"Get ready, guys!" Jomei warned. "Team McKennan, incoming!"

"Hey, Takara!" Tetsutetsu yelled. "Nice job taking out our classmates! Hope it was worth it, because you and your 1-A pals are going down, you hear me?!"

Thad threw out a hand in front of his rear horse's face, but his focus remained solely on Team Takara. "Remain calm, Tetsutetsu. Now's not the time to waste energy you could be using to focus on your Quirk – we both have jobs to do, now let's see them through."

"Right!"

"Akiko? What's the plan, here?" Jomei asked.

She looked towards the foreigner-led team behind her. For a few moments, she took the time to both discern how quickly her competition was gaining on them and who exactly made up that team. She didn't have much time to embed appearances in her psyche, but she identified the other horses near Tetsutetsu swiftly enough. Shiozaki Ibara was the other rear horse of Thad's team, with long hair consisting of thorny vines, and the front horse of the quartet was Honenuki Juzo. With ash blond, slightly spiky hair that went halfway down his neck and no lips to hide his teeth, he looked familiar, but there was no time for Akiko to really think about where she'd seen him before.

United, without even knowing any of their Quirks beyond the obvious one of Tetsutetsu's now-metallic body, they were almost certainly a force to be reckoned with. Slowly but surely, they were gaining on Team Takara, but without a clue as to what they could do, Akiko wasn't about to make a call that could jeopardize her team's standing.

"Just keep going!" Akiko answered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah! They may be gaining on us, but we don't have enough information to make a better plan right now," she said. "We still have time, so we can spend a little of it to scout out what their Quirks are, and then we'll come up with a plan of attack from there!"

'It's a double-sided plan, for sure. The more time we spend letting 1-B take the initiative the higher the chance that they'll be able to snag one of our headbands before we have a chance to defend ourselves. Still, fighting all of them full-force while we're still ahead of them and have our backs turned is risky too. There's no easy choice, here.'

She exhaled. "Aoyama and Jomei, your jobs are to stay vigilant and be prepared for anything. I'll fight back with my Quirk to defend us, but if I need to call on either of you I need you guys to be ready!"

The pair nodded up at her, and she turned her attention to Hitoshi.

"What about me, Akiko?" He asked.

"You're on standby." He gave her a look, and she continued. "Don't worry, though. I won't hesitate to have you use your Quirk. I said I wanted to avoid having to use it, sure, but if the time comes that we need it, we'll use it."

Hitoshi nodded. "Good. I noticed that Team McKennan still has 705 points – that means they haven't gotten any more since the cavalry battle started, but it will probably be enough to get us into the next round if we can get them."

"Noted. Now let's keep moving – they're almost in range!"

Her teammates' strides redoubled with newfound vigor. Team McKennan was faster than them, and Akiko was planning to take advantage of that fact to glean information about them, but that didn't mean she had to make the task of catching up easy. Nevertheless, the other team grew ever closer with every second, and Akiko spent each one of those precious moments planning for their inevitable clash. Judging by how things had gone with Team Kodai, she knew that if they could get behind Team McKennan and press the advantage from there, they'd likely be okay. The only problem with making the most out of that fact was that they needed to get behind their opponents in the first place.

Team McKennan reached striking distance. Further planning would have to wait.

"Shiozaki," Thad said within earshot. "The headband around Takara's forehead will most likely have her team's original amount of points – get it."

"With haste!"

Not a moment later, Shiozaki's hair lashed out with its thorny vines in Akiko's direction. Five thick strands writhed through the air with enough randomness such that she found it impossible to keep track of them, even as they all headed towards her team's headband.

Akiko's arms moved in preparation of a defense, but Jomei beat her to the punch.

"Not so fast!"

In a flash, a quintet of beams emerged from Jomei's free hand. Each pierced the air and met the girl's vines head-on or further down their lengths, forcing them to withdraw like hissing snakes as quickly as they had come.

Shiozaki's face twisted. "Painful, but I suppose it was a fitting reprimand for one who would send forth such a wrathful attack…"

"Sorry!" Jomei shouted back. "Now I just feel bad…"

"Don't, mon ami," Aoyama countered. "Truly, it's the burden of the extraordinary to defend themselves from the likes of those who would see them dethroned – you were merely defending our honor. It's a shame, though, that our adversaries can't see that they're outmatched…"

Shiozaki's eyes flared with anger and honed in on Aoyama. "Sinful though it may be to unleash wrath upon the innocent… you are not one such soul! May you and your allies suffer just reprimand for aligning themselves with you!"

Several vines surged forward as fiercely as the strands that had preceded them – if not slightly more so. Aoyama only looked away from the attack as if to pretend it didn't exist.

