HERE IT IS!! I AM HERE WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER OF SYMBOL OF LIFE!!
REVIEW TIME -
I still haven't watched the movie 'You Are Next', so I don't know much about it. And I haven't decided if Melissa will join Izuku's harem, but the movie will be added for sure. If Melissa joins Izuku, it will take time, but there are no guarantees.
AND ABOUT IZUKU GETTING A MILLION POINT, I ACCIDENTALLY WROTE IT BUT WHEN I SAW I MADE IT ONE MILLION TEN MILLION, I DID NOT CHANGE AND WENT WITH IT.
THAT'S ALL.
REVIEW THE CHAPTER ALSO
--
Present mic - "Hello"
Dark Shadow - "Hello"
Izuku - "Hello"
Thinking - 'Hello'
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CHAPTER 12 - FESTIVAL ON FIRE
"The first position of the Obstacle Race will get a million points."
Midnight announced while Izuku's jaw dropped completely. The verdette could feel every eye glaring at him like he was the only prey in a river of alligators.
"Oh yeah!! Midoriya gets a million points on his head, which makes him the most wanted target among others. But what will be the next game, Midnight?" Mic shouted in excitement.
"This is an important lesson: the number one position comes with a heavy burden. Everyone will target you, including your friends, because it's all about the top spot, which everyone wants," Aizawa stated while grinning. He had seen great potential in the boy, and that would be another hurdle for him to live up to his expectations.
"For the next round..." Midnight spun the wheel again, which stopped at Cavalry Battle.
"THERE IT IS, THE CAVALRY BATTLE FOR THE SECOND ROUND!"
"For this round, the participants have to form a team of 2 to 4. They will be given a headband marked with the team's total points, except for the million-point headband. The rider has to wear the headband, and the team has to steal headbands from other teams to get points. Four teams or 16 participants will qualify for the next round. If the team crumbles or the rider loses their headband, they can still fight until the end of this round. Everyone can use their quirks freely, as long as there is no intended malicious harm to other participants. You all have 15 minutes to negotiate for a team."
Midnight explained the rules and waited for the students to form a team. She smirked when no one approached Izuku for team invitations.
'I should have guessed it. There will be someone who will be forced to be teamed with me, and that will be enough if I use it,' Izuku thought. 'Besides, I don't know anyone's Quirk who isn't in my class, so it will be hard.'
He watched with narrowed eyes as Shoto called Denki and Momo to join his team, while Katsuki got Eijiro, and surprisingly, Toru joined the explosive blond, even though he hated it. Shinso brainwashed one of the Class B students, along with Ojiro, to get a team.
Izuku sighed and approached Ochaco, hoping she would join him. "Hey Uraraka, will you join me?" The said girl turned to Izuku and gave a nervous smile. It was not nervous because of Izuku's million points, but something else.
"I'm sorry, Deku-kun, but I want to prove myself. Since the first day, I've felt like I'm living in your shadow, so..."
Ochaco was stopped when Izuku raised his hand, and she feared that Izuku must have been annoyed by her, but instead, Izuku smiled. "It's fine, Uraraka. I don't mind. I have to go if I can find anyone," he said. In reality, he was a bit upset, but he agreed with Ochaco's reasoning, so he quickly got away.
"Hey, Mr. Million Points!" a feminine voice startled Izuku from behind, and turning around, he found Mei Hatsume from the support department. "Since you're at the top, I'm joining you so I can show my babies to everyone," the girl chirped with a big smile.
Even though Izuku sweatdropped at Mei's reasoning, he accepted the girl. "Fine, Hatsume, but what is your quirk?" He asked.
"Uh huh.. My Quirk is called Zoom. My eyes can zoom up to 100 times the normal eyesight," the scientist girl quickly gave a small description.
Izuku nodded but was still worried about two more teammates. He had been thinking about Tenya, but then the boy joined Team Shoto before he could even ask him.
Then Izuku noticed two lone participants within his eyesight. He knew about the first one but was completely clueless about the other one, so he decided to approach the unknown one.
"Hey!! Will you join me?" Izuku asked, startling a girl. The girl had a slim build, light grey hair, and some dark bags under her eyes, looking bored.
The girl blinked at Izuku a few times, then asked in a low tone, "You have a million points on your head, and you will be hunted by everyone else. So, why should I join you?"
Izuku smirked. "Because I'm the strongest, and I already know everything about my class, so I know how to counter them."
The girl was surprised a bit by Izuku's confidence, as he wasn't scared at all about being the most wanted target.
The girl gave a curt nod to Izuku. "I'm Reiko Yanagi, and my Quirk is Poltergeist. I can levitate any nearby objects telekinetically, but I can only do it if the object weighs as much as a normal human. If I put effort into it, I can lift up to 120 kilograms."
