Chapter 21 - Festival of Swords
School had been canceled for the week, with both professional heroes and the staff of the academy taking the time to look over the school for any signs of damage and security leaks.
It was a precaution that was applied to every other student in each of the courses that U.A. gave out. There was apparently some complications when it came to the support course, where one of their students refused to leave the metallurgy workshop at all.
So for the few days that Shirou had free, he had been training.
"This is a follow-up report on yesterday's incident at the U.A. rescue training facility where hero course students were attacked by villains," The news anchor declared from the television outside of his room.
He didn't really want to dirty the living room with his sweat from training, so he turned the volume of their television as high as he could in order to listen.
He wasn't weak in any sense but he had been underprepared. He didn't expect to be facing Avenger again, not after that first encounter. Now that Shirou knew he was alive, he spent every possible waking hour training.
Simple maneuvers while tracing Avenger's Fang Grinders in order to get much more familiar with the villain's fighting style.
"According to police investigations, the criminals call themselves the 'League of Villains' and have been plotting to kill All Might, who has been a teacher at U.A. since spring this year."
Of course, he had cooked and cleaned to pass the time while Yu went out to fulfill her duties as a professional hero, but the more time he spent conditioning his body, strengthen it to a suitable level, the more effective he'd be when incidents occur again.
He knew that the USJ incident wasn't going to be the last they see of this 'League of Villains'. There might be several more incidents in the future moving forward and Shirou didn't want to be caught underprepared like last time.
Shirou let the Fang Grinders disperse back into prana, a drip of sweat falling past his brow to the puddle formed beneath him.
"Police have arrested seventy-two villains but they still do not know the whereabouts of their ringleader."
Seventy-two? It felt like there were more villains than that.
His muscles screamed at him to rest. A quick look at his own body told him that he needed definitely needed it, lest his muscles tore and strained to the point of requiring a quick hospital visit.
After all, time spent in the hospital could have been time spent doing something more productive.
As Shirou was about to take a quick shower to relax, the strange and yet familiar sound of their doorbell ringing caught his attention.
Shirou turned to the clock on the wall, noting that it was only half-past ten.
It was far too early for Yu to be back home yet, seeing as she always came back at around four in the afternoon, so Shirou quickly grew guarded. As far as he knew, Yu didn't place any orders for delivery so it couldn't be a package.
There was a chance that it was a door to door salesman, but considering the incident that happened just a few days ago, Shirou felt that it was right to be cautious.
Shirou turned off the television via remote and walked to the door, noting that the doorbell rang once more, a possible hint that whoever it was there was impatient.
A quick peek through a hole in the door sent some relief through the red-haired magus. Shirou unlocked the door and smiles in greeting.
"Good morning, Tsukauchi-san."
The detective tipped his hat.
"Good morning, Shirou-kun," He gazed into the room. "May I come in?"
Shirou nodded and led him inside. Tsukauchi quickly took a seat on the sofa, watching as the red-haired magus went into the kitchen.
"Would you like green tea?" Shirou asked, his voice echoing out of the kitchen.
"Yes, that would be appreciated."
A few moments later, Tsukauchi sipped from the cup, relishing in its taste.
"Ah… I missed this…" He muttered in relief. "You look tired. Haven't been getting enough sleep?"
Shirou shook his head. "I've been exercising. I was about to take a shower to relax."
"Sorry for disturbing you then," Tsukauchi remedied. "Should I have come at a later date?"
"No, it's fine," Once more, Shirou shook his head. "I know that you don't make pointless visits."
"Right, then I'll cut straight to the chase. The sooner we can finish, the sooner you can get to your bath," He set the cup down and shifted in his seat to reach his pocket. "Now then…"
He placed several photos on the living room table.
"Do you recognize any of these?"
They were several photos of both Gae Bolg and the Nomu.
Numerous emotions flooded through the red-haired magus. It was then that Shirou realized that he had forgotten about the Nomu after he killed it, it was then that he realized that he didn't feel a noticeable drain in his prana reserves…
… and it was then that Shirou swore he heard Rin's irritated words about his stupidity echo from who knows where.
"Judging from your reaction… I'd say you recognize them," Tsukauchi noted as he saw Shirou's fingers twitch. "I trust you understand that I have several questions here. I can't afford to leave without answers now."
Shirou only nodded in response.
He could play off Gae Bolg suddenly disappearing by saying his traced weaponry only lasted for so long. However, that led to the chance that Gae Bolg's curse would disappear as well, letting the Nomu regenerate back from being minced meat. That meant that the doctor performing autopsy near it would fall into danger.
Perhaps not, seeing as there was an image of the Nomu body being held tightly, strapped to a chair with several guards on duty outside the room.
"Onto the first question," Tsukauchi said as he interrupted Shirou's thoughts. "I noticed that once we extracted the red spear, one of our personnel managed to cut himself on accident. The small cut hasn't healed yet, despite a whole day passing by."
He shifted in his seat. "I understand that most aspiring students keep some abilities secret so that they have an advantage in the festival, but could we get an explanation as to what happened with this villain?"
Festival?
He ignored that for now. What he needed to do right now was to focus on how to maneuver around the situation so that he wouldn't reveal the existence of his magecraft.
