Heroes of Today

Part 8~Scars

“Look! I’ve got a scar!” Naka raised his leg above his head with surprising flexibility that would have been useful during the Quirk Apprehension Test.

“Put your leg down,” Akiko grumbled, embarrassed by her friend’s behaviour.

“But it’s cool, Akiko!”

“You won't think that once you’ve got them everywhere.”

“Yeah, but I won’t get any more because I will be better trained next time.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yeah, I do, cause next time we will be qualified!” Naka smiled brightly, a determined look in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Kirishima cheered, wrapping his arms around Naka’s torso. Naka couldn’t stop the blush covering his face and his brain malfunctioning.

“I wish I had got a scar, they are so cool!” Uzu popped out of nowhere, a jealous look on his face.

“I still say you won’t be thinking that once you’ve got a few.” Akiko shook her head at her friend’s behaviour but smiled nonetheless. “Besides, you already have scars, Uzu.”

“Yeah, but that’s different. That was a hospital, this is fighting!”

Naka cheered with him as Akiko groaned and slid into her seat.

It wasn’t long before Aizawa arrived. He was wrapped head to toe in bandages and looked even more dead than usual.

“You’re back already, Aizawa-sensei?!” The class seemed shocked by this fact despite the fact that it was his job to show up.

“Glad to see you doing well, sensei,” Iida shouted loudly. Indoor voice? Is that still a thing?

“If you can call that ‘doing well,’” Uraraka muttered under her breath.

“My welfare isn’t important because your fight is far from over.” The class held their breath as Aizawa internally smirked. “U.A’s sports festival is fast approaching.”

The class instantly relaxed, getting excited over the idea of showing off their skill.

Akiko rolled her eyes as Uzu and Naka started challenging each other.

“Don’t think this means you can goof off,” Akiko stated, a Cheshire grin on her face which made Uzu and Naka gulp fearfully.

“Yaoyorozu! Jiro! Save me!” Uzu jumped away from Akiko, hiding behind the two girls while hugging their torsos.

“That won’t help you.” Akiko’s smile grew as Jiro helped hide Uzu, protectiveness clear in her stance.

“Run,” Naka whispered, grabbing Kirishima’s arm and fleeing with Mina, Kaminari and Sero.

Akiko closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh of frustration before turning around and grabbing her bag. “Don’t blame me when you fail.”

Uzu laughed in success while throwing his arms in the air. “We win! I won’t have to train until sunset!”

“Does she really make you do that?” Jiro raised her eyebrow, scanning Uzu up and down.

“Yeah, she is too serious.”

The days passed, Uzu stayed with Yaoyorozu and Jiro during his training while Naka stayed with the Bakusquad. Akiko accidentally stumbled into Midoriya’s and Iid’s training but their serious approach was refreshing enough for her to stay.

“It’s the U.A sport’s festival! The one time each year, when our fledgeling heroes compete in a ruthless grand battle! First up, you know who I’m talking about! The miraculous rising stars who brushed off a villain attack with their steely willpower! The first year of the hero course, it’s class A!”

The class walked out, proud steps mixing with anxious ones and carrying them in front of the large crowd. Everyone was cheering. It was deafeningly loud and made Akiko wince.

Bakugo gave his dead speech that was so motivational. And Midnight explained the first task, the obstacle course.

Everyone lined up. Three flashing lights and they were off… And they were stuck. The rush of students down the tunnel meant there was a massive traffic jam.

Uzu was not having this. He kicked up, using his tail, and started jumping on people’s heads, accidentally dodging Todoroki’s attack.

Akiko- who had predicted this would happen after hearing another one of her dad's ‘I’m an amazing athlete’ stories where it took him an hour to get off the start line due to the number of people running in the race- used her vines to drill into the ceiling and swing her like spiderman.

Naka was not as lucky as Uzu or as well informed as Akiko and therefore was now trapped in Todoroki’s ice for the second time.

Those who avoided the ice found themselves confronted by a familiar sight; a towering zero pointer.

Todoroki wasted no time freezing the forest one and running ahead.

Many tried to follow him- including Uzu- but with the robot falling over, their path became cut off.

Somehow, Uzu found themselves on the fallen robot’s back. I don't know how he did it, pretty sure he doesn’t know either but it shall only be questioned when I get a better pay.

Uzu continued the race as Naka finally broke out of the ice and joined back in.

The next problem, the abyss. Uzu made quick work of this task, elongating and moulding his arms into a really weird balancing pole that probably slowed him down more than it helped but at least it did look cool.

Naka stacked up some of his clones and blasted himself through the sky. Sadly he landed on a different mine and almost went back over.

The third and final task; the minefield. This was one you could not rush… Well, unless you were Akiko. Using her vines, she calmly lifted herself above the mines, avoiding the discolouration in the soil where it had been recently disturbed.

Uzu was not going to lose to Akiko and so brought out his wings. He actually did better than usual and survived about 2 metres before face planting and blowing up.

A large explosion caused everyone to stop as Midoriya went soaring through the sky, blowing up Bakugo and Tdoroki while he was at it.

Akiko ran after the green-haired boy- or away from the explosion, it’s not clear which one- and finished second.

Naka took a page out of Midoriya's book and blasted past the finish line at tenth with Uzu trailing a little behind.

Naka jumped up to Uzu with a smug smile. “I win!”

“Just you wait, when we get to the head to head, I’ll have the advantage.”

Akiko sighed a little. “You have to make it there first,” she stated though something told her they weren’t listening.

Next up was the cavalry battle. Determined to outdo each other, Naka and Uzu joined other teams rather than the obvious option with Akiko and someone else.

Uzu teamed up with the third-place winner, Todoroki, with Yaoyorozu and Kaminari. While Naka teamed up with the fourth-place winner Baugo and his team of Kirishima and Mina.

Personally, I think that those two just chose their teams because of Yaoyorozu and Kirishima.

The slightly annoyed Akiko chose to join Midoriya, though I’m pretty sure she was after Hatsume’s devices more than his or Uraraka’s strength.

With the teams chosen, let the second round begin.