AN: Over the past few months I've really gotten into My Hero Academia and wanted to get into the fanfiction scene. I'll save my chapter fics for when I've finished more of the ones I already have started but one shots are fair game.

A Clever Quirk Nerd in the Sports Festival

-Izuku-

Pacing about his room, Izuku thought about the upcoming Sports Festival. Aizawa-Sensei had told their class how important this was, how it was their first chance to draw attention to themselves in the Hero world, how it could get us internship offers, contracts, put them in the public eye. All Might had told him that he had to win the festival, to loudly proclaim 'I am here!' to the world so he could begin taking his spot as the successor to the Symbol of Peace.

"But I'm not All Might." Izuku groaned, flopping on his bed as he gripped his hair, "I can't just use his catch phrase and be like him." There was a moment before he shot up, "So I have to not be like him, I have to be like me…but what the hell does that mean?" shaking himself, he began to mutter as he worked it out, "Okay, I know I'm a quirk nerd, I'm good at breaking down situations, I like to think I can work outside the box…" thinking over that, he slapped a palm to his face, "Well, I have my work cut out for me." at least he knew what to do now.

-First event-

"Hello Everyone!" Midnight shouted to the crowd, cracking her whip as Izuku was positive more than one pre-teen's balls dropped watching the feed, "Welcome to our First Year's Sports Festival! The thought of these young people so excited to prove their stuff, IT TURNS ME ON!" pointedly ignoring that, Izuku continued to bounce in place, staying loose as Kacchan was called up to give the representative speech.

"I just wanna say…I'm going to win." At hearing the monotone sentence, Izuku slapped a palm to his face, unable to contain the exasperation with the Mad Bomber of UA.

"Well…thank you for that, uh, unique speech Bakugo." Midnight looked just as puzzled as the audience, "That…well that didn't turn me on."

"Wait, that's possible?" Ururaka whispered confused.

"She has at least some standards." Izuku found himself whispering back as his friends worked to stifle their snorts before Kacchan reached them again.

"Anyway, onto our first event. Now let's look at our wheel of options!" looking up, Izuku saw the wheel that determined what potential events the sports festival would have. The hand spun and spun before landing on 'Obstacle Race'. "And we have our first event!" Midnight announces as the crowd cheers "There's a four-kilometer track going out the East entrance to the Arena, looping around, and coming back in on the west side. You'll start on my mark and the first one to pass through the west gate is the winner! Quirks are free to use just as our support course can use their inventions as well. And, most importantly, so long as you don't permanently injure anyone then anything is fair game!"

"This is gonna be so manly!" Kirishima and a student from class 1-B shouted in tandem before looking at each other and glaring "Hey! Don't copy me! I said stop! KNOCK IT OFF!"

"Everyone, take your positions at the starting line!" Midnight ordered as everyone hurried, the air tense as the first years of UA stared at the East Entrance, ready to take off and run. "And go!" dozens of desperate teenagers took off for the East entrance, most getting frozen in place by Todoroki with only some of the prepared members of his own class avoiding said fate. "Um…Midoriya…aren't you going to go?" Midnight was very confused as Izuku hadn't started running or even moving at all.

In response, he just turned around and jogged across the field before walking through the West entrance "You did say the winner was the first one to go through the West gate and that anything went so long as I didn't injure anyone." He pointed out with a grin as you could hear a pin drop in the arena.

"Midoriya is right." The tired voice of Aizawa-Sensei spoke up from his spot in the announcer booth "He looked at the situation and made the most logical choice to save time and efficiency. Why bother wasting time being flashy when the simple response gets the job done with minimal damage."

"Yes, well, um…first place goes to Izuku Midoriya who has now set a record for the U.A. Obstacle Race!" Midnight announces as the crowd cheers, confused cheering admittedly, but the cheering is there none the less.

-All Might-

Blinking, the soon to be retired Symbol of Peace gaped down at his successor on the field, chatting with Midnight as he waited for the rest of his school mates to finish a four kilometer race through giant robots, massive pits, and a mine field. He had told the boy to make an impression but this…wasn't what he'd expected. Hearing psychotic laughter, he looked over to see Principal Nezu laughing so hard his tea was sloshing out.

"Oh great, the principal is about to get a minion." Snipe groaned, "All in favor of keeping the apart at all costs? We don't need them teaming up to take over the world." The entire faculty raised their hands.

"I'm just wondering what he and Midnight are talking about." Lunch Rush shrugged as he studied them before snorting, "Maybe he's flirting back with her to see how she likes it."

