Chapter Text
In the fortnight leading up to the sports festival, Nomi trained harder than she ever had in her life. Throwing weights with Senzo, running the length of the beach with Tae – even Sanda was there, for once keeping her barbed comments to a minimum. The sports festival was serious business, and they hadn't the breath to spare for petty insults. Ojiro joined them sometimes in the U.A. weight room, occasionally bringing other classmates from 1-A, like the invisible Toru Hagakure and Mezo Shoji, the boy with six different arms. Nomi had been intimidated by him at first, but she'd learned quickly that he was extremely kind whenever he chose to speak.
Every night she collapsed into bed, sore and exhausted, only to get up and do it all again the next day. Her whole class was somber and contemplative during those two weeks, each one of them absorbed with thoughts of the sports festival. The electricity channeling through the student body built to its breaking point until it was palpable, raising the hair on Nomi's arms when she walked into U.A. the morning of the festival.
The grounds were already swarming with reporters, spectators, and pro heroes, and crowds stretched as far as the eye could see among the multitude of colorful tents and stalls set up outside of the distant stadiums where the festival itself would be held, divided among three stages set apart by class year. Sellers hawked their merchandise and treats, the cacophony of noises and scents reaching all the way into the classrooms of the school, which were abuzz with nervous and excited chatter.
Nomi reached the staircase where she would split with Senzo, Tae, and Sanda. The four stood awkwardly for a moment. They'd been uncharacteristically silent on their walk to school, and it seemed that the heightened anticipation only clamped down on their tongues more. She wasn't sure what her friends had been thinking on their commute, but Nomi's mind had been perpetually stuck on the notion that she would not be competing on the second-year stage with them. Instead, she would be with the other first-years. It hadn't hit her fully until then that she was truly separated from her friends now.
Rather than give in to those depressing thoughts, however, she forced herself to smile. "Well, good luck, you guys. Do your best out there. I'll be cheering you on from the first-year stage."
Senzo and Tae stared at her, sympathetic. Even Sanda looked uncomfortable.
"You too, Nomi," Tae said, wrapping her arms around her friend's neck. "Show those firsties that you're in a different league than them."
Senzo placed a hand on her shoulder that weighed as much as a small boulder. "Yeah. Kick their asses, Nomi."
She chuckled. "I'll give it my all."
Sanda snorted. "We'll see about that."
"Not now, Chizuru," Tae moaned, but Nomi was already squaring her shoulders.
"What was that, Sanda?"
Sanda's eyes glittered as she gazed at Nomi. "To give it your all, you'd actually have to use your Quirk. But since you won't because of that stupid vow not to use it on your classmates, then you can't possibly give it your all." She smirked. "You'll place in the hundreds again and get knocked out early, just like last year."
Tae spun toward Sanda. "Chizuru!"
"What? I'm only pointing out the obvious," she said, waving her hand dismissively.
"This is the worst time for some tough love, Chi," Senzo said with a frown.
Nomi's ears were ringing, drowning out the argument between her friends as they stood in the hallway. Her vision went hazy as she remembered her father's words from dinner the night before.
"I'm sorry I can't be there to cheer you on in person, but I'll be watching the TV at the office." He'd given her a beaming smile and a pat on the hand. "You'll be fantastic, honey. Win or lose, I'm so, so proud of you. Remember that, okay?"
With a creeping sense of horror, she realized that Sanda was right. How could her father be proud of her if she didn't try her hardest? She'd already accepted defeat before the competition even started just by eliminating the use of her Quirk. She'd resigned herself to last place without even noticing it.
Nomi grabbed Tae's and Senzo's wrists. "Stop. She's…" She swallowed hard to get the next words out. "She's right."
Tae looked at her in concern. "Oh, Nomi, don't let her get to you—"
"I'm not." She squeezed her wrist. "I'm not. I promise. I just – have to try. Actually try." She grinned at her friends. "Plus Ultra, right?"
Senzo stared. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when you agreed with Chi."
