Chapter 15: Sports Festival III – Flying HighNotes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
"This way, our formation will be by far the most stable," Shoto claimed, explaining his plan to the trio he'd chosen: Ida, Yaoyorozu, and Kaminari.
"It sounds sensible enough," Ida commented, looking towards the other two. Kaminari hummed, his hands loosely held behind his head, but Yaoyorozu was clearly pondering.
"I have a question and a request," the girl looked him in the eyes, continuing as he nodded. "Will you be using your fire, Todoroki?"
He raised an eyebrow, startled by the directness of the question, a trait she hadn't shown before.
"No," he stated, adamant, "I refuse to use my left side in battle."
His old man was watching, and he was surely waiting to see him fail to uphold his promise. He could eat shit.
Her brow turned into a frown. "Then it won't be a request, but a requirement. Todoroki, I ask of you not to pursue Midoriya's headband unless we've first reached enough points to secure our passage to the third event."
Now he was the one frowning. "Is there a reason for that?" 'Beside any personal ones' went unsaid, but his tone was clear enough.
She didn't shy away. "As our rider, you'll be the one with a wider field of view and the one who will have to directly hold off the attackers able to surpass our defences. Your ice is good for capturing and crowd control, but you're limited as to how much your own body can handle before you reach hypothermia. Using your left side would be the logical counter to your problem, but I can see you have no intention of taking that advantage. If that is the case, I'd prefer if we avoided risking our only chance in a prolonged fight with Midoriya's team."
"A prolonged fight?"
This time, Ida was the one responding, crossing his arms with a heavy expression. "We've seen Midoriya push himself for far longer than any of us could. He's capable of matching my speed, which makes him also able to react to Kaminari's lightning, and has enough power to tank or destroy Yaoyorozu's ploys. Any contest against him is going to be a war of attrition."
"To which you'll have to add the number of teams that will go after him immediately," the girl said.
Kaminari nodded twice. "'right, he's a beast. I'd feel safer with your idea, Yaoyorozu."
Todoroki looked between his teammates, seeing the same certainty on their faces. The fact that they didn't deem him capable of handling the problem left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He grit his teeth. "You're all scared of him?"
"Dude, aren't you?" Kaminari looked at him as if he wasn't making any sense. "You're good, but think about of how the battle trial went. And who knows what kind of crazy bullshit he's kept under his sleeves!"
Was his loss on the second day so plain that he was deemed unable to compete with the other teen?
"Though I'd refrain from using that kind of language," Ida added, annoyed, "Midoriya's sure to be plotting something big."
"Indeed, he isn't someone to choose his team on a whim," Yaoyorozu commented, looking towards the weirdly heterogeneous group. "Most of us haven't looked beyond our own class, because those are the Quirks we know of. Yet, he's shaken hands with three people with completely different backgrounds and about whom we know almost nothing."
Kaminari kept agreeing. "I tell ya, something's sketchy. Let's get our points first, then we can join the crazy hunt for the top headband."
"And what about that talk of his about challenging him?" he pressed with his last remaining card. The class seemed to care about their representative's words, so maybe those would sway them.
"I fully intend to make his win as hard as possible, but I cannot do that if I'm eliminated from the competition now," Yaoyorozu explained, keeping her tone even. "Meeting his challenge doesn't mean charging headfirst into danger. It's about working smarter and harder."
"Which is something we see eye to eye on," Ida confirmed, followed by another hum from Kaminari.
It seemed that his companions couldn't be swayed to change their minds. Shoto crossed his arms and sighed.
"Fine. We'll gather around three thousand points to be sure, then we'll hunt him down."
"I can agree with that," Ida nodded, immediately followed by the other two.
As he positioned himself, Shoto thought that his teammates were exaggerating, acting like fools and overestimating their opponents.
Later, he understood that having listened to their request had been the only thing that let them move on to the next round.
"What the hell?! Where did our headband go?!"
Nothing was lighter than a touch from a ghost.
