Dual Fates
Chapter 13: Risky!
A/N: Heya guys, I thought I'd let you know about a simple future change in this chapter! I decided to extend the top four teams that move on, to five instead. Simply because I wanted their team to move on with the others for the idea I had planned out in the final round.~
I doubt this will hurt the plot any so don't worry! =D
Uviel dashed around to avoid an incoming hand that reached for Haru's headband, left and right the girl jumped. The brunette on top seemed to be having a great time since joyous laughter left her lips and her long, low ponytail, bounced during their movement. "Hahahaha! Wooo, this is so fun!" Cheering, clapping happily, her beaming broad smile threw a couple of people off and some grew infuriated.
"Stand still!" The rider on top of the opponent cavalry exclaimed as their eyes glanced behind the two at those who chased Izuku down. Todoroki had shielded himself with a blanket that was given to him by the dark-haired girl, whose shirt was unzipped. Not long after did electricity strike everyone within their radius, including the best friends and their anonymous enemy team who tried to get Yukimura's band.
"AAAAAAAH!" They all screamed in unison, all of the teams around them cried out to the sky from the shocking power from Kaminari. Shoto was the only one unaffected, because, a few seconds later, the blanket got brushed off and his hand lifted with a quick coating of cold mist.
Though he managed to trap everyone behind him in the ice, Uviel was far away enough to not get caught and the enemy team who gave chase got one foot stuck. "Har-Har, I'm going to toss you over to one of the trapped teams! Grab as many as you can on your way past, I'll run and catch you in time, so don't worry!" Those blue eyes squinted and a wicked grin formed on her best friend, unbeknownst to the cyber-girl.
"Right!" Yukimura agreed with a simple nod and felt the girl sprint after the many immobilized teams.
What? What'd he do?! Todoroki took care of that crowd of teams in an instant! Present Mic announced over his...well, mic, only for Aizawa to explain further.
He froze them after Kaminari's shock stopped them... I guess it should be expected, but he took into account how a lot of people avoided it in the obstacle course. Eraser head informed rather boredly and kept his unamused eyes upon the cavalry battle.
Nice commentary! The announcer gave the other teacher a thumbs up with his usual grin but soon noticed a team of two, afar from the trapped students, racing across the stadium with their chaser's foot stuck in a block of ice. Oh wait, look at this! It seems like Todoroki missed a team! Not all teams were caught in his ice! It's Saito and Yukimura! How will they fare against the other remaining teams?! His energy and excitement never went unnoticed nor did his masked eyes leave the promising displayed cavalry battle.
A foot scrapping against the ground harshly, leaning over, Uviel lifted her best friend and soon chucked her like a spear across the icy cluster of teams. Loud, ecstatic laughter rang throughout the stadium as the brunette soared past many teams and snatched whatever headbands were left.
During her flight, the girl got too close to the ground after a few seconds passed and planted her foot right on top of Monoma's head, which caused him to shriek out from the sudden stomp. The blonde boy grew irritated at the antic and moved his attention to the brunette who...stole...one of his...headbands, from there he knew who the previous culprit was that took his last ones. "She'll pay for that...!" his lowered, seething voice never went unheard by his team, however, he never counted on the girl to look over her shoulder at him with an amused grin on her lips.
She never touched the ground, she waited for Uviel to catch up and knew her best friend was running judging by her scent growing closer by the second and the sound of her voice.
A grunt left the redhead when she skipped to a halt to let Haru jump back onto her shoulders. Yukimura kept those giggles going and found it rather fun to hop across each riders' heads on her way to the other side of the trap. Hunkering down further as she had done before, her face inched closer to her best friend's with that unfaltering smile. "Haha, that was a nice idea wasn't it?! Using them as a stepping stone was an awesome exploit of the rules!~" her outburst made the redhead wince and close an eye, it obviously annoyed the girl to no end.
"Won't you get in trouble for that...?" a sweatdrop fell down the redhead when her blue hues narrowed and took off running once more; what they didn't expect, was for Monoma to show up...
The cyber-girl halted in her place when the blonde's horsemen stopped right in front of them, with the most dangerous scowl on his lips. "Breaking out of that ice was difficult, but I must say... Nobody's ever...put their foot on me like that. It was pretty clever to race across the trapped students to get to the other side quicker and meet up with your friend, snatching those headbands along the way... Though, I don't think they'd take it too well if they all found out that a blind girl has been snatching everyone's bands from behind their backs.~" His scowl soon changed to that of a sickening, mocking grin after some shade veiled over his eyes.
