Cavalry Battle

"Let me fill your bottles before the next event." Todoroki held out his hand.

Terra opened one.

Todoroki form ice over the opening then heated it. Ice chunks plopped into it.

Terra closed it and opened the other.

"Okay! We're ready to discuss the next event and the points everyone gathered from completing the obstacle course." Midnight drew their attention. "Those who reach the top will continue to encounter fresh new hardships. And the kids who have enrolled here will here it countless times: Plus Ultra. To the boy who placed first in the preliminaries go ten million points."

Everyone turned to Midoriya with determined glares to take him down.

Terra tapped her toes on the ground, wondering what kind of even required such a high amount of points.

"This next even will be a cavalry battle. The time limit is fifteen minutes. The point value of each groups' headband is worth the total point accumulation of each of the warhorse's members. And the one to wear the headband will be the warhorse's rider! Think of him or her as a standard-bearer." Midnight pointed her whip up to the jumbo screen where a demonstration of the event was being shown.

"That's a cavalry battle? And we have to do it?" Terra pressed her shoulder against Todoroki's.

"You'd make a good rider." Todoroki crossed his arms. "You'd easily be able to snatch someone's headband."

Terra studied her friend. His eyes revealed what she already knew. He was going to pick her to be on his team. And he would put her in the place of the rider while he stood in front of her. That way if she got uncomfortable she would be able to focus on him and remain calm. Who he'd pick for their other teammates… she had a pretty good idea. However, it's not what she wanted.

"Until time is up, you'll all be fighting and stealing as many of each others headbands as you can. You may not equip your headband on any area besides above your neck. As more and more headbands are taken, maintaining control of the situation will become more and more demanding. And the most important aspect of our human cavalry game is that even if you should lose your headband or crumble as a horse configuration you're still not out of the game."

"So that means…" Yaoyorozu said.

"That, with forty two contestants, around ten to twelve horses will be on the field the entire time?" Sato finished.

"Tiresome," Aoyama said.

"In other words, there's no need to get antsy if your group's headband is taken in the beginning, right?" Ashido said. "You'd still have time to get it back or get another group's headband."

"But if you don't have your eyes on the breakup of the points that everyone's gaining and losing, you won't be able to judge properly, Mina," Asui said. "It's going to be chaotic with everyone running around trying to steal as many points as they can."

"Quirks are of course allowed, so I want to see some fine brutality out there! That being said this is still a human cavalry battle game. If you attack any other group with the malicious aim of breaking them up, I will give you a red card and you'll be forced to sit out the rest of the game. All right, you now have fifteen minutes to form your teams," Midnight concluded.

Terra turned to Todoroki the second the pro hero went quiet. Todoroki's lips were already parting when she cut him off. "Sho-chan, I don't want you to pick me for your team."

"What?" Concern flickered in his eyes.

"You have a goal to meet." Terra looked at Midoriya. He was in deep thought, probably thinking of whom he wanted on his team. She brought her eyes back to Todoroki. "I won't be much help against his quirk, if he uses it. We both know that your dad is watching." Both turned to the crowds. Endeavor was easily spotted with his flames billowing around his shoulders. Terra shivered and turned away from the imposing man. "Do what you have to do to win this. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Todoroki stared into her eyes for several minutes before the tension released from his body, the concern remained. "Okay. But get with someone you'll be comfortable with."

Terra nodded. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze before separating from him. Well, let's see. She scanned the students. Most of her class was already divided into groups. She assumed it was the same with others students.

"Terra."

Terra turned to find Asui. "Hey, Tsu. What's up?"

"You're not pairing up with Todoroki?" Asui pressed her finger to her chin. "I thought you two would be locked at the hips through this whole thing."

"I told him to chose who he knew would be best for this event. He has a goal he needs to meet." Terra scratched her arm. "I don't want to get in the way of that."

"Ribbit." Asui nodded. "Then would you like to pair up with me? I don't have any partners yet. And I think we'd be a good team. We can reach out farther with our quirks than most others can."

"Sure. Well, I should warn you that I've never done a human cavalry battle before. So I might not be that good at it." Terra rubbed her neck.

"I might be able to help with that. If you are willing to partner with us."

The girls turned to find Shoji and Mineta walking over to them.

"Ribbit." Asui tilted her head.

"I've got the best plan." Mineta cupped his mouth as he spoke to them. "We're all small enough to ride on Shoji's back. He'll put his arms up around us so no one can see us."

"Is that even allowed?" Asui asked.

"It should be fine," Mineta said. "We are allowed to use our quirks after all. And the rules say nothing about having to have only one rider."

"I see." Asui nodded then looked at Terra. "You up for it?"