Ochaco smiled as her team took off into the sky once again, carried by their muscles and the combination of their Quirks. The four were only weighted down by her own mass, as everything else on them was now as light as a feather, fairly below Yanagi's limit.
Carried by Poltergeist, the stolen points made their way into Kodai's palm. With just a light touch, the object lightly shrunk to the size of a ring. With another pull, it places itself on Yanagi's hair, latching itself even tighter.
"And that's three!" the brunette rejoiced, joined by a "Mm!" form the girl on her right.
"Four," Dark Shadow's voice came from the front as she carried another in its beak, offering it up for the same procedure.
"Another gift for the Pale Mistress of Wraiths," Tokoyami hummed, taking care in guarding their front as his Quirk guarded their rear.
"A worthy addendum to our growing collection, Master of Shadows," the girl replied, clearly in sync with the boy's particular tendencies.
"Guys," Ochaco noticed some people trying to keep up with their movements, "we'd better get a move on!"
"Kodai, a stepping stone, please," Reiko asked, seeing what she was seeing. The girl proceeded to hum and take a pebble from her pocket, increasing its size up to a decent-sized platform to launch themselves from.
Their pursuers retreated to evade the falling stone, sighing as they could only watch Ochaco and Yui jump even higher.
"Their lack of wings shall be their downfall," Tokoyami commented, followed by Yanagi's "May they acknowledge their inferiority in regards to freedom of movement."
Kodai just kept looking around without showing any emotions, letting out the quietest signals from time to time.
Ochaco mentally thanked Izuku for his idea. - A good darn team, but why can't ya'll speak normally?! -
"Run! That guy is terrifying!"
"But he has no headband!"
"Why is he alone?! Isn't it against the rules?!"
Students from the General Course tried to avoid or hinder Mezo, to no avail. He could dodge most of their badly-aimed shots, and what he couldn't avoid could just be tanked or swatted away. He had no blind spots.
- Benefits of having a 360° vision. Midoriya was right, it's not so hard after all. -
"I said run!" a rider screamed to the rest of his team.
"Wh- I can't move!" "Me neither!" "I'm stuck!"
Mezo jumped over the group as they were stuck on the ground, letting a mouth tentacle grab the points between his teeth.
"Mineta, to our left," Mezo suggested, seeing and approaching another group.
"Got it," the small teen threw three more balls to another target. Minoru's accuracy had grown quite a bit in the last week and a half.
"What was that?!" a girl behind them cried as her headband was swooped away by Asui's tongue.
"I've got one more, ribbit." Tsuyu placed their third headband on Mineta's head.
"Thanks," he nodded. "Anything new for us, Shoji?"
"Some guys from 1-B are following us," he huffed in response. "I'm moving away from here."
"Yeah. Engage only if we must."
"Sticking with smaller targets is smarter, ribbit."
Was it cowardly? Maybe. But the three had the sensation that neither Midoriya nor Mr. Aizawa would begrudge them for taking the smartest option.
"You okay there, Ani-pal?"
Kyoka was torn between smirking for Tokage's chosen nickname for Koda and sighing for the boy's inability to subdue his blushing.
She opted to speak on his behalf. "His heartbeat's fine, but let him breath! He's shy."
The boy in question nodded profusely as he moved forward, voluntarily keeping his eyes and ears occupied on gathering info from the birds he had over their heads.
"Yeah!" Hagakure added, moving around and making it harder for them to keep her stable. "Don't pick on our Koda!"
Kyoka repressed her desire to shout that she was the one making them blush harder, being half-naked and all. Tokage didn't look nearly as bothered as the class A students.
"Sorry! I swear I'll behave!" the greenette replied heartily.
"G-Group on o-our left," Koda whispered, letting her repeat the suggestion loudly for the others to ear. "On our left! Hagakure! Tokage!"
"Ani-pal, keep her feet steady for me! I've gotta stretch my hands!"
They jumped, ready to assail a group of Support students. The enemy rider prepared by raising something that looked like a shield, but he was clearly having difficulty keeping it up.
"Hiii! Need a hand?" Tokage giggled, nudging Kyoka on the side and muttering. "Lend me an ear!"
