After the attack at the USJ, security was tighter than ever. It's funny, none of the students seemed to be as worried as the teachers, and we were the ones who were the most in danger.
The instant I stepped foot in 1-A, I found Yaoyorozu sitting in the furthest back corner. She smiled at me and smiled back with a quick raise of the brow as I walked to my seat. I sat in the middle of the third column, behind Jirou. The moment I sat down, Kaminari leaned over with a smirk.
"Hey, man. I forgot to say thanks for saving my bacon back at the USJ."
"Oh, no worries. You did great out there yourself," I told him. However, he still didn't turn around.
"Is it true that Yaoyorozu and you are a thing now? I heard you guys went out on a little date last night."
How the hell does he even know about that? The only person who saw us was...
I turned around and looked at Mineta, the little creep. He turned his head, pretending as if something was interesting about the wall beside him.
"We hung out. No big deal," I told him.
"Dude, it's totally a big deal. She's like the hottest girl in the class."
"She's more than just her looks, you know. Maybe if you actually got to know the girls in our class, they'd wanna hang out with you. I saw you strike out with Uraraka the other day."
Kaminari looked as if my words personified into a twenty-ton anvil and smashed his head in.
"Ouch..." he said. "I didn't think anyone saw that..."
"I could hear you talking from down the hall. Guess she's more interested in Midoriya," I said loudly. Midoriya, who sat on my left side, instantly turned tomato red.
"What!? No, we're just good friends, that's all! She's not interested in me! Not in that way!"
I placed my hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "Bro, you need to stop being so skittish. I think you and she would make a pretty good match. I'd say you have a higher chance than anyone in this class."
"You think?"
"Yup. Better make a move soon, or else I will." I said with a shrug. I didn't mean it, though. She's cute and all, but I genuinely see the potential with those two.
"What!? Are you serious or was that a joke!?"
I shrugged again as Mr. Aizawa walked into the room, his entire body covered head to toe in bandages. "Good morning, class..." his already monotonous voice was so muffled I could barely understand him. He limped into the classroom, ignoring everyone asking about his well-being.
"My health is irrelevant. What's important is that you guys understand that your fight isn't over. The UA Sports Festival is about to start."
"Uh... Mr. Aizawa," Jirou said, raising her hand. "Is it safe to have a festival this year, considering we were just under attack?"
"Well, the administration wants us to show that the school is safer than ever. Besides, it's a huge opportunity for all of you."
"It's the perfect time for us to get scouted for internships with hero agencies," I heard Yaoyorozu say behind me.
"Exactly," Aizawa added. "So don't slack off."
The news about the sports festival was a good way to make us students lock back in after the incident. The rest of the school day went as smoothly as one would expect. After our last class, the doorway was blocked by students from the other classes, all wanting to get a slice of the 1-A pie.
I was ready to just use my Quirk to crawl on the ceiling and go home, but Bakugo beat me to the punch. Rather than avoiding them, he walked right up to the sea students, his shoulders square. "Get out of my way, extras!"
"He's still on that..." I whispered.
"Kacchan never changes..." Midoriya chuckled, running his hand through his curly hair.
Some blue-haired kid with sleepy eyes pushed his way to the front of the pack, glaring at Bakugo with his dead eyes. "Looks like 1-A is filled with a bunch of egotistical maniacs."
"Nope, just him!" I added.
Mr. Sleepy Eyes glared at me, then at Bakugo. "You know, I wanted to be in the hero course too. However, I was forced to go down a different track. Did you know that with the sports festival, the teachers can decide to transfer us into the hero course? That means your positions are up for grabs. I'm gonna steal your spot right from under you."
He and Bakugo eyed each other down for a silent five seconds. Bakugo shrugged and started walking off, refusing to speak with Mr. Sleepy Eyes, showing him that he wasn't even worth his time.
Kirishima shoved his way into the conversation. "Are you just gonna let him talk to you like that?"
"Doesn't matter," Bakugo told him. "All that matters is that I beat them."
"Damn..." I whispered to Midoriya. "That might've been the coolest thing Bakugo has ever said. He's right. All we gotta do is beat these scrubs and there's nothing to worry about."
Midoriya nodded. "Kacchan's always been cool, but I think I might've been wrong when I said he never changes. He's matured a lot."
When I looked at Midoriya, he had this glimmer in his eyes. I guess I wasn't the only one who took inspiration from his classmates.
"Hey, Midoriya. How about we get some training in before the festival?"
"Well, I do cardio on Tuesdays. Is that okay?"
"I'm down. What do you usually do for cardio?"
"I usually run up and down the beach four times, so... It's about twelve miles."
Just like that, I regretted asking. By the time we started our run, the sun was just starting to go down. Luckily, Midoriya wasn't using his Quirk, so we ran at a steady, human pace.
"Wow, they finally cleaned up the beach," I said, looking around at the spotless sands.
"I cleaned it all myself," Midoriya revealed. I could tell by the look on his face that he was dead serious.
"What made you suddenly decide to do that?"
