Chapter 14: Third Leg?
Izuku felt confident as he and his classmates walked out in front of a roaring U.A crowd, the sports festival was just about ready to kick off.
Sure, he hadn't gotten much sleep the past two days as he now had to contemplate that a girl was now regularly texting him, but other than that he was dandy!
In all seriousness though, he did feel a lot better about his fighting style after being pushed so hard by Itsuka. Just yesterday he had hinted to her that they wouldn't really need to train anymore after the festival, but she immediately shot that idea down. So it looked like he was stuck now…
Smiling, Izuku looked to his right at his new best friend. Was it fair to call her that? He sure thought so, she treated him a whole lot better than Kacchan ever did, that was certain.
Suddenly, the orange haired teen turned to him and locked their eyes, flashing him a huge grin along with a thumbs up.
Yep, maybe being stuck training with her for the rest of the year wouldn't be so bad…
The two friend's pleasant eye contact was eventually broken once all of the first year student body was out on the field.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE!?"
The voice of Present Mic coming from the loudspeakers boomed out over the crowd, signaling the official start of the U.A Sports Festival.
"ALRIGHT! THEN EVERYONE PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR ALL OUR INCREDIBLE FIRST YEARS! WOOO HOOO!"
Now that everything was getting off the ground, Izuku examined his surroundings, seeing not only both hero course classes, but also the support, business and general studies courses.
This is gonna be so fun! Izuku thought excitedly.
Not all of his classmates saw it the way he did, however.
"Uh, guys? We're all gonna stay together right? Help each other out?" Mineta mumbled.
"Shut up man! You're making our class look weak!" Sero complained, elbowing the shorter boy.
"Weak!? How could we look weak!? We're clearly the superior class! Ahahahahahaha!" Monoma yelled maniacally.
Sighing, Kendo all but facepalmed at the blonde's outburst. "Great, because the other classes didn't already hate us enough because of Bakugo…"
"NOW! BEFORE WE BEGIN, GIVE IT UP FOR THE FIRST YEAR WHO GOT FIRST PLACE IN THE ENTRANCE EXAM! KATSUKI BAKUGO!"
Not seeing this coming, Izuku turned towards his friend, seeing her face contort even more in frustration at the timing of her comment.
Bakugo on the other hand was oblivious to all the negativity around him, walking nonchalantly up to the podium.
"Hey! Screw all of you! I'M GONNA WIN THIS THING!"
…
"Ugh, great…" Kendo groaned.
"Hey screw you right back! Cocky hero course bastard!" A support student rang out.
"What shameful behavior indeed. It seems as though class 1-A is full of barbarians," spoke the head representative of the other hero course, his glasses shining in the process.
This only worked to further annoy Itsuka, but she ultimately decided to keep her mouth shut for the moment, the soothing pats on the back from her green haired friend making all the difference in her not acting rashly.
"UHHH, WOW. WHAT TRULY INSPIRING WORDS FROM OUR YOUNG PRODIGY! EVERYONE GIVE HIM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE AS OUR STUDENTS LINE UP FOR THE FIRST EVENT! THE OBSTACLE RACE!"
It didn't take long after that for the enormous horde of students to move over to what appeared to be the starting line for the upcoming event. Everyone was clearly on edge with anticipation. It felt like an eternity before Midnight finally arrived at the podium to explain the rules.
"Alright! Listen up you youthful studs! She rang out with her normal passionate vigor. "The rules are simple! There are no rules! Get through the obstacle course by any means necessary! Is that clear! Now on your mark, get set, g-"
"WOAH! HOLD THE PHONE THERE MIDNIGHT! YOU REALLY ARE A MASOCHIST! DON'T GIVE THEM FALSE HOPE! SO CRUEL! THERE ACTUALLY IS ONE RULE! WHY DON'T YOU SPILL THE BEANS!"
Feigning ignorance, Midnight sighed and made a dramatic show of rolling her eyes before igniting into a cruel grin. "Oh, pardon me, did I forget one small detail? Forgive me Present Mic, I forgot to tell the poor students that this is a three legged race…"
"What!?" Every U.A first year rang out.
Don't tell me… Izuku gulped, already seeing what was coming.
"That's right! If everyone could take a look up on the screen and find your name, there should be another random one right next to it! That will be your partner for this section of the exam. We will be handing out special bracers to every pair here, you will use them to secure yourself to your partner wherever you so choose. The only rule is that you cannot lose physical contact with your partner. Once you both cross the finish line, that is when you are done. Any questions!?
"OOOOH! MIDNIGHT! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE OUT SUCH AN IMPORTANT DETAIL!?"
Ignoring all the theatrics from the faculty members, Midoriya hastily got to work on finding his name, hoping that he would at least know the person he was paired up with.
"Wow, I lucked out, I'm with you Mina!" Asui spoke from right behind him, grabbing his focus.
That's amazing! Forget about getting someone I know, just getting someone from the hero course is the best case scenario! The green haired teen thought to himself.
It wasn't long after the frog quirked teen's announcement that the boy finally found himself on screen, and he couldn't quite say that he recognized the name of his partner, but as soon as he saw the picture next to it his eyes shot up in surprise.