How could the ability to prevent regeneration be explained here…?
Such an explanation didn't exist, especially one that could be believed by a lie-detection quirk. Time was quickly passing and staying quiet for this long would draw suspicion.
"I… don't know," He found himself muttering.
Terrific, Shirou. Absolutely wonderful.
Tsukauchi raised a brow. "Really? Was this the first time it happened?"
Technically it was true, seeing as it was his first time tracing Gae Bolg and he didn't know how to subtly explain properly why the spear wasn't disappearing or specifically causing a wound that wouldn't heal because that was magic and he didn't know how the explanations worked. So, he simply bobbed his head in the form of a nod.
The omission of truth isn't lying… right?
Then again, Tsukauchi had a lie-detection quirk so there was no way he'd accept an excuse like that too.
The inspector hummed in consideration. "Well… there have been cases of aspects of quirks being revealed late into life."
… It can't be–
"Don't worry. All you need to do is practice with your quirk more so that you could find out eventually!"
That excuse worked!? That actually worked!?
That was an acceptable response? What kind of world was this that the police can accept that sort of response!?
Shirou took a calming breath. He knew that Tsukauchi wasn't a pushover, so it could only mean that the answer was a common occurrence. As painful as it was to admit, the third-rate magus could see it too.
He could see situations where someone with a water quirk could be confused as to why someone got burnt when she used it, or how someone with a quirk to shrink suddenly grows.
This world of quirks… is surprisingly convenient to be in. Maybe keeping his magecraft secret here would be easier than he thought?
Then again, with Angra Mainyu still lurking around, it wasn't a likely prospect.
"Looks like I'll have to come by at a later date after all…" Tsukauchi muttered. "Call me when you learn why the weapon you created prevents regeneration later, okay?"
All Shirou did in response was give him a nod.
"It should take a month or two of training, probably, until you learn why," Tsukauchi commented. Soon he finished his cup of tea and stood with a frown on his face. "Well, I guess I'll have to inform the chief about this… he isn't going to like it."
Shirou actually felt a bit guilty that he was keeping the truth under lock and key. Maybe there was some way to help alleviate his disappointment?
"Be careful," Shirou advised as Tsukauchi was about to walk through the doorway. "Whatever I make doesn't last long, so that villain could regenerate after it disappears!"
The door opened.
"Thank you! I'll be sure to tell the chief!"
The door closed soon after.
It didn't take long before Shirou went to the bathroom for his long-awaited shower.
He'd let Gae Bolg disappear after his shower. It should give enough time for Tsukauchi to notify his superiors to keep the Nomu under lock and key, properly.
It was a mindless monster, so there was a chance that it wouldn't act until it was ordered to by the League of Villains. They thought that he had killed the monster anyway, so there was little chance that they'd notice and order it to rampage within the police compound.
They'd be fine. The police were called 'the police' for a reason.
Shirou let out a sigh as refreshing cold water doused his form.
Ah… He had forgotten to ask Tsukauchi about what he had meant by 'Festival'.
The days passed by as quick as they could.
Shirou had repeated his routine of housework and training. He could have technically left the apartment, now that he was free of the ankle tracker, but he found that exploring outside wasn't the best idea.
For one, he already knew where the basic necessities were and didn't see the purpose of traveling to an arcade-like Yu would usually suggest. Besides, he didn't want to risk being attacked once more in a much more public area.
Those days passed, and now Shirou sat in his desk at the back and simply contemplated on what he should be doing next.
Despite the amount of training he did behind Yu's back – she had constantly told him to rest – didn't really help much. His muscles were just a tad bit more flexible and sturdier, but it wasn't an improvement overall, not in his opinion.
He needed a better way to train, but Shirou was just a tad bit lost on where he'd find such a method.
At least Aizawa recovered enough to begin teaching again if what Yu told him was true.
In the middle of his thoughts, his classmates entered the classroom slowly and lethargically. Only when the class was close to half-full did the usual class banter start.
"Hey, did you watch the news last night?" The invisible mystery of nature said with increasing excitement.
Shirou heard a hum of agreement.
"Did you see how everyone in our class was on screen for a second?" She deflated afterward. "I didn't stand out at all…"
"That's true."
"It's hard to stand out, looking like that, right?"
True. Her hero costume was, in essence, just a pair of gloves…
Shirou felt distinctly uncomfortable once he realized that she was absolutely naked during that entire crisis. Once again, he was reminded of how weird this world was.
"But man," Kaminari said, rubbing his eye just a bit. "All the channels made a big deal out of it, right?"
"I was surprised about that!" Kirishima jumped in.
"Can you blame them?" Jiro added. "The hero course that keeps pumping out heroes was attacked, after all."
From his seat, Shirou saw a Sero deflate. "We were lucky… If All Might and Mount Lady didn't arrive…"
Shirou saw Mineta distinctly shiver. "Just thinking about that… I was so close to dying!"
"Sorry," Shirou found himself muttering. "It's my fault. I suggested that you engage him."
Mineta turned to him in an instant. "It sure as hell is–!"
"SHUT UP! BE QUIET, SCUM!"
"Uwaaah!"
"But man, All Might was great!" Sato added as he ignored Mineta retreating behind him. "He pushed back all those villains and managed to get them to retreat!"
