Ice cracked and fog sprayed as one figure came sprinting out of the gate, abruptly falling into a slower pace after he passed it. Some of those behind him almost fell over due to the sudden stop of their advance. For a moment, he almost believed he had eliminated his competition, but he was wary. Grey and blue eyes scouted every participant he passed, and once he got past the gate, one stood far ahead of him. He recognized her as Maribel Hearn. A girl who had miraculously survived fatal injures and obtained the top scores on some tests in the physical exam.

"And the miracle girl jumps to first place! She came close to breaking the record for the 50-meter dash, clearing it in less than a second! A promising heroine, and she's just starting! Cheer her on!" Present Mic rambled on.

With a distant crowd's cheers, the girl spun around on her heel in the middle of her run, drastically slowing her momentum but not the distance between them. Twenty meters. Her eyes locked with his from afar, they were golden. Normally, her eyes would turn purple when she used her quirk. To make an unseen approach that quick would require her to quickly shift in and out, or act without putting her into that state.

She's quick on her feet even without using her quirk, but I've no reason to keep up with her. Her quirk would allow her to easily cross any obstacle they might bring. However, slowing her down might slow some of those friends of hers down too.

Todoroki started sprinting on the thin sheet of ice he created under himself, a slippery surface that he could cling to with his shoes. He had endured a lot more constant training than her, keeping a speed similar to hers for a while wouldn't be a problem. Striking her with his quirk might be somewhat difficult, but it's not exactly necessary, either. His ice caught up to her nonetheless, his eyes purposefully diverting, imparting an air of being indiscriminate.

Still, she flinched when her shoes were caught in the ice. It didn't seem to be impeding him as much as he had hoped to. Spending a few seconds catching up to her, the odd lack of a counter surprised him. He instantly thought she must be plotting something. Reaching out from a five-meter distance, the fog of his right side lashed out towards her and left them shortly after. She had gone.

Shouto was curious for a moment. She had waited for him to attack before moving. Where did she go? He wondered, seeing no one far in front of him.

Two seconds passed.

"She's in the air!" Present Mic roared out from the stadium speakers. Todoroki's eyes headed to the sky for a moment, but the sun obscured anything he could see right now.

Five.

Seven.

"Dark Shadow!"

Barely having time to turn his eyes, Todoroki was shoved by a familiar shadow. He almost stumbled, but regained his footing just before and briefly turned to face Tokoyami. Not wasting time to understand where he came from, a cloud of ice enveloped him as Todoroki began pushing on again. Irritated now.

"You ain't finishing before me!" Bakugo's fierce cry erupted from behind him. Not wasting more than a glance, the guy wasn't using his explosions to run right now. Todoroki didn't have much of an answer for him and was about to push him back when he noticed movement in his peripheral vision. Glancing forward, he saw Maribel Hearn once again at a thirty-meter distance. They moved so quickly, she must have used my attack as a distraction.

Moving towards the first obstacle, a robot appears, one that Todoroki himself didn't get to meet. He had heard from the others in class that these would be the things that many of them faced during the entrance exam. Not every testing ground had the same test, apparently. Not like he would've been there to experience it, as he got through on recommendation.

Sparing all but a split second, Hearn briefly turned her head toward a 2-point villain. Within another second, it sank into the ground and was very quickly crushed by her quirk. Showering its mechanical corpse with mangled parts. An excellent showcase her quirk's dangerous but very applicable power.

"Using a gap, or a warp gate like that is an excellent maneuver. Of course, if it had been living, she'd be softer." Eraserhead spoke out, calm and analyzing as he usually was.

There was a brief pause before Present Mic spoke. "She used this to save you from the villains, right?"

"Yes. She was justified in not being nice about it, however."

The girl kept running until she saw the looming shadows of a couple of 0-point villains. It's quite an obstacle for an obstacle course. Todoroki didn't know what she was thinking, but he'd abuse the opportunity. Sprinting up to her, he shoved her with his right side and unleashed a huge fog forwards. A huge glacier appeared in short order, piercing one of them with the tip of it and flash-freezing the bottom of a few adjacent ones. Stopping them in their tracks and putting them off balance. Pressing on, Todoroki ran up part of his glacier and vaulted over onto the other side.

"Todoroki stops her dead! Hah! This is the kind of exciting stuff you with the cameras should be pointing them at!"

