Hitoshi dropped off Akiko's back and just as quickly offered to massage their back and shoulders, which they enthusiastically accepted, and it provided the much needed relief after carrying his weight all the way through the obstacle course. While Hitoshi was working on their shoulders, Akiko did a quick headcount of the students who had already made it through, and counted twelve others; meaning they had come in thirteenth and fourteenth respectively. For an event of this size, Akiko was certain that would qualify them for the next round. Akiko noticed Izuku and Shoto standing together near the front, so once Akiko's shoulders started feeling more loose, they grabbed Hitoshi's hand and pulled him over towards the two boys.

Then they noticed something interesting - Shoto was standing rather close to Izuku, and he usually didn't let anyone get up in his personal space. While Izuku was a big hugger, he wasn't oblivious to Shoto's nervousness around general displays of physical affection, and hadn't initiated physical affection with the boy. And yet here Shoto was, trying to bridge that gap in his own way. Akiko grinned, but didn't say anything.

"Hey, no surprises seeing you two already here!" Akiko commented cheerfully. They observed that Izuku seemed a bit scuffed, whereas Shoto didn't have a single mark on him. "Where did you guys place?"

"I arrived second, and Izuku was just in front of me," Shoto stated, brushing some dirt off his uniform, which he had likely accrued from the explosive final stage of the obstacle race.

"Damn, you two! That's impressive!" Akiko exclaimed.

Shoto looked confused by the praise. "Is it? You would have probably beat us both, or at least kept towards the front, if you hadn't been both intentionally holding back and carrying Hitoshi the whole way."

"We're working together, so that we can get picked up by the same agency for internships," Hitoshi explained, and Shoto nodded at that, deeming the response acceptable. "Besides, it gave us both a chance to observe the other competitors, and keep some of our own abilities hidden. I mean, I barely did anything that round, so most people will have no idea what I can do."

"I see, I see!" Izuku was nodding vigorously. "And that way, for the later rounds with fewer competitors, you'll be able to perform better when more eyes are on you. Clever thinking, you two! I hadn't even considered that, I was just trying to do my best the whole time."

Akiko let out a friendly laugh. "Izuku, when do you ever give anything less than one hundred percent? I mean, how many times did you go overboard the last three weeks and end up in the med bay? Recovery Girl should give you a loyalty card at this point."

Izuku sighed, defeated. Before anyone could say anything else, though, Ochaco jogged up towards the group, panting heavily. "You guys, that was… one hell of… an obstacle course! I mean… the obstacles weren't that bad… but the other students…"

"Yep, it was pretty chaotic," Hitoshi nodded, and then a sly grin formed on his face. "But with the numbers thinned down, the other classes won't stand a chance against us."

Ochaco didn't seem wholly convinced, but the conversation moved on to a discussion of the obstacle race and the kinds of quirks and support tools they'd all seen. As the stadium filled up with more and more students who made it through to the end, the conversation drew to a close.

Midnight jumped back up onto her podium, and began an announcement to move the day's events along. "The first game of the first-year stage is now finally over! Now, let's take a look at the results!"

The holographic display reappeared showing the rankings from the obstacle race, and Akiko spotted themself in 13th, and Hitoshi just behind them coming in 14th, just as they expected. They noticed that the display only included ranks up to the 42nd place, which was far fewer than the number of remaining participants in the stadium.

"The top 42 made it through to the next round," Midnight declared, confirming what Akiko had thought. "We can't include everyone, but don't worry if you didn't make it through! There will be other events that give you an opportunity to shine. That said, the real competition begins next, and the press will be all over this one, so give it your all! Now then, here is the second game. Of course, I already know what it is, but what could it be? What could it be?"

Akiko couldn't help but be impressed by how Midnight performed for the crowd's entertainment - it was probably a decent part of why the general public still liked her, despite the controversy.

The spinner on the screen eventually slowed down and came to a halt, landing on… Cavalry Battle.

"Let me explain." As Midnight began, the screen switched to an image of Thirteen and Present Mic holding All Might up together. "The participants can form teams of two to four people as they wish. It's basically the same as a regular cavalry battle, but the one thing that's different is… based on the results of the last game, each person has been assigned a point value."