Tokoyami nodded. "Yes, his strength is worth wondering at…"
That was the official story.
Bakugo sent him a glance. They both knew how close the Symbol of Peace was to being beaten back. There was a strong chance that he would have won, but the surprise attack from Angra Mainyu's allies caught him off-guard.
Shirou didn't know what the teen was thinking, but it didn't seem to be an issue. The blonde teen turned away and growled something underneath his breath–
"Everyone! Morning homeroom is about to start! Stop talking and take your seats!"
Shirou blinked as their class representative, Iida Tenya, shouted as loud as he could.
A little smile took hold on the edge of his lips. It was good that Iida seemed to have gotten over the events of last week. Not completely though, Shirou could still see the occasional twitch towards the door from each of his classmates.
Despite Shirou's pleasure at Iida's vigor, his vocal decree was made irrelevant due to the fact that everyone already was in their seats. They hadn't really ever left their seats at all, much like what most other high school students would do.
"We're already in our seats."
"You're the only one who's not."
"S-Shoot…"
Uraraka chuckled to herself. "Don't mind."
"Tsuyu-chan, who's–" Ashido asked as she leaned back on her chair. It stumbled a bit which halted her sentence, but Asui Tsuyu managed to catch it before it fell over. "–gonna teach homeroom today?"
Shirou truly was glad, that some form of normalcy had descended upon them all.
"Well…" Asui muttered. "Aizawa-sensei is supposed to be in the hospital recovering from his injuries…"
Just when Shirou was about to inform them that Aizawa was alright, the classroom door opened, showing that he wouldn't need to say it.
Aizawa was already standing there in his usual clothing… except that he was wrapped in bandages from head to toe, alongside two casts for each arm.
"So you're alright, Aizawa-sensei!?" Iida cried out with his hand raised.
Behind him, Uraraka shuddered, "… Can you really call that 'alright'?"
"My well-being is doesn't matter right now," Aizawa said from the podium. "I've recovered enough to teach, so that's what I'm going to do… More importantly, the fight's not yet over."
… What?
Already? So soon?
Shirou narrowed his eyes and gripped his fist, clenching them periodically as he mentally prepared. He was going to make sure that nobody would get hurt this time…
"Fight?"
"Don't tell me…"
"T-The v-villains again…?"
Aizawa lowered his head, two slits that revealed his focused and narrowed eyes.
"… The U.A. sports festival is drawing near."
All at once, the tense atmosphere faded.
What?
""A sports festival?""
Kirishima jolted from his seat in joy. Most likely relief at the coming activity. "That's a super-normal school event–"
Suddenly, a hand from Kaminari shoved him back down. "Wait, just wait a minute."
"Is it okay, to have a sports festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?" Jiro asked, voicing out everyone's thoughts out loud.
"What if they attack us again or something?" Ojiro added on.
A sports festival… True, such an event would probably bring much welcome relief to the students, but there was the fact that it was a risky idea that it shouldn't be done.
Angra Mainyu was still ready to fight again. Shirou was almost sure that he wouldn't care about fighting in the middle of a large public event like that.
"Apparently," Aizawa closed his eyes as he started. Whether it be from consideration or pain, Shirou didn't know. "They think of it as U.A. showing that our crisis management system is rock solid by holding the event. Security will also be strengthened to five times that of previous years…"
The professional hero's eyes once more opened.
"Above all, our sports festival is a huge chance. It's not an event to be canceled because of a few villains."
"… but that's a good reason, isn't it?" Mineta muttered from his seat. "It's just a festival for sports."
For once, Shirou agreed with the short teen.
Fun and interactive recreational activities were definitely good for the mind's wellbeing, but these teens needed training far more than they needed relaxation. Shirou himself wasn't excluded from that fact.
"Eh?" Midoriya muttered from in front of them. "Mineta, you've never seen the U.A. sports festival?"
"Of course I have, but that's not what I meant man!"
Shirou blinked.
That was interesting. Was the U.A. sports festival different to the regular sports festivals? If it was, then how so?
"Our sports festival is one of the biggest events in Japan," Aizawa said, unknowingly answering Shirou's thoughts. "In the past, the Olympics were called a festival of sports and the whole country was crazy about them. As you know with reductions in scale and population, they're now a shell of their former glory…"
No, Shirou didn't really know that. There weren't any articles he read about the event… but it definitely made sense. When there existed people who have quirks of super speed, super strength, or other much more exciting superhuman abilities, the idea of seeing the Olympics with regular people wasn't as attractive as it was before.
After all, what were people in comparison to the ones with quirks? Even Shirou wasn't blind enough to think that they remained completely equal.
For some reason, that thought irritated him.
"… And now, for Japan, what has taken place of those Olympics is the U.A. sports festival!"
"Of course, all the top heroes around the country will be watching," Yaoyorozu added from directly in front of Shirou. "For scouting purposes, that is!"
"For the love of- I already know that!" Mineta whined.
Well, Shirou certainly didn't. Although, why would they need to scout students?
"After we graduate, it's typical to join a pro agency as a sidekick!" Kaminari added.
"A lot of people miss their chance to become independent after that and become eternal sidekicks, though," Jiro muttered. "Kaminari, I feel like you'll be one of them. Since you're dumb."
