[Now, we will take a break for lunch, before we start the afternoon FESTIVITIES!!!!]

After Present mic's announcement, the recess sounded, people began to slowly stream out of the stadium and began to walk toward the different stands outside.

The sports festival was truly a festival in all the senses of the word. As such, a jovial atmosphere filled the road as people walked and laughed together.

Though, this atmosphere wasn’t present everywhere. A little farther than most, three people huddled with a serious expression on their faces. They were two young men and one young woman.

One of the men, wearing a white blouse and having a rather tired expression on his face yawned as he said,

“Oh sister of mine, the answer won’t change no matter how many times you ask. I am sure of it. My eyes would never deceive me.”

The sister in question, a crimson-haired girl, groaned a little as she pinched her brows,

“We searched for him high and low, but to think that he would be walking so openly.”

“Hahaha, we shouldn’t have been surprised. All those years ago before we designed the armor, we already knew that he was either super short or super young. Now I guess we have the answer.” laughed a blonde young man with spiky hair.

If Kuroha was here, he would have immediately recognized the three. After all, they were Asa, Hina, and her brother Mujitsu. The three bounty hunters.

Today was supposed to be a relaxing day for them. Go watch some wimpy kids fight, eat a little, look at the popular heroes up close, and then go back home. This totally changed after seeing the teleportation and blood quirk.

No quirk was truly unique. There were also many quirks that looked the same even if the effects were slightly different. The same applied to blood and teleportation type quirk. But, the two together? They only knew one. Junketsu, now more known as the Crimson Devil.

Mujitsu sighed a little, he never thought that he would discover Junketsu, no, Hayate Kuroha's identity so easily. He turned and faced his sister with a smile as he said

“What do we do? The bounty on him *Ouf*”

His sister interrupted him with a punch in the gut.

“Don’t even joke about that. No way we are gonna sell him out. I approve of everything he did that day. Those bastards should have died even more painfully.”

As she said that, a fierce light burned in her eyes. She really hated criminals.

“Still, the guild leader asked for us to find him.”

Asa expressed his concern. The bounty hunters were a system created by a large organization in America. Each branch was called a guild and was under the supervision of a guild leader or guild master. The guild leader of Japan was a man called Kenzo Eryu. A rather powerful and frightening man.

“Don’t worry about Guild leader. We don’t have to give Junketsu's true identity. The leader just wants him to become officially a bounty hunter. This should avoid some hassle. Anyway, we shouldn’t be discussing this now. Let’s go home and contact him after the festival.”

“Hum? Sister of mine, I thought you were excited about watching the festival. Why go back now?”

“The right question is rather, why should we stay? Since Junketsu is present, then the result is already evident.”

“True. Those students are really unlucky.”

On those words, the three of them left the vicinity.

----- Interlude end

Meanwhile, the situation in the stadium itself, more precisely in the VIP lounge was rather fiery, to say the least.

After what happened in Saitama, Nezu had judged wise to invite the top 10 heroes in the off chance that those villains were stupid enough to launch an attack. He also got the service of a teleporter, who surprisingly was the sidekick of Hawk and as such was sure that even if an attack happened somewhere else, the heroes would be able to rush there.

“Endeavor. I especially paid for a chair resistant to fire for you. I swear that if you lose control and still burn them, I will make you pay for them."

Right now, Endeavor was like a ticking time bomb. Though for Nezu, his bloodshot eyes as he looked at his sons getting beat by the nephew of All Might was rather interesting.

“Humph!!”

Endeavor reigned in his flames and simply got up before leaving the room. Still, despite the loud sound from the door being closed violently, no one particularly reacted. Well only All Might, in his muscular form, also got up and followed him.

‘*Sigh*, All Might, you don’t understand that with his current mindset, any words of advice from you will only be seen as the arrogance of the winner.’

Electing to not care about it anymore, he swiped the room with a look. This room was created thanks to the donation from the Yaoyorozu and the Gin families. It was rather luxurious and comfortable. They also expressed the intention to appear later in the day to assist in the final segment of the festival.

It was without a doubt good new in appearance. But, he couldn’t help but become filled with unease. The Yaoyorozu had a reason to come and assist, but what about the Gin? He had only seen the holy maiden once, and since then he did everything to avoid her. After all, he was an animal before anything else. The first time he saw her, he nearly passed out because of how much his instincts were screaming at him to flee. The worst was that she wasn’t even doing it intentionally.

‘This year is truly hard on my heart. I feel like I recently lost some of my lifespan.’

“Sup!! What did I miss?”

The moment he heard the all familiar voice of the bunny hero, his nose was immediately assailed by a strong odor. Seeing as how the dragon hero, Ryuko Tatsuma furrowed her brow, he was sure that it wasn’t his imagination.

‘She...Mated?’

He wore an incredulous expression as he watched Rumi walk nonchalantly in her hero costume before sitting next to Ryuko.

What truly surprised him wasn’t her mating. Rumi was a grown woman. She was free to do as she wished. The reason he was so surprised was that, on one hand, the odor was so strong that she must have mated for hours, and second, he recognized the odor the one she mated with.

‘This boy is truly full of surprise.’

