Two weeks passed until the sports festival. Apparently most of Class 1-A, and indeed all the classes, were spending all their free time training. Len continued to stay low at home and did chores. Like he'd told Nezu, a consequence of his home life was that the only training he got was at the school. Of course, as a student he technically had permission to use the facilities whenever he wanted, but they were all intimidating and under use by the upperclassmen.
One thing was for sure. He'd stand by his promise to never go back to the illegal ring again. Bakugou had apparently not been expelled either, although he had no idea what the boy had said. I guess he isn't the traitor, or else the detective would have caught on. Weird how "a traitor" had become "THE traitor" in Len's mind. Is it possible? That there could be one? My subconscious seems to have accepted it. Maybe it was the purple-haired guy from general studies. Or Koda, the quiet boy in his class. Or Tsuyu, or Shoji. They're both quiet, and the way they reacted at lunch instead of laughing…
No. He wouldn't think of his friends like that.
After finishing the dishes late one night, he picked up his phone off the counter as it lit up. The group chat, now known as "Super Sports Gang", was going wild.
Toru: mannnn i wish there was a way to know what the events are!
Hanta: keeping them secret is kinda the point. heroes gotta be ready for anything
Toru: yeahhhh but for someone like me whos just generally underwhelming from a physical standpoint
Toru: itd be great if i knew what i should focus on to get ready
Tsuyu: your quirk is a dream for any stealth or covert op-based hero agency, toru-chan
Tsuyu: im sure you will get offers no matter how well you do
Toru: grrrr but i still wanna do good!
Mina: today i practiced with ochaco btw. she floated rocks up with her gravity while i cut through them with acid! then that twerp aoyama stole a few of my shots, but whatev
Hanta: ochaco seems cool. we should invite her here
Mina: u just think shes cute ;)
Hanta: what about it
Mina: anyway naaahhh thats not necessary. can just talk w her thru the girls group chat
Hanta: THERES A GIRLS GROUP CHAT?
Len: why wasnt i invited
Toru: hilarious.
Mina: oh hey Len
Mina: what have you been doing to train?
Len: housework
Toru: booooo.
Hanta: cmon man. you know thats not gonna cut it. me n you gotta redeem ourselves after the battle trial
Tsuyu: ribbit.
Len: i already redeemed myself by fighting villains and surviving.
Len: dont need to fight other students to do it
Mina: wow. cooooool. haha jk ur being lame
Mina: Len u gotta be more motivated. bring some of that ddr spirit! cmon what happened to the guy who scored fifth in the quirk assmnt
Len: What is a "quirk ass mountain?"
Toru: holy shit that was a terrible joke
Toru: delete your account
Len: i'm here all week.
Mezo: Kagamine, I can't say I understand your position at all here. It is BECAUSE of the villain attack we survived that everyone is waiting to see us do our best at the festival.
Mina: ^^ what shoji said 100%
Hanta: i dont see the point in wanting to be lowkey and not try to do well, with a quirk like yours
Hanta: its got insane potential and a lot of hero agencies that'll be watching deserve to know about it.
Len: you make a good argument, but i still can't bring myself to get fired up about this. i just dont care about fighting other kids in the same way that i care about fighting villains, or natural disasters
Tsuyu: you'll never reach the point where you can do those things unless you fight some kids now. ribbit.
Len: Yeah… but…
Mezo: I could understand if you are trying to hide your Quirk from the public. Perhaps you don't want more villains finding out about it? They'll be watching the festival too, no doubt about it.
Hanta: lmaooo shigaraki sitting in his dark lair getting all pissed while the students he failed to kill beat the shit out of each other on live television
Mina: stop. the very idea of that is srsly creepy.
Len: i will admit that the enigmatic lifestyle of an underground hero like Aizawa is kinda appealing to me
Len: but i wouldnt call that the full reason, shoji. you have every right to be confused by my position. im still figuring it all out myself.
Mezo: That is fair. I hope you arrive at some sort of conclusion in time for the festival. It would be unfortunate if you finished the day with any regrets.
Len: so how have you guys been training, then?
Mezo: Lifting weights, mostly.
Tsuyu: swimming. i do my best work in water.
Mina: like i said, i been tearin' through some rocks!
Toru: did you just type that in a country accent
Toru: you really have been working with ochaco!
Hanta: LOL
Len: hmm… as the guy who is literally not training, making him the least qualified one here, it seems like you guys are all training the parts of your body that are already your strongest.
Mina: and?
Mezo: What are you saying?