- Ugh, the puns are getting worse. -
She launched her ear jacks to grab the shield's sides as Tokage took the upper portion. The guy's strength couldn't keep up, and the instrument flew away as far as they could throw.
Kyoka felt Hagakure's absence on her arms and looked around, only to find her headband a good meter above the enemy team.
"Thanks!" The invisible girl giggled, jumping back on her team with a second price over her own.
"Y-You won't get away!" the guy in the front screamed, just as the rest of their products seemed to hit a critical failure. Kyoka could hear Tokage's barely-contained laughter as her hands reattached themselves after having completed the sabotage.
"Eyes!" Hagakure shouted, making the three of them hurriedly shut them. Her body started to brighten, enveloping the zone in a flash of light that left the support students incapable of seeing a thing.
"Sorry~" the girl chanted as they run away.
"You're kinda evil, girl," Setsuna smirked, raising her hand again to high-five Toru.
"Good going there," Kyoka praised her friend. "That move was awesome."
"Thanks! But I'm keeping the big guns for later! Now onward" Toru rejoiced, putting her hand on Koda's head and probably pointing forward. Not that they could see where she was pointing at.
- We've got a chance! -
"Kirishima... Plan's changed," Bakugo growled, his red eyes burning with rage and a devilish desire for revenge against the scheming blonde from 1-B. "I've gotta murder this pretentious bitch first!"
Izuku smiled as the scenario played out just like usual. Neito and Katsuki were just that easy to predict. Plus, having Eijiro and Mina join the blonde's team was easy as cake since they had no other choice if they wanted to keep up with him.
His gaze moved from left to right, taking in the teams that were coming for them. Besides Katsuki's earlier attempt, no one from 1-A was taking any chances against him.
"It's 'cause you're fucking scary kid," Daigoro commented with a grunt.
- Nothing wrong with training their survival instincts, - he replied, content with the effect his current reputation was having on the class.
"And yet nobody else is backing away," En observed, seeing the crowd closing in through his eyes.
- Then I guess I've got to step up my game. -
Now that the biggest problems were gone, they could go on a hunt of their own.
"We're moving left," he called, leaving the previous encirclement. "Mei, ready the smokescreen. Kendo, Shinso, 1-B closing in."
Nirengeki, Tsunotori and Togaru. Fast, but they pose no real danger. Perfect targets.
"Plan B?" the tired rider asked, preparing his trick.
"Go for it."
The adversary trio approached, doing their best to get their Vice Representative close enough to grab the main attraction. Their martial artist wasn't about to let it happen though. Her hand grew in size in a moment as she flapped the air, generating a strong current that caused Pony and Nirengeki to close their eyes. The first lost track of her footing, while the second became unable to react to the incoming danger.
Midoriya jumped in, taking Hitoshi close enough to grab the band from Nirengeki's head, and then left before Togaru could react.
Hitoshi shouted a quick "Where does today come before yesterday?" leaving the group further questioning the unfolding events.
The general student then turned the other way as Itsuka spoke to her classmates. ""Hey guys! No hard feelings, right?""
"Rep!" "Damn!" "That's-"
The three immediately stopped speaking as their minds fogged up, standing still for a moment as their orders came in. "Don't pursue us. Find other headbands. Don't get hit."
Izuku didn't have to see the grin on Hitoshi's face to know that it was there.
"I can't believe that worked," Itsuka murmured.
"I told you, your volume doesn't matter as long as their brains and yours detects the question and the answer," he pointed out boredly, as if they hadn't tried the process already. "Is three at once too much?"
Hitoshi grumbled. "Gives me a bit of a headache. Let's stick to one or two for now."
Izuku nodded, conscious of how hard raising that limit was going to be. Their training had been intensive, but having to split their time between a foundation of martial arts, working out, and Quirk priming, the results were bound to be partial. But it seemed that his friend wasn't unsatisfied by the results in the least.
"Supports students ahead. Plan C. Mei, prepare for the grab."
"Roger!" the pinkette grinned, reading the glove on her right hand.
