A/N: This chapter is the beginning of the sports festival. Its another longer one. Also there are character designs now if anyone is interested!

"Okay, babes," Logan announced, clapping her hands together to get everyone's attention. They'd gathered on her family's personal running track, though they'd only just begun their warm-up stretches when Logan stood up in front of them as their self-appointed coach. "Sports festival is in two days. It is time to get our teamwork together. You know what that means, right?"

Izumi pressed her face into her hands and massaged her brow. "Please tell me it isn't more trust falls."

"Time to do some trust falls!" Logan said gleefully.

"Really? Again? I mean, we did this yesterday too," Rei pointed out. She leaned across the bench and rested a hand on Izumi's shoulder as if to console her. "I feel like we should prepare for the festival in more ways than just team building. Maybe like a stamina and endurance test. Lets like go for a run or something? Maybe we can even just work on our full body reflexes."

Logan flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Okay, now that is a good point, and we can do all of those things, but first we should still do some trust falls."

"You literally just like the feeling of falling and not having to deal with the pain, don't you?" Izumi asked, peeking from between her fingers.

"Perhaps."

"Okay well my whole cat quirk thing gives me really good balance and reflexes, but I'll be honest my stamina isn't that great," Etsuko said as she continued with her stretches. "So I could definitely work on that. I've been building it up these past two weeks so I can run about two kilometers without dying. Also my speed is alright, but I haven't trained to increase my pace at all. I can run about twenty-five-ish miles per hour." She frowned as she spoke, apparently disappointed by the number.

Rei shot her a confused glance. "Okay, wait, what? You do realize a normal female runs, like, five miles an hour right?"

"No. Every one of my siblings and my father all run at least thirty-five miles an hour. So I tend to trail behind them," she sighed and shook her head. "You must be mistaken."

Logan turned to look at Izumi and Rei. "Hey, somebody google what the average sprinting speed of a human is for me," she said, gesturing to the phone that rested beside Rei on the bench. "Because it ain't no damn thirty-five miles an hour. I can run like maybe seventeen on a really good day."

Rei grabbed her phone and quickly typed up the search. "Apparently the average running speed of an adult female is about five miles an hour."

"See, that's ridiculous," Logan exclaimed. "That is like Olympic level sprinting. It has to have something to do with your quirk. Maybe you can run as fast as a cat. How fast is a cat Rei?"

"Uhh. Give me a second. Looks like thirty miles an hour." Rei flashed the screen to Etsuko as proof, then set the phone back down beside her. "That means you are a bit slow for a cat. You know, you have all these characteristics and you don't even have cat ears. This really throws all of my stereotypes about cat girls off. You are still super small though, so that judgement stands."

Izumi suddenly jumped to her feet. "Hey, Logan, Rei can I speak to you privately for a second. Sorry, Etsuko. It is a personal issue with my mother. We will be back in a second."

Logan, Rei and Izumi walked across the field together out of hearing distance of Etsuko. "What is it, Izumi?" Rei asked, a look of concern on her face.

"With how fast Etsuko can run, I think we should leave our shoe tech to ourselves. If anyone finds out they might be able to somehow tie it to our other activities, so we should just stick to only us having them," Izumi explained, glancing over at Etsuko. "I made a new pair that is designed as just simple tennis shoes. We can charge them up the night before. We will be at about equal running speed then."

Logan nodded. "Yeah, okay, that sounds fine. Better to keep certain tricks to ourselves, I suppose. We can share all of our non-hobby related tech, though, right? Like our jet-pack backpacks, and the modified roller skates?"

"Yeah, we are still waiting for you to bring an invention to the table, by the way," Izumi reminded her. "Everyone else has come up with something to bring. Including Etsuko with her football gear."

"Relax. I can come up with something I'm sure. I will have it by the end of the night," Logan said dismissively.

"Etsuko is spending the night tonight," Rei pointed out. "Are you sure you are going to have time?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Anyways, let's get back to Etsuko to do some trust falls and go for a run."

Izumi made her way over to the bench, sitting down gingerly. "Oh my god, my legs burn."

