Chapter Text
“What do you mean Icy Hot isn’t participating!?” Bakugou shouted at their 2nd year home room teacher, Mr. Iida.
Iida’s older brother, Tensei, had joined the faculty of U.A. after his hero work was cut short by Stain. He’d endured months and months of physical therapy so he could start his new life as a teacher by the time the school year started. He’d still be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, but with his savings as a hero he was able to get one that levitated for easier movement.
Iida had not been very happy that his brother was his teacher. He was worried about nepotism. Mr. Iida had shot down all arguments his younger brother made and assured him he would treat him like every other student at the school. For the rest of the class, they were still getting used to the dynamic they brought to the lessons and saying ‘Mr. Iida’.
“Due to recent events I’m sure you’re aware of, Todoroki has asked to withdraw,” Mr. Iida didn’t ever respond to Bakugou’s outbursts even though he was a new teacher. None of the faculty did anymore.
The news of Endeavor’s recent death was all anyone was talking about right now. Todoroki wasn’t in school today otherwise Bakugou probably would have slapped him. Deku was particularly forlorn as well, seeing that he had lost a mentor. He also was deeply empathic to Todoroki. Ochako knew he was talking to Todoroki every night to check up on him and it seemed to be taking a toll on Deku as well.
Bakugou yelled in frustration.
“When I win again, it won’t matter AGAIN!” Bakugou was fuming. Ochako stifled a giggle. Aizawa had made everyone, including Bakugou, take mandatory therapy sessions after the events involving the paranormal liberation front a few weeks ago. Twice a week, every week. If he hadn’t been going, she was sure he’d had flipped over at least a couple desks at the announcement.
“Your win last year was deserved, Bakugou. If you win again this year, I’m sure it will be deserved as well,” Mr. Iida continued. “Now, can I continue with the class?”
“Whatever,” Bakugou snarled with his arms crossed.
The sports festival came in the next couple days. Ochako, Iida, and Tsu had a great time watching this year’s first years. Deku seemed out of it but would occasionally mumble something to himself about their tactics or quirks. He didn’t have his notebook, though, Ochako had noticed.
When it was their turn to prove their capabilities, Ochako walked into the arena next to her classmates with a wide grin, waving to the stands as the spectators cheered. She was determined to place better this year.
“Class 2-A was all the rage last year at the sports festival,” Present Mic’s voice carried across the stands. “Let’s see how they fare this time around! I’ve heard Class 2-B is shooting for the top places and rumor has it they’ve been training extra hard in hopes of beating the famous Class 2-A!”
Some of Class 2-B raised their fists and made cheering sounds.
“Tch, like those extras stand a chance,” Bakugou’s teeth were bared as he growled his words.
“C’mon man, they held their own last year!” Kirishima banged his fists together. “I hope they bring their all today. It’ll make it more of a challenge!”
Deku was staring at the ground. His heart just wasn’t in it right now. Plus, with Todoroki gone still, the class had a cloud over them even if they weren’t close to Shouto. Missing one of their own chipped away at their resolve.
After all the second year classes finished their entrances, Principal Nedzu started talking.
“We all know it has been a very hard year and we thank you all for coming to support the future of these prospective heroes. In a time with so little staying the same, we hope that this sports festival brings welcome familiarity to otherwise difficult times. With so much still left to resolve, these young people are the bright lights that I believe will pave a better way for humankind in the years to come. As some of you may have noticed, I am not our usual host. I would like to take a moment to remember our beloved Midnight. May her sacrifice and heroics be remembered forever.”
The stands were silent and the participating classes bowed their heads.
“Thank you, without further ado, please welcome back our explosive winner from last year to start off the games, Katsuki Bakugou!”
The crowd hesitantly cheered as he walked onto the podium. Bakugou was stoic as he talked into the microphone.
“Everyone better do their best. I’m not about to win against people who didn’t live up to their potential in a fight again.”
The few people cheered but most of the stands were quiet as he walked away.
“A confident young man who encourages everyone to try as hard as they can!” Principal Nedzu spun it. “Now onto the first match!”