"Let's get the ten million!" The other rider shouted, raising what looked like a very long version of a claw you could find in one of those amusement park's games.
Hitoshi brought his own support gloves to his mouth, exploiting the volume-increase function.
"Solve the riddle or be mine! What's black and white and red all over?"
The engineers' faces showed no little amount of doubting their own ears. Luckily, they all expressed said doubts in varying forms of "Uh?" sounds.
"Wrong answer," the tired teen snapped his fingers, taking control of the rider and a pillar, leaving both dazed.
Izuku, taking the weight of the entire team on his back thanks to the supporting items they were wearing, leaped over the stunned group with little effort. From that position, Mei just had to reach out and grab their prize by using a much better version of the aforementioned claw.
"Yeah! My grabby baby is a success!" She shouted, offering the band to Shinso as they landed and started running again.
"Guys, we've got company," Itsuka called, two teams from the General Department approaching at fast speeds.
"No gadgets to break there. Plan A," Izuku instructed, having the others nod with constantly increasing confidence.
They charged, Izuku and Itsuka swatting away incoming projectiles until they were in range. Mei fiddled with Hitoshi's item's commands, adjusting the output for two groups of four.
"You're surrounded!" a girl called, missing her one and only chance of going for their goal.
"How would you like a shocking experience?" Hitoshi opened his hands on both sides, and two wires shot out from his palms to grab onto their attackers. The subsequent calls of "What?" were interrupted midway, since all eight students were electrocuted (safely) by Mei's item.
Hitoshi grabbed both headbands as they strode away, leaving the same instructions he'd given before after taking control: "Don't pursue us. Find other headbands."
A third perfect execution brought a secure smile to Izuku's face. Each one of the three strategies he'd given Hitoshi had worked exactly as hoped even in a stressful environment. He knew the boy would continue to trust him after this. The 41st member of the Hero Course was all but confirmed.
"We're up to five," Itsuka rejoiced with a guilty expression, "but I'm feeling kind of bad about it."
"I'm not!" Mei chirped; her grin unbreakable. "My babies are working perfectly!"
Hitoshi ignored their complaints and comments, lowering himself and muttering to Izuku. "How many more before stage two?"
"At least another three. We want to make a good impression."
- And it's funnier this way. -
"Fucking diabolic..." Daigoro reiterated.
"Just enjoy the show baldy," Nana snickered.
Shota watched the unfolding almost-one-sided hunt for points with a thin smile.
He had to give Midoriya credit where it was due: those that had trained with him were showing to be a notch above their competitors. Mineta's team was keeping their distance from the bigger fights, going for the smaller fishes and slowly raking in points. Hagakure's group was applying a good combination of hit-and-run tactics, identifying targets and leaving them dry after quick interactions. Yanagi's team, though combined with students from 1-B, kept soaring far away from the rest, being virtually untouchable unless they were swooping down to grab a headband before flying away again. Somehow even Todoroki's team had opted for a safer start instead of going directly for their representative's neck.
Midoriya's group was obviously the weirdest of the bunch. Shota knew he would have been prepared for the event, but none of the teachers could have imagined how much effort he would put into gathering his ragtag bunch in those two weeks.
Power Loader didn't understand how he'd made that Hatsume girl, which he'd identified as 'surfing the line between genius and crazy while keeping both hands on the explosive side,' stay concentrated on a single task for so long.
Vlad had asked him where in the world had his student trained. He looked proud of his class's representative, Kendo, as he watched the gym footage, but he hadn't thought possible for someone to beat her in hand-to-hand combat. Quirkless even.
Zashi hadn't stopped grinning for a second as he saw the "indigo-haired listener" from 1-C giving his all in the, frankly, disturbingly precise training Midoriya had thought up. Shota had found himself thinking that Shinso would give up numerous times, only for the greenette to stop, give the other time to recharge, and start again. He wondered how many times he'd done it before to reach that kind of precision.
