Chapter 15 - Cavalry Battle
Etsurou looked back as Chihiro continued to pace behind him, listening to their producers back at the studio as they began to panic over what to do. Even a few meters away, he could hear their familiar voices shouting to the staff as they scrambled to react to this new dynamic. Chihiro had to shoulder that pain, even as she regularly moved the speaker further from her ear.
They weren't the only ones panicking, as every reporter, cameraman, and support staff were scrambling to react to the first event's shocking revelations. The air was bristling with people's voices, phones ringing, and equipment being thrown around in their haste to respond. Every available piece of technology was being brought out and set up as quickly as they could to capture everything.
Even though they were louder than the audience surrounding them, you could still hear the crowd's excitement as they conversed. People were scrambling to do what they needed during this small break, none of them wanting to miss a single moment.
Etsurou understood everyone's excitement. To his knowledge, they had never seen results like these from a Sports Festival. The studio's archivists were being called on to comb through previous U.A. Sports Festivals to see if they could find anything that resembled what they had just witnessed. It was still too early to say it conclusively, but they were having difficulty finding anything from what he was overhearing.
With only one event under their belt, three
first-years had shaken everyone's perceptions of what students could do. Their regular ways of comparing students were inadequate. They were left trying to compare them to some of the best Pro-Heroes they had. He had overheard several people already comparing them to
All Might!
Etsurou heard his coworker finally end her call as she put her phone into her pocket and turned back to look at the field as the last of the students crossed the finish line. Etsurou returned to his job, his camera set to a broader shot but still focused on the pigtailed boy. His job was to focus on the event's winner, with his camera feed streamed to one of the massive screens that littered the stadium.
"Hmmm, something's gotten his attention," Chihiro said.
Being zoomed in as he was, they could see that the boy appeared angry at something. Sticking to his target, they couldn't see what had gotten his attention or where he was heading.
"Keep on him!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know!" Etsurou said as he closely followed him. He continued to track him as he nearly stomped over towards his destination. He saw him begin to reach out towards something.
Etsuro winced as he felt something slam into his back, nearly causing him to twist the camera away from the boy.
"Watch it, you moron!"
And it was good that he hadn't turned away or reacted to the interruption, as the next moment, the boy's hand grabbed onto something that Etsuro regretted having captured.
"Please tell me you got that!" Chihiro cried from his side.
"Uhhh… yes?" Etsurou whispered back to her. Her words and his response seemed to have woken him up from that shock, just as the cry of some other students seemed to have startled the boy out of his own shock.
Etsurou zoomed out to get a clearer picture, which also let him see the attention the boy was getting from his fellow classmates. That was when he heard Chihiro pull her phone out.
"Kei," Chihiro said into her phone a few seconds later. "Put a still image and then a looped replay of it back up on the screen. The world needs to see it!"
Chihiro and Etsurou looked up at the dedicated screen from their camera. A still image appeared above, clearly allowing everyone who had previously missed it to see what had happened.
"Hah! We got him!" Chihiro cried out from beside him, causing Etsurou to sweat. "We're going to get a
raise from this! The ratings are going to be
off the charts!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Katashi covered his eyes and groaned after watching the debacle that Ranma had walked into. He could hear one of the girl's voices from where he sat and could see the rising tensions building down below. He tried rubbing his brow to relieve some of the tension building there.
"Old man, what's wrong with Sensei?" Kota asked from beside him.
"He did something he shouldn't have, Kota-kun," Katashi said calmly. "Your mother or Shino-san can tell you why when you get home." He did not want to be the one to explain it to him. Moriko or Shino were far better alternatives.
Katashi removed his hand from his face and watched as the students and audience began to pay more attention to what was happening in the arena, though many of them were unaware of the details. Hopefully, that would be as far as it went for Ranma's sake.
"Ah, look!" Kota said as he pointed up at one of the screens.
Katashi followed his hand and wished he hadn't as he winced. He looked back down to see Ranma had also seen the display. "Ryuko-chan has won today's bet."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Naughty, naughty boy," Mt. Lady said mischievously before giggling like a schoolgirl as she watched the image on the screen.
She was grinning as the camera followed him as he approached the two girls. Most of the news media and the audience probably hadn't noticed it yet, but it had been an accident. She had caught a glimpse of the other boy, who appeared to be attached to the back of the girl's shirt. It was just the misfortune of events as he came up to help the two girls.
Kamui sighed as his hand rubbed his facemask. He, too, had seen the other boy but suspected that no one would care. "That boy's career may have just ended before it could even start."
Death Arms grimaced in agreement. "He may lose any drive to become a Pro-Hero after something like that. I know I would. Especially if the public doesn't let it go."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Ranma ignored the approaching girls. He stared at the screen, which held the still image before it replayed the moment for him to witness it in all its spine-chilling glory. But his mind could only really concentrate on one thing. "Ryuko's never going to let me forget…"
"Well,
Ranma?
Any last words?" Sakura asked him, startling him out of his depressed state now that she was only a few meters away.
"It was an accident! I was trying to help them get off the little pervert that was stuck to Yaoyorozu's shirt," Ranma said in his defense, pointing a finger in his classmate's direction. Not that telling the truth would do him any good. It never had before. Especially for strangers, even if his guardians had told him to remain calm and to explain himself thoroughly.
Okay, correction. It worked
once! But now it was undone from what he could sense of Toru's mood.
"How could you
accidentally grab her chest like that?" Toru demanded.
Ranma opened his mouth to respond. "It's–."
"How could it be an accident? You're too fast and accurate!" Ochako asked while leveling him with her own glare.
Ranma grimaced as she had a fair point that made his reasoning harder to understand. He decided to try the truth anyway. "I was…
distracted."
"
How were you distracted?" Mina asked from the other side of Sakura, her arms crossed over her chest as she helped grill him.
Ranma's grimace strengthened as he did
not want to answer that. It would require him to tell them about someone he was determined not to dignify having existed. It was a can of worms he honestly did not want to deal with. Even the smallest of answers would require him to reveal far too much. Unfortunately, he took too long to finish his internal debate.
"All right, sounds like bullshit to me. I think this pervert needs a few lessons!" Sakura said as she cracked her knuckles once more and walked forward.
"Wait!" Kyoka shouted after finally getting to her feet again. She had almost become stuck to the little pervert in her fall, so she had been appropriately sidetracked. Fortunately for Ranma, she came to his defense. "It's true! It was an accident!"
Sakura halted, having just raised a hand to grab Ranma's shirt. The fact that the boy didn't even attempt to physically defend himself made her think of going a
little easier on him. But Kyoka's confirmation of it being an accident caused her to mentally pause as she turned to the other girl.
Kyoka was making sure Momo was standing all right before she made her way over to them. "It was my fault, Haruno-san," Kyoka said as she approached them. Her tone and expressions were calmer than earlier. "I was trying to get Mineta-san off of Yaoyorozu's shirt."
"Mineta?" Sakura asked, her eyebrow raised in confusion.
Kyoka just pointed towards Momo, who got the hint and turned sideways to display the now terrified Minoru. This entire episode was like being continuously pulled between Heaven and Hell.
Sakura's eyes narrowed at the other boy. Ranma had mentioned the other boy, but she hadn't seen him before and had dismissed Ranma's previous answer. She lowered her arm and took a step back. She had almost made a mistake just now, so she wanted to get to the truth of this incident before she acted further.
"What happened?" Sakura asked Kyoka after turning back to her.
"I was trying to pull him off after Ashido-san and the others went to get you. I was struggling to get him off without ripping her shirt and had closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, I saw a hand reaching toward us, and it startled me, causing me to fall backward. I… I ended up pulling Yaoyorozu and Mineta-san with me. I only realized as I fell that it was Saotome-san."
After the explanation, Sakura could see how an innocent situation like that could occur. The sudden shift in balance for both girls, with Momo trying to remain standing, allowed her body to be pulled like it was into the path of Ranma's hand.
Sakura sighed as she released most of her anger. A bit of embarrassment filled the void, she didn't think she'd fall back into old reflexes so quickly. She took comfort in that she actually stopped to listen at least. She noticed that Mina had a guilty look before she turned away, most likely from not being specific about who it was before now. Toru and Ochako had also calmed down some and looked apologetic towards Ranma. But there was still one thing that acted as a wrench in the cogs.
"Okay, I can understand how that accident could happen… but Uraraka made a rather good point,
Ranma." Sakura waited until he had turned to look at her, his face sporting confusion at the situation. "How could you get distracted that badly?"
Ranma's lips puckered as if tasting something extremely sour as the rest of his face followed suit. It rotated between pain, displeasure, anger, and a nudge of fear. Sometimes individually and other times mixing and matching depending on what part of the face the thought impacted the most. Sakura and the others patiently waited.
"He… reminded me of someone," Ranma finally said, his voice like a plate of gravel grinding on concrete.
Sakura's eyebrow rose at that response before she turned to look at the instigator of this entire situation. She wondered what about him reminded Ranma of someone he had such strong feelings to set him off like that.
"Who?" Toru asked.
She became worried when Ranma's eye twitched rapidly, but he finally growled another answer. "
Happosai."
"What does stir fry have to do with this?" Tsuyu asked while she tilted her head in confusion.
"Tsu-chan, I think Saotome-san is talking about a person, not the Chinese dish," Momo whispered helpfully to her friend.
"Who is 'Happosai'?" Mina asked more loudly. All the girls could feel the revulsion from Ranma's words as he spoke that name.
"The
greatest pervert to ever exist," Ranma said through gnashing teeth.
Though most of the girls recoiled at the venom in his response, Sakura only raised an eyebrow at the claim. After all, the greatest pervert she knew was
Jiraiya. Whoever this Happosai guy was would have difficulty beating him for that title.
Any further discussion was halted as Midnight called for everyone to approach the stage.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Their access has been cut off for the screens," Aizawa said over their communications. "Another network is being assigned. I will notify the Principal and request their network access be revoked permanently."
Nemuri giggled at the undertone of anger and annoyance dripping from his voice. This was especially true for Aizawa, as he tended to display those emotions infrequently. But he was
very protective of his students, which was always so cute to watch or, in this case, hear!
She could also hear Hizashi's light chuckling at the other man's protective nature. They often joked in Aizawa's presence that he was like a mama bear to his students. He tried to let them roam free, but if anything tried to endanger them, it was quickly annihilated. It was so cute!
Nemuri just watched the shenanigans from her position on the podium, having watched the entire thing. It had been innocent enough to start but had quickly exploded with utter perfection in the timing of events. She had never seen anything quite like it, especially the different expressions that Saotome went through. There was more behind the scenes with the poor boy, something she would want to learn about if she could arrange it.
The audience was a mixed bag of emotions, though. Nemuri's glances showed many were still confused about what had happened, others outraged and likely calling for him to be removed from the event, some trying to explain what was going on to those who were confused or angry, and those who just didn't appear to care at all.
She had yet to hear how the news stations were reacting to it, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
The situation began to de-escalate as explanations were given. The boy was out of the frying pan for now, but she guessed that the girls would corner him for a more thorough interrogation sometime later.
That thought made her giggle again, reminding her of old times.
"Midnight, you are cleared to start the next event," Aizawa said over the communicators, his emphasized deadpan voice letting her know he had figured out why she was giggling.
Usually they would have started the next event when the last of the students crossed the finish line. Except this time that was about when the incident began, putting things on hold until things calmed down.
"Understood," Nemuri replied.
She sashayed to the front of the platform as the holographic screen popped up behind her, getting the students and audience's attention. She waited another moment for them to notice before she began.
"The first game of the first-year stage is finally over. Now, let's take a look at the results!" Midnight waved a hand towards the screen, which began listing all students and their placements. Most of those students approached the stage to find their rankings.
Most of the placements were about what had been expected, with the top ten being from Class A. However, what surprised many was seeing someone from General Studies take eleventh place. A few more from Class A followed that before some of the students from Class B began to show.
Another surprise was that another three students from general studies had placed. Only one student from Class A had not passed, whom Nemuri recognized as the French boy. She'd seen him in the crowd, clearly depressed about performing poorly. He was clutching his stomach and missing a shoe. She would have to find out what happened to him later; for now, she had to keep the ball rolling.
"The top forty-two made it through to the next round. It's unfortunate, but don't worry if you didn't make it." Nemuri then softened her gaze as she looked at the mass of students. "We've prepared other chances for you to shine."
After she let that settle, she cackled internally as she licked her lips in sadistic pleasure, causing many of the students to shudder. "The real competition begins next! The Press Cavalry will be all over it, so give it your all!"
She smiled at the expectant looks from many of the students, then raised her whip into the air as the screen behind her showed another reel. "Now then, here is the second game."
"I already know what it is, but what could it be? What could it be?" Nemuri softened her voice, deciding to playfully tease the students, becoming more sensual momentarily. "I just gave a clue, and now here it is…"
She waved her hand across, indicating the screen as the roller finished with the words 'Cavalry Battle.'
She giggled at the range of emotions many of the students displayed, some in panic while others were excited. The more pleasant reactions for her were the looks of confusion sported by Haruno and Parker, but both were beaten out by Saotome's downcast look.
"Let me explain," Nemuri said, turning to look at the screen. The page was updated to show an image of All Might being carried by Thirteen, Present Mic, and the barely noticeable hat that belonged to Snipe. She then turned her head to look at some of them out of the side of her eye. "The participants can form teams of two to four people. It's basically the same as a regular cavalry battle, but the one different thing is… based on the last game's results, each person has been assigned a point value."
The students all started talking to each other and ignoring her. Nemuri flicked her whip, cracking the air as she glared at the students. "You guys don't hold back even though I'm talking, huh?"
Once they were adequately chastised, she stood up straighter and explained. "Yes, that's right! And the points assigned go up by five starting from the bottom. So forty-second place gets five points, and forty-first gets ten points!"
"And the point value assigned to first place is…" Midnight said, grinning maliciously as she stuck her whip out in front and pointed at Saotome. "
Ten Million!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Ranma was depressed when he heard it was a human cavalry battle. Even if Quirks were involved, it would be incredibly slow since most of them wouldn't be very mobile. It would be like Ryoga telling him to stand still and take his beating like a man instead of moving out of the way of his haymaker attacks.
Unlike others, it also didn't help that he was limited in his ranged attacks. He would probably have to pick up a bunch of stones for it or the occasional Ki blast to keep people back.
He closed his eyes and listened as Midnight-sensei continued explaining the points. He nodded, knowing he would have the most points, but it would barely matter, only about five to ten points ahead of Sakura or Peter.
"...
Ten Million."
It was about what he expected, only margin–
Ranma opened his eyes and saw that his ears hadn't deceived him. The screen showed his image; ten million points were listed below it. He then felt everyone's eyes on him, all of them salivating at the chance to take him down and secure themselves at the top. Some of them looked downright ravenous for that opportunity!
The smirk on his face caused many of them to step back or turn away. This was going to be
fun!
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
After Midnight explained the rules and told them they had fifteen minutes to form teams and strategize, they started to mingle. Some teams formed quickly as they gravitated to friends and strong classmates.
Peter was lost in thought as he ran through the gamut of possibilities. He knew his position would be best served as the rider since his spider-sense would give him an edge in protecting the headband. They could move quickly if he was a horse, but the rider might be too vulnerable and more challenging to defend. It made the most sense, considering who he would likely be against.
That left who would be ideal for being his horse. His agility and ability to stick to things would give him an advantage over most others, but he wasn't the only one with similar capabilities. Either way, they would need a solid base. They would also need some other abilities they could work off of that would give them the flexibility they would need.
Peter looked over his classmates and the other students. He briefly considered Katsuki but knew the other boy would refuse. The prideful boy still primarily saw him as a rival after all. He made eye contact momentarily before they both nodded and looked elsewhere.
Peter then went over the list of the people he knew best. There were a few he wanted on his team and a few other hopefuls. Peter looked for them, finding the first on his list seeming lost. He grinned as he walked over to them.
