Chapter 25- Cavalry Battle: Part 1

Midnight had been expressing her usual… personality quirks while drumming up suspense for the next game, and watching a Pro Hero act like a daytime television presenter while making gestures with a whip was certainly a surreal experience. Once everyone was gathered, Midnight gestured to a large screen that showed a spinning wheel, each segment of the wheel contained writing that must have been the names for the various games that we might be subjected to. The wheel eventually stopped spinning and landed on a certain segment labelled 'Cavalry Battle', which incited a storm of muttering from the crowd and the assorted students.

The premise behind the Cavalry Battle was fairly simple, teams of two to four students would form consisting of one 'rider' and one to three 'horses', and each team would be given a headband that was worth the points total of the team members. The game would run for ten minutes, and the objective was to grab the headbands of other teams to gain their points, and the totals would be put together at the end of the game to give the teams their score. The top four teams would move onto the next round of the tournament, with more places open to the teams below if the winning teams contained fewer than four people.

The stipulations of the game were interesting, Quirks were fully permitted and unrestricted, though it was forbidden to attack other teams with the intent of knocking the rider off of the horse. The rider could move freely from the horses, but their team would be disqualified if the rider touched the ground of the arena. Moreover, a 'horse' could be disqualified if they left the arena or were separated from the formation for more than ten seconds, and this last rule was the one that had caught my attention.

Midnight went on to explain that every students points value would be determined by their placement in the Obstacle Race, with the last place student being worth five points and every place higher would gain an additional five points. Midnight grinned before announcing that the student who came in first place would be worth ten million points.

Ten million points.

Midoriya looked like he wanted to shrink right into the ground, every eye was right on him, and he could clearly tell that every single student had targeted him for elimination in the next round. The lesson was clear, it was lonely at the top, and there would always be a crowd of people looking for any opportunity to bring you down and take your place on the apex.

I felt sympathy for celebrity heroes for the first time in my life in that moment, having that kind of attention focused on you must be hellish, and they must always be suspicious of their own fellow heroes. It was a consequence of the way that our heroic society worked, but it was a tremendous burden as well, surely heroes would be able to work together better if they weren't always gunning for each other.

Midnight then announced that we would have fifteen minutes to form teams before the game would begin, and that any students left after the end of the time would just be assigned to a random team. As soon as that announcement came my eyes met Shoji's, then Tokoyami's, and then Tsu's; and I received three nods in return.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Shoji, Tsu, Tokoyami and I stood in a circle, preparing as best we could for the next phase of the Festival. We had walked away from the crowds of students that were still looking for a team and found a place to strategize as best we could. Since we had been given fifteen minutes to find teams, we could use that time to come up with a plan of attack instead of wasting time wandering around and looking for team members.

"We need to figure out a plan of dealing with the other teams." I spoke up to my three teammates "They've got strong Quirks on their side, so we need a good strategy."

"Yeah"

"Of Course"

"Ribbit"

There was a moment of silence where I waited for an amazing plan to be presented, knowing that my teammates were smart and capable enough to figure out a way to win the match. The silence wound on for a few more seconds before I finally looked back towards my teammates, wondering why the silence was continuing, only to see three sets of eyes staring expectantly at me, evidently waiting for me to say something.

Oh.

"What do you have in mind Shinso?" Tokoyami spoke up first, finally breaking the awkward silence, though I wasn't feeling any less under pressure.

"You want me to plan everything out?" I asked, wondering when the three of them had reached this consensus.

"Why not?" Tsu deadpanned, her blunt delivery driving the point home "You came up with the plan that let us win the Battle Trial."

"And you talked me into coming with you at the USJ." Shoji added "Todoroki might not have been able to help All Might if we weren't there."

It was all I could do to not collapse into stammering denial, though having praise like this directed at me was still certainly uncomfortable. The knowledge that my three closest friends were putting their trust in me was simultaneously relieving but also somewhat stressful, as I owed it to them to come up with a plan that could take us to victory. I spent a few minutes pondering everything over before I spoke up again, hoping that my idea was good enough to get us through this next challenge.

