A/N: Hello everyone, I hope your Labor Day Weekend is off to a good start. I also hope to make it a little better by giving you a new chapter, and a new piece of artwork pertaining to this story. It's actually the first one that I've done for this story, as I've mentioned before, the artist for Your Hero Academia's "official" cover art is sackclothsamuel on Instagram (check him out, he's got a lot of cool stuff). I'll leave the new image up for the next two weeks, but after that, I'll put it up on my own Insta profile, the_red_swordsman.

Now, let's get on with the race!

P.S. For those of you that read my Red Swordsman series, please go check out the poll on my profile page, as I need your input on what to do for a certain project of mine.

Phase 1: Chapter 10

The Pressure of Leading

"Ah, dang," Kurai muttered as he and Midoriya came to an abrupt halt. Stretching before them was a yawning chasm, out from which sprang stone pillars of varying sizes, all connected by cables that they supposed were the way one was meant to cross over. About a kilometer or so on the other side, the course resumed its normal track. The issue was simply in how to get there, as the gaps between the pillars were anywhere from fifty to a hundred meters, with a drop so deep between them, one could not see the bottom. "Somehow, I don't see many people outside the hero course going across this, even with these ropes."

"Yeah," Midoriya said as he took a running start. "Guess it's a good thing we've been training so hard!" With a burst of green lightning, he was in the air, clearing the gap between himself and the nearest pillar in a mere second.

Kurai was surprised- his friend had more guts than he had originally given him credit for, taking a literal leap of faith as he just had. Can't let him show me up, he thought as he reinforced his limbs with his own power before taking off in pursuit of Midoriya and Todoroki, who was already more than halfway across the chasm. After all, it's not as though I'm here to be his coach. First place, here I come!

Putting on an extra bust of speed, he easily pulled up alongside- then passed- Izuku, calling back, "Sorry pal, but I think I've done enough to help you! You're on your own from here on out!"

"That's fine by me!" his friend called back with a grin. "I'll still beat you!"

"Doubt it!" With that, Kurai was bounding from one pillar to the next, using his muscles in addition to unleashing Energon blasts behind himself whenever he touched the ground to generate explosions that launched him even further than normal. Thanks for the idea, Bakugo.

No sooner than he'd formed the thought, than did he hear a series of explosions that sounded like they were getting closer by the second. Speak of the devil…

He had just cleared the chasm when the loudest explosion yet boomed over his head, accompanied by Bakugo shouting, "Guess that flashy power of yours isn't so great after all! Later, loser!" With that, the temperamental blond student shot ahead of him, nearly burning him with an explosion from his hands, and causing him to stumble as he was blinded by the heat and smoke.

When his vision cleared, he scowled. Bakugo had put more distance between them than he was comfortable with, and he had a feeling that Midoriya would be catching up to him soon, among other students with speed-enhancing quirks. Okay, no way I'm losing to that guy, he vowed to himself.

Redoubling his speed, he ran for all he was worth after Bakugo, readying an energy bolt in each hand as he did so. He came within a striking distance just before they rounded a corner, whereupon he let loose with both two energy bolts, aiming so that they would collide just above Bakugo's head.

His quirk did not allow him to make his energy bolts explode whenever he wanted to- they had to make contact with something in order for that to happen. However, after some experimentation, he had discovered that one of his blasts colliding with the other was more than enough to create the desired effect.

Kaboom!

An explosion bigger than he had anticipated slammed Bakugo into the ground so fast that the other boy didn't even have time to yell. Then, as if that weren't strange enough, the instant that he hit the ground, another explosion tossed him up and backwards, causing pink smoke to billow up from the ground. He landed in front of Kurai, winded and possibly unconscious, judging from the lack of yelling that was happening.

What in the…?

That's when he saw the sign with the red skull on it, just before the track widened out into an open area for about a half-kilometer. "Land mines?!" he yelped, realizing what had caused the second explosion. "Seriously?!" As he looked back down at his opponent, he realized that while he was, in fact, out cold, it was likely the triple impact that had knocked him out, not the landmines themselves.

