Chapter Text
For Himito, the next two weeks were a frenzy of training. Every night he found himself in the gym, exercising under the watchful eye of his dad. Though he was still recovering, his body wrapped up so tightly in bandages he resembled a mummy more than a vampire, Dad had enough energy to drag himself into UA to oversee Himito’s training.
As the sports festival was pretty much an entirely physical event, he focused on conditioning his body. His Quirk likely wouldn’t be much use for the most part, even if he could somehow take blood from the other competitors. They weren’t allowed support equipment that didn’t in some way ensure they could safely use their Quirk, so he couldn’t exactly bring his blood kit, and he didn’t exactly feel comfortable biting into his classmate’s necks.
They were his friends, but some things were just a little too intimate.
So, he worked on his body. He exercised like a machine, far harder than he normally would. He’d gotten third last year, but this year, he wanted to win the whole thing. But that was only a part of the reason he pushed himself so hard.
The other… well. Even if he’d gotten off lightly, the USJ was still etched into his mind. He’d failed to protect his kouhais, his teachers, his dad … but focusing on exercise helped him to push those thoughts aside for a while. Maybe he’d need to deal with them later, but for now, he could ignore them.
The sports festival arrived in the blink of an eye. Snipe gave the class a quick pep talk before sending them to their class’ waiting room. The energy in there was a tense mixture of nervous and excited, and reflected Himito’s own mood. In just a few minutes, they would be stepping out to show themselves off to the world. It wasn’t like their first year festival, which was mostly a formality and didn’t end in a great number of offers for anyone; no, this was the year they were going to start to get noticed , where they would start to gain a reputation, one they’d capitalise on during the internships and, should they pass the provisional licence exam, work studies.
This was the year their hero career started.
Someone cleared their throat, and all heads turned to find Sakamoto-kun, their class president, standing in the middle of the room, “Alright guys, I know we got the real speech to come, so I’ll keep this brief. We are gonna go out there, take names, kick ass, and show the world what 2-B is all about! You with me?”
Himito and his classmates let out a cheer, and he grinned at the class president. To think, just a year ago he was the class delinquent, and now look at him! He and Himito were pretty good friends at this point, though since they both came third last sports festival, there’d been something of a friendly rivalry between them, as they each tried to one-up the other.
This year, it was gonna be a race to the top between the two of them. His grin shifted into a teasing smirk, and Sakamot-kun gave one of his own, bearinghis sharp, shark-like teeth.
“ HEY!!! ” Came Present Mic’s shout from outside, and the responding roar of the crowd was deafening, “ ARE WE READY TO GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD??? ” The crowd yelled louder, stomping their feet wildly, and it was like a drumbeat calling him to war as it pounded in his chest.
“ I’m your host, Present Mic, here today with Snipe to present to you… THE UA SECOND YEAR’S SPORTS FESTIVAL!!! Can I get a ‘YEAHHHHHH’? ”
Unlike when he tried the same line in class, the audience eagerly responded to him, the sound practically shaking the concrete. That was their cue to leave the waiting room and head to the entrance of the stadium, waiting for them to be called in.
“ Are all you little listeners out there ready to meet today’s contestants??? THEN LET’S BRING ‘EM IN! FIRST, they’re the big and bad future of the country… IT’S THE HERO COURSE! 2-A AND 2-B!!! ”
Sakamoto-kun led them out to the shouts of the crowd, and Himito didn’t fail to notice how he glanced over at Fuwa-san, the class president of 2-A, and blushed. Interesting…
They lined up in seat order as Present Mic called out the other courses in turn, and soon the entirety of UA’s second year was gathered on the pitch.
“ And now… introducing your referee… it’s MIDNIGHT!!! ”
Midnight strutted onto the field, laughing and blowing kisses to the crowd, and Himito shook his head fondly at his teacher’s antics. She always was one to preen. She stepped up to the platform in front of them and grabbed the microphone.