"Tsu, you're the lightest and the most agile, you should be the rider." I spoke to Tsu first, receiving a blank stare in return "You can use your tongue to grab other headbands at a distance as well."

"Shoji, you're the strongest and most resilient, you'll be the front horse." I turned to Shoji next, looking up towards my stoic teammate "You should be able to carry all of Tsu's weight with only two arms, so you can still use the rest of your arms to fight and protect our team."

"Tokoyami, you take the left flank." I turned to my final teammate, who listened intently "Use Dark Shadow to keep enemies away so we don't get bogged down in a single place for too long."

"I'll take the right flank." I moved to myself finally, finishing off our formation "I can use my fighting techniques to protect that side, and if I get the opportunity, I'll hit anyone I can with Brainwashing."

I looked at my teammates to see if there were any objections to what I had proposed, but I only received nods from every direction, which was fairly uplifting. If we were all on the same page, it would make winning this event far more likely.

"Are you sure about using Brainwashing here?" Shoji looked straight at me, sounding more serious than usual "Millions of people are watching, and if knowledge of your Quirk gets out…"

Shoji didn't need to finish his sentence, the implication of his words were clear, and he nailed my main fear with a typical precision. He was right, and this fear was the reason that I hadn't used my Quirk during the Obstacle Battle, as I could have used Brainwashing to delay the students that ended up being ahead of me. But this time was different, I had three other people that were counting on me to pull my weight and do what I could to win, just as I counted on them. Deliberately restricting myself to excess could result in us losing this match, and I would have been responsible for ruining their chances of getting a good internship.

"I won't be too obvious with my usage, if I use Brainwashing to stun people for a few seconds, it will be enough of an opening to grab their points." I steeled my words as much as I could, trying not to betray my own internal turmoil "I won't be dead weight on this team, I can't drag you guys down by pulling my punches."

Nobody said anything again, but there was a feeling of acceptance I could sense from my fellow students, and that was more than enough for me. Silence wound on for several seconds more, as we all waited for somebody else to pick up the conversation first and continue our planning and preparation.

"How do we deal with the other teams?" Tokoyami spoke up again, casting a glance over his shoulder at the groups forming behind us "Our formation is solid, but we need a plan to deal with our foes as well."

I nodded in agreement and looked past my team at the rest of the groups, seeing which groups had started to form and who was still searching for opponents. As expected, most of 1A had coalesced around Todoroki and Bakugo, all of them clamouring for a chance to join either of the top students. Midoriya and Uraraka were talking with the girl from the Support Course, who seemed keen to join despite the danger of the ten million point headband. I knew better than to underestimate Midoriya, he seemed to have a phenomenal gift for turning disadvantageous situations to his favour, and he would surely try to do the same here.

"Going after the ten million points is suicide." I started, hoping that what I was about to propose wouldn't be rejected "Every team is gunning for that headband, and even if we can get it, we'll be targeted by everyone at once."

"Only one team can possess that headband at the end of the match." Tokoyami continued, his expression deep in thought "If we take that headband and get targeted, we could be left with no points at all."

"We don't have the offensive power of some of the other teams, so we couldn't survive all of that attention for long." Shoji picked up the train of thought, pacing around as he spoke "So we take advantage of everybody else being distracted."

"We look for teams to beat and grab their points when they're distracted by the ten million headband." Tsu finished vocalising the idea we were all working towards "If we use hit-and-run and avoid drawing too much attention to ourselves, we can gather enough points to enter the next round."

"Exactly." I grinned when I saw our plan taking form, it played to our strengths and had the added advantage of keeping me out of the spotlight "Four teams go to the next round, and only one of them can have the ten million. We only need to be in those top four teams to get to the next round."

"Very well, I agree to this plan, for I see the potential within." Tokoyami spoke first, crossing his arms and dipping his head in agreement.

"Count me in, let's get this game done." Shoji nodded as well, raising a clenched fist in anticipation.

