Chapter Text
The first sign something was wrong appeared at breakfast, Aizawa walked into the cafeteria carrying coffee.
Which wasn't unusual. Aizawa carrying a second coffee, however, was deeply concerning.
The entire table noticed immediately.
Kaminari pointed dramatically "He's planning something." "Or he forgot he already had one," Jirou replied.
"No."
"He absolutely did."
"No. That's evil coffee."
Aizawa stopped beside their table. Everybody immediately sat up straighter.
Even Katsuki.
Slightly.
"Attendance is mandatory tomorrow."
Collective groan, Aizawa ignored it.
"Transportation leaves at seven." The groaning intensified "Training session?" Midoriya asked.
"No."
"Evaluation?"
"No."
"Race?"
"No."
"What are we doing?" Ashido asked.
Aizawa took a long sip of coffee.
"Ferrari rented a facility."
Silence.
"...What."
Aizawa walked away.
Just left.
Like he hadn't detonated a bomb in the middle of breakfast. Chaos erupted instantly.
----
The next morning looked worse.
Two buses full of increasingly suspicious racing students rolled through the countryside for nearly two hours. The further they drove from the city, the more confused everyone became.
Until finally-
The buses rounded a hill.
And the track appeared.
Not a Formula circuit. Not a Ferrari testing facility.
Not some futuristic academy complex.
A karting track.
Silence.
The entire bus stared.
"...That's a kart track."
"No."
"That's literally a kart track."
"We drove TWO HOURS for rental karts?" Kaminari looked genuinely betrayed.
"We got kidnapped."
The bus doors opened.
Aizawa stood "Off."
Nobody moved.
"Now."
----
The facility was surprisingly beautiful.
Large paddock.
Floodlights.
Timing tower.
Multiple layouts.
Professional garages.
Ferrari banners everywhere.
But still, rental karts.
The class looked offended.
Then a voice echoed across the paddock.
"GOOD MORNING LOSERS."
Oh no.
Touya.
Touya stood on top of a stack of tires wearing sunglasses despite the cloudy weather.
Coffee in one hand.
Microphone in the other.
The entire class groaned.
Shouto physically covered her face.
"No."
"YES."
Touya jumped off the tires dramatically.
"Welcome to Ferrari's Grassroots Initiative."
Nobody trusted that smile. Not even a little.
Touya pointed toward the rows of karts.
"This."
Pause.
"Is where racing starts."
Nobody spoke.
Touya's grin widened.
"No custom academy setups."
Silence.
"No telemetry teams."
More silence.
"No Ferrari steering wheels."
Shouto visibly winced, Katsuki noticed immediately.
Interesting.
"No excuses."
Now Katsuki looked interested.
Very interested.
Touya pointed at him.
"There he is."
"The hell does that mean."
"You got excited."
"I did."
"Good." The grin became dangerous.
"Because today's gonna hurt."
---
Helmet fitting took almost an hour, mostly because nobody could stop asking questions.
And because Touya kept making things worse.
"Wait," Kaminari said slowly. "Did YOU race karts here?"
Touya laughed "No."
"Then why are you acting like you own the place?"
"I helped design half of it."
Silence.
"What."
Touya pointed toward one of the corners "I built that section." another corner "Built that one too."
Another "That hairpin almost killed three engineers."
"TOUYA."
"What? It made them better."
The class stared.
Then somebody asked the question.
Naturally it was Ashido "...Did Shouto race here?"
Touya froze, then the slowest grin imaginable spread across his face.
Oh no.
"No."
Shouto immediately narrowed her eyes "Don't."
"She practically lived here." The class turned instantly.
"TOUYA."
"She was here before school."
"TOUYA."
"After school."
"TOUYA."
"Weekends."
"TOUYA."
"Christmas."
The class exploded.
"YOU RACED ON CHRISTMAS?"
"It was raining!"
"THAT'S NOT BETTER."
---
The first stories started before anyone even got on track.
Touya wandered through the paddock pointing at random sections.
"Oh yeah."
No.
"Oh no."
"She crashed there." the entire class turned.
Shouto immediately looked offended "I was nine."
"You blamed the tire wall."
"IT MOVED."
Silence.
Katsuki blinked "...Fair."
Shouto pointed triumphantly "THANK YOU."