Terra stared at Shoji and Mineta for a moment. She hadn't really spent time with them, but she had observed them a lot while in classes. She nodded. "Okay. Let's give it a try."

"Yes! With you two with us this should be easy." Mineta balled his fists and nodded. "I'll trap as many people with my quirk as possible while you two snap out your tongue and vines to grab headbands. Let's head for Midoriya first. We'll have the best chance of getting his headband while he's so distracted with everyone else."

"I'm not sure of that," Asui said. "But we can try it. If it doesn't work out we can go after other headbands.

"Also, you won't have much visibility while my arms are wrapped around you," Shoji said. "So you'll have to move fast if you want to grab a headband."

"Are you sure you'll be able to carry us all?" Terra asked.

"Yes." Shoji nodded. "Both you and Tsu look to weight about the same. And Mineta weights way less that you two put together. So it'll be like carrying only two people."

"Hey! It's not my fault I'm so small!" Tears poured out Mineta's eyes.

"Let's try to do this as discretely as possible," Asui said. "The less people see us climbing onto Shoji's back the better we'll have it."

"Times about up." Shoji looked up at the jumbo screen. Only a minute and a half remained. "Let's wait to join together at fifteen seconds."

The three nodded.

Terra took a moment to scan the field. Her eyes landed on Todoroki. As she figured he was paired up with Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Kaminari. Iida was a fast running to having him in front was a killer idea. Yaoyorozu could create anything they needed in the battle. And Kaminari could use this electricity to keep others from getting too close to them. She smiled. "Good job, Sho-chan."

"Okay. This is it." Mineta rubbed his hands together.

Shoji knelt down and opened his arms. Mineta was the first to climb onto his back. Asui was second.

Terra hesitated, hoping she made the right choice by doing this, then climbed on. "You okay, Shoji?"
"Yeah." Shoji stood up with ease. "Let's do this."

The buzzer sounded. Midnight threw out her whip. "And begin!"

Teams lunged out onto the field.

Terra formed her fingers into vines though she didn't strike out at anything. Okay, keep calm. Study the situation before you try and strike. She eyed their openings. The opening in the front was wider than in the back. But it still didn't give them much to work with. This was going to be a lot harder than she first thought.

"Have a look, ladies and gentlemen, not even two minutes have elapsed and already we have a melee of tumultuous proportions on our hands!" Present Mic said. "Anywhere you rest your eyes, there's two teams vying for and stealing each others headbands! After all, it's a fine strategy to aim for second to forth place instead of the big ten million!"

Terra pushed down her desire to poke her head out of Shoji's arms. She wanted to know who was going after whom. Surely Todoroki and his group were in those Present Mic was talking about.

Mineta laughed. "Stealing each others headbands? You think this is some kind of headband exchange? No, I assure you this will be a one sided plundering!"

Terra looked at their front opening. Midoriya and his group were in front of them. He was with Uraraka, which didn't surprise her at all. Midoriya was often with her and Iida. Tokoyami was their front person. His Dark Shadow was out, moving all over the place. The forth person on their team Terra didn't know. The girl wore gear on her body so Terra assumed she was from the support class.

"Shoji? But why are you all alone? This is a human cavalry battle, remember?" Midoriya looked their way. "Let's put some distance between us! In a field with multiple enemies, it's never a good idea to remain idle anyway."

Mineta threw out a ball. It landed perfectly. Uraraka's boot landed right on top of it.

"What? Mineta's ball? But where is he?"

Mineta waved at them. "We're right here, Midoriya."

"Huh?! Is that even allowed?!" Midoriya asked.

"Judges say yes!" Midnight said.

Terra shot out her vine at the same time Asui shot out her tongue.

"Dodge!" Midoriya commanded. A pack on his back, which Terra didn't notice before, flared up with jets. Uraraka's boot broke as they were shot into the air.

Both Terra and Asui's attempts slipped right past Midoriya as his team rose.

"I expected no less from you, Midoriya," Asui said.

"You can carry Asui, too?! Dang it, Shoji! How strong are you?!" Midoriya's eyes widened.

"I told you to call me Tsu!"

"Team Mineta has made good use of the startling differences in its members' body types! They might as well be a war tank!" Present Mic said. "Team Midoriya can't help but run away!"

"What now? Should we continue after Midoriya or go after someone else?" Terra asked. Before anyone could answer Present Mic spoke up again.

"That's right, whether it's the boy in first place who's being chased or the rest of Class 1-A, now doing the chasing, this here's a veritable congregation of top dogs. Let's briefly confirm that by checking their current point values. Seven minutes have passed. So let's put their scores up on the big board for all to see!" A few seconds pause. "Wait just one dosh darn second! You mean Class 1-A aren't taking it by a mile? Well, apart from Midoriya of course. And holey moley! Bakugo, what happened?!"

