The morning of the sports festival was here. Amaya couldn't decipher how to feel because on one hand she was a bundle of nerves, and on the other hand she was ready to be over with this shit. On the bright side she got a full night's of sleep, but that seemed to be the only positive for her so far.

In terms of her quirk, Aizawa had advised her to not try her it after all, in order to keep the students and herself safe. While compassionate, Amaya knew that he was upset with her lack of progress. Still Amaya would take that any day over having him see her as the monster everyone expected.

"We'll see how long you last without me."

Amaya ignored Yajū and instead entered the massive school, her black tail rubbing comfortably against her arm in an attempt to soothe her. There were reporters and fans everywhere but thankfully they had cleared a path for the students. That didn't stop the crowd from speaking their thoughts and opinions on the students. Amaya being their favorite target.

"Look, the daughter of Scarlet Doll and Tamer really does attend U.A.!"

"Ew I thought a pest like her would've been rotting in jail alongside her feral parents."

"LEAVE DEMON CHILD!"

"GET AWAY FROM OUR KIDS!"

Amaya winced and turned her ears flat on her head, trying to block out everyone's hateful shouts.

"YOUR PARENTS ARE MURDERERS! MY ELDEST SON DIED AT THE HANDS OF THOSE CRIMINALS!"

Amaya stiffened and looked back at the mother who had shouted that. The small woman's tear-filled gaze showed fury and hurt at Amaya, her arm reaching out towards Amaya in what the cat-girl thought was to probably choke her if the woman could. The school guards kept her away, but Amaya stepped closer.

"I know my words can never repair the damage my family has done, but I am truly sorry for all the pain my parents have caused to everybody on the Bloody Incident," Amaya apologized, bowing low in front of the crowd.

The crowd became silent for only a second before they started shouting once more.

"LIAR! Your parents killed thousands that day, they deserve to die as well! As should you!"

Amaya stepped back, grimacing. She wanted to say so much more but couldn't find the words. She felt frozen, only taking their insults when a hand pulled at her arm roughly, pulling her out of that toxic atmosphere.

She dazedly followed until she entered the school, in which she snapped out of it and realized that out of all the people that could've helped her out, it was Todoroki's hand that pulled her.

He let go of it quickly enough and walked away but her voice stopped him.

"Thanks Todoroki," Amaya quietly mumbled, her head was facing the ground, but he could still see a light blush shining across her pale cheeks.

Todoroki let himself stare for a second before turning around and walking away.

"Only an idiot would let themselves be insulted for so long. You should realize that the public hates your parents and that the Bloody Incident is still pretty fresh in their minds even after four years," Todoroki reprimanded, his voice cold.

Amaya's head snapped up and she scowled, rolling her eyes. Walking briskly to get ahead of him and she shoved him with her small body. She turned to face him and glared into his heterochromia eyes, slapping her hand on his chest.

"Trust me, the public isn't the only one that will never forget that day. I admit that my parents are monsters, but your father isn't so innocent either!" Amaya hissed, golden eyes slitted in anger before she sharply walked forwards.

Todoroki grasped her skinny wrist and pulled her in close to his body, her back crashing into his chest. He ignored her quiet 'oof' and moved his head near her ear to whisper, his eyes bright with determination and anger.

"Don't test my patience. You better shut that little mouth of yours, Hitachi. I don't know what my father did and frankly I don't care. Focus on the festival and don't get in my way because I will be defeating everyone in the arena today. Just watch."

With that he let her go and entered the classroom that all 1-A students had to wait in. Amaya stared after him, her gold eyes wide, heart pounding and cheeks flushed. She bit her lip at his declaration, unsure of how to feel about it. So instead she slowly trailed behind, ignoring what had occurred.

As she stepped onward, she smiled softly remembering Aizawa's words of encouragement that he gave before he left early that morning.

"Do your best kid. I know you'll do great."

She would try her best for him and Shinso. Getting to the finals was the only thing she had to focus on today.

After having changed into her blue gym clothes Amaya waited by herself in the corner of the room.

The room was filled with nervous energy that threatened to suffocate her. Thankfully Iida showed up to warn everyone that the event would be starting soon.

"Jesus these kids are annoying. They need to calm the fuck down."

"Be quiet! I'm nervous too!"

