Chapter 29 - Don't Hesitate! Overcoming the Odds!
Pure adrenaline surged through Tokoyami's body as the wave that was the first year of U.A. High's Students crashed through the rather cramped tunnel that led out towards the exit, voices crying out as everyone began to push each other, some making more headway than others. Shouji seemed lucky enough to have a height advantage, allowing him to push through, while Tokoyami, held up by his friend, was able to stay above the rabble.
"This is a tough first test," Shouji muttered to himself, slamming through a pair of students from the business course with relative ease.
Tokoyami, from his vantage point, could see they were luckily near the front of the pack. Most of Class 1-A seemed to be just ahead, with most of the other classes trailing along behind.
"We're almost there," He called down to Shouji.
"Is it almost time for me to come out?" Dark Shadow hissed quietly.
"That's right Dark Shadow. Although we need to conserve as much energy as possi-"
His thoughts were cut short when a shocked cry emanated from the back of the room. Suddenly, a familiar cold chill settled on his spine, hearing Shouji mutter, "Not this time."
As Tokoyami glanced backwards down the path they had come, he was met with the full blast of an ice cold wind, which he knew could only have come from one student, the one that had challenged Midoriya, the one that had exceeded expectations in class without so much of a smile.
The nimble form of Todoroki leapt forwards, passing by those who had ducked away from the ice, before speeding out into the light.
But he wasn't the only one. Momo leapt forwards, conjuring a pole from her Quirk to launch herself over the ice and ahead of the pack. Next, a beam of light shot forwards, Aoyama launching himself towards Todoroki with that trademark smile of his.
"We can't afford to fall behind," He muttered in annoyance. He hadn't planned on breaking out Dark Shadow so early, but Todoroki had left him with no choice. "Shouji, hold on!" He shouted, letting his power release for the first time since his training the week prior.
Dark Shadow burst forth from Tokoyami aggressively, slamming his claws into the ground with enough force to launch Tokoyami into the air, the boy holding on to Shouji to give him the extra traction to avoid Todoroki's onslaught of ice.
"Todoroki is freezing up the entire course!" Shouji shouted in shock, Tokoyami glancing ahead as Bakugo sped past him, explosions launching from his hands as he sped off towards the leader of the pack.
"Get back here you icy-hot bastard!" Bakugo roared, Kirishima leaping across behind with his hardening ability.
Mina and Mineta also were close behind, the former using the acid from her shoes to skate a path forwards while Mineta used the balls from his hair as bounce pads to keep himself moving.
"This is where you need to get moving," Shouji muttered, arm wrapping around Tokoyami's waist, the bird looking back at his friend in surprise. "This is just the qualifier. I'll see you later!"
Before Tokoyami could reply, he was span around and flung forwards by his friend, the momentum from his prior movements forcing him further ahead of the pack.
"Dark Shadow, brace for impact! He roared, his Quirk slamming into the ground to launch him again. They just needed to keep this up until Todoroki's icy movements were halted, although for now it seemed like it would be rough going for the pair.
Only as Mineta launched towards Todoroki ahead of them, that was when Tokoyami noticed something awful about to happen. He couldn't even cry out as the massive mechanical hand sprouted out of nowhere to slam into Mineta with devastating power, the grape boy flying backwards through the air where he glanced back to see Shouji catch him further back along the path.
Midoriya had come to a stop just behind him, a sharp intake of breath the only clue Tokoyami needed to be sure of what he was seeing.
"The Robots from the entrance exam," He growled, gritting his teeth. Those robots were the whole reason for him being at U.A. thanks to their deadly precision at almost killing Shouji two months prior.
"These things again? I want to smash them to bits," Dark Shadow grimaced, Tokoyami sharing the sentiment.
Although it seemed neither would get the opportunity as right in that moment, pillars of ice erupted from the ground, shattering across the forms of the 0 Point Robots in mere seconds, everyone gasping in surprise at the spectacle before them.
His eyes darted down to where Todoroki was standing, calm and collected as he sprinted ahead through the robots without a second thought. "Careful," He called back. "I froze those robots while they were off balance."
"He took them down like they were nothing," Kaminari muttered from his left side, dumbfounded.
Tokoyami too felt a wave of unease at that display, but this was a race and hesitation was not something they could afford.
Although he didn't expect the first person to sprint ahead. Kirishima had gone full sprint towards the robots, attempting to take the same path that Todoroki had first gone through. Only that was when Todoroki's warning came back to bite them.