Terra caught a passing glimpse at the jumbo screen. "Bakugo's at zero points?! How is that possible?!"

"Must be the quirk of another student that's causing him trouble. Ribbit."

"I'd hate to be on the receiving end of Bakugo's furry." Mineta shivered and rubbed his arms. "Never mind! Charge after Midoriya!"

Terra huffed. We won't be able to get his headband. Not with Sho-chan so close. His team up is too good. Looking out their back opening she spotted a team coming up behind them. She readied her vines and waited for them to get closer. Knitting her brow she wondered if they were coming after their headband or going after Midoriya's. As they started moving from her line of sight she knew they were going after Midoriya. So she slipped out her vine and missed. She stomped down a growl and refocused on the front opening in time to see Kaminari's electricity sparking in front of them. "Watch out!"

Terra pulled up vines from the ground and wrapped them around her team.

"Wow. That was way too close." Asui looked around. "Nice work, Terra. Thanks."

"Sorry. I almost missed that. I was trying to grab another headband but they got away."

"Whoa! That was way too close!" Mineta trembled. "Way too close! We would have been fried! Terra, you saved us from getting hit. Thank-"

A cold chill rushed over her skin. "No-Wait! Hold on!" Terra gathered Shoji's legs in her vines and lifted them into the air.

"What the heck?" Shoji looked down.

Mineta poked his head out of Shoji's arms. "What?! We could have been frozen!"

"How did you know that was coming?" Shoji glanced back at her.

"Sho-chan and I have known each other for about ten years now," Terra said. "We've sparred together a lot. I can sense when his ice attacks are coming."

"Good thing too. We could have been frozen in place like the others." Asui glanced down to the ground. Almost everyone was frozen from the feet to the ankles. "Ribbit. He really over did it this time."

"Far too many people managed to get past his ice in the first event," Terra said. "He was making sure that didn't happen again."

"Hold on," Asui said. "Mineta, where's your headband?"

"What?!" Mineta grasped at his head but the headband was no longer in place.

"There's not even a minute left and team Todoroki snagged four, yes four headbands! And team Midoriya who knew nothing but how to flee has been stripped from first place! Ladies and gentlemen, do we have our top four teams?! And with those two headbands, team Bakugo has shot back up to third place! Even in this final stretch, the scoreboard's in a lively flux! Ah, to be young again!"

Her teammates continued talking. But Terra didn't hear them. Her eyes locked onto the air over the ice wall Todoroki had put up. A thin sliver of gray blended in with the stone wall so she wasn't sure she saw it. It can't be. She rubbed her eyes then looked again. No, it was. Smoke was rising up over Todoroki. Did… did Sho-chan use his fire? But why?

"Terra. Hey, Terra."

Terra jolted out of her stare when a finger poked her.

"You okay?" Asui asked.

"Yeah… I'm…. Yeah. What did you want?"

"The event is over. You can lower us now." Asui pointed down.

"Oh. Right." Terra lowered them to the ground. Five feet off the ground she jumped from Shoji's back and ran for the ice wall. She flung out her vines and pulled herself over the top then slide down the wall. Her boots tapped the ground and she bolted towards her friend. Todoroki's eyes were locked onto his left hand. Her heart squeezed. He did use his fire. But why? "Sho-chan!"

Todoroki turned.

Terra jumped into his open arms. "Sho-chan, what happened?! I saw smoke." She pulled back and took a hold of his left hand. "You used it? Why?"
"Midoriya." Todoroki glanced over sat the green haired boy. Midoriya was busy talking with his team so he didn't notice them looking at him. "It was because of him."

"What happened?" Terra asked but he didn't answer. He tightened his fingers around her hand and headed towards Midoriya.

"Midoriya." Todoroki paused. "Come with us. I want to talk to you."

"Huh? Um, okay." Midoriya looked at Todoroki then at Terra.

"Deku, you coming?" Uraraka called.

"Go on. I'll catch up with you later." Midoriya waved to his teammates before turning back to Terra and Todoroki. "Okay. What did you want?"

Todoroki turned and walked away from the area. While the rest of the students made their way to the exit their small group of three headed to another hallway.

Terra's hand remained linked with Todoroki's, even when the boy stopped at the end of the hall. From this spot they could hear the other students leave the arena for lunch. Questions paraded through her mind but she kept quiet.

Todoroki's eyes remained on the floor.

"You wanted to tell me something?" Midoriya asked. "What is it?" Silence. "Well, what is it? Do you want to tell me? If we dawdle the mess hall will probably get super crowded." More silence. "Uh…"

"You blindsided me. So much so that I broke my own promise."