"Hah. Sucks to be you."

Amaya rolled her eyes not knowing how to even respond to that. Yajū was right, it did suck to be her. She could feel Yaoyorozu's icy glare on her and clenched her fists to try and relax. She took a deep breath when her ears picked up on something interesting.

"Midoriya," Todoroki called, standing right in front of the shorter boy.

Midoriya gasped and quickly faced the dual hair colored boy asking him what was wrong.

"Looking at things objectively, I think I'm stronger than you," Todoroki bluntly stated, catching the attention of the rest of the class.

"What the hell?! What's happening?"

"Hmmm… look at IcyHot being a dick. An honest dick though."

"Shut up!"

"Oh…. Y-Yea," Midoriya mumbled, looking downwards.

"Midoriya you're just as strong as this asshole! Don't look down!"

Amaya furrowed her brows, not liking this confrontation, readying herself to step in when Todoroki's next words made her pause.

"But All Might has his eyes on you, doesn't he? I'm not trying to pry about that. But I'm going to beat you."

Everyone stayed quiet at Todoroki's declaration, Midoriya shocked, left with his mouth slightly open.

Amaya stilled in her place, staring straight at Todoroki's form in question.

"He seems more tense than usual. Why is the sports festival stressing him out so much?"

It didn't take long for some of her classmates to try and lighten the mood by joking about Todoroki's words. Kirishima stepped forward placing his hand on Todoroki's shoulder, hoping to break up the tension between him and Midoriya.

Annoyed, Todoroki shoved the red-head's hand off and coldly reminded everyone, "We're not here to play at being friends. So, it doesn't matter."

Amaya hugged herself at his words. Technically he wasn't wrong, and Amaya herself had thought that way about her classmates for a long time. Honestly, she still thought like that, but Todoroki's words pissed her off.

Her eyes hardened and she dropped her arms, closing her fists tightly. Yes, they were here to be heroes, but Todoroki didn't have to be a jerk to everyone. He had the opportunity to make friends and real life connections, but he was throwing them away like an angsty brat. She hoped for his sake that he got over his attitude fast.

"Todoroki, I don't know what you're thinking when you say you'll beat me, but of course you're better than me. I think you're more capable than most people… Looking at it objectively… But, everyone— The students from the other courses are aiming for the top with everything they've got! I can't afford to fall behind. I'll be going for it with everything I have too!" Midoriya responded, his stance strong as he stared right into Todoroki's eyes.

Amaya gazed at the green-haired boy; eyes lit in amazement. She smiled and mentally cheered for Midoriya, once again left breathless by him.

"This guy is something else."

"Stop smiling, it's creepy."

Amaya rolled her eyes and crept closer to where Uraraka was sitting. Uraraka saw her and smiled widely and Amaya gave a small grin back.

She looked at Todoroki's retreating form and nodded to herself.

"If even I can make some friends, so can this guy. I don't think anyone truly wants to be alone."

"Leave him alone, he's got the right idea. You don't need anyone; you don't deserve anyone so don't meddle where you're not wanted."

Amaya scowled at Yajū and ignored it for now. Right now, the sports festival is starting.

Amaya winced at the bright sunlight shining in her face and quickly looked down towards the green grass in an attempt to avoid it. Her ears were flat on her head, trying to get used to the loud shouting of the arena.

"Again, I must ask… Just how much money does this school have? This is a whole freaking stadium!"

Trying to calm her rising heartbeat Amaya stepped a bit closer to Midoriya, who she was happy to see was also uncomfortable with all the attention.

"Th-Th-There are so many people…" Midoriya stuttered, his face gaping at the crowds. Amaya stepped in line with him, nodding in agreement. Iida explained how this was just another part of training to be a hero and while Amaya agreed she thought it was a bit excessive.

As Present Mic announced the rest of the classes Amaya turned her head trying to catch a glimpse of Shinso. They hadn't seen each other since yesterday and while she had already wished him luck, she just wanted to see him one last time.

She noticed how her class received lots of praise while the other classes were kind of dismissed and she turned to see if any of her classmates noticed. None of them did but her ears picked up on the other students complaining of the unequal treatment and she agreed. Is this what Shinso had to deal with since the beginning? No wonder he hated her class. Amaya knew that it wasn't necessarily class 1-A's fault for being recognized, it was the staff's, but still. Probably not fun being compared to the hero kids.