"Oh, thanks, Aoyama!" Jomei shouted.

Akiko sighed. "Less infighting, more defending ourselves! Jomei, work with me!"

"On it!"

He raised his hand, and it again flared to life with his Quirk. Akiko twisted around and raised her own, prepared to blow away Shiozaki's vines with well-timed and measured blasts of air. Together, the pair successfully weathered the incoming barrage of attacks – Jomei's beams met their marks slightly less successfully than before thanks to their foe's ire being fiercely raised, but Akiko made up for what shots he'd missed. Between bursts of his ranged attacks, Akiko blew away what few vines made it through his defensive screen of purple and blue beams just long enough for Jomei to take aim and force their targets back.

Shiozaki flinched again, and her hair fell limp.

'Ok, Shiozaki's Quirk seems to be her hair. They're durable enough to take damage from Jomei's Neon Beams without getting blasted apart, so they might have her as a rear horse just in case they need to shield themselves. Giving ourselves an opening to get behind Thad's team by making her stumble is a no-go, then. But what about Tetsutetsu? How durable is he?'

Her eyes switched from mismatched yellows to greens, and her hair and crystal core followed suit. If Team McKennan had seen anything of what her team had done before against Kodai, they'd already know her own Quirk had something to do with the elements, so hoping to keep her modes a surprise was a moot endeavor. She had to make the most of what she had at her disposal if she wanted to beat the team pursuing her own.

That started with testing how durable Tetsutetsu's Quirk really made him.

One hook into the air from Akiko incited that test. From between the two teams, a stone around the size of All Might's fist flew from the ground. Before Team McKennan could react, it hit its mark dead center into Tetsutetsu's chest. On contact though, it exploded into dust, leaving the rear horse it hit undeterred.

"What, is that all you got!?" Tetsutetsu taunted. "My Quirk, Steel, lets me make my skin hard steel, so if you're trying to slow us down, you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that!"

Akiko disregarded his comments. 'So the way his body looks now isn't just for show… he really is made of metal with his Quirk, meaning I can't throw off Thad's team by attacking either of his rear horses. He's tough, just like Kirishima, but I can't aim directly for his legs either because that's against the rules and would get our team disqualified. I still need to figure out a way to get behind them.'

"And wouldn't ya know it, folks!" Present Mic cut in, interrupting her thoughts. "It looks like all of 1-A is united against 1-B right now! Team Bakugo's in the middle of a mad melee with Team Monoma to get back their points, Takara and McKennan are on the brink of one big showdown, and the only people from the two classes not fighting each other are Teams Todoroki and Midoriya! I'm gonna need more eyes to keep track of all these top tier moves!"

"Honenuki," Thad said loud enough for Akiko to hear. "They're fighting defensively to buy themselves time. We need to stop that if we want to get their points with any time to spare."

Honenuki's eyes narrowed intensely. "Will do. Just need to get a little closer…"

In the back of Akiko's mind, something clicked. It was then that she finally remembered where she'd seen Honenuki before. During the obstacle race, just after Todoroki had taken down the first zero-pointer faux villain that had shown up in the robo inferno, Akiko had seen Shiozaki and Honenuki both. Shiozaki had slingshotted herself forward with her vines, while Honenuki had been swimming through the ground, or more specifically, the liquified ground that seemed to manifest wherever he pushed forward.

The exacts of his Quirk were unknown, but Akiko knew that letting her team get trapped in softened earth was just asking for trouble, and she wasn't about to gamble on whether her Quirk could win a prolonged battle against Honenuki's own.

"It looks like Team Todoroki has taken the ten million points! What a turnaround, leaving Midoriya with zero points! We've only got five minutes left, and the students are still shakin' up our expectations!"

And with that brief revelation, running away was no longer an option, either. There just wouldn't be enough time to scout out any of 1-B's remaining teams in hopes that her team would triumph and somehow end up with enough points to move on. It was do or die time, and whatever Akiko did next had to change things up if she wanted to secure her team a spot in the next stage.

"Ok everyone," she started. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but we need to stop."

Aoyama did a double-take. "Quoi?"

"I don't know what that nut job just said, but I'm really against this idea, Akiko," Hitoshi said.

"Remember what I said about my Quirk's mobility? Back when we were planning?"

He nodded. "You said it usually comes in bursts, and that you avoid using it to move other people around alongside you."

"Keyword being usually," Akiko explained. "Remember, I did use my Quirk to get us both out of danger back during the practical exam, so just trust me, okay?"

Hitoshi shook his head. "Don't make me regret this, Akiko…!"

"I won't, now let's stop!"

