Chapter 20: Time to start
The morning of the U.A. Sports Festival arrived under a crisp blue sky.
The first-year boys' locker room buzzed with the low sound of zippers and rustling fabric, but the usual pre-event electricity was missing. Students moved in the ua gym uniforms but the energy that normally crackled before a major event like this was muted. Conversations stayed short. Laughter was rare. Everyone was nervous and still carrying the weight of the past few weeks.
In the far corner, Todoroki stood alone, arms crossed, staring down at his right side. His heterochromatic eyes were distant, fixed on the pale skin of his right hand as if it held some unanswered question. 'If I had used the other side that day… would anything have changed?' The thought looped in his mind, quiet and unrelenting. It wasn't that he was blaming himself for his classmate's death but it was a thought that just got stuck and wouldn't go away.
A few lockers over, Bakugo was unusually silent. He sat on the bench, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor with a scowl that lacked its usual fire. No explosions of complaints, No barking orders. Just heavy, brooding quiet.
Cid finished pulling on his own gym uniform and scanned the room. The low mood was obvious. No one was hyped. No one was ready to compete like they used to. He rubbed the back of his neck, then decided it was time to do something about it.
He strolled over to Bakugo's bench, hands in his pockets, voice lazy but loud enough for the whole room to hear.
"Oi, Bakugo. You gonna sit there looking like you already lost, or are you actually planning to fight? I know im strong and all but atleast put up a fight."
Bakugo's head snapped up, red eyes narrowing.
Cid didn't stop. "I mean, if the great lord Explosion Murder is too busy staring at the floor, maybe I'll just take first place and call it a day. Save everyone the trouble of completing."
The locker room went still.
Bakugo's scowl deepened, but a spark finally lit in his eyes. "The hell did you just say, you lazy bastard?"
Cid shrugged, the corner of his mouth twitching. "You heard me. Or did the USJ knock the fight out of you?"
That did it.
Bakugo shot to his feet, palms crackling with small explosions. "You wanna say that again, extra?!!! I'll blast your ass straight into next week!!!!"
The shift was instant. Heads turned. A few classmates straightened up. Kirishima let out a low whistle, grinning for the first time that morning. Even Todoroki glanced over, pulled out of his thoughts. After hearing e
What was said, his eyes were narrowed.
Mina poked her head in from the girls' side of the partition, eyes wide. "Whoa, what'd I miss? Is this the energy we're doing today?"
Cid just smirked, turning away like he hadn't just lit a fuse. "Guess we'll find out on the field."
Bakugo snarled after him, already vibrating with that familiar explosive drive. "You're dead, Kageno! First place is mine, you hear me?! I'll blast you and the rest of these extras into next week!!!"
The locker room filled with a new kind of noise — not the old carefree chaos, but something sharper, more determined. Students started moving with purpose again. Voices rose. Challenges flew back and forth. The heavy fog that had settled over the class began to lift, replaced by the competitive fire they needed to face the day.
Cid walked toward the exit, hands still in his pockets. He ran into Yui who was outside the door for 1B's class and she fell in step beside him as they stepped out into the hallway, her fingers brushing his arm for a second.
She glanced up at him, a small, knowing smile on her lips. " I heard what you did through the wall. You did that on purpose, that was nice of you."
Cid shrugged, a faint hint of embarrassment flashed across his cheeks. "Someone had to." he said, scratching the back of his neck.
"Yea but it's not normally you. But I think it's a good thing, you're stepping out of your comfort zone" she said happily as she pulled his hand out of his pocket and laced her fingers through his.
The U.A. Sports Festival stadium was alive with noise, but the energy among the first-year students gathered below the central podium felt different this year. Thousands of spectators filled the stands, banners waving and cameras rolling, yet the usual pre-event buzz from the competitors was subdued. Students stood in neat rows in their gym uniforms, the weight of recent events still clinging to them like a shadow.
Cid stood near the front of Class 1-A, hands in his pockets, expression as relaxed as ever. Aizawa had pulled him aside earlier that morning and told him he would be giving the first-year representative pledge. Cid hadn't argued. He just sighed.
