Green Tea Rescue

by ss3dj

When Midoriya Izuku was 4 his quirk finally manifested. The doctor named it psychokinesis, but his friend Bakugou Katsuki called it worthless. For the next 10 years, Izuku would grow up bullied and isolated. Then, when a new student named Uraraka Ochako transfers into his class the last year of jr high, everything changes. Rated M for eventual themes.

19. If You Can Dodge a Wrench

"Today, before the first round is selected, we will have the speech from the student representing the first years. He placed first in the entrance practical exam with a total score of 109! Midoriya Izuku of class 1-A! Come up and give your opening speech!"

Izuku blinked, not sure he had just heard Midnight right, wait what?

"Oh Deku, I didn't know you were going to be giving a...speech...Deku?"

Ochako had started off excited, but that was quickly drowned out when she turned and looked at Izuku, who looked just about ready to die.

"Deku? What's wrong?"

"No one told me!" Izuku scream-whispered to Ochako.

Ochako tilted her head to the side, "No one told you what?"

Already sweating, Izuku finished, "No one told me I had to give a speech!"

No one told Deku he had to...oh my god.

"Midoriya Izuku! Hurry up! We don't have time to wait around!"

Gulping loudly, Izuku robotically made his way up to the stage, while Ochako covered her mouth in horror. Feeling so sorry for her friend, she couldn't help but wonder how this had happened.

How could this have happened? A teacher should have told him, but no one ever came to...see him...Noooooooo… He wouldn't. He couldn't! ALL MIGHT, WHAT DID YOU DO!?

While Ochako came to terms that she might have to kill All Might today, Izuku made it to the stage where Midnight was waiting for him. With every step closer to the stage and microphone izuku tried to desperately come up with something to say.

I could just say I'm going to win...No, that'll just make everyone hate me. Maybe I should just say the school motto. Plus Ultra!...Kill me. Someone kill me. Nomu? Where's Nomu? There has to be some villain watching right now like All Might said. Please just show up and end me….

When Izuku reached the microphone he stopped and held his breath. He hadn't been there for more than a second, but in his quickening mind it was an eternity. A chance to think about that last thought a little more. He recalled his talk with All Might. How he was supposed to use today to show the world that the future was bright. That the next generation's number one hero was right in front of them.

But that's still just about me...Unless I can make it about...

Closing his eyes, Izuku took a deep breath. If he stalled any longer, it was going to be obvious that something was up. He just had to speak from the heart, and hope he didn't stutter too much.

"T-today, today myself, my classmates and the rest of the first year students are here to compete in our school's sports festival. An event we are told we will only get to do three times in our lives. But two weeks ago, something happened that almost made this day not happen at all."

As Izuku's voice echoed from the microphone, a cold feeling fell over the students of 1-A, while the crowd in the stands who had been listening restlessly became more subdued at the mention of the somber topic.

"Two weeks ago, U.A. was...my class was attacked by a group of villains. These villains didn't think twice about hurting us. Robbing us of our lives. Robbing us of our futures. That is what they wanted to do. To rob us of our future."

Ochako closed her eyes; the image of a kind boy, limp and broken in her arms flashed in her mind, making her stomach twist.

"That's what they wanted to do."

That line made Ochako open her eyes and look up at Izuku as he kept going.

"That's what they wanted to do, but we are still here!

The crowd started to get restless again. A wave of new excitement moving through them.

"We are the next generation of heroes. We are the future, and one day it will be our responsibility to take up the burden of those here now and carry on their legacies."

From up high in the box suits, All might felt a great pride swell inside of him.

"We are the future that those villains couldn't stop! We are the future that won't be stopped! Today, we will show you all that the future is in good hands. Today, we will show you, and anyone watching, that the future is bright, and no darkness will ever dim it. We are the future, and we will rise to any challenge that is put in our way!"

Izuku raised his fist high into the air, "PLUS ULTRA!"

Ochako punched her fist into the air, "PLUS ULTRA!"

Quickly all the students, even Himiko with an eye roll and Katsuki with a groan, had their fists in the air and the school cry of Plus Ultra was echoing throughout the stadium.

As the crowd cheered, Izuku bowed and quickly got off the stage and made his way back to his class. He got more than a few thumbs-ups and claps on the back from his classmates and a pair of huge grins from ochako and Himiko.

"Not bad, Izuku. How long did it take you to come up with that little speech?"

Izuku blushed and rubbed the back of his head at Himiko's question, "Oh you know...it was mostly just stuff off the top of my head, ha ha ha."

Ochako snickered into her hand. Now that it was over, she decided that she wasn't going to punish All Might right away. She would give him the chance to defend himself.

Then, she'd punish him.

Severely.

---

With a crack of her whip, Midnight spoke over the students gathered, "It's time to select the first event of the day! Think of this as your first qualifier! Right now, there are a little over two-hundred-and-twenty of you students. When this event is done, only thirty-two of you will be moving on. Let this first event be a harsh reminder of how life truly is."

The entire student body tensed hearing that. Only just over an eighth of them would be able to advance to the next round. It was a daunting reality check that made everyone glance at their neighbor nervously.

"Now let's see what the first event is! What does fate have in store for you all?"

Behind Midnight, a large holographic screen suddenly popped up, and multiple events began to flicker and spin like a slot machine.

"This year it's…"

The screen stopped spinning, on its selection.

Dodgeball.

"...this!"

While the students talked amongst themselves, a large section of the wall separating the stands and the area below opened up revealing hollow compartments lined with balls of varying sizes and colors. Midnight smirked and held up a small remote, clicking it, the balls vibrated and jostled around before flying into the air and encircling the whole arena where they hovered, ominously. The intimidating sight was enough to make everyone quiet down. Midnight approved of their fear and held out her hand where one of the balls flew over for her to catch.

"The game is dodgeball, but don't go thinking U.A. would just let it be something as simple as that."

The screen behind her changed reflecting what she said.

"First off, this is a free-for-all that will last 10 minutes. The main objective is to not get hit with these. They are fully autonomous and will seek you out. There are also several different sizes." She tossed the basket-ball-sized dodgeball into the air, where a very large beach-ball-sized dodgeball replaced it. A few students winced at the idea of getting hit by that one, "Some of them are big boys like this, and some…"

There was a high-pitched whistle as something shot through the air right over their head and came to a quick stop to hover right besides Midnight. This dodgeball was much smaller, bare;y the size of a ping pong ball, "...are very small, and hard to see."

Izuku eyed that last one with worry. While the bigger balls looked more intimidating, at least you'd be able to see them coming. Those smaller ones, though; those were going to be tricky.

"So here are the rules of the game. Each time you are hit, you will get a point. Like golf, you don't want a high score. And don't worry, these have been programmed not to hit you at fatal speeds. Of course, that doesn't mean it's still not going to hurt if you get hit. So, rule number one: you are allowed to use your Quirks to do whatever you can to not get hit. Rule number two-" the image behind Midnight changed to show a top down view of the stadium with a bright flashing ring around it- "you may not step foot outside the perimeter of the building."

There was a pause as Midnight stopped talking and the students waited for the rest of the rules.

Ochako glanced nervously at a few of her classmates, who shared her nervousness.

There has to be more to it than just that. Those rules are basically, do whatever you can to win, just don't leave the building!? That's crazy!

They were horrified, however, when they realized that there was nothing else as Midnight raised the remote up above her head.

Oh this...this is gonna be bad.

With a sadistic smile, Midnight pressed the button as she screamed, "AND GO!"

A moment later, all hell broke loose.

---

When Midnight held up the remote, Izuku immediately realized the danger he was in. It wasn't just the balls that were about to go on the attack. It was the fact that everyone was grouped together without enough room to really move about, let alone dodge. For Izuku, at least the very first test of this event became crystal clear.

I need space!

"AND GO!"

Rule number one, you're allowed to use your Quirks to do whatever you can not to get hit!

In a flash of green light, Izuku did just that. Using his Quirk on everything in front him, he shoved as hard as he could pushing several students aside. After getting the breathing room he needed, Izuku darted forward, running as fast as he could to get out of the crowd before the inevitable happened.

Panic and a stampede.

Anyone caught up in that group was going to be a sitting duck, stuck and unable to move and protect themselves.

His initial psychokinetic shove had given him a good opening, and he was almost able to reach the other edge of the crowd into the open field of the arena, but as he had predicted, the panic had set in, and the opening was closing fast. With only a few feet left until he hit open ground, the gap snapped shut as two large students slammed into him, trapping him between the two as they started to get swallowed by the crowd.

But why were they running back into the crowd? What could...oh no!

