My Hero Academia: Lion of Courage

Chapter 28: The Festival Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. All rights go to Kohei Horikoshi.

"AND WE'RE OFF!" Present Mic announced as the students started running through the narrow exit, causing them to cluster and find it hard to get out. The majority of them resorted to pushing and shoving to get out of the narrow passage leading to the Obstacle Course, leading some of them to fall and potentially get trampled over.

"Alright, Eraser Head, what are your thoughts on this so far?" Present Mic asked his co-commentator.

"I'm thinking we should pay attention to the doorway," Eraser Head answered.

In the teachers' sitting area, a few of them chuckled as it was plainly obvious to tell that Aizawa didn't want to be in that commentator's box. Knowing him, he'd rather be resting, especially with his injuries sustained from the USJ. Unfortunately for him, Present Mic wasn't going to let him sleep the day away on an event like the Sports Festival.

Suddenly, a frigid cold was felt from the front of the mob of students. Before they knew it, the entire corridor was covered in ice as Todoroki ran ahead out of the passage and outside of the Stadium.

"Apologies," he apologized.

"Nice try, Todoroki!" Zankoku called out as he jumped through the air. Much to Todoroki's surprise, most of his classmates had managed to catch onto what he was doing and managed to dodge the frozen attack before they could be trapped by the ice.

"You didn't think you'd get us that easily, did you?" Raionhato called out as he used Lion Saber and his wire gauntlet together to avoid the attack, having thrown the sword out of the corridor and used his wires to pull him out. Since the ground was frozen by Todoroki's Quirk, Raionhato returned his sword and gauntlet and pulled out Lion Mane, using it to slide across the icy ground.

Furaya jumped off the wall of the corridor to avoid Todoroki's attack and landed on the ice since Todoroki had frozen at least 100 meters of the ground. Though the ice proved something of a challenge, the falcon-themed swordsman was able to use his boots to run across the icy ground. Unfortunately, he was halted when an explosion occurred right in front of him, coming from none other than Bakugo.

"If you think I'm going to let you win, you're wrong!" Bakugo growled as he propelled himself forward with his Explosions. "Victory will be MINE, you Quirkless reject!"

Bakugo hadn't forgiven Furaya for bruising his pride when he stood up to him in front of the mob of students. What right did a Quirkless have to be in the Hero Course of U.A. High School? It was popular belief that Quirkless people couldn't become Pro Heroes; it was simply impossible in their eyes, especially to Bakugo. How could someone without any form of superpower hope to stand against those who did possess powers?

"I WILL beat you," Bakugo spoke mentally. "I will beat you and prove that you don't belong here! People like you will ALWAYS be BENEATH me!"

However, what Bakugo didn't realize was that his insults weren't discouraging Furaya, but pushing him harder to succeed. If Bakugo held onto his word and won the Sports Festival, then others would feel that his attitude towards the Quirkless was further justified. It would tell the world that they are right to deny the Quirkless the chance to become Pro Heroes.

Meanwhile, Todoroki was still in the lead, running ahead of everyone. Luckily, some of his classmates were starting to catch up with him, especially Bakugo by using his Explosions to glide, Furaya by using his boots, Yukine using her snow to fly forward and Raionhato using Lion Mane to slide across the ice until he had reached unfrozen ground. Todoroki felt stupid for not anticipating that so many of his classmates could've evaded his attack.

Suddenly, Todoroki found himself unable to move, something binding him to the ground by his left foot. Shiruku, having caught up with Todoroki, had shot some of his Web at his left foot to keep him immobile. Shiruku believed he had exploited Todoroki's weakness as he knew of his refusal to use his flames, which was the best option for him to get rid of the web binding his foot. Much to his surprise, Todoroki burned the web away and kept running, though his classmates were starting to catch up.

As Raionhato was running to catch up to Todoroki, he felt a gust of wind run by him. At first, he thought it was Bakugo, but disregarded that idea because he didn't hear an explosion. When he looked ahead, he saw someone on all fours racing down the course. Raionhato was only able to catch a glimpse of the runner, but knew he was a mutant both by the way he was running and seeing a gray-colored wolf tail.

Much to Raionhato's surprise, all those who were ahead of him had stopped. He wondered why…until he got closer and saw an army of robots from the Entrance Exam with over 100 medium robots and 10 colossal ones that all looked down at the students running into the robot populated area.