Trying not to think too deeply about what this meant she scanned the area one last time. Unfortunately, with all the students amassing together she couldn't find Shinso, but she sent him a mental good luck and faced forward to see Midnight standing before everyone.

While most of the boys, and the men, shamelessly stared at the R-Rated Hero's body she called out for the first years' student representative which was—

"Bakugo? This angry porcupine is the representative? Wow. Who would've thought?" Amaya quietly questioned, not the only one surprised by the announcement as some of her classmates gasped as well.

Bakugo ignored everyone and casually walked up to the stage. Everyone shut up immediately and Bakugo stared at the crowd, almost bored, with his hands in his pockets.

"I pledge…. That I'll be number one."

At once the students started shouting in anger, booing at Bakugo.

Amaya kept her neutral gaze on him, internalizing his words.

"Damn, Blondie sure is cocky. But that's hot, I can't wait to see him compete."

Amaya blushed but kept staring at Bakugo until everything clicked.

"Wait… I don't think this was just to rile everyone up or him being cocky. What he said right now was basically a goal, a promise even. He's made everyone target him for a reason. He wants to make sure everyone sees him win. Huh… Bakugo really is working hard right now."

"At least become a nice bouncy step for me to jump off of," Bakugo stated, giving everyone a thumbs down.

"But he doesn't have to be such a dick."

"Like I said. Hot."

Amaya ignored Yajū and her own blushing, instead listening closely to Midnight's instructions. It seemed that the first part of the sports festival would be an obstacle race.

Amaya gulped, feeling a bit nervous as everyone turned towards the large gate. The gate while tall was not going to be able to hold all the kids and immediately Amaya spotted the first 'obstacle' of this race. She was going to have to get through the front without being crushed by everyone.

"As long as you stay on the course, it doesn't matter what you do!"

Smirking Amaya took a deep breath as the lights counted down.

She was ready.

"START!"

Everyone rushed forward like Amaya predicted, the ones in the middle getting stuck.

She stayed behind for just a little until she saw lots of students trying to shove others to move ahead. Everyone was elbowing each other, and Amaya knew had she rushed like them her small stature would've been bruised by now. Quickly she jumped high into the air and landed on someone's head. Ignoring their protest, she began running, using everyone's head as a step to continue towards the gate. She made sure to keep her steps light but fast so as to not hurt anyone. Though she could tell that she was pissing lots of people off with this idea of her's.

"Well most of them hate me anyway."

Reaching the front, she felt a sudden chill and before she could even blink the tunnel was covered in frost. She realized that Todoroki had frozen many of the students to the ground. Those in the back now had more advantages than the front who were stuck to the ground.

"Damn bastard!"

"A smart bastard."

Growling, Amaya kept hopping, reaching the front in no time and grimacing at the ice before her. Thankfully she saw her chance when Bakugo blasted through everyone using his explosions to propel himself forward.

"He's going to kill me for this."

"But it'll be fun!"

Not letting herself chicken out, Amaya threw herself upwards, almost missing Bakugo but thankfully landed right on his back.

"WHAT THE HELL?! GET THE FUCK OF ME MANGY CAT!"

Angered, Bakugo tried to throw his body to the side to get Amaya off but she knew that she was safe because he needed his hands to keep up the explosions. Smirking she latched herself on real tight, making sure her arms and legs wrapped themselves around his back and middle.

"Sorry, but cats aren't good with water or ice."

"UGH!"

Before he could strangle her, Amaya jumped off once she saw no more ice and began running, trying not to laugh at the pissed off Bakugo.

She thanked her feline abilities for being able to swiftly catch up to the front, where she saw Mineta actually reaching Todoroki who was in the lead.

"Damn, I guess the perv isn't as useless as I thought."

Only for Mineta to be harshly punched and thrown to the side by a gigantic robot monster.

"Yea that's about right."

Sweet-hearted Midoriya actually cried out the little grape's name in concern before he along with the other students gazed up at the robots.

"Shit. This school seriously doesn't mess around."

While everyone else stared in fear or shock Amaya didn't let herself stop for a moment. She saw as the massive hulk of metal reached its arm towards Todoroki and pounced onto it, surprising him.