"Hi, Pony," Peter said, giving her a friendly smile as her head spun in his direction.
"Peter!" Pony yelled, and a giant smile formed. "Are you looking for people to join you?"
"Yep, and you're first on my list."
"Yes! I'll totally join you!" Pony threw her hands up excitedly, bounding to stand next to him.
"Tch, stick to your own class," a boy said. "Don't go poaching from ours!"
Peter turned and saw it was a student from Class B he hadn't officially met yet, a boy with short blond hair. Peter knew who he was from Pony and his other sources but didn't acknowledge that. Instead, he raised an eyebrow as he responded. "Why can't I ask my friend to join me?"
"Because you're a bunch of arrogant, attention-seeking pricks!"
"Monoma-kun... shut up," Pony growled at the other boy. She stomped a hoof and crossed her arms, driving her command home when he turned to look at her in confusion. "Peter is my first friend at this school. He has been kind and helpful and has not sought any attention!"
Neito was at a loss, not having expected this reaction. She was usually timid in the conversations he had seen her in unless it was during a fight or talking about manga and anime. "But– but–."
Another voice chuckled as it approached, causing them to turn and look at Juzo. "It's not a good idea to call Parker a prick, Monoma-kun. Pony-chan likes her friends, especially if it's a fellow American who will talk to her about her hobbies."
Juzo smirked as he watched Neito's grimace. The blonde quickly realized he had stepped into that one, even if he still felt he was right.
"Fine," Neito growled, stepping back towards the team he was forming from those who weren't intimidated by Class A.
"Thanks, Jezo-kun," Peter told the other boy. He received a smile and a thumbs up, though as was typical with Jezo, it was difficult to tell when he gave a smile since his absence of lips made that hard to determine. It was mainly the eyes and other facial muscles that gave it away. "I also wanted to ask if you wanted to join us, too?"
"Ah, sorry," Jezo said as he rubbed his head in embarrassment and looked away. "I already joined some others."
Peter nodded his head, disappointed but not surprised. Luckily, he had a few others he had planned to ask. "Come on, Pony, let's see if Eijiro and Koji want to join us."
Pony perked up as she followed Peter. She received a few looks from some of his classmates she hadn't met yet but focused on where she spotted Eijiro and Koji. They were speaking to a few classmates, probably trying to figure out if they should form a team.
"Eijiro! Koji!" Peter called out as he neared them. They turned to look at Peter as he approached, smiling as they saw him—Eijiro with a broad and toothy grin and Koji with a shy smile, his peach-colored skin tinting redder at the cheeks.
"Peter! Looking for some more teammates?" Eijiro turned to look at Pony, having guessed she had joined his team.
"Yeah, you and Koji would be good to have on our team. A solid foundation for us, with how tough and strong you both are," Peter answered.
"Sure!" Eijiro eagerly responded. "I was talking with Koji, Rikido, Fumikage, and Tsuyu about forming a team, but we weren't sure who would be left out."
Peter nodded his head, turning to look at Koji to see what his decision was. The shy boy only became more timid when they turned to him. After realizing they were waiting for him to respond, he signed his response. The others looked hopefully to Peter for a translation, as they had only learned a few words.
"You don't want the attention?" Peter asked, a little disappointed his friend was so hesitant. But he knew that feeling far too well and that Koji likely wasn't ready to take that step even if he tried to push him. "Alright. I understand, Koji-kun."
Koji was glad to have his decision respected, smiling in return as he looked his friend in the eyes. The others nodded along, also understanding his reasoning.
"Okay, how about you two?" Peter asked as he turned to Fumikage and Tsuyu, the last two from his primary picks. While they didn't hang out, they had joined Sakura's training group and he knew they were both level-headed and got along well enough.
The two shared a look before turning to the last person from their group to get his opinion.
"Eh," Rikido said, his large lips forming a kind smile as he looked at the two of them. "Don't let me hold you guys down if you want to go for it. We'll get by either way."
The two nodded before turning back to each other.
"Fumikage should join you," Tsuyu said after a moment. "He handles the limelight better than I do."
Fumikage sighed deeply before turning and giving his team his version of a smirk. "Let's do this."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Katsuki watched as everyone started congregating and forming teams. He wasn't sure yet what to do, but he knew he wouldn't attempt to join forces with Pigtail or Forehead. While he might think of Peter as something of a friend, he was still a rival. His shared eye contact with him confirmed they both thought along similar lines.
But he needed a means to get enough points for this event to progress to the final event. If he failed here, he wouldn't even get that opportunity. He'd love to take down Pigtail or Forehead, but they would be a tall mountain to climb. If he joined forces with any of those three, his accomplishments could be attributed to them, with him only being seen as an extra.
Those three would not join forces with each other for much of the same reason he wouldn't: rivalry. But they were on good terms with more of their class than he was. Their strengths also made enticing others to his side far harder. He needed the means to create the most ideal team from what he knew of his classmates' Quirks.
Which limited him to one good hand he could play. His mind had drifted to Deku for a moment but quickly dismissed it. His anger had… diminished, but he also saw the other boy as a rival. More so than whom he was walking up to.
"Hey, Half-half," Katsuki called out to the other boy. While his anger about what he did to him near the zero-pointers in the last round was still there, it wasn't as focused. The dual-hair colored boy turned to him, his expression remaining the same aloof stare.
"What?" Shoto asked simply.
"Considering the situation," Katsuki said, pointing a thumb towards where most of their class was forming their groups, "we're going to have a difficult time forming a good team for either of us if we have to split our picks."
Shoto considered his point, quickly finding he was right. Neither of them was overly popular with the rest of the class, and no one was clamoring to join their team. Instead, they revolved around Saotome, Haruno, and Parker. They would be getting scraps. Even if he was open to joining any of their teams, it looked as if they weren't keen on asking him.
"You're right," Shoto said, looking him in the eyes. "But we'll still need two more for best odds."
Katsuki lost his grin at that additional point, knowing that finding two more that they could work with would be a challenge. "Yeah."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Ranma was lost in thought as he tried to find a solution to his dilemma. All the points he had noted for a cavalry formation were still valid, with the added focus of having ten million points on his head. While they would have a tough time taking it from him, they would easily be able to capture his riders, making him a sitting duck to multiple targets.
The opposite was also true since it would be difficult to protect the rider if he was the horse unless he carried them on his back. He thought about it for a moment, but the only ones he could do that with were either too large or were girls… and considering the thin ice he was on with them already, that did not seem reasonable. He was also reluctant to make them suffer such abrupt movements and remove much of their agency during the fight.
He watched several of his friends and students form up, with some of them looking in his direction. He wasn't against working with them but hated that dilemma and couldn't figure out how to escape it.
"Please, can you get off of me?"
Ranma turned towards the voice, finding Momo pleading with the boy on her back. He decided to offer his help once more, though he took extra precautions as he neared them this time.
"Need some help, Yaoyorozu?" Ranma asked after stepping closer, his hands in his pockets and his classmate well out of arm's reach.
Momo turned to him, smiling a little at the offer. "I would appreciate it, but I don't know if you'll be able to succeed."
Ranma nodded, stepping closer to examine the situation. The boy looked up a bit fearfully at the much taller boy. He noticed the problem was caused by the purple balls of…
hair… or whatever, sticking the two shirts together. The boy had similar balls sticking out of the top of his head, which told Ranma he was the likely source.
"So, do the balls on his head come off, allowing them to be used, or is it something else?" Ranma asked, deciding to avoid touching them just yet. He figured they would have cut it or tried to pull those parts off if it was that simple.
"Errr, yes. My Quirk is Pop-Off. I can take the balls off my head and stick them to anything but myself," Minoru said, trying to remain calm.
Ranma hummed as he considered it. He thought of some ways to deal with it, but many of them required spending time walking away from the arena or would attract more attention. As his thoughts cycled through his extensive repertoire of techniques, one stood out to him. He spent several seconds reviewing the pros and cons of using the technique before asking a couple of additional relevant questions. "Do you have a spare shirt, Yaoyorozu?"
"I can easily make one, but the others wanted to try other methods. Most likely to avoid situations like… earlier," Momo said before turning away at the thought.
Ranma winced, blushing at that reminder. He also noticed that several of the other girls from their class had arrived to assist. Either with removing the purple boy or protecting one of their own from him.
He spent more time considering whether to reveal the technique's existence. He knew they would ask more uncomfortable questions eventually anyway, so he sighed and made a decision.
"Alright, I have a technique that can resolve the primary issue," Ranma said, grimacing a little for where this would lead. "Just… just don't ask me what else the technique is for or where I learned it. At least not here."
That raised a few eyebrows from the other girls.
"And what kind of technique are you talking about?" Sakura inquired.
"I can… put another shirt on Yaoyorozu… underneath the current one without taking it off," Ranma admitted. "It's fast and barely noticeable. There would be no risk of touching or exposure."
Most of the girls perked up at that, realizing that would solve the issue rather readily. But Sakura, more familiar with the double nature of techniques at times than most of their classmates, raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds like a Quirk," Momo said, trying to work out the particulars of something like that. She had heard some of the rumors, ones that Ochako and Toru both tried to say were true, that Ranma's Quirk was only changing into a girl.
Ranma gave her a slight smirk. "I've been told that about several of my techniques. But it isn't," Ranma said before he tried pleading with his eyes. "Just… don't ask me any more questions about it, please? For now."
"All right," Momo said before creating her new shirt and handing it to him.
Ranma inspected it, finding it to be a duplicate of their gym shirts. He found her Quirk rather fascinating because of how useful it could be. After he was done, he looked to plan how best to apply it when he noticed another's intent observations. "Someone prevent him from watching, please. I don't want him getting any ideas."
"Huh?" Kyoka asked, confused. She understood his concerns about the pervert but didn't understand why his watching it would matter.
Sakura, on the other hand, quickly caught on. She had more than enough experience with people stealing techniques just from watching to last a lifetime and figured Ranma wanted to make sure he couldn't somehow reproduce what he saw. She moved her hand over the boy's eyes, much to that boy's outrage. His attempts at trying to get out of it were futile, though.
Ranma nodded his thanks at Sakura before he picked up the shirt and concentrated. He flicked his hands towards Momo a few seconds later, though he avoided touching her.
Even though he had told them what to expect, it was still surprising for the girls to watch his hands blur and the shirt disappear.
"It worked!" Mina exclaimed, looking inside the collar of Momo's gym shirt and finding the duplicate shirt present. "That is amazing!"
Momo looked down and noticed she was indeed wearing the article of clothing like he had told them. She checked its positions to ensure it was properly worn, then unbuttoned her outer shirt and shedded it and the weight that had been present.
"Finally," Momo said, smiling widely before turning to Ranma. "Thank you, Saotome-san."
"Err, no problem, Yaoyorozu-san," Ranma said as he blushed and looked away. While he had gotten used to thank you's from his guardians, receiving it from others still put him on the back foot. The fact she always seemed to act proper and yet so kind made him think of some of his favorite people.
"That is a seriously cool technique!" Mina said, excited to see it work. "Learning something like that would make my life so much easier!"
"As much as it
would be useful for certain situations, Mina, I believe Ranma has a valid concern about not spreading it around," Sakura said. She wasn't sure about its limitations, but it reminded her of Obito's deadly technique that his eye had given him. "Let's wait until Ranma can explain it before we jump to conclusions."
The others were lost, unsure of what Sakura was getting at. But they were quickly distracted by a sudden cry from the forgotten short boy, reminding them that he was still around. Mineta was trying to run away, but his legs swung at nothing as Ranma lifted him off the ground after he had grabbed Momo's old shirt. Since the balls were still attaching the two shirts, he couldn't escape.
Minoru realized he wasn't going anywhere as he had been turned around to face the taller boy's glare.
"And just where did you think you were going, hmm?" Ranma asked.
"Umm, I need to find a team?" Minoru asked. His forced smile, shifting eyes, and wringing his hands did not fool anyone.
Ranma opened his mouth for a snarky reply when a particular thought crossed his mind. He paused, confusing the others who were watching, before his eyes lit up. He suddenly wore a malevolent grin, his eyes never leaving his captive's terrified gaze.
Sakura shivered before spinning around and walking away. She grabbed the other girls and pulled them away for their own safety. "Time to go. No time to waste."
"But–"
"Nope!" Sakura said, "Leave it alone. Don't get involved."
The four girls walked away, making the already nervous boy tremble further. "H– help?"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Sero Hanta could hardly believe it. He had made it to the next round of the Sports Festival! He knew there was a possibility but wasn't sure if he would succeed. There was always a little room for other courses besides the Hero ones to get through the event and show their stuff. Shinso-san hadn't been wrong about that.
Hanta knew he wouldn't be here if he hadn't decided to work harder in the last few weeks. Especially after letting himself slide as severely as he did after failing the practical exam. He had watched as another boy, the one named Parker, used those little gadgets on his wrists to perform something much like his own Quirk did, only so much better.
He had been amazed at how the other boy moved around during the exam, giving him ideas for his own Quirk. Unfortunately, he had failed his attempt at replicating it, injuring himself by breaking a leg with a misjudged swing.
He was lucky that he had been healed after the exam, but it still left him in a deep state of depression. Hanta had accepted the general studies course instead of seeking a Hero course at another school, though his heart wasn't in it. While he tried to be friendly and act like his old self, it was a difficult challenge. His parents had comforted him and gave him the space he needed while still trying to encourage him.
After his general studies course had started, he hadn't made any real friends from his class before the two different alarms went off in that first week. The first appeared to have been a false alarm, but he later learned it was caused by the group that had attacked Class A the next day!
Classes had been put on hold while the emergency was being handled, and students were supposed to be ready to start evacuating at a moment's notice. The situation had quickly been dealt with, but students still had to wait in their classrooms. Hanta had watched from his classroom's window as the bus for Class A had returned, depositing the mostly cheerful and uninjured class. That made those in his class speculate about what had happened. The reigning theory was that some dumb Villain had breached the school perimeter.
It wasn't until he heard it on the news later that night he even considered that
hundreds of Villains had attacked! With no recorded injuries amongst the students since All Might had arrived within minutes of the attack starting. But Hanta suspected more must have happened, considering the state of Class A's return.
It was why he had followed Shinso's suggestion to observe them outside their classroom. Not because he wanted to confront them like Shinso did but because his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He hadn't been put off by the blonde-haired boy or the battle of words with Shinso.
No, what had affected him was the words of the pigtailed boy and the girl with pink hair. It stung him deeply because they were right. He wouldn't let his unfortunate incident in the practical exam keep holding him back! Even if the road would be more challenging, he would still try to become a Hero. So, for the last two weeks, he had forced himself to get back into shape and ready to do his best. Even if he failed here, he wouldn't give up.
Hanta had watched those two and Parker disappear at the start of the race, outpacing everyone else. Unlike most, he had grinned. He
knew there must have been more to the Villain's attack, and those three likely had been involved! He watched some of the highlight reels playing on the big screens after finishing the race to see what they had done, and it was amazing! He would ask them some questions and hopefully get some advice after the cavalry battle had been completed.
Unfortunately, it didn't help with his current predicament of finding a team to work with him. While he was cordial with Shinso, the other boy seemed set on how he wanted to do things, using his Quirk to control his team instead of trusting them. He winced as he saw him getting the third group member already and heading for his fourth.
Hunting for Mineta also proved useless, having spotted him caught up with those girls and helping to cause that incident from earlier. He still appeared to be dealing with them, so Hanta kept away.
Most groups had already formed; only a few smaller ones were picking up stragglers. He had momentarily considered the blonde boy and the one with the ice, but he didn't think they would let him join in, some unknown guy.
The pigtailed boy, Saotome, the one with the Ten-million headband, also seemed like a possibility since he saw him standing by himself after the girls had left. He wasn't intimidated by the bounty but wasn't sure how useful he would be to the other boy. Still, he might be his best option if he doesn't find another team soon.
