Before I knew it, two weeks had already passed. Everyone was really busy, with training, which meant most conversation was stopped, at least for now. I was glad I had gotten Yukime's phone number, though, because it seemed like the ice girl would always reply, no matter the time of day – which worked great for when I had nightmares about the USJ attack, and didn't want to bother the boys. She had quickly become my closest friend, and I think we were both excited about that fact. I also kept up a constant contact with Eijiro and Katsuki, managing to meet up with Eijiro a few times after school to try to work on my quirk control.

The morning of the sports festival found me as an unusual bundle of energy. That is exactly what my nerves do a lot of the time. Mom loved my ridiculous hyperness, and convinced me to help with breakfast to get rid of some of my pent-up energy. Once it was time for me to leave, I was almost running around the house, grabbing my bag, kissing mom on the cheek, and putting my shoes on yelling back my thanks to her when she wished me luck.

As I dashed down the sidewalk to get to the school on time, I happened to run directly into Eijiro, making the both of us fall to the ground.

"Oh my God, Eijiro! I'm so sorry!" I gasped, jumping up then offering him my hand.

His ever-present smile started up my apparently ever-present blush as he took my offered hand and stood up beside me. "You're sure in a rush. That excited for the Sports Festival?" He asked while we walked and brushed off the little bit of dirt on us.

I smiled sheepishly at him. "Actually, this is what me being nervous tends to be. I get really hyper or really awkward. The awkward, you have already experienced, so…" I motioned to myself, "Here's the hyper."

"Both are really cute," He informed me with a cheeky grin, making me blush deep red. "So, did you get the hang of turning your quirk on and off yet? You were pretty close last time!"

Looking over at him and smirking, I said, "I helped you up didn't I?" then held my hands out in front of me and wiggled my fingers. "Not a bit of rock-solid skin!"

Eijiro immediately stopped and mumbled, "So, I can finally…" which made me stop and turn to him confused only to be quickly wrapped up in his arms.

I gasped at the abrupt embrace, but instantly melted into his touch, and returned the embrace. I was beyond happy for something as simple as a hug that didn't require protective layers or make us both nauseous. I couldn't see how this moment could be better…that is until I felt something soft and warm press against my cheek before he stepped back with a light blush and a grin. I had promptly short-circuited, my face now the same color as his hair.

"Bakugo may not want more than friendship, but I wouldn't mind more if that's ok?" Eijiro said as he gently grabbed my hand "We are soulmates after all. We're basically made for each other, right, so why not?"

I couldn't stop the brilliant smile that spread across my face only to become a bashful one a second later. "We still haven't known each other long, so…we shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves."

He nodded as he threaded our fingers together. "Man! How lucky did I get? My girl's awkward, funny, smart, cute, and is gunna be a super manly hero one day!" he cheered as we continued on towards the school. Laughter bubbled out of me as I nudged my shoulder into his, his words echoing in my mind. 'My girl…'

.


.

After putting our bags away and changing into our gym uniforms, Eijiro and I met back up and then walked together to the prep room to join our classmates. What we hadn't really paid attention to was the fact that our hands had found the other's again as we walked, and were still threaded together as we entered the room.

"Ah! Hana! Kaminari was just trying out his pick-up lines on me, wanna come enjoy the shit show with us?" Yukime called out to me as we walked in, only for her eyes to dart down to our hands then back up to my face, a smug grin on her lips. "Told you they'd be a thing before the end of the week, Mina. You owe me five bucks!" she then chimed over her shoulder at the pinkette.

Said girl looked over at Yukime confused before whirling around in her seat looking at Eijiro and me – with me shifting behind the taller teen in an attempt to hide my tomato-red face. Mina squealed, bounding over past Eijiro to start bouncing around in front of me. "When did this happen?! How?! Was it sweet? Oh, who am I kidding, of course Kirishima was sweet about it, he's human sunshine!"

I looked up at Eijiro who was sheepishly rubbing at the back of his head with his free hand when he stilled and his smile dropped slightly. I let my eyes follow his gaze only to make eye contact with Katsuki.

Of course, my nerve-addled, hyper brain didn't connect the dots of his facial expression, it only saw the fact that it was him. I remembered my excitement about my quirk control and immediately rushed over to him letting go of Eijiro in the process.

"Hey, Katsuki," I squatted down onto my knees beside him with a giant grin as I said, "Look at this!" before gently touching both of his cheeks for a second and then holding up my hands. "I got control of my quirk!"

What I missed in my excitement was Eijiro's smirk at Katsuki's now thoroughly red face and the tiny crackles from his palms, not to mention the mind-blown faces of most of the class around us.

Their reactions became more incredulous as Katsuki got over the initial shock, rolled his eyes at me, then lightly flicked me on the forehead saying, "You've been training so damn much, only an idiot wouldn't have gotten better by now. Guess that means I shouldn't take it easy on you today."

I scoffed, "No need to act like you were going to in the first place. Besides, I don't really care if I win today."

"Don't count yourself out like that, dumbass," He smirked smugly, "You can be second place."

Eijiro joined our conversation then, "Hey, what about me?"

Katsuki sent him a glare, "I don't care where you place, shitty hair, as long as I win!" he growled.

The redhead didn't seem truly bothered, but still acted slightly upset, "Aw, but I want an encouraging speech like Hana got!"