"Sounds good to me, ribbit. I trust you guys to pull this off." Tsu didn't move at all, but her admission was enough to confirm she was ready.

"Well then." I grinned again, the wheels of our plan turning in my head. A childish idea came into my mind, and I extended a closed fist into the middle of our circle "Let's show them what we can do."

Shoji, Tokoyami and Tsu all put their fists in the centre of the circle, and the team was ready.

The remainder of our preparation time was taken up with more planning and tactics discussion, every second gave us an edge over our opponents that were still looking for a team to join. Once the time was elapsed, we were all told to get into formation and take our place on the edge of the arena that sat in the centre of the stadium. We were placed in a circular arrangement, so each team was equal in distance from the centre of the square stage.

Shoji had placed his two lower hands behind his back for Tsu to stand on, and she had gripped his shoulders for more grip. Shoji still had his middle and top sets of arms free to fight or create new appendages with his dupli-arms, and Tsu's light weight combined with Shoji's strength meant that he was barely slowed by the additional weight on his shoulders. Since Tokoyami and I didn't have to worry about holding Tsu up, all we had to do was place a single hand on Shoji's back to stay in formation, giving us enough freedom to move and fight without fear of disrupting the formation.

I cast an eye over the rest of the teams to see how our opponents had arranged each other. As expected, Bakugo and Todoroki had ended up as leaders of their own teams, with the former team up with Kirishima, Ashido and Sero; and the latter being carried by Yaoyorozu, Iida and Kaminari. Midoriya was also leader of a team, and Ojiro had joined him along with Uraraka and Hatsume. The last 1A team was lead by Mineta, who was being held up by Koda and accompanied by Hagakure and Jiro, the latter of which didn't look too pleased by her team leader. At the very least Mineta was wearing his headband around his neck to prevent an unfair advantage, lest his spheres end up sticking to the headband.

The 1B teams were full of people I didn't recognise, but I made sure to keep a close eye on them anyway, as they had the potential to be the wildcards in the coming match. Unlike my classmates, the Quirks and capabilities of 1B were a totally blank space in my mind, and they could throw out any kind of unexpected surprise whenever we confronted them.

Tsu was handed her headband by a service robot, and she tightened it around her head, ready to defend the thin strip of fabric at a moments notice. Our team scores had been calculated and displayed on a large scoreboard, and Midnight had announced that the board would update as headbands were gained and lost by the various teams. I scanned the board to remind myself of the teams and their scores, and I saw our own team displayed with our current points total.

Team Asui: 650 Points

We were actually one of the most highly-pointed teams from the outset, given that all four of us had finished the race with high scores. This probably made us bigger targets for some of the other teams, but it also gave us a head start in gathering the points we needed to pass onto the next round. We just needed to stay alert for any attempts to have our points stolen, this game could turn after a single change of points, and the uncertainty made me nervous.

"Are you ready?" Midnight called out to the crowds, with a resounding road of approval filling the stadium.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Begin!"

As soon as the game began, the teams that were arrayed around the stadium all charged forwards, ready to begin the next few minutes of fighting and competition. As expected, all of the teams moved towards Midoriya, intent on grasping the winning headband, seeing it as a golden ticket to getting into the next round. The speed of their attack was impressive, and Midoriya's team was quickly surrounded with barely a moment to react or move out of the way.

We moved forwards as one, circling on the edge of the conflict to search for any weakness or distraction in the teams that charged straight towards the most valuable headband. Shoji chose our direction, and he kept our movement slow and purposeful, careful not to overextended or expose the back of our formation to another team.

"Watch the teams that are going after Midoriya." I called out to my teammates "Anything you can gather on their Quirks or plans will help us out."

There were murmurs of assent from the rest of my team, and we spent a minute watching how our own classmates acted, as well as gathering what information we could on the Quirks of Class 1B. I chided myself for daring to think that Class 1A might have an advantage due to our experience at the USJ, 1B had passed the same exams we had (well, I hadn't, but that wasn't really the point), and their Quirks were just a diverse and powerful as the ones that my classmates exhibited.