"Ribbit, are you looking for a team?" a girl's voice asked from behind him. He turned and saw the frog-like girl who had saved him from the minefield and two large boys following her. He didn't know their names, but he did know they were all in Class A.
"Yes?" Hanta said, wondering if his dilemma might be over.
"Would you like to join us?" She asked as a finger tapped on her lip.
Hanta grinned, showing off his straight teeth. "I'd love to!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Sakura walked up to where Tenya and Denki had been waiting for them. She had already seen Fumikage and Tsuyu look for other groups, splitting themselves as she watched Fumikage join Parker and Tsuyu walk off with Koji and Rikido toward another boy Sakura didn't recognize.
"All right, now that
that headache has been dealt with, we can figure out how we're going to do this," Sakura said.
"Right!" Mina said, getting excited as she got her game face on.
"It has already been decided," Tenya said.
The four girls looked at him, caught off guard by his claim. He didn't usually make proclamations like that; he usually listened to others before making suggestions.
"What do you mean?" Kyoka asked, blinking her eyes as she looked between him and Denki.
"Kaminari-kun and I will let you four form a team," Tenya said as a smirk formed. Denki smirked too and nodded along with him. "We will be your opponents for this next round."
Three of the girls were shocked, not having expected him to do that. But Sakura momentarily returned his smirk before it became a genuine smile. "Good luck, you two! Just know that we will utterly destroy you if you get in our way!"
"Understood!" Tenya shouted, his back straightening as his hands flickered to give a military salute. After giving it and Denki's casual two-finger salute, the two boys walked away.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Izuku was nervous as he waited with the others. They saw Eijiro go with his other friends, while Mashirao, Itsuka, and Tetsutetsu went to find a group with their own class. Not many classmates appeared to be available, so they were becoming worried, especially since the last person they were waiting for still hadn't finished helping Momo with that general course student.
Izuku perked up when he saw Mezo stand up straight, and his gaze focused on something. Turning his head, he found Ranma walking towards them with an arm behind his back.
"Sup, you guys!" Ranma said excitedly, waving with the hand that wasn't behind his back. "So, did you guys form your group?"
"Ummm, we were waiting for you, Ranma-kun…" Ochako said, slightly off-put by Ranma's odd behavior. Izuku couldn't blame her. When Ranma started acting strange, it was usually because he had a bizarre idea or thought that would leave them baffled on how to respond.
"Oh?" Ranma asked, "Were you trying to figure out how to form a team with me?"
"Well, we figured you would want to work with people you knew well…" Toru said as she tried to peek around his side. The fact that Ranma actually moved to prevent her from looking behind him reinforced their belief that Ranma was up to something.
"Oh, then don't worry about it! You four should form a team," Ranma said, nodding as he thought it over. "While you guys lack long-range attacks, you could have some serious mobility and grappling capabilities."
"Yes…" Izuku responded. He wondered if he even wanted to know what Ranma was up to. "But what about you?"
"Oh, I found a team that will work great for me!" Ranma grinned widely.
"Mmmm…"
"Uhh, what was that?" Ochako asked as she wrung her hands.
"Huh? Oh, that was nothing. Don't worry about it," Ranma replied. Ranma's happy grin remaining on his face was more worrisome to Izuku than the normally shifty-eyed response he tended to give when he was trying to hide something.
"Mmmmm–-"
Ranma moved his other arm behind his back, causing the noise to die out rather quickly.
"Anyways, good luck out there!" Ranma said before he started backing away from them, not bothering to turn away. The four remained silent as they saw Ranma arrive at his starting position.
"I… am really unsure if I want to know what that was about…" Izuku said.
"Was that a voice?" Toru asked.
"I believe it was someone saying 'help me.'" Mezo responded, seeming to be as lost as the rest of them.
Izuku and Ochako opened their mouths to say something but couldn't find the words they wanted. After several seconds, Izuku shook his head and decided to change the subject, much to the other's relief.
"Okay, I think I have an idea of what we should do…"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Yeah, Glasses would be a good pick for us, but that ain't going to fucking happen. He's like a little puppy to Forehead, goes wherever she does," Katsuki said, halfway between a grumble and a growl. "The only two we could pick up are those two extras."
Shoto nodded along, having already adjusted to Katsuki's typical attitude and how he addressed his classmates. He didn't really care either way, so he didn't try to correct or inform the other boy of their names. "But for either of them to be useful, we need the other two. Jiro-san may have to work as a fourth, but we're quickly running out of favorable options."
Katsuki winced, not liking how often he was being put on the back foot. He was not used to being in these scenarios, where he wasn't considered near the top of the class and instead was fitted amongst the extras. He was handling it better than he had before, but situations like this were where he was reminded of all of the ways his unfamiliarity bit him in the ass. It made that climb to the top far harder than it had been before.
"What about someone from Saotome's circle?" Shoto asked, looking at the small group that included Izuku.
Katsuki looked at them, admitting that some might be useful, but he wasn't sure how effective they might be. "The only one I could agree to is Octopus. The other two would be more of a hindrance than a benefit."
Shoto nodded, agreeing with his assessment, though there was one name he had noticed he had left out. "Why not Midoriya? I know you have some complications with him, but I want to confirm it."
"
No," Katsuki growled, not bothering to look in the direction said boy was in or at Shoto. After not hearing anything more, Katsuki looked at Shoto to see him calmly looking at him. "It's… leave it."
Shoto nodded, accepting the response. He also had his own issues with Midoriya, but they were far down his priority list. "What about the others not attached to them?"
Katsuki looked at whom he was referring to but was lost on who they were or their Quirks. Nothing he had seen from any of them, save Toad, made them useful in his eyes. "I can't say if they would be useful at all."
"I am unsure of them as well," Shoto said, looking over the group as they appeared to approach someone not in either of the hero course classes. While he didn't show it, internally, he was getting as aggravated as Katsuki. They were genuinely reaching rock bo–
"We will join you."
Both boys swiveled their heads to look at Tenya, who calmly watched their surprised expressions after walking up behind them along with Denki.
"What?" Katsuki asked, put off-guard by the sudden change in fortunes. However, he wasn't as happy seeing Sparky with them.
"Kaminari-kun and I will join you both, Todoroki-san and Bakugo-san," Tenya reiterated since his previous statement did not appear to be appropriately understood. "It will allow the four of us to form a team."
"What about Kaminari? I have heard he had difficulty controlling his Quirk and who it targets," Shoto said. "Without Yaoyorozu, we would have no protection from his Quirk."
"While Kaminari-kun's control has not yet reached an ideal point, it is more than sufficient for this exercise," Tenya said as he quickly came to his friend's defense. Denki grinned at Tenya's support of him, especially knowing that Shoto's question had been fair.
"What does that mean?" Shoto asked as his eyes narrowed in focus, wanting clarity before agreeing.
"Kaminari-kun has gained enough control of his Quirk to be able to use it safely while touching other people, as well as controlling at least the general area in which his Quirk goes," Tenya replied.
"So if he is part of the horse, he won't electrocute the rest of us?" Shoto asked, his voice subtly rising as he gained interest in the other boy's capabilities. His interest piqued since he had more than sufficient experience with the difficulties that came with controlling Quirks like theirs.
"Correct," Tenya replied, a smirk forming on his face as he pushed his glasses further up his nose.
Katsuki grinned, knowing they now had a real shot at actually
winning. "Fuck yes!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"If we weren't stuck with such a limitation like this 'cavalry,' my Quirk would be more useful," the black-skinned and white-haired boy grumbled to his companions.
"I understand, Shihai-kun," Neito replied to his classmate, Kuroiro Shihai, and nodded in acknowledgment. "You won't be the only one limited, though. Those three showoffs will be similarly confined, which will allow us to get the edge we need to win."
"I still think you are underestimating them, Monoma," Sen said as he crossed his arms, looking toward the students of Class A they were talking about. "You saw some of the clips from the obstacle course. Just like the rest of us. Not to mention the bodies of those giant robots. If it was just their strength, I would agree that getting ahold of one of their Quirks would even the playing field or even give us the win."
"Like I said, all they rely on is their Quirks," Neito said.
"But you also weren't there when we questioned Parker and the others about the attack," Sen added, looking the blond boy in the eyes. "Not to mention Kendo, Ojiro, or Tetsutetsu talking about that training group after school. I heard others in our class are looking to join them after the festival is finished, and that was
before today. The way they talk about it has
me interested in checking them out."
Neito had planned for today, talking to those from Class B who would listen to him about suggestions on how to win the Sports Festival. They had gone into the first event with a sluggish delay, making sure that Class A would underestimate them and thus make them easy pickings for the next event. However, the consistent pushback he had been receiving from some of their class had destroyed any consensus he had tried to build, even among those who had agreed with him initially. His smile was absent since his expectations and the various encounters throughout the day had significantly affected his mood.
"We'll still try it, Monoma," Sen said after they paused to think about what he had said previously. "But we'll need to be on our toes, make sure we hold more cards than just relying on you acquiring their Quirks."
"Agreed," their last member said. Tsuburaba Kosei had spiky brown hair. His most notable feature was his oval-shaped eyes and pupils, which made them almost look like a frog's. His trademark smirk was also missing as he, too, had voiced concerns about taking on Class A. "We'll fake going after Saotome, like most of their teams are going to do, and observe them to get a feel for how best to exploit them. We can pounce on them once we're ready, especially if it can net Monoma one of their Quirks."
"Don't forget some of the others, either," Sen added. "Todoroki's ice is impressive, as were Midoriya and Bakugo. But Midoriya's Quirk looks like a weaker version of Saotome's, so if we can get one of their Quirks, his won't be necessary."
A snort of laughter and some giggles caught their attention. They turned and saw Itsuka and Mashirao walking by with the other two members of their own team.
"What was that, Kendo?" Neito growled out. The fact that some of his classmates had actually
praised anyone from Class A really ground down his normally pleasant demeanor. At least when it dealt with his classmates.
Itsuka grinned as she turned to him. "I won't say why because you won't believe me, even with a truth Quirk,
buuut… I wouldn't rely on getting ahold of
Saotome-san's Quirk as your way to win. Unless you have certain interests on the other side of the fence and some cold water handy…"
Neito and his team were at a loss as Mashirao tried, and failed, to hold in his laughter at that. He waved at their other two teammates as they shot questioning looks at the two of them.
"Parker or Haruno would be better targets for acquiring Quirks than Saotome," Itsuka said as she smiled at them. "If you're still stuck on acquiring Saotome's Quirk, I'll have the girls ready to give you a
makeover."
The four boys remained silent as they watched the three girls and one boy walk away, two of them trying to probe the laughing duo.
"What the fuck was that about?" Shihai asked his teammates, not bothering to look in their direction. Instead, he kept his gaze on the confusing girl in question. He wasn't surprised by the absence of an answer since it was rhetorical.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Aizawa awoke after receiving a nudge on his shoulder from his friend. Hizashi didn't say a thing other than giving him a grin. Aizawa refrained from yawning or stretching his limbs.
He sighed in disappointment at how short his nap had been because he had to deal with the headache that Saotome had caused. This meant he had less sleep than he would have liked, thus, was grumpier as he looked down at the various teams that had formed.
Aizawa listened in as Midnight started talking to the contestants, preparing them and the audience for the start of the event. Instead of paying attention to her words, Aizawa looked at the various contestants.
However, when he saw how the teams were divided, he was surprised by a few choices. The first was that Iida and Kaminari had joined Todoroki and Bakugo, but it made sense after a few moments of thought. There was more to teamwork than being a close-knit group that never separated. He smiled, knowing they would likely put on quite a show.
But Saotome greatly confused him. All he saw was the boy standing by himself without a headband.
"What is Saotome doing?" Aizawa asked his friend.
Hizashi, having made sure to mute his microphone in advance, burst into a light laughter. He got control of it quickly enough to not annoy Aizawa further and then tapped on the camera controls for internal viewing. "Here," Hizashi said once he had settled on a camera that clearly showed what was happening.
Aizawa looked at it, causing Hizashi to lose what control he had gathered as he laughed. After his friend's face lost all expression, he started repeatedly pounding on the bench their equipment rested on.
"I… don't know how I should feel about this," Aizawa finally said.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Your plan is solid, Izuku-kun," Mezo said. Toru and Ochako both nodded, smiling along to show their own support. "It also leaves us with enough flexibility to adapt, which will almost certainly be required."
Izuku breathed easier, glad that his idea wasn't crazy after all. He knew they would be challenged in this matchup, with so many of their classmates being so strong. Not to mention there were those in Class B who would also give them a challenging fight.
Knowing they needed some way to give themselves an edge, Izuku had come up with a plan. It would be awkward, but it built on what Ranma-sensei had said about their team: They lacked in long-ranged attacks, but their grappling and mobility were very strong.
Izuku and the girls were startled when the beeper went off, and one of the lower screens lit up, indicating the match was about to begin. They saw Midnight-sensei off to the side on her platform, stretching her limbs while she spoke to them. "Now then, it's time to get started!"
The four hurried over to their designated spot and formed their cavalry. They didn't have to wait long for Present Mic to start riling up the audience.
"After fifteen minutes of forming teams and discussing strategy, eleven cavalry teams are lined up on the field!" Present Mic called out over the speakers.
Izuku finished looking around and inspecting the various teams. He saw Sakura's team was composed of the girls that usually hung around her now in formation. Sakura was wearing their seven-hundred and five-point headband, standing on the arms of her teammates. Kyoka was in front, with Momo on the back right and Mina on the back left. Izuku knew Sakura was the main one to be cautious of, but the other three girls were not to be underestimated. If he hadn't already been as desensitized as he was to girls and feminine contact, he would be worried about fighting any of them. He was thankful that he hung around Ochako, Toru, and Ranma's alternate form and was forced to spar with the girls in his club so often that he could get to this point.
Peter's team was composed of Eijiro for the front horse, Fumikage as the back left, and a girl with horns from Class B as the back right. Peter was their rider and wore their team's headband of five hundred points. He also still wore those wrist devices that shot webbing. Izuku grimaced at facing that since he knew they didn't have the tools to counter it if they got caught.
He saw Tsuyu, who was the rider for Rikido, Koji, and a fourth boy whom Izuku had never met before. The unknown boy was in front, but they had left his arms free by having Koji and Rikido's arms resting on the boy's shoulders. Tsuyu was calmly sitting between both large boys' shoulders, confusing Izuku on their plan. On Tsuyu's head was their three-hundred and sixty-point headband.
When he saw Kacchan's team, he became worried. Kacchan was the rider, with Tenya as the front horse, Shoto as the back right, and Denki as the back left. He had heard about what Denki had done at the minefield, something that was drastically different than what they had previously seen him do. That meant he was potentially very dangerous. Coupled with the others, however, Izuku got nervous about how much firepower they had. And with Kacchan being the rider, they had a strong chance of targeting his team. He also wore their seven-hundred-point headband.
From the other groups, primarily from Class B, he recognized Itsuka and Mashirao's team. Itsuka wore their three hundred and fifty-point headband and was their rider. Mashirao was in front of two girls he didn't know, one with silverish, chin-length hair and the other with shoulder-length green hair. Izuku knew not to underestimate them.
The last person from Class B he recognized was Tetsutetsu, who was wearing their four hundred and sixty-five-point headband. His three horses had a boy with no lips in front, similar to Ectoplasm-sensei, a girl with long, thorn-like green hair, and a boy with a blue and white headband, forcing his short black hair upwards.
But Ranma made him the most concerned. He was standing alone, off to the side, with his hand still behind his back. He also wasn't wearing the ten-million-point headband he was supposed to have.
"Now, raise those battle cries!" Present Mic called out, resulting in the audience getting even louder than before. "It's time for U.A.'s bloody battle! Light the signal fire!"
"Is everyone ready?" Izuku asked, feeling the others shifting around subtly.
"Ready."
"Yes!"
"Let's kick their asses!"
Izuku grinned a little at Toru's excitement. He had taken the front horse, with Ochako on the back left and Mezo on the back right. Toru was their rider, her headband displaying their four-hundred and ninety combined points. The headband looked like it was just swaying in the wind, with nothing appearing to hold it up, though the presence of her gym shirt did make it easier to determine that it was on her head.