… So, it was basically a great way to get a head start for their career? Not that Shirou needed something like that.
He wouldn't need to join an agency or start his own. He was going to just save people… and do a lot of paperwork, if what Yu's complaints were every night were accurate.
… Seriously though, why were his questions being answered randomly? You need to ask for a question to be answered, right?
"Of course, joining a famous hero agency will get you more experience and popularity," Aizawa added, this time after hearing what Kaminari said. "Time is limited. If you expect to go pro, then the path to your future will open up at this event. One chance a year, a total of three chances. No aspiring heroes can afford to miss this event… If you understand that, then don't slack on your preparations!"
"Yes, sir!"
Aizawa sighed. "Well then, homeroom is dismissed."
As the students excitedly chattered with one another, Shirou sighed.
The more he learned of the event, the less he cared about it.
Why would he need to gain popularity? Experience is one thing, but something as superficial popularity wouldn't help him save any lives. If he wanted to experience, then he'd just be more proactive in finding villains, seeing as this society churned them out faster than he could count.
If it was about payment, Shirou wouldn't need any. He could already budget well enough to last with minimum wage every day. If he was going to be an unpopular and not so well-known hero, then that was fine. Following Aizawa's work ethic and saving lives without a care for public attention, that sounded much more sensible.
With high exposure, the more your enemies will know of your tactics and counter appropriately. With that in mind, the main priority was the experience, enough so that he could save more lives.
… After all, that was why he was here, to live out his childhood dream of becoming a hero.
"Ah… I almost forgot," Aizawa muttered. "Bakugo and Emiya. Once classes are over, head over to the faculty. I have something for the two of you."
Shirou blinked in confusion. Before he could ask what Aizawa meant, their homeroom teacher had already left the room.
He felt his eye twitch in mild irritation as Bakugo sent him a glare.
Damn it Aizawa.
The atmosphere at lunch break was… different.
Everyone was excited for the upcoming sports festival, judging from the smiles and numerous banners being painted along the hallway, but Shirou seemed to be thinking back on Aizawa's words.
It wasn't like him to leave with such vague words, not like him at all. However, the rest of the students moved on rather quickly and excitedly chatted among one another.
Shirou didn't really see the purpose in doing that, so he had decided to head over to the cafeteria in order to learn if Lunch Rush had added any new recipes to the table.
Recipes that he would study extensively for ways to improve, of course.
He had settled for the newly added spaghetti dish. It had a varying amount of spices on top of it, which Shirou could tell from merely looking that it would be a feast for his taste buds.
Soon, he came across the table where a few of his classmates sat. Kirishima scooted to the side as he greeted him and allowed Shirou to take a seat. In front of him was Kaminari, who seemed to be in the middle of a heavy debate with Jiro.
"I'm telling you, this katsudon tastes much better than your curry!"
"Curry is a dish with loads of taste and variety, much more so than your katsudon!"
In the midst of their escalating argument, Sato sat peacefully on the other side the table talking avidly with Kouda, who seemed content in simply listening to the buff classmate.
"That brown paste is always spicy and sludgy!"
"That bowl of turd looks like a kids meal!"
"Guys, guys, guys. You don't need to argue over what's the best lunch." Kirishima interjected as he took the much-needed role of the peace third party to end the war… before bringing out a slab of beef. "–Because this steak is ten times better than any of yours!"
Never mind, the aforementioned third party just wanted to join the war.
"What did you say!?"
"Take that back you spiked pansy!"
Shirou only sighed as the three of them continued to argue in earnest. He didn't find anything wrong with it though. They were having fun, one could tell from the way they smiled as they argued.
"Well, isn't this interesting," A familiar voice interrupted. A single glance was all it took to realize that it was Kendou Itsuka. "Sorry to interrupt, but can we sit here? All the other seats are full… again."
"Tch… We wouldn't be here if there any open seats."
It was easy to tell that this voice belonged to Monoma.
"Just bear with it, Monoma," Shinso's ever-reliable voice berated. "Besides, we're all heroes-in-training here. No need to argue."
Monoma raised a brow and gazed at Shirou's three classmates… one of which was trying to shove curry down a blonde's throat.
"Well then, tell that to them."
"H-Hey, guys?" Sato muttered, finally noticing the ensuing chaos beside him. "Can you argue just a little quieter? You're disturbing everyone else."
It was then that the trio finally realized that several students from surrounding tables were sending glares to the formerly arguing students.
"""Ah."""
Shirou sighed. "Just sit down."
The three of them awkwardly took a seat as the Class-B roster of Shinso, Monoma, Kendou, and Kodai followed suit.
"So…" Kendou started with slight hesitance. "How are you guys doing? You know, after last week?"
"Last week…?" Kaminari muttered as he tried to recall what she was referring to. It didn't take long before he realized what. "Yeah, we're all fine. No use worrying over it."
"That's great!" Kendou said relieved. "I was worried you guys wouldn't be able to participate in the sports festival."
"Kendou," Monoma grumbled from his seat. "Even if they weren't okay, they'd at least have two weeks to get over it. You're worrying over nothing."
Kodai nodded in agreement.
