As soon as Midnight announced the beginning of their time to pick teams, Hitoshi immediately

went to find Midoriya.

Not that it was hard to find Midoriya. All he had to do was follow the eyes of roughly every other student. When the point value for the first place winner of the obstacle race had been announced it seemed like the every contestant had turned to look at a place near the front. As various people began to break off into groups, Hitoshi shouldered his way through the crowd to where Midoriya and Hatsume had already met up.

"Well green bean," Hatsume said, punching Midoriya lightly on the arm, "you definitely did it. You blasted your way into the limelight, which means teaming up with you will shine a big spotlight on all my cute little babies!"

Midoriya chuckled nervously. "I'm happy to help, your boots really got me through round one," he said, then looked eagerly down at the trunk full of inventions she had somehow had time to drag onto the field. "Did you finish the invention you were telling us about?"

"Sure did!" Hatsume said, flipping the lid open and to reveal a neatly organized assembly of various pieces of gadgetry.

"Nice," said Hitoshi, making Midoriya jump and whirl around. When he saw it was Hitoshi though he breathed a sigh of relief, and gave Hitoshi a cheerful if slightly weary smile.

"I based this on a certain hero's backpack," Hatsume said, holding up a shiny metal construction that looked for all the world like two small rockets welded together. "Though of course I added my own twist!"

"I recognize that!" Midoriya blurted excitedly. "Air Jet, the Buster Hero, has one of those!"

Hatsume laughed, and for a few seconds the two of them continued to nerd out over the hero and the support item respectively. It was cute watching his two friends gush about something they loved, even if he could barely follow what they were saying. He looked off to one side as he waited for them to finish, noticing Kirishima gesturing between Bakugou and two other students who were looking at him dubiously, obviously trying to convince the three of them to make a team. Hitoshi wished him luck with that. Eventually he turned his attention back to his own team and cleared his throat loudly.

"Oh, right!" Midoriya snapped to attention, having been recalled to his current situation. "We have to make a decision about you Shinchan!"

"What are you thinking Mido?" Hitoshi asked. "Is it better if I team up with you and Hatsume, or should I find my own team?"

Midoriya shifted anxiously. "Its your choice in the end," he said, "I think you could do well on our team, but we will get a lot of the spotlight and it might be better for you to keep your quirk under wraps a little longer. It all depends on whether you think you can get a response out of people in the tournament round even if they've seen your quirk in action. Either way, Hatsume and I will make sure you end up with the winning headband, and we'll come up with another strategy to make sure we get through."

Hitoshi considered this. The whole point of winning the festival was to be in the spotlight, to show off for the teachers, and he certainly did want to show off. He'd end up the winner of the cavalry battle no matter what he did, Midoriya would make sure of that, but he wanted the chance to show what his quirk could do. Even if he kept it a secret until the tournament round he wouldn't be able to hide it all the way up to the final; the first three fights were bound to give it away somehow. He also, and he knew this wasn't particularly rational, wanted to help Midoriya. He wanted them to team up, so that everyone would know they were in this together.

Still, there was the small hiccup that in all honesty, he didn't really know how far he could push his quirk safely. He'd never used it over and over like he would have to do today, and anything that made him use it in a way he never had before was a gamble. He knew he could hold onto a person he'd brainwashed for a long time, even if they were fighting. Maybe it was better to just make his own team and-

"Hey Midoriya!" came a loud, cheerful voice from off to Hitoshi's right. Midoriya turned toward the sound with a smile, but it made Hitoshi grind his teeth.

"Uraraka!" Midoriya said happily as the hero course girl walked up to their group. "Have you found a team yet?"

"Actually, I was wondering if I could join yours," Uraraka said, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "I just think its a better idea to team up with our friends, you know?"

"Exactly!" Midoriya agreed. "You communicate better with people you know well, so it's easier to work together! And you'd fit into our strategy really well!"

That clinched it, Hitoshi decided. He was going to make his own team. There was no way he was going to listen to Midoriya and Uraraka be so enthusiastic at each other for a whole fifteen minutes.

"Great!" Uraraka said with a thumbs up. "So, who else-"

"Midoriya," came another, unfamiliar voice, off to Hitoshi's left this time.

