Chapter 15: Athlete's Oath

-]-[-

"Excuse me. Sorry." Endeavor muscled his way through the crowd of journalists, each of them trying to catch a glimpse of the city's most famous hero. The reporters were not supposed to be here, but no member of the press wanted to pass up on the opportunity to meet the city's most high-profile heroes, who, for today, were all gathered in one place.

Somehow, the Number-One Hero managed to push through the cluster of human bodies without hurting anyone. Once he made it to the conference room door, he pulled it open and shoved himself inside before quickly closing it. He turned to face the occupants of the room, all gathered around a large table. He was met by the familiar faces of Hawks, Best Jeanist, Kamui Woods, and many of his other colleagues.

Endeavor grunted. "Sorry I was late. The press was very aggressive towards me this morning. They wanted a quote."

"Pfft," teased Edgeshot. "How unbecoming of the Number-One Hero to let mere journalists get in his way…"

"Oh, be quiet, Edgeshot." The heroes turned. It was Fatgum, reclining in his custom-made chair. "Not all of us can reduce our size to fit through crowds, like you can."

"Then just blast your way through them," retorted the Ninja Hero, grinning under his mask. "It's not like anyone will care about a few dead reporters..."

All the heroes chuckled at that. Edgeshot was joking, obviously. Nobody actually wanted to kill a civilian. But the people in this room were the most popular celebrities in the entire country and, by consequence, the subjects of many scandalous tabloids. It was safe to say that the pro-heroes were united in their hatred of the media.

"Ahem," coughed a lady seated at the head of the conference table. "If we're done discussing homicide, shall we begin?"

The clamor in the room died down. The woman was the President of the Hero Public Safety Commission, more commonly known as the HPUC. She, for all intensive purposes, was the boss of every single hero in that room, even Endeavor. She was also in charge of the day's meeting, so she commanded the heroes' respect.

An armored hero shrugged. "Everyone's here," said Igneum, who was seated toward the middle of the room.

The President pursed her lips. "Very well, then. Welcome to this year's conference of Japan's highest-ranking professional heroes. Our agenda today includes public relations, inter-agency cohesion, and preparations for the UA Sports Festival in three weeks' time. But first, considering the astonishing rise in crime since All Might's retirement, the HPUC believes it will be wise to discuss current developments in the criminal underworld as well as how we will deal with them. Mera, if you will…"

"Hmm, yes." A man, who Endeavor assumed to be another HPUC employee, yawned. He had dark bags under his eyes, and his words came out slow and uneven. The man obviously needed to get more sleep.

He continued: "The gangs, the gangs… Oh right!" In a sudden burst of energy, he hopped to his feet and tapped a button on an overhead projector. A screen behind him came to life, and Endeavor could see six mugshots displayed on it.

"...We have detained six members of the Eight Precepts gang. They were left behind after sustaining critical injuries in a deal gone bad with the League of Villains, and when the police questioned them, they revealed some disturbing pieces of information: The first only confirms the fear that has sprung up from the incident at USJ: that the League of Villains is capable of granting additional quirks with no negative side-effects."

The room broke into an excited chatter, and Endeavor frowned. Villains were hard enough to deal with when they had one quirk. But with two? Or three? Or five?"

"Quiet down," commanded the President, and the heroes obeyed. "The prospect of fighting against villains with multiple quirks is terrifying, I know. That's why we plan on requiring that pro heroes work in groups. One man with two quirks is dangerous, to be sure, but a team of experienced professionals should be able to deal with him." She lowered her voice. "We still don't know how, exactly, the League has been able to accomplish this. After all, there has only been a single instance of a person inheriting a quirk artificially, and that was a special case…"

"Izuku Midoriya," guessed Nighteye, and the HPUC president nodded her head. A few other heroes glanced towards Endeavor. It was a closely-guarded secret, but all the highest-level pros had been briefed on The Incident, as well as Izuku's unique situation.

"...Which leads us onto the second piece of information obtained from the captured yakuza: that they were all attacked by a ghost in their hospital beds that night."

Ryogoku scoffed. "Really?"

Mera nodded. "It would seem like it. The hospital was dark, so our cameras couldn't see much, but it looks like a white-clad person visited them in the middle of the night. And if that isn't strange enough, six people in that hospital ward had their wounds completely healed, while the gang members each gained a new injury. It's as if the injuries were transferred from the innocent patients to the guilty ones."

The room once more broke into excited conversation again. The heroes looked confused, but Hawks knew better.

