AN: Thank you for your support everyone! I've decided I will continue posting the Sports Festival Arc here, and retire posting after that.
WyrmTheFrostDragonSwordsman - Are you sure you're not confusing AO3 with a different site? AO3 doesn't have any ads at all, and in fact explicitly can't for legal reasons.
"Stay back!" Ochako shouted. She stepped forward, pink lightning already crackling along her skin as she raised her arms to absorb the blow.
A rapidly-approaching Tenya decided to wisely heed her warning and stopped short; his arm shot out to contain Tsuyu and Aika as well. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ochako never heard the words when she felt the first Waves of spiral energy hitting her. Gritting her teeth, she took a step back to steady herself and turned her attention to the third years.
"That's my kouhai!" Nejire beamed. She lowered her arms, noticing that Ochako was still standing.
"I thought we weren't supposed to be biased?" Tamaki let out a resigned sigh.
"Oh shush." Nejire folded her arms and shot him a pout. "I'm not a member of the staff. I'm allowed to play favorites!"
"What is going on?" Tenya asked once he saw the initial skirmish was over and decided it was safe to approach.
"We've got one more obstacle in our way," Ochako said. She opened up her fists. Placing her palms downward, she activated Smokescreen and began to fill the area with a purple haze. "I'll cover you!"
"But–"
"You heard her," Kyoka said as she grabbed Tenya's arm. "If those two want to take on third years, that's on them."
Before Tenya could protest further, a mass of octopus arms pierced the fog; they thrashed about, each one seeking to catch the first years unaware. He swallowed his words and turned toward his classmate. "I understand."
"Good." Kyoka smirked at him. "Now let's go!"
"What about–"
A moment later, the group saw a mass of black tentacles appear behind them. With Blackwhip activated, Izuku slammed each tendril into an opposing tentacle.
"I'll clear the way!" Izuku said, holding out an outstretched hand.
"Thank you!" Tenya called before he took off. The rest of their friends were hot on his heels as they ran past the third years.
Tamaki canceled his quirk and looked into the fog. "Are we really gonna just let them go?"
"Who would you rather take on?" Nejire asked knowingly.
Tamaki pulled his hood in a futile attempt to cover his head further. "You're so mean."
"And you love it," Nejire teased before she raised her arms and fired again, her spiral energy covering a large area.
Her shot was weak and no threat to Izuku and Ochako, but as they watched their cover shredded, they knew harming them wasn't the true objective. As the smoke dissipated, they saw the two third years facing them.
"Found you!" Nejire exclaimed with a bright smile.
"My turn," Tamaki said. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled a black ink that flew through the air towards the students.
"Ocha!" Izuku shouted. He pushed his girlfriend out of the way, using his momentum to carry himself forward. Despite his reaction time, he still caught part of the attack, feeling ink splatter against his hand and leg.
"Thanks for the save," Ochako said as she regained her balance. With a quick glance, she surveyed her partner. "Is that gonna be a problem?"
"It shouldn't be." Izuku shook his head. "My shoe's a little slick though…"
"Just don't fall," she said with a wry smile.
"Ehe. I'll keep that in mind." Izuku gave her a crooked smile before he turned his attention back towards the third years. "But first…"
Raising his hand, Izuku unleashed another wave of Blackwhip, this time targeting the third years directly. He watched Nejire take to the skies, twisting and twirling as she fired spiral blasts of energy at the tendrils while Tamaki fought back with his own tentacles. It wasn't enough to knock them out, and they both knew it. But as his friends slipped further and further away from the fight, he knew his diversion was working.
"How noble, giving up your positions for your friends!" Nejire said as she followed Izuku's gaze. "But you can't stay here forever!"
"Who said we were planning on it?" Ochako asked. "Ready Izu?"
"Yeah." Izuku nodded. He held his arm out toward his girlfriend.
Ochako grabbed his arm, pink sparks meeting green as she removed Izuku's gravity. Freed from its influence, Izuku kicked off the ground and proceeded to float in the air, anchored by Ochako's grip. Nodding to her boyfriend, she pulled her arm back like she was about to throw a javelin. Taking a deep breath, she then hurled Izuku straight toward the third years.
"What the–"
"Wait!"
"We won't let you stop us!" Izuku said. He wrapped himself in Full Cowling, green lightning surging around him as he braced himself to crash into Nejire. Rapidly approaching, he felt his gravity restored, a subtle shift in his momentum as he began to arc downward towards the girl.
When he saw her take off, grabbing Tamaki and flying sideways, he smiled. He flipped himself as the ground rushed to greet him and landed on his feet, feeling the ground give way to form an impact crater. Not wasting any time, he threw his hand behind him and activated Blackwhip. He turned his head slightly and sought out the pink glow of Ochako. As he spotted her, he guided the quirk as it wrapped itself around his girlfriend.