Izuku's head snapped up and saw what had got the two students running back. Several large dodgeballs were flying right at them.

They got herded back trying to not get hit! Now I'm stuck!

Izuku needed to get out quickly and he needed to make sure he wasn't hit by the incoming attack. At first, Izuku focused his Quirk as he got ready to catch the incoming balls, but after a quick decision narrowed his range. Grabbing the balls in the middle of the pack, and grunting as he forced them to stop, Izuku flinched as the other balls sailed past him and slammed into the two students at his side, knocking them off their feet and freeing him finally from the large group. The dodgeball he was holding wretched itself free of his hold, but bolted back up into the air, looking for a new target.

Glancing back behind himself, he winced as he watched students crawling over each other as they ran around not knowing what to do. However, while Izuku was out of the group, he was not the only one. He saw several of his classmates making their escape as well. With a loud blast, Katsuki launched himself over the heads of the students and propelled himself away. Momo created a massive pole from her hand to pole vault out, and before he turned back, he saw Dark Shadow pulling Fumikage free. He almost let his eyes linger for longer, waiting to see if Ochako had freed herself as well, but he knew he couldn't afford to be distracted now.

Refocusing his attention back to the game, Izuku kept his head on a swivel as he kept moving. By now, the dodgeballs were zipping through the air, moving in erratic loops and twists before suddenly diving sharply to slam into unfortunate students.

---

"AND GO!"

The moment Midnight signaled the start of the round, Ochako tapped her fingers against herself and launched herself up, and over the rest of the students. Reaching out in a hurry and grabbing the first head of hair she could- and judging by how pointy and full of product it was it was obviously Eijirou's- she yanked herself forward over the rest of the crowd. Grabbing head after head, she pulled and threw herself right across the swarm of bodies.

Lightning bolt, feathers, horns, buns…

Ochako totally did not give the buns of blonde hair an extra twist as she kept pulling herself along.

Honest.

The cry of ouch was just a coincidence.

Totally just a coincidence.

As she got closer to the edge, Ochako was very aware that she was an open target for the dodgeballs. As tempting as it was to grab a random student and use them as a human shield, she wasn't that heartless.

Fortunately, she made it to the edge of the crowd without getting targeted. Tapping her fingers together, Ochako landed on the ground and took off. Not far behind her, she felt the temperature in the air drop suddenly as Shouto skated by, using his ice to part the students and leaving many frozen to the ground. Ochako winced at those unlucky enough to get caught. She winced even harder when she watched a few of them then get pelted by dodgeballs. Turning her attention away from the crowd, Ochako looked around trying to see if anything was headed for her.

And there were.

Leaping to the side, Ochako dodged the first strike as the ball embedded itself into the grass, ripping out chunks of dirt as it launched back up into the air.

Not fatal, she said. How big a gap does U.A. think there is between 'ow", and dead?!

---

"YEAH! Look at those kids go! The first match of this year's Sports Festival is just underway and already I can tell we got ourselves a bunch of showmen! Listeners at home, the energy these kids are giving off is out of this world!"

"..."

Present Mic sighed as he glanced over at his co host, "Which is more than I can say for some people. Come on! Give us a cheer!"

Aizawa didn't even bother to turn his head to look at Present Mic and answered with a simple, "No."

"Ah ha ha ha. He's a great kidder, everyone! So how about you explain today's event to the listeners? Like our lady judge said, it's more than just a simple game of dodgeball."

"Sigh, 're right, this match is more than just dodging. In order to move onto the next round, the students are going to have to demonstrate several skills. Though for simplicity's sake, it can be best summed up into three. First is an awareness of their surroundings. Not only will the students need to be aware of where the dodgeballs are, but also where their fellow students are. You noticed that several students immediately moved to separate themselves from the group."

"That's right! I'm sure there are viewers at home who found that a little weird."

"They recognized the disadvantage of being bunched together. While some began to worry about getting hit, the ones that were aware of their surroundings knew they had to move."

Present Mic nodded, "I saw a lot of your students high tailing it out of there. Seems like they knew what was up. They don't want to worry about dealing with each other while dealing with the dodgeballs. So what's next?"

"Endurance. They will be under a constant assault for the next few minutes. If they expend too much energy early on, they'll be too tired when the-"

"Hey! Hey now hold on! No spoilers for what's next!"

"...Fine. Basically, they need to be able to know when to attack and how hard to avoid getting too tired too quickly."

"Makes perfect sense. So what's number three? Don't keep the listeners in suspense!"

"It's their ability to be creative. Remember, there are only two rules for this event. That gives everyone down there a lot of room to figure out how to win."

"Well listeners, there you have it- broken down just for you. Now lets see what students down there will be able to come out on top!"

---

Izuku wasn't totally sure, but after slamming one of the larger dodgeballs into the rest that were rocketing towards him, he swore that he was getting targeted more frequently. At the start of the match, he would at least have some time to scan the field to look for any incoming danger and act then. Now though, the frequency of the attacks left him very little time to react. No sooner had he dodged out of the way on one attack then he was desperately trying to pull the dodgeballs out of there paths. He didn't have time to focus on one long enough to actually catch it anymore. Izuku also wasn't the only one starting to struggle.

Fumikage had Dark Shadow working furiously to destroy any dodgeball that came close to him, but even he was starting to miss, leaving Fumikage to hop around trying not to get hit.

Denki was zapping everything that got near, but the other boy was starting to pant form the effort. He was also looking a little off. His eyes were not really focused on anything and he had a googly smile.

Maybe the dodgeballs don't go after people with high points? It's be unfair if people in the other classes kept getting clobbered...though Midnight sensei did say this match wasn't supposed to be fai-

"FUCKING! DIE!"

Izuku flinched as a large explosion went off to his side as he was forced to cover himself from the dirt and, much to his surprise, ice.

"Would you stop destroying my defences?"

Katsuki growled as he got right into Shouto's face, "Half-and-Half I swear, you put another damned ice wall in my way, and the next blast I make will make both sides of your face match!"

"Then you should move somewhere else with less ice." Shouto replied dryly as he once again began to create more walls of ice around himself.

"Okay that's it! I'm shoving my boot right up your-!"

CRACK!

Katsuki was violently cut off when one of the smaller dodgeballs slammed into his forehead, dropping the boy to the ground in a daze, and leaving a nice red mark when it had hit. Roaring out a string of curses, Katsuki lifted his hands up and while still flat on his back, fired off one of the biggest explosions Izuku had ever seen, disintegrating the small dodgeball as it tried to escape back into the air.

The resulting blast shattered large sections of the ice walls Shouto had been making, creating the perfect opening for a dodgeball to slip past and drive itself into his side.

While Izuku was tempted to continue watching, he knew he couldn't afford to. Even though seeing Katsuki get laid out was a sight to behold. Turning his attention back to the game, Izuku realized, much to his horror, that there were now several enormous dodgeballs flying right for him, and they were too close for him to try and stop them with his Quirk.

Stupid! I got distracted!

Reaching out in a hurry, Izuku grabbed some of the large, table-sized shards of ice and yanked them in front of himself, Just in time for the balls to collide with the hastily put up shield. The force of the hit splintered the ice and sent a nasty jolt into Izuku's head, but it had done the trick and stopped the balls as they bounced off.

At least for a few seconds.

That few seconds was all Izuku needed. Grabbing the two balls at the ends, Izuku smashed them and the ball between them together. With a satisfied sigh, Izuku was about to let the broken scrap fall to the ground when a scream caught his ear.

"Ah! Oh no! Oh no!"

Izuku blinked.

That voice? Thats-!

"Uraraka!?"

Looking around, Izuku spotted Ochako running and dodging as multiple dodgeballs swooped by and dive bombed her. She was twisting and turning as she ran, putting her training under Gunhead to good use, but there was little she was going to be able to do against such a swarm.

Hearing her name, Ochako looked over at Izuku startled. Then her eyes widened and she stopped dodging and took off in a dead sprint, right for him.

"DEKU!"

Instinct took over for Izuku as he took the smashed scrap, lifted it up and took aim.

"SMASH!"

Firing the debris right over Ochako's head, Izuku shredded the swarm. Ochako however didn't stop running and dove into Izuku, tackling him backwards and to the ground. A split second later, a ball slammed right into the ground where he had been standing. Rolling off Izuku, Ochako grabbed a piece of debris and raised it above her head before hammering it into the ball over and over again until the ball was just padding, wires, and sparks.

With a huff, Ochako discarded the remains and reached over to help Izuku up

"You okay, Deku?"