"Now let's go! Counting down to the brutal battle royal!" Present Mic yelled through the microphone. "Three!"
Izuku and the others lowered their profiles, spreading their legs slightly as they prepared for their first act.
"Two!"
Izuku found their first target but tried to do what he could to observe the other groups so he would have some form of reference for information Mezo and Toru could provide.
"One!"
Izuku saw their target look in their direction and grin in anticipation.
"Start!" shouted Midnight.
Izuku's team shot off, their three horses moving quickly as they closed the gap on the ten-million point holder. They weren't the only ones, as Mezo and Toru informed him that Itsuka and Tetsutetsu's teams were also making a play for Ranma from the start. There was one other team, their rider having short blonde hair, a group none of them were familiar with.
What surprised him was that so few teams were making the same play. In fact, they were the only teams moving at all. Not even Kacchan's team had budged! Izuku ignored that for now, focusing on their plan as it was still in motion.
Izuku's team was the first to reach Ranma's position, their Martial Arts sensei having casually walked forward to meet them in the field. Izuku knew Ranma would most likely dodge their straight assault. The question was which direction he was likely to go. Left or right were the most likely, but there were four other main directions he could also move. Some admittedly more likely than others, though with Ranma it was best not to dismiss the improbable.
Izuku had observed Ranma intently during their training, hoping to learn all he could. He knew that the other boy tended to respond in ways you didn't anticipate. Even if you thought he would take the least expected path, he would do what seemed to be the most obvious path. If all you expected of him was to dodge, he would sometimes just take the hit, reminding you how strong and durable he was. Or he would go on the offensive.
Izuku experimented when he sparred with Ranma, finding that the safest way to anticipate what he or she would do was to anticipate them doing
all of those options. That was what Ranma did with his subtle stances, making it unclear what he would actually do because it looked like he was ready to do everything.
Always.
When Izuku finally realized what Ranma was doing, he was confused about why. His sparring with the others helped him discover the secret: People told you what they were going to do because every motion required setup to be performed. If you jumped, your legs lowered, and your muscles coiled. Your arm had to move backward to build the springs to throw a punch. Everything was always in motion.
So, during Izuku's charge, he ensured he could respond to Ranma's choice. When Ranma flash slid to the left by a few meters just before Mezo's stretched-out arm could touch him, Izuku was ready, his feet and weight adjusting and throwing them after him. They followed Ranma as he repeated the maneuver several times in an odd zig-zag motion. The others were slower to adjust to his sudden turns, leaving him to guide them after their target.
But it didn't last long, as the other groups finally arrived. Itsuka's enlarged hand swept just above the ground, sending a wave of dirt and wind after Ranma.
Ranma finally decided to pull his hidden hand from behind his back to block some of the dirt and wind from that attack. His shield on his hand cried out in alarm as the wind and dirt blew into his face.
Izuku and the other teams paused in their charges as they finally saw Ranma's shield. It was the short boy who had been involved in that incident that had upset Ochako and Toru earlier. He was being held by the same shirt and purple balls, never being given a chance to change his clothes. He was tied to Ranma's forearm by their classmate's old shirt while his short legs and arms tried to do what they could to protect himself.
The boy's face was one of terror. His eyes were opened to almost comical proportions, while his arms and legs could not keep up with Ranma's rapid motions. On his head was a headband with ten million, one hundred and sixty points.
All four teams were left dumbstruck, trying to figure out how to respond to Ranma's unorthodox method of a rider and their horse. The fact they heard the boy whimper outcries of "Save me!" didn't make it any easier to swallow.
The sounds of explosions going off behind them woke Izuku out of his daze.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Start!"
Katsuki would have usually shot off like a rocket, but he had been convinced to wait. Patience was crucial for a complicated situation like what they had here. They were ready but didn't charge off like Deku's team did. Three other teams did the same thing, quickly turning part of the arena into an attempt to catch the ten-million-point headband.
As it had been explained to him and Half-and-half, who wanted to immediately acquire said headband, the point of waiting was that the
other teams were likely to do different things. They would instead wait and strike them in the back, being easy pickings since their attention would be elsewhere. The other teams, whether due to fear of trying to beat Pigtail or only caring about getting enough points to progress to the next event, would strike them then and make them easier targets.
Glasses, with Sparky backing him up on it, had suggested not only waiting on striking right away but also targeting weaker or more vulnerable targets first. He had pointed out that Forehead's team would do this, at a minimum.
Six teams had remained still. This gave them valuable information about the other teams and their likely tactics.
Katsuki narrowed his eyes as he looked over every team that had adopted the wait-and-see approach. The ones from his class were all wound up, ready to pounce, so Katsuki looked to those teams he was unfamiliar with. Some were prepared to spring into action, too, but he noted one group that wasn't.
Katsuki glared at that last group, watching as the four targets didn't want to get involved in any of the action. He wasn't fool enough to think they would stay out of it but instead would be the most likely to stab someone in the back. Katsuki had no intention of letting them believe they could do it to him!
"Found our first target," Katsuki said evenly, making sure not to point in their direction to tip their hand to anyone. "Ten o'clock position. They want to stay out of the fight."
"I see them," Half-and-half said, glaring with his eyes at said targets. He then concentrated on his Quirk, causing the ground beneath them to be covered in a thin layer of ice. "Ready."
"Let's murder them!" Katsuki shouted, throwing his arms back as the ice quickly spread from their position. The two boys on the side altered their footing for Glasses, allowing his Quirk to go off and shoot them toward their target. Once they were lined up, Katsuki's hands held behind them and then added to their combined thrust.
They blasted down the field like a rocket, shocking most other teams with how fast they were. No one on the enemy team reacted quickly enough; the only one who showed any surprise was the rider, whose eyes widened at the sudden aggression. All his horses' legs were trapped by the ice, unable to move. Katsuki used his explosion to alter their path at the last moment so they were diverted to the side and avoided a direct collision. He still grabbed the headband worth a measly one-hundred and eighty points.
It was also the first steal of the game though. All four boys prepared for the next assault, letting Katsuki identify their next target.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Should we target Saotome?" Kyoka asked, watching as four teams charged his position.
"No," Sakura replied, looking over the field and making evaluations. "Saotome found a way to be far too mobile compared to anyone else. We would have to expend too much effort just to pin him down. And we don't need the ten million to move on. One or two headbands will be all we will need."
"Who
should we target then, Sakura?" Mina asked.
Sakura eyed the various groups. She saw the careful gazes of Fumikage, Tsuyu, and Denki. "The only Class A team I could see us hitting, without our opposition being prepared, is Hagakure's team, but… Ah, sneaky! Hagakure's team is out for now as well. That leaves Class B, but I think we'll wait for one of the other–"
Most of the teams watching paused as they finally realized why Ranma was allowed to compete as he was.
"What?" Kyoka asked as they watched Ranma pull Minoru from behind his back. She had honestly forgotten the perverted boy, so she hadn't realized he wasn't with any of the other groups. Kyoka ignored the snort of laughter from their rider. "I think… I think Mineta
really pissed off Saotome."
"
Yep!" Mina added, her eyes nearly bugging out. "I'm just gonna call it Karma and ignore it for now."
"Agreed," Momo said.
Their attention was pulled elsewhere as Tenya and Denki's team shot off towards one of the Class B teams hanging back. Sakura narrowed her eyes, recognizing the rider and the current status of his horses. "Watch out for the team Tenya just took out, girls."
"Hmmm?" Mina responded, unsure of what Sakura was getting at.
"That rider was the one that confronted us two weeks ago outside of the classroom," Sakura said. "He was probing us, but look at his horses. They are too zoned out to be normal, with no reaction time. I think they are being controlled. That means his Quirk can probably do something like mind control. We'll have to thank Tenya's team for verifying that for us."
Kyoka smiled while imagining the boy's reaction to that.
"Alright, got our first target!" Sakura said. "Group that was targeting Saotome, the one whose rider is the guy with silver hair. Let's go!"
Sakura's horses charged, coming at the other team at an angle. "Flashbang! Kunai and wires!" Sakura called out, grabbing the quickly provided tools that Momo made. The normally bladed weapon was incredibly dull, there was no risk of casually cutting anyone. Which suited Sakura just fine, the weight and familiar shape all she needed.
Having been told exactly how long the fuse was in advance, Sakura threw the flashbang first, timing it so it flew through the air and came out of the arch so that it was at head height for most of them when the loud noise and flash of light went off, stunning all four of the opposing team.
Smirking at the accurate timing, her kunai, with a wire attached to the end of it, flew through the air just as it went off. She had thrown it perfectly, even accurately predicting the boy's new position in reaction to the flashbang. It caught near the headband's knot, and she quickly pulled it off his forehead. The searing pain in his eyes and ears made it so he didn't even notice.
Sakura flicked her wrists to pull the kunai and the trapped headband back to her hand, taking it off her tool and wrapping their new headband around her neck. Their team moved to the side, preparing themselves for what would happen next.
All four girls giggled when they heard the loud, outraged voices now behind them.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"What?" Eijiro asked before coming to an opinion regarding it. "That's so unmanly!"
"That seems… mean?" Pony added.
"That might be taking things too far," Fumikage said, shaking his head at his classmate's behavior.
Peter whistled at Ranma's antics, even as they confused his teammates. He had overheard enough of what had happened to feel sympathy for his classmate. He'd been in enough compromising situations to know everything wasn't always as it appeared on the surface.
But one thing Peter couldn't fault was how much of an advantage it gave Ranma. "Change of plans, no going after Saotome for now," Peter said.
"Agreed," Fumikage added, one eye still observing the pigtailed boy's movements.
"Who should we target, then?" Pony asked, looking over the field.
"Let's wait for–" Peter started to say, when they all turned to watch Katsuki's team rocket towards one of the other groups. He noticed it was the team with one of the general studies students that Karen had informed him had a potentially dangerous Quirk. Especially for him, he was in the habit of letting his mouth run.
It may be unfair for Peter to know what he did, but caution beat out fairness in this instance. He couldn't inform his teammates and classmates without potentially having to explain things, which could lead to more awkward explanations.
Peter's sense tingled a little, letting him notice that Sakura's team had also moved towards one of Class B's teams that had tried to attack Ranma. That assault had quickly resulted in the loss of a headband.
Looking over the various teams, knowing that any team he picked would force at least one of his teammates to be against friends or classmates, he opted for the one likely to cause the most minor conflict. "Pony, I think we'll target Monoma's group. I think they are a little off balance now."
"That's fine, Peter," Pony growled out, surprising Eijiro, who turned to peek at her for a moment. "He needs a lesson to not pick on my friends just because they aren't in our class!"
"Let's go!" Eijiro said, grinning after turning back and starting the charge.
"Monoma-kun, their rider, has a Quirk that can hold multiple copies of other Quirks by touching the person! Shihai can merge with anything dark-colored, so be careful, Fumikage-kun! Sen-kun can gyrate parts of his body, and Kosei-kun can solidify the air by breathing it!" Pony called out as they closed the gap.
"Thanks for the warning, Tsunotori-san," Fumikage said, Dark Shadow moving out from inside his shirt.
They were halfway there when Peter called out the first bit of instruction. "Pony, launch your horns and try to capture their clothing."
"Right!" Pony said, putting her hands to the sides of her head while lowering her head and pointing it in their direction. Normally, using her Quirk to such a fine degree required her to remain stationary and would not have made her a practical horse, but Peter had placed his palm on her back and lifted her up effortlessly.
With her being able to concentrate on her Quirk, she shot both of her horns off, followed by another volley as their replacements grew into position. While another two horns grew, she didn't do anything with them since four was her current limit to control effectively.
Unbeknownst to their targets, who were intending to start attacking Ranma again, the four horns flew through the air. Pony's first two horns tagged Neito and Shihai, pulling them off balance as their gym shirts were caught and were left unable to respond. A little more alert than his teammates, Kosei formed a bubble in the air to block the horn that had targeted him in time. Sen only needed that brief moment to use his Quirk and prevent her horn from doing the same to him by gyrating his arm.
Peter grinned as he leveled his wrist at Neito and shot off a web-line. It would have caught the headband if it wasn't for Sen's Quirk. The sudden gyration caught Nieto by surprise and made him stumble in his attempts to recover from Pony's sudden attack. Neito's head dipped down low enough to
barely avoid the strand of webbing.
"Tch," Peter ground out, disappointed that their first attempt had been stopped by luck. He took aim and fired another shot, but this one was stopped by the wall of air that formed that blocked its path.
Given enough of a reprieve, Neito growled at them. "That was low, even for you, Class A!"
"Like you weren't going to try something similar, Monoma-san," Peter yelled back.
His feet were attached to Eijiro's back as their two horses started moving to the side to keep mobile and get them away from that initial air wall. It forced Kosei to form more of them, worried about Peter's webbing, even as Pony sent more horns out to circle them. The new plan was to create too many dilemmas for their target to be able to respond to everything, even as Dark Shadow moved along and threatened them from the angle furthest away from Shihai.
Neito paused for a moment as his team worked to defend themselves from this multiple-pronged attack before tapping on Kosei's shoulder. He then breathed out and created several more walls of air, covering the flanks from which Pony had sent her attacks.
Neito adopted a smug smirk before he decided to taunt them. "Even coupled with our beautiful Tsunotori-san on your team, you Class A students are
overrat–"
He halted his verbal attack because he felt something swipe their headband off his head. He ignored the looks of surprise on Peter's face, instead turning to find who had taken his headband. He was rewarded with seeing the retreating back of another group from Class A, the only one that had also gone after the ten-million-point headband.
Neito shrieked in outrage as he saw the girl with the invisible Quirk waving their headband in the air, taunting them.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"That was
awesome!" Toru yelled before joining Ochako in a fit of giggles. Toru took the time to put their new headband around her neck, wearing it proudly as they sprinted away from the team they had taken the headband from.
While sprinting was
technically a way to describe what they did, it wasn't actually accurate. Toru was now riding on Mezo's back, a spare arm helping to stabilize her. Ochako was also on his back, much like her. But the oddest part of their new formation was that Mezo was riding on
Izuku's back. Ochako made it easier by making both Mezo and Toru weightless. It was another reason that Mezo used his arms to hold them to his back.
Izuku's body was crackling with lightning, one of the visual clues that he was using his Full Cowl technique, which allowed him to move faster than usual. He was stronger, too, as he proved he could lift them all even without Ochako's help. While a little awkward, it worked brilliantly!
"Good job, Hagakure-san!" Izuku shouted from below as he skidded to a stop away from their previous target.
"Indeed," Mezo added, his voice coming from a new mouth on one of his arms holding them down.
Coming to a halt, Izuku turned them around, looking over the field to try to reorient themselves after creating some space. Izuku blinked, quickly realizing that utter chaos had spread among the groups.
No one was going after Ranma now, each more interested in targeting the other teams.
He saw Tetsutetsu's team running after Haruno's team. Some of the ground appeared to become more like quicksand, followed by vines reaching out to grab them. Mina's acid countered the vines, and Kyoka's earlobes, surprisingly able to send out some sonic attacks without requiring her support gear, disrupted the ground behind them. Momo constantly gave Sakura more tools to threaten and confuse the other team and kept them from being pounced on. Ranma's description of her being a Ninja proved true with each new day.
He watched as Peter's team switched targets, now going after Itsuka's team. Itsuka's team handled most of their attacks better than the first team, with Mashirao and Itsuka blocking and moving around the different attempts to attack them. He saw the gray-haired girl swipe her hand whenever Peter launched his webbing, causing it to veer off and miss them. Then a girl separated different body parts from herself, which flew up and countered the horns. It was a stalemate as they started going back and forth.
Izuku didn't have time to observe more, as the team whose headband they had stolen was sprinting after them, likely trying to get it back. Izuku moved away to another area of the field that was relatively vacant, moving far faster than the other team.
