NOTE: sorry for the long wait, everyone!

because 1. i fear it'd just be izuku's experience with minor changes and 2. i,, am not smart enough to make major changes w the cavalry battle,,,,, i feel like i'd just put the anime into words—previous versions of this are exactly that. istg i've tried writing the cavalry battle, and i couldn't, and having this inability to do so tanked my motivation and is one of the main reasons why this took forever,,,,,

EDIT: HEY IGNORE THE UH. THE MISSING SECTION EARLY READERS AHAHAHAHHA PRETEND IT NEVER EXISTED

second edit: added a bit where it's mentioned that aizawa pushes students to see hound dog

===

The Cavalry battle was fucking intense. Tommy kept up with everything the teams did, of course, and he didn't lose track at all. Nope! No way. Big Man Tommy Innit absolutely knows what every team did. It's just that Izuku's team had the ten-million points, Todoroki's team was solid, and Bakugo's team worked surprisingly well, which is why he knows how they did more than the other teams.

For being the bearer of ten million points, Izuku handled the pressure better than he thought. Not that Tommy thought he might have a break down, but he'd probably at least feel some panic. Despite being under that weight, though, Izuku used all the abilities that his teammates could provide in an efficient way. Especially—uh... Hatsume's toolbox! The little mini-shields she packed were great for blocking Kaminari's voltage, and the rocket elytra's an easy way to maneuver aerially.

(And also real fucking cool. He's getting one from Hatsume no matter what.)

Speaking of the mechanic, everyone on his team did well to work together, too! Uraraka lightening their weight, Hatsume and her gear, and Tokoyami and Dark Shadow's defense and offense... Sure, there were a few mishaps, and Izuku was still fucking reckless with playing with OFA, but they still (kind of) won!

And then, under Monoma's taunting—because of course Tommy would remember the person who's taunted Bakugo (besides himself and anyone in class) and made it both funny and out alive—Bakugo seemed a lot calmer than Tommy expected. Sure, the bastard immediately threatened to kill him first before going after everyone else, but at least he warned people first. He communicated something to his teammates so that they could prepare, and that's honestly a miracle in itself.

Mini-Aizawa's team... they were clever, to use the cover of the surrounding chaos to sneak past everyone while snatching their points. Tommy doesn't think the other used his Quirk to do anything, considering that the brief glances he saw of that team on the TV screens hanging above the audience, they kinda acted as a team. It makes Mini-Aizawa and the other unknown person on his team's Quirks a mystery, still, but...

Moving on. About Todoroki's team, there isn't much Tommy can say besides that it was perfect in most, if not all, aspects. He... tried not to look at them much while also paying immense attention, but it was hard when they'd forced themselves against Izuku's team and got the spotlight. But Tommy got through anyway (with shaking hands and flashes of brown hair, cracked horns, and a suit replacing Todoroki's flickering across his eyes.)

...Well. Tommy gets up from his seat, body practically vibrating with the need to move. Since there's a break until the next round, he should go get some stadium snacks.

===

"Where's Izuku at?" Tommy says outside the Sports Festival stadium, muffled by the chicken in his mouth. He practically juggles the other snacks in his hands: cotton candy in these little boxes, a few sodas (that aren't Coca-Cola, but whatever), a shit ton of takoyaki sticks... it's a bit of a struggle to shove them in his inventory. But, they're hella cheap for food—probably. He isn't too sure if a few hundred yen is expensive for this shit. It's not like U.A.'s poor, anyway, so Tommy just had to get these.

Uraraka, from where she stands with her back turned to him, yelps in alarm. She puts a hand to her chest as a shaky sigh tumbles from her lips. As an apology, Tommy offers her a takoyaki stick. "I was wondering that, too," the brunette mumbles, hesitantly plucking the stick from his hand and chewing on it thoughtfully. "Thanks for this, Tommy. You have the best timing."

"Fuck yeah I do," Tommy beams, already offering another stick to Iida, who takes it stiffly.

"Thank you," he says, looking kinda bothered—or amazed—by how Tommy's eating. Currently, Tommy's stuffing another takoyaki stick down his mouth, having already eaten the first one. "Do you not know where he is either?"

