Sora could feel their auras tensing up and focusing on Midoriya. Must be hard, taking the brunt of being the top.
" Now then, I will explain the rules of the cavalry battle." Midnight flailed her whip at the screen as she explained further. Their time limit was 15 minutes. The headbands that they needed to grab from other teams' riders had to be put on from the neck onward.
" So you should be careful with your choice." Yuu pointed, arms crossed in front of his chest. " Aiming to gather as much regardless of the value wouldn't work here like in the practical exam. If you overdo it you will be suffocating before the end of the game."
" So true." Sora blinked. " So you need to get as few but as valuable headbands as you could."
What was more worrying is the fact that teams won't be out in the game. For the whole fifteen minutes, there will be at least twelve teams roaming the area. " That will be troublesome."
Midnight gave them fifteen minutes to build their teams. Groups started forming as each one of them tried to find a suitable team.
" Sora."
She blanked when she was called and snapped her head back to a certain orange head. " Kendo-san!"
The girl waved at her with a smile. " Itsuka is fine. It's been a while, couldn't come to contact with you since the start of the year."
" Yeah, it was quite a busy schedule for both of us I guess." She rubbed the back of her neck.
" Either way, let me get to the point. Would you like to join me for this game?" Itsuka offered with a wide grin.
" Huh?"
As they continued talking, Yuu trudged away from them, Whisper finally letting go of him. He will be more helpful as a ghost for the next game rather than taking over the boy.
" Sora got recruited, I should find a team too." He flicked his look around worriedly . Most of them huddled around Bakugo, wanting to team with him. Todoroki had already formed a team with Yaoyorozu, Iida and Kaminari.
" Each class seems to have formed teams among themselves." Whisper pointed out.
As the time ticked by, the teams already formed and Yuu stood in the middle, shifting his head in distraught as he was the only one left alone.
" What are you waiting for?! Any team! Just find any team!" Yelped Whisper.
" It's not that simple..." Yuu sweated, desperately trying to spot a team lacking in number. The thought that he might end up eliminated just because he couldn't get into a team overwhelmed him.
" Yuu!" The boy blinked as a certain white head ran to him, wiggling her hand upwards.
" Sora?"
" Where did you run off? I frankly thought you joined someone."
" Eh? Sora, you didn't join that girl from earlier?"
" Of course not." She smiled. " I've already decided that I would be teaming up with you."
Yuu's eyes glazed over before they literally send waterfalls of tears. " Sora!! You're my angel!"
The girl merely cackled at him while Whisper squeezed his neck to shut down his tear rivers. " Will it be alright, just the two of you?"
" What're you talking about, Whisper?" Her grin broadened confidently. " We're exactly the right number."
" Huh?!" Both blinked.
________________
As the siren of time out blared throughout the stadium, there were thirteen cavalry teams standing on the ground as the words ' On your marks' and ' Ready' manifested on the screen.
" I see. That's what you meant, Sora!" Whisper chimed in excitement as Sora and Yuu rode on Kyubi's back with the boy fastening a headband on his forehead which had the number 390 printed on it.
"Yeah, they may not count you guys. But we're the best team formed of four!" She spread her wings widely, flanking Yuu from both sides. " I will protect you."
Kyubi leaned slightly, ready to bolt at any given moment. " I will run for you."
Whisper's ectoplasmic body twitched around as he studied the other teams. " I will get points for you."
" And with Yuu's direction, we're unbeatable!" Sora cried happily. Yuu's face brightened at all of them before he looked at the back of the white head. " We're going to the next round! Yuu!"
The huge TV screen showed all thirteen teams and their points.
Team Todoroki: 630
Team Rin: 125
Team Tsunotori: 70
Team Kodai: 165
Team Mineta: 420
Team Shinso: 295
Team Monoma: 305
Team Midoriya : 10000325
Team Kendo: 225
Team Hagakure: 390
Team Tetsutetsu : 715
Team Bakugo: 675
Team Seijin: 390
" Now! Let's go! Counting down to the brutal battle royal!" bellowed Mic.
" Start!" The sound of the whip permeated the area as everyone in there rushed towards one certain team.