Hitoshi turned, to see the boy with the two-toned hair he'd caught staring at Midoriya on the day of the USJ attack. That certainly hadn't been the only time Hitoshi had caught him staring, though he supposed that during training that centered on Midoriya was a bit more justified. Still, he hadn't exactly joined in to help with Midoriya's training, which made his constant staring more creepy than not. The scar over his eye had been more prominent in the flourescent lights of the gym than the dim twilight of UA's front steps, and it stood out starkly now in the bright sunlight as he approached, eyes fixed on Midoriya.

"Todoroki!" Midoriya said in surprise as the boy came to stand before him.

The boy -- Todoroki -- looked only at Midoriya, angling his body to cut Hitoshi, Hatsume and Uraraka out of the conversation, as though deliberately dismissing them. Again Hitoshi had to bite back a protest. Midoriya would probably benefit from his attention, in a challenge like this. He

would need more people for his team, if Hitoshi was going to make his own. If they were people who wanted to team up with Midoriya so much the better, it would make it easier for them to stomach handing off the win to Hitoshi's team.

"I'm glad I was able to help you in the obstacle race," Todoroki began flatly.

Immediately Hitoshi went breathless with rage. Midoriya's strategy had been a stroke of genius, turning obstacles into advantages and outthinking all his opponents. How dare Todoroki, who'd only faced every challenge head on like a bull in a china shop, attribute Midoriya's success to himself? Hitoshi's only comfort was that Midoriya also bristled, looking at Todoroki with indignation.

"You didn't help me," he said firmly. "We didn't make a plan. I took a chance and it panned out, just because I used your move against you doesn't mean I relied on you."

"Still," Todoroki said, dipping his head slightly in a gesture Hitoshi couldn't parse out, "if I did something that benefited you-"

"It wasn't your intention," Midoriya cut him off, with a tone of finality Hitoshi found very satisfying.

Todoroki hesitated, then apparently decided to come at the problem from another angle. "If intention is so important, then let's make a plan now," he said. "We should team up, I'll be your frontrunner and we can use your strategy to hold onto the ten millions points until the end of the cavalry battle."

Midoriya blinked at Todoroki in surprise, then suddenly his face fell. Hitoshi knew what he was thinking; obviously it was a good idea to team up with the most powerful student in class, taking one of his biggest competitors off his list of problems and turning them into an advantage. It was a very Midoriya thing to do. Still, he clearly didn't want to do it.

"Sorry," said Hitoshi before Midoriya could speak, "I'm the frontrunner for Mido's team."

Todoroki turned to look at Hitoshi in obvious surprise, as though he honestly hadn't realized he was there until just now. Hitoshi didn't so much smile as bare his teeth, stretching his lips wide in a display of aggression he barely bothered to pass off as civility.

"Shinchan," Midoriya said softly, drawing Hitoshi's attention onto him. He looked at Hitoshi with big eyes full of uncertainty. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Hitoshi said, and with that he moved to stand between Todoroki and Midoriya, shielding him and Hatsume and even Uraraka from Todoroki's advance. "We already have a team, so find your own."

Todoroki peered around Hitoshi to look at Midoriya, as though expecting him to contradict Hitoshi's claims. Hitoshi glanced over his shoulder, to see Midoriya meeting Todoroki's eye with a smile that looked completely false.

"You'd be better as a rider anyway Todoroki," Midoriya said, with feigned courtesy. "Your point value's high enough to take a team to the third round, if you pick your teammates carefully. Because I promise you-"

Midoriya's face lost its veneer of politeness and he stared at Todoroki with piercing eyes. "-you won't be able to touch us."

Todoroki looked at Midoriya for a long moment. His eyes were narrowed slightly, but other than that he gave no outward sign of his emotions. Then finally he turned, and with no words or change of expression to mark the end of the conversation, walked away into the crowd.

"Well," said Hatsume, to no one in particular, "that was dramatic."

"I don't think I've ever heard Todoroki talk that much," Uraraka concurred.

"There's no time for that," Midoriya said, turning to Hatsume with a determined expression. "Show me how your support item works."

By the time Midoriya had a good understanding of the workings of Hatsume's jetpack the fifteen minutes were up. Midnight called for the teams to take their places, and the four of them got into position at the edge of the field. With Hitoshi in front, Hatsume on the right and Uraraka on the left, they hefted Midoriya up and supported him between them. Uraraka got the boots that controlled their direction, and they all made sure they could keep a good grip on each other while they were in the air.

