Written by Aduubo, Buckichamp, and PikachuSpartan.
I OWN NOTHING. KILL LA KILL IS OWNED BY STUDIO TRIGGER AND KAZUKI NAKASHIMA. MHA IS OWNED BY TOHO ANIMATION AND KOHEI HORIKOSHI.
—
"I can't believe it… He… That fucking nerd… He beat me."
A certain ash blonde student turned his head to see Deku celebrating his win with Ryuko.
"Again. Not again."
Bakugo could barely keep his breath in check, along with him clutching at his forearms as the muscles were sore with a singeing pain. All while Deku and Ryuko over there looked like they had barely broken a sweat. Seeing that was just another weight on his shoulders that worked to break his back in the worst way possible, all while he also turned his eyes towards Todoroki.
'I didn't even get into the top three. That damn tramp fucked me over!'
His eyes locked directly onto Matoi as blood vessels became very visible in them. She had absolutely demolished him during the race, and now he was just a fourth wheel to the three students that would get the spotlight.
But the Sports Festival wasn't over, and now he had time to set his sights on a third target to destroy during the competition.
Todoroki too was catching his breath before he took a quick glance at Midoriya. He shrugged off the loss for now. He had only won the first fight, but not the war.
"Deku! Matoi!"
Both teens turned their eyes to meet a familiar brunette that was out of breath and had just caught up to them, following with her releasing an exhausted bellow.
"O-Oh! Hey, Uraraka!" Izuku's cheeks began to grow a light pink blemish. Ryuko saw this and began to chuckle.
"Deku, you were really amazing out there! Those moves were awesome! No wonder you got first place!"
Midoriya let his arms snake their way around his face in an attempt to shield himself from the positivity that overwhelmed him, especially when it came from Uraraka. Who he may or may not be crushing on. Indecisive is another word that he would add on his list of personal traits.
"N-No! Uhm! It was no-"
He felt a nudge to his back, which stemmed from the red streaked girl.
"C'mon dude, just take the compliment," she spoke with a smile.
Izuku pondered for a moment before letting his guard down and faced Uraraka head on.
"T-Thank you, Uraraka. I really a-appreciate it."
"That was such a close race between you two! You both were practically neck and neck!"
"You know it! Izuku managed to pull a fast one on me at the last second. But the way he started the race? Oh man. The way he jumped over everyone and got a head start was just awesome!" Ryuko cheered in excitement.
"Oh man, it really was!"
Izuku's body stiffened as he struggled to find a proper reaction from the sudden praise he was receiving. He finally regained control once he looked down at his palm.
'I really did it. I was able to win this race with my power. Even with that gamble I took in the minefield, I was able to briefly push past my initial limits. I can't believe how strong I'm getting!''
He looked over to Ryuko specifically, paying attention to her smile.
'She's done so much for me. I owe it all to her. But it'll have to wait. This is where my ability will be tested for real. Besides, we'd probably just smother each other with compliments.'
It wasn't long before other students began piling into the stadium, Yaoyorozu being amongst them, though looking the most exhausted. She bent forward and caught herself with her knees in her palms, just barely catching her breath.
"How could things go so wrong?!" The girl heaved before looking over her shoulder to find a purple shrimp named Mineta attached to her back like a juvenile monkey.
"Hehehehehehe, this turned out even better than I hoped!"
"You are THE WORST!"
-TOK-
A pole found its way straight into Mineta's abdomen with a pain shooting through his body so great that he was launched off the balls he held onto. Upon landing on the ground, he fell out of consciousness. The adhesiveness of his balls soon diminished, making them drop off from Yaoyorozu's body without tearing her uniform.
After a sigh of relief from not facing further humiliation, the front banged student shifted her focus onto Matoi before meekly scowling.
'Damn it. I didn't even have a chance at keeping up with her. She completely sidelined everyone. I couldn't even get into the top ten.'
Momo's grip on her pant legs tightened more while she exhaled deeply. The frustration was clouding her mind, and it would only continue to build. She already lost to Matoi once. She was determined to not lose to her again.
"YEEEEEAAAAAAH! Way to go Ryuko, show those city folk how we do it in Honnōji!" A very energetic and excited Mako screamed from the banisters, catching some of the onlookers off guard and others covering their ears.
"Easy now, Ms. Makonshoku, try to save that energy for later. It's still the first event after all. We've got two more remaining," Mikisugi said while reigning in his student.
The disheveled teacher turned his attention back onto the field, watching his other student interact with her fellow classmates. Mikisugi could only smile as he saw Ryuko interacting with them and looking so… relaxed. All the stress he saw from her when she first entered his class was a distant memory.
'Huh, looks like you really have grown in this short amount of time. Haven't you, Matoi?', Mikisugi thought as he looked on. Man, did he luck out when Hawks found him and they got the transfer up and running.
"Wow! I can't believe Ryuko was second in the race. I would've thought she'd win for sure. I guess her boyfriend is still an okay substitute," Mako remarked looking toward the gaggle that Matoi was in.
"YA HEAR THAT RYUKO?! YOUR BOYFRIEND DID A PRETTY GOOD JOB!" Mako shouted to her, getting ALL the wrong attention from some onlookers.
"MAKO, I TOLD YOU WE'RE NOT DATING!"
"WELL YOU WON'T WITH THAT ATTITUDE! COME ON, AT LEAST TELL HIM HE DID A GOOD JOB!"
"YEAH, I DID!"
"NO YOU DIDN'T! YOU DIDN'T EVEN SMACK HIS ASS!"
Ryuko's face suddenly flashed red hearing Mako's comment. It wasn't just her, but the rest of her group were weirded out, too. That was especially true for Izuku.
"I-YO-WHY THE HELL WOULD I DO THAT?! WHAT KIND OF FRIEND WOULD EVEN DO THAT?!" Ryuko shouted back, embarrassed at Mako's overly scandalous remarks.
"THE KIND OF FRIEND WHO CAN APPRECIATE HOW GOOD THEIR FRIEND'S ASS LOOKS AND FEELS ON CONTACT!"
"Why are you…wait, WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT HOW HIS ASS LOOKS ANYWAY?!"