Izuku nodded as he took Ochako's hand, "Yeah thanks. I didn't even see that one."

"Well, you were a little busy helping me. Thank you by the way."

Izuku shrugged, flashing her a quick smile, "Well, Midnight sensei never said we couldn't help each oth-"

A loud alarm rang throughout the stadium, grabbing everyone's attention. Midnight, from her judge's podium, smirk deviously, "You've all done well to make it to the halfway point! But that's enough foreplay. It's time for the main event."

That doesn't sound good.

Raising her hand high, she pressed a button on the remote. Like before a section of wall separating the arena and stands opened up to release dodgeballs that soared into the sky.

Then another section of the wall opened up.

Then another.

And another

Soon all around the arena, hundreds of multicolored dodgeballs swarmed into the center of the arena, becoming a writhing, almost living, cloud.

There was an audible silence from the students as they looked at the monstrosity before them. Then sticking her head out from between a group of punch drunk students, Himiko took one look at the swarm and summed up everyone's thoughts.

"Oh, what the actual fuck!?"

The only warning the students had of the attack was when the swarm froze in place for a second, going deathly quiet. The cloud then exploded outward, sending tendrils of dodgeballs in every direction. One of those tendrils was headed right for Izuku and Ochako. Izuku's mind raced as the swarm got closer. He knew that the U.A. Sports Festival could be a bit mad. Last year, they had mined their own obstacle race. But this was just completely nuts. He could hear Ochako behind him screaming they needed to run, but that wasn't going to work.

Run where? We're in the open. Either we'll run around until this overtakes us, or we'll run into more students and then we all get pummeled.

Izuku felt his legs lock up as he dug his shoes into the grass. With the front of the swarm yards away, Izuku took one deep breath, and slammed his Quirk against the front of the oncoming wave. The front of the tendril came to a sudden halt as Izuku grabbed as many balls as he could. Unfortunately while he was able to stop the front ones, the horde behind slammed into them and pushed them onward, breaking Izuku's hold. He tried again, but again his hold was broken. Like Newton's cradle, the collision from behind transferred too much energy for Izuku to overcome. He could slow the swarm down, but he wasn't going to be able to stop it. Around him, he could see and hear groups of students get overcome.

If I don't think of something soon, that's going to be me soon! Come on think!

"Deku!"

Startled, Izuku glanced back and was shocked to see that Ochako was still right behind him.

"Wait, Uraraka? You're still here?"

With a resigned look on her face, accepting that the two of them were about to get pretty beat up, she just shrugged, "Not like there's anywhere to escape to now."

She was right of course. Even though the arena was huge, they were trapped. There wasn't anywhere now that didn't have the dodgeball drones. They just didn't have the room to avoid them.

If only there was a way to get some space. But down here it's just...impossible…

Inside Izuku's head, some gears clicked into place.

Down here…

And started to turn.

On a whim. Izuku looked up. And saw a clear blue sky.

Oh...Oh! OH!

Izuku remembered rule number one of the event. You are allowed to use your Quirks to do whatever you can to not get hit.

Whatever you can to not get hit.

"URARAKA! FLOAT US!"

Ochako jumped as Izuku's scream, "Eh?

The swarm was getting closer. He needed to move now or his plan was not going to work.

"Uraraka, float us! Hurry! Remember USJ?"

Ochako blinked, trying to recall just what Izuku was talking about. She remembered him holding back the villains. Pulling herself and the others to safety, against her wishes. Then a look crossed her face as she remembered the last thing he did that day. The one thing that pissed her off more than anything else.

Deku used my quirk so that he could fl...oh my god. OH MY GOD!

Ochako sprinted forward reaching out her hand, she tapped his back while at the same time touching her hip. Her quirk took effect, just as the swarm finally broke free of Izuku's hold and broke over them.

---

"Oh man oh man! What a show. What started out as a battle of attrition is now a mad fight for survival! Let's hope those kids down there weren't starting to relax just because they were doing better than some other, cause I'll let you listeners in on a little secret. Those dodgeballs have a nasty little program installed in them. Once the halfway point is reached, how they pick their target changes. Now, they're going to be looking for those special few that have the lowest score! That's right ladies and gentleman, those over-achievers are about to have their hands full!"

Present Mic clapped his hands dramatically as he delivered the update to everyone watching. This brought a huge cheer from the crowd, happy to know that the event was still wide open, and wasn't going to get boring. While he gave commentary, Aizawa kept an eye on his students. Watching to see how they would react to this. It was an overwhelming force they were having to deal with now, and he was sure many of them were already feeling the effects of the first half of the match. How they acted now to minimize their score would be very telling.

"EH?! Hey what's that green light over on the other side of the field?"

Present Mic leaned forward in his seat as he peered out. Aizawa followed his gaze and saw that the swarm of dodgeballs was now glowing bright green. On a whim, he glanced down at the electronic scorecard and raised an eyebrow.

Well would you look at-

Aizawa's thought was cut off when the bright light exploded, pushing the balls back and a bright green streak shot up into the air.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA! What is that!?"

---

"Mrs. Midoriya! Look! Look at that!" Eri bounced in her chair pointing excitedly out the window.

Inko's jaw hung open at what she saw. Mr and Mrs. Uraraka had similar looks of shock and awe. All Might, however, had the biggest grin on his face as he watched the green streak go higher and higher into the air.

Well that's one way to stand out, you two!

---

When the balls had fallen around them, Izuku gritted his teeth and did his best to hold them back far enough that he and Ochako had room to get themselves ready. Once he felt her arms wrap around his shoulder, he made sure that he had a grip on her with his Quirk, then with a hard push, forced the dodgeballs around them to part. Creating an opening that was just big enough for them to escape from. Rocketing upward, Izuku and Ochako soared into the sky until they came to a stop near the middle of the stadium. Far above the swarm of dodgeballs.

"Oh wow! Oh wow, Deku! We made it!" Ochako cheered loudly.

Izuku just started laughing, elated that his plan had worked, "I can't believe that worked. Oh wow, we are pretty high up here aren't we."

While Izuku glanced around nervously as he realized just how high they were, Ochako's arms tightened as she leaned forward over his shoulder. So he could see her, "And what do you mean you're surprised?"

"Er…"

"WOW! Would you look at that! Looks like we got a couple of rising stars here listeners!"

Hearing Present Mic's voice over the loudspeakers, both looked up and were surprised to see themselves on the giant screen around the stadium. All the camera's were pointed right at them. Izuku could feel his stomach twist a little nervously, but before he could think too hard on the fact, Ochako began to tap his shoulder furiously, "Deku! Deku below us! Look!"

Looking down, Izuku gasped. The dodgeballs they had escaped from were rocketing upwards for them.

"Uraraka, hold on!"

"Fly! Go go go!"

In a bright flash, Izuku took off, juking and ducking as balls rocketed around them. Even though the number of balls was still the same as it had been moments before, the added three dimensional movement gave the two a huge advantage. And Izuku was taking full advantage of it. Ochako was also having the time of her life soaring through the air, even if she grunted at some of the sudden turns. She was sure that even a few months ago her stomach wouldn't have been able to handle the strain of using her Quirk on herself and the dogfight she was in.

Rocketing over the arena, Izuku couldn't keep the bright smile off his face. Even though he was still in the match, this feeling was just not something he could ignore. It was so different than before, when he had thrown himself at Tomura.

"Deku, turn left!"

Instantly, Izuku reacted to Ochako's warning and twisted to the side. He felt the large dodgeball sail by, "Great job Uraraka! Keep watching my back please!"

"Always!"

With the reassurance, Izuku looked down trying to see if any more would pop up from beneath them. It also gave him a chance to see how everyone else was doing.

He spotted Mei dashing along the ground, being propelled by her hover soles and a large rocket pack. From her side, a wire would shoot out into the ground, helping her make a sharp turn or pull her to the side to avoid as many of the dodgeballs as possible.

Tenya was using a similar tactic, using his speed to try and outrun the swarm. Every so often, he was forced to leap over some students so he didn't break his momentum.

A small group of students were bunched together, though with how they were struggling, it didn't look like they wanted to be so close. A second look let Izuku see some purple lumps stuck right in the middle of them. As well as a head of messy lavender hair.

Himiko was nowhere to be seen.

"Uraraka, do we still have some behind us?"

Ochako looked over her shoulder, "Oh yeah, there's um," she started to count but just gave up immediately, "yeah, we got a lot behind us still."

"Okay, I have an idea to get rid of a few. Hang on tight!"

Taking his advice, Ochako wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her ankles, "Ready!"

