Chapter 6: To Make History
Izuku sensed it before it ever came. The hairs on his neck tingled, his trained paranoia sent off a warning signal. Before the blow could ever hit his back, he reached back, grabbed the arm by the wrist, and judo flipped Yamaguchi over his head and onto the mat.
"Oh, shit," the leaf boy cussed, rolling over on his stomach. His partner, Michimiya, anxiously squeaked and tried to run away, but Izuku simply dropped to the floor, kicked her feet out from under her, and spun back up before she even hit the ground.
"Time!" Hara called out. "4.31 seconds. Midoriya wins. Again."
1-C groaned in unison. "That's it. We're doomed," despaired Kunimi.
For their training exercise that day, 1-C decided to team up in pairs of two and go head-to-head in knockout matches with an END agent. If a 1-C team beat an END agent, then the team got to stay in the ring while a new agent stepped in a vice versa. If no one is taken down within fifteen seconds, both teams are disqualified. The goal was to strike fast and survive, and quirks and combat skills were fair game.
Unfortunately, that did not mean it was a 'fair game.' Izuku alone already knocked out half of the teams, all in under five seconds and without using his quirk.
"You're hardly doomed, guys," Isogai reassured them. "You've been training for over a month now. You have the skills."
"If anything, you saying you're doomed is the reason you're sucking so bad right now," Sugaya declared, earning him an elbow to his side by Sugino and Mimura. "Ouch! What?"
Before this could get any worse, Shinsou stepped in to reassure his classmates. "Look, you can't doubt yourself right now. If you doubt yourself on the day of the Sports Festival, we're going to lose and all of our hard work will be a waste."
"But how do we know if it's because we're doubting ourselves or it's because we're not strong enough?" Shimizu asked. It was a fair question, but Izuku didn't even need to pause and think about the answer.
"Because we were the same way," he said, capturing everyone's attention. "When we first tried assassinating Korosensei, we would only use the weapons and never our quirks. We justified it that it was because the weapons were the only thing that could harm him, but in reality, it was us hiding, us hesitating, us doubting ourselves and our strengths. When he helped us see through that, that's when we became strong. He helped us realize that it didn't matter if you had the lamest quirk in the world or even qu-quirkless—" his voice caught on the word, and Nagisa placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "— we could succeed by giving it our all. And we did."
Shinsou shot Izuku a grateful smile, while Karma, standing in the back, nodded approvingly. Terasaka marched up to Amanai and Kunimi (his most recent gang inductees), and slapped their backs, almost making Kunimi fall over.
"Don't forget, we're relying on you to kick those hero course brats asses — no offense, Freckles — so you better not let us down."
Kataoka smirked. "And don't forget, we'll be cheering you guys on every step of the way. We believe in you."
"We wouldn't put this much effort in helping you guys if we didn't think it was worth it," Nagisa affirmed, sending a warming spark through everyone. "We know you'll do great. And in the meantime, let's keep training, yeah?"
1-C exchanged determined looks. "Yeah!"
-.-.-.-
"You know, if you really want to guarantee success against the hero course, you should try to sike out your competition," Asano hummed. 1-C and 3-E were settled together in Midnight's lounge area while the principal's son paced around. "If you get it in their head that you're a threat even before they see you perform, then they're going to be cautious of you from the get-go, and you can use that to your advantage."
Shimizu frowned. "But wouldn't we risk losing the element of surprise?"
The pompous boy scoffed. "Hardly. The enemy will still be clueless of your capabilities, but now they'll be nervous, and that's when they'll slip up. They'll be so focused on you they'll forget to focus on themselves. A-class used to do it to E-class all the time before the Octopus came around."
1-C nodded thoughtfully, taking in Asano's suggestions. Shinsou, on the other hand, scowled.
"Yeah, why are you here again?"
Asano smirked spitefully. "I was the one who suggested you start this up, was I not? That plus the fact that my father owns the building, and I think I'm more than welcome to show up whenever I want."
Shinsou pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why do I even bother?"
Izuku, feeling incredibly awkward, turned to Asano. "So, um, how do you suggest they do that?"
Sugino chuckled. "C'mon, Midoriya, you know the answer to that. Asano would do it all the time; just walk up to one of the classes and start intimidating them."
"Ooh, if you go to 1-A's classroom, you can bring up the USJ attack," Nakamura piped up. "That'll definitely get in their heads."
Izuku blinked widely. "Wait, g-guys."
"You just need to act needlessly high and mighty. Not necessarily like you're better, but like they're not good enough. It'll seem more realistic," suggested Asano.
"Guys."
"And make sure you all go together," added Hara with a proud smile. "You guys are a team, and there's always strength in numbers."
"Guys!" Finally, everyone turned his direction. "C'mon, these are my classmates you're talking about. You don't need to treat them like supervillains."
The group got silent, some of them even looking guilty. But then Sakurai, surprisingly, raised his hand. "Bu-But they're still the en-en-enemy, r-right? Wuh-We can't-t afford to guh-guh-go easy on anyone. Even y-y-y-you."
It was silent again, but for a completely different reason. Everyone was stunned that scared little Sakurai of all people would speak up and say that. Shinsou looked like he was about to have an aneurism.
"Holy shit," Muramatsu breathed, snapping everyone out of it. Terasaka came up behind Sakurai and slapped him on the back, nearly knocking the boy over.
"Damn straight they're the enemy, Hair-Dye," he cheered, prompting the rest of 1-C and 3-E to do the same. Izuku sputtered, barely able to comprehend what just happened. Were they really turning against him?
Shinsou, looking much more recovered from Asano's annoyance, nudged Izuku and smirked. "Told you."
-.-.-.-
Meet me in my office after class.