In almost the next instant, Team Takara's horses planted their feet firmly into the ground. Team McKennan continued forward undeterred, the final few meters between them being little more than an inconvenience now that their foes had stopped.

"Hold on just a moment! Team Takara's come to a complete stop!" Present Mic confusedly stressed. "Team McKennan's closing the gap! They're gonna be wide open!"

'Okay, this is going to be just like the start of the obstacle race, back when I shot myself forward, but this time it's backward instead of forward and four people instead of just me. You can do this, and so can your team… you just have to trust them.'

"Giving up already, huh!?" Tetsutetsu barked.

"Perhaps they've merely resigned themselves to our retribution…" Shiozaki observed. "They've seen the futility in their attempts to outrun us, I suppose."

As the team got into range, Honenuki's foot hit the ground mid-stride and suddenly the earth turned to slush before him and his team. The mud-like earth spilled out ahead of them, as if the invisible force that was Honenuki's Quirk had a mind of its own and was eager to consume Team Takara in its liquified maw.

"No…" Thad said. "I think you're both wrong."

'Bingo.'

Akiko's arms pulled at the earth beneath her, and each of her teammates wordlessly prepared themselves for what came next. Their grip on their rider tightened, their muscles tensed, and after that, one thrust into the air with her palms up was all Akiko needed to do.

Six stone pillars punched out of the earth, and Team Takara was sent flying backward as one cohesive unit.

Honenuki's wide eyes stared up at them as they flew overhead. "Well… shit."

The quartet from 1-A landed with the crunching of grass and dirt underfoot, but Akiko didn't waste a second to deliver her next command. "Okay! Aoyama and Jomei, kick us back into gear – we aren't letting Team McKennan escape!"

"After such a resplendent display? Of course."

Jomei grinned. "Don't need to tell me twice! Let's go!"

Akiko had to fight the force that threatened to throw her back as the two rear horses' Quirks blasted Team Takara back into the fray, and right onto their adversaries' tails. Akiko's eyes flashed with determination, and it was only through her periphery that she noticed Jomei grinning encouragingly up at her. It only energized her further as her heart pulsed.

"Now would you look at that! Talk about turning the tables! Team Takara's suddenly right behind Team McKennan – it's like they just traded places!" Present Mic cheered. "And speaking of unexpected events, Bakugo's taken back all of Monoma's points! He and his team have skyrocketed into second!"

"Akiko, I don't know how you managed to do what you just did, but you were awesome, you know that?" Jomei praised.

"Indeed! Such power and panache!" Aoyama agreed. "I daresay that you outshined my Quirk for a moment there!"

"Yeah, great, we did a thing as a team, but what we really need right now is this McKennan guy's points!" Hitoshi pointed out.

"Don't worry, I have a plan for that, too!" Akiko assured him. "Jomei, combine attacks with me! We don't need to worry about reeling in the headband with my Quirk anymore since we'll be able to just run in and grab it if we knock it off, so we just have to give this assault all we've got, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan! Just gotta get a little closer and we'll go all-out!"

The exchange concluded and with the new avenue of attack decided upon, Akiko turned her attention forward once more. She may not be able to make Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki falter due to their durable Quirks, and Honenuki wasn't even a target as the 1-B team's front horse, but she could still strain herself in her assault against Thad if it meant getting his points. As a result of her conservative use of her Quirk, aside from moving her entire team, what little pain she felt in her chest was negligible, which meant that she could freely spend as much energy as she desired in this next effort.

She took in one deep breath. "Now!"

Akiko let loose a swift stream of jabs into the air, and a barrage of small stones flew from the ground on a collision course with the secure knot that kept her opponent's headband in place. At the same time, Jomei unleashed a short salvo of attacks with his own Quirk, and the ensuing Neon Beams' arcs stretched wide like a flurry of curveballs. Thad twisted around and did little more than stare at the incoming attacks.

He then dodged every single one in a blur of motion. One second he was calmly staring down the pair's incoming projectiles, and the next, his body had fluidly moved around faster than Akiko could keep track. The only indicator that he'd even moved was a single strand of hair out of place atop his head – which he then slicked back with one smooth motion, his eyes still on his opponents.

'What was that…? Is his Quirk some kind of speed amplifier? Even if that were the case, that doesn't explain how he kept track of all of them at the same time…'

Tetsutetsu barked out a laugh. "You think you can take down our rider that easy? Ha! Think again, because Thad's Quirk-"

"Enough, Tetsutetsu," Thad scolded. "We've been placed in a difficult position, and the last thing we need to do is provide our enemies with more information. Since there isn't enough time left for us to start up another fight, you and Shiozaki need to focus on defense. We need to defend the points we have to the death and hope for a miracle in the meantime."

