Lost in the Fog

Sports & Slaughter

Today was finally the day. The world renowned sports festival, the first steps for heroes at the prestigious UA. Many great heroes, Allmight himself as well, made their starts here. And after the traumatic events of the Unforseen Simulation Joint... well, Class A had a point to prove, and now was their chance. However, even though they had the determination to do so, there was one noticeable absence. Izuku Midoriya. The missing child who came back and took down all of the villains. At least, that was what the press claimed. What people thought. And it made the rest of their efforts look paltry in comparison. So when Class B arrived, clearly not seeing them as a major threat, only really there to take the greenette on, most of them were surprised to not see him. After all, he'd been accepted into Class A, why wouldn't he be here? However, they were given a reasonable explanation: He was in the hospital, and wouldn't be able to join the festival.

Monoma tried to make it into an insult until they learnt why he was there: He was targeted by the villain group that attacked the USJ... That made them all realize just how dangerous heroics was. Villains don't just strike in the open, but use subterfuge, tricks, and sneak attacks as well.

Reiko stood next to Itsuka as everyone was getting ready for the first event, the obstacle course. When she arrived back at school, everyone was concerned for her, and was relieved that she was alright, but the monochromatic girl brushed them off. She didn't have the emotions to worry about such things. She hid her left eye's mark, but other than that... there was nothing she felt afraid of.

However, in the back of her mind, she could feel that something big was going to happen today. Excited whispers from the dark, something she couldn't understand, or see. The monochromatic girl had seen others with similar marks, on their arms, neck, and other exposed areas, but didn't make the connection to her own mark. After all, she didn't remember a thing, and there was no reason to be concerned, so far...

Nezu watched the contestants as they completed everything. He was glad that everything was going so smoothly... The obstacle course was finished easily, with hero students being the majority of those who passed. There were two examples of non-hero students passing the first round. That being Hitoshi Shinsou, and a new student named Johnathan Byers. Looking over their records, he found that they both had quirks that were inadequate for the prime exam, and Byers only coming into the picture a month ago. And, on top of that, it was most impressive that he was quirkless. However... one thing that intrigued him was his lack of records outside of UA's official records. He had no trace of schooling in Japan, let alone America, where it was stated that he came from, and there wasn't even a birth certificate. It was as if he simply appeared from nothing. However, looking at the other kid, Hitoshi, he found that he had a mental manipulation quirk. It was labelled as being brainwashing, but Nezu noted how idiotic that name was when actually looking at how it works. Brainwashing, as a term, is insidious, but just describing a method to make people do what you want without realizing, by changing your core. It worms its way into your very morals. Whereas Shinsou's quirk does not do that. In fact, it's quite easy to break, unlike actual brainwashing, gaining limited control over specific individuals. It would have limited use, but could be very versatile in the right mind. He was surprised that the student had gotten a tattoo, or what looked like one. An O with an X through it over his right eye. A new trend, people believed, when the symbol just started appearing... but Nezu didn't see any harm from it... not yet, anyway.

It was now the award ceremony. Each of the contestants fought hard, with many of the fights being quite close. It was surprising, for instance, how close the fight between the son of Endeavour, and the wielder of a telekenesis quirk could be. If anything, it proved that the inherent strength of a quirk didn't matter, only in how it was used.