Len: with the mystery of the events being what it is, wouldn't it be good to try and cover for some weaknesses instead?
Tsuyu: yeah but we're insecure
Tsuyu: we'd rather not think about our weak spots while we're trying to get hyped up
Mina: LOL tsu got it
Mezo: Kagamine, I'll take that advice to heart for the time we have remaining. Only a few days to go.
Hanta: haha, yup…
𖦹𖦹𖦹
The day had finally arrived.
When Len left the house that morning, the interaction with his parents was… strange.
"Len," his father called to him as he left the kitchen.
He turned. "Sir?"
"We'll…" he coughed. "We'll be watching the festival today. Or at least, I will when I get off work. And your mother as well." His mother nodded her agreement.
Len kept a straight face. "Okay." Do they want me to act all thankful?
Rin gave him a parting hug. "Do your best, big bro. Knock em dead." She winked and made a thumbs-up.
"I'll… think about it," he replied. Then he left the house.
Rin was going to be watching the festival anyway. She watches it every year, I think. On the living room TV. So my parents may happen to pop in and catch a few minutes out of boredom, but it's not some courtesy to me. They better not be thinking it is.
The campus had come alive. The paths were crossed by strings of coloured flags and lights, and lined with busy stalls. Crowds of people, including press, surged about, some unable to get in. Security had been tightened to a killing grip.
Deep in the innards of the first-year stage stadium, Class 1-A finished putting on their gym uniforms. "Damn," Mina pouted. "I really wanted to wear my costume."
"Well, all the costumes have stuff that helps us, right?" said Ojiro, stretching his arm across his chest. "Now everyone is equally disadvantaged."
I do kinda wish I had my mask, though, Len thought. As much as he didn't care about winning, he didn't exactly want to puke on live television. With millions of people watching.
"Man…" Sato's leg shook under the table he was sitting at. "I wonder what the first round is going to be?"
"Whatever comes, we will have no choice but to take it in stride," said Shoji.
Iida burst into the room, causing several of the more nervous people to jump. "Is everyone ready?!" he demanded, acting the part of class rep as always. "We're up soon!"
"Ohhhh, dear…" Midoriya's voice shook, and he tried to take a deep breath. Aoyama was trying to keep his usual smug smile, but his whole body had begun to vibrate, and he'd turned extremely pale.
"Midoriya," said a voice.
Everyone turned to look. It was Todoroki.
The green haired boy stood up, the two of them now face to face. "Wh-what is it?"
Mina Ashido watched excitedly. A standoff between two of the strongest guys in class? Oh man! What could this mean? She almost wished she had some popcorn to chow down on.
"Looking at things objectively," said Todoroki, "I think I'm stronger than you."
"Huh?" Midoriya started. "I mean, o-okay…"
"But All Might has his eye on you, doesn't he? Don't worry, I'm not trying to pry about that. But… just so you know, I'm going to beat you today."
"Oh ho ho!" Kaminari chuckled. "Is the best in class declaring war?"
Damn you, that was my line, idiot! Mina thought.
"Hey," Kiri growled, standing up. "What do you think you're doing, picking a fight like this when we're about to start?" He put a hand on Todoroki's shoulder. Mina nearly rolled her eyes. Kiri's always been like this, huh?
"We're not here to play at being friends," Todoroki responded coolly, shoving Kiri off. "So it doesn't matter." He began to walk away.
Mina suddenly became acutely aware of Len making a strange face next to her. When she cast her eyes that way, he seemed normal again. What was that about?
"Todoroki," Midoriya said, without a trace of stutter, and everyone turned to look, even Todoroki himself. "I don't know what you're talking about or why when you say you'll beat me… but, yeah. I think you're pretty amazing. Certainly better than me."
"Whoa, hey," Kiri raised his hands in good-natured discomfort. "Midoriya, maybe you shouldn't discount yourself like tha—"
"But just know," Midoriya interrupted. "The students from the other courses are aiming for the top, too. With everything they've got. And… I'm the same. I'll be going for it with all my strength."
"Yeah," Todoroki agreed.
Mina shivered. Intense! The manly energy that just went between them…
"HEY!" A shout came from the corner of the room, and all eyes turned to Bakugou. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Icy Hot? Challenging Deku when I'm in the damn room? You must really be dumber than you look." Small explosions flashed from his palms. "I'll be taking you both down, and all the other extras here, too!"
Mina had to look past Len to see the explosion user, but when her eyes focused again on the warping boy, he looked…
Mad.