The following week sped by faster than Izuku expected. He was nearly collapsing with exhaustion by the end of it as he prepared himself for the sports festival. 

It was the day after his encounter with Stain that he told his mother he planned on moving out. He'd made up a lie like he told Dabi he would. Inko was surprisingly easy to convince that he was going away for his intern. Something about them needing him more on site and having a room for him. He's even more surprised she didn't question why he hadn't given her any forms to sign or supervisors to talk to. He's glad she didn't, otherwise he would have had to pleaded to Akito and Sutorimu more than he ever wants to so they'd cover for him. 

On that same day, he spent hours finding every piece of information about him online and erasing it. All his social media was wiped from the internet, every photo he's in, every record from his school. All of it. He even managed to keep people from knowing he was at the USJ incident, seeing as that seems to be a recurring nightmare when it comes to hiding his identity. He didn't erase everything though. He kept enough to avoid suspicion. His name, his birth certificate, his family (though he did make sure to erase anything that would lead to people finding his mom). 

It only took him two days to pack everything he would need and move out of his home. There hadn't been much he'd wanted to take, just his notebooks, clothes, and technology. He'd thought about bringing along his All Might merch but thought against it when he realized he'd be living with Dabi. He ended up sneaking his favorite All Might figurine into his bag though.  

When he finally did leave, it had been a day full of tears. His mom had hugged him and told him how she'd miss having him around the house and he was always welcome to visit. He'd promised to call her everyday. When she'd pulled away from the hug she'd stared at him with watery eyes. She'd cupped his face and told him how proud she was of him. It had triggered his own waterworks. 

It hurt to realize he wouldn't be eating dinner with her everyday anymore or waking up to hear her soft humming in the living room (even if it was almost always off key). The sad truth was that no matter how much it hurt, it was for the best. It was getting too hard to keep being Revite a secret from her. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to look at her everyday and lie to her face. Besides that, it was getting too dangerous. If he can't protect himself from people like Stain, how is he supposed to protect her? Things were safer with him living with Dabi. Plus, his mom seemed over joyed at the lie that he was doing this all for his internship. She'd be heart broken if he told her the real reason. 

Speaking of his internship, the past week Sutorimu had been going easy on him. He's almost certain it has something to do with the sports festival coming up. On patrols, she lets him ramble about anything he wants. Really, anything. He'd tell her about the other heroes they passed by, what he thinks different civilians quirks are, how cool class 1-A and 1-B were to watch train for the sports festival the one time Mic-sensei let them watch for five minutes. She'd listen to it all, occasionally adding in her own opinion. It was nice, something simple to add into his routine. 

He found Sutorimu opening up too. Sometimes they'd be trailing behind Endeavor on patrols or in the computer room watching the drones, and she'd let her thoughts be shared. She told him stories from when she went to U.A., how she'd striven for the top, and filled him in on all the heroes she'd worked with. Rarely, she'd get personal, letting slip that her favorite colour was blue or that she liked to sit in Akito's lab when she was bored. 

The best parts of interning were when he got to lead on patrols. Sutorimu would hand him the ear piece and he'd get to guide Endeavor through plans as he fought villains. He may hate the hero, but it sure was fun to analyze his fights. And he can't forget when Sutorimu takes him down to Akito's lab to give them recommendations on new support gear. Akito always was willing to rant to him about ideas. They bounced back in forth from idea to idea. She'd been enamored with the gear Hatsume was making for Shinsou and himself. They'd given a million tips and promised to watch the sports festival to see how it all turned out. 

When he'd told Hatsume this, she'd looked ready to faint. The entirety of both the support course and analyst/aspiring heroes course had to cover their ears from her high pitched scream. She gripped his shoulders and yelled at him for a solid minute. 

("Akito?! As in Sana Akito?!"

"Uh. . . yes. Is that special?"

"Special?! Izu-kun they're one of the most esteemed technicians in all of Japan! Oh my God, they're going to see my babies on television! Oh my God!")

She wouldn't stop talking about Akito for the rest of the day. She kept asking Izuku questions about them and he could barely answer. She'd begged for him to introduce her to them at his next intern  date but he'd kindly rejected the idea, not sure how Endeavor would react to him bringing in a random classmate to the agency. 

Thank All Might for Shinsou or else he never would have been able to get Hatsume back on track that day. The three of them were more than ready for the sports festival. The last day of the week, Hatsume had been finishing putting the final touches of Shinsou's voice changer. He was impressed with how well Hatsume had made it, even more impressed with how willing she was to listen to his contributions on his own gear. She hasn't let him see his gear yet but he knows the general idea of it and can't help but be excited. 