Some of the students, including Ochaco, began chattering about the implications of what Midnight had just revealed.

"You guys don't hold back even though I'm talking, huh?" Midnight cracked a black tassel towards Ochaco, who flinched away on instinct. "So, as I was saying… the points assigned go up by five starting from the bottom… until you get to first place, who will have… TEN MILLION POINTS!"

Izuku immediately began sweating. Regardless of what happened, he was now most peoples' target for the cavalry round.

"It's a survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top! Now then, I'll explain the rest of the rules. The time limit is fifteen minutes. Each team is worth the total of its members' points, and the riders will wear a headband with that number on their foreheads. Teams will try to grab each others' headbands until time runs out, and try to keep as many points as they can. Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up. So, the more you steal, the harder it'll be to manage them!

"And the most important thing is: even if your headband gets stolen, or if your team falls, you're not out! During the game, it'll be a cruel fight where you can use your quirks. But it is still a cavalry battle. You'll get a red card for attacks that are trying to make people fall on purpose! You'll be removed immediately! Now, you have fifteen minutes to build your teams. Start!"

People quickly flooded away from Izuku. Nobody wanted to be on a team that made them that big of a target, after all. Surprisingly, Shoto was among those who moved away, but he at least explained himself first. "I am sorry, Izuku, but as much as we are now friends, I am also competing against you in the Sports Festival for personal reasons. Therefore, I will be making my own team, and I hope you understand."

"That's fine, but I won't hold back against you either!" Izuku said, and held out a fist, issuing a friendly challenge to Shoto. The latter looked at the fist, confused.

"You're supposed to bump fists," Akiko added helpfully. "It's a friendly thing, means something different depending on the context. Here I'd say it's something like… let's give it our all?"

Izuku hummed and nodded, agreeing with how Akiko had described it. Shoto shrugged, and bumped fists with Izuku - who lit up as though that was the best thing that'd happened to him all day - and walked off to find his own teammates.

Then, Izuku's expression returned to one of stress. He turned to Akiko, Hitoshi and Ochaco. "I'm guessing you three are gonna find other teams as well?"

Akiko and Hitoshi shared a glance, and then Hitoshi spoke for the two of them. "Nah, we're staying with you. Can't speak for Ochaco though, it's up to her."

"I'll stay as well! Together, we're gonna win this thing!" Ochaco pumped a fist into the air. Akiko had definitely noticed that Ochaco had much more assertiveness than usual today. Where it had come from, they weren't exactly sure.

Izuku stepped forward and threw his arms around all three of them, squeezing them into a group hug. "You guys are the best!"

"Izuku, you're probably the best at strategy when it comes to combining our quirks, so how do you think we should set up our formation?" Akiko asked when Izuku finally let go.

Izuku sat his chin on the back of his hands and took a minute to think, muttering all the while. When he was ready, he raised his speaking volume. "First, I think Hitoshi should be the rider. I would have suggested Akiko since they'd be really good at dodging others trying to grab our headband, but there's a better way to apply their quirk. With me in front and Akiko in the back, we'll have much greater mobility. Ochaco, you could go on either side and float along, lightening our overall weight so we can move faster. Akiko, with you at the back, you'll be able to follow my lead, right?"

Akiko nodded. "Also, Hitoshi, do you want to tell them about the thing we were working on?"

Hitoshi grinned widely, and his eyes lit up with a glint of mischief. "So, people in other classes won't know about how my quirk works, so it won't be hard to put them under my control. There are also some members of our class, like Bakugou and Kirishima, who would honestly be too easy to rile up. But for the rest, we have a plan. Akiko and I practiced speaking in sync, and we prepared a few lines. I'll squeeze their hand with a certain number of fingers to indicate what to say. If we speak at exactly the same time, and I'm a bit quieter so they can't hear me, and they respond to Akiko, my quirk will still work. We tested it already just to make sure."

