Me: Lmao it's a Hitoshi story y'all stop with the Bakugo

Also me: B A K U G O ?

Hitoshi is still our back up plan don't worry y'all. I'm taking it slow to see how the Bakugo thing works, you know? Just like... ease in and test the water. And if it's too cold we'll hop out

Third person pov

It was the day of the festival, and Lillian wasn't sure if she wanted to cry, scream, or both. This whole thing was going to be broadcast out to the whole world. It was their time to impress. Those who really showed their stuff most definitely had a better chance at becoming pro heroes one day. Even worse? They still didn't know what trails they'd be facing. It was all kept secret until the day of.

The training had made things go fast. That morning she and Hitoshi had woken up to Neito halfway through the window in tears. He'd promptly fallen onto their purple haired friend's bed in tears, successfully knocking the half-asleep boy onto the floor. Who would have thought Neito would be the first one to have a mental breakdown. 

Lillian and Hitoshi had been forced to hug him and pat his head until he calmed down. And then the two boys had to hug Lillian until she calmed down. And then Hitoshi proceeded to lose it and collapse into Neito's arms dramatically. Lillian had fanned his face with a folder in a panic while Neito cried over his death, despite the fact that Hitoshi was definitely still breathing and just rambling about how he'd never get into the hero course.

The security line was huge. Reporters from just about every station were backed up waiting to gain entry so they could stream the festival live and in HD, and report on the participating students and their quirks. That was another thing Lillian didn't like. She knew the League of Villains had already seen a lot of their quirks, and had probably had been gathering more information since the attack, but this would practically hand them exactly what they needed! 

A lot of people would have their eyes on Class 1-A. Being the center of the USJ attack alongside All Might, that much was made pretty clear. That made Lillian even more nervous. And it only got worse when she arrived on campus, only for herself and her two friends to be forced apart as they were organized by class.

Pro heroes were absolutely swarming the grounds. She'd almost taken herself and Kamui Woods both out turning a corner. He'd tried to introduce himself, but in a panic she'd dove for her classmates for cover. Kirishima didn't realize he was acting as a human shield, but was happy to comply either way.

They were jammed into locker rooms where they hurriedly got dressed, no longer having to worry about a certain grape-haired menace. Lillian had almost put her uniform on backwards, and Ochako had accidentally made hers float which led to the girls climbing on benches and swiping for it to try and get it off the oddly-tall ceiling. Momo ended up making a pole to fish it down.

Now all of 1-A was jammed in a single waiting room. Lillian found herself staying near Koda as her classmates conversed about the exams. Everyone seemed relatively nervous, save for Bakugo and Todoroki. As 1-A's most powerful students, it's not like they had much to worry about. They were confident in themselves, and that was good. Kirishima was also more on the excited side, and Kaminari was too. Though he did stay as far away from Lillian was possible.

"I-I wonder what they h-have planned for the first round." Lillian found herself mumbling aloud. It was a question that had been haunting her since this morning. Now, it seemed even heavier in her mind.

"No matter what they've prepared, we must persevere." Tokoyami said in an almost solemn tone that made Lillian feel jittery and uncomfortable. He simply sounded so resigned, like he was preparing himself for death. She supposed it would be possible for someone to die during the exams; though, she'd never heard of such a thing happening. It would look bad for UA if a student died on live television.

"Right." Shoji agreed, a pair of his arms crossed over his chest. Lillian wished she had six arms. Sort of. Then again, that might make more people stare, so maybe being as plain as she was was better.

"I'm sure it'll be alright, Lillian! Besides, you can just freeze the competition!" Mina chirped, making an incredibly fair point. All she had to do was blink, and time would come to a stand-still. 

"Tch, not very heroic." Bakugo grumbled, making her flinch slightly and fidget.

"Come on, man! Be nice!" Kirishima punched his arm lightly, earning a growl. Lillian felt herself begin to sweat. All of them being stuck in a room without supervision for so long wasn't healthy. Todoroki had been staring at her for five minutes now, and Bakugo looked ready to kill everyone within a five foot radius. Which was unfortunately around half their class. 