"Hmm?~ This, coming from the boy who was trapped with them? Hahahaha, you're funny!" the brunette allowed more amused laughter to escape and heard a faint, annoyed grumble from her best friend.
"Your friend there doesn't seem too appreciative of your laughter.~ By the way, what made her think the idea of allowing a blind girl such as yourself, become the rider? You're blind and you're more than likely being visually guided by her instructions to snatch headbands as she runs, are you? Being blind must make it difficult...to aim for the top... No hero will ever want someone who can't even see, to be their apprentice or to be trained. You're going to be a failure no matter how smart you try to go about this festival...~" not once did his grin fall, his attempt at discouraging Haru only made the brunette...grin?
No, it wasn't a grin... It was a dark, sadistic grin that many would claim to see on a villain before they strike. A dark grin that only Mono and his team saw, at that moment and made his smile drop, causing his eyes to waver with unease. "Really... Alright, then. You got me, I'm so blind. I'm being instructed on where to move and when, in order to grab the headbands...~ Now go ahead, trap us, grab my headbands, I won't be needing them anymore since no one's going to accept me," very slowly the girl's tan hand reached and held out the many headbands that were folded up neatly into one thicker band, she didn't hold them directly in front of her though; instead, her hand kept close to her chest but still remained in an offering gesture. "Such a terrible bully who only uses words to get what he wants, but let's see what happens when you judge a book by its cover...~" a sharp, nasty, snake-like grin replaced her once sadistic one, and her blind hues looked directly up at the boy instead of the space before her.
Nothing but sweat rolled down his face at the sight, a sense of faint fear washed over him, and heard his own heartbeat ram against his rib cage. Those blue eyes of his bore into intimidating green ones that were nearly covered by her bangs, until a smirk reformed on his lips. "Your attempt at scaring me away isn't going to work, Yukimura," with his words, he gestured for his team to push onward after the girls which only made the snake-girl's grin broaden.
"Har-Har, we have to run...!" Uviel's words reached her friend's ears but not once did Haru make a sound of acknowledgment, she simply remained in her posture as before and kept her attention forward. "Haru!" No, still nothing, this worried Saito to no end and watched as Monoma grew closer. Just as she was about to flee from the blonde, the girl finally heard her friend speak in hushed words.
"Don't worry, UV-Ray...~ He's mine...~" her whispered answer made Uviel quietly gasp and felt movement on her shoulders. Blue hues looked up to see Yukimura reach for the sheath of her dagger and sneakily pulled it out, then chose to keep it close to her hip.
"I'll be more than happy to take care of those bands for you, then!" nervous sweat continued to trickle down his skin, not once did he notice the dagger getting pulled out but when his team got close enough and his hand reached out... Within seconds a slice went through the air, a headband fell from him, blood thinly trailed behind him during their sprint, and time slowed down within that moment.
His eyes lit up with disbelief at what just happened and it didn't take long for him to notice a headband missing, the very sight of it gone only made his anger worse; feeling around in the space where it once was, one of his eyes began to twitch. "How did you-?!" right when he was about to speak, before he turned his head to her, Yukimura hopped into the air.
"No, don't!" Uviel screamed out but it was too late, a quick whip from her leg after she spun once in the air, made the blonde's head shoot backward before she skillfully landed back on her friend's shoulders. Right then and there the redhead hurried, sprinting past the blonde's cavalry with concern on her face.
When they gained distance, Monoma's face was soon shown with utter shock plastered and a throbbing red mark on his forehead. As they gained more distance, Uviel's face contorted angrily the more she ran, and not too much longer did she snap. "What was that about, Har-Har?! You didn't have to entertain him like that, you could've just let me take off and ignore him! What's gotten into you lately?!" Furious, the redhead's temper thickened the more her friend's silence ensued until she finally spoke.
"Sorry, Uviel... I just...I..." Haru stumbled over speech and tried to find the right words to say, but the more she tried to answer the harder it was to talk. It was as though she couldn't explain it, like something was holding her back and it bugged her. "I don't know... We can talk after the festival about this, if you want. Right now, we need to focus, girl!" Yukimura exclaimed with her frown changing to an excited grin.