"Let's get this party started!" Present Mic called from the announcer box, sounding entirely too excited in Hitoshi's opinion. "One final countdown before the game starts!"

"You ready?" Hitoshi asked of his group.

"Three!"

"Yep!" Hatsume said cheerfully.

"Two!"

"All set!" Uraraka replied.

"One!"

"Let's do it Shinchan," said Midoriya.

"Begin!" called Midnight, and the game was on.

Immediately what seemed like every team made a beeline for them. Hitoshi looked around at all the teams, trying to gauge who they were up against. He had a pretty good idea of what class 1A could do, but class 1B was still a mystery, and they were also among the pursuers. With everyone rushing Hitoshi's team at once though, they would have to avoid getting cornered.

"Time to-" Hitoshi began, but before he could finished one of the class 1B teams was sending out a wave of darkened ground toward them. Hitoshi couldn't fathom what it was until it reached them, and he and the girls began sinking into the field.

"Uraraka! Hatsume! Watch your faces!" Midoriya ordered, and hit the button to activate the jetpack.

Immediately Hitoshi heard the roar of the rockets, and then he was being pulled from their sinkhole and into the air. As the ground fell away beneath them Hitoshi tried not to look down at the other teams. Even if the others lost their grip, Uraraka's quirk would stop him from falling. The weightlessness was a little disconcerting, and it made them go rather faster than he'd expected as they sailed over the other teams toward the other end of the field.

"Damn support course!" he heard someone below them yelling, but he payed no attention. He paid more attention to someone else shouting, "Jirou, now!"

His eyes snapped to the source of the voice, to find one team that at first glance didn't seem to have a rider. Then he noticed a pair of floating pants seating on the shoulders of the horses. Hagakure, who had taken off her top to disguise her movements. The team also contained the girl with the headphone jacks in her ears, which were currently streaking toward their position in the air.

"Are you topless?" Hitoshi called down to them, casting out the net of his mind over their group. "It's good stra-" Hagakure began indignantly, then fell silent as the line of his control pulled taut.

"Stop her!" Hitoshi ordered, and Jirou made a strangled noise as both her headphone jacks were abruptly jerked backwards, stopping them from reaching Midoriya and allowing their team to pass over the opposition unmolested.

"Good work Shinchan!" Midoriya said as Hitoshi dropped his control once they were out of range. "You're really good with your quirk, even though you don't have a lot of experience!"

The genuine awe in Midoriya voice made Hitoshi's insides curl up in simultaneous denial and delight, so his response was a little more self deprecating than it might have been.

"The low hanging fruit isn't hard to reach for," he said. "She made it too easy."

"We're landing!" called Uraraka, and they came down well beyond the most immediate threats, but still with plenty of room to run.

"What do you think of my babies?" Hatsume asked as they tried to put a little more distance between themselves and the other teams. "Aren't they just precious! Cuteness can be manufactured you know!"

"Excellent mobility!" Midoriya spoke happily down to her. "Your babies are amazing Hatsume!" Hitoshi noted with some satisfaction that he had nothing to say about Uraraka.

"Watch those headbands!" Present Mic shouted over the roar of the crowd. "You can even ignore the ten million points and go after the other chart toppers!"

Hitoshi would have to be blind, deaf and stupid to not notice that Present Mic had a soft spot for Midoriya. He counted the teams heading for their position, and noted that it wasn't 100% of the competition. Some of those that hung back might be faking them out of course, but he wondered if Mic might be trying to protect his favorite student, and if it might be working.

The sound of cackling off to one side drew Hitoshi's attention, to see a class 1A boy he remembered as being rather quiet running towards them. He didn't seem to have any other horses with him, but he had created a little sheltered space on his back with his quirk. Hitoshi glanced to their other side, to see one of the class 1B teams heading for them from the opposite direction.

"We can't get boxed in!" he shouted up to Midoriya. "We need to get in the air again!"

Before Midoriya could press the button that would activate the jet pack, Uraraka made a distressed noise.

"Is something wrong?" Midoriya asked, holding off their escape to check in with her.

"Yeah," Uraraka said. "I'm stuck!"