"Consider my prayers with you, Thaddeus," Shiozaki said.

"Sounds like a good strategy, considering they've got the advantage," Honenuki agreed.

Tetsutetsu nodded fiercely. "Will do!"

A short growl of frustration emerged from Akiko's throat. If Team McKennan was on the defensive now, even ignoring Thad's unknown Quirk that let him dodge everything they threw at him, getting through Shiozaki and Tetsutetsu both would be a tall order.

Which meant that it was time they pulled out their trump card.

"Aoyama, how are you doing? With your Quirk, I mean."

He blinked twice. "Fine, I assure you. My stomach protests being used to propel us all repeatedly, but I assure you my sparkly Quirk and I are still fit to fight!"

"Jomei?"

"A few Neon Beams and using Light Speed for a few seconds isn't gonna be enough to drain me! Whatever you need me for next, I'm still more than ready!"

"Good." She said, and looked down. "Hitoshi."

He spared a glance up at her.

"I'm going to be counting on you."

Hitoshi smiled ever-so-slightly. "About time… just get me close and keep the team covered."

Akiko nodded, and her features flared red. There was no doubt that whatever came next would require some more firepower – in the most literal of ways – if she wanted to help buy her team one more chance to grab their opponents' precious points. "One more time! Hitoshi get ready, and the rest of us speed things up!"

Suddenly, Aoyama's Navel Laser, Jomei's Light Speed, and a forceful stream of fire stretching out from Akiko's fists lit up the arena around them in a myriad of colors. Within that thrilling, incandescent moment, Team Takara wasn't merely a team of teenagers playing some amped-up version of a schoolyard game.

They were a force of sheer speed and destruction.

And they were on a warpath headed straight for Team McKennan.

The instant they caught up with their opponents, and their Quirks cut off, Shiozaki acted. Being the rear horse closest to the four 1-A students, her hair shot towards Akiko in a fierce bundle of force and thorns.

An arc of flame from Akiko's arm was what Shiozaki earned instead, and with a yelp, she retracted her vines as quickly as she'd cast them out.

"Sorry, Shiozaki, but I can't let your team escape!" Akiko shouted.

For the briefest of moments, Team Takara leaned left, taking their headbands just barely out of arm's reach. Even without needing to be told, it seemed everyone on her team's side understood the risk that came with being so close to their enemy – especially given how they had no clear clue as to the limits of what Thad's Quirk let him do. It seemed that Thad was equally wary of his opposition, and his team too respected the invisible wall between their two teams.

Hitoshi didn't waste a second. "Hey, Honenuki! If I'm going to be honest, you seem like a pretty underwhelming pick for a front horse."

Honenuki stared ahead, not dignifying Hitoshi's taunt with a response.

Hitoshi smirked. "You know, I heard you were one of the four recommendation students let into U.A. without having to take the normal entrance exam, right? Hell of a shame all you managed to do was make yourself into a liability for your own team – all you had to do was catch us, and you couldn't even do that right."

This time, Honenuki growled, but his focus remained on avoiding the action in the arena around them. His teeth clenched, and his jaw muscles visibly tightened.

"But hey, even if you're some big-shot student, I can't say I care how you got into U.A. in the first place. Class 1-B might be showing a ton of skill right now, but your buddies still look like they're pretty second-rate compared to 1-A." Hitoshi's smirk grew wider, more condescending, and Akiko's eyes widened somewhat as she recognized the strategy in how her friend tried to trigger his Quirk. With this, she quickly swept her attention back to their general situation, ready to direct Jomei or Aoyama at a moment's notice and keep Hitoshi covered.

"In fact," Hitoshi went on, "…I feel bad for you. I feel like even if 1-B was half as skilled as the guys here with me from 1-A, you would probably be too stupid to figure out what my Quirk is in the first place."

Thad's mechanical eyes narrowed suspiciously.

But Honenuki took the bait, and his head whipped around to face his foe. "Oh, yeah? Big talk, coming from someone who didn't even get into the hero cou-"

His face went blank, his eyes now vacant and dull as stones.

Hitoshi smiled satisfiedly. "Checkmate. Honenuki – keep running straight, no matter what."

The lipless student wordlessly obeyed, and his team lurched ever so slightly as their path was forced into a singular direction. The wall of the stadium's field was far in the distance, but suddenly, Team McKennan was faced with the sobering realization that, for whatever reason, their front horse had set them on a collision course with the boundary.

"Hey, Honenuki! What're you doing?" Tetsutetsu shouted, and beside him, Shiozaki's face fell.

