The stadium was enormous.
Arthur stood in the prep area with the rest of Class 1-A, hearing the roar of the crowd through thick concrete walls. Thousands of people, all waiting to watch first-year students compete. The noise was overwhelming, primal, like the bloodthirsty crowds at Camelot's tournaments.
Students from all courses crowded the space. Hero course, support, business, general studies. The energy was tense, competitive, everyone sizing each other up before the games began.
"Holy crap," Kaminari breathed, looking around. "That's a lot of competition."
"Approximately four hundred and twenty first-year students total," Iida said, adjusting his glasses nervously. "Though only a fraction will advance past the first round."
"Thanks, that makes it so much better," Jirou muttered.
A purple-haired student pushed through the crowd, deliberately approaching Class 1-A. Several others followed behind him, and Arthur noticed Class 1-B students watching with interest.
Here we go, Arthur thought, recognizing the hostile energy.
"Excuse me," the purple-haired boy said, voice flat. "You're Class 1-A, right? The ones who fought villains?"
"Uh, yeah?" Kirishima said cautiously. "What's up?"
"I'm Shinso Hitoshi, general studies." The boy's eyes were cold, calculating. "I wanted to tell you something before we get started."
"And what's that?" Bakugo growled, already irritated.
"I came to declare war." Shinso's expression didn't change. "Not just me. Everyone here who isn't in the hero course. We're all coming for your spots."
The corridor went quiet, nearby students turning to watch.
"See, here's the thing about U.A.," Shinso continued, his voice carrying that flat, dangerous quality. "Students can transfer between departments based on their performance at events like this. So those of us in general studies? We didn't come here to cheer you on. We came to replace you."
"That's adorable," a blonde boy from Class 1-B chimed in, his smile condescending. "But Shinso's right about one thing. Class 1-A has been hogging all the spotlight since the USJ incident. Time for the real hero course to remind everyone that 1-A got lucky."
Monoma, Arthur identified. Class 1-B representative. Insecure about being in the shadow class.
"We didn't get lucky," Midoriya said quietly. "We survived."
"Oh, how tragic," Monoma's voice dripped with fake sympathy. "You had one villain attack and now you think you're special? Please. 1-B would have handled it just as well, but without all the dramatic media coverage."
"The media coverage we didn't ask for," Tokoyami pointed out.
"Doesn't matter." Shinso's eyes swept across Class 1-A. "The system is broken. The entrance exam only tests one kind of hero, the kind with flashy, combat-focused quirks. Those of us with quirks that don't work on robots got shuffled into general studies, regardless of our actual potential."
Arthur found himself nodding slightly. The boy had a point.
"My quirk is useless against machines," Shinso continued. "So I'm stuck in general studies while people with 'hero-worthy' powers get the training, the resources, the opportunities. Well, today that changes. Today, I prove I deserve to be a hero just as much as any of you."
"Good luck with that," Bakugo said dismissively.
"I don't need luck." Shinso's smile was bitter. "I need you to underestimate me. Which, based on your attitude, won't be difficult."
He turned to leave, then paused.
"Oh, and for the record? That pledge you gave? Declaring you'll win before the competition even starts? That just made everyone here want to crush you specifically. So thanks for that."
Shinso walked away, other general studies students following. Class 1-B dispersed too, Monoma throwing back one last contemptuous look.
"Well," Sero said into the awkward silence, "we're popular."
"I'm going to kill Bakugo," Yaoyorozu said pleasantly.
"GET IN LINE," multiple classmates chorused.
"He's not wrong though," Tokoyami said quietly, ignoring Bakugo's sputtering. "We do take our positions for granted. For students in other courses, this festival is their only real chance to prove themselves."
"Then they should have destroyed more robots," Bakugo snapped.
"That's exactly his point," Arthur said. "The system favors certain quirks over others. Combat-applicable, flashy, immediately useful. Quirks like Shinso's, whatever it is, don't fit that mold."
"You're defending him?" Bakugo looked offended.
"I'm acknowledging he has a valid criticism of the system. That doesn't mean I'll go easy on him."
"Guys," Ashido said nervously, "is it just me, or did things just get way more intense?"
"I'm going to throw up," Kaminari announced.
"Please don't," Yaoyorozu said quickly. "We're about to walk out there."
Arthur tuned out the nervous chatter, focusing inward. His body felt ready, balanced, no lingering injuries. Two weeks of training had sharpened his reflexes, refined his techniques. The energy inside him was calm, waiting.
Just another tournament, he told himself. You've done this dozens of times.
Except those tournaments had been five hundred years ago, and he'd been royalty then, not a student trying to prove himself.
"Himura." Todoroki's voice cut through his thoughts. "Ready?"