"Whoa," Raionhato thought as the rest of the students started to catch up and looked upon the army of robots, especially the massive one. Takeo knew he wouldn't have a problem taking care of these smaller robots, but the giant ones would be impossible for him to take down. His best hope was to avoid them while fighting off the smaller robots.

"Oh, lookie here!" Present Mic announced. "Now we're really getting started! The first part of the Obstacle Course is the Robot Inferno! What will our students do? Will they avoid the robots altogether or will they fight against them!? What do you think, Eraser Head?"

"It depends on their experience," Aizawa replied. "That's really it."

"You should've chosen something more difficult," Todoroki commented. "Especially since my 'dear dad' is watching." He placed his hand on the ground and unleashed a might torrent of ice, freezing one of the colossal robots in place before it could reach him with its arm. Todoroki then ran between its legs, but before the rest of the students could follow after him, the colossal robot started to fall forward. Takeo noticed that the wolf mutant he saw earlier was in danger of being crushed, so he summoned his wire gauntlet and threw them at him to pull him out of the way.

"Look out!" Yonaka called out as one of his classmates, Ibara Shiozaki, was in danger of being crushed as well. He rushed forward, held her tight and Shadow Flashed several meters away just as the giant robot crashed onto the ground.

"Apologies," Todoroki apologized as he continued running forward.

"You alright?" Raionhato asked the wolf mutant. Like his mother, Lioness, he had a rather human body with a build similar to Takeo and Kirishima, but with wolf ears, a tail, claws, fangs and a black nose. His hair was dark brown like Raionhato's, but with gray streaks throughout and emerald-green eyes.

"I am," he assured as he got up. "Thanks."

"Are you well, Shiozaki?" Yonaka asked as he helped her to her feet.

"I am," she replied. "Thank you very much for your kindness, Yonaka. Your stoic face hides a heart of gold."

"I'm impressed, dark brother," Kuroiro commented, much to Yonaka's annoyance.

"I told you to stop calling me 'dark brother'," Yonaka stated.

Suddenly, breaking was heard from inside the fallen robot. To everyone's surprise and relief, Eijiro Kirishima emerged from the destroyed robot in his Hardened form.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Todoroki!?" he cried out. "If it had been someone else, they could've been killed!"

Yonaka was one of those disgusted by Todoroki's actions. If he hadn't pulled Shiozaki out of the way, she undoubtedly could've been crushed and severely injured at best and killed at worst. He was just happy that someone he failed to pull out in time was able to use their Quirk to protect himself.

"What arrogant disregard," one of Yonaka's classmates, Neito Monoma, spoke with calm disdain. "Class 1-A must truly be full of such egotism and arrogance to disregard our lives like this."

The students proceeded to either go over the robots, such as Bakugo, Sero and Tokoyami, or fight the smaller ones, such as Raionhato and the wolf mutant. Raionhato's attacks made quick work of the robots he encountered, slashing through them with his weapons, though his ferocity and skill were slow in comparison to the fast wolf mutant he helped earlier. He clawed through them with relative ease, jumping one after one as he took them down with great speed and strength.

"Are you in the Hero Course?" Raionhato asked the wolf mutant.

"I am," he replied. "Name's Okami from Class 1-B. Yours?"

"Raionhato from Class 1-A!" Takeo replied as he destroyed another robot. The two of them stopped when they seven colossal robots be destroyed in a matter of moments, each one destroyed by an aimed attack at their necks. When Raionhato looked back, he saw Yaomomo with a cannon on the ground…and her gym shirt open, exposing her torso and bra.

"Raionhato, stop staring at her like a pervert and go!" Zankoku called out to Takeo, snapping him out of his gaze towards Momo.

"Piece of cake," Momo spoke as she ran forward. Many of the students were left in amazement at how quickly she had taken down seven of the giant robots. It was no wonder why she was able to get in on recommendation.

"If I get higher than you, will you go out with me?" Shiruku asked with a flirty smile.

"Pay attention to the Obstacle Course," Yaomomo sternly reminded him.

Momo had to be careful with her lipids after creating that cannon and cannonballs to destroy the giant robots. She'd have to use them sparingly so as to avoid overuse and leaving herself weak. Her parents would be watching the Sports Festival today and she was determined to show them how much progress she had made, how far she had come. She was the daughter of the Changing Hero: Industrialist and she was determined to prove her worth as a future Pro Hero.

