Timeloop Trouble

Chapter 22 - Determined to Win

The day of the sportsfestival came sooner than Izuku would've liked. Kacchan had reverted back to giving him the cold shoulder after challenging Izuku and declaring the stakes, so Izuku didn't know what he was thinking or how he was doing. He wondered whether he'd still have the same type of speech planned. You know, a short 'I'm gonna win this' and be done with it. Probably. It was still Kacchan, after all.

"You ready for the big debut?" Hatsume asked as Izuku adjusted his bracers. "Still don't wanna show me how they work?"

"I already told you, Hatsume-san," Izuku told her, "I want it to be a surprise! Besides, I really wanna win at least one round to show off everything I've got."

"Same here," she grinned. "Hopefully I'll get the chance to show off my babies to all the big important guys watching from the VIP boxes."

Izuku hummed, fiddling with his equipment as he checked everything over one last time. You see, a quirkless boy might not be able to win the UA sportsfestival. Not without help. So that's why Izuku got to work on some useful support items to use during the festival! Support course students were allowed to bring their own inventions as long as they were registered ahead of time, you know? It's how Hatsume managed to turn this event into a commercial every single year. Izuku wasn't planning on showcasing his inventions that way, though.

Besides, he wasn't actually allowed to tell people how they worked, not yet anyway. It was something new auntie Mitsuki and uncle Masaru had been working on- the technology, not the equipment itself. Izuku got permission to use their new technique in his support items and they even gave him super useful schematics and reports of earlier testing he could use to fine tune everything! Auntie Mitsuki even joked about letting him join and take over the business in the future, since Katsuki wasn't interested in becoming a designer nor support engineer. Izuku had asked her not to tell Kacchan about it, though. Not yet, anyway.

Their class was called out onto the field before long, all first year students gathering in their respective places. Izuku spotted 1-A almost immediately, unable to suppress a small smile as he saw Kacchan leading the charge. It reminded him of simpler times, back when all the neighborhood kids used to march behind the blonde, chanting the same thing over and over again. Sure, Momo was helping where necessary, they had quite the rowdy class, after all, but Kacchan seemed to have things mostly under control.

"Welcome everyone to this year's edition of the UA sportsfestival! Before we begin, I'd like to call the first year's representative to the stage to say a few words! From the hero course, Katsuki Bakugou!"

Izuku watched as the ash blonde took to the stage, adjusting the mic before clearing his throat.

"Doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, what your quirk is-" Katsuki started, his gaze wandering over the student body, locking onto Izuku when he found him. "-I'm going to beat you all and win this thing no matter what. That's what Plus Ultra means."

Izuku smiled, giving Kacchan a determined look. He wasn't going to back down without a fight, no way. The other students seemed to think the same, because some of them started calling him out or straight up booing him as he returned to class 1-A. The obstacle course was announced shortly after and everyone was ushered towards the entrance of the arena as the announcers went over the various parts with the audience. Izuku already had a field tested plan for this part, so things should go smoothly. All he had to do was not get caught in Shoto's first ice attack and grab a piece of armored plating from one of the zero pointers.

The first part of that plan went off without a hitch as Izuku leaped over his frozen classmates, running right after the hero course students towards the first official obstacle in this race. Shoto froze the zero pointers in an instant, like Izuku expected him to, so the green head kept his distance as he waited for the machine to topple over, careful not to get crushed by it. And when everything came crashing down and chaos took over, Izuku took his chance to strap an armored plate to his back. He was glad he never stopped working out, even if he didn't have any intention of becoming a hero in this lifetime.