"Always."
"Good. Because I'm not holding back today."
"Neither am I."
Bakugo pushed past them both, shoulders tense with aggressive energy. "You two can have your dramatic rival moment later. I'm winning this thing."
"The confidence is impressive," Todoroki said flatly. "If unearned."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"Guys," Kirishima tried to intervene, "maybe save the fighting for the actual, you know, fighting?"
"STAY OUT OF THIS, HAIR-FOR-BRAINS!"
Midoriya was in the corner, muttering to himself and reviewing notes. Arthur caught fragments about quirk matchups and optimal strategies. The boy had probably been awake all night planning.
Too much thinking, not enough instinct, Arthur thought. He'll second-guess himself when it matters.
"ALRIGHT!" Present Mic's voice boomed through the speakers, shaking the walls. "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! INTRODUCING OUR FIRST YEARS!"
The gates opened, and sunlight flooded the corridor.
"Here we go," Kirishima said, grinning despite visible nerves. "Let's show them what we've got!"
They walked out into chaos. The crowd's roar was deafening, a wall of sound that hit like physical force. Cameras flashed everywhere. The other classes were already in the arena, hundreds of students all competing for the same prize: recognition.
Arthur scanned the opposition automatically. Class 1-B looked determined, some hostile toward 1-A after all the USJ publicity. Support and general studies students were nervous but excited, knowing this was their chance to prove they belonged.
Everyone here wants to be a hero, Arthur realized. This isn't war. It's opportunity.
"MAN, THAT'S A LOT OF STUDENTS!" Present Mic continued his commentary. "BUT EVERYONE'S EYES ARE ON CLASS 1-A! THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED A VILLAIN ATTACK AND LIVED TO TELL ABOUT IT!"
"Great," Kaminari muttered. "No pressure."
"AND NOW, FOR THE STUDENT PLEDGE! REPRESENTING THE FIRST YEARS... KATSUKI BAKUGO!"
The crowd went silent. Arthur felt his classmates tense.
Why would they choose Bakugo for the pledge? Arthur wondered. He's talented but not exactly diplomatic.
Bakugo stomped up to the microphone, his expression already hostile.
"I just wanna say," he started, and Arthur knew immediately this was going to be bad, "I'm gonna win."
Silence.
Then the entire stadium erupted in boos.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" someone from 1-B shouted.
"ARROGANT BASTARD!"
"CLASS 1-A THINKS THEY'RE SO SPECIAL!"
"Well," Sero said weakly, "that could have gone better."
"I'm going to kill him," Yaoyorozu said pleasantly. "Actually murder him."
Arthur caught Todoroki's eye, and for a moment, they shared the same thought: Bakugo just made everyone want to beat Class 1-A specifically.
Tactical disaster.
"WELL THEN!" Present Mic recovered quickly. "NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE CONTROVERSY TO SPICE THINGS UP! LET'S HEAR FROM OUR CHIEF UMPIRE, THE R-RATED HERO, MIDNIGHT!"
The pro hero sauntered onto the stage, her costume barely qualifying as clothing. Several students had visible nosebleeds.
"The first game is simple!" Midnight announced, cracking her whip. "An obstacle race! Four kilometers around the stadium, with various obstacles along the way! The first forty-two students to finish advance to the next round!"
A holographic display showed the course. It wound through the stadium, outside the building, through what looked like deliberately constructed hazard zones.
"ANY QUIRK USAGE IS ALLOWED!" Midnight continued. "BUT ATTACKS DESIGNED TO SERIOUSLY INJURE YOUR OPPONENTS ARE PROHIBITED! OTHER THAN THAT... ANYTHING GOES!"
The crowd roared approval.
"Forty-two advance," Kirishima calculated. "Out of hundreds. We need to place in the top ten percent."
"Top five," Arthur corrected. "Everyone will be targeting 1-A specifically now, thanks to Bakugo. We need to be undeniable."
"You heard him!" Iida's engines revved. "We must demonstrate our capabilities beyond question!"
"RACERS, TO YOUR POSITIONS!"
They crowded into the starting corridor, hundreds of students packed into a space designed for maybe fifty. The bottleneck was intentional, Arthur realized. First obstacle was getting through the initial tunnel without being crushed or trapped.
He positioned himself near the front but not at it. Let others charge ahead, waste energy on the initial crush.
"BEGIN!"
The crowd exploded forward like a flood. Students pushed, shoved, activated quirks. Someone with a growth quirk made themselves massive, blocking the tunnel. An ice user created barriers. Chaos erupted immediately.
Arthur manifested twin energy blades, used them to create space, deflecting bodies without cutting. He slipped through gaps, reading the flow of the crowd like water, always moving toward openings.