"Oh, look. Little Momo here wants to become a Pro Hero. As if." Momo quickly shook the unpleasant thought out of her head as she kept racing.

Furaya quickly cut through the robots that stood in his way, slashing and destroying them with swift, powerful strikes of Falcon's Talon. His strikes were so fast that it was almost impossible for many of the students to believe that he was indeed Quirkless. Even Bakugo, who had chosen to fly over the giant robots instead of blasting through the smaller ones, couldn't deny how skilled and fast Furaya was with his katana. But despite this, Bakugo viewed Furaya as a fool for thinking he could ever be in the Hero Course.

"DIE!" Bakugo cried out as he launched himself towards Furaya and threw an explosion in front of him. Even if Bakugo couldn't purposely knock him off the Obstacle Course, he could still obstruct his progress; as Midnight said, anything goes as long as the combatants didn't intentionally knock people off the course. However, Furaya dodged the attack and kept racing forward, much to Bakugo's ire.

Many of the Class 1-B students tore through the robots with relative ease, one of them being Pony Tsunotori. Despite her lack of close combat skills, her Horn Cannon Quirk helped her make easy work of the smaller robots.

"I wouldn't want to stand there in five seconds if I were you," Chikao warned Pony half-heartedly.

"Huh?" Pony wondered before noticing a bigger robot about to fall on her. Before she could react, she felt Chikao push her out of the way of the falling robot as it crashed into the ground.

"Oh, thyankyou," Pony tried to say in Japanese. "Ireally apppresiate…" She stopped when she saw a huge bruise on Chikao's arm, most likely from being struck by the robot during the fall.

"You're hurt!" she spoke in English. Just as she was about to correct herself, Chikao spoke first.

"I'll be fine," he replied in English in a completely calm manner. "I've suffered injuries worse than this."

Pony was shocked that Chikao was fluent in both Japanese and English, though also pleasantly surprised. Having not been raised in Japan, Japanese wasn't Pony's first language, so she struggled speaking it and caused her some troubles in communication with her classmates at times. It was such a relief to her to hear Chikao also speaking Englsih and being able to understand her rather confusing words.

"You were so calm," Pony brought up.

"I knew you were in danger of being crushed," Chikao replied. "I simply chose not to panic over it."

"I guess it takes a robot to know one, huh?" Onkyo insulted as he ran past Chikao. Frowning, Pony used one of her horns to knock a robot into Onkyo, but he easily dodged and then used a Sound Stun Grenade to disable it.

"Don't waste your Quirk," Chikao assured in English rather than Japanese. "Just focus on getting to the finish line, but there's also a 67% chance of a robot on the left will kick Onkyo in the rear." Before Pony could ask him about his injury, he ran off in the direction of the next obstacle.

"Thanks, Chikao," Pony spoke. Just as Chikao predicted, a robot snuck up on Onkyo and hit him right in the rear, making Pony laugh as he screamed in pain.

"Whoa!" Raionhato cried out as he and many other students came to their next obstacle: the Fall. In front of them were large stone pillars connected with tightropes while a bottomless pit was at the bottom of the chasm. Todoroki was already halfway across, having used his ice to get across the tightropes while Bakugo followed after him with his explosions.

Raionhato summoned his grappling gun, shot it at the closest stone pillar and then pulled himself towards it to land on top. Just as he landed, he looked over and saw Okami running across the tightropes with a speed that would allow him to get across the Fall quickly. Followed by him was Tsuyu Asui by crawling over the tightropes, Iida using his Engines to glide across them and Shiruku using his Web to zip across.

Satoshi followed up quickly, outfitted with various gadgets on his torso and arms to help give him an edge against his opponents. On his left arm was a grappling gauntlet, which he was actually planning to add to Takeo's Hero Costume when he had the chance, but wanted to test it out first. On his right arm was a wrist-mounted retractable laser, which would be his primary weapon along with two stun batons on his back.

He raised up his left arm and shot his grappling gauntlet at the closest stone pillar. He then grappled to that pillar and landed on top, but not before catching a glance of another Support Course student and, unfortunately, one he personally disdained.

"Ha ha!" a pink-haired girl cried out with a big smile on her face. He immediately recognized her as Mei Hatsume, a self-proclaimed engineering genius who was outfitted with many of the gadgets that she had developed. Though the two of them weren't in the same class, he still saw her on a regular basis as she mostly lived in the Development Studio…when she wasn't blowing it up.