At that, Izuku's face lit up like a beacon. "Woah, that's amazing you guys! We can totally use that. So, do you reckon we should just stay on the run the whole time, or maybe try and get some other headbands?"

Ochaco hit her fist into an open palm. "I think we should avoid people for a while, and maybe thin them out for the first half. If we make it that long without losing our original headband, then maybe we can switch to the offensive?"

For the remaining few minutes, the four of them continued discussing the minutiae of their strategies, and then the timer ended and Midnight directed each team to report their scores and get a headband. After a minute, Hitoshi returned with a headband that had the number 10, 000, 345. There was no elimination of teams, and everyone was going to be after the ten million point headband, which meant that this was the perfect opportunity to show off. If they could defend the headband for the whole fifteen minutes, surely that would garner the attention of the pros in the audience. They had the entire stadium field to work with, which should be enough space.

"Now then," Midnight called out, stretching as though she was going to fight as well. "It's about time to get started!"

While each of the teams were taking their starting positions around the field, Akiko sussed out the competition. Shoto had formed a team with Ida, Yaoyorozu and someone who, judging by the variety of equipment, was from the Support Course. Other than that, Class 1-A mostly stuck together, and Akiko didn't recognise people on the other teams enough to know what to expect from them.

As soon as the battle started, half of the teams charged towards Akiko's team - exactly as they had expected. Some of the others stayed back, waiting to see what would happen. As the team had planned, Ochaco activated her quirk on the whole team, and Izuku leapt into the air. Akiko followed, using their quirk on their own legs to shoot themself in the same direction Izuku was moving. Izuku had directed them towards the furthest observing team from the rest of the pack, so they could deal with them and move on.

The team consisted of nobody any of the four recognised, which meant that the agreed tactic was for Hitoshi to take care of things.

"Hey," Hitoshi called out to them. "Enjoying the show so far?"

"Huh?" The rider replied unintelligently. His eyes dulled. Hitoshi asked very politely for him to hand over his headband, and he did as instructed. Before any of the rider's teammates had a chance to respond, Izuku and Akiko jumped away. It was just as well that they wasted no time in fleeing, since the horde had already drawn near.

They spent a few minutes just running away, and slowly their pursuers dropped in numbers, realising a better strategy was to take each other on. Eventually, one team remained, and so Izuku took the lead in deciding to stop and fight. Others would certainly return in hopes of grabbing the ten million point headband, so better to fight them off one by one than keep running the entire time.

The rider of the challenging team was one they recognised - the short blond hair, and inexplicably haughty atmosphere could belong to none other than Monoma Neito, the one who declared war on Class 1-A three weeks ago. Two of the carriers looked kind of plain, and one had a body that was almost pitch black. As soon as they got close enough, the haughty one tried to taunt them. "Well well well, if it isn't the golden heroes of Class 1-A. You think you're so much better than us in 1-B, but now is the time when we'll prove just how wrong you are! Oh, and don't even bother trying with that brainwashing technique of yours, I saw how it works and none of us will fall for it!"

Hitoshi mimed zipping his lips shut with a grin, and the message was clear: 'I don't need to do anything, my teammates are perfectly capable of beating your ass.' The 1-B team charged forward, and the blonde boy on top reached out to grab at Hitoshi's headband. With quick reflexes, Akiko reached up and slapped the boy's arm away, using their quirk to send his arm flying away fast enough to almost throw him off his carriers.

"That's a nice speed quirk you've got there. I saw you moving around in the obstacle course, it seems pretty well suited to agile movements. Kind of like thi-" As the boy tried to speak, he bit his tongue. And launched off from his teammates. Izuku quickly snapped his hand out and grabbed Monoma's headband as he fell, passing it up to Hitoshi who just as quickly slung it around his neck.

"Did you just... Did you just try to use my quirk? I mean what you said suggested you were copying it somehow, right?" Akiko broke out laughing. "If you really can copy quirks, you definitely picked the wrong one to copy. My quirk is quite nice, as you say, but took years of practice and study to control, due to the amount of precision it requires. Better luck next time!"