"Your turn!" Izuku said as he arced his hand overhead, carrying his fellow One For All user to the sky and throwing her towards the exit. At the apex of his throw, he felt a sudden tug of resistance as the gravity-wielder rapidly used her quirk to go from no gravity to a large amount of gravity affecting her. But they trained with this maneuver until they perfected it, and he sent a surge of power into his arm to follow through with his motion, sending Ochako hurtling forward.
With himself still attached to her thanks to Blackwhip.
"They intended for us to dodge," Tamaki said from the side.
"That's my kouhai!" Nejire cheered as she watched Izuku take off, flying through the air as he was dragged along by Ochako.
Izuku's aim was true, and Ochako crashed into the ground beyond Mirio and their classmates, her way to the exit clear. She wasted no time on her landing, already on the move as soon as her feet touched the ground. Izuku dismissed Blackwhip, and several heartbeats later, he felt his own feet touch the ground as he broke out in a run.
He heard shouts of protest and explosions from Bakugo, along with the telltale sound of air rapidly cooling as Shoto activated his quirk. A quick glance behind him confirmed that Mirio was done with them, the third year watching with amusement as they raced towards him. He realized the third year knew exactly what he was doing when he caught Izuku's gaze and responded with a thumbs up.
"Thanks," Izuku muttered under his breath as he turned his attention up the hill and towards the gate back to the school. There was no way he was catching Ochako, but that was okay – he just wanted to stay ahead of his classmates.
"Get back here Deku!"
"I'm not letting you escape so easily, Midoriya."
Izuku tensed as he heard the threat from Shoto. He didn't need Danger Sense to realize what was about to happen and leapt skyward, activating Float just as he saw a massive glacier appear underneath him as the temperature rapidly dropped.
"Hey! Watch where you're aiming that thing!" Bakugo yelled from behind him.
"Maybe you should have been paying more attention when we were fighting Lemillion," Shoto shot back.
Ignoring them, Izuku stopped using Float and dropped to the glacier and kicked off, using One For All's power to propel him forward and resume his race. Ochako had already crossed the finish line, of course, but he soon joined her, continuing to the far end of the staging area and hoping that they would have a moment of privacy before the others arrived.
"Ha!" Ochako declared triumphantly as Izuku slowed to a stop in front of her. "I knew I'd beat you."
"You weren't the one being targeted by two of our classmates," Izuku complained, pouting.
"It's no fair that you look so cute like that…" Ochako turned away from him in an attempt to keep her resolve. "Not that any round before the finals really matters."
"Yeah…" Izuku observed Aika bickering with Bakugo, while Shoto was content to watch him from the sidelines. "I wonder what the next round is going to be."
"Me too," Ochako agreed before she glanced over to where the other students were starting to trickle in. "I guess we'll find out soon?"
Nodding in agreement, Izuku offered her his hand. She took it, and together, they walked back to the rest of their friends, where they could watch the rest of the race on the giant holographic projector set up.
Once everyone had successfully completed the maze, the top forty-eight found themselves in front of the stage, the air thick with anticipation as they watched Midnight ascend to make her announcement. When she reached the top, she walked slowly to the middle and gave a sweeping gaze to the assembled students, a coy smile on her face while she raised the microphone to her lips.
"Now then, it's time to reveal the game for the second round!" she announced. With a flourish, she pointed her microphone skyward as the holographic projection appeared displaying a wheel. The wheel began to spin before it quickly came to a halt and revealed the next game.
King of the Hill
Beneath the text was an image of two stick figures: one at the top of a hill with the other at the bottom, dancing back and forth as they shot little laser blasts at each other.
"This year we are going to try an exciting new format!" Midnight declared. She closed her eyes and visibly shivered from excitement. "The perceptive members of the crowd may have wondered why we upped the number of students who passed the first round from forty-two to forty-eight. Well, the answer is for this challenge." She offered the assembled students a coy smile. "We wanted a nice round number, so you can divide yourselves into twelve teams of four. Now then, for the rules themselves: There will be four hills placed around the arena, each one with a flag at the top of the hill. The four teams in control of the flags at the end of ten minutes will advance to the final round!"
"So this is how Nezu's getting back at us, huh?" Izuku muttered to himself.
"It certainly keeps us in check," Ochako admitted softly. "Since he knows we're not going to split up."
"Mhm," Izuku agreed.
"Now then, you all have ten minutes to come up with your teams. As for placing from the last round…" Her eyes drifted down to find Izuku and Ochako amongst the crowd. "I'm sure you know that in previous years we've had a scoring component. We did this to let you feel the pressures of your rank in the real world. However! As the premier hero school in Japan, we need to keep on top of the latest trends. And now, more than ever, heroes have been forced to work in groups to face the villains threatening Japan's citizens."
"That's clever," Izuku mumbled. "By framing it that way, Nezu is pressuring other hero schools to adopt similar concepts for their own Sports Festivals."
"And in those battles, rank doesn't matter," Midnight explained. "Since we wish to encourage more cooperation, regardless of rank, this year passing will purely come down to teamwork, coordination, and skill. But don't worry – at the end of the round, your scores for the first round will be used to determine the order of the top sixteen." She gave the students a wolfish grin. "So in the end, you may be forced to confront your teammates sooner than you would like."
