Izuku glanced around at the rest of his class in the waiting room. "They don't seem nearly as excited as we are about this Shinsou." Izuku observed.
Shinsou glanced up from looking over a piece of support gear and hummed. "We're just the most determined I guess. And the most prepared."
Izuku nodded. "Guess you're right. I wonder if Kacchan's class is more excited."
Shinsou rolled his eyes. "Of course they are. They're hero course. This is the perfect opportunity to show off to the hero agencies for them. They don't have to really give it their all since they already made it in." He ranted, a frown forming on his face.
Izuku frowned right back. "You shouldn't think about it that way. Once we get into the hero course we'll be working with them. I'm sure they're not all like that." He scolded slightly.
Shinsou sighed. "Fine, fine. Let's just do this thing."
Meanwhile Katsuki was having a stare down with Todoroki. The rest of the class watched with anticipation; these were the strongest students in their class after all. "What the fuck do you want half n half?" Katsuki growled.
Todoroki tilted his head slightly, "I would like to say that I know I'm stronger than you but I'm not sure after our fight. Though know that I plan to beat you today." He said, completely straight faced.
Katsuki did his best to not explode, neither figuratively or literally, at the comment. He took a deep breath and called after Todoroki, who had begun to walk off. "Don't bet on it. I'm gonna enjoy taking you down. Be prepared to be knocked off your high horse half n half." Katsuki smirked.
The class waited in silence. Todoroki turned around and briefly looked at Katsuki. He said nothing more before leaving the room. Katsuki's expression darkened and he swore he'd show that bastard his place today.
Both classes walked onto the field and lined up. Izuku stood nervously by Shinsou's side as he watched Katsuki walk up to the platform. Katsuki had scored first in the entrance exam so he was expected to give a speech in front of all the first year students and everyone who was watching.
Katsuki nonchalantly walked up to the microphone. "Listen up extras. I'm gonna be the one to win this thing but I'd like to see you all make me work for it. So do your best or whatever." he walked off the stage to shouts of disapproval, mostly from his own class.
Izuku sighed. It wasn't as bad as it could have been but it wasn't great. Katsuki had been adamant about not letting him help with the speech so Izuku had just hoped for the best.
"Well that was in character." Shinsou observed, seeming to try and hold back a chuckle.
"Yeah it's just like Kacchan to do something like that… I just hope him making everyone angry doesn't hurt him in the long run." Izuku said frowning. "Or us."
"He did literally invite the challenge. He'll be fine. You'd know better than me how good he is." Shinsou attempted to reassure him. "And I'd like to think they wouldn't attack us just for associating with him." Shinsou shrugged.
Midnight, who was in charge of the events, by then had managed to calm down the rowdy crowd and take back control. "Our first event will be an obstacle race!" She punctuated this with a crack of her whip. "Line up in front of the doors and wait for the signal to start!"
Hatsume excitedly bounded over to Izuku and Shinsou. "Are you ready to use the babies me and Izuku made?" She asked excitedly.
Izuku blushed and covered his face. "P-please don't put it like that Hatsume!" Izuku pleaded, embarrassed.
"Hm? But that's what they are! It's a shame you're trying to be a hero. We'd be unstoppable in the support industry together." Hatsume said wistfully.
Katsuki walked over, took one look between the two and sighed. "I'm not gonna ask." He turned to Shinsou who appeared to be the only one not distracted. "You ready to do this Eyebags?"
Shinsou nodded. "Let's show these guys how it's done." he smirked.
Katsuki smirked back. "That's what I like to hear." he replied as he flicked Izuku in the head to bring him back to earth. "It's time to put our plan into action Deku; need you to actually participate."
"R-right! Everyone remembers what they need to do right?" Izuku asked, quickly shaking off his embarrassment.
Everyone nodded and the team lined up and waited for the signal to start. Katsuki spotted Todoroki in the crowd and narrowed his eyes. "Everyone be careful. I feel like half n half is gonna try and pull something right off the bat."
The four prepared themselves and took off as soon as the signal was given. With all the students trying to enter at once the door got jammed quickly so the team opted to go up and over. Katsuki turned to Izuku and Shinsou. "Ready to fly?" his grin not quite friendly. Without waiting for an answer he took hold of Izuku and launched him over the crowd with an explosion; Shinsou wasn't far behind. Him and Hatsume then followed after them. Not a moment after they had both left the ground it froze over with ice. "I knew the half n half bastard would pull something." Katsuki thought as he landed next to Izuku and a slightly frazzled Shinsou.