“Wow, what a warm welcome!~” She winked at no one in particular, “It’s great to see such a turnout today! Makes me all fuzzy inside!~” She shivered theatrically, and he rolled his eyes a little. Her hero persona was far different to how she acted in lessons, and it was a little jarring to see the change, “But!” She cracked her whip, “We’ve got no time to waste! And, like always, we’ll start with the student pledge!”
Ah. Himito had forgotten about that.
Every sports festival opened with a student pledge, delivered by a student selected by certain criteria. For the first years, that was whoever scored the highest in the public entrance exams. The blonde first year the previous day had… certainly had an interesting take on it. For the third years, it was selected by the teachers from one of the ‘Big Three’. Ironically, the Big Three wasn’t an official designation or role decided by UA. No, years ago, someone had used the term to describe the three UA third years with the greatest heroic potential, and the name had stuck around. Every year there was a media frenzy over who would be crowned the year’s Big Three.
For the second year, though? It was decided by academic achievement. The idea was that each student giving the pledge would represent one of UA’s three pillars: potential, hard work, and success. It was a nice enough sentiment, he supposed.
If only he wasn’t the one who had to give the pledge.
“To give the pledge for the second years, the student with the highest academic achievement of his year, it’s… Kan Himito!”
All eyes turned to him as he walked up to the podium, trying to appear more confident than he actually was. He hadn’t prepared anything; in the rush of training post-USJ, the pledge had completely slipped his mind.
Still, what kind of hero would he be if he couldn’t wing it sometimes?
Midnight handed him the microphone, giving him an encouraging wink, and he turned towards his peers, “The second year sports festival is, I guess, the first time us students are really getting noticed outside of school. So this is our one chance to show ourselves in the best light possible! I pledge to become my best self now, to work harder than ever, and become an inspiration to others, and I hope all of you will join me!” He grinned, letting his teeth poke out, “Let’s go PLUS ULTRA! ” He cheered, thrusting his fist up in the air, and was relieved to see not only the rest of his year, but also the countless audience members join him in one deafening shout of, “ PLUS ULTRA! ”
Grin still on his face, he handed the microphone back to an impressed Midnight, and returned to his class, who all greeted him with high-fives and pats on the back, and Sakamoto-kun grinned back at him as he took his place by his side.
“Well!” Midnight cooed as the applause died down, “Such youthful vigour!~ I love it!” She cracked her whip, “But now, foreplay is over, and it’s time for the main event!~”
On the screen above the announcer’s box, a giant wheel faded into view. It was something of an open secret that the sports festival’s events were predetermined via some algorithm that only Nedzu knew, but this was their way of keeping up the pretence.
“For the first round, it’s…” the wheel spun. Anticipation rose in both the students and the audience. It slowed to a stop and then…
“THE MAZE OF DOOM!” Midnight cheered, and the ground beneath their feet shook as the field behind her suddenly split wide open, a massive stone labyrinth rising out of the ground. They watched in awe as the maze settled into its place, towering high above them.
“This round is simple! All the participants will be set loose into the maze, and must find their way to the other side! But it’s not that easy! The maze is filled with traps and obstacles to keep you on your toes! The first 42 students to reach the exit will move on to the next round! Play nice, everyone!~”
The students hurried up to the entrance of the maze, and Himito could already see how much of a challenge this round would be. The maze was more or less the size of the entire field,and seemed to have several branching paths. Additionally, while the walls of the maze were fairly far apart, they were still tight enough to give people a difficult time if too many tried surging in at once. Such as, for example, the entirety of the second year.
Between this and the first obstacle for the first years, UA really took the incident in the cafeteria at heart, it seemed.
He was going to have to be quick, get ahead of the crowd before they could rush in. Fortunately, he was one of the more agile members of the class.
There was a tense moment of silence as they waited at the entrance, every single student ready to dash off like a bullet from a gun immediately.
The klaxon sounded. Chaos reigned.
Instantly, Himito leapt up out of the crush of the crowd as they surged forward into the maze. He dashed to the wall and jumped off it, getting ahead of the crowd before sprinting as far away as he could.