"HAVE YOU SEEN HIM IN HIS SHORTS?!"
The two teenage girls continued their unusual banter from the lower stands and the competitors area, raising confused lingering glances that focused on both Mako and Ryuko.
"CAN YOU TWO STOP TALKING ABOUT MY BODY IN WEIRD WAYS?!" Izuku put his foot down, not wanting any part in this debacle.
"YEAH, STOP THIRSTING OVER MY BEST FRIEND!"
"HOW ABOUT STOP HAVING SUPERMODELS AS BEST FRIENDS AND I MIGHT CONSIDER IT!"
Mikisugi sat idle as he saw… everything that unfolded before him.
God, his entire visit was gonna be this level of crazy 24/7, wasn't it?
..~~~HLK~~~..
"This is a surprising development! How has Matoi improved so much in such a short amount of time?" Inamuta's eyes were still widened from what he just witnessed. Even though he was there to collect data, he couldn't help but be intrigued by Matoi's progression. The top of his jacket clasped shut to hide his shock.
"Yes, quite," Satsuki agreed. Inamuta could only stare as she was as cool as a cucumber and, if he was seeing things correctly, slightly smiling?
"Still, there's more things that have caught my attention," the data nerd looked back down to the field to see the boy they'd run into the day before. The first place finisher, Izuku Midoriya.
'That boy was with her the other day! The one that impressed Lady Satsuki. It even looks like he's somehow close to Matoi. I wonder…'
The gears in Inamuta's head began to turn. An idea was hatched and he hoped it wouldn't be for nothing.
"I assume you collected what I asked for from the first event?" Satsuki questioned her lieutenant, which got him back on track.
"Yes. Our little helpers got us everything we needed. Only a few were destroyed, but we made more than plenty to collect what's required," The Elite Four member answered.
"Good. Keep your eyes on the rest of this event," Satsuki said.
"Of course-"
"And I don't just mean for only collecting data, Houka. Sometimes, the eye test can be a better predictor of actions."
Inamuta's expression went blank as Satsuki's small smile came back. This was very unexpected behavior out of the student council president.
'Wait! I understand what she means now. Very clever,' the sky bluenette smirked as his collar opened for a moment. Satsuki really had thought of everything.
..~~~HLK~~~..
"That concludes the first game for the first years. What an exciting show~! Let's see how everyone matches up on the leaderboards."
After Midnight's declaration, the giant projector began to number the participants and what place they had achieved in the race from first to 42nd.
Class A - Izuku Midoriya
Class A - Ryuko Matoi
Class A - Shoto Todoroki
Class A - Katsuki Bakugo
Class B - Ibara Shiozaki
Class B - Juzo Honenuki
Class A - Tenya Iida
Class A - Fumikage Tokoyami
Class A - Hanta Sero
Class A - Eijiro Kirishima
Class B - Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
The list continued downward with the students of Class A being present, all except for Yuga Aoyama, who wound up being in 44th.
"The first 42 contestants will advance onto the next round! Let's see what challenge will be next to test your skills!"
"Oh man, Aoyama… he didn't make the cut," Kirishima spoke dejectedly as he read the scores.
"Poor guy. Hope he'll be okay," Sero added.
"At least there are other activities he could check out and get some rep from," Mina interjected.
Yuga practically stood within the crowd in defeat while struggling to hold his stomach. He didn't know what hurt more; the pain or the absolute loss that he received.
But there was no time for him to mope as the monitor had revealed what the next course in the Sports Festival would be. The Cavalry Battle.
"Cavalry Battle? Man, that takes me back," Ryuko reminisced.
"Really? I didn't have much of a chance to play that kind of game back then. What was it like?" Izuku asked.
"Well, after getting on each other's backs, we would fight and see who's head would be knocked off first, and then we go after the legs. Punching them in the right places determined how fast we could knock them off their feet. We could even use sticks, rocks, or pretty much anything we found on the ground."
"W-Wait, that's chicken fighting! And how did you somehow make that so violent?!" Izuku expressed his shock, but in a hushed tone in order to avoid being heard by Midnight.
"Really? Wow. Okay, that's probably for the best then. I don't know what I'd do if I went up against Katsuki," Ryuko chuckled.
"Sheesh, Ryuko…"
"You will all band together as teams of two-to-four, and assemble into a horse and rider formation. Each of you has been assigned a specific point value with headbands based on your performance in the previous event. All you have to do is work together and use your quirks to steal the other team's headbands and build your overall score. Starting from 42nd earns 5 points, 41st will have 10. Every placement above goes up by 5 more points, which leaves first place being…"
"I-Is it what I think it-"
"TEN MILLION POINTS!"
All of the adrenaline Izuku had coursing through his body shot directly to his head, making his shoulders shrug upwards immensely as his spine rattled.
"T-T-T-Ten million…?"
"Holy shit," Ryuko's mouth was agape.
Izuku's eyes darted around like a ball bouncing off the walls. All of the students, save for Ryuko, began towering over him with wandering gazes practically staring into his soul. He nearly quaked in where he stood as the cold darkness shrouded around him, disabling the functions of his brain in the process. All that could come out of him now was…
"...Fuck."
That haunting aura suddenly vanished as the students were taken back by the word that slipped its way out in between his teeth.
"What?" They all collectively asked.
"Oh my! It's always the quiet ones~" Midnight rejoiced in the foul language coming from a good natured boy.
"WHAT?" All Might stood up from his seat, a sense of paternal instinct suddenly kicking in.
"Whoa, Izuku!" Matoi also expressed her surprise.
It wasn't long before Izuku shut himself up by slapping his palm into his mouth in hopes to conceal his misdeed.
..~~~HLK~~~..
Back at the apartment in Danchi, Inko was sipping from a bottle of water with a tissue box in the other hand. She was just starting to slightly recover before the second event.
"Uh!"
She crushed the bottle of water like a toothpick and the tissue box fell to the floor without warning. Something felt off in the universe. It was a maternal sense that mothers aplenty felt at some point in their life as her eyes narrowed.
"There's a disturbance in this household."
..~~~HLK~~~..
"What did Deku just say?" Bakugo muttered blankly.