Izuku angled down and made a beeline for the wall that surrounded the outer edge of the arena. Pushing his Quirk, he sped up and ripped through the air. With only a few feet separating them and having a head on collision, Ochako watched what came next intently. Not once was she afraid they would hit. She knew that Izuku knew what he was doing.

Most of the time.

At the last possible second, Izuku twisted himself around so he landed feet first against the wall, stopping his momentum just long enough so that he could sharply rocket straight up. The balls following them were not able to make the same turn, slamming into the wall and each other before falling to the ground in heaps of scrap.

Izuku and Ochako climbed higher and higher into the air, flying over the cheering crowd.

"Uraraka."

"Yeah?"

"Why was this not the first thing we tried after I learned how to use my Quirk after training?"

"...You know, that's a good question."

Coming to a stop Izuku surveyed the arena below looking to see if he could spot where the next attack was going to come from.

"Hey Deku, it has to almost be ten minutes right?"

"Maybe? It's hard to keep track of time when you're running for your life."

Ochako chuckled, "I guess. It'd be nice if we were in the clear now at least."

Izuku gulped as he spotted something down below that made him gulp, "Uraraka, I don't think that's going to happen."

Izuku pointed down and Ochako looked where he had pointed.

Oh that doesn't look good.

Almost all the remaining dodgeballs that hadn't been destroyed by the other students were once again converging on each other. Multiple tendrils made up of balls slid around each other, forming a large almost serpent like shape that circled around the perimeter of the arena. The 'head' of the mass was facing upwards, right at Izuku and Ochako.

"What are the odds that all of that is coming after us?" Izuku asked, already having a pretty good feeling he knew the answer.

"Yeah I think those things hate us."

Once the remaining dodgeballs had all converged, the 'serpent' stopped moving and was now very obviously pointing itself right towards the two.

"Oh yeah, they hate us," Izuku agreed.

"Deku fly! Fly!"

Izuku bolted, just as the pillar launched up to chase after them. As it rocketed into the air it split into five 'fingers' branching out to entrap the two. Ochako could see this as she looked around frantically for some opening to point Izuku towards.

Down is out. Left and right? Nope. Can't go back, and if we keep going forward, we're gonna run into a wall of those things. The only other way we can go, is to keep going up…

The image that popped up when Midnight told them all the second rule of the match flashed before Ochako's eyes. A bright yellow line, encircling the whole stadium. Encircling it.

And what were Midnight sensei's exact words? We can't step foot outside the stadium…

"Deku, go up!"

"Huh? But if I go any higher, we'll fly out of the stadium!"

"Exactly! It's the only place that won't have those darn dodgeballs."

"But the rules! Midnight sensei said-"

"We can't step foot outside, she even had the perimeter lined out. But she said we can't step foot outside. And that picture never said how high we could go."

Izuku blinked. His mind raced as he went over what Ochako said. He knew he didn't have time to go over what she had said in detail. He didn't even have time to mumble out his thoughts. He had to make a decision right now. So he did the most obvious thing he could.

He listened to Ochako, and rocketed straight up, avoiding the swarm by mer moments, and flew right through the giant opening in the stadium roof.

---

"HEY! Now hold on one second! They can't just leave the stadium like that...can they?"

Present Mic was pressed against the glass as he tried to keep an eye on Izuku and Ochako as they soared higher and higher.

"Technically, they haven't broken either of the rules Midnight laid out."

Present Mic fell back into his seat, "True, but those two went about finding ways around the rules to an extreme, don't you think?"

"What was the third skill I told you that the students were going to need to win this match?"

There was an awkward pause as Present Mic scratched at his mustache as he tried to remember what Aizawa said. Groaning in annoyance, Aizawa answered for him, "Creativity."

"Oh yeah, that's right!"

A loud buzzer went off, signalling the end of the first round. Present Mic grabbed his microphone as he addressed the crowd, "And that's the signal for the end of the round! Let's hear it for our brave students! Give them a round of applause! We'll have the results of the match up shortly. Lets see who came out on top!"

---

Floating back down, Izuku tried really hard not to look at any of the large jumbo screens. Every once in a while one would switch from a panning shot of all the students to them showing his and Ochako's descent. Without being in the crowd with everyone else, Izuku couldn't help but feel a little exposed.

Tapping his shoulder, Ochako smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up, "Calm down. We need to stand out anyway, so don't let it bother you."

Man, she always knows what's bothering me.

After the buzzer rang, Ochako had gotten off Izuku's back and was hovering right next to him.

"So we're doing this again right?"

"Huh?" Izuku blinked at Ochako's sudden question.

Ochako smiled brightly recalling the entry she had read in Izuku's hero notebook about the possibility of their Quirks comboing to let them fly, "The flying thing. We could make this a combo move. We'd have to come up with a good name for it."

Izuku's cheeks flushed as he smiled at the idea, "Yeah? Sure, that would be great."

Once their feet were back on the ground, Ochako tapped her fingers together and released them both from her Quirk. Immediately several of their classmates converged on them to congratulate them.

"Dude, that was so cool!"

"So you two can fly now. Yeah that's fair," Hitoshi deadpanned.

From behind Minoru pointed up at him angrily, "You don't get to talk about fairness! You brainwashed me to go make you a human shield! Those guys didn't even realize I was under your control. They just think I captured them and stuck them together! I'm the bad guy while you get off clean!"

"Exactly."

Himiko frowned down at Minoru, "I don't see why you're complaining so much. You're probably gonna do pretty well because you got used, so be grateful."

More than a few members of class 1-A laughed while Minoru huffed indigently.

When the rest of the students had regrouped, Midnight cracked her whip to silence the crowd, "The points have been tallied and the scores finalized! You all showed a lot of spirit today and fought hard. But there can be only one winner...is what I would normally be saying right now."

A mummer of confusion swept over the crowd and students as they waited for Midnight to explain.

"We have a tie for first place. Two contestants were able to put forth the effort to not only win, but to do so flawlessly. I present to you, your dodgeball champions," Midnight pointed up at the same time every jumbo screen changed to show the crowd the winners, "Midoriya Izuku and Uraraka Ochako!"

Izuku's eyes went wide, while Ochako's jaw dropped. Neither could believe what they had just heard.

We...won? Deku and I won?...DEKU AND I WON!

Elation filled Ochako as she turned ready to celebrate, "Deku we did i-!" She was cut off as Himiko rushed by and lept into Izuku, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Izuku, I knew you were going to win! You're the best!"

Cheeks burning Izuku stammered out a response, "Th-thank you, Toga. But there are still two mooorrr…"

Izuku trailed off as Himiko pressed herself even tighter against him and her lips grazed his ear. With each word, he felt Himiko's hot breath set the skin on his neck on fire, "You need to learn to take your wins when you get them, Izuku. Celebrating isn't a bad thing. And I'd be more than happy to teach you some fun ways to celebrate."

Pulling back and giving Izuku a wink and a smirk that just about killed the poor boy, Himiko leisurely walked back towards the crowd, stopping only briefly to turn towards a stunned and shaking Ochako. She flashed her a quick thumbs up and said, "Oh yeah, good job, Ochako."

That snapped Ochako out of her shock, but before she had a chance to say something to Himiko in front of Izuku that she might regret, someone from the crowd pointed up to the giants screen, "hey look, they're posting the other podium finishes!"

Everyone else looked up and Ochako almost forgot just how upset she had been that Himiko had gotten so intimately close to Izuku, when she saw the names listed.

1st: Uraraka Ochako / Midoriya Izuku

2nd: Todoroki Shouto

3rd: Bakugou Katsuki

Bakugou got third? Oh that is just perfe-

"WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT SHITTY FUCK?! DEKU, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

You know what, I'm not even shocked he's going to try and make a scene right now.

Many of the students scurried away as Katsuki burst through them. His eyes instantly fell on Izuku, "What the hell was that shit, Deku!? You think you deserve that first place after the shit you just pulled?!"

As Katsuki marched over to Izuku, Ochako moved to block his path, "Bakugou you need to-"

"Get the fuck out of my way before I blast your fat ass into the stands."

Fat!?

"Kacchan!" Izuku walked up behind Ochako and put his hand on her shoulder, gently moving her to the side so she wasn't between the two, "If you have something to say, then hurry up and say it. They're probably going to announce who's moving on to the next round soon, so I don't have time to deal with whatever is bothering you right now."

The edge in Izuku's voice raised a few eyebrows from his class. While the girls hadn't heard this tone before, the boys had. Or at least something similar. While his tone lacked the anger it had before, the tone was very similar to when Izuku had driven home the point to Minoru that he was going to either clean up his act, immediately or suffer the consequences.

