After calming down from his victory, Arashi turns to watch the gate for those that come through behind him. A majority of those that follow are Hero students, but he sees Mei and one of the Gen-Ed kids get through in the top 42, which he hopes is within the cutoff point for advancement.
His prayers are answered, as it's announced that that is exactly the cutoff point. The gods must favor him. As the students all gather and the rules for the next event, a cavalry battle, are explained, Arashi begins formulating different plans for how this could go. When they're released to go form teams, Arashi beelines for someone unexpected.
The Gen-ed student who made it to the second round.
Walking up to him with a bright smile, he waves to the kid, "Hey, wanna team up?"
This startles the kid, "Wait, what? Did I hear that right? You want to team up with me? Do you even know who I am?"
Arashi nods, "Yep! Hitoshi Shinso, Quirk: Brainwashing. When I saw you make it to round two despite how disadvantaged you are compared to everyone else, I figured you must be doing something right and I'm betting on your skills to help us advance to round three."
Shinso eyes him up and down, suspicious, "You know what my Quirk is and still want to team up with me?"
Arashi nods, smile growing, "Yep!"
Shinso stares, dumbfounded, "Huh? Aren't you scared I might use it on you? That I might be a Villain in the making?"
Arashi shakes his head, "Why would I think that? You enrolled in a Hero school, and with how you're actually bothering to compete in the festival I'd say you want to be in the Hero Course, so I'd like to believe you want to do the right thing."
Shinso scowls, "But, my Qui-"
Arashi cuts Shinso off by grabbing his shoulders, "But nothing. A Quirk is what you make of it. Villains are not born, they are made. As long as you work your hardest, there is no doubt in my mind that you'll be in the Hero Course by the end of the year and making a name for yourself as someone who uses his power for the good of others."
Shinso looks at Arashi as if he were All Might himself, "I- wow, I… thank you."
Arashi beams at him while releasing his shoulders, "No problem! Now, let's get to scheming!"
Shinso holds up a hand, "Hang on, I've got a few questions first. First off, what can you do?"
Arashi smiles, "My Quirk is Electromagnetism, it lets me manipulate electricity and metal. Since I'm a support student they let me bring in my inventions too, so I've got some hard-light projectors and a plasma sword."
Shinso stares for a few seconds, "It's only been like a month since school started, how the hell did you make those in that time?"
"I actually made the hard-light projectors as part of my entrance exam, I just improved them when I got full access to the lab and materials. As for the sword, it wasn't that hard honestly, besides, it's still a prototype so there's still fine-tuning to be done. That's not even everything I made, it's just some of what I brought in."
Shinso raises an eyebrow, deciding to roll with how scarily efficient his new teammate is, "Some?"
Arashi nods, "I've got one last thing I brought, but I'm hoping to save it for the one-on-one event, though I'll use it if we're in a pinch."
Shinso nods, "Gotcha. One last thing, why come to me first instead of your girlfriend?"
Arashi raises an eyebrow while tilting his head to the side, "My what?"
"You know, your partner in chaos. The pink haired girl that you're on the same wavelength as, Mei Hatsume. You two are infamous to the point that we all know your names at the very least. Everyone assumed you two were dating."
Arashi looks confused, "We aren't though? We only met at the entrance exam, I don't think that's long enough to start dating. Why would people think we're together? That aside, we decided before the festival began that we wouldn't be working together, and that we should compete to see whose inventions do better."
Shinso politely decides not to mention the fact that they seem to have no concept of personal space around each other and that they've been seen in positions that most people had assumed were cuddling or PDA of some form.
He clears his throat, "Moving on, you wanted to scheme, right?"
The grin returns to Arashi's face, "Yep! I've got a nice one cooking up that should let us move on with just you and me."
As Arashi explains the plan, Shinso nods along, liking what he's hearing. Eventually, the timer runs down and the time for the actual event arrives. Arashi hoists Shinso onto his shoulders and grins in an almost feral excitement, anticipation causing a bit of static to buildup in his fingers.
As soon as the go is given, Arashi chooses to run to the side instead of towards Midoriya's team, advancing toward a team of Class-B students.
Shinso cups his hands around his mouth and shouts to the rider of that team, "Hey! Do you really think your class can outdo 1-A here?! The competition seems pretty harsh!"
The rider turns and begins to shout an objection, but they're already under Shinso's control. At Shinso's command, they toss over their headband and Arashi takes off as Shinso ties it on. When the team tries to give chase and throws attacks to slow them down, Arashi just blocks them with walls from his hard-light projectors.
That's what they do for the whole match. Run around, goad people into Shinso's Brainwashing to take their points, and run away. It's amazingly effective, and lands them in third place at the end, being one of the five teams to advance. The original plan was for four teams to advance, but since Shinso and Arashi had done it with only two people they needed another team to have enough participants for round three.
When the event is over, Arashi gives Shinso a high-five and invites him to come eat with him and Mei, which the lavender haired boy happily accepts.
A/N: Another chapter done, and another instance of Arashi making the Hero Course look like a bunch of idiots. Having Shinso as a friend will be great for him and Mei, because who wouldn't want a free client? Anyway, it's almost three in the morning as I write this, so I'll see you some other time. Bye!