"Fuck off!" He snapped, but I happened to notice the very light pink tint to his ears as I laughed at their banter.

Mina and Yukime glanced at each other behind us, then the crimson-haired girl held her hand out with a smug smile. "Make that fifteen bucks. My ships are never wrong."

The pink girl groaned then laughed, "Ya know…I'm not even mad."

.


.

A little while later, after Ida's diligent check-up about our readiness, Todoroki's voice drew everyone's attention to him and Midoriya.

"Objectively speaking…" he started with a typical emotionless stare, "I'm stronger than you and more capable."

Midoriya jolted in shock, as a few of our classmates did also. "Huh?! Um, s-sure…"

"All Might has his eye on you, right? Now, I'm not about to pry into why, but…" his gaze quickly grew even more serious, "I will beat you."

"Ooh! A declaration of war from the strongest in the class?!" Kaminari said as we all watched.

Eijiro moved over to Todoroki, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, man, why pick a fight now? We're about to go on…"

Todoroki shook him off, "I don't really care. I'm not pretending to be anyone's friend, here."

His sister shifted in her seat beside me, her suddenly icy stare now locked onto her twin.

Midoriya spoke up then, "Todoroki…I'm not sure why you felt the need to tell me you'll beat me. I mean, you're clearly stronger, and I can't measure up to most of the others here in skill…objectively speaking, even."

"Don't be so negative, Midoriya. No need-" Eijiro attempted to ease the tension only to be interrupted.

"But…" Midoriya started again, this time with more determination. "Everyone, even kids from the other courses are aiming for the top. And I'm…well…I'm not gunna fall behind. I'm going for it, too, with everything I've got."

"Me too." I jumped as Yukime suddenly spoke, drawing attention to her now. "I have something to prove, and you know damn well that I'm not going to lose to you, Shoto. Not anymore."

The boy's eyes widened a fraction just for him to clench his fists, glaring back at her, "Right…"

Ida's voice broke through the thick tension, telling us to head out to the entrance of the field to await Present Mic's call for us. It didn't take long for us to hear his excited voice boom over the cheers of the crowd.

"All eyes are on the first year stage! They are miraculous rising stars who brushed off a villain attack with their steely willpower! It's class 1-A of the hero course!"

I clenched my jaw, not ready for the thousands of eyes and cameras, but beyond ready for the competition. This meant a lot to everyone for many reasons, but this was a way for me to improve. I wanted to show that a copy quirk hero was more than just a cheap imitation of the original quirk user. Proving to myself that I could be more than a scared kid was a bonus, too. I didn't want to be frozen in fear the next time I run into a villain.

Midoriya looked almost like he was about to have a heart attack from all the attention on us, which made sense. My nerves were rising to crazy levels as well only for a sudden, sparkling, cool mist to breeze across in front of me. I felt a surge of calm rush over me, and I looked over at Yukime to see her small, reassuring smile.

Ida spoke up suddenly, saying, "We're expected to put on our best performance we can in front of so many spectators…I suppose this is merely one more necessary skill if we hope to become pro heroes."

Eijiro laughed nervously, "They're really giving us too much credit…but we won't let it shake us, right, Bakugo!"

The blonde's determined glare was slightly unsettling. "Nope, just gets me pumped up."

After our class, Mic announced the other hero course class, general studies classes, support course classes, and business course classes with way less enthusiasm. Frustrated grumbling could be heard all around us from the other first years.

Midnight then stepped onto the stage to announce the first-year representative, that much to everyone's surprise – especially Katsuki since he looked murderous – was Yukime. "Yukime Todoroki, the first-year class representative is from class 1-A! Let's hear a few words of encouragement from her!"

Yukime gracefully climbed the stairs onto the stage, then stood before the microphone with confidence that I could only dream to have. "I would like to apologize, Midnight, but I have to correct you on my name. It has recently been legally changed to Yukime Himura, my mother's maiden name." Her eyes darted to the stands for a moment, a smile adorning her features.

"What?" I glanced over at Todoroki who looked stunned.

Midnight apologized, sounding thoroughly confused, before Yukime continued, "I wanted to make a statement that I hope will build up my fellow first years," She smirked as her eyes focused on something, or rather someone, in the crowd, "We should all strive to be true heroes, no matter what course we are in. True heroes are those that save without discrimination. They do not care if they have fame, money, or glory, they simply strive to make a difference," She bowed to the crowd, then rejoined our class on the field with a smile.

Midnight cleared her throat then continued on with her announcements, "Now, without any delay, let's get the first event started!" she pointed her whip up at the electronic scoreboard behind her. "These are the qualifiers! It's in this stage that so many are sent home crying every year! The fateful first event this year is~…Obstacle Course Race! This is a race between every member of all eleven classes. The course is a four-kilometer lap around the stadium itself! As long as you don't go off course, anything is fair game!"

As we all got into position, I glanced around trying to figure out the best quirk for any possible obstacle. Spotting Ida, I grinned, opening my hand as I reached out for his exposed wrist, "I'm just gunna borrow this really quick."

He looked down at me in shock as my calves shifted around painfully to accommodate the engines that now grew out of them. Sadly, this tore the legs of my uniform that wasn't designed for the larger size and made my legs ache. As the warning alert sounded, telling us the race was moments from starting.

