Chapter 15: Can We Do "Where's Bakugo?" Kirishima asked unsurely, standing up in front of the other members of class A when Midoriya walked back in. Mr Aizawa locked the door behind him and disappeared, perhaps to go and get Kacchan himself.
"Um… not sure," Midoriya replied, "Why?"
"He's gone, isn't he?" Jiro interjected, not looking him in the eye. "Expelled."
Midoriya took off his shoes, "Principal Nezu asked me if I wanted him to be," he admitted. "But I said no, so, um, yeah – he's still here. Just not sure where."
"Wait, seriously?" Kirishima blinked in surprise, "Wow, thank you, man!"
"I thought he was a goner for sure," Kaminari gaped. "You guys were with the Principal for ages!"
"Err, yeah, um…" Midoriya began, "Yeah – Principal Nezu said some, um… interesting things."
"What about, ribbit?" Tsu questioned.
Midoriya walked over and sat down next to her, "He made a deal with me."
"That sounds dangerous!" Uraraka giggled.
"What kind of deal?" added Shoto, sitting down on the other side of Midoriya.
"You're not going to believe it," he laughed, running his hand through his hair, not quite believing it himself.
"Don't leave us hanging!" Mina bounced up and down on her sofa, opposite him.
Midoriya cleared his throat and grinned, "If we all work together in the Sports Festival, resulting in any one of us taking first place, and me being on the podium, in like, third or something, this entire class is entered into the provisional hero licence exam."
This proclamation was met with numerous responses, most adequately described as –
"WHAT?!" they all cried.
"Wait, seriously?!" Uraraka stared.
"That's what I said!" Midoriya laughed. "And what's more – there are two people from other courses that, considering they work with us, upon taking first place instead of us, will also let us take the exam."
"The support course girls?" guessed Shoto.
"Not quite. Toga, yes, but Mei doesn't count. The other guy is someone who missed the cut for getting into class B – and weirdly enough, also class A." This got a few confused looks. "His name is Hitoshi Shinso. He's in class 1-C and he's got a brain washing Quirk."
"Ok, well we already have Toga on our side," Ojiro realised. "All we need to do is convince this Shinso guy to help us and we're set."
"There is one problem," Midoriya chose now to explain. "Um, if one of us takes first place independently of the rest – so refuses to be in our team or help us at all, then, err, the deal's off."
"…Ah," said Sero, "You mean Bakugo…"
"Yeah… he's not going to be very happy helping you get onto the podium…" Hagakure pointed out.
"I-I'm not asking you all to just back off and let me win if I get to the final," Midoriya made sure they knew. "I want to actually deserve to be there, and you guys don't deserve to face a loss like that. But anyway, there's still something I need to know."
He looked up at them all, studying their expressions. "If we manage to pull this off," he began, "then class A essentially becomes part of the hero course. W-Well, if one of us fails, the same system applies – but we would start following the hero curriculum – submit hero costumes and names a-and everything! But… I've been trying to convince you all to join me in attempting to get into the hero course for the past few days and… well, you never seemed too convinced."
They exchanged nervous glances, waiting for someone other than Midoriya to speak their minds for once.
It was Uraraka who stood in for him, "It's just… I-I don't know about everyone else, but for me, I've always worked against the heroes, and joining them just felt… wrong. When you had the vigilante idea, I thought it was really cool! Because we'd he heroes on our terms – not quite on their side. But, um, the other night you said some things that made sense – about like… getting the licences and still not caring for their rules. Maybe we… maybe we won't be heroes on their terms, and we could force them to be on our terms. If that makes any sense?"
"It does," Yaoyorozu nodded. "I think your idea is worth following, Midoriya, and we still have almost two weeks to prepare."
"A-And if you're still not sure," Midoriya continued, standing up and looking directly at Shoto for a moment, "then think about it this way. Nezu won't back out this deal – I know he won't. So, just… imagine what it would be like, if we took the same attitude that we had in that capture the flag game, into the Sports Festival."
A few more people started to smile.
Midoriya started to pace back and forth, "If we acted like the audience expects – like trouble making villains – and still took the finals for ourselves, it wouldn't just be… UA trained this class well – it would be… UA has completely failed – this class does what it wants! We'd finally have our own say – the control over our future back! And if they try to stop us – then we just leave – become vigilantes like we were going to do anyway! So, what do you say?!"
The door was thrown open.
Mr Aizawa didn't even show his face. He left them to it, knowing better than to involve himself, and Kacchan stormed in.
He took one look at the class, gathered around Midoriya, and sneered, about to march up the stairs to his room.
"Kacchan, wait," Midoriya called after him.
He actually stopped.
"I… told Principal Nezu not to expel you."
"You want me to be freaking thankful?!" he snapped, whirling around and baring his teeth at him.
"No," Midoriya replied, "Maybe a little –"
He rolled his eyes and started to walk away.
"Hey, wait!" Midoriya exclaimed, running over to him whilst the rest of the class watched. "I'm sorry for purposely winding you up during capture the flag."
"Purposely?!"
"Hear him out, man!" Kirishima interjected, "Trust me on this one!"
Kacchan growled but made no attempt to leave.
