CHAPTER ELEVEN

      As the two weeks before the Sports Festival progressed, Megumi found herself training harder than she had ever done before. Sometimes, she trained with Natsume, releasing her flames on his bulletproof body; other times, she trained alone in her backyard.

      Another one of the perks of being the daughter of the current number 7 pro hero, they had a much bigger house with a large backyard. The backyard was shielded by tall walls and the grass was neatly trimmed. Four big trees lined the four corners while smaller trees stood next to them and bushes grew alongside them. But there was enough space for herself and her dad to release their flames for training. And if not that, then this backyard was big enough for some intense physical exercise.

      And so Megumi trained, until it was the night before the sports festival. The sun had set a while ago and yet she had carried out training. Dressed in a tank top and comfortable, knee-length shorts, Megumi slammed her fists into the air, practicing her punches. Then she moved onto her kicks. If there was one thing Megumi was proud of, it was that her body was flexible and she could move pretty fast, with or without her quirk. If she managed to improve on that, then tomorrow...

      'I could be at the top.'

      "Megumi, I'm home!" She heard her dad yell. "Where are you?"

      "I'm in the backyard!" Megumi yelled back.

      She wiped the sweat off her forehead and dropped to the ground, doing push-ups. Mentally, she counted the amount she was doing. The door to the backyard, connected to the living room, opened and out stepped her dad. Light from the living room shone into the darkness of the garden.

      "Still training hard, huh?" Kaito remarked.

      "Uh huh," Megumi answered with heavy breaths as she went for her seventh push up.

      "How long have you been at it now?"

      "Probably since 4? I don't really remember."

      "You should probably take a rest, Megumi," Kaito advised. "You don't want to push yourself too much."

      "No," Megumi answered as she did another push up, pausing only after she did it. She let out a huff as she sat down, cross-legged, on the grass. "I still need to train more, Dad, if I have to win tomorrow. Both you and mom won the sports festival in your time and I need to do just as well, if not better."

      "You don't really have to, you know," Kaito sat on the verandah, putting his tablet on his lap. "You are your own person. I know you want to train harder and work even more, but don't let my position or your mom's position at the sports festival hold you back. You are your own person. Your quirk is so much more different than ours and you'll win on your own, even if the world expects a lot from you."

      "So I should just forget what the world might think? Sorry Dad," Megumi answered with a slight groan. "For a pro-hero, that's pretty dumb advice. The world will have standards for me that they will want me to meet those. And they'll be watching me. That's just how things are. All I need to do right now is train."

      "If you don't like that advice, then can I offer you something else?" Kaito asked with a thoughtful look. It was the same look she had seen before when her dad worked on cases; where he was determined to get to the bottom of whatever mystery they were solving. Thoughtful and determined. Two words that summed up her dad's personality pretty well.

      "What?" Megumi asked as she panted, suddenly feeling the strain of the exercises hitting her nerves.

      "Your fighting style," Kaito started to speak. "It's a lot like...mine? It seems you've picked up a lot of my moves."

      "Well, of course, my fighting style is like yours," Megumi said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You are one of my inspirations besides Uncle Kyosuke and All Might and I've watched you for ages."

      "Well yeah, and I am so happy that I've inspired you, but I also think that I've stopped you from truly growing."

      "Huh?! What do you even mean?'

      "If you keep on comparing yourself to me and fight the way I do, you'll not be able to get to the top. Sorry if that's harsh but it's true. It's actually something your mom told me many years ago. Your fighting style should be yours and yours only. It should be a representation of you and not me."

      "But," Megumi looked at the ground suddenly. "It's not like I know how mom fought or what her style was. To be honest, I've never really looked her up. I feel like if I do, I'll be looking at a stranger because I don't even remember what she sounds like and the only image I have of her is from pictures around the house."

      "Oh kiddo," Kaito reached out and ruffled Megumi's hair. "You don't have to feel that way. Your mom was just as amazing as you think she is. She was truly a badass. That's why she was number 3, right below All Might and Endeavor. She was a lot stronger than what people gave her credit for. I was a third year and she was in her second year when she won, but no one was expecting her to win. They thought she'd lose and so she decided to shove those expectations back in their faces."

      "Really?" Megumi looked at him curiously. This part, she didn't know much about. She, of course, knew her mom had been the number 3 of her time. But, there actually had been a time where people thought of her as weak...it was strange to think about.

      "Yeah, she was amazing like that," Her dad smiled into the distant, probably lost in memories of a time long past. "She actually came up to me once when we both were out of school and said to me that my fighting style had to be corrected otherwise my chances of losing would be high against every villain I fought."

      Megumi let out a soft laugh. "She basically said your fighting style sucked, didn't she?"

      Kaito looked a little sheepish. "She said exactly that. Miyuki was pretty harsh when she wanted to be."

      "But she did say one thing that stayed with me."

       "And that was..."

       " 'Use your opponent's momentum against them and the battle will be in your favor.' "

      "Wait, what does that mean?" Megumi looked at her dad in confusion. "Use your opponent's momentum against them? Does that mean their body movements? Or their quirk? Or their fighting style?"

      "You are a rational thinker and a highly intelligent girl, Megumi," Her dad answered with a chuckle. "You'll figure it out."

      "Dad, seriously what does it mean?!"

      "You'll know."