"Please don't jinx us." Cementos sighed.

"I'm just looking forward to what the kid does for the next round." Ectoplasm chuckled beside Hound Dog.

"I'm just glad he didn't break anything this time." Recovery Girl sent him a glare at that. And Nezu was still laughing!

-Izuku-

Grinning, Izuku looked around the other members of the top forty-two as they found out just what he did to win. Kacchan's frustrated scream was soothing for the soul if he was being honest. "Alright everyone, time for our next event!" Midnight shouted before Kacchan could attempt to kill him, "This next one is based upon a points system. The person who came in forty-second place has the fewest points and it keeps increasing the higher your spot was." She explains as everyone nods, the point totals starting to appear on the board, "First place though, has a point total of ten million!" Gaping, Izuku saw that number, one higher than all the other points added together.

"And our event…is a calvary battle!" Midnight cracked her whip as she pointed to a screen above everyone "You all will split into teams of two to four people with the rider of the team wearing a headband that has the teams point totals written on it. The battle will last for twenty minutes and the top sixteen will move on to the final tournament round."

"Any rules we need to know?" Izuku asked with a grin, having found a love of loopholes…if he was the one using them at least. His classmates' glares implied they didn't share that sentiment.

"You cannot leave the arena, you cannot permanently injure your opponents, you can't deliberately make your opposing riders fall. If the rider falls and it's their own fault or not intentional then they're eliminated." Midnight explained, "You all have five minutes to form your teams." Grinning widely, Izuku shot off, already knowing the perfect team to make for this event.

-All Might-

"He's smiling." All Might held back a gulp as Izuku rushed into the throng of students, pulling some aside and talking to them with a wicked grin, "Why does that scare me?"

"Because the kid is apparently a Slytherin." Snipe snorted, "Although I don't have a damn clue what sort of loophole he could use for this event. The rules seem pretty-straight forward."

"Yes my disciple!" Nezu cackled "Show them their places! Mwahahahahahaha!"

"Wait…that's his team?" All Might tilted his head in confusion as he saw young Midoriya select a student from class 1-B, a purple haired student from general education who looked like he needed a nap, as well as young Mineta who he was sure Midoriya did not care for.

"Oh, this should be good." Ectoplasm snorted, "I'll bet that the kid pulls some bullshit out of his hat that lets him not have to do anything."

"I do not take suckers bets." Cementos shook his head as the rest followed suit and the cloning hero sulked.

-Izuku-

"Alright everyone, it's time for the Calvary Battle to begin!" Midnight shouted as the crowd cheered, the other teams all glaring at the headband around Mineta's head hungrily.

"Midnight-Sensei, could I borrow your microphone real quick." Izuku asked politely as everyone stumbled for a moment, confused at what he was doing.

"Um…alright?" the 18+ Hero handed over the device.

"I just want to say that it is impossible for any of you to win thanks to my team. My teammate from Class 1-B, Awase Yosetsu, has the Quirk Weld. He has used it to fuse the headband to Mineta's head meaning that the only one who can remove said headband is Awase himself. Not to mention none of you are aware of what Shinso hear can do. That means any attempt to get the headband would be futile and would therefore just be an attempt to unseat Mineta, therefore disqualifying you according to the rules of the event. Is that not correct Midnight-Sensei?"

"I…um…he's not wrong." The stunned teacher took back the Microphone as even Aizawa-Sensei spoke up in his agreement over the issue, "Since team Midoriya has officially become untouchable for the even and their point total exceeds every else's combined their team is the winner and can go ahead and get lunch."

"I'm gonna go check out those cheerleaders." Mineta was practically drooling as he shot off towards the American cheerleaders Present Mic had flown over for the event, not even bothering to have the headband removed.

"Why did you even have him join our team?" Shinso rubbed his temples as the three of them walked over to get their food while their classmates fought over fashion accessories.

"Oh, I don't think he deserves to be in the hero course so by having him get past the first round by literally hanging onto a classmate, doing nothing here to the point I didn't even mention him, and then get his ass beat in the next round tournament I'm hoping he gets the boot and someone like Shinso here gets to join. Plus, as mentioned, it provides an easy fight for the upcoming tournament."

"Doesn't deserve to be in the hero course? Isn't that kinda harsh?" Awase asked as they sat at a table.

"He openly stated that he wanted to be a hero so that girls would have sex with him and happily let him grope them. He also saw no reason with this motivation." Izuku deadpanned as Awase and Shinso gaped before nodding in understanding.

"Well, easy fight will be easy." Shinso shrugged as they dug into the delicious food ready for them, enjoying the show that was the calvary battle.

