STARDUST IN OUR BLOOD, mha

ii - the obstacle course

"Okay, here's the play-by-play!" Present Mic's voice blasted through the stadium speakers. "Are you ready to do the commentary, mummy man?"

"You're the one who forced me to come."

"Let's get started right away, mummy man. What should be pay attention to in the early stages?" Present Mic asked.

"This part right now," Aizawa replied. Hiroshi's face hardened as he looked to the hundreds of students stuck in the hall. This is where so many got left behind. But not him,

White flames blew from his hands, projecting himself forwards. He noticed multiple 1A kids quickly getting out of the crowd. They presumably must have known that Shoto was going to do that. He was always one to use the same moves again.

Hiroshi landed on the ground, using only smaller blasts of flames to let him glide on the ice easily. He knew he couldn't wear out his quirk so early. Luckily he already had a lead on most of the group but quickly realised that the others were the least of his problems. Down the track he saw them. Faux villains, like the ones from the entrance exams, with building sized robots towering behind them.

Great. Three zero-pointers.

"God, this school's rich."

At the front was Shoto. Hiroshi saw him crouch down, ice growing around him before he suddenly flicked his arms at the faux villains, ice shooting towards them, freezing them. The robots stopped in their places as Hiroshi furrowed his eyebrows. It was a powerful move, that was for sure, but it left so much room for others to get through. That's when he noticed it. They were unbalanced and toppling over.

"Todoroki from class 1A!" Mic said over the speakers, "He attacked and defeated it in one hit! How elegant! And he's the first one through! It's practically unfair!"

Hiroshi jumped, fire bursting from his feet. He shot himself into the air, using smaller blasts from his hands to dodge the falling robots. He got over the robots and glanced down to his classmates who were still behind. He would've felt bad if it weren't for the multiple people coming right behind him. Specifically Bakugou, who seemed to never stop yelling.

Hiroshi landed on the ground, pacing his breathing as he sprinted down the track. Like hell was he letting him get ahead of him.

"As expected, most of the group that's gone ahead is from class 1A." Mic's voice came over the speakers. Hiroshi gritted his teeth.

"Well, class 1A doesn't spend much time standing around," Aizawa said. His voice was plain and uninterested but his words made Hiroshi's stomach twist. "Those who experienced firsthand the world above them through the USJ attack, those who had fear planted in their hearts, those who dealt with it and pulled through. They all used that experience to drown out their hesitation."

Hiroshi kept running, trying to block out the commentary. It wasn't exactly motivating. Instead he focused on his breathing and the sounds of his feet hitting the ground. He had to get through to the end.

The next obstacle came into view. A massive crater full of pillars. His first thought was to just fly over it all but then he noticed them. Ropes connecting from each pillar.

The boy jumped, turning to be side on. Crouching, he landed on the rope as a consistent flow of fire came from his hand, pushing him along. He came to the first pillar and jumped off the rope only to go to the next and do the exact same thing. Despite the distance, Hiroshi could still hear the people behind him.

"What, why'd the rope break?"

"I thought that guy had a fire quirk. Why was the rope frozen?"

Hiroshi's ego couldn't help but inflate as he heard their remarks. But he figured he should probably stay focused. They were catching up. And the gap between him and first place was too big for his liking.