-----

“So, what did you want to talk about? If we don’t hurry, the cafeteria will probably get really crowded. I don’t know for you, but my blood quirk is rather high in calorie consumption.”

Shoto Todoroki stood in the alley as he looked at the guy who so easily defeated him. Even now, he still couldn’t understand how he lost so easily. He put his hand in his pocket as he began to speak,

“You totally overpowered me. So much that even though I tried to, I had no time to break my pledge.”

During the second part, he fought mainly against Izuku. Still, this didn’t stop them from completely losing once they faced Kuroha.

“Tell me, Kuroha... Who are you?”

The wind blew softly at those words. Still, Kuroha stayed completely calm as he asked.

“What do you mean?”

Shoto looked aways as he pondered,

“I am not trying to search for an excuse for my defeat. I lost fair and square. But...The way you move. The way you fight. For me, who was trained as a hero since I was young, I can easily see this. You are simply too experienced. Your quirk is powerful, but the way you fight is scarier in my opinion. It was...As if you were always holding back. Most people might not have noticed it. But, your attacks all have a slight flaw. As if you previously targeted an area and suddenly remembered that it was better to target another. Tell me. Do you fight on the street?”

‘Ooooh! Rather sharp. I guess all this training wasn’t for nothing.’

“Hahaha, Your imagination is truly bountiful. Still, you are mistaken. The reason for my experience and my wild style as you call it is simply because since young I have been trained not by just one hero like you, but by a rather large group. You could say that they all left their mark on me. Though I like speed type more.”

He neatly answered the question with no change in his expression or heartbeat.

Rule number one, always deny any involvement in something criminal as long as there’s no absolute proof.

‘Well, this is a rare occasion. I should use it to speak a little more with him.’

“So, that’s all you wanted to say?”

“No. You see...Endeavor is my father,” He paused a little ”You should know that he has been stuck as the number two hero since forever. If you are the inheritor of the number one hero, then I… have even more reasons to beat you.”

‘I see. What a misunderstanding. Though, as his nephew, I guess I can sort of be called an heir.’

“My old man has a strong desire to rise in the world. As a hero, he won a name for himself with crushing force. Because of that, the living legend, All Might, is a great eyesore to him. Since he couldn’t surpass All Might, he moved onto his next plan.”

“What are you trying to tell me?”

He could sort of understand where this was going on. Still, he wanted to see for himself,

“You have heard of quirk marriages, right?”

‘So it has come to this.’

Kuroha subtly clenched his fist, he didn’t really want to hear this story once again, but it was a necessary step,

“That thing became a problem for the second and third generation after quirks appeared. Choosing a spouse based only on strengthening your own quirk and passing it onto your children, forcing people into marriage. The old-fashioned way of thinking brought by a lack of ethics.”

Kuroha could feel the bitterness in Shoto's voice. Still, he didn’t try to interrupt. He didn’t understand why the guy was suddenly giving him all his backstory, but he had no reasons to not accept,

“My father is a man with both accomplishment and money. He won over my mother’s relatives and got hold of my mother’s quirk. He is trying to fulfill his own desire by raising me to be a hero that surpasses All Might...This is so annoying. I won’t become the tool of scum like that.”

Hatred, helplessness, sadness. All those emotions could be felt now.

“In my memories, my mother was always crying. {Your left side is unsightly}. My mother said that as she poured boiling water on me.”

“...”

“Basically, I picked a fight with you to show him what I can do without using that damn quirk I inherited from him. NO! I will reject him completely by winning first place without using it.”

The atmosphere between them became tense at those last words. Kuroha looked profoundly at those eyes filled with hatred and asked the one question that had always been of importance to him,

“Tell me...Do you hate your mother?”

A few seconds later, Kuroha now alone spoke out loud,

“Izuku, you forgot that I can sense you. Come out.”

From a corner further in the hallway, a sheepish Izuku came out while scratching his head,

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to eardrop. I was just passing by.”

“I know. Tell me, what did you think?”

Izuku looked down a little as he clenched his fist,

“If this were a comic, he would have been the main character. Compared to that. What can I say?”

He looked down a little before feeling a tight grip on his head,

“You know I hate speeches. So I will be short. Like me, you are here because of all the people who have supported us. All Might, Nighteyes, Grand Torino, Milienia, and the others. Do not forget what All Might told you on that day. You can become a hero. You want to become like All Might right? So you must become strong. Stronger than anyone else. Because your ideals can only be reached with the necessary amount of strength. So, I will only say this once. Before fighting me... I forbid you to lose.”

Izuku, hearing those words, couldn’t help but let out a happy smile. He nodded before clenching his fist, a determined expression on his face.

“Indeed. I have to live up to the hopes of those who supported me… Kuroha. I have already decided, but let me say this out loud…. I WILL BEAT YOU.”

---

*BAM*

“SHIT!!!”

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

“FUCK THAT SHIT!! WHY? WHY IS HE SO STRONG?”

In one of the corners of the school ground, a young blonde-haired boy was venting his rage on the wall as he repeatedly kicked it. But, no matter how much he did it, he couldn’t hold back his frustration.

This young man was none other than Bakugo.

"I will win!! No matter what. I will show them all."