It was the note All-Might slipped Izuku before hero training, and his brain was racing all class wondering what it could mean. Thankfully Aizawa was still on medical leave for the remainder of the week (his injuries weren't as bad as they could've been, and only had a few bandages around his arms and forehead instead of, say, his entire body), so he wasn't around to call Izuku out for spacing.
"All Might, sir?" he greeted, bowing as he opened the door. "Is everything okay?"
Yagi, still in his All-Might form, gestured fervently. "Ah, yes, Young Midoriya. Come in, come in." Izuku did, stepping inside and sitting on the couch Yagi directed him to. "Now, it's nothing too urgent. There are just a few...things I wish for us to discuss."
Yagi closed the door, and immediately he went up in a cloud of smoke, his smaller form replacing him. "Ah, that's better. Always have to be super careful now after what happened with you."
Izuku jolted. "O-Oh, I'm still so sorry about that—"
"Forget about it," Yagi waved him off, taking a seat across from him. "Hopefully it'll work out better for both of us in the long run. Which brings me to what I want to talk with you about, actually." All-Might paused, lacing his fingers together.
"As I'm sure you've deduced, the Sports Festival will be our best opportunity to find a possible candidate. While I've had my eye on a third-year student for a bit, and the suggestions you've sent me have been extremely helpful, this will be the best opportunity we can get to virtually see everyone perform at once. And not only will we get to see their current skill level, but we'll get to see their drive as a person — see if they actually have the heart and desire to become a great hero."
"The Sports Festival is one of the best opportunities for recruitment from agencies and it's how most students land internships, so it's almost required you go all out," Izuku agreed, bringing a finger to his mouth. "It's basically the first time you declare yourself to the world — a pre-hero debut, in a way. Even for second and third years, doing well is crucial to their success later on in life if they want to be scouted by a good agency. So logically it only makes sense for us to do some scouting as well."
Yagi smirked good-heartedly. "I figured you'd understand. Principal Nedzu says he'll also help keep an eye out for any promising candidates, but we don't get to go behind the scenes like you do. And while I'm sorry to ask this of you since you should be focusing on your own performance — like you said, this is your pre-hero debut — I'd like for you to keep an eye out down there. Someone who can look good from afar might not be a team player and vice versa."
"No kidding…" Izuku mumbled, thinking of Bakugou. The boy was insanely powerful, sure, but he was also just insane sometimes. He tried to imagine Bakugou received One-For-All.
"You better fear because I am here, you little bitch!" the little Bakugou in his head shouted, and Izuku shuddered. Yeah, definitely no.
"But I'll be sure to do that, All-Might, sir! We got lucky with USJ, keeping you from going head-to-head with the enemy and spending your energy, but there's no guarantee how much time we have left. Finding you a successor is my number one priority."
Yagi chuckled and rubbed his eyes. "Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. Your performance is just as important, if not more. All eyes will be on you, especially with your affiliation with END. This is your chance to prove yourself as a hero, and to be more than the Tentacle's student."
Izuku blinked. "But how am I supposed to do that? I can't use my quirk without hurting myself and using my assassination skills are not only a dead giveaway that I'm in END, but people probably won't like it if I do that because of their bias against my skills and assassination. I wouldn't be surprised if someone accuses of me cheating or calls me a monster or—"
Yagi groaned and suddenly popped into his All-Might form, pointing at Izuku aggressively. The green-haired boy yelped and flinched back in his chair.
"Listen here, Young Midoriya. Despite everything else going on, this is your chance to declare to the world — I am here. To make a statement that resonates. And I won't let you ruin that chance trying to help me."
Izuku's eyes widened and brimmed with tears. Hearing that come from someone like All-Might — someone he looked up too for so, so long — it brought a burning hope in himself that he hadn't felt...hasn't felt since Korosensei was alive.
And wasn't that a depressing thought?
Sobbing for real now, All-Might waved his bulky arms panickedly. "I'm sorry, I did not mean for my words to upset you! They were simply meant to encourage—"
Izuku shook his head blearily. "No, no, it's just — thank you, All-Might, sir. I'll try my best to make you proud."
And he would. He'll make everyone proud. Especially Korosensei.
-.-.-.-
"Hey, Midoriya, how's training coming along?"
Izuku jolted and looked up at Kirishima. He had been in the middle of packing up his things, the school day finally over. "H-Huh?"
"You know, your training for the Sports Festival. You feel prepared?"
Izuku sagged in relief. Of course Kirishima wouldn't be aware of his training with 1-C, there's no need to be paranoid.
"Yeah, as well as I can, all things considered with my quirk and all."
Kirishima nodded thoughtfully. "That's true; it's gotta be hard, not being able to use your quirk at all…" He shrugged and laughed. "But we all know you don't really need it. You could probably kick our butts without it — but don't let Bakugou know I said that."
The comment was harmless, but it still twinged Izuku's heart a little (and made him sweat. Oh, if only they knew). "Well, I'm not so sure about that…"
"Okay guys, what's up with the crowd?" Sero asked aloud, and Izuku jolted. Was it that time already?
It was, he realized as he made his way to the door. A massive crowd of students, many Izuku recognized from 1-C, but also some that he didn't — likely other General Education students recruited to make the crowd larger for effect. It was a smart tactic and was clearly working; many of Izuku's classmates looked uncomfortable or intimidated. Kaminari was practically hiding behind Jirou, Uraraka laced her fingers anxiously, and Mineta whimpered and cowered behind Sato.
"Hey, we can't get out!" Ashido noted worriedly.
"Do you students have some sort of business here?" Iida asked, gesturing at them robotically.
"Isn't it obvious, idiots? They're scouting out the competition," Bakugou said gruffly, stalking toward the crowd. "We're the class that survived a real villain attack. These extras clearly just want to see what real future Pros look like."
"Is that so?" Shinsou challenged, moving his way to the front of the crowd. Instantly, all of 1-A, including Bakugou, tensed at the sight of the END agent. "I wasn't aware surviving a villain attack was all it takes to become a Pro. Guess I'm more set than I thought."