Dammit, Izuku. I thought I told you to stay with Eri. At least nobody will suspect a fifteen year-old student…

As if to confirm Hawk's thoughts, the HPUC president spoke up: "Now, while the transfer of the patients' injures matches up with one of Izuku Midoriya's quirks, we don't believe the boy is responsible for this, considering he's a fifteen year-old civilian who lives on the other side of the city. Instead, we should consider the possibility that the League is in possession of a similar quirk…"

Hawks breathed a sigh of relief. Izuku was safe for now.

"...And in anticipation of their newfound power, we will assign a team of heroes to watch the League." Her eyes met Hawks' eyes briefly, for a second, and the message was clear. Keep your cover secret. If the League had a spy in the room, Hawks' cover could be blown if he mentioned his undercover work to the wrong person.

"...For now, we will continue our investigation into the yakuza's grab for power and their quirk-erasing bullets. Nighteye, your agency is in charge, of course. You will be aided by Fatgum, Ryogoku, and Rock Lock." The heroes in question nodded. "And you should allow Hawks to assist you. I've heard he has experience in dealing with the yakuza in the past."

Hawks shrugged. "Glad to be on board."

"Excellent," said the president. "On an unrelated note, the Hero Killer, Stain, seems to have moved to Hosu. Endeavor has been tracking him down…" The Number-One Hero nodded. "...And we ask that Igneum's hero agency should perform a sweep of the area. Will that be okay?"

"Of course," said Igneum.

"Good. And be wary of the Hero Killer. He has taken lives before. Additionally, there has been an alarming increase in usage of the drug Trigger…"

-]-[-

"I have pancakes for everyone!"

Sato strode into the Class 1-A common room, hefting two huge platters above his head. All activity in the room came to a halt as the students crowded around the burly man.

"Mmm, thanks Sato!" A chunk of a pancake seemed to disappear into thin air as Toru took a bite.

"I made sure to add extra chocolate chips!"

"They're great!" said Mina, face full of pankake. She threw her arms around the flustered boy, and he had to fight not to drop his trays.

Izuku stepped up to the chef-in-training. "Here, let me get those." He took the trays and set them down on the coffee table. "This is great, Sato. We'll have to make it up to you!"

"No, no. No need for that." The sugar hero shook his head. "I like to bake sweets so I can fuel my quirk! It's somewhat of a hobby of mine. Though, if you can bring me some flour, I can make more..." He shrugged Mina off his shoulders as Bakugou entered the room.

"I smell food," the boy grunted, wiping sleep from his eyes.

"Oh, Bakugou," she teased. "I was saving a hug just for you!"

The blond-haired boy didn't have time to react before he was wrapped in a tight, pink embrace. "Huh? Get off!"

Mina let go and pouted. "Poor Bakugou doesn't know how to hug a girl. And put a shirt on! Not everyone wants to see your impressively-large muscles."

The rest of the common room chuckled at the commotion, and Shoto walked in from the boys' hallway, fully dressed. His eyes lit up when he saw the platter of pancakes.

"Hmm, don't mind if I do," he said, taking one. He motioned towards Izuku and Bakugou. "Come, eat with me."

The trio found their way to a secluded couch and sat down.

"So," said Izuku. "Did you want to tell us something?"

"Yes," said Shoto. "It's about the Sports Festival."

Izuku nodded. This year's sports festival was coming up fast, and, while Izuku was well-prepared after sparring with his friends, he felt nervous. He'd be competing against his own classmates, and each of them was talented in their own right. As a class, they had repelled a villain invasion, after all. And that wasn't even taking Class 1-B into account. Their rival class was full of students with unknown powers, and Shoto even spoke of a student who performed just as well as he in the recommendation exams. Inasa, was it? Either way, he wasn't looking forward to an encounter with that boy, especially since Izuku had lost against Shoto in their duel back in America.

"Anyway, remember the promise we made on the first day of training with my father?"

"Yeah," grunted Bakugou. "The three of us promised that we'd work as a team. What about it?"

"I want each of us to break that promise, at least for the duration of the Sports Festival."

Izuku leaned in. "Really?"

Shoto nodded. "Teamwork was useful during training, and against the Nomu, but the three of us would have an unfair advantage if we ganged up on the other individual competitors. Besides, I want to treat this like a competition, to see which of us will prevail over the other."

"I see," said Izuku. He had no qualms about working alone. "But are you sure you want to go up against me?"