Izuku just gave a broad smile, showing that he had hit the jackpot with Reiko. "I get it. But your overall limit is about human weight, or you can lift multiple objects of that weight?"
"I can lift multiple objects within that limit, but then my time limit shortens. Though 30 minutes may be enough," Reiko replied, thinking.
Izuku nodded vigorously. "Yes!! Yes!! This is great. Now come to get the final teammate." Both girls followed Izuku without questions until they met a bird-headed guy.
...
...
"Fine! I'll join you, Midoriya. I think I don't have to tell you about my Dark Shadow," Fumikage accepted Izuku's offer easily, and Dark Shadow was eager to jump into the battle.
"Ohhh... We are the only five-man team, so there will be no other team that can beat us."
Reiko was surprised by the sentient quirk, but she had to admit that Izuku had gathered a great team. A team with perfect defense with Mei, Tokoyami, and herself, while Izuku would be the brawl.
"Actually, we will be a six-man team." Izuku surprised everyone. "How much do you believe in ghosts??"
Fumikage and Reiko's jaws dropped as soon as Izuku said those words, but Mei's expression remained the same. "There are still debates on that, but if you know enough history, there was a villain who could use spirits in his crimes. Though that was almost 90 years ago, and nowadays, people have forgotten about it," the scientist recalled her memories of an article she read some time ago. When she asked Power Loader about it, he confirmed it was real.
"Are you telling me you can summon ghosts?" Reiko asked. Even though she was spooky, calling real ghosts really spooked her.
Fumikage also got a cold sweat on his forehead. "Midoriya, do you know what you're telling us? If you can do something like that, it would cause chaos, and the HPSE along with UA will be after you."
'It's a blatant lie; you can't summon ghosts, but I think 'that' trick might cause trouble for you: Yoichi said in Izuku's mind.
Izuku put his hand on Fumikage's shoulder. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. Actually, human life energy is scattered around the atmosphere, and if I gather a specific life energy and use my quirk on it, then I can give the specific person a hollow body for some time. It's not like I'm using a dead person, but using their life energy to give it a temporary shape, and they can use their quirk along with the fighting style they used to know. The life energy holds the memory of the person, so I can do that. Do you understand?"
The real thing was actually both of his actual Quirk and One For All meddling with each other. Normally, One For All boosts the powers of the user's actual Quirk, but in Izuku's case, his actual Quirk 'Life Force' was boosting the power of One For All, and also One For All was boosting his Quirk. That was strengthening both of his Quirks.
And some days ago, when Izuku was training with Nana's float while boosting the power with Life Force, he put too much energy into it, causing Nana's vestige to manifest in the real world.
Then, after a long meeting with all One For All vestiges, they came to the conclusion that Izuku's quirk gave Nana's vestige a real-world manifestation. And the same happened with the other vestiges, as Izuku also manifested them.
Though he hid that ability from All Might to give him a heart attack, along with All For One.
The three teammates nodded, fully understanding what Izuku meant, and they agreed with the plan.
Izuku's eyes roamed through the whole arena, seeing the teams his classmates had formed. He noticed Mina was on Katsuki's team, while Ochaco was on Shinso's team. Then there was Shoji, Mineta, and Tsuyu—the team he needed to be careful of for sneak attacks.
"So, Midoriya, any plan?" Reiko asked.
Izuku nodded, a large grin plastered on his face.
"YEAHHHH!! IT'S TIME FOR THE SECOND ROUND OF FIRST YEAR'S SPORTS FESTIVAL" Present Mic announced loudly.
Midnight smirked as she saw the teams, and some of them surprised her. But without that surprise, how would the festival be more exciting?
"HEY THAT'S SOME ODD TEAMS I'M SEEING BUT WHERE IS THE MOST WANTED TEAM... HEY I FOUND THEM.. BUT WAIT!! THE MILLION POINT HOLDER MIDORIYA IS NOT THE RIDER BUT HIS CLASSMATE FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI AND THE OTHER TWO MEMBERS ARE MEI HATSUME FROM SUPPORT DEPARTMENT AND REIKO YANAGI FROM CLASS 1-B"
"Hmm.. That's not an odd team but one of the most balanced teams alongside Team Todoroki and Team Bakugo. Team Midoriya has equal strong offense and defense with Tokoyami and Yanagi, but then Hatsume comes with the surprise element that no one can expect." Aizawa stated and narrowed his eyes towards Izuku. 'Then that confident look on his face. The problem is he knows about the quirks and their limits of his own classmates, so they have to try harder. If they can't surprise him, there will be no way to defeat Midoriya in this round also,' he thought.