Izuku resisted the urge to facepalm. Why...why..?
"But what do I know? I'm just an extra, right? And you're the asshole that took down the big scary enemy."
To minimize the amount of information regarding END's involvement with the USJ, the story was that the agents arrived towards the end and captured any remaining villains while 1-A held off the enemy. The media currently believed Bakugou defeated the Nomu all on his own — a credit anyone would be happy to take. Anyone except Bakugou.
"What'd you say?" Bakugou hissed, and Shinsou smirked.
"You know, a lot of General Education students wanted to be in the hero course. It doesn't seem very fair that they only take egomaniacs. Good thing we can change that with the Sports Festival."
1-A jolted again, and that's when Amanai stepped up. "What? You haven't heard? If we do well in the Sports Festival, there's a chance we can be moved up to the hero course."
"And in case you can't do math — I know the hero course isn't as academically challenging, after all," Kunimi mocked, pointing his beak up in a snobbish way. "That means some of you might be moved down to make room."
Even though Izuku knew this was going to happen, he couldn't help but flinch with his classmates. Seeing 1-C unitedly stand up against 1-A, publically challenging them — it was extremely intimidating.
Looks like Asano was right. Shinsou must be fuming.
"We're pretty determined," Miya #1 said.
"So you better give it your all," Miya #2 continued.
"Or — Or we'll steal your spot right from under you!" Michimiya pushed her way between the twins.
"Yuh-Yeah!" Sakurai echoed, soon followed by nearly all of 1-C.
Shinsou glanced at his classmates approvingly before smirking at the stunned hero class. "I recommend you take us seriously. Because for us, this is war."
-.-.-.-
After the crowd cleared and the chaos settled (1-B even got in on it, further terrifying 1-A. Izuku's pretty sure Shinsou didn't plan for that, but he's probably not mad it happened), Uraraka turned to Izuku in horror.
"Midoriya, did you know that was going to happen? Isn't that guy your friend?"
1-A turned to listen in. Hiding his true emotions (he was proud of 1-C, okay? He felt like Korosensei watching E-class succeed), Izuku shrugged.
"He is, but that doesn't mean he won't fight for this. He wants to be a hero more than anything," he supplied. "And he's right. The Sports Festival is his best chance of moving to the hero course, and he's going to do it. Shinsou is one of the best fighters I know, especially when he's determined."
Next to him, Mineta gulped and started shaking. That's right, you better be scared.
"What — What about all the other people chiming in? Are they really good enough to knock some of us out?" Kaminari exclaimed, and Izuku shrugged. Best to keep them fearful but oblivious.
"I don't know. But they sound confident, so we better play it safe."
Because while he may have helped 1-C along, these were still his classmates, and he wanted them to succeed too. He knows he's going to do whatever it takes to help Shinsou get in 1-A — he just hopes it's a fair fight.
-.-.-.-
ALL MIGHT IS MY DAD @tinymighty135
Is this legit??? #SportsFestival #UA #END
[link] BREAKING NEWS: END REPORTED TO ACT AS SPORTS FESTIVAL SECURITY
-.-.-.-
"Wow, who would've thought the first-year stands would be so crowded. Looks like we'll need to have security clustered there," Karma drawled nonchalantly into the comms. Hitoshi, who was going through stretches with 1-C in the locker room, grimaced. Of course END would find a reason to attend the first year competition.
"You better not embarrass us," Hitoshi muttered quietly, making Karma cackle.
"C'mon, Shinsou, we just want to support our friends and protegees," Nakamura teased.
"Sugaya even made signs," added Yada, while Kurahashi distantly cheered, "And t-shirts!"
Terasaka scoffed. "Yeah, so you better not screw it up or we're gonna look like idiots."
"You always look like an idiot, Terasaka," Itona deadpanned, making the lion boy growl.
Hitoshi violently tried to massage away his growing headache, just grateful he didn't have to see the chaos END was causing.
After going over their strategy one last time, Shimizu and Oohira lined up 1-C to head to the tunnels. They passed 1-A locker rooms at the same time that class was leaving, meaning the two classes 'at war' with each other awkwardly had to walk side-by-side. Shooting a glance at Midoriya, Hitoshi and him subtly slipped to the back of their respective lines.
"Your bandages make you look even more like Aizawa-sensei," Midoriya joked.
Hitoshi sighed and looked down at his arms. The Sports Festival uniforms were short-sleeved, and Hitoshi definitely didn't feel comfortable showing off his Reaper-delivered scars to the world. He didn't even let 1-C see them.
"Oh, and guess what," Midoriya continued, looking ready to have a mental breakdown. "Todoroki challenged me in the locker rooms. apparently, he sees me as his greatest threat — has ever since the entrance exam."
Hitoshi blinked. "I'm honestly surprised it took him this long to confront you. He was basically the first person in this school to see what we're capable of — you'd think he'd target you earlier on."
"I guess, but now he's determined to beat me, and he pissed Bakugou off, so now there are even more people determined to beat me out. I'm going to die, Hitoshi!"
"What's new?" Hitoshi said before the two groups split up since 1-A always enters the stadium first. As he waited for the classes to be called out, Hitoshi closed his eyes and just tried to block everything out, only focusing on himself and his goals.
"Now introducing, classes C, D, and E of General Education!"
It's showtime.
-.-.-.-
After Bakugou's embarrassing opening speech, it was time to announce the first game. Hitoshi was mildly surprised that END hasn't made more of a presence with their supposed signs and t-shirts, but knowing them, they were probably waiting for the perfect time to strike.
Midnight, acting as the referee, stood in front of a giant screen and raised her whip. "What will it be?" she drawled, the screen shuffling at a rapid pace. Finally, it landed on one, and Hitoshi nearly fainted. "Obstacle race!"
