absolution.

limelight.

NOTE: sorry for the long wait, everyone!

i did not explicitly write the cavalry battle because 1. i fear it'd just be izuku's experience with minor changes and 2. i,, am not smart enough to make major changes w the cavalry battle,,,,, i feel like i'd just put the anime into words—previous versions of this are exactly that. istg i've tried writing the cavalry battle, and i couldn't, and having this inability to do so tanked my motivation and is one of the main reasons why this took forever,,,,,

sorry for not writing the cavalry battle and that the next chapters are gonna be divided weirdly and, once again, i'm sorry that this took way too long. please enjoy !!

EDIT: HEY IGNORE THE UH. THE MISSING SECTION EARLY READERS AHAHAHAHHA PRETEND IT NEVER EXISTED

second edit: added a bit where it's mentioned that aizawa pushes students to see hound dog

===

The Cavalry battle was fucking intense. Tommy kept up with everything the teams did, of course, and he didn't lose track at all. Nope! No way. Big Man Tommy Innit absolutely knows what every team did. It's just that Izuku's team had the ten-million points, Todoroki's team was solid, and Bakugo's team worked surprisingly well, which is why he knows how they did more than the other teams.

For being the bearer of ten million points, Izuku handled the pressure better than he thought. Not that Tommy thought he might have a break down, but he'd probably at least feel some panic. Despite being under that weight, though, Izuku used all the abilities that his teammates could provide in an efficient way. Especially—uh... Hatsume's toolbox! The little mini-shields she packed were great for blocking Kaminari's voltage, and the rocket elytra's an easy way to maneuver aerially.

(And also real fucking cool. He's getting one from Hatsume no matter what.)

Speaking of the mechanic, everyone on his team did well to work together, too! Uraraka lightening their weight, Hatsume and her gear, and Tokoyami and Dark Shadow's defense and offense... Sure, there were a few mishaps, and Izuku was still fucking reckless with playing with OFA, but they still (kind of) won!

And then, under Monoma's taunting—because of course Tommy would remember the person who's taunted Bakugo (besides himself and anyone in class) and made it both funny and out alive—Bakugo seemed a lot calmer than Tommy expected. Sure, the bastard immediately threatened to kill him first before going after everyone else, but at least he warned people first. He communicated something to his teammates so that they could prepare, and that's honestly a miracle in itself.

Mini-Aizawa's team... they were clever, to use the cover of the surrounding chaos to sneak past everyone while snatching their points. Tommy doesn't think the other used his Quirk to do anything, considering that the brief glances he saw of that team on the TV screens hanging above the audience, they kinda acted as a team. It makes Mini-Aizawa and the other unknown person on his team's Quirks a mystery, still, but...

Moving on. About Todoroki's team, there isn't much Tommy can say besides that it was perfect in most, if not all, aspects. He... tried not to look at them much while also paying immense attention, but it was hard when they'd forced themselves against Izuku's team and got the spotlight. But Tommy got through anyway (with shaking hands and flashes of brown hair, cracked horns, and a suit replacing Todoroki's flickering across his eyes.)

...Well. Tommy gets up from his seat, body practically vibrating with the need to move. Since there's a break until the next round, he should go get some stadium snacks.

===

"Where's Izuku at?" Tommy says outside the Sports Festival stadium, muffled by the chicken in his mouth. He practically juggles the other snacks in his hands: cotton candy in these little boxes, a few sodas (that aren't Coca-Cola, but whatever), a shit ton of takoyaki sticks... it's a bit of a struggle to shove them in his inventory. But, they're hella cheap for food—probably. He isn't too sure if a few hundred yen is expensive for this shit. It's not like U.A.'s poor, anyway, so Tommy just had to get these.