This certainly was a twist. Hearing the weakling, or at least what he thought he heard, slip up didn't compute with the ash blonde. He turned his head to the right to look at Midoriya, then down at the ground, and back to looking straight ahead. He was over it as his impatience began to block out any memory of what had transpired.
'Let's just start already so I can beat that damn nerd and his fucking tramp.'
"Let's not delay this any further! You have fifteen minutes to go and form your teams. Good luck everyone!"
Without further delay, Izuku began calculating all possible candidates he could select for his team. He knew that picking folks with large amounts of points didn't matter since he surpassed everyone in that measure, so all that was to choose was the ones with the best quirks. But there was a problem.
The entire crowd that was smothering him had completely scattered away. Except for Ryuko who stood right beside him.
"Sheesh, I guess they took that comment of yours to heart," Matoi commented as she watched the crowd.
'S-Shit! Why is everyone avoiding me?! Is it the pressure of the 10 million points?! Surely they'd see something based on my performance, right? Wait… Oh no. Given my previous track record with my power, only to suddenly improve after two weeks, everyone probably thinks that my win is a total fluke!
"Yo Matoi! Midoriya!"
The duo turned to find Jirou walking toward them.
"I had a feeling when I saw him leaping around without breaking himself, you had a hand in that, huh?" the violette surmised.
"Hehe. That obvious, huh?" Matoi chuckled. All the while, Midoriya could only run his hand through his hair.
"I would normally avoid teaming up with you guys given the points, but I trust Matoi and what you did back there, dude. So how about it?"
Izuku didn't know what to say. He rubbed at his eyes for a moment and nodded.
"Yeah, I'd be more than happy to. Thanks," he sniffled.
'I should probably tell him-'
"Hey you guys! Still looking for another team member?"
It was Uraraka. She smiled as Izuku's face donned a slight blush.
"I was looking for a group, and I thought that teaming up with the people you like would be the best thing to do!" The gravity girl cheered with a smile so bright that it nearly blinded Izuku.
His face puckered up while he grabbed at his chest while trying not to cry. Both Jirou and Uraraka grew concerned about how he managed to develop more wrinkles than an elderly person. Ryuko, on the other hand, began to giggle.
'Poor Izuku. If he's like this now, I don't know what he'll do once he actually starts dating her.'
The more she watched, the more she would giggle. But instead of her smug snickering, this was more heartfelt. There was a comfortable sensation that she had been feeling in her chest, one that erased all of the wrong that she had felt in her body. She didn't fully understand it, but it seemed to always occur whenever she was around Izuku.
As fruitful as those thoughts were, they had come to a stop once Ryuko remembered what she was going to say. But for some reason, she felt a bit bad about it.
"A-Anyway, did you happen to talk to Iida about teaming up?" Izuku asked.
"Um, not yet. But with the four of us-"
"Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but… I'm going to join up on a different team," Ryuko chimed in.
"Wait, what?!" Urakaka and Midoriya exclaimed in unison
"But why? Don't tell me it was from the teasing at the mall, Matoi," Jirou added.
"What's going on Ryuko?" Senketsu pried.
The Kamui wielder turned to the greenette, a soft smile present.
"You're my friend dude. Nothing's going to change there. But if I teamed up with you to get to the next round, I don't know how I'd feel. I was serious when I said I wanted to go against you," Ryuko stated.
"Dang!" Jirou mumbled as Matoi moved close to Midoriya's ear.
"Plus, it'll give you some alone time," she whispered before turning away with a wink and moving into the crowd.
"Wait. What does that-" he stopped, thinking back a few days prior, as his face turned a little more red.
'She's trying to get me alone with Uraraka! Ryuko, why now?!'
The three stood there, shocked. But Matoi made her decision.
"If you guys want to stick together, I'm down for it. Though when I was walking around earlier, I overheard Iida with Todoroki. I think they're teaming up, but I'm not sure," Jirou informed them.
"Well, we have eight minutes left, so we can at least check real fast. Wait! There he is! Iida!"
..~~~HLK~~~..
"What's this? Matoi appears to be departing from her friends. I always figured she'd try to take the easy way and compete with her closest allies," Inamuta expressed.
"Like an alpha, she wants to put herself to the test against them, seeing where she stands amongst this new pride. Quite ambitious. UA has certainly rubbed off on her," Satsuki spoke calmly before she wore a smile.
..~~~HLK~~~..
Ryuko was searching amongst the crowd for a team to join. While it was true that she wanted to win this festival on her own, having Izuku's 10 million points didn't help matters. She had the second most points after all.
"You really are going through with this," Senketsu said.
"Yeah. I know it might seem puzzling, but this way he has a chance with Uraraka. I feel bad leaving Jirou behind though," the girl spoke.
"Matoi? What are you doing wandering around?" Ojiro said as he approached. "I thought you'd be with Midoriya."
"Yeah, I know. I wanted to challenge myself a bit and compete against him. I didn't want to be on the same team and feel like I had to rely on him to get to the next round."
"I getcha. Though the points don't help either I'd imagine," the two chuckled.
"Hey, you two."
Ojiro and Matoi turned to find a boy with wild, Indigo hair from the General Studies. It was Hitoshi Shinso, walking with a boy from Class 1B, Nirengeki Shoda.
"What's up?" Ojiro asked.
"Do either of you have a team?"
"No, I don't ha-"
The tailed blonde stopped mid-sentence as Ryuko turned to see her classmate zoned out.
"Ojiro? Yo. You okay?" She nudged his shoulder lightly to try and get his attention.
"And what about you?"
Ryuko winced at the question that came from the same student, who seemed suspiciously unaffected by Ojiro's minded absence. She was getting a bad vibe from this guy.
"You did this, didn't you? What the hell did you do to-"
Matoi suddenly lost all her fire, her muscles going limp as she now felt her body being enveloped by some sort of fog.
"Ryuko?!" Senketsu looked up startled.
"RYUKOOO!"
'What the hell?! What's this guy's deal? Why can't I move!?' Matoi wondered as she wanted to do something. Was this kid a villain?! What was happening to her?