"
Down!" Mezo cried out, causing Izuku to duck, sliding on the ground rather than halting his motion entirely. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tsuyu's tongue had just rocketed past their previous height. Izuku quickly tracked the tongue to its owner. The sight widened his eyes as he zig and zagged to avoid the long strands of tape launched at them.
Izuku was extremely thankful that the others were basically hugging his back since the distribution of mass for such sudden movements was hard enough to handle as it was. It also let him get more out of his Quirk with the reduced weight.
The unknown grinning boy shooting the tape kept firing from his bulged elbows, which looked like tape rollers. This prevented them from escaping, and he tried to corral them into a smaller space, trapping them.
"Ready?" Izuku asked.
"Yes!" Toru and Ochako called out, determined looks probably on their faces.
"Yes," Mezo replied, calmer than the other two.
"
Incoming!" Izuku said, leaping over the latest batch of tape as it shot toward them. The next assault came, as they expected, in the form of Tsuyu's tongue as it lashed out at them now that they were airborne.
It reached out to grab Toru's headband. Both Toru and Mezo's intercepted the fast tongue, their combined grips being enough to halt its assault. However, they were pushed back due to how much force was behind it.
"Release!" Ochako yelled as her fingertips for both hands touched each other, releasing the objects affected by her Quirk to regain their gravity. This increased their combined weight, making their descent faster and preventing Tsuyu from pulling them very close towards her as Izuku landed; then, both Izuku and Mezo dug their feet into the ground. Tsuyu tried to recover her tongue, but Mezo had several hands on it now, his grip strength sufficient enough to make it hard for her to pull it free.
"Now!" Ochako called out after gripping Tsuyu's tongue, activating her Quirk after Mezo let go, his arms switching to hold onto his teammate. Her Zero Gravity traveled down the tongue, affecting Tsuyu and the two boys she was riding on since they were all close together and touching each other. The two boys in the back of their formation, Koji and Rikido, had tried to dig in, reinforcing the strength of Tsuyu's tongue, but they realized they were weightless a moment later.
Ochako was pulled towards Tsuyu for a moment while her Quirk went into action before Tsuyu's team was reduced to only their front horse providing any gravity for their team. The weight disparity caused Tsuyu's team to fly towards Ochako.
Izuku dodged to the side, preventing the other team from colliding with them, all but Tsuyu panicking as they flew through the air like a meteor hammer. Izuku kept running, feeling Mezo, Toru, and Ochako shifting as they dragged the other team in a circular motion around them. Their arc quickly returned toward the rest of the combatants, just as Izuku wanted. Estimating they had gotten close enough, Izuku stopped and dug his heels into the ground. This was rough on his passengers, but their training for balance paid off as none of them fell off.
Tsuyu winced as her team swung towards another team, forcing them to duck. But as they neared another team, Tsuyu realized her tongue had been released, and they now flew on a collision course! She and her two classmates started glowing purple as one of the girls held her hand towards them and their speed drastically reduced, but it broke entirely as their gravity was restored to them.
Izuku and the girls winced as Tsuyu's group collided with the other team, causing them to sprawl into a combined clump of flesh. Not even Itsuka or Mashirao's Quirks had been enough to stop them. Surprisingly, both groups, while off balance, had not separated and their riders avoided touching the ground. Unfortunately for both teams, that made them easy pickings for Peter as weblines snagged both headbands.
Izuku hoped both groups wouldn't take it personally, but he didn't have time to focus on them since they now had a massive problem. Their maneuver had attracted the attention of someone who
did tend to take things personally.
"
Deku!"
"Crap…" Izuku muttered, noticing that it had been Katsuki's team that had ducked the flying Team Tsuyu. "Time to
run!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Team Bakugo has missed Team Hagakure yet again! They are relentless, but Team Hagakure continues to run from them!" Hizashi called out excitedly to their audience.
Aizawa passed Hizashi a glass of water before he turned back to silently watch the utter chaos the event had become. Multiple sets of fights started at once down below, and Hizashi could
barely keep up. The water was guzzled quickly before he went back to trying to keep everyone up-to-date.
"Oh, Team Parker has run into a snag! One of Team Tetsutetsu's vines has caught the legs of one of their riders and tried to steal a headband! But Parker and Tokoyami have destroyed the vines! Oh, Team Kendo is moving in from behind! The headband is being pull– and another save from Parker!" "
The battle had begun like many had expected, with people going after the ten million prize, but he knew his students well enough that they would not be blind to that danger. And they proved it spectacularly when they hit several teams that were on the sidelines or had gone after the top prize.
"Oh, Team Monoma thought they could sneak up on Team Haruno! Another flashbang has caught them unaware! Oh, what's this? Team Monoma are fighting with each other! Are they arguing and pointing in different directions? What in the world– Oh! Team Bakugo has been driven off by Team Komori!"
He expected more of his students would have gone after the top prize
if it hadn't been in the hands of Saotome, especially after showing off his imaginative way of negating one of the weaknesses that the Cavalry Battle tended to force on people with superior mobility. Spending too much effort to get it left you vulnerable from behind. His students had, for the most part, sidestepped it entirely.
"Team Hagakure is running through a dangerous path! Right between
five teams fighting it out in the center! Team Bakugo doesn't
care! They are charging straight on!"
Multiple teams had found fast and creative ways to integrate their Quirks, turning the field into a series of running battles. When they criss-crossed each other, they would take potshots at the other teams. Currently, headbands were held by six teams, five of them mainly from Class A.
"Team Komori's Bondo tries a sneak attack on Team Parker! Oh, but Parker has blocks the attack! Glue meets webbing! And now Team Komori is having to fend off Tsunotori's horns!"
Bakugo's team was moving around the battlefield using that sled technique at speeds no one but Saotome could match. But that speed was in a straight line, making it predictable. Team Hagakure had used that against them, dodging their relentless assault. That chase was leading across the arena, spreading Todoroki's ice everywhere. Due to how thin he was making it, it was melting fast and the arena was littered with water puddles. Aizawa had to smirk at their inventiveness, soon they would be showing everyone that they should not be underestimated.
"Team Asui is trying to box Team Hagakure in again! Oh, Team Bakugo doesn't want anyone to interfere! They have attacked Team Asui and driven them off before resuming their assault!"
Parker's team was performing well, letting Kirishima run them around as Parker played an intricate weave of offense and defense. Parker picked up and lifted his other two horses when needed, showcasing his own and Kirishima's strength. Parker would always intercede right before a big attack, getting his teammates out of the way. Tokoyami used Dark Shadow to defend Kirishima while Tsunotori counterattacked. They were still being chased primarily by Kendo and Asui's teams, and neither could pin them down.
"Team Tetsutetsu is making another attempt at Team Haruno! Shiozaki has sent her vines through the ground and has captured their legs! And now Honenuki has softened the ground around them; the vines are dragging them downwards! What will team Haruno do now?"
Haruno's team seemed content to stay on the defensive, taking only the occasional offensive move that seemed more of an attempt to keep others on their toes and cautious of them. Unlike some other teams, their Quirks did not combine well, but their
skills did. Yaoyorozu provided any tool that Haruno suggested who then used it with frightening potency. Ashido used her acid to destroy anything that wasn't at risk of injuring someone, melting metal or organics with ease. Jirou used her Quirk to disrupt and provide close-range protection. But any time they appeared to be in a bind, Haruno would use her abilities to disrupt their opponents and get them out of danger.
"Team Haruno has escaped by Yaoyorozu creating a pole and Haruno pushing them to safety! Her strength is not to be underestimated! Oh, Team Haruno has been backed into Team Parker! Both teams are surrounded, but Parker and Haruno are duking it out!"
Hagakure's team had shown themselves to be equally inventive, cooperative, and strong. It was obviously a little awkward for them; in particular Shoji riding on Midoriya's back was unusual and counter-intuitive since he was twenty-one centimeters taller than the other boy. But Midoriya's Quirk control was accelerating, allowing him to use it over his entire body instead of the individual parts. Ochako's worth to the team seemed obvious, but Hagakure proved her worth with Shoji's observation and her invisible hands intercepting and preventing attempts to grab their headbands from her.
"Oh, what's this? Is Team Bakugo beginning to run out of steam? They are having to rely on those legs to run! But they aren't the only ones!"
Komori's team was the only Class B team to keep their headband. Through luck, having the headband with the fewest points, and their unusual Quirk's factoring into why no one was making a serious attempt. Fukidashi's Quirk was versatile, throwing several different types of roadblocks as the floating letters his Quirk created did what the lettering said. The boy couldn't use it constantly since his Quirk wore his throat out rather quickly. Kodai's Size Quirk allowed her to grab some of the debris littered around the arena to use as improvised weapons. Bondo's glue effectively kept people at bay, as few wanted to get caught and trapped by the substance. Komori ended up the odd person out since her Mushroom Quirk was indiscriminate in its usage and thus was counterproductive in this fight. But her height did make it easier for her to hide amongst her teammates.
"Team Kendo and Team Asui are smelling blood in the water! They are focusing on Team Parker once more!"
Aizawa turned his focus to the oddest thing to watch. Saotome remained uncontested off to one of the sides; only the occasional stray shot or passing attempt was made to take his headband. That would have made most people happy, having a reprieve while holding that headband. For Saotome however, it was just annoying him as Aizawa saw his foot tapping on the ground, waiting for others to finally remember he existed. He was also conversing with his rider during their free time.
Then, Aizawa noted that the one team that had generally tried to avoid any conflict so far had inched closer to Saotome. He narrowed his eyes as he wondered what they had planned.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Ranma flashed to his left, avoiding the stray shot of glue launched by someone in Class B as they tried to tag Toru's group. It barely interrupted the tapping of his foot, or the cries of despair from Minoru as he hung upside down while Ranma waited for someone to finally attack him properly.
The match had started well, with four teams making a play for him and getting him excited for the challenge. That changed as everyone's attention was pulled elsewhere as the other teams attacked. Now everyone was caught up in the mad scramble of attacking, defending and evading but him. The match was only supposed to be fifteen minutes long, and it was eight minutes in now. Ranma was getting worried he'd be ignored for the rest of it.
Ranma considered going on the offensive to get people to focus on him again, but it didn't fit with his promise to himself to make it more challenging. That he wasn't going to take anyone's headbands, only protecting his own. He just hadn't anticipated being ignored, which annoyed him
so much!
Deciding that he might as well spend this time more productively, or at least enticing others to try to attack him while he was distracted, he pulled his right arm up so his rider was around eye level. "Sooo, your name is Mineta Minoru, right?"
Minoru looked back at him, still fearful if his widened eyes and fast heartbeat were an indicator. He stared at him momentarily as he failed to process his question initially. "Urgh… yes?"
"So I've got to wonder, why were you trying to get ahead by attaching yourself to Yaoyorozu-san?" Ranma asked, slightly tilting his head, curious as to the answer. "Besides the perverted reasons, anyways."
"You're one to talk, you pervert!" Minoru yelled back, a little fire in his eyes at one of the things he loved to do being denigrated like it was by the other boy. "You're the one that groped her, not me!"
Ranma narrowed his eyes at the shorter boy. He was at least a little impressed he was standing his ground like he was, especially given his current predicament, but Ranma decided to nip the boy's defense in the bud now. Ranma held up his free hand and raised a single finger.
"First, as was already pointed out, that was an accident," Ranma growled, using a little bit of Ki in his eyes as an intimidation factor to silence Minoru's attempt to call that into question.
Ranma raised another finger as he continued. "Second, I have been called a pervert by better and by far
worse people than you. It doesn't make what they said actually true. There has to be actual grounds to match the accusation, not just whatever you
think it is."
"Third, I can
sense your emotions while laced in your Ki. I am
very familiar with people who experience lust. So I know what direction your mind was going!" Ranma growled at his rider.
Ranma focused his glare on him, silencing the defense that Minoru was prepared to rebut with and turn it against him. Finally, after withstanding the glare for a time, the boy turned his gaze elsewhere while also folding his arms and legs as he hung, all of it accentuating his angry pout. Ranma could work with that, at least for now. "And you didn't answer my question, Minoru."
Minoru mumbled so softly that even Ranma couldn't hear it. Well, not with the explosions, yells of pain and excitement, and the crowd roaring around them.
"What was that?" Ranma asked again.
"I said I wanted to look cool!" Minoru yelled, still not willing to look him in the eyes.
Ranma raised an eyebrow at that claim as he digested the thought. "And why– one sec," Ranma said before he jumped away as an explosion went off in their previous location, and Katsuki's team flashed past his last position.
"Missed me, Sparkler!" Ranma yelled at the retreating team. He smiled as he heard the blonde boy cursing, almost forcing his team to go back and attack him again. Ranma sighed in disappointment as the other three kept him in line for now.
Turning back to his rider, who had barely reacted to the sudden shift or being attacked like they had been. His mind had been distracted adequately and his sense of danger had decreased. "Anyways, why do you want to look cool?" Ranma asked him again.
Minoru internally debated how much he wanted to say but eventually answered. "Because no one likes me! I'm not popular and get dismissed by everyone because I'm shorter and weaker than them! It's why I tried to get into the Hero course!"
Ranma sighed, using his free hand to rub his forehead as he tried to think. He couldn't fault the other boy. While he didn't have much life experience with being ignored, he did have experience receiving negative attention due to something outside of your control. Too many things about Minoru reminded him of Happosai, making him want to keep him away with a thousand-meter pole.
"Look, Minoru," Ranma started, pausing as he tried to figure out the wording. "I have serious issues with someone you remind me of
far too much for me to be comfortable with this… but if you can make serious attempts to not go down the same path as him, I will help you become more popular. Whether that is becoming a Pro-Hero or at least becoming someone people can respect, that is up to you."
Ranma turned his head back to look him in the eyes, only to find Minoru was returning the favor. His eyes filled with so much hope that he looked ready to cry.
Knowing he needed to temper the boy's expectations, he added another clause to the condition. "Don't promise me you can do that until I tell you about Happosai, okay?" Ranma said. Then, he was reminded of another point. "Since I hate talking about that Old Freak, you'll sit in and listen when I tell the girls about him."
Minoru nodded his head rapidly, eager to find a path forward. "Okay!"
Ranma sighed, glad to have that headache out of the way. "Well, we still have to finish this Cavalry Battle first. Though, looks like it will be even easier and more boring than I had expected since everyone is just ignoring– Never mind! It seems someone has finally decided to make a move. And we're the target!"
He turned towards the approaching team. The horses were a yellow-green-skinned boy with sharp blades sticking out of the side of his jaw, a brown-haired and furry boy with sharp tusks sticking up from his lower teeth, and another boy his own height with silverish hair and a chubby physique. They didn't seem too bright in their observational skills.
Their rider was someone Ranma recognized as the boy who had tried to stir trouble a few weeks ago, right after the Villain attack. From what he could see, he had yet to take his or Sakura's advice to do
anything to improve his chances. Other than maybe working on his Quirk. At that thought, he found it odd how his teammates were acting. Ranma narrowed his eyes as something didn't seem right.
"So, it's you. Still acting so arrogantly because you have a powerful Quirk? And did you abduct Mineta-san just to torture him? You really
aren't hero material, are you?" The indigo-haired boy asked, his face giving the same bland stare he had the last time they talked to each other. His eyes still had dark rings, reminding Ranma of Gosunkugi.
Not that Ranma was paying much attention to that at all. Instead, he focused on his other senses, especially his Ki sense, as he tried to figure out what was happening. While it wasn't easy, he could sometimes feel a person's Quirk as it was laced with their Ki. It was far easier to notice when their Quirk and Ki were strong, much like it was easier to detect someone with a stronger Ki aura from farther away.
The boy, Ranma wondered if he was a descendant of his old classmate, didn't have a strong Ki aura or a Quirk that he could easily detect, but there was something there. This close and undisturbed, he could concentrate on it and noticed it was focused primarily around the brain. What was unusual was that he could sense the same thing in the other three's brains and a small amount of his Ki. He wasn't sure what was happening yet, but he figured it was crucial. He was getting closer to figuring it out; he just needed more information.
