My Miraculous Academia part 8 [Incomplete]

Author's Note: To be clear, this is unfinished. As such, there's probably a lot of scenes that need polish, and I do apologize for that. I've left notes where there are gaps, explaining what I intend to put in, so hopefully it won't be too jarring. Even though It's incomplete, I wanted to show you guys what I currently because it has been a while since I've posted for this, and I figured I might as well get your inputs on the direction of things. 

Anyways, let me know what you think! If you guys don't like having partially complete chapters like this, let me know so I know not to do this in the future. Or if there's a better way of having a partially complete chapter, let me know so I can change it up. 

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Izuku's POV

There was a lot of people…

It wasn’t like Izuku didn’t know how many people attended the Sport’s Festival. He was more than aware of the numbers involved and had been mentally preparing himself.

Knowing about it and actually being there, feeling the emotions from so many people and knowing that they were all about to see him…

Izuku hadn’t even done anything yet and he was already wrung out from emotional overload.

The entirety of Class 1-A was currently waiting for when they would be called for the beginning of the Sport’s Festival, only a few hushed conversations happening here and there. Even without being an empath, they might as well have been based off of how nervous they all were.

Izuku couldn’t resist a shudder.

It was probably for the better that only he could feel the weight of the emotions from the crowd overhead. If the entire class could, it would only ratchet up their own nerves, which would make it even more difficult for him.

As it was, Izuku had to deal with his own anxiety (which was not inconsiderable) on top of what the class was feeling around him in one small room, surrounded by the excitement from the crowd outside.

It was a bit of a big deal.

If this is what previous Butterfly wielders had to deal with all the time, then Izuku could understand why they preferred to become advisors and strategists. Being in a position that let them help while being away from the chaos of emotions was a far more compelling reason than personal safety.

Of course, that just meant it was one more thing he needed to overcome.

Izuku took in a deep breath as he did his best to keep himself from falling apart. He did his best to distract himself by focusing attention on what he could feel from everybody else.

Kacchan was easiest to feel, as usual. No anxiety there - just the ever present simmering anger that he usually clung to, followed with impatience and eager anticipation.

Momo was a close second, no doubt thanks to the amount of time he had spent with her and Tiki. Her anxiety was more muted, but still very much present. She was nervous, but it wasn’t a storm like a few others. If her emotions were usually a tranquil ocean, then now he would describe it as choppy, but not yet dangerous. There were enough currents of confidence in her as well that Izuku wished he could emulate.

Most everybody else were similar to various degree. Feelings ranged from being full of nerves like Kaminari to brimming with determination like Kirishima, while others like Uraraka were doing their best to psyche themselves up. Others like Tokoyami or Tsuyu were more muted - still anxious, but managing to push it down one way or another.

Mineta was… Izuku had to suppress a shudder and quickly moved on.

It was actually Todoroki that Izuku was most concerned about.

Now, Izuku hadn’t spent much time with Todoroki. The other boy hadn’t even spoken a word to him during class. The ice user didn’t come to the beach cleanup, nor had he seemed interested in hanging out with anybody. So he couldn’t say he knew the other teen very well at all.

Still, the most emotion Izuku had felt from him was boredom. Maybe irritation at times.

Todoroki wasn’t bored right now. At all. He was… Resentful? Angry at the very least. Not the bonfire that was Kacchan’s rage, but a simmering flame. But not with anybody there he didn’t think. Mixed in with all that was a burning determination that rivaled Kacchan’s.

And Izuku had no idea what the source was.

“Hey, you alright?”

The soft query caused Izuku to jerk back, eyes opening to see Momo’s concerned expression.

“Y-yeah, I’m f-fine.” Izuku responded shakily. He managed a shaky smile at Momo’s skeptical expression, “R-really! I-It’s a b-bit overwhelming, b-but I’m handling it.”

There was just, you know, the powder keg of emotions in the room, and the sheer weight of the excitement from the crowd above them. And the idea of going out and being on national television to be judged by the entire world.

Considering all that, Izuku was doing phenomenal.

No need to mention that he had spent a full five minutes screaming into his pillow that morning. Or the half aborted plans to run away and become a vigilante in Brazil.

Only half aborted though. If things went poorly that day, Izuku considered it a viable career path, regardless of what Nooroo said.