"Now that I have you all under my brainwashing, I'll be the rider. You guys work as the horses."
Ryuko and the others moved on command, getting into a formation and hoisting the mysterious boy up.
'I can't stop my body! I need help!'
..~~~HLK~~~..
Iida had indeed joined up with Todoroki. He respected Midoriya, a lot actually. But he felt the need to show he could be just as good as his classmate and not be overshadowed, especially after what happened during the first event. Even with that loss, Izuku still had to find a fourth.
"Okay, so teaming up with Iida was a total bust. And Ryuko went off to find a different group. Why is it that everyone wanting to personally challenge me is becoming a common theme here?"
"Dude, you went from breaking your bones to scoring first place in the race. Did you really expect anything else?" Jirou shook her head.
"-Sigh- You're right. We still have a good team here. Our focus right now is to just be as far away from everyone as possible since we have so many points on our backs. Uraraka's quirk will be able to keep our feet light and move around easily. Jirou, how far can your jacks reach?"
"About six meters."
"Perfect. I-I hope you don't take this the wrong way but how good can you…"
"Use them? I can disable the robots like the entrance exam or during the race. You probably didn't see it because you were too busy leaving us in the dust, speedy."
"O-Oh! I-I'm sorr-"
"Hey, hey, you don't need to apologize. I was just playing around," The purplette chuckled.
"A-Ahaha! Right… But good, even better. Now we just need a strong front for the horse."
Izuku pranced around as he was scoping out any possible candidates.
'Just as I thought, almost everyone's in a group already. But I can work with that. I know exactly what kind of power we could use. If I could just find it…'
He stopped as his focus shifted onto one individual.
'Bingo.'
Thanks to Midoriya's quick thinking, he secured the final team member they'd need as a front horse: Fumikage Tokoyami.
With the teams being selected, and a plan laid out, Midoriya was set to be the rider. He was ready to go.
'I wonder where Ryuko is?'
It didn't take too long to spot her with Ojiro, a kid he didn't know, and the violet haired student that challenged 1A earlier.
'She's working with him? I wonder how that happened? I didn't think she would ever team up with that guy. But it looks like Ojiro is there as well, so I think she'll be alright since they were on the same team during the Battle Trial.'
It all seemed fine at first, but something caught his eye. His gaze focused in on Ryuko's eyes, only to find that her gear-like pupils were faded, almost completely washed away. The color and shape of it was practically burned into his mind during all of the time they had spent together, he could remember all sorts of expressions that she had enacted. But this was something he wasn't able to recognize. It troubled him as this didn't look like her at all.
Izuku looked up towards her team's rider, who was the purple haired kid on her team and the greenette scowled. Something was up.
But there was no time to dwell on that now as Present Mic began the countdown to kick off the Cavalry Battle.
"HOLD ONTO YOUR SEATS EVERYONE, BECAUSE IT'S TIME FOR A GOOD OL' FASHIONED BATTLE ROYALE!"
Izuku firmly tied the band around his head once his team was in formation. His blood began pumping like crazy.
"Everyone ready? Uraraka?"
"Ready!"
"Jirou?"
"You bet."
"Tokoyami?"
"Yes."
Inhaling and then exhaling deeply, renown vigor had surfaced into the greenette's very being.
"Let's win this!"
'Senketsu? Senketsu! Shit! No answer! God damn it!'
Ryuko could see everything that was happening in front of her, but wasn't able to move since she had no feeling in her muscles. How this was even possible was beyond her understanding.
"Who would have thought I'd strike gold with having the second place winner. Too bad I couldn't get her in whatever that skimpy form was. Oh well, I can still work with what I got here. All I need is to make it to the top four," The general studies student cracked his neck while the others carried him.
'Okay, so he isn't a villain after all…'
"Don't let me down, puppets," He grinned as the battle was about to begin.
'...He's just a douche," Ryuko internally scoffed as she continued to search for more ways to break out of his control. This was NOT how she wanted to go up against Izuku.
"LET'S NOT WASTE ANOTHER MOMENT! READY?! BEGIN!"
Just as expected, everyone began making a race towards Midoriya and his ten million points. Shinso, on the other hand, waited in place. At that moment, Ryuko's hair began to frizzle up on its own.
'What the hell? What's he waiting for? The action's right there, damn it! Don't make me sit in limbo and get bored! Do something!'
"Alright, move straight forward."
The team began to run in a straight line on his command. They were closing in on the groups that were swarming Izuku's team.
"Turn left."
And just like that, everyone moved left swiftly. They were now approaching a duo that was the furthest from the crusade that sported 125 points.
"Hey! I'll be taking those now!"
The rider of the horse turned his formation towards Shinso's and braced for whatever attack he was about to inflict on them.
"In your dreams! I won't let-"
"Yeah, good luck-"
Within an instant, one at a time, the two students became a blank slate and stood still. Once Shinso closed the gap between himself and them, he reached out and swiped the 125 point headband off of the rider.
'Huh? Them too? How many people can this guy control?'
"Thank you very much," Shinso chuckled lowly as they ran off. When they gained a good enough distance from those two, he snapped his fingers, which set them free.
"Whoa, did I just space out? Weird. Where'd that guy go?"
Good. Now Hitoshi left them guessing as he made the getaway. He would begin using this strategy on other stray horses, catching them off guard making a run with the goods he possessed.
'So this is his strategy. He's focusing on the smaller groups and taking them out so that we don't have as big of a target on our backs. He's avoiding as much confrontation as possible. Sheesh, I really wanted to be in the action.'
..~~~HLK~~~..
Izuku's eyes darted around like a bouncing ball as he watched nearly every group circling around his.
"Shit! Hope you still have a plan!" Jirou exclaimed.
"I do! We make a run for it!" Izuku shouted.
"You're welcome to try!" A student from Class 1B named Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu barked back as his front horse, Juzo Honenuki stomped his foot onto the ground, which liquified the terrain in front of them. Soon, the softening surface enveloped around Izuku's horse and began sinking them.
"Wha- We're sinking!" Midoriya quickly focused his attention on Tetsutetsu's front horse, who he deciphered to be the cause of this.