Hitoshi couldn't believe his ears. A race? Were they joking? Not only was this great for 1-C's strategy, but Midoriya was the fastest human alive, and it's a race of all things? Was that even fair?
"Hey Midoriya, congrats on first place," Nagisa joked over the comms, making multiple END members cackle, while those stuck monitoring other stadiums asked what happened.
END wasn't the only one who noticed the unfair balance. 1-A was all staring at Midoriya, some glaring, some in shock. They knew Midoriya was guaranteed to win this if he used his quirk — and maybe even without it.
"Wow, Midoriya's so lucky! He has this in the bag," Michimiya commented.
"Hey, so do we. A race was the best-case scenario, which means we're going to kick some hero course ass, right?" declared Kunimi, and Hitoshi smirked.
"You bet," cheered one of the Miya's, throwing his arms around Sakurai and Amanai. "The festival won't know what hit it."
-.-.-.-
When the countdown ended and the stampede for the door started, 1-C (and Midoriya) didn't move. They let the crowd run, getting stuck in the doorway. A few of his classmates, Hitoshi noted, got swept away by the masses, taking out six team members, but the rest stayed still.
"What's this?" Present Mic's voice echoed through the stadium. "Looks like some students are staying put. Is this a weird strategy or an act of protest?"
As if answering the question, the doorway exploded in ice, freezing virtually every student to the ground. 1-C, however, was left untouched. Just like they planned.
"Look at that! Todoroki Shouto takes off from the pack with an explosive start, and those students who stayed behind are left unscathed. How'd they predict this?!"
They didn't predict it. But Shimizu did use her quirk to find out Todoroki's plans for taking down Midoriya.
"Let's go!" Hitoshi shouted, and instantly his classmates took off. Picking up speed on the dirt, Hitoshi jumped onto the iced floor and let his momentum slide him across with no problem, using frozen students to push off and pick up speed. It appeared the majority of 1-C caught on to the idea, and together they slid past the initial mass of competition.
"Jolly Green, is there a reason you haven't zoomed off yet? You have an icy boy to beat, remember?" Hitoshi asked, pushing off a group of business students. Midoriya laughed lightly.
"I want to help you guys out. I did the math. Going full Mach-2, it would only take me six seconds to complete the race from the starting line—"
"Which is why you should be done by now!"
"—but it means I have time to spare! And I want you guys to succeed, and I'm not going to let some challenge stop me!"
Hitoshi fell silent. Honestly, he was grateful his best friend wanted to stay by his side. "Fine, but you better still win this or I'm never letting you live it down."
Thanks to their purposeful late start, by the time 1-C made it to the robot zone, there was hardly any obstacle left besides vaulting over the metal remains. Hitoshi shuddered at the sight of the bots — they looked way too similar to the ones Kunugigaoka used for their second quirk exam.
One robot tried to attack them last minute, but instantly the Miya twins merged together in a blast of light and their giant form punched the beast to pieces with one hit.
"This is for the entrance exam!" the twins exclaimed, kicking away another robot and defending the class until they were finally in the clear. Hitoshi smirked, easily sidestepped a robot's attack. He reached to grab the wires sticking out, tearing them away and killing the robot immediately.
I hope the U.A. School Board is screaming.
The class ran past the robot stage with ease, and by this point, they had easily surpassed all the other General Ed, Support, and Business course students. However, they could still see the hero course ahead of them, and they had a lot of catching up to.
Luckily, it seemed the next obstacle was slowing a few people down. It was labeled the Fall — a giant canyon with thin ropes to help you get across through platforms. Sakurai shook visibly as he stared down the pit.
"Is-Is-Is-Isn't this a lit-little intense for high scho-o-ol?" he cried.
Oohira bit his lip anxiously. "There's too many of us to get across fast enough. We need to enact the Emergency Exit plan."
Hitoshi scowled. "Not yet." It's way too early for that.
"But—"
"Shinsou!" Amanai huffed, clearly out of breath. "I can — If some just — Be a bridge!"
By some miracle, Shinsou actually got what she was trying to say. However, he noticed her shaking limbs — athletics were never her strong suit — and he knew it wouldn't be enough.
"You're sure?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Yeah—"
Hitoshi brainwashed her and grabbed her hands. Midoriya asked, "Hitoshi, do you want me to run across instead?"
He shook his head. "No, save your strength for the end." He turned back to 1-C. "Someone needs to stay behind and hold her feet. Who—"
"I can," Yamaguchi volunteered. "I can make my branches root me in the ground so I don't slip."
Hitoshi nodded gratefully and secured his hold on Amanai. Here goes nothing.
Praying his plan doesn't fail, Hitoshi instantly started running across the thin rope with no problem, bypassing multiple shocked hero students. Thanks to Amanai's quirk, the girl's body stretched without any resistance. To pick up speed, Hitoshi skipped running on the rope entirely during some of the shorter distances, vaulting between the platforms like they were the building roofs back in middle school.
"Hey Shinsou?" Kataoka's voice crackled over the comms.
"Little busy! What is it!"
"Purple Pervert on your right is trying to hitch a ride on Yaoyorozu. Please take care of it," she asked. Hitoshi's eyes slid over and spotted Mineta trying to use his nasty sticky balls to attach himself on Yaoyorozu's back.
"Hey, Purple Freak! Are you looking for a death sentence?" he shouted, making both Yaoyorozu and Mineta jump.
"Are you th-threatening me?" Mineta cried indignantly, and Hitoshi took control.
"You bet. Now leave Yaomomo alone and stick yourself to the ground until every other competitor has passed."
Mineta obeyed, and Yaoyorozu nodded at Hitoshi gratefully. The brainwasher shrugged. He was planning on taking the purple boy out anyways. He was a bitter soul, through and through.