Terra watched as Midoriya's dropped to Todoroki's left arm. She stepped closer to her best friend.

"Neither Iida nor Kaminari nor Yaoyorozu nor Tokoyami nor Uraraka ever felt it. Only I felt it in that moment." Todoroki lifted his eyes to Midoriya. "After all, I saw All Might's full power up close that day in the USJ."

"So… what… is it… you want to say?" Midoriya tensed, something that Terra noticed.

"I'm saying what I felt from you was the same thing. Something too similar." Todoroki released Terra and looked at his left palm before looking back at Midoriya. "You… are you All Might's secret love child or something?"

Midoriya's eyes bulged. "Y-you've got it all wrong," he stuttered, waving and pointing frantically in the air. "Well, of course that's exactly what a secret son would say. So I get it if you don't believe me, but I swear that's not it."

Terra narrowed her eyebrows. What is the connection between him and Uncle Toshi?

Midoriya took a deep breath. It appeared to calm him. "Actually… I'm going to ask you something. Why are you…? I mean… why me…"

"The way you said that. 'That's not it'. In other words, you have some connection to All Might that you can't talk about. I'm sure you know about my father. Endeavor. He's been the number two hero for a while now. If you're connected to the number one hero, then that means I need to win all the more. He made a name for himself during his hero career firing on all cylinders. But it was never enough to outpace a legend like All Might, who was an unmovable mite in his eyes. And because he knew he could never hack it by his own power he devised a plan."

"What are you talking about, Todoroki? What is it… you're telling me exactly?"

"Sho-chan?" Terra pinched his sleeve. Her heart hammered her ribs. Was he really going to tell Midoriya?

Todoroki patted her hand before he started speaking again. "You know about quirk marriages, right? After the phenomenon had started it came into the picture during the second and third generations. Choosing mates solely to enhance one's own quirk to be inherited down the line and forcing marriages for that purpose. It was a throwback to a bygone idea devoid of any logic. As a man of means and merit… my old man easily ingratiated himself to my mother's family. And took possession of her quirk. All he wanted was to slake his own thirst and raise a hero to rise above All Might. That's why he created me. But I will never, never be a tool for that man."

"Sho-chan." Tears stung Terra's eyes. She forced them back. This wasn't the first time she's heard this story. And each time it hurt just as bad as the last.

Todoroki placed his hand on his face, over his scar. "In my memories, my mom is always crying. She told me that my left side is unbearable as she poured boiling water on my face." He paused before looking back at Midoriya. "The reason I'm aiming to beat you is a personal triumph. I won't use my old man's quirk. I'll become number one without needing to. This is my total disavowal of him." He walked through the opening of the hall.

Terra followed.

"If you can't tell my anything, that's fine. You keep being All Might's something or other. And I'll defeat you using only my right side. Sorry I took your time."

"I… I've just been the beneficiary of outside help, all this time." Midoriya's voice caused them to pause. "That was true earlier, too. I… The reason I'm standing here is because someone is always saving me. All Might… I want to be like him. And I need to become strong enough to accomplish that, and become number one. It may be a trifling motive compared to yours, but all the same, I can't lose. Not only for myself, but to pay back the people who've helped me along the way. So I'll take that declaration of war of yours and echo it. I'm going to beat you, too!"

No one said anything more as they went their separate ways.

Todoroki and Terra slipped into the mess hall. Voices mixed together in a loud mess of noise. But they didn't have to put up with it for long. They grabbed their meals and headed outside so they could be alone for a while. They sat down under a tree where no one should find them.

"That was… the first time since me that you've told anyone about that," Terra said after several minutes of silence passed.

"Midoriya." Todoroki looked up at the sky. "I never would have expected someone would have broken through my walls like he did. I really thought you'd be the only one I'd ever tell about that."

"He really had you on the run, didn't he?"

Todoroki nodded.

"There's something different about him from everyone else. And I don't mean because of whatever his connection is to All Might."

"I sensed that as well."

"What are you going to do?" Terra's eyes when to his left hand. "You'll have to fight him in the finals."

"I still plan on not using this fire quirk. I will win without it." Determination washed over Todoroki's face.

Terra licked her lips. She wasn't so sure about that. If Midoriya was able to get Todoroki to use, or almost use, his fire quirk once what's to keep him from doing it again? But then… was that a bad thing? Todoroki had two quirks. Shouldn't he be using them both? She didn't know. She felt as confused as Todoroki looked. Shifting closer to him she laid her head on his shoulder and told Birdie to play her soothing playlist. "Whatever happens… I'm here for you, Sho-chan."