CHAPTER 15 – Cavalry Battle Pt. 1

Nanami hadn't fainted but her vision was blurry. She could make out that she had crossed the finishing line, but she didn't have the strength to get up. After some time, she could feel that she was being lifted on a stretcher, but she was still too exhausted to get up and look around. Soon, she was at the same bed she was at after the Entrance exam, though she could now get up, she still felt tired.

Recovery Girl was waiting near her bed and told her to rest and then switched on the Television.

"There is a delay of few seconds on the live broadcast", said Recovery Girl.

Most students were yet to finish the race, but it seemed like the first 42 to have made it were selected for the next round. However, it was yet to be announced as to what the next round would be. Nanami suddenly felt a pinch on her hand, as recovery girl swiftly pulled out a bandage, which somehow made her feel less tired than before!

"So, can I go now? I'm really sorry that I had to bother you twice in such a short period of time!"

"Oh, it's alright. Also, just drink this before you leave.", Recovery girl said while giving her something which looked like a Lemonade. "By the way, there is someone in 1-A who ends up her a lot more often than you!"

"Well I guess I'm finally glad about not being first in something", she said as she proceeded to gulp down the lemonade like drink. It tasted good and was surprisingly rejuvenating! With that, she was ready to face the next round of the event!

"This girl does heal quite fast!", Recovery Girl mentally noted before carrying on with her work.

When the next round was announced to be the cavalry battle, given the pointwise worth of Izuku Midoriya, everyone was eyeing him! But given that it was very unpleasant for her, Nanami sought out to create her team but with a different plan altogether.

"Kendo(K), Ibara(I) and Tetsutetsu(T), I have a plan!"

I: "You can rely on me for assistance."

T: "I'm in!"

K: "So what's the plan?"

T: "I'm assuming we'll go after number one!"

N(Nanami): "I'm sorry to disappoint, but we won't. That'd be very stupid. But this plan hinges on the fact that we'd start in the top 4 positions, even 5th works but I'd prefer top 4."

K: "We start with 620 points. Midoriya is obviously first. Seems like Todoroki has also made his team."

T: "Who?"

K: "The guy who finished second place. Setsuna told me his name and it is also on the leaderboard. His team seems to have 610 points."

T: "That calculation was fast."

N: "What about Bakougo?"

I: "I don't think his team is ready."

K: "Still the worst case would be that they have more points than us, we'll certainly start top 4. So, what is your plan Nanami?"

N: "Since most people will go for the first position team, we go after them since their guards would be down..."

T: "That is exactly what Monoma planned!"

N: "That shouldn't stop us from doing that... Wait how did you know?"

T: "He deduced that the second round would be a team-up battle..."

N: "Wow... I. Anyway, but there is another thing he can't do! Other than us and the first position team, there would be 2 other teams will be in top 4. We let them all have at each other at the end! Any exchange in points amongst them would mean only 3 teams would be above us, while we take out all the other teams! Besides most other teams are comprised of people we know, so no surprises from there."

I: "That seems like a good plan. A little undignified, but we shall show our splendour and beauty in the next round! However, what positions are we to take in this battle?"

N: "Um... Right. Tetsutetsu you will be at the front to take on frontal attacks! Kendo takes the right shoulder and scout the situation, if it seems like a bad matchup, you'll pivot and put me on that side as I'll be on the left. Ibara you'll be the rider! Since the other bands will have to be put around your neck, we can't do much about it, but our 620 point band on your head, need to be protected so that even you can't take it out easily. I'm sorry I don't know how painful it can even be, but you must do it, we are counting on you!"

Everyone on the team was confident about this plan. Kendo's prediction was correct too, as only Midoriya and Bakougo's team was ahead of them at the start and they were to start at the 3rd position! There was a total of 11 teams1

"No hard feelings, Tetsutetsu!", said Monoma just before the start!

As expected almost everyone went after Midoriya's team! Except for Nanami and Monoma's teams that is. Monoma managed to snatch Hagakure's points in the initial confusion of chasing Midoriya, while Ibara sneakily managed to take away Mineta's team points without them noticing it!

But this didn't faze most teams, everyone still went after Midoriya, even Mineta/Shoji/Tsuyu's team, who had now been reduced to 0 points without them realizing it, was going after the 1st position! After all, the 10 million points would have been enough to win!

However, despite being arguably the smartest participant on the field Monoma was acting based on his emotions i.e. his immense hatred for section A! As a result, he only went after section A teams. However, Nanami's wasn't out for revenge, she just wanted to reach the next round with her team!

Her team stealthily followed around Todoroki's team, after all for their plan to work, the top 4 teams needed to maintain their position on top of keeping the 1st position distracted! Soon, Todoroki ordered Kaminari to shock everyone pursuing them, so that he can follow up and freeze them. But, Ibara's Vines guarded her team against the shock. Since most other teams were shocked by Kaminari, they also ended up being frozen and immobilized! In this ruckus, Nanami's team snatched a few points before Todoroki could. However, Todoroki was aiming for the 'undisputable first position', he ignored Nanami's team, especially since Ibara could easily ground any shocks from Kaminari! As Todoroki cornered Midoriya, he blocked out all other teams with a wall of ice and trapped Midoriya at the same time.

This did not concern Nanami's team as this was what they had hoped for! Since most other teams were immobilised by Todoroki's ice, Nanami's task was now even easier. They were already set for the next round with 1205 points and the remaining points, which had not been cut off by the ice, could not be redistributed such that 2 teams would get more points than them, it was just a game of defending now... At least that would have been the case if they took the most sensible approach!

FOOTNOTES:

In the anime, there were 12 teams, 2 of 3 members and 2 of 2 members. However, since I changed the teams a bit, I merged the teams of 2 into one for this event.