In less than a minute, Hitoshi reached the other side of the Fall and carefully held Amanai's hands low to the ground so she could act like an even bridge for the class to cross. Giving them a thumbs up, 1-C started to run across, Midoriya following in the back to make sure everyone was safe. The class made it across relatively easy, and once they were in the clear, Yamaguchi released Amanai's feet. Her rubber-band like body retracted, and the Miyas and Hitoshi pulled the girl back up.
"Huh, wha?" she mumbled, looking around as the brainwashing let up. "Did — Did it work?!"
"It was amazing!" Michimiya cheered, giving Amanai a huge hug. "You saved the day!"
Amanai's face totally went bright red, but Hitoshi wasn't going to say anything. Yet.
-.-.-.-
They sprinted to the next obstacle, now catching up with the upper half of the pack. When they reached the minefield, Hitoshi could see Todoroki and Bakugou duking it out as they neared the finish line.
"Looks like time is up, Jolly Green," he said, and Midoriya gnawed his lip.
"But what about—"
"Nope!"
Not giving him another chance, Hitoshi kicked Midoriya in the back, sending him straight for the minefield. His best friend had no choice but to take off at full-speed or else he'd set off an explosion. Midoriya disappeared into a blurred streak, moving so fast the mines didn't even register. He plowed right through Bakugou and Todoroki, shoving the two apart, and was gone.
"What a plot twist!" declared Present Mic. "Midoriya Izuku races out of nowhere to claim first place! Wonder what made him hold back until now? And someone get that boy a tissue!"
Hitoshi smirked and turned back to his teammates. "We need to find a way to get over these mines as quickly as possible. I'm thinking of Operation Slingshot."
Sakurai, a key component to that plan, squeaked. "Ah-Are you sure?"
"We have no other choice," Shimizu declared. "I also think it's time for Emergency Exit."
While Hitoshi didn't want to admit it, Hitoshi knew she was right. Emergency Exit was the contingency plan — sacrifice everyone they could in order to advance exactly four people and break the records.
"Well, clearly Shinsou needs to go then. And Sakurai and Amanai too in order for this to work," Kunimi pointed out.
"You should also send Michimiya," Miya #2 said.
"M-Me?!" the pink eyeballed girl squealed. "N-No, you guys would be much better in the second round."
"We're useless alone, though, and there's not enough room to send us both," the other Miya argued. "If you go, you can create a bubblegum forcefield that will at least protect you all once from the minefield if you hit it."
It was a good point, and they didn't have any more time to argue it. Hitoshi placed a hand on Sakurai and Michimiya's shoulders. "Look, we got this. We trained for this. Okay?"
They nodded meekly and 1-C rushed to set up their plan. Amanai's legs acted as the rubber bands on a slingshot while she would be carrying Hitoshi, Sakurai, and Michimiya — something made possible by Sakurai's ability to negate people's weight to near-nothing. When they're mid-air, Michimiya will blow a bubble around them that will protect them if they hit the ground.
The remaining classmates split in half, each taking one of Amanai's feet, while the Miyas merged again and pulled the human blob back.
"Make sure the angle is right!" Oohira shouted. The Miyas lowered and aimed, and Oohira started the countdown. Hitoshi couldn't help but get flashbacks to his entrance exam with Midoriya where they first used this tactic.
Hopefully, we won't land on anyone this time.
"Hold on tight!" Amanai said, and Sakurai and Michimiya both whimpered. Hitoshi just prayed they could stay focused enough not to die.
"GO!"
The Miyas released, 1-C dropped Amanai's feet, and they were flying. Hitoshi tapped Michimiya's shoulder to remind her to create the bubble, and she thankfully did. Through the now pink-tinted haze, Hitoshi could see the shocked reactions of other students as they flew over them. It was so satisfying, seeing the despair on the hero kids faces when they realized they were going to lose to —
"Shinsou! The ground!"
Hitoshi's eyes snapped forward just to see the ground fast approaching. He cursed. They predicted this might happen, but not so soon. Not when they were only halfway across the mine.
"Duck forward and hold on!" he shouted, making sure he had a firm grip on his classmates and forcing them to pivot forward. Michimiya and Sakurai started screaming, and Hitoshi said a silent prayer to Korosensei that this would work.
Their pink bubble hit the ground and popped at the impact of the mine explosion. Since they still weighed like nothing, the force was enough to send their tight ball of human limbs flying forward again.
Great, now this was exactly like the entrance exam. AKA: this was going to hurt like hell.
The tumbled and flipped and rolled mid-air, just barely making it across the minefield. They hit the ground hard (though not as hard as they would if they weighed normally) and rolled (thankfully not on top of another person) halfway through the tunnel.
Having experienced this before, Hitoshi was the first to recover, pulling his groaning classmates off the ground. "Time to go, time to go."
He all but dragged them through the tunnel. As they approached the exit, Hitoshi could hear the cheering crowd and it pushed them to run harder. They finally stumbled across the finish line and basically collapsed on each other in relief.
"I can't believe it! Taking 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th are four underdogs all from General Education! This is record-breaking, people!"
The crowd cheered louder, and Hitoshi glanced at a particularly loud section just to find a large chunk of 3-E standing there, screaming their heads off and waving colorful signs that said "1-C for the Win" and "Go 1-C (And Jolly Green)!" and "General Education Kicks (1-A)ss!"
"Some security detail you guys are," Hitoshi muttered sarcastically over the comms.
"Oh please. We could probably cover the entire Sports Festival with two units and you know it," Nakamura snarked.
"Technically, we are covering the entire Sports Festival right now with just two units," Nagisa pointed out, which explained why he didn't see anyone in Alpha or Beta in the crowd.
"Oh hush."
"Hitoshi!" Midoriya cried, rushing up to him and enveloping him in a massive hug. "You did it!"
The brainwasher laughed. "And you won first — with minimal bleeding, too."