Meanwhile, Katsuki was glaring at Izuku until Toru's voice broke his concentration. "Midori is a genius. He chose the support department girl along with someone from Class B whose quirks are unknown to us. Also, we don't know much about Tokoyami's quirk." she deduced, making Katsuki growl in anger.
...
...
"Then Deku-kun didn't become Rider, but Tokoyami. I only know that Dark Shadow is weaker and shrinks in brightness, which means we need something flashy," Ochako said to her team, but unfortunately, there was nothing flashy in her team.
...
...
"Everyone gather!! This round will be 10 minutes long, and you know the other rules, so now... BEGIN!!" Midnight announced the beginning of the second game.
"GO FOR THE FUCKING MILLION POINTS" Katsuki screamed as his team darted towards Izuku's team.
"I'll not fail this time" Shoto declared as he also commanded his team to go after Izuku's team.
"THE MILLION POINT WILL BE MINE" another Class 1-B student with silver hair and silver eyelashes attacked the most wanted team.
"We will stay low and grab other teams' points while they are busy with Midoriya" Shinso told his team, and they agreed with him. Actually, Shinso didn't want to reveal his quirk to the other classes before the last round, and Midoriya was too smart for his own good, which both he and Ochaco knew, so it would be a pain to get the million-point headband.
"TEAM BAKUGO, TEAM TODOROKI, AND TEAM TETSUTETSU ATTACKED TEAM MIDORIYA WITHOUT WASTING ANY MOMENT BUT..."
"DETROIT SMASHHHH!!"
Present Mic had to stop his commentary as the whole stadium shook from Izuku's devastating punch, which broke the ground and destabilized the other teams.
"YANAGI!! NOW!!"
The quiet girl nodded and lifted small chunks of debris with her quirk, launching them in every direction since her quirk was amplified by Life Force.
Meanwhile, Dark Shadow emerged from Fumikage's body and wrapped itself around his face, leaving only his eyes, mouth, and nose visible.
First, Izuku's devastating attack destabilized the other teams, then the flying debris hit everyone around Team Midoriya, pushing them back further.
"HATSUME, SHOW YOUR FIRST BABY!"
"YES!! THIS IS MY BABY NO. 37, SMOKE SHOTGUN." Mei announced her first invention, which looked like a shotgun with three pairs of wires coming out of it and attached to a metal backpack. She pointed the gun upwards and fired, releasing a large glob of smoke. "IT ABSORBS YOUR BODY WATER TO CREATE SMOKE AND IS VERY USEFUL FOR FLEEING OR DIVERTING ATTENTION," the inventor explained.
The smoke hovered over the stadium, blocking the sun completely and darkening the arena.
The darkness caused Dark Shadow to grow stronger as its size became twice its normal size.
"Hehe.. Don't mess with Fumi or his team, or I'm coming for you, assholes," the sentient quirk taunted everyone.
"WOAH!! WOAH!! TEAM MIDORIYA JUST PUSHED AWAY EVERY OTHER TEAMS LIKE A FLY AND TOKOYAMI'S DARK SHADOW IS GIVING THE SOLID LAST LINE OF DEFENCE BUT WHAT'S WITH THE SMOKE HATSUME?"
"It may be troublesome, but Dark Shadow can grow stronger in darkness. So that's not a four-man anymore. Meanwhile, the advantages that come with Hatsume's inventions will be problematic for everyone. Finally, Yanagi's quirk Poltergeist can make any non-living object levitate, which is helping in long-range attack and defense."
Present grinned "THAT'S LIKE SHOTA SAID!! IT IS LOOKING LIKE THE PERFECT OFFENCE AND DEFENCE. MIDORIYA REALLY HIT THE JACKPOT"
Though Shota didn't agree with his friend, "It is not. Even though Midoriya and Tokoyami know each other, they have no knowledge about Yanagi and Hatsume. You can see how coordinated their attacks are."
"UHH.. HUHH!! BUT HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?? EVEN THE PROS CAN'T PULL THINGS LIKE THIS. TELL US, SHOTA, WHAT IS THE SECRET?"
...
...
"Because there is no student in UA who has the same intelligence as Young Midoriya," Toshinori said to himself. "You can tell him about your quirk, and he will tell you more about your quirk than you know. That brain of his is more dangerous than his fists. The more time you give him to think, the higher his chances of winning will be."
It was the same thing Aizawa had said.
...
...
Meanwhile, back at the arena, Reiko pulled out large debris and used them to surround the team in a dome, completely blocking every way.
"Midoriya's team's defense is too strong to break now," Denki mused, thinking about the impenetrable fortress of Team Midoriya.
Shoto scoffed, thinking a 'feeble' rock dome could be impenetrable. "Yaoyorozu, create an air cannon and fire it. With that opening, I'll fire my ice," the bi-color-haired boy ordered.