      "That doesn't help! Dad, come on! Don't you dare go inside!"

      And then it was finally the day of the festival.

      Megumi and Natsume stood next to each other, leaning against the lockers in the waiting room. Some of their classmates were seated at the few tables provided while others were standing and doing some basic warm-up.

      As Natsume talked to her about his training the previous night, Megumi kept on closing and opening her fist, thinking back to the video her dad had shown her. She had known her mom's quirk was incredible but to see a video of it being used had solidified that belief. And it had also inspired her in its own way.

      'What if I tried something like that? That could easily give me a power boost,' She thought. 'But then I'll have the problem of controlling it. Because the more flames I release from all over my body, the more out of control they will be. But still...I really want to try it.'

      "Megumi, you didn't listen to what I just said did you?" Natsume suddenly poked her arm. "What's on your mind?"

     "Nothing," Megumi answered. "Just planning ahead and thinking what will happen in the first round." ('And also what Dad meant by using your opponent's momentum.')

     "You're a smart one," Natsume let out a nervous laugh. "Me, I'm not even thinking about it. I just want to get through at least the first round."

     "Don't sell yourself short, Natsu," Megumi lightly punched his shoulder. "You are pretty strong. You're literally as strong as a freaking tiger. You're gonna do amazing."

     "Hmm, yeah, I guess so," Natsume answered, crossing his arms. Megumi shot him a quick smile before she stared out at the rest of the class. Most of them looked understandably nervous. All of a sudden, Todoroki strode past them, going straight towards Midoriya.

     "Ah, Todoroki-kun," The green haired boy said, rather nervously. "What is it?"

     "Looking at things objectively, I think it's fairly clear that I am stronger than you," Todoroki said bluntly.

     'What?' Megumi suddenly looked at Natsume, who also looked pretty confused.

      'I think it's a declaration of war,' Natsume mouthed. 'It's kinda weird.'

      'Yeah, you're right about that.'

      Though strong, Todoroki was a pretty strange person. His motives were not yet clear to Megumi, plus he was a cold person, personality wise too. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but he ignited her curiosity.

      "But..." Todoroki continued. "All Might has his eyes on you, doesn't he?"

      Midoriya suddenly tensed up, as though a big secret of his had been revealed.

      "I'm not going to pry into that. But I'm going to beat you."

      Megumi bit the inside of her cheek. 'Oh, it's definitely a declaration of war, alright.'

      *

      "And now let's introduce the rising stars! They're the survivors of a villain attack! From the Hero course, it's class 1-A!"

      Present Mic's commentary and the audience cheers welcomed them as they entered the arena. The size of it was massive and every corner of it was filled to the brim. Fireworks were being set off into the sky.

      Megumi took in a deep breath, before she released it. At the same time, Natsume was staring at the crowds gathered in the arena.

      "Holy shit," He exclaimed. "There's a lot of people."

      Megumi only nodded silently. She didn't think she was capable of speaking, seeing the size of the crowd. Actually being a part of this was very different from watching it on a screen. 1-A continued to walk ahead till they all lined up in front of the podium. The other classes were also introduced by Present Mic, but with far-less praise. (Megumi thought that wasn't fair to them)

      As all the first years classes gathered in front of the podium, a loud whip cracked. In a cloud of smoke stood Midnight, the R-rated hero, dressed in an outfit that lived up to her name. Natsume immediately turned red and looked at the ground, whistling under his breath. Megumi giggled at that.

      In front of them was Kirishima, who was also blushing. "What is Midnight-sensei wearing?"

      Kaminari nodded weirdly, also with a red face. "That's just what an R-rated hero would do."

      "Is that really appropriate clothing for a high school event?" Tokoyami asked, sounding more rational than anybody else in the crowd.

      "Silence everyone! Now representing the students, we have Katsuki Bakugo from 1-A!" Midnight shouted.

     "Bakugo? Bakugo's doing the pledge?" Megumi looked at Natsume, who stared back at her with a similar expression.

      "I have a feeling," He said. "That the other classes are going to dislike us even more after what he says."

      Natsume's words came true moments later as Bakugo proudly proclaimed that he would be the winner and everyone of the other first year classes started booing them. Fun.

      "Now, let's get started right away!" Midnight yelled over the booing crowd as a screen behind her came to life with the words 'first game' written on it. "The first game is what you would call a qualifier! Every year, many drink their tears here! Now, here's the first game!"

      A large, holographic screen appeared behind Midnight. Something similar to a slot machine appeared on it, before stopping on the words 'obstacle race'.

     'A race, huh?' Megumi thought as Midnight started explaining the rules. 'This is gonna be fun.'

And the fun finally begins!

We get a little more of Megumi's backstory plus you learn a little more about her mom. The first part of this chapter was probably my favorite part to write. Also, if anyone is confused, Uncle Kyosuke is Natsume's father, who is also a hero. He'll make an appearance later on in the story. But the Sports Festival arc is finally here and I am so excited to write this; it's honestly one of my favorite arcs and I love every single moment of it and I am very very excited to write Megumi and Natsume as part of this arc.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure you keep on checking out the following carrd link. It's a more recent link and has a list of twitter threads/petitions/ other carrds for various issues happening around the world. Sign petitions, donate if you can, spread awareness and do what you can to help!

https://issueshappening.carrd.co/