Meanwhile, Izuku was training Shinsou. Present Mic-sensei gave them each the whole afternoon of classes to go to either the support course classroom, the training rooms or the video room to watch the hero classes train. More often than not, Shinsou and Izuku headed down to the training rooms and Izuku walked his partner through different techniques. It had become apparent to him that Shinsou didn't have any combat skills. He trained him all day on strategies, both for his quirk and hand to hand combat. It was enough, considering they only had a week, but it would make do for now. 

When it came to teaching physical combat, Izuku struggled. He was still learning himself from both Dabi and Sutorimu (who decided he'd be a better analyst if he himself knew how to do the things he was judging others on). He'd managed on his own though, until halfway into the week. 

He'd been in English, his most dreaded yet also excitable class of the day. The cons to it being that he was taught by All Might, or rather Yagi-sensei, the same man who was likely the closest person to figuring out he's Revite. The pros, well. . . being taught by All Might. His favorite hero wasn't all that awesome of a teacher, sometimes forgetting the rest of the class couldn't keep up with his English, but Izuku could learn well enough when he wasn't panicking because holy shit, that's All Might or has he realized he's Revite? Oh lord, he's probably realized. 

All Might never seemed to notice however. Often he held him back in class, choosing to speak with him for a few minutes about various things ranging from how his day was going to advice on whether he should slow down his lessons or not (strange considering he was the teacher and Izuku is the student. He should be asking him for advice not the other way around). Every time he had a mini heart attack thinking that All Might would ask him about Revite. It was one of those times when All Might had asked him something very different from usual. 

"Young Midoriya, I couldn't help but notice you training your classmate, young Shinsou, like many other of your classmates have been doing with their partners," he'd told him. "I was watching you two and thought I'd offer to help. Your combat lessons are. . . how should I put this?"

"Lacking?" Izuku had offered. 

"No, no. They're just in of need a little more guidance. If you'll let me, I'd like to give a few pointers."

"Wouldn't that be cheating? You helping us for the sports festival, I mean."

He'd shaken his head, huffing a breath that could almost be laughter. "Not at all young man. All teachers are allowed to help their students out."

And so All Might had given him pointers, joining in on Shinsou and Izuku's training time. Shinsou had mumbled to him once that Yagi-sensei didn't seem like the type to know how to fight. Izuku had simply told him to remember that all the staff at U.A. are or had been heroes, it's not all that surprising. The other boy had shrugged and rolled with that answer, allowing All Might to become a steady figure in their new routine despite his frail form. 

With that mention of routines, Izuku was finding it wasn't hard to settle into his new one with Dabi at his flat. Mr-Burn-Everything turned out to be easier to live with than he thought. Besides the hovering and constant badgering to make sure no more killers were following him home, he was oddly chill. It was refreshing to live with Dabi in all his cursing and flaming glory. He felt like a big brother in a distant way. It certainly aligned with the story they've been telling the Todoroki's. 

He greeted him in the mornings (usually with a rough shove or a little too aggressive ruffle of his hair) and made sure he remembered to put his baton in his bag when he left for school. When he got home, Dabi typically was also returning from wherever he goes in the day or sitting at the table with Hawks. 

The new addition of Hawks always being around had been slightly expected. Since the little run in with Stain, Dabi appeared more attached to Hawks in his own weird way. Izuku watched many times with curiosity as Hawks sat near Dabi, paperwork from his job sprawled out in front of him. They always sat a little closer than normal, not quite touching but near. Izuku had smirked to himself when he first noticed it, first caught the way Dabi's eyes lingered a little too long on Hawks face when they bickered and fought with each other. 

Whatever was going with those two, wasn't his business (even if he knows he won't be able to stop himself from meddling) or his top priority. Currently he's just glad that Hawks is feeling more comfortable around them. He'd even called Izuku once to ask if he'd found anything about the commissions hero program, anything that could help him makes sense of his childhood and what was wrong or not. Sadly, Izuku has been too busy to do anything Revite related. Preparing for the sports festival was taking up a lot of his energy. 

Which brings him to the present, as he stands in the hallway outside the locker rooms, phone held up to his ear. Nerves were fluttering inside him, his stomach flipping. The sports festival was about to begin. He'd stayed up all night worrying about it and now he he is, about to step into that locker room filled with fellow students who are all trying to win. 