"The Principal made a deal with us," Midoriya explained. "If one of us gets first place in the Sports Festival, and I make it onto at least the bottom of the podium, then class A becomes a hero class."
Kacchan narrowed his eyes at him.
"But the thing is, we have to work together!" he continued. "I-If one of us makes first place independently of the rest, not helping each other at all in the first few rounds, then the deal is void."
"And you're freaking scared I'll take first place without your help," he leered. "Well, you're right."
"There is a chance you could make first without our help," Midoriya contradicted. "Face the facts – if you work against us, there's less of a chance of you making first, and less of a chance that we make the hero course. And there's also more of a chance that I'll go back to Principal Nezu and say that I've changed my mind about having you expelled," he said with a grin, crossing his arms and raising his chin defiantly.
Kacchan gave him a toothy grin, "Alright, you freaking nerd. You lot need all the help you can get – so I'll do it. But let me warn you now. Once we're in the finals, you're on your own – if you get matched up with me in the first round, you're dead, clear?"
"Crystal," Midoriya replied without hesitation.
Kacchan actually let out a slight laugh as he walked off, shaking his head in disbelief.
Midoriya smiled – he could do this.
The next few weeks were action packed.
Mr Aizawa must have realised they were up to something because he allowed all of their PE lessons to follow the same method that they'd started before the infamous capture the flag event. Midoriya practised sword fighting with Yaoyorozu most of the time, occasionally taking a break so the two could listen in on the martial arts training that Mr Aizawa had now taken over – they even did parkour once or twice.
Nearly all of Midoriya's detentions were now held at the support course, to the extent where they didn't really feel like detentions anymore. He told Toga and Mei what he was up to, and they were eager to help, on the condition that they allowed both of them to reach the tournament round, something that Midoriya only accepted once they promised that they only wanted to use their first rounds to advertise their gadgets, and if they were pitched against each other, they said they'd make sure it was Toga who proceeded, and not Mei, and they'd also ensure that any class B students who slipped through the cracks would suffer at their hands.
Yes, they were just a little scary.
With the exception to the support items rule in the Sports Festival (something that he'd double checked with through Principal Nezu – he just texted the monitored group chat addressing Nezu, and he replied with a satisfying yes), Midoriya was also busy making items for his classmates. Toga and Mei were more than willing to let the class utilise some of their inventions, since it gave them more advertising opportunities. Once Yaoyorozu revealed the logistics of her Quirk to them, they suddenly had even more possibilities to create weird and wonderful inventions, tailored for anyone who needed them.
In the remaining detentions that Midoriya had with class B, he made sure to gain as much information as possible on their opponents. He jotted down weaknesses, strengths and even minor inconveniences that they complained about loudly in his presence.
In his notebooks, Midoriya prepared plans on combating any of the hero course students. If he had to face any of them in the finals alone, he needed every advantage he could get. Speaking of which, he did the same for class A – but he'd been thinking up plans to defeat Kacchan in combat since forever, so he didn't need to put much thought into that (most of the plans had a low success rate, but oh well).
That didn't mean he wasn't worried about the finals. A lot was riding on his ability to make the last few rounds of the tournament, without any Quirk to help him out.
That was when he remembered that he was a villain. And villains don't always play by the rules. Anyway, he'd found the official rulebook in the library during a supervised study session…
There was no spoken nor written rule saying he wasn't allowed to hack into their system and rig the tournament round.
Those two weeks passed them by in the blink of an eye, and soon enough, class A was standing in their designated waiting room, just outside the jam-packed arena.
"I'm so nervous!" Mina squealed, "Ah! What do you think the first round will be like?!"
"We'll just have to wait and see, I guess," Jiro sighed, although she was clearly rather anxious too.
Midoriya tugged at his PE kit. The top was short sleeved, just reaching his elbows, where the red band of class A stood out brightly on the last few inches of fabric. Just above it, was the gold, class president mark. Iida had the same, only silver for vice. But Midoriya wasn't just wearing the plain kit. Like many of his classmates, small adjustments and trinkets had been added.
He had a sheath for his sword, strapped across his back rather than at his hip so it wouldn't get in the way. It crossed over the large number 18 of his jacket, like he was disowning the name. Toga seemed to be quite a fashionable influence on Mei's designs, and so the sheath and straps had been coloured red with a gold outline – the buckle connecting the two across his chest, also coloured gold. He also had a black utility belt, containing numerous little inventions that he didn't tell his classmates about.
Most people refused to take any support items, including Kacchan, Iida, Shoto, Tokoyami and a quite a few more. Maybe they wanted to prove that they didn't need the additions to do well, or maybe they just couldn't be bothered.
Others accepted a few minor things. Uraraka had a bracelet that apparently helped with her nausea, as well as a retractable grappling hook on the other wrist. Mina had some specialised shoes that allowed her to somehow defy physics and skate on weak acid. She also decided not to wear gloves, and for the first time, was wearing a normal PE kit, rather than the one specially designed for her so as little acid as possible could be released. Sato had a little pouch of sugar cubes for Quirk activation; Aoyama had an upgraded (and shinier) version of his belt for more efficient aim with his laser; Jiro had a set of noise cancelling headphones that currently hung around her neck. But Midoriya's favourite support item was Kaminari's, a set of adhesive disks that he could stick onto targets. They would direct his electricity towards them, so he now only electrocuted what he wanted, rather than absolutely everything in his vicinity.