Katsuki's hands were starting to smoke as he got into Izuku's face, "You don't deserve that win you, little shit. You aren't strong enough to fly around like that. You had Round Face over there float the two of you. You had to have fucking help. How pathetic can you get!?"

Izuku waited a few seconds- waited to see if Katsuki had anything else to add. When it was clear that that was his problem, Izuku sighed. He was shocked by just how tired he was of this conversation already, "Kacchan, are you done being an idiot?"

The crowd was still loud. Present Mic was still broadcasting with his normal exuberance. Most of the students in the area were talking amongst themselves as they waited to see who else was going to go to the next round, but around Izuku and Katsuki everything went dead silent.

Eijirou was looking between the two, ready to step in and separate the two if he had to. He probably had the best chance of shrugging off any of the blasts Katsuki was getting ready to throw. Tenya was stuck; he wanted to get Katsuki to calm down, but he also felt he had a responsibility to reign in Izuku as well. While he couldn't blame him for standing up to his long-time bully, this was bordering on antagonistic, and might result in the both of them getting disqualified for fighting. Ochako's jaw dropped when Izuku had called Katsuki an idiot. There were many, many different names that could work when talking to Katsuki, None of which she ever expected to hear out of Izuku's mouth, And while idiot was the kinder of the lot, it was still something she had never expected to hear. At least not so soon.

Katsuki's brow twitched, and you could see the veins pulsing on the side of his brow, "What. The FUCK. Did you call me?"

Oh...OH my god is this actually happening!? Deku you're doing this NOW? This is NOT the time or place Deku! If you get into a fight now, you'll get thrown out!

"Deku, maybe we should-"

Izuku however just started talking, too focused on Katsuki to hear her try and get things calmed down, "You heard what I said, Kacchan. Remember what the first rule Midnight sensei said. Do whatever it takes to win. And that's exactly what Uraraka and I did. So don't come screaming at me because you weren't taking this first match seriously."

"What!?" Katsuki's eyes blazed at that, but before he could get another word in, Izuku cut him off.

"I saw you during the match, Kacchan. You weren't trying to win. You were trying to pick a fight with Todoroki. You were going out of your way to keep running into the walls of ice he was putting up so that you could blow them up."

A few of the class glanced over at Shouto, who looked like he wasn't paying attention to the conversation.

"Kacchan, listen, I saw you get hit because you weren't focused on winning. If you had been, I think the three of us would have tied for first. We aren't in elementary or jr. high anymore. We are in high school. We're in U.A.! It's time to grow up."

Izuku walked around Katsuki, not wanting to be where he was anymore, "If you don't want to recognize the win...fine. I can't make you. But Kacchan, are you going to make up excuses for the next two events too? Because, like it or not, I'm going to win today."

---

"The wait is over! It is time to announce the next event and who will be participating!"

With a snap of her whip, the screen behind Midnight started to spin faster and faster until it came to a sudden stop.

Capture the flag.

"The first event was to see how well you acted when you all out for yourselves. Now it's time to see how you do working as a team! The winners of the first event will be split into four random teams of eight. Now before I explain the rules, lets see what those teams are going to look like!"

The giant screen split up into four large columns, with the words Team A, Team B, Team C and Team D in bold letters at the top. Soon in the eight empty slots underneath each team started to fill out.

Team A: Midoriya Izuku, Yanagi Reiko, Iida Tenya, Kaminari Denki, Yaoyorozu Momo, Monoma Neito, Hatsume Mei, Toga Himiko

Team B: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Shouji Mezou, Kaibara Sen, Hagakure Tooru, Mineta Minoru, Kamakiri Toharu, Kuroiro Shihai, Tsuburaba Kosei

Team C: Bakugou Katsuki, Uraraka Ochako, Todoroki Shouto, Fumikage Tokoyami, Kirishima Eijirou, Ashido Mina, Ojiro Mashirao, Shinso Hitoshi

Team D: Kouda Kouji, Jirou Kyouka, Asui Tsuyu, Hanta Sero, Tsunotori Pony, Kendou Itsuka, Honenuki Juuzou, Tokage Setsuna

Izuku felt his stomach twist. His eyes looking over the names in Team C and seeing Ochako's. He could hear Ochako to his side groan, loudly, as she also saw her team. Though, whether it was because she wasn't on the same team as Izuku or because she was on the same team as Katsuki, he wasn't sure.

The two of them had already faced the fact that they were going to have to compete against each other, and had promised to give it their all regardless. But it didn't mean Izuku had to like it. He was about to turn and wish her luck when Midnight called out over the crowd of students, "Everyone listed above, you are to stay here while the faculty sets the stage for the second event. If you are not, please return to your assigned student seating. However, don't forget that even though you were not able to make it to the next round, there are still more festival events you will have a chance to compete in. Midoriya and Uraraka! Both of you come up to the judge's podium immediately."

Both Izuku and Ochako jumped at their names being called, and hurried up to see Midnight. Upon reaching her podium, Midnight glanced down at the two, "You both did well to find a way to come out on top in the first event. With perfect scores no less. Well done."

"Thank you, Midnight sensei!" Both said in unison.

"However having two first place winners is a bit of a problem. Only one of you can receive the reward for coming in first."

"A reward?" Ochako asked.

"That's right. It's a special item for the upcoming event. We only have the one, and having two would make things a bit complicated. So we're going to have to figure who gets it."

Midnight paused. She had half-expected the other to offer the reward to their friend. She knew that was the kind of people they were. From observing them during class and from the updates she was able to squeeze out of Himiko during their therapy sessions. However, neither made such an offer, and that brought an almost predatory smile to Midnight's face, "Good, you both have the right mindset right now. You both want to win. Don't you?"

Both of them nodded.

"So let's get this settled." Midnight held up her hand, and showed the two a large coin. She flipped it once in her hand so they could see that the two sides were different, "Heads, and tails."

She then flipped the coin high into the air before either had a chance to really realize what was happening, "Uraraka, call it!"

"EH!? Um! Heads!"

Midnight snatched the coin out of the air and slapped it onto the top of her hand. Removing her hand, she showed the two, and cameras the coins face.

It was tails.

"Yes!" Izuku cheered while Ochako crossed her arms and grumbled.

"Best two-out-of-three?" Ochako asked hopefully.

"Sorry, but no. Now Midoriya," Midnight opened a box she had to her side and pulled out a black flag, "You hold onto this. I'll explain everything once the area is ready."

---

While the rest of the students left the arena, the ones that had passed the first round were now grouped up with their teams as they waited for the arena to get set up. First, crews came out and using white chalk on the grass, sectioned the field into four equal parts. Then scaffolding, wood and other pieces of building materials and large debris were brought in and spaced out, giving the field sections that were flat and some that were rugged and full of obstacles. Next, large sections of some kind of structure were moved in with crews quickly going to work putting the large items together, with obvious practice to build four large structures.

Mina rubbed her chin as she looked at them, "those look like playground forts."

"We are going to be playing capture the flag. You can't do that without a base." Eijirou said watching as the multi story forts were moved into place and anchored down.

"Man if we had forts like that at our old playground when we were kids, I'd never want to leave."

A crewman hurried over to Midnight and gave her a quick thumbs up, "Excellent! Then it's time for me to explain the rules of the next event. Listen up! I'm only going to explain this once!"

Midnight pointed to the large screen as the rules popped up.

"First, each member of each team will be given one flag," Midnight held up a red flag for them to see, "You must protect your flags from being taken by the other team. You may do this by hiding, holding, or defending them, however you may not bury or put the flag in a place that can no longer be seen. A flag is captured when a member from another team takes a flag and brings it into their own territory. If you choose to hold onto your own flag and cross over into an opposing teams side, the flag is still yours but if a member of the other teams takes it, it counts as a steal. Once captured, the flag is the same as the rest. This flag can be taken back, or stolen by another team. You may only directly attack another student if they have a flag. Be it to stop them from crossing the line and stealing it, or to take it for yourself. Do not start fighting each other or there will be consequences. This is not a brawl. You may use your Quirks to steal, or prevent your flags from being taken. You may also use your Quirks to shore up your base; however, you may not make an inclosed structure. Your base has natural openings in them, do not cover these up. The two teams with the highest flag count at the end of the round will move on."

A hand shot up. Midnight pointed to her, "Yes, Tokage?"

The green haired girl pointed over towards Team A, "Midnight sensei, you said we could use our Quirks, but that girl over there is covered in gadgets and support equipment. Is that allowed?"