" As expected they're after Midoriya-san," Yuu muttered, glimpsing the green head over Sora's shoulder. It wasn't long before the boy sailed over their head with the help of some support items. It was the distraction they needed.
" While they're focused on the ten million!" Sora was grinning widely as Whisper stretched his torso and grasped a headband with a 295 point.
" We'll be steadily gathering points from the rest!" Whisper's smirk broadened as a certain purple head named Shinso Hitoshi looked back at him with wide eyes. " You were saying you would sweep our feet from underneath us! Think again!" While Yuu fastened the band around his neck, Kyubi swiftly sprang away from them to avoid being caught. " Nice, nice. If we continue like this we will gather enough points!"
" From the back! Kyubi!" Yuu cried out and Kyubi reared her head slightly to see a couple of horns flying at them.
" Sora!"
" Roger!" Sora stretched her wings as Kyubi jumped up, making them float for a moment in the air.
" Tsk! They got away!" A blond girl with horns and a kind of broken accent complained.
She is definitely the one who attacked. Kyubi landed safely with Sora's help before the white head flanked Yuu with her wings again. " We must be careful. Not all people would go after the ten million if they know they can't stand up to Midorya-san's team."
Her words were proven right as some of the teams with so few points gave chase after them, trying to gather as many points as their fingers could reach. For several minutes, all they could do was play the escape game. " duck down!" Sora warned, hitting the air hard with her wings and blocking a few green scales launched at them. Kyubi was quick to get out of range.
" Less than half the time is left now!" Mic announced.
Sora craned her neck, checking their team's ranking on the scoreboard." We're 4th!" She cried happily.
" That's good!" Whisper joined in, feeling excited about their achievement.
" Not it's not." A bead of sweat ran Yuu's head as he tried to focus his sight. " We're fourth but other teams are climbing way too fast." He glanced as Todoroki's team grasped another band before confronting Midoriya. " We should get higher in the ranking if we want to assure our victory."
" Yuu is right." Kyubi agreed, still running and avoiding other teams flailing their hands in hope of grasping a headband. They were mostly at zero point, which meant there was nothing to be collected from them. They were merely desperate teams, willing to do anything to stay in the race. Frankly speaking, they were far more dangerous than those at the top.
" If we want to secure our place," Sora glanced again at the scoreboard, trying to figure those with points. " We have to go after them."
" Kyubi! From the right!" Kyubi bolted away in time to avoid a stream of thick white liquid spouted at them.
" Corner them, Bondo," the black-haired girl, Kodai, told him with a stoic face while a bubble behind her spelled. ' We need points!'
" Watch out! Kyubi!" Yuu cried out and Kyubi halted promptly upon reaching the white line.
" That was close." She glanced back at the boundary and then at their opponent advancing on them.
" What are you waiting for Kyubi! Let's get away!" Whisper pointed up.
" Whack! Thud! Boom!" The floating bubble shouted. There was a strong gust of air as stone words materialized from nowhere and blocked their path, forcing Kyubi to evade left and right. She proceeded to attack using nine blue balls of fire, but they were blocked by the materialization of the word 'Bam'.
" Bondo."
" Already finished!"
Kyubi jolted and snapped her head downward. While she was focusing on evading, she didn't realize the liquid poured and hardened around her legs, making her unable to move.
" Don't think bad of us. We're just doing what we need to do."
Sora's wings enclosed Yuu more as she bit on her lip while the other team approached. It seemed like it was the end of the path for them. She could try and fight but, Bondo's Quirk would make her out of commission in no time once his glue landed on her.
" One minute left!" Mic chimed
" We can't move!"
" Damn it!"
" No." Yuu's eyes glowed purple. " We can. I will put everything in this one chance..."
Kyubi leaned forward, feeling energy welling up in her. The blue flames around her paws and on the tips of her tails enlarged, growing brighter. " I've received it, Yuu."
" Sora, balance us with your wings and keep us in the sky for as long as you can. I know it's hard but that's the only way to survive now." Sora narrowed her eyes and nodded her head, determined to follow her friend's plan to the very end.
" Whisper... Navigation is up to you. Make sure they're out of the other teams' range."
" Roger!" Whisper agreed.
