Chapter 6 - Bring in the Cavalry
Emiko took a few calming breaths before stepping up to the wire in front of her, stretching her arms out either side in a practiced motion as her feet felt the ground stop and her bare soles felt the dozens of metal strands braided together in a thick cord pulled taut to link the pillars to the two sides of the chasm.
Just as she'd practiced so many times in the aerial course in the dojo, she maintained perfect balance along the ersatz tightrope, carefully placing one foot in front of the other without compromising on speed, proceeding until her feet felt the embrace of stone on the first pillar. Only once she had both feet on solid ground once again did she open her eyes and take a moment to scout her surroundings to pick out a path.
Straight ahead? No, too crowded. Right.
She wasted no time in lining up her next approach and repeating the process. While she knew time was of the essence, she had enough faith in her muscle memory from her years of doing this manner of tightrope walking to persist with her method, having seen some of her classmates opting to climb the cables from underneath instead of trying their hand at the balancing act. By sticking by her method, she was saving herself precious time compared to caving and employing the method her classmates were favouring. Well, those who didn't have quirks that could totally negate the need for any of these approaches.
The tedious crossing of the chasm finally came to an end and she finally turned her focus on the next stretch of the course. It seemed too good to be true for this last leg to be an open space, and sure enough, she saw the imperceptibly tiny mounds of dirt and her eyes bugged out as she saw some of the students in this section being blown sky high by… land mines?!
Once again thanking her terrible luck for not having her shoes and the extra nimbleness her bare feet afforded her, Emiko treaded carefully between the potholes created by the triggered landmines, dodging ones that had not yet been set off. The earlier section was easier to navigate, due to there being a lower volume of untriggered mines, but as she started to get further in, the safe spots to step became more and more scarce and Emiko's body tensed up in anticipation of misstepping and setting off one of the mines. She spared a glance forward and saw Bakugo and Todoroki sprinting side by side at the pack, fighting each other as they ran when suddenly a loud boom from behind her startled her, so much so that she misstepped and found herself launched into the air.
As her body careened skyward, her eyes widened as she saw none other than Midoriya rocketing through the air above her, clinging to the scrap piece of the robot he'd salvaged earlier for dear life. It seemed everyone else had stopped to take notice of the improvised projectile the determined green-haired boy had become.
What the fuck?
Emiko miraculously managed to land in a way that managed not to set off another mine and send her careening through the air. As she painfully picked herself up off the ground, she saw Midoriya crash down to the ground as well, beyond the end of the minefield and suddenly at the head of the pack, much to the frustration of Bakugo, who raged at the audacity of Midoriya to have taken the lead in a way that didn't involve using his quirk.
His enraged screams could be heard from her position in the middle of the pack, his voice cracking under the strain. His rage was noticeable from here, tainting each breath she took with the taste of iron in her mouth.
Emiko shook her head at the antics of her classmates as she got back to her process of tiptoeing through the minefield until she felt another explosion rock the course. It seemed Midoriya had slammed the piece of metal he'd salvaged from the robots into the ground beside Bakugou and Shoto, throwing them to the side from the explosion and catapulting him further forward. She blocked out Present Mic's frenzied cries commentating the race with Bakugou and Todoroki hot on Midoriya's heels. Yeah, she could kiss first place goodbye, but she just had to make sure she got a respectable finish and stayed in the competition so she could hopefully make up ground in other events where she could make use of her quirk.
She felt her muscles all begin to tense up in anticipation of her return into the stadium and the onslaught it would give with her Quirk working overtime. She felt the barest sense of comfort from the tunnel, running past peers of hers vying to get as high of a finish as she could salvage, inwardly groaning as others passed her in turn. Gritting her teeth and digging deep into her reserves, Emiko gave one final push toward the proverbial finish line and finally strolled to a stop and keeled over to suck in huge lungfuls of air once she'd crossed back into the playing field of the stadium. The crowd roared, chants and cheers echoing in her head. Their excitement erased Katuski's earlier anger, iron melting into a sugary sweet coating on her tongue, the feeling of it making her skin crawl.