Momo’s sighed, and Izuku could feel a sliver of regret from her. “I wish I could help out somehow. It’s…” She frowned a bit, “I don’t want to say unfair, but the current situation is definitely more of a disadvantage to you.”

Izuku managed a shaky smile, “W-well, it’s something I’ll h-have to get used to, right?”

It wasn’t like places that needed heroes would be filled with calm and rational people after all. While it was unlikely there would be as many people as there were here, it was still something he would need to overcome.

Something that Momo already knew, if her frown was any indication.

“B-Besides, y-you being around is h-helping a lot already.” Izuku added, hoping to assuage her.

Momo might not realize it, but her own emotions were providing a buffer against everybody else’s, even as troubled as they were. After several weeks of knowing each other, it had given Izuku new appreciation for his companion. The best comparison he had was a wave making its way across the ocean. It didn’t travel indefinitely - it would spread out and calm down before ever reaching the shore.

… It wasn’t a great comparison, mind you, since the ‘wave’ of emotion didn’t exactly bother Momo, seeing as she couldn’t feel emotions like he could… He’d have to workshop it.

Regardless, that buffer was something Izuku had no shame in taking advantage of.

“Ah,” for some reason, Izuku felt a bit of embarrassment from Momo. “W-well, I’m glad for that.”

Huh. Not sure what that was about, Izuku coughed as he tried to think of a way to change the conversation, “w-what about you? D-do you feel r-ready?”

Momo gave him a look that showed she wasn’t convinced at all with his change of topic, “I believe I am as ready as I’ll ever be.” She admitted eventually. “I’d have felt better if, ah, somebody hadn’t continually stopped me from studying, but hopefully it will still go well.”

Izuku blinked, “this morning as well?”

They had been texting the previous night, and he knew Tiki had been pressuring Momo to get some rest. He hadn’t thought it went any farther than lecturing though.

Apparently it had. “She hid my books!” Momo complained, and Izuku had to hide his amusement at her exasperation. “And she refused to give my phone back till after breakfast!”

Izuku nearly burst into nervous laughter at the image of Momo trying (and failing) to stare down the tiny god.

Momo let out an offended huff, “it’s not that funny.” She pouted.

“S-sorry,” Izuku immediately apologized, not wanting to admit that, well, it really was. “B-but I’m sure you’ll be fine!”

Momo grimaced, “Maybe. I’ve done my best to memorize the most likely things I’ll need based on our discussions, but there are still so many things that could occur that can take me by surprise.”

“T-true,” Izuku admitted, “B-but t-that’s why w-we’ve been training together, in c-case something unexpected does happen, right?”

If not, then he’d been subjected to a lot of spars in which he’d lost for little reason.

Izuku frowned when the uneasiness from Momo refused to lessen, and he bit his lip as he thought about what he could say to help. With how much Momo was helping him without even realizing it, he really wanted to help her in return.

“Y-you will be alright.” Izuku stated again, trying to put as much confidence as he could in that statement. “A-all of us have p-put in a lot of work t-to get here, both to get into U.A. and to compete in the Festival. We’ve already p-proven we deserve to b-be here, and regardless what the results of the Festival are, we will be Heroes. T-that won’t change.”

Momo looked at him in surprise, and to his relief she finally began to relax a bit.  He breathed out thankfully…

“So manly!”

Izuku stiffened, slowly looking around to see the entire locker room looking at him.

Oops. He hadn’t meant to speak that loudly…

“Excellent words Midoriya!” Iida praised.

“Yeah!” Ashido said cheerfully.

“Psh, as if.” Kachaan scoffed. “You extra’s can believe what you wanna believe. None of that will matter when I’m starin’ down at you from the winner’s podium.”

[Need to finish this section. Also, not really happy with Izuku’s pep talk. Need to give that one some thought.]

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“So, how’s it feel to get your own personal pep talk from Midori?”

Momo looked in confusion at Mina who had hung back to talk in private.

“I’m not sure what you mean? But it was appreciated” Momo looked at the pink girl in confusion. It felt like the other girl was insinuating something else, and Momo wasn’t sure what that was.

“Oh, you know. I was just thinking you and Midori were looking pretty cozy together there.” Mina commented slyly.

“Well, I am the class vice president, and he is the class president. We’ve spent a decent amount of time talking and training together the last several weeks.” Momo replied calmly, not sure why her classmate was making a big deal out of it.

