Chapter 119: UA Sports FestivalAuthor: Geraint
U.A. Sports Festival — the annual event held by U.A. High School where students from all grades showcase their abilities through various competitions, hoping to catch the eyes of Pro Heroes and support agencies.
After two weeks of intense preparation, the big day finally arrived. Security was tight, and the festival was being broadcast live. In Class 1-S's waiting room, Ichika sat alongside Roboco and Himiko. Hitoshi Shinso, waiting with them, noticed the heavy weights Ichika was wearing.
"Are you seriously participating with those on?" Shinso asked, pointing.
"Yeah, it's a handicap I made for myself. It'd be unfair for a pro hero like me to compete at full strength. Honestly, I'm supposed to be part of the audience since I need to recruit for my newly reopened hero agency."
"I see…"
"How about working for me, Shinso?"
"I want to be recruited for my skills, not connections."
"Hahaha! That's the spirit! You remind me of Eraserhead."
Class 1-S stood and walked out to the Freshmen Stage, signaling the official start of the Sports Festival.
Other freshmen classes followed. The Chief Referee, Midnight, called for the player representative — Katsuki Bakugo — to the stage. Katsuki confidently declared he'd place first, causing the other classes to glare at Class 1-A. Izuku noticed Katsuki's serious tone, realizing this only made Class 1-A a bigger target — except Ichika's class, who remained outsiders for now.
Midnight announced the preliminaries: the first event was the Obstacle Race — a nearly 4 km course around the stadium.
Ichika scanned the audience and spotted Mirko sitting beside Ryukyu. He waved; Ryukyu waved back, but Mirko looked embarrassed and gave him a cold glare.
The race began.
Izuku struggled to secure a position as Shoto Todoroki quickly froze the ground, trapping dozens of students in ice and skating into first place.
All the freshmen sprinted ahead except Ichika — who casually strolled last. The Pro Heroes watching in the stadium grew irritated, seeing him take the event so lightly.
"Oh, right. I promised Inko-san and Mitsuki I'd take on this event for them," Ichika muttered, pulling a device from a hidden void.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Izuku encountered villain robots on the course. Unlike the Entrance Exam, she kept her cool, dodging attacks and using a piece of metal as a weapon. She sliced a robot's head off, holding onto the metal as a shield, then dashed forward as students cleared the robots.
The race's second stage, The Fall — a canyon crossed by walking ropes — awaited. Shoto, leading, finished The Fall and moved toward the final obstacle: the Land Mine Field.
Many students started crossing The Fall, with Katsuki closing in on Shoto. Izuku nearly finished the ropes. Shoto's lead began to shrink as he carefully navigated the mines. Katsuki, immune to explosions, blasted himself forward, taking the lead. The two clashed briefly as they vied for first place.
The Obstacle Race reached its final stage. Izuku, now at the last stretch, knew she couldn't catch the leaders on foot. Thinking fast, she placed herself on the metal shield and detonated a mine, blasting ahead.
Katsuki and Shoto stopped their fight to chase her, nearly overtaking her. As Izuku lost momentum, she slammed the shield into the ground, triggering mines that sent dust flying into Katsuki and Shoto's faces, forcing them to stop.
Izuku sprinted toward the finish but suddenly stumbled, feeling sharp pain in her left ankle.
"Ugh… No, not now!"
"Deku!"
Bakugo's voice came from behind. She pushed through the pain and tears, refusing to lose.
As Bakugo and Shoto caught up on both sides, Izuku lost hope — until someone suddenly overtook them all.
"Huh?"
Ichika appeared, running past with a large camera on his right shoulder.
"I've got to capture this in 128k HD. Look here, Kacchan! Deku-chan!"
"Eh?!"
They were shocked Ichika passed them while carrying something so heavy.
"Those two big things on your chest must be heavy. No wonder they caught up with you," Ichika teased, pointing.
Bakugo and Shoto glanced at Izuku's chest bouncing wildly with physics.
"Ah."
Both nosebled and slowed down, letting Izuku pull ahead.
Ichika crossed the finish line first, followed by Izuku in second. Shoto came third, then Bakugo fourth. The rest followed.
Izuku's cheek twitched, stunned Ichika took first.
"Hahaha! You've got a lot of work ahead before you beat me, Deku-chan!"
"Ichika-kun…" she was speechless.
Bakugo and Shoto scowled, frustrated they didn't win.
"Damn you, Ichika!"
"Falcon!"
"Hahahaha!"
Ichika just laughed it off.
(To be continued.)(A/N: I'll fix my mistakes later.)