He looked at one of the big screens as the cameras framed the clash between Bakugo and Monoma. The kids from 1-B had clearly decided to collaborate between different teams before starting, as Kirishima now found himself stuck from Bondo's glue, while mushrooms had started growing on Sero's elbows. Ashido's acid helped, but the seven from 1-B were already making their escape.
Sadly, they had severely underestimated how fierce Bakugo could get when holding a grudge. The teen had many shortcomings, both as a person and as a leader, but he knew how to make the best out of his teammates' Quirks. There were no air barriers or copied Quirks that could stop his charge, and the explosive blonde ended up taking back everything they'd stolen and more.
Two seats to his left, Vlad sighed. "Aizawa, what the hell are you feeding those kids?"
"Gunpowder and rice, can't you tell?" He muttered, receiving an amused snicker from Snipe.
"That certainly explains it," the gunner commented.
"Damn. At least some of mine are doing a good job," Kan hunched his back, looking down on the arena.
Tetsutetsu's team had found itself surrounded in the aftermath of a quick failed attempt at Mineta's headband, but they had managed to get out of the pinch and were keeping their own points safe, remaining above the drowning zone.
Nirengeki's team was doing even better. Despite their terrible run-in with Shinso's group in the beginning, they now seemed deeply focused on the task of getting as many bands as they could. They seemed focused to a relentless degree.
"I've never seen Shoda be that determined. He's good as a vice-rep, but I thought he was more on the quiet side," Vlad thought aloud.
"Well, you never know what some will do until they face a real challenge," Snipe provided.
- Or Shinso's Quirk is more advantageous than we'd thought. I hope Nezu has those transfer papers ready when this is over. -
Shota was startled when Eri's little hand pulled on his costume, her other digits pointing towards the sky over the arena. "Look! Look! Izuku's flying again!"
He squinted his eyes, seeing the group of four a good twelve meters above the ground, and still rising. There was less than a minute left, so he wondered what kind of strategy the not-a-kid had thought of.
As he looked, he doubted his eyesight for a moment, but the words coming from Mic's commentary relieved him of any uncertainty.
"Oh my! Why is Shinso's team giving up their headbands?!"
- Bloody hell Problem Child. -
"One minute left on the clock listeners! What an exciting show of wills!" Present Mic's voice filled Todoroki's ears with a sense of dread. Everybody had their eyes glued on Midoriya's team, so far above that it wasn't even funny. And there was no way to reach them.
Shoto could feel his jaw on the edge of cramping by how much he was tensing it.
Somehow, that damned Midoriya had found a way to keep his whole group flying in mid-air, a good twenty meters above them. The vast majority of groups was fighting directly under them for the nine headbands that were slowly falling down, creating a disturbing mess of shouts and Quirks that made strategizing even harder.
Anybody looking at the scoreboard could see that Shinso had kept the ten million points they had started with, but the chance of easy-to-grab points was far too dainty a morsel for the majority to turn down.
"I told ya he was planning something!" Kaminari screamed. "What do we do now?!"
"We already have enough points," Yaoyorozu declared, clicking her tongue, "but it stings to back down without even trying."
The fact that she felt the same sense of inadequacy didn't comfort him at all. It wasn't a sting, it was churning oil in his stomach.
He then felt Ida's hands hold tighter onto his feet. "Todoroki, make a ramp. It has to go straight up."
The other two voiced their doubt with small sounds, but Shoto didn't waste a single moment. Ida's tone was enough. A chance to prove himself was all he needed.
His ice grew into forming the requested structure in the middle of the field. The duo behind him seemed to get their intentions.
"I can only bring us up, then my engines will be stalled," Ida said as he started rising gears.
"Man, how are we supposed to land from that?" Kaminari asked, his grin shakier.
"I'll keep us balanced, and I can make parachutes," Yaoyorozu offered.
Shoto growled, reading himself for the action. "We're going. Go Ida!"
"Recipro Burst!"
Hitting his top speed, Ida launched the group forward and up, sliding on the ramp until his feet couldn't touch anything more. Nobody could think of getting in their way as the four moved like a jet for ten seconds, closing the distance that separated them from their objective.