The ice shattered, the robots crashing to the ground around the school. Mechanical screeches and the sound of metal slamming against metal, the earth crumbling around them, was the only thing Tokoyami could sense, and it seemed like absolutely everyone was stood still as Kirishima was engulfed by the remains of the robots.
"K-Kirishima?" He questioned in surprise.
Although being so close to the Robots had it's perks, for moments later, he could hear a scraping sound that sounded like movement. And then moments later, Kirishima, hardened from his Quirk, burst from the top of the robot, irritation etched across his face.
"Anyone else could have died from that, y'know."
Taking a relieved sigh, it was only then that he heard the telltale explosions of Bakugo Katsuki, who had begun to ascend the wreckage on his own, furious beyond belief.
"Oh no you don't," He grimaced. "We need to climb!"
"On it," Dark Shadow replied, launching his shadowy arms up towards the top of the Robot. It was at times like these that he was glad that his Quirk was so versitile, launching up into the air beside Sero, who had taped his way up towards the top of the Robot as well.
"Looks like I'll just catch a ride on my Dark Shadow," Tokoyami called out to Bakugo, who sneered at the pair of them.
"You don't scare me, bird fucker!" Bakugo roared back, launching forwards towards the ground.
"Alright, let's land," He called out to his Quirk, Dark Shadow nodding in reply as they launched themselves forwards after the current leaders.
He just needed to stay ahead.
"We can't afford to be left behind!" Shouji called out, glancing around at some of his classmates who were nearby. Uraraka and Kouda were the closest, while Midoriya was slightly behind them, but one thing was for certain - Unlike those from the other classes, the Class 1-A students were more than happy to press on without hesitation.
He dodged out of the way of a smaller robot's attack, noticing that many of the one, two and three point Robots had begun to swamp the field in an attempt to slow down some of the students.
He threw a fist out to slam the robot nearest him away, using his two left arms to grapple another and toss it to the wayside. His feet were moving along the dirt path as he saw his opening through the mechanical beasts, tearing his way through until he was safely on the other side.
"Release," He heard a feminine voice mutter nearby, glancing to his right to see Uraraka had just dropped a heap of robots through her Quirk.
"Nice job," He commented as they both began to race on ahead after those in the lead.
"Thanks Shouji, we've gotta get through this, no matter what," She replied, determination lighting up her eyes as she sprinted on ahead to catch up to Tsuyu and Mina, who were both jogging further along.
Glancing back, Kouda was next to run up alongside Shouji, giving the taller boy a small wave as he passed.
"Glad to see you're holding up, Kouda," Shouji stated, giving the smaller boy a thumbs up. Kouda looked away bashfully before moving on ahead to catch up with the rest of the race.
Shouji, having spent enough time jogging to regain some of his stamina, began to pick up the pace, but not before he noticed the sound of metal scratching dirt, glancing to his side to see the rather determined frame of Midoriya coming into view.
"You like fired up," Shouji commented, keeping pace with the black haired hero.
"So do you," Midoriya replied, gritting through his teeth as he continued to move forwards with that massive chunk of metal. A make-shift shield of sorts or so Shouji guessed. "I'm surprised you haven't gone ahead. You're strong, Shouji, and I figured you'd want to stick with Tokoyami."
"I wanted to ensure that none of us were left behind," He replied firmly, although that wasn't entirely the case given he was certain that Kaminari and Jirou were still behind them. Midoriya quizzically stared at the taller boy as they continued running, as if seeing through his words in an instant. "You especially, Midoriya."
Izuku seemed surprised at that, his movement faltering slightly as they rounded a bend that lead closer to the second trial. "Me especially?"
"It's not that you're weak or anything of the sort. I just want to ensure you can fulfill your duty to All Might. I heard from Tokoyami that he wanted you to assert your presence at the Festival." Shouji noticed that Midoriya's determination seemed to double at those words, confirming his thoughts. Midoriya was definitely in it to win it right now.
"Heh," Midoriya chuckled. "Thanks for the concern then Shouji," Midoriya grinned. "Although there's no need to worry about me. I can handle this."
Shouji couldn't help but let out a small chuckle in return. "I'll be sure to remember that, Midoriya. Honestly, I'm just hoping that Tokoyami is faring well. Between Toko and you, I've got a lot of work cut out for me."
"You shouldn't have to shoulder our burdens, Shouji," Midoriya replied as they began to approach the crowd of people who were looking out at the second obstacle that they had yet to see.
"I want to, though," The taller boy replied, leaving Midoriya speechless through Shouji's humility. It was certainly something that the younger boy could relate to, that need to help others that was at the core of their job.