Looking out at the field, he saw Todoroki picking his way carefully among the path, avoiding all the mines as swiftly as he could. They weren't too hard to spot, give how the earth had been dug up and then repacked to put them underground. The issue was that there were so many, it was difficult to manage any kind of speed while avoiding having your legs blown off.

Actually, these are probably flashbangs, not actual bombs, Kurai thought with a frown as he began to pick his way across the field, leaving Bakugo where he was. He had gone about fifty feet when he heard the sounds of people running behind him. They're closer than I'd like, not to mention that Todoroki is still in front of me… Let's see if I can't slow them down?

Engaging his quirk again, Kurai sent three blasts ahead of him, arcing them so that they would land in front of Todoroki before firing a single shot behind himself. Both attacks had the immediate desired effect, causing several land mines to explode, forcing the people behind him to slow their approach as some of them charged ahead and ended up triggering more land mines, while Todoroki was taken completely by surprise, stumbling in his footing for just the fraction of a second.

Which was the only mistake that Kurai needed him to make. As he stumbled, Todoroki triggered a land mine than blinded him and caused him to stumble back, creating another explosion. As he struggled to regain his footing, Kurai surged ahead, jumping forward while using his quirk to both enhance his strength and aim blasts at any spot that he predicted that he would land on. He stumbled once when he mistimed a blast, but he was able to recover before he wound up fumbling like his classmate.

He was just about to clear the land mines when a wave of cold shot up from behind him, and froze his legs in place, stopping him in his tracks. "Nice try," he heard Todoroki say just before he skated by. "But it'll take more than that to stay ahead of me."

"And you think that this is enough to stop me?" Kurai shot back. Willing his energy to flare outward, he shattered the ice imprisoning him before taking off at a run on the path that Todoroki had made, careful not to crack through and trigger any more mines. "You've only bought yourself a couple of seconds!"

"And that's all I need," came the cool reply.

Kurai was about to make his own comment when something rather unexpected happened. First, there was loud explosion at the rear of the landmine zone- too big to be a buried bomb. On instinct, both students looked back, expecting Bakugo to come at them in a fiery rage, but what they saw was nothing short of stunning.

"Midoriya?!" Kurai exclaimed in surprise as he watched his friend shoot up and out of the smoke at a speed that surprised both him and Todoroki. The boy had a big smile on his face as he landed between his classmates, shattering the ice as green energy continued to crackle along his body. Then there was another explosion that launched him forward, leaving them both in the dust with looks of intense surprise on their faces.

Damn, that's what I should've been doing! Kurai thought as he and Todoroki forgot one another in their bid to catch up to the green-haired boy, the half-and-half young man still looking stunned at his classmate's new abilities.

"Since when has Midoriya been able to do that?!" he panted as he was just managing to stay ahead of Kurai with his ice.

"Since I taught him!" Kurai answered with traces of pride in his voice.

"Then I suppose fortune favors him greatly, with both you and All Might in his corner," Todoroki replied as the entrance gate loomed before them, causing them to take a sharp turn into its depths. "But I don't rely on fortune."

Too late, Kurai realized that Todoroki was dragging his hand on the side of the wall in preparation to use his quirk. Before he could properly react, a wall of ice at least a foot thick had formed between them, causing Kurai to slam into it face-first, stunning him for a second.

"Dick move!" he shouted as he shook his head to clear it. With another yell, he unleashed a beam of energy at the wall that caused it to splinter on impact. Charging forward, he already knew in his heart that he was too late.

Sure enough, as he ran back into the stadium, he could hear Present Mic saying, "AND ANOTHER ONE FROM THE HERO COURSE'S CLASS 1-A, IN THIRD PLACE, IT'S KURAI HIKARI!" The crowd applauded his efforts, even as others began to trickle in from behind him while he caught his breath.

Looking over at Midoriya, he wasn't surprised to see his comrade standing still, almost dumbstruck at the thought that he had managed to claim victory. I'm gonna need to be more careful around him during the rest of this festival, Kurai thought, though he was happy that his friend had done so well, in light of how it was once a struggle for him to use his quirk at all.

