I had forgotten how loud humanity could be when it was happy.
The roar of the stadium rolled across the air like a living thing, vibrating through my borrowed clothing and rattling the metal beams above. I stood among thousands—faces painted, flags waving, voices cracking from excitement—and yet I remained unseen. A single ripple in a vast ocean.
The Cavalry Battle had ended with chaos, brilliance, fury, and heart. I had watched every quirk burst like a supernova across the field. And as the dust settled, as the students caught their breath and the crowd chanted the names of victors, something stirred deep within me—something I had not felt in centuries.
Curiosity.And… pride?
Strange emotions for an Eternal.
The teams who qualified now stood near the arena's center, still heaving from exertion. Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo—all marked by the invisible threads of destiny. Their teammates circled them with laughter, relief, or burning competitive fire. Sweat mixed with triumph. Triumph mixed with tension.
I leaned forward slightly, taking in the rawness of it.
These children fought with more desperation than some gods I had seen across galaxies.
Beside me, a group of ordinary humans argued about who fought the hardest, shouting statistics and replaying moments I had witnessed with perfect clarity. None of them noticed the ancient being standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them. None of them sensed the cosmic weight of my gaze.
I breathed, slow and steady.
Clothing instead of armor.Human heartbeat instead of cosmic hum.The dirt, the noise, the laughter—
For a moment, I felt almost human.
Below, Midnight announced a short intermission before the next phase of the festival. The students were led away by teachers, some walking tall, others limping or leaning on teammates. The crowd shifted into chatter, buying food, stretching, taking pictures of the arena.
But I stayed completely still, watching.
Something else was happening beneath the applause.
I felt a pulse.
A subtle vibration woven into the air—not from quirks, nor machinery. Something deeper. A tremor of awareness. Someone searching.
My eyes traced across the VIP balcony where the teachers and pro heroes gathered. Nezu stood at the railing, small paws wrapped around a radio device. The principal's expression was composed to the crowd, but his mind churned rapidly beneath. I could sense it.
He had received another report.
Humans did not detect cosmic signatures the way Eternals did, but Nezu was no ordinary human. His intellect was a force of its own, sharper than many alien war tacticians I had met in centuries past.
He lifted the radio slightly, and even from this distance—buried in the noise of thousands—I caught fragments of the voice speaking from the other end.
"…the entity's trail ends in Japan… last visual was near rooftops in the Musutafu district… vanished… no further activity detected…"
He paused. His eyes scanned the stadium.
Not casually.Not nervously.Precisely.
Searching.
For me.
A curious warmth tugged at my lips. I did not smile often, but Nezu's awareness impressed me. He did not know what he was looking for—and yet he scanned the crowd like a tactician expecting a ghost to materialize.
He wasn't wrong.
High above, sunlight filtered into the stadium, catching particles of dust drifting lazily through the air. Children cheered as Present Mic cracked jokes during the break. Parents wiped sweat from their brows. Vendors yelled prices for cold drinks.
And none of them knew an Eternal watched their potential futures unfold below.
My gaze drifted back to the students now returning to the field for announcing the brackets. Excitement simmered around them, though exhaustion crept in too.
Midoriya clutched his notebook, muttering to himself as usual, face flushed from both nerves and determination.
Bakugo stomped forward, aggression practically leaking from every movement. His team kept a cautious distance, but Kirishima walked beside him proudly, shoulders squared, confident the next round would be theirs.
Todoroki moved with a quiet steadiness, though I sensed a turbulence inside him. His right side simmered with emotions he tried desperately to freeze solid. His father's presence in the stands—unseen by many but definitely not by him—cut through the air like an ice shard.
These three…Their destinies spiraled in loops, intertwining, colliding, separating, all to meet again.
I felt it.I recognized the rhythm.
Cosmic threads.The kind that shape history.
The kind I was ordered to never interfere with.
And yet—I was already doing so simply by existing here.
A group of middle-aged spectators beside me argued over who would win the final tournament. The woman to my right insisted Todoroki was unbeatable. The man on her left shouted that Bakugo was a "walking explosion with anger issues" and therefore unstoppable. A boy tugged at his mother's sleeve, insisting Midoriya was the "secret underdog hero."
A flash of another memory pierced through my mind.
Sersi's voice.Soft. Certain."You'll never understand them until you walk among them, Ikaris. Not above. Among."
I had walked above humans for millennia.I had flown above their wars and watched their empires crumble.But to stand beside them—feeling heat from their bodies, hearing their hopes spill between breaths—this was different.
I inhaled the scent of snacks and dust and sweat.
For the first time in centuries, I felt grounded.
The intermission ended, and the stadium thundered with applause. Midnight reappeared on the field, whip in hand, smiling with the energy of someone who thrived on spectacle.
"Alright everyone! Thanks for waiting! It's time to announce the matchups for our final event—the one-on-one tournament!"