Maribel stood still and struggling, her eyes had now been purple for a while. With a great effort, the ice at her right leg broke off. Then, standing on her left leg, she banged her foot into it. Creating a big crack in it that made it possible to break parts of it off with a single quick movement. She spun around using it, eyeing the people around her who were almost in awe of the sudden appearance of the villains and the display of power. Jumping on the spot, Maribel reached a meter into the air before passing through a gap. Giving her a brief overview of this part of the course.

If it wasn't for her reaction time, this would almost be deadly.

Gazing down, Maribel swiped her finger subtly to the right, focusing on two boundaries and creating a gap. Located on two opposite ends of a 0-point villain's head. It was blocking the path behind the one Todoroki pierced. Instantly connecting and then closing at a much slower pace. A split second went, and the head of the robot was torn off of its body, falling off very slowly and disabling it.

"OOOOOOOH! Holy shit!" Present Mic shouted in English. The head fell off and the robot began collapsing. "What just happened?!"

"It seems Merry is happy to show off her quirk. Take a good look."

For a brief moment as her velocity stalled and her fall began, her eyes jumped between several people she knew and could see. Iida, Momo, Tokoyami, Ochaco, Bakugo, Midoriya, Mineta. Handpicked swiftly because she knew their quirks. If she knew her opponent, dealing with them would be easier at a later date. And perhaps making better friends with them in the team event. They appeared past the fog, confused at first, but quick to continue on the course.

Her downward velocity started increasing as her vision started descending in almost slow-motion.

She searched for one more person, but she wasn't an eagle. So she had to rinse the participants. Targeting anyone with any shade of purple on their head, they flowed out from a set of rapidly appearing and disappearing gaps at the edge of Todoroki's fog. Including Mina. Her eyes then fell as her fall intensified. There was a brief shine in them and she disappeared.

Maribel landed on the ground, hard, forty meters in front of any contestant. It hurt, but she took the landing like a champ. She had fallen from trees before as a kid, and if she'd had stayed up there for even three seconds longer, she might've broken a bone. I'll have to be careful with what I'm doing, until I get to the second round, I'll have to limit myself to the skills from two weeks past to keep an advantage. And if I hurt myself, it's best it happens in the last round, if at all.

"She's really fast! Can anyone catch her!?"

Standing up from her crouching position, Maribel swung her entire body forward and burst out into a run. The odd amount of energy she felt in her body kept her going, puzzling her as much as it made her happy.

Todoroki escaped the cloud of fog, there were sounds of metal hitting the ground, oddly satisfying cracking sounds from his ice and yells flying through the air. If they could fit all of this on the course, I wish they'd prepared something even better. I'll just have to show him in the later rounds...

But he was in first place, clearing the next twenty meters. The sounds of the crowd behind him and the breaking of steel, the footsteps and everything. The rest of the participants must be trying getting through quick.

Something changed before him. Setting his eyes forty meters in front, he noticed a blonde. Maribel Hearn. The girl set off into a run just after she appeared, just as fast as him, there was no hope in catching up.

It's exactly like before, is she playing a joke? No, this must be a plan.

"This is becoming a tug of war already, and it's only beginning!"

The sound of bouncing and footsteps caught up with Todoroki, prompting him to turn his right side around to get a look at what was coming.

"Todoroki!" The high-pitched voice of Mineta lashed out. "Even I can keep up with you, pathetic! Take this! GRAPE RUSH!" He bombastically let out and began to shower Todoroki with the balls that his quirk could generate.

Flinching, Todoroki instinctively created a barrier of ice between them that caught the balls, barely three meters in diameter. There was a smack as Mineta landed on it and bounced off. An effective distraction.

"DARK SHADOW!" Shards of ice were sent flying and there was the sound of Tokoyami, who burst right through. In tandem, Bakugo flew in with a blast and blew both Mineta and Tokoyami to the side. They were all on my tail?! The boy was caught off guard as Katsuki threw him back. Stumbling as he caught his footing again and created a huge wall of ice behind him as a counterattack.

"1-A is competing for the second place! Where's the rest of the school?!"

"Just goes to show how far they've come in such a short time. The unfortunate incident at U.S.J. has hardened them, and made them even more determined and stronger. They've seen the world of the pros."