“Hmmmm,” Mina stared at her intently, enough to make her feel uncomfortable, before she shrugged. “Ok fine, if you say so. But just so you know, I’ve got my eye on you now!” The girl winked at Momo. “My gossip senses are tingling!”

“Wha- I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s nothing to gossip about! Mina!”

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[I want to have a scene here with Nino, Alya, and Alix. Alix is Bunnyx, and she joins the two other Miraculous users to watch the Sport’s Festival. She’s also brought her own guest - said guest is wearing a hoodie, to prevent being seen, but it’ll be Eri, whom Alix is training. I have a scene planned where Bunnyx runs into Rumi, and the two talk for a bit. Eri bashfully asks for Rumi’s autograph as well, before the Festival begins and they have to take their seats.]

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“Hey there Listeners!” Present Mic’s voice boomed around the stadium, “are you guys ready for the Sport’s Festival to officially kick off?! If so, then please welcome all of our first years to the field!”

They were just coming out into the field, Izuku and Momo leading their classmates, when the noise seemed to amplify. The cheering of the stadium somehow managed to reach even new levels as the entire structure shook.

Meanwhile, Izuku had to focus on each step as he felt the attention of every single person - which had until that moment been more or less undirected - focus on them.

“Just keep calm. Head level, eyes straight, and don’t look at them.” Izuku instructed himself, focusing on the instructions from Nooroo and, to his surprise, Momo, who was used to being in front of numerous people.

“Wow, are there always so many people?” Uraraka asked nervously from behind him.

“Nah man, they heard how awesome we were and wanted to see what’s up! Right Midoriya?” Kirishima smirked.

“Still, it seems like a little much, for so many people to be watching us.” Hagakure piped up.

“Now, you may know them as the most impatient students UA has ever had! So eager to be heroes, they went up against villains within their first week and won! Give it up for Class A!”

Izuku flinched as the noise, impossibly, reached new levels. The whole purpose of the commentator was to hype up the crowd, and Present Mic was undeniably doing a good job of that.

For the first time in his life, Izuku kinda wished a hero wasn’t as good at his job.

“And following Class A is their sister class, Class B! They might not have any achievements under their belt yet, but they are here to show they are every bit as determined and talented!

Class 1-B walked out, half of whom Izuku recognized, and they were looking just as pumped as 1-A. A number of them looked annoyed when they didn’t get as large a welcome from the crowd, and glared at them.

Izuku knew he should probably be concerned about that, but he only had the capacity to be concerned about so many things at the moment.

“And now we have General Studies Classes C through E! They might not be part of the Hero Course, but don’t count them out! Some of them are gunning straight for the Hero Classes to show their superiority!”

All three of the General Classes walked out, giving considering and challenging looks of their own towards the Hero classes.

Once again, probably something to be worried about, but no capacity left to worry about it.

“Up next! The right gear in the right hands can make all the difference in the field, and these students are here to prove that saying true with gear they made with their own hands! Give it up for the students of Support Classes F through H!

A number of students came out with a variety of gear equipped, some more practical looking than others. They, thankfully, were safe to mentally acknowledge, and Izuku found himself itching to question them to find out what everything did and how they worked.

“And last, but not least, we’ve got Business Classes I through K! They might not care about winning today, but remember their names! Just like everybody else, they’re here to network and get their names out there!”

The Business Classes didn’t seem upset in any particular way towards the Hero classes either, and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now, without further ado, the referee for this Festival is… The R-Rated Hero, Midnight!”

The audience erupted into another cheer as Midnight walked towards the stage, even some of the students joining in before being silenced by their classmates. The teacher herself looked positively thrilled at the attention, giving a few poses.

Izuku had seen her around the campus before, and based on her emotions figured that most of this was a persona that she put up for other people.

… That being said, it was a persona that she loved putting on to make others squirm.

And it was effective, Izuku had to admit as he blushed and turned away.

“Now, for all of you good boys and girls out there! It’s time to call upon the student representative of o give a few words!”

Izuku froze, suddenly filled with dread. Student representative? Who was that? Did they mean student class president? He hadn’t been warned about this!

“Katsuki Bakugou!”

Izuku breathed out a sigh of relief.

Wait a second.

“”Kachaan?!”

Who in the world would make Kachaan the representative?!”

