Hello! This update will be continuing the Sports festival. As a quick touch up, Kaneyuki has come in second place in the obstacle race and is going to be finding her group for the cavalry battle. I'm not the best at writing fight scenes so please bear with me... Anyway...
Thoughts are italicized.
Enjoy!
3rd Person POV:
Once given the signal to start teaming up, Kaneyuki only had one person in mind. Once she saw the figure who matched her conditions, she swiftly walked over and grabbed their wrist from behind.
He turned around. "What?"
Kaneyuki smiled. "Hello again. I believe that your goal matches mine."
He looked down at her. "Pixy, care to elaborate?"
"You came in 27th. Shinso Hitoshi, right?"
"Yes, and what about it?"
"Let's be a team of two. Even if I'm in second place with 205 points, our total will be 285. That way, fewer teams will pay attention to us, so stealing headbands from them will be easy when they're all pinning for the ten million points on Midoriya's head."
"But you'll still stand out as the second-place finisher."
"We won't attack until the last minute. That's all I need. By that time, the attention will all be on whoever has ten million, so it won't be a problem. In the last few seconds, however, I will be stealing that ten million. My quirk is both offensive and defensive. It's a good deal. If you lend me your shoulders, I will bring you through to the next round, and your quirk can be kept a secret for the one-on-one battles."
Shinso stared her down for a few seconds. "How much do you weigh?"
Kaneyuki deadpanned. "I'm only 48 kg (about 105 pounds). If you add my hair, that might round up to 50. Besides, I don't have to be sitting on your shoulders for the whole 15 minutes if you're that weak. I can also lighten my body with my quirk, by taking control of the gravity acting upon us. If I don't touch the ground, then anything is okay, but are you fine with being a launchpad during the last minute? Todoroki or Bakugo might do something annoying."
"Deal, but for the launchpad, only in the last 30 seconds."
"Got it. Launchpad only for the last 30 seconds, but make sure you're somewhat under me so I can land properly. When the timer strikes the last minute, we'll attack. Otherwise, we'll only defend if we need to."
After making the deal, the two stayed by the edge, using the rest of the time observing the other groups that were forming.
Soon enough, the 15 minutes of choosing teams ended. "Now then, it's about time to get started!"
The intercom restarted too, Present Mic's voice projecting out into the stadium. "After 15 minutes to form teams and talk strategy, twelve cavalry teams are lined up on the field!"
"There are some interesting teams out there."
Now, Raise those battle cries! It's time for U.A.'s bloody battle! I'm not going to ask if you're ready or not! Light the signal fire! LET'S GO! Counting down to the brutal battle royal! Three! Two! One! START!"
Kaneyuki watched as almost all the teams swarmed towards Midoriya. He had chosen Ochaco, Fumikage, and the support course student.
"Hey, Tree."
"What, Pixy?"
"Let's move away from the masses. It looks like Class B has a schemer too, and I don't like the look on his face."
His head tilted up a bit. "I know, he has the same expression you do sometimes."
"... I take offense to that. I think my face is much prettier."
"Whatever you say, Pixy. By the way, how's the weather up there? It's probably the first time you've been so tall, huh?"
She slapped his forehead. "Shut up. Not everyone's a tree, and I have a quirk that can take me up way higher than this."
Kaneyuki and Shinso loitered along the edge of the arena, completely at peace compared to the tumultuous situation everyone else was in.
"Now then, even though barely two minutes have passed since we've started, it's already turned into a free for all! Fights over the headbands are breaking out all over! Ignoring the ten million points and going for second to fourth places isn't bad either!"
They watched as Bakugo blasted into the air, chasing after Midoriya. "I guess escaping to the sky is the easiest option for them, but I don't think they'll be able to pull that off anymore. Fumikage's Dark Shadow can't continuously take those blasts, can he?"
Present Mic's voice popped up again. "HUH? Bakugo's gotten separated from his horses! What's with this guy? Is that okay?!"
"It's a technicality, so it's okay! It wouldn't have been if he touched the ground though!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Shinso spotted a mop of blond hair. "Oi, Pixy. Eyes open, and stop using my head as an armrest. We might have company. It's that Class B schemer."
"It hasn't been 10 minutes yet, so it's your call, steal or run?"
"Let's stay low until that minute arrives. We'll run."