"How are you feeling, Shoto?" Midoriya asked him quietly, sitting down beside him in the corner of the room.
He had been watching everyone else blankly, just listening and waiting for the events to begin.
He didn't reply immediately, "My father's here. He said he would be."
Midoriya bit his lip, "Don't worry about him. He can't touch you here, you're UA's responsibility, not his."
"You know that out of everyone, they're going to be watching me the closest," Shoto reminded him, running his hand through his hair to make sure it spiked up in the way he liked.
"I know," Midoriya nodded. "So… look like you're having fun."
Shoto raised his eyebrows and Midoriya grinned. "It doesn't have to be you who wins. You only have to do that if you want to. I promise you, by the end of this, the attention will be spread across the rest of class A. You're on our team, remember? You're not facing this alone – and you're facing it for no one but yourself. Your dad has nothing to do with it – nor Dabi."
He gave him a soft smile and nodded.
It wasn't long before a speaker announced that it was time for them to make their way to the entrance to the arena.
With various levels of enthusiasm, but a common buzz of excitement, class 1-A followed the signs and waited just out of sight. Midoriya and Iida, being the representative and his vice, had to stand at the front, but Shoto, Yaoyorozu, Tsu and Uraraka were right behind them. The latter was bouncing up and down and muttering excitably to Tsu. Yaoyorozu was clearly deep in thought, her eyes closed and mouth moving, with no words coming out, likely quizzing herself over how to make different objects and weapons. Shoto stood perfectly still, seemingly unbothered, but the slight chill in the air gave him away.
"HELLO and welcome to UA's first-year Sports Festival!" boomed Present Mic to a cheering crowd. He introduced himself and Mr Aizawa, to class A's shock and delight, as he hyped up the audience for the action-packed day ahead of them.
"And without further ado – let's meet our competitors, taking the stage for the first time!
"Heading up in reverse order, we have the brilliant minds of the business course in class 1-E!" This was met by a half-hearted cheer when the first class made their way out into the open.
"Did you know that every class other than the hero course can take support items into the arena?!" There was no mystery as to why Present Mic made sure to mention this. "Always the wildcards of the game, give it up for the support course, class 1-D!"
"I wonder if anyone will recognise Toga from last year's class A?" Tsu pondered.
"Not sure," Midoriya replied over his shoulder. "I didn't – I don't think she got that far in."
"Will there be any hidden gems in our next class?! It's general studies, class 1-C!"
Shinso.
Midoriya had never spoken to him. They met eyes when they passed each other in the corridor, on the way to lunch more than once. But Midoriya didn't know how to go about talking to him –
Oh, just to let you know, you're in serious danger of being put into my class, which has a really bad reputation, even compared to previous class 1-A-s – which could potentially ruin your entire life. So, anyway, how was your day?
This was why he'd decided to leave it until the last moment – at the Sports Festival.
He gritted his teeth – this better work.
"AAAANNNNDDDD! The stars of the show, the survivors of the infamous attack of the 'League of Villains' – give it up for twenty of the most promising hero students in the country, it's UA's class 1-B!"
The roar that met class B's arrival was almost deafening. Jiro even pulled her headphones over her ears in discomfort.
"Oh, here we go…" Uraraka groaned nervously.
"Finally, it's my least favourite English class –"
"He's going to be so biased, isn't he?" Midoriya realised.
"Maybe we shouldn't have been so hard on him…" murmured Yaoyorozu, who never really had anything to do with the increasingly harsh pranks on Present Mic.
"No regrets!" Mina contradicted as Midoriya phased back into whatever Present Mic was saying about them all.
"– and to stop them from reaching a villainous future. But let's see how they match up to the rest of their year! It's class 1-A!"
As they walked out into the arena, they were met with a vastly different welcome.
A tradition taught for years and years of Sports Festivals, and class A has always been the side the audience was against. They were met with their echoing boos and hissing, the audience playing the game and enjoying themselves, not truly understanding the effect it would have on the recipients.
Midoriya had known what was coming, but that didn't stop the feeling of him being crushed under the pressure as thousands of eyes were rested upon him, the gold banded president of the villain class.
"Oh, boo yourself!" Hagakure suddenly cried.
"Yeah, boo!" Mina shouted, pointing both of her thumbs down at the audience.
A few others followed their lead by hollering back at the crowd. Their actions made Midoriya feel the slightest bit more comfortable.
"I bet no one can take out that stupid camera drone!" yelled Sero, which resulted in Mina swinging her arm and sending a sloppy projectile of acid at the nearby camera. She hit it on the first try, resulting in it falling out of the sky immediately and crashing to the side of their group.
The class cheered and clapped, laughing and suddenly forgetting about the exposure.
"How much money do I get?!" Mina exclaimed, jumping up and down at her success.
"I never said I'd give you any money!"