"Everyone, get your game faces one!" Iida announced as he opened the door and entered the room. "We're entering the arena soon!" 

"Oh, god." Lillian whispered to herself, bringing her hands up to her face. Next to her, Izuku was having a similar reaction. Mina and Hagakure looked ready to burst at the seams. Personally, Mina was feeling really revved up to go! She could tell some of her friends weren't feeling too confident. The pink girl could only hope some of her enthusiasm would bleed over. Especially to Lillian and Ochako, both of which had shaken their hands out four times in the last minute. Plus they were sweating more than Bakugo, and sweat was that guy's entire quirk basically!

Koda wasn't doing so well either. He had no idea how many animals were around the area, but he hoped there were some. He'd been training to further his range, so if he got lucky, he'd be able to reach some birds and maybe the surrounding squirrels. UA's grounds had a surprising amount of wildlife, but that didn't mean he'd be able to utilize that.

Todoroki wasn't feeling particularly nervous. Threatened, maybe. He wanted to win this without the help of his father's flames. Midoriya ran the risk of interrupting him in that. Taking after All Might greatly in terms of their quirk, he packed a real punch. Lillian could also prove to be a problem. She could freeze anything she looked at. A single blink and the match was done. He wasn't sure there was much he could do about that.

Bakugo was more determined than not. He didn't have to worry about any of these extras, really. He knew he could take them on. That half-and-half bastard could be an issue, but he was confident. It was Lillian that was the real issue. He'd seen her quirk first hand several times, and he also knew she'd been training with Mr. Aizawa after school and before. He'd caught glimpses of her darting around the track, and seen basket balls floating. He had no idea how he was supposed to keep her from freezing him if and when the time came. Was there even a way to do that?

"Midoriya." Todoroki piped up. Everyone turned to him curiously.

"Hey, Todoroki. What's up?" Izuku asked in a nervous and unsure tone. Lillian peeked out from behind him experimentally, only to see that Todoroki was looking at her too. She broke out into a fresh sweat. This wasn't good. At all. Todoroki and Bakugo were both very clearly out for blood! Blood that she totally happened to have!

"From an objective standpoint, I think its fairly clear that I'm stronger than you." He said blandly. Lillian tensed, blinked at him. Bold statement coming from someone who quite literally half-assed everything they did quirk wise, but hey, that wasn't any of her business.

"Uh- um, yeah..." Izuku trailed off, lowering his head slightly.

"However, you've got All Might in your corner, helping you out." Todoroki's blunt statement earned a few gasped. Lillian tensed, looking at the expression on Izuku's face. He didn't look taken aback, which probably meant his statement was true. Fuck, Lillian was done for. She may as well tell Hitoshi and Neito they were tapping out now...

Well, then again, they did have Mr. Aizawa. And he was... well, he was pretty cool.

"I'm not here to pry about what's going in between you two. But know that I will beat you." Todoroki looked him dead in the eyes as he said this. Lillian was suddenly rather glad she didn't have a strength-enhancing quirk. Being on the other end of that stare would have made her cry. A lot. Actual, real tears down her face cry.

"Hah hah... what's with all these declarations of war lately?" Kaminari broke the tense silence awkwardly, and Kirishima was already out of his seat. He put a hand on Todoroki's shoulder. A bold move all things considered.

"Yeah, what's the big deal? Why are you pickin' a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started..." The redhead frowned. Todoroki nudged him off harshly, and Lillian winced. Oh, god. Kirishima looked so sad. She sort of wanted to cry, but she also wanted to rip Todoroki a new one about what respect was and how to express it.

"We're not here to be each other's friends. Don't forget, this isn't a team effort." Todoroki's eyes shifted to her, and she tensed, narrowing her blue ones back before she could stop herself. "And you. I know your secret. Don't think you can beat me just because of your quirk, or because of your father's training." 

Lillian paused, brows furrowing and shoulders dropping. "U-Uh..." She tilted her head at him. "P-Pardon... whose training?"

Everyone seemed curious. "Your father's." Todoroki sounded awfully sure of himself. Lillian teetered back on the balls of her feet thoughtfully as she raked her mind for who in hot hell he was talking about. Her not-parents had been arrested, and Hitoshi had been letting her crash in his room since then. 

