1 Day before the Sports Festival.
The sun was setting behind Dante as he walked at a steady pace.
Tomorrow was the sports festival, he had trained everything he could, but he still couldn't shake that feeling away.
Whatever that crack was, it was definitely fire beneath it. Was there fire within him?
He had many questions, but he kept trying to ignore it for now.
And what better way to forget about something, than to see his friends.
The little bell inside the convenience store jingled as he stepped inside. The place hadn't changed, shelves were stocked, the hum of the old fridge in the corner and the light buzzing over the register flicking faintly.
Behind the counter , the Old Boss blinked up from his seat, newspaper half folded in his lap.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in," he rasped, squinting. "New haircut. Looks like you stopped fighting alley cats and started going to school for real."
Dante smiled. "I figured since I'll be on a national broadcast, I should atleast avoid looking like a cryptid."
"National Broadcast?" Kazuya's voice rang out as he appeared from the back, wiping his hands on a cloth. "Ah yeah, the sports festival right?"
"Yeah." Dante leaned against the counter causally. "It's tomorrow. Stadiums gonna be packed and the whole damn country is gonna be watching on TV. You better be, too."
Kazuya gave him a long, slow look before smirking. "You planning on putting on a show?"
"Nah," Dante said with a small grin. "I'm planning on taking over the whole damn stage."
The old man let out a huff that was half laugh, half wheeze. "Cocky little shit. Of course I'll be watching, cheering you on."
Kazuya nodded, arms crossed. "I'm sure you'll do great. You've got the kind of presence people remember, even without your quirk. Still… I hear your class is pretty stacked. You ready for that?"
Dante turned to the drink fridge, grabbed a bottle of something sweet and cracked it open. He took a nice long swig before replying.
"Ready for what? I'm not going to settle for anything less than first place."
Kazuya raised his brows at that, a knowing grin curling at his lips. "There we go."
Dante tossed the money for the drink on the counter and gave a small wave as he headed for the door. "Dont forget to tune in! I will win at all cost."
"I'll be watching right here! I'm sure the shown gym will be watching too, Don't disappoint!" Kazuya said with a grin.
And with that, he stepped out into the setting sun, his silhouette stretching long behind him as he walked off.
…
…
0 Days Before The Sports Festival.
The sky was still dark when Dante's eyes snapped open.
He didn't need an alarm. His body was already buzzing his energy. Today was the day.
Today was the sports festival.
Dante didn't waste a second. He rolled out of bed, stretched with a satisfying pop of his joints and muttered. "Time for a feast."
Fourty Five minutes later, the kitchen looked like a feeding ground for a pack of wild animals. Plates stacked high with eggs, rice, toast, bacon, protein shakes and anything that would be crammed with calories. He devoured all of it like a beast, barely even pausing to breathe.
Even little Dante was wide awake, his voice echoing in his mind.
"LETS GO! Today is the day! Today's the day we will wipe the floor with EVERYONE! We'll show them… we'll show the world why we shouldn't bow to ANYONE!"
Dante smirked mid chew. "It seems that you're more excited than me?"
"Course I am, you saw what we did during that villain attack. This? This is nothing compared to that. We're going to absolutely smoke these kids."
He finished the last of his food with one final gulp, chugged a litre of chocolate milk and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Yeah…" he muttered, glancing at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. "We should go and break some expectations."
He grabbed his stuff, put his shoes on and stepped out the door, the sun was only just rising now.
Today was going to be fun.
…
…
Hours later, Dante was in the participant waiting area. The clatter of lockers, shoes hitting the ground and uniforms being pulled on echoed around the room.
Dante stood infront of his locker, sliding into the old dark blue and white U.A. sports outfit. It fit snug over his frame, clean and professional, freshly issued and nearly untouched, because Dante hadn't worn it since the first day.
He looked around, taking in the atmosphere of his classmates. Some of them were jittery, bouncing on the balls of their feet. Others were laser focused, zoning out like it was a war zone instead of a high-school sports festival.
