best method of achieving such a goal being to place as the first place contender in each event at the festival.

Being the person that he is, Izuku had chosen to inform his classmates of his personal goal for the festival. Unsurprisingly, Neito was the first one to approve of his desire to place first in all the events since it meant that a Class 1B student was better than a Class 1A student. The rest of them also offered their voices of support, which meant a lot to the green-haired teen.

A slightly less standout event that occurred was when the students from the other courses gathered outside Class 1A's classroom to declare war on them during the Sports Festival. Katsuki being Katsuki had of course made the situation worse by being his usual abrasive self, inciting even Tetsutetsu to storm over and join in the ruckus.

Everyone was determined to give it their all, his classmates, those from Class 1A, Katsuki and even the non-Hero course students. This was a rare opportunity that came along only once in a blue moon, none of them would be willing to mess it up.

'If I slack off for even a moment...' Izuku shook his head with a smile, watching the spiky red-haired teen from 1A harass Katsuki for being too rude to the other students.

In another part of the country, a three-storey tall building with a large golden dragon emblem on the third floor stood out from the rest of the neighbourhood. This was the headquarters of the Hero Agency belonging to the current No. 9 Pro-Hero in Japan, Ryuko Tatsuma or otherwise known as the Dragoon Hero, Ryukyu. Said Pro-Hero was currently sitting in her office going over the paperwork for the day before her door was abruptly kicked in.

"...I do hope you know that you will be paying for that." Ryuko sighed but her lips curled up into a smile at seeing the figure in her doorway.

"Bah! Don't I always?" The voice belonged to an average-height woman with dark skin and an athletic build with muscular arms and legs, her ruby-red eyes glinted mischievously while her snow-white hair fell straight down her back.

"Rumi, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Mirko~ Mirko! I'm in costume~" She was revealed to be the relatively new Pro-Hero known as Mirko, famous for taking the No. 15 spot on the Hero Billboard Chart despite only having debut two years ago.

"Fine Mirko, is there a reason you decided to destroy another one of my office doors?"

"You bet there is! What da hell is this?!" Mirko bounced over to her desk and slammed a piece of paper down onto the surface.

"Oh I see you received it too." Ryuko sounded surprised as she fished around in a drawer before withdrawing a similar piece of paper.

"Tsk! Why do they need us to babysit a bunch of brats?"

"Haven't you heard about the attack on U.A. grounds? A student was killed during the attack, so it makes sense that they'd be stepping up the security measures." Ryuko explained, getting a grunt from her friend as she sprawled herself across her guest sofa.

"I can't believe U.A. slipped up so badly... aren't they supposed to be the best Heroics school in the country?"

The Dragoon Hero paused a moment before responding, "I guess they got complacent. After such a long stretch of peace under the protection of All Might..."

"Hmph, I never understood what the deal is with everyone pinning everything on the guy. Don't get me wrong, I respect him as much as any other citizen of this country... but even he can't be everywhere at once." Mirko said with a shake of her head, getting a hum of agreement from her friend.

"Regardless, I think having the additional manpower at the Sports Festival would be a good idea. Those students are the future Heroes of our nation after all. Plus you might find someone interesting enough to take on as an intern~" Ryuko teased her friend, who stuck her tongue out at her childishly.

"I wouldn't bet on it. I fly better solo!" With that said, the Rabbit Hero sprung back onto her feet and made her way to the open-air balcony. "Well see ya on the day itself. Gonna go patrol to stave off the boredom!"

"Always so restless that girl..." Ryuko chuckled to herself.

From within the classroom of the Third-Year Heroics course students of U.A. High, stood three figures who were looking out of the window-wall of the room. They were currently observing a class of students from the First-Year cohort, basically their juniors within the Heroics course.

"Wow! Our juniors sure are working hard this year!" The person who spoke was a tall young man with a large muscular build, blue oval-shaped eyes with no sclera and blond hair styled in a cowlick.

"Ooh! Ooh! Do you think they are the class that got attacked by the Villains? It was terrible! I hope they are okay! I wonder if any of them chose to drop out?" This person was a fair-skinned female of average height with royal blue eyes, her periwinkle hair was long and voluminous and flowed all the way down to her thighs.