Touya looked personally betrayed "No."
"Yes."
"No."
"YES."
Another corner Touya pointed again "First tantrum."
The class froze.
Shouto froze.
Endeavor, who had appeared out of nowhere somehow, took a sip of coffee "Age seven."
Traitor.
Actual traitor.
The class lost it.
"YOU HAD TANTRUMS?"
"Everybody has tantrums."
"Not enough to get remembered by a TRACK."
Touya was crying laughing "She got second."
"I WAS ROBBED."
"By who?"
"Children."
"YOU WERE A CHILD."
The stories got worse as the day went on.
Much worse.
By lunch everyone had learned:
Shouto started karting at four, technically three according to Touya.
She once bribed a marshal with candy.
She blamed weather for everything.
She blamed tire barriers for everything else.
She got banned from using puddles as shortcuts.
"That happened ONCE."
"Three times."
"ONE."
"Three."
"ONE."
"THREE."
---
Then somebody found the rain photo.
Old.
Framed.
Hanging inside the paddock building.
Tiny Shouto. Soaked head to toe.
Standing beside a kart almost bigger than she was.
Huge smile.
Pink helmet.
The pink helmet.
The class immediately crowded around it.
"Oh my god."
"IS THAT THE HELMET?"
"THAT'S THE HELMET."
Shouto immediately looked ready to leave the country.
Touya looked thrilled "Oh this one's good."
"No."
"YES." Touya pointed dramatically.
"First rain win."
The room quieted slightly.
Even Katsuki.
Because somehow-
that mattered.
"She was six."
Silence.
"What."
"Six."
"That's not a real age."
"It was pouring." Touya's grin softened slightly "The race almost got cancelled."
Endeavor nodded "Half the grid retired."
"And she refused."
The room went quiet.
Shouto rubbed the back of her neck "The kart weighed more than I did."
"You couldn't see over the steering wheel properly."
"I could."
"Barely."
"I WON."
The entire room exploded laughing.
But Katsuki didn't.
Not immediately.
Because suddenly-
Wet Conditions made sense.
The smile.
The rain.
The confidence.
The way she'd looked almost relieved when visibility disappeared.
She'd been doing this forever.
---
Then they finally raced.
And it was horrible.
For everyone.
Except Shouto.
And Katsuki.
The two of them immediately vanished from the pack.
Fighting through corners.
Trading positions.
Sliding karts through turns.
Laughing.
Actually laughing.
Touya watched from the timing tower.
Then nudged Endeavor.
"See it?"
"Hm."
"They're having fun."
For a second neither spoke. Watching two first-years throw rental karts into corners like their lives depended on it.
Then Endeavor nodded once like he understood something new.
"They are."
And somehow-
that seemed to matter to him.
A lot.
The races got progressively worse.
For everyone except Shouto and Katsuki.
The more laps they ran, the more the two of them disappeared from the rest of the field.
No telemetry.
No engineers.
No academy equipment.
Just instinct.
And apparently that was a problem.
Because every single race somehow turned into a personal argument.
"You pushed me wide."
"You left space."
"That wasn't space."
"It was enough space."
"THAT'S NOT HOW SPACE WORKS."
Meanwhile everyone else was fighting for survival, Kaminari spun into grass twice Ashido somehow discovered drifting. Iida was visibly suffering every time someone made an aggressive pass.
Midoriya spent half his races muttering strategy adjustments to himself.
The paddock echoed with laughter all afternoon.
Real laughter.
Not academy stress.
Not evaluation anxiety.
Just people racing because racing was fun.
---
By the final race the sun sat low across the circuit.
Orange light reflected off helmets.
The air smelled like:
rubber
fuel
hot brakes
summer grass
Comfortable.
The final grid lined up.
Twenty students.
Identical karts.
One race.
Touya stood near the start lights.
Microphone in hand.
Already causing problems "Before we begin."
Groans immediately.
"I'd like everyone to know Shouto once cried after losing by three tenths here."
"TOUYA."
"Thought it was relevant."
The lights went green before she could kill him.
---
The race immediately became chaos.
Karts scattered into Turn One. People diving for positions.
Someone locked a tire.
Someone else missed an apex completely.
Katsuki barely noticed.
Because Shouto was already ahead.
Of course she was.
The gap wasn't large.
Just enough.