Monoma managed to compose himself after a couple of minutes and chose to continue his torment, by heading for Bakugo who's headband was up for the taking. After their little heated conversion and him copying a couple of their quirks, his team took off with the temperamental blonde's band.
Five minutes later, the girls were approaching the iced wall, until Present Mic exclaimed about how Ida accelerated and allowed Todo to take the ten million points. With less than one minute left, Todoroki currently has four headbands and Yukimura has five! He's wrested away the top spot from Midoriya, who was running away like crazy and Yukimura was dealing stealth strikes to snatch headbands from unknowing teams! His announcement soon caused the screen to show the scoreboard and continued his commentary. Will these be the top five teams to move on to the next round?! he finished his sentence until Bakugo decided to jump ahead and nab a couple more bands.
However, Uviel was more focused on the icy wall of Todo's to care about the fight that went on behind her. Less than one minute, they had, and to jump over that wall would be a challenge. "Haru, I'm going to toss you over this wall so you better land on someone's head!" without a single warning or preparation, all that Har-Har managed to let out was a huh? In response.
As high as she could, the cyber-girl jumped and the announcer soon started to speak about her efforts of scaling Shoto's wall, resulting in the crowd roaring. Just when the girl was about to fall back down, a strong toss ensued over her head and caused her friend to giggle madly at the adrenaline. "Hahahaha!" Now, the brunette was over the wall and Uviel's landing caused dirt to fly. Panting slightly, she didn't have time to take a breather...so the girl jumped again; using her cybernetic strength to scale the wall as fast as he could.
In mid-air, Haru's grin never left her lips. Though despite her blindness, she could smell everyone and sense where the two teams behind the wall were at. Arms outstretched, her body was soon shifted so she could land on Todoroki's head and Midoriya saw the snake-girl aiming toward him with a wicked grin that he swore, seemed villainous; faster, faster she fell until...
Yukimura landed on top of Todoroki's head! The announcer exclaimed as he watched her land with both feet on the multi-eye-colored kid. The crowd went wild at her antics, as his head got pushed down for a moment right when she nabbed one of his headbands. Within that second, the brunette felt Uviel's vibrations, indicating that she landed nearby and sensed her race after her. Saito must have chucked Yukimura over the wall, what a risky move! Is she coming over to save her rider now?! Present Mic continued with his hidden gaze glued to the redhead, who charged after Todo's team.
Hehehe, that was pretty clever UV-Ray!~ Haru mentally cheered and giggled to herself. Quickly, before his teammates could kick her off, the girl jumped off of Todo's head after her best friend and performed skillful twirls in mid-air, keeping her arms close to her chest. Right when Uviel halted abruptly in her sprint, she crouched slightly and let her friend land on her shoulders.
The rankings keep changing in the final stages! It's the passion of youth! The announcer exclaimed and not long did Midoriya chase after Todo using his quirk, which in turn, caused the boy's own quirk to halt so Izu could grab a headband.
Now that Izuku's team stood behind Todo's and Yukimura's team stood in the center in front of Shoto's group, Present Mic's excited voice boomed. With just eleven seconds left, there's an angry retrieval here, too!
After Todo's little conversation, the announcer's voice made the crowd go wild once more. Oh no! Team Midoriya didn't retrieve the ten million points! Time's just about up! Start the countdown! he added with gusto.
Within those few remaining seconds, Uviel ran to the farthest corner to avoid all of the quirks that flew into the encased wall of ice. They stood there and her blue hues watched Bakugo and the others charge, they all went after Todo who lifted a pipe. His choice of weapon got coated in ice as he waited for everyone to get closer, until...
Time's up! Present Mic announced and paused for a moment, though a very faint giggle left Uviel's lips when she saw Bakugo hysterically fall on his face at his words. That's the end of the second round, the cavalry battle! his announcement caused the audience to roar with excitement.
A sigh of relief washed over the redhead before she crouched to let Haru get off, which she did. "Hahaaa, awesome! That was fun! I never stopped to look at our score though, woops! Hahahahaha, I was having too much fun to care!" Yukimura exclaimed through her laughter and side-hugged the daylights out of her best friend.
