"Alright," Aizawa started, staring indiscriminately at the students gathered around him. The late afternoon sun settled into the sky behind him, shining it's rays directly into the students' eyes. "Your battles will begin after this. The rules are simple; collect the other team's flags before time runs out without the use of your costumes. We will be having the battles at numerous different locations, so expect your battleground to be at your disadvantage. As we told you last night, the winners will not be required to cook dinner. For the losers, we will be serving fish tonight."

Everyone immediately looked more determined. There wasn't a single student that wanted to help prepare fish, making it more than enough motivation to put their all into the battles.

"Present Mic will list off opponents for you," Aizawa finished.

On cue, the spunky, loudmouthed teacher cleared his throat before switching on his microphone. "Aaalright class 1-A!"

Most of the class winced at his volume, bringing the teacher to turn it down a few notches.

"Fiiirst up! We have a real showdown! Kaminari and Jiro versus Iida and Asui!"

Kirishima clapped his electric friend on the back, "Dude… Good luck."

Kaminari was taken aback by his friend's passive insult, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Neeext up!" Present Mic didn't hesitate to move on, "We have Kirishima and Tokoyami versus Todoroki and Ojiro!"

Kaminari cackled hastily and promptly clapped Kirishima's back mockingly, "Yo man… Good luck."

Kirishima's only response was a dirty look.

Uraraka glanced nervously at her partner, who let a flash of disappointment cross his eyes. 'I guess he was hoping to fight Todoroki. He can be bummed out, but I'm happy about it.'

"Ashido and Aoyama versus Toru and Sero!"

Uraraka gulped, 'There's only four teams left… Please don't tell me that we're fighting who I think we're fighting…'

"Midoriya and Yaoyorozu versus Bakugo and Uraraka!"

"Oooof course…" Uraraka mumbled audibly, discouragement in her tone.

Bakugo shot her an angry glare, 'What did she say? She's just going to be a weak point for me with an attitude like that. This is hero school, so we have to beat up on our classmates all the time. Ugh, she's going to go soft if we're fighting Deku. I guess I'm going to have to do this on my own anyway.'

Bakugo watched irritably as Midoriya and Yaoyorozu waved awkwardly at he and Uraraka. She waved back at them weakly and Bakugo just ignored their gesture, clenching his jaw.

"Last but not least! We have Koda and Mineta up against Shoji and Sato!"

Mineta huffed a sincerely depressed sigh, "Ah man… Our battle is just going to be one big sausage fest."

Bakugo sneered at the ball-headed pervert in disgust. Mineta had a way of irking Bakugo in ways where he couldn't even bring himself to beat up on the little degenerate. He didn't know where Mineta had been and he didn't want to know before soiling his own hands.

"Now that you have your opponents, you can either watch the matches or spend the time strategizing with your team mate!"

Uraraka turned to Bakugo, forcing her mood to lift despite the fact they were taking on her two friends. "We should definitely start to strategize, don't you think?"

Bakugo saw right through her fake cheeriness. "No thanks."

Uraraka's face fell and a perplexed one replaced it, "Whaa? Why not?"

Bakugo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, bored with her nice girl routine. He pursed his lips shut at her.

Uraraka held his menacing gaze expectantly, "Well? Whats up? We're fighting a super strong team and we've hardly been able to pull ourselves together all day. Now is the time for some good teamwork."

Bakugo clenched his jaw, his eyes burning with a new fury. "Deku and whats-her-name aren't strong. I'll crush them all by myself."

Uraraka was at a loss for words, 'He cannot be serious!'

Bakugo pushed past her, knocking her shoulder with his. "Move."

Uraraka watched her partner walk away, vexed by his sudden change of heart. She had done nothing but suck up to him all day to make things easier and here he was, falling back into the same old habits. "You're ridiculous…"

The first match started a little while later. The battle was taking place in a giant mud pit. Neither team could use their quirks very effectively, forcing them to be creative and truly work as a team.

Uraraka started to sweat with newfound stress, 'Bakugo and I are definitely going to lose if we don't work together…'

Uraraka watched as Iida and Asui worked together so smoothly. They easily captured Jiro's flag from her belt at the get-go. Man, she would have done just about anything to have Iida as her partner. His work ethic and drive for teamwork was unmatched and she needed that now more than anything.

Unfortunately, Kaminari and Jiro were just unable to keep up with the other team's flawless coordination, especially after Kaminari had zapped himself back to stupidville for a few hours. Kirishima had been engagingly watching the match from the sidelines. His words and shouts of encouragement for his friend at the beginning of the match had quickly turned to chortles and bellows of laughter at the end. He clutched his sides, "Kaminari, you're such a hopeless idiot!"

Kaminari was deemed unable to continue so the match was cut short and called in favor of Iida and Asui. Shortly afterward, the students began clearing the area, heading to the next match location.

Iida and Midoriya caught up with Uraraka as she made her way across the camp with the rest of the class. She smiled bleakly at her two friends. "Hey Iida, that was a great match! You guys were awesome!"

