Nedzu POV
The day had finally arrived. It was time for this year's U.A. Sports Festival to take place. Today, at 10 o'clock, it would finally begin. It was an important day for many of the students attending the prestigious school; as such, they had been preparing for it for quite some time, some more, others less.
Even for the teachers, who had some new experiences this year, courtesy of the new staff, there was a lot to prepare. Not just for themselves, but also for their students who would be competing.
Not even the principal was spared from a very particular menial task that shouldn't have been a problem, but due to the refusal of cooperation from a certain individual, it had become a real stroke of work.
It was 8 o'clock in the morning, and Principal Nedzu was currently being driven around by Toshinori in his car through the city of Tokyo. "I still can't believe that he is making us fetch him," the blonde man complained as he turned a corner.
"It is what it is, Toshinori. We are hardly in a position to force him to do anything. If anything, going to him and playing chauffeur is a rather small price to pay," Nedzu replied, knowing full well that he could be demanding much more than simply a ride from the principal.
Parking the car in a garage beneath a large penthouse building, both members of the U.A. staff exited the vehicle and stepped into the nearest elevator. Toshinori pressed the button labeled 33, and soon the elevator began taking them to the highest floor of the building.
It didn't take long for them to arrive, and soon they found themselves standing in a hallway before a door labeled "T." Instead of knocking, however, Nedzu simply took out a keychain from his pocket and opened the door himself. Inside, they found a relatively standard two-story apartment, mostly decorated in black.
They stepped inside, and Nedzu immediately called out, "Your taxi has arrived!" into the seemingly empty apartment. To their surprise, not a single sound was made in response.
"Has that fool actually overslept on the day he was supposed to observe the Sports Festival?" the principal muttered to himself.
"Honestly, knowing him, he probably forgot entirely," Toshinori commented with a sigh as they began searching the apartment.
Soon after, they found themselves in the living room, looking at a silver-haired woman sleeping on the couch with an open book lying on her face.
Looking at the scene with a deadpan expression, the former pro hero couldn't believe his eyes. "What now? Since when did he start having romantic relationships?"
"Careful, Toshi. We might not be looking at what you're thinking," the mouse countered before nudging the woman awake.
Stirring, she removed the book from her face, revealing her crimson eyes, and stretched before scratching her disheveled hair. She looked at them in confusion, and they looked back at her in silence.
"So, Theodore, care to share why we are looking at a woman?" Nedzu asked knowingly, while the former pro hero simply stared, baffled by the question.
Upon hearing this, the woman looked down in momentary confusion before sighing. "Today was the day I was supposed to come to the Sports Festival with you, wasn't it?" she asked, receiving two nods in confirmation.
"Before your mind takes you places it shouldn't, let me tell you this much: I had a conference with some countries in the Middle East yesterday, and last year they really annoyed me with their dumb policies. So this year, I decided to show up as a woman to annoy them back."
She finished speaking, and in the blink of an eye, a wave seemed to sweep over her body. Suddenly, the man they had been expecting sat there, completely ready.
"Do you really have to be that petty, Theodore?" Nedzu questioned, wearing a defeated expression.
"Being petty is the only thing for me to do short of eradicating their country, and I believe that doing so would be much less work for me in the future," he calmly stated before getting up and heading for the entrance. "Now chop chop, let's get going. Aren't we late already?"
Toshinori, who had only listened to the entire conversation, finally lost it, yelling after him, "And whose fault is that?!"
Gently placing a hand on the former pro's calf, Nedzu shook his head as if to say, it won't do anything, before following the strange man.
____________________________
1 Hour Earlier
Shoto POV
Shoto woke up in his own bed for the first time in a week, yawning deeply and stretching his body. He got up and slowly walked to the dining room. Opening the sliding doors, he found himself marveling at the smell of the food being prepared at that very moment.
Fuyumi must be excited for today if it smells this good, he thought while smiling and seating himself at the table. Shortly after, a young woman emerged from the kitchen in a pink frilly apron. She had short white hair with specks of red and grey eyes, with a pair of glasses resting on her face. This was his older sister, Fuyumi Todoroki.
The mostly white-haired woman smiled and set his plate of breakfast on the table before him. "So, are you excited for today? It's a big one for you after all," she asked playfully while starting to eat her breakfast.