Yaoyorozu attached something on his waist, probably mimicking the strategy they'd seen Sero use earlier on Bakugo. "Ida! Throw him!" With his final boost of power, the bluenette acted as a catapult for their rider, sending Shoto flying as fast as he could.
Time seemed to slow down for Shoto as the meters separating him from Shinso's headband. He could grab it, he definitely could. Midoriya's hands were occupied by keeping the formation! Shinso had barely just seen him! He wouldn't react in time!
Shoto reached forward with his right hand, only to immediately move and create a barrier in reaction to Midoriya's kick. The ice shattered within a second, the cracks partially obstructing his vision of the smirk on the teen's face.
But his ears functioned perfectly. "Wrong choice Todoroki!"
Midoriya's arm, enveloped in green lightning, broke through the remaining cold surface, swatting away his right arm.
It inched closer. Too close.
He shuddered, but not for the cold.
Shoto didn't even realize his body was moving, his nerves going on overdrive as he felt a pressure worthy of the one All Might had shown against the villains in the U.S.J.
Endeavor hadn't shown him this kind of power, hadn't reached the point where he needed to act without thinking.
Shoto raised his left arm, setting it ablaze to shield himself from the incoming predator. Midoriya didn't even look fazed, pushing forward and letting his head almost touch the flames as his hand reached for Shoto's neck, a short flick exhausting the barely lit flame.
- My left! What was I- No! I have to- - his thoughts ran faster than he could act on, his arms pushed apart, his front open.
He felt the fingers touch his uniform, hovering the bundled bands. Green met gray and turquoise, their clash of wills uneven.
An unexpected tug pulled him back down, away from the dread he'd just felt. Yaoyorozu must have seen his failure and tried to cut their losses.
As he fell, Shoto watched as Midoriya raised the hand he'd used to destroy him. The greenette was holding a single headband between his index and thumb: 55 points.
Kaminari and Ida caught him, letting the creator girl concentrate on giving them a way to survive the fall.
"Did you make it?" Ida asked, grunting as his engine smoked.
"No," he grunted, now keeping a hand on his neck, "he got me."
Kaminari cursed. "Fuck! Did we lose?!"
"How much did he take?" Yaoyorozu asked, opening their parachute, turning their fall into a controlled descent.
"Just fifty-five."
"Oh, thank god," Kaminari sighed in relief. "We're still in."
"Yeah..." Shoto whispered.
He'd seen that look in Midoriya's eyes, he'd felt how close his hand had been. The teen could have taken everything if only he'd wished so.
He'd let them go.
And he'd made him use his fire.
"TIME'S UP!" the host screamed into the mic while the scoreboard turned dark to leave the suspense going. "Let's see who the top teams of this year are!"
"In first place we have a team who'll make history as the missing link between Departments! Team Shinso!" The crowd applauded and roared in approval, praise coming from all directions and courses. "Midoriya's been keeping his promise ladies and gentleman! Better watch out in the third event listeners!"
Yamada kept listing their placements as they appeared on the many screens:
1. (A, B, C, H) Team Shinso – 10.000.875 P
2. (A) Team Bakugo – 3210 P
3. (A) Team Todoroki – 2780 P
4. (A, B) Team Yanagi – 1790 P
5. (A, B) Team Hagakure – 1670 P
6. (A) Team Mineta – 1510 P
7. (B) Team Tetsutetsu – 1545 P
8. (A, B) Team Shoda – 1075 P
9. (A) Team Aoyama – 300 P
9. (B) Team Rin – 300 P
11. …
"Oh my! It seems we've got a tie ninth place!" the teacher exclaimed with a laugh. "That's a new turn of events! What will our coordinator, Midnight, decide I wonder?"
"We only have two places left for our third event, so both Teams will have to choose one competitor!" The Heroines swung her whip on the stand, letting out a clear cracking sound. "Be nice about it, boys!"
"See you after our lunch break folks!"
The students began to trickle out of the field and towards their changing rooms. He always felt a bit bad for all the others from Support or General Department that couldn't make the cut, but he knew that trying to force too much into his teacher's hands would just backfire.
