Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"When I was a kid, I saw a hero fight to protect a family from a villain attack..."

A handsome young man began a passionate speech in front of thousands of people in the arena.

As the highest-scoring student in the entrance exam, he was one of the favorites today, and this speech was the perfect opportunity to make a strong first impression on the public—especially on the hero agencies.

Arata watched the whole thing with boredom as he ate and listened to his siblings arguing about what this year's U.A. Sports Festival challenges might be.

According to previous festivals, the event was divided into three stages, each focused on different aspects used to evaluate the participants' strengths and weaknesses.

The first stage aimed to test creativity in using Quirks and reaction speed. It was usually an obstacle race or baton relay.

This was also the most chaotic stage of the festival, since students were not only allowed to use their Quirks but could also hinder their opponents—which only served to excite the audience.

The second stage focused on teamwork. Cavalry battles, capture the flag, and other similar activities dominated this part of the event.

This stage was usually where students from other classes had the best chance to shine, whether through clever strategies, support equipment, or unusual ways of using their Quirks in a controlled environment.

Finally, there was the third and final stage of the festival—the one everyone looked forward to the most: the classic one-on-one battle tournament.

Finalists would showcase their full potential in front of the entire nation.

Arata was starting to get impatient with the speech when the boy finally finished, and a shout came from the announcer:

"Now, the first event: The Four Borders Zone!"

"Hm? That's a new one..." Yui muttered as she looked at the arena where the competitors would soon be fighting.

"There are four areas in this event: forest, city, mountains, and lake. Students will be divided evenly and randomly into each area, where they must find a flag and bring it to the central zone of the arena.

There are twelve flags in each area, which means only forty-eight students will be able to advance to the next round."

"Oh, they're really going all out this year," the wolf-boy muttered as he picked up a sandwich.

"Now for the rules. The use of Quirks is allowed during the trial. Fighting over flags is permitted, but causing excessive injury without restraint will result in immediate disqualification.

If a flag is destroyed, a new one will randomly appear in any of the four zones.

Fighting in the central zone is prohibited.

The trial ends when the forty-eighth participant reaches the central area."

'This is a pretty interesting challenge,"' Arata thought as he looked at an image of the arena divided into four zones.

After the rule explanation, the students drew lots to determine which area they would be placed in.

Once assigned, each was taken to a different gate, corresponding to their zone, where they waited for the challenge to begin.

***

In front of the Urban Zone gate

Kata stretched lightly while waiting for the challenge to start, observing the students around him.

Kata was a fairly average-looking boy—black hair and eyes, fair skin, and medium height.

His only real advantage was his well-defined body, the result of years of intense training to control his Quirk.

Acceleration: To many, it was just a sub-type of super speed, allowing Kata to run up to 300 km/h—the maximum his body could handle before suffering from friction and gravitational strain.

However, after some time at U.A. and with help from the teachers, he discovered that his Quirk was much more than that.

It started when he mentioned he could accelerate his thoughts, which led to a new Quirk test revealing that his ability wasn't just super speed—it allowed him to accelerate anything.

Since then, Kata had focused on using his Quirk in ways beyond just running fast.

Now, it was time to show everyone what a General Studies student could do.

"Attention. The first event of the U.A. Sports Festival is about to begin. Students, get ready.

At my signal, you may begin."

Kata watched as the gates opened in front of him, revealing the scene of a city.

He took his position.

"Three, two, one—GO!"

Kata shot forward, hitting 100 km/h as he zigzagged through his opponents.

Some tried to stop him, but he was too fast and easily dodged them.

In no time, Kata had covered a great distance before he began to slow down.

Running at 100 km/h placed pressure on his chest, making it hard to breathe, so he couldn't keep it up for long.

Still, he was faster than most and soon spotted a flag.

'Bingo.' With the flag in hand, Kata couldn't help but laugh—until he saw three other students running toward him. "Crap."

"Stop right there!" one of them shouted, turning his legs into springs and launching himself toward Kata.