Momo was uncertain. She still had no idea what Mei's quirk was, but she agreed to do as Shoto said and started to create an air cannon.
On the other hand, Katsuki was fuming with anger, which bothered both Toru and Mina.
"I guess Midori did make that dome for me. While within a large crowd he can't sense a specific person, and he knew it would give me an advantage," Toru stated, further agitating Katsuki.
"SHITTY HAIR, RACCOON EYES, AND INVISIBLE BITCH, CHARGE TO DEKU. WE WILL BLAST THE DAMN WHOLE THING, AND YOU WILL GRAB THE MILLION POINTS!" Katsuki roared, pointing at the invisible Toru.
His team also agreed with the plan and charged forward without any complaints.
Back to Team Todoroki, Momo pointed her air cannon at the rocky dome and looked at Shoto. The boy nodded, and she fired the cannon, followed by many ice spikes.
To Momo's surprise, two rocks fell from where the air pressure should have hit, and the same happened on the other side, allowing the blast to pass through easily.
The rear hole was covered immediately, while Izuku's left palm poked out of the front hole. As his hand touched the ice, it immediately turned into water. Then, Izuku quickly retracted his hand, and the hole was covered immediately.
"THE MILLION POINT WILL BE MINE DEKUUU!!" Katsuki roared and jumped onto Team Midoriya's defense along with his whole team.
Before Katsuki could blast away the dome with his explosion, a glob of mud hit his face and palms, taking away his vision and stopping his wild explosion.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT??"
"BOOO!"
Before Katsuki's team could retaliate, Dark Shadow suddenly emerged from the dome, startling the other three members of Team Bakugo.
The moment of distraction broke the whole team. Bakugo noticed something leeching onto Toru's torso, and next she found herself airborne, away from her teammates. Then Dark Shadow grabbed Eijiro and threw him to the end of the arena, causing Katsuki to fall down, bound by some tapes. Meanwhile, Mina was fully covered in mud since Reiko didn't show mercy to the alien queen.
Toru was actually bound by Mei's jetpack, and she had no idea how to get it off the ground since destroying it would result in a freefall to the ground.
"THAT'S BABY NO. 41, TAPE SHOOTER. IT CONTAINS THE SAME TAPE THAT ERASERHEAD USES TO CAPTURE VILLAINS. UNLIKE HIS, YOU CAN WEAR THEM ON YOUR WRIST AND SHOOT THEM LIKE SPIDER-MAN'S WEBS."
A hole appeared in Team Midoriya's defense as Mei quickly advertised about her baby, and then it closed.
While the assault on Team Bakugo was happening, Team Todoroki wanted to take the chance, but they had to stop when a few hundred small pebbles rained down on them. But thanks to Shoto's quick awareness, he created an ice dome to protect them before the pebbles could badly injure everyone.
"Damn, Midoriya is taking this more seriously than we thought," Denki cursed, seeing there was no way to penetrate Izuku's fortress.
"Todoroki!" Momo got Shoto's attention. "We should get some more points before going for Midoriya's team. He is actually prepared for us since what you told him earlier, and you know about Bakugo."
Tenya quickly agreed with Momo. "We know how smart Midoriya is, so we have to give our 100% strength if we want to break in, but it can only be done in the end," he stated.
Shoto thought for a moment, but that only made him angrier. Izuku was better than everyone, and there was no way anyone could beat him. He saw how easily they manhandled the whole Team Bakugo before they could do any damage, and if they went near them, something like that would happen to them as well.
"Hey guys, I think the pebbles are latched on our bodies," Denki nervously said as the realization struck Team Todoroki. Everyone noticed some pebbles latched onto their exposed skin.
"Wait! They are not pebbles. They are small plastic balls." Momo analyzed what was latched onto their skins, but she had yet to figure out why they were sticking to their bodies. Her eyes widened. "Quickly peel them off your skin. They can be anything!" she warned, but they couldn't peel them off their skin.
"THEY ARE BABY NO. 23, ITCHY STICKY BALLS, THEY WILL LATCH ONTO YOUR SKIN CONTAINING ITCHING POWDER!"
That's all Mei mentioned before the balls broke, causing everyone an itchy skin, much to their horror.
"I think we shall give it a try." It was Itsuka from Team Kendo, consisting of Yui Kodai, Setsu_secsTokage, and Kinoko Komori. She enlarged her fists while Kinoko created mushrooms all over the rocky dome.
Though Izuku's left hand came out from the dome to touch the mushrooms, they rotted in a moment. But it was the plan. Out of nowhere, a pair of palms appeared and grabbed Izuku's hand carefully so he couldn't touch with his fingers.
"Capturing Midoriya's arm is complete." Setsuna Tokage smirked, with her quirk, Lizard Tail Splitter, she could split her whole body into many parts and control them. She used her arms to get Izuku's arm.