“Oh dear…” Momo murmured in a worried tone .

The stadium went quiet as Bakugou stomped up the the podium, and Izuku watched with a sinking feeling in his chest

UA had a standard student pledge of course. But looking at the blonde, Izuku just knew that he wouldn’t be using it.

Kachaan walked up to the microphone with his hands in his pockets, and without a shred of hesitation said. “I just wanna say…'' he paused briefly as he looked over the audience with a smirk. “I’m gonna win.”

The reactions were mixed, with the crowd either loving or hating it. But the reaction amongst class 1-B and the general classes was unanimously negative.

Besides him, Momo gave a small groan. “That will be a nightmare for PR I imagine.”

“H-he did it on purpose.” Izuku murmured back, “t-that’s his way of putting a target on all of our backs. Forcing us into a corner.” A position that Kachaan thrived in.

“For the short term, sure”. Momo agreed with a frown. “But what about later? After the tournament? This isn’t a small event. The entire world is watching, and his arrogance is going to reflect poorly on the entire class.  And what will he do if he loses?”

Izuku looked at her with a conflicted look before looking away. In all honesty, he hadn’t even thought of the possibility of Kachaan losing.

Maybe it was the feelings of overwhelming confidence pouring off of Kachaan. Or it was prior experience. Either way, even now it was hard to imagine.

“My my, thank you for that spirited announcement Bakugou!” Midnight shouted before swinging her arm back to gesture to the huge screen on the stadium wall behind her. “And with that out of the way, I say we get to the main event already!”

The crowd cheered as a blur of words ran across the screen like they were a slot machine, going fast enough that Izuku couldn’t read what they were saying without becoming dizzy.

Eventually, the words stopped spinning.

“Ta-dah! Midnight cheered as small fireworks went off around the screen. “Our first round will be an Obstacle Course race!”

Another round of cheers went up at that, but Izuku was busy thinking.

A race has been one of the top things he had theorized would occur, and one he felt he was pretty well suited for. A race he could handle. It was the obstacle portion that bothered him.

“This doesn’t seem too bad,” Momo murmured beside him. “Except…”

“This is U.A.” Izuku finished for her.

The following instructions were pretty straightforward. They had to run around in a loop totaling four kilometers. The first forty-two students to finish would qualify.

It was simple enough. IF this were any place other than UA.

“Well then, let’s get this show on the road!” Midnight declared. “Is everybody ready? On your marks… Start!”

The first obstacle became obvious very quickly. There was a lot of students, but the entrance itself was extremely narrow.

Within moments, the entire tunnel was filled with pushing and shoving students, everybody vying to get ahead.

Izuku jumped and summoned his wings, large green butterfly wings stretching out from his back as he used Nooroo’s power, and he flew over everybody’s heads.

Just in time, as a wave of ice spread across the ground, freezing the feet of everybody in place.

‘Todoroki’, Izuku guessed as he flew forward.

From his vantage point, it was easy to see many others that hadn’t been caught up in the ice as well. Kachaan, Kirishima, and Momo being the main ones that launched themselves over the attack.

Though from the looks of it, Momo had put way more power than needed in order to get away from the ice, and he shuddered in sympathy.

Unfortunately for him, his wings weren’t built for speed. He was agile and hard to catch, but that didn’t necessarily translate into how fast he could go. But at the moment, he was still faster than the others walking, so -

“Hey! Kid with the wings!”

“Huh? Wha-“ Izuku automatically began to answer, only to freeze, his entire mind foggy over.

‘Carry me across the group!”

It felt like Izuku was suddenly in a dream. Everything was muted, and he could barely understand what was going on. No, scratch that, beyond then words, he didn’t know what was going on.

‘Now stay here.’

But wait, ‘staying here’ meant ‘not finishing the race’!

He struggled to move past the weird fog in his mind, but no matter what he did, Izuku couldn’t feel his body. He couldn’t even feel Nooroo!

‘Great, good job Izuku. Even after being entrusted with a Miraculous, you couldn’t even make it past the first obstacle.’

Izuku had always suspected the universe was out to get him. But before, they were merely well educated hypotheses. Now, with the way the day was going, Izuku figured he could submit his findings to upgrade it to a valid theory.

Guess he was finalizing his plans to run away to Brazil.