Izuku Midoriya/Ochaco Uraraka
That's the girl from the entrance exam! With the robot foot!
The super powered teen barely got out another thought before he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
"Um, hi, Midoriya-san, it's nice to finally meet you. I guess we're partners huh?"
Izuku froze for a moment before clearing his throat and offering the girl his hand. Ok relax Izuku, this is no big deal, yes she's a girl but my heartbeat is staying under control and this is just for the competition. I can do this!
"Oh, thanks Uraraka-san, likewise. I don't want to be rude, but I think it would be best if we don't waste any time and form a strategy right away. What's your quirk?"
Such a direct response surprised the brown haired teen. Of course, she wasn't expecting them to catch up or anything, but she would be lying if she said she was hoping he would at least talk about the entrance exam. She sure as heck had thought about that moment on multiple occasions throughout the last few weeks…
Regardless, she played along, focusing right back in on winning. "Right, so basically…"
"You have got to be kidding me…" Bakugo groaned intensely as he stared down the terrified business course student across from him. The universe was really testing his patience today...
"What's your quirk, extra?"
Trembling at the ravenous looking hero course student, the teen gulped before whimpering out softly. "My quirk lets me stay awake for a week straight without feeling tired…"
The gritting of Katsuki's teeth were almost as loud as the explosions that followed…
Itsuka had just found her name on the screen when she heard him.
"Hey! Kendo! It looks like we're together huh?"
Not disappointed but also not ecstatic about her luck, Itsuka gave the boy a thumbs up. Things could have been way worse all things considered. She could have ended up with someone she didn't know, or even worse, with someone outside the hero course.
Still though, I definitely would have preferred Kirishima if we're talking about hardening quirks, Tetsutetsu can be… A little intense sometimes…
Since they were classmates and they already knew each other's quirk, Itsuka thought it would be a good idea if they could start strategizing right away so they could have an advantage on the other teams.
At least that was her plan, until she saw something that took her attention…
Is that Izuku? With the girl from the entrance exam?
"Kendo? Did you hear me?" Tetsutetsu blinked, his eyes filled with confusion.
"Oh um, sorry about that Tetsutetsu. Can you repeat that?"
"Ok gotcha, one more time though just to be clear. You can make things weightless up to a limit, but right now you still have trouble using it on yourself. Does that cover the gist of it?"
Uraraka nodded at her partner as they went over the final touches of their plan. "Yes, exactly. Right now I can only make myself weightless for about a minute before I throw up."
"I see, that's perfect, I'm sure you weigh way less than me, so that can be saved for when we really need the boost. I'll give you the signal for that though. Are you clear on the rest of the plan? It's pretty simple."
"Yep, no sweat!" She said cheerily, giving the boy an enthusiastic nod.
Now having that over and done with, Izuku let out a sigh of relief as he prepared himself at the starting line with some other teams who were ready.
It looked as though most of the other teams were tying off to each other at the legs in the traditional three legged style, but every so often he would see a pair get creative where they tied off.
His team was a part of that latter, with Uraraka binding her waist to his from behind piggyback style. It ended up being the perfect balance of comfort with the least amount of awkwardness…
The super powered teen didn't get a lot more time after that to examine his classmate's pairings, because Present Mic quickly took center stage once again.
"ALRIGHT STUDENTS! YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH TIME TO GET COZY WITH YOUR NEW PARTNERS! GET READY AND TAKE YOUR MARKS!"
"GET SET!"
"GO GO GO!"
Izuku was shocked at the sudden start considering that only about eighty percent of the pairs had strapped onto each other properly, nevertheless, his mind jumpstarted once he saw a familiar head of orange hair take off from the crowd, along with a couple of other students he recognized.
"You holding on, Uraraka-san?"
"Yep! Punch it!"
Not needing a written invitation, Izuku took off in a dead sprint before making a huge leap over the crowd of students in his way, clearing them all easily just like during the entrance exam.
Wow! I feel so light! All we have keeping us down is Uraraka-san's weight! This is awesome!
As the pair flew through the air effortlessly, Izuku looked back at the classmates they left in the dust, grinning from ear to ear as they took first place.
Haha! This is great! It looks like Itsuka got paired with Tetsutetsu-san. They won't be very fast, but at least they're both hero course students, I'm sure they'll make it. I can't worry about her right now, I've gotta keep up my lead over-
*BOOM*
All of the sudden, Izuku winced as a loud and familiar explosion pierced his ears.
"Eat my dust Deku!" Bakugo screeched as he flew by at near top speed. Of course, he would have been absolutely scorching fast if he didn't have a petrified business course student strapped to his leg weighing him down.
"AHHHH! HELP ME!" The student screamed out bawling.
Yikes, Izuku thought, wincing a bit at the sight. Looks like he's the one who drew the short straw…
"You better not just pay attention to him, Midoriya!"
Breaking out of his thoughts, Izuku locked eyes with Todoroki, who also, by the way, happened to be dragging along a non hero course student. He was a purple haired boy with bags under his eyes, and he too looked terrified as Shoto pulled him along on his giant ice path.
His partner is attached to his left arm. Is really gonna keep holding back half his quirk? Even throughout the sports festival?
"Midoriya-san! Look!" Ochaco spoke up.