" Here we go!" Cried Yuu as Kyubi sprang upwards, breaking the piled glue on her feet. She winced in pain at the wounds resulting due to her action.
Sora's wings spread open, keeping them midair and, following Whisper's advices, flying them out of other teams' reach.
" Now there are only seconds left!"
" Hold on Yuu! If you faint now we will get disqualified!" Whisper yelled at him as he saw that Kyubi was beginning to fade.
" I'm... Not..." Willing himself to stay awake a little bit longer, he wheeled his head back to the screen, his eyes finding their team among the rest. Please... Don't go beyond it...
" Time's just about up! Start the countdown!"
As there were barely 10 seconds left, his half-closed eyes were focused on the 4th place with 685 points. Below it were both Kendo's team with 350 points and Midoriya's with 70. Sora and Kyubi grappled to stay up in the air and protect themselves. It's almost over. Please...
" Time's up!" Mic's announcement resounded through the stage, prodding the attendants to get noisier from their benches at the revelation of the last moment. Their eyes widened when it all came to an end. A moment earlier, their team was in 4th place. However, they were overtaken by Midoriya's as they scored 730 points.
" We... Failed..." Yuu gave in to the weight of his eyelids as he was drained of all energy. Kyubi dissipated instantly, leaving Sora to hold an unconscious Yuu and bring him safely to the ground.
________________
" Seems he is coming to."
" Yuu! Can you hear me?! Yuu!"
The boy blinked his eyes open, blinded for a moment by the strong light and the whitness of his surroundings. He was met by the faces of a relieved Sora and a smiling Recovery Girl.
" What... Happened..." As he stood up, he cradled his head as he felt a sharp pain almost chopping it into two. " Where am I?"
" The infirmary of course." Recovery Girl huffed. " Jeez, the batch of this year has a knack for hurting themselves."
" You used quite a lot of energy for Kyubi to break from the glue and even after, you struggled to stay awake. It's expected you're out of energy." Sora explained.
" My healing requires stamina, but I can't help you when you're out of it. All I can do for you is give you some sugar to get better," she said holding a bar of chocolate at him. " You've been pushing yourself quite a lot. You have to learn to conduct your Quirk properly. Fainting can be troublesome at some point."
" I'll do." He nodded thankfully accepting her chocolate.
" Well then, I can't do much for you now. Lunch break is about to start so you should go have a filling. It will help you."
They both thanked the woman and left the infirmary, trudging along the corridor. " I feel really tired..."
" You will be feeling like that for a while. " Whisper sighed. " Wish he was like you Sora. The way you recover your stamina almost in a blink."
Sora laughed awkwardly at that. True, she was quick to recover whether it was injury, illness or even fatigue. She for once was thankful for that. It was why she could easily hide the aftereffects of breaching her limit.
" Oh, by the way, Yuu. Grandma made you a lunchbox."
" Eh? Aunt Yui...?"
Sora slapped her hand to her forehead as she recalled something. " I forgot! They're back in my locker in the waiting room! Let's head back!"
She grabbed his hand and rushed back the hall, however, she stopped when a certain two voices reached her ears. " Todoroki-kun and Midoriya-kun...?"
Yuu's ears perked up as he heard them too. " True... They seem to be by the entrance a few feet away." He pointed ahead.
" I think we should leave them be. I don't really like eavesdropping on people... Even though I can't help it with my sensitive hearing." She tried to hasten forward but Yuu grasped her wrist, stopping her. " Yuu?" He was listening carefully.
" You've heard of Quirk marriages, right?" They could hear Todoroki's voice meters away as he said that.
________________
Sora and Yuu peeked from around the corner after Todoroki, Midoriya and Bakugo left the area.
" I didn't think Bakugo-kun would be here as well," Sora mumbled.
" Mhm." Yuu merely hummed as his mind went back to Todoroki's words about his Quirk and family life. Yuu felt like they were sharing the same burden somehow.
Though, he was thankful. He may hate it back at that house. He may hate every reminder his parents threw at him that he was useless and a failure. Hearing Todoroki's words, he was thankful it wasn't the same as him. That as shunned and abused as he may be, he was always who he chose to be.