"I feel like I am going to puke," Logan said, doubled over. "Does anyone else feel an intense need to vomit?"

"I can't feel anything. My body has given up," Etsuko groaned, collapsing on the grass beside the track. "I told you I don't run more than like two kilometers! Why the hell did we just run half a damn marathon? What is wrong with you people? My lungs feel like they are going to explode."

"Hey. Hey, don't lay down. Cross your arms up behind your head and walk it out. Don't just lay down like that it's dangerous!" Rei said, walking over to Etsuko and trying to pull her to her feet.

Etsuko batted her hand away. "Isn't that like a proven myth or something? I'm sure I will be fine. I'll just crawl my way back to Logan's guest house. How are you guys still in such good shape? What the fuck? I mean I know I don't have the best stamina but shit. Nobody should be able to run that far. Can somebody just surgically remove my legs please."

"Let's just head back to my guest house," Logan suggested. She joined Rei in her efforts to pull Etsuko off of the ground. "Come on. Let's go. Don't make me drag you or I will force you to run. I mean, we are still all going to walk though because I don't think we can physically move past a turtle pace at the moment. I will force you to run though."

"I mean you literally can't, but I guess you could try."

Izumi carefully rose from the bench with some effort and helped the other two finally yank Etsuko back to her feet. "Hey, so like, you have some wildly good physical abilities and such. With your whole cat shit. You could probably be a hero without a problem, so why are you in the business course?"

"Eh?" Etsuko stuttered, leaning on Izumi's shoulder to stabilize herself. "Oh. Yeah, the whole hero life isn't for me. Don't get me wrong. I know they, like, deserve our respect and everything, but personally it's a career path that has never interested me. Also, realistically I'm not that great. I'm more of just a better human. More jack of all physical trades if you will. I'm not really the best in any particular area."

Izumi shrugged. "I mean, that's fair, I guess. At least it means you get to be on our team so we can win. Snipe doesn't believe in his own class," she said bitterly. "What even is that? Oh well, I mean, at least he made that stupid bet. If we just win one of the events, then we automatically can't get detention until next semester. Talk about just adding fuel to the fire, am I right? We have to win now."

Logan grinned at the mention of the deal. "For real though. Talk about motivation. No detention for the rest of the semester. You can't hope for a better deal than that. We can get away with pretty much anything besides felonies." She ran her hand through her hair, straightening out the tangles she'd earned while running.

"Yeah, also the whole rulebook for this event is actually very heavily in our favor. We have pretty much no limitations. I don't know who set up the rules, but it's a bit ridiculous how much wiggle room we have," Rei pointed out. "I mean the hero class has like almost seven hundred rules ranging everything from specific quirk power levels and elemental types. Support class has fifty-six rules that detail everything about what sorts of gadgets they can use and where they can source them from. General studies has like thirty-two pretty generic rules and they decided to give us business classes one rule." She held up a single finger in frustration. "I mean one. Just 'have fun.' What is that even supposed to mean? They don't even have a rule saying not to kill anyone."

"Well, I feel like that is already a law so it would be a bit redundant to include them in the festival rules," Etsuko said, still using Izumi as a crutch. "Also you guys never stop raving about that scone place. Can we go there now? I really wanna try one."

Rei smiled. "Sure, we can run there. Come on."

"Oh my god. Wait, can I change my request?"

"Nope. Now, come on and keep up."

Etsuko slammed her fork down on the table, looking longingly at her empty plate. "Okay. So that was totally worth it. Scones are amazing. We all need to move to England immediately because clearly they know food."

"Yeah, I mean it sucks they don't have actual clotted cream, only whipped cream, but it's still good nonetheless." Rei leaned back in her chair with a satisfied smile.

"My old chef used to make the best clotted cream," Logan said with a dreamy sigh. "You know, he actually used to work for the royal family for about ten years. His fish and chip recipes were amazing. He had a gourmet version and a street food version. Oh my god, and his mushy peas were beyond incredible." She drooled a little as she spoke, relishing the memory of all the professionally cooked meals she had on demand.

Etsuko perked up. "Oh, what happened to him? Is he still around?" She asked, cocking her head. "If he was so good why didn't you fire him? Also when can I get fish and chips?"

"Oh, he's fine. He just quit," she said with a helpless shrug. "I convinced him that our house was haunted by the Beatles. Only issue is that he spoke mainly French and thought I said we had a beetle infestation and turns out he has a really big phobia of them. It was a bad translation job all around, really though."

"Oh that's… interesting. You didn't have a lot of friends as a kid did you? Spend a lot of time alone?" Etsuko guessed.

"Yeah, until I met these two absolutely wild and idiotic babes right here!"

"Eh. They don't seem all too wild to me. Idiotic, though. I mean, aren't we all?"

Izumi cleared her throat. "If anyone in this group is idiotic, its definetly you, Logan. You have a two track mind and it's literally just food and fashion."

"Yeah. Yeah. Let's head back to my house now. I gotta work on my invention for the group's sports festival plan. First I need to stop by a couple stores."

"Okay, now I'm curious. We stopped at a sports store and a self defense store. What did you buy?" Izumi asked, her voice tinged with concern.

Logan winked at her. "It's a surprise. You aren't the only engineer in this group, Izumi. I don't mean to brag, but I might venture to say my ingenuity just might match yours." She smiled to herself, holding her shopping bags close to her to hide the contents. "Now, you guys can all choose one of the bathrooms in the main house and I'm going to use mine. Everyone go take your shower and get dressed in your pyjamas then when you get out we can order pizza and I'll grab a few movies to watch. Plus, when you get out I should have my invention all completed."

The girls entered the main mansion and looked around until they each found bathrooms. Logan had spent about five minutes hard at work creating her invention before it was finished. Etsuko's version had taken the longest because she had decided to put some extra details in it for her. The girls slowly came back to the guest house from their showers. Etsuko was the first one back followed by Izumi then Rei. Logan walked back into the main room when she finished her shower and she popped a DVD into the player.

"Well, come on. Show us your invention!" Izumi sat cross-legged in her seat, looking at Logan expectantly.

"Okay, are you ready?" Logan said, letting the anticipation hang in the air for a minute before she pulled her inventions from their hiding place and displayed them proudly to her friends.

Etsuko gasped aloud and covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my god. You truly are an engineer. This might be the greatest invention I have ever seen. Is that one mine?" She squealed, pointing at one of the inventions. "Oh my god, you know me so well! I can see all the special details you put into it. I've literally never loved anything so much. I could cry. You are my best friend. It's like something I never knew I needed in my life."

Logan smiled proudly and flipped her hair over her shoulder, basking in the praise. "Yeah, well, we can't use them until the festival because I don't want to use up the batteries."

"You know. They aren't pretty, but that is actually an incredibly good idea," Izumi admitted.

"What can I say? I'm just an engineer."

"This group event is in the motherfucking bag. No detention until after summer!" Izumi nearly cackled from excitement. "I mean, come on. The whole rest of the semester we will be able to leave school at a normal time. Except for our club meetings, obviously."

"Okay, people. It's time. We have to start making our way to the arena. My squad needs to group up on me!" Logan waved her hand over head and shot a warning glare at the other students. "Rest of class 1-K, you better do your best to kick everyone else's asses or else." A few students shrank back from her gaze. Clearly, they were smart enough to take her warning seriously.

Rei was the first to make it to Logan's side. Once the other two had joined them, she began to break things down for them. "Okay, everyone. These jet pack bags have all of our equipment in them, but they are heavy. They just look like normal book bags, so they shouldn't draw any attention if we just leave them at the edge of the arena during whatever the first event is. I say that we take the bags with everything except Logan's breathtaking invention in them, and depending on what the first event is, we will take whatever we need out. At the moment, our most powerful inventions are the jetpacks and Logan's invention. Let's try our absolute best not to use them until the group event. We want to keep our abilities as secret as possible so nobody knows what to expect." She waited to confirm that everyone understood before she continued. "Now, because there are three events they won't want to whittle down the crowd to nothing after the first event so we can expect them to keep about forty percent. Give or take. That means our best bet would be to try and keep ourselves in the mid-twenty range. That will pretty much guarantee that we get through and it will also keep attention pretty much off of us. There are forty hero students in total. Those will be our primary competition. While some of them have versatile abilities, a lot of them use them rather one dimensionally." She nodded to Logan, who had the most experience with the hero students. Thanks to her, they at least knew Class 1-A's quirks and the basics of their usage. "That means that with our fitness backgrounds and with Etsuko's natural enhanced physical abilities, we should be able to at least keep up with half of them regardless of what the first event might be, unless it's specifically combat based."

The girls all grabbed their bags and headed to the area anxiously awaiting the announcement of the first event. They waited at the entrance of their classe's respective gate to be called into the arena. Present Mic's voice came over the speakers as he hyped up the crowd, which roared loud enough to shake the stadium. "Pay attention, audience!" He shouted, "Swarm, mass media! This year's high school rodeo of adolescence that you all love, the U.A. Sports Festival, is about to begin! Everybody, are you ready?!" The crowd cheered even louder. "It's time for the students to enter the first year stage!" Present Mic finished.

The group of girls rushed out into the arena when their class was called leaving the rest of the business class hesitantly shuffling behind. They entered the stage without much reception as the crowd focused their energy on the hero students standing on the other end of the stadium.

"Holy shit, guys," Izumi blurted out. "Look at all those heroes watching… don't know why there are so many here…" She scanned the crowd that loomed over them, losing count of all the costumes she saw. "They could just record this and watch it later. Isn't it some kinda security threat to have them all just centered in one location?"

Rei scoffed. "They're heroes, not strategists."

"Well I mean at least they have good bodies I guess. We should play fuck, marry, kill," Logan said excitedly. She did a quick sweep of the crowd. "First one: That guy in the red spandex in section C, the girl in the purple leather jacket in section A, or the shark fins guy in section G. Thoughts?"

"No," Izumi and Rei immediately responded.

Etsuko folded her arms. "Eh. I don't really like that game, it's pretty objectifying. This time it's obvious though. Marry the leather girl and kill the other two."

"No, you are only supposed to kill one of them," Logan explained.

"I have a fear of shark teeth and thanks to the spandex, you can clearly see the red guy isn't exactly packing any heat."

Logan, Rei, and Izumi all tilted their heads and looked towards the man in spandex. "Yeah. That's fair," they all said in unison.

"The U.A. Sports Festival!" Present Mic began, cutting their conversation off. "The huge battle where fledgeling heroes sharpen their swords once a year! Anyway, these are the guys, right?" His attention was entirely focused on the hero students, specifically class 1-A. "The miraculous new stars who overcame enemy attacks with their hearts of steel! Hero course, class 1-A, right?" The crowd went into another deafening uproar.

Logan rolled her eyes. "I was there, too," she shouted.

"And that one girl who got her head messed up," he quickly muttered, though the crowd didn't seem to hear it. His attention snapped back to the hero classes. "They haven't gotten much airtime, but this class is also full of talent! Hero course, class 1-B!" The audience's response was a little more muted than before, and it continued to die down as he introduced the other classes.

The classes began muttering to themselves about their nerves as they made their way to the center field, where the umpire for the event, Midnight, was waiting for them. She stood on a small stage, and as the last students trailed in, she raised her whip into the air. "Time for the player pledge!" She announced.

"Man, that whip brings back memories, doesn't it?" Izumi said with a smirk as she looked to her fellow vigilantes.

Etsuko turned to Izumi with a look of concern. "Uhhh. What exactly have you been doing in your free time? Wait is that what detention with Midnight is?" Her expression shifted to one of terror. Oh god. that can't be legal right…?"

"Oh uh, No. No. No. No," Izumi stuttered as she scrambled for an explanation. "Umm thats not it at all I just watch a lot of uh. Porn?" Rei facepalmed at her excuse.

"Yeah, you know Izumi, right? She's just into all kinds of weird stuff, I'm sure. Isn't that right, Izumi?" Logan smiled nervously and nudged Izumi with her elbow.