“ And they’re OFF! 2-B’s Kan Himito is taking an early lead, but the rest of the hero course is close behind him! ”
Himito ran around tight bends and twisting corridors, and almost slammed into a beam across one hallway. Without a second thought, he slid under it and leapt to his feet, carrying forwards.
“ Meanwhile, 2-A’s Fuwa Mawata seems to be blocking off the path behind her. Whaddya think, Snipe?! ”
“Not a bad strategy,” Himito’s homeroom teacher drawled as he narrowly avoided a gout of flame shooting from the walls, “but she better hope it’s the right path, else she’s only screwin’ herself over.”
One advantage of getting out ahead of the competition so early was that he wouldn’t have to worry so much about contending with other people’s Quirks, but his luck seemed to have run out as Sakamoto-kun sprinted past the t-junction ahead, leaving a trail of electricity in his wake.
“ And 2-B’s Sakamoto Akira is gettin’ CHARGED!!! Can Kan get outta this one? ”
“I wouldn’t write him off,” Himito grit his teeth and leapt over the electrified hallway, springing from one wall to another, “Kan’s got a whole posse a’tricks up his sleeve.”
He dropped to the ground and rolled with a grunt, springing to his feet afterwards and continuing through the hallways.
“ BUT what’s this?! 2-A’s magical Yumeno Hikari snatches the lead! She won last year, but can she keep up the streak?! ”
“Kid’s a real fighter, to be sure, but the others’ve been workin’ hard too.”
Himito leapt over a pit trap, ignoring the distant sounds of explosions.
“ Oops! Looks like 2-D’s Nishikino Akane found some of the mine traps! ”
There were mines in this?!
Himito shook his head; he had to stay focused on the game. He could feel the exit was close. Sure enough, he rounded the corner and there, at the end of a long hallway, was the exit.
He dashed forwards.
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as Sakamoto-kun approached from behind, followed quickly by Fuwa-san.
“ Looks like we got a race for first place folks! Who’s it gonna be? 2-A’s president, 2-B’s president, or the pledge giver? ”
The others were gaining on him.
“ They’re drawing even… they’re neck and neck…! ”
Himito grit his teeth and pushed all his energy into his legs, willing them to pump faster as the exit approached and-
“ AND IN FIRST PLACE, 2-B’S KAN HIMITO!!! ”
The crowd went wild as he collapsed to his knees, panting heavily but grinning wildly.
He’d done it.
“ Close behind him, it’s 2-A’s Fuwa Mawata in second, and 2-B’s Sakamoto Akira in third! Give ‘em all a big hand, listeners!!! ”
He rolled over, and smirked up at his class president. This round went to Himito.
The three of them sat to one side and chatted idly as the rest of the slots filled up with their friends and classmates, and by the time the first round was over, Himito felt just about recovered enough for the second. The labyrinth rumbled back into the ground, and the remaining 42 gathered in front of Midnight’s podium for the next event to be revealed.
“It’s… Capture the Flag! Depending on what position you came in last round, you’ll each be given a number of flags!” Himito suddenly had a very bad feeling about this, “42 to 30 get one, 29 to 20 get two, 19 to 11 get three, 10 to 6 get four, and 5 to 2 get five! What about that all important Number One? He’ll be running around with 100 flags!”
He really should have seen this one coming. They pulled the exact same stunt with the first years, after all. Still, that didn’t help when every single student there suddenly turned towards him, pity and greed written across their faces.
“In teams of two to five people, you’ll need to run around and capture each other’s flags while protecting your own! It’s a fast-paced frenzy where things can change at a moment’s notice! The top 4 teams at the end of 30 minutes will move on to the final round!”
They had ten minutes to make a team and create a strategy, and Himito worried he wouldn’t be able to find anyone to pair up with.
Fortunately, his fears were allayed by the least likely person: Fuwa-san.
“I’d’ve thought you’d want your own team.” He admitted when she approached with two others from her class he didn’t recognise.
The pink-haired girl shrugged, “Sakamoto’s gunning for you, and I wanna beat him. Plus, you got a good head on you from what I’ve seen.”
Together, the four of them managed to hammer out a good plan. Simple, but effective.
