Year 1 Hero Course, Class 1-A Lounge
Because of Konata's sudden remark, the entire lounge instantly fell into a heavy, awkward silence.
"Seriously—if Midoriya gets in close to you, you're basically doomed."
Konata raised one finger, explaining with total sincerity.
"Sure, your Quirk is crazy strong, no doubt about that. But I think you're using it the wrong way—ice isn't meant to be—"
"Does that have anything to do with you?"
Todoroki's cold voice cut her off without an ounce of emotion.
"You're my next target. So do me a favor and stay out of it."
After tossing out those words, Todoroki gave Konata one more icy glance, then turned back to Midoriya.
"All Might seems to be paying a lot of attention to you, huh?"
"Uh—" Midoriya stiffened in surprise.
"My strength is way above yours, but All Might has never once sought me out. Instead, most of his attention is on you."
Todoroki's tone stayed flat, almost detached.
"Call it jealousy if you want. I'm not going to dig deeper into it. But in this sports festival, I will defeat you—so I can prove myself to All Might."
That statement silenced the room again. Most of the classmates looked more or less shocked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa—no need to be like that. We're all classmates here, and it's almost time to go out," Kirishima tried to mediate, but Todoroki shook off the hand on his shoulder and walked toward the door.
"I'm not here for unity or friendship. Whatever I want to do is my freedom."
Midoriya's fists clenched unconsciously.
"I don't know…" he muttered.
"Just a brat. Why bother with him? Let's go."
Konata clapped Midoriya on the shoulder, looking at him like a disappointed coach.
"I swear, every single one of you has serious issues—one's a moody little hermit, the other's a spoiled brat from birth. Bakugo—why are you glaring at me like that? Did I say anything wrong?"
Meeting Bakugo's death glare, Konata planted her hands on her hips and glared right back.
"Idiot."
Bakugo's mouth twitched, and he decided ignoring her was the only way to avoid dying of rage.
"So?" Todoroki stopped, turning his head slightly. "What does my challenge to Midoriya have to do with you?"
"Because I'm the class rep, duh."
Konata puffed out her (nonexistent) chest proudly.
"Now you remember you're class rep?"Iida muttered to himself, speechless.
Apparently not expecting that answer, Todoroki paused for a fraction of a second. Then he just snorted and left without another word.
"Don't worry, bro. I've got your back," Konata said, giving Midoriya's shoulder another pat.
Midoriya: "…"
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The Day of the Sports Festival
Clear skies, the sun blazing, white clouds scattered across a blue canvas. The cheers of the crowd roared through the open-air stadium.
This was the prestige and allure of the U.A. Sports Festival. Even though it was, technically, just a competition between a bunch of fifteen-year-olds, the fact was—many of them would grow up to be famous pro heroes. Witnessing that growth was something to be proud of.
Just like it had been with All Might back in the day.
Unlike other tournaments that drag on for a week, U.A.'s sports festival is a single day—true to the school's style. In that one day, students from the Hero Course (1-A and 1-B), General Studies (1-C to 1-E), Support Course (1-F to 1-H), and Business Course (1-I to 1-K)—over 200 people—would battle it out.
It's three rounds total. The first round slashes the roster down to 42 people. The second round trims it to 16. The final champion comes from those top 16.
Konata's personal goal? Survive until round two, then retire to full salted-fish mode.
Fireworks exploded as the festival officially began. Present Mic—who doubled as their English teacher—was the Year 1 commentator. Konata suspected the real reason he was picked was to save on microphone battery.
Beside him sat their homeroom teacher, Aizawa, who had mostly recovered from the Nomu attack two weeks ago. Compared to Konata—who'd been knocked out for three whole days—he'd gotten off lightly.
One by one, the students entered through their class gates, starting with 1-A.
"Whoa. That's… a lot of people," Konata muttered as soon as she stepped from the shadows into the glaring sunlight, stunned by the sea of spectators. She'd expected a big crowd, but this was way beyond her mental prep.
Every seat in the massive circular stands seemed full—and this was just the Year 1 arena. The Year 2 and 3 sections must be even crazier.
Most of 1-A's members were visibly tense, their steps stiff under the weight of so many eyes. Midoriya, surprisingly, was the calmest. After all, once you've spent a day repeatedly throwing bottles while being stared at by an entire neighborhood, this felt like nothing.
"This is the result of training, huh…"
Midoriya knew that the old him would've been a bundle of nerves, but now he even felt a spark of excitement—because of the promise he'd made to All Might.
And he owed it to one other person. Without her, he wouldn't have been able to handle even 5% of One For All in time for the festival.
He glanced sideways at Konata. If he could stay composed, she'd surely be even better—
—Only to see her walking stiffly, almost in sync like a malfunctioning robot.
Midoriya: "…"
Something feels… off.
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Konata Izumi was feeling absolutely terrible right now.
She honestly thought there couldn't possibly be anything worse in the world than this moment.
With her limited life experience, the most "memorable" moment she could recall was probably when a crowd had gathered around her bloody, mangled corpse, pointing and whispering. And now? Now the number of people in the venue was enormous.
