Katsuki was feeling good this morning.

After a quick breakfast, Katsuki was out the door and on his way.

But not before Mitsuki told him one last thing on his way out.

"Knock em dead brat."

Katsuki grinned as he started jogging to the station.

Arriving at the school, Katsuki noticed the mobs of reporters and attendees massing outside the campus.

Ignoring them and moving through the gates, Katsuki quickly moved to the classroom.

Almost as soon as the bell rang, Aizawa led them all to the waiting room for the festival.

Sitting in the room, Katsuki wrapped up his knuckles like he'd gotten approved beforehand. Given how much punching he was gonna do today, the extra protection was going to be very much worth it.

Not to mention, Katsuki had noticed that the rules for the sports festival specifically allowed students to 'Bring their own footwear'. Katsuki tested the fit of his costume boots, trying out the reinforced toes. They were a bit heavier then the standard footwear he'd wear with his gym uniform, but Katsuki was certain they would come in handy at some point.

For the most part, everyone in the class was just waiting for the signal to enter the stadium.

A few minutes later, they got the signal.

'Showtime'

Walking with the rest of his class, Katsuki stepped out onto the field, to the roaring cheers of the audience.

In the background, Katsuki could hear Present Mic as the announcer riling up the crowd and building hype.

Some of his classmates seemed visibly nervous under the eyes of the crowd.

Finally, they reached the center of the field, Katsuki heard the remaining classes being called out onto the field as well.

As all the classes gathered up in the middle of the field, there was a fair bit of grumbling from the other classes.

That was all cut off by a whip crack from the center stage.

"It's time for the player pledge!"

Standing in the middle of the field was Midnight, their art teacher. Apparently some of the other classes hadn't had her as a teacher. Otherwise they would probably be more used to her.

"Representing the other students, is Kirishima Eijiro from class 1A!"

Katsuki looked over to see Kirishima super nervous, but walking towards the front of the crowd. Since he'd come first in the entrance exam, it made sense he'd be the one doing the pledge.

Kirishima stepped up to the mic.

"I'm just up here to say, that all of us students are gonna go Plus Ultra during this festival, and we're all gonna do our absolute best! Believe it!"

A massive cheer erupted from the crowd as Kirishima moved back into the crowd.

Midnight cracked her whip to regain attention.

"Now that the pledge has been made, we can move onto our first event!"

Katsuki tensed up as a a massive hologram with a spinning wheel appeared behind Midnight. After a few seconds, it slowed to a stop.

'Obstacle course'

At the side of the crowd, a massive gate opened up to show where they would be running.

Midnight continued her explanation.

"It's an all out race between all 11 classes, with the course being a nearly 4km ring around the stadium!"

Midnight smirked as she turned to face the students.

"We're all about freedom here at UA, and this event is no different! Anything goes as long as you remain within the course!"

Katsuki started moving towards the front of the crowd near the gates as everyone got into position for the race.

"With all of that said! On your mark!"

.

.

.

"Get set!"

.

.

.

"Go!"

The light above the gateway turned green.

Katsuki was instantly off as fast as he could go. With an opening this small, there was no way everyone was gonna fit. He was quickly proven right as the narrow opening quickly turned into a crush.

With his opening position and speed, Katsuki quickly managed to end up in the front of the pack, trying to pull ahead.

Taking a quick glance at his fellow front runners, Katsuki noted Shoto preparing to stomp the ground. Eyes widening as he recognized the move, Katsuki quickly went into a jump as the wave of ice spread out from Shoto's feet.

Soon after the wave of ice spread out, the majority of the competitors in the tunnel found themselves locked in place, unable to progress.

Katsuki landed almost immediately after the wave spread out, taking a second to catch his balance on the smooth surface. Regaining his stability, Katsuki looked up to see Todorki pulling ahead, completely at home on his ice sheet.

Growling, Katsuki braced himself with a nearby student that had been frozen in place. With a push, Katsuki sent himself sliding forwards on the ice sheet, keeping up speed even if a bit slower due to bad traction.

A few of his other classmates were also keeping up with the pace so far, speeding forwards on the ice as fast as they could.

A moment later, Katsuki spotted Hairball surging forwards, bouncing off the balls he was throwing in front of him to gain speed and catch up with Shoto.