"Don't call me that!" Sanda turned an appraising eye on Nomi. "Huh. Maybe you have some brains, after all, Katsuragi."
Nomi rolled her eye. "More than you, at any rate." She gave Tae's and Senzo's wrists one last squeeze. "I'm serious. I'll be cheering for you guys. Good luck."
"And we'll do the same," Tae said with a brilliant smile. "We'll meet after the festival is over, all right? Best of luck!"
Senzo ruffled her hair as Tae skipped up the stairs. "See you on the flip side, kid."
He followed Tae, leaving just Nomi and Sanda. The two girls eyed each other critically.
"Good luck," Nomi said stiffly.
Sanda sniffed. "Yeah. You, too, I guess." She hesitated, glaring at some point over Nomi's head. "I meant it, Katsuragi. Don't hold back."
Nomi nodded. "Later, Sanda."
They went their separate ways without another word, and Nomi slipped into her classroom just as the bell rang. Aizawa slouched in right behind her, still encased in his bandages and casts, and she hurried to her seat, hoping he wouldn't call her out for almost being tardy. Fortunately, he only faced the oddly quiet class and gestured to the door.
"You have five minutes to change into your gym clothes before I escort you all to the first-year stadium. If you take longer than that, then you'll have to find your own way there. Hurry up."
They rushed to do what he said, nearly running to the changing rooms. Nomi bypassed a pale-looking Midoriya, but she didn't stop to say anything. She'd have plenty of time for encouragement in the waiting rooms. She jogged by Bakugo, too, swerving around him as he shuffled into the hall. His face was set in his characteristic scowl, but his shoulders were tense. She wondered if his nerves were getting to him.
Serves him right, she thought as she entered the changing rooms and shimmied into her gym uniform. After picking a fight with the rest of the first-years like he did two weeks ago…
Five minutes later, they joined Aizawa in the bright morning sunshine, and he led the way toward the first-year stadium. The air was cool as they crossed the grounds, but the cloudless sky promised a warm afternoon. Nomi wound a piece of hair around her finger nervously as the stadium loomed above them like a giant metal behemoth. The class didn't speak, but their faces pinched as Aizawa led them up multiple flights of stairs before pointing out their prep room.
"Do your best out there," was all he offered in the way of encouragement before they were sealed inside of the room to wait for the opening ceremony.
Nomi took a seat in a folding chair lined up at one of the two tables in the room, where she was quickly joined by Ojiro, Hagakure, Shoji, Mina, Momo Yaoyoruzo, the boy with the head of a dark bird named Fumikage Tokoyami, and another boy with a rocky head that she had noticed hang around Shoji a lot, Koji Koda.
"This is so nerve-wracking!" Mina complained as she threw herself into the chair across from Nomi. "I hate waiting like this!"
"Indeed," Yaoyoruzo said in her prim voice. "It makes my stomach flutter."
"I bet you're not as nervous as the rest of us, right, Katsuragi?" Ojiro said, nudging her shoulder with his tail. "You've already done this once before."
Nomi grimaced when all eyes turned to her. "Honestly, it feels even worse the second time around."
Down the table, Tokoyami nodded his bird head sagely. "Experience doesn't necessarily mean the absence of emotion."
She blinked. "Uh, right. What Tokoyami said." Koda nodded along, looking almost ready to cry. He was already shy and nervous to begin with, but the pressure was clearly getting to him. Nomi tried to brighten the mood. "Anyway! I hope that takoyaki stall they had last year is back this time. It was amazing! One of my classmates totally ate way too much, though, and he got disqualified from the semifinals because he couldn't leave the bathroom. I felt bad for him, but for the rest of the year, everyone called him 'Bathroom-Break-Banki'—"
"Midoriya."
The room went silent at the quiet but cold voice that spoke over Nomi. Shoto Todoroki walked up to Midoriya, who had chosen to remain standing, wringing his hands and muttering to himself near the door. He watched Todoroki approach warily. "Huh? Todoroki? What is it?"