Even if only one in twenty of these people were looking at her, to her that was still an astronomical number—so she was far more nervous than anyone else. She had thought she could overcome her nerves, but clearly she had overestimated herself.
Compared to the other Class 1-A students, she had become the most visibly nervous. Her steps grew stiff and awkward. She tried her best to keep her walk steady, but her unnatural stiffness only drew more attention, which in turn made her even more nervous—it was a vicious cycle with no escape.
As they slowly walked toward the center of the arena, Present Mic in the announcer's booth was delivering an impassioned speech.
"Today, the budding heroes of U.A. High's Sports Festival will face off in the ultimate annual showdown! You've all been looking forward to this, right? These are the miracle rookies who survived a villain attack, overcoming danger with iron will! And among them, there's one girl who stood in front of everyone, blocking the enemy's scheme with everything she had before rescue even arrived—smashing the villain's plan to pieces and creating a miracle—Class 1-A!"
The moment Mic mentioned her, Konata could feel twice as many eyes land on her all at once. Her tension spiked—and in her panicked state, she ended up walking with the rare and majestic "awkward robot walk", which then evolved into a bizarre, family-disowning sort of strut.
"Konata, you—"
Tsuyu Asui, walking right behind her, noticed and tried to warn her. Unfortunately, speaking up made things worse—Konata turned her head reflexively, tripped her left foot over her right, and in full view of nearly the entire stadium, she performed a high-difficulty faceplant, earning herself the "Flat Ground Fall" achievement.
Konata: "..."
Class 1-A: "..."
After realizing that pretending to be unconscious would probably be more embarrassing, Konata let Ochaco Uraraka and Tsuyu Asui haul her upright… while sporting a fresh tuft of grass stuck to her forehead.
Calmly plucking the grass from her hair, Konata glanced toward the flashing cameras at the side of the field and was suddenly overcome with an urge to silence witnesses.
Sure, she'd gotten rid of the grass—but she could already tell that the nickname "blue-haired ahoge girl." would stick with her forever... possibly with an added "faceplant" tag.
Forcing herself to act like nothing had happened, she gave Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco a warm, genuine smile.
"Really, I'm not nervous at all. Just now, gravity simply failed for a moment, so—"
"You're doing that awkward robot walk again."
Konata: "..."
Meanwhile, in a certain famous maid café, the manager proudly pointed at the television.
"Everyone, take a look—falling flat on your face is an essential skill for any maid. Learn from her."
The manager was touched that Konata, who used to work there, hadn't forgotten her maid training even after becoming a hero student.
After "learning" from Konata's performance, the manager expanded the café with a newfound realization:
"Being cute is something you can make a living from."
According to later unofficial statistics, that one fall alone had won Konata quite a few fans in the audience.
...Granted, most of them were lolicons.
After that brief interlude, students from the other entrances poured into the field. More than two hundred people gathered before the judge's podium.
"This year's first-year festival judge is none other than the R-Rated Hero: Midnight!"
Cheers erupted from both students and spectators.
The "R-Rated" wasn't referring to anything unspeakable, but rather to the fact that Midnight's costume was far from child-appropriate, earning her the title of R-Rated Pro Hero.
Midnight
Quirk: Somnambulist—Releases a sleep-inducing aroma from her body. To help spread the scent effectively, her battle costume had always been... on the revealing side.
Looking at the restless faces of the boys around her, Konata gave them a look of pure disdain.
"Seriously? You can't even handle a tight, revealing suit? Please. I've seen everything already."
Still, she was mildly surprised that this shameless teacher—who lived with her, occasionally barged in during showers, and even night-attacked her to use her as a body pillow—was so popular.
"You're all blinded by boobs. Flat is justice,"
Konata sighed deeply.
"Contestant's Oath!"
Midnight, clad in her skintight suit, cracked her whip and winked toward Konata.
"Silence! Contestant representative—Class 1-A, Konata Izumi!"
The moment her name was called, Class 1-A turned to look at her in unison. Everyone still remembered her faceplant just minutes ago—was it really a good idea to have her speak in front of everyone?
"She's the representative?"
"She's the strongest in Class 1-A, though. First place in the entrance exam. Makes sense."
"Yeah, but she looked super nervous…"
Konata's lips twitched. Activating her "Hatsune Miku" skill card in her mind, she stepped forward toward Midnight's podium under the weight of hundreds of stares.
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In a certain sense, the Hatsune Miku transformation—still locked—was the only one among her transformations that allowed her to use part of its abilities even before full activation.
It made sense when you thought about it. Hatsune Miku's unlock requirement was to gain a fanbase of one million people. With such an enormous number, even if she dumped every single song from the system's Hatsune Miku song library onto the internet all at once, completing the task would still take quite a bit of time.
So, to balance the difficulty, Hatsune Miku could use part of her power before completing the unlock task—like now, by temporarily activating the card in the system's space to gain Hatsune Miku's passive bonuses.