She began climbing up when she felt that same damn chill and leapt up high before the ice could touch her. Looking back her golden eyes met cold teal and grey orbs. Todoroki did not look pleased.

Stopping herself from worrying, she jumped off as soon as she felt the robot falling.

"Damn IcyHot! Why does he have to be so freaking smart?! Freezing this junk when it was off balance to create a blockade..."

Amaya huffed, also peeved by Todoroki's admittedly smart strategy, and rushed after him through the dust cloud.

"It seems as if Todoroki-kun isn't the only one to have cleared the path of Robo Infernos, Amaya Hitachi is on his heels and catching up quick!" Present Mic announced causing the stadium to either hush up or start booing at that statement.

Todoroki looked back and narrowed his eyes when he realized that the small cat-girl was actually behind him. He didn't know if her stunt of pouncing on the robot was genius or reckless but either way it paid off, because now she was in second place and gaining speed. He gritted his teeth in irritation, why couldn't she have just listened and not gotten in his way? He could still hear the crowds booing her and wondered if this was all she heard in the past few years.

Immediately he shook his head, why did he care if she got booed or not?

He didn't, he needed to focus.

Amaya felt her ears droop the slightest but didn't let the crowd's negative energy slow her down. She prepared for this and considering she was in second place only showed that all her hard work was paying off. Honestly, she didn't care if she got first, but she didn't want to place too low, since she didn't know where the cut off was.

Her thoughts became disrupted by Bakugo's explosions and she looked up to see him blasting himself overhead.

"Guess those pieces of junk wouldn't stop this Pomeranian."

Amaya ignored Yajū and instead stared ahead at the next obstacle. It was a collection of platforms all connected together by ropes attached together. Amaya noticed the deep drop and silently wondered whether or not U.A. realized just how dangerous this could actually be for the students.

Shrugging, she began running across the rope with ease, her feline abilities coming up to play. Balance and grace were significant attributes for cats specifically, so she didn't worry about falling. She noticed Todoroki had no problems icing the ropes to slide across, still in the lead. And Bakugo took the number two spot, blasting himself in the sky. Amaya sped up just the slightest but wasn't particularly mad at being in third place now.

She wasn't surprised, he did say he was going to be number one. She kind of wished she had that drive, but she could still hear some boos from the crowd which ultimately killed any competitive spirit she had. She just had to get through this and into the finals.

Amaya kept speeding up, hearing her fellow classmates close behind and felt a bit of strain in her calves.

"Thank god for Iida and his constant suicide training."

Todoroki and Bakugo were only slightly ahead but saw them both pause at the last obstacle.

"Seriously?! A freaking landmine? What is wrong with this school?"

Amaya only paused briefly before following Todoroki's lead in carefully maneuvering herself around the mines. She heard obnoxious laughter from above and heard Bakugo's loud voice bellowing.

"This doesn't affect me! Bastard! Don't declare war on the wrong person!"

Bakugo then blasted an explosion near Todoroki, taking first place.

"Wow. That kid has some drive. Like I said if he wasn't an asshole, he'd be alright."

Amaya silently agreed but she frowned at seeing the top two fighting each other. She understood why but still, it seemed more personal than that. Shaking her head, she kept going, creeping up closer to them. They were so distracted by each other that they didn't notice the distance Amaya was slowly closing.

All three stopped at a loud boom that went off, much louder than the other mines that had been set off. The explosion was so massive that its force was actually pushing her forwards and she had to dig her feet in so as to not fall on top of a mine. When the smoke cleared, Amaya smiled widely at what she saw: Midoriya soaring through the sky on top of a piece of scrap metal. It didn't take long for her to figure out what he did, and she began giggling at his intelligent and creative plan, so proud of him. Especially since he took the lead.

"Yes Midoriya! Woooo!" Amaya barked loudly, not caring if she was embarrassing herself. Instead, that stunt inspired her, and she dashed forward with a surge of new energy. Watching as all three boys raced to the finish line, she used Todoroki's ice path to guide her and silently pushed through, managing to catch up right behind him and Bakugo.