Midoriya's team escaped the net closing around them with a burst of smoke and fire, the smoke obscured them briefly, but I could soon see them sailing through the air and towards an empty patch of the arena. The Hatsume girl from Support must have been allowed to give her gear to her teammates as well, and knowing Midoriya, he had planned to use this gear to evade his opponents and protecting his headband.

"Support Gear." Tokoyami muttered darkly, seeing this new advantage that an opposing team held.

"Annoying, but we can work around it." I replied, looking at the gear the team had strapped to them "Those boots can't have much fuel, otherwise they'd use them and Uraraka to stay in the air for the whole match."

We continued observing the chaos around us as the battle wound on, with several headbands already changing hands, shifting the scoreboard around somewhat. We were in fourth place now, and it seemed that Team Midoriya still had control of the coveted headband. We needed to start gathering our own points before we got pushed out of the top four, and that meant finding a team that still had a headband.

"There." Shoji gestured towards a team of two 1B students that were a little further from the combat than the rest of the teams, though they were clearly looking for an opening to return to the fray.

"Hey there." I forced the most irritating smile I could manage to my face, drawing the pair's attention "Would you mind if we borrowed that headband?"

"Go to hell." The insectoid rider snapped back, metal blades extending from his forearms.

"Yeah! Hell to go!" The equine girl shouted along, her accent and butchering of her speech throwing me off for a second.

The pair charged forwards to meet us in combat, apparently not deterred by this disadvantage in numbers. I let them get as close as possible, knowing from experience that Brainwashing had a brief window to be activated before it would 'expire', and I would have to say a new sentence. When the pair where within striking distance, I activated Brainwashing on both of them, stopping them in their tracks as both of their expressions went blank.

I had told Tsu to watch for this signal, and as soon as she saw it, her tongue shot out and grasped the headband, pulling it towards our team without a fight. As soon as Tsu had hold of the headband, Shoji turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, taking us a safe distance from the team that we had just relieved of their points. As soon as we were clear of the team by a good distance, I released Brainwashing, returning the pair to their senses.

The whole exchange had taken around twenty seconds, and it seemed that the vast majority of the crowd hadn't even noticed our manoeuvre, judging by the fact that Present Mic hadn't even mentioned us so far in his commentary. A glance over my shoulder confirmed that the pair were simply standing still in surprise, unsure as to exactly what had just happened and how to proceed. Aizawa had volunteered to be brainwashed a few times, and he described the experience as similar to walking through a cloud of mist, everything was indistinct, and even retaining the memory of being brainwashed required a great deal of mental effort.

This knowledge had dictated my strategy when it came to using my Quirk in this event, as the pair would likely not even be certain of which team had taken their headband, and they would be too disoriented to pursue us before we got away. The fact that the swap was so quick was simply a bonus, it let us strike quickly, and it was much less likely to be noticed by anybody observing the arena.

The combat swirled around us as the Cavalry Battle wound on, and if Present Mic's commentary was anything to go by, headbands were changing hands constantly. We hadn't yet gotten enough points to guarantee a spot in the final round, and the fact that more than half of the time was still remaining meant that we still weren't safe. Things could change in an instant, and we could be left without any points if we made a single wrong move.

The noise of cracking explosions heralded Bakugo's arrival, and a glance over my shoulder confirmed that his team was squared up and facing straight towards us. I wondered why he would target us, then I realised that Midoriya's team stood in front of us, and Bakugo was simply facing them down, we were just in the way. Before we had the change to reposition, Todoroki's team arrived, then Mineta's, then several of the 1B teams.

The chaos we had moved around had come straight to us, and the fighting erupted around us with renewed vigour. Not everybody was singularly focused on the ten million headband anymore, and there were clashes between various teams as they fought for their headbands. Even now, I could see that some of the teams had become aware of our presence, noticing us properly for the first time since the game began.