"Speaking of sports festival…" Jiro muttered. "What about you guys? You excited for it?"
Kodai shrugged as Kendou nodded. "Of course we are! This is a chance to show what we're capable of, after all!"
"You got that right," Jiro agreed.
"I hope I do well," Kaminari added. "I don't want to be a side-kick forever!"
Kirishima let out a hearty laugh. "Don't worry! I'm sure we're all going to do fine!"
Monoma smirked. "Only children get excited over things like that."
"You were screaming in excitement too, Monoma."
"Be quiet, Shinso!"
"That's what you get for trying to act cool," Kaminari jeered.
"Shut up! Class A!"
"Monoma…" Kendou sighed in exasperation. "Well, I guess it's fine. As long as that incident doesn't hinder you guy at all, then I'm sure the pros will notice us."
"It's fine," Kaminari interjected with a relaxed flick of his wrist. "All Might and Mount Lady got us out of there…" Suddenly his brow creased. "Speaking of which… Emiya?"
"What is it, Kaminari-san?"
"Your mother is Mount Lady, right?" Kaminari asked as he didn't notice the widening eyes from a few of Class-B. "What's it like living with her?"
"Wait, Emiya is Mount Lady's rumored kid?" Kendou muttered.
"Yeah, he is," Jiro confirmed. "We saw her say it herself! 'He's my son, why?' –just like that!"
"Yeah, that was pretty surreal," Sato added with his arms crossed. "She didn't even need to worry. Emiya was the one babysitting us back up there after Thirteen was downed."
Shirou felt his brow twitch. "I wouldn't say 'babysitting'…"
"Dude, you totally were babysitting us," Sato argued. "If you weren't there, then we would have totally gotten our asses handed to us. I couldn't even keep track of that Beast guy."
"Beast…?" Shinso suddenly spoke up. He sent a glance to Shirou. "Are you talking about…"
Shirou sighed as he nodded.
Shinso narrowed his eyes. "I see…"
Monoma looked to his friend with a hint of confusion. He didn't say anything and kept silent, but from the look in his eyes, he was going to talk to the mind-controlling quirk user later.
"Wait a minute…" Kaminari muttered. "You didn't answer my question, Emiya! What's it like living with a hot babe like that!?"
Jiro smacked the back of his head. "Somehow your question changed significantly, didn't it!?"
"Come on!" Kaminari whined. "Sato, Kouda! Aren't you envious of this lucky bastard too!?"
"Not really…" Sato mumbled. "I mean, Mount Lady is just his mother, not his girlfriend or something like that."
"You don't get it, do you!?" Kaminari continued. "Being served her home-cooking, getting tucked in at night, randomly opening her shower door–"
Shirou's eye twitched.
"Choose your next words carefully, Kaminari-san."
Kaminari admittedly winced and quickly looked around the table for allies. He found that most of the boys were looking away or staring at him in pity, and the entirety of the girls just stared at him in disgust.
"Kirishima! You understand, right?"
Kirishima blinked. "Huh? Oh yeah… yeah."
Shirou blinked.
That was odd…
Was he not listening to the conversation? Kirishima didn't strike him as the type to do that.
"Kirishima," Sato tested. "You know what you agreed to, right?"
"Uh…" Kirishima muttered. "No, I don't. Sorry guys, I was distracted."
Truly odd…
Now that Kaminari was left without allies, the girls started to lay into him with insults and words of disgust, not that the electric-user really showed hurt from them, merely taking them in stride.
Now that the entire table was focused on him, Shirou allowed his thoughts to roam… specifically to the students down below in the main area of the cafeteria.
What if the League of Villains had attacked some other class instead of theirs? What if they attacked the support or general course class while All Might was teaching?
In a way, they were lucky that the villains had decided to attack them, otherwise, there would have been a larger ruckus from the media.
He didn't see the need to think about the sports festival as the other students were. There was the more practical worry of the League of Villains to tackle first.
Training to fight them… how was he going to handle it?
Admittedly, he did have the majority of his circuits unlocked. The world around him seemed to double his prana output so prana wasn't much of an issue… yet he seemed to run out of it from time to time.
Maybe he needed to experiment with how his circuits interacted with the world a little more? He wasn't even sure if Gaia or Alaya existed in this world at all.
"Emiya."
Shirou blinked and turned to Kodai, who had taken a seat beside him. "What is it, Kodai-san?"
"You have that look again," Kodai said pointing to her own eyebrows. "Don't think about it. Relax."
Shirou gave her a short stare and sighed. He returned to his lunch and hurried to eat it before it got cold.
Despite the reassurance, Shirou couldn't stop wondering about it all.
Not even a bit.
Shirou packed his bag and prepared to go home. He paid attention in class like everyone else, but when it was clear that he already knew what was being taught, he opened up the student handbook to learn more about the U.A. festival.
Quirks were free to use in the tournament, as expected of U.A. The students from all of the courses come together and fight through preliminary games of different types by class year.
In other words, a huge tournament with three rounds. Only the final round remained the same, with it being a fighting tournament for the students to partake in.
It was divided by grade, so students would only be able to fight those of their peers, which meant no unfair advantages from experience.