Just then, Izuku was suddenly shaken. Before he realized what was happening, sound and color came blaring back in vivid detail. Disoriented, he suddenly saw a shadowed head with yellow eyes.

“Got ‘im Fumi!” Dark Shadow called out before grabbing Izuku and dragging him towards Tokoyami.

“Are you alright?” Tokoyami asked as Dark Shadow put him down and they began running together.

“Y-yeah, “ Izuku stammered, still getting used to the sudden inclusion of sound again, hearing loud booming in the distance. “W-what happened?”

“Dark Shadow noticed somebody placing a foul enchantment on you, and after making use of you leaving you behind.” Tokoyami answered.

Izuku groaned. He could easily see that they were way behind everybody else now. Being so far behind everybody… while he was grateful for Tokoyami’s help, all he might ahave done is doomed himself.

“Midoriya.” Izuku looked over. “I am aware there are restrictions upon whom you can ask to serve you. Do I qualify?”

“R-really?” Izuku perked up. The truth was, he hadn’t even planned on making a Champion during the first round. The entire idea was that people would want to show off what they could do. Him making them a Champion would be Izuku showing off what he could do, not the other way around.

“Yeah! We’re sure!” Dark Shadow snapped, “now hurry! We’re already way behind!”

Right, ok. Quickly, Izuku reached out and let a butterfly land on his hand. He took a deep breath, focusing as best as he could, and filled it with power shaped for Tokoyami.

It wasn’t a difficult decision. Tokoyami, despite his more subdued emotions, truly wanted to win. A portion of him felt frustrated for giving up his lead to help Izuku, but there was no regret for having done so.

Izuku focused on that determination.

“Tokoyami, will you -“

“Yes, I accept thine contract!” Tokoyami interrupted, reaching to touch the butterfly.

It dodged his attempts, almost whimsically, and instead flew up to his wrist, where a bracelet was hidden.

“Then let this party begin, Revelry.” Izuku intoned, saying the words that filled his mind and cemented the deal.

“Oooh,” only for Dark Shadow to reach over and investigate the bracelet, suddenly getting sucked in before a plume of smoke hid Tokoyami from view.

Uh. That was fine. Probably.

A dark cackling suddenly filled the air, and Izuku got a good view of Revelry.

Making a Champion was always a dual endeavor. Izuku provided the power, and the desires of the recipient would choose how the power was used. The form of the Champion was then up to Izuku with heavy influence from the Champion.

Izuku hadn’t chosen this form.

Revelry was almost completely hidden, twisting shadows and mist almost completely obscuring him as it radiated outwards. The only thing Izuku could see in there was two glowing yellow eyes where the head would be.

“A party you said.” A dual voice rumbled from within the mass of shadows, “and a party there will be! But this would be a sad excuse for a party if there were only the two of us.”

A cloaked arm reached out, and from his wrist sprung out a long, scythe made of shadows.

Everybody that was left let out shrieks of fear that turned to confusion as Revelry spun around in a circle, the ‘blade’ going through without harming them.

A second later, everybody who had been ‘cut’ let out another shriek as their shadows suddenly detached from the ground, glowing eyes watching Revelry.

[not quite happy with Revelry’s speech… also need to think of a suitable ending to this. Eventually, Revelry turns a portion of his shadows into a horse and grabs Izuku, placing him behind him.]

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Momo's POV

Momo finished blasting the last of the Zero Pointers, a scowl on her face.

‘Dang it, Todoroki!” She thought viciously as she discarded her cannon.

Ahead of everybody else, Todoroki had frozen all of the towering Zero pointers that consisted of the ‘Robo Inferno’ as Present Mic had called it, but had manipulated them so they would fall after a time.

To be clear - Momo had no issue with him freezing all of the Zero Pointers. It was something that took an undeniable amount of power and skill, and as much as it made her shudder to look at all that ice, she could appreciate it.

She didn’t even mind that he caused them to fall over. Once again, it took a large amount of skill to do so, and they were in a competition with each other. Making it harder for others to catch up was only natural.

No, what she took issue with was the delay in time before they fell over.

As intimidating as the Zero Pointers and other robots were, she had no doubt they were more or less harmless. UA wouldn’t want anybody to get seriously hurt like that.

What Todoroki had done had the potential to seriously injure somebody, or even kill them, if the person didn’t react in time.

