Souls Hero Academia (Rewrite)

Chapter 40: Sports Festival (2)

Izuku blinked, the roaring crowd now an afterthought as the entire stadium went silent. He looked up to Midnight, the heroine making a come-hither gesture while her off hand held a microphone.

He didn't expect to be giving a speech to an entire crowd, but life was entirely random in its nature. But to be honest, this wasn't bothering him one bit. They wanted him to give a speech, give a speech he will.

His feet guided him forward, the throngs of students all in perfect rows and columns looked at him with curious gazes. He ignored them, in favor of focusing on Midnight and the mic in her hands.

Okay, maybe he was a bit nervous. This was, after all, a new experience. There were very few chances to do so in Lordran, after all. The best crowd he could get there were the groaning of the hollows and literally rabid dogs. They'd even try to kill him even before he could get his first words out.

Step by step, he inched himself forwards towards the elevated stage. Evidently, it didn't take too long to arrive, what with it being just a few steps away. Accepting the mic from Midnight, the heroine gave Izuku a wink and brought her lips close to his ear.

"Just say what's on your mind." Her sultry voice echoed through his ear. Giving Izuku a pat on the shoulder, she moved just a few meters away, eyes locked on his figure like a heat-seeking missile. Izuku gazed upon the open crowd, the entire stadium silent save for a few whispers here and there. Bringing the microphone close to his lips, Izuku drew in a breath, just enough to fill his lungs, and spoke.

"... Git Gud." He then tossed the mic back to Midnight, who caught it with an absent gaze as Izuku walked back to his line. As he did so, he saw the other students looking at him like he grew a second head. By Gwyn, some of them even looked mildly offended.

The crowd buzzed with mixed reactions, some cheered while others murmured in confusion. Izuku couldn't help but purse his lips at the bewildered expressions around him.

To be honest, Izuku locked up for a few seconds, brain quickly parsing through anything and everything he could've said into the mic. He knew that he was vastly different from the rest of the student population, maybe even in the entire Japanese population, but that didn't mean he was an inconsiderate piece of human refuse. His mother would've chewed him out like tofu if she heard anything that could create discord, and he wasn't one for long speeches.

Git Gud was just a phrase that wasn't too deep. You either get better and stay ahead or fail and get left behind. That's it. No other nuance to it. Plus, it wasn't just directed at his fellow students and participants. This also targeted the rest of those watching. After all, the better a person was, the more opportunities he could get. Never give up, as the saying goes.

Plus, it was just two words. The less time he spent on the stage speaking, the better.

"Dude, the heck was that?" The moment he arrived back at his class' line Kaminari was the first to lay out his aggravations. "Why're you making yourself look like a dick?"

"Language, Kaminari, but yes, he is right, Midoriya." Iida frowned, the eyes behind his glasses narrowing. "As our class representative, you must strive to be the face of 1-A, yet you made ourselves look like utter buffoons."

"Eh, I won't really say us, more like he made himself sound like a jerk." Mina grumbled but otherwise smiled, her yellow eyes piercing through the crowd as she stared at the white-haired teen.

"Hey, I didn't want to be class rep in the first place." Izuku pouted. "Also, what's wrong? Isn't Git Gud just like Plus Ultra?"

"Well, he isn't wrong, kero." Tsu was quick to defend him, the frog teen quick to come to Izuku's aid. Probably from the time in the battle trials where he complimented her, Izuku suspected.