Deku has to wonder how their team had managed to make it to the finals of this tournament, since they could barely even stand each other. Sure, four of them could work together well enough, and they had assumed from the start that Kacchan would always be rushing right in to blow things up and were thus able to back him up fairly well, but it wasn't really teamwork. It was just four of them revolving around Kacchan, and Deku thinks that if it was a team of villains out to kill them all rather than frightened teams of trainee heroes, they would fail. They could be a really strong group. But right now, they're just a group composed of strong members.

They've just had one of their last practice sessions, and things had not gone well. The goal of the practice had been simple: retrieve a bracelet from principal Nezu. It had ended with Deku, Todoroki, and Kacchan getting into a heated argument that Nezu had taken advantage of. He'd rigged up a booby trap to capture the three of them and then set up more traps so Uraraka and Yaoyorozu couldn't come to the rescue. They'd reached the time limit for their practice, and Deku had spent more than half that time roped together with an irate Kacchan and a sulking Todoroki, and he kinda hated his life right about now.

After they've been lectured for almost half an hour by principal Nezu and Aizawa-sensei, they are finally released for free time, and Deku goes straight back to his room to shower. He tries to think of what exactly had gone wrong during practice: obviously Kacchan's tendency to completely ignore everyone else was a huge problem, but Deku could have done better too since he'd slipped three times on Todoroki's ice, and Todoroki had mispositioned himself and gotten into Kacchan's way, and no one had even tried to utilize Uraraka's quirk, and Yaoyorozu had spent too much time yelling at Kacchan to fall back instead of trying to help. There were a lot of things that could be better.

Deku takes his time in the shower, letting the icy water wash away the frustration he felt with his team. They were students of Yuuei Academy. They were better than this, and it was time they showed it.

After drying off and getting dressed, Deku isn't sure what to do with himself. Out of habit he grabs a hand weight and starts to lift it, but then he notices the packet on the floor in front of his door. He puts the weight down. This is it. The winner of the other semi-final match has been decided, and they have their opponents for the finals. He goes to the door and picks up the packet with shaking hands, but before he can see more than the name of the opposing team on the first page- Team Voltron- someone knocks on his door. He absently fumbles with the knob, opening it as he notices that their opponents come from a school called the Lion Academy over in Arus. It takes Deku a moment to remember where Arus is: it's not too far away, but it's so small it's hard to find on any map and easy to forget.

A hand grabs Deku's wrist.

"Come on," Kacchan growls, and Deku pales as he is dragged from his room. He just manages to pull his door shut behind him before he is being tugged, packet still in hand, down the hall and down the stairs to the dorm's common area.

"Sit," Kacchan orders. Deku does, because at times like this when he is surprised, the years and years of being weak and unable to fight back since he had no quirk take over and he freezes in fear. Kacchan leaves the room, and Deku looks around wildly. He's on a couch facing a blank screen. There is a remote on the arm rest. No one else is in the room.

What could Kacchan want. Does Kacchan blame him for things going wrong in practice today? It would be like Kacchan to do that, he's always hated Deku and been only too happy to make Deku the scapegoat for all his problems. Perhaps Deku should run away. But that might just be delaying the inevitable, and it wouldn't solve the problem of their shitty teamwork, perhaps if he faces Kacchan calmly they can work things out but no, Kacchan isn't one to ever take a peaceful solution when a simple explosion can handle things more to his satisfaction-

"Will you shut the fuck up already? You're making me sound like some kind of psychopath!" Kacchan snaps. He's back, and flanked by the rest of their team, who all look less than thrilled to be there.

"You mean you aren't?" Yaoyorozu asks.

"Kidnapping us for unknown reasons does seem pretty psychotic," Todoroki agrees.

"Guys, please don't," Deku squeaks.

"I haven't kidnapped anyone! You can leave whenever. But if you guys don't like whatever strategy I come up with to fight this team, then you had better keep your mouths shut, assholes!" Kacchan snaps, brandishing his own copy of the information packet Deku has. Everyone starts to stare that Kacchan of all people is talking about strategy. But then they remember that being stared at will probably piss him off, and so they all quickly avert their eyes.

"Oh, are we having a strategy meeting then?" Uraraka asks. She pulls out her own packet. With twin sighs, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu do the same. The three of them sit as well.

"Why else would I get all the footage of their past battles so we could watch it together? It's not like I actually like you shitheads," Kacchan grumbles, grabbing the remote and powering up the TV screen. A frozen scene of one of the tournament arenas blossoms into view.

"Good call," Uraraka says, ever the friendly one. "From what I saw in the packet before you showed up, they mostly don't have very impressive quirks, so I really want to see how they use them in battle to have won so much."