"Thanks, Ida!" I called back to him as the race started. Feeling a surge of power in my legs, I started dodging around other teens as we filed out of the narrow passage. Feeling a rapid drop in temperature, I noticed a sheet of ice spreading across the ground, freezing people where they stood in front of me. I cursed under my breath, before sending a pulse of energy through the engines and jumping to the wall, racing along it and landing right past the ice with a smirk, "Dude, this quirk is fun."

A voice sounded to my right, and I looked around to see most of my class had seen through Todoroki's plan.

Katsuki shouted over the noise of the frozen students, "I ain't letting you get ahead that easy, Half 'n Half!"

I laughed before starting the engines again and rushing to follow my classmates, "Go get him Blasty Boy!" I heard his scoff before another one of his explosions sounded as he pushed himself further forward.

Since I had to stick to the ground, I had a few more obstacles, but I wasn't too worried at the moment. At least until Mineta's small body went flying past me back into the crowd, "What the…?" Huge robots moved into the path in front of us, and I couldn't help but gape at them.

"Every obstacle course needs obstacles! Starting with~… the first barrier, Robo-Inferno!" Present Mic's voice sounded across the course.

I happened to notice that Todoroki had paused at the sight of the robots, which encouraged me and a few others to continue on. A few of the others hadn't even given them a second glance, leading me to believe these things were in the regular entrance exam. As I neared Todoroki, a different blast of ice spread up into the air from behind him on the other side.

"Heroes can't hesitate, Shoto!" Yukime shouted as she skated up her ice path and past the robots with ease. "Lesson number three from the good old number two."

I could see his glare as I passed him, weaving around the giant legs. The next thing I knew, I was being blasted forward by freezing wind, making me stumble to my hands and knees. Looking behind me, there was a sheet of ice covering the robot I had just passed, and Todoroki was standing in front of it breathing out a puff of mist.

"Woah…" Quickly righting myself, I rushed off again as a few of my classmates joined me past the robots.

A loud crash was heard behind me, but I couldn't check and waste more time. Present Mic's voice sounded again, "Class 1-A's Todoroki blasting through and sabotaging others in the same move! Man, this guy's cold! And 1-A's Tod- I mean…Himura, passed without a second thought, that girl is impressive, easily taking first place! Those two are massively ahead of the rest, almost feels…unfair!"

At his last comment, I shot out of the mist and sent a grin to the camera. "Not unfair, sir, just smart thinking!" I called out before focusing back on the course.

"Ah! And there's class 1-A's Aizawa, the copy quirk girl showing her skill!" I smiled at his announcement only to falter at his next one, "Oh! Again with class 1-A, but this time the student Kirishima has been crushed by the fallen robot!"

I spun around, desperately hoping he had activated his hardening in time. My heart lifted as I saw him break through the metal looking irritated and shouting "As if! That jerk Todoroki…I'd be dead if I was anyone else!"

Breathing a shaky sigh of relief, I spun back around and sent more power into the engines in an attempt to catch up before the quirk ran out, which I could feel was coming soon.

Mic also announced that someone else had been buried by the robot, but had apparently broken through as well, only for his voice to be overtaken by multiple explosions. Looking up, I saw Katsuki sail overhead, eyes locked onto the twins with fury.

"The first place spots are overwhelmingly from class A!" Mic's voice called out, only to be more calmly interrupted by Mr. Aizawa's, "Class A simply knows there's no time to hesitate. Each has grown from experience."

I felt slightly guilty since I had just hesitated when they mentioned Eijiro being crushed. My heart ached at the thought, but I pushed through it only to stumble as the engines in my legs disappeared, "Woah! Shit…" I looked around frantically at the second obstacle.

"Think the first barrier was a piece of cake?! How about the second?!" Mic said excitedly, "Fall and you're out! You gotta crawl across if you wanna make it! This is The Fall!"

"You don't necessarily have to crawl," I grumbled seeing the twins and Katsuki flying overhead, already pretty much past the obstacle, "But I guess I have to, I don't wanna waste any more time."

Quickly grabbing onto the massive wire, I hung upside down and climbed along to each new pillar. At the second wire, I saw Ida basically skating across the top of a different wire, 'Wish the quirk had lasted longer for me. I'm getting tired out really fast like this.'

Panting, I tiredly climbed up to the last ledge, remaining on my hands and knees so I could attempt to catch my breath. Sadly, this slow tactic had put me behind a few other students. I took one last deep breath before lifting myself up and pushing on.

"Our leader Todoroki has reached the final barrier, followed closely by Himura and Bakugo! This next barrier, though, is a deadly minefield! A quick glance is enough to show where the mines' locations are! Keep both your eyes open and watch your step, or you'll be blasted sky high!" Mic chimes cheerfully, before adding, "I should mention, our mines don't pack a deadly punch, but they're loud and flashy enough that you might need a change of underwear!" "Depending on the individual, of course." Mr. Aizawa muttered into his microphone.

This course was definitely meant to even the playing field since almost everyone had to slow down to make it past. As I neared the field, I saw a few others close to the start, but the twins and Katsuki were further along. The latter was blasting his way through just above the ground, and I just knew his arms had to be hurting at this point, though he was too determined to let that hold him back. He quickly overtook the two icy teens, shouting back at Todoroki, likely with a hate-filled glare. "Your declaration of war…was to the wrong person!"