"Leave us alone, Shinso!" Minoru yelled out as he recognized his classmate. He knew the other boy was dangerous in some way, but because he was so unpopular, no one ever spoke to him about rumors. And here he was, threatening his one hope of achieving his dream again!
"Shut up, you perverted gnome," Shinso replied, getting angry at the other boy.
"No, I wo–"
"I said shut up," Shinso reiterated, smirking as the other boy jerked to a halt.
Ranma jerked back, his senses seeing the spike of activity from this Shinso kid. He had also seen the same spike happen in Minoru. He looked back and forth between Minoru, Shinso's horses, and Shinso himself as it finally started to come together. That caused his eyes to narrow at Shinso, who had finally turned his attention back to him.
"So, are you going to admit you only passed because you have a strong Quirk or not?" Shinso demanded of him.
Academically and socially, Ranma might have his issues, much of it stemming from inexperience or lack of interest, but the one thing everyone who had watched Ranma in a challenging fight could agree on was that he was
brilliant on the battlefield. Part of that was deconstructing techniques and strategies. So Ranma played through all of his interactions with the other boy and reviewed many of the different types of Quirks he had learned about in the last year.
Shinso waited for him to respond, but he started getting impatient and opened his mouth to speak. He halted when he saw Ranma's eyes sparked in recognition and smiled joyfully. "Something supposed to be funny?" Shinso asked, attempting to get that reply out of him somehow.
Ranma struggled for a moment not to laugh or give any verbal response. But he
did know how best to respond. He put his free hand behind his back before pulling it out a moment later. He then held up the wooden sign so it could be read.
Shinso blinked, caught off guard by the odd Quirk usage. The wannabe hero's Quirk was supposed to be some sort of Strengthening Quirk, as best he could figure out. So how had he done that?
He then took a moment to read what the sign said, further confusing him. "'Hahaha'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Shinso asked, put off balance by the strange behavior. He then saw Ranma flip the sign around, displaying another message. "You know my secret?"
Ranma nodded before flipping the sign again. Shinso's look was just as comical as when he first started using his Old Man's technique. The second flip always confused them.
"I can't win—wait, how can you flip that sign twice?" Shinso asked, confused and outraged at the illogical situation. "With new wording on it, no less!"
Ranma ignored him, instead turning his attention to his rider, who was still caught in Shinso's technique. Curious about how to break it, he tried a few simple things. He snapped his fingers and tapped him on the head several times to see if that would do it, but it didn't work.
Shinso, on the other hand, became worried as he started connecting the dots and knew his plan was falling apart. Considering how the rest of this battle was going, he was concerned this might be his only shot at moving forward. If the pigtailed boy knew how his Quirk worked, securing victory would be
far more challenging and would rely on him being distracted.
While he hadn't given up hope of getting the headband from one of the other teams, he prized himself on being observant. Two of the other teams were keeping a subtle eye on him, regularly checking his position. He wondered if they, too, suspected or knew about his Quirk.
He had noticed that the team that had stolen
his points was super aggressive toward anyone with any points. Getting them back would be pointless. Even if he could capture the very vocal rider, the behavior change would be too quickly noticed and likely countered by the others on his team. Not to mention, it would be nearly impossible to keep them in one place at this time.
The team with that invisible girl had many of the same problems as the other, though in reverse. They were being hunted by the previous team, making any attempt to sneakily get their headband impossible. He would be locked down by ice, and those under his control would be woken up by the explosions. Only as a last-ditch effort could he go for either of those teams.
Then there was the Class B team that still had points but needed more to gain a place and were still being hunted. He didn't have the defenses that that team had to hold them off.
With this team, Mineta being the rider, all Shinso had to do was order Ranma to hide him from the others, fake giving up, hide off to the side, and reduce the visibility of the headband to prevent the risk of attracting attention. But he had to do it now, before the other teams shifted their attention, even if it wasn't as ideal as stealing a headband in the last few seconds as his original plan had called for.
"Mineta! Give me your headband!" Shinso shouted finally as the pigtailed boy increased the strength of the flicks he gave. If he could get the headband, he might get a reply from the other boy.
Shinso watched as Mineta reached up, grabbed the headband on his head, and started pulling it off. A quick flick of Ranma's finger intercepted the hand and caused his arm to halt and quiver, followed by a cry of pain from his fellow classmate. Unfortunately for Shinso, that pain broke the control of his Quirk.
"Agh! What the hell, Saotome?" Mineta cried, gripping his arm as it refused to work after that spike of pain. He turned to look at Ranma as his emotions cycled through anger, pain, and betrayal. "Why did you– mmmm!"
Ranma put his free hand over his mouth, stopping him from talking any further, then smirked at Shinso again before turning his attention back to Minoru as he had finally gotten the hint to stay quiet. When Ranma finally removed his hand from covering his mouth, he opened his mouth to demand an explanation but halted when Ranma put a finger over his lips. He closed his mouth in understanding but still wanted an answer.
Ranma smiled at his potential new student. Then he grimaced. That thought made him want to find a steel column to smash his head against to purge such thoughts. Ryuko, Yawara, and Tomoko were going to find this endlessly amusing.
Getting his thoughts back on track, he used his hand to undo the pressure point before grabbing another sign from behind his back. The other boy wanted to open his mouth to ask his question, but Ranma shook the sign to indicate he should read it. When he did, his eyes widened when he read the messages as Ranma flipped it around. After reading them, Minoru got angry, growling even, as he turned his attention back to Shinso.
"Oh, what's wrong, Mineta?" Shinso goaded him, hoping to get another chance. He just needed another opening to turn things around after this disaster. Maybe distract them enough so another team could capture his headband and shake up the battlefield enough to give him a chance elsewhere.
Mineta
really wanted to reply with something verbal, but he focused on keeping his mouth shut, even to the point of his lips straining against the different impulses they were receiving. He finally settled on taking his anger out on his fellow classmate by pulling off and throwing dozens of the balls on the top of his head at the other boy in a flurry of motion, almost as fast as the balls regrew. Or at least by his standards of what a flurry was.
Ranma grinned as Shinso's team was belted with the small balls on various points of their bodies, even as Shinso tried to get them away from the wave of attacks. This spelled disaster for them, as his horses' current state left much to be desired regarding fine movements, such as dodging. One horse eventually stepped on one of the balls, sticking them to that spot and causing them to trip, resulting in their team becoming stuck and falling over.
Shinso cursed at the turn of events, especially as it woke a couple of his horses up.
Ranma laughed silently as Minoru ran out of steam and his head bled a little from the overuse of his Quirk. Minoru breathed heavily at the exertion, then turned back to him with an unsure smile and a thumbs up. Ranma returned it with a genuine smile and his own thumbs up.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Eijiro! Go left!" Peter shouted as he lifted Pony out of the way of Tsuyu's tongue. After the general chaos started, it turned into a difficult battle. Some of their opponents had decided to focus on them and put all of their effort into it. They even went so far as to team up against them. Peter's team had to face Kendo and Tsuyu's team's combined efforts.
While Kendo's team needed more power in their ranged attacks, Tokage and Yanagi's Quirks made it challenging to fight them, being able to counter some of Team Parker's best attacks. Yanagi always stopped his webbing and pushed it to the side, preventing him from using it against either team. Tokage was moving around and intercepting Pony's horns as much as she could, her separated limbs acting as a guard against her multi-pronged attacks. Kendo and Ojiro were decently guarding against Dark Shadow or attempting to attack them.
Tsuyu's team lacked those defenses, so Kendo's team helped to protect them. Beyond Sato and Koji's muscular bodies, they lacked the defenses needed to protect them from Pony and himself. But what they lacked in defense, they made up for in offense. Tsuyu's tongue was dangerous, though she knew Peter's reaction speed and agility were too good, so she targeted the others on his team. With the tape coming out of his elbows, the other boy engaged in a potent offense that they sometimes had difficulty countering. Dark Shadow and Eijiro had taken to cutting tape and generally protecting them from being pinned down. The tape was strong too, not quite as strong as Peter's webbing, but still more durable than regular tape of a similar size.
Pony was doing her best to trip them up, sometimes having to launch more horns after they were caught or destroyed. Setsuna was making that problematic, so Pony had always had a pair of horns rotating in the air. Fumikage and Dark Shadow were determined and provided suggestions along with Peter, helping to keep them from being trapped. Eijiro was merely grinning as they ran and fought, acting as their sturdy steed and having a lot of fun as the battle continued.
While the attacks from the other teams had lessened, they still popped up here and there. Peter's spider-sense warned him when those occurred, helping his team avoid dangers none of them saw coming. Attacks from Katsuki, Tetsutetsu, Monoma, and Komori, and the one encounter with Sakura's team when they got too close in particular caused his senses to flare.
That exchange with Sakura had seen the two teams practically back to back. Their horses concentrated on their surrounding threats while he fought off Sakura. Much like their brief exchange during the obstacle course, Sakura couldn't land a hit, but neither could Peter. So, after an extended stalemate, the two changed tactics and helped to drive off each other's opponents. They separated their two teams, deciding not to invite disaster by fighting each other.
They continued to be chased, with Fumikage, Eijiro, and himself able to keep up with the pressure. He was really impressed by Fumikage and Eijiro's stamina, both keeping up with the constant running and usage of their Quirks. Based on what he knew of the training they were taking under Ranma and Sakura that Karen had been able to learn about, it wasn't too surprising. His main concern, however, was the constant usage of Pony's Quirk. The concentration it took to keep it up was draining her far too much.
Peter took another glance to better estimate her condition: her heavy sweating and bleeding scalp were not good signs. He estimated how long she could keep going and grimaced. She would be too tired to be very effective in about another minute or two. There was just over five minutes before the Cavalry Battle was finished. That would also be the most critical time, as that would be when people would enact last-minute strategies, and desperation would drive people's adrenaline higher.
Peter's best bet to buy Pony that time was to get Tsuyu and Kendo's teams to stop chasing them. She could cross the finish line if they let her rest, even for thirty to sixty seconds. But Peter was limited by the nature of the Cavalry Battle, hampering most of his physical capabilities unless they came within arm's reach.
Peter looked around the field to see if he could find some way out of this predicament. As Pony's horns flew around under her guidance, he saw the two circling above them, waiting for an opportunity to dive. He was suddenly inspired by an encounter he once had with an old friend.
"Pony, I've got an idea!" Peter excitedly said, getting his team's attention. Eijiro and Fumikage doubled their efforts to allow Peter to inform her of his idea. She was initially lost on what he meant, but when Peter finished explaining his new strategy, she grinned in understanding. Peter freed his other hand, sticking his bare foot to her back. "Dark Shadow! Do what you can to buy us time!"
"You heard him, Dark Shadow!" Fumikage called out to his sentient Quirk. The dark entity enlarged itself, using its built-up strength, and charged at the opposing team, focusing on Team Kendo and doing what he could to distract Tokage and Yanagi.
"Okay, start!" Peter said, getting a nod from Pony as she commanded her current horns to attack while they were distracted. Eijiro and Fumikage concentrated on defending themselves from Tsuyu's team.
Once one of her pairs was discarded, Pony's new horns shot off, one after another. Peter launched a web-line that caught the first one and then attached itself to the other before they flew off and began to circle the air above the two teams again. Pony's next set of horns regrew, and she launched them. Peter repeated the same tactic as the second pair flew up to join the first. The two pairs of horns stretched the webbing as hard as they could.
Peter looked up at the two pairs, grinning as the four horns circled around and formed a giant plus sign. He went to work and used both web-shooters to quickly fill the gaps, connecting all four horns and everything in between until it looked like a solid blanket of webbing. "Do it now!"
Pony then sped up her horns, flying them in the circle as fast as possible, causing the web blanket to spin. Then, they descended towards the two teams. Dark Shadow pulled back as it started falling, his job completed. Tsuyu had already noticed what was happening and had warned Kendo's team before trying to get out from under the incoming attack.
But due to the combination of Dark Shadow's distraction and the incoming attack, they weren't prepared for Peter launching one more web-line that caught Sato and Koji's backs. That was then yanked on and pulled their team closer to Kendo's team, smacking into them and distracting them yet again, leaving all of them defenseless.
The web blanket descended, catching the tops of the riders, but it was made worse as Pony's horns didn't stop their circular rotation, making the net twist around and entangling them far more securely than if it had just fallen on them. Soon, both groups were entangled, the net twisting around so much it looked like a spider cocoon that completely covered its victim after the spider had spent the time preparing its meal. Peter watched as Pony flew her horns together and drove them into the ground, anchoring them and letting her release her hold on them.
"Wow! It worked! You did it, Pony!" Eijiro said, finally able to stop as he panted to catch his breath. He grinned at her, giving her a thumbs up in approval. "That was awesome!"
"Yes, well done," Fumikage added as Dark Shadow hid in his clothes, glad to have the breather. "All of you did well."
Peter sighed in relief, glad the plan had worked so well. "Okay, take a moment to catch your breath," Peter said while rubbing her back. She was set down to rest on her knees, glad to feel the ground beneath her, even if it was wet from all the melted ice. The water felt good.
"At least most of the ice has finally melted. Seriously, I never thought I would be so glad for balance training," Eijiro said, kicking some of the puddles near his feet away from himself.
"Yeah," Peter replied. He had been impressed by just how well he had remained standing, even when he had to use him to hold up Fumikage and Pony at times. It wasn't perfect, as his redheaded friend had nearly slipped a few times, but he had held up better than most.
Fumikage sighed, kicking at a small clump of ice that hadn't melted yet, grunting as he reached down and flicked his soggy shoes, socks, and the bottom of his pants. "I can appreciate Todoroki using his quirk like this and understand why he is keeping it so thin so he doesn't drain his stamina using it so much, but the melted water
is rather annoying."
"Yeah," Peter agreed. Even if his many years of living in New York had gotten him used to such things, he was glad he didn't have to deal with it. He sympathized with them, even feeling a little guilty that he didn't have to suffer soggy socks as their rider.
Peter then looked towards the boy that had created the unpleasant situation. The three horses were no longer speeding along on a sled but running like most other cavalries. "But it looks like Todoroki is reserving his energy now. They are probably going to save it for a last-minute blitz."
Fumikage followed his gaze, watching the others briefly before his eyes narrowed. Tenya and Denki looked exhausted, but something was off that kept nagging at the back of his head about it. He
knew how much they could push themselves. He also knew they would be willing to pick up the slack to give the others a breather. But they weren't pushing themselves; instead, they acted like they were in similar conditions as Katsuki and Shoto.
"They're faking it!" Fumikage squawked in alarm. The seriousness in his voice got the attention of his teammates. Then, it finally clicked on what he had been missing. Specifically, something he had
yet to see. "Kaminari!"
Peter twisted his head to look down at his bird-headed classmate. But it was also at this time when his Spider-sense flared dramatically.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Come on, move it!" Katsuki shouted at his horses as they ran after Deku, tiny explosions going off in his hands as he 'encouraged' them onwards. He was careful, however, to keep his real feelings in check. He had to mask them with the emotions he'd normally be feeling.
To help highlight his aggression, he threw his Quirk at groups nearby. All of his attacks disappeared as their defenses were too strong or fast. He saw how many people were grinning at him, glad to see that his team didn't have enough steam to keep the pressure up.
Katsuki, standing on the horses' connected hands, looked at the battlefield. He paused when he saw Peter and Horn-girl create that giant net of webbing. Rechecking everyone's positions, he knew it was time.
"Glasses! Cut through the middle! We'll cut Deku off on the other side!" Katsuki shouted. His team followed the instructions and did not give any pushback.
Katsuki watched as Peter's attack captured the two teams caught inside. That was fine with Katsuki, as that reduced the number of teams that could interfere.