Shirou knew that Todoroki had seen him not really pay attention to class, but didn't really call him out on it. In fact, he turned away abruptly with a frown when Shirou met his gaze.
Odd… was there something wrong with looking into the student handbook?
Yaoyorozu certainly commented on the fact that he had been reading it during class, but her complaints faded when he answered her following impromptu quiz with acceptable results.
Class ended, seemingly as abrupt as it started with a ring of the bell. Shirou started to pack away his things and prepared to leave.
"Emiya-san," Yaoyorozu called from in front of him, also packing her things. "Apologies but I think we should cancel the training appointments."
Shirou blinked as he zipped his bag shut.
"Might I ask why?" He asked.
She nervously scratched her side. "It's a matter of pride. It would be just a little bit degrading if another competitor was training me. Besides, training me would cut into your own time to train, wouldn't it?"
Shirou could see the logic in her words and gave a nod in agreement.
Truth be told, he wouldn't mind continuing to train her in the coming weeks, but he did need to train himself for his next encounter with Avenger and the League of Villains.
After all, second encounters are always the most troublesome to deal with. If he didn't get any stronger before their next battle – or find a way to bypass Avenger's modified abilities and newly added quirk – then he would surely lose.
And all that was while ignoring the chance that Avenger could appear again with newer quirks.
Just before Shirou could stand from his chair and leave, the doors burst open and several recognizable students flooded in.
All twenty-one of them.
Class-B?
Kendou smiled. "Are we interrupting?"
"Class-B?" Iida muttered from his seat, Midoriya, and Uraraka standing beside him. "Fellow representative, might I ask as to why you are all here?"
"Well… you see, we heard what happened to you guys last week," She explained. "So we were just coming to check you guys out, to see if you were all okay."
"They're fine," Monoma muttered with a hint of snark from beside her. "Just look at them. None of them look as fussed about as we are about them."
"Hear us out, Class-A!" A muscled boy with silver hair, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, spoke from ahead of the crowd. "We aren't going to lose to you guys at the sports festival, you hear me!?"
"In a friendly way," Kendou pushed. "Right? We all trained together, we're all hero course students, so there shouldn't be any hard feelings for when the time comes, right?"
Someone scoffed as he made his way to the front. "Hard feelings? If you're weak enough to feel something like that, then you shouldn't be in this course."
Bakugo Katsuki walked up to the entire crowd. "You're blocking my way. Move."
"Bakugo!" Iida called. "They are declaring friendly competition! There is no need to antagonize them!"
"Shut up four-eyes," Bakugo shot back. "There's no need to get friendly with them. They know what happened last week. This isn't about being buddy-buddy with us, they just want to check us out before the sports festival starts."
"You're just as aggressive as you were during the indoor training, weren't you?" Monoma spoke, stepping out of the crowd to face him. "What? Are you feeling threatened? Don't get carried away, we'll sweep your feet right out from under you."
Bakugo scoffed. "If you can do something like that then go ahead and try, copying little shit."
"Hey now!" Kendou called as she dragged Monoma back. "This isn't what we're here to do!"
"Then move," Bakugo said once more. "I can't crush all of you here. Once the sports festival starts, I'll wipe the floor with all of you!"
Iida sighed. "My apologies. Bakugo does not speak for all of us."
"We know that, so don't worry about it," Kendou replied.
Bakugo scoffed once more before finding a way out of the class. "None of this will matter once you rise to the top."
He walked away, his glare seemingly parting the sea of students before him.
"... Once I reach the top, nothing will get in my way."
Shirou frowned as Bakugo disappeared, most likely to the faculty where he was called.
"Well…" Monoma muttered, a short yet sly smirk working its way onto his visage. "He got one thing in that barking show he gave us. It doesn't matter once you reach the top?"
Kirishima let out manly tears. "So simple and manly!"
Kaminari blinked. "Huh?"
Tetsutetsu growled as he smacked his head. "Damn it! Why am I agreeing with that bastard!?"
Sato nodded in contemplation. "He's got a point…"
"Huh!?"
"The top…?" Tokoyami muttered. "There is some truth in that."
Some mumbles from across the class spread out, most of them agreeing with the sentiment. Not the way it was said, but the intent behind the words.
Shirou made his way out of the class as they were all busy contemplating.
"Going home?" Kodai asked, seemingly appearing behind him. She must have been near the back of the Class-B crowd.
"Aizawa called me and Bakugo earlier, we shouldn't be making him wait," Shirou answered.
After the nod she gave him, Shirou made his way to the faculty room.
Idly, Shirou wondered what Aizawa had called the two of them for.
There was a chance that it related to All Might's near-defeat a few days prior. It would make sense if they wanted the two students that witnessed the whole debacle to stay quiet, lest they risk society gaining a few cracks to their perception of the Symbol of Peace.
However, if that were the case, then they would have called them earlier… so was this a more academic matter? The only relation that Bakugo and Shirou shared in terms of academics was the fact that they shared the same score for their entrance exam.
The faculty door slid open as Shirou stepped inside. He found Bakugo with a frown standing beside Aizawa's work desk. He sent him a glare and growled. "That took you long enough, sword-bastard!"
Shirou simply sighed. "My apologies, Bakugo-san."
No use in arguing with him here, not after he unintentionally got both the hero course classes thinking about his words.