As the three fought for first place, I looked around at the people back at the start with me and tried to figure out which quirk I could copy to give me an advantage. My eyes caught sight of Mineta who was clinging to the sticky orbs that he had stuck to Yaoyorozu's back, then I spotted Midoriya who was frantically looking around the field as he scooped mines into a large pile with a large piece of metal from the robots. I laughed as an idea popped into my head. "Well, this is a giant risk, but who knows, it might just work!"

I ran over to my two classmates, slapping Mineta across the back of the head with a petty smirk, then ran back over to Midoriya just at the right time. As he flung the metal piece down, I pulled a few orbs that had formed along the bottom of my hair loose and stuck them onto Midoriya's back just as the mines exploded.

"A-Aizawa?!" Midoriya looked over his shoulder at me in shock.

"Sorry, but like they said, all's fair in this race!" I laughed and pulled myself tighter against him as we flew. "By the way, you're really warm!" His face went ridiculously red and he sputtered awkwardly, making me laugh again.

"Woah! What an explosion! What caused such a blast?!" Mic gasped excitedly. "An accident? Or maybe it was intentional?! LOOK! Class A's Midoriya…and Aizawa?! They're riding the wave from the explosion in hot pursuit of the leaders!"

As we passed the trio in the lead, I made eye contact with Yukime and winked as she laughed at us in awe.

What Midoriya apparently didn't account for was the landing. I noticed him looking around and muttering as he tried to figure things out only to be interrupted by a furious-sounding shout.

"DEKUUU!" I looked over my shoulder to see Katsuki glaring at Midoriya with such a level of rage that I had only seen in the test All Might had started off with, my heart dropped as I instinctively curled closer to the green-haired boy. Katsuki's eyes widened a fraction, but he took my movement the wrong way apparently, since he looked even more pissed off, "GET THE HELL BACK HERE!" he raged, increasing his blasts to surge forward just as Midoriya and I started to separate from the metal piece.

"Midoriya!" I came up with a spur-of-the-moment idea and hoped for the best. "Use our momentum and the metal's weight! You can spin us and drag it down onto a mine for another blast forward, just like before!"

He nodded, doing exactly what I said, and slamming the metal down onto a mine directly between Katsuki and Todoroki, sending us sailing forward. I took advantage of the momentum myself, and pulled my body up his back, leaping forward by kicking off from his shoulders. Sending a backward glance, I called out an apology.

Mic's voice burst out across the field again, "Midoriya and Aizawa blow away the competition, only for Aizawa to take advantage of the situation and take the lead herself! Your class is something else, Eraserhead! What are you teaching these kids?!"

Mr. Aizawa answered, but his usual tired tone was gone this time. "This isn't my doing. They've been spurring each other on all on their own."

As I landed, I stumbled a few steps, but thankfully kept my footing. Another idea popped into my head, and I started pulling loose more orbs from my hair, throwing them forward in as straight of a line as I could before using them to bounce myself forward faster than I could run. "Dang, Mineta could be really cool…if he wasn't such a pervert," I panted as sweat rolled down my forehead.

"I totally agree," looking to the side, I saw Yukime smirking at me as she skated up to me, frost slowly crawling up her arms and legs from exerting her quirk so much as she was not only using ice as blades for skates but also as the path she skated on and blasting from her hands similar to Katsuki's explosions.

Even with her smirk, I could see the tension from the pain. She was going beyond her limit. "But I think only you could've come up with all the cool ideas you did. I gotta say sorry now, though, cause I have to win this shit, and no one is getting in my way!" with an enormous blast of ice, she shot forward and into the tunnel.

Her ice quickly overtook the orbs I was using to propel myself, and I was tripped up, crying out as I rolled painfully across the ice.

.


.

3rd person POV

Present Mic's voice echoed through the stadium as the students raced forward, "Well, who could have predicted such an incredible turn of events so early on?! The one who made it back first is~…"

The crowd watched the entrance tunnel in anticipation. This race had been more intense than normal, leaving many people on the edge of their seats at the final stretch.

"Ah! First place is…a tie?! Yukime Himura and Izuku Midoriya! Followed closely by Todoroki and Bakugo in second and third places!"

Aizawa watched his students take the first positions of the race, only for his eyes to dart back to the tunnel as his daughter slid into the stadium on her side. His hands clenched as he worriedly eyed the girl before she slowly lifted herself up.

Back down in the stadium, Bakugo was panting heavily as he cursed and glared at the ground furiously. 'Deku' had managed to overtake him, and to add insult to injury, his own soulmate had been clinging to him too. It was bad enough when she walked in holding onto Kirishima's hand, but that was different…Kirishima was Bakugo's soulmate also, so it only stirred up a little bit of anger from him. He didn't even know why he got so angry about it, they weren't even friends to him, and he didn't need this kind of distraction. Her clinging to Midoriya, though, had his chest aching painfully, throbbing along with his forearms. "FUCK!" His eyes dragged up to burn into Midoriya who was standing ahead of him.

Todoroki, however, was staring at his sister, worried for her despite his blank expression. As he watched his twin, he took in the large chunks of ice that had formed on her hands and forearms along with her legs. Her upper arms trembled violently and were turning purple as her every heaving pant caused a large mist cloud to float up from her mouth. He walked over to her, gently lifting her arms and placing them across his left arm as he warmed it to thaw the ice slowly.