Principal Nedzu did a funny jig and gestured to the screen that quickly went through all the possible games. It landed on one called Escape the City.
“Wonderful! This first match is called Escape the City! Participants must maneuver through our makeshift city watching out for villains and civilians alike. Villains can be defeated if you need to but avoiding them is also a fine strategy. However, hurting or scaring civilians will cost in a time addition to your overall score when you finish.”
“That means that, even if you come in first, if you screw up with the civilians enough you could possibly not make it to the next round,” Kaminari looked scared.
“Maybe don’t fire off your quirk this round,” Sero patted him on the back.
“The top 40 best times will move onto the next round!” Principal Nedzu pointed at a clock that was positioned above an archway. “Your time starts now!”
Bakugou immediately blasted his way to the front and began flying through the tunnel to the fake city.
“Good strategy,” Deku mumbled as he ran next to Ochako. Iida and Tsu had already taken off, leaving them in the dust. Deku could have easily outran Ochako using his full cowling but didn’t seem to care that much. Ochako noted that he could probably catch up after talking to her. “Everyone already knows our quirks so why not just burst out of the gate as fast as you can.”
“Mhm,” Ochako nodded. He was right. If Ochako could move fast like that she’d probably have done the same thing.
“Anyway, I’m going to try to catch up, I guess,” Deku sighed. His eyes were so sad. “Talk to you later.”
Deku went into full cowling and sped past the competition.
“Holy shit!” Tetsutetsu said as he saw a green blur fly past him.
Ochako quickly made her shoes and clothes weightless to make herself a little faster.
The tunnel led to a destroyed train station that had an abandoned train that they obviously had to navigate through.
“Help me!” Someone screamed. No one else seemed to notice as they ran onto the train and through the cars. Ochako saw a woman underneath the train and went to check on her.
“Are you okay? How can I help?” Ochako didn’t want to get too far behind but this must be part of the game. People were running past her, glancing in her direction which was offset from the main path but Ochako didn’t think they could tell what she was doing.
“I’m okay. I hid when the villains attacked but they moved on through the train. I don’t know if anyone else is okay.”
“I’ll make sure I can get who I can to safety. What I can do right now is make sure you get to safety.” Ochako thought for a moment. She didn’t think bringing the woman along would help her or was the right move. She had said she was okay. “Do you know where the closest hospital is?” Ochako asked.
The woman smiled and nodded.
“Great, since you told me you’re okay, please make your way there. If you run into any villains do exactly what you did here and hide. Other heroes will be on their way soon,” Ochako began to run. She’d fallen so far behind. The woman made her way to what seemed to be a secret exit in the train station.
Faster, Ochako thought to herself over and over again. She made her way through the train cars finding the robotic villains that had already been taken out. There weren’t any other civilians on the train.
When Ochako made it out of there, she saw an opened maintenance door. It looked like it had been blasted off its hinges.
“Bakugou,” Ochako muttered. She was determined to catch up to him. She wouldn’t go down without a fight. A fire burned in her stomach.
“Let’s do this,” Ochako said fiercely to herself. She ran through the door and was almost hit in the face by a robotic arm.
“Die, hero scum,” the robot said in a static voice.
Ochako barely dodged the attack but used the movement of the robot to flip him on his back. She stomped on it as hard as she could to break what was obviously the control panel on its chest. Ochako noted that they were pretty easy to take down. At least these ones were.
She continued through the maintenance room and went up a ladder that led to the surface of the city.
“Oh, wow,” Ochako couldn’t help but say as she saw the expanse of the fake city.
Buildings could be seen for a least a mile or a mile and half. Disasters seemed to be happening left and right. Civilian actors and robotic villains could be seen everywhere. Ochako kept moving, noticing that Iida was helping an actor with a fake cut on their forehead. Deku was talking to a crying ‘child’ and ended up carrying her away to what Ochako could only assume was the fake hospital. It was a little out of the way of the exit that Ochako could make out at the edge of the city.
Ochako could now hear Present Mic’s voice through the air.