Tournament melee tactics, his mind supplied. Let the aggressive ones tire themselves, conserve energy, maintain positioning.
Then everything froze.
Literally.
Massive ice erupted from the front, coating the ground, the walls, trapping dozens of students in place. Arthur's Instinct screamed and he jumped, using an ice wall as a platform, clearing the initial freeze.
Todoroki.
The dual-quirked boy was pulling ahead, using his ice to simultaneously block opponents and create his own path. Exactly what Arthur expected.
But he'd left an opening. The ice walls created a path that others could follow if they were fast enough.
Arthur ran along the ice, energy blades dismissed to focus on speed. His enhanced physicals from training let him move faster than most students could manage, and his balance was perfect even on the frozen surface.
Bakugo blasted past him using explosions, propelling himself through the air. "OUT OF MY WAY!"
"Racing, not fighting!" Arthur called back.
"SAME THING!"
They burst from the tunnel into the first actual obstacle zone, and Arthur's breath caught.
Giant robots. The same models from the entrance exam, towering mechanical monsters designed to look threatening.
"OBSTACLE ONE!" Present Mic announced. "ROBOT INFERNO! REMEMBER THESE BABIES FROM THE ENTRANCE EXAM?"
Students skidded to a halt, intimidated. The robots began moving, targeting the crowd.
"THOSE ARE ZERO-POINTERS!" someone shouted. "THEY'RE HUGE!"
Arthur didn't slow down. These weren't real threats, they were obstacles. The difference mattered.
Find the weak points. Destroy efficiently. Keep moving.
His energy blade manifested mid-run, a golden streak of light that carved through the first robot's leg joint. The machine toppled, and Arthur was already past it, targeting the next one.
Todoroki froze three robots solid, ran between them. Bakugo blasted one's head off. Kirishima hardened and punched through armor plating.
But most students were held up, trying to find ways around or through the mechanical horde.
This is the real filter, Arthur understood. Separating those who can handle immediate threats from those who hesitate.
He cleared the robot zone in forty seconds, Todoroki slightly ahead, Bakugo neck-and-neck beside him.
"THE TOP THREE ARE PULLING AWAY!" Present Mic's commentary echoed across the stadium. "TODOROKI, BAKUGO, AND HIMURA FROM CLASS 1-A! BUT WAIT, WHAT'S THIS?"
Someone was flying. A girl with pink dreadlocks, using some kind of support gear to boost herself through the air.
Support course student, Arthur noted. Smart. Designed equipment specifically for this competition.
The second obstacle appeared: a massive canyon crossed by tightropes and pillars. The ground below was clearly bottomless, or at least deep enough to eliminate anyone who fell.
"THE FALL!" Present Mic announced dramatically. "ONE WRONG STEP AND YOU'RE OUT!"
Todoroki created an ice bridge, started crossing. Bakugo used explosions to jump between pillars. The support course girl had a grappling system.
Arthur looked at the tightropes, calculated distances and angles.
I could create energy platforms, step across. But that's inefficient, wastes power I'll need later.
Instead, he ran across the tightropes directly. His balance, honed through sword training, made the thin cables feel stable. Other students were crawling, moving cautiously, terrified of falling.
Arthur sprinted.
"HIMURA IS RUNNING ACROSS THE TIGHTROPES LIKE THEY'RE SOLID GROUND!" Present Mic sounded genuinely surprised. "WHAT KIND OF QUIRK ALLOWS THAT?"
Halfway across, someone's desperate attempt at flight quirk usage crashed into the rope Arthur was on, making it swing wildly. He didn't slow, just adjusted his weight distribution, rode the momentum, used it to launch himself to the next rope.
Like sailing in storms. Flow with the chaos, don't fight it.
He hit the far side five seconds behind Todoroki, three ahead of Bakugo.
The third obstacle was immediately visible and completely insane.
A minefield.
"OBSTACLE THREE!" Present Mic's voice carried glee. "THE LAND MINE FIELD! ONE WRONG STEP AND YOU'RE BLASTED SKY HIGH! THE MINES AREN'T POWERFUL ENOUGH TO REALLY HURT YOU, BUT THEY'LL SURE SLOW YOU DOWN!"
Pink smoke marked recent detonations. The support course girl had triggered several but kept moving, using the blasts for momentum. Todoroki was carefully freezing patches of ground, testing for mines before stepping.
Slow but safe. Bakugo won't have that patience.
Sure enough, Bakugo blasted forward, triggering mines deliberately, using the explosions to propel himself through the air in controlled jumps.
Reckless but effective. If he miscalculates once, he's done.
Arthur studied the field, Instinct reading patterns in the pink smoke residue, the way the ground was disturbed.