"Why would you be so stupid?" he asked her quietly but sternly, "You might have permanent damage, Yukime."

She scoffed, another large mist cloud drifting to the sky, "Y-you know…damn well...w-why. B-besides…I'm a-already…damaged…" her dark smile made his heart clench. Todoroki knew exactly what she meant with both statements.

Once the ice had finally completely fallen off of her limbs, Todoroki happened to notice something on her hand, "Your band…"

Himura's eyes widened and she jerked her arms away from him, "Thank you for thawing the ice, Shoto." She mumbled before leaving him, walking toward the now large group gathered by the stage.

While that was happening, Aizawa slowly gathered her now very sore self up off of the ice with a groan, "Well that sucked."

"Hana!" The sudden voice drew her attention to the fast-approaching redhead teen. "Hey, are you alright?! That fall looked nasty. What an unmanly move from Todoroki..."

Hana chuckled, only to wince at her sore side aching painfully as she corrected him. "Himura, apparently. Oh well, like I said earlier, I'm not worried about winning. I just wanted to do my best, and I feel like I did! Plus, that was a blast!"

He smiled and shook his head at her, leading her over to the crowd that was gathering by the stage. As they stood waiting for all of the racers to enter the stadium, Bakugo stormed past, not paying them any attention at all. The two looked at each other with concern but shrugged it off for now.

.


.

Hana's POV

While I was seriously confused by Katsuki's completely ignoring Eijiro and me, I tried to just assume it was due to his anger at Midoriya. Midnight's voice broke through my thoughts, though, drawing my attention to her instead.

"So, it's finally over. Let's check the results!" She motioned up at the giant screen, drawing all eyes up to it. I saw Midoriya and Yukime tied for first, Todoroki in second, Katsuki in third, and myself in fourth – which wasn't so bad. Looking further, I found Eijiro in ninth, grateful that he had passed on to the next event, too. Seeing another familiar face, I unintentionally mumbled his name "Hitoshi Shinso".

"And you're Hana Aizawa, huh."

I jumped at his sudden voice behind me, blushing slightly. Eijiro eyed Shinso, feeling unsure of him yet still wanting to give him a chance, "I'm Eijiro Kirishima. We haven't seen your quirk yet, is it some sort of secret or something?"

Shinso tensed, though his voice still sounded bored, "Not really, I guess you'll just get to see it in action soon. Can't really prove I should be in the hero course without using it."

"The next event is~~ Cavalry Battle!" Midnight announced, silencing the three of us, "Each of you has been assigned a point value based on your ranking from the last event! The point values start at five, then go up all the way to…ten million points!"

Silence spread across the field as everyone looked to Midoriya and Yukime, the latter holding up her hand. "How are the points decided since we tied for first?"

Midnight looked to a tablet she held with a hum, "Well, it's decided alphabetically, and it seems that since the system has your name listed as Todoroki. That would mean that Midoriya has the ten million, while everyone else is a point value down from their placement in the race. Now that we have that settled…" not many of the students were paying attention to her at the moment, most eyes were directly on the heavily sweating Midoriya. "This is the perfect opportunity for a comeback. It's anyone's game!" She then broke off into an explanation of the game, but I honestly tuned out all but the important parts until she announced we had 15 minutes to choose a team.

"Well…shit," I huffed looking around. I didn't want to have to worry about picking teams. This felt like picking favorites, and I knew I was going to have enough trouble with that in the coming days.

I saw Eijiro jog over to Katsuki, calling out, "Hey, Bakugo, you wanna be rider, right? Well, your front horse would need to be someone who can take all of the explosions, yeah? Guess who that is!"

Katsuki stared at him. "Someone not afraid to die."

I face-palmed.

Eijiro seemed unfazed, shaking his head before pointing to himself, "Nope! It's me, with my hardening! This horse won't break!" His brows pulled down as he smiled confidently. "You wanna take down Midoriya, right?!"

"Hook…line…and sinker" I mumbled and shook my head at the two, before turning to look around at everyone else. I wasn't really sure who I would be helpful with. I mean, yeah, my quirk can be a pretty great advantage, but my drawback could be a bad downfall if I do too much or lose focus, accidentally drawing from all at once.

"Hana."

I turned to see Yukime walking over to me. "Yukime, hey!" I glanced down at her arms only to see discolored streaks covering them. "Oh my God, your arms!" I gasped looking back up at her worriedly.

She shrugged like it was no big deal before giving me a small smile, "I have a proposition for you if you'll hear me out. Though…after what I pulled, I wouldn't blame you for saying no."

"All's fair in a free for all. Besides, I only got a few bumps and bruises, so no worries." I grinned cheekily at her and noticed a weight seemed to fall from her shoulders.

"Thank you," She breathed a small sigh of relief before continuing, "So, I know I technically have more points and all, but I want you to be the rider for my team."

I blinked, rendered speechless for a second before continuing. "Wait…why wouldn't you be the rider? You're way better for attack and defense than I would be."

