To Hold the Stars || BAKUGO KATSUKI

Roaring Sports Festival!

In the fortnight leading up to the sports festival, Nomi trained harder than she ever had in her life. Throwing weights with Senzo, running the length of the beach with Tae – even Sanda was there, for once keeping her barbed comments to a minimum. The sports festival was serious business, and they hadn't the breath to spare for petty insults. Ojiro joined them sometimes in the U.A. weight room, occasionally bringing other classmates from 1-A, like the invisible Toru Hagakure and Mezo Shoji, the boy with six different arms. Nomi had been intimidated by him at first, but she'd learned quickly that he was extremely kind whenever he chose to speak.

Every night she collapsed into bed, sore and exhausted, only to get up and do it all again the next day. Her whole class was somber and contemplative during those two weeks, each one of them absorbed with thoughts of the sports festival. The electricity channeling through the student body built to its breaking point until it was palpable, raising the hair on Nomi's arms when she walked into U.A. the morning of the festival.

The grounds were already swarming with reporters, spectators, and pro heroes, and crowds stretched as far as the eye could see among the multitude of colorful tents and stalls set up outside of the distant stadiums where the festival itself would be held, divided among three stages set apart by class year. Sellers hawked their merchandise and treats, the cacophony of noises and scents reaching all the way into the classrooms of the school, which were abuzz with nervous and excited chatter.

Nomi reached the staircase where she would split with Senzo, Tae, and Sanda. The four stood awkwardly for a moment. They'd been uncharacteristically silent on their walk to school, and it seemed that the heightened anticipation only clamped down on their tongues more. She wasn't sure what her friends had been thinking on their commute, but Nomi's mind had been perpetually stuck on the notion that she would not be competing on the second-year stage with them. Instead, she would be with the other first-years. It hadn't hit her fully until then that she was truly separated from her friends now.

Rather than give in to those depressing thoughts, however, she forced herself to smile. "Well, good luck, you guys. Do your best out there. I'll be cheering you on from the first-year stage."

Senzo and Tae stared at her, sympathetic. Even Sanda looked uncomfortable.

"You too, Nomi," Tae said, wrapping her arms around her friend's neck. "Show those firsties that you're in a different league than them."

Senzo placed a hand on her shoulder that weighed as much as a small boulder. "Yeah. Kick their asses, Nomi."

She chuckled. "I'll give it my all."

Sanda snorted. "We'll see about that."

"Not now, Chizuru," Tae moaned, but Nomi was already squaring her shoulders.

"What was that, Sanda?"

Sanda's eyes glittered as she gazed at Nomi. "To give it your all, you'd actually have to use your Quirk. But since you won't because of that stupid vow not to use it on your classmates, then you can't possibly give it your all." She smirked. "You'll place in the hundreds again and get knocked out early, just like last year."

Tae spun toward Sanda. "Chizuru!"

"What? I'm only pointing out the obvious," she said, waving her hand dismissively.

"This is the worst time for some tough love, Chi," Senzo said with a frown.

Nomi's ears were ringing, drowning out the argument between her friends as they stood in the hallway. Her vision went hazy as she remembered her father's words from dinner the night before.

"I'm sorry I can't be there to cheer you on in person, but I'll be watching the TV at the office." He'd given her a beaming smile and a pat on the hand. "You'll be fantastic, honey. Win or lose, I'm so, so proud of you. Remember that, okay?"