A Grey Thin Line

13

    "Welcome to the annual Yuuei sports festival!" Present Mic greeted the excited spectators, receiving a roar of approval from the crowd. "Where our little hero eggs aim for eachother's throats-and the top! Our grand annual melee!"

      "And let me guess, you all want to see the miscreants who fended off a mass villain assault with wills of steel!" The noise this time was near deafening, even to the classes behind the entrance doors. "The department of heroics, freshman class 1-A!"

      "They're overhyping them." Shinsou observed as the class walked out, Ochako waving to him and Izuku while Iida gave a polite nod. "It'd be a different story if Kuroko wasn't there."

      "W-well," Izuku began, "It'd be bad if a hero institution gave credit to a vigilante, right?"

      "Maybe, if you're thinking about publicity." He nudged Izuku, "They're calling us, we should go."

      He nodded and followed his friend, seeing Kahiro take place at his back. Izuku squinted at the lights shining on them. The crowd was still cheering, though not as loudly as when class 1-A was announced. His head turned to and fro like an owl, trying to take in all of the things before him at once. He didn't even notice the 18+ hero, Midnight, coming to the front to continue the announcements. He spotted a camera pointed at him and waved tentatively, mouthing a hello to his mom and Kuroda.

      At the entrance, three heroes were lounging around. "We came with intention of scouting," Kamui Wood said to no one in particular,

      "but looks like the security is pretty thick." Deathgoro finished, sighing. "Oh well."

      Mt. Lady munched on a snack, "Looks like they're attracting heroes from all over the country." She said in between chews, "This year is crazy."

      "You're telling me," Deathgoro agreed, "did you see class 1-A? I'm pretty sure the blond kid from the slime villain attack is in that class."

      Kamui nodded, "And that other kid, the Quirkless one, he's in class 1-C." He shook his head, "I'm honestly a little surprised he even got in."

      "Well, you do seem to have a thing for underestimating people, like you did with Kuroko." Mt. Lady pointed out with a snicker.

      Kamui stiffened, "Hey!"

      "She has a point," Deathgoro pointed out, "You underestimated him, left behind the police support you had and got knocked out."

      The wooden hero growled and retired his focus to the screen. "Whatever. The next time I see Kuroko, things will go differently."

      Behind him, Mt. Lady and Deathgoro gave a shrug.

      "Now, player rep! Bakugou Katsuki of 1-A!" Midnight called, stepping aside as the blond made his way through the crowd and stepped up to the mic.

      Izuku noted the way Kaachan held himself. He was confident, no doubt about that, but the slight squaring of his shoulders as he made eye contact with him was clear as day.
He held eye contact with him for a solid second before Katsuki opened his mouth. "I'm gonna place first."

      That's Kaachan for you. Izuku couldn't help but think as the students around him broke into an uproar of protest. Kuroda would have smacked him silly then sat him down for some lessons in humility if he had been the one to make such a blunt comment.

      Katsuki wasn't even phased by the negative reaction of the crowd, "You'll all make great stepping stones, I'm sure." The abrasive blond added as an ending comment, making his way back into the crowd of angered students.