Chapter 52: Hello World
It's the day of the UA Sports Festival! Hundreds of thousands of people have arrived to either spectate, sell their wares or, in the case of some roaming Pro Heroes, guard the event while partaking lightly in the festivities
And if course a small handful of young Heroes in training are present to compete against each other with their bright futures at the stake!
Within the bowels of the stadium there's a room marked with a sign reading "1-A Waiting Room" and inside Class 1-A are gathered around waiting...
Mina and Ojiro enter the waiting room as the last to arrive after changing into their gym uniforms, making their way over to the lockers in the room they both stow their school bags and bagged uniforms
"Aww maaaan..." Mina shuts her chosen locker and turns away while tugging at the hips of her uniform "I was totally hoping I could wear my costume..."
Ojiro stretches his arms and smiles at her "At least everyone'll be in uniform, that'll keep things fair right?"
Hitoshi goes over to them "Why do you care if you're in costume or not Mina? You don't use any equipment"
"Ugh! I care because I look damn good in my costume!" She yanks her short sleeves in frustration "This'll make me totally blend into the crowd... Not cool..."
"You" he does finger quotes "Like so totally rock, the gym uniform though"
"Y'think...?" She looks at him hopefully while still tugging her sleeves "How comes you're being like... Nice...?"
"Pfff! However nice I may or may not be being I'm still gonna beat you and make you my servant" he folds his arms and turns away smugly
Ojiro quickly slips away from the inevitable argument
"Oh screw you you sleep deprived jerk!" She starts throwing punches at him! "You're not nice! You're never nice! I hope you totally break your ugly face!"
Hitoshi dodges all her punches while laughing!
The door bangs open making everyone stop talking, or stop physically assaulting in Mina's case, and they all face the door
Hitomi enters the room "Ok everyone! Hope you're done psyching yourselves up and doing any good luck rituals you have! We'll be heading out soon!"
Mineta gulps and starts chanting to himself "Swallow your fear... Swallow your fear...! Swallow your fear...!!"
That doesn't exactly soothe Izuku who's stood next to him so he takes a deep breath to try and calm himself... Only to be interrupted by Todoroki
He steps right up to him with a hand in his pocket and a stern glare on his face "Midoriya."
Izuku cautiously turns to face him "Hey Todoroki... What's up?"
He stares down at Izuku without blinking "From an objective standpoint I think it's fairly clear I'm stronger than you"
Izuku flinches... "Uh... Um... Yeah..."
"However..." He narrows his eyes "You've got All Might in your corner, helping you out"
Izuku gasps!
"I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you two... But know that I Will beat you."
While Izuku looks shocked Kaminari sighs "What's with all these declarations of war lately?"
"Yeah what's the big deal?" Kirishima goes over grips Todoroki's shoulder "Why are you pickin' a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started..."
Todoroki elbows his hand off! "We're not here to be each other's friends." He starts walking away "Don't forget. This isn't a team effort"
From her place at the doorway Hitomi smirks as Todoroki heads towards her to exit 'And that's where you're wrong Mr Thermostat'
Izuku clenches his fists "Wait a sec Todoroki..."
Todoroki stops walking but doesn't face him
"I don't know what's going through your head... Or why you think you'd need to tell me that you'll beat me... And yeah! Of course you're better than me! In fact you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course... That's why you got in so easily..."
Kirishima raises some calming hands "Midoriya... Maybe you're being a little hard on yourself, and us?"
"No." Izuku clenches his fists "he's right. You guys... All the other courses... They're coming for us with everything they've got..." His fists loosen "We're all gonna have to fight to stand out..." Todoroki turns to face him and Izuku meets his eyes with a firm gaze of his own "And I'll be aiming for the top too."
Todoroki looks down at him with an impassive face "Fine."
They stay glaring at each other in silence...
Until Hitomi breaks their focus "Ok guys! Anyone else got an intense rivaly to declare?" She points at Mina and Hitoshi as they open their mouths "Not you two!" She looks around as everyone else remains silent... "Ok good, it's time to make our grand entrance before the entire world! No pressure! Just follow the signs and you'll be good" she stands back into the corridor outside and points down the hall
Everybody starts filing out if the room while chatting... Toru squeezes through and stands next to Hitomi "Why are guys so intense...? Yeesh"
"It's not their fault in this case, it's the Heroes behind them I think" the two girls join the back of the group
"The Heroes behind them?" She tilts her head "What do you mean?"
"Well... As Todoroki said Izuku really does have All Might backing him for some reason" she raises a finger "On the other hand Todoroki's father is Mr Flame-stache himself, Endevor, and it's well known how much he wants to knock All Might off the top spot"
"So... Midoriya is getting Endevor's grudge through Todoroki?" She frowns
"No no" she shakes her head "I'm pretty sure Endevor is pressuring Todoroki to win no matter what and Izuku is the most powerful in class while also being a reminder of All Might... So he's the clearest obstacle Todoroki needs to clear"
"That's not fair... A father should encourage him not demand victory..."
Hitomi shrugs "Endevor is probably a crap father then"
Toru slumps as they walk "Poor Todoroki..."