Tommy swallows all the chicken, rolling the leftover sticks of his takoyaki between his fingers. "Nah," he replies, inventorying said sticks. He glances at Kaminari, who's... not really available for conversation. Probably wouldn't be able to eat, either, and these things are really good... but despite his greed, Tommy still offers a takoyaki stick to him. "'S why I came here. Was gonna give him some food, too."

Fortunately, Kaminari still gives him a thumbs-up with both hands, not moving to take the food. Tommy grins, stashing away that takoyaki stick with it's other dozen-or-so duplicates for him to eat later. He turns back to Uraraka and Iida and, as a partial afterthought, adds, "Nice job, by the way! All of you fucking kicked ass!"

Immediately, Uraraka blushes, laughing as a flustered response. Iida, on the other hand, takes the praise in stride, smiling at him. However, he's still kind of a killjoy, so of course the first thing he says after Tommy so-graciously compliments him is: "Language!"

Tommy jokingly huffs. "Oh, what are you, an old man?" He absolutely can't hear whatever Iida protests after that, resolutely blocking out his voice by calling out to Hagakure and offering some soda.

As he heads back to the main building of U.A. with the other students, passing out free snacks on their way to the cafeteria, Tommy purses his lips. Izuku will be fine—he wouldn't be far from the stadium, there's several heroes around, and Izuku has OFA. His gut feeling isn't becoming worse or anything when he thinks about him, anyhow.

Izuku's fine. He has to be.

===

And Tommy's right. Izuku shows up to the cafeteria not long after everyone else has filed in, wading through the crowds of students to meet up with his classmates. He brightens when he sees Tommy, who grins back and offers him a stadium snack. As Izuku takes it, Tommy comments, "The move with your Quirk was so damn ballsy—and equally fuckin' great! Just don't do that shit too much, eh?"

Izuku laughs, scratching the nape of his neck with one hand. "I know, I know," he says, and Tommy's positive he'll absolutely do something like that again. But then he glances down to the side, some distant look in his eyes, and Tommy can't help but tense because something's wrong.

But, well. Izuku needs to rest, not have an emotional breakdown here or something. Reluctantly, Tommy moves away, heading to Tokoyami even though Izuku's stare clouds his thoughts.

"...everyone has to wear those clothes to do a cheer battle in the afternoon," someone—Mineta, if he recalls that voice right—says in Tommy's peripheral. Tommy pauses, hand pausing from where he was handing a soda to Tokoyami to listen in further as Mineta explains that Aizawa ordered them to. Which... what? Wear clothes for a cheer battle? Aizawa told him that?

...No. There's no way. Aizawa's a practical, logical man who still kinda has morals, he doesn't just do anything for nothing, and there's no damn way he cares for a cheer battle. Tommy glances around a little, ignoring Dark Shadow's confused caw as his mind separates the chatter of the cafeteria to locate Mineta, find who he's talking to, where he's pointing, and—oh, fuck no. Not this shit again. (At least Kaminari isn't there like the first [and last] time.)

"No the fuck you won't," Tommy snaps, tossing the soda to Tokoyami before basically parkouring over to the grape midget, eliciting gasps from eating students as he leaps over them. He subconsciously opens his inventory, taking out a long streak of gauze by ripping it off with his teeth, before stashing the fabric roll away. His feet are feather-light, and in a matter of seconds, he's right by the table Mineta's at.

"...don't have to believe me," the perverted grape continues scamming—Momo and Jirou?! Oh, Prime-damn-it, "but we heard from—"

Tommy slams Mineta's mouth with the strip of gauze and a fierce smile, tilting the midget's head back wit how much he's pulling the fabric so that Mineta can't talk. Fortunately, he made it long enough to where he could just tie a knot on the back and let him suffer. Unfortunately, Tommy... probably isn't allowed to do that. Actually, he most definitely isn't. It's tempting to do so anyway, but he's positive he'd be forced out of U.A.—being here in the first place is a miracle. (and he remembers what happens to those who break the rules.)

"He heard from no one," Tommy states, grinning even wider as Mineta struggles in his grasp. "Momo, Jirou, nothing like that was issued. Ignore him."

