Silence Destroyed (MHA)

Chapter 12- The First Round

Naoko stood in the middle of the large field, trying to avoid the temptation to liquefy the whole stadium. Thousands of eyes were staring at her and her classmates as they walked into view, though, perhaps it should be expected as they were the infamous class who had fought villains and survived. They were the ones a majority of the heroes had their eyes on.

It was disgusting.

The whole arena was filled with so much anticipation, so much of a potential hero's future was based on this one event to the point that if a student didn't get noticed here, they could kiss their futures as a pro-hero goodbye. This event was more watched than the Olympics, more cared about than any other event that may be happening throughout the year, so it made sense that no other event would allow potential heroes to jumpstart their career to such an extent.

Naoko watched the anticipation of the other students and grimaced slightly, most of them had grown up watching this, eager for the moment when it was their turn, which made her feel like an imposter. Sure, her parents turned on the sports festival every now and then when they were bored, but the majority of Naoko's childhood had been spent watching figure skating with her aunt or sewing tutorials with her mom.

Perhaps she was anxious, she really had no idea what to expect, which meant that she also had no way of judging how to act at this point... Especially since Present Mic pulled her aside earlier and informed her that she was the first year representative, having scored the highest on the practical exam. Naoko was not one for public speaking, she hated most people, and speaking in front of them highlighted her glaring inadequacies, but she had little choice. 

When Present Mic talked to her, she had attempted to pass the duty on to basically anyone else, but he denied her request, as the next person after her was none other than Bakahoe. Apparently, Mic was concerned that he would start the games off on a bad foot, which was, apparently an undesirable thing. Honestly, Naoko didn't feel that she was a much better option, she may not speak often, but she was blunt and to the point, not caring who might not like her opinion.

The fact was that even when the entirety of class 1-B and even a few members of the General Studies had crowded the door of class 1-A, Naoko felt nothing. She watched as Bakahoe pushed past them and how whole classes seemed to be against her, but she just didn't care. She didn't want the spotlight, she didn't care about the so-called 'honor' of winning, and she really didn't want people to think of her in the same thought that they thought of attention whores like Bakahoe.

Speaking of the hallway incident earlier... She got lost in thought for a moment as a pair of purple eyes and hair floated in her head, Shinso... The name was so familiar, yet she couldn't pinpoint where she knew it from. Was it from a time when she wasn't homeschooled? Honestly, she had no clue, and she doubted that even if she did know him from somewhere that he would recognize her. So him approaching her to clarify was about as unlikely as she was to approach him... Pretty much impossible.

Getting absorbed in her thoughts turned out to be detrimental, as she completely missed her peers turning to look at her curiously. An awkward silence fell over the stadium after Midnight announced who would be giving the class pledge and no one stepped forward. In the announcer box, Aizawa facepalmed as well as he could with both of his arms in casts; this is why he recommended that someone besides Naoko Fujimura give the class pledge, she would undoubtedly not be paying attention because there was little for her to pay attention to.

It wasn't until a small explosion pushed Naoko forward, nearly sending her to the ground that she finally realized the situation she was in. Her face flushed slightly as she realized that the entire stadium was staring at her expectantly which meant one of two things, either it was her turn to go up and speak, or Bakahoe had made a complete fool out of her by interrupting the ceremony... Come to think of it, both options could be very likely knowing him.