"A-Ah, I don't have... parents..." She trailed off. Everyone in the room went tense, eyes shifting to Todoroki, whose eyes flashed as he considered her words. He looked her up and down for a moment as though sizing her up to see if she was lying before turning around and simply beginning to walk away. Just like that, with no explanation! Lillian's jaw dropped at the audacity. 

"Wait a sec, Todoroki." Izuku said quietly, causing the boy in question to pause. "I don't know what's going through your head or why you'd need to tell me that you'll beat me. And, yeah, of course you're better than me. In fact, you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course. That's why you got in so easily." Ouch, okay. Lillian could see how things were. 

"Midoriya, maybe you're being a little hard on yourself, and us." Kirishima said, and Lillian could see now that he was quite possibly the best person in this class, right next to Koda. She could practically hear Bakugo grinding his teeth at Izuku's implications that Todoroki was better than him.

"No, he's right, you guys. All the other courses-- they're coming for us with everything they've got. We're all gonna have to fight to stand out." Todoroki turned and gave Izuku his full attention as the boy looked up. "And I'll be aiming for the top, too."

"Fine." Todoroki said simply, not sounding at all happy. Lillian heard Bakugo click his tongue and began to sweat all over again. They were all riling each other up! This was horrible! Even Hagakure looked mad, which was saying something considering she was currently nothing more than a floating outfit. Could this day possibly get any worse?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey!" Mic's voice boomed through the stadium as he appeared on the several, large, HD jumbo-trons set up throughout the arena. "Make some noise, all you rabid sports fans! Get those cameras prepped, media hordes! This year we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in sports festival history, guaranteed! I've only got one question before we start this show: Are you ready?!" 

Lillian gulped, wringing her hands together as she and her classmates walked through the stadiums concrete halls towards the main area. "Let me hear ya scream as our students make their way to the main stage!" The light was getting closer, and so was Mic's voice. Lillian gulped, sharing a nervous glance with Ochako as she bumped her shoulder against hers. Tsuyu also patted her back, offering a smile.

The light blinded her for a second as they stepped out of the tunnel, and she almost crashed right into both Kaminari and Bakugo. The electric boy almost screamed, jumping back from her with wide eyes as she steadied herself with the help of a nervous Ochako. Mina grinned as cheers erupted around them. Fireworks exploded overhead, and trumpets blared. Lillian flinched, shrinking into herself and planting her feet into the dirt, halting. Tsuyu and Hagakure both noticed and began to lightly shove her after their classmates before she was left standing alone and petrified.

"Welcome back to the UA Sports Festival! Where up-and-coming heroes leave everything on the field as they fight for a chance to achieve worldwide fame and celebrity! This first group are no strangers to the spotlight! You know them for withstanding a villain attack-- the dazzling students, one of which may or may not be more amazing than the rest, lighting up your TVs with solid-gold skills!" 

Lillian gulped.

"The hero course students of Class 1-A!"

Cameras flashed at them from the stands. Izuku fell back closer to her, almost causing Iida to run into then. "I-I didn't realize there'd be so many people." Izuku gulped, suddenly looking as though he regretted literally everything. Lillian could relate to that. She should have died in a ditch somewhere  when she had a chance.

"I hope we're still able to give our best performances, even though all these eyes are watching us. I suppose it's just another aspect of being a hero we all have to learn to get used to." Iida noted. Lillian nodded slightly, her throat feeling incredibly dry. Why was it so hot out here? Was it the body heat? Global warming? Lillian sort of hoped a flaming meteor had entered Earth's atmosphere and was getting ready to kill them all.

"Present Mic sure did talk us up a lot. Who do you think he was talking about? The student that may or may not be more amazing than the rest?" Kirishima asked. The class collectively turned to look at Lillian, whose eyes were on the floor. Even Bakugo was pretty sure their loud-mouthed English teacher had been talking about her. He was always creeping around corners checking on her throughout the day.