Taking the time to destroy the Zero Pointers as she had was illogical, as Aizawa would say. It took time and resources to do so. But this way, she could ensure the remaining Zero-Pointers would fall safely in the opposite direction.

Now she just had to get past the smaller robots…

As soon as she thought that, a wave of darkness moved past her. Blinking in confusion, she realized they were actually students. If you had dipped said students in black.

In fact, they almost looked like…

“A fine job. A fine job indeed, Creati.”

The dual toned voice sent shivers up her spine, but the mention of her desired Hero name gave her enough of a clue.

She turned to see a dark, cloaked form astride a horse seemingly made of solid shadow. On top of the horse, behind the cloaked figure, sat Izuku.

“Come and join the Revelry!” The dark figure called, swirling a scythe around and causing more and more shadows to form. “Let our darkness triumph over all that stand before us!”

The figure and Izuku both charged forward, and Momo couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at the sight.

Well, if he was going all out, then she couldn’t be seen slacking either.

She was about to create skates for herself when she heard a thud behind her, causing her to twist around.

Then she blinked at the figure.

“You’re, my shadow, right?” Momo asked the figure that looked similar to her. It was the hair that gave it away in the end, and the figure nodded.

Besides her shadow self was the slumped over form of Mineta and a Shadow Mineta, and Momo wrinkled her nose at the thought of two of them.

It didn’t take a genius to understand that they were about to do something, and her shadow helped her. But she was losing time.

She looked at her shadow again as an idea began to form. “Would you like to join me?”

Momo smiled as her shadow nodded enthusiastically.

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Present Mic’s POV

Present Mic whistled in appreciation as the army of shadows steadily grew. They completely overwhelmed the robots with sheer numbers before moving on.

“And Midoriya’s shadow army continues to grow! Between Todoroki, Midoriya, and Yaoyorozu, The Robo Inferno has been completely devastated! Aizawa, what are your thoughts?”

The tired man groaned, but Present Mic could recognize that his friend was paying close attention to the field. “The members of Class 1-A have an advantage in having gone through a life and death scenario already. It’s given them motivation to get stronger, and it’s showing. Even now, you can tell their actions have layers to them. Todoroki created barriers to prevent others from following him. Yaoyorozu destroyed the obstacles, but also ensured the safety of the other students. And while Midoriya is using the bulk of the shadows, you can see various shadows staying behind to help their counterparts.”

“Huh! What do you suppose his reasoning is?” Present Mic asked enthusiastically.

They had this act down pat. Present Mic could already see what the little greenie was doing, and approved wholeheartedly! But it was important to create a dialogue here.

Aizawa grunted. “I see three different types of students. Those that don’t care about the race, and those who want to do it themselves. I believe Midoriya is taking their shadows with him. The rest of the students…” he and Present Mic stared at Yaoyorozu as she and her shadow quickly caught up to Midoriya while riding some kind of motorcycle that was a mixture of real and shadow parts, creating a mechanical/shadow monstrosity. “Well, they clearly don’t mind partnering up. I believe he’s left their shadows behind.”

“Well, some of those partnerships look to be quite interesting, right folks?” Present Mic boomed excitedly. “Midoriya has completely changed the game for a number of students. But will his generosity cost him the win?”

[need to work on more dialogue here. Maybe focus on some other characters as well. Who would be good to ‘partner’ with their shadow?]

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[the rest of the event has yet to be written… I have an idea for a small confrontation with Bakugo though. And the solution that Revelry has to the minefield is for the army of shadows to charge into it, much to Izuku’s dismay.

What better end to a revelry than with a bang?

Izuku will take first place, as Revelry will force him in that position. Then there will be some confusion, as it Shihai Kuroiro will have been hiding in Revelry’s shadow, so they’ll argue who was second till they decide to give it to Tokoyami, with Kuroiro coming in third. Momo will be fourth, with Bakugou fifth, and Todoroki sixth.]

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All for One’s POV

Ah. The Sport’s Festival. Some of the greatest opportunities for window shopping All-For-One had nowadays.

The beeping of his medical equipment droned on in the background as he listened to the results of the first round.

He always thought it was amusing when one staff member or another tried to push for U.A. to not broadcast the event. As if that would actually do anything. All-For-One had a comprehensive list of every student and their quirk already.