Midoriya was falling fast out of the sky and to give himself time to get ahead he moved the metal scrap purposely down onto a mine. Amaya noticed and instantly dashed to the side, watching in amazement as the explosion moved Midoriya forward to surprise the other two, knocking them off their balance momentarily. She kept running and bit her lip hard to keep in her laughter.

Amaya kept going until she heard celebration music and the announcement of Midoriya taking first place.

She entered the arena with her long black hair messy and body sweating, almost wheezing trying to catch her breath. Soon enough she noticed Midoriya crying but the bright smile across his face assured her that she didn't need to worry. She looked over and saw Todoroki and Bakugo panting, their adrenaline rushes obviously over, looking angrier than anything. She let out a little pft of laughter, loud enough so that they could hear her and rushed over to Midoriya.

"Midoriya that was awesome! You didn't even use your quirk and still took first place! You really fooled those guys huh?" Amaya giggled breathlessly, pointing her thumb towards where Bakugo and Todoroki were standing.

Midoriya, blushing and wiping his tears, shook his head and responded, "A-Amaya-chan! You shouldn't say things like that because you might anger Todoroki-kun and Kacchan!"

Amaya smirked and lightly punched the kind green-haired boy's shoulder.

"Don't worry so much, they're big boys, they can take it. Focus on the fact that you won!" Amaya cheered, oblivious to the hard stare of one bi-color haired boy.

Todoroki growled low, unsure of who he was most pissed off at; Midoriya, who he should've beaten, or the annoying cat-girl, who was smiling earnestly at Midoriya. He'd never seen her smile, why was she smiling like that at Midoriya? He huffed and walked away to clear his head, irritated with his own thoughts.

"Deku-kun you were amazing!" Uraraka celebrated, coming close to where Midoriya and Amaya were standing.

"First place is amazing! That's so frustrating! Dang it!" she cried out, looking both happy and upset that Midoriya had won.

Of course, the compliments had flustered the adorable Midoriya and Amaya smiled softly at the scene. She gave Uraraka a thumbs up and complimented her for finishing the course at a good rank. Uraraka turned a cute red before she smiled and squeezed Amaya's arm to return the sentiment.

Amaya looked around and noticed Shinso standing by himself, he surprisingly didn't look tired or sweaty like Amaya. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but ran towards him anyways.

"Shinso! How'd you do?" Amaya questioned, standing in front of him, cheeks flushed from the slight jog.

Shinso stared at her stoically for a few seconds before his face cracked and he gave her the tiniest of smiles. He rubbed her head gently, mindful of her ears, shocking the cat-girl and making her blush hard.

"I did just fine, don't worry about me. I'm sorta impressed, you seemed to do fine too," he added, placing his hands in his pockets as he stared at her.

Amaya smiled slightly, ignoring her fast beating heart, wanting to continue the conversation when Midnight's voice rang out.

"The first game of the first-year stage is finally over. Now, take a look at the results!"

Both Amaya and Shinso looked at the digital screen and Amaya smiled at seeing Shinso's placing.

"27 sure isn't bad, and you don't look like you broke a sweat either. You're so lucky, I probably look really gross right now," Amaya complained, grimacing at her sweaty state.

"I can't believe that stupid cat got fourth. She shouldn't have even been allowed to do this," someone muttered from a distance, their disdain clear.

Amaya's ears picked up on this, but she refused to react, only her eyes glazing over slightly.

Shinso heard that stupid comment and saw the pain in the cat-girl's eyes. It angered him but before Shinso could respond Midnight spoke again, "The top 42 made it through to the next round. It's unfortunate but don't worry even if you didn't make it! We've prepared other chances for you to shine. The real competition begins next! Give it your all!"

Incident not forgotten but placed into the back of their heads, Amaya and Shinso looked at each other and nodded. Amaya bit her lip, nervous about the next event.

"Now then, here is the second game. I already know what it is but what could it be? What could it be? A cavalry battle!" Midnight cheered, happy with the next game.

Amaya felt her shoulders slump, if she had to work together with people there were going to be major problems.

"Let me explain. The participants can form teams of two to four people, it's basically the same as a regular cavalry battle, but one thing that's different is… based on the results of the last game, each person has been assigned a point value."

"Yea. You're fucked."

"Thanks for reminding me."

