Chapter 41: Izumi Miyamura: Xover - Chapter 41
May 8th 2xxx – Izumi PoV
Today is the day of the UA sports festival.
For the last two to three weeks, it was a lot of intense training by all the students, everyone was completely turned on.
"I'm so nervous!" Ruby let out shakily to the side, she really did look nervous, but she still had an excited smile on her face as she held Crescent Rose tightly.
"You should, we're about to go on national television and broadcast worldwide," I said mockingly, Ruby paled further when I felt Taylor hit my head.
"Stop bothering Ruby." Ruby looked at Taylor with a huge smile, she didn't see Taylor's smirk "she already has enough thinking that if she trips, everyone will see it." Ruby's smile froze.
" Azulaaaa ! They're being mean to me! " Ruby whimpered as she lunged at Azula, Azula sighed tiredly with a defeated expression as she robotically slapped Ruby's back.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Azula said robotically, "they're just joking, you'll do fine." Azula comforted, Ruby looked up at her.
"Are you serious?" Ruby asked hopefully.
"Of course." Azula said without hesitation, if I didn't know Azula and I wasn't staring at her, I would have missed the slight tic in her lip, her heart rate didn't change at all when she lied, Ruby didn't notice and hugged Azula tighter.
I smiled widely as I shook my head. Ruby really didn't have to worry, she would do great if she just focused on the fight, but now when she got nervous and had other things on her mind… well, she could trip over herself.
We were all in the waiting room of class 1-A, all of us wearing our sports uniforms, but we had our weapons equipped. For the sake of fairness, everyone was allowed to carry a weapon or support equipment, Ruby had her scythe. Azula has the Nichirin sword. Taylor is holding Shusui, although his scabbard was wrapped in spider silk, really Taylor's paranoia was a few notches higher than it should have been, she firmly believed that someone would recognize Shusui if it was broadcasted nationally and… to be fair, she was right, they would definitely recognize Shusui, but unlike whatever negative thing I thought would happen, I would make sure that absolutely nothing would happen.
As for me, I had decided on Yubashiri, it was extremely light but interestingly it also had exceptional durability, it was sturdy and easy to use, something I liked about it.
And about the others... I could see several different weapons, even in people who had not been using weapons before during the first days of training, like Jiro who had a short sword, even Hagakure had a weapon this time, or definitely both were novices in handling weapons, but they had quickly realized that there was a substantial difference between their companions who did use a weapon, in range and strength, and since their quirks had no form of direct attack, they were practically forced to use weapons.
As we found out, UA has more masters than I thought, and they were excellent at handling weapons, they looked like retired hunters, but still, 3 weeks was not enough time for them to learn how to use weapons expertly, but anything helped.
To my surprise, there was no declaration of war from Todoroki towards Izuku, possibly because he hadn't stood out as much as the normal canon, or for some other reason, I could feel his pent-up anger and frustration, so, Endeavor was still shit even as a mother or it was just something else, I didn't know, but the wait passed peacefully.
When it was finally time for us to leave, a timple installed in the waiting room sounded, everyone immediately stood up and the tension increased enormously before we left the room.
"IN THE FIRST YEAR AREA! STUDENTS ARE MAKING THEIR ENTRANCE NOW!! "
" THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL, WHERE THE APPRENTICES OF THE WORLD OF HEROES AND HUNTERS AIM AT EACH OTHER'S THROAT AND ALSO AT THE TOP!! OUR GREAT ANNUAL CONTEST !!!
" AND LET ME GUESS, YOU ALL CAME TO SEE THEM, RIGHT??? THE NEWLY ARRIVED MIRACLE STARS WHO WITH NERVES OF STEEL TOOK CHARGE OF BREAKING A DOOR!! FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEROISM AND HUNTERS, TO THE FIRST YEAR CLASS, 1-A!!! "
And that was our cue to enter.
" Who-hoaa ! There are so many people! " Ruby muttered with a shaky smile. "I-it looks like the Vital Festival Tournament , s-so this is what it feels like to be on the other side of the festival!"
I ignored Present Mic's introduction of the other classes and looked at Taylor who seemed calm, though the insects around her were definitely going crazy. Azula, on the other hand, seemed cool as a cucumber, barely fazed as she looked out at the crowd.
"Alright, alright, it's time for the athlete's oath!!" My gaze turned to Midnight, it would seem that she would be the referee as in canon "your student representative is-" her gaze turned to us with a huge smile "-from class 1- A, Taylor Hebert!! " Taylor stood stiffly and her bugs reached the limit of how much emotion she could push into them as her face finally fell as she paled horribly.