The other boy planted his feet firmly in front of Midoriya. His right side faced Nomi, and all she saw was his white hair and his unblinking gray eye focused on Midoriya. The room watched with bated breath.
"Objectively speaking, I'm stronger than you," said Todoroki, delivering the statement with flat neutrality.
Midoriya jolted in surprise. "I mean...sure…"
"All Might's got his eye on you, doesn't he?" he continued, ignoring Midoriya. "I'm not about to pry into why that is, but either way, I will beat you."
"What does he mean?" Yaoyoruzo whispered behind her hand.
"A declaration of war?" murmured Tokoyami.
Todoroki and Midoriya stared at each other. After a moment, Kirishima stepped in with a nervous chuckle, putting his hand on Todoroki's shoulder. "Hey, man, why pick a fight right now? We're about to go on!"
Todoroki shrugged him off. "I don't care. I didn't come here to make friends."
Nomi exchanged a worried glance with Ojiro next to her. She wondered if she ought to say something before Midoriya clenched his fists and looked up, his green eyes full of fiery determination.
"Todoroki, I'm not sure why you felt the need to tell me you'll beat me. You're clearly stronger, and I can't measure up to most of the others in here with skill, objectively speaking."
Kirishima tried again. "Aw, Midoriya, don't be so negative—"
"But!" said Midoriya, cutting him off. He faced Todoroki, unflinching. "Everyone...even the kids from the other courses are aiming for the top. And I'm...well, lemme say this. I won't fall behind. I'm going for it, too. With everything I've got!"
His words echoed Sanda's from earlier: "Give it your all."
Before anyone could say anything, the buzzer in their waiting room went off, and they all jumped.
"What was that for?" asked Mineta as Nomi climbed to her feet.
"That's our summons to the field," she said, stretching as all eyes went to her. She forced a smile full of confidence that she didn't feel in the slightest. "It's time for the sports festival to begin."
The roar from the crowd was deafening, and the flashes of cameras and video recorders combined with the bright sunlight were enough to make Nomi's head spin as she and her classmates entered the center of the stadium.
"IT'S TIME FOR U.A.'S SPORTS FESTIVAL!" the amplified voice of their teacher and pro hero Present Mic announced, filling the stadium with his booming voice. "LET'S WELCOME THIS YEAR'S FIRST-YEAR CLASSES, YEAH?"
Next to Nomi, Uraraka looked around in awe. "Wow, there are so many people!"
Nomi agreed silently as they filed onto the field. The students of the other courses – general studies, support course, and business course – congregated before a raised platform in the field's center, which boasted a jumbo electronic screen and another of U.A.'s pro hero teachers, Midnight. When everyone had arrived, Midnight cracked her whip, the handcuffs at her wrists jangling with the movement.
"Before we begin," she said, her sultry voice echoing around the stadium, though at a lesser degree than Present Mic, "we'll need the athlete's oath! This year, your student representative is from Class 1-A – Katsuki Bakugo!"
"K-Kacchan?" Midoriya spluttered, his face going white.
Bakugo ignored the shocked murmurs from his own class, striding toward the stage with his hands in his pockets. Nomi watched him nervously as he climbed the stairs and planted his feet in front of the microphone.
Please don't say anything bad, she begged the foul-tempered boy silently.
"Make no mistake about it," he said, eyeing the crowd below him with contempt in his narrow crimson eyes. Nomi held her breath. "I'm gonna take first place."
There was a beat of silence as everyone absorbed his words. Nomi groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead. Then the crowd of students exploded.
Boos from the other first-years inundated the stadium. Bakugo had kicked them into a frenzy of hatred. Somewhere in the crowd, Nomi could hear Iida screaming at Bakugo "Why must you show contempt for the dignity of this event?"
On the stage, Bakugo flicked his chin. "You'll all make great stepping-stones toward my victory."
The other classes positively howled with bloodlust as he left the stage, and Nomi realized with a horrible pinch to her gut that he had just singlehandedly made the targets already on their backs even bigger. As he slouched by, her hand shot out and grabbed his elbow.