As Midoriya looked around frantically for the source of the attack, Hitoshi felt Hatsume shift to knock her elbow against Uraraka.

"Just pull!" she instructed hurriedly. "My baby can take it!"

Uraraka gave a noise of effort, tugging at her foot, and out of the corner of his eye Hitoshi watched the boot come away undamaged.

"It didn't break!" Uraraka exclaimed in delight. "I'm free!"

Midoriya, who was dodging a long pink tongue with an impressive display of athleticism, righted himself and hit the button again. With another loud noise from the rockets they were in the air, soaring straight up this time to get as much elevation as possible from the enemy's projectile attacks.

"Nice work Hatsume!" Midoriya shouted. "You really built these things to last!"

"You told me to perfect it," Hatsume reminded him, "so I made sure it was ready for prime time!"

The sound of another blast reached Hitoshi's ears, but this time it came not from the rockets, but from somewhere below them. He looked down, to see Bakugou propelling himself toward them with his quirk, explosion after explosion detonating from his palms to drive him higher and higher. And closer and closer to Hitoshi's team.

Hitoshi didn't think he could catch Bakugou again, not after his display in class, so instead he looked to the teams on the ground for something useful. The guy with the bird head was a rider, on the shoulders of a few of his classmates including the one with the tail, but Hitoshi didn't worry about the horses.

"Hey bird brain!" he shouted, casting out his mind again.

"Hey!" protested not Tokoyami, but instead the strange entity that lived in his shadow.

This was apparently enough, and Hitoshi felt his control catch on someone's mind, even if he wasn't sure whose.

"Defend us!" he ordered.

Dark Shadow immediately sprang forward. As Bakugou reached them, a roar of rage on his lips and his hand reached out for Midoriya, the shadowy creature placed itself between Hitoshi's team and their pursuer. An explosion rang out, but it wasn't enough to penetrate the darkness, and Bakugou fell back towards the ground. He was immediately snagged by one of his teammates and returned to his position as a rider.

As they landed again Hitoshi let go of whoever he had caught, and Dark Shadow immediately retreated to hide behind Tokoyami, apparently frightened by its experience. Hitoshi wasn't sure if it was scared of the hit it had taken or of being controlled, but it didn't seem inclined to retaliate.

Present Mic announced the halfway point of the cavalry battle and directed the crowd's attention to the screens, where a leaderboard was displayed. Hitoshi wasn't paying much mind, but the sudden silence of the crowd gave him pause. He glanced up at Midoriya, to see the ten million point headband still in place. Whatever was going on, it had nothing to do with them.

"Everyone don't worry, I think we're ok," Midoriya said, apparently having noticed something Hitoshi had not.

Hitoshi opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak he suddenly found his way forward blocked. He skidded to a stop, Hatsume and Uraraka running into his back and Midoriya wavering dangerously atop them, and then looked up to take in their opposition.

It was team Todoroki.

Just like Midoriya had suggested, Todoroki had positioned himself as rider. In front he had Iida, the speedster in the glasses. On his right he had Yaoyorozu, the Class President who'd pulled a canon out of her stomach, and on his left was Kaminari, the loud blond with the electricity quirk.

Midoriya let out a long breath. "I thought we had it made," he said. "Guess I was wrong." "I'll be taking that now," Todoroki said, eyes narrowed, voice low.

There was a moment of tense silence. Then Midoriya said, "Don't think so!" in such a saccharine tone of voice that Hitoshi had to smile, and they were in the air again.

As they flew over team Todoroki, Hitoshi turned his attention from the way the rider's mismatched eyes followed them and focused on the others. Yaoyorozu and Kaminari both had roller skates so Iida could drag them behind him unhindered, and where Kaminari's hand touched Iida's shoulder there was a pad of insulation. They had thought this through. Hitoshi's team landed on the opposite end of the field, well away from Todoroki's team, but now everyone on the field between them was heading their way. Todoroki's team, however, were staying in place. They hadn't even turned around.

"What's Todoroki doing?" Hitoshi asked in annoyance.

"He's being smart," Midoriya answered from above him, sounding grim. "Our moves have become predictable, and he's built a strategy around them."

"I don't see how not moving is a strategy," Hitoshi protested, not taking his eyes off team Todoroki. Midoriya would take to the air when they needed to.

"We've basically been hopping from one end of the field to the other," Midoriya explained, "forcing our opponents to change direction and pursue us back and forth. If Todoroki's team just stay where they are, then when we take off again we'll have no safe place to land."

Hitoshi growled to himself as he realized Midoriya was right. The next time they cleared the field to escape pursuit, they'd put themselves right back in Todoroki's sights. Damn it.

"How much time do we have left?" Midoriya asked urgently.

"A little less than five minutes," Uraraka reported. "By the time to other teams get close, it'll be a little more than four."

"Hatsume," Midoriya called, "how long can this thing keep us in the air continuously?"

"I didn't have a lot of time to test it on longer flights," Hatsume admitted. "Carrying this much weight, I'd say about two and a half minutes to be on the safe side."

"I can make myself float too!" Uraraka offered, but she already sounded woozy.

"You're too tired already," Midoriya told her, "and that drains your energy big time. The last thing we need is to fall from that height, so let's stay in the air two minutes before we come down."

"That leaves us two minutes dealing with Todoroki," Hitoshi concluded.

"Shinchan," Midoriya turned his attention to Hitoshi, "do you think you can distract them long enough for the jetpack to cool down for another hop?"

Though Midoriya couldn't see it, Hitoshi gave a savage grin. "Count on me."

Once the other teams started getting close they took to the sky again, this time getting to the middle of the field and hovering in the air. The weird tiny kid and the frog girl tried to get at them, but they were too high in the air. Dark Shadow kept its distance, and Tokoyami seemed content to let it. He already had a handful of headbands, and looked to be in good shape. Everyone else was focused on their team.

When Mic announced the two minute mark, they came back down. The other teams seemed to have gotten wise to their strategy and spread themselves out, so there was nowhere that was really devoid of danger. Everyone was giving team Todoroki a wide berth though, so Uraraka aimed their descent for the relative shelter of Todoroki's shadow.

"Watch our surroundings," Midoriya warned as they approached the ground. "The others will be coming for us too, we have to-"

Then team Todoroki made their move.

As soon as the airborne team's landing was imminent, Yaoyorozu shot something out from her side, a jointed leg like a spider that dug into the ground. At the same time Todoroki yanked something out of her stomach, a thick sheet of something that resembled the insulation pad on Iida's shoulder. Kaminari shouted something that was lost in the crackle of electricity, and a branching path of lightning spread out over the field. Hitoshi's team was still too high to be affected, but every other team was caught in the electric storm. It only lasted for a second, but it was enough to shock everyone on the field to a standstill.

"Ha!" Hatsume crowed as they touched down, a scant heartbeat after the electricity faded. "You won't catch us that-"

Ice swept over the field, spreading out from Yaoyorozu's spider leg and creeping almost as fast as the lightning. Before anyone had time to move suddenly they were all stuck, frozen in place with team Todoroki standing on the only patch of bare ground. Hitoshi felt the cold in his feet, and looked down to see that they were encased in a thick layer of ice. He couldn't move.

They were stuck. And they were facing the wrong way.

"Can we take off again?" Midoriya demanded immediately. As Hitoshi craned back to look over his shoulder he saw all his teammates behind him doing the same.

"Cold makes metal brittle!" Hatsume whined. "If we try to take off now the boots will break and we'll go spinning off into the sky!"

Midoriya turned back around to look at Hitoshi.

"Then it's all you Shinchan!" he cried. "If you catch Iida you'll paralyze them too, and you'll only have to hold him for a minute and a half!"

Hitoshi twisted, trying to angle his body as much as he could toward the opposition. The speedster was coming, the other two rolling along behind him and Todoroki perched up top. He had to think. What would make Iida respond? The old 'four-eyes' taunt might do it, but given how Iida was built, he doubted that would hit a sore spot. He probably hadn't been made fun of in middle school.

Think! he commanded himself. Midoriya chose you over Todoroki! Don't prove him wrong!

Iida wasn't lacking in confidence, but he was uptight. He took pride in being a Class Rep, and he'd wanted the distribution of resources for the exam match to be as fair as possible. He wanted things to be fair.

Of course, Hitoshi thought, and grinned.

"Iida!" he called over the roar of the crowd, and the speedster's engines. "Class President!" "Hey!" Yaoyorozu shouted, and was immediately caught.