"Witness the power of my amazing babies!" Mei cried out with great pride and joy as she used some of her inventions to grapple across the chasm.

"I'm surprised you built something that didn't blow up," Satoshi commented as he grappled to the next stone pillar. "Make sure not to blow up the Obstactle Course while you're at it?"

"Oh, come on!" Mei responded. "You're not still mad about that explosion I caused in the Support Studio, are you?"

"Which explosion are we talking about?" Satoshi replied with some scorn. "I've lost count of how many times you've blown up the Support Studio already."

Satoshi stopped when he felt a cold chill run down his spine, but was unsure of where it was coming from. He looked over his left shoulder and saw the Quirkless swordsman, Hayata Furaya, glaring at him with such icy eyes that it alone was capable of making him feel chills. The glare was so intense, so angry that it spelled a desire to hurt Satoshi Gijutsu, but he couldn't understand why.

He remembered about Takeo telling him about a Quirkless swordsman who planned to join the Hero Course the day after Furaya humiliated Bakugo. Satoshi stood by what he believed: it was impossible for Quirkless people to become Pro Heroes. Even if they do well in school, doing well in school and doing well in the real world of Pro Heroes were two separate matters. Lacking a Quirk, whether it was combat-oriented or not, was a major drawback in the world of Pro Heroes, one that was extremely hard to compensate for.

Even though Furaya was doing very well now, what could ensure that he would do well later down the line? Would he be of any worth as a fighter without his sword and boots? Would he be able to stand his ground against opponents who had an advantage over him? Satoshi ultimately believed that the answer to these questions was 'No'. As much as Furaya was impressive, him becoming a Pro Hero was an impossible standard to achieve.

As Furaya jumped across the stone pillars with the help of his technical boots, he could feel the judgmental stares of many of the students. Some of them looked at him with scorn for believing he could become a Pro Hero when he had no Quirk, something he was used to from his childhood. Others looked at him with mockery as if laughing at his desire to join the Hero Course and become a Pro Hero, believing Bakugo's claims that everyone else had a better chance of getting into the Hero Course. Only a few of those stores were of admiration and respect for him for setting out to achieve what he believed in.

Unfortunately, Furaya had to pick up the pace since Todoroki and Bakugo of Class 1-A were in the lead. As much as it wasn't necessary for him to win 1st Place to proceed, he still aimed to do so and show everyone that a Quirkless could beat students who possessed Quirks. With this in mind, he quickly leapt from stone pillar to stone pillar in an effort to catch up with Todoroki and Bakugo.

The next event of the Obstacle Course was potentially the most difficult: the Minefield. The next 800 meters were ridden with mines buried underground, which meant everyone had to proceed carefully so as to not set them off. Todoroki thought of using his ice to create a safe path, but that would mean allowing his opponents an easy way across as well. He had to proceed without his Quirk so as to not give his opponents any leverage.

Bakugo was behind him in hot pursuit as he used his explosions to fly through the air, which posed a major problem for Todoroki. Bakugo's Quirk would make it easy for him to get across the minefield without danger of setting any of them off. Unless Todoroki came up with a plan, there was a strong chance that Bakugo would outrun him…unless…

"No," he refused, disgusted at even considering the idea of using his flames. He had sworn never to use his flames in combat, never against an opponent. His father was watching and he would be filled with great satisfaction if he caught Shoto using his flames to win a victory.

The rest of the students started to catch up, most of them having to slow down so as to avoid the buried land mines. Luckily, some of them, like Setsuna Tokage, Chikao Kato, Pony Tsunotori, Shin Zankoku and Kumo Shiruku were having little trouble getting across the landmines.

Bakugo flew by them with relative ease as he aimed straight for Todoroki. The memory of Todoroki choosing Midoriya as his rival rather than him was still fresh in Bakugo's mind, envious of the fact that Todoroki deemed Deku worthy of being his rival and not him.

"Why him?" Bakugo mentally questioned. "Why HIM!? Why that worthless sack of human trash!? How am I not worthy to be your rival!? What does he have that I don't!? I am EVERYTHING that he isn't!" As soon as he caught up to Todoroki, he prepared to attack.

"IcyHot, your declaration of war was to the wrong person!" he cried out as he started fighting with Todoroki. He knew he was at an advantage since Todoroki couldn't use his ice on the Minefield without endangering himself, but he would be stupid to underestimate the young man he considered his rival.