"Speaking of Todoroki..." Hitomi takes Toru's hand "There's something else he said that I wanna talk about"
"Oh? What is it?" She smiles and squeezes Hitomi's hand
"He said" she does a monotone voice "Don't forget. This isn't a team effort"
Toru nods "He did indeed"
Back to her normal voice "Well... I've read the rules back to front and it doesn't say anywhere that we can't help each other when it's a singles event"
"So... You're saying... We can work together?" Toru's face lights up at the thought!
"Unless we're specifically told not to I don't see why not" Hitomi smiles at the joy on Toru's face
Toru is about to say something else but suddenly from ahead they hear the amplified voice of Present Mic! "Heeeeey!! Make some noise all you rabid sports fans! Get those cameras prepped media hordes!! This year we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in sports festival history guaranteed!! I've only got one question before we start this show... Are you ready!?!"
As the group of students approach the light at the end of the tunnel they hear the enthusiastic screams and cheers of the crowd! "Let me hear ya scream as our students make their way to the main stage!!"
From the back Hitomi calls out "Game faces on people! Let's make a good first impression!"
They step out into the light! Revealing themselves to the world and the thousands of people in the stadium to themselves
Present Mic runs a few advertisments as they walk
Toru grips Hitomi's hand tight as her nerves get to her...
"It'll be ok Toru..." Hitomi squeezes her hand back
Present Mic continues his announcement after the ads finish up and class 1-A make it closer to the middle "Welcome back to the UA Sports Festival! Where up-and-coming heroes leave everything on the field as they fight for the chance to achieve worldwide fame and celebrity!!" On the giant screens lining the top of the stadium Present Pic spreads his arms "This first group are no strangers to the spotlight! You know them for withstanding a Villian attack! The dazzling students lighting up your TVs with solid gold skills!" He points at the camera "That's right! It's the Hero course students of Class 1-A!!"
The crowd cheers like crazy!!
Hitomi makes a tiny gap in her bandage and looks through her fingers "Damn... Thaaaat's a lot of people" she fixes her bandages and waves to the crowd!
"You can say that again! A-are they looking at me? Are they judging me!?" Toru stares around wildly at the crowd!
"Caaaaalm! Relax Toru, you're beautiful and they love you" Hitomi pulls her closer and puts her arm around her
"R-really...? I'm beautiful...?" She blushes softly
"Super beautiful" she smiles and squeezes her
Toru smiles and starts waving with Hitomi "I'm beautiful!"
"Not as beautiful as moi!" Aoyama winks back at her making both girls cringe
Other classes are exiting their own tunnels at the same time as Class 1-A and they too get an introduction from Present Mic "They haven't been getting nearly as much screen time but this next group is still chock full of talent! Welcome, Hero course Class 1-B"
Hitomi looks over and sees the guy that was yelling outside their classroom 'Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Quirk: Steel, according to his file... He's basically class 1-B's Kirishima'
Present Mic continues with as much enthusiasm as he had with the Hero classes "Next up! General studies! Classes C, D and E!"
Hitomi glances their way 'There could be some hidden gems that didn't pass the biased entrance exam... Aizawa wouldn't get me their profiles so I don't know'
"Support classes F, G and H!!"
'Dangerous and unpredictable... However This'll give me a great opportunity to scout out any to make friends with...' she looks their way eagerly
"Aaaand finally! The business classes I, J and K!"
Hitomi frowns but then nods to herself 'Best to treat them the same as the general studies classes...'
"Give it up for all of UA's first-year contestants!!" Present Mic finishes with gusto!
All the classes assemble in front of a small stage where the Perver- R-Rated Hero: Midnight stands waiting
Midnight faces them and raises her flogging whip in the air "Now! For the introductory speech!"
Hitomi groans "No not her... Anyone but her..."
Toru covers her face with her hands! "H-her costume is practically see through...!! Why don't you like her...?"
"Because she's creepy...!" She shivers "She flaunts herself at highschool kids when she's already THIRTY!"
"Silence everyone!!" Midnight cracks her flogger through the air "And for the students pledge with have... Katsuki Bakugo!"
Hitomi covers her face in shame "Give me a break... What idiot picked that idiot to give the pledge...!?"
Bakugo, hands in pockets, makes his way up to the microphone on the small stage... The entire stadium is silent... Waiting for his message to the world! "I just wanna say... I'm gonna win"
All of Class 1-A cringes while all the other classes start hurling abuse at the explosive fool
Tenya jumps forward and furiously chops the air at Bakugo "Why would you be so disrespectful!? You're representing us all!"
Bakugo turns to face everyone "Not my fault all the rest of you are just stepping stones to my victory" he gives them all a thumbs down from the stage like some teenage wild haired Emperor Caligula
That gets him even more verbal abuse!! Especially from Tetsutetsu!
Hitomi groans from behind her hands! "He was in range of the mic when he said thaaaaat...!!"
Toru gently pats and rubs Hitomi's back in comfort as Bakugo makes his way back into the group of students that want to kill him and Midnight gets ready to announce the first game!
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone