As expected, I slept pretty terribly that night. Nerves. Moe was lousily pretending too, so I pulled him into my bed and sang softly to help us both relax. When the birds started joining in, we got up.

All participants had to wear the UA PE uniform. Mine was freshly washed and my sneakers squeaky white. My hair went up into a ponytail and I played with it so the curls would bounce when I ran. A bit of make-up to help my eyes pop, and I felt ready to go show off.

Moe stared at me as I dabbed on a touch of lip gloss.

"Hey, I gotta look nice; at least at first. A lot of people will be watching."

Moe squinted at me.

"Do I look too different than normal?" He shook his head, "What? Do you want some?" He shook his head. I left myself alone once I made sure I was wearing some simple hoops that wouldn't slip off. I kneeled in front of Moe and fixed his bedhead. Instead of the uniform, Moe was wearing his favorite outfit; a spiffy white button-down, slacks, and his long brown overcoat. I liked calling it his detective look, which got me an eyeroll every time.

"Is Hawks going to be there?" He asked out of the blue.

Heat rose up my cheeks. Had I been so obvious? No, no, Moe idolized Hawks. That's all.

"Maybe!" I said, "I think he likes a good time, and this sounds like it'll be fun to watch. He might be busy though." I got to my feet, dusting off my knees, "Why don't you let me know tonight if you saw him?"

"Okay!"

"Come on, if I don't start my breakfast now, I'll miss the tournament entirely."

Tsu surprised me by being up to eat breakfast with us. Sleepy, but smiling.

"Look at you!" I exclaimed, relieved she seemed to have tidied herself up a bit more than usual as well. Her hair was usually down, but now it was braided back. She blew bubbles into her tea.

"Hi Juniper." She responded passively, "I don't know how you do this every day."

"By collapsing very early every night."

"Ribbit…"

By the time I finished my meal and was on my second cup of coffee, some more of our classmates joined.

"Hey! Get an early start?" Kirishima asked, friendly. We nodded. "Hey, Moe!" He high-fived the kid as he passed. Midorya wasn't far behind, moving like a robot in water.

"Okay, drink this." I said, dunking some chamomile and honey into a mug of hot water, "Or you'll be too stiff to walk."

"Me? I'm not worried." He lied, voice high, but took the mug with shaky hands, "Thanks Juniper." He didn't notice as the boiling watter splashed on his hands. I winced.

"Don't mention it." I saw something, "Bakugo? I never see you for breakfast."

"Shut up, you're aways gone by the time I get here." He informed me, aggressively loading his tray with oatmeal, fruit, hams and cheeses. "Only an idiot would skip breakfast, especially on a day like this."

He talked big, but he sat beside Moe and chugged a mug of tea himself.

We actually waited, as a class, until we'd all finished and were ready to go. Then we walked together to the arena, I split up with Moe, leaving him with Deku's mom, who seemed just as nervous as her son. Then, we were led by volunteers to the waiting room. Mr. Aizawa stopped me at the door.

"Oh, good morning!" I said brightly, "Don't you have to be up in the booth?"

"Not yet, the audience has only just started to arrive. I wanted to see how you were feeling."

"Resigned." I responded cheerily. His expression didn't change. "Okay, for real. I'm glad that Deku's mom is looking after Moe. They seemed to get along, not to mention their seats aren't too close to the action so no need to worry about splash damage. As for my own insecurities…" I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how I felt, "It's not that I feel confident or fixed, more like my head is ready to react to either losing early on, or making it far in. I'll roll with the punches." I glanced over my shoulder, "Actually, I took your advice and spoke with Asui. She had some good insight. So, no matter how stressful it may seem on the outside, I'm determined to have fun with it." I grinned aback at him, "Let's hope the optimism lasts."

"I have faith in you. You'll show everyone exactly what you're made of." Though he started patting my head, his grip tightened and he got a scary look in his eye, "Don't even think about running away this time."

"Aye, aye."

.

The time came and we were called in. Looking back, I really think UA did us dirty; we had been in the waiting room the entire time people were arriving, and we were never allowed in the arena before the event…

So walking out sort of short circuited our expectations.

I'd expected a lot of people, sure, but I had never expected stands that went up so high that I had to crane my head, and a crowd so big that they were a mush, no one person distinguishable from the next. The stadium itself was colossal; The white rectangle in the middle told me it was designed for only one battle at a time, but they clearly had some explosive results in mind. I would have thought ten battles could fit at once, quirks and all.

It wasn't just our class either; class 1B was there too, glaring at us like we'd personally offended them. I fist bumped Tsu one last time, keeping my chin high, and the first challenge was announced.

A race. Ah.

"Aw man!" Kaminari complained.

"This should be an easy one for you!" Uraraka told me with the smile of a good sport.

"We'll see." Actually, this could be pretty bad. The course was incredibly long and would no doubt have obstacles. In theory, yes, I could just sprint my way through ahead of everyone, but not only would I be just about out of commission for the future activities, I might be the unlucky one to spring all the traps with no idea what they'd be.

No, I'd have to be more…

Someone bumped into me. I turned. It was a quiet boy from class 1B. He had purple hair and bags under his eyes.

"Sorry." He said quietly. I smiled widely.

"No problem!"

Then everything went cold.

I felt my heart drop as my shoulders went limp. Was I breathing? Yes. It was a numb sensation. Why wouldn't I… move? It was hard to focus on anything.

"When the race starts," His voice cut through the fog, sharp and echoing, "Take me with you to the finish line."

Without really meaning to, I walked over and placed a hand on the back of his neck, the other on his arm. What had he done to me? I didn't like it. At all.

We walked over to the start. The whistle rang. I breathed in, hoping that might help me escape. No, though everything slowed to a stop, the hypnotization remained. I'd have to bring this jerk with me. And it would be a pain.

I'd never really tried moving people long distances. It would be hard to ensure his safety. Not that he'd asked me to, but if I was doing this, and boy was my body doing it, I'd at least have a say on how.

Lifting him off the ground initially took some effort, but once his feet were up, moving him forward was infinitely easier. I went slower than I would have liked, Ida encroaching on us dangerously. But I walked, bringing him with me past the crowd and to the first obstacle: the giant robots from the entrance exam. Lucky for me, they were slow.

Unlucky, I was tired already. It'd be most efficient to take a quick break.

But of course, I couldn't think straight.

I exhaled and the boy I held flinched at the momentum, shoes hitting the ground as he stumbled out of my grip. The robots turned toward us. I caught my breath.

"What are you doing?" He asked, voice still echoing and intense, "Let's go!"

That idiot.

Back we went. I moved us past the robots. Now was a maze of ropes over a cliff. I jumped, holding his arm a bit more tightly so he wouldn't slip away. I made sure to adjust my feet just right and jumped off the ropes again, repeating the action until we were across.

Next was a long, empty field. Extremely suspicious. I wanted to stop and investigate, but my body moved forward on its own.

Pain hit my leg and I noticed the ground rippling. Crap!

I moved, but just a little. Time resumed as we were tossed harshly back. My ears were ringing, Present Mike might have been saying something. Though my partner was coughing and disoriented, I didn't get a chance to pull myself together. Instead, I inhaled the dirt and pushed forward, even on my aching leg. I noticed the mounds and watched my step.

We made it past. Walked past the finish line.

The feeing evaporated, and all sound and sensation returned.

Immediately dizzy, I let go of him, letting the momentum push him forward and to the ground. I held my head. It was loud and bright all of a sudden. I felt like I had to lie down. Also my leg hurt a whole lot.

"What is this?!" Mike called, voice booming, "Manderly has made it across the finish line in record time! It seems she brought someone with her. Why would she do that?"

Though the audience cheered for me, I was furious.

The boy stood slowly. I began to walk toward him, but my knee buckled in pain when I tried to walk on the bad leg. He made no move to help me. I stood where I was, breathing in and out for a moment.

Then, gritting my teeth, I limped over to him. He stared at me coldly.

"Problem?"

Grabbing his collar with one hand, I used my other to ball into a fist and punch him right in the face.