Wisp

Sssmokinn'!

  Izuku patted his pocket, checking for the tenth time that his cigarettes were there.

  The crowd in the stadium above roared.

  "IS EVERYBODY READYYYY???" Present Mic's voice screamed.

  The audience yelled back a giant "YES!".

  Izuku stood up and left the waiting room, checking again that his lighter was with his cigarettes.

  "THEN LET'S GET STARTED!! First, we have the sole student of the hero course, the survivor of the class 1A Purge, Izuku Midoriya!!"

  Izuku walked out into the stadium alone, looking around at the large circular arena. The audience seemed a little confused as to why there was only one hero course student, but they cheered nonetheless.

  "NEXT! We have the general studies classes 1C, 1D and 1E!! Keep your eyes on them people, they're gunning for the hero course!!"

  Once again, the crowd roared.

  "After them we have the support course classes 1F and 1H!! Investors, these are your future moneymakers! Heroes, your best friends!"

  It was mainly the heroes that cheered, alongside a few of the bigger support companies representatives.

  "Classes 1I and 1J won't be participating! They are of course the business classes! They have decided to remain in the stands to observe and market the heroes of our future! Now, Cementoss, take the stage!!" Present Mic exclaimed.

  The cuboid literature teacher walked up to the concrete stage in the middle of the arena. He was a very soft-spoken man, so Izuku found it surprising that he was hosting the first year's festival this year.

  "Good morning everybody. Would Izuku Midoriya please come up and give the first year representative speech." He said softly into the microphone.

  Izuku stepped up to the stage and stopped behind the microphone.

  "I'd like to wish my fellow first years the best of luck. My classmates were expelled because they did not act in a way befitting of a hero. I hope the general education students aiming for the hero course can do better. Plus Ultra!" He said.

  Cementoss spoke once again as Izuku returned to his place.

  "Thank you Midoriya. Now, let us see what the first event will be."

  A large wheel appeared on the screen above the announcer's booth where Present Mic was sitting. It began spinning around and around, until it slowed and stopped on..

  "It seems the first event will be a game of hide and seek tag. Here are the rules. One of our esteemed staff members will be 'IT'. They will not use their quirk, but can use any support equipment to aid them in following after the students. The students meanwhile, must run and hide within the building. They cannot leave the building and hide on the grounds around the arena, but all areas are fair game to hide in. The final 42 to be caught will move on to the next round. If any students are able to evade our staff member for longer than half an hour, then whoever is still in hiding will move on to the next round. The staff member hunting the students will have a bodycam in the interest of fairness. It will be displayed on the screen above. Now, if our member of staff would step forward?"

  Izuku watched as Mr Aizawa walked out of the tunnel on the other side of the arena and climbed up onstage. They locked eyes, and Aizawa smiled.

  "Oh we are so fucked." Izuku whispered.

  __

  The moment the buzzer rang Izuku turned and ran back into the tunnel he'd walked out of moments earlier. The students had a 30 second headstart, which Izuku planned to use. He sprinted down corridors and up staircases, furiously smoking the whole way. Izuku ducked through a doorway, inhaling the smoke haloed around him and condensing it in his lungs. He tossed the cigarette butt into a nearby bin, and entered the stands huffing and puffing.