"I'm not the Class President!" Iida objected in horror, and was also immediately caught. "Stand still!" Hitoshi ordered.

Iida stopped short, eyes vacant and staring straight ahead. Todoroki called his name but Hitoshi knew he couldn't hear. He could only hear the voice of the person who had control of his mind, and that wasn't Todoroki. Hitoshi glanced at the clock. Ninety seconds, starting now.

Todoroki quickly began to nudge and jostle Iida, eventually taking him by the shoulder and shaking him when he didn't respond. Normally a bump like that would snap someone out of Hitoshi's control, but that was only if he wasn't concentrating very hard. Now he was putting all his energy into keeping control of Iida, and it would take nothing less than pain, real pain, to pull him out. Todoroki likely didn't want to hurt a teammate, not with the game so close, so he continued his ineffectual taps. Sixty seconds.

Eventually Todoroki turned his attention to Yaoyorozu, giving her gentle little slaps on the cheek to try and wake her up. Hitoshi held fast, realizing it was lucky he'd caught her too: she could probably make something to grab at the headband even from far away. Present Mic was going crazy, all but begging team Todoroki to move, but his heart wasn't in it and Hitoshi could tell. Thirty seconds.

Todoroki gave up on his teammates and began reaching out himself, his fingers stretching toward Hitoshi's team but nowhere near enough to grab. He balled his right hand into a fist and then covered it in ice, growing a frozen spear from his arm to shoot toward them. Midoriya twisted and punched it sideways, causing it to break off from Todoroki's arm and fall to shatter on the frozen ground. Fifteen seconds.

Todoroki reached out with his left hand.

Fire erupted from his fingertips, a jet of flames licking through the air towards Midoriya. A gasp went up from the crowd, and Hitoshi watched as Midoriya turned and bent his head, presenting only his back to the flames. The fire hit him, but it was weak, curling away on impact and dispelling entirely before it even singed his uniform. Midoriya grasped his headband in both hands.

Three. Two.

One.

"Time's up!" Mic screeched.

Hitoshi looked up at Midoriya. He was still wearing the ten million point headband.

A deafening cheer went up from the crowd. Hitoshi looked back at Todoroki, to see him looking down at his left hand as though in confusion. Iida and Yaoyorozu both gasped as they were released, then turned to look at the timer in shock and horror. The other teams all looked up at the scoreboard in despair, to find that a good half of them had no points at all. Team Midoriya was in first place, followed by team Bakugou, team Todoroki, and team Tokoyami.

Suddenly something white was shoved into Hitoshi's field of vision, and he blinked a second before realizing Midoriya was waving the headband in his face. With a small chuckle he let go of Midoriya's foot with one hand and grabbed it, then let the others take Midoriya's weight as they let him back to the ground. Hitoshi was still frozen in place, but he thrust his fist up to the sky, displaying his prize for all to see.

They'd won.

He'd won.

Now everyone could see him.

"You did it Shinchan!" Midoriya said, slipping on the ice with his bare feet as he came around to look Hitoshi in the face.

Then suddenly Midoriya's face fell, his shining smile of triumph replaced with an expression of pure terror.

"What is it?" Hitoshi demanded, wondering if something had gone wrong. He was holding the headband! The leaderboard said they were in first place!

"Shinchan," Midoriya said quietly, "your nose."

Hitoshi lifted a hand and touched his nostril, wondering what on Earth Midoriya was talking about. His nose didn't hurt, his head didn't even hurt, he-

His fingers came away red.

Shit, he thought as he looked at the blood. That's not good.

Izuku had miscalculated.

He'd thought he knew what he was doing. He'd thought he had it all figured out. Everything was going so well, all his gambles had paid off, so it seemed only reasonable to keep taking chances. This risk had been higher than the others though, and he should have known. He should have known his luck would run out.

Now his winning streak had deserted him at exactly the worst time. He'd made the wrong call just when Shinsou needed him, and it might very well cost his friend the festival. That might mean Shinsou's last, best chance at the hero course gone, and from there that meant Shinsou wouldn't get to be a hero. He wouldn't be able to prove all the bullies wrong, to make something of himself

that they insisted he couldn't, to-

"You're mumbling Mido," Shinsou said, cutting into Izuku's thoughts as they carried their lunch trays across the cafeteria.