"Roger that, Tree. Oh, look! We can lead him to Bakugo. That would definitely stall both of them for a while," Kaneyuki activated her quirk, her eyes taking on a red glow. "Have you tried surfing before?"
"No, why ask?"
"Soon enough you will. Keep your knees bent and keep your weight on the back leg. You're in for a ride!"
Shinso did what she told him, but he was not ready for his feet to suddenly lift off the ground. The weight of Kaneyuki on his shoulders eased a little, and they suddenly propelled forward towards Bakugo.
"Hey, you have surprisingly good balance, Tree."
"What the heck is this? I can't see anything but it's like a solid surface."
"I created a sliding force under your feet, and now it's carrying us to Bakugo. The Class B kid is following as planned. Be warned though, stay low to it because I'll have to pick up speed once we're past him."
"Got it, Pixy."
The two sped along to the other side of the arena as Bakugo got back into position from being yanked back by Sero's tape, and as she approached him, Kaneyuki used a small force to tug at his headband, loosening it just the slightest to tempt The class B kid. If he really dislikes Class A, then he'll definitely steal Bakugo's.
"Brace yourself. we're going to accelerate."
After passing Bakugo, Kaneyuki increased the speed they were going at. Right before they reached the edge of the arena with breakneck speed, she caused the force underneath them to tilt dangerously to the side, the direction changing as they made a sharp U-turn before slowing down once more.
Looking back, things happened just like she planned, and the Class B kid took the bait. Present Mic's voice came back on the speaker at the exact moment too.
"It's been seven minutes! Here are the current rankings up on the screen!"
Confused gasps came from the audience.
"What? Wait a minute! Other than Midoriya, class A isn't doing so well... Bakugo? What? He's at zero points?"
The situation was even better than she had imagined. Not only did Monoma fall for the trap, but Present Mic also brought attention to Bakugo's lack of points, and she could sense the waves of extreme bloodlust rolling off of him 20 meters away. "God, I almost feel sorry for Kirishima. Hey, Tree. You good?"
Shinso breathed in deeply. "Don't ever do that again, Pixy. I thought I almost had whiplash from that corner turn! I don't think I want to go surfing. Ever. Also, it's almost to the 10-minute mark."
"I know. It looks like other teams, including Todoroki, are going to try getting the ten million again."
"LESS THAN HALF THE TIME IS LEFT NOW! The cavalry battle is about to enter the second half! In this unexpected rise of class B, who will wear the ten million points in the end?!"
"Tree stay away from Todoroki! I bet he's going to take out the other teams in order to isolate Midoriya. Wait. JUMP NOW!"
The blinding flash of electricity shot from Kaminari on Todoroki's right. Luckily, her warning reached Shinso in time for him to react and keep them from getting electrocuted. Realizing his strategy, Kaneyuki quickly created a force to lift them off the ground. The other groups, however, weren't as lucky and become frozen to the ground.
"What did he do? Todoroki took care of that crowd in an instant!"
"He froze them after Kaminari's shock stopped them... I guess it should be expected, but he took into account how a lot of people avoided it in the obstacle course."
"Nice commentary, Eraser! Look! Team Midoriya has nowhere left to go! Todoroki's made a wall of ice to isolate him! There are only 5 minutes left!"
Shinso tapped on Kaneyuki's leg. "You hear that, Pixy? The countdown begins."
Cracking her knuckles, she smiled dangerously. "Loud and clear, just make sure you're there when I come down, Tree. As soon as that clock turns 1, we'll commence a full-on coup d'état."
"ONE MINUTE LEFT! Todoroki made it so he'd have the ten million to himself to seize in an instant! AT LEAST, THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT 5 MINUTES AGO! But unbelievably, Middoriya's been able to keep away in that cramped space for 5 minutes!"
The two teams rotated around each other, neither being able to make an attack. Todoroki was starting to get anxious.
Iida spoke up. "Everyone, there's less than a minute left. You won't be able to use me after this. I'm counting on you! Hang on tight. Make sure you get it, Todoroki-kun!"
The noise coming from the engines on his calves suddenly spiked, the fire turning from a subtle yellow turned into a blinding blue and white.
"Torque Over RECIPROBURST!"
"WHA?" Present Mic's voice sounded over the stadium. "WHAT HAPPENED? SO FAST! SO FAST! Iida, If you could accelerate that fast, then show us in the prelims!"