A resounding boom erupted behind it the wall. Beyond his sight, but he knew who it was. Knowing that Bakugo would get through eventually, he took the little time to conserve some stamina and slowing down to a leisurely run.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Shouto turned his head to look at what was happening. Right on time, the wall blew open and shards of ice came flying. Out of the hole came the one he was expecting, Bakugo, and in his footsteps Iida. There was a two dozen meter gap between them, but it didn't take much thinking to understand both of them should be able to cross that gap. Briefly setting his eyes back on what was in front, he noticed that Maribel hadn't used her gaps to move forward as she maintained the same gap as before.

Her eyes glanced back, meeting his and forcing him to take them in. As if they were piercing purple dots, it instantly reminded him of something a child would see in a dark corner at night. But on such a person and such a figure, it was extremely contrasted. As a whole, her quirk, her behavior, what happened to her, it was strange. She's a strange one.

She held clear dominion over the rest of the class in this race. Those gaps might not bestow speed, but they give unparalleled movement. Her stamina at this point would far surpass what she had in the battle trial. He'd heard words of these developments being tossed around and asking the teachers themselves. He was told how she and her quirk had grown in such a short time. The quirk registry was secured by the government, so unless told, he couldn't know if her quirk was the result of being weirdly inherited or mutated. It didn't tick him off in the same way that Midoriya's quirk did, which was similar to All Might's as far as the attacks went. But she gave off the vibe of being an impenetrable wall, a quirk that grew, no baggage on her shoulders and she taunted him to boot. Todoroki was getting irritated.

My thoughts are wandering, I'm getting upset over nothing but her taunting.

Midoriya jumped through the hole in the wall and kept sprinting. He kept a steady run with one of the machine's armor plates held under his arm, not being the strongest or fastest around, but certainly up there when it came to resolve.

There's only my classmates- No, some of my classmates and a few other people in the lead. I know that she's doing this, but why us? He sheepishly turned his head, as he stared at one of them. Hitoshi Shinso. A-ah ...And why all the purple haired people?

Flowing along on his legs almost naturally, Izuku didn't speak and couldn't afford to waste breath on muttering. He went through his memory, voices went in and out of his head, and that of a particular girl came to mind.

I met someone from the general department some days ago. Who was it?

On appearance, I would guess he's Hitoshi Shinso of 1-C.

Midoriya realized one thing. She's taking the people she knows well. Is it because she wants to team up? No, then she wouldn't have brought Kacchan...

His brain raced. But in the back of his mind, the most significant question was if he could even finish anywhere close to the top of the leaderboard in this race.

"Die! Four-eyes!" Bakugo smacked the air and retracted his palm in a very short interval, producing a cloud of smoke and a tiny shockwave almost right in Iida's face. Just entering into the curve, Iida used his superior acceleration to swiftly avoid this and keep attacking the corner. Leaning in his run and balancing against the border of the course with his hand. Achieving something that almost resembled drifting as the dirt shifted under his feet. It was hard to grip, but Iida felt like he could go faster like this and pressed on into a higher gear.

I have to keep my distance! He grit his teeth.

If it wasn't for Maribel though, the initial slowdown from the ice would've cost him and he couldn't be this far ahead. This, despite his overwhelming speed advantage, he was a blinding flash to everyone but her and even she couldn't move as fast as him without using those gaps.

Closing the gap between Todoroki and him, Iida's eyes jumped when Todoroki shifted his head back and created a sheet of ice across the ground. The curve started leveling out, and Iida dodged it narrowly by jumping, sliding across the ice for the first few moments and then running very carefully. He could barely keep himself standing, but his quirk could keep him moving whilst he tried it.

"Hnh!" Bakugo unleashed a larger explosion behind him as the curve ended, jumping from tailing Iida to completely surpassing him. The distance between him and Todoroki vanished and chaos soon erupted. Katsuki attempted to beat Todoroki back with smaller explosions, and in response he would continuously create smaller sheets of ice. The cold and the explosive would both frown at each other and begin an increasingly intense dance where they tried to beat each other back to little success. Katsuki being continuously blown away by his own attacks and bouncing back like a jet fighter for more, constantly.

"The competition for the top five is quite intense. Wouldn't you say, Eraserhead?"

"It's quite logical for the most capable to end up there, no doubt their competition would be fierce. They are capable."

A short glance from Tenya at the fight told him that they weren't serious yet, they weren't looking to devolve the race into a mere fight. Thanks to their fighting, they had to slow down, and Bakugo started breaking away in reaction to this. But it was too late, Iida stepped onto the dirt again and shifted into his highest gear, accelerating hastily and leaving them both in the dust. Their conflict faded from their minds as they set their eyes on Iida, breaking away from each other in a sudden burst.