Izumi laughed awkwardly. "Yep, that's right. I sleep naked, but don't tell anyone. I am just all kinds of weird aren't I! Oh wow so quirky! Yep, that's me, just a genuine quirky individual with no actual quirk." Rei noticed a few surrounding students turned their attention to the group as she attempted to magically unlock astral projection powers and get away from the situation.

Etsuko sent the girls a questioning glance "You guys are acting really strange right now."

"Quiet, everyone," Midnight ordered over the microphone.

"Thank god," Rei muttered quietly, finally removing the hands from her blushing face.

The students fell to a hush as they turned their attention to Midnight. "Representing the students is Katsuki Bakugo from Class 1-A," she announced.

"Oh god," Logan groaned. "Not this guy."

Her friends glanced at her with looks of confusion. "Who's he?" Rei asked.

Logan pointed to the spiky-haired kid making his way toward the stage. "He reminds me of… hmm… you know how chihuahuas are small but bark like they are tough shit? Kinda like that. A cross between a chihuahua and a dick cheese donut."

Etsuko frowned and looked back at Bakugo. "Come on, he can't be that bad," she insisted.

Bakugo stood on the stage with his hands in his pockets, looking over his fellow students with a subtle scowl. "I pledge-" he began. "That I'll be number one."

The students went into an uproar of their own, talking amongst themselves and shouting at Bakugo. "Well, I'm sure he'll get some sort of character development arc soon," Etsuko mumbled. Bakugo quietly made his way offstage as some of the other hero students confronted him. "Regardless, with all that combat training you people put me through, we can beat his ass in the present."

"Okay hot shot, cool your jets a little bit." Izumi raised a hand, her palm facing Etsuko. "We have been fighting for a really long time and you only just started. Your cat stuff gives you an advantage, but you still don't have too much experience, so don't start getting yourself into random fights."

Etsuko huffed. "Fine. I mean, how did you guys even get so into fighting anyways. You've been at it for years now, haven't you?"

"Yeah. Izumi and I used to get bullied quite a bit so we needed a way to defend ourselves. There was a kickboxing gym that Izumi begged our parents to let us go to when we were like six and it's kinda just been a second home until it shut down three years ago," Rei explained. She smiled at Izumi. "We actually have all won our fair share of local competitions, never anything huge, but it was a nice way for us to feel stronger."

"Yeah, I joined the gym right after I moved here from America. I got my start fighting on the street, and by that I mean in the halls of the private school system. Getting kicked out of fifteen different schools by the end of primary is no easy feat." Logan raised her head proudly. "Once I was finally allowed into public schools I cooled off a bit on actual fights, unless it was people who deserved it. I still used to go to the gym and kickbox with these two babes all the time though." She pulled the other two closer to her, giving Rei a half-hug with one arm and using Izumi's head as an elbow rest with the other.

"Huh. Why did it get shut down anyways?"

Izumi shrugged. "Dunno. Probably lack of funding. Maybe if Logan had just paid for them to stay open we would still be regularly going there."

"Hey, I didn't have my diamond card back then. I would've if I could've."

The monitor above Midnight flashed to a screen that read "first game" as the hero took her place at the center of the stage. "Now, let's get started right away," she said, resting her whip on her shoulder. The first game is what you'd call a qualifier! Every year, many drink their tears here!" She flicked her whip out in front of her. "Now, here is the first game!" As she raised the whip over her head, an even larger display sprang to life behind her, spinning through options like a slot machine. "This year, it's…" she teased. The display suddenly stopped, finally deciding their first trial. "An obstacle race!" The students muttered amongst themselves for a moment before Midnight continued. "All eleven classes will participate in this race. The course will be on the outer circumference of this stadium- about four kilometers!" Suddenly, she flicked her whip above her head again, facing the crowd of students. "Our school's selling point is freedom," she said with an impish smile. "As long as you stay on the course, it doesn't matter what you do!" The audience let out another wave of excited cheers. "Now, take your places, everyone!"