Chuckling, the ice user simply answered, "It's probably going to be the most fun day I've had in a long while." Fuyumi wanted to press further, but was regrettably interrupted by the doors opening once again, this time by their father and brother entering the room with sleep still clinging to their eyes.
Endeavor, or currently Enji Todoroki, yawned as he sat down and immediately started to eat his fill. It had been about half a year since he showed up for breakfast for the first time; previously, he always left for work much earlier. Though not everyone in the house liked that he attended breakfast.
The second person to come in was a young man with snow-white hair and grey eyes. It wasn't that Natsuo couldn't stand their father, rather he actively hated him to his very core. In his opinion , it was much too late for Endeavor to start acting like a father.
"So, Shoto, how do you think you will do at the sports festival today?" the father asked, almost convincingly not hoping for him to say first place.
Not caring much about his father's attempts at small talk, he replied, "There is only one person who's on my level, so I'm not concerned. But I don't really care about the rankings. Today will be a fun day, though."
Enji barely managed to hide his anger at that remark, much to Natsuo's amusement. After that, he didn't try any more small talk.
When Shoto was finally done eating, he stood up and told them, "See you guys at the festival," to which his father replied, "Wait a bit, Shoto. I'll drive you there. I planned to attend it, so this is more practical."
Shoto didn't turn around, only saying, "I'd rather walk than sit in a car alone with you for thirty minutes," before shutting the door, leaving his father hanging.
Half an hour later, he arrived at Kamino Ward, thanks to the use of his aura to traverse the rooftops. Jumping down, he put on a mask and pulled a hood over his head. The ice user traveled through the back alleys for a bit before stepping into the all-too-familiar hideout of the LOV.
"Morning, everyone. Guess who's back?" he announced without any motivation behind it. The three people quickly turned their heads in his direction, and he saw a variety of different emotions.
Kuroka was lazily resting on one of the sofas and simply gave him a tired yawn. Kurogiri gave him a curt but respectful nod. And then there was…
"Where the hell were you last week, you bastard?! You know how much we suffered from the loss at the USJ? Look at me! My leg's still broken because of that damned Eraser Head!" Tomura yelled impatiently, pointing at his bandaged right leg.
"You're lucky I'm incapable of walking right now, or you'd be a dust cloud. No, now that I think about it…Kurogiri, open a portal so I can disintegrate him," he added, looking slightly threatening. Just a bit.
"I missed you too, boss," Shoto countered and walked a large circle around Tomura, staying just out of his reach.
"Don't give me that crap. Get one step closer, I dare you!"
"For your information, I was just making sure my alibi was believable. And what would I have helped you with here anyway?" he clarified before adding, "A cappuccino, please, Kurogiri."
The smoky butler began preparing it immediately.
"You lied to me. You assured me that my Nomu would stomp those pesky teachers of yours," the lanky man complained, hitting his fist on the counter.
"Correction: I said I wasn't sure if it could beat Midoriya. But that's not even important right now, because it wasn't even him who destroyed that monster. If anything, you should tell me who those other villains that showed up were," he lied, feigning ignorance while knowing damn well he destroyed it himself.
He could almost see the steam coming off Tomura's head. Balling his fist, he calmed down a bit and scoffed. "Who cares? They're just a bunch of lowlife losers compared to us."
Handing Shoto his coffee, Kurogiri replied this time, "Your destroyed Nomu begs to differ, sir."
Caught off guard by the snarky comeback, Shoto and Kuroka started giggling while Tomura pointed a finger at his butler. "Hey, what gives? You're supposed to be on my side!"
The warp user started polishing a glass while answering, "With all due respect, it is my responsibility to protect you. Part of that is informing you of possible threats. This Eight Rings organization seems to be rather dangerous. It is in your best interest not to underestimate them."
"Fine, I guess you're right. They're not total weaklings," the leader begrudgingly admitted.
"So what now? That boss of yours hasn't called in a while, right?" Kuroka questioned from her lounging position on the couch.
"Yeah. For now, not much. My stupid leg needs to heal, and we need more members before we start anything else," he grumbled, massively annoyed at his inability to walk. Then a light bulb went off in his head. "Hey, Shoto, isn't that UA sports festival today?"
"Yup. And I'm going to win myself a lovely first place," the fire user replied before finishing his coffee and abruptly leaving the bar before the others had a chance to respond, only to hear annoyed screaming from behind the closed door a second later.
Ahh, today is going to be fun, he thought as he headed off to school.