Raionhato was careful to navigate the Minefield as he progressed while Bakugo and Todoroki fought in the lead. He started to notice that as the Minefield went on, the mines became more clustered and the pathways much more narrow. It'd force many of the students to travel slowly to avoid being hit by the landmines, putting those in the lead at a disadvantage.

To create a safe path for himself, Takeo summoned a throwing cross and his right wire gauntlet, then tied the throwing cross to one of his wires. Having seen some of the explosions go off, Takeo had an idea for creating a path for himself without risk of being blown up. He threw the cross at a mine several meters away from him and watched it explode as soon as his weapon touched it, then he quickly retracted his weapon and leapt to the empty space. He continued this as it would him reduce his time and provide him a safe passage through the Minefield.

Furaya found himself at a disadvantage as he traveled across the Minefield. He couldn't run across without the risk of setting off the mines and being the victim of an explosion; he had no choice but to proceed slowly and carefully. This irritated him as it greatly reduced his chance of getting 1st Place in the Obstacle Course, meaning someone from the Hero Course would most likely win.

For Zankoku, this was all too easy for him as his natural agility, speed and sense of balance allowed him to quickly yet carefully get across the Minefield. Compared to the countless times he had to sneak in order to steal for survival, this was mere child's play for the Scorpion. It was too easy for him to catch up with Bakugo and Todoroki, who were still fighting as they raced across the Minefield.

"Choosing Deku as your rival!?" Bakugo snarled. "He's not worth your attention!"

"And what makes you think you are?" Todoroki asked in a flat tone.

Bakugo's eyes shot wide in shock at Todoroki's response. Did he truly not consider him worthy of being his rival? Was he so weak that Shoto Todoroki, the strongest student in Class 1-A, would prefer Deku as a rival rather than him? Once again, Bakugo's pride had been severely bruised and it was getting to the point where it was unbearable for him, thus making it more important for him to win the Sports Festival.

Despite the negative reception he received, Bakugo knew what he was doing when he said he would win. He had forced himself into a corner, made it so that failure wasn't an option. He never did consider failure an option, but in this case, if he did fail, he'd appear as a fool who made empty promises. If he won, not only would he be seen as someone who kept his promises, who could back up his claims, but would prove once and for all that he was indeed the best in the Hero Course.

"Just you wait!" Bakugo growled. "I'll kill you and-" Suddenly, an explosion went off in the far back and Midoriya flew across the Minefield, clinging to a piece of robotic armor he had taken earlier during the Robot Inferno. He flew with such speed that he quickly made his way to the front where Bakugo and Todoroki were. As he got close, Midoriya slammed the robot armor on the ground, setting out a number of landmines that not only propelled him into the lead, but set Todoroki and Bakugo off-balance.

"Did Midoriya just do that!?" Raionhato gasped as he watched this turn of events unfold. "Holy…that guy's smart! But I've got to pick up the pace." Though he wouldn't verbally say it, Takeo found it satisfying that Bakugo had once again been outsmarted by someone he looked down on.

"Don't you look down on me!"

Takeo let himself be filled with great wrath towards Bakugo as he raced across the Minefield. He knew Bakugo was an arrogant, violent animal, but now, he had proven himself an absolute hypocrite. He had constantly looked down on his classmates, always behaving as though he were superior to them and even publicly disrespected them by calling them 'stepping stones' after condescending to everyone. Despite all of that, Bakugo had the gall to act as though people like Takeo looked down on him and got angry when he felt they did. He was so filled with rage that he considered setting off more mines near Bakugo, but stopped when he felt two people rush past him.

"Better hurry up, Raionhato!" Zankoku told him as he and Okami raced across the Minefield, taking advantage of the explosion Midoriya had created. However, this didn't stop Bakugo and Todoroki from using their Quirks to catch up with the green-haired boy, Bakugo by using his explosions and Todoroki by using his ice to create a path for him. Even though it also created a safe pathway for his opponents, Todoroki had no choice if he were to not fall behind Midoriya.

"Well, this has been very exciting, you dig!?" Present Mic commented over the intercom. "We got three of your students in the lead, Eraser Head! What have you been teaching them!?"

"This has nothing to do with my teachings," Eraser Head replied. "They're performing this well because they have the drive to succeed, to win. These are their own accomplishments."

"And there you have it: Eraser Head is a terrible teacher!"

"I'm WHAT!?"

