Night

The Sports Festival was over, and the audience had left, but that didn't mean the students could relax. The Hero Course students were fine; the school was understanding they had just finished a competition and didn't require them to participate in the cleanup. However, students from other departments, except for Mei Hatsume and Hitoshi Shinso who advanced to the second round, were forced to stay and clean.

After all, this was a venue large enough to hold ten thousand people. Even if several hundred people worked together to clean it, it would take a long time. The feeling that labor was the most glorious thing would not arise in their hearts. All the cleaners were looking at the members of the Hero Course gathered in the middle of the venue with resentful eyes.

Although Shota Aizawa didn't care about these looks, he sighed helplessly as he looked at the group of students in front of him with their heads down, too ashamed to face anyone.

"Remember, you're from the Hero Course, you're different from ordinary people," Aizawa suddenly said. "If you'd like, you can join the cleaning team, I won't stop you, but I believe this privilege of not having to clean is something you participants in the competition deserve."

"Is it deserved?" Midoriya murmured, repeating himself.

Shota Aizawa pointed to the stands behind him, and said with unusual seriousness, "These people behind you, to put it nicely, are classmates; to put it bluntly, they're just ordinary people on the street. They might do any kind of work in the future, living busy but peaceful lives every day. But one day, on their way to work, they encounter robbers, and they are completely powerless against them on their own. At this moment..."

Kirishima raised his arms high and exclaimed excitedly, "Now is the time for the Pro Hero to step in!"

Shota Aizawa nodded. "That's right. In the future, these people, regardless of gender or age, will all become your protectors. So, is it alright to silently support these heroes from behind the scenes for the sake of their own safety, those who risked their lives for their own?

So don't feel embarrassed, hold your head high and look ahead! Your journey lies in the stars and the sea!

Asui her chin, somewhat surprised, and said, "I never thought Mr. Aizawa had a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) phase."

"Wanting to be a hero in other people's eyes—that's just a chuunibyou idea, isn't it?" Vlad King, the homeroom teacher of Class B, walked over and nodded to Aizawa. "I need to take the students back to the classroom now. Congratulations on your great results this time. I didn't expect your teaching skills to be so much better than mine, Eraser Head."

Aizawa replied with a narrowed gaze, "I didn't contribute much; it was all their own achievement. Besides, I saw some promising talents in your Class B. If they find suitable Pro Hero during this Work-Study Program, I believe they will achieve great things very quickly."

Vlad King was taken aback, not expecting Aizawa to reply so seriously. He nodded and laughed, replying, "That's right, that's what I think too. The outcome of our two classes facing off next time is still uncertain!"

Vlad King laughed and left. Kaminari raised his hand and asked expectantly, "Class B went back to their classroom, so what about us? Can we just leave here and go home?"

"Dismissed?" Aizawa scoffed, turning to follow behind Class B. "You're satisfied with your results this time, right? Now everyone run back to your classroom and write a 1000-word self-analysis, analyzing your performance in this Sports Festival. You can only leave after you've finished writing it."

"No way!" Denki Kaminari's face instantly fell. "We just finished a match! Mr. Aizawa, are you really going to be this cruel?!"

"If you don't want to, then we'll add another 30 minutes of Quirk training, which I'll personally supervise. Mirko."

Everyone in Class A glared at Kaminari angrily, "If you can talk, then talk more!"

"Sorry!" Kaminari caught up with Shota Aizawa and bargained, "1000 words is too much, how about 500 or 800?"

Midoriya followed behind with a wry smile, thinking that if Iida were here, he would probably be praising Mr. Aizawa's excellent training with a serious expression. However, he probably wasn't in the mood to care about such things right now.

Izuku Midoriya has found information about Iida's brother, Ingenium, on a website that specializes in compiling the latest hero news. He was seriously injured while hunting down Hero Killer and is currently being treated in the hospital.

Ingenium, for Iida's sake, you must stay safe and sound!

"Hey, Jilan, are you alright?" Denki Kaminari noticed Jilan Jiyu walking towards him and greeted him naturally. "I heard you were knocked unconscious by Bakugo and have been like this ever since. How did that hit feel?"

The teachers didn't tell the students in Class A that Jilan had recovered during the awards ceremony, so Kaminari still mistakenly believes that Jilan only just regained consciousness.

"I don't know what it feels like, but I know it's ten times stronger than your electric shock," Jilan Jiyu teased, then joined the running group. "So, where are we going now?"

"It's all Kaminari's Kaminari for being so talkative. We need to write 1,000 words of reflection before we can go home. If that's the case, we might as well go help with cleaning; at least that way we don't have to use our brains," Kirishima replied helplessly.

Midoriya noticed the medal around Jilan's neck. "Class representative, did you just run into All Might? He gave you the medal."

Jilan had nothing to hide. "Ah, that's how it is."

Although Jilan told the story, he didn't elaborate on what exactly happened, and Midoriya didn't ask any further questions.

The students in Class A were all running, the setting sun dyeing them orange-red, their eyes sparkling as if carrying light, their hearts seemingly filled with anticipation for the future.

"Running in the sunset, that's my lost youth!" Minoru Mineta suddenly blurted out, watching himself fall further and further behind the group. He gasped and cried out in grief, "And wait for me!"

It was late at night, and under the bright lights of the street, Jilan Jiyu walked on the sidewalk, their delicate hands tucked into their palms.

No one knew that Jilan Jiyu, a well-mannered U.A. High School student who brushed past them, was seemingly greeting them with a smile, but in reality, he had already set his sights on their hands and was beginning to select his prey from the crowd.

On the surface, Jilan kept his eyes straight ahead, but occasionally glanced at the hands of those around him to see if they caught his eye. However, don't misunderstand, Jilan Jiyu had no intention of taking other people's hands. He was just looking at women's hands with an appreciative eye, much like Minoru Mineta's eyes unconsciously wandered to the bottom of a girl's skirt.

The world is not lacking in beauty, but rather in eyes that can see it.

"Big brother, are you the person who was all glowing on TV today?" A little girl tugged at Jilan's sleeve, looking at Jilan Jiyu with curious eyes, and asked timidly.

Jilan Jiyu lowered their heads and smiled at the little girl. "That's right, that's me."

The little girl seemed encouraged and mustered her courage to say, "Can I hug you? I think you're really amazing, big brother!"

"Is it alright?" Jilan Jiyu looked at the young woman holding the little girl in front of them with inquiring eyes.

Perhaps Jilan's face is really popular with women, because the lady smiled and nodded, reaching out to pick up her youngest daughter. "If you don't mind the trouble."

Jilan took the little girl and smiled, looking at the child with calm eyes, letting the child hold her little hand.

The little girl watched as Jilan's face gradually flushed red. She then leaned down and kissed Jilan's cheek, blushing as she struggled to return to her mother's arms, burying her head and refusing to stick it out again.

The woman smiled shyly. "My child is a little shy, but she means she really likes you and wants to encourage you to be a true hero."

Jilan smiled and nodded. "A hero? I will."

As they were talking, Jilan saw a woman casually talking on the phone, looking slightly tipsy as if she had just come out of a restaurant. Jilan watched her walk past and focused her attention on the woman's hands.

"Well then, I'll be going now."

After smiling and greeting his wife and daughter, Jilan Jiyu quietly followed behind the slightly tipsy woman.