"I can't get out!" Uraraka called out as she found her movement limited by the thick and gripey terrain, which gave Izuku the information he needed for a quick plan.
"Jirou! Use your jacks to vibrate the ground! Quickly!"
"Right!" The purplenette did just as she was instructed and set both of her jacks into the sinkhole before activating her quirk. Soon the vibrations began to erupt, which made the now solidifying ground begin to bubble up and splash.
"Quick! Harden the ground already!" Tetsutetsu shouted.
"I-I can't! It won't stabilize!" Honenuki strained as he tried to solidify the floor on their feet.
Tokoyami wriggled his feet a bit and found that there was less hinder on his legs.
"I can move my legs again, Midoriya!"
"Good! Use Dark Shadow to propel us up into the air! Hold on tight, everyone!" Izuku commanded.
Fumikage released Dark Shadow out of his side to find solid ground and dig its fingers into before pushing down, pulling their team out of the quicksand and into the air by a short distance.
'Good! Just as planned! Since Jirou's vibrations could take out the robots, dissolving terrain should be a snap for her,' Izuku smiled to himself as his quick thinking saved his team. But the work wasn't done yet. They still had to make it to the ground.
"Get ready, we're landing!" Uraraka called out.
"Jirou, use your jacks to pull us down and stabilize our fall! Tokoyami, get ready to help soften it!"
Kyouka quickly stuck her jacks into the solid floor beneath them and tugged to make sure they stayed in balance. Dark shadow extended both arms to clamp downward to catch them. Thanks to Uraraka's quirk lessening their gravity, there was no strain on the horse from the landing.
"Perfect! So far so good! Thanks for helping soften the fall, Uraraka!"
"No problem-o!" The brunette spoke with glee.
Before they were able to move again, one of the horses attempted to blindside Izuku and make a break for his headband. The plan was foiled as Jirou's jacks were quick to swat away the hand and leave a stinging pain in the process. Using the moment of opportunity, the group made a run for it.
Another set of students tried to rush Midoriya's group by abruptly cutting them off from the front, but were blocked by Dark Shadow from a distance. This let the four teens safely run in another direction. Izuku tucked his elbows in as he felt absolutely invigorated.
"Man, you guys are awesome! Jirou and Tokoyami, you guys make for amazing omnidirectional defense! Just one of you would have been perfect. But with both of you, I don't think anyone will have an opening to take our points!"
"Thank you Midoriya. I'm glad that I was chosen for a reason," Tokoyami responded.
"Yeah man, we won't let you down," Jirou spoke with a sincere smirk.
Being supplied with great mobility and defense, they were truly a force to be reckoned with!
..~~~HLK~~~..
"LOOK ALIVE EVERYONE! YOU HAVE JUST ABOUT TEN MINUTES LEFT IN THE EVENT! GRAB WHATEVER YOU CAN BECAUSE THE CUH-LOCK IS TICKIIIIING!"
The brainwasher snatched Mineta's headband, with his group none the wiser of what happened, only mass confusion ensuing inside of Shoji's protective shell.
"C'mon Ryuko! Break out of his control!" Senketsu pleaded.
'I bet Senketsu is going nuts since he can only communicate with me. Dammit!' Matoi's teeth clenched, her muscles quivering slightly. She began to focus, trying to reclaim control of her motor functions with her willpower.
Ryuko could feel a hold on her mind, a darkened cloud that had enveloped itself around her brain, keeping it wrapped in the abyss. As she began to fight, she could feel her head pounding from attempting to get herself loose. The red highlight in her bangs began to glow, which went unnoticed by Shinso.
'Come on, Ryuko… Fight! I will not let this loser cheat me out of this battle!'
Her bang seemed to swing upward and rotate, which began to blow wind towards the mist. It spun more and more, it's speed getting faster and faster.
'I need… to break…'
The red highlight reached a speed that blew such a forceful breeze that the mist started to part. It wasn't long until it was completely swatting away the wind, and within an instant, all feeling returned to Ryuko's nerves as she got a whiff of the air.
"FREEEEEEEEEE!"
Matoi's scream caught the attention of a few nearby groups, turning their heads to see what was going on. Ryuko had finally broken out of the brainwashing!
"Ryuko?!" Izuku gasped. Something was off. She seemed pissed from where he was at. What happened to her?
"Whoa, is Matoi pumped up or what?" Uraraka spoke up as Jirou silently nodded.
"What?!" The indigo haired student's spine jolted upward.
"Ryuko!" Senketsu whimpered with delight.
The girl's gear blue gaze turned to her captor, piercing through his soul as she grabbed him by the collar and brought him close. She was still moving, but this time, of her own volition.
"You listen here asshole! If you do that to me again, I will shove that scissor blade you saw during the first race right through you. Now free the other two, tell me who you are, how you did that, and don't you dare do that again! Got it?" The girl hissed.
The boy was definitely not wanting to mess with her. Could he try-
"If you don't agree in the next five seconds, I'll go into Sync Mode and take all of us out of the competition."
Apparently not. He knew she was telling the truth, so it'd be better for everyone if he cooperated with her at least.
"Tch. Fine, but I can't free them right now. I'll explain why, but I'll guarantee your other demands at least. I'm Hitoshi Shinso, and my quirk is brainwashing. If I focus on the target I want to control and they respond to something I say, it'll take hold and I can control them."
"And why can't you free the others right now?" Ryuko growled.
"For starters, If I did that now we'd likely lose. They'd stop and I'd probably fall forward to the ground. We'd be out. But as long as you're conscious and the other two stay this way for now, we can advance with the points we grab right at the end."
"Pretty bold strategy," Matoi muttered.
"Ryuko, stop responding to him! You don't know if he'll go back on his word!" Senketsu urged her, but the message fell on deaf ears.
"True. But if we get at least one or two of the other teams to respond to my voice, we can grab the headbands they have and ensure our advancement," Shinso pointed to a couple of teams to their two o'clock.
"Heh. Fine by me. And isn't it a lot easier to cooperate as a team?" She responded with a heavy dose of sarcasm, drawing an annoyed sigh from Shinso.
"Let's just make sure we move on. Let's go."