Midoriya, Todoroki and Bakugo raced neck-in-neck for the finish line, followed by many students behind them. The two closest were their classmate, Shin Zankoku, and the Class 1-B student, Okami, who were dangerously close of catching up to them due to their great speed. They kept running and running until…Midoriya won 1st Place, followed by Todoroki and then by Bakugo.

"Now I know I've chosen the right rival," Todoroki spoke, acknowledging Midoriya's victory.

Bakugo overheard this and his jealousy boiled once more; not only did he lose to Deku, but he lost when Deku didn't even use his Quirk to win. To make it worse, Todoroki had outright dismissed Bakugo and implied that he wasn't a worthy rival. But at the very least, Bakugo had scored higher than Furaya, who won 6th Place behind Zankoku and Okami.

Raionhato soon reached the finish line as well, scoring 10th Place; as soon as he was done, he took the opportunity to catch his breath. He then looked back and saw someone…sleeping several meters away from the finish line?

"What the-!?" Okami gasped. "Chikao, get across the finish line! Come on!" No response from Chikao.

"Oh, wow!" Present Mic gasped in surprise. "Is that a student asleep near the finish line? Is he one of your students, Eraser Head?"

"No, but I'd like to be doing what he's doing," Eraser Head responded.

"Are you kidding me!?" Vlad King shouted from where the teachers were seated. "Kato, wake up and get across the finish line! Why is it that my smartest student is also my worst!?"

The whole crowd burst into a mixture of reactions: some laughed at Chikao's decision to sleep right before reaching the finish line. Others expressed annoyance and tried calling out to him to wake him up, but no avail. As the students ran by him, they looked with great confusion at him sleeping rather crossing the finish line. Some of them tried tapping his head and shoulders, but he wouldn't wake up and kept snoring loudly. When Pony tried waking him up, he reached out and wrapped his arms around her.

"Eek!" she cried out as the two of them fell over across the finish line.

Onkyo soon reached the finish line and was shocked by Chikao choosing to sleep while using Pony as a pillow. He was once again left to wonder how someone like him could've gotten in on recommendation. He tried to help free Pony from Chikao's grasp, but he firmly refused to let go. Onkyo eventually karate chopped Chikao's neck, waking him up and making him release Pony.

"Ow," he whined.

"Got enough sleep, Snorlax?" Onkyo questioned, crossing his arms. "Yeesh, how you got in on recommendation is beyond me."

"I don't understand why you harbor such animosity towards me," Chikao spoke. "What have I done to deserve such enmity?"

"Why?" Onkyo replied. "It's because recommendation was meant for prodigies like me, not lazy bums like you. I mean, come on! Falling asleep when you're literally 5 meters away from the finish line!"

"I determined when it would be a good time to wake up," Chikao answered. "I predicted a 78% chance that if I took a six-minute nap, I'd be fine to finish the race in last place." Onkyo scoffed.

"I wonder if you're actually human and not a robot," he spoke with contempt. "Emotionless freak." He then walked away, sneering at Chikao as if he were a machine rather than a person.

"Satoshi!" Takeo called out to him, having found him among the forty-two students who passed the Obstacle Course. He walked up to his old friend and high-fived him for getting past the first Sports Festival event.

"How'd your gear work out?"

"They worked out fine," Satoshi answered. "Really hoping the Support Companies will scout me out after this."

"Are your parents doing fine?" Takeo asked his pal. "Have they managed to secure much business recently?" Satoshi shook his head.

"Very few people are interested in them; they've only managed to sell a few Support Items so far. At this point…if I don't attract Support Companies, we may have to sell the house."

"What?" Takeo gasped in shock. "You'll have to sell the house?"

"If we don't start attracting Support Companies…yes," Satoshi solemnly informed. "I have to at least make it to the tournament. I don't care if I win 1st Place or not, but I need to make an impression here today."

"I'm certain you will," Takeo assured. "You're a great inventor and any Support Company would be lucky to have you."

"But they'd be blessed to have me!" a female voice cried out, belonging to Mei Hatsume. Takeo's face changed to one of confusion while Satoshi's changed to annoyance. He was surprised that the Obstacle Course was still in one piece and that Hatsume hadn't left behind a trail of explosions in her path.

"Oh, great," he groaned. "Raionhato, this is Hatsume, the girl who keeps blowing up the Support Studio."