“Looks like Principal Nedzu conveniently forgot to mention that the civilians would be needing heroic assistance. This might put a wrench in some of the strategies of the students. I mean, what’s scarier than a hero that doesn’t help them.”
“Damn, he’s right,” Ochako muttered to herself. What she didn’t know for sure was if helping them would help her in the long run.
Ochako kept moving. She wasn’t moving as fast as she would like as she could see Bakugou more than half a mile in front of her.
It was time to pull out something she’d been working on for a couple months.
Ochako put her fingers on her forearm and focused. She was slowly learning how to remove just some of the gravity on something making it easier for her to get around with jumps without flying into the atmosphere. It just took a bit of time and concentration.
Ten seconds went by and Ochako was ready to soar.
Taking a big running start, Ochako pushed off the ground and jumped in a huge arch. The only negative was Ochako couldn’t really control her descent speed without releasing her quirk altogether.
“Nice, Uraraka!” Kirishima yelled as he destroyed a villain.
“Ochako Uraraka bringing out a stunning jump to make up for some lost distance. Based on that leap, it looks like Class 2-B aren’t the only ones that have been training,” Present Mic’s voice carried over the chaos underneath Ochako.
Ochako finally made it to the ground and began running at top speed.
“Please help!” Another voice called out.
Ochako saw a man trapped underneath some rubble. She quickly went over, removed the rubble using her quirk, and checked him out.
“I can’t walk,” the man told her.
“That’s okay,” Ochako was focused. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to use my quirk on you. I encourage you not to move besides wrapping your arms around my neck when you get to that level.”
The man nodded and Ochako did as she said she would. Once the man’s arms were wrapped around her, Ochako jumped to the top of the building.
“Are you still okay?” Ochako asked the man as they landed on the roof.
“Yes, no pain.”
“That’s great. I’m going to do another leap towards the hospital. Then you’ll be able to be helped by the medical staff.”
“Thank you, miss!”
Ochako took another leap and within thirty seconds she was carefully delivering the man to the hospital front gates.
“Release!” Ochako said as he was put on a stretcher. “You’re safe now!”
“Thank you for the help, young lady.”
Ochako nodded with a smile and then panicked as she saw less and less of the students near her. She had to get out of this fake city as soon as possible. It was then she got an idea to get to the exit fast.
She reapplied her lessened gravity and climbed up the side of the hospital building. When Ochako could see the exit, it was a straight shot from the hospital.
Taking a deep breath, she made herself entirely weightless and pushed off the building with all her strength.
Ochako flew toward the exit with alarming speed. She’d have to time the landing perfectly to not hurt herself.
As she soared above the city, she saw students still trying to escape. The villains were more clustered at the exit and she noticed Tetsutetsu was bulldozing past them. She didn’t see Deku or Bakugou or the majority of her class and realized with a panic that they must have already finished.
Avoiding the cluster of villains, Ochako landed a little rougher than she planned just a few feet from the exit. Ignoring the other students behind her fighting to make their way through, Ochako got up and finally escaped the city.
The crowd cheered as Ochako burst into the lights of the arena and gave a wave and a smile. She was breathing heavily though. That extended flight had made her very nauseous.
With a hopeful glance around, Ochako realized she had qualified. She allowed herself an excited jump and went over to be with her friends. She counted at least 20 other qualifying students before she had managed to make it to Iida, Deku, and Tsu. How badly had she done?
“That last jump was great!” Tsu exclaimed, giving Ochako a high five.
“Thanks,” Ochako was still a little out of breath.
“I wonder what the next challenge will be,” Iida was looking around at the contestants sizing them up.
“Probably another team battle based on the sports festival’s history,” Deku commented. He was right. They almost always had a team battle in at least one the days.
“Looks like our final qualifying student has made it out of the city!” Principal Nedzu shouted excitedly into the microphone. “Here are the results!”
The scoreboard popped up and Ochako quickly sped through the names. Deku was first for the second year in a row. Looks like Bakugou had scared some civilians as he had time additions for civilian infractions added. Even with that he was in second place. Iida was in third, Tokoyami fourth. Ochako kept reading the names and was disappointed to see that she’d done worse than she initially thought.