"I beat you before," noted Shoto. "And sure, you have four more quirks than usual, but none of them alone are hero student-tier. We're more than a fair match for you."

"Okay, then," said Izuku, not taking Shoto's comments about his quirks to heart. "Until the Sports Festival is over, we'll see each other as opponents. May the best of us win."

Bakugou grinned. "The three of us are close in skill, but the best one is obviously me."

Shoto's eyes narrowed. "You wish."

"I'll prove it." He shoved a finger towards his chest. "Just wait for the Sports Festival."

"We'll see."

Both boys reclined in their seat, preferring to enjoy their pancakes over continuing their dead-end argument. After a minute of comfortable silence, Izuku spoke up:

"You know, I'm pretty excited for this competition."

"Me too," said Bakugou. "But I don't think anyone can be excited as Ochako is." He pointed to the girl, who was off in the corner, punching an invisible opponent. An intense fire burned in her eyes, and she would have looked scary if she wasn't wearing slippers and fluffy pajamas.

"...I wonder what's gotten into her?"

"Dunno," said Izuku. He would have to ask her about it later. "I'm also looking forward to meeting some of the Class 1-B students. I don't think I know any of their quirks…"

"Yeah," agreed Shoto. "I know Inasa's pumped up, too. He's the wind-quirk guy in Class 1-B that almost beat me in the Recommendations Exams." Almost. "He's nice enough, if not a little too energetic. He'll be a fierce competitor, no doubt on par with the three of us."

Hmm, thought Izuku. He sounds like a tough competitor. I'll need to get my act together if I want to beat the others. "Hey, it's the weekend. Does anyone want to train for the Sports Festival with me?"

"No," said Shoto. "As of a few minutes ago, we're opponents, remember? You're on your own."

Izuku recoiled as Shoto stood up to get another pancake. Oof. I've taken training with Shoto and Bakugou for granted. Maybe I'll ask Ochako later today…

-]-[-

Knock, knock.

Later that day, Ochako stood before the door to All Might's office, working out a knot in her shoulder. Physical training was tough today, but I think after three hours I earned the rest of the day off. She had been, and still was, pumping herself up for the Sports Festival. This was her chance to get recognized by the pros. With recognition from the pros, she could land herself a high-paying job in a prestigious hero agency right out of school and start paying off her parents' debt. A lot was riding on her performance, so she needed all the physical exercise she could get.

A voice boomed from inside: "OCHAKO, IS THAT YOU?"

"Um, yes, All Might. You wanted to eat lunch with me?"

"Of course! Of course! Come on in!"

Ochako pushed the door open to find the room full of smoke. She coughed.

"All Might, is that you?"

"Yes," came a much, much softer voice. All Might must have been trying out his strengthened form, for whatever reason. "Please, sit down, and help yourself to tea."

The smoke cleared and Ochako sat, facing her mentor. He cleared his throat.

"Ochako," he said. "I want to catch up with you. We never got the chance to talk after the USJ incident. How are you feeling, now that it's over?"

Ochako's face darkened when he mentioned the USJ. "It could have gone worse. I'm fine," because I have Izuku to talk to. "But I don't know about the others…"

All Might nodded. "Glad to hear you're okay. And how has your training with One for All gone?"

Ochako flinched at the sudden change of topic.

"Um, it's good, I guess. I still can't get to 20% without the risk of injuring myself, and I get nauseous when I use anything more than 5% when Zero Gravity is active."

He nodded again. "It's solid, but there's a lot of room for improvement. You'll need to keep up your training…" He sighed. "But enough of that. Tell me, how do you feel about the Sports Festival?"

With all the questions, this meeting felt to Ochako as more of an interrogation than an actual conversation. All Might is actually pretty awkward when he takes off his proverbial mask. Or was he always awkward, and the world never noticed? Ochako shook the thoughts away.

"I'm very nervous, to be honest. You see, I want to make a good impression-"

"-Of course," All Might interjected. "After all, this is your biggest chance to prove yourself as the next Symbol of Peace!"

"Well, actually, I…" was thinking more along the lines of securing a high-paying job...

"-In my absence, what the world needs the most is for someone to tell them: 'I AM HERE.' And as the successor of One for All, that person is you."

Ochako gulped. Her already sore shoulders suddenly felt a lot heavier.

"...which is why you need to win this tournament."