But before the purple haired kid could try to immobilize Shoto, he was blindsided by an attack from the side. One that sent him spiraling off course.

Katsuki noted the familiar red camera and green paint job of the obstacles as he moved into the wider section of the track.

"Targets found: LOTS!"

Not slowing for an instant, Katsuki kept up his sprint as he rushed into the open area.

Moments after, Shoto froze one of the massive Zero pointer robots in place, followed by a warning that the bot was going to fall.

Viewing the massive attack, Katsuki winced. That was going to suck to deal with later. He didn't even have a proper weapon.

Taking a closer look at the villain bots, Katsuki suddenly smiled, diverting to engage one of the one pointers near the entrance.

Katsuki ignored the sound of the other students complaining as he dodged under the attack of the one pointer and moved to the maintenance hatch on it's back.

In a moment the bot was slumped to the ground, deactivated.

Giving the bot a quick once-over, Katsuki quickly settled on the mini-gun prop on the 1 pointer's inner arm.

Grabbing onto the prop and bracing himself, Katsuki tore the mounted piece off with a heave, giving it a test swing as he started running.

Satisfied it wouldn't slow him down too much, Katsuki started his rush across the field.

Running through the field, Katsuki dodged most of the bots, but gave the more persistent ones a couple swings to disable them.

It was when he was nearing the other side of the field that Katsuki noted the Zero pointer rearing up for an attack in front of him. Gauging the distance and the zero pointer's speed, Katsuki moved into a full sprint as the Zero pointer swung down.

Katsuki dove right between the bots legs as its hand slammed down, unable to reach him in his current position. Rolling to his feet, Katsuki continued his run for the obstacle exit, the bot having lost sight of him in the attack and now searching for a new target.

Moving out of the area with a couple other students keeping pace, Katsuki heard the sound of a cannon being fired.

A brief glance back showed multiple zero pointers slumping to the ground, with the rest of the students rushing through the mostly destroyed obstacles.

Facing forwards again, Katsuki picked up speed towards the next obstacle during the empty space between them, the makeshift club slowing him down a bit. Even if the obstacles were fairly large and time consuming, the 4km course still had plenty of open stretches where Katsuki could make up time on the leaders.

Moving down the course, Katsuki was with the rest of the group chasing down Todoroki when they reached the next obstacle.

An announcement from Present Mic echoed over the speakers.

"You fall, and you're out! If you don't like the idea maybe you should crawl! It's the FAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!"

Katsuki looked forward at the dozens of stone platforms only connected via ropes, strategizing how he was going to cross.

This really wasn't his obstacle. He'd never really trained his balance much, and it would be far slower to crawl across, using the top or bottom.

Then Katsuki had an idea.

Ignoring the path Shoto had iced over on his way across, Katsuki looked for a route with long ropes, but fewer ropes overall.

Picking his entrance, Katsuki grabbed his improvised club and smashed the anchor point while holding the rope. Ditching the club, Katsuki wrapped the rope around one arm and jumped into the void, trusting the anchor point on the other end to hold firm.

After a moment, Katsuki's fall quickly turned parabolic as the rope snapped tight. A second later, Katsuki hit the pillar, absorbing the impact with his legs.

Taking advantage of the climbing rope, Katsuki quickly climbed up to the platform, leaving the way behind him impassable. There were other routes, but for the moment Katsuki would remain unbothered by anyone trying to catch up.

For the next rope, Katsuki hung down by his arms and swung across using only his upper body strength to support himself. As he did so, he noted some of the other competitors pulling ahead their mobility options letting them cross the gaps between platforms easily. He didn't let that bother him. He was faster on the straightaway then almost anyone.

Finally Katsuki reached the other side of the Fall, climbing up and sprinting towards the next obstacle.

Without the club to slow him down in this empty stretch, Katsuki quickly picked up speed, passing several of his competitors as he rushed towards the final obstacle.

Luckily for Katsuki, he wasn't that far behind the other front runners.

Finally, they reached the last obstacle, a minefield.

Katsuki ignored Mic's introduction as he spotted Shoto already a third of the way across.

Even going as fast as he could and avoiding the mines, the moment he caught up to the icy teen, Shoto would try to ice him.

