The next two weeks were full of training as everyone got ready to show off what they could do during the festival.
I'd been pretty busy these two weeks, pushing the limits of flight mobility and flame usage. It mostly consisted of flying as fast as I could through an obstacle course that Cementoss made for me.
Fire was a bit trickier; the fire didn't always want to shape itself the way I wanted. I usually found myself talking to the ball of flames, looking more than a little crazy, to get the fire to turn into something as simple as a sword.
I did figure out how to create the flaming claws and gauntlets on command. They greatly increased my close-combat abilities, and when using Six Eyes alongside it, I was able to slice at fault lines and weaknesses much better.
Now the day had finally arrived. The classroom was buzzing with excitement as everyone rushed to the locker rooms. Aizawa hadn't spoken much to us, only giving us brief instructions before letting us loose to change.
"I'm so hyped! This is gonna be so manly!" Kirishima couldn't help but yell as Kaminari and Sero joined in. A few others joined as well, but a few were laser-focused on the day ahead. Shoto and Bakugo were two of them.
As we linked back up with the girls and made our way towards the arena, more and more students joined us as the entire first-year class of U.A was herded into a holding area. For now, things were civil, but I could see a few other classes giving us dirty looks, plus Monoma.
"Are you nervous, Micah-San?" Yaoyorozu asked as I turned to her. "You can drop that, you know. I don't mind you calling me by my name." She froze, shrugging as Sasha whined. "What?! No fair, how come she gets to call you by your name?" I poked her side as she shuddered.
"You already have a million nicknames for me, I don't really care what you call me," I said before regretting it. Sasha had that look in her eye. I put my hand over her mouth before she could say something outrageous, as Yaoyorozu snorted.
"I wonder if you two will always be like this?" She mused as I shrugged before ripping my hand back, "What's wrong with you? Why'd you lick me!" Sasha stuck out her tongue as Ochako choked on her water.
"Oh, by the way, Momo. You can call me by my name, we're basically sisters." She said as the tall girl nodded. "Likewise. I would like you both to call me by my name as well. We are good friends, so it's natural."
"ATTENTION STUDENTS! YOU MAY BEGIN ENTERING THE ARENA BY CLASS, FIRST UP, 1-A!" Present Mic's voice rang out, and everyone near the speakers winced at the volume.
As we got closer to the light pouring in from the stadium, I felt the floor shake from how many people were moving around. The sounds of their cheering were also getting steadily louder; by the time we got to the gate, it was deafening.
"COMING OUT THE GATE IS THE ONE, THE ONLY, CLASS 1-A!" Mic screamed as the crowd went wild. Their cheers seemed to reach the inside of my brain and shake it about from how loud everything was. Sasha was more affected as she flinched from the noise, and she took my hand.
As we lined up in order, I took in the massive stadium, wondering as usual how they were able to pay for all of this. The center of the stadium was filled mostly with grass, but a large concrete platform was smack in the middle, where Midnight was currently sauntering about.
"I still can't believe she's one of the student counselors," I mumbled in Sasha's ear as she nodded. Once the rest of the classes lined up, Midnight lighting tapped on a mic before speaking.
"Hello everyone~ Welcome to the annual U.A Sports Festival!"
Cheers and applause shook the stadium as she waited for everyone to calm back down.
"Before we get started, I'd like to invite the student who scored highest during the entrance exam to come up here and give the student pledge. Please welcome, Micah Hall."
My eyes nearly popped out of my head; they were so wide. I almost didn't move, but Sasha shoved me forward as I jogged over to Midnight and took the mic. "I wish everyone good luck. We've all done our best to get here, and the journey isn't over yet. Plus Ultra!"
I scampered back to Sasha and Momo, who looked pleased to see me so uncomfortable. "I hated that." I hissed as I retook my spot. "Poor tiger, doesn't want anyone looking at him." Sasha mocked as I lightly shoved her.