"Wait!" Katsuki yelled when they got to the middle of the field, halting his team as they looked to the other side of the trapped teams, seeing Deku looking back at them. They were using the trapped students to keep Katsuki's team at bay and giving them a slight breather. Katsuki glared at them as he stepped up onto Tenya's shoulders. He balanced there entirely, freeing Shoto and Denki from having to carry him for now while his hands fired off micro explosions, creating a lot of noise and looking much like Pigtail's nickname for him. "Stay still, Deku! Take your punishment!"
"Yaoyorozu-san has just been restrained. Do it now," Tenya said calmly, his deep breaths disappearing.
The others ignored Denki when he fell to his knees, breathing hard. He kept a hand attached to Tenya's leg so that he still counted as part of the 'horse.' His free hand rested into the sludge of water, not looking up or around them.
"Now," Shoto said, even as he froze the ground under his and Tenya's feet, causing them to rise almost a meter in the air on a small platform and well away from the melted ice.
A moment later, Denki used his Quirk, causing it to flow into the water and guiding it so it didn't just disperse as it flowed and jumped to the many different puddles. It was far easier than sending it through the air since the water had picked up numerous small particles when it had melted, making it conduct the electricity from his Quirk more easily.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Sakura, I never thought I would be thankful for your punishments!" Mina cried out as she huffed, breathing heavily and feeling dehydrated. Her Quirk really drained her body's liquids, and she was worried she was reaching her limits. Even while hunting for Sakura, she hadn't had to use her Quirk
this much during a fight!
"Ugh, don't encourage her, it'll give her ideas!" Kyoka cried out, looking up at a grinning Sakura. While her own Quirk didn't drain her body like Mina or Momo's would, it was mentally taxing on her to use effectively without her amplifiers.
"You don't need to worry, Kyoka-chan," Sakura said happily. Her use of chan did not help with Kyoka's mood, even as their eyes were always roving over the battlefield. "I've already had those ideas for some time!" Sakura giggled as Kyoka groaned.
"Sakura-san," Momo said, "do you need anything else? I am beginning to feel the drain my Quirk gives me, so it would be better to let me rest since I expect we'll need the extra energy for the final push."
Sakura frowned in thought as her eyes looked over the battlefield. She flipped her current kunai and string as she thought about it. "No, I don't think so. Get what rest you can, Momo. You too, Mina."
"Thanks! That small break wasn't enough, especially since I couldn't get much to drink," Mina said, sweating from how much of her Quirk she had used.
"We'll have to figure out how to get your body's needed resources in battles like this. I've got a few ideas I could try, but that won't be for weeks or months," Sakura said calmly as she watched Peter's team conversing. She narrowed her eyes, guessing he had a plan in mind.
Before his team could put it into action, her eyes traced back to their most persistent opponents as they moved to engage them once more. She narrowed her eyes as the other team, the one with the blonde rider that could copy other people's Quirks, had argued for a moment before they moved to the side, trying to appear as if they were flanking them. She knew rank genin who were better at deceiving than he was.
"We're about to be double-teamed, girls!" Sakura said, informing them in advance. All three of them gulped but steadied themselves in preparation. "Steel boy is charging us, and the blonde that can copy Quirks is trying to flank us, but they are trying to be sneaky about it. The first team will try to drive us into the second team, which is trying to look like they are distracted going after Saotome or Parker."
"Oh no, what are we going to do?" Mina cried out, her voice lacking any concern. The others grinned along with her, not worried in the least.
"Momo, keep an eye on our back and the other team, but keep resting. I'll make do with what we have for now," Sakura said as she flipped the kunai in her hands and prepared to throw it, grinning as the first team was about to enter the range they needed to attack
"Get them!" Tetsutetsu yelled out, his riders charging forward with determination.
Sakura threw the kunai straight at the boy's forehead, even as his Quirk was activated. It was fast, but the boy could barely move his head out of the way in time. His reaction time and instinct were better than most, causing the boy to grin in triumph. But she had already planned for this.
Tetsutetsu's grin disappeared when Sakura's hand subtly tugged on the cord, causing it to rest on his neck. He then felt the cord wrapping around it until he saw that same kunai flying into his line of sight as it finished a single pass before he felt it rapidly circling him. He looked up to see the taut cord held by a grinning Sakura. He started to panic as his hands rose to rip the cord apart but was beaten to it by a firm yank from Sakura as the cord dragged him forward and down onto his front horse, even as he tried to resist and give warning to his teammates. "No! Look ou– urk!"
The sudden impact and shift caught Jezo by surprise, interrupting the attack he was launching at Sakura's team, which was supposed to soften the ground beneath them again. Instead of a multi-pronged attack of Juzo and Ibara's Quirks, it left only Ibara on the offensive. Mina threw out some acid, dissolving most of it, and Kyoka helped intercept and disrupt any other vines that made it through with her own Quirk.
Sakura loosened the tautness of her cord and a flick of her wrists allowed the cord to quickly be removed by Tetsutetsu. After he had it off, he tried to grab hold of it once more, but the cord was too strong and Sakura's strength was too much and was easily pulled back to her hands.
After a quick glance behind her at the second team, Sakura concentrated on the rest of the arena. She marveled at the trap Peter's team had sprung, nearly giggling at the teamwork involved. While Fumikage might influence and help ensure his teammates worked together, she couldn't lay it all at his feet, especially as she had seen how well Parker integrated himself with others. It seemed he had experience being a team player, and she was glad to see it.
But when her eyes tracked to Bakugo's Team, they narrowed in concern. Tenya and Denki had significantly improved since she started training them physically and mentally, so she knew they were faking exhaustion. She had suspected it for a while, knowing they had something in the works. She was still determining who their trap was for, but she knew Denki was the key.
She watched as Tenya stopped moving, with Bakugo continuing to yell at Hagakure's team on the other side of the cocoon of students. But they wouldn't spring such a complicated trap just for them. She knew it had to be for Saotome, Parker, or herself, but all of them were too far away.
"Ugh, the water's bad enough; I don't want to scrape mud off my shoes too!" Mina complained below her.
Sakura's eyes widened as she realized Bakugo's team was in the
center. Almost equal distance from
all of them. And they were standing in water that had melted from the ice. She felt a bit of pride for them helping set up this trap, but that was for later. "Denki is about to go off! He's using the water to conduct and transfer the electricity! We need to–"
Sakura heard the sound of something puncturing the ground behind her, turning her head enough to see blonde-colored vines flying upwards and entrapping Momo before she could do anything. Her entire upper body was now covered and holding her there. She looked up and noticed that the blonde rider had copied the green-haired girl's Quirk and had sent them underground.
"Hah! We've got you now, Class A! Not so smart after all! Hahahaha!" The blonde boy mocked them.
Sakura's eyes traced back to the first team and saw them moving to attack once more, even seeing the ground beneath her team softening. While this attack was well done, it wasn't anything she would typically worry about as she would have driven them off. But the
timing of it couldn't have been worse as she saw Denki kneeling.
Sakura's mind raced for ways to escape. If she only had herself to contend with, this wouldn't have been anything to worry about. Even with her friends, she wasn't worried. But it was the
rules of the event that constrained her the most.
The rider was not supposed to touch the ground, or they were disqualified. That meant she couldn't use her Earth techniques since she would have to touch the ground. The best way to escape the trap was to get airborne, but with Momo trapped and with insufficient time, few options would allow them to escape, and even fewer that would prevent significant injuries.
While she could create some clones, there were dangers that they might be considered part of her, so she didn't want to risk that possibility.
She could tank the damage herself, but it would leave her more vulnerable, and her teammates would still be out of it for some time, even if she used her chakra to heal them. That invited too many risks. Offensive attacks were a gamble of being insufficient or too dangerous to Denki.
The only other tools she had on hand were the kunai and cord she had from earlier. While the tools would work, the cord needed to be longer to be useful since she would have to target a structure high enough in the air and away from the audience.
There were too many variables and not enough time to deal with them. But Sakura thought of what Naruto, Sasuke, or Kakashi-sensei would do in this situation. She then hit upon an idea as she lightly tossed her kunai into the air before her hands blurred through the needed signs.
Her jutsu went off just as the kunai reached the level of her head, causing a brief puff of smoke to pop into the air all around her as the cord connecting to the kunai was duplicated over a couple dozen times, the tips meeting together. She grabbed the kunai, and her chakra channeled down the cord until they all were held together, bypassing her need to make knots and creating a single, very lengthy cord. She threw the kunai towards the ceiling hundreds of meters above them, well away from the rest of the audience. There was so much strength behind it that it only took a second to drive into one of the metal beams far above them.
Her other hand gripped the cloned cord, while the hand she had used to throw lowered and glowed as a chakra scalpel formed on her fingertips. The scalpel then shredded the blond vines holding onto Momo.
It was at that time that she felt Denki's attack going off, causing her to grunt as everyone became his victim. She saw her teammates twitching as the water sparked all across it. She then grabbed Momo by the vines encasing her, and her two feet attached to Kyoka and Mina's backs and yanked all of them upwards.
They flew nearly a dozen meters upwards, her shadow clone cords barely withstanding the force she needed to get them in the air, but they held long enough to soften their landing at least. Sakura glanced below to watch how everyone was impacted by Denki's attack.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"And now Team Bakugo has stolen Team Komori's headband! That gives them five headbands and a combined score of one thousand, seven hundred and sixty-five points!" Hizashi announced through the microphone. "And they
still aren't satisfied! They are targeting the three other teams that have any points left! Does their ambition know no limits?"
Hizashi marveled at the trap Bakugo's team had set off, which caught almost everyone off-guard. Most of those who had detected it in advance only had a few seconds before it happened. The experienced professionals watching the match sat up and took notice, quickly realizing that it had been planned from the beginning and had been beautifully laid out. He knew he would rewatch the fight from beginning to end to spot the tells.
"Now they are chasing after Team Mineta! They smell blood in the water and want to take the grand prize!"
Aizawa was one of the few who caught onto it early since he hadn't been surprised. Hizashi had seen his friend's tiny grin for some time, and it only grew just as it went off.
"They've trapped Team Mineta in an icy bunker! What are they planning to do in there?"
The stadium watched as Todoroki's ice trapped the two teams, preventing them from seeing what was occurring. They heard multiple explosions from inside, damaging and cracking the ice in various spots before one of the walls exploded outward.
"Team Mineta has escaped their trap! They will have to wait to knock down the current leader. Team Bakugo's looking mad! Oh, they are switching it up again! They're attacking Team Parker and Team Haruno! Are they going to be successful?"
Hizashi continued to narrate the battle even as Team Bakugo found Team Haruno to be the more vulnerable of the two.
"Oh no! Team Haruno's last horse is down! It is just Haruno left standing, and she can't go anywhere! She's a sitting duck! How can she possibly–
Whaaaat!?"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Ranma watched as the match continued, impressed by the large web net that Peter's team had created and how well they had captured and restrained the two teams. He wasn't going to let Itsuka or Mashirao forget it either!
That was mostly because they had yet to find a way to maneuver quickly like Izuku or Katsuki's groups could. Katsuki's team was fast but limited to straight-on movements with little flexibility. That was why they couldn't pin down Izuku's team. He was proud of his students, who had learned to adapt and use their skills like they had.
Ranma looked towards Katsuki's group, noticing how they seemed to be running—something wasn't right. He turned towards them, his observation skills focusing on all of them, followed by his Ki sense. He quickly realized they were faking exhaustion.
They were hiding it well, meaning they knew what exhaustion looked and felt like, but they needed to improve their
acting. The more subtle behaviors and hints of exhaustion wracking the body were missing. Ranma had been trained to experience exhaustion since he was young and trained on how to hide and detect it. It was that training that had noticed the problem at first.
His Ki senses confirmed it, showing their Ki less drained than they were presenting. The emotions were trickier since Katsuki almost matched what he would expect. But there was an undercurrent of expectation in all of them. Coupled together with everything else, it signaled they had something planned.
They were too far away, though, to be any real threat to him, but he watched as they stopped, and Katsuki verbally shouted at Izuku. He saw that one team from Class B, still wearing their headband, was approaching them, hoping to catch them off-guard, as they probably thought they were tired and distracted.
Ranma heard Fumikagi's shout about Denki. He felt concern and near panic from him, and he saw Peter's body stiffening. Peter turned back to Denki, peeked at the ground, and shouted something at the girl with the horns. A moment later, she launched some horns into the air. Peter had picked her up and shot some webbing at one of the horns. Unfortunately for them, he didn't get off the ground fast enough to prevent the attack from hitting Eijiro or Fumikage. The best he could do was limit the time they were affected.
Unfortunately for himself, Ranma did not make enough of the connections before Denki's attack went off. Ranma knew his classmate could do widespread electrical attacks, but those were through the air. With how far away he was, it shouldn't have been something he would have to worry about much. He didn't remember that water conducts electricity better than air in time. While his body could withstand the attack, it stung before flaring his Ki and leaped upwards.
Ranma landed back on the ground with a bit of a splash. He was just thankful the puddle of water wasn't large enough to be in danger of triggering his curse. He grunted a little when he landed, acknowledging that the attack was well done. He saw that only Peter, Sakura, and Katsuki with his team were not down. Everyone else had been taken out by that attack.
Ranma smirked when Katsuki glared in his direction, clearly hoping he would have been knocked out enough to steal his headband. Their team then launched themselves at Toru, stealing her headbands, before moving on to the Class B team.
While they were doing that, Sakura and Peter's teams landed and started recovering. Ranma instead looked at his teammate. He realized he hadn't said or moved around much since that attack. It looked like the electricity had conducted through himself enough to catch the pint-sized perv, knocking Minoru out for now. His body hung like a rag as Ranma moved him about.
"Come on, time to wake up, Minoru!" Ranma said, using his other hand to lightly slap him on the cheek. He repeated it a few times, and he got a minor reaction before he had to shift his attention to an incoming assault. This time, he had more to worry about than just Katsuki's explosions, as Shoto also sent his ice around to both sides, creating large walls that curved inwards as they grew. Ranma grinned, deciding it was time to show them they still had a ways to go to catch up with him.
Shoto finished creating a giant dome around thirty meters in diameter, blocking their view from everyone else. It was also thickening, gaining in strength.
Bakugo grinned as Pigtail landed near the ice wall. He threw his hands together to produce a large explosion, the resulting shockwave aimed towards him. It was so powerful that it created a shower of ice.
Unfortunately for Bakugo's mood, Pigtail hadn't been there. He had moved so fast that he hadn't realized it before his attack had hit the ice. Pigtail was on their left, hanging from a tiny imperfection in the wall with his feet and a smile on his face. "Missed me, Sparkler!"
Katsuki launched more attacks, but Pigtail just dropped to the ground, avoiding the focused explosion. The subsequent shockwaves broke more ice, creating windows and allowing people to see inside the dome a few seconds too late to see what had happened.
Pigtail bobbed through a few more attacks, getting closer as their team started to panic. Just as Katsuki thought of using his flashbang, even if it would negatively affect his team, it was too late. He felt something smack into his forehead, hard enough to kick it back and make him look straight up. He grunted at the spike of pain while hearing similar grunts of pain from the others as well. Then, another shattering of ice behind them informed them that their prey had escaped.
Katsuki knew some of Pigtail's capabilities, and his team pooled their shared experiences and observations. It was still an entirely different beast to be on the receiving end.
Holding his forehead where he had felt the hit land, his memory gave him the briefest of flashes as to what had happened. That hadn't been a ranged attack, Katsuki realized in a panic. He had flicked his forehead with his
finger! He reached up to his forehead and around his neck, feeling for the headbands he knew would be gone– they were still there. He counted out the five different headbands, confirming Pigtail hadn't taken any of them.
Opting to rub at his forehead again, he looked down to see that Half-half, Glasses, and Sparky were also similarly rubbing their foreheads. Each felt the tiny bruises that they sported. Katsuki
almost felt relieved that Pigtail hadn't taken their headbands when he first found them still present around his neck and forehead. Now he realized that Pigtail had taken the time to flick all four of them in the foreheads instead of just grabbing the headbands. His Quirk exploded outward as he launched dozens of explosions at what was left of the ice dome.