"Hey, come on!" Hatsume replied. "I haven't blown it up that many times. Besides, those explosions were the result of me needing to fine tune my babies."

"Fine tune your babies?" Takeo asked. "Are you a mother?"

"No," Satoshi groaned. "Hatsume just calls her machines 'babies' and if she were an actual mother, I'm pretty sure someone would've called Child Protective Services by now."

Once again, Satoshi felt a cold, deathly chill crawl up his spine. As from before, it was Furaya, who clearly didn't like the way Satoshi was badmouthing Hatsume. Just as he was about to walk over to him and have a word, Midnight addressed the crowd of forty-two students gathered in the stadium.

"Well, that was quite an exciting match!" Midnight announced. "Now let us proceed with the next event, which is…" The same holographic screen from before appeared, spinning the various Sports Festival events at a great speed. After a few moments, it landed on 'Cavalry Battle'.

"Cavalry Battle!" Midnight announced.

She then started going over the rules: the students had fifteen minutes to develop teams numbering between two and four, consisting of one rider and at least one horse. Everyone would be wearing headbands with a score depending on their rank in the Obstacle Course. This would unfortunately bite Midoriya in the rear: as he was 1st Place in the Obstacle Course, that would mean he'd carry the headband of 10,000,000 points. All the students glared at him with blood red eyes, singling him out as the most valued target above all.

When the battle started, everyone would have thirty minutes to gather as many headbands as possible, but what would make it difficult was that only the rider could wear them and they had to wear the headbands on their head areas. The four teams with the highest scores at the end of the Cavalry Battle would then proceed to the Tournament, the final event of the Sports Festival. Contestants weren't allowed to cause each other to fall on purpose, otherwise they'd sustain a three minute penalty. But even if teams fell or lost their headbands, they could keep going until the 30 minutes were up.

As soon as the fifteen minutes started, almost all the students kept their distance from Midoriya while many Class 1-A students approached Bakugo in the hopes of him choosing them.

"Wait, remind me what your names are again…and your Quirks!" Bakugo responded.

Takeo overheard this and shook his head in contempt. This beast was once again continuing to prove himself despicable as he hadn't even bothered to remember the names or Quirks of his own classmates. If it were Class 1-B, then that'd be something else, but this was just straight up insulting.

"Shouldn't we join up with him?" Satoshi asked Takeo, gesturing to Bakugo.

"Not a chance in hell," Takeo rebuked.

"Then what about my team?" Zankoku asked the two friends as he approached them. "Who's your friend, Raionhato?"

"This is Satoshi Gijutsu, my old friend and currently in the Support Course," Takeo informed. "He's got a lot of gadgets that'll help us out greatly, if you ask me." He then turned to Satoshi and introduced Zankoku.

"You guys got room?" the same wolf mutant from earlier asked as he approached the three of them, paying attention to Zankoku and Raionhato. "You two were great out there earlier!"

"And you were fast," Raionhato brought up. "You were probably as fast as Zankoku."

"Which makes him the perfect front horse," Zankoku replied. "What's your name?"

"Okami, Tsukiba Okami," he introduced himself.

Their team seemed very well-balanced with Zankoku and Okami's speed and Raionhato and Gijutsu's weapon versatility. Unfortunately, a flaw they had was that they lacked any raw power, meaning they'd have to prioritize speed and mobility in the Cavalry Battle. But Zankoku knew that in battles like this, speed and mobility were more important than raw power. As long as they stayed on the move, they should be able to win. Zankoku was chosen as the rider while Okami was the front horse, leaving Raionhato and Gijutsu in the rear to be offense and defense.

"You were pretty quick to join us," Raionhato told Okami. "I'm surprised you're not joining your other classmates."

"Well, a lot of my classmates have bad feelings towards Class 1-A, especially Tetsutetsu and Monoma," Okami replied. "I'd at least like to get to know a few of you before I decided whether you're a bunch of jerks or not."

"It's just that beast, Bakugo," Raionhato spoke, gesturing to the Explosion user. "He's the real reason people would hate our class."

Yaoyorozu, having joined with Todoroki's team, overheard Raionhato once again call Bakugo a beast. She wondered: did Takeo even see Bakugo as a human anymore? Was Takeo so blinded by his hate for the Explosion user he would keep regarding him as a wild, violent animal? As much as she valued Raionhato as a friend and a comrade, she disdained his unnecessary harshness towards Bakugo. She agreed that his attitude was poor and was greatly displeased by his condescending during the Student Pledge, but she started to believe that Takeo was starting to go too far in his hatred for him.