"How did you know about my welding quirk anyway?" Awase asked as they saw Kacchan chasing Monoma while screaming bloody murder.

"I'm a Quirk Nerd, I managed to find out about the quirks of everyone at U.A." Izuku said proudly.

"…"

-All Might-

"He…he got his team exempt from the calvary battle." All might deadpanned even as Nezu's cackling grew louder.

"I get using Awase." Vlad King nodded, "His quirk was practically made for this event. Why the other two though?"

"I'm confused as well, I know he does not care for young Mineta." All Might shook his head, sharing the reasons why with the faculty, having been informed by his successor as to why he thought so little of a classmate.

"Maybe he wants everyone else to see the grape kid isn't a good hero candidate and wants to give the general ed boy a shot." Hound dog pointed out as everyone pondered that. It…well given the level of cleverness the newest user of One for All was showing it was quite likely.

"He didn't injure himself here either!" Recovery Girl shouted happily, looking close to crying from happiness.

Shaking his head, All Might wondered what his successor was planning. He was drawing attention yes but not in the way he was expecting. He thought Young Midoriya would throw himself into mastering One for All and blow away the competition with that. How would people feel safe with him as the successor if he didn't show the kind of power he was capable of?

"Young Midoriya is doing excellent, isn't he Toshinori?" Nezu asked with a smile as the small rat bear dog thing approached him, more tea in hand, "It's so refreshing seeing a Hero candidate using his head to outthink problems rather than just his fist to punch the problem till it goes away."

"…I feel attacked." All Might frowned.

"You should."

-Izuku-

Waving to the crowd, Izuku walked up to fight in the first match against Awase, his teammate from the last round looking nervous. "Hey Awase, let's fight no quirks, show these people we're more than just one trick ponies!" he shouted to his new friend who looked relieved that he wouldn't be on the receiving end of a punch that can blow up a zero pointer.

"Such camaraderie, it turns me on!" Midnight shouted happily as she cracker her whip at them, although it was rather sad that Izuku was becoming desensitized to that phrase from her. At her mark to begin, the two of them charged, fists flying and laughing all the while.

Awase was rather quick but Izuku was far stronger physically and faster thanks to all his training. Turns out if you're a fourteen-year-old that can run with a five hundred point All Might on your back then you're actually pretty tough. Letting Awase get a hit in, Izuku used it to grab his friend's arm and judo throw him out of the ring, securing his first victory.

-All Might-

"Well, that was interesting." Nezu sipped his tea as Young Midoriya's first fight ended, no quirks being used to show the actual combat ability of the two students. "I'm so glad to see the variety of ability young Midoriya is displaying today."

"What do you mean?" All Might asked as the next fighters, Young Todoroki and Sero stepped in…and the match ending three seconds after it began.

"Well in the first round he showed creative thinking, avoiding the more difficult and time-consuming route to one that still fit the requirements and was efficient." Nezu smiled as the tape shooting boy was thawed out so the next group could be brought in, this time being Lida and Ashido from Mirodiya's class.

"I suppose I can see that." All Might allowed as the match began and the younger brother of Ingenium shot forward to push his acid shooting classmate out within seconds.

"In the second round he made a strategy that had no counters for the situation what guaranteed victory." Nezu continued as Shiozaki from class 1-B as well as Kaminari from 1-A stepped into the ring…and the fight once more ended in seconds once Kaminari fried his brain.

"And what about that fight? I know Young Midoriya has a powerful quirk so why not show it off?" All Might pressed as the next fight, Kirishima against Testutetsu, wasn't a two second bout. Instead it was dragging on due to their near identical quirks.

"Quirks aren't everything. What if there is a villain like Eraserhead who can nullify his quirk?" Nezu pressed, "Or he's in an area where his quirk would cause collateral damage or risk bringing down a building. He's showing he can be a hero even without having to punch something into rubble. Such a considerate and thoughtful student, to rely on his brain instead of just his biceps."

"Once more I feel attacked."

"Once more you should."

-Izuku-

"Way to go Shinso." Izuku grinned as he passed his sleepy new friend, the purple haired gen ed student having easily made Mineta walk out of the arena, stealing a high five from the amused soon to be hero student, "Good luck against Tokoyami in the next round. And if you have to fight Bakugo be very careful."

"I will Midoriya, have fun against Todoroki." Shinso shook his head as Izuku stepped out into the ring where the crowd cheered, wanting to see what ridiculous thing he'd do to win this time. The heterochromatic student was waiting with an angry glare, likely pissed that his earlier challenge and declaration of victory wasn't turning out the way he wanted.