Midoriya hung back to walk next to Shoto, "Hey, I think we're being watched," he said, pointing up at the massive screens around the top of the immense arena. Another, surviving camera drone panned around them, and as expected, Shoto was picked out of the group. Now he and Midoriya were on view for all to see whilst they walked to the centre of the pitch.
"Give them a wave," Midoriya grinned, doing just that.
"Not my style," Shoto deadpanned, and gave the camera his middle finger.
It immediately switched away, pretending they hadn't just broadcasted the rude gesture, whilst class A howled with laughter.
They were still stifling giggles by the time Miss Midnight called first place in the hero course entrance exams, Ibara Shiozaki, with the vine hair Quirk, up to make some kind of speech.
About a minute into a beautifully rehearsed speech about strengths, wilfulness and some overly religious symbolism, Midoriya found himself yawning.
"Oh, my God, just finish already!" Hagakure actually had the guts to shout up at her, an act which made most of class A gape and laugh.
"Please, everyone, have some respect," Iida whispered back at them.
"How much trouble would I be in if I just… taped away the microphone," Sero grinned.
"A lot – look at Miss Midnight!" Mina giggled, whilst their substitute teacher gave them the evilest glare that she could muster from the corner of the stage Shiozaki was on.
"Midoriya never said no, this means I'm allowed, right?" asked Sero, obviously joking.
"I-I thought I wasn't allowed to stop you from doing stupid things anymore?" Midoriya grinned back at him. "You said that was Iida's job."
"Oh yeah," Uraraka sniggered, "You lead us into trouble, and Iida leads us out!"
"Would you lot shut up?!" hissed Tsuburaba from class B, standing a few meters away from them.
"Only if she does," said Jiro, rolling her eyes.
She did, eventually, making sure to turn her nose up at class A after she bowed to the audience and walked down the stairs back to her class.
"We're barely five minutes in and everyone already hates us," Kirishima realised.
"Well, it's about to get a lot worse," Midoriya grinned, watching Miss Midnight walk back to the centre of the stage, her smile fixed as she prepared to announce the first event of the games –
– an obstacle course.
Midoriya's smile grew wider, and he wondered if Nezu had done this on purpose. This was the perfect opportunity for class A to work together and defeat a common enemy, that being, nearly everyone else.
The competitors were gathered before a starting line whilst the finishing touches were set up, such as the cameras being prepared and the obstacles being quickly checked over, any mechanics being activated.
Midoriya glanced around. He spotted Toga and Mei, who both grinned and gave him a thumbs up – yeah, they'd be fine on their own.
He turned to the rest of the class in the time they had left, "Ok, so the first event is going to be focusing on cutting down the numbers. What UA wants is to see all of class B getting through, and then probably most of class A, as well as any other promising students from the other classes. That means there will be about, err, forty? Forty-five… around that many spaces available for the second round. Remember that we need Toga, Mei and Shinso to make it through, but we can't guarantee that there will be enough spaces for them all…" Midoriya muttered.
"Hm, I think we'll be alright," Tsu interjected. "Twenty from class B – nineteen from class A, and three from other classes, that makes forty-two. It seems like a good number."
"Right," Midoriya nodded. "But anyway, our best bet is to ensure that class B is held back as much as possible, which means we all have to work together the best we can!"
"Here," Yaoyorozu suddenly perked up. She dropped a small earpiece in Midoriya's hand and started to pass the same to everyone else. "Radio communications. I practised making them for our escape plan, but it was too much of a risk to use them in the end," she explained. "Press the button to speak – make sure to be quite loud – but let's let Midoriya take the lead."
He grinned, thanked her, and put the earpiece snuggly into his right ear. "Ok, we need to pass each obstacle as quickly as possible, and then try to make it difficult to get through behind us."
"But what about that Shinso guy?" frowned Kaminari.
Midoriya hesitated, and then looked to his left –
– only to find Shinso staring right back at him.
Midoriya cracked a grin, "Let's consider this his entrance exam to class 1-A, shall we?"
"Everyone get into your positions!" Midnight proclaimed. "The event is about to begin!"
Turning around, Midoriya saw a huge door swing open behind a red archway – the beginning to the obstacle course.
"Let's move to the front," Iida decided, about to do just that.
Midoriya grabbed his arm, "No, wait…" He studied the archway, frowning at it, "The door's too small… look how narrow it is! Everyone will charge at it immediately, and it'll be jam packed – just like the corridors were when the press attack happened! We hung back then and had a clearer view of what was going on. Our best bet is to do the same now."
The countdown began.
"But what if we can't make it through?!" Uraraka exclaimed nervously.
"Just trust me!"
"– TWO, ONE… AND BEGIN!" yelled Present Mic.
Just as Midoriya had predicted, within seconds, the door to the obstacle course was completely impassable. From the looks of it – no one had made it through the other side yet, they'd all ran at it at the same time, from too many different angles.
"Come on!" Midoriya yelled, ushering his class forwards. "Shoto – freeze everyone in the doorway in place!"
He did so immediately, slamming his foot down and letting the ice creep ahead of them, making the floor an ice rink.
"Make a slope up behind the people – everyone, do your best to climb over their heads!" Midoriya barked, running up the icy steps.