There. A path. Not mine-free, but minimal danger.
He moved forward carefully, testing each step, using his blade to prod suspicious ground ahead. Twice he triggered mines deliberately, small ones on the path's edge, using the blast direction to confirm his route.
Behind him, the main pack was catching up. Students who'd survived the first two obstacles were desperate now, willing to risk the mines rather than fall behind.
The detonations increased, chaos spreading.
Then Arthur heard an explosion far larger than the others, from the back of the pack. Something massive had just detonated, the shockwave visible even from his position.
What was that?
"OHHHHH!" Present Mic shouted. "MIDORIYA FROM CLASS 1-A JUST USED A PIECE OF ROBOT ARMOR AS A MINE-TRIGGERED SLED! HE'S FLYING THROUGH THE AIR!"
Arthur looked back, saw Midoriya soaring overhead on a makeshift metal platform, using accumulated mine explosions to launch himself forward.
Clever.
Midoriya crashed down ahead of Todoroki, the impact triggering more mines, launching him forward again in a chain reaction of explosions and momentum.
The green-haired boy was going to win.
Unless...
Arthur made a split-second decision. He could play it safe, guarantee second or third place, advance easily. Or he could gamble.
He ran straight into the minefield's thickest section, triggering mines deliberately, using each explosion to boost his speed. His Instinct read trajectories, predicted blast patterns, let him surf the chaos like Midoriya but with precision instead of luck.
Energy blades manifested, absorbing some impacts, deflecting debris.
The finish line approached, Midoriya still ahead, but Arthur was closing the gap with each blast-assisted sprint.
Todoroki and Bakugo realized what was happening, pushed harder, but they'd been playing it safe too long. The gambit had paid off.
Midoriya crossed first, tumbling in a heap of metal and smoke.
Arthur crossed second, landing in a controlled roll, blades dissipating.
Todoroki third, ice barely propelling him across.
Bakugo fourth, screaming incoherently about "DEKU" and "LUCKY BASTARD."
The crowd absolutely lost their minds.
"WHAT A FINISH!" Present Mic roared. "MIDORIYA TAKES FIRST WITH AN INSANE STRATEGY! HIMURA CLOSE BEHIND! TODOROKI AND BAKUGO ROUNDING OUT THE TOP FOUR!"
Arthur stood, catching his breath, assessing. Minor bruises from blast shockwaves, some ringing in his ears, but nothing serious. The energy expenditure had been moderate, well within sustainable limits.
Could have gone faster, he analyzed. But placing second is fine. No need to show everything in round one.
Midoriya was on his hands and knees, looking shocked that his plan had worked. Students continued crossing the finish line in clusters, most looking exhausted.
"Dude!" Kirishima jogged over, having placed somewhere in the teens. "That was manly as hell! You just ran through a minefield like it was a morning jog!"
"It was necessary," Arthur replied, accepting the water bottle someone handed out.
"Necessary," Kaminari repeated, having placed in the thirties. "That's Himura for 'I'm crazy but tactical about it.'"
The final students crossed, and Midnight cracked her whip for attention.
"THE FIRST FORTY-TWO STUDENTS HAVE ADVANCED! THE REST OF YOU, BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR!"
Groans from eliminated students, but they cleared the field.
"NOW!" Midnight's smile was predatory. "FOR OUR SECOND ROUND... THE CAVALRY BATTLE!"
A holographic display appeared, showing riders on shoulders, stealing headbands worth different point values.
"You'll form teams of two to four members! One rides, others support! Each team gets points based on your obstacle race placement! First place gets... TEN MILLION POINTS!"
Every eye in the stadium turned to Midoriya.
The poor boy went pale.
"Oh no," he whispered.
"Oh YES!" Midnight laughed. "Steal headbands, protect your own! Top four teams advance to the finals! You have fifteen minutes to form teams! BEGIN!"
Chaos erupted immediately as students scrambled to form alliances.
Arthur found himself surrounded by classmates within seconds.
"Himura!" Iida's hand-chop was emphatic. "We should form a team! Your tactical skills combined with my speed would be formidable!"
"No way!" Ashido pushed in. "Himura, team with us! Me, Mina, and Sero! We've got great synergy!"
"Actually," Yaoyorozu approached, "Arthur and I have complementary analytical capabilities. We should consider strategic partnership."
Everyone wants the strong player on their team, Arthur realized. Standard tournament politics.
He looked across the field, saw Todoroki deliberately walking alone, saw Bakugo screaming at Kirishima to join his team, saw Midoriya desperately trying to recruit anyone who'd listen.
Who do I choose? The safe tactical alliance? The wild card? The rival to push my limits?
His decision would determine how the next round played out.
And possibly, whether he'd advance at all.
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