"Now it's my turn," Itsuka jumped and was ready to punch the dome with her giant fists.
"Size also matters." It was Yui who spoke quietly as she had thrown many small pebbles towards them.
But Itsuka was surprised when the dome parted before she could even punch it, and Izuku came out flying to block Itsuka's attack.
"Surprise!" Izuku smirked.
"My hands are stuck!!" Setsuna yelled, causing Itsuka to quiver as Izuku overpowered her, causing the girl to land on her teammates, breaking the team.
The collision broke Yui's focus, as her quirk deactivated, causing the small pebbles to turn into large boulders.
Though before they could harm Team Midoriya, Dark Shadow used its strength to punch the boulders, breaking them.
"That was a sticky glove. Thanks to Mei's quirk, Zoom, she can see through the small holes with precise accuracy," Izuku said while Mei got up and fired two rounds from her smoke shotgun. "Then the smoke shotgun isn't just launching smoke; she launched a drone camera earlier and hid it within the smoke so we could watch the battlefield from above."
"ONLY 3 MINUTES LEFT"
Midnight announced. Many players' eyes widened after realizing how much time they had spent fooling around.
Team Bakugo was still in a mess since Eijiro was trying to free Katsuki from the bindings while Mina had to clean the mud before she could do anything. Only Toru freed herself, and Eijiro caught her. She was using her superior stealth to steal some points alone.
Though Team Monoma stole Katsuki's headband and mocked him, making the explosive blond throw curses at the other blond and swear to get revenge on Monoma before they would get Team Midoriya.
Team Todoroki finally relieved themselves from the itching as Momo created special tissue napkins and wiped their skins with it. Momo was glad to have the knowledge of how to deal with itching powder.
"THE SPORTS FESTIVAL IS ON FIRE!! IT LOOKS LIKE EVERY OTHER TEAM AGAINST TEAM MIDORIYA WHILE TEAM MIDORIYA IS UNTOUCHABLE. TEAM TODOROKI, TEAM BAKUGO, AND TEAM KENDO UTTERLY FAILED TO PUT A SCRATCH ON THEM. IT FEELS LIKE EVERYONE IS DANCING TO MIDORIYA'S PLAN."
"They will have to perform a miracle if they want to take the million-point headband. It is not biased or favoritism, but they have to perform something unimaginable, or they can't do it." Aizawa clearly spoke, angering every other team.
"That's it!! We will attack that blasted A team and show them we are superior," Monoma gave a twisted smirk and ordered his team to attack.
"I'M GONNA CRUSH THOSE CLASS A WHIMPS!" Tetsutetsu screamed in vengeance as his team attacked Team Midoriya.
...
...
"Tokoyami, it's time," Izuku stated.
Fumikage gave a serious look to Izuku while Mei and Reiko nodded.
"Let's do it, Fumi. I can't control my excitement to try it." Dark Shadow latched onto Fumikage's body. While Izuku grabbed Dark Shadow and threw him higher.
Dark Shadow leaped higher just beneath the smoky atmosphere Mei created.
Meanwhile, Team Tetsutetsu attacked Team Midoriya viciously, but his team had to stop since Reiko started spinning the debris at high speed.
Though it didn't stop Tetsutetsu from barging in, as he turned his body into steel and broke through the debris to get inside the defense.
At the same time, Izuku heard an explosion as he found Team Monoma was breaking in. Monoma exploded his way in, with Kosei Tsuburaba blocking one way of the debris' rotation path.
But Izuku smirked, surprising Monoma. The verdette stretched both of his hands at his sides and flicked his fingers.
'One For All 100%..'
A large gust of wind blasted from Izuku's fingers as both Monoma and Tetsutetsu were blasted backwards by intense wind pressure.
"TEAM MIDORIYA!! ATTACK WITH EVERYTHING!" Izuku let out a battle cry to inform everyone that it was no time for defense and hiding, but time to push the enemy back with mighty force.
In Monoma's case, as soon as he was thrown by Izuku's finger flicker, Dark Shadow and Fumikage flew down at great speed and snatched Monoma's headband in a blink. Even though Kosei tried to stop Dark Shadow with his solid air, Reiko attacked him from both sides, causing the boy to lose focus, as Fumikage left without a scratch.
On the other side with Tetsutetsu, he was about to be blown away, but something stopped him. "HEY!! WHAT THE HELL?? I'M STUCK!!" the steel quirk user yelled, though no one came to help him. Ibara was covered by mud courtesy of Reiko, while Yosetsu and Juzo were captured by Mei's capture tape. With her quirk, Mei was a great sniper, which Izuku undoubtedly believed, and his belief paid off as she hit every target precisely.