"Okay, that works," Rei muttered as the students all began walking towards the gate. "Everyone, just get what you need to run fast." She only spoke loud enough for her friends to hear, but it didn't seem like anyone was paying them much attention anyway. Even their fellow students were only focused on the hero courses. "Etsuko, you already have a speed advantage because of your quirk. I think we should leave the bags on the side for this one. The track is outside so it's probably dirt, meaning our roller skates won't be of too much use and our football armor will inhibit our speed. Our athleticism alone should get us in at least the top half so I think we should just keep all of our surprises to ourselves and just get past this first obstacle on our abilities alone. If worst comes to worst, one of us might not make it but then it will be up to remaining to win whatever the group event is."

The girls remained on the outer edge of the crowd. It was much denser as they got closer to the gate, but they managed to reach the wall anyway, tucking their bags up against it and falling back in with the other students just as the three lights above the gate began to flicker. One went entirely dark. "One last thing," Rei said as the next one shut off. "Don't fuck up."

As the last one went black, Midnight's voice rang out. "Start!" She called as students all rushed towards the gate at once, pushing past one another and funnelling down the path.

"Okay, here's the play by play," Present Mic announced over the speaker. "Are you ready to do the commentary, Mummy Man?"

"You're the one who forced me to come," Eraser Head groaned.

"Let's get started right away, Mummy Man. What should we pay attention to in the early stages?"

"This part right now."

The girls stuck close to one another as they went through the dark tunnel that led to the track. A little too close, actually, because the students packed themselves in like sardines in a can. Just before they reached the exit, a freezing wind blew through the tunnel. They reacted instantly, jumping into the air as ice covered the ground and the walls around them. Outraged cries from unprepared students filled the air as they tried to break the ice that froze them in place. The girls weaved between the ones who were stuck, making it out of the tunnel and onto the track in a few strides. A step ahead of them, several class 1-A students had also broken free of the crowd, including Bakugo and the source of the ice, Todoroki. In a snap decision, they followed Todoroki, sliding on the ice he left in his path. Their special shoes and the years of training they had under their belt made it easy enough for them to keep their balance, and Etsuko had all the grace of a cat anyway. Just as they found a good pace, there was an upset at the front of the race. The running path opened up to a wider area, where a herd of giant green robots stood waiting for them.

"Obstacles have shown up suddenly!" Present Mic announced. "Starting with the first barrier: Robo Inferno!" All of the students hesitated, marveling at the robots that loomed over them.

"I wonder where they got the money for that," one asked aloud.

Logan looked over her shoulder with an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

One of the robots lunged at the students, but it was met by a wave of ice from Todoroki. The ice continued growing after it engulfed the first robot, spreading across the ground. Todoroki took off running immediately, so the girls followed suit, only half a step behind as they passed between the frozen robot's legs.

"Between their legs! We can get through!" They heard one student behind them shout.

"I wouldn't," Todoroki replied without looking back. "I froze them when they were unbalanced." As he spoke, the first robot began swaying and crashed down in front of the rest of the students. "They'll fall over."

Present Mic shouted into the speaker with more commentary. "Todoroki Shoto from class 1-A! He attacked and defended in one hit! How elegant!"

"Holy shit, you must be a bitch to play jenga with," Izumi called out to Todoroki. "Goddamn. You trying to kill someone or what daddies boy? Yeah. that's right. I know who you are, Endeavor's son."

Todoroki snapped his attention to Izumi, looking over his shoulder with a confused expression. As he did so, Etsuko ran up on his other side, grinning as she extended a leg out in front of him. Todoroki toppled right over it. "Teamwork makes the dream work!" Etsuko cheered as he hit the dirt.

Izumi and Rei skirted around the hero student as he picked himself back up, but Logan leaped right over him. "Ey, yo buddy. I think your shoe is untied," she yelled behind her in a thick fake Jersey accent. Todoroki cast a glance at his completely laceless white boots.

"Well, that was an unexpected and petty move," Present Mic observed.

"Midnight did say they could do anything," Eraser Head muttered.

Present Mic cleared his throat. "Well, it looks like, for the first time in U.A. History, the business class has taken the lead!"

The audience was still lively in the stands, but most of their cheers were edged with confusion. The teachers sat in a private section separated from the rest of the crowd where they could observe and discuss the students they'd spent so much time training. In that moment, every single teacher had turned to look at Snipe. Snipe sat quietly in his seat, ignoring all of them as he looked on at the race. "Well," he said, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the seat in front of him. "I'll be darned."