Before he knew it, Uraraka had grabbed his hand. The two floated over the crowd, and were the first across, Uraraka's grappling hook yanking them to safety just before the likes of Bakugo, blasting himself through the air; Yaoyorozu, using metal rods protruding from her hand to pole vault over the crowd; Sero, who swung like Tarzan overhead, holding onto Kaminari and Mina who screamed their heads off in the process.
Laughing and falling over each other, all of class A somehow made it through, but they knew they wouldn't have long.
"Shoto! Freeze the ground behind us! Keep the ice rink going!" Midoriya exclaimed whilst they charged ahead.
Shoto lagged behind, grinning as he turned the obstacle course into some kind of winter wonderland.
"Looks like class A is going out of their way to make this as difficult as possible for everyone else!" Present Mic's voice boomed through the speakers either side of the course.
"Damn right, we are!" laughed Sero.
"I bet I can reach the end before you do, Soy Sauce!" Mina yelled at Sero.
"I like soy sauce, ok?!" he shouted back as she overtook him. "It's not funny!"
When Shoto finally stopped the ice, Midoriya glanced back over his shoulder – he knew the hero course couldn't have been far behind. This was the moment when –
"BYE, IZUKU!" yelled a girl with twin blonde buns and a manic, fanged grin.
"Toga?!" he exclaimed, as she and Mei whizzed past class A on identical sets of rocket powered roller skates, "Hey! Those were my idea!"
The two just laughed, weaving past the others with surprising skill, whilst Present Mic excitably announced that class A had been overtaken.
"They're the exceptions, right?!" Jiro questioned as they continued to run around the corner.
Midoriya had barely replied with a "Yes!" – before there was a loud scream, crash and bang. They reached the end of the corner they were on, and the entire group stopped to gawk at what UA had cooked up for them to face now.
"IT'S THE SECOND OBSTACLE!" Present Mic yelled, "Let's see how they match up to the hero course's training robots!"
"What is this, some kind of advertisement for how much money this school has?!" Kaminari yelled.
"The hero course is going to have a serious advantage here…" Tsu realised whilst Mei and Toga zipped around the numerous robots, struggling to find a way through the blockade.
"Then we can't give them the chance!" Kirishima cried, charging forwards at the closest, smaller robot.
The others followed his lead, beginning to cut through the mechanical maniacs.
Ever aware that Shoto's ice wouldn't hold for long, Midoriya gritted his teeth, drew his sword and followed class A into the siege.
He pressed the button on his earpiece, "Everyone! Try not to take out too many robots – we need them to hold class B back! Head for the centre giant one, with the zero written on the side!"
"I've freaking got it!" replied the slightly static voice of Kacchan.
"No, wait!" Midoriya tried to retort. He couldn't say any more than that, though, because he soon became preoccupied.
A robot leapt at him from the right. Without hesitation, Midoriya swung his sword and cut off its arm, before slicing again to take off the head. He noted a piece of metal plating that was tossed aside in the action – thinking it would work well as a shield, he picked it up and used the hanging wires to grip onto it tightly.
Whilst taking out a second attacking robot, Midoriya saw a flash of light, followed by Kacchan flying through the air before the towering robot he'd pointed out moments before.
Taking off the head of another metallic opponent, Midoriya spoke into his earpiece again. "Ok! Kacchan will go behind that centre robot and knock it off balance, so it falls towards us! Whilst it's distracted, everyone else – go through its legs and to the other side. Shoto – freeze it off balance. Once we're through, someone needs to give it one last hit, so it falls over and blocks the path for everyone else!"
He got few replies via the earpiece, but that was to be expected. Hopefully, they'd all heard him. They'd all been separated to fight different robots, but they didn't have this time to waste. Glancing over his shoulder, Midoriya could see other groups catching up on them. Few hesitated at the sight of the robots due to the announcement Present Mic had made earlier.
Midoriya was momentarily distracted from his own fight when, following a loud bang, Shoto merely flicked his wrist to freeze colossal robot in its place, slightly tilted off its centre of gravity.
Class B must have been working together too, because a large amount of them arrived at once, alongside some other random competitors who had clearly been swept up in the moving crowd. Midoriya stopped himself from scanning for Shinso's purple head of hair and pressed forwards.
"Come on, Midori!" Uraraka called out, waving at him as he dodged another attacking robot and hurried under the giant's legs beside her and Tsu.
After quickly checking that everyone was there, yes, including Hagakure, Midoriya pointed up at the frozen robot. "Ok, enough force and high enough should take it out! And quickly – before the others get too close!"
"It's mine!" Kacchan insisted, but he never got the chance.
Not even a second later, there was an explosion unlike anything that Kacchan could conjure, when Yaoyorozu set off a cannon, the projectile hitting the robot on the back of its head and sending it and shards of hail-like ice crashing down before the hero students.
Everyone just stared at her whilst she grinned smugly at her work – the great boom of the falling robot sending an icy gust of wind through her hair, jacket undone and hands on her hips.
It had to be illegal for someone to be that cool.
"That was excessive, but awesome!" Uraraka cried, punching the air.