Then, reading the signs, Katsuki had an idea.

Crouching down, Katsuki quickly dug up two of the mines and picked them up, weighing them in his hands. They really weren't buried very deep at all, likely because they weren't dangerously strong so they needed to be close to the surface.

Satisfied, Katsuki started rushing across the field, gaining on Shoto as he moved and passing the other competitors.

Finally, Katsuki had closed in on Shoto enough that the teen noticed his progress.

As Shoto turned to evaluate the new threat, Katsuki threw one of the mines he'd been carrying as hard as he could directly at Shoto's chest.

"Catch, Popsicle!"

Eyes wide, Shoto quickly tried to raise his left arm and respond to the threat, Katsuki could almost swear he saw the arm start to spark. But Shoto was too slow, grunting as the mine hit him in the abdomen and threw him off balance.

The impact was clearly enough to set the mine off, the explosion knocking Shoto over, where he landed on even more mines that kept him from retaliating as he was thrown around.

Uncontested, Katsuki managed to pull ahead without anyone to challenge his lead within the minefield.

Jumping past the final mines, Katsuki moved into a full sprint as he closed on the finish line.

Just as he was getting close, a wave of ice from behind caught Katsuki off guard, freezing one of his feet in place.

Without pause, Katsuki spun his remaining mine in his grip, then slammed it into the ice trapping his foot.

With a pink colored explosion, the ice shattered instantly, Katsuki instantly moving back into a sprint and crossing the finish line as Shoto failed to catch up.

A massive cheer came from the audience as Katsuki entered the stadium, taking a second to catch his breath.

"UA Sports Festival Year one! Who could have predicted the developments at the start of the race, or this conclusion? Right now, the first student over the line is the one and only Bakugo Katsuki~~!"

The crowd roared at the announcement, streamers filling the air as the winner was announced.

Katsuki stood tall as the cheers filled the stadium around him, clenching his fists.

[Mitsuki POV]

Mitsuki hugged Masaru even tighter on the couch as they watched Katsuki rushing towards the finish line, propelled by an explosion of pink smoke.

Finally, they both jumped to their feet as they heard the announcement through the screen that Katsuki had come first.

Mitsuki and Masaru paused their celebration to look at the image on the screen.

Katsuki, standing proud in front of thousands of people in the audience, and even more on screen. Mitsuki could see the pride in his eyes, knowing just how hard he had worked his entire life for a moment like this one. Where everyone had to acknowledge that he had the potential to be a hero.

Mitsuki could feel her eyes starting to water.

Her musings were interrupted by Masaru passing her a box of tissues with a gentle smile on his face.

"We raised a pretty amazing kid, didn't we?"

Mitsuki grabbed the box of tissues and wiped at her eyes as she answered with a huff.

"Of course we did."

Masaru just leaned against her shoulder as the both of them kept watching the festival in front of them.

'I still can't believe it folks! In a last stretch overtake, Katsuki Bakugou has taken the first event of the festival!'

[Shoto Todoroki POV]

Shoto looked up from where he was recovering from his run near the entrance of the stadium. To see Bakugo standing tall after his victory, seeming entirely unaffected by the massive amount of effort he had undoubtedly put into that run.

Heating up his left side, Shoto started warming up his body to offset the temperature imbalance caused by the cold. He let out a sigh of relief as his shivering stopped.

Around him the other students were entering the stadium after finishing the race. Taking one last look at Katsuki, Shoto walked to the side to catch his breath more, still processing the loss.

Shoto thought back to the moment Katsuki had caught up to him during the race.

'Shoto was sure he had this. Just pass the rest of the mines, and he would be home free. Suddenly Shoto heard someone sprinting through the mines behind him. Turing to the side, Shoto found himself locking eyes with his quirkless classmate Bakugo. Shoto could have sworn he felt Bakugo's gaze like a physical force in that instant.

In that moment of shock, Bakugo threw something at him almost faster then Shoto could react.

"Catch, Popsicle!"

Desperate to react, Shoto raised his left hand to block, starting to use his quirk, when the projectile finally hit, detonating against his chest and knocking him into even more mines.'

Shoto shook his head, staring at his left hand for a moment.

Finally Shoto lowered it, getting ready for the next event to be announced.

'Must have been a fluke.'