"Why did you drag me here... I don't really want to know... I just want to go home..." The last figure was not even looking out the window, he was tall and had rather pale skin with messy indigo-coloured hair and pointed ears.

"Come on Tamaki, these are our cute juniors! They're going to be participating in their first Sports Festival this weekend!" The blond teen slapped his friend on the back, the other teen allowing the blow to knock him onto a nearby table and slouched over it.

"I hate the Sports Festival Mirio... there's so many people watching... and all those cameras..." Tamaki shivered as he thought about them.

"Ooh that's right! It will be their first Sports Festival, I still remember our first Sports Festival! Do yall remember?" The female of the group bounced excitedly in place, floating slightly off the ground.

"Of course! I still had trouble with my Quirk then, Tamaki forfeited in his first match cause of his stage fright and you slept past your match cause of overusing your Quirk! By the way, you're floating again Nejire." Mirio pointed out, the girl let out a laugh as she landed back on her feet.

"Don't remind me..." Tamaki groaned from his spot.

"Ooh do you think there will be any strong juniors this year? Last year's batch was kinda disappointing, so I hope we have some tough ones this year!" Nejire spoke bluntly, scanning the students in the field below.

"I know that there's definitely one strong junior, the one who broke All Might's record in the U.A. Entrance Exams! There were also a lot of other high scorers this time around!" Mirio laughed, seeing the periwinkle-haired teen perk up at the news.

"Wow he broke All Might's record?! Now I'm really interested! I wonder who that person is? Maybe they're even one of those out there right now... hmm..." Nejire stuck her tongue out as she squinted to get a good look at all the students that were practicing out in the field.

It happened as she was sweeping her gaze across a pair of students sparring together, the male of the duo froze and glanced around before looking straight at her. As per protocol, all of the windows in U.A. High were tinted on the outside to prevent outsiders from looking in on students and staff. So for the green-haired teen to lock onto her position from that far away, spoke highly of his abilities.

"...interesting." Nejire found that her interest was piqued.

"GATHER AROUND ONE AND ALL! PUBLIC AND MEDIA ALIKE! IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN, THE CHANCE TO SEE THE HIGH SCHOOLERS YOU KNOW AND LOVE REVEL IN THEIR YOUTH! IT'S U.A.'S SPORTS FESTIVAL! EVERYBODYYYYY ARE YOU READY?!"

A loud cheer echoed through the air after Present Mic's broadcast filled the air, dozens of people making their way through U.A.'s main entrance. All of them were put through a thorough search by Power Loader's detectors and Hound Dog's sense of smell.

"This security check is taking forever..." A female reporter complained from within the queue.

"No helping it. They're on guard after what happened with that Villain attack and a lot of people are speaking out against the event this year. I'm surprised they're going forward with it to be honest..." The cameraman shook his head.

"Controversy means higher ratings for us! And the center of all the attention will be... Class 1A!" The female reporter pumped her fist.

The entirety of their class were gathered within their prep room, Vlad King had just given them a last minute pep talk before he had to leave to patrol the grounds. Izuku took the time to look around at his fellow classmates and friends, he saw looks of excitement, worry and some at peace.

"It's kinda sad that we won't get to show off our costumes." Itsuka remarked as she did some light stretching.

"All in the name of fairness, since the other courses won't have access to Hero Costumes." Izuku shrugged from his spot beside her, also doing some rudimentary stretches.

The noise in the room quieted down when there was a sudden knock on the door, Izuku was the nearest so he was the one who went to answer. Pulling the door open, he saw that the other person was reasonably tall, had slightly long red and white hair that was evenly split down the middle and hetero-chromatic eyes. There was also the large burn scar that covered a portion of the left side of his face.

"Sorry to bother your class before the event, are you Midoriya Izuku?"

"Yes... can I help you?"

"My name is Todoroki Shouto and as you can tell from my name, I am the son of the No. 2 Pro-Hero Endeavor. You were the one who defeated the strongest Villain at USJ weren't you?" Shouto's voice was cold, as if he was not affected by the events at the facility.