She felt sick. I'm not sure if I can do that... There's Izuku, Bakugou, and Shoto, and all of them are stronger than me. Argh! I can barely even use my new quirk, but I can't let All Might down. I can't let him regret choosing me as his successor…

"...Ochako, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She got to her feet. "I need to go do something…" I need to do some more physical training if I want to get better with One for All. She could say goodbye to the rest of her day.

"Huh," grunted All Might as she left. Did I say something wrong?

-]-[-

The days passed by, and the tournament drew nearer. By day, the Class 1-A students studied with a bandaged Mr. Aizawa, and by night, they trained. Or, at least, the students with any semblance self-discipline did; the others just half-assed their exercises. But nobody seemed to be working as hard as Ochako, who seemed to spend all her free waking hours lifting weights and practicing with her quirk.

"I never knew you were such a gym rat," Mina teased her at lunch one day. "You're starting to make me feel inadequate…"

But Ochako just mumbled something about 'gains' and scarfed down her lunch so she would have time to stretch out after that morning's workout. After a few days, dark bags started to form under her eyes, and her classmates worried that she wasn't getting enough sleep. But she doggedly kept at her exercises and refused to talk with the others.

It wasn't until the night before the Festival that Izuku heard a knock on his door. It was 9:00, and he was just wrapping up one of Aizawa's homework assignments. When he opened it, he found himself face-to-face with a zombie.

"Oh, hey, Ochako. Sorry for the mess. What do you need?"

"I need... to talk with you."

She stepped into the room. As a rule, students were not allowed to go into the dormitories of the opposite gender, but it wasn't like there was anyone to enforce that rule. Besides, girls visited the boys' rooms all the time, like when Mina needed Bakugou's help with her homework, and when Momo needed Shoto's help with her homework. The latter scenario seemed a little off to Izuku, considering Momo was by far the smartest in the class, but sometimes the class material just didn't make sense.

"What's wrong, Ochako? It looks like you need some sleep, badly-"

"-What would you do?" Her voice was higher than normal, and her eyes were unfocused. "What would you do... if you needed to get stronger, but you just couldn't?" She stepped towards him but tripped on his carpet, and they both tumbled onto the floor.

"Well, I'd get some sleep, for one." He was fighting off a blush: she was right on top of him! "It's clear you're exhausted, and do you need to get stronger? You're already super powerful, as you are. Easily one of the strongest in the class-"

"What would Izuku do?" she mumbled into his shirt.

Izuku tried to push her off him, but she was half-asleep; she wouldn't move. "C'mon, we need to get you to your bed."

"Need to get stronger," she murmured. "Can't let All Might down…"

Huh? All Might? But before Izuku could ask, he realized: she was fast asleep. He couldn't get up without waking her, and she clearly needed the rest. I guess this is my life now...

Soon, he was fast asleep as well.

-]-[-

"So," Izuku said the next morning as Ochako chugged down her fifth cup of coffee. "Are you feeling better?"

"Hardly, but I'll manage." She threw the cup away. "It will take more than some meager sleep-deprivation to keep me down." She smiled weakly, but her eyes weren't in it. They were walking towards the Sports Festival arena, having already changed into their PE uniforms. "Sorry about last night…"

Izuku chuckled. "Are you talking about the incoherent rambling, or the fact that you effectively kept me pinned for ten hours straight?"

Ochako's face went bright red, and she looked away. "Both, maybe." They entered the arena, and Izuku could recognize some of his classmates on the field.

"You're lucky you went to me for advice, and not that Mineta kid."

Ochako's face went pale at the thought.

"It's okay, trust me. We don't have to talk about All Might, or whatever it was you were talking about in your state of delirium."

Ochako smiled at a few of their classmates as they walked into the arena. The roar from the crowd was deafening, but they ignored it.

"Thanks, Izuku. Truth is, I've been neglecting myself by training so hard. I… have people really I don't want to disappoint. I'm just ashamed I keep on having to rely on you for emotional support."

Izuku's eyes locked onto hers. "Don't worry about that. We all have problems, and I… just deal with them differently." He flashed back to Eri's tortured abusers in the hospital ward. "And don't worry about disappointing anyone. Your classmates… No, I know how hard you worked for this. You'll have me, no matter what, and you'll have the rest of the class, too! Doesn't that count for a lot?"

"I guess that does. Thanks Izuku!" She reached up, kissed him on the cheek, and then ran off into the crowd before he could do anything else.

"Ochako, wait!" he called, but she was gone. "Good luck…" Damn that girl. Doesn't she know we're on live TV? Whatever. I just hope she doesn't fall asleep in the middle of this.