"I can practically hear you worrying, calm the fuck down. You'll do fine," Dabi reassured him over the phone. "You may suck but not as much as half the people there."

Izuku took a deep breath, trying to tame the anxious turmoil building up in his chest. "I know, I know but I'm not worried about me. I don't care how I do, I just want Shinsou to do well."

And there's the whole other risky part of my plan for today that could either help me a lot or screw everything up completely, but yeah. No pressure.

"Hey! He'll do great! You helped him after all," Hawks cheered through the phone. 

Yeah, okay. He's got this. Shinsou will do well, he'll get into the hero course and Izuku's plan will be fine. Everything's going to be fine. 

"Right. Okay. Thank you both," he said into the phone. "I'll see you guys later."

"Good luck!"

"I'll kick your ass if you suck!"

He hung up, staring at the clack screen of his phone for a moment longer before tucking it into his pocket. He has no reason not to believe Dabi and Hawks. He'll go out there and try his best! Plus ultra, right? 

Summing up his courage, he opened the door to the locker room and entered. The room was packed with students all changed into their gym uniforms. He barely made it two steps into the room before a familiar sight of pink hair was barreling towards him. He stumbled back as Hatsume launched herself at him, slamming into his chest. 

"Izu-kun! Shinguard-kun and I were getting worried you weren't going to show up on time," she whined hugging him so tight he couldn't breath. She let go off him and grinned. The bags under her eyes and grease stains on her arms and face let him know she likely didn't sleep or shower. He felt bad. She really should take some time for herself instead of always working on projects. 

Shinsou approached them much more calmly than Hatsume, hands shoved in his pockets and posture relaxed. "I wasn't worried."

"I know," he said smiling. He's pretty sure Shinsou was a tad worried. 

"Oh! I have your support items," Hatsume shouted. "They're in another room along with Shinsou's gear. I did all the paperwork so us three can use the gear, don't worry."

Right, the gear. He grinned. "That's awesome, Hatsu-chan. Should we go get them?"

"No," Shinsou cut in. "I got a clue that we'll be running an obstacle course for the first trial. It's better if we don't use them and make ourselves stand out till later. If you remember last years festival, a bunch of students lost because they were too flashy at the start. We'll save our efforts for later."

 He nodded. That made more sense. 

Before he could say another thing to either of them, a student came bursting through the door, Iida he thinks his name was. "Everyone get your game faces on!" He shouted. "We're entering the arena soon!"

All the many students from different courses started muttering among each other. Izuku thinks he saw one kid with purple balls on his head try to literally swallow his fear by shoving his hand in his mouth. Izuku could relate as a swell of butterflies entered his stomach. He didn't have much time to think about it before a familiar monotone voice caught his attention. 

"Midoriya." Turning his head, he caught sight of Shouto walking towards him. He stiffened, taking note of the one hand he had shoved in his pocket and the neutral look to his face. He's surprised the school uniform colours don't clash with the dual shades of his hair. Two toned eyes locked with his. 

He faced him fully, greeting him. "Hey Shouto-kun, uh, what's up?"

"From an objective standpoint," Shouto said suddenly, "I think it's fairly clear I'm stronger than you."

Now he could feel the eyes of almost half the people in the room on them. He frowned. This is a bit random. He knows they have a challenge going on, Shouto made that quite clear by giving him glares every time he passed him at school or Endeavors agency, but he didn't expect this. As much as it surprised him, he couldn't argue. Shouto is one of the strongest people he knows in terms of fighting, definitely stronger than him. 

"However," Shout continued, "you have strategist and analyst skills in your corner to help you out. It may give you more of a chance, but don't fool yourself. I will beat you."

Izuku wasn't taken aback in the slightest at that. This is a challenge after all. He resisted the urge to grin. Shouto thinks he wants to beat him, forgetting that it's Shinsou who is aiming for the top. His plans for Shouto today are much different. All he has to do is make it to fight him and then it doesn't matter if he wins or looses if the plan goes well. 

"What's with all these declarations of war lately," Kaminari, the blonde from the USJ incident, spoke up as the redhead next to him stood up. 

Said redhead placed a hand on Shouto's shoulder, saying, "Yeah, what's the big deal? Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden, and right before we get started?" 

Shouto shoved the redheads arm off his shoulder. He sent one last icy look Izuku's way before storming off, calling over his shoulder, "We're not here to make friends. Don't forget this isn't a team effort." 