Kata dodged and quickly began running toward the center of the arena.

Behind him, Spring-Legs continued bouncing between buildings, gaining speed.

Seeing he couldn't shake his pursuer, Kata decided to just run faster.

With the flag in hand, he pushed his body to 200 km/h.

His vision blurred, he couldn't clearly see his surroundings, and breathing became harder—but he didn't care.

He kept going until, finally, he saw the finish line.

"Get back here..."

Kata saw the spring-legged boy launching at him at an impressive speed, and with no other choice, he accelerated even more.

At that point, he smelled a faint burning scent.

His clothes and body heated up from the friction, but he didn't stop—he dove into the central arena, only stopping when he heard the announcer:

"Kageyama Kata, student from Class 1-D, is the seventh to pass, folks!"

Kata slowed down as much as he could before stopping in the center.

Around him, the other students watched attentively as he tried to catch his breath.

"I did it," Kata thought with a smile, looking at the slightly scorched flag in his hand.

"Hey," while still enjoying his victory, Kata heard a girl approach, pointing at his clothes with a slightly red face. "You should change."

"Hm?"

Looking down at himself, Kata laughed when he saw his shirt completely torn and his pants slightly burned, still smoking.

His skin also showed minor burn marks, but nothing serious.

"Thanks. I'll change as soon as I can," he said, taking off his shirt—making the girl blush even more before retreating with a small wave.

Taking a deep breath, Kata sat on the ground and turned his gaze toward the flooded zone, where his brother Shino was.

Meanwhile, in the flooded area of the arena

Shino remained still at the edge of the flooded zone, watching everyone move forward while he could do nothing but sit in silence.

What could he do?

He was basically a golem—but that didn't mean he didn't need oxygen to survive.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do in that terrain.

If he tried to go into the flooded areas, he would sink in front of everyone.

If he did that, instead of seeing a hero willing to take risks, people would see a reckless child who didn't know his own limits—and his chances of landing a good internship would vanish.

In the end, Shino just watched the other students fight while he sat in silence.

The trial lasted about twenty minutes until the last of the forty-eight students entered the central zone—marking the end of the first stage of the festival.

<><><><><>

Arata watched everything with a certain level of enthusiasm.

Even if he didn't agree with the exposure these students were getting, that didn't mean he didn't find it cool to see the different types of Quirks and the creative ways students used them.

"Kata got lucky and landed in the urban zone, but Shino..." Yui sighed as she watched the young golem standing still at the edge of the flooded area.

His bulky body couldn't do much in a terrain like that.

The orphans watching couldn't help but let out a few discouraged sighs.

The trials had barely started, and already one of their brothers had been eliminated.

"Well... even heroes need a bit of luck sometimes, I guess," Arata thought as he observed his siblings.

"Kata advanced to the second round, but Shino failed... I hope it doesn't hurt his chances," Yui said, and everyone agreed with her.

"Relax. It's not like Shino was at fault—it was just bad luck" said Miori, the violet-eyed girl, speaking with a light tone.

"Yeah. Besides, with his sturdy appearance, I'm sure at least a few agencies already have him on their radar," the wolf-boy added, and many nodded in agreement.

Arata agreed as well and didn't worry too much about Shino.

Instead, he reached out for another snack—only to find the bowl empty.

"The snacks are gone, Yui-nee."

"Hm? Already?"

Looking at the empty bowl, Yui placed Arata in her seat and went to refill it.

As she passed through the kitchen, she saw the orphanage director—a middle-aged man—talking on the phone.

His voice was low, and his posture tense.

Yui had no interest in eavesdropping, but her senses were sharper than most, and she managed to catch a few words: "visit," "investment," and some other things she couldn't quite understand.

She didn't pay much attention to the conversation—it wasn't her business—and soon returned to her seat with the snacks in hand, her attention now focused on the screen.

There, the images of the 48 students who would participate in the second challenge: Capture the Flag, were being displayed.