She lifted a brow then lifted an arm, "My arms are officially out of commission for quirk-use for a while unless I want frostbite damage. My legs however have barely been affected. I could be the front horse, helping with either mobility or attack and defense in the same way that Shoto does with his quirk. Downside is that I have less of a direct flow of aim and more of a widespread shot. My plan of you being the rider, however, is that your legs will be mostly covered, and even the uncovered parts aren't likely to touch anyone other than maybe me on bare skin. You could borrow a quirk from anyone in the team at will by being the rider, too."

Thinking over her plan I realized she had a point. Slowly a bright smile lit up my face. "You're freaking brilliant, you know that?!"

She laughed before flicking her hair back with a smug smirk, "Tell me more, darling!"

We both laughed at that for a moment before attempting to find our last two members only to have them find us. "Shinso? Ojiro?"

The tired purple-haired teen gave Yukime a once over, his eyes lingering on her arms for a moment before he looked at me. "I see you have a teammate, would you two ladies like to join my team?"

A quiet ringing sound filled my ears, but I was able to ignore it, simply assuming it was an oncoming headache from quirk exertion, as I looked over to Yukime who shrugged. "I mean…I'm not sure if you'll like my plan, but…sure?" she told him, as I looked back at him myself, saying "Sure, why not?"

Suddenly, the ringing in my ears become overwhelming, and my brows pulled down in confusion as I looked at Shinso. He looked apologetic, mouthing sorry before everything went hazy.

.


.

Shinso POV

Sighing deeply, I had to admit I felt like an ass for having to take advantage of my soulmate, but her quirk was strong and I needed it on my team – especially considering I think the other guy only had a tail to use for his quirk, which was pretty lackluster. Her friend, Himura I think, was tied for first, so she had to be strong also, not to mention her plan I overheard really was smart. As long as I told Aizawa what to do, we would surely have this in the bag. I didn't want to bother to use my quirk on Himura, since she didn't seem to notice the difference in tail guy, but it might be troublesome if she noticed Aizawa behaving differently. This was quickly giving me a migraine from using my brainwashing on so many people at once, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't deal with.

As we waited, I happened to make eye contact with that arrogant Bakugo guy, and couldn't help but smirk over at him as I slid my arm around Aizawa's shoulders, turning our backs towards him as I did. Yes, I knew he was one of the others I was stuck with, but damn does that guy need to be knocked down a peg or thirty. He was entirely too full of himself. The other guy wasn't so bad I guess, but… after this, they all likely won't want anything to do with me. I sighed again and ran my free hand through my hair.

Midnight finally announced it was almost time to start, and I told my team to get into position: Aizawa riding, tail guy on the right side, Himura up front, and me on the left. I did take a second to look at Aizawa's small hand that dangled limply at her side, admiring the black and purple band that was my own gracing her ring finger.

My attention was dragged back to the field as the final countdown began. "Alright team," I clearly spoke to the three around me, allowing my words to flow around them, "Tail guy, you just walk wherever Himura leads, Himura use some judgment and guide us as well as defend us, Aizawa copy Himura's quirk and wait for my instruction."

Each of them seemed to snap to life, but I could still feel my control over them. Aizawa leaned forward slightly to touch Himura's temple lightly before sitting back up, and I knew the game was on. Hopefully, Aizawa doesn't hate me too much afterward.

The buzzer sounded to start the round, and my team was off.

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Hana POV

After who knows how long, my mind suddenly felt clear, and the ringing drifted away, making me feel the need to shake my head to clear the last bits of uncertain blur from it, only to become seriously confused. I glanced at my hands which had somehow gathered a decent amount of ice on them to the point that they were aching, and I looked around at my team. "The hell?"

A quick flinch drew my eyes down to Shinso who stood to my left, glancing up at me nervously, "I see you're back with us, too."

"Back? What do you mean back?" I asked before dodging a team from class B as they lunged for the headbands on my neck. "Wait, how did we get so many bands?!"

"Troll doll here has a brainwashing quirk," Yukime said grumpily from the front as she skated us past the group.

My eyes shot back down to Shinso who was still extremely tense, "Do you really?" at his stiff nod, I suddenly beamed down at him, "That's really cool!"

The purple-haired boy looked up at me in disbelief, "What?"

Yukime groaned in frustration as she shot ice out at the same class B group. "We can talk about details later! Let's focus on the fact that these guys will not leave us the fuck alone!"

I looked up to finally take in the class B team, the guy riding in particular. Vaguely noting that Present Mic announced that class A wasn't doing so well other than us and Midoriya, I happened to notice the blonde guy's arm. "That's…Eijiro's…" I narrowed my eyes, sending a glare to the level of Katsuki's at this class B blonde. "So, you're a Copy quirk, too."

Blondie's eyes lit up, but his smirk stayed rooted to his face. "Too? Oh, this should be fun! Did I copy a friend's quirk? Too bad that it's really useful."

My lip pulled up slightly in disgust before matching his smirk. "Yeah, it damn well is, but it's only manly when he uses it." I snapped at him then slung my arm out successfully blasting the idiot directly across both arms with ice, freezing them in place.

Yukime laughed at my comment as my team raced forward to get me in reach of his headbands. I was able to grab two before his group moved backward out of range, only to hear a familiar enraged voice from behind them.

"GET THE HELL BACK HERE!"

"You get back here, Bakugo!" Eijiro shouted as Katsuki blasted through the air at the other blonde.