Hitoshi had managed to brainwash two more teams into handing over their headbands before being approached by a group from Class 1-A. At first, it just looked like Shoji, but a long pink tongue darting out from above him indicated that his giant, webbed arms were hiding at least Asui on his back, if not more than just her. Aided by the lightness Ochaco had provided, Midoriya and Akiko were able to manoeuvre enough to dodge the tongue... mostly. Asui had made off with one of the headbands, but at least it wasn't the ten million point one.

Hitoshi squeezed Akiko's hand with three fingers. It was time to put their plan into action, certainly made easier by the headbands covering Hitoshi's mouth. Hitoshi squeezed a second time, and then a third time, and then he and Akiko spoke in unison. "Hey, that was pretty impressive, but you're gonna have to do better than that!"

"I have nothing against you, but we're gonna be taking your headbands," Shoji replied.

"No, actually, I think you're going to lower your arms and expose your teammates, Shoji," Hitoshi spoke on his own this time, grinning proudly under the headbands covering his mouth. The plan had worked.

As instructed, Shoji lowered his arms to reveal not only Tsuyu wearing the team's headband, but also Aoyama. Aoyama was visibly shocked, but if Tsuyu felt the same she wasn't showing it.

"Very clever," Asui complimented the strategy, having realised what happened. "But you won't be getting this headband from me! Aoyama, now!"

Aoyama fired a laser from his belly, which Hitoshi quickly leaned back to avoid. "Oh, we don't need it. All we need is for Shoji to leave, and stay away from us for the rest of the battle. The rider has to stay on top, so if he carries you away, you can't really do much!" Hitoshi grinned, and Shoji did as instructed once again. He waved their would be attackers off, before Izuku and Akiko moved to dodge one last attempt from Asui's tongue to nab even just one more of their headbands.

With that interaction over, there were only thirty seconds left on the timer. Therefore, the team resorted to evasive manoeuvres, but nobody even wanted to chase them anymore. They'd proven well enough they weren't worth the effort, and even Bakugou's team was staying away - and that said a lot, because Bakugou obviously had it in for Izuku. Todoroki's team was also keeping their distance, but whether it was because he had decided engaging just wasn't worth it, or whether there was some other reason… Akiko wasn't sure. The timer buzzed, and everyone stopped. Akiko allowed themself to tune back into Present Mic's commentary, just in time to receive a nice bit of praise.

"Time's up! That's the end of the second round, the cavalry battle! Now, let's take a look at the top four teams right away! In first place was Team Shinso, having successfully defended their ten million points the whole time, all the while claiming even more for themselves! What a brilliant synergy between their four members!"

"In second place was Team Todoroki, a combination of powerful, flashy quirks that outmatched those who dared oppose them! In third place was Team Bakugou, blasting other contestants mercilessly out of their way, and finally… In fourth place, we have Team Tetsutetsu, who guarded their points with a truly steely defense! These four teams will advance to the third and final round today!"

The crowd roared, and Present Mic waited for them to settle down before continuing to explain that there would be an hour long lunch break followed by a recreational activity all students could participate in if they want - though it was implied that the finalists may want to rest. Shoto split from his team and came to approach Hitoshi, Akiko, Izuku and Ochaco. "Can I speak with you all privately before the next round? I would like some advice."

"Yeah, absolutely!" Akiko answered.

The group, except for Hitoshi, set off in a direction that was not towards the stadium's cafeteria. Hitoshi called out to them. "Why don't we go get lunch first, and we can take our food somewhere private?"

Akiko laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea, hey?"

Hitoshi smirked. "We've got like… one brain cell between us? I'm just trying to make sure it gets used."

And so once everyone had acquired some food, they went to find an empty corridor nobody needed to use, which led out to the back of the stadium. Shoto seemed particularly on edge as they walked. Whatever he wanted to talk about, it was clearly incredibly important. The group settled in a spot, and slid to sit on the floor with their backs against the wall.

"What's up, Shoto?" Ochaco asked, cheerful, but toned down.

"You may know that my father is Endeavour," Shoto stated, and they all nodded. "Have you heard of Quirk Marriages?"