Deku quickly opens his packet to take a look at what their quirks are. For some reason, the hero names of the opposing team are all colors: Black, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green. Black's quirk is called insta-leap, and apparently allows him to leap to any location within sight so that he will arrive in a fraction of a second regardless of distance. It sounds like teleportation to Deku, and not very strong teleportation at that. Red's quirk is lava: he can turn any surface into lava. Blue's quirk is ice whip, and he can produce whips made of ice that freeze whatever they touch. And since the whips come from his body he can move them as he pleases, changing directions at whim. Green's quirk is called network vines. Apparently he- she? They? Green's gender is indeterminate from the information they've been given- can produce vines that can pick up electric impulses. And last is yellow, who's quirk gives Deku pause.

The quirk is called earthshaker, and by itself doesn't seem like much. Yellow can move the ground however he wants, albeit no more than approximately 1.75 times his weight at once. However, his weight is given, and the amount of earth he can move at once is over 500lbs. And since Red can turn the ground into lava, they could create a lava wall.

"Todoroki, do you think that you could maybe freeze any lava Red creates?" Deku asks.

"I'm not sure. It depends on how hot it is I guess," Todoroki says. "If it's above a certain temperature, the amount of ice I'd need to use would be over my limit."

"Speaking of ice, don't you think the ice whips will be a problem?" Uraraka asks.

"Uraraka, I can also produce fire," Todoroki says.

"Plus if I can blast out of Todoroki's ice I can probably blast out of this guy's ice as well," Kacchan says dismissively. "Assuming he can hit me that is. If it's me or Deku, we're probably fast enough to evade him."

This time they all manage to catch themselves before they start to stare. Did Kacchan just say something that might even be considered nice about Deku?

"What worries me is that we don't know how far Red can extend his quirk," Yaoyorozu says. "For all we know, he could make the whole arena into a giant lava field. We'll probably need Uraraka to make us weightless so we can stay airborne above it. And if his area of influence is that big, Uraraka would have to stay back with me to make anything I create weightless too. We'll also have to practice a bit to see if the objects I create weigh me down before they are completed, and figure out how to deal with that."

"Maybe if we watch we can work out a more in-depth counterplan," Deku suggests, and the others nod in agreement. Kacchan presses another button on the remote, and they begin to watch the footage.

Far too many of the battles are short. As in, they barely last seconds. But those ones are absolutely vital information, as they discover that Black is the one they really need to watch out for. He uses his quirk to reach key players of the other team and take them out before they can even join in on the action. After that, things are mostly settled by Red and Blue. In fact, Green and Yellow do very little. Yellow tends to hang back with Green, only ever taking part at the end of the battles to assist with captures. The only time they see Green do anything is in a battle against someone with invisibility, when Green somehow manages to locate the invisible attacker and direct the team to capture them.

Based on what they've seen, they can make a few assumptions: Black will almost certainly make the first attack, and it will most likely be against Kacchan, though Deku and Todoroki are also at risk. Red will try to limit their mobility with his lava. And Blue will likely try to freeze them once the lava field is in effect since they will have to avoid the lava and will be more open to other forms of attack.

After a while, they have their strategy planned out. It's fairly simple. Uraraka will make everyone weightless, and then Todoroki, Deku, and Kacchan will all go on the offensive, Deku making a straightforward attack and Kacchan and Todoroki attacking from above. Yaoyorozu will stay back and create some items for capturing the other team, and once those are ready, Kacchan, who will have the best mobility while weightless, will fall back and collect the capture items, and go in for the coup de grace. Once the plan is ready, they split up again to rest up for the tournament. They will have one last day to practice, and then the day after tomorrow they will face off against team Voltron.

x

If there is any one flaw in the character of Takashi Shirogane, known to his friends and teachers as Shiro, it is his sheer niceness. He insists on sportsmanship, and fairness. Which is really annoying when his ability to use his quirk makes things automatically unfair.

It is this aspect of Shiro's character that has them seeking out the team from Yuuei Academy in the cafeteria.

"Pidge, can't you just use your quirk and find them for us?" Lance whines.

"Lance, for the last time, it's almost impossible for me to use my vines in crowded indoor places like this," Pidge explains.

"Besides, I've just spotted them. Let's go," Shiro says. He leads the way over to a group of students, among whom are the five they will be facing off against tomorrow. They take note of their soon-to-be-opponents as they approach. The most noticeable is Bakugou Katsuki, mostly because he is currently yelling curse words at the top of his lungs. Across the table and a few seats down, Midoriya Izuku is flinching away. Next to him, Uraraka Ochako is laughing understandingly. A few seats to Midoriya's other side is Yaoyorozu Momo, who is eating dessert and clearly enjoying it. And last but not least is Todoroki Shouto, sitting on the end of the bench and staring at his food with apparent disinterest.

"Excuse me," Shiro says, approaching the table. Everyone at the table looks up, and Bakugou's lip curls back in a snarl. "Hi, I'm Black from team Voltron, and these are my teammates, Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green. We came to say hi since we'll be facing your team in the finals tomorrow."