"We don't have time to figure that out. For now, both of you just need to try and slow us down until whatever happened to Honenuki hopefully wears off," Thad instructed, and as the two rear horses tried and failed to slow their front horse down, he looked firmly at Hitoshi. "You do realize that whatever you're trying to do here isn't going to get you the points, right? Whatever your Quirk is, if you're using it with the exact goal of making us crash into the wall and fall down, all that'll earn you and your team is a disqualification."

"Oh, I know."

His mouth fell slightly agape with surprise.

"For whatever reason, my team doesn't look like it'll be able to get your points… but your team can. One of them could just tear off your headband and hand it over and you'd never even see it coming," Hitoshi continued.

Shiozaki and Tetsutetsu exchanged equally bewildered looks.

Thad remained tense. "What are you-"

"Like right now, right, Honenuki?" Hitoshi cut in. "Go for it."

Honenuki's arm snapped around in a stilted motion, as if he were a puppet and Hitoshi's words were the strings that controlled him. One moment Thad's headband had been secured around his brow, and the next, it'd been torn off by the keystone of his quartet's entire formation.

The front horse extended his arm towards Team Takara, and they lurched forward for only an instant so that Akiko could grab it. Thad's arm raced to intercept her own, but Akiko beat him to the punch, and her team hopped out of harm's way the second they saw her secure a grip around their prize.

At that moment, for the first time, Thad didn't appear calm and collected. He looked shocked.

"Honenuki! You're free to go!" Hitoshi shouted.

His victim blinked back into consciousness, and in his confusion, he and his team stumbled unsteadily as he noticed the imminent and encroaching presence of the wall before him, giving Team Takara their chance to escape.

Akiko's fist tightened like a vice around the headband. "Aoyama and Jomei! Get us as far away from here as possible, now!"

"Right!"

As the increasingly familiar feeling of a turn and unbridled acceleration hit her, this time, Akiko managed to brace herself against the backward force. For a longer period than any previous burst of speed her team had mustered before, they flew forward, and Hitoshi was forced to commit to desperate leaps every time his feet hit the ground to keep up with the pace set by their rear horses.

"Hey now! I look away for one second, and Team Takara's claimed Team McKennan's headband for themselves! Class 1-B's momentum is fizzling out!" Present Mic proclaimed.

"It's not that…" Aizawa contested. "It's just that it seems that 1-A's tenacity and experience may just turn out to be enough to have them come out on top."

"Hey! Thanks for contributing for once! For a second I thought you were dead, there!"

"For the record, I never agreed to-"

Present Mic ignored him. "But just like that…"

Akiko's team whizzed by teams frozen in Todoroki's ice, and when they finally hit a point free of any other nearby teams' presence, their burst of movement abated. She removed her arms from their defensive position in front of her face, and immediately set to securing her team's third headband around her neck. Her horses continued their advance as their momentum slowed, and from what determination she saw on their faces, they were more than ready to keep going.

Almost in disbelief, she smiled. Impromptu though their alliance may have been, she couldn't imagine having anyone other than the three teammates she had now on her side.

"Alright, Akiko, that's done and over with," Hitoshi began. "What's next?"

"Ditto!" Jomei agreed. "Still ready for more!"

Aoyama nodded dizzily. "My stomach burns, but I concur!"

She finished securing her headband. "Okay! Then-"

"TIME'S UP!"

Everyone on her team blinked in confusion, and they slowed to an unexpected halt.

Akiko was the only one to voice the thought they all shared, though.

"...what?"

"And with that, the second stage is officially over!" Present Mic announced. "I think we can all agree everyone who played a part in the games gave it a real 'plus ultra' job, so let's give them some cheers, sports fans!"

The arena's audience readily complied, and the din of noise that filled the field overhead intensified once again. As the news started to sink in, Akiko looked around to see how the other teams had responded. Many looked just as surprised as she felt, while Teams Kodai and McKennan had decidedly more interesting reactions out of the 1-B teams. Team Kodai's spirits looked oddly high, with the three horses engaged in a group hug that Kodai just so happened to get squeezed into, and Team McKennan looked surprisingly calm, even resigned to their defeat as they set their leader down. Despite everything Akiko had learned about being more social at U.A. in the time she'd been attending, their responses did nothing but make her head hurt.

On 1-A's side of things, however, three teams, in particular, caught her eye. Teams Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki were all surrounded by walls of ice – presumably Todoroki's – and both their riders and teams were a mixture of both breathless and dazed. Bakugo stood out even further though, what with how he looked to have done a mean face plant into the ground after what could reasonably have been assumed to be an explosive aerial attack that was interrupted by the end of the cavalry battle.