"Let's keep moving," Shoto insisted. Midoriya noted the build-up of frost on his right side and his slight shiver. He knew he couldn't rely on Shoto's powerful Quirk for the rest of the obstacle race.
With a nod, Midoriya gestured them all to move forwards whilst Present Mic yelled about the repercussions of the new obstacle the rest of the competitors faced.
"What's with the metal?" asked Tsu as she hopped alongside Midoriya.
"Shield," he answered simply.
What the rest of his class didn't know, was that he already had a shield, but not on him. One of the support girls' favourite inventions had been a retractable shield, hidden inside an arm brace that Midoriya was saving for the tournament rounds. He didn't want to risk giving it away early or damaging it – since he'd have to be fighting the people who were currently his teammates soon enough.
"Woah!" yelled Kaminari, bringing the entire group to a halt.
Midoriya, almost out of breath, stopped before the next obstacle – a chasm.
Present Mic was screaming something dramatic but Midoriya wasn't listening.
They had to get to the other side, but the only paths provided were numerous thin but sturdy wires that linked the beginning to pillars rising up from this seemingly bottomless pit. The most direct route was clear. If class A could take the centre path, and then make it impassable for any who tried to follow them, class B would lose a significant amount of time, having to follow the longer options.
"Ok, here's what we're going to do," he began. "A few people will go over first and wait in the –"
"You're taking too long!" barked Kacchan, who took off with another bang, soaring through the air and landing at the next pillar with ease.
Midoriya scowled at him from a distance. He continued to speak into the earpiece. "Wait at the first pillar. We'll be cutting off the most direct route across after we take it ourselves. Everyone but me and… Uraraka – get to Kacchan as quickly as you can!"
They didn't hesitate, already using their powers to speed across. Iida balanced expertly on the wire and used the engines in his legs to propel himself over. Tsu's natural frog-like abilities made climbing over just behind him an easy feat. Others needed a little more help. Whilst Midoriya watched the path behind them nervously, Yaoyorozu used a zip-wire to take less competent people in this situation such as Aoyama, Koda and Mina, across one by one.
"Ok – when you're all over, cut every line you can reach except from the centre two! Then move onto the next pillar and do the same thing! Uraraka and I will be right behind you. Kacchan needs to stay with the group to fight off anyone who manages to pass the two of us!"
Kacchan was quick to retort, "Ha?! They're going to get past you idiots easily!"
"Yeah, well if you LISTENED TO ME, we wouldn't be in this situation!" he snapped. Kacchan didn't reply.
From Present Mic's commentary, Midoriya knew vaguely what was happening to the hero course behind them. The blockade they'd worsened was clearly proving to be a challenge, but some had started to slip through.
Despite this, he and Uraraka managed to pass to the first pillar without any problems. He dropped his makeshift shield by his feet and drew his sword, swinging it above his head the second that the first competitor to get through, skidded to the edge of the chasm.
Sword still held in the air, Midoriya stopped.
It was Shinso.
He must have slipped past whilst the hero course focused on battling the robots, helping each other out.
"Come on, we need to go!" Uraraka insisted, but Midoriya wasn't going to let this opportunity slide.
Shinso gritted his teeth and glanced around. He spied the next intact wire, away from Midoriya, and realised it wouldn't get him across nearly as quickly as these ones would. Despite that, he started to run towards it.
Midoriya dropped his sword, cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "HEY, WAIT!"
Shinso hesitated.
Midoriya turned on his earpiece, "Yaoyorozu! Can you attach that zip-line contraption to the wire and send it back to me?"
"I can try," she replied without question, leaning down to do just that and sending it back across with as much force as she could muster.
"What are you doing?!" called out Jiro.
Toga and Mei had just gotten through, showing that class B could be there any second. Not at all phased by the lack of wires, the girls' used upgraded versions of Uraraka's grappling hook to get across.
Midoriya only just managed to reach Yaoyorozu's zip-line. He took it off the wire, hurried to the other side of the pillar, and sent it back to Shinso. He seemed more than a little confused but was clearly smart enough to realise this was not an opportunity to miss out on. As soon as he had a hold of it, Shinso didn't hesitate to throw himself off the edge of the cliff, push forwards and whizz down the line, taking Midoriya's hand when he reached their pillar.
"Stand back," Midoriya insisted as he picked up his sword again, swung it as hard as he could, and cut off one line after the other.
"Why did you help me?" Shinso questioned immediately.
Uraraka was quicker to answer than Midoriya, "Because you looked like –"
And then Midoriya remembered –
Name: Hitoshi Shinso
Quirk: Brainwashing
– Gains complete control over a person's actions if they answer any question from him.
"Stop your friend from getting any further," Shinso ordered.
Uraraka, her eyes glazed over, quickly turned around, and with all the skills of the villain she was, leapt forwards to pin Midoriya to the ground.
Luckily, his shield was just within reach, and he barely managed to block her attack.
"Stop her now or my class cuts the lines on the other side!" Midoriya ordered, dodging and evading a brainwashed Uraraka. His hand was on his earpiece, so everyone on the other side could hear his threat.