As she was still gasping for air, Emiko felt a gentle hand on her back, and craned her head up- squinting her eyes in the harsh sunlight to make out who had approached her- at Momo Yaoyorozu's distinctive head of hair framing a concerned face.
"When did you lose your shoes, Emiko?" she asked, getting straight to the heart of the matter.
"Oh, y'know…" Emiko wheezed out, vaguely swinging her hand back at the entrance.
"I'm afraid I don't, Emiko, you'll have to be more specific," the class rep said tersely. "When did you lose your shoes, Emiko?" she repeated more forcefully.
"Right at the beginning when Shoto froze everyone in place. I slipped out of my shoes and ran the rest of the course barefoot. I'm sorry I did something so silly and reckless, Yaomomo," Emiko immediately replied in a single breath, bowing her head slightly and refusing to meet her friend's gaze.
An exasperated sigh escaped Momo's lips as her grey eyes roved around the open space, scanning over the crowd and taking note of the pained expression sitting on Emiko's face.
Momo had always been of the motherly sort, Emiko knew. Even as children, she'd relished organization and regulation. Games had to have strict rules, a set of guidelines to follow, lest you be the recipient of one of her patented Yaoyorozu glances.
It wasn't a surprise, of course. The Yaoyorozus were one of Japan's most influential families - they had wealth beyond anything Emiko could fathom, and the genius to make just about anything possible. Money alone wasn't enough to make change, and the Yaoyorozus knew that better than anyone.
"Was that so hard? Just, be careful, please," the girl implored. "I think I remember your shoe size," she muttered, before reaching to her abdomen and extracting a pair of running shoes identical to the ones she'd lost.
"Thanks Yaomomo," Emiko breathed out, slipping them on and lacing them up before they separated and joined the throng of students, her head perking up as Midnight unveiled the ranks of all the students from the race.
She felt a sense of pride swell in her chest as she straightened up, feeling a foot taller. 26th, not bad for someone who was for all intents and purposes quirkless in that event. Some of these Class B students are no slouches with their quirks. Just makes me that much more thankful that I made it into Class A. Better prove I belong from here on out.
As Midnight announced the next event - a Cavalry Battle - Emiko couldn't help but glance around at her classmates from class A, hoping to catch someone's eye and form some unspoken pact to team up. They were all laser-focused on Midnight's instructions and Emiko found herself shaking herself out of her stupor and she suddenly saw everyone fan out, as some gave themselves distance to be approached by prospective teammates whilst others took the proactive approach, corralling teammates and flitting around.
It all happened so fast it made Emiko's head spin as she was swept up in the currents of excitement and disappointment of her peers. One by one, her classmates were getting snapped up by groups. Her heart sank as she saw Kyouka and Momo join their respective groups and panic started to set in.
Someone has to choose me. Don't make me do this alone.
"Got a group?" a familiar voice cut through her thoughts, eliciting the smallest grin to crack her grim expression.
She breathed a sigh of relief as Shinso approached her, his hands shoved as deep in his pockets as they would go.
"Shins, you are a lifesaver!" Emiko cried out, clapping her hands gratefully on his shoulders.
"Yeah, well, kinda part of the job description for heroes, so…" he trailed off awkwardly.
Emiko gave a shrug that indicated well, you got me there, and her attention shifted back to the moment as Ojiro and Aoyama both walked up.
"Mind if we join you two?" the tail hero in training asked bashfully.
"It's like éducation physique all over again!" Aoyama proclaimed with his usual flair.
As the groups were defined and headbands were assigned to the groups, the crowd's excitement swelled up again at the prospect of the next event and Emiko's Quirk flared up again, setting all her senses on fire and she felt the bile rise up in her throat.
She grabbed Shinso's arm in a vice-like grip and his eyes widened as he saw her state of distress.
"Miko-" he began, concern flooding his features.
"Do it," Emiko cut in. "I can't handle it, make it stop and do what you need to do so we can win."
Shinso merely nodded before he guided her back to the others.
"Are you all ready?" he asked, giving Emiko a telling look.
Aoyama and Ojiro responded in the affirmative and she watched their features go slack and locked eyes with Shinso before breathing out, a relieved sigh escaping her lips.
"Bring in the Cavalry."
