Just A Myth | Shota Aizawa

Chapter 33

I promise I'm still gonna update Freeze Frame I'm sorry I coudln't help myself

Third person pov

The concept of a Sports Festival is odd to Atlantis. He can't seem to wrap his head around it. The excited roar of the crowd makes the merman feel dizzy and distressed. He has no idea how in the world his cousin can possible handle the cacophony of noise. There's so, so many people. He never once imagined in his entire life that he'd see such a dense concentration of humans. They're packed in like sardines, each assigned a seat in this massive bowl that everyone has been calling an arena. The idea of people paying a currency just to come watch children fight each other makes his stomach turn, but he acknowledges that this may be a bit beyond his realm of understanding still.

It's a small mercy that he's able to hide out in the infirmary with Recovery Girl. They'll watch the event on a couple of screens and wait here to receive anyone who happens to get hurt. It's a huge relief, even if he wishes he could join his husband up in the glass box he and Hizashi have designated themselves too. They're going to be announcers: people who narrate what's going on for the crowd and those watching from home. He doesn't know how the scene outside can be displayed on these 'televisions', but he doesn't ask either. Surely it's something he'll figure out... eventually. It seems menial all things considered.

"Relax a little, dear." Recovery Girl patted his knee, drawing his attention away from the screen as Hizashi's booming voice echoed from the speakers. He can even hear it outside, muffled by the thick concrete walls that separate the infirmary from the busyness of everything else. "You look like you're about to keel over. The crowds can't get you in here; I promise."

Atlantis gave a faint nod, eyeing the screen as the dozens upon dozens of students crowd towards a very narrow tunnel. The first part of the exam is an obstacle race. Recovery Girl had explained it clearly enough. Atlantis couldn't help but lean forward, feeling slightly abuzz with anticipation as he searched dutifully for a familiar head of purple hair. He can see now why Hitoshi had been so nervous this morning. This was totally nerve-wracking, and he wasn't even participating! It was a miracle Hitoshi'd gotten his tail back when he did. His magic-- or quirk, since they're sticking to the guise-- is going to be as strong as ever now. Atlantis hopes he can get into the hero course like he dreams to.

He doesn't know a lot about the class system here. He knows there are categories, and he understand the basis of what said categories are. The hero classes are full of students aspiring to be... well, heroes. Fighting evil-doers and saving people in danger! Very noble, Atlantis thinks. It reminds him of the warriors of his own race, so ready to bring up arms against any threat shot their way. It makes sense that such a thing would exist in other cultures. It isn't as hard to wrap his head around when he thinks of it in that context.

The support courses have inventors. Students who create tools and various commodities for heroes to use, and for society in general. The mer have something similar, and Atlantis finds himself understanding this class as well as he did the hero one. He can't say the same for the next: business. This was the section he understood the absolute least, no matter how carefully Shota and Hitoshi explained it. They were interested in the "marketing" part of the industry. Whatever that meant. General Education-- where Hitoshi was-- was normal classes that most other schools offered. The only difference was the chance of getting transferred into heroics, were taught by heroes, and tended to be higher quality than most schools. Hitoshi was aiming to get into 1-A, under Shota. 

"I-Isn't it unfair?" Atlantis asked hesitantly as ice crawled across the floor of the tunnel, freezing a majority of the students the ground by their feet. Recovery Girl turned to him, perplexed. Atlantis backtracked. "W...Well, if the students aiming to be heroes have trained longer, are they not at a natural advantage?"