"Alright boys, begin!" Midnight cracker her whip as Todoroki shot a barrage of ice his way. The crowd shouted in shock as they thought it hit before they saw Izuku in another part of the ring, dust falling around him as he smirked.

"Your aim needs work Todoroki, I'm over here." He wanted his opponent mad and using bigger attacks. He knew the iceberg he wasted against Sero would have drained him and it was obvious without his fire quirk he started getting frostbite and hypothermia from overuse. With his opponent refusing to do it here then it would let him win if he got him to use bigger attacks. Maybe it'll even teach the idiot to use all his power instead of throwing a temper tantrum like a five-year-old Kacchan…or the current Kacchan.

"Stand still!" another ice barrage was sent out as Izuku continued to dodge, marveling at the speed he was capable of and hating how stupid he'd been before. Here he was, a quirk nerd obsessing over all things quirk and he never took the time to really analyze One for All or think about how it worked, let alone just trying to ask All Might. Simply spread it around his whole body instead of just a limb and now he wasn't breaking things. From the teacher's lounge he was positive he heard the sound of an old lady screaming in joy and champagne opening.

"That sounds bad for my health so no." Izuku was getting closer and closer to Todoroki with his dodges while the half hot half cold quirk user was slowing down, ice forming on his skin before a punch knocked out the panting son of the number two hero.

"Winner, Izuku Midoriya!"

-All Might-

"How in the name of Justice?!" All Might gaped at his student moving so quickly. That wasn't what he'd been expecting.

"Look All Might, you got quirk usage, aren't you happy?" Nezu smiled while Recovery Girl danced about the room with her champagne at young Midoriya finally using his quirk safely. In the stands everyone could see the angry supernova that was Endeavor.

"That was…that was fast." All might got out as the next match of Lida against Shiozaki ended the same way the speedster's fight against his own classmate had, Shiozaki quickly moved out of the ring. Kirishima against Bakugo was explosive and ended with his successor's old friend moving onward. Shinso just got the chatty Dark Shadow under his control and had it drag Tokoyami out of the ring.

-Izuku-

Getting up to the ring, Izuku grinned as he saw one of his best friends going against him for this round. "I'm impressed at how well you've done here Midoriya, but that winning streak ends now." Lida shouted, his speedy friend looking determined as he got into a runner's stance and waited for the signal to begin.

"We'll see Lida." Izuku smiled and, the second Midnight cracked her whip, he stepped aside with a leg out so Lida, who was going too fast to stop, tripped and shot out of the ring.

"…Winner by ring out, Izuku Midoriya!"

-All might-

His face palm echoed at that victory, especially as it caused Nezu to start cackling again. Watching the other semi-final fight, All might saw Shinso get young Bakugo under his control multiple times but apparently the young man's explosions caused his sweat glands and palms to sting from usage and the pain helped snap the explosive young man out of the control till the gen ed student eventually surrendered. This next fight, it would definitely be a volatile one.

-Izuku-

"I don't know how you got here Deku but you're going down!" Kacchan shouted angrily as they faced off in the arena for the final match.

"You don't know?" Izuku tilted his head in mock confusion, knowing he needed Kacchan angry enough to fight recklessly "Were you not watching? Oh, I get it! You just need glasses!"

"Begin!" Midnight shouted before joining Cementos in a bunker he made for this fight.

"DIE!" Kacchan shouted, shooting towards Izuku who smiled.

"Remember what I said last time we fought Kacchan?" Izuku side stepped the right hook that his opponent always fell back to when he got angry enough, "You always lead with that same move." Charging his quirk, Izuku threw a punch to send Kacchan rocketing out of the ring at rapid speeds, showing that he had power as well as speed.

"Winner via ring out and the champion of this year's sports festival, Izuku Midoriya!"

-All Might-

Smiling proudly, All Might approached his successor with the gold medal. Young Shinso and Lida had happily taken their bronze medals and shook hands, eager to work together in the future. Young Bakugo was pissed and was glaring at his silver medal. "Hello Young Midoriya, and congratulations." He declared loudly as he handed over the gold medal to the boy, "Do you have anything to say to your adoring audience?"

"I do indeed sir." Midoriya nodded as he took the offered microphone, "At UA, we're being trained to be the next generation of heroes, to go Plus Ultra and push beyond our limits. I wanted to show all I could today, that I was more than just one skill. And to all the villains out there now, to all the people who need help, I want to say that I AM HERE!"