The girls continued running with Todoroki right at their tail, leaving the other students to figure out how to work around the remaining robots. The next obstacle wasn't far ahead of them. They'd only run a short distance when they came upon a ravine dotted by small plateaus. Only thin ropes connected the plateaus, and it was far too dark to see just how deep the ravine went. "Hey, hey! The first barrier's a piece of cake?" Present Mic asked. "Then what about the second?" The students hesitated for a moment at the edge of the ravine, trying to weigh their options. "If you fall, you're out! If you don't wanna fall, then crawl! It's 'The Fall'!"

Todoroki had a plan almost immediately. He stepped on one of the ropes and turned it to ice, then began sliding across. Etsuko's approach was a lot more straightforward: running. She took running leaps across the ropes, balancing easily as she landed. On one of the ropes, she did a perfect walkover just to make it a little more exciting for herself. She finished crossing with a backflip, landing perfectly and falling into a bow. She came up from the bow with a little wink and a wave at one of the cameras. By the time Todoroki made it across, she was already dusting herself off.

The crowd had fallen completely silent by this point. Their confusion had peaked, and they honestly weren't sure how to react to the scene unfolding in front of them. "Uh...another unexpected move from the business course!" Present Mic narrated. "Snipe, what are you teaching your business students?"

"Yes, but it seems that this girl is too busy showing off," Eraser Head commented. "She's losing her first place position because of it."

Etsuko turned back to face the ravine, spotting her friends on the far side of it, hanging upside down on the ropes and hugging it with their legs as they used their arms to drag themselves across. "Come on, let's hussle!" She called across, taking a seat on the side of the ravine with her legs dangling over the abyss. Todoroki finally caught up and passed her as she sat there and gave him a small wave.

"It looks like the class 1-K student has decided to take a quick breath! Which means that Todoroki Shoto from hero course class 1-A has taken back the lead!" Present Mic announced. The audience immediately erupted back into cheers.

Bored, Etsuko grabbed a pebble and tossed it into the darkness, attempting to listen to see just how far down it went. "Hey, it dropped for like one and a half seconds!" She shouted. "How far down is that?"

"Like, eleven meters!" Izumi shouted back.

"Man, at least this is easier than scaling a wall," Logan said, her voice slightly straining from effort. "Then you really have gravity working against you."

The girls made it halfway across when the rest of the students began catching up, though a lot of them just stopped at the edge of The Fall, staring helplessly. A few jumped to action. Tsuyu from class 1-A was the first to take to the ropes, leaping onto one of them and crawling with ease. Bakugo sailed right over everyone's heads, using his hands like rocket boosters. A few more students passed them, but by the time they'd reached the end of The Fall, they were still near the head of the pack.

Etsuko jumped to her feet as they pulled themselves to the end. "You made it!" She cheered.

"You could have kept going," Rei groaned.

Present Mic came back over the speaker once more. "It looks like the cat girl from class 1-K has decided to re-enter the action alongside her fellow classmates!"

"That girl does realize this isn't a group event, right?" Eraser Head wondered.

As the girls raced to take back their lead, Present Mic gave an excited shout. "And now, we've reached the final barrier! The reality here is that it's a minefield! It's set up so that you can tell where the mines are if you look carefully, so you have to exploit your eyes and legs! By the way, these landmines are for games, so they're not that powerful, but they're loud and flashy enough to make you wet your pants!"

"That depends on the person," Eraser Head pointed out.

The girls reached the minefield as Present Mic finished his explanation. There were only nine people between them and the lead, including Todoroki, who was trying to pick his way carefully around the mines. The second they reached the dirt, Izumi scooped up a few handfuls of pebbles and shoved them in her pockets before scrambling to keep up. The four of them weaved between the mine, stepping carefully but keeping up a good speed. Around them, small explosions released clouds of pink smoke and knocked other students off their feet. Sometimes the mines went off because a student was careless and misplaced their step. Other times a mine went off because Izumi pelted it with a rock to keep someone from catching up to them.

