I wasn't expecting it. I just wasn't. No pep talk or amount of preparation would've lessened my shock.

The sounds of the crowd were muffled as I walked through the tunnel. With every step, they got louder and louder. Then finally, the sun shone down on my skin and I was standing on the field. Immediately, I was hit with their roars and cheers. I stared, open-mouthed. There's so many of them, I thought. I watched the Festival every year on TV, but it was completely different from actually being there.

I'd been so focused on doing well and advancing to the semi-finals that I'd completely forgotten the fact that thousands of people...no, the entire world would be watching me.

Including mom.

I flinched as I heard my homeroom teacher's voice echoing around me.

"This year we have a very special participant! From the First-year's hero course...ASUGAAAAAA HIBIKIIIII!"

My eyes finally drifted back down to eye level, and I saw. Every second-year stared. Not one pair of eyes wasn't fixed on me. All the classes stood there in solidarity. General Studies, Support, class 2-B...

I stiffened at the sight of one person in particular, watching me as if I were a bug under a microscope.

Katsuki Bakugo.

~.~

I held Deku's hand as we waited for the opening ceremony. Last year they'd asked me to speak because I scored the highest in the entrance exams. At least, out of the hero course applicants. But I didn't know who would open up the Festival this time around. I waited impatiently for it to start.

"I don't think she's here yet," Deku whispered in my ear. He glanced around us, looking behind him and at all the students standing with us.

"Who?" I asked.

He scoffed. "Are you serious? Asuga-kun," he answered.

"It doesn't matter if she's here or not," I muttered. "She won't make it against us."

Todoroki sighed next to me, shaking his head. "You're not gonna go easy on her at all? At least a little?"

I grinned. "Tch. Whadda you think?"

He crossed his arms. "Aren't you wondering why she wants to fight you so badly?"

To tell you the truth, I didn't really care. Even if I knew the answer to that, it wouldn't change anything. She'd die like all my other opponents. And besides...part of me had already figured it out. At least partially.

It came to me while I was lying in bed with Deku last night.

He'd stared off into space, deep in thought about something. "What?" I asked.

"I was just thinking...Asuga-kun is a lot like you, Kacchan."

"The hell? How?"

Deku turned around so he was facing me. "Last year...you challenged me because you needed to prove to yourself you were good enough. Maybe Asuga-kun's afraid. And...the only way to feel stronger is to beat you in a fight."

I understood why he'd think that. As usual, he was trying to put himself into someone else's shoes. His words came back to me from our first fight at ground beta.

You've always been stronger, Kacchan! I know that you're better than me. Don't you see? That's why I wanna beat you! BECAUSE YOU'RE AMAZING!

Maybe Cotton Candy felt inferior, and only after beating me to a pulp would she squash some weakness. But it wasn't my job to validate her. She had to do that on her own.

I learned that the hard way.

Suddenly, the crowd's cheers grew even louder, to a deafening volume. Deku and I turned to each other, and then looked over our shoulders.

Someone just entered the Arena.

"It's her," Deku said. "She's here."

We watched as she walked with her hands in her pockets towards the rest of us. I could tell she felt overwhelmed, the way she gawked up at the people in the stands like some of us did last year. But then when she looked back down at us, her expression hardened.

We all narrowed our brows. "She won't hold back either," I said.

"You're right," Todoroki replied. "We'll just have to treat her like one of us."

"This year we have a very special participant! From the First-year's hero course...ASUGAAAAAA HIBIKIIIII!" Present Mic announced, and the crowd cheered louder.

All Might stood on the podium in the middle of the field with a mic. "And now, to kick off the Festival, we'll have her up here to say a few words."

I stiffened. "They picked her?"

"It makes sense," Deku rattled off next to me. "She scored the highest at the entrance exams this year, and she's at the very top of her class. You could say she's her grade's representative."

"Just like you were," Todoroki remarked.

I watched as she walked up on stage. She bowed to All Might, and he handed her the mic.

"I'm kinda impressed," Kaminari muttered. "I'd be nervous standing in front of my upperclassmen all by myself, but she's keeping her cool."

Her voice rang out confident and clear. "I just wanna say...I'm gonna win."

Everyone around us murmured uncomfortably. People had difficulty standing still. My classmates stared at me, knowing looks in their eyes. I knew we were all thinking the same thing.

She was using my own words against me. Turning last year's promise into a challenge.

A declaration of war.

All Might looked visibly shaken as she handed the microphone back to him and descended down the steps. When she approached, she shot me a glare and turned so her back was facing me.

Cotton Candy stood in front of us, waiting for Midnight to announce which event we'd be competing in first.