" Todoroki-san... is going through a lot..." He muttered to himself. Sora stared after the empty corridor where both he and Midoriya were talking.
"... He is."
________________
Sora wasn't thankful for having a lunchbox more than that day. Seeing how crammed the canteen was, and the line reaching back to the entrance, she deeply thanked her grandmother.
" You're lucky, we had to wait for so long." Uraraka patted the chair beside her, gesturing Sora to join her and Asui before returning to her food rather hastily. Sora blinked at her, realizing it must be tension from what was waiting for them next.
" Seijin-kun, are you feeling alright?" Asked Iida who was sitting on the other side of the table, pointing his hand at him. " I was quite worried when they had to take you out on a stretcher."
" Ah, I'm fine." Yuu waved his hand. " It's just that I used so much energy. I will get better after some proper rest."
" Is it okay though, for you not to rest in the infirmary, Seijin-chan?" Asui craned her head so she could look at him from the end of the table.
" The infirmary may be needed later for more urgent matters." Whisper pointed. " We don't know if someone will get badly injured later on."
" Everyone... Sorry for being late..." Midoriya approached them after having acquired his own lunch, his look seeming rather distant and unfocused.
" Deku-kun!"
" You better hurry up and settle down too. We don't want to be late." Iida said firmly, wiggling his hands around rather stiffly.
Midoriya settled next to Yuu and stared down at his own food, as if in deep thoughts. " Midoriya-kun?"
Yuu and Sora exchanged looks. He must be thinking about Todorki's words, they thought.
" Midoriya-san..." Midoriya looked back at the purple head next to him with a start. Yuu offered him a small smile." Good luck. Do your best."
" I'm also cheering for you!" Sora held a thumb up at him.
" Seijin-kun... Shirogane-san..." It seems like those words helped him clear his thoughts up. No matter the circumstances, there was only one thing he had to do out there..." Thanks! I'll do my best!"
Then he embarked on a chat with both Yuu and Iida, asking about the former's health and expressing his admiration for the latter's secret move in the cavalry battle.
" By the way Sora-chan."
" What?"
" Did you hear anything about a cheer battle?" Uraraka asked, rather worried.
" No... What's that?" Sora tilted her head.
Asui pointed towards a group of girls in some cheerleader outfits a few feet away from them as they were showing off some of their moves and skills. " Seems we will have to dress up like them and have some kind of cheering contest in the afternoon. So I heard from Jiro-chan and Yaoyorozu-chan."
Sora nearly spat out all of her food as she felt blood rushing up her face. " Eeeeh!!!"
________________
It felt as if someone had dropped a bucket of ice on her upon hearing Mic's comment. " What's the matter, Class A? What kind of fan service is that?"
From the corner of her eyes, she could see Kaminari and Mineta exchanging thumbs up and excited smiles. Don't tell me...
" Mineta-san! Kaminari-san! You tricked us, didn't you?!"
As I thought...
Yaoyorozu then dropped to the ground by her side, a look of disappointment apparent on her face. " Why am I always caught up in Mineta-san's schemes?" Uraraka patted her back to comfort her while her frown deepened. " I even used Creation to make the outfits..."
Jiro was rather angry while Hagakure kind of liked it.
" Well, considering her hero costume, pretty sure she wouldn't be bothered that much." Whisper snorted.
Sora wiggled her pom poms with a sweat drop. " Can we take these off then?"
She was totally ignored when they moved to draw the brackets for the one-on-one battles occurring after the recreational games. But before they could do so.
" Um...! Excuse me." Ojiro rose his hand up, his face contorted into a scowl. " I'm withdrawing."
Everyone looked back at him in disbelief. He was throwing away a chance to showcase his abilities to the world of the pros. It was what every aspiring hero wished for, for their potential and abilities to get acknowledged and shown. Yet, he was withdrawing.
" Is he insane!" Whisper couldn't believe his ears.
" I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until almost the end. Probably it was that guy's Quirk."
" Eh?" Sora tilted her head in confusion while Yuu directed his look at a certain purple head who acted as though he wasn't concerned at all.
" I know that this is a great chance and that it's foolish to waste it..."
" Ojiro-kun..."
" But- Everyone here competed by giving their all! I can't... I can't be up there with everyone without knowing what really happened."