Then, a voice cut through the tension.
"Midoriya, I need to talk to you." Todoroki said from across the room.
Dante's attention suddenly shifted to todoroki, who was approaching Izuku with a very serious demeanour.
"I'm going to beat you." Todoroki spat.
Izuku looked puzzled.
"Huh?" He managed to squeak out.
"I don't know about your connection to All Might. I'm not here because of him. I'm going to use my own power to beat you." Todoroki managed, his fingers brushing against the scar of his face.
Dante raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the confrontation. He leaned against the locker, choosing to remain silent and just watch their little confrontation.
"I won't become like him." Todoroki said evenly, but there was a slight sadness to his tone.
The room fell quiet, the tension was palpable. Izuku remained quiet though, processing Todoroki's words.
Dante smirked slightly, he had already understood the situation.
From what he had gathered from this small confrontation…
'Todoroki is the son of the No.2 hero endeavour, his quirk is fire related. Todoroki though, his quirk is half hot half cold, meaning his mother has an ice related quirk. This match isn't likely to have occurred naturally, could it be a quirk marriage in order to create a child to surpass All Might? And because of this, Todoroki has developed a hatred for his father and refuses to use his hot side, sticking to his cold side, thus if he defeats Izuku, who he sees has some kind of relation to All Might, with only his Ice side… he will be showing his father that he doesn't need him in order to surpass All Might.'
Dante smiled, clearly amused.
At that moment, the announcement for the festivals commencement echoed throughout the room, students began to file out. Dante adjusted his uniform one more time, his mind was brimming with excitement.
…
…
The camera panned across the huge U.A. Sports festival stadium, catching small glimpses of the roaring crowd and bustling excitement. But far from the chaos and the cheers, scattered across the city and beyond, several pairs of eyes watched intently, glued to the screens, all watching for one person.
In a quiet convenience store, the Old Boss sat behind the counter, a small TV propped on a shelf near the register. Kazuya stood leaning on the counter, arms crossed, a faint smirk on his face as the announcers hyped up the festival.
"You think he's ready?" The old man asked, sliding a cup of tea across the counter.
"Ready?" Kazuya scoffed. "I'm sure he's ready to win."
In Kaijin's underground gym, Kaijin sipped from a cup of hot coffee, he and everyone else from the gym were all glued to the large flatscreen TV on the wall. Kaijin chuckled to himself.
"Let's see if the runt's been keeping up with his footwork…"
In a different neighbourhood, the Old Boss' daughter that Dante once returned a kitten to, now a little older, sat on the floor infront of her TV with the cat, no longer a kitten, on her lap. When the camera panned to the students walking through the tunnel, she gasped and pointed.
"Look! It's him! It's Dante, the same one that saved you!"
The cat looked up and meowed.
In an alleyway, huddled in the shadows, a group of rough looking guys watched the festival stream from a cracked tablet. One of them nudged the other.
"Look… isn't that the Ghost?"
"He's in U.A. now? Fair enough."
At a pro hero agency, an assistant adjusted the monitor feed for a desk bound hero who'd been mentoring a group of sidekicks. The pro squinted at the display.
"Who is that?"
"Ah… you must be talking about Dante Graves," his assistant said. "He is the one they were talking about in the news."
"Hmm… keep an eye on him."
And finally, in the commentator room, Aizawa sat propped up on a chair, bandages still wrapped around his face and arms. His two barely visible eyes remained locked on one student. No words, no expressions, but a slight shift of his fingers showed his interest.
"Don't disappoint, kid." He muttered, so quiet that Present Mic didn't even notice.
Back at the stadium, Dante stood at the end of the tunnel, rolling his neck as he stared out at the light pouring in from the arena beyond. He didn't know how many people were watching. But somehow, deep in his gut, he felt like he had many people rooting for him.
Little Dante walked alongside him, and he whispered.
"No holding back."
Dante's lips curved into a smile.
"Damn right."