Looking up into the crowd, he turned to a set of box seats where he knew that his family was sitting. He could just barely make them out, given the distance between them, but he could see his mother and brother waving excitedly and cheering for him, while his father was no doubt looking on with his own quiet approval. As he waved back with a smile, he felt glad to know that his family was there to support him that day.

He turned around in time to see Iida coming in behind a couple of other students, one with long green hair and a guy that looked like he had no lips to cover his teeth. Waving him over, Kurai called out, "Hey! Nice to see you made it!"

"If I can't even win at a race, how am I supposed to stand out as speed-type hero?" his friend complained. "This is humiliating."

"Aw, come on," Kurai laughed. "What'd you get, fifth place? Sixth? Either one is still pretty good."

"Sixth," Iida nodded as he wiped sweat off his brow. "I suppose you're right. It could have been much worse."

"If it makes you feel any better, I lost out to Todoroki and Midoriya," Kurai said as he jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

"Yes, I expected such a showing from you and Todoroki, but I must say, Midoriya was quite the unexpected surprise," his best friend said as he looked over at their classmate. "I thought that he couldn't use his quirk without hurting himself."

"We've been training together since I got out of the hospital," Kurai admitted. "A pro-quo, if you will, was made. I help him figure out how to use his quirk without shredding his bones, and he helps me figure out how to use my transformation without killing myself."

"Seems a fair trade," Iida nodded as he adjusted his glasses while more students came staggering into the stadium. "And it explains why you were so busy most afternoons these past couple of weeks. Did you both benefit from the exchange, though?"

"I'd say so," Kurai replied with a slight grin.

"DAMMIT!" Both students gave a start of surprise when they heard Bakugo screaming as he flew into the stadium over everyone's heads, landing in a clear spot, breathing hard and growling through his teeth. Once he managed to stand, he bellowed, "Where's the bastard that blew me up?!"

Iida looked down at Kurai who was assuming an innocent air. He did, however, preempt his taller friend by saying, "Just don't make eye contact."

Once a certain number of students had crossed the finish line, Midnight announced that the race was over, and that the other students could return to the stadium on their own time. As for those that were already inside the arena, she called them over to gather in front of the podium again. Even though everyone had just been competing against one another a few minutes ago, some friend groups clumped together, like Iida, Midoriya, Uraraka, Ashido, Asui, and Kurai.

"Now then," Midnight began, brandishing her whip as she gestured toward the screen she was standing in front of. "What do we have in store for you next? A nightmare? Or a fantasy?" The way she asked the last part made Kurai very uncomfortable.

Once again, the screen began to spin like a lottery machine, too fast for the eye to follow the individual options that were flying by, right up until the words 'Cavalry Battle' appeared amid a yellow frame. "We have a classic one for you!" Midnight announced.

"Like the playground game?" Kurai muttered out loud. "I was never allowed to play that one…"

"Why not?" Midoriya asked him.

"Back when I didn't have my quirk under control as well as I do now, I was a lot stronger than other kids my age," he answered flatly. "I wound up hurting some of my classmates on accident. I wasn't allowed to horse around like the others anymore, and no one really wanted to be around me because of that incident."

"The rules are simple!" Midnight was now saying, heading off any further discussion on the subject. "Each of you may form teams of anywhere between two and four people, with each person having points assigned to them based on their placing in the Obstacle Course!"

"Oh, so different teams will have different point values based on the people making up the team," Uraraka commented.

"Yeah-huh!" Mina grinned.

Apparently, Midnight heard them, because she cracked her whip at them and shouted, "How about you all shut up while I explain the rules!" With the students subdued, she went on to grumble, "Starting with forty-second place, the value is five points. From there on, each spot gets an additional five points added to their score, so forty-first gets ten points, fortieth is worth fifteen, and so on, until…"

A scoreboard appeared on the screen as Midnight added with a wicked smile, "The person that came in first place is worth… ten million points!"

Everyone immediately turned to look at Midoriya, who looked as though he just might pass out from that particular piece of news. And suddenly I'm glad I didn't make first place, Kurai thought with a measure of sympathy for his friend. If his team gets taken down, the group that did it will have just as good as won this round.