Todoroki was also surprised. "What was that?"
Breathing heavily, Iida replied, "By forcing the torque and rotations to increase, I created an explosive power. With the recoil, my engine stalls after a while though. It's a secret move I hadn't told anyone in the class yet. I told you, didn't I, Midoriya? That I'd challenge you."
"THE TABLES HAVE TURNED! OFFENSE AND DEFENSE RIGHT AT THE EDGE! REINING THAT IN, TODOROKI GETS TEN MILLION! NOW MIDORIYA IS SUDDENLY LEFT WITH ZERO POINTS!"
"We need to get back in there!" Midoriya yelled, but Fumikage gave a warning.
"As long as they have Kaminari, we'll be at a disadvantage if we attack! Won't it be safer to try for other points right now?"
"No, we can't! I don't know how the other points got split up! This is our only chance!"
"All right!" Ochaco encouraged, "We'll get it back, Deku! We definitely will!"
Team Midoriya rushed towards Team Todoroki with new vigor.
"With less than a minute left, Todoroki currently has four headbands! He's wrestled away the top spot from Midoriya, who was running away like crazy! Will these be the top four teams to move on to the next round? In the second place, Team Monoma, in third place, Team Tetsutetsu, and in fourth, Team Kendo!"
BOOOMMM!
"Don't act on your own, Bakugo!"
Several explosions shook the ground, as Bakugo launched towards Monoma.
"Tsuburaba! Guard!"
The head horse blew out a breath of air that quickly solidified onto an invisible panel, blocking Bakugo's attack.
"Ha, you can't see this wall! Serves you right!"
Unfortunately, he spoke too soon, as Bakugo smashed his fist through, yanking two headbands from Monoma's neck.
"Damn it! He took two?"
"WHAT'S THIS? TEAM BAKUGO SEIZES TWO HEADBANDS TO MOVE TO THIRD PLACE! THE RANKINGS KEEP CHANGING IN THE FINAL STAGES! IT'S THAT PASSION OF YOUTH!"
Sero brought Bakugo back down with his tape as Kirishima spoke up. "We'll definitely get through to the next round-"
"- NOT YET!"
"Huh?"
Bakugo hammered his fist onto Kirishima's head. "We're gonna get an indisputable first place! I couldn't brace myself enough earlier on my own! GO! We'll get our points back, and then go for the ten million!"
His teammates smiled.
"Flat Face! Tape!"
"It's Sero!"
"Racoon Eyes! Lay down a weak dissolving solution in the direction we're going!"
"My name is Ashido Mina!"
With the combination of Sero's tape pulling them forward, Mina reducing friction with her acid, and Bakugo's explosions, they propelled forward, breaking through Team Monoma's defenses and snatching back their headband.
"BAKUGO IS MERCILESS! IF HE'S GONNA DO IT, HE'S GONNA BE THOROUGH! HE'S, YOU KNOW, A PERFECTIONIST! NOW THERE ARE ONLY A FEW SECONDS LEFT!"
"Next! We're going to where Deku and Todoroki are!
Miodoriya swung his quirk enhanced arm towards Todoroki's left side, who subconsciously activated his fire only to get his arm blown aside in the huge gust created.
Todoroki was surprised. My left... What am I doing...?
Quickly, Midoriya took the chance and snatched a headband off of him. "I got it!"
"WITH JUST ELEVEN SECONDS LEFT, THERE'S AN ANGRY RETRIEVAL HERE TOO!"
Mei from behind him paused. "Wait a minute. Isn't that the wrong headband? That's 70 points!"
"Just in case, we changed the position of the headbands!" Yelled Momo, "You were naive, Midoriya!"
"Todoroki-kun, get a hold of yourself! That was close!"
"OH NO! TEAM MIDORIYA DIDN'T RETRIEVE THE TEN MILLION POINTS! AND TIME"S JUST ABOUT UP! START THE COUNTDOWN!"
10 seconds popped up on the screen.
"Tokoyami-kun!"
"Kaminari!"
An explosion blasted through the ice wall, and Bakugo also joined in "DAMN DEKU!"
"Uraraka-san!"
"Yaoyorozu!"
"HALF 'N' HALF-"
"-THANKS FOR WAITING, EVERYONE!"