"If you two can be quiet, I'll let you go home," Aizawa scolded from behind the numerous bandages wrapped around his face. "How long this will take depends on the two of you. Shut up, listen, and then decide among yourselves."
"I'm sure that you're aware that the U.A. sports festival is something that the entire country looks forward to…" Aizawa started. "… And with such a prestigious event, comes a long tradition. The sports festival requires the highest scoring first-year student in the entrance exam to give out a speech before the event starts."
He held out a paper before him.
"Usually, we don't inform the students before we make them give out a speech, something about honesty in the impromptu or whatever…" Aizawa slowly trailed off into a mutter. "… However, since there are currently two students who have scored a tie for the top spot this year, there has been a compromise made."
Shirou ignored the growl that Bakugo gave out at being reminded of their similar scores, no doubt being painful to the prideful boy.
"You see, the many of the faculty and the principal himself think that it would be unfair for either of you to lose this opportunity," Aizawa added. "So, in light of this previous development, the school has decided that the two of you may craft a speech of your own and present it at the start of the sports festival."
He leaned back into his chair. "You don't have limits in what you want to say…" He narrowed his eyes on Bakugo in particular. "… Just know that if you write out something juvenile or asinine, it'll be your own future as a professional hero at risk, not ours."
In response to Aizawa's words, Bakugo's competitive and prideful nature drove him to make a competition between them where competition didn't need to exist at all.
This meant that the blond didn't catch the hint or message and simply smirked as he sent a small glance towards his sword-wielding classmate. "No problem here, Aizawa-sensei. I'll give them a speech that they won't forget!"
Shirou sighed.
Frankly speaking, standing on a stage and speaking directly to a crowd in a public event – which was viewed by people around the country – wasn't something Shirou had ever pictured himself doing.
However more importantly, on a purely practical standpoint, spending precious time making a speech for such an event would inevitably end up cutting into any possible time he could manage to find for his training.
"Aizawa, can I ask a question?"
"Ignoring the redundancy of that question," Aizawa mused. "Yes, you may."
Shirou nodded and asked his question.
"If it's possible, can I let Bakugo-san handle the speech?"
After a stark few seconds of silence, Aizawa gave him a slightly bewildered stare – his brow showing signs that it raised from the way that the bandages ruffled.
It was a stark contrast to the reaction that his classmate had, which was quite odd itself. His face wore a stunned and wide-eyed gawk of absolute disbelief. His mouth spread open slightly as his neck craned to clearly look at him, unlike the smirk and glares he had been sending before.
Sensing the need to elaborate, Shirou obliged.
"I'd rather not give a speech at all. Frankly, I find that focusing on training would be a much better use of my time." Shirou expounded.
Aizawa regarded him for a few seconds, the brow still raised.
"… Brat, are you certain of that decision? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Aizawa reminded. "This isn't just a mere speech to give out for the sports festival. Once you move into your second year, you won't be able to receive this chance again. The school is being lenient in allowing the two of you to give your own speeches."
By 'chance', Aizawa had probably meant the possible publicity that being a speaker in the event would entail.
From U.A's apparent tradition of sending their top students out on stage, it would mean Hero Agencies around the country would focus on him, giving the student a boost to jump-start their hero career.
However, he wouldn't need it. A reputation wasn't necessary in his eyes, only serving as a way to draw a target on your back for villains to plot against, like with what happened in USJ with All Might.
With this in mind, Shirou nodded in confirmation. "Yes, I'm sure."
"Well, I should have expected that. I'll have to contact the principal, but at least you had the gal to let us know early, we can reorganize a few time slots for the sports festival now…" Aizawa sighed audibly, a hint of frustration and exasperation coming from him. "… Bakugo, I trust you'll make an impactful speech. With this in mind, you're both free to go. Be careful on the way home."
Shirou bowed in respect and made his way out, being followed by Bakugo soon after.
It was only after they had walked away from the faculty and a few seconds of silence when Bakugo spoke… or rather, growled.
"Oi, sword-bastard… What the hell was that!?"
Confused, Shirou turned to Bakugo, who had decided to walk beside him at a considerable distance. "I don't think I understand, Bakugo-san-"
"You know exactly what I fucking mean!" He growled, his glare increasing in intensity. "Do you think this is a joke!? Are you trying to funny, you bastard!?"
"… I don't think of it as a joke," Shirou attempted to placate. "I just didn't see the purpose in it. I find that training-"
"'-Is more important'– I know that, fuck-face!" Bakugo interrupted, turning on his heel to face him directly. "You fucking disgust me!"
Shirou admittedly winced at the venom dripping from his tone, his own internal confusion at the situation increasing in response.
Just what did he do to offend his classmate to this degree?
"Then I apologize, Bakugo-san. I guess I should have given the idea of a speech a try at the very least."
His attempt at apologizing didn't help one bit. Bakugo gritted his own teeth and growled in frustration.
"You don't even fucking know…" He muttered, tension rising in his growl. "… Then there's no damn point in talking!"
He turned away and sped up his footsteps and made his way out of U.A… all while the sword-magus stared at his retreated back. His own confusion hadn't even faded yet, not even after he gave as much thought as he could.