Izuku and Ochako's eyes found each other immediately as they both had the same question on their mind: who will we team with?
"Before you ask, I must apologize," Tenya approached the couple and bowed his head. "But I will not be joining you."
"Really?" Izuku asked in surprise.
"As much as I appreciate your help in the first round, I do believe I need to expand my views," he explained. "Therefore, it would be best if I found a different group to partner with this round."
"I understand," Izuku said, having heard the same argument before. "Good luck, and maybe we'll see each other in the third round?"
"That is the hope." Tenya straightened up and gave his friend a ghost of a smile. "I will be disappointed if you don't make it."
"What about you two?" Ochako asked as she turned towards Aika and Kyoka.
"Ehehe…" Aika laughed nervously.
"Actually, we've got our team set already," Kyoka explained.
"You do?" Izuku asked.
"Yep!" Aika exclaimed. "I actually talked with Komori earlier! We're doing a music-themed team!"
"Don't you need a fourth, though?"
"We've got our mascot," Kyoka said with slight amusement.
"Who?"
"Me!" Kirishima said, flashing them a toothy grin as he walked up to join his teammates. "I don't have the musical talents of the other three, but idol groups are always three people anyways, right?"
"I don't think that's how it works…" Ochako said softly. Izuku tried his best to smile at their classmate's logic.
"Don't worry Izu, I'm sticking with you!" Himiko said from their side.
"Thanks Himi," Izuku said as he looked around, only to see Tsuyu had already vanished. "So who should we ask for our fourth…"
"Not her," Ochako said knowingly.
Izuku shivered as he suddenly looked around for Hatsume, wondering if he would be ambushed by her again. He relaxed slightly when he saw her standing in the middle of a group of support students, the four already planning something. Until he realized that meant that there were four support students, led by Hatsume, on a team, and he shuddered a second time.
"Well hopefully they won't be coming after us…" Izuku muttered to himself.
"How about moi?" Izuku heard a voice coming from behind him. Spinning around, he came face to face with his dazzling classmate, Aoyama, as he struck a pose.
"You want to team up with us?" Himiko asked in confusion.
"Oui! After all, I can already tell where the cameras will be pointing. And that will give a chance to dazzle the crowds." He gave them a wink for emphasis.
"Ehe." Izuku looked over at his girlfriend. "What do you think?"
Ochako looked at Izuku and then turned to Aoyama, offering him a bright smile. "Welcome to the team!"
Ten minutes later, the teams of four all stood in the center of the arena as four massive gates opened up in the ground; four hills rose out of them, giving the appearance of growing out of the ground.
"You'd better not disappoint us," Kyoka said as she shot a sideways glance to Izuku, Ochako and Himiko.
"We won't!" Ochako promised. "We'll see you next round!"
"Yeah!" Aika punched the air for emphasis. "Time to announce ourselves to the world!"
Collectively, forty-eight eyes looked to the sky as a holographic red light began flashing before it turned yellow, and finally green.
"Begin!" Present Mic's voice rang out throughout the stadium as twelve teams each chose a hill and began their ascent.
Izuku and Ochako knew it didn't matter what hill they chose – they'd have Shoto and Bakugo's teams coming after them immediately. Freezing for a moment, they watched as their friends chose a hill to climb, and then they went in the opposite direction. Already, they saw a pair of teams – one from class 1-B, and another with their own classmates ascending that particular hill.
"I wonder if they'll change their minds once we start climbing?" Himiko asked nobody in particular.
"Only one way to find out!" Ochako replied. "Let's go!"
As one, the four students took off toward the hill, ready to claim it for themselves. When they had gotten halfway up, Aoyama decided to announce himself by firing a Navel Laser toward the summit, causing the students of 1-B to flinch.
"We have arrived," their classmate announced. "And are claiming this hill for ourselves."
Taking the initiative, Ochako pressed a hand against her arm, removing her gravity as she activated Galactic Shroud and took to the skies. Once she had gained enough height, she reversed her quirk as she quickly accelerated toward the peak. Their classmates rightfully hesitated at the sight, but it appeared that their sister class would require a little more convincing.
Fukidashi raised a pair of finger guns toward Ochako and yelled 'BANG!' His quirk activated, and a pair of rapidly-expanding kanji letters launched from his fingertips and aimed directly towards Ochako. She was undeterred and shifted into a defensive pose as the words struck her. They knocked her off-course, but it only saved the students of 1-B from having her crash directly into them.
She ended up taking a knee as she landed, her eyes already examining the students before she charged forward. Moments later, she was joined by Izuku and Himiko as the three began their assault to claim the hill.
To their credit, the four students of 1-B lasted almost twenty seconds before they were driven off the hill.
They didn't have any time to celebrate, however. The 1-B team had barely begun their retreat before a massive glacier appeared on the other side of the hill, almost catching and trapping Aoyama.
Turning, Izuku raced over to the other side, only to lock eyes with Shoto.
Now the round really begins.