The girls tried to convince him to go on, saying it will turn out alright as long as he worked hard on the next round.
" That's not it..." His whole body shuddered and his tail dropped lower as he covered his face with his hand in shame. " I'm talking about my pride here... I can't...Also, why are you guys wearing cheerleader outfits?"
They looked away, trying to pretend they didn't hear him and gulped. Sora however stared at his back. " Ojiro-kun... Is he really..."
" ... I would do the same if I was in his shoes."
" Yuu?"
" To not be able to tell what you did, how you reached up here. It's really frustrating."
" He is a true soldier." Whisper nodded with his arms crossed.
Another student from class B named Shoda Nirengeki withdrew as well. Sora recognized him as the one who was on the same team with Ojiro.
Midnight wholeheartedly accepted their withdrawal.
" I'm going to do it, okay?" Aoyama placed a hand on Ojiro's shoulder, however, upon second look, they all could see he was hardly standing on his feet.
" It's impossible in that state." Ashido pointed her pom pom at him.
" No... I'm..."
" Aoyama-kun, you used your laser quite a lot right?" Hagakure's clothes bend slightly, a sign she was hunching over at the boy.
" And you spend most of the lunch break in the toilet." Jiro had her earphone jack point at him.
" Even though..."
" What do you think, Mummy Man? Will he be allowed to continue?"
" It's not the first time a student insists on going on despite their injury. That's why we have the chief umpire decide here."
Midnight took in Aoyama's shaking figure and buckling legs. Despite his smile, he was sweating heavily. " It pains me to say this, but... Aoyama-kun is unable to go on!" She announced with a swing of her lash.
Aoyama kneeled down on the ground, clenching his stomach tightly. " Though I acted all tough so she wouldn't figure out... non!"
You call that tough...
" In that case, we'll have to move up the fifth team from the cavalry battle and one person from the sixth."
" Eh!" Sora blinked her eyes wide. "We've moved up!"
Yuu however rose his hand up. " Midnight-sensei, I won't be able to participate."
" Yuu?!"
" Seijin-kun?" Even his classmates were taken aback by his retort.
Yuu simply looked down. " I even have a dispensation from Recovery Girl for the rest of the activities."
" Yuu..." Whisper's look dropped. Even though it was his chance, he was too tired to join. He couldn't muster enough strength to summon any spirit.
" Alright, then two people from Kendo's team." Midnight pointed her whip at the orange head.
" If that's what's going to happen," began Kendo. " Then rather than us, who barely did anything during the cavalry battle, it should be them, right?" She swapped approval nods with her teammates. " The ones who fought to the end and stayed on top, team Tetsutetsu, right?"
" Kendo...!" The metallic grey head twisted back at her.
" This isn't collusion or anything. It just makes sense."
" Y-You guys...!" He shouted out and Sora took it as a sign that he was moved by their act. They decided on those who will be participating as Midnight announced their names.
" And so, Shirogane, Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki have been moved up to make sixteen!" The boy and girl were giving their gratitude to the other two from their team.
" This is the bracket based on the results of the drawing!" Midnight snapped her flagger as the brackets appeared on the screen. Sora checked her name to find herself up against Ashido in the first round.
" Sora!" The pinkette called out to her, wiggling her arm in the air.
" Mina-chan! Let's give it our all!" Sora smiled, holding up her pom poms.
" Of course!" Ashido smirked. " I really wanted to try going against you since our combat training! So I won't hold back!"
" Of course!" As Ashido walked away to talk to Yaoyorozu, Sora shifted so she was facing Yuu, her smile dispersed immediately. " I'm sorry you couldn't make it, Yuu."
The boy shook his head, smiling gently. " It's fine. Sora, you go and do your best out there."
The girl glanced at him for a moment before walking off to him, standing on her tiptoes and wrapping her arms around him. Her act took him by surprise. " Thank you. Because of you, because you've protected our points with all you had, we managed to get here. I promise I won't let your hard work go to waste."
She backed from him, smiling broadly. " I'll fight for both of us! So make sure to cheer me on!"
The purple head blinked at her, still a little bit stiff from the hug before his face relaxed as he grinned at her. " Sure."