"Oh!" Izuku started in surprise, then bowed his head. "Sorry, Shinchan."

Shinsou sighed but didn't say any more. Normally they wouldn't be talking at all in the cafeteria, the influx of additional people making it even louder than normal, but Shinsou had obviously seen Izuku was spiraling. He was always protecting Izuku that way. After the cavalry battle Todoroki had tried to corner him, but Shinsou and Hatsume had taken him by both arms and marched him away. Shinsou was such a good friend, even after Izuku had let him down.

"You didn't let me down," Shinsou interrupted his thoughts again.

"Sorry," Izuku said on a reflex, and when Shinsou opened his mouth with an obstinate gleam in his eye he went on. "I really messed up though! You're always looking out for me, always wanting the best for me, and the one time I could repay you-"

"Huh!?" came a voice from somewhere ahead of them, loud enough to drown out Izuku's ramblings.

Izuku and Shinsou both looked over, to see Jirou tensed up like an angry cat as she glared down at Mineta. Beside her was Yaoyorozu, giving Mineta and Kaminari beside him a dubious look.

"That's odd," Yaoyorozu said in confusion. "This is the first I'm hearing about it. Are you sure?"

"You don't have to believe me if you wanna get in trouble," Mineta told her, turning away from Yaoyorozu as though indifferent to the conversation. This gave Izuku an unobstructed view of his face though, and his expression was far from innocent. "But this is coming straight from Aizawa- sensei."

Like hell it is, Izuku thought, and marched forward.

"What's coming from Aizawa-sensei?" Izuku asked, feigning ignorance as he approached their

group, Shinsou not far behind him.

"Apparently we have to wear cheer uniforms for the side games after lunch," Yaoyorozu said, but even as she said it she looked uncertain. "I don't remember hearing about it, but-"

"Don't you think Iida would have reminded you of a thing like that?" Izuku pointed out.

Yaoyorozu's eyes narrowed. "That's a good point," she said, turning back to Mineta. "Why are you reminding me?"

"I, uh," Mineta floundered, "just thought I'd be helpful you know? Sorry for wasting my time-" "That's sounds kinda suspect," Shinsou piped up. "You're not lying to these nice girls are you?"

"No!" Mineta protested at once, then suddenly his eyes went blank, his face slack and expressionless. Shinsou had brainwashed him.

"Tell the truth now," Shinsou ordered.

"I lied," Mineta admitted dully. "I just wanted to see the girls in skimpy clothes. Aizawa-sensei didn't say anything about the cheer uniforms."

"Pervert!" Jirou shouted, kicking Mineta hard enough to send him sprawling. This released Shinsou's quirk, and Mineta immediately whipped around to look at Shinsou and Izuku, crying theatrically.

"Seriously guys?!" he demanded. "C'mon man, can't you be a bro?!"

"Not to guys like you," Shinsou said in disgust.

"And you too, huh Kaminari?" Jirou said, rounding on the blond boy.

Kaminari held up both hands to ward her off. "I didn't know!" he insisted, smiling nervously. "Honest, it was all Mineta's idea!"

Jirou growled audibly, and Kaminari prudently turned tail and ran, giving a last little whimper of fear as he bolted. Izuku stared after him, making a mental note to keep an eye on him too. Then he turned back to Shinsou.

"Shinchan!" he said at once, a stab of fear piercing his heart. "Your nose is bleeding again!"

"Oh," Shinsou said, shifting his tray until he could hold it balanced on one arm and wiping his nose with his free hand. He looked at the blood as though surprised to see it, then quickly raised his hand to his face again.

"Here," Yaoyorozu sighed, offering Shinsou her arm. It was buzzing with familiar purple sparks, and a corner of fabric was peeking out of it.

"Uh," Shinsou reached out and grabbed the fabric, tugging a small white handkerchief out of Yaoyorozu's arm. "Thanks."

"Its fine," said Yaoyorozu stiffly, turning away a little bit. "Thanks for your help."

Shinsou pressed the cloth to his nose, then hesitated a moment. When Yaoyorozu turned to walk away though, he seemed to come to a decision.

"Wait," he called, and when she turned back he looked off to one side. "I also want to say . . . I'm sorry. For that last trick during the cavalry battle."