Their conversation petered off as they approached the second Trial, having completely missed whatever explanation Present Mic had given them. Instead, they could see a massive pit and many islands tethered together by ropes. It seemed that falling, as he saw one person from the general studies course do, was enough to get you eliminated from the race.
"It looks like I'll have to attempt my latest technique," Shouji stated, crouching downwards for a moment.
"New technique?" Midoriya asked, head tilted curiously as he looked at his friend with analytical eyes.
"I've figured out how to glide," He announced, launching himself upwards into the air with a serious amount of force, spreading his arms out like a paraglider. He could feel the wind rushing into his face as he soared higher up until he felt upwards movement halt.
And then the descent began, slow yet steady, as he aimed for the other side of the large pit of islands, marveling in that his newest technique had actually worked as anticipated. Secretly, he was hoping that someone out there was watching him, seeing him make great strides with his Quirk.
He glanced back to see Midoriya now hurrying along the ropes himself, trying to catch up with the rest of the pack.
"Good luck," He called back, the smaller boy giving him a wide grin. Even now, Midoriya was still smiling, a trait he'd picked up from All Might, he was sure.
As Shouji finally felt himself touch back onto hard rock, he was relieved to find that his stunt had managed to get him past a majority of the students still stuck on the race course, moving ahead to see if he could catch up to the top of the back. He was certain Midoriya could cope, but even so he felt himself glance back again at the student with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
And Midoriya continued to chug along, fiercely scrambling across the ropes with a conviction that Shouji had seen both in Midoriya and in Tokoyami.
With that look in his mind, he continued to move along, hoping to secure a good spot in the race.
"A minefield?" Tokoyami hissed, slowly stepping over some clearly marked potholes in an attempt to avoid the onslaught of bright pink smoke that had enveloped some of the other students further back. "This gives everyone else a chance to catch up to the leaders."
He had raced through the second obstacle without much thought, Dark Shadow propelling him across the pits without needing to even touch one of the ropes, although he imagined some of his classmates would struggle without any way to fly or launch themselves across. And when he had caught up with the third obstacle, it was just the leaders of the pack ahead.
Todoroki was still much further ahead than the rest of the group, while two of Class 1-B's students, a girl with green vine-like hair and a boy with a skeletal looking face were much further ahead than he would have liked. But overall, everyone was cautiously trying to get through the minefield without setting off any of the traps beneath.
Though that brief moment of peace was broken when he heard a loud explosion rocket past him, eyes widening, feathers bristling from the recoil as Bakugo sped past him like a bat straight out of hell. He could hear the angry roar of the boy as Bakugo slammed into Todoroki, starting what seemed like a battle between those in second place.
"His Quirk is rather strong," He heard Dark Shadow comment, noticing that Dark Shadow seemed a little unnerved by the light of Bakugo's explosions.
"No matter, we need to press on," Tokoyami muttered, picking up the pace as he saw that the leaders at the top of the pack had now started to full on sprint.
A moment later, Iida sped past, setting off landmines left and right in an attempt to catch up to the leaders, however even for his speed, Iida was still being overwhelmed by the pink explosions, Tokoyami watching as the man tripped forwards before being completely engulfed.
"Keep moving," He muttered to himself, moving as fast as he could without tripping off the mines. He was slowly gaining on Iida, the Class 1-B students and Bakugo and Todoroki, but unless something happened, he didn't think he'd have a chance to catch up further.
So naturally that was when all hell broke loose.
It started with the loud crashing explosion that rippled through the start of the obstacle course, pink dust flying up like a mushroom cloud, students screaming in horror, Dark Shadow shrinking back because of the intense light that had just come out of nowhere. "What on eart-" His words caught in his throat as his eyes caught a glimpse of what had caused such a massive explosion.
There, flying through the air, sailing over the heads of the rest of the competition, Tokoyami could see the intense face of Izuku Midoriya, speeding through the air on what looked like a piece of broken shrapnel.
And that was what spurred him into motion. "Dark Shadow, launch us upwards!" He shouted, his Quirk obeying, albeit reluctantly, launching Tokoyami forwards into the air. He could see those ahead of him had been spurred into motion, but it was as Midoriya began to descend between Todoroki and Bakugo's battle that everything changed.
Midoriya flipped himself around, slamming the board into the field, pink dust exploding into existence as Midoriya was launched forwards with a roar. But it was Todoroki now forming an ice path ahead that gave him the traction he needed to move forwards, realizing that his friend had managed to fluster both Bakugo and Todoroki in one fell swoop, the duo now completely focused on Midoriya and nobody else.