The screen exploded with visuals. Students gasped, some cheering when they saw their matchups, others swallowing their fear.
The world narrowed to anticipation.
A low hum moved through the teachers' area. Aizawa, bandaged and tired-eyed, leaned closer to Nezu. Present Mic fanned himself with a neon brochure. Endeavor crossed his arms, analyzing the brackets with all the intensity of a man planning the downfall of his own son's rivals.
And Nezu… watched me again.
His gaze didn't land on me directly. Too smart for that. He scanned sections. Patterns. Behaviors. Foot traffic. Energy signatures. Watching—not for a man, but for a deviation.
I turned slightly, controlling every breath until I blended perfectly with the bodies around me. A trick I had learned centuries ago while scouting planets with my kin.
If Nezu sensed me, it would be by intuition alone.
The students lined up on the arena floor.
Midoriya's hands trembled lightly, though he lifted his chin.Bakugo cracked his knuckles, grinning at the prospect of destruction.Todoroki stared at the ground as if weighing invisible chains.
One by one, Midnight announced pairings.
"You'll face her in the first round?!" Kaminari shouted, grabbing Sero dramatically.Uraraka smiled nervously toward Midoriya, who nearly fainted out of worry.Tetsutetsu pumped his fists, yelling something that sounded like pure enthusiasm barely formed into words.
Above, a helicopter camera zoomed in on each reaction, broadcasting emotions raw and vibrant across living rooms nationwide. The stadium screens displayed every subtle twitch, every inhale, every shade of fear and anticipation.
Humanity loved drama.They fed on it.
And yet, beneath the theatrics, I saw something else.
Courage.
Students who had been crushed minutes ago now stood ready to fight again.Teammates who failed moments earlier now plotted how to stand alone.Some fought for pride. Some for their future. Some to prove themselves to family, friends, or a world that doubted them.
This—this unyielding stubbornness—is what fascinated me.
The brackets finalized.The stadium nearly shook from applause.
But then—
A shift.
Something subtle, but sharp.
Nezu stiffened.
He lifted the radio again, whispering something I couldn't hear. A pause. His face tightened—not in fear, but in analysis. He stepped closer to the railing and looked across the crowd once more.
A pro hero approached him, murmuring urgently.
The Eternal within me flared instinctively.
Was another anomaly present?Another deviation?Another cosmic signature?
For a moment, I wondered if Arishem had sent scouts. If the Celestials had detected my presence and dispatched Watchers to observe.
But I felt nothing else cosmic. Only human emotions, quirks, and biological signatures.
Whatever Nezu had learned—it concerned me indirectly, but it wasn't cosmic.
He whispered into his device again.
"Keep scanning. Cross-reference with the previous sighting. The entity was last detected near Musutafu. Higher-resolution sensors if possible. We cannot afford blind spots."
Entity.
He was referring to me.
A wave of conflicting emotions washed through me—not fear, but something adjacent. A reminder that humans, despite their powerlessness compared to cosmic beings, were never predictable. They analyzed. They adapted. They hunted.
Not out of malice—out of responsibility.
They protected their young. Their cities. Their people.
Humans were fragile, yet fiercely protective. I respected that.
If Nezu ever stood before me and demanded answers… I might actually give them.
But for now, I remained in the stands—anonymous, silent, watching destinies reshape themselves below.
The students broke into clusters as teachers guided them to designated entrances for the next stage. Some trained in their minds. Others whispered strategy. A few simply breathed, trying not to faint.
Aizawa passed behind Todoroki, murmuring something that made the boy grip his arm. His left side flickered with suppressed power.
On another side, All Might leaned toward Midoriya with that awkward, encouraging grin of his. Midoriya nodded repeatedly, determination building like a spark ready to ignite.
Bakugo's teacher attempted to offer advice. Bakugo responded by yelling something that made the teacher sigh deeply and walk away.
Humans argued loudly.Humans expressed emotion violently.Humans laughed, cried, shouted, trembled.
And somehow, it made them stronger.
The sun shifted lower, brushing a golden warmth across the stadium. Shadows stretched long across the arena floor. The crowd braced for the coming duels. The entire country watched from screens. The entire stadium leaned forward in anticipation.
And high above, almost invisible against the brightness of day, a flicker of energy—my own energy—rippled through the sky like a heartbeat.
I closed my eyes briefly.
These children did not yet know the scale of threats that lurked beyond their world.They did not know the Celestials.They did not know me.
And yet they fought with everything they had.
Humanity did not need cosmic power to stand tall.
When I opened my eyes again, the students walked toward their starting gates, determination blazing as bright as solar fire.
I straightened slightly, crossing my arms.
I had come to understand them.But perhaps I came for something else too—
To witness what humanity could become.
And maybe, just maybe…to protect it.
Below, Midnight raised her whip.
"Contestants! Get ready!"
The crowd roared.
The festival continued.
And I remained exactly where I needed to be.