The ash blonde screamed at him as they both began chasing Iida. "I won't let you get ahead of me!"

"Bakugo and Todoroki have stopped fighting to take back the second place from Iida! Will he lose them on the straight!? It's almost like a car race!"

This was starting to become a straight. Iida didn't need to use clever maneuvering to end up ahead of the people behind him, but both of them could be trouble if they lashed out in a burst and slow him down. Tenya Iida moved his feet faster, breaking out into short leaps between each of his moves. He purposefully avoided resorting to any super move, so he could keep the surprise.

If I want to make an impression and make my family proud, I have to leave them-

His engines lit up, increasing his acceleration further as his gears shifted up. Just like a car would, maintaining a higher speed would become far easier whilst he could accelerate even further.

-In the dust!

"Plus Ultra!" He yelled out and cleared the curve, entering into the straight with the next obstacle just ahead. His sudden increase in speed had quickly bought him ten meters away from the pair behind him, and puts him quickly within five meters of Maribel. He didn't have time to speak, but he shot her a confusing look as he raced by. Letting him pass. When turning his head to look at her, all he saw was a rather charmed expression. But neither of them could bring each other to speak in such a hectic environment or such a short pass.

"Iida cuts loose! That's some speed, right there!"

Abruptly, her head shot to the obstacle ahead and she slowed down. Iida's eyes bolted to the obstacle and he started acting accordingly. Swinging to the right and putting his left leg in front in a short attempt to burn off some of his speed and then leaping onto one of the tightropes. It was an abrupt improvisation, a state of flow. He felt that he could do it. He was good enough at his footwork to try.

"Go, Iida-ku-!" The blonde yelled out as Iida went first into the obstacle. She wasn't sure if she wanted to finish first or not, but she didn't want to upset him. Following in his footsteps and jumping with the intention of getting to the same platform he was heading to. Just about to cross a gap.

The air whistled, there was a boom and Maribel flinched. Her eyes wandered to the edge of her vision, as if she was attempting to look behind herself. "DIE!"

With a single blow, Bakugo stunned Maribel with his quirk and blew her out toward the ravine. Her body rotated in the air as she began falling, taken off-guard, barely knowing what to do. In a desperate attempt, she gasped and locked her eyes with a ledge. Creating a gap to send her falling again.

She screamed out as she fell, smacking against a ledge and grabbing on before the fall could come again. There, she hung for a bit. It strained a little to keep her grip tight, but it was far less so than she expected.

"It might not look like it, but Merry's quite strong." Eraserhead commented on the situation. Oh, cut it with all the promotion... That he used her nickname was expected, she told everyone who couldn't pronounce it properly to call her that.

"You can do it, come on!" The English teacher followed up, encouraging her to get up. It didn't do anything for her, but the gesture was nice.

Maribel began pulling herself up, hanging on by her elbows as looked around. Briefly scouting the area.

Yelling like always, the explosive boy was just about to go after Iida again. "You can't outrun me here!" He said, but it wasn't long before Iida wasn't there, thanks to Maribel's technique. In a bout of confusion, Bakugo attacked nothing and then reoriented himself. "Wha-... Grah!" He groaned as he understood what just happened.

Maribel heaves herself up from resting on her chest and elbows and slowly turns around, spying on the incoming contestants. Mostly consisting of the rest of her class. By the time she stood straight, the ones behind them had been clearly visible. Mostly consisting of students she hadn't seen anywhere but the cafeteria and Shinso. In one fell swoop, she stretched and used the split moment to move people through gaps, Shinso, the people carrying him, Midoriya, and the slew of her class. In an effort to appear unbiased, she also plucked a few of the front runners, mostly what she would consider cafeteria-goers. They ended up strewn across many the platforms that they had already began moving towards, giving the illusion of movement while attention and cameras were presumably on her.

Her stretch continued a little, giving a vague view of her form as she then swung her arms into a sprinting posture and jumped right into a gap. Allowing her to clear the obstacle in no time.

"She's back on track, no one can escape her!"

Now before her was Iida, who was easily faster than her. But it was nothing she couldn't try to match up to using her quirk. So she went through another, catching up by his side, and another the moment he began to pass her again.

Tenya shot her a somewhat wary, confused and mysteriously safe glance. It was hard finding what he felt in that expression of his. Hers was a little shy as it detached from eye contact quickly. Subtly, a red tint appeared all over her face. She fell behind him very quickly as the butterflies invaded her stomach for a moment. Why did I want to catch up to him? ...I don't need to.

The lovestruck sensation completely enveloped her unconscious thoughts for a moment, but was forced into dormancy when Bakugo suddenly crossed her eyesight. Their eyes met, his expression fierce, hers took after it. Furrowing her brow, Maribel started to run as fast as she could. Starting to beat Bakugo's bursts of velocity as he alternated between flying with his explosions and sprinting.

Why isn't he trying to slow me down? Maybe he realized I can win at any point if I really wanted to. I'm effectively just a spectator, playing with the race as I see fit.

Bakugo spun around, giving her one last angry but confident glare as he blasted off and away with a bigger blast. A split second of thinking led Maribel to feigning his success, whether it actually slowed her down or not. She yelped, put her arms up in front of herself and covered her eyes as she slowed down. Secondly, she started faking her panting, just a little as her run resumed at a slower pace. There were other nearby footsteps, Todoroki had come close again.

"You shouldn't be this far behind. It's a joke."

Maribel deadpanned, she didn't care for this conversation and frankly just didn't want to talk to him. She had definitely counted on the participants finding out, but she needed them to be satisfied with the race. Raising her head and taking a breath in preparation, breaking her bout of 'panting' in the process, she spoke. "This is just a qualifier, getting in first place isn't important. No need to go all out from the beginning."

It was a little bit of a lie, it would take a lot less effort just trying to win from the start compared to what she had been doing. And it would reveal less cards, but if she did, the later rounds would obviously be more challenging to her.

He kept his legs on the move much quicker than her. Allowing him to end up side-by-side. She couldn't bring herself to let him stand side by side with her, although she didn't totally understand why. Spontaneously, she swung the flat of her hand onto his shoulder and pushed him away. Causing him to stumble and lose more than a couple of meters of distance. Hearn ran faster as she continued.

Bakugo was in second place, he would no doubt continue going after Iida, and he was fast enough to compete as long as he relied on his large blasts. By no means as fast in a constant run, but in a burst, surely. There was no true reason to let him win, but Maribel felt a nice gesture would make him like her more, and it was also an opportunity to exercise her building hatred for the ash blond boy.

Her eyes heightened in awareness of what they saw, and her ears twitched as they listened in on the surrounding.

Todoroki would be unable to stop her. The only obstacle in her path was Katsuki.

"Mines?" Todoroki said to himself, the the sound of dirt brushing aside filled her ears. Meaning that he was slowing down.

"It's a minefield! Made so you can check where they are! These are the ones we use for exercises, they won't hurt anyone! Just beware, they're loud and flashy!"

"Not for everyone."

As they cleared the final corner to the final obstacle, they were presented with a minefield. Tenya was just about to enter and Bakugo came in tow. His sweaty palms erupted in a giant explosion as he crossed into the minefield, sending him flying above them and creating a cloud of dirt in the way.

"In the lead are Iida and Bakugo, some of the fastest in their class! This last stretch will be very exciting!"

A bright violet and fiery light washed over Iida all of a sudden. "Hngh!" Bakugo sped past him, using his explosive quirk to land safely in between two mines, and quickly picked up his pace. Iida suddenly fixated himself on Bakugo. breaking his focus momentarily and allow him to step on the wrong step. The dirt below him expanded violently in an explosion, tossing him into the air and leaving Bakugo free to finish the race.

"And Bakugo hits it off! Can Iida manage to recover!?"

Flying through the air and spinning as he did, Iida didn't know what to think. The blast hurt, but it didn't wound or anything. It was nothing but an obstacle. One that he had to overcome somehow. The engines on his legs activated as he spread out his arms out, creating air resistance that would allow him to severely limit his spinning. With the added boost of his quirk, he spun over vertically and landed right in between three mines. Letting out a sigh of relief as he was taken out of the flow. Having to reorient himself to start moving as fast as he did through the minefield again.

"He stuck the landing!" Present Mic yelled out, crowds roaring in response.

Bakugo briefly turned his head to see how he took the rude surprise. He took note of the five-meter gap between the two and throwing his arm back, unleashing a bright flash that put a dead stop to Iida. He was normally mouthy, but it seemed that he didn't want to bring his focus away from the minefield.

"A second blast! Bakugo has no mercy!"

He started coming to terms with the idea of Bakugo winning. It wouldn't be difficult to pass him in such a closed environment. It really played against his strengths.

The shockwave came, the explosion expanded towards him. Blinded by its power, Iida couldn't see what happened as it never reached him. Disappearing as if eaten. Smoke erupted from down under as Bakugo was launched into the air by his own explosion. With restored hope, Tenya put his eyes back on the field, feeling someone take a hold of his arm. Eyes descending, his mind told him unconsciously who it was. Maribel Hearn had covered half of the field only to save him. In part, he liked it, even anticipating it, but he also didn't like it for another reason.

"WHAAAAA!? Maribel saves Iida!" The blond announcer yelled out. His fast-paced commentary a result of the short sequence of events and the climax of the obstacle course.

"Jump!" She yelled out, offering him up a second to react. They both made a leap, added force from their quirks and were swallowed by one of her gaps. Landing at the end of the obstacle.

Bakugo hit the ground.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

The mines exploded like firecrackers.

"Bakugo has lost the lead! Amazing team play by Hearn!" Present Mic roared into the microphone. It seems like he was used to this.

Maribel stopped holding Iida's arm, who rewarded her good will with a thankful, confused glance. She couldn't tell what he felt below that, but she'd have to talk with him when this was over with.

"U.A Sports Festival, first-year stage! It seems like the fastest of the bunch made it first, but the trip was action-packed!"

He started running off, quickly shifting through his gear. He didn't speak a word as he passed through the finish line. Maribel broke into her fastest sprint, not something to sneeze at, but still nothing compared to him. Finishing in second.

"And the first one to enter the stadium is... Tenya Iida!"

The crowd roared out, loudly for them to hear, Iida's face was put on the screens. Tired, he now stood panting.

"Second place, Maribel Hearn!"

She felt satisfied, but strangely disappointed, fearful in the depth of her heart.

Taking calm steps out onto the arena field and seemingly ignoring all the spectators, she stretched after passing. It was weird, she wasn't even sweating. Putting her hands on her hips and lowering her head, staring at the ground, she wondered. This has to be Matara's doing.

From the edge of her vision, Tenya walked up. So she turned her head to him, breathing in to return her eyes to normal. Blink. They were golden.

He looked a little disappointed. "Maribel." Her eyes locked with his, not settling on a proper expression just yet, but he didn't look all that angry. "I wanted to win this with my own effort, to show I'm a capable student. I know you told me about this idea before, but did you have to help me?"

She felt a little guilty now. Glancing away from him for a moment before walking up to him, taking a deep breath. "I'll explain it..." She said, close enough to him that nobody else could hear them if they happened to cross the finish line while she was talking. "Since doing so wouldn't break any rules, I used my quirk to give the people I knew best a shot at the next round..." She tried explaining, her voice was a little shaky and Iida didn't seem to budge. "I didn't do it just because of kindness, but because we will be competing. Know your enemy-..." Maribel then pulled away, she looked distraught, covering her face in shame with her palms. When she opened her mouth again, she almost sounded sad, unsure of herself. "...I feel so embarrassed..."

Seconds passed as she started sniveling a little. His expression softened itself. He couldn't bring himself to be so hard on her, especially as he realized something.

"Maribel." He said her name again, less seriously than before, the pronunciation on point compared to many other Japanese. His hand rested on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to make you sad. Just remember that we're all here to do our best." He then took the hand off of her. She removed her hands covering her face and glanced back at him, revealing she had actually started crying a little. Wiping the tears from her eyes.

"...I, uhm ...I will." She looked back into his eyes, turning her sudden solemn expression into a more collected one.

"Right!" He shot up, putting his hands on his waist. "This round was just the key to the next round, that's where we will actually get to show off! Am I correct?!" He enthusiastically lifted the mood, putting two fingers to his glasses and pushing them back. An expression that was meant to indicate smarts, whether he was joking or not.

"...I think so." Maribel's voice recovered from her bout of sadness. "...They usually have a team battle after the first round, right, Iida-kun?"

He nodded, then erratically shifted his arms around, pointing to the middle of the field. "We should get over to Midnight, so she can give us the results!"