He turns back, softening his grin towards the two girls at their mildly perturbed and very grateful expressions. "You think Aizawa cares for cheer?" Tommy rhetorically asks as an explanation, already moving Mineta away from the girls. Tommy continues: "Have you seen him? He's literally decked in black. He pulled an expulsion joke to keep you on your feet. He hasn't slept in weeks, I bet. Mans is literally alive due to caffeine and solely that. Nothing else."

A faint blush darkens Momo's cheeks as she looks away, flustered. "W-Well," she begins, pausing. She opens her mouth, closes it, and then opens it again to say: "I... should've expected that to be a scheme of some sort, but... a-as Class Rep., I have to hear the voices of everyone and consider them, even if the person is... unpleasant. Regardless, I thank you for your assistance in clearing this misconception once more." The blush on her cheeks gets darker. She's inhaling so much copium, Tommy can practically breathe it in.

Jirou, on the other hand, is significantly less ashamed when she, in one go, says, "Oh thank God that was all a lie." She slumps, placing a hand on her chest with a not-quite laugh; more like a few breaths of relieved air. "I did not want to go out there in that. Thanks, Tommy. We owe you again."

Tommy beams a kind-of forced grin at Jirou, still holding a struggling Mineta. With a wave, he leaves to report sexual harassment not for the first time, and tries not to strangle the victim in his hold.

===

Tommy huffs, knocking out Mineta with a swift strike to the back of his head once they're out the cafeteria.

The entirety of the situation is weird. Not the Festival, no—Tommy's had an ample amount of time to dissect differences between the one he knows, and the one he's experiencing. Neither is the disconnect of not being from this world, because he's long gotten over it.

It's Mineta. And in a weird way, Kaminari.

Several times, Mineta's done or said something inappropriate, almost inexcusable in nature. Once or twice, he's roped someone else into it, like Kaminari, though it was only once. Most times, Tommy or Aizawa catch them in the act and stop them, the latter pushing Mineta to see whoever Hound Dog is like he does for the others when they're reminded of the USJ. And most times, Mineta's acts could be called sexual harassment.

It's just that though he's probably had marks on their records and shit, or whatever schools do, Mineta hasn't really... see the consequences of his actions? Besides Tommy or Aizawa berating him (which, how has he not learned already? Tommy may be terrifying, but Aizawa's anger is nightmare-inducing.) And the girls seem comfortable with Kaminari even though he's been involved in some of this shit. This world is softer, but shouldn't they be even a little suspicious that Kaminari's like Mineta?

Nedzu hasn't even said much, which is odd for someone as smart as him. By now, Mineta—and maybe even Kaminari, just by proxy—should be suspended at least. And sure, that wouldn't look good for U.A. or this generation of to-be-heroes, but so is the USJ incident and letting a sexual harasser into a school of students and letting that shit fester. It's kind of the same with Bakugo, in a way, just replacing the pervy-ness of Mineta with the violence of Bakugo, because from what he knows from Izuku, he should be expelled. Aizawa's seen what Bakugo's attitude is, too.

It's just... weird and most-likely wrong to keep people like Mineta and Bakugo here, even if they have potential as heroes.

Tommy huffs again. He stops at the same office he remembers to go to for reporting this shit over and over again, and opens the door, preparing to simply leave Mineta to the beasts like he always does—that is, the scathing lectures the pervert's probably memorized by now and the glares locked onto his form. The people there might just expel Mienta themselves; if they do, Aizawa would have more work with a replacement, especially for the Festival.*

...He has to talk to Aizawa and Nedzu about this soon.

===

The recreational games that U.A.'s set up aren't anything too special. No fighting, nothing dangerous. Thank Prime there's something simple like this for everyone—his class certainly needs it. But in the mean time, Tommy does briefly contemplate the match-ups for the one-on-one fights.

They go as follows:

Uraraka versus Hatsume, that mechanic girl on Izuku's team.

Bakugo versus Nirengeki—who's probably the other person on Mini-Aizawa's team.

Yaoyorozu—ah, Momo versus Sero.

Kaminari versus Tokoyami, which'll be interesting to see play out.

Izuku versus Iida.

Aoyama versus Kirishima, which Tommy knows who'll win because Aoyama's still a one-trick pony.

Ojiro versus Shinsou.

And finally, Todoroki versus Ashido. Quietly, Tommy sends her prayers, because he also knows she's not winning this one.