Now, let's take a look at the top five teams right away! In first place, Team Todorki! In second place, team Bakugo! In third place, Tetsu-... Huh? What? It's team Shinso!? When did you come from behind?! In fourth place, team Midoriya! In fifth place is...team Yukimura, a team of only two people, got to the top?! Those five teams...will advance to the final round! Now, we'll take an hour's break for lunch before we start the afternoon festivities! See ya! Present Mic finished up his commentary and the girls were left to do their own thing for an hour.
Everyone began leaving, except Shinso, the boy's smirk never left his lips until his eyes landed on the blind girl who kept frantically waving her arms around her best friend. He wandered over to the two, his hands in his pockets, his focus on Yukimura, and thoughts swarmed his mind about the dark expressions she seemed to make often.
After he reached them, both of the girls' attention moved to him once he halted in his step. "Yoooo, nice game! Hahaha, you did great!" the brunette complimented and cheered when she approached the indigo-haired boy. A hand lifted in an attempt for a high-five, but he kept his hands in place and his smirk fell.
"You did unbelievably well, yourself. Where did you learn to move like that? A team of two can't simply make it this far unless it's a team of very skilled fighters... So tell me, who trained you before the festival? Why do you tend to smirk in such a dark way at times?" his question made a mental weight fall on her shoulders, while his eyes darted between the friends and soon glued back onto Haru.
Reluctant, hesitant to talk, Har-Har's grin began to waver slightly and her hand lowered. Faint beads of sweat trickled down her tan skin at that moment and Uviel saw it, which made the girl step closer from behind. "Her father wanted to make sure she was well prepared for this day, he's a really great trainer... Is there something wrong with being a fast learner...?" her words made purple eyes meet stunning blue ones, he started to question her next.
"You, your cybernetics are strong...but for them to be this good is very questioning... Who did you go to, to get your upgrades? No girl, such as yourself, would've been able to carry her through the cavalry battle for so long without exhaustion. Who's upgrading your-" before he could even continue, a cheery voice rang out to gain the best friend's attention.
"Hey, guys! You were great out here! I never expected Saito to risk tossing Yukimura like that over the wall! That was so manly!" the darker redhead waved as he ran over to them, with the brightest grin that could rival Haru's. Once he stood before them, Shinso gazed upon the boy in his peripherals before turning on his heel and leaving.
Though very annoyed at the manly remark, hesitance was obvious in her words. "T- Thanks! Um, I mean... Yeah, you did good, too..." Ultimately shy, Uviel reverted back to her usual self and averted her blue hues to the side. She felt strange receiving such attention from the boy who seemed to make her heart race every time they'd meet.
"Thanks! Congrats on fifth place! For a team of two, I'm surprised you did so well!" his grin not once fell, in fact, it got brighter when his eyes closed and giggles escaped. He didn't get to see the lighter redhead hid behind Haru, her action only made a mischievous grin to grow on the brunette.
"HEEEY, why don't you two hang out sometime?! Like, play a game together or something?! Or, maybe train together?!" Har-Har's sudden, happy words were followed by a beaming smile when she pulled UV-Ray and Eijiro together by the crook of her arms. Uviel whimpered shyly when she felt herself get pulled closer to the boy and Kirishima's face lit up red, when he saw himself get closer to her.
"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" A booming voice made all three of them flinch slightly and their eyes looked over to the metal-head from the side. The very boy who declared war to Kirishima with determination, stomped over to them and dismissed his quirk. "I want to hang out too, you think you have time?" his loud voice only made one of Uviel's eyes twitch and a groan to escape her closed mouth.
"Of course! The more friends, the merrier! I'm sure my little UV-Ray here, wouldn't mind more people joining!~" When the brunette exclaimed that last part, she sensed heat rise in her best friend and felt her run away in a blushing mess. Not a word or a sound, she simply...left, sprinting as fast as she could out of embarrassment no thanks to her. "Huh... Woops...~" A grin formed after sarcasm laced her words, she couldn't help but laugh at her adorable, shy behavior.
Tetsu's face lit up as he stood there in awe, seeing her red face and watching her run away shyly was beyond cute to him. "Now, let's talk boys! I got something to say about Uviel...~" another mischievous grin formed when she spoke and the boys' confused attention was caught at the mention of the redhead's name.