It was only a matter of time until they turned their full attention on us, and that meant that an attack could come at any point from any angle, and this knowledge left me looking all around in anticipation. Any opening that we might have been able to escape through was soon closed by another fight starting; and the sight of cracking explosions and coursing lightning combined with the heat of the midday sun meant that Dark Shadow wouldn't have enough power to punch a hole through the wall of destruction.

I looked to my teammates to ensure that they were aware of our situation, Tokoyami had Dark Shadow ready to respond at the slightest movement, any attack from the other teams would raise the ire of the sentient Quirk and it's master. Tsu had the other headband hanging around her neck while our original remained on her head, meaning it would be difficult for an opponent to grab both of them at once. Shoji's arms we raised and ready for a fight, and his eyes were flicking back and forth to search for any opportunity or weakness in our foes, ready to move at any second.

I inhaled deeply before looking towards our foes, we weren't out of danger yet, and I'd be damned if I let my team down now.

Aizawa watched intently as the swirling chaos of the Cavalry Battle played out below him, the spectator's box gave him a commanding view of the conflicts that were playing out, and the opportunity to see how his students performed in this new trial. Aizawa had already drafted a training plan to help Aoyama improve his physical capabilities so that he didn't end up falling behind his classmates.

Though he was watching all of his students with painstaking detail, his eye was inevitably drawn to a particular student, who had so far directed his team away from the majority of the conflict that was engulfing the battlefield. Aizawa could see that the cameras that were recording the event were focusing on the teams that were in the thick of the fighting, and so they had strayed away from recording Shinso and his teammates, something that Aizawa was subtly happy about.

"You see what he's doing?" Aizawa spoke up to his fellow Pro Hero, the red light on the soundboard between them letting him know that his words weren't being broadcasted.

"Staying out of the chaos and ambushing teams that don't see them coming?" Present Mic, known to his friends as Hizashi Yamada, chuckled; looking over to his lifelong friend and fellow Pro Hero "He's a smart kid, I see why you like him so much."

"I told you that the others would go along with it." Aizawa deadpanned, looking over to Yamada from between his bandages "So pay up."

Yamada groaned good naturedly and handed Aizawa a small stack of crumpled yen, making a mental note to win his money back somehow. Aizawa had bet him that Shinso would have been able to convince his teammates to go along with whatever plan they had seen him pitching to them, Yamada had contested, expecting them to go along with the more aggressive approach that was being used by the other teams.

"But seriously." Aizawa's serious tone darkened the mood somewhat, and Yamada picked up the change in his friend's demeanour "Do you think he's the right choice?"

Yamada's own eyes narrowed somewhat, and he looked over his shoulder to ensure the door to their booth was closed before looking back to Aizawa. Aizawa and Yamada had been friends ever since their own days in UA High, with Yamada being one of the few people being able to get along with the perpetually moody Aizawa. Though the pair seemed like polar opposites, they got along with each other in defiance of all social logic, and each of them seemed to understand the other despite their differing attitudes.

Though they had taken different paths when it came to their professional careers, they had remained good friends ever since, and eventually they both ended up as co-workers at UA. Yamada was a conventional hero, happy to be in the spotlight and at ease in the middle of a crowd in a way that Aizawa never could be. Despite his status, Aizawa had chosen Yamada to be his trusted contact for his Underground Hero work; a privilege that was incredibly rare, and the fact that it was given to Yamada spoke to how deeply Aizawa trusted him.

This meant that Yamada was privy to some of the secrets that Aizawa held when it came to Underground Heroes, though he was kept from the majority of important information that Aizawa and his fellow Heroes kept from the public. He also had no idea about The Lie, as the only person to be trusted with this information that wasn't an Underground Hero was Nezu. Due to his knowledge, Aizawa had approached Yamada about his dilemma regarding Shinso, hoping that his oldest friend would be able to provide advice to assist him.

"I don't know exactly what you and your friends get up to, not that I want to." Mic chuckled, keeping his upbeat personality even during such a serious moment "But I can see the potential that you talked about."