Shinso hesitated before the wire that he was now attaching the zip-line apparatus to. The first line went slack when Sato ripped it from the wall, leaving only one option behind. Whether or not they'd actually do it didn't matter – they didn't have this time to wait around and class A was not a group to take risks with.
With a scowl, he told Uraraka to wait, without releasing her from his hold. She took a step back from Midoriya, still staring blankly forwards, mouth slightly agape. Midoriya continued to hold his sword and shield up, ready to defend himself at a moment's notice.
"Tell me," Shinso hissed. "Why has the president of class 1-A been staring at me and following me around for the past week?"
Midoriya didn't reply.
Shinso grinned, "I'm not going to brainwash you."
"I haven't been following you."
"Right," the smile faded from his face, "what do you want?"
"I want to help you."
"Me? What would the likes of you want from someone like me?"
Midoriya knew he didn't have time for this, and he could see some of class B arriving at the chasm's edge from the corner of his eye – in the other, he spied class A starting to make their way to the end of this obstacle, knowing full well that would be what Midoriya wanted.
"I know about you," Midoriya began, choosing his words carefully. "I know you don't get along with class C – I know they're scared of you – I know you're a lot like me."
"I'm not a villain," he hissed.
"Neither am I."
Shinso scoffed like he didn't believe him for a second.
"Look, I get it! People judge me because of the nature of my Quirk – they jump to conclusions, and honestly, with the way they treat me, they're the villains. Does that sound familiar?"
The general studies student hesitated for a moment, the aggression fading from his face and demeanour relaxing a little. "What's your Quirk then?"
Midoriya had guessed this might be coming. He was planning on avoiding the question, but then he saw Setsuna catching up to Monoma and the others struggling to find a quick way to Midoriya, and he knew he was in trouble.
"I'm Quirkless, ok?!"
Shinso looked surprised, "Wait… you're – you are –"
"Completely Quirkless – no special ability at all, yet I'm the representative of the most infamous class in all of Japan – I know, it confused me too. But the fact is, I had to work hard my entire life to get anywhere close to where I wanted to go, and that didn't work out too well, because look at where I am now! This Sports Festival is my only shot to prove that I'm more than a Quirkless loser, ok?! I'm not a villain – and neither are a lot of my classmates. All of them deserve a chance and that's why we're here. So, do you want in on that chance or not? Because we're just about out of time."
Shinso, wide eyed and seemingly nervous, glanced between Midoriya, Uraraka, class A behind him and class B in front. He gritted his teeth and clicked his fingers.
Uraraka blinked, "Huh? What just happened?!"
"Alright – fine!" Shinso exclaimed, "Tell your classmates not to cut the line!"
Midoriya raised his hand to his ear – the only one that remained on the next pillar was Yaoyorozu. Everyone else was almost all the way across. "Yaoyorozu! Go, we'll meet you on the other side!"
She seemed unsure, but nodded, tucking the knife that she had ready to cut the other wire into her boot, and turning to run after the others.
"Shinso – throw the zip-line over the edge!" he ordered.
"What?!"
"Class B will get it! Do it now!"
"You're crazy!" he yelled, tossing the zip-wire apparatus as far as he could into the pit.
"Uraraka, make us all float! We need to get moving!" Midoriya insisted, and she did just that.
Uraraka reached towards the one remaining line and started to pull herself over, propelling herself through the air. Shinso copied her and Midoriya was just behind him, painfully aware of their approaching enemies.
The second that Uraraka released her Quirk, trying not to gag, on the final pillar, Midoriya turned to see Monoma and Setsuna on the column behind them, piecing themselves together with identical splitting Quirks. They must have split themselves up into pieces, floated each part over, and then reassembled on the other side.
Knowing it was futile, Midoriya cut the line to their pillar too.
He spoke into his earpiece, "Ok, who wants to get back over here and hold the hero course back?"
He knew exactly who'd answer the call for a fight and zero words were needed. In seconds, Kacchan rocketed back over to their pillar, yelling about how useless and slow Midoriya was, as he gave the two hero students a face full of fire.
"Go, go, go!" Midoriya exclaimed, and Shinso and Uraraka leapt forwards to crawl over the longest section of wire yet, all the way to the other side. It was the only one that remained connected to that specific pillar, since class A had been cutting as many sections of wire as they could in the wait.
But they were only halfway before Kacchan slipped up.
"No stolen Quirks to help you this time, 18!" yelled Monoma, soaring through the air and piecing himself back together in seconds. He turned off Setsuna's Quirk to activate something else, but Midoriya wasn't going to wait around to find out.
"Uraraka, deactivate your Quirk!"
"What?!" she yelled, but did it anyway, she and Shinso gripping tightly onto the wire.
Hanging upside down, holding onto the wire with his legs – one hand holding the line and his makeshift shield – the other swinging his sword.
It sliced through the wire just before Monoma could touch him, and with simultaneous screams, Midoriya, Shinso and Uraraka could only hold on for dear life as the cut line started to swing towards the cliff at an alarming rate.
"QUIRK, QUIRK, QUIRK!" Midoriya yelled at Uraraka, struggling to hold on.