If the Sport’s Festival was ‘window shopping’, then social media was an online catalog. Children loved to talk about themselves and their abilities. And making it into such a ‘prestigious’ place such as U.A., well, naturally that was something to brag about.

If not them, then their friends. Or the proud parents. Or even the school itself. One way or another, it was posted on the internet somewhere. And if it was on the internet, it could be collected.

Not that All-For-One actually spent any of his time doing so. Of course not. That’s what he paid other people to do.

It was a shame he was only allowed to look and not touch, as this year’s batch provided quite the collection. But, he had a schedule to keep, and he couldn’t be THAT direct with U.A. yet.

After All-Might died and society collapsed, then he could take to his heart’s content. Until then, he would have to settle for making a list for the future.

Still, wasn’t a part of the joy of window shopping simply seeing what was available?

First and foremost on his list was Brainwash. While the current user had kept low during the first round, All-For-One knew enough to know how valuable it was. And it’s current wielder was oh so bitter… Why, in those cases, it was practically a good deed for him to take the quirk.

Explosion was delightfully violent. As violent as its current user if he were to guess. If it were to be combined with some otherwise worthless quirks in his arsenal, it could be truly devastating.

Then there was Acid. A little diamond in the roug. Did she even understand the implications of her own ability? Her body’s mutations that allowed her to withstand her own acid would be a headache to work around, but not impossible.

Hmmm, what sort of combination would Acid and Explosion give? If they were to use the girl’s body as the base for a nomu she would keep her body's natural mutations, and he could then add Explosion… with the addition of a few other quirks such as Hydrate, Profuse Sweat, and perhaps a mix of either Fire Control or Liquid Control…

All-For-One caught himself before he began planning in earnest, giving a slight chuckle as he shook his head.

The perils of window shopping. If he let himself, he could get carried away and might actually decide that the risk was worth breaking from the plan.

Hmmm, what else…

The Sentient Shadow was worth studying, but he was hesitant to see how it would interact with his own quirk. Far better to use for research.

The Butterfly quirk that was used on the Sentient Shadow… That was very intriguing. An enhancement quirk of some kind? Kurogiri’s report on the U.S.J failed to mention that. Did the child not use it there? Was there a limit on when he could use it? Was a bond required between the two individuals?

He’d need to ask Ghiran to uncover more on that one.

And then, of course, there was the Creation user…

A delightful quirk. It was a shame he’d already decided it wasn’t worth his time.

The problem was that while it was powerful, it required years of practice and study to make it useful.

All-For-One hadn’t studied molecular structures in two hundred years, and he had no desire to relearn it when he could steal a variety of simpler quirks to achieve a similar result.

Perhaps in the future, if the Doctor was successful in making intelligent nomu… Ah, but that was neither here nor there.

The only reason he was giving her any sort of consideration was Tomura’s reaction to her previously. Yet there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about her…

His musings were interrupted at the announcement of the second round, and he focused once more.

He did hope that Tomura was enjoying the show as much as he was.

[Needs some polish, and I’m not sure about keeping this section in… i'm not sure it adds to the chapter as a whole. I’ll think about it…]

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Shigaraki's POV

“… Thus concludes part seventeen of my dissertation on how cheese has both shaped and saved the world.” The little black menace declared proudly to the empty bar. “And now, for a short recess.”

“Finally,” Shigaraki growled as the cat Kwami flew away somewhere upstairs. He didn’t know where, and he didn’t care.

“May I ask why you haven’t ordered him to be silent?” Kurogiri asked tiredly, carefully laying a glass on the bar.

“You think I don’t want to?!” Shigaraki snapped, fingers scratching deep into his arm. “I know how this goes. I do that, he’ll find some other way to vent, and he’ll find a way to make it worse! At least this way we know where the little imp is.”

In a battle of escalation, Plagg could make them suffer… So he’d let the cretin have his small acts of rebellion.

Kurogiri sighed, “very well.”

Shigaraki glanced at the TV and saw that girl again. The one that applied the berserk debuff on him during their failed raid. She was talking with the stupid fairy-type.

He was angry - livid actually. The mere sight of her reminded him of that abysmal failure. But it wasn’t the out of control rage that he felt before. Why not?

“And now, I shall now discuss one of the more controversial topics that we face in today’s world.” Plagg suddenly declared as he flew back in the room. “Which cheese is the best?”

Shigaraki’s head slammed onto the table.