"It's fine," Yaoyorozu said, in a tone that suggested it was not at all fine. She held herself tall and prim for a second, then sighed and looked down dejectedly. "It's my own fault anyway. It was my pride that got me, in the end."

"I only meant to catch Iida," Shinsou confessed, making Yaoyorozu look up at him in surprise. "I knew he had a lot of respect for you, so I figured that putting him above you would make him defensive. He's not self-deprecating, at least not that I've seen. It wasn't the compliment to himself, but the insult to you that got him to respond."

Yaoyorozu blinked, then gave a small smile. "Thank you," she said. "And, uh, good luck out there."

"I'm gonna need it," Shinsou said dryly, wiping away the rest of the blood on his face and offering the handkerchief back to Yaoyorozu.

"Keep it," she said. "And make sure you go see Recovery Girl. She'll make you tired, but drowsiness is better than quirk exhaustion."

"Will do," Shinsou told her, and she turned and left, Jirou trailing along behind her.

"I did it again!" Izuku whined. "I made you use your quirk to help me! Now you're even more tired, and-"

"Hey!" Shinsou snapped, turning to him abruptly. "Don't talk like that about my friend, ok?"

Izuku opened his mouth to protest, then shut it tight. He didn't want to offend Shinsou any more.

"It's not your fault that I overused my quirk," Shinsou said firmly. "I was the one who didn't know casting out my mind over and over is more strenuous than holding onto someone who's fighting. If I had-"

"That's not your fault!" Izuku told him urgently. "You didn't know because you didn't have a chance to practice! I was the one who was more focused on beating Todoroki than on-"

"I wanted to beat Todoroki too," Shinsou replied, surprising Izuku with his vehemence. "It was me who made the decision to join your team for the cavalry battle, not you. Just like it was me who chose to help those girls. You're not responsible for everything that happens today, got it?"

Izuku paused to digest that statement. He supposed it was a little egotistical to think he could predict every curveball the festival would throw at them. He still felt like he should have seen this coming, but the reality was that he hadn't. The fact that Shinsou's quirk could be exhausted in such a way hadn't factored into his decision, so it wasn't like he'd known and made the choice to go forward anyway.

"Just keep thinking," Shinsou instructed him firmly. "Put that big brain of yours to work and figure out a new strategy. We'll do the best we can with what we've got. That's all we can do."

Izuku nodded. "Right."

Shinsou did go see Recovery Girl after they wolfed down their lunch. Hatsume joined them, after escaping from the enthusiastic congratulations of the entire support course. She was particularly excited the show off her inventions, and promised that if she was matched against Shinsou in the first round she'd throw it. She was only participating in the tournament to get noticed by support companies, so she had no reason to advance farther than she needed to for the purpose of displaying her gadgets. They made a quick plan as they ate, making sure that Shinsou would just run around falling into her traps, without needing to use his quirk. Izuku also promised to throw the match if he and Shinsou were pitted against each other.

"Should I pretend to get brainwashed?" Izuku wondered after taking a long drink from his water bottle to wash down the last of his food. "Would going through the motions make it too hard to not use your quirk on a reflex?"

"You could always pretend to be too scared to fight me and forfeit," Shinsou offered slyly.

"That's a great idea!" Izuku realized, mind racing through the possibilities. He felt much better prepared now.

As the sixteen finalists gathered on the field before side games began to draw lots for their opponents, Izuku was actually starting to feel hopeful. If their luck hadn't totally run out, Shinsou would be matched against Hatsume in the first round and Izuku in the second. That would get him through the first two rounds without using his quirk, giving him plenty of time to recovery. Todoroki and Kacchan might very well get matched against each other before either of them got to challenge Shinsou, and then one of them would take the other out of the running. Out of the other

contestants-

"Take a look at the bracket my dears!" Midnight shouted, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts. "These are your opponents!"

A tournament bracket appeared on the screen behind Midnight, with only the first tier of opponents filled in. Izuku immediately began searching for Shinsou's name. He was the third fight on the lineup, unfortunately against Ashido. Hatsume was up against Iida, and was nowhere near Shinsou, meaning there was no point in asking her to advance any farther than she had to. Then Izuku looked for his own name, wondering if he was close enough to fight Shinsou early on. It looked like he was the first match of the first bracket, up against . . .

"Uraraka!?"