Matoi scoffed before catching that Midoriya's team were still in one piece after all of this time. But she had no opportunity to take a breath of relief as everyone was still gunning for his ten million points.
'Because I'm on the back end of the horse, there isn't much that I can do other than listen to Shinso and hope he can get enough points for us to advance. In the meantime, you better make sure you survive Izuku. I still want a chance to take a swing at you."
..~~~HLK~~~..
At the same time, Izuku and his team were having what could only be described as a one against one-hundred type of battle. Every other team was out to get the 10 million on top of the successor's head.
"Jeez, these guys just don't quit do they?" Jirou said as she used her jacks to disorient nearby horses to get a slight edge.
"Yeah, it's kinda scary considering who we got as our rider. Right, Deku?...Deku?" Uraraka's comment fell on deaf ears as Midoriya's mind wandered elsewhere.
He watched Ryuko again, seeing that she had regained that look in her eyes that he knew so much. As she helped her team snatch another group's headband, a grin enveloped on her face. Izuku could never get enough of seeing it.
"DUCK!"
Midoriya was shaken from his thoughts as he narrowly dodged a hand coming for his headband.
"Hey, I know you're having an inner monologue and crap, but in case you forgot: EVERYONE'S OUT TO GET US!" Jirou yelled, using her jacks to ward off another approaching team.
"S-Sorry! Sorry! You're right!"
"Guys! We have company!" Tokoyami warned as he came to a full stop, garnering the group's attention.
Looking straight ahead, Midoriya's group found Todoroki standing in their way, their focus clearly set on Midoriya's 10 million point headband.
"And here we go! Todoroki's team has finally confronted Team Midoriya!" Mic announced.
The ice wielder moved his right arm out in front of him, frost forming on the top of it. He made direct eye contact with Midoriya, his gaze distant and focused.
"I'll be taking that headband from you, Midoriya."
"Oh great! He's here," Jirou fretted slightly.
"It'll be alright guys. Just remember the plan from earlier," Midoriya reassured them as he started to get 5% of One For All circulating again.
Even though he'd managed to get a hold of full cowling, there were still moments where if he lost enough focus, he'd slowly power down and need to get it flowing again.
Izuku's progress with his new power over the past nine days had been huge. But, it still wasn't completely natural for him to use it continuously without having the thought of 'I need to keep it flowing' or be decked by Ryuko.
At least there wasn't a downside of having to call the power back if he absent mindedly lost the flow.
"Alright, let's do this," Ochako and the others nodded, ready to engage or run away.
"Almost five minutes left at this point. He was going to come after us sooner or later, but we're prepared," Tokoyami put his focus ahead.
Across the battlefield, Shinso was guiding the group to stay out of sight from Bakugo, who seemed about ready to level some students from Class B.
"One more group, right?" Ryuko asked for confirmation.
"Yeah, I think I see one of the Top 10 guys up ahead," Shinso confirmed, pointing to Tetsutetsu's team. The time ticked below five minutes.
"Ya know, why didn't you get into the hero course with your quirk? It seems like it'd come in handy," Ryuko wondered.
Shinso felt a slight knot form in his stomach, knowing the answer far too well.
"Sometimes, you can't achieve what your heart longs for. Especially those who have heroic quirks like you," Shinso responded.
"I'm actually quirkless."
"What?!"
"I know, shocking!" Ryuko said with an eye roll. "But let's get these guy's headband and stay away from the blonde bomber. He's going to come after me or Izuku at the end, though I think we'll end up being safe with your quirk as a defense."
Ryuko shifted her gaze to straight ahead, as Shinso readied his next assault.
'That sounded like a first name. Perhaps my guess from the obstacle course was right,' Shinso internalized the information. Maybe it wasn't so bad that she wasn't a blind dummy. The time dipped under two minutes now as they'd made it across the field toward Team Tetsutetsu.
"We're taking those points now!" Shinso taunted as he heard an explosion and yelping in the background while another larger group of students screamed as well elsewhere.
"As if-"
"Foolish child-"
"Oh yeah?"
"Try us!"
All four of the targets fell for it. Without hesitation, Shinso grabbed the headband off Tetsutetsu and they all made a clean getaway.
"That went pretty smoothly," Shinso commented.
"Huh? What happened?"
Much to Shinso's surprise and to Matoi's delight, Ojiro snapped out of the trance after bumping into one of the other team's horses they just got past.
"Don't answer anything Shinso-"
"If I did that thing again, I know what'd happen to me. He's free to talk," Shinso said, cutting off Ryuko's sentence before she would reveal everything to him. Ojiro tried to wrap his brain around what he'd been doing for the last little while.
"Right now, let's just focus on making sure we stay in the top four," Shinso ordered.
"Fine."
'He's right. No time to throw him under the bus. We have less than two minutes left before the game ends.' Ryuko sneered.
Getting away from the remaining teams, they settled for a minute and waited out the clock. With Bakugo finished with his prior victims, he was blazing full steam ahead for Izuku.
"That good for nothing piece of trash and icy bastard are done for! DAMN DEKU AND ICY HOT!" He roared as the game was less than 50 seconds from concluding.
"Looks like I was right. He's going after Izuku," Matoi hated being spot on with her earlier guess. She'd have rather given the blonde another punch to move up to 4-0 on him.
"Better for us. We're advancing with all these," Shinso held out the headbands, with hundreds of points in his grasp. Ojiro grunted, a little unnerved by all that happened.
"No."
Both Shinso and Ojiro looked at Matoi and saw she wasn't exactly enthused either.
"There's still time left. We're going to win this."
"Don't be stupid. We have just enough points to advance-"
"I DON'T CARE! I told my friend that I wanted a chance to beat him and win! I'm not going to let my promise end up empty after getting sidelined by some jerk that held me on a leash! And I know that these guys want the same thing!"
Mashirao inwardly gasped from the passion Ryuko exerted. His brows narrowed the more he took in of what he heard. She was right. He did want to win this. Or by all means, have a fair shot at it.
"She's right," Ojiro spoke up.
"What?" Shinso tensed up.
"We're done being your puppets. Either you do what we want, or we'll take away your chance to advance just like you did ours."
