The talk before the Festival.

This time I don't even have an excuse why it took me so long to release this chapter. It was finished a while ago and I just looked at it and thought "nah, not the time." and I don't know why.

By the way, if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments here. I don't care what those questions are - about fanfiction, history, science, my hairstyle - I'll try to answer them all.

-_-_-_-

Sirius looked at his students with the best scrowl he could show. It's not that they did anything wrong, it's just that today he had too bad a day to be alive. Why? Well. . . One word should be enough.

Rain.

Now, after Sirius received the necklace from Luna, he stopped hating the cold and the rain with such furiously. But Black was the one who didn't let go of hate so easily. Harry Potter could let go of a lot, but Sirius couldn't call himself a Potter anymore, not after all he'd done.

That today was the day of the Sports Festival helped his pained soul a bit, but he was still a little cranky. Sirius could only thank Nezu for the fact that the stadium could close the roof and save the people inside from the rain - he could also "thank" him for postponing the wedding to a later date.

Nezu said that since there are students on the guest list, they need to overcome the stress of the Sports Festival first. Sirius couldn't say anything against that logic - how Nemuri got him into planning the wedding, he'd rather never know.

Having him sit in the commentary booth with Eraserhead and Present Mic was even better, he will be able to annoy a lot more people from his position. Oh, and Luna sat on his lap as his co-pilot on this crazy journey. Well, it just means that together they can leave an annoyed and confused audience.

"I swear to Merlin, if you use your Quirk here, I will turn you into a rat and feed you to my Basilisks," Sirius warned.

Hizashi just laughed nervously and lowered his gaze to the stadium, smart decision on his side. No one could look Sirius in the eye when he made threats.

"Can you do it right now? Saves us a headache."

Aizawa was in a much better condition than anyone could have imagined. His eyes healed fully - even if they were turned into mush, Luna could always grow new ones for him - as well as all his bones. The man was pleased that he was back on his feet in such a short time. He hated hospitals as much as Sirius if not more.

"That wouldn't be very nice of him. Besides, everyone deserves a chance."

Luna murmured, half asleep on Sirius's shoulder.

"How did you even get Nezu to let you in here? I thought only members of the U.A. faculty could be commentators ." Mic asked.

"I didn't. The Chimera just wants more people to suffer. I can help with this, Luna is here to stop me. And Nezu most likely made Luna a member of the U.A. behind our backs a week - if not year - ago."

"Yes, he did. I'm now a freelance expert in the study and capture of Quirky animals. I don't like the title of the position, but the lectures for the third years went pretty well." Luna sighed. "None of them even know about nifflers, let alone gnarls. It's sad, but expected."

Aizawa and Hizashi looked at each other and Sirius had to bite back a snort. Trust Luna to fuck with people's minds.

"That's... Okay? Who do you think will win?"

Sirius decided not to comment on the abrupt change of subject and to think about the participants. His thoughts quickly turned to classes 1-A and 1-B, a couple of support students, a few students from the General Course, but nothing else. Business Course usually stood on the sidelines and only looked for opportunities for future cooperation. As a result, his list was rather short.

"Todoroki, Bakugo, Monoma, Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, Shiozaki, Tokage, Yanagi, Yamato Jr. - if he plays his cards right. The rest just don't have enough experience or firepower to counter everyone else."

Aizawa quirked an eyebrow at his answer.

"No one from the Support Course? I understand that their goal is not to win the Festival, but still."

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"The only ones with a chance to win are Hagane and Hatsume. I know for a fact that Gin isn't going to go far, and I highly doubt that Hatsume is either. They just need to show off their inventions, not kick everyone else's ass."

"What about Yamato Jr?"

"He has a sister in the third year, she's Quirkless, but her brother is the living embodiment of a warship. It will be difficult for him to move on land without water, but he has every chance if he has registered some Support Gear."

Aizawa nodded in understanding and hid in his capture weapon/scarf to sneak in a few more minutes of sleep.