I glanced from the corner of my eye at Deku, but his gaze was fixed on something else. I followed where his eyes were looking…

Cotton Candy's arm. There was some kinda rainbow oval thing attached to her forearm with silicone straps.

"She must've been given permission to bring a support item since she's younger than us," he muttered to himself. "I wonder what it does."

The sight of it instantly pissed me off. I snarled under my breath.

"Her defeat will be even more embarrassing if she relies on that during the duels," Shinsou suddenly chimed in from behind us.

"I'll crush her before she gets that far," I promised.

"Maybe," he replied. "But I hope you don't. I wanna see a fight between you two. Might be interesting." He grinned wickedly.

"What's her quirk, anyway?" Kirishima asked.

"I'm not sure, but I know one thing," Shinsou whispered. "Her hero name is Echo."

"Huh? How do you know that?" Deku asked.

Shinsou crossed his arms triumphantly. "Aizawa-sensei let it slip during training this morning."

"Echo…maybe her quirk has to do with sound," Deku wondered out loud.

His hand started to twitch at his side. I could tell he wished he could get out his notebook.

We'd been so busy talking we missed the wheel spinning.

"The first event is...LABYRINTH!" Midnight exclaimed, cracking her nine tails.

A picture flashed on the screen with cutesy little emoticons. I'm guessing Principal Nezu designed them. I rolled my eyes.

"The rules are simple," she continued. "The first thirty-two people to solve the maze move on to the next round. Your amount of points are determined by the order in which you make it to the end and the number of obstacles you successfully defeat along the way! You may use your quirks as much as you like, and make it through the labyrinth by any means necessary!"

Deku turned to face us in a huddle. "Thirty-two people get to compete in the next event. That means there are twenty spots open."

"It would be advantageous to get our whole class to the next round," Iida agreed.

"We're all super familiar with each other's quirks, so there's no surprises," Kirishima pointed out with a grin.

"Not to mention it would look good to have our entire class make it through the maze," Shoji concurred.

I gripped Deku's hand tighter in mine. "You ready for this, nerd?" I asked, smirking at him.

He smiled back, gazing at with determination, and nodded. "Let's go."

~.~

A buzzer sounded so loud it reverberated in my brain, and it began. I barely had time to blink before half of the second-years had already made it across the field.

I ran to catch up. Midoriya-senpai sprinted so fast he zigzagged like a bolt of green lightning. Bakugo pulled slightly ahead of him, using his explosions to propel himself forward. They'd leaped on top of the concrete walls of the maze and began hopping from one wall to the other.

"What?!" I exclaimed. How is that not cheating?!

I tried my best to follow them on foot, my eyes gazing up at them as they flew through the air with all the ease of a bird. But I ran face-first into a wall as a result.

"Ugh," I groaned as my head started to throb. I stumbled forward. "I can't rely on them," I thought out loud. "I have to make it through on my own."

The gravity girl Ururaka from last year touched the bottom of her shoes and floated over the maze. Sero had no problem ziplining himself overhead. Kendo from class 2-B used her enlarged hands to grapple after the others. Tsuyu climbed the walls like a frog.

Dozens of them were already ahead of me. I had to catch up and fast.

"Asuga-kun!" A girls' voice called after me.

I gasped as someone grabbed my hand and pulled me forward, down the path.

"The - hell - are - you - "

" - Follow me!" I looked at the girl pulling me forward. She had long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and pink eyes. She looked a little familiar…

"Let go of me!" I cried, fighting to get out of her grasp.

"There's no time," she huffed. "Twenty-eight people have already made it to the finish line!"

I gawked at her, dumbfounded. "How do you know?"

"Because I can see them," she insisted.

When I examined her face closer, I saw that her eyes were glowing. It must be her quirk. Does she have X-Ray vision or something?

To answer my unasked question, she said, "I developed contacts equipped with thermal detection! I count twenty-eight heat signatures twenty meters ahead of us!"

I realized that every turn she took led down a path that was completely clear. Not only that, we hadn't run into any dead ends. It was almost as if she knew where to go. But this wasn't good. There haven't been any obstacles yet.

"If I don't take out any targets I won't get points!" I exclaimed to her.

"It's too late for that," she said as she kept running. "By the time you took out one, all the spots would be filled!" All you can do now is solve the labyrinth!"

I gasped when I realized. It hadn't been my imagination. "You know the way out," I called to her. "How?!"

She grinned. "My quirk is snapshot. Before the start of the challenge, I took a mental screenshot of the giant tv. The cartoon map they showed us is an exact blueprint of the maze's layout. I know the location of every obstacle and the fastest way out!"