"For our first event, we have a race!" Midnight declared as the massive jumbotrons lit up to show the race track. "Spanning the entire perimeter of the arena, 4km, the contestants will have to face each other and various obstacles along the way. As long as they stay within the marked race track, no one minds if they play a little rough~."
Several thousand men seemed to deflate after hearing her tone, as even Ida and Shoto looked a bit bothered. Sasha stomped on my foot when she saw my face, so I pretended to wince as we made our way to the starting line.
As everyone pushed and shoved their way to the front, I held Sasha back for a moment. "Get ready to jump. Shoto's probably planning something." I motioned at him towards the back, where he was clenching his fist.
She nodded, and we got into position as I got ready to take off. The seconds seemed to drag on for an eternity before Present Mic screamed, "START!"
I took to the sky just in time as Shoto froze a good half of the contestants. Sasha also tried to leap into the air, but her foot was still caught. I didn't wait to see if she broke it as I raced through the sky towards the finish line.
"WHAT A MOVE BY TODOROKI! HE'S TAKEN OUT MOST OF THE COMPETITION IN ONE FELL SWOOP! MICAH ISN'T GOING TO MAKE IT EASY FOR HIM THOUGH, AND NEITHER IS BAKUGO!"
Present Mic started giving a play-by-play as more and more students broke free from the ice and chased after the trio in the lead. Micah easily had the advantage in speed with Shoto and Bakugo neck-and-neck as they came up to the first obstacle.
A cluster of zero-point robots blocked their way as Micah was forced to dodge their massive arms, not to get knocked out of the sky. Shoto and Bakugo didn't have it any easier since the bots nearly trampled them trying to get to Micah.
This gave several students the chance to catch up, as Ida and Momo did the same. The rest of class 1-A was for the most part in the lead, but that didn't stop the rest of the student body from using their quirks to get any advantage they could.
Sasha and Izuku were also steadily getting closer as Micah sailed right over the next obstacle, a massive gap with tiny rope bridges to get across. Ida and Momo had no problem getting over as Bakugo raced after them. Shoto lost a bit of ground hesitating, but was soon skating along an ice bridge he'd made, which also helped the students behind them.
Micah was the first to reach the last obstacle, a minefield, as Izuku and Sasha caught up to Shoto and Bakugo, who were feeling the effects of too much quirk usage. Their approaches were vastly different, however. Izuku was digging up as many mines as he could get his hands on, while Sasha sprinted through the field, deftly avoiding every mine in her path.
Bakugo and Shoto were having more trouble, since they'd used their quirk too much; they were nearly unable to use it to help clear a path. Bakugo was also faced with the dilemma of setting off the mines with his explosions if he wasn't careful.
They didn't get much time to worry about it, however, as Micah reached the finish line.
"FIRST PLACE GOES TO MICAH HALL! LET'S SEE WHO COMES IN SECOND PLACE!" Mic's voice boomed as Micah touched down lightly. "Not bad, but don't expect everything to be so easy." Midnight said as she stood next to him, waiting for the others.
They both turned to watch the screen where Sasha was getting steadily closer, as Bakugo and Shoto forced their bodies to the max to activate their quirks one last time, when Izuku slammed right down next to them.
"HERE COMES MIDORIYA OUTTA LEFT-FIELD! USING MINES TO BOOST HIMSELF ALL THE WAY TO SECOND PLACE!" The crowd went wild as Izuku skidded across the ground, and Sasha crossed third. Bakugo and Shoto crossed after and nearly collapsed as the tide of students finally caught up to them.
As Midnight announced the winners, Micah let Sasha lean on him as she caught her breath. Despite her enhanced physiology, she still pushed quite a bit to get past both Ida and Bakugo. "I still think you cheated." She finally said after catching her breath.
He grinned and poked her side. "I just used my quirk. At least I didn't go out of my way to mess with you guys as Shoto did." She huffed but didn't disagree. Finally, Midnight finished speaking, and the students were dismissed to lunch.