"That's right," Midnight purred. "If you can take down the number one player, you will certainly be able to move on to the final round." After allowing herself a coy grin, she went on to say, "Each team will be given a headband based on the points they total up to. These are worn on the head." As she spoke, illustrations matching her words appeared on the screen, in this case, a picture of All Might wearing a band that read '50' on it. "You can steal the headbands of other players, and these must be worn around the neck. However, while you are allowed to use your quirks as much as you desire, you may not make another team fall over, or shove them out of bounds. I'll slap you with a red card, disqualifying you."

Kurai was fairly certain that it physically pained Bakugo to hear that.

"If your team goes out of bounds on its own, you will also be ejected from the game," Midnight added. "Other than that, do as you please! You've got fifteen minutes to choose your teams! So get moving, chop chop!" With a final crack of her whip, Midnight stepped aside, while a countdown for fifteen minutes appeared on the screen.

Kurai immediately found himself swarmed by people who wanted to join up with him, which set him on edge a little- he still didn't do well with crowds. It was understandable, given that he would already have plenty of points himself, plus his battle skills were the subject of much admiration among the majority of the school.

"Pick me!" Sato was saying.

"No way, I'm your guy!" Sero interjected.

"You'll need my quirk!" That was Jiro.

"I don't wanna beg, but please!" Aoyama whimpered.

Kurai looked around at all of them before shrugging and saying, "Sorry, guys. I've already got a team picked out." Ignoring his classmates' protests and cries of disbelief, Kurai walked over to a grinning Mina as he asked, "So, how about it?"

"Totally!" she nodded. "I'm glad we get a chance to work on the same team, at least this once!"

"Me too," he said with his own smile. "But I do have one other person in mind…"

"Tall, glasses, engines in his legs?" Mina guessed.

"Huh," Kurai blinked. "I'm surprised you aren't upset about me wanting him on the team."

"Why would I be?" she shrugged. "Sure, he's kind of a hard case, but he's super-talented, and smart. Plus, he's your friend. Why wouldn't I be okay with him on our team?"

"I… don't know," Kurai realized aloud. "Huh. I worry about stupid things, don't I?"

"Uh-huh!" she giggled. "Mind if I ask Su to join us? She'd make a great rider."

"Actually, that's a pretty great idea," Kurai nodded. "Sure, go find her. I'll get Iida."

He found his friend, having just walked away from Midoriya and Uraraka, a grim set to his mouth. "Hey, pal," Kurai said as he approached, catching the bespectacled boy by surprise. Looking over his shoulder, he asked, "Turned down Midoriya? I thought you guys were like the golden trio of our class?"

"Golden quartet, if we include you," Iida replied with a subdued smile that gave Kurai a sinking feeling. "But yes, I turned him down. And I'm afraid that I won't be joining you, either, old friend."

"Seriously?!" Kurai exclaimed. "I haven't even made my offer yet!"

"I know, but I'll tell you the same thing that I told Midoriya," Iida replied, his tone kind enough. "You're a great friend, and I couldn't be prouder to be in the same class as you. But right now, we're rivals in this competition, aiming to claim the number one spot for ourselves. As much as I wish it were otherwise, only one person can be the best. And since this competition has begun, I've lost to you and Midoriya both. So please don't take it as an insult when I tell you that I need to do my best to defeat the both of you." With those words, he bowed to his dumbstruck friend before walking over to join Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and Kaminari.

"Damn," was all that the boy could think to say. That did not go the way I thought it would.

He was further surprised when Mina walked up to him, saying that Asui had chosen a different team, too. "Huh…" he said blankly, movement catching in the corner of his eye. With a sudden jolt, he grabbed Mina and said, "We can still work with this!"

"Huh?!" she squawked in alarm.

He stopped in front of Midoriya and Uraraka, both of them looking more or less dejected. "Hey guys," he said with a light grin. "Got room on your team for two?"

"Hey!" Izuku said, immediately perking up. "Are you guys sure? I mean, everyone is gonna be after us because of my headband… It won't be easy."