Mini-Aizawa and... Nirengeki? They still have mystery Quirks. Neither Mini-Aizawa or the unknown person were showcased much on the Obstacle Race, as all the focus was on the top three. In the Cavalry battle, like mentioned previously, their team was slick, so none of the cameras really captured them, either. Nothing much to go off of when it comes to theorizing about their Quirks, but Tommy tries to make do. (...Izuku's rubbing off of him too much with this theorizing shit.)

Even then it's a too-short endeavor, certainly not long enough to last him the entire length of the recreational games. Tommy resists the urge to lip-trill, slumping in his seat as he just barely focuses on said games again. Shinsou's and Nirengeki's Quirks, whatever they may be, will definitely reveal itself during the tournament, though, especially considering the match-ups.

(With that train of thought ended, Tommy can acutely feel the energy in his body that's been buzzing around since the start of this whole thing. He shifts uncomfortably, giving in to the urge to bounce his foot rapidly as paranoia seeps into his skin. Why does today still not feel safe? There's heroes around here, there's Recovery Girl and probably an entire team of medics for injuries, there's enhanced security measures... it should be safe, but it isn't, and it's fucking ticking him off.)

Should he check up on everyone who's resting in the meantime?

Oh, the fuck's he thinking—anything's better than sitting here, even if it's a wild goose chase to find everyone. He'll just get up and check, if only for a moment. So, Tommy gets up and briskly walks out the room, not-quite in-tune with what's around him as his mind dives into a narrow-minded focus.

Yet even getting good affirmations of his class' well-being—even Izuku's—does nothing to soothe his nerves. Tommy finds his teeth nibbling on his fingernails after he's made sure that Shoji and Sato are alright, unable to stop his eye from darting around every hall he finds or his body from taking feather-light steps and halting around corners. He heads up the stairs to the private viewing booth for the staff above feeling no better than before.

Tommy forces himself to stop biting on his fingernails, instead taking a takoyaki stick and a soda out. He cracks the latter open, already finishing guzzling down the fizzy flavored drink in moments. He wipes his mouth, stashes the glass bottle in his inventory, and slumps in his seat with an internal sigh and crossed arms.

His class will do fine—better than what anyone could expect. Recovery Girl is there if any of the students get majorly injured, and there's probably an entire medical team prepped if shit goes wrong. Heroes surround the stadium. They'll be fine.

It's the only paper-thin comfort Tommy has as he digs his fingers into his bandaged arms and waits.

===

"Audience!" Present Mic screams. Ochako takes a shaky, nervous breath, walking up the stage. She stops at her respective side, watching Hatsume do the same. The announcer continues: "The finals that you've all been waiting for are finally starting! Match number one: she's looking nervous, but she's done well so far! From the hero course, it's Uraraka Ochako!

"Versus! Fully equipped with support items..." Hatsume grins, adjusting the goggles on her head. "From the support course, it's Hatsume Mei!"

"N-No harsh feelings, right?" Ochako asks, voice barely heard over Present Mic. She internally panics at the little stutter her voice did, because, well—she's on stage, she can't just embarrass herself like that! Heroes are watching; her parents are watching! Her future's on the line here!

Hatsume slips her goggles over her eyes, still grinning. She stands with a slant, a hand on her hip while rummaging through her support equipment to bring out a few weird gadgets. "Nah, not at all!" She exclaims, equipping a few of them. One of them's familiar: the jetpack that Midoriya had in the Cavalry battle.

Before this, Hatsume had offered Ochako some of her "babies." To make things even, she'd explained at Ochako's hesitance. Hatsume had equipment when Uraraka didn't, after all—there's bound to be some sort of unbalanced power.

But, well...

"Doesn't that just make things more unfair?" Ochako had questioned. "I have hero training, but if you give me this, I'd also have support equipment. You just have your equipment." She'd scratched the back of her neck, sheepishly grinning at Hatsume's confused look. "I-I just think that I'd rather fight with what I got, y'know? Like, um... like improv! Because it, uh, won't be the same on an actual battle-field, so..."

Yes, nothing in life was fair. Ochako's life that consisted of mainly helping her parents out at work taught her so. And maybe she should've taken the equipment for her own benefit, to get noticed by more people by combining her capabilities with support equipment. But it just... didn't sit right.