"Potential isn't the only issue." Aizawa said, keeping his voice low out of practise or paranoia "It's attitude, and I don't know if I can be sure of that for a fifteen-year old."

"He reminds me of you when we were at UA." Yamada chuckled again, though he spoke truthfully "I'd say that's as good an indicator of having the right attitude as you can get."

"I don't know Yamada…" Aizawa muttered again, mind flashing back to his conversation with Nezu "I don't know if I can make that decision for him, it could ruin his life."

"Are you sure you're not just making excuses?" Yamada raised an eyebrow in scepticism, but his slight grin told Aizawa that he was trying to annoy him "But seriously. If you trust the kid enough to be thinking this over, then you should trust him enough to offer the job to him. If he says yes, then he's there of his own free will, if he says no then you should trust him enough not to spill any of your secrets."

Aizawa was about to reply again when he seriously considered Yamada's words, the proposal that had been put before him giving him pause for thought. Aizawa knew that he could trust Shinso enough not to run to the press if Aizawa told him about what he had planned for him, if only because he knew Shinso found the media to be as annoying as he did. Yamada was right, Shinso deserved to be given a choice about his future, and Aizawa had faith that his student would make the decision that was best for him.

"Thanks Yamada." Aizawa spoke up again, offering a rare thanks to his closest friend "I think I know what to do now."

"Anytime." Yamada smirked back before flipping his microphone back on and starting to commentate on the match that was still unfolding.

Aizawa stood to leave the room for the moment to make a few calls, knowing that he would somehow have to pitch the idea that Yamada had given him to his own Underground contacts. Hopefully he would be able to convince them that Shinso was worth taking the risk on, though he knew that a few of them were already watching his protégé from the seats of the stadium, assessing the worth of the candidate that Aizawa had put forwards.

Looking back for a moment, Aizawa saw that Shinso's team was stuck between several other teams, the conflict of the arena had shifted and swept the team up in it, and it looked like they would have to fight their way out.

'Good luck Shinso.' Aizawa thought to himself 'I'll be interested to see if you can get out of this one.'

Author's Note

This might be the first time I've uploaded a Chapter earlier than I intended, which is an occurrence that I'd like to make more frequent in the future.

The Cavalry Battle gives me a nice opportunity to show off the group dynamic of Shinso and his friend group, which is something that I already enjoy doing, so any opportunity to show them working together is fun. I split the Battle into two Chapters since when I drafted it in one Chapter, it seemed rushed and I wanted to do it properly. There's also quite a bit of extra story in this first half, but the next Chapter will contain the bulk of the actual battle.

You might have noticed that I amended the rules of the Cavalry Battle to disqualify students if they were separated from their team for too long or if they left the arena. You'll see why I did this next Chapter, but it makes sense as a rule to me and it is usually a rule in Kibasen (the real life game the Cavalry Battle is based off), so at least I have an excuse for making that change.

The Underground Hero story is also moving forwards quicker and quicker, and I've enjoyed adding these little details about this element of the story throughout the last few Chapters. All of this will come to a head soon, and I hope I'm keeping you at a suitable level of suspense.

I have a Discord now, feel free to come and chat. The link is in my bio.

That's about all for today, thank you for your continued support, and I'll see you next time.

And to answer some reviews:

(For some reason the site isn't displaying the reviews that I received on the last Chapter, so I can only reply to the two reviews that are in my email inbox. I think these are the only reviews I have but if there are more I can't see; I'll reply to them as soon as I can.)

OnlineOverlord15: It's funny that you should mention a fight with Ojiro, I won't spoil anything yet but he's going to have a bigger role in this story than you might think, but all of that will come up in a few Chapters. Thanks for your support, and I hope you enjoyed this Chapter as well.

Attackin: Aoyama is only a victim of circumstance this time, since I wanted to round out the numbers of students in round 2 due to Shinso being in the Hero Course. It was only Aoyama since he canonically came last in the obstacle race, but I don't have any intention of writing him out of the story or replacing him.