"Pfft, this competition isn't gonna be easy no matter what team we're on," Mina said dismissively. "At this point, we're better off working with friends that know what we're all about! Plus, it's not like any of our quirks are something to scoff at. We can work with this!"

"Yeah!" Uraraka said excitedly. "I'd like to work with you guys, too!"

"I think we have a pretty solid team here," Kurai added. "I think I might even have something in the way of a formation, too."

"Hold it right there!" shouted a high-pitched girl's voice, the owner sounding a little… unhinged? "I saw him first!" They all turned to see a girl with pink hair and binoculars approaching them on some kind of hover boots. Then she thrust her face invasively close to Midoriya and shouted, "Team up with me, person in first place!" She was also decked out in an assortment of other items that led Kurai to believe that she must have been from the support course- only they carried around that many gadgets.

"U-Uh…" Midoriya stammered, unsure of how to respond to her powerful personality.

"Hey, why do you think you get to just come in here and join up?" Mina demanded. "In case you hadn't noticed, we got here first, not you. Go find another team!"

"No way!" the girl shouted back. "Everyone's gonna be watching the guy that came in first, so I want to use that to my advantage! If he starts wearing my inventions, my beautiful babies are sure to be noticed by hero support companies! It's a sure way for me to win!"

"Did'ja miss the part where my friend said to go find another team?" Kurai said with a frown. "We're full. Please, go away."

"Not happening!" the girl shot back, her eyes still fixed on a very nervous Midoriya. "I'm Mei Hatsume, and I'll be joining your team, person in first place!"

"Uh… th-thanks for the offer, b-but I can't just abandon my friends," he replied hesitantly. "I'm s-sure that there's another team you could join that'll help you get noticed…"

"Not as fast as if I'm with you!" she insisted, the word 'no' apparently not registering in her head. "Let's ditch these extras!"

"Extras?!" Mina and Uraraka exclaimed, furious with the new girl.

"Man, she and Bakugo would get along great," Kurai commented.

Her last comment only seemed to harden Midoriya's resolve. "The answer is no," he said more firmly now. "I can understand you wanting to join up with me, but I won't be partnering up with anyone who thinks that their comrades are unnecessary. Sorry, Hatsume, but you're going to have to find another team to join."

"Fine!" the girl said as she turned on her heel and hovered away. "But I'll bet people will still wanna hire me if my tech takes down the guy at the top!" And with that, she was off, laughing the whole way.

"That was weird," Kurai muttered. Turning back to Midoriya, he added, "Thanks, by the way- for sticking up for us."

"N-No problem," the boy said as he reddened, noticing that Uraraka and Mina were smiling at him appreciatively. "A-Anyways, we should strategize."

They walked off the area where the Cavalry Battle would take place, almost up against the wall and away from other students so as to have some privacy. "Okay, I've got a plan, too," the green-haired boy said once they all sat down together. "Would you like to go first, though?" he asked Kurai.

"Sure," he replied with a sharp nod. "I'm thinking that if we have Uraraka as the lead with me as the rider, your Full Cowling and Mina's Acid combined will make us pretty mobile, not to mention people aren't gonna wanna chase after us so fast if it means stepping in acid, which gives us breathing room. Uraraka's Zero Gravity would also mean that she could pull us along with a lot less effort, not to mention I can keep people at a distance with my Energon blasts, and whack 'em with my fists if they get too close for comfort."

"Actually, that's pretty close to what I thought up, but with one major difference," Midoriya said excitedly. "In my version of the plan, we have Uraraka and me in the back, with Ashido up front. If she uses an acid that isn't super corrosive, we can use it to slide around a lot faster with me and Uraraka doing the pushing from the rear, since everyone but her would be weightless. I think you as the rider is the safest bet, though, since you would be the best at keeping people back, so long as we don't make anyone fall over."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Kurai nodded as he looked down at his gauntlets. "These have been doing a good job on limiting my power thus far, so I have perfect control over my faculties. The only issue I had today was when I blasted Bakugo, and the explosion was a lot bigger than I thought it would be- almost like he blasted himself somehow."