"Raionhato," she spoke quietly. "Please stop. You're better than this." Perhaps she felt it best if she spoke to him after the Cavalry Battle.

Unfortunately, Midoriya was having trouble securing teammates. Uraraka had already aligned herself with him and hoped Iida would do the same, but the Engine user instead allied himself with Todoroki. His reasoning behind this was because he didn't want to fall into Midoriya's shadow and thus be seen as inferior to him. He had to stand out on his own and right now, he felt that meant choosing Todoroki over his friend.

"I'll join you," the stoic voice of Furaya told Midoriya.

"Huh?" Midoriya almost panicked at seeing Furaya approach him.

Ever since the day that Furaya saw through his lies of how he got his Quirk, Midoriya felt he had to be cautious around the Quirkless swordsman. If he wasn't careful, he could accidentally give away how he got his Quirk, One For All, and thus expose All Might's secret, one that absolutely had to be kept. But sadly, that meant that Furaya would continue to view him as a fraudulent liar.

"Wait a minute," Uraraka spoke. "Aren't you the Quirkless swordsman I heard about? What was your name again?"

"Furaya," he answered. "Midoriya's my best chance of making it into the tournament as long as he keeps that headband and doesn't mess up."

"You almost sound like you don't like Deku," Uraraka brought up.

"I don't," Furaya answered bluntly. "But I have a promise to keep and so, in this instance, my promise comes before my disdain for you, Midoriya."

At least Midoriya had two teammates, but for better chances, he'd need a maximum team of four. By now, most of his classmates had already been taken and only a few students remained. He saw one of them, Tokoyami, who had been left untaken by the others, most likely because of his Quirk.

But Midoriya had gotten an idea of how Dark Shadow worked after writing it down in his journal. Tokoyami's control over Dark Shadow and its strength depended on one major factor: the amount of light and darkness. In light, Dark Shadow was weaker, but much easier for Tokoyami to control and command. However, in darkness, Dark Shadow would become much stronger, but make it more difficult for Tokoyami to maintain control over him. With a great amount of light, Midoriya was confident that Tokoyami's Quirk wouldn't become a threat to their team.

"It's time to show those Class 1-A egomaniacs some humility," Neito Monoma spoke to his three teammates, Kaze Yonaka, Kana Hironaka and Kosei Tsuburaba. Along with Tetsutetsu, Monoma was one of Class 1-B's staunchest aggressors against Class 1-A, believing them a group of selfish, arrogant egomaniacs who didn't deserve the praise and attention they were getting.

"Hold on," Hironaka spoke. "Isn't that Okami with some of Class 1-A's students?"

Much to Kaze's disdain, Tsukiba had allied himself with Takeo Raionhato. Why would someone like Okami ally himself with scum like Raionhato? He wouldn't have an issue with Okami being with anyone from Class 1-A, but with Takeo Raionhato…Yonaka's blood silently boiled from seeing his classmate with him.

"I don't see why you hate them so much," Hironaka spoke again. "I mean, yeah, Bakugo's a real jerk, but that sounds like the only reason you hate Class 1-A."

"My dear Hironaka, Bakugo is considered one of their top students," Monoma pointed out. "He's a mere delinquent and yet he's considered one of their best. Oh, and Todoroki freezing that giant robot nearly got two students killed, including Tetsutetsu. What does that tell you of Class 1-A's sense of morals?"

"Raionhato's in that class," Yonaka responded. "That's all I need to know."

"Then let us beat him," Monoma insisted. "Today, we'll prove Class 1-B's superiority over Class 1-A, especially over that arrogant hothead, Bakugo…and Raionhato, for Yonaka's sake."

Yonaka was pleased by Monoma's promise, but knew better than to underestimate Raionhato. He had scored 2nd Place in the Entrance Exam and was an accomplished fighter and warrior. He knew of Satoshi and Okami's strengths, but didn't know much about the Scorpion other than he possessed great speed and agility.

"Is everyone ready!?" Midnight asked after the fifteen minutes had passed and all the teams were assembled, each person wearing a different headband. "Ready…GO!"

Author's Note: Tsukiba Okami is an OC I developed with NightShock99 and Shinogama from the Fukushu chapter was an OC created by NightShock99. Hope you enjoyed!