Iida pumped his fist victoriously, "It was no easy feat, I assure you. Kaminari and Jiro are a fearsome team!"

Midoriya and Uraraka laughed awkwardly. It was very much like Iida to talk up his classmates, but they would be lying if they didn't recognize that Iida and Asui absolutely pummelled their opponents from the first moment of the match.

"So Uraraka," Midoriya smiled at the chocolate haired girl, "I haven't seen you much today. Are you and Bakugo ready for our match?"

Uraraka opened her mouth to answer, but instead saw Bakugo glaring at her from a distance away. "Well…" She started, choosing her words wisely, "I'd say we are."

Iida and Midoriya gave her questioning looks. Pretty much anyone could tell when Uraraka was lying, but they opted not to push it.

Good friend and class watchman Iida decided it would be best to change the topic of their discussion for Uraraka's sake. "I wonder what Kirishima and Tokoyami's plans are for their match."

Uraraka silently thanked Iida for his forward thinking and chimed in, "I'm more interested in how Todoroki and Ojiro were able to combine their quirks."

Midoriya tapped his chin absentmindedly, "I'll bet that Ojiro is going to be their offense and Todoroki will be defense."

Iida quirked an eyebrow at Midoriya, "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Not particularly," Midoriya answered. "Ojiro's quirk isn't a spectacle like Todoroki's, meaning he has to get in close for every confrontation. At this point in our training, he's going to be nimble, quick, and hard to match in close quarters. Todoroki will be his back-up while Ojiro goes for Kirishima and Tokoyami's flags. Besides, Todoroki's quirk is more suited for long range attacks so he'll be able to keep the other team at bay."

"Hmm…" Iida responded thoughtfully, "That is a very interesting observation, Midoriya. But I still don't see how Ojiro will be able to get in close with Tokoyami. His quirk is also suited for long range and that's not mentioning Kirishima's hardening. I don't know if Ojiro will be able to get in the range he would need to be."

Uraraka twisted her mouth in thought, "I think that Ojiro will probably go for Kirishima first and Todoroki will keep Tokoyami busy. Kirishima's quirk is not made for defense, so I think all Ojiro will have to do is distract him long enough to get his flag."

Midoriya brightened up at Uraraka's examination, "That's what I think too!"

"Well, I wouldn't sell Tokoyami and Kirishima so short," Iida looked stumped. "Both of them are also very strong and very clever. I doubt they'd let Todoroki separate them so easily."

Uraraka nodded in agreement, "And we still haven't really had a chance to see Dark Shadow's limits just yet. Tokoyami could have an ace up his sleeve and we wouldn't even know it."

Class 1-A reached a somewhat small field as the early evening sun started to cast longer shadows on the ground. The area was green and grassy, but also brittle and dry.

Uraraka and her two friends sat down under the shade of a large tree to watch the showdown between two duos. She dared a glance toward Bakugo, finding him leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. His eyes were fixated on the field as the match was getting close to starting. Sero was busy babysitting the momentarily brain-dead Kaminari and it was visibly irritating the explosive blonde.

"Fuckin' can it, Sparky!" Bakugo barked at Kaminari. "Quit fuckin' around like an idiot!"

Uraraka inwardly chuckled as she watched Sero attempt to calm the situation.

"Second match," Present Mic boomed, "BEGIN!"

Uraraka's eyes snapped back to the match to see Todoroki and Ojiro begin a full sprint toward their opponents.

"Dark shadow!" Tokoyami utilized his quirk to try and intercept the opposing team. Todoroki immediately threw up an icy wall between them and the shadow-user. "Go Ojiro!"

Ojiro split from his teammate and locked his eyes on Kirishima.

"Look out, Tokoyami!" Kirishima hollered and sprinted toward the ice wall. He collided with it, using his hardening quirk to shatter his way through, effectively nullifying Todoroki's defense. The wall tumbled down behind him as Tokoyami caught up to his teammate.

"They're going to go after Todoroki," Midoriya blurted out with a surprised tone.

"Gutsy," Iida replied, "But a solid plan. It would have been too obvious if they went after Ojiro."

Uraraka licked her dry lips, "And they figured out that Todoroki's quirk is disabled. He can't use his left side in a field like this or he'll light the entire place up."

"So they only have to avoid his ice attacks…" Midoriya added.

"I have to hand it to Tokoyami and Kirishima," Iida chimed back in. "That's pretty smart."

Kirishima and Tokoyami began making it beeline for the fire and ice user, narrowly avoiding the ice attacks as they went.

"Ojiro!" Todoroki shouted, continuing his attacks on the duo.

Kirishima looked up just in time to see the blonde with a tail falling in on them from above. "What the hell?!"

"Dark shadow!" Tokoyami called, but the shadow's response was a moment too late.

Todoroki took their moment of distraction for his advantage and threw up another ice wall between Kirishima and Tokoyami. This wall came up much thicker, but shorter.

Ojiro landed successfully on Kirishima, knocking the redhead to the ground. Kirishima's hardening quirk broke his fall. Kirishima squirmed away from Ojiro in just enough time to protect his flag tied to his belt.