It's true. There was a lot less blood staining Midoriya's uniform than there would have been if he ran the whole race at Mach-2 (thank goodness).
The remainder of the top 42 slowly trickled in. Hitoshi noticed 1-B was largely occupying the end half, and they mostly came in as a large group: they must've had a similar teamwork strategy as 1-C. To their indignant horror, however, it wasn't just 1-A they were fighting against for spots to advance.
"Wait a minute — Shinsou, I think the Miya twins advanced!"
Shinsou jolted and looked to see where Midoriya was pointing on the leaderboard. Sure enough, tying for 40th place were the super twins, meaning six members of 1-C advanced, and therefore doubling the previous record.
"This is insanity!" Michimiya cheered, running over to the twins and the gathering 1-C ranks. The remainder of their classmates, while not advancing, finished respectably, taking up all the low 40s and high 50s — well above the rest of General Education.
"We did it! We really did it!" Kunimi squawked, jumping up and down, and Hitoshi resisted the urge to tear up. It felt like the time 3-E beat out 3-A for the most top spots on the end-of-term exams again.
"Well folks, that finishes up our first round. Quite the unexpected turn of events, I must say. 1-B has the most students advancing, with eighteen students, followed closely by 1-A with seventeen students—"
"I wonder who the other two are," Midoriya mumbled, looking genuinely sad. Mineta was a given — the boy came in dead last, Hitoshi's brainwashing not letting up until every student had passed him.
"—And, in a surprising twist, 1-C managed to advance six students, an unprecedented number for any non-hero class in Sports Festival history. I guess you can say they know how to switch up the END result." Present Mic laughed, and all of Hitoshi's classmates, old and new, cringed. "And then finally, finishing up the ranks is our singular Support class representative. Quite the diversity we have here!"
Hitoshi wondered what world they must live in where this would be considered diversity, but honestly, he's too happy with their performance to truly care. They did it. They defied the odds. They overcame the impossible. They pushed past their boundaries. Just like Korosensei always taught.
And as Hitoshi glanced up at the crescent-shaped moon, he liked to envision it was Korosensei, smiling down from above.
-.-.-.-
"I'm here reporting live at the U.A. Sports Festival, where round one for the first-years just came to a jaw-dropping conclusion, with an unprecedented seven non-hero course students advancing — six of them all coming from class 1-C. I asked audience members about their thoughts on what just happened."
"It's clearly END's meddling!" declared an older man. "It's obvious — everyone knows there's an END agent in that class. Didn't you see the group of END agents cheering them on? I bet they infiltrated the class ranks or something."
"I think it was awesome!" answered a young teen. "Those two boys with the explosion and ice powers looked like they were going to win, and then BAM! The green-haired kid came out of nowhere! My friends and I have a bet that he's the END agent rumored to be in the hero course — only an END agent could be that cool."
"All competitors competed fairly and well within the rules," Midnight, the first-year referee, said. "Surprises like this are the best parts of the Sports Festival. Everyone loves a good underdog story — I know I do~"
-.-.-.-
Hitoshi had a feeling the second round would be a team event — he studied enough Sports Festivals to predict there would be at least one — so he wasn't as freaked out hearing about the Cavalry Battle.
He was freaked out, however, hearing that Midoriya's headband was worth ten million points.
Isn't that a bit overkill?
Midoriya looked like he was about to pass out while Maehara and Nakamura cackled loudly in the comms.
"What's happening?" demanded Terasaka. Alpha and Beta were the current units on patrol outside the first-year arena. "Dammit, can we switch out already? The second-year competition is so boring."
"Mmm, I agree. Time to switch shifts," Karma commanded, to much protest.
"Hey, this isn't a dictatorship!"
"We can't leave yet, it's just getting good!"
"Ugh, this is so pointless!"
Hitoshi, unable to take it, temporarily turned off his comm. He needed to focus right now.
"Jolly Green," he said. "We're teaming up."
Midoriya jolted. "A-Are you sure? I'm a huge target now and everyone will be going after me, which means anyone on my team is going to have a really hard time advancing and—"
"I know," Hitoshi interrupted. "Which is why I need to guarantee you advance too."
Midoriya blinked before smiling brightly, tears brimming in his eyes. "H-Hitoshi…"
The brainwasher snorted and grabbed his best friend by the back of his shirt. "No time for crying. We have a team to form."
Pretty much everyone was avoiding the duo — two END agents, one worth ten million points, wasn't a very appealing offer. Thankfully, Hitoshi didn't really care. He wasn't planning on teaming up with hero students anyway.
"Alright," he said, turning to his 1-C classmates. "How are we going to divide this up?"
-.-.-.-
Hitoshi settled on top of his team and adjusted the headband — reading 10,000,230 — on his forehead. Their strategy was rushed and shaky, but at this point, it was all they had.
Midoriya stood in the front, acting as the main legs — such is to be expected with the guy with super speed, even if they couldn't use Midoriya's quirk very often. Giving them the ability to utilize said super speed if needed was Sakurai on the back left; the other green-haired boy was terrified at the prospect of even competing in the second round, much less on the team that must advance, but his quirk would make it possible to for Midoriya to carry everyone and run.
Choosing their fourth and final member was a little tricky. They couldn't go with the Miya twins — taking only one twin is pointless, and taking both means they wouldn't be able to use Midoriya's quirk. It was down to Amanai and Michimiya. While Amanai was easily the better combatist and athlete, her quirk was more offensive in this type of event, and their team really needed more defense, especially with the target on their backs.
"I say we go with—" Hitoshi started, but stopped when a pink blob invaded his vision. "Uh. Can I help you?"
The pink-haired girl drew back, grinning ambitiously. Her strange yellow eyes analyzed every part of the two END agents. "I believe we can help each other," she declared. "I'm Hatsume Mei of 1-H, and want to take advantage of your fame."