The tables had taken a sharp turn with both of the Ivory mastermind's victims turning against him with foreboding glares that made him shudder. And it was all thanks to Ryuko Matoi. Just who the hell was this girl?
"Fine. But you better hope we can come up with a plan quickly."
"As far as I know, everyone's going to be gunning for Izuku because of his ten million. We just need an opening."
"TEAM TODOROKI HAS JUST SCORED THE TEN MILLION POINTS!"
"I think that might be it," Ojiro pointed out.
"Well, let's get the fourth member of this "team" in on the plan," Ryuko stated with a smirk, bumping her elbow into Shoda's back with just enough force to get him out of the brainwashing.
"Huh?! What's happening?" Shoda asked, unsure what the hell he woke up to.
"Sorry pal, introductions later. There's not much time left in the Cavalry Battle and we'll need your help to win this damn thing."
..~~~HLK~~~..
-80 seconds earlier, 2:10 remaining-
"VEER LEFT!" Izuku shouted to his teammates as Todoroki unleashed a torrent of ice toward his group.
Thinking fast, Jirou tried to swing her jacks towards Todoroki in hopes to disorient him.
"Yaoyorozu, I need a shield!" Todoroki ordered his teammate, with Momo summoning said shield and deflecting the purplette's oncoming attacks.
'This isn't good. Todoroki's team is made up of the classes best in terms of power. Kaminari is good with long range, Iida with his speed, Yaoyarozu has her creation as an awesome offense and defense, and Todoroki makes up their entire power in close AND long range.' Midoriya thought, trying to find a means of combating what he believed to be an impossible fight.
'Todoroki already stole a bunch of other team's headbands, but he's still going after me. Just how much does he have it out for me?!'
Team Midoriya practically had their backs against the edge of the field's bounds while their front was currently blocked off by the half-n-half student's ice wall. They didn't have much of an option in means of escape without direct confrontation.
"So, does anybody have any ideas? 'Cuz that's all I've got without my gear!" Jirou exclaimed, hoping someone (specifically Midoriya) had a plan to stop Todoroki's team from taking them out.
"I could try throwing some debris, but I'm kinda tapped out already." Uraraka said, somewhat lamenting on her lack of usefulness.
"Kaminari's lightning is too much for Dark Shadow to handle, so going on the offensive won't be too good for us," Tokoyami also grimaced over his predicament.
"We've reached the two minute warning! This is only getting more intense by the second!" Present Mic called out.
"Wait, Uraraka. How much weight can you still float with your quirk?" Midoriya asked, an idea forming at the last minute.
"Oh! Uh…probably like the size of a heavy table. Why?"
"Here's what I need you to do…"
Todoroki looked toward his goal, just meer feet away from his reach.
'This was over before that last announcement sounded, Midoriya. I hope you enjoyed your first victory…'
Todoroki prepared his right arm to unleash another wave of ice.
'Cuz it'll be the last one you have today.'
Todoroki lowered his hand, about to encase his opponents in ice-
*CRACKABANG*
A sudden, sharp pain shot through Shoto's arm, causing him to misfire and instead go off to the left and freeze up Iida's legs while inadvertently knocking a nearby team off balance.
"WHOAAAAAAA! TEAM TODOROKI'S HORSE JUST WENT OVERBOARD!"
Looking toward the source of the assault, everyone in Todoroki's group looked around to see what happened.
Their eyes settled on Midoriya, with his arm extended in a flicking motion and a small pile of rocks floating beside his hand.
Izuku looked back at his flabbergasted opponents, dawning a slightly wicked smile.
"LOOKS LIKE TEAM MIDORIYA'S RIDER TOOK MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS! IS THAT LEGAL?"
"Who knows? He probably didn't know that Todoroki would accidentally freeze his teammates! I'll allow it!" Midnight approved.
"Wow… I'm surprised that actually worked. Thank you for your help, Uraraka!" Izuku complimented the gravity girl, who smiled back while flashing a thumbs up.
Now that they finally had a moment to breath, team Midoriya wasted no time and scurried off to maintain the much preferred distance they had from team Todoroki.
"Damn it. I'm sorry Iida," Todoroki apologized as he reached down and began thawing off the ice that encased his teammates.
"You don't need to apologize, Todoroki. In fact, you might have given me an advantage that could really help us," Iida consoled his classmate with a smile.
Izuku did a quick rain check on the entire field to see if there were still groups of students chasing after him and his ten million. He let out a sigh of relief as he was pleasantly surprised. They were in the clear!
"Good. Looks like everyone is fighting amongst themselves instead of just chasing us. And I might have found a way to keep Todoroki and Iida at bay for now. Everyone, I think we're going to be okay!"
Not a second later, a certain sound of a jet engine that was all too familiar began ringing in his ears.
"TORQUE OVER-!"
"SHIT! WATCH OUT-"
Even when being able to turn around to face the danger that shot towards him head on, Izuku couldn't react in time.
"RECIPROBURST!"
He suddenly felt the light breeze of the wind graze his forehead. It stung like ice thanks to the heat he generated from his intense sweating, which could only mean one thing.
"TEAM TODOROKI HAS JUST SCORED THEMSELVES THE TEN MILLION POINTS!"
Iida forcibly stopped in his tracks once his engines had finally begun to stall. He exuded deep breaths as that move took quite a bit to pull off. But a smile still grew on his face.
"I told you, Midoriya…that I'd do my best to beat you."
'He completely blindsided me. Even with the 5% boost, I still couldn't stop him.'
His team was in deep trouble, but even that didn't stop Izuku from acknowledging his friend's abilities and ambition.
'Iida. You really are amazing!'
"Everyone! After them!" Izuku shouted. He may be happy for his friend, but this was still a competition that he intended to win.
"But Kaminari's still a major problem for us! We should go for the other-" Tokoyami tried to protest.
"It's all or nothing! For all we know, he's the only chance we have to get the points back! We have to take it!"
"Let's get those points then!" Uraraka initiated as she began to march forward, everyone else following suit.
"Don't worry, Deku! I know we can get those points back!" The brunette encouraged.
