"Sniffle! Thank you, Ryugamine, for that inspiring speech! Now then, without any further ado, let's get the first event started!"
UA really isn't one to waste time. Hiro just got back with the class, when Midnight suddenly announced.
The large screen above the stage began to constantly flash. Various pictures flickered- as if doing a roulette spin.
"First off, we'll have the Qualifiers! It's the first event that sends many crying home every year. And the stage for that is…!"
The pictures above slowed down, until finally, it stopped to a photo of a racetrack
"An obstacle course race!"
Midnight cracked her whip as she shouted, the audience cheering along with her.
"A race, huh? Man, it seems I can only rely on my muscles!"
"Stupid Kirishima, don't forget the obstacle part. I doubt all we'll worry about is running."
Mina chided, her hands on her hips as she stood beside Hiro. Just as Kirishima was about to retort back, Midnight's voice once again rang out, forcing him to keep his mouth shut.
"This event will be a race between all students of the eleven classes! The course is the four kilometer lap around the stadium itself, with various obstacles hindering them from advancing!"
The screen above switched, and an overview of the stadium was shown. A circular green outline showed the route the students were supposed to take, as well as three question marks on three separate segments of said route.
"UA high encourages freedom in all things so…hehehe, as long as you don't get off the course, anything done on the track is fair game! Now then, racers, to your positions!"
At Midnight's words, a large metal gate on the right side of the stadium opened up. Three signal lights shone above, which was now currently displaying a red light.
The students didn't need an explanation to know this was where they start. Everyone hurriedly ran, wanting to start near the most forward position.
Hiro's speech may have caused some to withdraw their hostile outlook, but they still want to do the best that they can in this sport festival.
From the back, Hiro walked over unhurriedly along with most of the business course students. One of them, a cute girl with long black hair, came over when she saw him.
"Ryugamine-kun, don't you have to compete for a good starting position? The battlefield of us business students is not here so we aren't worried, but what about you?"
She asked, her voice sweet and lovely. Along with her baby face and innocent, large brown eyes, it makes others subconsciously lower their guard around her.
"Thank you for the concern, but where I start doesn't really matter."
Hiro flashed her a gentle smile. Then, as the signal light turned orange, he assumed a running stance.
The girl blinked. She looked at Hiro, then at the tightly packed wall of students before them. Along with the fact that they were more than 10 meters away from the gate, she really wondered what he wanted to do.
"Uhm, Ryugamine-kun, that-!"
The girl didn't get to finish her sentence. As soon as the light turned green, Hiro had already vanished from her vision. Then, just shortly after, a loud booming sound reached her ears from further ahead.
—
"Eraserhead! Are you ready for our live coverage and commentary?"
"After being forcibly dragged here? No, not really."
"Hahahahaha, don't sweat the small details. And the race is on! Right from the start, the students are already breathing at each other's necks as they try to run past the starting gate! Let's see who'll- oh! What's this!?"
Present Mic stood up. Beside him, Eraserhead helplessly shook his head.
On the massive screen showing the race's progress, a particular scene caught the whole audience's attention.
One of the zero-pointer robots, which should have served as a powerful obstacle in the initial part of the race, suddenly exploded. The ground cracked and debris flew everywhere from the force, temporarily obscuring vision.
"D-did that robot just explode?"
"Looks like it. Having a malfunction broadcast live to the country, pfft! UA won't be too happy about this."
"No, look! There's someone there!"
Sure enough, as the smoke subsided, everyone saw a white-haired student standing casually on top of the ruined zero-pointer. He had both hands in his pocket as his golden eyes surveyed the surroundings from a higher vantage point.
"WHAT AN EXPLOSIVE START!!! Just right at the beginning, student Ryugamine had somehow bypassed all the others and gained first place, at the same time defeating one of the most powerful robot obstacles!"
Present Mic shouted, his hands moving animatedly in the air.
"But now, he's attracted the attention of three other robots! And he doesn't seem aware of it! Could this be where our number 1 student will fall?!"
Just as Present Mic said, three other zero-pointers behind turned their red, beady eyes at Hiro due to the commotion he caused.
The audience watched with bated breath as the three robots mechanically raised their thick arms and slammed them towards him. Then, their jaws dropped open in awe.
The white haired teenager jumped towards one of the incoming fists. He crushed the metallic arm and then, using the force behind it as leverage, leapt forward further into the track until his figure vanished.
At this time, the other students had just arrived on this part of the obstacle course. They froze for a moment when they saw the building-sized robots blocking their paths.
However, most scratched their heads in confusion at two zero-pointers that were scrapped to the side. Were these robots the cause of the earlier explosion?
While most were clueless as to what happened, class 1A was an exception.
"As expected of Ryugamine-kun. I can't let myself fall further behind."
Iida, who was running ahead of everyone else, murmured. His eyes burned with passion as he pushed his Engine further. He zipped past the zero pointers, their slow attacks incapable of hitting him.
As someone whose Quirk was to run faster, it would be unacceptable for himself to lose to anyone else other than Hiro.
However, from the corner of his eyes, he suddenly saw a figure that almost made him stumble.
"M-Midoriya!?"
With green lightning coursing through his body, Izuku Midoriya dodged an incoming robot attack and ran swiftly just a few paces behind Iida.
During the past three weeks, with the help of Hiro's hint and All Might's guidance, he had mastered Full Cowling in advance.
For now, he can only stably envelop his body with 4% of the power, but it was enough to gain a foothold and establish his presence in this sports festival.
"DEKKUUU!!!!!"
Right beside Midoriya, Bakugo's face was feral as he continuously released explosions from his hands to boost himself forward. However, no matter how hard he tried, even if he tried to use the aftermath of his explosion to push Deku away, he couldn't leave the useless twerp behind for long.
Bakugo couldn't understand. Why? After training for this festival for so long, he hadn't even caught a glimpse of Hiro's back, but Deku, the useless Quirkless nerd Deku, was now catching up to him!?!
Unfortunately for Bakugo, no matter how unwilling he was, the world wouldn't just magically make Midoriya lose his Quirk.
And even worse, a loud announcement from the speakers made him further seethe with rage.
"And there you have it folks! Finishing the course in under a minute, student representative Hiro Ryugamine literally left everyone in the dust as he took first place in the first event!"
A/N: Yeah…there's no way around it. With Hiro's speed that has exceeded the speed of sound, this part of the festival wasn't really suspenseful.
You can access advanced chapters on patreon.com/Ked2002