"And now, we've got someone new in the lead!" Present Mic cheered. The girls looked ahead of them to see Bakugo that had just overtaken Todoroki. "Rejoice, mass media! This is the kind of development you guys love!" The crowd roared, standing at the edge of their seats. Present Mic continued, "Hey, hey, hey, the rest of the pack is also speeding up! However! Even as they push and pull each other, can the two at the top remain in the lead?"

"Almost there!" Etsuko cheered, smiling as if they'd won already. As soon as she spoke, a shock wave swept over the group from behind, threatening their balance. They were forced to stop moving for a moment or risk being blown over right onto a mine. Glancing over their shoulders, they saw a huge pink cloud billow out over the back portion of the minefield.

Present Mic shouted in surprise. "There's a huge explosion at the back?! What's with that force?" From the cloud, something came flying out, sailing over the students. As it got closer, the girls collectively realized what it was. "Class 1-A's Midorya is in hot pursuit with that blast!" Present Mic announced. "Actually, he's taken the lead!"

"Oh, that is bullshit!" Izumi growled as they began moving again, going a little faster to ensure their place in the top half. She made sure to use as many of her rocks as she could, setting off mines as if it were a form of stress relief.

Ahead of them, Bakugo shot forward, rushing to catch up to Midorya. Todoroki laid out ice to run across, leaving a convenient path for the rest of the students behind him. "The two formerly in the lead have stopped trying to slow each other down and are chasing Midorya!" Present Mic said excitedly. "Now that they have a common enemy, they've stopped fighting! The fight's not over yet, though!" The girls didn't pay him any mind, instead focusing on sliding across the ice path that had been left for them. As the three class 1-A students neared the finish line, Present Mic continued to gawk over them. "Eraser Head, your class is amazing! What're you teaching them?!"

Eraser Head remained monotone. "I didn't do anything. They got each other fired up on their own."

The girls crossed the end of the minefield, less than ten places away from the lead. The three at the top were leagues ahead by now and approaching the finishing gate, assuring the hero course a victory. "U.A. Sports Festival, first year stage!" Present Mic roared. "Not listening?! Who could've predicted the developments at the beginning or this conclusion?"

"Or the business students," Eraser Head mumbled.

"Er, yes, or the business students? Right now, the first person back in the stadium is that man!" The crowd roared as the first person reached the finish line, earning a shower of confetti. "Izuku Midoriya's made a huge splash!"

The crowd stood in their stands and cheered, making the stadium quake as the rest of the students began to trickle in. Etsuko crossed the gate as the ninth student, with Rei, Izumi, and Logan immediately behind her. While the rest of the business students crowded off to the side to sell bentos or talk about stocks and managing agencies, the girls went to find their equipment and some place to relax and catch their breath.

"And now, they're finishing up one after another!" Present Mic announced. "We'll make a list of the results later, but for now, good work!"

Rei grabbed her bag and sat down near the edge of the arena, away from the audience's attention. Izumi and Rei sat in front of her as Etsuko sprawled off to the side, forming a lop-sided circle. "Good job, guys," Rei said. "We had to have made it into the first round."

"Yeah," Izumi said with a nod. "Oh my god, did you see those hero students at The Fall? They sat there having a discussion and trying to figure out what to do rather than just act. Isn't that what they are supposed to be training to do?" She leaned back, using her arms to keep herself propped up. "Learn how to act on instinct and overcome obstacles. Especially the ones who they make such a big deal out of 'surviving a villain attack'."

Logan kicked her legs out in front of her. "Yeah, I mean, I survived the villain attack too but I'm not special. I literally just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I happened to take down a few of them too, not that anyone knows, but still."

"How did you take out a few villains?" Etsuko asked, barely lifting her head from the ground.

"Huh? Oh, you know, all those years of kickboxing paid off, I guess."

"Ugh, when are they just going to announce the next event?" Izumi looked towards the gate. The last of the students had finished the obstacle course, so everyone was milling around and resting up before the next event. "It's supposed to be the group one next right? I just want to be able to do anything I want with no consequences. Is that too much to ask?"

Logan shrugged. "Dunno, but while we have time, can someone go and grab my masterpieces of invention?"