ATOMIC STRUGGLE

2「earnest beginning」8

"Aw man, I was totally hoping I could wear my costume!" Mina complained, picking at her uniform. The others had finally arrived, and everyone was in their PE uniforms as they waited around the locker room/waiting area.

"At least everyone will be in uniforms, that will keep things fair, right?" Ojiro reasoned as he stretched beside her.

"I wonder what they have in store for us in the first round." Sato voiced worriedly.

"No matter what they've prepared, we must persevere." Tokoyami said calmly, and Shoji agreed. Suddenly, the door burst open, drawing attention to the person who had caused it to do so.

"Everyone, get your game faces on!" Iida thundered, "We're entering the arena soon!" He announced; this made everyone even more nervous, though Izak just raised an eyebrow as the two-toned dude with a heapload of audacity strode forward.

"Midoriya." Todoroki called, catching everyone's attention, even more so than Iida's entrance had.

"Hey Todoroki," Midoriya greeted hesitantly, turning to face him fully. "What's up?"

"From an objective standpoint, I think it's fairly clear that I'm stronger than you." Todoroki surmised. Izak had to agree, at that point, the two-toned boy was in fact stronger than the greenette. Midoriya seemed to acknowledge that as well, though it took him a second from the sheer shock of being called out like that.

"Huh?" Midoriya paused with wide eyes, then slowly answered. "Yeah."

"However, you've got All Might and Izak in your corner helping you out." He continued, and several eyes darted to the maroonette, who just blinked since it wasn't like he was doing anything wrong by helping someone that requested it. Plus, he'd helped Bakugo out as well, so it wasn't like he was playing favorites either. "I'm not here to pry about what's going on between you, but know that I will beat you," Todoroki stated firmly, and everyone in the room gaped at him.

"What's with all these declarations of war lately?" Kaminari voiced as Kirishima got up.

"Yeah what's the big deal, why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started?" Kirishima asked, laying a hand on Todoroki's shoulder. The white and red haired male shrugged him off.

"We aren't here to be each other's friends." Todoroki reminded him before turning around and walking away. "Don't forget that this isn't a team effort."

"Wait a sec Todoroki," Midoriya mumbled, which caused the male to stop. "I don't know what's going through your head, or why you think you need to tell me you'll beat me," He went on, "And yeah, of course you're better than me. In fact you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course besides Izak, that's why you got in so easily."

"Midoriya, maybe you're being a little hard on yourself, and us-" Kirishima interrupted, only for him to get interrupted back.

"No," He shook his head. "He's right, you guys. All the other courses, they're coming for us with everything they've got," Midoriya reminded his classmates, letting his fists fall to his sides. "We're all going to have to fight to stand out," With that said, Todoroki turned to the green haired male fully as Midoriya looked up at him. "And I'll be aiming for the top too."

"Fine." Todoroki sneered, then glanced at Izak.

"Don't worry," The dude peaced at him. "I'm throwing the first event, so have fun out there. I'll be the on-call medic, by the way, so as long as you don't kill your opponents, you can do whatever, cool?" He looked around the room, several people nodding their heads.

"THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE SHOULD BE ACTIVELY TRYING TO HARM OUR FELLOW STUDENTS, EVERYONE!" Iida did his hand things. "Remember, we have to be sportsmanlike, we aren't villains here!"

"That's right," Yaoyorozu agreed, stepping up next to him. "Just because Izak is saying we can doesn't mean we should. As heroes, we need to inflict the least amount of bodily harm as possible."

"Yeah, good call," Kirishima grinned. "Now let's go out there and give it our best!"

"You said it!"

"Let's go!"

"Hey! Make some noise rabid sports fans! Get those cameras prepped, we need hordes!" Present Mic yelled into the mic, broadcasting all over the stadium. "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?!"

Meanwhile, class 1A had been allowed into the tunnel-like passage where they would be entering into the stadium from. "Let me hear you screaming as the students make their way to the main stage!" Present Mic yelled, and soon everyone was indeed screaming as the students exited the tunnel. Todoroki, Bakugo and Midoriya were the ones leading, Izak having blended into the middle of the crowd to stay as inconspicuous as he could.

"Welcome back to the UA Sports Festival, where up and coming heroes leave everything on the field as they fight for the chance to be given a medal by a celebrity! This first group are no strangers to the spotlight, you know them from withstanding a villain attack, the hero course students of class 1A!" Mic announced, causing several in the class to mumble about how nervous they were because of how many people had shown up.

Present Mic then introduced all of the other courses, but not as enthusiastically as he had for class 1A. "GIVE IT UP FOR ALL THE FIRST YEAR CONTESTANTS!" He thundered once everyone was out in the middle of the coliseum.

"Now the introductory speech!" Midnight announced, standing on the stage with her whip thingy along with a microphone for the person to do their introductory speech.

"Uh, someone should talk to Miss Midnight about what she's wearing.." Kirishima mumbled, Kaminari jumping in to agree right after.

"Yeah that costume should come with a warning." He gulped.

"Is it really appropriate apparel for a high school game?" Tokoyami asked uncomfortably. Mineta visibly liked it. Izak was indifferent, though if he'd had a choice, he definitely would have given Mihoko to Midnight instead of the other heroes; he just felt that she'd be better with kids.

"Silence everyone!" Midnight used her whip thingy, "And for the student pledge, we have Katsuki Bakugo!" Everyone looked at the explosive blonde. This should be interesting, Izak thought to himself as the explosive blonde made his way to the mic. The stadium quieted down so that everyone could hear the first year rep speak.

"I just wanna say I'm gonna win." He stated calmly, and immediately everyone blew up in annoyance and boos. Izak clapped, finding his confidence to be inspiring to say the least. Plus, he knew the dude probably could win, though it would be a challenge.

"Why would you be so disrespectful, you're representing us all!" Iida reprimanded, doing his arm thing again which made Izak step away from him, just to be safe.

"Not my fault you're all just stepping stone to my victory." Bakugo did a thumbs down before making his way back towards his spot as many people were yelling insults at him. Making eye contact with Izak, the two nodded to each other: their training was about to pay off.

The sports festival was beginning in earnest, and there could only be one winner.