"Hooo, staking out the competition? Heh heh heh," Uraraka says, a glint in her eye.

"Ah, n-n-nice to meet you!" Midoriya says, standing up and bowing.

"Well this is unexpected," Yaoyorozu says. She looks mildly concerned. And for good reason, as the guy who was sitting next to Bakugou is currently holding him down with a hand clamped over his mouth, but it seems unlikely that he can last like that given the amount of struggling Bakugou is doing.

Todoroki continues playing with his food, seeming rather apathetic.

"Hey, is it true that All Might teaches at your school?" Lance asks accusingly, shoving past Shiro.

"Yeah, he helps teach our heroics classes," someone at the table answers.

"Cool!" Lance exclaims. So does Hunk, who joins Lance, moving a lot faster than one would expect from a guy of his size.

"Can you guys get us his autograph?" Hunk asks. "We're huuuuuge fans."

"Emphasis on the huge," someone at the table mutters.

"Lance, Hunk, will you two stop fanboying already?" Keith snaps. "We're just here for a greeting."

"Maybe you are, but these guys know All Might! All Might!" Lance argues back.

"Hold on a sec- you- you look familiar," Hunk says, peering at Bakugou. "Just a moment…" Hunk reaches out and readjusts the hand that is clamped over Bakugou's mouth. "There! I thought so! Lance, look!"

"Holy cow! You're that guy from that one incident! With the slime guy?"

Bakugou begins to struggle more violently, and the guy holding him is almost thrown off, but Lance pays them no mind and instead continues talking.

"And All Might came and just blew him away, and- wow dude, you're like totally cool man! Like, you had no training, and that slime guy was just all over you and you weren't giving in and that was just so rad. Even if All Might hadn't come along, you might have been able to handle that guy by yourself, even though all those pros could do nothing. To think, we actually get to face off against a guy like you. This is gonna be amazing." Lance sighs dreamily. Bakugou, meanwhile, becomes oddly subdued as Lance begins to sing his praise.

"U-u-um, excuse me, but um, Green-san? Would you mind telling us more about your quirk? The information we were given was pretty vague," Midoriya asks. Everyone turns to stare at him, except Pidge, who adjusts their glasses and gives him an even look before responding.

"Sure thing. As it says in your information packets, I have a bunch of vines in my body that can detect and send electric impulses. To put it in simpler terms, I'm a hacker. I do best with technology, but I can use my vines for communication and detection. And, theoretically, I might be able to hack a person as well, but I've never tried it because, you know, that's totally a villain thing and also it would be a very slow process and so the subject would almost definitely notice unless they were in a coma."

"Pidge!" Keith protests. "Why are you giving information to our enemies!"

"Well it's not like my quirk is particularly suited to combat. My vines are too thin to really do much, and a lot of the ways I could use them to fight are ineffective unless I have lots of time, which, generally speaking, in combat situations, you don't have lots of time."

"Besides, Keith, we're here for sportsmanship. Answering questions regarding our quirks is only fair," Shiro says. The entire team has to suppress eye rolls.

"And now that I look about it, aren't you the kid who ran in to try and help in that incident?" Hunk asks, peering at Midoriya this time. "The one who was pretty much useless?"

"Oh wow. Running in to help a friend even when you can't really do much, you guys must be bestest buddies like me and Hunk," Lance says.

"Ha!" laughs the guy holding Bakugou. "More like worst enemies. Bakugou and Midoriya can hardly stand each other!"

"Um, Kirishima-kun? Don't you think you can let go of Bakugou-kun now?" Uraraka asks.

"Y-yeah. Before he gets really pissed," Midoriya agrees.

"Huh? Oh. Right," Kirishima says, and releases Bakugou, who turns and snarls at him "Idiot, did you seriously forget you were holding me down?!"

"So, you two don't get along?" Lance asks Midoriya, who shakes his head.

"We're more like… hm, maybe rivals?" Midoriya tells Lance.

"Oh, like me and Keith! I mean Red. His real name's Keith. And he is such a jerk. Like, totally lame-o. You really ought to be glad you're not stuck on a team with him."

"Lance, how would you like your clothes to become lava," Keith growls.

"See what I mean?" Lance stage-whispers to Midoriya. "Total hothead. The. Worst."

"Well, anyway, we should really get going," Shiro says. "We just wanted to stop by and say hi and let's have a good match tomorrow. May the best team win." He nods a farewell and heads off, his team following, except for Lance who calls after them "Wait, but I still haven't gotten an answer about getting All Might's autograph!" Hunk starts to turn as if to double back and wait as well, but Shiro stops him by clamping a hand on his shoulder, and Keith turns around and stalks back to Lance, getting behind Lance and pushing him after the others.