Mei just waved at the other girl, oblivious to some of the questioning looks she and her horde of items were getting.

"Students from the Department of Support are allowed to bring their own inventions if they are approved by the judges and safety officials. And they can be used in any of the events," Midnight answered.

Izuku raised his hand, and Midnight grinned as she looked at him, "You want to know about your black flag. Right Midoriya?"

Izuku nodded, but had an uneasy feeling at the way she was looking at him.

"That black flag is the reward for the winner of the first round. So it has its own special set of rules."

Neither Izuku or the rest of his teammates liked how Midnight said, special.

"First, that flag does not count to your final total."

Wait? That means we're starting with a lower score right from the start?

"But that's not what you should be focusing on. Team A, if you lose that flag, it is an immediate loss."

There was a beat as Team A let that sink in. Then they exploded.

"WHAT!?"

"How is this a reward!?"

"But what about our final flag count?" Tenya asked, his hands chopping through the air quickly, reflecting his unhappiness at this sudden revelation.

"Your final flag count doesn't matter if you let the black flag get captured. As I said, it's an automatic loss, so you won't have the chance to get it back. Also if you are able to keep the flag safe, you will still need a high flag count to pass to the next."

Izuku rubbed his chin, mumbling to himself, "So the black flag only hurts us? If we keep it, it doesn't help us win. If we lose it, we lose the whole match…"

"OH! I almost forgot," Midnight said with a snap of her fingers, "The team that steals the black flag gets an automatic victory, despite how many flags they end up with."

Instantly, the air around the students changed. Before it had been competitive, and perhaps a little sympathetic for Team A's bad luck. This new news changed that. The small bit of sympathy evaporated as a firestorm of desire to crush the unfortunate team and get the instant win overcame everyone. Izuku gulped as the eyes of the other teams all turned and looked right at him. Him and the black flag he held in his hand. His breaths started to come in quicker, and more shallow, and he swore he was already starting to sweat through his clothes. The sheer force of their gazes was enough to make Izuku want to take a step back. Perhaps even more than that. He almost wanted to duck and run right then and there.

Then he felt a firm hand grip his shoulder. Glancing to his side, Tenya now stood besides him, glaring back at everyone else. Then Himiko came up on his other side, and casually leaned against him, propping herself up with an elbow on his shoulder as she flashed a dangerous smile at the other teams. Denki smack a fist into his open palm, sending small bolts of electricity out while Momo fell in besides Tenya, looking ready to go. Even Reiko and Neito from 1-B who were standing a little apart from the rest of the 1-A members were glaring back at the others. In Neito's case, he looked extremely smug. Only Mei didn't seem to be able to read the atmosphere as she tinkered with one of her gadgets, not caring at all about the other teams.

Izuku took a deep breath as he steadied his nerves and stared back, ready for whatever they threw at him.

"Excellent! I can feel your energy from here! I love it! Now collect your flags and make your way to your bases. You will have ten minutes to get set up!"

---

Mr. Uraraka whistled in sympathy as he watched the teams separate, "Man, did my little girl dodge a bullet there."

Mrs. Uraraka cleared her throat, giving her husband a dirty look, "Dear…"

Feeling the frost on her voice, Mr. Uraraka glanced over at his wife and saw her point towards Inko, who was looking very worried.

"Oh...OH! Oh don't worry. I'm sure your kid will do just fine, even if he has a target on his back."

"DEAR!"

While Mrs. Uraraka berated her husband, Eri looked up at Inko, clearly confused, "Mrs. Midoriya. Didn't Izuku win? Why is he getting in trouble?"

"I'm not sure dear. U.A. is a very strange school, but I'm sure he'll be just fine. Izuku is a bright boy; he'll figure out a way to win."

Mrs. Uraraka frowned and leaned back into her chair, "I still don't get it, though. Why punish the winner like this?"

"From a heroes point of view, this outcome makes perfect sense." All Might said getting everyone's attention.

"How so?"

"Hmm think of it this way- by winning Young Midoriya put himself in the number one spot, just like the number one spot heroes all over the country are trying to reach."

"Okay…"

"Does the hero at the number one spot have an easier time or harder time once he's there?"

The three parents blinked as they thought about that. Inko looked back down at the field, "I suppose they have it harder. They have to work to keep that spot, don't they? They have all the other heroes gunning for the position. Plus, I'm sure there are villains that would love to be known as the one that…"

Inko closed her eyes, shuddering and deciding not to finish that thought. It hit just a bit too close to home after recent events. All Might gave her a sympathetic nod, "That's what is being replicated and tested here. Young Midoriya worked hard to get that first place spot, and all that comes with it. Now we'll have to see if he has what it takes to keep hold of it. Especially when everyone down there is going to be gunning for him."

---

"These are...a lot bigger when you're right next to them," Denki said as he craned his neck up at their base. The structures were more like mobile fortresses than playground forts. Each one had multiple rooms, walls and had enough space to fit a small family. There were two door entrances at the bottom floor along with 3 open windows. The floor above that had two windows.

Momo nodded, "Creating a good defensive perimeter around the base will be tricky...but we are getting ahead of ourselves."

"Of course, we must remember we are not just a team comprised of classmates," Tenya turned sharply towards the three of their team not in 1-A, "My name is Iida, I am the class representative of class 1-A. I hope we will be able to work together to ensure our victory in the coming match."

Mei, who had been eyeing the stands, glanced back at him and waved, "Hi, I'm Hatsume. I love making babies. I've made some with Midoriya already. I'm probably not going to remember any of your names though."

Izuku wanted to defend himself, but the horror and embarrassment he felt from Mei's unique choice of words left him speechless. While Momo and Tenya looked aghast, Denki started grinning ear to ear as he put his arms around Izuku's shoulder, "You sly dog! You play up being a cinnamon roll, but when we turn our backs, you turn into a sinnamon ro- OUCH!"

Himiko slammed her heel down onto Denki's toes, making the boy hop up and down in pain, "That's what she calls her inventions, you moron! Now moving on because we don't have time for this ," Himiko turned to the 1-B students, "You two, who are you and what can you do?"

Neito pushed some stray strands of hair out of his face as he looked down at Himiko. His voice dripping with haughtiness, "And why should we give the enemy any kind of help? Just because we're teamed up with a bunch of 1-A losers and a failure who gets stuck with such a handicap doesn't mean neither I nor Yanagi will lower ourselves to your level to win this match."

WOW! This douchebag just went from zero to 'please stab me in the face' faster than anyone else I've ever met...and I've met Baku Bitch.

Before anyone else had a chance to respond to Neito's strange attitude, Reiko walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder., "Do not forget that I gave Kendou my word of honor that I would let her know if you acted in any way that might embarrass our class. Do you want me to tell her exactly what you just said so that she will have ample reason to punish you? Severely."

Neito blinked as he froze in place as Reiko walked past him, "Hello. It is a pleasure to meet all of you. My name is Yanagi Reiko and this is Monoma Neito. I hope you can forgive Monoma, he has an inferiority complex that makes him a little hard to deal with. However, he works hard and will do whatever he can to ensure that we achieve victory. As for our Quirks, Monama's is-"

"It's called Copy. I can temporarily copy a person's Quirk," Neito finished quickly, ignoring the slight head tilt from Reiko from being interrupted.

The momentary pause between the two led Izuku to think that perhaps there was more to his Quirk, but if he wanted to withhold that, he couldn't really blame him. If...When they won, they would be facing each other in the next round, so it made sense he wanted to have some trump cards left.

"And my Quirk is called Poltergeist." Reiko finished.

Denki gulped nervously, "Wait, does that mean you can make ghosts?"

"No, I can only move objects telepathically."

Izuku's eyebrows shot up in shock while Himiko pointed between the two, "Wait? You can do the same thing Izuku can with his Psychokinesis Quirk?"

Reiko looked over at Izuku. While she didn't show any outward emotions, Himiko swore she was looking at him with equal parts curiosity and competitiveness, "Yes, I suppose you could say our Quirks are similar in many ways. Though mine does not make me glow."

Neito waved his hand, "Don't worry about something useless like that. All it does is draw attention to you. Though I suppose that's par for the course for you 1-A showoffs."

"Okay dude, your attitude is like, the worst; you know that? And lay off Midoriya; he won remember?"

"Exactly," Tenya agreed, "While I wish for us to work together, we will not simply allow you to continue to bad mouth us like this! Midoriya, do not take anything he says to heart."

"Um," Momo started, tapping Tenya's shoulder and pointing at Izuku, "I don't think he even heard him."