Akiko cautiously guessed that their isolation in Todoroki's icy prison was some byproduct of them fighting for the ten million points. Who had the ten million now, though, she hadn't the barest hint of a clue.

Before she knew it, her team lowered her to the ground, and she was left standing in stunned silence at just how quickly the cavalry battle had come to an end. She only hoped that the two additional headbands her team had managed to take for themselves would be enough for them to get into the next stage. For all their sakes.

Jomei's arm clapping onto her shoulder prevented her from thinking too hard on the matter, though. "Akiko, you were incredible back there! You looked so determined and confident, it was like you turned into the perfect leader almost instantly! I mean, you said that you couldn't afford to worry or anything, but still!"

She felt her cheeks warm in response to his praise. "Thanks, Jomei. But I was only able to do so well because I had the rest of you there with me. I may have been useful as rider, but-"

"No buts!" He cut in with a smile. "All of us were useful, yeah, but how many times did your shot-calling and your Quirk either save our points or get us points? Kodai with the pebbles, Shiozaki's vines at the end there, moving our whole team through the air. That was all you. Don't sell yourself short."

This time, Akiko knew for a fact that she blushed, her cheeks and crystal core both coloring themselves a bright shade of pink.

Hitoshi rolled his arms idly as he turned to join the conversation. "I'm not someone who's going to spend a whole day praising anybody about doing a good job, but he's right. Even if I still think we waited a bit too long for my liking to actually make use of my Quirk…"

"But it all worked out in the end, right?"

He sighed. "Sure, Nishimura."

"Now, let's go ahead and take a look at who our top four teams are!" Present Mic continued, and the screens around the top of the arena suddenly displayed the final standings of the cavalry battle. Jomei's hand slipped from her shoulder, and Akiko's clenched into fists.

It was the moment of truth.

"In first place, with over ten million points is… Team Todoroki!"

In the distance, Akiko saw their reactions. Yaoyorozu breathed a sigh of relief and placed a reassuring hand on Iida's shoulder, who, judging by his posture, looked frustrated with himself for some reason. His tension dissolved and he suddenly bowed profusely before his peer in presumed thanks, and Yaoyorozu took a step back in surprise. Denki, meanwhile, stumbled aimlessly forward, the dumb expression on his face assuring that he had at some point gone stupid once again. Fortunately, Kyoka appeared to grab him by his collar to prevent him from wandering into a wall. Todoroki himself looked… neutral, and his face kept his rare moment of expression as impossible to interpret as ever.

"In second place, with 1360 points is Team Bakugo!"

Ashido and Sero instantly leaped at each other, arms outstretched and their bodies colliding in an exuberant hug that nearly bowled the latter of the pair over. Ashido retracted from the embrace and hopped in Kirishima's direction, perhaps expecting a similar reaction, but he merely held a hand out to stop her and pointed down at Bakugo. Even crouched down, hunched over, and dozens of meters away from her, Akiko could read the emotion on his face as clear as day. He was fuming, roaring in frustration and taking out his fury on the ground by inducing an explosion from his palms as soon as they hit the dirt.

After seeing how he reacted to the end of his battle trial, Akiko didn't need to be a genius to understand his reaction now.

"Just barely in third place, only five points behind Team Bakugo is… Team Takara!"

Akiko's mouth fell agape. She did a double-take in the direction of the screens overhead, but it was true. Her team had 1355 points, just behind Bakugo with his 1360, and as the undeniable truth hit her that her team had succeeded in making it into the top rankings, she couldn't hold back incredulous and elated giggles of joy. Before she knew it, she felt Jomei's arms wrap around her in a sudden and fierce hug.

"Haha! I knew it! I knew that we'd be able to do it! We did it!" He cheered, spinning her around before setting her down, at which point she returned the crushing embrace.

Hitoshi let a ghost of a smile touch his lips. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, utterly at ease now that victory had been announced. Aoyama, meanwhile, had separated slightly from the group, already busy waving emphatically at whatever cameras he could lay his eyes on.

Eventually, Jomei and Akiko released each other, though their newfound grins weren't going anywhere any time soon.

"One step closer to the hero course…" Hitoshi whispered.

Jomei turned and nodded at him. "Yep! You're one step closer to the hero course, and all of us have an even bigger chance of winning the whole festival… it's awesome! And we were only five points behind Bakugo, too..." He looked at his rival in the distance.

"Everything's so close to being ours now… it's almost too good to be true…" Akiko thought aloud, but her smile didn't waver.

Aoyama whirled around with a wink. "Well believe it, cherie! The spotlight is bound to land on us above all others, now! But rest assured, I'll try to spare some of my shine just for you three when the time comes!"