"What about Midoriya? I know he studied with great people, but your Alchemy is at too different levels to call him a powerhouse."

The amused gleam in Sirius' eyes alarmed Hizashi.

"The truth is Izuku spends a lot more time on martial arts than Alchemy. He knows his talent isn't the best, so he uses science as support. So be prepared for this boy to break concrete with every step. And possibly skulls, given what Bang teaches him."

On the seats towards the middle of the stadium, one old man suddenly sneezed.

"Hmm. . . My bones are so sore from the weather, and now I've got a cold too? Well, I guess I got old."

---

Students of Class 1-A, meanwhile, were sitting in the common waiting room. Inside were several sofas, chairs, and even a table for a quick snack. Izuku decided to stand and stretch his muscles quickly before the Festival, knowing he wouldn't have time later.

"Izu? Are you sure you don't want to take those weights off?"

Izuku looked at Mina in confusion and then at his wrists. Of course, there were his bracelets, but they were not heavy enough to call them weights.

"They're not that heavy..."

Kirishima exchanged glances with Ochako who looked very doubtful.

"Dude, I saw you taking them off in the locker room. They left cracks on the floor."

Izuku blinked. He didn't notice it before. It was just the bracelets he borrowed from the Dojo.

"Huh. Bang will be pleased."

The old man sneezed again.

"Oh, that's not all." Kirishima lifted the end of Izuku's pants to reveal the same weights on his legs. "Look at that! So manly!"

Izuku could only thank God that Kirishima didn't show the weights on his stomach. For the Festival, he needed a lot of material to work with, so he put this heap of metal on himself. His gloves were safely tucked in his pockets, but they would come into play much later.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated. He blinked and decided to check who had texted him. All good luck wishes had already been said an hour before, so he was wondering who was writing to him and why. He unlocked the screen and read the message exactly one second before the door to their waiting room swung open.

[Hey, Izuku, we're coming!]

"Izu!" The silver rocket yelled.

That was the only warning before Eri slammed into his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. After many sparring sessions, Midoriya had a terrifying reaction speed, so he managed to catch the girl faster than she fell.

"Eri? What are you doing here?"

The girl lifted her head and looked at him with a brilliant smile.

"We came to support you and see how you kick butt!"

Izuku looked at the entrance to the waiting room and noticed that Azumi and Karin were standing at the entrance and looking at them with undisguised amusement in their eyes.

'Karin is becoming more like her mother every day. . .' He shuddered.

"Is this the Eri you told us about? She's precious!"

Izuku didn't know that Ochako could coo, at least he had never heard her make that sound before. Eri's cheeks turned red and she buried her face in the crook of his neck. She was still shy about crowds, but her excitement dampened her shyness for a second. Now she was back on step one.

"C'mon Eri, say hi."

Slowly, Eri looked at the group of girls who were standing in front of Izuku - how they got there, he didn't know - and waved her hand uncertainly.

"H-hi."

It seemed to Izuku that a pink aura appeared around the girls from his class.

""Aww!""

'Is my life a cheap anime now?' He sweatdropped.

"Anyway, Eri wanted to wish you good luck. We're running late so we don't have time to talk. Good luck everyone, we'll be watching you from our stands!" Azumi said as she took Eri from Midoriya's arms.

Eri didn't want to leave, but she understood how important the Sports Festival was to Izuku. So she just looked over Azumi's shoulder and smiled again.

"Good luck!"

After the door closed, no one said anything for a couple of seconds until Tsuyu broke the silence.

"Midoriya, I would marry you so I could see Eri every day, kero. Although I don't think someone would be happy about that."

Izuku didn't expect this at all and will deny that he blushed for the rest of his days. Ochako, on the other hand, changed about a hundred facial expressions in a few seconds, but eventually settled on a red face. Midoriya could even see smoke coming out of her ears.

<Okay, little listeners, you're out in five minutes, I hope you're ready!> Present Mic said through the comms.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief and cracked his neck. Well, he had a speech to say and a Festival to win.

He was ready.