Immediately the students began speaking, explaining exactly Midnight's statement. Midnight snapped at them, upset for taking her momentum and continued on to say how points went up by five, starting from the bottom. Everything seemed reasonable enough until Midnight let out that first place was worth ten million points.

Amaya gasped and whipped her head to look at the pale Midoriya, worried for him. She heard a deep chuckle next to her and looked over to see Shinso smirking darkly at Midoriya. When she turned to stare at Midoriya she saw all of the students glaring hungrily at the poor freckled boy.

"Broccoli head is in for some shit."

"That poor cinnamon roll."

"Now then, I will explain the rules of the cavalry battle. 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 other's headbands until time runs out and try and 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 that even if your headband gets stolen or if your team falls, you're not out!" Midnight explained, smirking at the students.

Amaya felt her black tail wrap around her arm in comfort.

This was bad.

This was really bad!

"Who's going to want to partner up with me? I know Shinso probably would but if he wanted to get a team of four, I doubt others would be okay with me on the team. Ughh this sucks."

Amaya tuned out the rest of Midnight's voice, too worried about finding other teammates to give her proper attention. At hearing the word "start" Amaya jolted back into reality, feeling her nerves eating at her.

Before she could spiral into a deep panic, she felt a large hand softly pull at her arm. She looked at it, following it to see that it belonged to Shinso who was staring at her patiently.

"Wanna be on my team Ms. Fourth place?" He teased, smiling just a bit.

Amaya worriedly chewed on her bottom lip and tugged on her ears.

"But Shinso… are you sure you want to team up with me? I don't want to ruin your chances of finding a good team because you decided to stick with me. You know almost everyone hates me, right?" Amaya asked concern and self-deprecation clearly in her tone.

Shinso frowned and flicked her forehead, ignoring her hiss of pain. "I don't care. I want you on my team, besides don't worry about anyone else. They won't say anything about you being on my team," he confidently stated.

Amaya flushed lightly at his assertive tone but still looked at him in confusion.

He did know who she was right?

Right?

Before she could question his sanity, she heard Midoriya calling her name.

"Amaya-chan! Would you please join my team?" Midoriya pleaded, looking very close to crying from the stress of being at the top right now. Amaya pitied him, opening her mouth to comfort him, when Shinso stepped forward, blocking her from Midoriya's view.

"She's already on my team. Look for someone else," Shinso coldly stated, his form rigid. Amaya frowned and tugged at Shinso's sleeve, letting herself be seen.

"That's very sweet Midoriya but Shinso already asked me. But good luck! Besides I know for a fact that if I joined you, I'd only make your team look undesirable," Amaya sighed, smiling bitterly.

Midoriya frowned, forgetting his predicament for a moment and reached out to comfort the petite girl but Shinso had already moved his arm to wrap it around the shorter girl's shoulder and moved her away.

"Idiot. I told you not to worry about that. I got it covered," Shinso reiterated walking with the skinny cat-girl forward and away from Midoriya. Amaya quickly waved goodbye to Midoriya before turning to stare at Shinso questionably, ignoring her blush and the sudden contact with the purple haired boy.

Midoriya clenched his teeth, feeling irritated at how that class 1-C student, Shinso, just moved Amaya away from him. Was he the student Amaya had lunch with? He shook his head, surprised at his irritation and focused on trying to find other teammates. He hoped he could speak to Amaya after this battle was over.

Up ahead, Shinso sighed before dropping his arm and stepping in front of Amaya.

"Alright look. My quirk will allow me to easily convince anyone to join our team okay? Just trust me," he stated, his purple eyes staring earnestly into her golden ones.

Amaya felt her nerves calming down at his look and nodded, still a bit unsure but willing to trust him.

"That's gonna be a mistake. You're such an idiot. Haven't you learned that trusting others usually fucks you over?"

Amaya grit her teeth and chose to ignore Yajū, instead following after Shinso as he looked for others to join.

"Stay here, I'll get us our team," he explained, giving her a confident smile before heading over to speak to Ojiro. Amaya watched as Ojiro just nodded and began following Shinso after a few shared words. Amaya felt her mouth open in shock, had Shinso actually done it? If he did it had to be his quirk, he did say it allowed him to convince others. So, then what was his quirk?