"Yeah, it kinda makes me nervous. How you feelin', man?" Kaminari asked Bakugo with no fear. How he could be deathly afraid of Lillian and address Bakugo so casually, Lillian had no idea. She wasn't complaining however.

"I'm not worried." He grinned darkly. "Makes me wanna win this thing even more."

Present Mic's voice came out again as more classes began to exit the tunnels. "They haven't been getting nearly as much screen time, but this next group is still chock full of talent! Welcome hero course Class 1-B!" Mic grinned widely. Lillian let her eyes stray up back, and she locked eyes with Neito. He grinned. "Next up, general studies classes C, D, and E!" 

Both Neito and Lillian broke eye contact, gazes straying over to a very exhausted looking Shinso. "Support classes, F, G, and H! And finally, business classes I, J, and K! Give it up for all of UA's first-year contestants!"

The classes all jammed together into a singular crowd that Lillian easily lost sight of her two friends in. She took comfort in the fact that Iida was here and acting as a great blockade, seeing as he was so tall. Bakugo was also mulling about, drawing the attention away from her thankfully. Though she did accidentally make eye contact with him at some point and earned a vicious glare that conveyed his murderous intent to win. 

"Now, the introductory speech!" Midnight announced. Her hero outfit was skimpy enough that it drew the attention of every man, woman, and child in the vicinity. Lillian was glad. So, so glad. "Silence, everyone!" Midnight cracked her whip, silencing the students comments on her apparel. "And for the student pledge, we have Katsuki Bakugo!" 

Lillian blanched. Oh my god. Everyone really was going to hate Class 1-A after this.

Bakugo made his way onto the stage fearlessly. A tense silence fell upon everyone. Lillian decided that she wanted to cry, but realized that the amount of eyes that would fall upon her would be worse than English class, somehow. So she didn't. Instead she watched Bakugo step up to the mic, looking like an asshole the whole time.

"I just wanna say..." He blandly. "I'm gonna win."

The entire student body as a whole erupted with booing and angry retorts that left Lillian feeling dizzy. "Why would you say something so disrespectful; you're representing us all!" Iida all but screamed over the angry students behind him.

"It's not my fault you're all just stepping stones to my victory." He noted casually, as though that were a normal thing that normal people said. Lillian watched him glare at Izuku, and then at Todoroki. And then... at her. She'd never wanted to freeze someone more in her entire life. Literally everyone was mad at him! And by extension, their class! And by further extension, her. That, and Iida looked like he was having some form a seizure.

Midnight grinned. "Without further ado, it's time for us to get started!" She announced.

"UA really doesn't believe in letting us catch our breath, huh?" Ochako noted quietly. Lillian nodded in agreement, glancing back to try and spot Neito or Hitoshi. She ultimately failed when she was met by a wall of strangers. Why was she so short? She wondered how bad it would look if she scaled Shoji and used him as a stepping stool...

"This is where you begin feeling the pain! The first fateful game of the festival!" She rose her whip. Lillian almost screamed when a huge, holographic screen popped up. And a randomizer began to turn. As in even the staff had no idea what they were going to be doing?! She was dead. Done for. This was the end. She may as well just fall into a comatose state now, because it was going to happen eventually. "What could it be?!"

The words 'Obstacle Race' appeared on the board, and Lillian decided death was definitely a viable option. "Ta-dah!" Midnight grinned. Lillian stared in horror. An obstacle course? She didn't have a quirk that could help her physically, and neither did Hitoshi. Neito didn't either depending on who had touched. He'd lengthened his time from five minutes to seven, but that didn't mean much if he couldn't pick someone out of the crowd to slap.

"All eleven classes will participate in this treacherous contest. This course is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium. I don't want to restrain anyone, at least in this game!" Did she just lick her lips? "As long as you stay in the course, you're free to do whatever your heart desires."

Lillian was going to really scream. Seriously. 

"Now then, take your places, contestants!" Midnight demanded with flare. They all gravitated in that direction. Lillian tried hopping to see where Hitoshi and Neito might be. She didn't spot them, and the counter was ticking down. She watched one of the green lights disappear, and then another. She was sweating like crazy and felt she might hyperventilate at any given moment.

The last light disappeared.

"Begin!"