Izuku's lips began to extend into a fierce grin as he once again felt the very rush that clouded him at the beginning of this battle. This time, he was determined to take back what Todoroki had stolen.
"Todoroki! We've got company!" Yaoyorozu called out, which shifted the boy's focus towards the approaching greenette. What he ended up seeing would shake him down to the bone.
Izuku's arm began glowing, but it was not the same green voltage that he saw at the race. It was the same one that he used when he dealt the punch that destroyed the entire roof of the gamma building in the Battle Trial.
Upon instinct, Todoroki had done something that nobody would have expected. He raised his left arm, and soon fire began to surface. The world slowed down as Izuku quickly swung his arm through the air, his strength and quirk creating a strong force that directed Todoroki's arm away. He was now completely open.
"TWIN IMPACT… FIRE!"
-CRASH!-
A large chunk of the ice wall exploded, catching both teams off guard as team Shinso had appeared on the scene.
'Ryuko?!' Izuku gasped as he caught her in the corner of his eye.
"SHINSO! NOW!" Ryuko shouted.
The boy reached his hand forward as he closed in on Todoroki from behind. And before anyone knew it, a headband came right off of Todoroki's neck. As the world was still in a slowed down daze, Izuku saw something that made his eyes widen.
The band's folds in the wind began to unravel and sway in Shinso's hand, revealing what appeared to be the grand prize: The ten million points.
"YOU BASTAAAAARRRDS!" Bakugo soon blasted onto the scene, adding onto the already overwhelming dogpile of teams duking it out in such an enclosed space.
Iida's engines began to sputter, recovering quicker than usual thanks to Todoroki freezing them prior.
There were now three teams Izuku had on his plate; Todoroki right in front of him, Kacchan prowling in the air, and Ryuko making off with some of Todoroki's points. His team had zero. And now there were only 11 seconds left. He had to act fast.
With his quick thinking, he saw that Shinso had quite a few headbands wrapped around his neck, the formation of the bandeaus being high enough to resemble Aizawa's scarf. Todoroki on the other hand, had three. There was only one option now.
'We're all in this together. I'm not the only one that wants to win. There's only one thing I can do now.'
The greenette turned his attention away from Todoroki at the very last moment, moving his body over so that he could reach for Shinso.
'I might not get first place this time, but I'm not going to let my team down when they've entrusted everything to me!'
Shinso suddenly felt something pull on all of the headbands on his neck. His team turned around to see that Izuku had grabbed ahold of all of their points except the one possessed in their rider's hand.
"Shit!" Shinso exclaimed as Izuku began pulling them off all at once.
As the freckled student secured his bounty, he stole one more look to have a full view of Ryuko. The two shared a glance for just mere seconds, but the girl was able to fully see the smile that began to form on Izuku's face.
"TIME'S UP!"
Everyone had completely halted while Bakugo landed smack dab into the pavement.
"LET'S SEE WHICH OF THE TOP FOUR WILL BE ADVANCING!"
Everyone in the fields braced themselves for what they were about to hear. Izuku looked down at the bands he held and tightened his grip.
"IN FIRST PLACE, TEAM SHINSO! HOLY COW! A STUDENT FROM THE GENERAL STUDIES TAKING THE WIN? INCREDIBLE!"
Shinso climbed down from his horse and began taking in the praise that he was receiving. He actually won. A joyful grin grew on his face before he was smacked in the back of the head by Matoi.
"So, did'ya achieve what your heart longed for?"
"Not yet. But this is a nice start," Shinso chuckled.
"SECOND PLACE, TEAM MIDORIYA! THIRD PLACE, TEAM TODOROKI! AND FINALLY, FOURTH! TEAM BAKUGO!"
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Screamed the said team leader as he struggled to accept that his main rivals had completely sidelined him in the top three. AGAIN!
"Heh! SUCKS TO SUCK, HUH?!" Ryuko hollered with both of her hands cupping her face as she started laughing hysterically.
Bakugo began punching towards the pavement while burying his face into it with muffled screams.
"Sheesh… She's really got it out for you, huh?" Kirishima lamented.
"Ryuko!" Izuku called out, which grabbed the girl's attention immediately.
"Izuku?"
"That was so amazing! You won!"
Before she could blush from the compliment, Ryuko was met with the boy's embrace. Her world suddenly stopped. The warmth she felt in her chest came back in a burst of flames.
Why was she feeling this way?
The hug was nice and all, but her thoughts were interrupted by one, singular fact.
'FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK, why is his chest as hard as a rock? Like I knew he trained, but JESUS this is more than I imagined.'
'Oh shit, Mako was right.'
To Be Continued…
Buckichamp A/N: Thank you all for your concern in the reviews. We're glad to be back and doing a lot better than before. We won't go into details or who was dealing with what, but we'll say that none of us was ill or deathly ill. There was, as we said, something personal that happened that stalled our progress and we needed to take a break from the regular uploads. Out of respect for whichever one of us it applies to, we will not comment any further on that.
We're going to clarify one thing from the last chapter that we saw in one of the reviews. Ryuko wasn't using Senketsu Shippu on the obstacle course. It was more her using the exhaust vent and her augmented abilities to rocket through the course.
Does anyone want to dive into the splitting up of Matoi and Midoriya?
No? Okay. When we decided the teams for this chapter, we immediately split them up. We knew things would've been so dull if we had Matoi on Team Midoriya. It was interesting to bring Jiro into the fold. I know Aduubo has a note on our earphone jack girl.
Aduubo A/N: About Jiro being able to disrupt Hananuki's quirk with vibrations, I wasn't 100% on the physics lol I was basing it off of the Flash vibrating through solid objects as a whole. So please be merciful if I'm wrong on that. Also, you could bring up other examples too like Sandman being rendered helpless by Shocker's glove, or Clayface being beaten by electricity.
Buckichamp A/N: As for Aoyama… It was pure coincidence when stuff happened, we were doing this. If you know, you know. SAY NOTHING ABOUT THIS PART IN THE REVIEWS OR ELSE ADUUBO WIELDS THE BANHAMMER(™)!
Just wait until you see what we have prepared for the next two chapters! Oh boy! There's… a lot to unpack.