Before he could think, he was calling out to him, "Wait, Shouto."

He registered Shouto stopping and tried to gather his thoughts. It felt wrong to just let Shouto leave out the door without him or the others getting to say anything. He looked to the ground. "What you said, about being objectively stronger, of course you are. You're probably better than everyone here."

"Hey man, maybe you're being a little hard on yourself, and us," the redhead cut in, holding up his hands defensively. 

"No. He's right. The hero course is going to have to fight to stand out. All the other course are coming at you with everything we've got." He glanced back at Shinsou. He's working so hard to win. Here Shouto is not even acknowledging him. The whole hero course thinks they have this in the bag. Maybe he should follow by Shinsou's lead, let them know what they're really up against. He stared up at the many students in the room. "You may be stronger but that doesn't mean you're going to win. I'd take the other courses seriously if I were you or we'll sweep your legs out from under you." 

There was moment of silence in the room. He could see Shinsou smirking out of the corner of his eye and noticed Hatsume cracking her knuckles making one of the business course students back away from her. Shouto eyed him for a moment before muttering a final, "Fine."

Izuku watched him walk away. So much for getting him to like him.

Hatsume grabbed his elbow and pulled him along towards the door. "Come on, Izu-kun. They're about to start." 

-:-

They walked out into the arena, having heard Present Mic-sensei pump up the crowd for both class 1-A and B. As Izuku's class stepped out into the stadium, Mic-sensei introduced them simply with one line. He couldn't blame him. The crowd is here for the hero students, not them. 

Izuku stuck behind Shinsou as he introduced the rest of the courses. There were more people than he expected. They were cheering at the top of there lungs creating so much noise he's surprised he can hear one of his classmates behind him nervously whispering to their friend about how they felt they were just here to make the hero students look better. Izuku shared a glance with Shinsou, knowing he was thinking the same thing. 

Their group joined the others in front of a large platform where Midnight-sensei stood, hand holding a whip raised high in the air. "Silence everyone!" She yelled and a hush fell over the crowd. "It's time for the student pledge brought to you by. . .  Ochako Uraraka!"

Izuku couldn't contain the cheer he gave as Uraraka made her way up to the platform. He supposes it makes sense they would give her the chance to do the pledge. Besides her personality which likely works well with crowds, she is one of the highest achieving students of her class. He was proud for her and apparently rest of her class was if the cheering was anything to go by. 

Uraraka reached the platform, leaning into the mic. She cleared her throat. "Um, hello everyone! I guess this is a little unexpected. So, uh, good luck everyone! Lets all do our best! Plus ultra!"

The whole stadium cheered and Uraraka rushed off the platform. He watched her return to her class, high-fiving the redhead from earlier and another girl with pink skin. She looked his way and he offered a thumbs up, receiving a shy smile in return. She did good, better than he or someone like Kacchan would have. 

"Without further ado, let us begin!" Midnight shouted. "The first fateful game of the festival!"

On the screens set up around the arena, a flurry of options spun around, much like something you'd find at an arcade or gambling machine. Izuku could feel like group holding their breath. 

It stopped spinning. Obstacle course. 

What do you know, Shinsou's inside informant was right. Midnight-sensei began explaining the rules of the game and he tried his best to listen. He doubts he'll have time to talk to Shinsou before the game starts and make up a plan. They're on their own for this own. He trusts Shinsou knows what he's doing. All Izuku has to do is make sure he's not at the back of the pack. 

Soon enough, Midnight had them line up in front of a massive gate by the edge of the arena. At the top of the gates three green lights blinked. It was packed having all the courses crowded in front of the gate like this. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Shinsou walking around, asking people questions like what kind of obstacles they think would be in the course. One by one, people fell under his control but remained in place. Their eyes turned a dull grey and their limbs seemed limp but besides that, they looked the same, acted normal. 

Good. Shinsou's using the strategy he suggested. At least he has this whole thing figured out. Izuku's still not sure how he's going to get through any of the obstacles depending on what they are. He doesn't have a quirk or people to aid him. At least he has his brains. It's not uncommon for analysts to make it to the second round. He can do this. 

He stared at the green lights as the first one blinked out. He sank into a running position, others around him doing the same. 

The second light blinked out.

Smiling to himself, he felt anticipation build up in him. He can do this. He'll make it to the third round. He will. 

You better watch out, Shouto. I'm coming for you.

The final light blinked out as Midnight roared, "Begin!"

And so the sports festival began.