" Sora! We're counting on you! Knock them dead soldier!" Whisper cried.
" I won't kill anyone but I'm gonna do it!" She pumped her pom pom in the air.
________________
As the recreation went on, they fit into the role of cheerleaders for real, earning angry glares from those brought from America. All of them except Jiro embarked on cheering their classmates while she stubbornly sat down in the back, folding her arms and murmuring in frustration.
On both her sides, Sora could see Uraraka and Yaoyorozu worried about their coming matches. Yaoyorozu was hardly moving her pom poms though she tried to keep a mild smile. Uraraka on the other hand, despite how energetic she tried to pretend, the look on her face betrayed her. Sora couldn't blame her. Her opponent was that Bakugo, the one and only one who almost cremated Midoriya.
The recreational games ended and so their class gathered around by the side of the field as Cementoss was making the arena.
" That was a lot of fun! I feel ready for my round!" Sero stretched up.
" Sero-kun's opponent is... Todoroki-kun, right?" Uraraka asked.
Sero sighed. " True. But I'm not giving up hope."
" That's the spirit, Sero-kun!" Hagakure wiggled her pom poms excitedly.
" That's it, give us more cheering girls. That will help us out!" Said Kaminari staring at the invisible girl as she jumped around.
" You...!" Jiro plunged her earphone jack into his ears, striking him with loud sound waves.
" Our class' girls were pretty good if you ask me. But Shirogane is kind of fla-" Mineta was cut by a slap from Asui's tongue.
" Fla?" Sora quirked her brow at that before Uraraka and Yaoyorozu dragged her along to the changing room.
" Don't bother about it, Sora-chan. Let's hurry up and change."
" We don't want to start the next round in this outfit."
________________
The first match was that of Midoriya and Shinso. The girls made it in time just as the duo entered, sidling along the chairs of their class' booth before settling down. Sora was in between Yuu and Uraraka.
Both Midoriya and Shinso passed through the raging pillars of flames, getting ready to fight.
The rules were pretty easy, either you immobilize your opponent, push him out of the boundary or make him say 'I give up'.
Sora could see Cemetoss making a cement chair at the other end of the field. " I'll stop things if they go too far."
" ' I give up', huh?" Shinso spoke. " This is a fight to test the strength of your spirit. If you know what you want for your future, then you can't worry about appearance."
Sora blinked seeing Shinso's aura extending towards the green head. What's this?
" Ready?"
" That monkey was going on about his pride-"
Monkey! Is he talking about Ojiro-kun! How impudent! Sora's cheeks puffed in anger. Yuu seemed to share the same feeling as her for his hands balled into fists on his lap.
" Start!"
" ... But don't you think he was dumb for throwing away his chance?"
Extremely impudent!
Midoriya was beyond himself with rage. He charged at the boy. " What did you say?!"
No sooner than he answered, Midoriya froze.
" I win," muttered Shinso.
" Eh!!"
Ojiro screamed out. " Even though I've warned him!"
" Deku... Kun..."
" What in the world is going on?"
She, Yuu, Uraraka and Iida rose to their feet in shock as though they could figure out what was happening if they leaned further.
" Midoriya! The match just started... And he's completely frozen?!"
" Why isn't he moving...?" Whisper's eyes squinted, trying to glimpse the slightest thing that could explain what happened.
" His conscious..." Sora muttered, gaining everyone's attention. "... He is still conscious. Yet..."
" So only his body is restricted..." Yuu wondered.
" It's that boy's Quirk," Ojiro explained. " If you answer to him he will brainwash you. That's what happened to me."
Yuu blinked. " Ojiro-san... Back then, you said you didn't remember anything of the cavalry battle."
The boy nodded.
" So... You were unconscious..." Yuu thought. " But Midoriya-san..."
" He is definitely conscious and aware of what's happening around him." Insisted Sora.
" How?" The purple head wondered.
Could it be because of the other auras he has? Sora thought.
Their focus was drawn back to the stadium as Midoriya did a twirl and trudged backwards.
" Midoriya's being so obedient!"
" Deku-kun... Why..."
" If you go out of bounds you'll lose the match!" Iida waved his hands frantically.