"You idiot!" she hissed beneath the glares of their classmates. "If you want to make enemies with everyone else, fine – but leave the rest of us out of it!"
He snatched his arm away from her with a scowl. "Save your breath, Eyepatch. I don't care."
She had the sudden urge to slap him with said eyepatch, but he was already striding off. She fumed as Midnight introduced their first challenge: the obstacle course race. Nomi was only half-surprised; the race was a huge event, and a simple one to cull the number of competitors. She'd failed the make the cut the year before and could only watch the rest of her classmates as they continued without her. She refused to do that this year. Whatever it took, she would make it through to the end.
"Line up!" Midnight slashed her whip. "On your marks!"
Nomi faced the stadium exit with the rest of the first-years, pulling on her ponytail. She'd tightened it so much that her scalp felt as taut as a rubber band, but the strain helped her focus. When the horns blared as their signal to start, she was already moving before she could even register it.
She slipped through masses of rushing bodies, wincing whenever a shoulder or elbow clipped her, but not slowing down. Her feet flew over the grass and into the stadium tunnel, where already the competitors were locked in a heaving, rubber-necking brawl. She swore as she struggled to wade through them, wishing she had Tae's Bounce to clear them all. But getting impatient wouldn't help anything; all she could do was grit her teeth and push forward.
She managed to exit the tunnel not far behind those who had gotten a headstart with their Quirks, and not a moment too soon; the tunnel suddenly iced over behind her, and she felt its biting cold on a blast of air and ice as Todoroki skated past her on a path of ice that he had made. However, he was brought up short when the ground rumbled, and a dozen battle robots appeared, blocking the path to the rest of the course.
Nomi hung back, deliberating; even if she'd wanted to use her Quirk, it wouldn't work on inanimate objects. But waiting around for those with stronger Quirks to take out the bots would only set her back. She needed to find a way around the bots without the use of her Quirk and without waiting. She cast her eye around desperately and landed on a perfect solution.
Before she could even stop to think, she was running again. Her palms were already sweating, and her heart pounded so hard she was surprised it hadn't burst out of her chest yet. Only a few more steps…
Bakugo crouched low, sparks igniting in his hands, preparing to use his explosions to propel himself up and over the bots without wasting a single second fighting them. She didn't know how she'd read his mind, seen his path through the trajectory of his crimson eyes, but she would seize her chance to avoid this mess altogether. She leaped for him just as his palms exploded.
"HAH?!" he screamed as his body launched into the air – as did Nomi's. She clung to him, her arms wrapped around his middle and her face buried in his back to avoid the heat and smoke from his explosions. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, EYEPATCH?! LET GO!"
"If I let go, I'll probably die!" she shouted back. They were at least thirty or forty feet in the air, dangling precariously above the tallest of the bots, but they'd moved so quickly that the bot hadn't even registered them as a target.
Bakugo swore and said something that sounded like he wouldn't care if she died, but he didn't try to blast her off, and in the next few seconds, they hit the dirt on the other side of the bots. Bakugo kept his balance, but Nomi tripped and faceplanted. When she looked up, Bakugo was already racing off, heading for the next obstacle.
"Thanks for the lift!" she called after him.
"SCREW YOU!"
She couldn't help but laugh as she pushed herself to her feet. Several others had already cleared the bots, as well, but she kept her eyes on Bakugo's back as she followed him. Suddenly, the others didn't matter anymore. If she could keep up with Bakugo, then she was bound to place high enough to qualify for the next round. That would be her new goal.
And after she'd gotten far enough, then she'd kick his ass for calling her 'Eyepatch.'
It didn't take her long to reach the next obstacle, about halfway through the mile-long track encircling the stadium. The roar of the crowd was nearly deafened by that point, only a dull, distant drone like the cicadas in summer. Nomi's breath rasped in and out of her lungs, scraping against her throat and turning it raw. But she would've kept running forever—if only she could.
The ground opened in front of her, a giant pit that spanned ten meters or more. Cables spiderwebbed across the chasm, along with several scattered rocky platforms, hanging precariously over the deep pit filled with mud and rocks below. It was an obstacle, all right, and one she most certainly couldn't use her Quirk to overcome.