"All Might made me do it as part of my training. Remember back in middle school? I was way too scrawny to handle his Quirk, so I had to muscle up. He even made me run with a refrigerator tied to my waist while he sat on it as part of that training too... I barely was able to finish up the beach in time for the practical exam."
"Well, I'm glad he chose you and not me. I'm not trying to do all that." We both laughed as we ran, though that probably wasn't a good idea if we wanted to conserve energy. "But on a serious note, I had no idea you put in so much work. When you hear that someone's Quirk was given to them, you naturally think they took the easy way out. You worked harder for your Quirk than I ever did for mine. Even your training is crazier than mine. I don't even do cardio, just weight training."
"I wouldn't say my training is that crazy. I only do twelve miles on Tuesdays, one thousand push-ups and weight training on Wednesdays, a thousand sit-ups and core workouts on Thursdays, and a little of everything on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I take a break on Mondays, but I probably won't this week, so I can be better prepared for the Sports Festival."
"You realize that's a psychotic workout routine, right?"
"Is it? I just imagined what All Might would do. I did far more than that when I didn't even have One for All yet. That was only because I was crunched for time."
"I highly doubt All Might does all of that..."
"Either way, you telling me that my workout is psychotic tells me that I must be doing enough. I have to do more than everyone else if I want to catch up." Deku started speeding up, almost running at a full sprint. I matched his pace, which was still a jog for me, but one that required much more effort.
"If that's the case, then I'll work out with you the rest of the week. You might think you're behind everyone, but we all want to catch up to you." I started speeding up even more, forcing Midoriya to break into a sprint. He was completely unfazed.
"Really? I feel like I'm so behind everyone else," he told me.
"It's true. Yaoyorozu and I were just talking about you last night. You might not have much skill when it comes to your Quirk, but your leadership and work ethic are top-notch. I'd even say your decision-making skills are amazing, although you break your own body all the time."
"Last night?" Midoriya parroted.
"So you're just going to skip over my compliments?"
Midoriya stammered and almost tripped on his own foot. "No, no! I just didn't know you guys were so close, is all! I truly appreciate that you think so highly of me."
I shot a burst of air from my nose. "Anyway, I wouldn't say we're close. She just wanted to thank me for saving her, so we got a bite to eat, that's all. Well, I might've swung her around the city a bit too."
"I'm surprised. I thought she was all business and studying."
"Oh, trust me, she is. We basically only talked about Quirks and school. Still, it was insightful, and she and I bonded over a lot. Our Quirks are actually sort of similar. My web Quirk and her creation Quirk, I mean."
"So, do you like her?"
"Like as in like a friend or...?"
"Hmm... Both."
I looked forward silently for a second. I hadn't really harped on how I felt about her until then. "I mean, she's pretty, obviously. I love smart girls as well, and she's definitely that. I'd say... somewhere in between. I don't know if I'm ready for anything beyond friends right now. Enough about me, though. When are you gonna ask out Uraraka?"
"I don't think I'm ready for a relationship right now either. Not that I wouldn't want to date Uraraka, I think she's great. It's just that she deserves the world, and right now with school and the festival and my training and all the stuff going on with the villains and All Might, I just don't think I have the time she deserves."
"Uh huh..." I furrowed my brows at him. He was acting like I asked if they were gonna get married tomorrow.
After over an hour, Midoriya and I finished our twelve-mile run, and to be honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was exhausted, but at least I wasn't completely gassed like Midoriya was. He practically had to drag himself over the finish line.
The next day, Midoriya and I went to the school gym, finding a familiar face already working out.
"Kirishima!" I shouted. "Come work out with us." Truthfully, I just didn't want to endure the hell that Midoriya was about to put me through alone. Despite my physical strength being beyond most, agility is my strong suit, so running came much easier.
"Morales! Midoriya! Hell yeah! Working out with friends is way more fun! So, what are we starting with?"
"One thousand push-ups," I told him, holding back my smile. I waited for his smile to fade, but somehow, I'd hyped him up.
"Fuck yeah!" Kirishima flexed his muscles, using his Quirk to harden his skin. I'd forgotten that most of the students in 1-A were psychopaths...
Despite the high energy at the beginning of our workout, Kirishima nearly quit about halfway through the pushups. Out of nowhere, he started screaming, saying something about giving up, not being manly. Then he started pumping out push-ups as if they were nothing.
After the pushups, we cooled down with a few reps of bench presses, deadlifts, shoulder presses, and bicep curls. Since our strength levels varied drastically, we each lifted different amounts. I was able to bench about eight tons, but I think I might've overdone it. By the end of the day, my arms felt like gelatin; meanwhile, Kirishima and Midoriya were acting like they could still keep going.
We eventually wrapped everything up with a post-game snack at a beef bowl place. Even after so much time had passed, my arms still hurt like hell. I definitely overdid it...
"Same time tomorrow?" Kirishima said, locking hands victoriously with Midoriya.
"Every day until the festival!" said Midoriya.
I'm starting to regret agreeing to this...