"...I had a lot of help." He was a bit put-off by his fellow student's tone.

"Regardless, I heard from my classmates that you managed to fight it head-on. I also heard that the reason you were there was because All Might was looking for you... I won't pry into your relationship with him but... I will beat you."

Now that provoked a response from the rest of the class, Izuku quickly put up a hand to deter them from taking any actions they might regret. He managed to get them to settle down, though there were murmurs of discontent. Turning back to face the Class 1A student, he recalled All Might's words from their meeting earlier in the week.

"...I'm not sure why you felt the need to tell me that you'll beat me. However none of us, neither me nor my classmates, are going to stand by and let you do as you please. All of us are gunning for the top, so I guess we'll see you there."

"...yeah."

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen! It's U.A.'s Sports Festival! The one time each year when our fledgling Heroes compete in a ruthless grand battle! First up... you know who I'm talking about! The miraculous rising stars who triumphed against the Villain attack with their steely willpower! It's Class 1A of the Hero course!"

Cheering erupted around the entire stadium as Present Mic announced the entry of the U.A. students, the Heroes-in-training from Class 1A stepped out onto the field. All of them stood upright with confidence, staring straight ahead.

"Now it's the other Heroics class from the First-Year, definitely do not underestimate them either... it's Class 1B!"

Izuku was standing at the front of his class as they walked out into the sun, every pair of eyes in the stadium now rested upon them. Their cheers of excitement echoed throughout the venue, the atmosphere was as if they had stepped into the Olympics.

"Wow... that's a lot more people than I expected..." Kinoko muttered nervously, shrinking in on herself slightly.

"Don't worry, we've practiced hard for this. Just do our best, like always." Izuku whispered to her in reassurance, only paying slight attention to Present Mic as he introduced the rest of the classes.

Suddenly the sound of a whip crack echoed through the air, drawing the attention of everyone to the temporary stage set up in the middle of the stadium. There were two figures standing on top of the stage, one of them was Midnight and the other was Snipe.

"Howdy everyone, I don't think we have to introduce ourselves." Snipe tipped his hat.

"Now it's time for the athlete's oath! Your student representative is... from Class 1B, Midoriya Izuku!" Midnight pointed her whip at the green-haired student.

"Woah! Midoriya you didn't tell us that you were going to give the speech!" Yosetsu punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"As expected of a student of Class 1B!" Neito placed a hand on his face and laughed.

"Not surprising since he scored the highest in history for the Hero course Entrance Exams." Yui pointed out bluntly.

"Ahaha, I kinda wanted it to be a surprise." Izuku told them before making his way up the stage to stand between Midnight and Snipe.

Izuku stared out at the audience members then drew his gaze down to look at his fellow competitors, he had thought long and hard about what to say. Clearing his throat, he forced down his nervousness and stepped up to the mic.

"...Everyone here deserves to be here. Whether you are from the Heroics course, the General Education course, the Support course or the Business Course. Every single person here has put in the hard work to get into U.A. and now here we stand together."

He saw that everyone's attention was on him, especially those from the non-Heroics courses as they looked up at him in surprise.

"Everyone here will be aiming to do their best... someone once told me that they believed that I could be a Hero. Now I too want all of you to know... that regardless of which course you came from... or what Quirk you were born with... or even without... that I believe you too can become a Hero!"

Silence dominated the stadium for a brief moment, before a slow clap begin to buildup into roaring applause from the students as well as the audience members. He thought he heard a whispered 'well done' from the teachers beside him as well, he allowed the cheers to die down before clearing his throat again.

"However!"

Izuku steeled his nerves, stretched a grin across his face and pointed at all of his competitors.

"I WILL BE TAKING FIRST PLACE IN THIS FESTIVAL!"

And so we take our first step into the Sports Festival arc!

A bit of a slower chapter this time around, given the shock of the last chapter.

Letting things settle down, building more on the relationships between the characters, bringing in some of the 1B students into the light, introducing future characters.

Well Izuku will be teaching Pony a new martial art, yes it is a real martial art that exists.

Look forward to the next chapter~