Ultra Responsibility (My Hero Academia X Spider-Man Reader)

Issue 24 - The Sports Festival Part 1

The Sports Festival hit UA like a meteor made of noise.

Crowds poured into the stadium in waves, spilling down stairways and into rows like a living tide of banners, foam fingers, and screaming lungs. It wasn't just parents and students either. There were tourists. There were agency scouts. There were people in suits who looked like they'd never smiled in their lives, clutching clipboards like they were weapons. Cameras flashed constantly, bright little lightning strikes.

Present Mic's voice boomed through the speakers, cranked up to eleven, as if the laws of physics were just suggestions.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HERO FANS OF ALL AGES, WELCOME TO THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAAAAAAL!"

The stadium exploded with cheers.

Even from the support course section, you could feel it. The vibration in the concrete. The pressure in your chest. Like the whole building was breathing excitement.

I sat with my camera already in my hands, lens cap off, settings dialled in. I was trying to act cool about it, but my leg bounced as if its own quirk powered it.

My seat was in the support course area, higher up, a little tucked away. We got a great view of the field, but it still felt like being in the cheap seats of the biggest show on earth. Which... to be fair, it was.

Peni slid down the steps and dropped into the seat beside me like she'd been launched from a cannon. She shoved a drink refill into my hand.

"For the working man," she said, smug.

I took it, sipped, and immediately regretted it because it tasted like sweet carbonated sugar trying to claw its way out of my throat.

"You trying to kill me before I even get paid?" I muttered.

Peni grinned like she'd consider that a solid prank. "Relax. This is exciting, right? My dad took me once when I was younger, but seeing it like this now... It's insane. It's like... the Olympics, but everyone's fourteen and legally allowed to explode."

I lifted my camera, testing focus on the far end of the field. "It's the biggest event in the country. People from all over the world watch this. It literally tops the Super Bowl in viewership."

Peni whistled. "A school festival."

"A school festival," I repeated, still half in disbelief every time I said it out loud. "Only in Japan could teenagers punching each other become a prime-time national tradition."

Present Mic kept feeding the hype machine.

"TODAY, THE FUTURE OF HERO SOCIETY TAKES ITS FIRST STEPS INTO LEGEND!"

The crowd responded as he'd promised them he'd personally bring fireworks.

Peni kicked her legs gently, humming to herself. Then she leaned in, voice casual but eyes sharp. "You really should've entered."

I didn't look at her. I adjusted the exposure. "Mm."

She nudged me with her elbow. "I'm serious."

I sighed through my nose and kept scanning the stands, looking for pro heroes arriving, agency reps, any juicy photo opportunities the Bugle would drool over. "Peni, I'm literally doing my job."

"Y/N."

I peeked over the camera with a small smile. "I'd rather be making money taking pictures for the Bugle than take part in a pointless quirk contest."

Peni's expression flattened into the kind of disappointment only a cousin could deliver. "You say 'pointless quirk contest' like it's not the most important networking event in the country."