Kaneyuki appeared over Bakugo, surprising all of them. In the split second, she had launched from Shinso, jumped over the ice wall, and planted her feet on Bakugo's shoulders, and slammed a hand on his head. "RUDE OF YOU GUYS TO FORGET I WAS HERE!"
She kicked off of Bakugo and forcefully snatched the ten million from Todoroki's neck. Landing a foot on the shield Momo had made seconds ago, Kaneyuki skillfully pivoted and jumped back towards where Shinso was standing beyond the ice wall.
"TIME'S UP!"
A thud was heard as Bakugo fell face down into the dirt.
"THAT'S THE END OF THE SECOND ROUND, THE CAVALRY BATLLE! Now, let's take a look at the top four teams right away! In first, we have Team Chihaya, who dramatically turned the situation upsidedown in the very last seconds! appearing from nowhere and snatching the ten million points! Talk about an ambush!"
"YES! How was that, Tree?"
Shinso scoffed. "You nearly missed the landing, Pixy."
"In second, Team Bakugo!"
Mina and Sero sighed in relief. "Ah, we were so close!"
"Well, second place isn't bad. It ended pretty well."
Kirishima looked worriedly at Bakugo. "Do you really think that's how he feels?"
"AAAAAHHHHHHH! THAT STUPID SLOTH GIRL! HOW DARE SHE USE ME AS A LAUNCHPAD!?"
"In third place, Tetsute- Huh? What, it's Team Todoroki?! When did Team Tetsutetsu fall?"
Momo let out a sigh. "I can't believe I forgot about Yuki-chan... I'm sorry guys, I was unprepared."
"No, it's not you," Iida interfered, "I caused everyone trouble and couldn't move when Chihaya-san appeared."
"Weeehhhh!"
Midoriya sulked. He couldn't protect the ten million points from Todoroki, and before he could steal it back, Kaneyuki appeared out of nowhere. He had lost.
"Deku-kun?"
"Um... I'm really sorry..." The girls looked at him, laughing a little, pointing at Fumikage.
"Even though we couldn't react to Chihaya's surprise attack, she was more focused on the ten million points on Todoroki, so Dark shadow was able to snatch two from her neck."
"In fourth place, Team Midoriya! These four teams... will advance... TO THE FINAL ROUND!"
Upon hearing those words, geysers erupted from Midoriya's eyes, the tears falling down like rain.
Meanwhile, Team Tetsutetsu stood in the corner, a dreary atmosphere between them.
"What happened?"
"Before I knew it, we had zero points, and it was over... How on earth is that girl so fast?"
"Could it be punishment for taking the small one's points in such an indecent way?"
"I can't accept this!"
"NOW, We'll take an hour's break for lunch before we start the afternoon festivities! See Yah! Hey, Eraser Head, let's go grab food."
"I'm going to sleep."
Kaneyuki and Midoriya stood near the end of the faculty entrance doors, facing Todoroki who called them there. He had basically unleashed all of his secrets, including his family's turbulent relationships. Kaneyuki didn't know what to think though. However, she felt a wave of bubbling anger grow inside of her. Todoroki was so caught up in the notion of trying to prove his father wrong only to fall deeper into the black hole of self-hatred, so she did what she knew best.
SLAP!
Two star-shocked faces looked at her livid figure. In an instant, the girl had stepped forward and slapped the boy across the face.
"It's still your own quirk. You aren't accomplishing anything by doing this, you know right? And not to say that you haven't suffered, but even if your father treated you harshly and you hated him, he still wanted you, right? RIGHT?"
Todoroki wanted to get angry, but the last sentence Kaneyuki said stopped him from doing so. "He... wanted me?"
"I- My biological parents sold me," Her eyes burned bright with anger. "They sold me to quirk traffickers the moment I discovered my quirk. They said that I was cursed, that I would bring bad luck to the family. I was only 3. And I would stay in their possession like some prized animal until I was 7."
The hallway was dead silent. The two boys, still reeling from her sudden confession of such a dark past, could only watch as she wasted no time, turned her heel, and left, storming away.
YAY! Another chapter finished and a huge bomb dropped! Kaneyuki's past that she had refused to talk about before is finally going be revealed? Sorry for the long wait in between this update and the last. School has started for me once again, and as a Junior in high school, I've been drowning in homework, tests, and more tests. I'll try my best to update maybe once every three months, but please don't hold me up that that strictly. Once again, thanks for reading and reviews are always welcomed! Stay safe out there!