"They are baby no. 38, Magnet Gloves. They can stick to both metal and concrete, allowing you to climb buildings easily," Mei stated. If Tetsutetsu had used his brain more, he would have deactivated his quirk, but he didn't. As a result, Dark Shadow appeared again, taking his headband.
"ONLY 1 MINUTE LEFT"
...
...
"HEYY!! DID MIDORIYA JUST PUSHED BACK BOTH MONOMA ANS TETSUTETSU WITH A FLICK OF A FINGER?? AND WHAT IS THAT?? TOKOYAMI COVERED HIMSELF WITH DARK SHADOW AND FLYING AND STEALING OTHER TEAMS HEADBANDS. IF THE DEFENCE WAS ABSOLUTE THEN THIS ATTACK IS MURDEROUS"
...
...
"I'm gonna murder you and take that million point headband," Katsuki roared as he blasted off towards Fumikage. As soon as Mina cleaned herself enough, she quickly went to dissolve Katsuki's bindings with highly corrosive acid and freed him. The explosive blond rushed towards Fumikage.
...
...
"The million point will be mine" Shoto declared while he skated on an ice pillar approaching towards Fumikage.
Meanwhile Momo and Tenya was watching it closely without interfering in them.
"Iida are you ready?"
Tenya nodded "Yes, this is a last-ditch effort with 100%". His engine revved loudly as the orange fire turned blue while he fixed his gaze on Fumikage.
"25 SECONDS LEFT"
"The target is locked!" Denki grinned as he held a large cannon on his shoulder, aiming it towards Team Midoriya. Momo was holding the trigger.
"TOKOYAMI! DROP DOWN IMMEDIATELY"
At Izuku's command, Fumikage dropped immediately, causing Katsuki and Shoto to come face to face.
"DAMN IT ICY-HOT BASTARD, GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Katsuki roared and tried to explode the dual quirk user.
Shoto quietly created an ice shield to protect himself and dropped down quickly to get Fumikage.
Meanwhile, Izuku was going to stop Shoto and Katsuki from preventing them from going after Fumikage, but Team Bakudo quickly intervened.
"We will not let you help," Mina shouted and started to throw her acid wildly. In the meantime, Eiji hardened his body and broke through the boulders Reiko was controlling.
'One For All 100%...'
Izuku thought and swung his leg in the air, creating another wind pressure that blew Mina's acid back.
"Tokoyami! Let go of the defense and attack. Let them take the million-point headband if they can," Izuku said, shocking everyone.
...
...
"7 SECONDS LEFT"
"THAT'S AN OPEN CHALLENGE TO EVERYONE IF THEY CAN TAKE IT!" Present Mic screamed in shock as he also held his breath along with the crowd.
...
...
Fumikage did as Izuku told him. Dark Shadow let go of his body and attacked both Mina and Eij, holding them down. Though at that time, Dark Shadow wasn't coming out from his chest but from his back.
Meanwhile, Izuku launched upwards at almost blinding speed to stop Shoto and Katsuki.
Shoto saw it as he created a large ice pillar to freeze Izuku down, but Izuku used OFA at 100% to punch through the ice. The dual wielder's eyes widened at the sheer power Izuku showed, and in another moment, his right hand was grabbed by Izuku.
"DEKUUU!!" Katsuki roared as he blasted himself towards them. His plan was clear: to injure both of them enough so they had to drop out of the third round. There was no rule that he couldn't do that, so he wasn't breaking any rules.
But Katsuki's plan didn't become reality as Izuku flicked his finger once more, and the explosive blond was hit by a violent wind pressure.
Next, Shoto was thrown onto Katsuki, breaking Katsuki's balance.
Shoto saw Izuku coming towards them, raising his fist, and knew with one hit they would be done. He felt fear and fire lit from his left side as he was ready to attack with his fire.
Katsuki was going to blast Shoto out of his way, but he was startled when Shoto's left side lit up with fire.
"TIMES UP!!! EVERYONE STOP!"
The strongest trio of first years stopped immediately as soon as Midnight announced the end of the second battle.
"Both Iida and Hagure jumped in and took two headbands from Togoyami. But who grabbed the million points?? I could not see it."
But what happened in the last 7 seconds on the ground?
...
...
As Fumikage went down, Dark Shadow let go of his body and pinned both Eij and Mina down.
"Ahhh!! What is it?" The birdman looked back and found Mei was captured by a net.
Earlier, the cannon Denki and Momo were holding was a capture net cannon. They were waiting for Team Bakugo to distract them, as Reiko was busy subduing both Monoma and Tetsutetsu at the same time, leaving only Mei vulnerable due to her painful inventions.
"IIDA NOW!!"
"RESIPRO BURST"
At Momo's signal, Tenya launched himself at blinding speed, aiming for the million-point headband.