Plus, he despised the idea of planting hope in so many teens, just to have them end up as cannon fodder later on. Some people just aren't suitable for the Hero's life.
"It's not wrong to dream, but you've got to be realistic too, young man."
Toshinori's words rung in his head as a reminder of what could, and couldn't, have been.
"Dammit, Eight." The Sixth sighed, shaking his head in the mindscape.
- It's water under the bridge, En. Like, really under the bridge. -
"It won't keep me from reminding him about manners and hypocrisy when he gets here," Nana grumbled.
"You'll be too busy crying then," the Second rolled his eyes.
"Why you-"
Yoichi interrupted their mutterings. "Don't worry about us for now, take care of your friends."
Izuku kneeled as he touched the ground, letting Hitoshi, Itsuka and Mei hop down.
"You're fucking crazy Midoriya," Hitoshi grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.
"Admit it, you've had fun," Itsuka smiled while patting the other's back as he tried to hide a smile.
"I sure did!" Mei chimed in. "Mission accomplished with no explosions!"
"A true record," Izuku laughed. "Thank you, guys, I couldn't have made it without you."
Itsuka and Hitoshi exchanged a "is he for real?" look.
"Bullshit," the guy sighed, "you would have fit in any team."
"Yeah, we did great, and I know you wanted a mixed team... but I don't get why you needed us," the redhead added, uncrossing her arms to gesticulate.
"It's a matter of trust." Izuku knew that they would back down if asked, but he didn't see any reason not to continue. "Kendo, as representative, your class trusts you to always do your best and light the path ahead. Shinso, as the one with the clear mission of getting into the Hero Course no matter what, your course-mates trust you to do it first, so that they can follow. Mei, you're know to be a genius and a danger, but in science, if something can be done, it can be repeated."
"Yup," the girl nodded, "but I'd have to share a patent first, or some blueprints, or-"
Itsuka put a hand over her mouth, having learned from her mistakes in previous interactions.
"So, it wasn't just to make our classmates drop their guards?"
"On the contrary," Izuku responded, pointing an index upward. "If you're the best, others will strive to get on your level. They came at us harder because they knew we were offering the greatest challenge on the field."
"And those who didn't?" Hitoshi raised an eyebrow, though he was already partially convinced.
"Then they'll need to be reminded of our school's motto," he smirked.
"All of that work was for everybody else, uh?" Itsuka shook her head, unable to let go of her smile. "A really heroic mindset."
"I try," he shrugged. "Anyway, you guys hungry?"
"I am!" Mei jumped, skipping forward.
Hitoshi followed. "You're still crazy on my book though."
"And you owe me more lessons," Itsuka reminded him.
- As if I could forget. -
Notes:
I really like the constant back and forth between this may characters. I hope it's understandable enough.
And so, some interactions cross A and B start to happen... But way more on that later.
Out of the 80 participants, 40 were from Hero Course, 15 were from Support Course, and 25 from General Course.
For those that are curious, the team's complete order, with starting and ending scores, is:
Hitoshi*, Izuku, Mei, Itsuka - 10.000.820 - 10.000.875 P
Katsuki*, Eijiro, Hanta, Mina - 1425 - 3210 P
Shoto*, Tenya, Momo, Denki - 1375 - 2780 P
Reiko*, Ochaco, Fumikage, Yui - 1220 - 1790 P
Toru*, Koji, Kyoka, Setsuna - 1030 - 1670 P
Minoru*, Mezo, Tsu - 1180 - 1510 P
Tetsutetsu*, Juzo, Yosetsu, Ibara - 1465 - 1545 P
Nirengeki*, Pony, Togaru - 690 - 1075 P
Yuga* Rikido, Mashirao - 875 - 300 P
Hiryu*, Jurota - 505 - 300 P
Neito*, Kosei, Sen, Shirai - 1065 - X
Kinoko*, Kojiro, Manga - 720 - X
...everybody else
And there were also 110 points lost between the lower ranked teams.