The brainwasher felt himself short circuit. "What?"
"The attention you bring, having the biggest headband, being END agents, and being underdogs will definitely get my babies noticed!" Hatsume continued, not put off by the assassins' dumbstruck expressions. "I want to team up with you guys!"
While Hitoshi wasn't completely opposed to the idea, and quite enjoyed the sentiment of non-hero students supporting each other, he knew logically that it was a huge risk. He didn't know what Hatsume or her...babies(?) were capable of doing, and they didn't have the time to completely revise their strategy.
"Let's put her with the Miyas and Amanai, and we'll team up with Michimiya," Midoriya whispered, nervously eyeing the pink-haired girl behind them. "Michimiya will at least give us some kind of defense, and Hatsume will still get to team up with one of the 'underdog' teams."
They presented the plan to the girl, and she accepted it rather graciously. But on one condition.
"You want to see our tech?" Hitoshi repeated, and Hatsume preened.
"Everyone knows END prefers weapons over quirks, so what better way to advertise my babies than market them to the people who will use them the most!" Hitoshi just now realized that she was talking about inventions when she said 'babies' and he was very afraid. "Plus, I'm just dying to get my hands on the current tech. I heard one agent has the puppet-style capture rings, and I must touch them."
The brainwasher, while he didn't have his capture rings on him, held his hands closer to his chest subconsciously. Yeah, hell no. Those were his babies.
...wait.
-.-.-.-
Acting as the rider for his team, Hitoshi eyed the competition and identified the biggest threats. He mentally placed 1-A over 1-B — not to disregard the other hero course (they did have more students advance, after all), but Hitoshi has seen what 1-A is capable of. The clear threats were Team Todoroki and Team Bakugou, but Team Asui (with a surprising team-up of Tokoyami, Asui, Shouji, and Uraraka) looked pretty threatening as well. Their long-range capabilities were something to worry about.
"Remember, our only goal is defense for now," Hitoshi reminded his team. "Everyone will be coming for us. If we can defend this headband, we're set. We won't focus on getting other teams' headbands unless we lose this one."
"Think of it like the knockout matches," Midoriya added. "Strike fast and survive. We can do this."
Sakurai and Michimiya nodded. Behind him, Hitoshi could hear the aggressive cheering of both END and 1-C. It seemed E-class brought out the mystery t-shirts for this round, which proudly declared: "I bet you didn't C that coming." Hitoshi wondered how Karasuma felt about all of this.
Hitoshi's attention snapped back to the front as Midnight began her countdown. Three...two...one…
"Begin!"
Just as expected, nearly every team rushed them. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow lunged forward at the same time Jirou launched her earjacks — damn, how Hitoshi wished he got to bring his capture weapons — and before they could run, Honenuki of 1-B turned the ground to quicksand.
"Shit," he hissed. "Michimiya!"
Just before they could get hit, Michimiya encased them in a bubble. It protected them from the initial attack before popping, but they were still stuck. Midoriya's quirk was useless if they couldn't run away in the first place.
"Check it!"
The massive Miya form jumped in front of them, protecting them from the next attack. Amanai held out her arm, and Hitoshi immediately wrapped it around his waist.
"Hold on! Sakurai, touch the Miyas' leg!" the long-necked girl shouted, and that's when Hitoshi noticed the jetpack on the Miyas' back.
The jetpack fired up, and to Hitoshi's shock, it actually worked, pulling them out of the quicksand thanks to the near weightlessness achieved through Sakurai's quirk. Unfortunately, the jolt from being pulled out and launched into the sky made Sakurai let go of the Miya's leg, and the jetpack started sputtering because of all the weight.
"My baby!" Hatsume cried as they started to descend. Michimiya blew a giant bubble below them to make their crash landing less harsh, and both teams just barely managed to stay upright. For a moment, they were safe.
But not for much longer.
"No, our headband!" Amanai cried as Asui's tongue retracted with their headband in tow. Hitoshi felt guilty, knowing they sacrificed themselves for them, but he didn't have time to dwell on it as the attacks started pouring in.
"Hold it together, guys!" he said, warding off Asui's tongue with hand-to-hand (it reminded him of sparring with Korosensei, he noticed). They were about to be boxed in by Team Tetsutetsu and Team Asui again, and Hitoshi tapped Midoriya's shoulder.
"You take Asui, I'll take Tetsutetsu."
Midoriya nodded, using his superior speed in his arms to stop Asui's attacks while Michimiya kept blowing bubbles to stop Tokoyami, and Sakurai struggled to maintain a grip on everyone. Hitoshi turned to Team Tetsutetsu.
"You're better off just handing it over!" Tetsutetsu yelled.
"I think I contest with that ideology," Hitoshi snarked.
"Heh, big words for-"
Hitoshi took control of the team leader's mind and smirked. Now he just has to—
Just before it could attack, Hitoshi spun around and knocked away Ibara's vine that tried to sneak up on him. It sliced through his bandages on his left arm, cutting a large strand loose, but that was it. The team looked absolutely furious, and Hitoshi could feel his heart pounding.
"Jolly Green!"
"Yup!"
Making sure Michimiya and Sakurai could hold them both, Midoriya jumped up next to Hitoshi and the two began to fight off the attacks side-by-side. It limited their mobility, but right now, they weren't going anywhere.
"Whoa, Team Shinsou now has two riders! Is that allowed?" Present Mic commented.
"The judges say it's okay!" Midnight declared, winking at Hitoshi.
Together, they easily fought off Ibara and Asui's attacks. When Team Asui got bold and tried to charge, Hitoshi grabbed onto Midoriya's arms and swung him out like a sword, nearly knocking Asui off and pushing them back. Team Tetsutetsu, still confused as to why their team leader was unresponsive, lowered their defenses significantly.
Hitoshi glanced down at his loose bandages and smirked.