"And in fourth place… Team Midoriya! With 685 points, they must've snagged some of the other top two teams' headbands at the last second! Talk about last-ditch efforts!"

Midoriya exploded into tears. It seemed like rivers of liquid flew from his eyes, which left Akiko wondering if his Quirk had something to do with the display or not. Either way, Midoriya was relieved beyond belief, while his teammates had much calmer reactions to the news of their placement. Tokoyami lowered his head contentedly while Dark Shadow made a point of things to rise into the air and wave to the crowd, a headband still stuck in its ethereal beak. Uraraka just smiled, mimicking Dark Shadow's gesture from the ground in a much more subdued manner, obviously just grateful that her team had ended up where they were. Hatsume hardly paid attention to the crowd, instead electing to tinker away at one of the now-damaged devices she'd outfitted her allies with.

"These four valiant teams will advance to the third and final round! Who's gonna win it all? Guess we gotta just wait and see!" Present Mic finished. "Now! Let's take an hour-long break before we start the festivities! See ya soon! And hey, Eraserhead? Let's grab some food."

"I'm taking a nap."

"Pft! Party pooper."

Jomei's stomach growled. "You know, food sounds great right about now…"

Hitoshi crossed his arms and raised a brow. "Oh, so you really are one of those ravenous animals that's obsessed with eating, huh?"

"I mean… is there a problem with that?" Jomei asked innocently.

Aoyama started sauntering towards the exit with a flippant wave in his direction. "There's a fine line between appetite and savagery, mon ami. What side of the fence you land upon is a decision only you can make."

He rolled his eyes. "You coming with us, Shinso?"

"I've got nowhere to be, so… sure. Why not? I'll at least walk with you two there."

"Awesome!" Jomei praised, and he took Akiko's hand into his own. "Then let's go! I don't want to get caught up in a line."

Todoroki looked up at an enormous man in the first tier of stands overhead, and thanks to the overbearing presence of the harsh gaze on him, the aspiring hero knew that the image would be yet another one forever burned into his memory.

Even from a distance, the man stood out among the crowd. He was tall, imposing, sturdily-built, and had forged his body into a bulky physical condition that hardly even a handful of heroes without strength-augmenting Quirks had any hope of matching. His short, spiked-up crimson hair contrasted sharply against his light blue eyes, and as a constant reminder of his dominion over fire, his beard and mustache consisted solely of flickering flames with mere stubble hiding underneath. It was an iconic appearance.

Of course, his costume was equally iconic in the hero scene. His tight, navy turquoise bodysuit hugged his massive muscles, with lines of flame closely streaming across his chest, arms, and most prominently, his shoulders. Flame was the only makeshift mask he'd ever needed over his eyes, and the tall boots he wore were constantly left alight, with only their laces and soles visible amongst the all-encompassing inferno. White bracers broke up his color scheme on his lower arms, both styled like cages, and a blue belt with pouches of essential emergency supplies wrapped itself around his waist.

He was the number two hero. The Flame Hero: Endeavor.

He was Enji Todoroki, father of Shoto Todoroki and three other 'failures.'

He was a bastard.

Thus, when he stopped staring down disappointedly at his offspring and started somewhere else with the announcement of the Sports Festival's lunch break, Todoroki felt some small amount of triumph in weathering his father's unspoken ire. It wasn't anything substantial, but it was a victory all the same, and even the most minor act of spite he could successfully perform against Endeavor was one worthy of note in his eyes.

'Good riddance, you scumbag.'

Fortunately for his dignity, Todoroki noted, his team had already long since left his side in search of food. They may have been useful allies and were each uniquely powerful or talented within their realms of specialty, but the last thing he wanted right now was to deal with any potential inquiries as to why he'd been under the scrutinizing gaze of the number two hero.

He looked towards the three of them. Approaching the tunnel leading to the exit of the arena, they seemed to have already ended up alongside Team Takara. Aoyama, ever the egotist, looked like he was ranting about something ego-inflating, but the rest of the group passed by in short order. The one general studies student among them kept towards the back and ended up near Jiro and a still-recovering Kaminari, but the trio seemed to more or less not notice each other. Nishimura glued the group together, already having struck up a conversation with Iida and Yaoyorozu about something doubtlessly unimportant and irrelevant. Takara simply let herself be pulled along by Nishimura, which led Todoroki to assume that she was content with both her team's standing and her present company.

Out of all of them, Takara was the only one that had caught his eye. She wasn't someone he interacted with much – he didn't interact with anyone in 1-A much, and for good reason – but she, specifically, had earned his attention. Out of everyone that had evaded his initial freeze during the obstacle race, her circumventing the whole thing by launching herself over it and quite literally riding it out was impressive, but…

It was her Quirk's flames that got to him.