"Tsuburaba! Guard!" the class B blonde called out to his teammate, knowing he wouldn't be able to do much with his arms frozen.

The other guy yelled "Got it!" and then started blowing into the air, only for a solid, reflective circle to appear in front of Katsuki before he reached them.

"Woah," I mumbled while we watched, still keeping an eye out for the other teams, though. I was slightly impressed, that is until Katsuki pulled an arm back and smashed it through, successfully grabbing two headbands from them and making eye contact with me for a second as he did.

He then dragged his eyes back down to class B guy. "What a tool. There's only room for one Copy hero here, so why don't you fuck off," He growled at him furiously before Sero's tape snagged onto his back, reeling him back to his team like a fish on a hook.

"Better keep those points, Blasty Boy, I wanna see you in the finals!" I called over to Katsuki as his team scolded him for leaping out at the other team.

"I'm not done yet!" he shouted, making his group look at him in confusion before he started hammering on poor Eijiro's head with his fist. "We're taking our points back, and then we'll get that ten million!"

Eijiro had a small sweat drop from his light frustration at being Katsuki's stress reliever, but he also had the top of his head hardened so I doubt he felt much of it.

"Soy sauce face, tape, now!" Katsuki shouted, and Sero replied "My name is Sero!" as he shot his tape, hitting right beside the class B group.

The smug blonde smirked as his eyes flickered back at us, attempting to be on guard for his team's last headband that he thought we might be after since we were lingering nearby, then looking back at Katsuki with a lame taunt, "You missed!"

"Raccoon eyes, make a path for us with that liquid!" Again he yelled a random descriptive 'name' making Mina correct him on her actual name, but she did as instructed.

Sero seemed to get the idea Katsuki had, and started rapidly reeling in his tape, making them slide across the path Mina made at the same time that Katsuki propelled them forward with a blast from both hands behind them, enabling him to reach forward and rip the last headband away from the other blonde.

Present Mic's voice sounded through the noise, "Absolutely merciless, Bakugo! Anything worth doing is worth doing right, I guess! And now we're nearing the end of the game!"

Suddenly, I noticed Katsuki's eyes lock on to the bands around my neck. "Next up is you, Copy Cat." His thirst for first was showing like a neon sign.

"We don't have the ten million, though!" Yukime called out as she shifted her feet, seemingly readying for a defensive blast of ice.

"Doesn't fucking matter," Katsuki almost seemed bloodthirsty at this point. "I don't want some half-assed first place. I wanna get the highest-scoring first they've ever seen!"

Eijiro looked conflicted, but the group continued forward towards us. I readied myself for an ice defense of my own, only to feel Shinso shift his shoulder, then motion behind us. Glancing back, I noticed a massive ice wall that could only have been Todoroki's doing, meaning he and Midoriya were definitely on the other side.

"Perfect," I muttered with a grin then called out to the crimson-haired girl in front of me, "Yukime, can you make a ramp over us at this angle?"

"Does Bakugo have anger management problems?" She shot back, and I knew she had to be smirking at her own joke.

Just as Katsuki's team neared us, Yukime slid a foot forward then quickly jerked it backward, creating a perfect ramp over us and into the walled-in space Todoroki had created.

I heard the surprised shouts of my classmates as they slid overhead, and decided to shout them a parting message, "Get those ten million points, and call it a day, Katsuki! I may have said that I don't care if I win, but that doesn't mean I'm just gunna give up!" I could only smile as I heard his cursing drifting over the wall.

"Twenty seconds!" Mic shouted over the speakers.

Looking around, I only saw a few teams that could compete against us, and readied myself. Yukime had other ideas, though. She quickly slid her foot from one side to the other in an arch along the ground, sending up a solid ice wall to completely encase us away from the rest of the teams.

"What was that for?" Shinso asked as he eyed the ice wall.

That's when I noticed small mist clouds puffing up from my friend with every breath. "I'm just about out of energy, and I can't feel my feet anymore. Besides, last I saw, we were safely in like…second place, I think. May as well call it a day."

A sudden muffled explosion sounded as Mic started counting down the last few seconds of the match, before shouting "TIME'S UP!"

"Sweet," Yukime kicked her foot out, sending a large chunk of the wall flying outward, and giving us a doorway of sorts.

The three eased me down, and Shinso apparently lifted his quirk from Ojiro because he looked seriously confused. Walking out of our ice shell, we were greeted by Mic announcing the top four teams.

"In first place, Team Todoroki! In second place, Team Bakugo! In third place, Team Aizawa! And in fourth place, Team Midoriya! These four teams will proceed to the final event!"

I cheered and tossed myself onto my friend's back making her stumble forward a few steps as she laughed at my excitement only to curse under her breath and pout, "Damn, I guess that last band was what gave it to Hot Head. I wanted to rub it in that we got higher points than him."

"Hey, it's not a good idea to egg him on like that at a time like this!" I exclaimed though I had to admit to myself that did sound a little fun.

"With that, we'll proceed to the afternoon portion after a one-hour lunch break! See you then! Hey, Eraserhead, wanna grab some food?" Mic drifted into chatting with Mr. Aizawa, who quickly shot him down, saying he was going to nap.