"Oh, that makes sense," Midoriya replied, surprising his classmate. Seeing that a further explanation was required, he added, "Bakugo's quirk works like nitroglycerin that's secreted from his palms, which he can then blow up. It seems to me like when you hit him, you must have made more of the stuff ignite than he meant to, which is why the blast would have been so much bigger than you expected."

"Good to know," Kurai nodded, filing the information away for later use. "For now, though, we need to decide on a game plan. I'm fine either way, but to me it seems that it's a question of speed versus stability."

"How so?" Mina asked.

"Think about it," Kurai replied patiently. "If you're the lead horse with Midoriya and Uraraka pushing, we'd absolutely be faster for it. However, if the two of them don't exert the same amount of force, we could end up flat on our faces if Midoriya pushed harder than Uraraka with his quirk. On the other hand, with my idea, we won't be nearly as fast, what with her having to pull us all along, even if we're weightless. We could only move as fast as she could run- no offense." He added the last part with an apologetic bow towards his classmate.

"No problem," she said, a thoughtful look on her face. "You're right, we do need to think about this carefully, and we can't afford to delude ourselves about our abilities right now."

"I say we go for speed," Mina declared. Turning to Kurai, she laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "Sorry, sweetie, but I think Midoriya is right on this one."

"In this kind of competition, we can't really afford to play it safe," Izuku asserted. "We have to take some risks if we're gonna hold on to our headband."

"I dunno, shouldn't we try to play it safe since we'll be on defense?" Uraraka pointed out. "Maybe our efforts shouldn't be focused on speed so much as making sure we're stable."

"Hmm…" Kurai mused as everyone waited for him to cast his own vote. After a few moments of quiet thought, he said, "Let's follow Midoriya's plan. He's right- we can't afford to play it safe when there won't be any safety for our team in the first place."

"Team Midoriya!" Mina grinned as she put her hand out. "C'mon, let's do it!"

"Team Midoriya," Kurai agreed as he laid his hand on top of hers'.

"Team Midoriya," Uraraka added, putting her hand on Kurai's.

"T-Team Midoriya," Izuku stammered as he put his hand on the top of the pile. Firming up his chin, he said, "Let's go beyond, guys!"

"Plus Ultra!"

Deku: Are you guys about to start fighting again...?

Mataras: Maybe. I'm not entirely sure of what's gotten into me, lately. I've been fighting a lot of my characters off-screen.

Kurai: That's because you take everything so personally.

Mataras: D'ya have to be so plain about it?

Kurai: Hey, if you wanted me to be more tactful, you should've written me that way. Besides, you can hardly call the kettle black, Mr. Pot.

Mataras: ...That's fair.

Deku: I'm curious, what does Ashido have Kurai watching in that sketch that you did, Mataras?

Kurai: ...Nightmare on Elm Street.

Mataras: Hehe.

Kurai: It's not funny!

Mataras: I thought it was pretty funny.

Deku: Why did she-?

Kurai: You know Mina- pranks are a hazardous occupation of being her friend, much less her boyfriend.

Deku: Good point...

Mataras: Next time- Fight or Flight

Deku: But none of the people on our team can actually fly.

Kurai: Uraraka can ZG all of us, does that count?

Next time on Your Hero Academia...

"What happened to your declaration of war?" Kurai said as he taunted the other boy. Shifting his gaze down to look at Iida, he couldn't help but add, "And you, pal? I thought you were gonna do your best to surpass me?"

"Be careful," Midoriya warned their rider, cautious of him becoming overconfident now that they had a few moments of respite from the other students. "He didn't get into U.A. on recommendation for no reason. He'll come up with something, given enough time."

"Yeah, good point," Kurai replied, realizing that he was growing dangerously close to acting in arrogance. "Thanks, Midoriya." Keeping his eyes fixed on his opponents', he asked, "How's everyone holding up?"

"I'm not even feeling nauseous yet, so I'm okay," Uraraka replied, even as Present Mic announced that there were only five minutes remaining in the competition.

"My feet are a little achy now, but I'll be fine," Mina assured him, her voice flavored with a cheeky grin.

"Full Cowling is working great thanks to all of our training, so I'm not even bruised from using my quirk," Midoriya added with a smile of his own. "We might actually be okay here!"