It was almost too easy with them, but the best part was that no one had a clue what just happened. That he just—
"Look at this amazing teamwork, folks! But look out, here comes Team Bakugou!"
Well, that explains why they haven't noticed. Leave it to Poofy to soak up all the attention.
Hitoshi was able to duck before Bakugou flew over his head, trying to swipe the headband. Sero pulled the explosive boy back, but with three teams now ganging up on them, Hitoshi knew they couldn't hold back any longer. They were about half-way through the Cavalry Battle — hopefully Midoriya would have enough strength.
"Jolly Green, get us out of here!"
"O-On it!"
Midoriya flipped back down to the ground, and Hitoshi pulled up Michimiya and Sakurai so they were both off the ground just before the world became a total blur.
"What an insanely quick escape by Team Shinsou! Looks like they'll hold onto that headband a little longer!"
The world came to an abrupt stop, and Hitoshi put his teammates back down while Midoriya bent over and coughed. They were on the far end of the arena, seemingly safe from any—
"Look out!" Sakurai screeched, and Hitoshi cursed.
Standing in front of them was Team Todoroki.
-.-.-.-
"Damn. Looks like our getaway was wasted," Hitoshi said, watching as Todoroki and virtually every single team charged them. It would be stupid to use Midoriya's quirk again with still half of the game to go, and Michimiya used a lot of bubble gum defending them from Tokoyami. Hitoshi doubted he could brainwash everyone, which meant they had no choice but to fight.
(At least they didn't have to worry about Team Bakugou, which was preoccupied with some 1-B class that stole their headbands. Even from across the field, Hitoshi could hear the blond 1-B kid, Monoma, sarcastically bringing up how 'cool' Bakugou was for supposedly being the one to take the Nomu down and save the USJ.
Bakugou, who got pissy anytime someone brought up the cover-up story since it gave him credit for something he didn't even do on his own, was fuming and hungry for blood. The brainwasher felt a little bad for the 1-B kids. Hopefully they'd survive to the end of the festival.)
Hitoshi was about to order his team to return to the two-rider defense form, but then he saw what Yaoyorozu was making with her quirk.
"Michimiya, shield us!" he shouted just in time. The girl blew a large bubble-gum shield right before Kaminari sent out a massive wave of electricity, taking out nearly every team. Michimiya's bubble protected them mostly from the attack, only getting a small shock in the end, but it was costly.
"I'm out of gum!" she cried, and Hitoshi wondered how this could get any worse.
And then Todoroki iced the field.
Thankfully, Midoriya saw it coming, shooting them back, but they only had so far to go before they hit the wall of the arena. That, plus the wall of ice Todoroki created, and they were thoroughly trapped until Midoriya could regain his energy.
Which meant it was up to Hitoshi to fight.
Great.
For a while, the two teams just stared each other down, the clock ticking by. There was about a minute left in the game. If they could hold off a little longer, they would be fine.
But then Hitoshi heard the roar of the engine, and he deduced what was about to happen before it ever did. He threw up his arms and —
Team Todoroki shot by, yanking the headband off of Hitoshi's head with ease, and the crowd went crazy.
"Holy smokes, folks! Looks like Midoriya isn't the only speedster in the stadium! Thanks to Iida's surprise move, Team Todoroki takes — wait, what?!"
Hitoshi smirked as the whole stadium looked between the field and the scoreboard in shock. Even his team couldn't believe their eyes, but there it was, at the top of the list — Team Shinsou, 10,000,230 points.
-.-.-.-
"But how...what did Team Todoroki grab?!"
The icy-hot boy stared at the headband in complete and utter shock. Clutched in his grasp was a headband reading 705 in bold red ink.
"Wait a minute folks — that's the headband for Team Tetsutetsu! Then what—"
It was then that everyone in the stadium realized that the headband around Tetsutetsu's head wasn't only blank, but it wasn't even a headband.
It was a torn bandage strip.
"WHAT?!"
Hitoshi smirked, proudly adjusting the ten million point headband. Thanks to his crazy purple hair, no one even noticed that he was wearing two.
"I made sure to pull the other headband in front when I saw you coming," Hitoshi explained. "You guys were fast, I'll give you that — but I've fought against much faster."
Team Todoroki sputtered, but without the use of Iida's quirk anymore, there wasn't much they could do about it but fight using brute force. They gave it their best, charging with ferocity, and Hitoshi's eyes widened when Todoroki threw a fiery punch.
"Huh, I thought you didn't use this side in battle?" Hitoshi said, dodging the blow. It made Todoroki hesitate, and that's all Hitoshi needed. Gripping Midoriya's shoulders for balance, he kicked Todoroki square in the chest.
It nearly knocked icy-hot to the floor, and while his team struggled to upright him, Team Shinsou made their great escape. He could see Bakugou in the background, flying right at them, but it was too late.
"Tiiiiiiimes up!"
-.-.-.-
In the end, the advancing teams were Team Shinsou, Todoroki, Bakugou, and Asui. Not a single member of 1-B advanced, while a record-breaking three from 1-C advanced.
Hitoshi could barely believe it.
1-C absolutely lost their minds, making more noise than anyone else in the stands. It was only intensified by END's smug celebration. At this point, it was clear the entire audience knew something was up between 1-C and the old 3-E, but what could be done about it?
Hitoshi gripped Midoriya's shoulders. "We...We did it. We really did it."
Midoriya broke down in sobs, hugging Hitoshi around the waist, and soon Sakurai was crying, and so was Michimiya, and okay, Hitoshi teared up a little too. But how could he not?
They conquered the impossible. They beat the system. They got justice — for 1-C, for Hitoshi, for Korosensei. They proved something today; something that Korosensei always taught.
That even the weak could be strong. That there is no dead-end in life. That a system set to build the strong up at the cost of the weak will never work.
Because with the right motivation, they will always fight back.