Unknown to them, Toru was trying for the same, being invisible she got away from Dark Shadow but Mei was aware of her. Then, Team Todoroki captured her and gave her a chance to grab the million-point headband.
Fumikage saw that Tenya was coming, but he couldn't match his speed. He felt two headbands being tugged out from his forehead.
"I DID IT!!"
"I GOT THE HEADBAND"
"TIMES UP!! EVERYONE STOP"
Fumikage and Reiko let out a tired breath as the cavalry battle was over. They did more than the other two in the battle, but they mentally thanked Izuku for using their quirks in an unorthodox way, which they could learn better to make an ultimate move in the future.
'Let me phrase it again: It would be a disaster if Midoriya turned out to be a villain. We didn't face any surprises throughout the whole battle, thanks to his mind,' Reiko thought, gazing at Izuku, who floated down with a big smile on his face.
"WHAT!! IT'S NOT THE MILLION POINT!"
"NOOO!! HOW DID I GET THIS POINT BUT NOT THE MILLION POINT AFTER EVERYTHING?"
Both Tenya and Toru slumped, seeing none of them managed to grab the million-point headband. Team Todoroki and Team Bakugo were also shell-shocked, as none of their last-ditch efforts helped them, and their morale went even lower because they didn't come first.
"Of course, none of them are the million-point one because it is here," Fumikage said, parting the feathers from his forehead where the million-point headband was.
The whole stadium was shocked and silent until Izuku spoke, "That is why I told Todoroki to let go of his defense so you could give your everything to come to the top, but in the end, only disappointment awaits for you. It was for demoralizing the enemies that no matter how much you try, you can't clear some obstacles."
"It isn't like you, Midoriya; you were arrogant," Momo's voice clearly showed disappointment, along with some others. But Tenya disagreed, "No! Midoriya is right. He is too strong, but then it is a competition, and everyone wants to win. You can't win every battle just by strength alone; you need to be smart and demoralize your enemies to get an upper hand."
Though Izuku shook his head, "I think I wasn't clear. Both Team Todoroki and Team Bakugo were pretty predictable from the beginning, mainly Todoroki and Kachhan himself. They acted on their own before listening to anyone. I can bet at your last-ditch effort, Yaoyorozu had a more perfect plan with Iida's new move, but Todoroki acted himself and went to Todoroki, leaving you three behind."
He finished and watched Momo and Tenya. Judging by their expressions, he knew he was right, so he continued, "I've seen this before. Todoroki acts a bit irrationally when it comes to me. So, I just needed to take down your team once, and he would act on his own for sure. They all knew about it." Izuku pointed towards his team, and the three nodded.
"Meanwhile, you already know how Kacchan acts around me. It was the easiest thing to rile him up and break him from his team. No offense, but Kirishima was more brawl than brain, and Ashido had to agree with them, knowing Kacchan was the strongest in the team." Izuku explained quickly. Team Bakugo, except Katsuki, sighed, knowing he was right word for word.
'H-How dare that Deku? How dare he say that to me? He predicted me. He's just a worthless Deku, and he looks down on me,' Katsuki said, his face red with anger.
Meanwhile, Shoto was staring at his left hand intently. "That was fear I felt, and I almost broke my promise. I almost used my left side because my instincts screamed at me that I would die if I didn't use it. Just what are you, Midoriya?" he thought, clenching his left hand in anger. It was the second time Midoriya had beaten him without much of a fight.
"What Midoriya said is right. Both Bakugo and Todoroki were irrational, and they paid the price. They planned to divide and defeat each team, dividing them and defeating them one by one, not letting others work as a team. Midoriya seems like a happy-go-lucky guy, but he notices everything under that. Though I must say, I'm impressed by Yaoyorozu and Iida with Hagakure, along with Tokoyami and Yanagi." Aizawa stated with a smirk. He became interested in watching the final round to see how Katsuki and Shoto would react to their loss.
"AHH YESS.. IT IS VERY CLEAR THAT MY DEAR FRIEND SHOTA HAS A FAVOURITE STUDENT BUT PLEASE GIVE US WHICH TEAMS ARE GOING TO THE THIRD ROUND"
Midnight nodded. "There is no doubt team Midoriya advanced with a million points at first. And the third position goes to team Todoroki with 1320 points, and fourth goes to team Bakugo with 970 points."
Surprisingly, neither Team Todoroki nor Team Bakugo achieved the second position. Then, who got the second position?
"The second position goes to Team Shinso with 1385 points, and Team Kendo comes in fifth place with 330 points."
"WHAAAATTT!! WHEN DID TEAM SHINSO BEAT OTHERS TO GET THE SECOND POSITION?? I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE THEM THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE BATTLE!!"