His thoughts were interrupted by Midnight's voice over the stadium's loudspeakers. The R-rated hero was wearing her usual provocative, probably-not-school-appropriate hero costume.

"Now that we have introduced all the first-year classes, it's time for the Athlete's Oath! Our student representative has been singled out as one of the very best of us, having placed first in the Department of Heroics Entrance Exam. Give it up for the delightful young Izuku Midoriya!

-]-[-

Endeavor sat in the stands, having taken the day off to watch his son and his friends compete. It was a rare instance in which he was a) in public, b) not covered in flames, and c) wearing civilian clothes. When he took his seat, nobody glanced twice in his direction, probably because nobody expected Endeavor to be wearing anything but his flaming costume and signature frown.

"Hey," said the woman next to him, "you look familiar…"

Endeavor smiled. "I have a generic face."

The woman burst out laughing, and he suddenly felt the urge to laugh along, but he fought it back. What has come over me?

"I'm Emi Fukudado," she explained, "but you might know me better as Ms. Joke." She was wearing her signature orange bandana and a gas mask covered in smiley faces, perhaps to reduce the effect of her laughing-gas quirk.

"Ah, a pro hero, then." You really should have recognized me. Are you playing a game?

"Don't you want an autograph?"

"Don't make me laugh. I'm here to watch my son and his friends, to see how well they'll do." He pointed down at Izuku, who was taking center. "See, I know that kid very well. Nice to see he has made a name for himself already."

Ms. Joke nodded. "I teach a hero course as well, and I'm here to scout out the competition, as well as to meet an old mummy."

Endeavor had no idea what 'mummy' she was talking about, but he shrugged it off and looked down at the center stage. Izuku was about to say something.

-]-[-

"Hey, birdie, look! It's Izuku!"

Eri was seated in front of the television in her safe house, and sure enough, she could clearly see her rescuer making his way to the center of an arena.

Hawks walked over to the television and stooped down. "Hey, that's right, Eri. Good eye! That's the UA Sports Festival, and Izuku is going to compete against other people his age."

"I want him to win!"

The winged hero smiled. "Izuku has certainly made an impression on you, huh? Depending on how he does, you might see him soon."

"Shh. I want to hear what he says…"

-]-[-

"Hey, boss!" shouted Rappa. "Do you want to watch this?"

He was sitting on the couch next to Tenagi, who had adopted some sort of a meditational pose. They, like the rest of the country, were watching the Sports Festival, live. Even the world's most dangerous criminals could enjoy some friendly competition between students.

"No, no." Overhaul was shuffling through a pile of census records. "I need to find the man with the glowing skin so I can get Eri back. Damn, this place is a mess."

"Whatever," said Rappa. "There's this kid, Izuku Midoriya. He thinks he's a big shot, huh? Delivering a speech to a stadium full of people? I could kick his ass, any day of the week."

-]-[-

Izuku stepped up to the podium. The day before, Midnight had approached him after her history class, so he had already decided what he was going to say. But, he thought, maybe I'll wing something.

"I promise," he said, and the microphone screeched. He took a step back. "I promise: I'm going to try my absolute hardest…"

He looked around at the other students, his heart pounding in his chest. "And I want you guys to try your absolute hardest as well. Only the strongest of us will win, but," he made eye-contact with Ochako, "...if we give it our all, even if we lose, we won't have any regrets after this is done. Thank you."

The stadium broke into applause, and Izuku joined the rest of the students.

"Thank you, Izuku," came Midnight's voice. "Very inspiring. Now our first event is the Obstacle Race…"

"Damn straight," said an orange-haired girl as Izuku passed. Itsuka Kendo. She was one of the few Class 1-B students he could recognize.

"That was a HOT speech," agreed a boy behind her.

Is that Inasa? Izuku nodded to the Class 1-B students before jogging over to the starting line for the Obstacle Race. His eyes met Ochako's.

"Good luck," he called. "Don't go easy on me."

"Of course," she answered. "And I want you do do the same."

"And START!"

-]-[-

And that's a wrap for Chapter 15! I know, it wasn't a really action-packed chapter compared to the others, but I'm setting things up for the next few arcs.

And sorry about the longer wait than usual. Since school started, I've had less time to write, and my workload will only intensify as we get further into the year. On the bright side, compared to when I first started, I'm able to write these chapters much faster now that I have a decent amount of writing experience.

Keep an eye out for Chapter 16! Next up: the Obstacle Race and the Cavalry Battle...