"Alright let's keep moving!" Izuku said as he allowed Katsuki to take the lead. They weren't far behind Todoroki who did a double-take as they approached; clearly not expecting them to be working together.
"I'll see if I can't slow him down!" Shinsou said as they came up alongside Todoroki. "Hey pretty cool quirk you got there. Must be nice."
"What are y-" Todoroki attempted to reply.
"That was easier than expected. Wait there for a bit till someone snaps you out of it." Shinsou commanded as he ran to catch up.
Katsuki had already carved them a path through the giant zero point robots from the entrance exam. The team made it to the second obstacle long before any of the other students. They came to what looked like a large pit with several small islands of land that were connected by ropes.
As they quickly try to plan their next move Shouta is theorizing. He's never seen Katsuki work so well with others before. The group of four working together had surprised everyone really though. Not because of who but because it was happening at all. No other students were working together and those four were benefiting from that. They'd managed to gain an early lead but time would tell if they could keep it. Some of Shouta's class were quickly gaining on their heels as they began to tackle the second obstacle
Katsuki and the support student both opted to fly over the pit completely while the two general course students were hopping from platform to platform; the green haired one seemed far more graceful though. Shouta watched them with some interest; they'd be ones to keep an eye on.
"You doing ok Shinsou?" Izuku asked with concern as he watched Shinsou nearly fall into the pit.
"Fine. Just not as good at this as you are." He replied, taking deep breaths.
"Just stay focused on where you want to go next. Don't let yourself be distracted." Izuku advised.
"Can you two hurry the fuck up? People are gonna catch up at this rate!" Katsuki yelled at them.
The two refocused and managed to get to the other side without incident.
With the second obstacle cleared only one more remained between them and victory. "An actual minefield!?" Izuku exclaimed as Present Mic's excited commentary filled them in on what was standing before them.
Katsuki glanced back and saw several of his classmates starting to catch up, specifically Todoroki. "We don't have time to stand around let's move it!"
The four started to quickly pick their way through the minefield. Katsuki quickly grew impatient but still stayed with the group. "We need to slow them down. A lot of them are gaining on us here." Shinsou said after a glance back.
Hatsume grinned. "I have an idea! Present Mic said these mines won't actually hurt anyone sooo."
"We can use them as a distraction! Good thinking Hatsume!" Izuku finished for her. "Shouldn't take that much pressure to set them off…"
"We can use this baby to set them off. It has the added bonus of potentially trapping some of them too!" Hatsume said as she pulled out a couple shots for her net gun.
Katsuki grinned. "This'll be fun."
Shoto was finally catching up to the four students who had been in the lead for practically the entire time. He'd pushed himself hard to catch up after falling for the purple-headed boy's quirk and his efforts seemed to have paid off. The four front runners had stopped in the middle of the field. He was confused but was not going to question any advantage he could get in catching up to them.
He managed to catch the near feral grin on Katsuki's face before the boy launched something from his hands which then set off several of the mines in front of him. The four were effectively obscured from his vision and he decided to push forward using his ice. As soon as he pushed through the smoke he was met with the ground fast approaching him. He caught a quick glimpse of green before smoke from the fake landmines filled his vision. He recovered quickly though and continued his pursuit. Ahead he spotted the green-haired general studies student he sometimes saw with Katsuki.
The boy whipped out a staff and slammed it into the ground between them. More mines were set off. This time Shoto was more cautious of charging ahead. His head snapped to the sound of another explosion, this one distinct from the others, and saw Katsuki flying towards him. Shoto braced for an impact that didn't come. Instead Katsuki quickly landed and grabbed the boy before heading back the way he came. "You did enough Deku let's fucking move it!" he said as the two flew away.
Shoto recovered from his momentary shock and chased after them. He was too late though. The four who had worked together already having crossed the finish line earning Shoto fifth. He watched Katsuki and the boy interact with thinly veiled interest. Most of the class at this point had heard that class 1-a's resident hot head actually had a friend that he hung out with on a regular basis. None had actually met him though.
As Shoto watched the two interact he realized how familiar it seemed. "Interesting." he thought to himself before turning away he had another event to prepare for after all.