"I'm not done yet, Ojiro!" Kirishima snarled and prepared for their inevitable brawl, punching his right fist into his left hand.

In the meantime, Tokoyami's shadow had run itself into the wall during the process of Todoroki putting it up.

Todoroki began running toward Tokoyami, laying out an icy path as he went. He dodged the shadow's attacks as they came with icicle spikes and large icy boulders. The chill on his right arm was already beginning to creep in on him. Todoroki knew he had to keep Tokoyami busy for the time being until Ojiro could get his hands on Kirishima's flag. Then, all they'd have to do is run down the clock.

Tokoyami's shadow was weak in the sunny field, so he turned toward the treeline, Todoroki in icy pursuit. If he could get into the shadows of the treeline, then his attacks might be able to bust Todoroki's ice wall defenses.

Todoroki sent a whirlwind of ice attacks Tokoyami's way but they were narrowly dodged. As they approached the treeline, Tokoyami turned to face his pursuer and began setting the stage for his own attacks. He could only hope that Kirishima was holding his own against Ojiro.

"Alright tail-man," Kirishima taunted, "Bring it on!"

Ojiro calmly waited for the redhead to come in for the attack first. "It would be much easier if you just handed your flag to me now."

"Hah!" Kirishima laughed, "I'm going to kick your ass!" Kirishima lunged for his classmate, attempting to land a rock-hard punch.

Ojiro narrowly dodged the attack and let Kirishima fly by him.

Kirishima grunted angrily and whirled back around, "Smooth, but the next one won't be so easy!"

Ojiro smiled cheekily back at Kirishima, waving his opponent's flag in the air provocatively. "Thanks!"

"Whaa?!" Kirishima looked down at his belt to see an absence of his flag. "Hey! Give that back!" Kirishima bellowed and hurled himself back at Ojiro, but he was thrown back by the use of Ojiro's strong tail.

"Sorry Kirishima, but I have somewhere to be." Ojiro nodded and took off in the direction of Todoroki and Tokoyami.

"Damn that sneaky bastard!" Kirishima screeched and sprinted after him.

The fight at the treeline was getting haywire. Todoroki was struggling to draw Tokoyami back out into the sun and the chill on his right side was getting to it's limit. Both contenders had taken some hits.

"Todoroki!" Ojiro shouted as he ran toward them.

The fire and ice user glanced behind him for a single moment to see his teammate coming to rejoin him, Kirishima's flag in his hand.

"Finally…" Todoroki breathed before he was hit hard and thrown back a few yards. He looked up to see Tokoyami's shadow retreating. Thankfully, the shadow hadn't been able to grab his flag.

Kirishima was quickly chasing Ojiro down, "Tokoyami! We have to get a flag right now!"

"Right!" Tokoyami responded as he noticed Ojiro and Todoroki beginning a retreat back into the field.

The shadow and hardening duo set a direct route for Todoroki once again. This time, Kirishima blasted through Todoroki's weakening attacks and Tokoyami's shadow kept Ojiro at bay, throwing their tailed classmate around like a pinata. Tokoyami was glad that he had somewhat re-energized his shadow while he took refuge in the treeline.

"Now it's getting down to the wire," Iida said excitedly, anticipation in the air.

Uraraka was also enthralled with the match, "It's so weird to see Todoroki struggle."

"At the beginning, Todoroki's ice was tough and hard to break through. Now, Kirishima is busting right through them like they're made of paper." Midoriya added his thoughts.

"He's getting to his limit," Iida finalized.

The trio watched as Kirishima and Tokoyami narrowed the gap between themselves and Todoroki all the way up to the last leg before Kirishima found an opening and tackled the fire and ice user. Just as he was reaching for Todoroki's flag, Present Mic interrupted the match.

"That's time!" The words boomed across the field followed by a tense moment of silence.

"Todoroki and Ojiro are the winners! Talk about a close one, folks!" Present Mic continued, unaware of the slack-jawed students that had been so invested in the match.

Everyone's eyes settled on Kirishima, who was still straddling Todoroki, his hand hovering over the flag they needed in order to tie the match. They all watched as he processed the ending of the fight and slowly stepped off of Todoroki. "What the actual hell! I was so close!"

Tokoyami came up beside his teammate and patted the redhead on the shoulder, "If we had only one a few more minutes, I think we could have won."

"Exactly!" Kirishima bared his teeth angrily. "This is some bullshit!"

The defeated team walked away from the match with frustration in their eyes and the winning team walked away with near-defeat in theirs.

"That won't be a fight I forget," Midoriya noted. "I'll have to make sure to write down everything I saw."

Uraraka silently agreed with his first point as the class began to move on to the next match-up.

Author's Note:

I'm not going to be following the Manga too much because I'm not sure if everyone has read it. Thanks for reading so far and I'm aiming to make sure I update this fic pretty often for you. Please let me know what you think! It is much appreciated.

Thanks!

~NumberSixteen