Present Mic's voice boomed across the arena.
"Representing the first-year students… Cid Kageno of Class 1-A!"
Cid let out a long, tired breath, then stepped forward. He climbed the short stairs to the podium, the entire stadium watching. The other classes stared up at him — some curious, some already sizing him up after the rumors from USJ. He stopped in front of the microphone, scanning the sea of faces for a moment.
He sighed again, the sound carrying clearly through the speakers.
"I'm not really one for long speeches," he started, voice low and lazy. "So I'll keep this short."
The arena quieted.
Cid's gaze swept over the crowd, his usual bored expression sharpening just a fraction.
"If you're here to look good for the cameras or just go through the motions… you might as well head home now."
A ripple of surprise and murmurs spread through the first-years. Some students from other classes bristled.
Cid leaned in slightly, tone calm but cutting.
"Because first place is mine. If you disagree with that, then beat me and take it for yourselves."
He stepped back from the microphone without another word, turned, and walked down the stairs like he hadn't just thrown down a gauntlet to every single competitor in the stadium.
For a heartbeat the entire arena was silent.
Then it exploded.
Shouts and jeers erupted from the other classes. Students who had been standing listlessly suddenly straightened up, eyes blazing with new fire. In the 1-A group, Bakugo's grin turned feral, explosions crackling faintly in his palms as he barked out a laugh. Kirishima pumped his fist with a wide grin. Even Todoroki's gaze sharpened, the half-and-half student looking far more focused.
Mina whistled low from the line. "Damn… he really went full Bakugo-mode there."
"Ugh, don't remind me everyone just looked so dead on their feet, so I picked one of the easiest ways to fix it, pissing them off." Cid said
"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP EVERYONE! The first event of the U.A. Sports Festival is… the OBSTACLE RACE! A brutal four-kilometer course packed with deadly traps and giant robots from the entrance exam! Only the top forty-two finishers move on to the next round! So give it everything you've got, or get left in the dust!"
The massive tunnel entrance at the edge of the arena lit up with glowing arrows. Students from all first-year classes began filing in, lining up shoulder to shoulder at the starting gate. The air hummed with nervous energy, the earlier spark from Cid's words still crackling.
Cid stood near the front of Class 1-A, hands in his pockets. Yui was right beside him. He glanced at the group behind him and smirked.
He raised one hand in a lazy wave.
"See ya."
Then he stepped forward.
The starting signal blared.
Cid didn't run.
He took one casual step… and the distance between him and the first set of robots shrank to nothing. One heartbeat later he was already past them, standing on the far side like he'd simply blinked. A third step carried him over the minefield at the end without triggering a single explosion.
In three effortless uses of his Quirk, Cid stood at the finish line.
He didn't even look winded.
The stadium fell into a stunned hush for half a second before it erupted.
"WHAT THE—?! CID KAGENO OF CLASS 1-A HAS ALREADY CROSSED THE FINISH LINE!" Present Mic screamed, voice cracking with disbelief. "IN LITERALLY THREE STEPS! IS THAT EVEN ALLOWED?! AIZAWA, BACK ME UP HERE!"
Aizawa's dry voice cut in over the speakers. "It's within the rules. He used his Quirk. Efficiently."
Down on the field, the rest of the first-years were still fighting through the first wave of robots. Bakugo's explosions lit up the sky as he roared in pure rage. Todoroki had frozen half the course in ice.
Yui crossed her arms, a small pout forming on her lips as she stared at Cid's distant figure. "He didn't even take me with him," she grumbled, cheeks faintly pink. "I'm going to pinch him later for leaving me behind like that."
Yui's pout lingered for another second before she shook her head, a reluctant smile breaking through. She started running with the others.
Cid stood at the finish line with his hands still in his pockets, looking mildly bored as the first real competitors began to trickle in behind him. The crowd was losing their minds. Cameras zoomed in. Present Mic was still shouting nonstop.
Cid just shrugged and muttered to himself, "Why do I feel like I forgot something?"
The Sports Festival had only just begun, but the message was already clear.
If they want first they have to beat Cid Kageno