Eyes widening at the advantage Todoroki was leaving behind, his eyes darted down. "To the ice!" He shouted, Dark Shadow lurching forwards towards the icy terrain to give them a safe landing, landing with a brief slip as Dark Shadow wrapped around him to center his field of gravity.
In that moment, it seemed like all the students had launched forwards with fervor, but Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki were all too far ahead. No matter, just qualifying would be enough to keep him in the Festival, so with as much force as he could muster, he sprinted forwards towards the stadium, where he could see people on either side of him.
The two Class 1-B students were a few paces ahead, Iida scrambling on his right side, struggling to move forwards after his contact with the bombs, while he could hear the familiar whistle of Sero's tape behind him, dirt kicking up into the air as the students ferociously sped towards the finish line.
He sprinted into the dark tunnel leading to the stadium's inner courtyard, Dark Shadow letting loose some extra power from the darkness, as Iida burst forwards with surprising speed, Tokoyami pushing at the ground with his Quirk to keep up with the Class President.
"Keep going!" He called out to his Quirk loudly, noticing Sero right behind him through the corner of his eye, determination etched across his features as he tried to get past Tokoyami.
But just like their first battle on their first day of battle training, Tokoyami was ready, Dark Shadow lurching to the side to cut off the tape just as Sero launched forwards, causing the tape boy to stop just short of the finish, Tokoyami sprinting into the light to claim whatever spot he had obtained.
As he heard the cheers from the stadium erupting around him, he collapsed to the grass, unable to hear Present Mic's call-outs as he caught back his breath, Dark Shadow receding back into his body to rest for the moment. They had used more power than intended, but he still had more in the tank, thank goodness.
Glacing at those who had finished, he spotted Midoriya a short distance away, tears in his eyes, while Bakugo was fuming silently off to the left. Todoroki was standing alone, serious as ever, although his eyes were fixed on Midoriya.
One look at the screens around the stadium confirmed the thought that had began to run through his mind. Midoriya had claimed first place.
"Midoriya," He called out, walking towards the black haired boy who was looking extremely overwhelmed at his placement.
Midoriya turned when he heard his name, his shocked face turning into a beaming smile as he spotted Tokoyami just a short distance away. "I can't believe it," He muttered happily. "I just got really lucky but first place-"
"Deku, you did amazing!" A female voice called out, Uraraka speeding towards the pair, Tsuyu, Shouji and Kouda walking along behind her. He could see Iida absolutely exhausted on the grass behind them. "I can't believe it, first place!"
"I-I was just lucky, that's all," Midoriya sheepishly grinned.
"Luck had nothing to do with it, Midoriya," Shouji muttered quietly. "You were determined through the whole race and your planning allowed you to overcome the odds."
"Not to mention, beat Todoroki and Bakugo down," Tokoyami chuckled darkly, the group glancing over to the fuming Bakugo who was cursing to a nervous looking Kirishima, while Todoroki was now deep in thought, a few paces away. "Did all of Class 1-A qualify?"
As if answering their question - "And in fourty-second place, the final qualifying student, Yuga Aoyama, which means that the entirety of Class 1-A has qualified!" Present Mic roared out to the stadium, followed by Aizawa muttering a quiet, "Looks like I don't have to expel any of them."
Class 1-A all let out nervous chuckles at that, all of them glancing over at Aoyama who looked completely wasted, clutching his stomach while keeling over on the ground.
"Glad to see you both made it, and in the top ten as well," Shouji muttered as the class broke off into their usual groups, Midoriya and Tokoyami both nodding at his words. "And you as well Kouda, how did you fare without any animals?"
Kouda nervously looked away, glancing towards the ground until a voice said, "I helped him out."
"You helped Kouda, Jirou?" Tokoyami asked, turning to the purple haired girl, who was fiddling with her ear jacks.
Kouda nodded quickly, giving a grateful look towards the girl, who shrugged. "It was nothing."
The rest of the students began to pile in now, Present Mic announcing the eliminations as they entered, Tokoyami decided to block it out for the moment. In a few minutes, they'd be given their second task and while the Obstacle Course Race was a fairly quick affair, he had a feeling that whatever the school had planned next would be much more challenging than before.
"Are you still nervous?" Shouji asked him gently.
"Of course," He muttered, adding a, "But that won't stop me from giving it my all."
"Good to hear," The taller boy replied. "You'll have some stiff competition going ahead."
"Only sixteen qualify after this..." Tokoyami muttered once more. "I have to be one of them."
He had to be.