Taking his partner's advice, the super powered teen faced forward, squinting a bit as they left the darkness of the tunnel behind.
Great… Robots…
"Uraraka-san! Hold on tight!" Not even realizing the smile of adrenaline that was forming on his face, Izuku could only spare those few words to his worried passenger as he shot out a pair of web lines at an oncoming robot, using it as a springboard upward while destroying it in the process.
And that she did, not needing any more convincing as awe zapped through her body when half of the small robots on the battlefield were frozen in an instant, while the other half of them were littered with explosions.
"Wow… Your classmates are really strong…"
Focusing in on his own objective, Izuku surveyed the ground below him, noticing exactly where all the other students and threats were on the field with the help of his spider sense.
Kacchan and Todoroki are both carrying around dead weight so I shouldn't worry about overexerting just to keep up with them right now. At some point during this race, their partner's inability is gonna come back to bite them, so we should just bide our time and pace ourselves. Not getting first place isn't the end of the world anyway…
All of the sudden, the super powered teen was yanked from his thoughts with a frightening intensity from his spider sense that he had only felt once before.
Steeling himself as he used his elevated position to look ahead, Izuku spoke. "Uraraka-san, release my weight, I'm gonna need a faster falling speed for the arena trap coming up. On my signal you make me weightless again, got it?"
Trembling a bit as she stared down the mechanical giant that plagued her nightmares for the last few weeks, Ochaco gulped and nodded, placing her hands together and releasing her partner.
Feeling the rush once again of falling at a speed he was used to, Izuku smirked as he prepared to fire a web line.
"Watch your six, Tetsutetsu!"
"Haha! That's the neat part! I don't have to!" The boy yelled out, activating his quirk and nullifying the attack at his rear.
Rather than finding this endearing, Itsuka instead rolled her eyes and enlarged her hand in preparation. And just as she had predicted, after failing to hurt her partner, the pair behind them turned to attack her instead.
What the girl didn't notice though, was that while she turned her attention behind her, she failed to see the oil slick that someone's quirk had produced in front of them.
"Woah! Watch out Kendo!" Tetsutetsu warned, pulling his partner by the link on their wrists and catching her bridal style. The boy didn't have a chance to say anything else before entering the oil slick at full speed and sliding along the road, struggling harshly to keep his balance.
Not having much of a choice from where she was seated, Itsuka could only panic as control of the situation was ripped from her grasp. She was starting to regret the last minute decision they made to bind themselves at the wrist…
Somehow, though, against all odds, Tetsutesu made it through the oil field without slipping, his added weight from his steel body and training in having a firm base most certainly being his saving grace.
This however, was not what shocked the orange haired teen the most, no, that came after the fact, when Tetsutestsu delayed in putting her down and continued in a dead sprint.
"Ouch, uh, Tetsutetsu? You know you can put me down right!?" The girl choked out, though it may have ended up coming out more as a shriek considering how uncomfortable and shaky his steel arms were against her backside.
"Oh, yeah! Sorry Kendo! Just uh, be more careful! You said you were gonna watch the front!"
Resisting the urge to glare at the boy as he tossed her gently to her feet so she could hit the ground running, the big fist user swallowed her pride and decided to just forget her partner's oblivious comment.
"Ahh, that's much better! I didn't realize how heavy you were!"
Itsuka felt her eye twitch as she gritted her teeth in order to hold back her annoyance, which was only remedied when another competitor screamed out to no one in particular.
"Look! It's one of those giant ones!"
This announcement, as well as the intense shaking of the ground around them made most teams stop and survey the upcoming behemoth, but instead what they saw was the top three pairs make it past the giant robot like it wasn't even there.
Bakugo flew past it on the left, heavily damaging the right arm, while Todoroki glided past on the right, leaving the entire left side of the robot's body frozen in place.
"What is that ice bastard doing!? That thing is gonna fall right on top of us!"
And right on the money that random student was, because soon after being half frozen mid step, the robot began to power down, and seeing as how it was in the middle of a step forward, the only way it was able to fall was right onto the majority of the contestants.
"Aw, crap! We're gonna die!" Itsuka heard Mineta yell a good distance behind her.
What could they even do? There was no chance they'd be able to stop it's whole body like she and Izuku did with its foot a few weeks ago during the entrance exam. No matter how many of them there were, it just wasn't feasible… They would be crushed...
"Uraraka-san! Now! Make us both weightless!"
Doing as she was told, the zero gravity user made their total weight zero before turning her focus to making sure her stomach stayed calm.
Izuku on the other hand smiled as they stopped falling right around the eye level of the arena trap. Wow… This feels really weird…
*Thwip*
Connecting a web line on each side of the robot's head, Izuku pulled as hard as he could, pleased with himself when he flew effortlessly toward his target without pulling it towards his classmates even more due to his lack of weight.
"Now! Release both of us!" The boy yelled back, moments before his collision with the robot face.
Releasing her powers and taking the risk to open her eyes, Ochaco was just in time to see all of their weight come back and assist her partner in delivering a powerful drop kick to the face of the giant arena trap. What really shocked her though, was the fact that the falling robot had changed direction, now instead falling backwards at the force of her partner's attack.
"Yes! Physics saves the day again! The weight of a bob does not in fact affect swing speed! It affects momentum! Thank you Tanto-sensei!" The super powered teen laughed as he used the face of the zero pointer as a landing pad before jumping again, keeping all of his previous momentum and using it to continue forward.
"W-what?" Ochaco choked out, still trying to process exactly what happened.
Chuckling to himself, Izuku replied. "Don't worry about it! How's your stomach?"
"Um, it's fine, I think… I only held myself up for a few seconds!"
"Awesome!" Izuku beamed. "Take a break and let's just try to keep as much air as possible! Go back to making me weightless!"
Doing as she was told, Uraraka touched the boy again with all five fingers before taking a moment to survey the situation below. It looked as though there was a chance that the robot falling backwards could fall on the two pairs ahead of them, or at very least slow them down if they escaped by a hair…
Wait… Was that your plan all along?
Staring at her partner as he looked ahead with an indescribable look of confidence and determination, the zero gravity user couldn't help but feel utter amazement for the boy.
Midoriya-san, you're incredible!
"WELL, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! IT LOOKS LIKE MIDORIYA FROM CLASS 1-A AND OCHACO FROM CLASS 1-B JUST SAVED EVERYONE'S BACON! TALK ABOUT EXTRA CREDIT! DOESN'T HE KNOW HE'S COMPETING WITH THOSE PEOPLE!?"
As true as the words of Present Mic were, the super powered teen's saving of the majority of the first year student body still inadvertently cut down the number of contestants. Just not in the traditional way…
"Screw this, man! I ain't dying over a stupid festival! I've got my entire career in front of me!" One business course student yelled through tears at his support course partner.
"No complaints from me man! I'm supposed to design the robots! Not test them!"
This was the case for many of the non hero course students, but unlike their untrained counterparts, classes 1-A and 1-B were not about to go down without a fight.
"Alright engines! Don't fail me now!" Ida hollered out dramatically as his legs went into overdrive trying to make up for lost ground.
"Oh yeah! Now we're talking! There you go, uhh, what was your name again?" Kaminari asked from the blue haired teen's back, scratching his head sheepishly.
"It's Ida! And don't you dare use your quirk again! It nearly burned me and my thrusters to a crisp and cost us the start of the race! Don't you know that engines stall when they overheat!?"
"Kendo! Hurry up! Everyone has already started up again!" Tetsutetsu called out to his partner.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts about the incredible feat she had just witnessed, Itsuka focused back in as she heard the earth shattering sound of the robot falling on its back.
"Right! Let's go!"
That guy never ceases to amaze me…
Bakugo couldn't wipe the smirk off his face if he tried, now that he had possession of first place, nothing was gonna take it away from him.
"AHHH! LOOK OUT! PLEASE! LISTEN TO ME!"
Grunting in annoyance at the horrified screech of the business course student he had in tow, Katsuki did his best to drown it out and ignore the extra.
Sadly though, he was unable to at the end, because soon the area around him began getting darker and darker…
What? Bakugo thought as he spared a glance behind him.
Widening his eyes, the blonde haired teen did his best to pick up speed in order to avoid being crushed by the enormous robot that he thought he had passed minutes ago.
"Crap!" Was he gonna make it?
Straining his wrist muscles, Katsuki pulled out all the stops and increased the power of the explosions behind him, giving him just enough speed to clear the robot as it fell with an ear rumbling crash, the impact of which knocked him out of the air and into a tumble in the dirt.
"Tch, what the heck happened? I thought icy hot froze that thing in place…" The boy grumbled in annoyance as he stood up and began to dust himself off.
Speaking of Todoroki, what happened to him?
Don't tell me that extra got crushed… Bakugo thought to himself stoically, completely ignoring the complaints of new injuries from his partner.
What finally made the boy turn around and turn on the thrusters again though, was when a giant glacier came up from the center of the fallen robot, showing that the half and half user was indeed still in the race.
With a grunt of annoyance at his classmates persistence, as well as the burning sensation in his wrists, Bakugo once again took flight, this time noticing something that turned that slight annoyance into full on rage.
WHAT IS DEKU DOING IN FRONT OF ME!?
"We did it, Midoriya-san! We're in the lead!"
Glowing with satisfaction, Izuku took a moment to look back at the rest of the racers, seeing that the only one actually close to them was Bakugo.
"Yeah, let's keep it up!"
It was then that the boy's partner also took notice of the blonde hot on their tail, taking an uneasy posture when she observed how angry he looked. "What about him?"
Giving the girl a confident smile for her worries, Izuku explained his current thought process.
"I expected Kacchan to be the most persistent, but hopefully he won't be a problem soon. He's hyper competitive, especially with me, and I know for a fact that he definitely overdid it to escape that falling robot. Hopefully by the end of the race his quirk will be at its limit, but regardless he shouldn't be underestimated."
"I see…" Ochaco trailed off, unsure of what to think of the situation.
"Uraraka-san! Look!" The super powered teen yelled, pointing ahead as they descended towards the next obstacle.
"Oh no… That looks like a big fat stomach ache if I've ever seen one…"
Out in front of them was a large canyon like area with many unstable looking ropes connecting smaller platforms all throughout it.
Izuku chuckled at her sarcastic comment, appreciating her for wanting to keep the mood light. "Unfortunately, I think you're right. I don't think you'll have to keep yourself weightless the entire time though, just do it in between platforms, that way I can hop or web zip across the gaps more easily!"
Focusing up and preparing herself, the zero gravity user slapped her cheeks and nodded confidently to her partner. "Let's do this!"
"Copy that!" The boy affirmed as he fell into a nosedive and shot a couple of web lines at the incoming platform.
Ochaco did exactly as he said, making them completely weightless as soon as he kicked off or propelled himself with the platforms or his webs. This resulted in everything going one hundred percent according to plan.
That was, until they reached the final platform and her stomach turned over.
Holding her mouth, Uraraka immediately turned off her quirk on both of them, surprising the boy and causing them to barely miss the edge of the other side of the canyon.
Thanks to his spider sense though, Izuku had no issue firing a couple of web lines up toward the edge of the cliff and pulling them back up right as Bakugo passed them.
"Useless Deku! Buzz off already!"
Rolling his eyes at the comment, Izuku took a moment to stand still and check on his partner, who by the looks of it, was doing her best to not cover the both of them in puke…
"M-Midoriya-san! I-I'm so sorry! If I had just held it one more second he wouldn't have passed-"
"Hey, don't worry about it!" The boy said calmly with a smile. "Look behind us, Todoroki just started this section, and everyone else just got past the robot. We're fine."
Taking a few deep breaths before nodding to the boy that she was good to go, Ochaco realized he had a point, they were already guaranteed to advance in the place they were in, so it wasn't so bad… Still.
Giving the girl a thumbs up, Izuku took off in a dead sprint, after his former blonde friend. Even though they had second place in the bag, a part of him still really wanted to beat Bakugo.
Any minute now… The super powered teen thought to himself as he observed the blonde's slow loss of altitude ahead of him…
"AND JUST LIKE THAT, KATSUKI BAKUGO TAKES THE LEAD BACK FROM MIDORIYA! YOU'D HAVE TO SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT FOLKS! WE'VE GOT ONE HECK OF A RACE HERE ON OUR HANDS AS THESE TWO APPROACH THE FINAL OBSTACLE! I'M SURE THIS ONE WILL ABSOLUTELY BLOW THEIR MINDS! OR SHOULD I SAY… MINES!"
Not giving any thought to Present Mic's crappy pun, Bakugo stepped on the gas even harder as he entered the minefield.
"Tch, next time they make obstacles, they should at least be smart enough to not have them all on the ground."
Eyes fully focused on the finish line with tunnel vision, Bakugo failed to notice when his partner began to panic again.
"Uhh, Bakugo-kun! Why are we getting closer and closer to the flo-"
*BOOM*
The poor boy had no chance to finish his sentence before his back hit against the floor and by proxy, a landmine…
"Gah!" Bakugo cringed as he lost balance and tumbled onto the floor as well, causing a whole slew of explosions to go off as he was thrown around like a ragdoll.
Tch! My hands! I didn't realize how much it drained me to carry this idiot around!
Before the boy could even begin to process how to stop the chain reactions of explosions around him, he saw a red and blue blur zip past out of the corner of his eye, and it was none other than Izuku and Ochaco riding out the momentum of his signature web slingshot.
"DEKU!" the blonde teen cried out in fury.
This however was music to Izuku's ears as he soared through the air and into the final tunnel.
"Midoriya-san! We did it!" Uraraka shouted out happily.
Yeah, we did! The boy thought proudly, his mind soaring as the adrenaline pumped through his veins.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE HAVE A WINNER! EVERYONE, GIVE IT UP FOR IZUKU MIDORIYA AND OCHACO URARAKA!"
Elsewhere, in a classroom full of middle school students who were in awe at the broadcast in front of them, a certain teacher was having trouble believing his eyes at the moment…
Midoriya-san, that was incredible… I never knew you had such an incredible quirk… And to think that those are the same support items you showed me the drawings for all those months ago… They are seriously something else…
Suddenly a thought occurred to the science teacher, a way that he could save his former student some trouble, especially with all of the publicity he was about to get.
I need to brush up on the current laws…
Chapter 15: Craziest Piggyback Ride Ever
"HERE THEY COME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE REST OF OUR BELOVED RACERS!"
Just like Present Mic's announcement indicated, soon many racers began crossing the finish line one after the other. With Bakugo and Todoroki's pairs getting second and third place respectively.
Also crossing the finish line in a much lower, yet still winning position, was a fiery, yet very disheveled head of orange hair…
Catching her breath as she held onto her knees, Kendo wasted no time in undoing her ponytail and enjoying the sweet relief of finally finishing that horrid race.
That may have been my worst experience at this school so far… The girl thought with a judgmental side eye towards her partner, finding herself more than delighted that the bracers attaching them seemed to have fallen off automatically upon crossing the finish line.
"Wow! What a blast! Thanks for all the help Kendo! You sure are a team player!" The steel quirked individual said with an innocent grin.
Itsuka was going to respond with a sarcastic comment at first, but instead decided to hold her tongue, causing her to lose her chance to respond altogether as Present Mic spoke up.
"ALRIGHT! THAT DOES IT FOR THE RELAY RACE! THE FINAL WINNERS HAVE NOW CROSSED THE FINISH LINE! BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR FOR ANYONE WHO DIDN'T MAKE IT! WE WILL NOW BE TAKING A THIRTY MINUTE INTERMISSION! WOULD EVERYONE WHO PLACED PLEASE BEGIN TO MAKE THEIR WAY OVER TO OUR LOVELY MIDNIGHT PLEASE!? THANK YOU!"
Not needing another invitation, Itsuka took the opportunity not only to redo her ponytail, but to also briefly thank her partner before taking off, scanning the now moving crowd for a familiar mop of green hair…
"Oh, thank goodness!" Urararka breathed out in relief as she walked with her former partner to the designated area. "I'm so glad we got a small break! Now my stomach can get a chance to calm down a bit."
Shooting the girl a look of pity, Izuku nodded in agreement. "You can say that again, that's such an interesting side effect to have. Quirks are so intricate and cool."
Taking her hand away from her stomach for a brief moment, Ochaco allowed herself to relax as her queasiness slowly began to fade. "That's not exactly the words I would use haha... But what about you Midoriya-san? I understand you said you have a mutant type spider quirk, but what about those things on your wrist? Are those support items?"
Shining brightly at the question, Izuku went right for the direct answer, only to stop right as he opened his mouth when he heard a familiar voice interrupt him.
"Yeah, he made those himself," Itsuka began, smirking playfully as she gripped her friend's shoulder. "Don't let him lie to you with all the confident bravado, Izuku here is as nerdy as they come."
Not being able to hold back his blush, Izuku coughed into his wrist, deciding now would be a good time to change out the cartridges in his web shooters.
"Aw, c'mon dork, don't clam up on us now!" The girl pushed sarcastically, only making the boy blush more.
Finally, after having nothing else to fidget with, the super powered teen gave in. "Ehem, um, Uraraka-san, this is my friend Itsuka, she's our class representative."
"Itsuka Kendo, nice to meet ya!" The girl said warmly, extending her hand out for a shake.
Chuckling at the interaction as she took in the new presence, the brown haired teen shook the girl's hand happily. "Ochaco Uraraka, a pleasure to meet you, Kendo-chan, and thank you again, both of you. I never got the chance to talk to either of you after the entrance exam. I'm eternally grateful!" She finished with a bow of her head.
Already sensing that they would get along swimmingly, Itsuka beamed as she and Izuku accepted the thanks. "Of course! Like I told Kirishima before, I was just running in after this knucklehead. I couldn't let him get pulverized by himself."
"Wow, how noble," Izuku said cheekily with a small smirk.
"There you go again! I'm gonna smack you!"
"Now, now, what kind of sensei would you be if you abused your students?"
As the two went on to banter back and forth, Ochaco watched quietly with intrigue. These two were obviously already quite close. It did not go unnoticed by the zero gravity user, the lack of formality and use of first names when referring to each other…
"Alright everyone! Settle down!" Midnight called out to the now smaller crowd of students. "Cementoss is just about finished with the arena and we're almost halfway through our intermission time. The remaining fifteen minutes will be used for you all to find your teams for the cavalry battle."
Quickly, murmurs began to pile up among the students, some asking questions, while others just added their own commentary.
"Cavalry battle? Didn't they do that a few years ago?"
"What is that? Is it fun?"
"This is gonna be a cakewalk."
Pausing, Midnight frowned as the murmuring only grew. "Alright then, would you all like to start picking teams then? If you no longer require information, I'd be happy to let you all play without knowing the rules…"
After that, you could hear a pin drop, and for once it wasn't because Midnight pulled out her whip.
With a hearty sigh and a roll of her shining blue orbs, Midnight continued. "That's more like it. Now, where was I? Ah, yes, the cavalry battle. The rules are simple! You will all separate into groups of three or four and choose one captain. The captain will be the rider, and the others will be the horse!"
Already starting to turn the gears in his head, Izuku listened intently.
"From here, every team captain will be given a headband with their point total on it, the goal in this round is to collect as many points as possible by stealing the headbands of other teams. The only rules are that headbands cannot be hidden from sight, and that if the captain touches the ground, that team cannot steal headbands until he is back on his horse! Any questions?"
Judging by the fact that no hands were raised, Midnight came to the conclusion that she explained the rules adequately.
"Ok then! Move along! You now have less than thirteen minutes to form your teams!"
At that, the pandemonium began once again, causing everyone to scatter towards familiar faces.
Before any of his ideas could be snatched away, Izuku spoke up to the two girls next to him. "I have the beginnings of a plan to get through this, would you two be willing to join me?"
Kendo, not once dropping her comfortable smile, gave the boy a big thumbs up. "Duh, who else was I gonna go with?"
Uraraka was the one that took a bit more contemplating, still uneasy as to whether she should stay, or go and find some of her own classmates…
Eventually, she gave in though. "I'd be honored Midoriya-san. What's the plan?"
Pumping his fist at the newer girl's acceptance, Izuku felt his mind go back into overdrive as he thought out the details of his plan. "Great! Before I share the plan though, we need one more person. Preferably some more muscle…"
It was right at this moment that Tetsutetsu made his appearance, tapping Kendo on the shoulder.
"Hey Kendo, sorry to butt in, but Bakugo, Kirishima, and I were needing one more teammate to complete our team? Wanna join up?"
Turning around, the big fist user noticed that behind her former partner, a smiling Kirishima, and a brooding Bakugo were each patiently and grumpily waiting for her response.
Not even needing to process her answer as soon as she heard the name Bakugo, Kendo politely declined. "No thanks, Tetsutetsu, I'm already with Izuku and Uraraka."
Izuku? Does she mean Midoriya? That's weird…
"But… We do happen to need some extra muscle… Whaddaya say, dork? Should we poach Tetsutetsu?" The girl said playfully, making the steel quirk user reconsider his own team.
Izuku, aware of this, beamed brightly at his friend. "Yeah! I was thinking of either him or Kirishima anyways! That would be perfect!"
Now having the offer one hundred percent out there, Tetsutetsu thought about his options.
She said she needed muscle… And she thought of me! I can't pass this up!
"You got it Kendo! I'm here at your service!" The boy said proudly, not even noticing the face palms and annoyance from his now previous teammates behind him.
"Seriously man!?" Kirishima groaned, already knowing why his friend was doing this.
Bakugo on the other hand could not have cared less about the boy's reasons. "Stupid, man hands… Who needs her!?" The boy grumbled as he stomped off in search of another teammate.
Wow… Izuku thought to himself as he observed the situation. Itsuka must have built a solid partnership with Tetsutetsu-san in the last round. He flipped on Kacchan in a heartbeat!
Like Kirishima though, Ochaco saw through the boy's intentions easily. Boys are so stupid…
Surprising even herself with how easy that was, Itsuka scratched the back of her head awkwardly before turning to their newest and final teammate.
"Alrighty then, that was fast. Let's hear what Midoriya has to say then, he's got a plan."
Blinking rapidly a few times, the silver haired teen turned to his left and made eye contact with Izuku, as if just now noticing that he was also here.
"Oh, uh, right! Totally! Let's do this." He said a bit too quickly as he acknowledged the boy.
"Uh, right. Here's the plan. To start off, Itsuka, I'm gonna need you to run point. You're going to be the front of the horse. I'll need you on offense and defense whenever possible, that's why you'll have both of your hands free."
Giving another confident thumbs up, Kendo nodded. "You got it, boss."
"Next up is you, Uraraka-san, You're gonna be the back right of the horse. You only have one job, but it's arguably the most important. We need you to get us out of tough situations in a hurry. Whenever we're cornered or in a sketchy situation, I need you to float all of us. Got it?"
The girl nodded silently, almost honored that the boy had so much trust in her.
"And you, Tetsutetsu-san, you'll be the back left of the horse. I need you to turn Uraraka-san's defense into offense."
Not getting the bigger picture right away, the boy craned his neck to the side. "What does that mean?"
Widening his grin in excitement, the super powered teen explained. "I'll show you, in fact, Itsuka can help you out with this…"
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! I HOPE YOU ALL TOOK YOUR POTTY BREAKS AND GRABBED SOME SNACKS! BECAUSE IT IS ONCE AGAIN, SHOW TIME!"
At that, the crowd roared in anticipation, hoping that this round would be even better than the last.
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE! WAY TO BRING THE ENERGY! ALL OF OUR TEAMS ARE LINED UP AND ON THEIR HORSES! NOW ALL THAT'S LEFT IS FOR OUR LOVELY REFEREE, MIDNIGHT, TO HAND OUT ALL OF THE HEADBANDS WITH POINT TOTALS! WHY DON'T WE PUT THOSE NUMBERS UP ON THE SCREEN NOW THAT OUR TEAMS ARE NICE AND LOCKED IN!?"
With the large blip of the jumbotron turning on, Midoriya felt his heart drop in real time as his eyes landed on his team's point total. Not even his spider sense could have prepared him for this…
"T-two… Million…" Itsuka choked out in disbelief. "Does that say that we have over two million points…"
No one on the squad said a word as an audible gulp was heard from each one of them.
Crap, I should NOT have abandoned Kirishima…
Almost instantly, the four hero course students felt the eyes of the entire stadium on them, and boy was that not a good feeling.
Pretty soon, Midnight came around, handing the green haired boy a seven figure headband. "Oof, too bad, we were hoping the two first place winners would split up to divide the pressure between two teams… Oh well! I'm sure you all will do fine!" The R-rated hero said innocently with a wink to add insult to injury.
"IS EVERYONE READY TO RUMBLE!?"
"Guys… This just turned into a game of keep away…" Izuku mumbled so only his team could hear as the starting alarm blared throughout the stadium.
Bakugo grinned maliciously as his habitual tunnel vision focused in on Izuku like a deer in a sniper scope. Much like him, his team also wanted in on that two million point headband, so they did not hesitate to sprint after team Midoriya when ordered to.
"Come here you useless Deku!" Bakugo screamed in rage atop his horse consisting of Todoroki, Tokoyami and Kirishima. The blonde appeared to be so hyped up that mini explosions were crackling at his fingertips, ready to be let out.