Akiko's face darkened. Sometimes, two consenting adults decided to have children together in hopes of combining their quirks into something more powerful. That was not what Quirk Marriages referred to. These marriages were an entirely unethical practice where people were forced into marriages and having children for the aforementioned reason, often conducted by high profile individuals and more vulnerable victims. People were bought and sold to create children with powerful quirks. It was a horrible practice that supposedly had been stamped out - but no, it was just done more secretively now.

"My father couldn't surpass All-Might on his own, and so my mother was forced into such a marriage by my father, though to the rest of society it appeared to be a happy one. Her ice quirk was supposed to balance out his fire, to create the perfect hero with the ability to combine the two elements without the drawbacks of each. I am the fourth child, and the only one to inherit both. You may have noticed that I have only ever used my right side, which controls my ice."

Akiko had wondered what the deal was with that, but hadn't wanted to pry. "You don't want to use fire as an act of rebellion to your father, right?"

Shoto nodded. "In the finals, I want to do well. The best competitor will take the victory, and I feel as though my ice alone is not enough. But my father is watching, and I don't want him to think that I've finally given in and agreed to become the kind of hero he wants me to be. What should I do?"

"What do you want to do?" Hitoshi asked plainly.

"I- Every time I feel the fire calling out to me, I want to make it my own. But if I do, I'll just be associated with my father. I don't want that." Shoto summoned up a wisp of flame in his left hand, flinched, and just as quickly snuffed it out.

Akiko couldn't help but wince when they saw this, and they knew this was going to be a challenge. "It might not be as easy as flicking a switch in your brain and being able to use your fire abilities, or just choosing to stay with ice only forever. You're allowed to take time to figure this out. If you're worried about the Sports Festival and the internships next week, I'm sure you'll still do great!"

"Yeah," Izuku nodded. "I know what it's like to feel like you have a power that doesn't belong to you, but it's your power. Whenever you're ready to use the fire, you can make it your own. I know a thing or two about making quirks your own, maybe we can work on it together?"

"I'd like that, Izuku." The corner of Todoroki's mouth turned up. "I think I will just use my ice today, but one day I'd like to untie myself from my father's influence and be able to use my own quirk for myself."

"We'll all be here to help you along the way!" Ochaco encouraged. "Do you guys wanna just hang out here until the finals, or go join the others?"

Akiko noticed Shoto shift uncomfortably, and offered him an easy way out. "I wouldn't mind just staying here, personally. We can just rest, or talk, or whatever. Sound good?"

They remained in the corridor for the next hour until the finals were ready, just enjoying the safety and comfort of each others' company.

After a quick lunch break, the final stage was ready to begin. When the five friends re-entered the stadium they all quickly realised two things: First, the display screen above the audience stands was showing a tournament bracket. Secondly, Cementoss had set up a tiled tournament ring in the middle of the stadium. There were sixteen remaining competitors, and they would have one on one matches until only one champion remained. This was the opportunity for every single competitor to truly show off their individual abilities, attention split only between them and their opponent.

Midnight was ready on her podium, holding a yellow box out. "Now, let's draw lots to determine the bracket!"

Each of the sixteen competitors stepped up and drew a numbered card from the box. Once that was done, the display automatically updated itself with names. Akiko scanned the new display, and found their first match - it would be against someone named Shiozaki from Class 1-B. They hadn't really paid too much attention to who was who out of the crowd yet, but it was fine. They had trained hard, and would be prepared for just about anything. Hitoshi was up against Izuku, and that was just an unfair matchup. It was the first match, too. Shoto's first match was against Sero, and that would be an easily one-sided fight. Ochaco, however… was paired with Bakugou. At least it was the last match in the first round, which gave her some time to plan. She would need it.

