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.

When he arrived at the rope pit, he crossed it like he had so long ago. Sure, it wasn't the fastest way and a lot of people were getting ahead of him, but that didn't matter. The minefield would hold them up long enough for Izuku to catch up. He just needed to be careful, make sure to not start panicking or lose composure. That was something that came somewhat naturally to him now, after being a hero for so many years. God, it felt like he was some retired old timer or something... Guess in his mind he could be. Izuku didn't like to think about it like that, though.

The minefield was one big mess, like he'd expected. People were being careful at the start but growing more and more impatient and reckless towards the end. Izuku could see Kacchan and Shoto bickering ahead, pushing and tripping each other whenever they had the chance. He couldn't afford to waste any time, though. Digging up the mines was tricky and if someone else happened to fall into the pile he was making... Ah, it wouldn't end well for either of them, he imagined.

Luckily fate seemed to be on his side for once. Maybe because he was trying to reenact the original timeline? That's always what it came down to, right? To leave big moments unchanged, to follow the set path ahead of him. Izuku wondered what kind of punishment would await him for joining the support course... Maybe he wouldn't be the one to carry the direct consequences of that decision, maybe the after effects would only affect class 1-A. Or maybe he doomed the entire world by passing up on receiving One For All. The consequences of his actions had yet to make their appearance.

But not now. Now he was following fate, destiny, whatever, and he jumped down upon the pile of explosives, making sure to strap the metal plate tightly to his arm before leaping onto the mines. Not even a second later, he was zooming through the sky, flying far above his fellow contestants. Izuku angled himself, getting ready to land as he approached the head of the race. He slammed the plate onto the ground, aiming for the explosives that were scattered between Kacchan and Shoto, blowing them off balance. With that, he stumbled back on his feet, running like his life depended on it.

He was so happy he went for the speed boosting shoes in the end instead of the insulation ones. Then again, if he happened to face off against Denki in the final round, he might regret that decision. Not now though, not when he could hear Kacchan cursing and yelling from behind him. Damn, he almost forgot how great it felt to compete with him this way! They'd always been rivals before, but Izuku had avoided that from happening by choosing a different path, and now... Now he was feeling the thrill of victory as he crossed the finish line before anyone else, panting and laughing and searching for Kacchan so he could rub it in.

"That's my challenge to you, Kacchan!" Izuku called out as the ash blonde glared at him. "I'm not going to lose!"

"You'll eat those fucking words, Deku!" Katsuki hissed, obviously pissed off with third place. Izuku didn't have time to react to that, though, not when his classmates came to congratulate him on his win after it was announced a support course student won the first round. He could tell the audience was impressed, Izuku was sure to have attracted the eyes of some big name sponsors. Take that, infamous class 1-A!

His win made him a target in the following round, though, but Izuku already planned for that. Hatsume joined up with him, no questions asked, ready to combine their inventions and make the best of a bad situation. If you're gonna lose, you better get to show off your goods while doing so, right? Not that Izuku was planning on losing. But in order for his plan to work, he needed the help of a certain someone...

"Shinsou-kun, right?" Izuku asked as he walked up to the exhausted general studies student.

"What is it to you?" he reacted, answering his question with another question. Was he going to try and brainwash him..? Most likely to tell him to go away, since he didn't want to attract too much attention to himself.

"His quirk is brainwashing, isn't that cool?" Izuku gushed, looking at Hatsume before looking back at Shinsou, who looked rather shocked. "It's just the type of quirk our team needs! I promise if you join, I'll get you to the next round. So what do you say? Teammates?"

"Don't question how he knows about your quirk," Hatsume sighed as she saw the understandably concerned look on Shinsou's face. "I swear this guy has some hidden quirk detection quirk or something. You'll get used to it."

"...So what's your quirk, exactly?" Shinsou asked.

"Oh, uh, I'm quirkless," Izuku said, a little relieved when he didn't immediately fall under his control. "I would understand if you don't want to work with someone like me-"

Yeah, Izuku would understand. He knew better than anyone else how biased this society could be, how awful some people were towards the quirkless. Izuku knew he'd get less chances, less opportunities, but he was determined to prove his worth anyway. He wasn't expecting Shinsou to reject him because of his lack of a quirk, though. If anything, quirk discrimination affected both of them.

"No, it's cool," Hitoshi said, glancing over his shoulder. "I'll join on one condition."

With that he reached back, grabbing Ojiro's arm and tugging him forward. It was clear he was brainwashed, and Izuku did recall him using Ojiro for the cavalry battle before.

"This guy gets to join in, too," he said.

"Deal!" Izuku smiled. Having some extra muscle could never hurt. Ojiro could be their front man. "So, here's the plan-"

They had to reverse the brainwashing on Ojiro so they could use his mobility to their fullest potential. Izuku would be the rider, with Ojiro up front and Hatsume and Shinsou at his sides. They had enough speed boosting support items for the three runners, so dodging wouldn't be a big problem. And if they did get caught- looking at you, Shoto- Izuku still had his ace up his sleeve. Hatsume practically vibrated with excitement when Izuku explained what his main support item actually did.

"And it works?" Shinsou asked, confused. "I've never heard of something like that."

"It's new tech, still in development," Izuku explained. "I got permission to use it from Kacchan's parents, so it's all good!"

"Right, you're Bakugou's friend," Ojiro hummed, as if only just remembering that now.

"What? Bakugou? The guy that speeched at the start?" Shinsou asked, a little surprised. "Hold up, you call him Kacchan?"

"It's cute, right?" Hatsume laughed. "One of the other hero students once called him that and Bakugou almost exploded his face off! If it wasn't for Midoriya-"

She was interrupted by the loud ringing of a bell and Midnight announced the start of the cavalry battle, asking all participants to get to their places. As that was happening, she explained the basic rules of this round for both the students and the audience, reminding everyone of the time limit, as well as other limits like the fact that the rider must be the one to wear the team headband and wasn't allowed to touch the ground.

"-Every team member can steal points from others! Not only the rider!" she ended, holding her fan up in the air. "Now that all is said, let the second round of the sportsfestival begin!"

Izuku took a deep breath, glancing around as he felt everyone's gaze snap towards him. Shoto with a stone cold glare, Katsuki with fire in his eyes, ready to kill someone. It wasn't gonna be easy to pass this round, but Izuku was determined to make it. He fastened his headband, making sure it was secure, before looking Kacchan in the eye from across the field.

"Let's do this."