The rest of the team turned and found Izuku with his head down, hand resting on his chin and with a far off look as he was mumbling to himself, so fast that even when they started to pay attention to him, they could only make out every other word.

"Potentially three… only need to send… Maximize defence…"

"Er Izuku, you still with..." Himiko stopped when Izuku turned and marched over to Mei, "...Us?"

Izuku began looking over all the gadgets Mei was wearing, making the girl fidget excitedly, "OH, are you interested in my babies?"

Nodding, Izuku started to point at different gear while Mei explained what each device was.

"Those are my wire arrows. They can help me traverse difficult terrain, or be used to attack. And that is my capture gun. It fires special cartridges that hold nets inside. And thats…"

"Soooo, is this normal for him?" Neito asked while he and the rest of the team watched Mei go over each and every piece of tech she had, "I can practically see the hamster wheels turning."

"He also hasn't stopped muttering to himself for some time now," Reiko said.

"Midoriya tends to," Tenya paused as he considered his words carefully, "...go off the deep end when he starts to really think about something. In his defence, he has one of the most analytical minds I have ever seen. His ability to analyze a person's Quirk alone is staggering. He's also shown our class he is great at coming up with strategies and plans on the fly. During our first heroics lesson with All Might, he worked out a plan that led his team to victory."

"Ah you mean that heroes vs villains battle simulation? I was wondering if All Might taught both classes with the same test. So he won that...Interesting."

"A side effect though is that he tends to mutter and mumble to himself and gets lost in his thoughts. While we could snap him out of it, I think it might be best for us to let him work through what he's thinking about," Tenya finished.

Momo nodded before glancing at the other teams. They were already hurrying around, either hiding their flags or moving the debris around to better their defences. Over on Team C, Shouto was busy fortifying their base into an ice fortress, making the already huge base even more intimidating. It was hard not to notice that they were still just standing around "Perhaps you are right, Iida, but I'd like to at least start doing something soon. Otherwise, even if Midoriya comes up with a brilliant plan, we won't have time to go through with it."

Neito sighed, "As much as I hate to say this, I have to agree with the 1-A cheerleader. Waiting around for the weirdo and the support department air-head to stop talking isn't going to help us win."

When Reiko was again going to remind Neito to not antagonize the other 1-A students, she was cut off when Himiko walked up to Neito and stood in front of him.

Smiling.

Smiling in an unsettlingly sweet and cheerful way.

Smiling in an unsettlingly sweet and cheerful way while her eyes glared straight into his soul.

Neito glanced around nervously, "um yes?"

"Hi I'm Toga Himiko of class 1-A. I fucking stab people. So please keep making fun of my friends and classmates."

"I-! HUH!?"

"Toga, please refrain from making such uncalled-for threats!" Momo said, shocked at how brazen Himiko had been. True, Neito had been aggravating, but that didn't call for something like that.

While Tenya pulled Himiko aside to inform her that such action was detrimental to forming a cohesive team, and unbecoming of a young woman trying to become a hero, Neito shook his head and started to laugh, "That girl needs to learn to make sure she can back up what she says. If she was trying to be scary, she failed."

Reiko shook her head, not bothering to mention how pale the boy looked. Denki, however, patted him on the shoulder, "Dude, you didn't see what some of the villains looked like after we got attacked at the USJ."

"Huh?"

"She ripped them apart."

"As in…?"

"Literal pieces."

Gulp.

---

"I have a plan."

Shortly after Himiko and Neito had been separated, Izuku turned to address the rest of his teammates. Going over everything in his head, all the people on the team, their Quirks, and the unique gear they had available to them. Izuku was certain he had come up with the best possible way for them to win the match.

"The key is to maximize our offence while not doing anything to minimize our defence. Because of our unique situation," Izuku tapped the flag he had hanging from his pocket, "we can't afford to have any holes in our defenses."

"However, we can't just turtle-up and wait for the end. We still have to get flags in order to win." Tenya added.

Izuku agreed, "That's right, however I think I have a way to make sure we can do both easily. Monama, I just want to confirm, you can copy any Quirk right. And use it without issue? Like mine or Yanagi's?"

"Yes I can, though I would prefer to copy my classmates Quirk. I don't want your inferior version."

Himiko grumbled under her breath, but Izuku ignored the jab completely. "perfect! Yaoyorozu, if Hatsume was to describe in detail how some of her support gear is made, could you create it?"

Momo nodded, "if she can give me exact specifications, I can do it easily."

"And do you think you'd be able to make a drone with some kind of grabbing attachment on it. And a camera?"

Momo frowned as she thought about that, "I can, but the only one I know how to make is a small one I had as a toy as a child. I could combine a simple hook or claw to it, but it'll have to be remote controlled."

Izuku motioned to the red flags they were carrying, "would it be strong enough to lift a flag?"

"I think so, but it would be slow."

"That's fine. It just has to get up into the air and into the open."

"Then yes, that shouldn't be a problem."

Izuku clapped his hands together, a large smile forming as all the pieces of his plan were now fallen together "Then that's all I needed to hear."

Himiko smirked seeing Izuku so fired up. It was a good look for him she thought, "So, are you going to tell us what your plan is then?"

"Right!" Izuku exclaimed, excited to lay out his plan now that he had everything confirmed, "First let's cover our defenses. The key to them will come down to you: Yaoyorozu, Hatsume, and Kaminari."

Denki and Momo exchanged glances, "Just us three?"

"Technically, only Hatsume and Kaminari will be actively defending, but Yaoyorozu your Quirk is key. Hatsume, can you show her your capture gun and the ammo please. And the wire arrows."

Mei excitedly handed Momo the support gear while Izuku explained, "I want you to make more of these," Izuku pointed to the capture device, "but have them mounted onto stands of some kind, so they can be operated like turrets. We'll then station them on the base and surrounding perimeter. I'd also like for you to make as much ammo as you can. Hatsume will be stationed at our base and man the turrets up there. The ones on the ground will be for everyone else to use if you see a chance."

Mei clapped, "oh my babies are about to get mass produced!"

Momo nodded as she started to see Izuku's idea, "with this we can actively defend our field with just one person if we have to."

"But what about me?" Denki asked, "Am I going to be on gunnery duty too?"

"No, you're going to be our main deterrent. I'd like to have Yaoyorozu make more of these wire arrows, and Mei will fire them across our zone. Each one will lead back to you. With them spread out, you should be able to send an electric current through them that'll arc and hit anyone that gets too close. You'll expend less power and have control where you send your electricity."

"So you want me to act like a giant electric fence?"

"Yep."

Denki smirked; the idea made a lot of sense. In theory, he could jump in front of any incoming attack and let off an area of effect blast to take care of the threat, but he could only do that a few times before he blew a fuse in his brain. This way, even if he had to perform a lot of attacks, he was pretty sure he'd be able to last the whole match, "Oh yeah, I can make this work. No problem."

"So Hatsume and Kaminari will be on active defense, and you're having Yaoyorozu mass produce the gear to help them. What about the rest of us?" Tenya asked.

"Iida, you, Toga, and the drone Yaoyorozu will make and pilot will be the only ones going after the other teams flags. While Yaoyorozu will stay on our side, you two will be infiltrating the other bases to get their flags."

"Wait why only three?" Neito asked.

"They each have the best chance of infiltrating compared to any of us. The drone will be small and hopefully it goes unnoticed. Iida can use his speed to get in and out fast, and Toga is a stealth master. She should be able to sneak in with no issues. With those three actively stealing the flags, it'll be up to myself, Monoma and Yanagi to retrieve them. When you get a flag, toss it into the air where we can see it, and from the safety of our zone, we can grab it and pull it over."

"Ah! So that's why you wondered if Monoma would be able to copy my Quirk. You want him as part of this retrieval team." Reiko said as she came to understand Izuku's logic. Even Neito found himself thinking that this could work. Though he would never say it out loud.

"That's right. For each enemy zone, well have a team of a stealer and a retriever ready to pull over anything they throw up into the air. That way we'll always have six people on our side ready to defend our flags if we have to."

Tenya rubbed his chin recalling what Izuku had said, "Maximize our offense while not minimizing our defense. I must say everything you've come up with seems to be just what we need Midoriya."

Himiko rushed forward and wrapped herself around Izuku's arm, "I'm teaming up with Izuku!"

No one dared tried to say otherwise.

Neito frowned after a few seconds, "There is one thing your brilliant plan hasn't addressed yet. That black flag. There are quite a few people of the other teams that will probably try and bulldoze their way past everything and focus squarely on that."