Amaya didn't have to wait long because Shinso was walking over to her with Ojiro and the flashy wanna-be French student Aoyama. She stared awkwardly at the two but quickly noticed that they seemed kind of out of it, both not saying a word. Concerned Amaya looked at Shinso who had his hands in his pockets, obviously ignoring her stare.

"Umm Shinso are they alright?" she asked, waving her hands between the two boys. After not receiving a response from the statue-like students she turned to him curiously, "What exactly is your quirk?"

Sighing Shinso finally turned and stared into her eyes, looking hesitant and even a bit worried.

"Okay look, my quirk is Brainwashing. If that scares you, you can leave my team," he described, his voice filled with resignation.

Gold eyes widened at the statement, surprised that with such a powerful quirk he didn't manage to get into the hero courses.

"Woah. Shinso that's amazing! Imagine all the conflicts you could end without having to hurt anyone! The possibilities are limitless, how are you not in the hero course?" Amaya bombarded him, her face lighting up at thinking about all his potential.

Shinso looked back at her completely shocked. She didn't see him as a villain? All his life he's been treated as if he was evil and would hurt someone with his quirk when all he wanted was to save those in need. She was looking at him so honestly, her face never showing any disgust or resentment. She even thought he should've been in the hero courses.

Feeling a light blush start he turned his head away and brought his arm up to scratch the back of his head nervously.

"You're not scared I might manipulate you with my quirk?" he asked quietly, slowly closing himself off. Amaya giggled lightly but her eyes held great empathy as she squeezed his shoulder.

"You asked me earlier to trust you, I do. I still do. You're a good person, your quirk doesn't define you," she stood on her tip-toes to flick his forehead. "Didn't you tell me that too? Idiot."

Shinso felt his blush burn brighter and rubbed her head harshly to stop her from staring at him with those cute golden eyes.

Before Amaya could complain she heard his laughter and smiled, glad she was able to comfort him.

"Alright maybe I was being a bit dumb. Anyways I have a plan for us to get lots of points, but it'll involve you being under my control if that's alright?" Shinso asked, looking much more relaxed than before.

Amaya smiled and nodded, "Sure! I'll follow your lead."

Shinso smirked.

"Perfect."

There were two minutes left on the clock and Shinso felt a light sweat drip down his face. He had no qualms about turning these 1-A dolts into his army, but he didn't want to scare the cat-girl off. She already gave her consent, but his concern wouldn't dissipate even if he acted calm.

Amaya felt more relaxed than she had in a while. The plan was simple, being as she was 90 pounds of skin and bones and her strength was pitiable, she'd be at the top of the pyramid. She'd be under Shinso's control the entire time so really, she didn't have to strategize or plan anything. Her fast reflexes and flexible body would come in handy. She trusted Shinso. She was ready.

Ojiro and Aoyama were in position, faces blank, clearly brainwashed. Shinso heaved a heavy sigh and turned to the petite teen.

"Amaya."

Amaya's eyes widened, her cheeks filling with a rosy red at hearing her name leave Shinso's lips for the first time. He stared at her, patiently waiting for her to respond.

Amaya, feeling like a dumbass, quickly stuttered out, "Y-Yes?"

Gently he touched her wrist and stared at her earnestly, "Are you scared of me?"

"No," she answered resolutely, tone firm.

Shinso smiled softly, "Good."

Instantly the inside of her head felt murky and it was like her subconscious was buried under a pile of blankets, all thoughts muffled.

"You're going to go on top now. Hold on to me tight and don't you dare fall off."

Amaya would've moved regardless but her limbs quickly jumped on top of the other zombified boys' shoulders, her red headband displaying their total of 485 points proudly, tied tight on her forehead. Amaya began to understand just how powerful this quirk really was because she doubted anyone could break through this fog.

The timer rang and Midnight's voice called out, "Now then, it's about time to get started!"

Shinso was in position as the front of the pyramid, Ojiro on Amaya's left and Aoyama on the right.

Present Mic started the countdown,

"3!"

Amaya gripped onto Shinso tightly, mind extremely foggy but her intent was there.

"2!"

Shinso smirked, "Game on."

"1!"

The whip lashed out and the battle began.

A/N: Sorry for the late update I got my wisdom teeth pulled out yesterday so I'm kinda dead. Anyways thank you for reading and please stay safe!