Abomination II [Boku no Hero Academia x Male Reader OC]

[Chapter Six: The U.A. Sports Festival]

A frisson of nervous excitement enveloped the students of Class 1-A as they waited on standby in their designated waiting room. Even from where they were situated, everyone could practically feel the audience's restless anticipation as they waited for the U.A. Sports Festival to begin.

The masked teen stared blankly into his locker, clearly deep in thought as a few of his classmates bustled around him.

"Hey, [M/n]!"

The newest member of Class 1-A jolted as he felt a hand suddenly rest on his shoulder, causing him to whip around quickly. Blinking out of his dazed state, [M/n] turned to see Mina, Jiro, and Yaoyorozu staring worriedly at him.

"Are you okay?" the Earphone Jack-quirked girl asked, her brows furrowed in concern. [M/n] rubbed the back of his neck in mock embarrassment. I was zoning out, wasn't I?

"Just a little bit," Mina answered. The girls watched in amusement as [M/n] froze, attempting to process what had just happened. Wait...

I thought you didn't understand sign language.

"It was my idea," Yaoyorozu confessed, tentatively raising her hand. It was clear that she was very reluctant in admitting so, based solely on the reddish tint gracing her features. "I had asked the class a few weeks ago if they wanted to join me in a private tutoring session to learn sign language...to surprise you," she explained.

[M/n] stared at the Creation-quirked girl, trying to ignore the foreign emotion bubbling in his chest. He hated the feeling.

"Thankfully, everyone in the class agreed," a voice added. [M/n] turned to see Tsu, Uraraka, and Ojiro standing closeby. Hagakure giggled.

"Well...ALMOST everyone," Uraraka corrected.

Nearly all of the students in the room - most of whom were secretly eavesdropping on their conversation - stopped what they were doing and stared accusingly at Bakugo. Before the blond could protest though, the door to the room suddenly slammed open.

"EVERYONE GET READY! THE FESTIVAL IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!" Iida declared.

Not even a second had passed before another voice spoke, leaving the entire class frozen in their seats.

"Midoriya," the dual-quirked boy called out, gradually making his way over to the boy in question.

The green-haired classmate looked up, completely caught off guard at the fact that the usually-silent Todoroki was talking to him of all people. "H-hey Todoroki. What's going on?" he stuttered.

Emerald eyes stared meekly into the other's blue and gray ones. "From an impartial point of view," he started, "I think we can both agree that I'm stronger than you; that being said, it seems that you have All Might watching over you." Todoroki pressed. "I won't pry on what exactly your relationship is with the Number One Hero, but know that, regardless of what it is, I will beat you."

Unlike [M/n], who quietly made his way to the door, the rest of the class sat in an awkward silence, not even daring to move a muscle as they continued to watch the scene unfold.

"What is going on here? First the purple-haired mini-Zawa, and now this?" Kaminari muttered.

"Yeah, what's the big idea, man? Can't we save this for later?" Kirishima pleaded. "After all, the Sports Festival's about to star-"

"We're not here to play 'Pretend,'" Todoroki jeered, shrugging the redhead's hand off his shoulder. "It would be in everyone's best interests to remember that this is a battlefield, not some playground."

Silence lingered like a residual mist as the students glanced around not knowing what to say, let alone how to react.

"Wait a second, Todoroki. I'm not exactly sure why you felt the need to tell me this now of all times, because yeah." Midoriya admitted. "You are better than me. In fact, I would go so far as to say you have the most potential out of everyone else in this class. After all, you're one of the few that got in by recommendation..."