I didn't understand it. If her goal was to stray me from the real finish line, then she wouldn't be leading me herself. Wherever she took me she ended up too, so she didn't benefit from dragging me around. On the off-chance she was telling the truth…

"Why would you help me?!" I asked shakily, breathing hard from the exertion.

She smirked down at me. "I'm Cho's older sister. She asked me to look out for you!"

I was dumbfounded. I'd never really considered Cho my friend. She was an opponent. A rival. A classmate. But...she asked her sister to help me. I didn't understand it. How stupid can she be?

"We're almost there," she promised, pulling me farther ahead of her. "There's one spot left. You'll have to jump once you reach the exit!"

"WHAT?! What about you?!"

She shrugged. "My quirk won't be much use in the duels. Besides, most of these guys are worried about grabbing the attention of an agency, but I'm in support. I've already been hooked up with a job after graduation."

I gazed at her in awe. Was it really possible...that I could trust this girl?

"Imouto (little sister) told me about the club last night," she said with a wide smile. "You're a fighter. I know you'll make it to the finals. I'll be cheering you on, okay? We both will. Just do your best!"

Without another word, she thrust me forth hard until I was falling through the air. I hit the ground hard, landing on my face.

A buzzer sounded, loud in my ears and pounding in my head.

"Tied in first place is Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya! Asuga Hibiki makes it through the maze and with that, the challenge is over! Congratulations to the semi-finalists! You will be moving on to the next round!" Present Mic called.

I trembled as I tried getting to my feet, but my arms and legs shook with fatigue. I fell against it when I tried to stand. I struggled to breathe. Sweat dripped down the side of my neck. A few pieces of grass and some dirt had gotten up into my nose, assaulting me with the scent of a mowed lawn.

Even as the patrons in the stands broke out into applause, panic constricted my heart. This didn't feel like a win at all. I made it, but just barely. By the skin of my damn teeth. What was worse, I hadn't even done it on my own. A person with a literal cheat code branded into her mind led me by the hand and even then I'd barely scraped by, falling on my face into the last place spot.

The only reason I made it this far was because Cho's sister helped me….if she hadn't...would I even be here right now?

A lump stung in my throat. No, I wouldn't. I turned and looked behind me as I tried to catch my breath.

Cho's older sister stood there at the exit of the maze, smiling and waving at me. She'd never met me before in her life, and yet she used her gear, her quirk...to help me. I didn't even know her name.

It could've been her here instead of me, kneeling in the grass with the winners. She was smart. Tech-savvy. Quick-thinking. Even if her quirk wasn't the best for hand-to-hand combat, I'm sure if she really wanted to she could have figured out a way to use it in the duels.

I gritted my teeth, balancing on fists as I got to my feet. It didn't matter what the next challenge was. I had to do better than this. Not just for myself. But for Cho and her ane (older sister). I owed it to them now. For getting me this far.

I stared dejectedly down at the ground, shuffling over to the other finalists.

"You made it," Jiro said, punching my arm. "Congratz."

"Yeah, welcome to the second round!" Mina exclaimed, jumping excitedly. "It's nice to see another girl here!"

"I wouldn't praise her," Shinso chided. "It's not like she actually deserves it."

"Jeez, Shinsou, harsh much?" Kaminari replied, crossing his arms in disapproval.

"Yeah, she made it through even though she's only been training for a few weeks!" Hagakure chimed in.

Shinsou shot me a smug smile. "I saw while I whizzed by with my capture-scarf. A second-year led you by the hand like a kid in a parking lot. You got lucky. But don't expect that kind of help from any of us."

I flushed red with embarrassment.

"You didn't have to say it like that," Koda muttered gently.

"No, he's right," I replied, my hands tightened into fists. "I'll earn it in the next round. I swear it."

"You won't survive that long."

I froze, my heart racing. I'd grown all too familiar with that voice. I tilted my head up to see Bakugo glaring down at me.

He had his hands in his pockets, just like me. "I'm gonna say it since none of these losers have the guts," he snapped. "I don't care that you're a first-year. I'm gonna give this everything I've got, and leave you in my dust. Your only goal is living long enough to watch me win."

I glared. A year ago, I would've trembled before him. Been scared shitless. Believed him. Because it didn't feel like he was bragging. His words held conviction. They felt like a promise. An inevitability.

But I wasn't that scared little girl anymore. More than that...there were people who believed in me. I wanted to be worthy of their support. Prove to them it wasn't misplaced.

I brushed past him, knocking his shoulder with mine. Hard. "I'll see you in the finals," I hissed.