And giving him a nod in return, they both strolled off toward the scene in the middle. The arena was quite large. So her eyes had quite the time to wander, finding themselves drawn to a new presence. Vast, unique and hard to pinpoint. She turned her head as she tried finding whatever it was. It wasn't Doremy or Okina. It didn't feel like a god and it was different from a youkai.

On her way to the scene, her head found someone. Walking down the stairs to find a seat, tall, seemingly beautiful and shapely. It was hard to see any detail about her besides the bright colors of her outfit, giving the impression of being a civilian. What stood out the most was the pink hair. The woman's head turned to her from afar, looking right at her, or so it felt.

The woman found a seat and sat down. Maribel shed a drop of sweat, opting to ignore this mysterious figure. If she was even looking at the right person. Her eyes felt drawn to that presence, something that she felt the most of from that person.

Midoriya Izuku ran as fast as he could, arriving by the minefield a half a minute after Iida had taken first place. All Might would be disappointed, but Midoriya was happy that his friend managed to take first place. Kacchan and Todoroki hadn't passed through yet, so it was still possible to grab the third place. But he needed to think.

Mines erupted without any sequence or pattern as many people tried crossing, class 1-B, 1-A, a few of those purple haired fools. Soon there would be more coming from behind him.

Think, think!

A few people started to recklessly step on the mines, with one of those with purple hair following leisurely behind. The sight confused Midoriya, but he noticed the mines kept tossing people high. Heaving the metallic armor plate forth, he thought.

Like Kacchan!

He dug it right into the ground before him.

"OOOOH! What's that big explosion!?"

A large, flashy and powerful, yet harmless explosion erupted. The metallic plate Midoriya held allowed him to redirect the force to send him flying where he wished. Tossing him far over the minefield and past Bakugo, who had just recovered from being tossed around by the mines. And Todoroki, who was doing his best to cover the distance. Both of them noticed the explosion, but not who came with it.

"Izuku Midoriya takes the lead! Will he end up in third place!?"

They both broke off from their previous positions and hurried. Midoriya was about to hit the ground just too short of the minefield's end. He tightened his grip and swung around to slam it back into a mine, giving him a final light toss to let him pass. With a dozen meters to cross, Bakugo and Todoroki had to do their best to even have a chance of dealing with this surprise.

Metal made a thud against the dirt as Midoriya pushed himself off of the plate. His body acting on its own as he swung his arms back and forth in pace with his legs, sprinting as fast as he could. He clenched his muscles, briefly enveloping himself in lightning as he sped through the last corridor and passed the finishing line. It almost felt like his bones were shaking, slowly cracking under the pressure of it. The feeling was so energizing, yet painful.

"In third place, Midoriya Izuku!"

After he passed, he stopped and hugged himself. Crying out in pain and crying some tears.

Dangerously close behind him were Todoroki and Bakugo.

"Fourth place, Katsuki Bakugo! Fifth place, Shouto Todoroki!"

I will begin the cavalry race after this.

First, I'll answer some questions that I feel people may have.

Izuku using what is actually full cowl is something he's tried working towards off-screen, Aizawa's words at the end of the U.S.J. incident spurred him a little. But he doesn't have the hang of it and barely knows how to keep it straight. That he managed to pull it out at the end was through his desire to win and frankly, luck.

I made an effort to show that Maribel really likes Iida, and that he does too, just not to the same extent. There haven't been enough opportunities for me to show this. Do keep in mind that I'm still not going to turn that into a central point of the story, and it won't last the further I go into the story.

The person Maribel saw is someone I had intended to introduce later. I feel that showing how there are more Touhou characters around, that aren't hiding in some subspace, would liven up the crossover nature of the story a lot more. This will become way more apparent when the internships start, because that's where the less school-related stuff for Maribel will take prominence and the heroes will also have to deal with it.

Now, as for writing the chapter. I felt that focusing on five different characters and juggling them was difficult, and I think the chapter is kind of lacking in that sense. When it came to the more competitive sections where they tried to slow each other down, I felt that it came across a lot better. I've watched Initial D, so having Iida try and attack corners felt very interesting to me considering that the race features a constant curve until the obstacles come in.

And yes, Maribel made this race harder on herself so she could feel secure in the later ones and wouldn't be surprised. Was her emotions after the end genuine or no, though? Up to interpretation.

Leave a review if you see anything that needs fixing, or if you have any ideas, I'm very open as long as it's well reasoned.