Heart of the Diva: Permanent passive. Grants immunity to any negative status effects. Within the range of her song's coverage, all allies gain immunity to abnormal status effects.
The World's Number One Princess: As a true diva, stage fright is impossible. Personal charm on stage is increased; you will always be a dazzling presence under the spotlight.
The reason Konata Izumi had temporarily activated the card now was mainly so she wouldn't get stage fright. She'd already made a fool of herself earlier by tripping flat on her face in front of everyone; if she now stammered and failed to get a single word out during the oath, she might as well find a block of tofu to smash her head on.
With the card activated, Konata walked steadily onto the stage under Midnight-sensei's less-than-friendly gaze.
She glanced at Midnight, who looked slightly surprised. Konata was sure the woman had been hoping to see her mess up again.
The moment Hatsune Miku's passive took effect, all her lingering nervousness vanished, replaced by an overwhelming confidence. It was as if she'd turned into a completely different person—radiant and eye-catching.
"This is…"
The people in the audience, who had seen her earlier faceplant, were wide-eyed with disbelief.
Given how she'd been so nervous she'd walked same-arm-same-leg before, stepping onto the stage alone to face everyone's attention should have made her even more nervous. But the girl on stage now looked as though she had been born for the spotlight.
"Oath… uh—"
Konata suddenly turned to Midnight and whispered,
"Can I say whatever I want right now?"
Midnight gave the dazzling girl in front of her a strange look, then nodded.
"You could even just say you're definitely going to be the champion."
"Mm."
Getting the answer she wanted, Konata turned back to face the two hundred-plus people watching her. Tilting her head slightly, she suddenly gave them a smile.
"Alright then—let me wish everyone the best in getting the rank they're aiming for. Oh, and by the way… there'll be a surprise at lunch."
That radiant smile froze the crowd for one second—then the entire venue exploded into cheers.
So this was the stage-charisma boost Hatsune Miku's passive promised? This terrifying effect was only from a passive skill?
Looking at her excited Class 1-A classmates gathering around her, and noticing other classes sneaking glances over, Konata couldn't help twitching the corner of her mouth.
She hadn't felt anything special while speaking, but judging by the reaction, Hatsune Miku's charm boost had reached a truly frightening level.
Not only that—when she stepped off the stage, she found Midnight's gaze on her had also turned… strange. If they weren't in the middle of the Sports Festival, Konata was pretty sure the woman would have rushed over and hugged her. Hmm… better remember to lock the door tonight. And maybe move a cabinet in front of it.
After this, Konata realized with some helplessness that even if she wanted to stay low-profile, it was impossible now. At least half the media's camera flashes were aimed straight at her—Hatsune Miku truly was terrifying.
While Konata was still spacing out, Midnight regained her composure on stage and began hosting again.
"Alright, let's get started. The first event is the so-called preliminary round. Every year, a large number of students are eliminated here, so from the very start, it's a brutal knockout match. Now then—the first event that will decide your fates…"
She cracked her whip, and a glowing screen appeared behind her, the text on it flashing rapidly.
Moments later, the flashing stopped.
"This year's event is…"
Obstacle Race.
Konata blinked at the words.
"All eleven classes will participate. The course will circle the outer track of the stadium once—a total of four kilometers."
Midnight shot her a sly look.
"Our school has always valued freedom, so as long as you don't leave the course, anything goes—including using your Quirks."
Boom—
The crowd erupted instantly. Over two hundred students looked eager to go—except one.
"Quirks allowed… four kilometers…"
Konata thought over her current abilities and realized, speechless, that she was probably in the bottom tier among everyone here.
Without transforming, stamina was her weakness. Sure, she was in better shape than when she first entered the school, but the improvement was still limited.
"…Might as well just transform into Shana and fly straight to the finish. My only goal is to pass the first round anyway. Four kilometers shouldn't be a problem at her speed."
As she was mulling over this seemingly foolproof plan—
"Let the race begin!"
Midnight's signal rang out.
Konata had been planning to make the first move, but the other students reacted much faster. The moment Midnight's voice fell, they surged forward in a chaotic rush.
"Uh…"
Seeing Izuku Midoriya get squashed in the crowd like a flattened noodle, Konata immediately stopped in her tracks and moved to the very back.
No way. The starting gate was that narrow? With her small frame, if she tried to force her way in there, she'd be squashed against the wall and stuck.
"…Better to wait for the first wave to clear out. We've got four kilometers, after all."
And so, a strange scene unfolded—while everyone else fought desperately to push forward, a long-haired blue-haired girl strolled along at the very back, looking completely relaxed, as if she were just taking a pleasant walk.
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Honestly, while I was going through this chapter, I kept feeling like something was… off.
It's not that anything is wrong exactly—events flow, jokes land, the pacing is fine—but there's a faint sense that a puzzle piece is missing. Maybe it's the transitions between scenes, or maybe the stakes feel softer than I intended. I can't quite put my finger on it. You ever have that moment where you're doing something and you just know you forgot something important, but no matter how hard you think, you can't remember what it was? That's exactly how I feel rereading this chapter right now.
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