She looked to the other side of the chasm. Smoke and explosions filled the air ahead of her, and she guessed Bakugo had had no trouble clearing the pit, but his lead wasn't huge. Several others from their class had passed the bots with relative ease and had now caught up, the foremost being Todoroki. Nomi had to marvel at the sheer aplomb with which he used his Quirk. The cold that emanated from his right side was a living, dexterous thing that responded to his every thought. He shaped the ice to him as he quickly cleared the pit and chased after Bakugo, leaving her stunned in his wake. She had half a mind to follow him along the icy bridge he'd built for himself, but it seemed he'd prepared for a strategy like that because the bridge crumbled into little more than sparkling shards as soon as he was across.
"Hm. That's bothersome."
Nomi glanced to her side. A tall boy with violet hair and half-lidded eyes that gave him a perpetual air of boredom stood beside her. Oddly, he was surrounded by several other students she didn't recognize but who stood close to him, looking at the pit with dazed, glassy-eyed expressions.
The violet-haired boy wasn't in Class 1-A, but she got the feeling she'd seen him before. In the halls, maybe?
She didn't know if he was talking to her, but she chose not to respond. If she wanted to keep up, she needed to start crossing the pit. She knelt and grabbed one of the cables. It was strong and sturdy, only wavering slightly when she put her weight on it, but she still sighed when she realized how arduous it was going to be to climb across like a sloth. Thank goodness she'd done all that extra strength training with Senzo.
Sweat dripped off the back of her neck as she crawled at a painstaking pace, focusing on putting one hand and one foot in front of the other until she was safely on the other side. She didn't dare look down and refused to acknowledge all the other competitors bypassing her with their Quirks. She didn't have to come in first – hell, she wasn't even expecting to – but she had to place high enough to move to the next round. She couldn't let herself fall into despair or overconfidence, either – she just had to keep moving forward.
Just when she thought her arms were about to give out entirely, she reached the other side and all but collapsed into the dirt. Her muscles burned, her legs shook, and her arms flopped lifelessly at her sides, but she had made it, and she had to keep going.
Run, she thought. She began stumbling forward, her bangs plastered uncomfortably to her face and sweat pouring into her eye, but if she was moving, that didn't matter. Run and don't stop. Run and catch up to him.
Another quarter mile and she had reached the last obstacle.
And of course, it's a freaking minefield.
They weren't actual mines, she was relieved to see, but as she watched, an unwitting student stepped on one and was sent flying into the air with a large BOOM and a blast of lurid pink bubbles.
All right, whatever, fine. I can do this. Slow and steady…
She cringed every time she took a step, expecting it to blow her off her feet and out of the festival at large, but miraculously, she was still tiptoeing toward the end and the finish line. The stadium loomed just above; the end was in sight. But she was moving too slowly for her own liking; she was being passed left and right. Tsu hopped by her with all the agility of a frog, and even Kaminari ran past, sweating and swearing under his breath.
Forget it, she thought. Time to throw caution to the wind—
BOOOOOOM!
The ground bucked beneath her feet at the same time a gust of air and bubbles slammed into her back. She looked up, coughing, and her eye widened.
"Midoriya?"
The green-haired boy cut through the air like a missile – and he rather looked like one, carrying what looked like a piece of scrap metal from the battle bots as a shield. Nomi glanced over her shoulder and saw a smoking gouge in the earth. Had he purposefully triggered the mines and used their velocity to clear the whole field?
She shook her head; she couldn't waste time pondering what he had done. He was already far, far ahead of her, in front of the competitors, where she could just get a glimpse of Bakugo and Todoroki wrestling each other for first place – until Midoriya sailed right over them, taking the lead.
Nomi began to sprint as another boom rocked the earth, this time from the front. She passed Kaminari up where the boy was still standing, openmouthed and wide-eyed after Midoriya's stunt. She only hoped her luck held out and she wasn't blown up before she reached the end of the field; she doubted she'd be able to pull off the same move as Midoriya had.