She used them freely. From what he could infer, she used them just like any of the other elements her Quirk's 'modes' enabled her to manipulate, and she used them without any indecision. Back when he had noticed her using her fire against one of the 1-B students on Team McKennan, he couldn't help but wonder for a moment if he was staring into a warped mirror of himself – an unburdened, and utterly free mirror of himself. He wondered if she just used fire as another extension of herself, like the other elements, or if she saw any significance in the flames she could cast forth, as he did his.

Or rather, the flames he couldn't cast forth. Not due to any dysfunction of his Quirk, but due to his vow never to use them.

He was the fourth and youngest of the Todoroki household. He was purposefully born and bred to have the perfect combination of his mother's ice and his father's flames, just so that Endeavor could pass on his grudge against All Might onto another, more powerful version of what he hoped would be himself. The mentally abusive pile of shit who dared to call himself a hero hadn't wanted another child.

He wanted a weapon.

For that reason, for the innumerable other sins he'd committed against his family, Todoroki had sworn never to use his left side to attack. Only to thaw his ice, and even then, he'd only ever call upon it after any given fight was over and done with.

Thus, he saw Takara as a mirror, but that was where he wished for his perception of her person and her Quirk to end. She would be a mirror. A reflection. A sick joke thrown at him by the hand of fate. She couldn't affect him.

Or at least, he hoped not.

Nevertheless, she was someone who had proven worthy of note. He'd devote memory to her and her Quirk, but never go so far as to seek her out to save himself the trouble.

Midoriya on the other hand… he wasn't a mirror. He was like a match to his kindling. In the middle of his desperate defense of the ten million points against Midoriya and his teammates, Midoriya had gotten him to use his flames.

Just like Endeavor would've wanted.

It may have been involuntary, it may have been a knee-jerk reaction to try and get Midoriya to back off, but the fact remained that it had happened. The moment his back was against the immovable wall that was Midoriya's sheer drive to succeed, he'd lost control, and in doing so became less. He turned himself from a person into the weapon, the object, the thing that Endeavor had forced into existence and had wanted Shoto to be all along, and the fact Midoriya had been the one to make him do so just made that realization sting even more.

Midoriya was the one closest to All Might. He was the one that had the number one hero in his corner, pulling him away from everyone else to talk during lunch about who-knows-what. It didn't matter what they talked about – the simple truth was that in All Might's taking an interest in Midoriya, he had turned one of his students into a sort of facsimile of himself, and thus, into a target that Todoroki simply had to overcome.

He'd made his declaration of war against Midoriya to give himself no other choice than to do so. If he could defeat Midoriya without using his left side… he'd be able to show in that action proof that he could definitively reject his father's influence, and be the hero that he wanted to be.

It'd be the ultimate act of spite against Endeavor.

He'd finally be free.

But until that happened, another thought related to his two peers popped into his head. They had something in common. They shared something between them beyond their typically agreeable natures and both their Quirks having some form of backlash involved with them. They both didn't hesitate. Even when they knew they were at a disadvantage, they didn't hesitate.

In this regard, they were unlike him. The comparisons he could draw from there stirred up… unpleasant feelings in his gut.

His eyes clenched shut. He needed to refocus. If the third event was going to be the last one, and he was going to take down Midoriya, he would at least let him know why he made that goal so clear in the first place. After what he'd inadvertently made him do at the end of the cavalry battle, he thought that much would only be appropriate.

He made his way over to where Midoriya stood, still staring up in disbelief at the emptying stands overhead, and set a hand on his shoulder. The boy jolted and turned his head around, but Todoroki said only one thing before he could respond.

"We need to talk."

Authors Note: Well then. Team McKennan vs Takara was far easier to write for me than Team Takara vs Kodai was, so here's to hoping you guys all enjoyed it, too!

Fun fact, I actually intended Thad to be just another horse on Team Tetsutetsu and then I was like… wait but his Quirk though. It let me make the fight more compelling (hopefully) and hint at both his and Jean's Quirks throughout these two chapters! Those two continue to become more and more lovely quasi-irrelevant OCs that I can't help but find a special place in my heart for moving forward. One day they'll get their time in the sun… one day. But hey! For now, at least they'll have their cameos whenever 1-B crops up, which, to be fair, isn't too infrequently, y'know?

Anyway! Akiko and co. are on good terms and filled with good feels, Todoroki remains a broody teenager who would genuinely have a point if he were to ever say 'I didn't ask to be born, Dad!,' and the world keeps spinning. Until next time, sports fans!

Wait.