[U.A. High School, Class 1-A, lunchtime.]
(Midoriya POV)
The whole classroom was excited about the school festival. Everyone was chatting about the coming event,
I could see Kirishima and many other classmates gathered together, talking about the coming event and their future performance.
“Even though all that stuff happened, I’m getting really excited! I'm ready to show everyone what I can do.” Kirishima said, flexing his muscles to emphasize his point.
“Me too. I'm sure if we put on a good show and stand out enough, we’ll have taken the first step towards becoming a pro!”
“I can barely hold back my excitement. It was worth coming to UA! I can't believe we are going to compete in front of the whole country.”
“You should calm down, Sato. We will only receive a few chances, and we cannot afford to miss this.” Tokoyami responded to him while trying to calm down the excitement.
Behind him, I could see Hagakure's clothes trembling slightly,
“Mina, I’m getting kind of nervous now. What if I can't stand out at the sports festival! I'm already invisible; what if that makes everyone ignore me?”
“You don't have to worry; the pros are definitely going to notice us after all we have been training really hard,” Mina said to her, in a reassuring tone to make her less nervous.
“Oh dear, what will I do?
I stand out even by standing still; the scouts won’t be able to stop looking at me, right?” Aoyama said to himself, completely ignoring everyone, deadpan.
Kaminari turned toward Shoji and spoke in envy,
“You’re lucky, Shoji. Your muscles stand out on their own.”
Shoji, on the other hand, responded with a slight frown,
“There’s no point in them standing out if I cannot show my usefulness in the competition. Who knows what kind of challenge we are going to face.”
“I think you’ll have no problem standing out. Once you use your quirk, everyone will see you becoming an idiot.” Jirou used this opportunity to make fun of Kaminari.
“Grr…!”
“Everyone’s really excited.”
Seeing everyone so fired up, I couldn't help but remark.
“You’re not?” Ida asked me, intrigued by my reaction.
“We have enrolled here to become heroes, so of course we should get fired up! The sports festival is the best way to show our progress to the world and prove we're ready to take on the hero responsibility.”
“Ida, you really have a unique way of getting fired up. It’s weird.” Asui placed a finger under her chin, wondering out loud.
“Midoriya, don’t you feel the same?”
“Of course I do. But…”
‘…even though I received this amazing quirk from All Might, I couldn't do anything at the time of the incident! I still wasn't good enough to help Aizawa-sensei and my classmates…’ I lamented the fact that I couldn't be of any help to our teacher and instead was frozen by my classmate's ability. Even though One For All is such a powerful quirk, I'm just wasting its potential because I'm too weak to make use of it.
“Deku, Iida…”
“Huh?”
“Oh.”
Uraraka suddenly appears before us with a menacing face.
“Let’s do our best at the sports festival.”
“U-Uraraka, your face…! It’s…”
“Everyone, I’m gonna do my best!”
“Yeah!”
“Yeah!”
“Yeah!”
Everyone couldn't help but cheer for her.
“Hngh! I’m gonna do my best! I'll show everyone what I can do.”
She suddenly turned to Arata before pointing at him and declaring with conviction.
“What’s wrong? Your personality’s all over the place. Anyway, good luck.” He just responded to her in his usual calm tone.
‘ I really can't understand him or his quirk. Now that I think about it, the two of them rarely speak to each other; I wonder why?’
“Everyone, I’m gonna do my best!”
She repeated herself once again.
….
While Ida, Uraraka and I were walking towards the cafeteria to get our lunch, when All Might suddenly appeared before us while laughing.
“Ah… All Might!” Ida, Uraraka and I were startled by his sudden appearance.
“Ahahahaha! Young Midoriya, there you are!”
“All Might? What’s the matter? Do you need me for something?”
“Lunch!” All Might replied shyly while bringing out a cutely wrapped lunch box.
“Wanna eat together?”
‘ He’s acting like a maiden!’
“How about it?”
I looked at Iida and Uraraka and said I was sorry before joining All Might.
….
All Might was smiling while giving me a cup of tea and sharing his lunch with me.
“Have some tea. Young Midoriya.”
“Hmm… Thanks!”
“More importantly, about the sports festival… You still can’t regulate the One For All, can you? What’ll you do?”
“Oh! I… Hmm…”
I was unable to answer his questions and started to lower my head, unable to maintain eye contact. Seeing my reaction, All Might continued speaking.
“Looks like you still have a long way to go, young Midoriya, but you don't have to be discouraged. Now, drink up.”
Hearing him, I looked even more downcast.
“Oh, thank you.”
“Frankly, I don’t have much time left as the Symbol of Peace. If I had to fight seriously at the last incident, that time would have been shortened even further.”
“No way…”
‘It seems that Arata's actions have helped even All Might, to think that I was still thinking that he went too far in hurting those villains.’
“Some of the villains with built-up villainous intent are starting to realize this fact and slowly getting back in action.”
“…!”
"I granted you my power because I believe you can succeed me. Tell me, young Midoriya, do you still feel the same as you did back then, when you said that you wanted to become the greatest hero like me, and save people with a fearless smile!?
“Yes! All Might, I remember.” I replied to All Might, but my voice was lacking conviction.
“Then, the time has come for you to show that. The UA sports festival is something pro heroes- no, the whole country- is watching closely. A big event!”
“Ah…”
“That is what I brought you here to talk about! The next All Might… the fledgling Symbol of Peace… Izuku Midoriya.
I want you to tell the world… I am here!”
“Ah… I am here… Can I really do it…? How…?”
“You know the sports festival system, right?”
“Yes, of course! The support, business, general studies, and hero courses come together and fight through preliminary games of different types by class year. The students who make it through face off in the finals.
It’s a round-robin tournament divided by grade.”
“That’s right! In other words, you can sell yourself with everything you’ve got!”
“Right…Ah! I mean, what you say is absolutely correct! But honestly, it’s kind of hard to get completely into it right after what just happened…
Besides, All Might, you're already teaching me, so I’m not as motivated to stand out at the sports festival…
In the first place, I don’t think I can stand out in my current state, and I did terribly in the fitness tests…”
“No one’s better at spouting nonsense than you! Young Midoriya”
“Nonsense?”
“Those who are always aiming for the top, and those who aren’t. What separates them is that slight difference in attitudes; it will have a big impact once you go out into society. You should remember that.”
“Ngh…”
“I understand how you feel, and this is more so for me than for you. I won’t force you.
However, I hope you won’t forget how you felt back at the beach park.”
I stared at the All Might before me. His words were slowly waking me up from my self-doubt. From what I could see…
‘ Arata was someone who, despite his words and general attitude, had actions befitting of a top hero. I always thought that Kacchan was amazing, excelling at everything he tried and surpassing me in every aspect.
I thought that once I received this quirk, One For All, from All Might, things would change. But Arata, he… it feels as if he is a complete mystery standing in front of me, and no matter how hard I try, I can never seem to understand him! He has shown himself capable of rapidly delivering himself and others to safety; he was able to immobilise me and several others before anyone could react, and he seems to always stay calm no matter the situation.’
‘I, on the other hand, I'm still completely unprepared for being a pro hero. And as long as I don't learn how to use One For All more effectively, I would never be ready…
No, I have to stop thinking like that. All Might is right; my biggest obstacle is not Arata or Kacchan. Right now, the only thing standing in my way is myself. I can't keep comparing myself to others!’
I looked back up with a fire burning in my eyes.
“You are right, All Might. This is the opportunity to tell the world I am here by winning the sports festival. Thank you very much for helping me see this.”
“That's the spirit, young Midoriya. Go Plus ULTRA.”