Whatever deity she'd pleased that day was looking out for her; she cleared the minefield, and then there was nothing but a stretch of dirt track between her and the stadium. It felt like her heart or legs would give out at any moment, but she kept running as hard as she could. Perhaps it was foolish of her to use up so much stamina during the first round, but all that mattered at the moment was ensuring she did make it past the first round. She'd worry about recovery after.
Dozens of people raced next to her, in front of her, and behind her, but all she saw was the stadium tunnel and that white light beyond, the cheering crowd, the finish line—
"AND ONLY A FEW MINUTES BEHIND OUR LEADERS COME YOSETSU AWASE, NOMI KATSURAGI, DENKI KAMINARI—"
Nomi's attention was captured by the leaderboard. She'd heard Present Mic call her name but – there. Katsuragi Nomi followed by a flashing green number: 24. If she remembered correctly, only the first fifty or so made the first cut. Which meant…
"Congratulations!"
Nomi looked up from her wobbling knees and saw Ojiro standing over her with a bright smile.
"Good work," he said and offered his hand.
She took it gratefully as he presented her with a bottle of water in his other. "Thanks. You, too. Twelfth place, right? Not bad."
He grimaced. "I was hoping to break into the top ten, but I'll take it." He shook his head. "Going up against guys like Bakugo and Todoroki… Yeah, I can't complain." His dark eyes glinted with amusement when he turned back to her. "Although, maybe I would've gotten farther if I'd used Bakugo as a jetpack, too."
Nomi spit up some water. "You saw that?"
"Pretty sure everyone did." He grinned. "If they didn't see it, then they definitely heard Bakugo screaming at you."
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I had to come up with a plan fast. It just so happened that he turned out to be the plan."
Ojiro chuckled. "If it worked, then it worked." He looked around as more and more people finished the obstacle course and reentered the stadium. "I wonder what's next?"
"If it's following last year's formula, it'll probably be a team activity." She pulled a face. "Yay."
"Well, we should wait for Midnight's announcement and see." His cheeks reddened as he glanced toward their teacher and her scanty costume, and Nomi rolled her eyes. "Let's get a good place to stand by the stage."
"Yes, we wanna make sure we're right there to hear her better," Nomi said as they strolled over. "And see her better."
She cupped her hands suggestively, and Ojiro choked. "Nomi!"
She laughed. "Oh, that's a great face. I wish I had my phone. I want to make that my new lock screen."
"That's hardly appropriate," he sputtered.
"And?"
He must have realized he was about to fight a losing battle, for he just shook his head. She patted his hair. "Good boy."
He only sighed in response.
The second round was a cavalry battle.
It was a team activity like Nomi had predicted, with each of the forty-two players who'd made the cut assigned a tiered point value. Since Midoriya had come in first place during the obstacle race, he held a whopping value of one million points, and Nomi was suddenly grateful for her place as every eye turned on Midoriya in calculation and anticipation, for whichever team held the most points at the end would win the second round.
"Poor guy," Ojiro murmured after Midnight sent them off to form teams with a crack of her whip. "No one's gonna want to partner up with him. He's public enemy number one now."
"We could team up with him," Nomi said. "Stay on defense, run out the clock, protect the million points."
"Our Quirks aren't really suited for defense, though, are they?" he said.
"Oh. Good point." She tugged at her eyepatch in frustration. "Who else, then?"
"Excuse me."
They turned, and Nomi recognized the vaguely familiar violet-haired boy from the pit. His eyes were the precise shade of purple as his hair, and they passed over Nomi and Ojiro lazily, sizing them up.
After he had reached some internal conclusion, he met their gazes evenly. "You're from 1-A, right? I'm Hitoshi Shinso. Why don't we team up together?"
Nomi and Ojiro exchanged a glance before speaking at the same time.
"We're good—"
"No, thank you—"
And that was the last thing Nomi remembered before her senses were ripped away and her mind shuttered closed.