Different But Not Bad

Chapter 11 {Roaring Sports Festival}

The two-week wait was over before we knew it and now it was time for the Sports Festival! Izuku's been suspicious over the course of the last week but now his smile was lighthearted and natural, almost as if nothing was bothering him. The third years were always the most-watched but this year we were the center of their attention. It's great only if you enjoy that many people staring and yelling at you and judging how strong you and your Quirk was. I was sitting in the waiting rooms with everyone else, I was slumped in my chair next to Aoyama. "Man..." I heard Mina start, "I wanted to wear my costume." She complained. I was fine with wearing the tracksuit, it was a little too windy for my hero costume. My costume wasn't even registered as a real costume which meant I could still have a hero costume made if I wanted too. I'll do it later when I feel inspired.  "To keep everything fair, we can't." Maybe I should change shoes if we're gonna be fighting. "I wonder what the first round's gonna be..." "No matter what comes, we have no choice but to deal with it." Jesus dude, a bit morbid. "Right." I almost slipped out of my seat when the door was slammed open.

"Everyone, are you ready? We will be entering soon!"

Inside voice Iida. "Midoriya" I saw Shoto approach Izuku who sat on the other side of the room. Despite not being a real U.A. student he had somehow convinced Aizawa to talk to principle Nezu to let him participate in this year's festival. "Todoroki? What is it?" Everyone turned to look at the pair as Izuku stood up, "Looking at things objectively, I think I'm stronger than you." "Huh?" Man, getting straight to the point. "Y-Yeah..." Why did you have to agree with him? "But... Aizawa-Sensei has his eye on you, doesn't he? I'm not trying to pry about that." Shoto looked up, "But I'm going to beat you." Izuku's eyes widened and I'll admit, I almost let a gasp go through. The two just stared at each other for a few seconds. "Oh? Is the best in the class making a declaration of war?" Denki said from his seat across from Katsuki near the door. Eijiro stood up from his seat next to Katsuki and made his way behind Shoto, he put his hand on his shoulder, "Hey, hey, hey! Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? Not now, we're about to start!" Shoto shrugged his hand off his shoulder, "We're not here to play at being friends." Eijiro took a step back as Shoto pushed past him, "So why does it matter?" We watched Shoto walk away, "Todoroki, I don't know what you're thinking when you said you'll beat me, but of course you're better than me." This was like one of those Soap Operas. I wished I had some popcorn but I knew that eating before a fight was not smart. "I think you're more capable than most people... looking at it objectively..." Eijiro turned to Izuku, "Midoriya, you probably shouldn't talk so negatively..." He looked down and Shoto turned around, "But everyone--- The students from the other courses are aiming for the top with everything they've got! I can't afford to fall behind!" This has gotten a little too emotional even if this started with a declaration of war. Izuku lifted his head to stare at Shoto, "I'll be going for it with everything I have, too. I'll prove I'm strong and I'll join you all in the Hero course!" Shoto nodded, "Yeah." A man of many words. I sat up in my seat as Present Mic's voice sounded through the room. It was muffled since he was outside but it was still just as loud.

"Hey!" There were screams from the stands, "Pay attention, audience! Swarm, mass media!" Present Mic's having a little too much fun with this. "This year's high school of adolescence that you all love, the U.A. sports festival, is about to begin! Everyone, are you ready?!" Iida motioned everyone to get up and follow him. We did so until we came to a long corridor, "It's time for the students to enter the first-year stage!" I huddled closer to Aoyama as we got closer to the blinding light of outside, he didn't seem to mind the cheering. It, however, reminded Akasuki and me of something a lot less fun. We came to the entrance and broke out from the shade with Izuku and Iida leading the group. I brought my hand up to shelter my red eyes from the blinding sun, I let my eyes refocus but everything was still blurry and I knew it wasn't the sun's fault. There was the sound of fireworks and more cheering and I grabbed onto Aoyama's arm. "The U.A. sports festival!" Mic started up again, "The huge battle where fledgling heroes sharpen their swords once a year!" Okay, so, there were a lot more people in the stands then I thought there was and, again, Aoyama didn't seem to mind all the attention. "Anyway, these are the guys, right?" Guys, huh? I can work with that. "He's talking about all of you." Akasuki chimed in my head and I blocked her out, "I don't need your help right now so shut up," She surprisingly did. "The miraculous new stars who overcame enemy attacks with their hearts of steel! Hero course, Class 1-A, right?!" We started walking to the center of the place but I still didn't let go of Aoyama's arm. "Th-Th-There are so many people..." Iida looked around too and seemed to see my problem, "Will we be able to give our best performance being watched by so many people? This is also part of the training required to become a hero." I trembled and I knew that that wasn't the way a hero should act but I was in training, I still have plenty of time to be scared of big crowds. "They haven't been given as much airtime, but this class is also full of talent!" I looked to our left to see that gross-ass blond.