" Pss , here." I handed her a paper discreetly, Taylor grabbed it unconsciously but didn't move, I pushed her from behind and she walked almost automatically. Once she got up to the podium she went blank, before she remembered the paper, she opened it clumsily and took a deep breath.
" And - I, Taylor Hebert!" Her voice cracked at first and she grimaced as she calmed down a bit more, "with this oath, on behalf of all the competitors, I promise that I will surpass all of you losers and come in first, thank you very much!" My smile was from ear to ear, almost painful, but I couldn't help it, she actually read it.
We knew that Taylor was the representative of the year, Aizawa had told her a week ago so that she could prepare the opening speech for the festival, Taylor had actually written something quite generic based on the previous years, she had memorized it backwards and forwards, I really didn't think she would read the paper she had idly written, but it had worked.
Everyone in the stadium fell deathly silent, Ruby looked horrified next to me, Azula had a maniacal grin on her face and I could see Taylor sigh in relief before coming to a stiff stop, her paleness becoming much more noticeable and I almost expected her to faint on the spot.
"wait I don't-"
"HAHAHAHAHA!! AS EXPECTED FROM THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE YEAR!! "A BOLD DECLARATION OF WAR!!! GIVE THEM A CLASPS!!!" Present Mic interrupted Taylor's apology, the crowd began to boo Taylor.
"Ha! Very well done girl! "I like it, now get down! " Midnight said with a smirk as she pushed Taylor away, Taylor almost looked catatonic before her gaze fell on me, she paused for a few seconds before glaring at me with the most intense glare she had ever given me, it was hot. Taylor took long strides ignoring everyone as she approached me.
"Why did you do that!?" Taylor hissed as she grabbed my arm tightly, my smile never faltering.
"To make things more interesting," I said playfully, Taylor growled in frustration.
"More interesting?! All of Japan hates me! " Taylor growled, snorting in amusement.
" au " Contraire , only the students hate you." I said amused, Taylor glared at me.
"Because, clearly there's a huge difference," Taylor said, sarcasm dripping into her words, I rolled my eyes.
"Seriously, that was a good thing to do." I told her as honestly as I could, Taylor looked at me incredulously "You needed to get noticed, if you gave a generic speech it would be boring and everyone would forget about it, you came first in the entrance exams, and now you've caught the attention of national television, the heroes and hunters noticed you, they know about you, now, you just have to make it to the finals so they know you're serious." I reassured Taylor with a soft smile, Taylor stopped and looked at me doubtfully.
"…you really did all that to… help me?" Taylor asked unsure.
"Of course Taylor, do you think I would get you in trouble just for fun?" I asked sounding as hurt as possible, Taylor gave me a deadpan look, I smiled amusedly "fair enough, but not this time." Or not completely, what I said was true, but it was like 20% the actual reason, the other 80%, was that it would be fun. Taylor still looked doubtful.
"Izumi's right." Azula interrupted from the side "this is basically a popularity contest, if you don't stand out, you're worthless, you had a perfect time to have the spotlight focused on you, and it was during the speech, that declaration of war was talked about for a while." Azula said almost boredly, before shrugging "and from what I understand, guys like 'bad girls'-" Azula made some extremely exaggerated quotes with her hands, I almost burst out laughing "-you'll have quite the fan base." Taylor wrinkled her nose.
"A group of fans, that sounds amazing." Ruby said dreamily from the side, Taylor looked at her and sighed frustratedly.
"Fine," Taylor spat, "but you'll still get this." Taylor growled as she crossed her arms in annoyance and turned away, my smile grew again and I extended my closed fist in Azula's direction, Azula glanced at me amusedly, but fist-bumped me.
"You owe me big," Azula murmured beside me.
"Of course." I winked at him.
"I can hear them and see them," Taylor growled in front of us while clenching his teeth, I let out a laugh.
" Aaww , and there's nothing I can do to make you forgive me?" I asked mockingly as I hugged her from behind, I felt her shudder slightly, she just growled, but made no effort to move, I would take that as a victory.
"Alright, with that we can move straight to our first event!" Midnight exclaimed, drawing our attention once again, "on to the 'preliminaries', as they're called! A lot of good people end up drowning in their tears here every year!!" And the first round of this year's destiny is... this one!! " I point to the huge screen.
Steeplechase.
It would seem that it will follow the canon.
"It's a face among the 11 classes! The track makes a ring of almost 4 kilometers around the stadium! We always talk about our freedom on campus, fufufufu , well this is what it's all about! They are free to do anything, anyone, as long as they stay on the track!!!"
With that the lights began to illuminate above the door which began to open behind us.
"Let's get started then... on your marks... go!!"
And so it begins.