Ranma chuckled after hearing Katsuki explode again from the other side of the arena, with Sakura and Peter's teams between them now. Now that he felt he had a few more moments, he got to work on waking Minoru up again. The explosions had done some work, and he was finally coming around. Minoru's eyes blinked slowly, trying to figure out what had happened as his senses finished rebooting. Ranma let him do that, turning to watch as some of the other contestants started to stir while others remained out of it for now.
Katsuki's team was attacking Peter and Sakura's teams simultaneously, but the only one they had any success against was Sakura. Her horses were still dazed, which left them sluggish and slower to react. Eventually, Shoto captured their legs with his ice, and Denki and Bakugo launched attacks that sent them to the floor in a heap. The only one still standing was Sakura, balanced on top of them and not touching the ground.
Ranma winced at that, realizing that she was potentially a sitting duck since Sakura hadn't found a workaround like he had. But it would also be interesting to see how she responded, giving him insight into her capabilities and how she fought. She didn't have the time to free her teammates as Katsuki's team prepared for another blitz. So Sakura just stared them down.
Just as the ice started to spread once more and four boosters shot off behind them, Sakura's hands flashed through dozens of hand signs, looking very similar to Kuji-in that Shinto or Taoists used in their rituals. Ranma had always been too far away or preoccupied to properly observe her using it, so he watched in interest.
Chakra, as she called it, was something that was only borderline related to Ki, much like most Quirks, started to move and swirl as she formed the seals. The speed of her internal energy adjustment was impressive, changing and focusing as rapidly as her hands performed a new seal.
When Sakura grinned, the effect it and her hand signs had on Tenya and Denki was drastic. They did everything in their power to halt their charge after it had started, nearly causing them to spill to the ground. It certainly caught Shoto and Katsuki off-guard with plenty of swear words added in for good effect.
Their complaining halted as her hands stopped, remaining on a single sign as she stared at them. Ranma felt her energy flash through the air and concentrated into the water around them, much like it had when she had caused the Earth to rise up during the Obstacle Race. This time, however, it wasn't the ground that moved, but the puddles of water as it
all flowed towards her. The water rapidly clumped together and rose, acting more like clay as its mass built up. Within a few seconds, all the water, including much of the loose and melting ice, had congregated to the mass as it began to shape itself into a serpentine dragon, coiling around on the ground about ten meters in height.
Ranma stared at it for a few moments before he gave his opinion on the technique. "Did it
have to be water?"
Katsuki's team scrambled to escape the incoming entity as it flowed over the ground, not caring about Shoto's attempts to block and freeze it. Instead, the water dragon smashed through the ice, barely slowing it down. Then it did something even more terrifying: it absorbed and melted the ice, making it even bigger than before!
The four of them ran, trying to get away from it. And the four of them just
had to lead it in Ranma's direction as he grumbled and jumped to the side. Of course it wasn't enough. As the dragon passed, it splashed enough water around to tag Ranma and activate his curse.
Glaring down at her soaked chest and pushing her now wet red hair off of her forehead, she turned to yell at the pink-haired girl. "Thanks a lot,
Haruno! I'll get you back for that later!"
"Sorry, Saotome!" Sakura yelled back, looking rather pleased with herself as she worked to get her teammates back up. "But I am not limiting myself just so you don't get turned into a girl!"
Ranma lamented at that, working to get what water out of her hair and shirt that she could with only one hand available. Her accomplishments were reversed when Minoru spat out what water had collected in his mouth into her face. She glared at him for the act before realizing the situation's significance.
"You- you're-- you're a girl?" Minoru shouted in surprise and excitement.
"
Shit."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Izuku woke up with a start, his body sore as he heard explosions, shouting, and what sounded like the roar of rapids in a river. He also noticed he was soaked and that Mezo was still on top of him. He pushed against the ground without using his Quirk before slipping out from beneath his friend.
Now free, he could see what was transpiring and was surprised at the chaos. He saw the remnants of a ton of ice from a structure that Shoto must have created while they were knocked out. He saw other classmates were starting to get up or were being helped by their teammates, including Peter and Sakura's teams.
Explosions and roaring sounds were behind him, so he turned and was shocked by what he found. Kacchan's team was running away from a massive Asian water dragon that was coiling and moving like a snake, though parts of its body looped into the air. It was chasing the four of them. Kacchan was trying to send explosions at it to disrupt it, but it quickly reformed and continued the chase.
He caught sight of Ranma, who was wet and currently a girl, talking to his teammate about something. Looking around, it seemed everyone was recovering from Denki's attack; even Tsuyu and Itsuka's team were moving inside that giant web.
It seemed the fight was still going on, but what had happened? He looked up, saw the scoreboard, and panicked as he realized his team was marked as having no points! He looked at how much time was left. Only two minutes! He had two minutes to get his team back on their feet and get
something!
"Shoji-kun! Uraraka-san! Hagakure-san! Get up quickly!" Izuku yelled, trying to reach through to them. His extra nudging did the trick as the three of them began to stir and awaken. "Come on, we don't have much time!"
Ochako and Toru groaned as they came out of their imposed slumber, looking up with blurry eyes as Izuku helped them sit up. "Wha– what's going on? What happened?" Ochako asked.
"We need to hurry! Kacchan stole our headbands after knocking almost everyone out!" Izuku said, backing up a step to give them room to get up.
"Whaaat!?" Toru screeched, reaching up to feel her forehead and the one around her neck, finding both of them gone. "Nooooo!"
"We have less than ninety seconds now!" Izuku told them as they all started to stand up in a hurry. He saw their panicked gazes at the charts indicating time and number of points. After they had confirmed it for themselves, he turned around, offering his back to Mezo again. "We need to get our points back from Kacchan!"
He didn't need to say anymore as they hurriedly reformed their formation. Ochako used her Quirk on Toru and Mezo first, then held them down so they wouldn't float away. Mezo grabbed Izuku's back and secured himself, then helped secure the girls with an arm each. After they reformed, Toru removed her shirt and threw it to the ground.
Unfortunately, she had tossed it in front of where Izuku was looking, staring down at the article of clothing as his brain quickly worked through how it got there. "Umm— err.. Uhh… Hagakure-san?" Izuku asked, his face turning a deep red as he realized the significance of that act more so than when she was wearing her hero uniform. Then there was the fact that it started floating upwards right in front of him.
"No time to get squeamish on us, Midoriya!" Toru shouted, thumping Mezo on the back in her drive to get them to start moving. "Now onward! Charge at him, tackle him, whatever you have to do! We need those points back!"
Being reminded of what was on the line and the fact the shirt had floated upwards enough that he could more easily ignore it, Izuku turned his gaze to Kacchan's team as they continued to run from the water dragon. Narrowing his eyes, he activated his Quirk. "Let's go!"
He sprinted forward, almost distracted by the girls asking about the dragon they hadn't realized was there until now. He didn't try to answer, focusing on the goal. He noticed that most teams were in a similar state, finally recovering and trying to do
something before time ran out.
His team was one of several making a play for Kacchan. The explosive squad had just finished another maneuver, keeping their distance from the troublesome dragon. Izuku ignored it, even as he was splashed with stray water along with Mezo and the girls. They were singularly focused as they closed the distance.
Izuku watched, trying to determine the next route they would take. Kacchan and Shoto, at least, had noticed them, as had a few other teams trying to engage them. They were being boxed in, the dragon an intimidating presence that they had to avoid at all costs.
Unfortunately for Izuku's team, that was when the water dragon finally ran out of steam. It halted and then collapsed, the water spreading everywhere and pushing them away like a wave would. Not very far, but enough to slow them down and offer an escape for Kacchan's team.
Being off-balance, Izuku needed more time to cut them off. They shot off, going faster than he could and gaining distance. He didn't give up, seeing the utter chaos going on as an endless stream of attacks were sent at any of the teams with any points. It didn't matter who, as attack after attack was launched. No attempts at defense or restraint! Tape, tongues, vines, giant hands, ground becoming like quicksand, small objects that glowed purple, glops of glue, literal Japanese words flying through the air, and more! The battlefield had genuinely transformed into utter chaos, as anyone with the energy to use a Quirk was attempting to use theirs in their desperate attempts to regain some points.
He would have marveled at how Peter and Sakura had gone on the counter-offensive, laying down a tremendous quantity of webbing and tools to restrain or stop incoming attacks that targeted them.
Then Ranma caught his eye for a second. She was having the time of her life as she flowed through
everything, even using the various objects littered over the area to redirect herself or dodge anything sent in her general direction. Nothing appeared to be capable of touching her as she let herself go. The frantic yet determined face of the boy glued to her arm as he threw the small balls that came off his head made for a remarkable contrast.
While it was amazing to watch, those stray attacks did not help Izuku or his team. Instead, it added to the difficulty of chasing after Kacchan. Especially since they were the only team doing so now. Kacchan's speed was why the other teams had quickly given up chasing them, opting to add their firepower to the others. Kacchan saw this as well, giving him a smirk. "Ha! You're too late, Deku! You don't stand a chance anymore! It's time for you to take a nap!"
This time, they didn't even try to run away. Instead, explosions and ice were thrown, forcing Izuku to dodge. Tenya stood in the front, ready to move or defend if need be, while Denki held a hand forward, with a few sparks going across his fingers.
Izuku pushed forward anyway, dodging explosions and smashing any ice he could as he tried to close the gap. He wasn't sure how best to deal with Denki, but he needed to get the girls to Kacchan to try to get a headband! With a final dodge, all four of them braced as another of Kacchan's explosive shockwaves hit them before he leaped forward.
"Side!" Mezo shouted, his spare hands reaching out to his right, trying to absorb the impact of the brick of ice that threatened to shove them away. Izuku also reacted to his warning, braced himself, but even with their combined efforts, they didn't have enough weight to counter it and were shoved off the path, ruining their chance.
Izuku looked up with heartbreak as the four shot off again, Kacchan laughing and taunting him as they sped off. "Eat shit, Deku! That's what you deserve!"
Izuku recovered, getting his feet under him, stopping their momentum, and even digging his fingers into the ground to anchor them. They were already halfway across the field as he started sprinting. Hoping they could do something and had enough time.
"Fifteen seconds!" Ochako shouted, spreading her panic. "We can't catch them in time! We aren't fast enough!"
"Noooo!" Toru screamed, her hammer fists causing Mezo to grunt.
Izuku tried to think of something,
anything, they could do to close the gap in time. He was coming up bl– wait! There was one thing he could do, something he had almost forgotten about. He had one way to get them there in time.
"I can close the gap!" Izuku shouted, surprising the others for a moment. "But I won't be much help afterward! I'll try to tackle Kaminari-san; the rest is up to you! We don't have time to explain, so just
get the headband!"
He put words to action, not even giving them time to question what he would do, as he crouched down lower and concentrated on how his Quirk worked. He estimated how fast Kacchan was going and how fast they were. Then, to ensure they succeeded, he put a little more into it.
His Quirk shifted as the green lightning that sparked around his body when using Full Cowl shifted to just his legs, but the brightness and frequency increased significantly. '
One For All… forty percent!'
He shot off, cracking the ground behind him as his speed increased eightfold, closing the gap nearly instantaneously. The crack of the ground behind him had alerted Kacchan. Looking out of the corner of his eyes, they widened in shock, and he tried to shift his hand to intercept them and shout out a warning. But they were already there by the time any sound escaped his throat.
Mezo had released Izuku just before they hit, allowing him to try to tackle Denki away from the others. Mezo grappled Tenya, Shoto, and the bottom half of Katsuki, using his strength and extra arms to hold them in place and limit their assistance. He felt Shoto's Quirk start to work, freezing his arm and part of his body. He just hoped it would be enough.
Toru thought of all of Ranma's lessons on pressure points. He had given some brief examples of what you could do at much higher levels, like locking up your entire body with a simple touch to the correct place. Which was utterly terrifying to experience! But Ranma had only done that to prepare her for what it could do down the road and entice her to keep her interest.
But he had also shown her something that she could use
now. While it wasn't always effective against everyone, there were nerves and clusters of nerves within the body where, if you applied enough pressure, you could cause those nerves to send back to the brain a
tremendous amount of pain. He had her start on something called the Median Nerve, which went up and down someone's arm. He had her practice on one point around the wrist and lower hand.
She grabbed Katsuki's arm at the wrist as they collided, working to apply pressure as hard as she could, knowing that the boy was strong. She was rewarded with his arm locking up and Katsuki shouting in pain as both teams descended towards the ground. Her other hand reached up, taking hold of the headband on his head, her invisible fist closing around it!
But that was when their luck ran out, as they all felt the spark of Denki's Quirk. It hit both teams, hitting all of them for that critical moment. They crashed into the ground, resting on top of their collapsed teammates. None of her muscles responded, which would have allowed her to remove the headband.
"Time's up!" Present Mic shouted, causing everyone to freeze.
All eight of them remained like that for several seconds, a combination of recovering from Denki's Quirk and processing what had happened. Toru saw that Katsuki was the first to recover, reaching up and pulling her hand off the headband. She didn't resist, knowing she had failed them.
Both teams started to separate, though her team remained on the ground, not having the energy or will to try to get up. Toru remained there, shocked that she had come
so close, only to fail from a literal last-second save from Denki. Eventually, the shock ran out, and instead, she began to cry. She wasn't the only one, hearing Izuku crying from his place on the ground not too far away.
Toru just wanted to crawl into a hole and cry for a week. She was exhausted from weeks of hard training and throwing herself into this fight with her friends. They had been doing well, even! Only to lose it all and be denied their chance at the very end.
Toru heard Mezo sit up and remain silent, opting to look over his teammates first and confirm they were okay. Toru saw Katsuki's team gathering together, with Tenya checking over a dazed Denki, who was sporting a rather unusual grin as drool leaked from his lips. Shoto mainly focused on his breathing and working some of the muscles on his sides, though he also looked in their direction a few times. Katsuki just stared at them, not saying or doing anything but breathing.
When she heard Ochako start to giggle off to her side, Toru was worried her friend was taking it really badly. Toru turned her head, seeing Ochako resting on her side and her back to them and the other team. "Ochako-chan?" Toru finally asked. "Are you okay?"
Instead of responding, her friend's giggles got even louder, escalating Toru's worries. She heard Mezo trying to help Izuku get up, but he failed as Izuku's legs were too badly injured and refused to work for him.
"Ah! Bakugo-kun! Your neck!" Tenya shouted, distracting their attention from Ochako's disturbing giggles.
Toru looked at them, seeing Tenya point at the headbands surrounding his neck—specifically, at the three headbands around his neck where
four had previously been.
Toru turned to the laughing Ochako, looking at her in awe as the girl raised a fist from the ground. In her fist, she held the headband for one hundred forty points.
"PINK CHEEKS! I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"YES!" Inko screamed as she saw her son's teammate had saved them at the last moment, the save they wouldn't have been able to pull off if her son hadn't done whatever he had done to increase their speed so drastically. "That's my baby! Way to go!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Chapter 15 - End
Author's Notes - Sorry this was out a little later than usual, Boldish hasn't quite finished it, partly because he hadn't realized I had a 'deadline.' I don't, nothing strict on their end. He's still at least the last major scene to go through, but once he does I will edit it here.
It also took me a little longer this morning to get it done since there was a bit of an emergency with the family of ducklings that nested in our shrubs. Ducklings fell down a drainage and we were able to get all 8 ducklings out. Poor mama was
very distressed, but they all appear to be fine now.
Like I previously mentioned, there will be a gap between Ch. 15 to Ch. 16 that will be four weeks instead of the previous two that I have been releasing for this arc. It will also extend to Ch. 16 to Ch. 17. If my own writing and Boldish is far enough along, I will move things back to every 2 weeks, hopefully.
[Edit - Boldish finished and I've updated it with the small changes. Not very many and doesn't change any context. Also forgot to update it here (SV) until later this night. My bad!]