She slid down the wire, tapped the top of his head and then brushed her fingertips across Shinso's shoe. Their descent slowed as all gravity was nullified, all too terrified to speak, Uraraka hooked her arms through each of the boys', and activated her grappling hook to haul them all up to safety.
"That was nuts!" yelled Mina as she reached out to take Uraraka's hand.
The three of them collapsed on the other side with collective sighs of relief.
Midoriya, breathing heavily, looked up to see Monoma clambering back up to the last pillar – clearly having used Setsuna's Quirk to climb back up, but with some struggle.
In seconds, Kacchan flew back over to them, "The vine girl's here!" he warned, "They'll be over in freaking no time – let's move!"
Shinso held out a hand to Midoriya.
He grinned and took it.
Shoving his sword back into his sheath and shouldering the shield, Midoriya raced after the rest of class A, Shinso right beside him.
They ran up a set of stone stairs, turned a corner, and then –
"But will class A be able to defeat the final obstacle?! That's right! It's a MINE FIELD!" yelled Present Mic.
"You've got to be kidding me," groaned Jiro.
Toga and Mei were the only ones there but had clearly not gotten far. Midoriya knew that they didn't have their set of hover boots with them on the first round, and their roller skates were definitely out of fuel. Still, they were clearly having fun, struggling to weave around the not-at-all-discretely buried mines, whilst still on wheels. Toga screamed when she rolled backwards into another one, which blew up in her face with a cloud of pink dust. Mei laughed at her, and promptly did the same.
"Ok," Midoriya sighed, utterly exhausted at this point, "Well, let's all just try and get through this as quickly as possible. We'll definitely all get places in the next round at this point. For now, whoever gets to the end the quickest gets first place, how's that?"
"Bet you one yen I can get to the end before you!" Mina yelled at whoever would listen.
"GIVE ME THAT SINGULAR YEN!" Hagakure laughed, hot in pursuit as they started to hopscotch around the mines that the support course girls hadn't already blown up.
"See you in the next round then," Shinso grinned at Midoriya.
Midoriya smiled back, knowing that he'd done the right thing. He nodded, and Shinso ran on ahead.
"Midoriya?" said Shoto when he noticed him lagging behind.
"Go on," Midoriya gestured ahead, "Just catching my breath – I'm in no rush. Beat Kacchan for me."
Shoto smiled and nodded, turning to attempt just that.
Midoriya sighed. He couldn't see or hear class B yet, but he knew they wouldn't be far.
Turning back to the mine field, he decided he better just face it sooner rather than later. He was about to toss his shield aside since this was the last obstacle and it served no further use.
This was when he had an idea.
People had been more careful at the beginning of the mine field, even Mei and Toga – hence there being far more mines there. Using the edge of his shield, Midoriya started to dig these up quickly and carefully, pushing them into a mound.
Shoto and Kacchan were close to the end now, as were Toga and Mei, who had stopped racing really and were just messing around at this point.
Midoriya braced himself, wrapping the loose wires attached to the slab of metal around his hands securely. With one last look behind him, at the sight of Monoma, Shiozaki, Setsuna and a few others finally coming into view, Midoriya grinned and threw himself onto the pile of bombs.
"WHO'S THE SLOW ONE NOW?!" Midoriya yelled as he pretty much landed on Kacchan's back, slammed his shield onto a nearby mine, and propelled himself even further forwards, leaving both him and Shoto quite literally in his dust.
He had to do some kind of flip that he'd never attempted before upon landing – so that the sword tied to his back wouldn't cause any problems. It was a miracle that he ended up on his feet.
Barely ten seconds later, Midoriya charged back into the stadium to a less than appreciative welcome –
– in first place.
Shoto was second – a fuming Kacchan came third. Midoriya didn't pay too much attention after that.
"That was amazing, Midoriya," croaking Tsu as she hopped over to him.
"Thanks," he sighed, still trying to catch his breath. "My whole life flashed before my eyes – it really sucked."
Shinso arrived not long after a very scorched Toga and Mei hobbled in. He gave him a swift nod as he separated from the group of class A students that he arrived with to lean against the wall and stay mostly out of sight.
Present Mic seemed to be trying to pretend that this hadn't happened, and was heavily focused on class B, back in the mine field, who were battling each other now in the same spirit that class A had decided upon – might as well fight for higher finishing positions at the end.
Midoriya joined the rest of class A as they cheered the last of their group on.
Poor, unfit Aoyama had been on the wrong side of more than one unstable mine, and despite the huge head-start for the last obstacle, the first of the hero students, Shiozaki, and behind her, Honenuki, had just whirled around the corner in the tunnel that led into the arena, and were gaining on the last member of class A.
They yelled supportive words at him, grinning ear to ear as he reached the end and fell face first over the finishing line, moments before class B.
They all cheered loudly, ignoring the audience's greater enthusiasm for Shiozaki's relative success. Sato hoisted an exhausted Aoyama up onto one of his shoulders as they all chanted his name.
And Aoyama was loving it.
For just a moment, Midoriya forgot about it all. He forgot about why he was here – what he needed to do – what he had just done. He forgot about how the audience was staring, frowning, some even booing still. Right now, all that mattered was this small victory.
Right now, it felt like… whatever they had to face next – they really could do it.