The kind of gap that felt like a challenge.
The kind she knew he'd chase.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
Katsuki grinned inside his helmet.
Then went after her.
---
The final laps became a battle.
Not because either needed to win.
Because neither knew how to stop competing.
Side by side,
Corner after corner.
Trading positions.
Fighting exits.
Neither willing to back down.
The crowd around the paddock started cheering.
Then yelling.
Then fully choosing sides.
"GO TODOROKI."
"GO BAKUGOU."
"HE CUT THE CORNER."
"SHE PUSHED HIM."
"THAT'S NOT EVEN THE SAME INCIDENT."
Absolute chaos.
---
The final corner arrived.
One lap left.
One chance.
Shouto entered first.
Katsuki exited first. Barely.
By less than half a kart length.
The finish line flashed beneath them.
And for one second-
neither really cared who won.
Because both were laughing, actual laughing.
Helmets on, still laughing.
---
Back in the paddock everybody looked exhausted. Sweaty, dirty. happy.
The kind of tired that only comes after a really good day.
Then Ferrari staff appeared.
Carrying boxes. Lots of boxes.
The class slowly quieted. Katsuki noticed Shouto frown slightly.
Interesting.
She clearly didn't know what was happening either.
Endeavor stepped forward.
The paddock immediately settled, even Touya shut up.
Which honestly got everyone's attention more than Endeavor did. The former world champion looked across the students quietly.
Taking them in, every single one.
Then:
"When Ferrari first reviewed U.A.'s racing program..."
Silence.
"We expected talent."
The class listened.
"We found more than that."
Nobody moved.
"We found future drivers."
The paddock felt strangely still.
"As of today, Ferrari will sponsor Class 1-A for the remainder of the academic year."
Nothing happened.
For about three seconds.
Nobody processed it.
Then:
"WHAT."
Chaos.
Immediate chaos.
Kaminari nearly fell backwards. Ashido screamed.
Midoriya looked moments from achieving enlightenment.
Touya looked delighted.
The boxes opened.
Ferrari jackets.
Gear bags.
Driver notebooks.
Access passes.
Gloves.
Track equipment.
Simulator privileges.
Professional resources. Actual professional resources.
The kind of things young racers dreamed about the class immediately started comparing everything.
Showing each other gear.
Trying on jackets, arguing over designs.
The entire paddock exploded with excitement.
---
Katsuki opened his own box quietly.
The jacket sat folded neatly on top.
Ferrari.
Real Ferrari.
Not merchandise.
Not a replica. His.
For a second he just stared.
Then a small envelope slid loose from the box.
Interesting.
Katsuki opened it.
Inside was a handwritten card.
Short.
Only one sentence.
'Keep trusting your instincts.'
- Endeavor
Silence.
Tiny silence.
Just for a second.
Then Kirishima appeared immediately.
"What'd you get?"
"Nothing."
"You're smiling."
"No I'm not."
"You literally are."
"SHUT UP."
---
Across the paddock Shouto was talking with a few Ferrari engineers.
Laughing at something.
Relaxed and comfortable. Like she belonged here.
But what hit Katsuki unexpectedly was:
So did the class,not because of family names.
Not because of sponsors.
Not because of money.
Because they'd earned it.
Every single one of them.
---
The bus ride home was loud.
Then quieter.
Then sleepy.
The sunset faded outside the windows.
One by one students passed out, Ferrari bags rested beside seats.
Jackets folded carefully across laps the excitement slowly settling into reality.
Katsuki sat near the back.
Looking out the window.
Ferrari welcome kit resting beside him.
His keys dangling loosely from one hand, the tiny pink Ferrari keychain swung beneath them.
Still there.
Still attached.
Still stupid.
Across the aisle Shouto noticed immediately.
Of course she did.
Their eyes met briefly. Then she looked at the keychain.
Then at him.
A tiny smile appeared.
Sleepy and soft.
Dangerously real.
No teasing.
No comments.
Just that little smile.
The one that always felt different somehow then she put her headphones back on, leaned against the window and closed her eyes.
The rest of the ride passed quietly.
But for some reason-
the keychain felt a little lighter in his hand.
And the Ferrari jacket beside him felt a little heavier.
Like today had changed something.
Not dramatically. Not all at once.
Just enough to matter.