Lonely Ninth

Festival

  He leaned forwards in this chair, the plastic tubes and hollow wires squeaking in protest. He growled in fury at the same infuriating smile that had plagued him for three generations of that damned quirk. The small television creaked as his fingers gripped the fragile sides. Cracks began spiderwebbing along the screen.

  "It is him." All for One spat.

______________________

  The first event was an obstacle race. Izuku stood at the back of the first years, his eyes focused on the exit tunnel. It would be a struggle getting through there.

  Midnight called the start of the race, and the tunnel was immediately crammed by every first year student trying to get through at once.

  Aizawa had spoken to Izuku before the festival. He was limited to fifty percent for the entire event.

  "My fifty or Master's fifty?"

  Aizawa sighed.

  "I'm going to regret this. Your fifty."

  He regretted it.

  Izuku activated 25 percent and blurred forwards, leaping over the other student's heads and using Wall Step to make his way through the tunnel. It looked like he was running so fast he could run on walls, but that wasn't the case. He needed 60 percent for that.

  A chill made the greenette glance down. Todoroki had frozen most of the contestants to the concrete floor. To nobody's surprise, class 1A avoided the attack easily, following after the son of the number one hero closely.

  Izuku chuckled, upping his output to 30 percent and bypassing class 1A with ease. They just sighed and shook their heads, letting Izuku go.

  The ninth wielder leapt over the robots emerging from the ground, bouncing off of their heads as he progressed along the course.

  Izuku didn't falter when the Zero pointers rose from the ground, blocking most of the contestant's way forwards.

  Izuku just channeled 40 percent into his legs for a split second as he jumped, adding an unnoticeable boost from Float to push his jump over the colossal robots.

  "IZUKU MIDORIYA CLEARS THE FIRST OBSTACLE WITHOUT BREAKING A SWEAT!!!" Present Mic screamed into the microphone.

  Izuku flashed the cameraheaded robots a smile before dashing away, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. The audience cheered, the roar from the stadium audible even out on the track.

  "MIDORIYA APPROACHES THE SECOND OBSTACLE FIVE SECONDS AFTER CLEARING THE FIRST! WHAT IS THIS KID???" The loudmouth hero screamed again.

  Izuku didn't hesitate, leaping over the pit and onto the first flat topped pillar emerging from the gaping hole in the ground. He pushed off with his right foot, landing gracefully on the next pillar, completely bipassing the ropes spanning the gaps between plateaus.

  "SHOTO TODOROKI OBLITERATES THE FIRST OBSTACLE WITH ONE COLD ATTACK!!"

  The moment his feet touched the dirt on the other side Izuku continued his 40 percent sprint towards the third and final obstacle. Izuku never came across the final obstacle, although his steps seemed to cause explosions in the ground once he stepped away. He was only at 40 percent though. Weird.

  The greenette crossed the finish line, stopping dead in the centre of the arena. He wasn't even out of breath.

  "IZUKU MIDORIYA COMES FIRST PLACE IN THE OBSTACLE COURSE!!! HE'S REALLY GIVING IT HIS ALL TO WIN!"

  The crowd erupted into cheers as Izuku smiled up at them.
 
  "That was a nice warm up. When do the challenges start?" He asked Midnight with a familiar grin.

  There were two results that this gave.

  One, the other participants became fired up and worked harder to userp the one currently on top.

  Two, it reassured the people watching even further, showing them that he could back up the announcement he made during his speech.

  I am here.

  Midnight cracked her whip, smiling down at the greenette.

  "Don't worry Midoriya, I'm sure that the next event will get you working!"

  _____________

  "The second event will be a Cavalry Battle! The 42 of you that passed will form teams of 2 to 4 people, and get into a formation similar to the one on screen behind me! There can only be one rider, as they are the one who will wear the team's headband. Each headband has a point value put together from each member's point value earned during the obstacle course!" Midnight announced.

  "42nd place is worth five points, 41st is worth ten and so on. The only exception to the five point trend is first place, who is worth 10 million points!" Midnight continued.

  Every student bar 1A turned to Izuku with greed in their eyes. The greenette just chuckled, his stance unfazed.

  "Do your best everyone, I won't make it easy." Izuku's eyes seemed to glow a deep green.

  Midnight cracked her whip with a malicious laugh.

  "You all have 15 minutes to form your teams! Get to it!!" She said.

  The students immediately crowded around the top 3 students from the obstacle course placings.

  Bakugo was surrounded by the group that normally crowded around him, while Todoroki was approached by the majority of the class.

  Izuku was surrounded by a surprising number of students. Uraraka, a girl from the support course and a boy with crazy purple hair.

  "Midoriya! Let's team up!" Uraraka chirped.

  "First place, let me join your team!" The pink haired girl said.

  "Did you really mean what you said during your speech?" The purple haired boy asked.

  Izuku nodded, giving the boy a smile.

  "Of course! As long as you try your hardest I'm sure the teachers will notice anyone trying for the hero course!"

  The boy studied his face for a moment more before sighing, rubbing the back of his neck.

  "My name's Shinsou. Can I join your team?" He asked.

  Izuku's smile widened.

  "Of course! That gives us four, including you, me, Uraraka and Hatsume..."

  Izuku stood silently for a moment.

  "What's your quirk Shinsou?" He asked.

  The purplette looked uncomfortable, but responded anyway.

  "Brainwashing. If someone responds to my question I can flip a switch in their mind and take control of their motor functions."

  Izuku nodded.

  "Okay. So, I'll be the front horse, Uraraka and Hatsume you both take the back. Shinsou, are you alright with being the rider?"

  The girls nodded, but Shinsou just looked confused.

  "But.. my quirk..?"

  Izuku gave the boy a pat on the shoulder.

  "Nobody here will judge you for your quirk. Anyone who does is an idiot. Your quirk could be used for literally any profession. You could probably defeat All for One with a single sentence!" Izuku said.

  The boy from general studies looked about ready to cry, but Midnight called the contestants back to the stage.

  "Alright everybody! Get into formation somewhere in the arena and we can begin!"