I noticed Ojiro sending Shinso an extremely uncertain look, the tailed teen quickly leaving us, completely avoiding going near the purple-haired teen. The tension in Shinso's shoulders was obvious, and I hopped off of Yukime's back to make my way to him. "Everything alright?"

The fake laugh answered my question without him even having to speak, though he still felt the need to do so. "I'm used to this. I have a villain's quirk, so why shouldn't I be?"

Yukime and I shared a glance, and I could tell that we both understood his pain in our own way.

Reaching out to grab his hand, I made eye contact with him so he could see my sincerity. "I have been told too many times to count that I'm a cheat, and shouldn't be a hero because all I do is imitate others' quirks. That I'm absolutely useless otherwise…"

"And I've only ever been called weak by the one fucking person that I used to always try to impress…" Yukime lifted the edge of her shirt just a tiny bit, showing the two of us a sliver of massively scarred skin that she quickly covered. "And that is all I ever got in return."

I turned back to gaze confidently into Shinso's violet eyes, "You aren't defined by your quirk, nor by what others say about you. You make your quirk into what you define it as."

"And show those assholes how stupidly overpowered your quirk is on the hero side." The crimson-haired girl added with a smirk.

Shinso stared back at us for a moment then nodded. Yukime and I understood that was likely the only version of thanks we would get, but we didn't mind. Shortly after, the three of us separated in the tunnel back into the body of the stadium, him heading back to the general studies room and us to class A's where we met up with almost the whole class. When Yukime noticed her twin was gone, she decided to go looking for him, waving to the group in the prep room before she left. A quick glance around revealed that Katsuki and Midoriya were missing as well, so I joined Eijiro and Kaminari as they left to get lunch.

Close to the end of the break, though, Kaminari and Mineta had somehow talked Yaoyorozu and Jirou into believing that Mr. Aizawa had told them that we girls had to wear cheerleading uniforms out when we went back onto the field. I, however, knew my dad better than that and sent an eye roll over at the two boys. What I didn't expect was for every girl in our class except for Yukime and me to actually walk out with those uniforms on!

"What's this? Class A has gone fan service on us!" Mic sputtered for a moment then started again, "Class A! Why~?!"

I couldn't hold in my laughter anymore as I watched Yaoyorozu wilt, wondering how she could let herself be tricked. Yukime, however, took it upon herself to threaten the two culprits with a variety of serious injuries if they ever did that again.

Midnight walked back onto the stage at that point and started filling us in on the next things to come, "After we have our fun recreational competition, we move on to the final event! Between the 16 members of the four remaining teams, we'll have a formal tournament! A series of one on one battles!"

Eijiro looked pumped as he clenched his fists, grinning up at the screen, "A tournament, huh? So, we'll be up in that ring I see on TV every year!"

"Was it a tournament last year, too?" Mina questioned and I just shrugged. Sero explained that the format is different, but most years involve some sort of head-to-head battle.

"The matchups will be decided by drawing lots. Once that's settled, we'll move to the games and then the tournament itself! You sixteen can participate in the games or you can rest, it's up to you. Let's start with the first-place team-" Midnight was suddenly interrupted by Ojiro raising his hand in the air.

"Um…Excuse me, I'd…like to drop out." He announced while looking down at his feet.

My brows pulled together in confusion, sharing a look with Yukime.

He started again after listening to a few protests from our classmates. "The cavalry battle…I have no memories of anything that happened up until the end. It was probably his quirk that did it. I know this is a great opportunity, and I know how stupid it must seem to throw it away…but this final tournament…everyone else made it here by their own strength," Ojiro paused, clenching his hand in the air just in front of him, "Yet I'm standing here, and I don't even know how or why. I just can't. It's a matter of pride."

Off to my left, I could hear Eijiro mumble, "This guy…he's so manly!" and I fought to keep a laugh in.

The R-rated pro seemed to glare down at poor Ojiro for a second, saying "How naïve and green…I LOVE IT!" her attitude suddenly changed as she snapped her whip in the air, and announced that Ojiro had officially withdrawn. He was then quickly replaced by that strange, angry guy from class B, Tetsutetsu.

Drawing lots didn't take long, and I managed to get set up against Mina. I cast her an encouraging smile, which she returned. Looking back up at the matchups, I was suddenly nervous for everyone. I had no clue how Shinso and Midoriya's match would go, Yukime was highly likely to win her match – no offense to Kaminari, Eijiro was matched up with the strange guy, and poor Uraraka was paired against Katsuki.

Mina joined me as we all walked back to the tunnel. "So, you and me, huh? Don't think I'm gunna take it easy on you!"

Nudging her shoulder, I gave her a smile, "I would never! You better believe I'm gunna come in and kick butt!"

Jirou walked up then, asking Mina if she was up for cheering with her and the others in uniform, and of course, she was more than willing to. The two waved before turning back to the field.

'I guess I should plan out something useful against her, and copy her quirk in time…or maybe just no quirk?' I really liked the idea of using only my own strength but didn't know how well that would work against Mina's quirk. It would surely prove my own worth, though. Thinking back on what I told Shinso, I was seriously considering going in with no quirk. I was no cheat, and I was going to prove it. Hearing a door open, I saw Ojiro and Midoriya walk into the prep room, so I instead opted to simply plop down and lean against the wall where I was at. I could use the semi-silence to meditate - aka nap - as I gathered my thoughts.