Hitoshi and Ojiro deadpanned at the loud hero, while Ochako huffed in annoyance that he didn't notice them.
"That was the whole point," Hitoshi muttered, and Ochako's annoyed look changed into giggles.
Shota rubbed his temples, knowing Hizashi wouldn't notice them like most of the crowd. "They did the most rational thing. Everyone was occupied by Team Midoriya while they silently stole other headbands. Team Midoriya made some good distractions for them," he explained.
"So our 16 finalists are..." Midnight announced the names of the finalists.
Izuku Midoriya
Fumikage Tokoyami
Mei Hatsume
Reiko Yanagi
Hitoshi Shinso
Ochako Uraraka
Mashirao Ojiro
Nirengeki Shoda
Shoto Todoroki
Momo Yaoyorozu
Tenya Iida
Denki Kaminari
Katsuki Bakugo
Mina Ashido
Eijiro Kirishima
Toru Hagakure
"The third round will be announced after a 30 minutes lunch break" Midnight stated and walked out from the podium.
...
...
"You did it great, Young Midoriya. Even though you were harsh on young Todoroki and young Bakugo, you were right about their attitudes. Being strong doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. I didn't become All Might by myself. Nana, Gran Torino, Dave, and Nighteye all helped me from time to time to make me what I am today," Toshinori thought with a sigh, thinking about Shoto and Katsuki, but his eyes didn't leave the scene of happiness at seeing his successor exceeding his expectations.
...
...
"That brat... Why does he have to act like that??" Mitsuki muttered to herself while giving a look to Inko, who was between crying and happiness. "Why didn't you become more like Izuku?? Can't your brain see what you need to do?"
While Mitsuki was worried about her son, Inko was so happy that she started crying, seeing her son becoming unbeatable. 'You see, Hisashi.. He is becoming more like you. Izuku is not only getting stronger but also helping his friends grow stronger. I have no doubt he will surpass you in the near future,' she thought with a smile.
...
...
At Nighteye Agency -
"Midoriya is good, I agree. His muscles didn't eat his brain," Sasaki sighed as he had to accept that Izuku was good, the successor of One For All.
Though Bubble Girl didn't know the last part, she smiled. "I told you, sir, the boy will surprise you. He is more like you than All Might, or if you and All Might became one person. So are you going to send an internship to him?"
Sasaki almost choked on his drink when Bubble Girl said that Izuku was more like him than All Might, and after thinking about it, he realized that she wasn't entirely wrong.
"I want to see him in the third round, and then I'll decide. Midoriya has proven himself as a worthy strong leader, whose team didn't question his decisions and followed him. Even Eraserhead is praising him, but he still needs to show me his real battle prowess. Though I think only Endeavor's son can challenge him, or someone who can reveal at least one of his weaknesses. Many strong aspiring heroes do great until someone finds out their weakness, and they don't have any answer against that. Midoriya Izuku feels like one of them, so he can feel free to prove me wrong."
Bubble Girl nodded, agreeing with her boss. She thought about whether Izuku had any weaknesses and how he would overcome them if someone found them. Even though she did want Izuku to have an intern position at Nighteye Agency, not to mention his cute face, she would be ignorant if she missed the muscles under the tight UA gym clothes.
...
...
Back to UA -
Izuku found himself in a tunnel alone with Shoto while the dual-haired boy was glaring at him, but there was no malice in his eyes.
"Do you want to tell me something, Todoroki? Because I'm starving," Izuku stated, hardening his gaze towards the boy. The confidence he gathered after getting into UA helped him look back intensely at Shoto's intimidating gaze.
"What do you know about Endeavor?"
It was a simple question that almost startled Izuku. He was sure Shoto wasn't asking about Endeavor's rank and quirk, but why did he ask as if he should know something about him?
"Sometime ago, my mom took me to visit her old friend at the hospital, and later I found out that my mom's old friend was your mother, Rei Todoroki. I learned from that that my mom was once Endeavor's sidekick, and my dad was a businessman who helped him create the Endeavor Agency. That's all I know."
Izuku noticed Shoto's expression only changed slightly when he mentioned his mother, but other than that, it didn't change, indicating that Shoto already knew that.
'Is this the reason why this kid is trying to surpass you because you are his daddy's sidekick's kid and stronger than him?? What a whimp!" Daigoro Banjo snorted and Izuku somehow agreed that could be reason why Shoto was obsessed with him if something he didn't know.
"I see.. So you don't know the relation between us. Neither your mother nor my mother told you about it" Shoto spoke quietly.
"Heh?? What are talking about?" At that time Izuku was totally confused about what Shoto wanted to say.
"Midoriya.. You and I are second cousins like your father Hisashi Midoriya and my father Enji Todoroki were cousins"
TO BE CONTINUED -