Behind them, the members of Yuuei Academy's representative team stare after them, surprised to see another team that's intermember dynamics are almost as bad as theirs.

x

Practice goes well, for once. They mostly work on their weightless maneuvering, and soon learn that things work best when Todoroki creates large chunks of ice for Uraraka to make weightless as well, giving them something to bounce off of. Yaoyorozu can also create objects to help in this regard, but it tends to take her a bit longer. At the end of the day, none of them have gotten into a shouting match, and they actually feel like a team for once. They're gonna win tomorrow. They just know it.

They all go to bed early, since the match is a morning one, and they want to be well-rested. But Deku does not sleep. At first he is too hot so he takes off his blanket, but then he is too cold, so he puts it back on, but then he starts to feel uncomfortable so he readjusts, but then he has an itch that is driving him nuts, and after he scratches that he feels uncomfortable again, and he's barely readjusted when he decides he wants some water, but five minutes after getting the water he needs to pee, and after that he realizes he is just too wide awake, and decides to go for a walk. He heads downstairs, but before he can head outside he sees the back of a familiar spiky-haired head standing in the kitchen of the dorm.

"Kacchan?" he asks, uncertain whether or not he should be concerned.

Kacchan jumps slightly, then lifts an arm slightly in acknowledgment, not turning around.

"What are you doing still awake?" Deku asks, walking over to join him.

"Making tea. And you? I thought I told you all to get your rest." Kacchan stares fixedly at the electric kettle on the counter in front of him, as if trying to get the water inside to heat up faster.

"I was going to go for a walk since I can't sleep."

"You trying to get busted for going out after curfew? You could get us disqualified like that you shitty nerd. Besides, physical activity will only stimulate the brain and keep you awake. I'll make more tea for you."

"Doesn't tea have caffeine though?"

"It's camomile, dumbass. It's soothing."

"O-oh. Thanks."

Kacchan prepares a second mug and tea bag, and when the water is ready he pours it in the two mugs. Deku reaches to take his but Kacchan slaps his hand away with a glare. It's the first eye contact they've made this conversation.

"Give it time to steep. It doesn't become tea the moment you immerse the bag in the water."

It suddenly occurs to Deku that Kacchan might secretly be some sort of tea connoisseur. He's known this guy since they were young, and yet he barely knows him at all. It's kinda weird.

A couple minutes tick by in silence, and then Kacchan pulls out the tea bags and drops them in the trash. He hands Deku one of the mugs and heads out to the common area, sitting down on one of the couches and placing his mug on a coffee table. Deku follows, sitting at a chair that is facing the same coffee table but is perpendicular to the couch. He holds onto his mug a bit longer, not quite ready to drink it but not wanting to put it down.

"Nerves?" Kacchan says suddenly, and Deku jumps, nearly spilling his tea on himself. He quickly puts the mug down now.

"Huh?" he asks intelligently.

"You said you couldn't sleep. Was it because of nerves?"

"Oh. No, not really. I was just having a hard time settling down."

"I guess that makes sense. You always do that damn muttering when you're nervous."

"Ah, yeah, I guess I do. Though I never really notice until someone points it out…" Deku laughs nervously. It may not have been nerves keeping him awake, but he was certainly nervous now. Kacchan had a way of making him feel that way.

"No shit," Kacchan agrees.

"And what about you? Why weren't you in bed?" Deku asks. Kacchan looks away, as if the courtyard visible opposite Deku is fascinating. It is rather lovely in the moonlight, but it's not quite that interesting as Kacchan seems to think at the moment.

Deku's about to sigh and say that Kacchan doesn't have to tell him when Kacchan speaks up.

"Nerves," he says lowly.

"You're nervous?" Deku asks, surprised.

"Yes, I'm fucking nervous, alright? That guy, Black, what am I supposed to do if he does come after me? You saw the footage. Every time he used his quirk against someone, they were down for the count. He knows what he's doing. He's good at it. And I don't know if I can counter that. I don't know if any of us can. He moves faster than a person can react. Faster than you, even. What are we supposed to do against him?"

"We're supposed to win. That's all, isn't it? If anyone can find a way to beat someone unbeatable, it's you. After all, you're trying to be a hero who can beat anyone, right?"

"Yeah... And if I mess up then you better be there to help out since you want to be a hero who can rescue everyone. Not that I'll ever need rescuing. But if my place is beating everyone up than yours is to make sure I can keep doing that always. You got that?"

"Yeah. I got it." Deku goes and sips his tea. It's still a little hot, and he scalds his tongue a bit, but it's nice. Soothing, like Kacchan said.

"How's the tea?" Kacchan asks.

"It's good."

"Good."

They say nothing else as they finish their tea. But as they return to their rooms, Deku can't help but feel a little proud of the fact that Kacchan just confided in him. He feels a lot better relying on Kacchan to bring them to victory, knowing that Kacchan relies a bit on him as well.