Akiko watched keenly from the student-designated region of the stands as the match between Izuku and Hitoshi began. It was their best friend versus their boyfriend, which was almost comical in and of itself. The two had a great relationship with one another as well, and so Akiko knew that they would take this challenge head on out of respect for each other. Which was exactly what had happened. Although the match didn't last long, and Izuku predictably won with his enhanced physical abilities, Hitoshi put up a good fight. He relied more on combat skill to defend and deflect against Izuku's strikes, at one point almost succeeding in throwing Izuku out of bounds. When the match concluded, with Hitoshi on his back just past the boundary line, Izuku walked over to help him up and the two exchanged a high five.

Shoto's fight was far less eventful. Just as soon as the match had started, he had already encased Sero in ice, leaving him completely unable to move. Even for Shoto, that was pretty extreme, but Akiko supposed that it was likely because he was still a bit riled up from their earlier conversation. He hadn't actually hurt Sero, just trapped him with an overwhelming glacier's-worth of ice that nearly reached the audience.

And then, it was time for Akiko's match against Shiozaki Ibara, from Class 1-B. When they arrived at the stadium, they were greeted by a girl with long, braided green hair that, on closer inspection, turned out to actually be thorny vines. She gave Akiko a polite nod. Out of sheer curiosity, Akiko tuned in to Present Mic's opening commentary for the match.

"And here comes the third match! The first two have sure been exciting to say the least, but I wonder what we can expect now? First up, we have Fukuhara Akiko from Class 1-A! They have impressed the crowds already with their supreme mobility on and off the ground, but I wonder how they will fare in direct combat? Next is Shiozaki Ibara, a quiet and reserved member of Class 1-B, who led her team to victory with her powerful quirk, Vines! Who will come out on top?"

With Present Mic's intro complete, Midnight swung her tassel and declared the start of the match. Akiko stood perfectly still, watching Shiozaki like a hawk. Present Mic had given them a bit of insight into their opponent's ability, but it wasn't enough to come up with any kind of actual plan of attack. Fortunately, Shiozaki opted to go on the offensive, and the vines on her head started growing rapidly and travelling across the arena. The vines lashed out at Akiko, who sidestepped with as little quirk usage as possible. They craned their head ever so slightly to get a closer look - the vines weren't covered in thorns like Shiozaki's hair was, which was good. Less good was the fact that they each moved individually, which made the vines a difficult target for Akiko's quirk. All that meant was that they had to now switch to the offensive, get in close and finish this quickly.

Akiko waited until vines had started to close in on them from either side, and sprung forward with as much speed as they could muster. They weren't quite as fast as Ida, but not too far behind either. It took a second to close the gap. Shiozaki apparently wasn't expecting Akiko to be so fast, which gave them the element of surprise they needed to end the match immediately. As soon as Akiko got into striking range, they swung an uppercut at Shiozaki's chin, which landed cleanly. The strike would serve to disorient Akiko's opponent, making it trivial to plant an open palm onto Shiozaki's abdomen and release their quirk, directing the vine girl straight through the air and out of the ring. Thanks to the uppercut, it took Shiozaki a moment too long to regain her balance and recover, and the match was over.

The audience erupted into applause. Akiko grinned and waved at them - it was performative, they wouldn't usually act like that for attention, but it was important to impress the top hero agencies as much as possible, and so this kind of behaviour went a long way. Once their victory had been declared and they pretended to soak in the praise for long enough, Akiko made their way out of the ring so that the next match could begin. Instead of taking the corridor, they jumped up to their spot in the stands for extra flashiness.

The next match was between Ida and Hatusme Mei from the Support Course. To say the match was absurd was an understatement, if it could even be called a match. Ida had entered the ring wearing a bunch of support gear, and Hatsume was using a mic to deliver a running commentary that explained the function of each device both she and Ida used. It seemed more like a sales pitch than a fight, and the match ended after several minutes, when Hatsume tangled Ida up in some kind of tough net. Akiko couldn't help but notice that the passion Hatsume displayed when talking about her inventions was similar to when Izuku talked about his own special interest, and how Akiko was told they sounded when talking about theirs. It was an interesting thought to file away for later; perhaps Hatsume would make for an interesting new friend.

After that match, Akiko rested their head on Hitoshi's shoulder and closed their eyes, asking to be woken up for Ochaco's match if they fell asleep.