Izuku nodded, conceding the point, "It's true. Right now the best I can think to do is to treat this flag like the others and protect all our flags the same way. I'll keep it with me and stay inside the fort. I can still easily pull any of the flags Toga steals from there."

Denki scratched his neck nervously, "I mean everything sounds good, but it might not matter to Bakugou or Todoroki much. Those two are going to zero in on it the moment they see it. And if they don't see it right away, or notice that it's being protected like our other flags we're going to protect, they're going to know you have it and rush you. Heck, I'm betting that right off the bat, a whole lot of people are gonna be gunning for that flag."

Himiko frowned as she looked up at Izuku when he didn't say anything right away. She could tell he knew they were right. In the end they needed to do something to keep the bulk of the aggressive students at bay and distracted. Letting her eyes wonder, they fell on the black flag hanging out of Izuku's pocket.

Then an idea hit her in the back of the head.

"Hey...Izuku…"

Himiko's hesitance immediately caught Izuku's attention, "Yeah Toga? What is it?"

"I might have an idea on how to deal with Baku bi...with Bakugou and the others."

"Really? What is it?"

Himiko glanced nervously at the others on the team, who were looking at her, waiting to hear her idea, "Do you mind if I tell you it privately? Maybe in the base or something?"

Privately? Why would she need to talk privately?

"Please."

Himiko was clearly nervous. Izuku could see it plain as day, "okay. Let's talk. Guys can you get everything else set up?"

"Of course Midoriya," Tenya said, cutting off the argument he felt was coming from Neito, "We only have a short amount of time left. We should get started right away."

While the rest of their team went to work, Izuku and Himiko hurried to the fort. Izuku was unsure of just exactly what Himiko had planned.

---

Ochako could feel the look she was getting. She knew that right behind her Katsuki was glaring at her with cautious contempt. And she knew exactly why. For most of their teams prep time, he had only spoken a few times, saying that he was going to get that black flag and win, and that no one better get in his way. After that he kept a close eye on Izuku until he and Himiko had disappeared into their fort. After that, she had become the other boy's focus.

It was starting to wear on her last nerve.

"If you want to say something to me, Bakugou, then just go ahead and say it."

She wanted to keep and eye on Team A so she could know exactly what their plan was. The armements that they had started to set up had alarmed her, several members of her team and people on the other teams too. Having Mei, a mad creator, and Momo, with her Creation Quirk, together was turning out to be a pretty dangerous combo.

"Just remember what team you're on when the match starts."

Oh for the love of-!

Ochako turned on Katsuki instantly, an angry sneer on her face that perfectly matched Katsuki's, "Are you really that paranoid!? I'm here to win, just like you."

"Really? Even if that means Deku loses?"

"Yes." Ochako's answer was immediate and decisive. Leaving no doubt that she meant what she said. She didn't like the idea of course. She knew how hard Izuku had worked, and what he wanted to accomplish today. But she had goals too. And she was going to do whatever it took to win.

"Good. I don't need to be watching my back when I'm trying to win this damned match."

Ochako rolled her eyes, "Right whatever. Just don't expect Deku to make it easy for you."

Katsuki frowned and looked back over towards Team A's zone, his eyes right on the fort where Izuku had disappeared into. When he spoke next, Ochako was sure she wasn't supposed to hear what he said. The two words that came out of his mouth was enough to momentarily leave her completely stupidifed, "I know."

Wait. Wait, wait wait wait wait a second! Did he just-!?

"I've finished with putting up the ice walls around our base. And everyone else is ready to go," Shouto said as he walked up behind the two, followed by the rest of the team.

Katsuki smirked, "Good, now we don't have to worry about some shitty extra's trying to steal from us."

Shouto looked over at the other teams as they quickly went about trying to get ready, though he didn't pay them much mind. His gaze, like everyone else's, went back to Team A.

"Has Midoriya come back out yet?"

Ochako shook her head, "No. He's still in that fort...I think."

Shouto looked down at her, "You think?"

"He could be hiding somewhere else. We don't know what Quirks those two 1-B guys have."

Katsuki scoffed, "Fucking coward."

Ochako rolled her eyes, "Deku's smart. If you don't think he has a plan then to win, then you're nuts. He'll put together everyone's Quirks and figure out a way that he thinks will give them the best chance to win. I mean look at all those things they have lining their fort. That had to be Deku's idea."

"Fucking wise ass," was Katsuki's response, though it lacked some of his normal bite.

"Uraraka, you know Midoriya better than anyone here. Will he hide that black flag, or keep it on him?" Hitoshi asked.

"Hiding it would be smart. Making us have to look for it while dealing with whatever Yaoyorozu made would slow us down," Mina said.

"Maybe he'll have someone else hold onto it. The rules never said that he had to be the one to deal with the flag," Mashirao added.

Ochako shook her head, "No, that's not something Deku would do. He'll keep the flag on him."

"That's manly," Eijirou said, "Almost makes me feel bad that we're gonna bum rush the guy."

Speaking of bum rush…

The atmosphere on the field was changing. People were lining up. They all could feel it too. Time was almost up. Any second the signal would be given, and all hell would be coming for Team A. Izuku would have a plan. But all plans have a fatal flaw.

No plan survives first contact with the enemy. I get the feeling Deku is about to learn that the hard way.

Ochako took a breath, clearing her mind. She wanted to become a hero so that she could take care of her family. She was only going to have three Sports Festivals to show the world just what she was capable of.

She was here to win.

One breath.

A few of Katsuki's knuckles popped as his hands tensed. Little crackles and sparks sizzled in his palms.

Another breath.

The air around them dropped several degrees, Shouto's breath coming out as a frigid mist.

Another-

"TIME'S UP! THE MATCH STARTS NOW!"

Everything happened at once. Members for every team rushed Team A, all with one single goal in mind.

Get the black flag, and win.

Using his explosions, Katsuki rocketed ahead of the pack, eyes focused squarely on the fort in front of him.

The flag was his.

The win was his.

He was done playing around with the extras.

He was going to show the whole world just what he was capable of.

Katsuki was focused. He didn't want to admit it, out loud or to himself, but Izuku had been right. After hearing Shouto challenge Izuku of all people he wanted to show him just who the threat really was. He'd been so focused on that, he'd allowed himself to get hit far too many times in the dodgeball round. Now, he wouldn't make the same mistake again.

Katsuki was focused.

So focused that as he neared the center of the field where all the zones met, he never saw a streak of blue rocketing right towards him. While he didn't see it coming, he sure felt it when it slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Snarling, Katsuki hurried back to his feet, looking for what had hit him.

The streak twisted in the air, large metallic hover soles aiding in their mid air recovery before coming to a perfect landing on a large piece of debris.

"What's wrong, Kacchan? Didn't see this coming?"

Leaning forward with his forearm resting on his knee, Izuku looked down at Katsuki, a confident smile on his face.

Katsuki was only vaguely aware of the panicked screams and shouts coming from Team A's zone.

"What the hell!?"

"Midoriya!?"

"But what about the plan!?"

Those shouts didn't matter to Katsuki as he stared back at Izuku, seething that he had the gall to attack him like that. He didn't even care to notice all the weird gear he was wearing. No, it was the next set of screams from behind him that did catch his attention.

"It's Midoriya!"

"Look, it's the flag!"

"He has the flag!"

"It's on his arm!"

Katsuki's eyes snapped to Izuku's arm that rested on his knee. Izuku glanced down at it before standing up straight and holding his arm up for Katsuki and everyone to see. In the moment before everyone reacted. While everyone was still in shock, Izuku's smile twisted from confident into something closer to a condescending sneer. With his arm still held up, he clenched his fist before popping out his middle finger right towards Katsuki, "You want this flag, Kacchan, you fucking ball-less piece of shit? Come and take it."

Notes:

So tell me, why is a speech so much more difficult to write than a whole new chapter .

Hi everyone! I hope you all liked the new chapter! Sports Festival proper is a go! Decided to go with new events because I honestly wasn't sure how I'd be able to put an enjoyable spin on the race and cavalry battle that hasn't been done by literally everyone else in the fandom ;)
If you have trouble visualizing exactly what the dodge-balls are doing towards the end, go watch the last (3rd) Matrix movie. You know those drones that attack the city? The balls are acting like that.
Also I'm so happy I was able to have Izuku and Ochako finally fly together. That was been something I have been planning since the beginning. I wanted flying to be their thing, showing how working together helped them achieve something they can't do by themselves (as of now at least).

Catch you all next time for the 2nd event!

Once again a huge thank you to everyone taking the time to read this little story. You all are great! And if you have comments or critiques, feel free to leave a message :)

Thank you Tmalasia for beta reading for me!