" What are you doing? Soldier!"
" Fight it! Midoriya-kun!"
" Midoriya-san..."
" Midoriya!"
Suddenly something unexpected happened. Sora's eyes widened when the seven faint consciouses enlarged and wrapped around Midoriya's body, melting into one huge aura with all the colors of the spectrum.
A moment later, there was a strong shock from Midoriya's side, creating an intense wave of air blowing in every direction. The smoke cleared, revealing a panting Midoriya with both feet an inch from the boundary.
" He broke it!" Yuu cried.
" Midoriya-kun!" Iida cheered.
" I'm... I'm so glad!" Uraraka relieved.
" That's crazy..." Ojiro fell back with an inhale.
Sora stared after the boy, unable to take in what happened. For a moment there, the seven consciouses that were supposed to be inactive... Flared into life...
Shinso tried to provoke Midoriya to talk again, however, the boy silently proceeded at him, pushing him backwards.
" In terms of strength, Midoriya-san is superior to Shinso-san..." Said Yuu.
" Well of course," piped Whisper. " Midoriya is undergoing arduous training after all."
" If he continues like this... He will win." Sora added.
Shinso resorted to punching the green head on the face, but that didn't flatter his pace as he steadily shoved the purple head backwards. Shinso then hit Midoriya's broken fingers as a last attempt and shoveled him away trying to knock him outside the line when he was unbalanced.
Midoriya, ignoring the pain of his fingers, grabbed Shinso by the arm and flipped him overhead. Shinso hit the ground roughly and Midnight announced Midoriya the winner seeing Shinso's feet breached the line.
" Shinso-kun is out of bounds! Midoriya-kun advances to round two!"
The stage bellowed with loud cheers while the green head was trying to catch his breath. Sora sank back into her seat, feeling like a weight was taken off her shoulders.
Uraraka as well slumped down, sighing in relief. " I was so nervous!"
" Turning the tables at the last moment! As expected of Midoriya-kun!" Iida held his fist up.
Both opponents greeted each other before Shinso left for the exit. Having heard their whole conversation, Yuu and Sora exchanged looks. " Do you think they will consider transferring him after what he had demonstrated?" Asked Sora, whirling her head at Yuu.
" I don't know. His performance was something but... It's early to say..." Yuu leaned back in his seat.
" You were really cool, Shinso!"
" Good job!"
His friends called out for him.
" I was really surprised!"
" You're the star of general studies!"
Both of them leaned forward, taking a better look at what was happening in the other end of the stadium.
" You put a great fight against the guy who placed first in the obstacle course!"
" Besides-"
Even Yuu and Sora could hear them, pros talking about Shinso's potential. Yuu and Sora smiled upon hearing all of that. There was yet a chance for him. The administration can't just turn a blind eye anymore. Shinso deserved to be placed in the hero course.
They turned back with beaming faces at both Shinso and Midoriya just as the green head was brainwashed for the third time. Doesn't he learn from his mistakes?
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Seeing how his fingers were badly hurt, Midoriya had to drop by Recovery Girl to tend to those wounds, of course, All Might was there too, waiting for him to discuss what happened.
Just after Recovery Girl flung her arm at All Might's side with all her force, Midoriya recalled something. " Oh yeah, All Might." The man was still rubbing his side. " I had a vision..."
The blond man looked up at him.
" There were eight or nine people... I'm not sure exactly how many... But when it felt like my mind was filled with fog from the brainwashing, the vision appeared as if to drive away the fog. It was like I was barely able to move just my fingertips for a moment...There was someone with eyes like you, too, All Might."
Midoriya hesitated for a moment as he recalled Sora and Yuu's words to him. Seven consciouses... Seven souls...
" Was it... The people who had inherited One For All who did it?"
He looked back at his bandaged hand. " My friends said something similar too. That I have seven consciouses and seven souls added to me. The only thing that could hit home is One For All, since it went through different people."
Looking up at All Might, he found him trembling in fear before dismissing whatever idea the green head had in mind when he told him it was ' The Shades' he had seen.
After getting his explanation, Midoriya rushed out of the room, unbeknown to the fact that those ' Shades ' would have much influence on him in the future...