Unfortunately, this plan also involved Himito rolling atop one of Fuwa-san’s giant cotton balls. The four of them would be primarily focused on defending the 100 flag, which was a flag with 100 written on it, fortunately for them. Himito didn’t know what he’d do if he had to defend 100 individual flags.
As soon as the round started, it was mayhem, every team charging at theirs. Himito sprung up onto the giant cotton ball and started rolling it away as fast as he dared to, and although it worked for the most part, there were still quite a few close calls. Eventually, the attacks died down a little as other teams hunted for easier targets, but Sakamoto-kun had pride on the line. His team was relentless, Takamaki-san hurling blazing motes of fire at them as Koizumi-san - one of Fuwa-san’s classmates - desperately tried to put them out with her water.
Eventually, though, it was Sakamoto-kun who took the win. He blasted them with electricity, and they were too slow to stop him from getting the 100 flag.
Fortunately, they had enough flags to make it to second place, but still…
Himito, one; Sakamoto-kun, one. The third round would be the decider. Before that, however, came lunch, and Lunch Rush’s delicious blood-infused meals he prepared specially for Himito. He liked to think he was the man’s favourite student by virtue of how he pushed him outside of what he usually made.
Lunch flew by as Himito chatted to some of his friends, those who didn’t quite make the cut. There was no resentment, however; there were only so many slots in the final round, and not everyone could get through.
Speaking of the final round…
“The Floor is Lava! A classic kid’s game with a high-stakes twist! Competitors will go head to head in 1v1 tournament-style matches! They will battle across a series of pillars and columns, and try to force their opponent to touch the ground!”
Looking up at the tournament brackets, Himito wouldn’t face Sakamoto-kun until the finals. And what kind of rival would he be if he didn’t make it to that match?
His preceding matches were a tough fight, an intense test of his agility, reflexes and skill, but fortunately, he finally made it to the final fight. He and Sakamoto-kun stood on their starting platforms on pillars at opposite ends of the playing field.
Midnight cracked her whip. Himito was off like a shot, jumping from platform to platform, weaving around the arena in a blur of yellow and blue. Sakamoto-kun laid electrical traps for him on some platforms, but he was easily able to avoid them. His rival may have had the more useful Quirk in this situation, but Himito was practically top of the class when it came to reflexes. There were even rumours he was part cat, as unfounded as they were.
Still, the fight wasn’t easy. Sakamoto-kun had made it this far for a reason; he’d polished his Quirk to a mirror sheen, punishing any tiny mistake Himito made with a brutal arc of electricity.
But Quirks were muscles, and Himito always had better endurance. It only took one stumble from Sakamoto-kun, and he pounced, leaping over to the other boy with feline grace before tripping him up and pushing him off. He hit the sandy ground with a soft thud , and the crowd erupted into deafening cheers.
“Kan Himito wins!” Midnight cried, cracking her whip for a final time. Himito hopped down to the ground and held his hand out to Sakamoto-kun with a smirk. His rival scoffed, rolled his eyes fondly, and took it, and they walked out the stadium together.
The award ceremony came around 20 minutes later, after they’d cleared the arena, and as Himito stood on the podium, beaming up at the crowd, up at his dad who was watching in the teacher’s box, he felt his heart swell with pride.
Izumi shot to her feet, cheering wildly as Kan-kun was proclaimed the winner of the UA sports festival. Sure, her obsession may have cooled a little since they actually spoke again, and she was still desperately embarrassed by her stalking phase - what had she been thinking ? - but she still liked him. Liked him a lot, actually. He was probably the only person in heroics she felt she could trust, really.
He was going to be a great hero, unlike Bakugou .
She scowled at the thought of her old bully. Sure, he’d seemed more subdued in the previous day’s sports festival, his normal proclamation of ‘i’m gonna win’ sounding hollow even to her ears, but none of that made up for everything he did to her. Besides, it probably wasn’t even anything to do with her anyway. He was probably just realising that UA was filled with people who could compete with him.
She shook her head. No use thinking about all that now, she had work to do.
Shigaraki was rather insistent they find the Hero Killer, after all.