Was his classmate disappointed in him? Even it were so, then it shouldn't have garnered such a reaction. Shirou had basically handed him the publicity that an aspiring professional hero should be wanting.
Perhaps he was insulted? Being insulted at an act of charity was admittedly common among certain parts of humanity, but Shirou felt that it shouldn't even have garnered such an intense reaction as that.
Shirou sighed.
Several minutes had passed before he forced that little encounter to the back of his mind. There was no need to focus on the words of his prideful classmate, not that he understood it anyway…
He idly kept the images of Tawrich and Zarich in mind.
… Shirou still needed to train, after all.
Maybe once the sports festival rolled in, Shirou would know what he did to offend his classmate.
He hoped.
Two weeks until the U.A. sports festival would start, and Shirou found that he didn't care about it at all.
When he let that piece of information slip to his adoptive mother, she literally became lost for words… which lasted for all but three seconds until she hounded him every waking hour of her relaxation days in order to make sure he would give his utmost best during the tournament.
His best would be using his reality marble, but he wasn't an idiot so he wouldn't do that.
Shirou said he'd at least give it a try, but he wasn't looking forward to it.
To him, it was like any other sports festival, but to all his classmates who were training their quirks and body to the limit, it was their gateway to a better future.
Shirou was more than happy to help them do so. However, if they knew he was forcibly making himself do worse, then all that would accomplish would be obtaining the anger from his entire class.
He'd give his best, but Noble Phantasms and magecraft were banned.
So basically, the usual way he'd been keeping his magecraft secret then.
Shirou scrubbed the kitchen, making sure that no speck of dirt would exist within the sanctuary of the culinary arts. Yu was going to be going home late today, so that meant Shirou had more time to spend training…
… Fruitless training. He wasn't getting as strong as he had hoped.
How was he supposed to fight Angra Mainyu and the League of Villains if he was stuck repeated an overused training strategy?
He didn't know, so he asked his classmates via text about how he should try training. The idea wasn't a good one, but it was an idea he hadn't tried.
As expected, the idea had been a waste of time for all parties involved, seeing as most of them told him to just try improving sword stances or other second-hand knowledge of sword fighting that he already knew.
Shirou let out a sigh… Maybe he should cut back and think about how to train later? For now, he decided to get started on dinner.
Cooking relaxed him physically, mentally, and spiritually. He needed the relief after the recent confusion and stress from today.
Since Yu was going to be home late, he could spend much longer on actually making an acceptable dish.
Since she would likely be tired, she wouldn't want to eat much and get to bed as soon as possible Something light to eat yet heavy to digest would be ideal.
Some soba perhaps? He had prepared a quarter of a kilogram of dough yesterday in the fridge, just in case he would need it, so that was an idea.
He didn't know how soba would interact with the amount of butter he had in that dough, but he hadn't experimented in a while, so it should be a worthwhile venture.
The dough was only around thirty-percent buckwheat flour, and the rest being gluten-filled flour with a large amount of butter. It hasn't even been rolled like regular soba would have…
Well, Rin was always a fan of experiments.
Shirou covered a flat surface on the kitchen top, almost at his arm's length through eyeball measurements alone, and covered it generously in flour.
He placed the dough on top of the flour, admittedly just a tad bit sticker than normal soba because of the amount of butter within it, and got to work rolling it out.
… Even as Shirou strained his limbs to stretch the dough out with a rather large rolling pin, he could not forget the restless feeling within him.
Cooking took his mind into a preferable relaxed state, but he still needed to figure out how to train better.
Shirou reinforced his limbs ever so slightly with his magecraft.
There had to be a great way to train for his next encounter with Avenger… maybe Aizawa could point him in the right direction? He could masquerade it as training for the tournament if the teacher asked, no doubt willing to deny his request if he knew what it was really for.
Once the soba dough was shaped almost like a square, as flat as it could be, and at the perfect height of soba, he added flour on it again and folded so it fit on his chopping board.
The surplus of flour prevented the dough from sticking to itself again, so as Shirou placed it atop the board, he grabbed the soba board – and was surprised yet again to see that Yu had the tool in her own kitchen – alongside a soba-kiri knife – which looked like a thin yet sturdy sheet of metal with a handle embedded at a single lower corner– and went to work cutting the dough into slim strings fit for consumption.
It was somewhat nostalgic. He remembered making something like this for Fuji-nee on her birthday. Sakura had helped too with stretching out the dough…
Shirou ensured that the cutting was measured. Every time he sliced through the dough, he moved the soba-board beside it just a bit away from it. Whenever he brought up the soba-kiri knife, he aligned it with the new location of the soba board, repeating the process.
Thinking about Fuyuki – his previous home – was bittersweet. He would always miss the people he had met there, the friends he had made, and the family he had grown to care for…
He stopped his rhythmic cutting when he still had over half of the dough left uncut and used the side of the huge knife to carry the cut soba away into a container. He then continued his cutting.
… Shirou would not deny the fact that he truly missed Rin. The girl that had stolen his heart.
And the only thing he had to remember her by was that asshole of a servant–
Shirou's cutting ceased, the soba-kiri knife held above the small amount of dough remaining as realization struck.
There was an idea.
His eye twitched.
… It was definitely an idea…