From Midoriya's point of view, his spider sense was just about telling him to get out of town as every team converged on his corner of the arena.
It's sooner than I wanted, but oh well. Hope your stomach has recovered from round one.
"We don't have a choice! Float us all Uraraka-san!"
Without a moment's notice, Ochaco activated her quirk on all four of them, with the three playing the role of the horse taking a big leap into the air once the feeling of weightlessness hit them.
"Woah! This feels so weird!" Itsuka shrieked as the team of four soared straight up higher and higher.
"Hah, that's the same thing I said the first time!" Izuku replied, relating to his friend.
Taking a moment to survey the ground now that they were at a good altitude, Izuku got to work on the next course of action. "Alright Uraraka-san, release your quirk only on yourself, give your stomach a break. I'll let you know when to release us all!"
The super powered teen could tell that the girl appreciated this order as she relieved her quirk of the biggest burden, causing the group to begin a leisurely descent.
Ok, we're falling slowly, we've got maybe thirty seconds before we're at the right altitude, I should scope out the teams while I have the chance.
Team Bakugo was definitely the biggest threat, he was stacked with some of the strongest quirks from their class.
The next team that he saw was being led by the purple haired boy that was paired with Todoroki in the first round. The only reason this team was of note to Izuku was because it had Yaoyorozu, Kaminari and Ashido on it.
The last team of note that the boy could recognize was led by some class 1-B student, with the main representative at the helm and using his speed quirk to be an incredibly effective horse.
Other than those teams, Izuku recognized Monoma and Mineta on two separate teams with people he either couldn't get a good look at or didn't recognize.
"Well!? Are we doing this or not!?" Tetsutetsu shouted out in anticipation, clearly tired of waiting to play his role.
"Relax Tetsutetsu, Izuku knows what he's doing. Part of being up here is killing time too, remember that we don't need to gain any more points to win." Kendo called back to her classmate as she too locked back in.
The steel quirked boy only grumbled inaudibly in response, saying something along the lines of her always taking his side…
Izuku on the other hand only beamed further, growing his determination even more from the trust of his friend. "Any second now, hold!"
"Screw this! I'm coming up there Deku!" Bakugo yelled with a pair of explosions, propelling off of his teammates and shooting straight up towards team Midoriya.
"Uhh, guys… Shouldn't we do the thing now!?" Tetsutetsu suggested, starting to panic.
"Hold!" Izuku called out again, this time with more force. They were gonna time this perfectly, his spider sense made sure of that.
Licking his lips as he got closer and closer, the last thing Bakugo saw before they made their move was Kendo's hands growing to their full size.
"NOW!" Izuku yelled, simultaneously firing two web lines at the ground below, one with each hand, smirking once he felt tension on them.
"Release!" Uraraka went next, giving the whole group back their weight.
This was when Izuku pulled on the pair of web lines as hard as he could, sending the group hurtling down at an incredible speed.
"Oh yeah! Time for some demolition!" Tetsutetsu rang out as he activated his quirk and angled himself more towards the ground along with Kendo.
"You can say that again! Come here Bakugo!" The orange haired teen smirked, rearing back and slapping the blonde out of the sky like a nat with her big hand.
She didn't have time to enjoy her quick victory though, as they were now touching down any second.
"Get up here Uraraka-san!" Izuku ordered, plucking her from below and jumping up as high as he could with the girl in his arms. The last thing the boy saw before his two teammates cratered into the ground was Itsuka adjusting her large hands into big fists and positioning them under her.
*BOOM*
The impact of half of team Midoriya crashing down on the concrete caused a giant explosion, pushing away and knocking down virtually every team on the battlefield.
Welp, so much for Cementoss's awesome concrete job…Izuku thought with a chuckle while descending on his team.
"That. Was. AWESOME!" Tetsutetsu screamed out with some serious passion, flexing his biceps from the small crater in the ground where he and Kendo were.
"You got that right…" The orange haired teen agreed with a sigh of relief. How Midoriya came up with these crazy plans on the fly was beyond her, but again, it proved to be more than successful as she looked around and took in the discombobulated teams everywhere.
Speaking of the super powered teen, Kendo had just about forgotten about him and Uraraka when she and Tetsutetsu suddenly felt a weight on their shoulders again.
Looking up, Izuku had a huge grin on his face and an anti gravity quirked girl in his arms.
"I told you guys it would be awesome!" He exclaimed proudly as he let the brown haired girl go, once again completing their formation.
"Midoriya!" The silver haired teen cried out with vigor from under him. "That was better than awesome! That was epic!"
Apparently, Present Mic too shared this sentiment.
"WOW LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IN ALL MY YEARS OF WATCHING AND PARTICIPATING IN SPORTS FESTIVALS, THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE FEATS I'VE EVER SEEN! I HOPE YOU ALL BROUGHT YOUR CAMERAS, FOLKS, WE ARE TRULY WATCHING SOMETHING MEMORABLE HERE!"
Getting back to the task at hand, Izuku locked back in, seeing as they were still on an active battlefield. "All right, is everyone alright? Sound off!"
"I'm good!" Kendo called out.
"Same here!" Tetsutetsu added on.
Taking a deep breath, Ochaco answered as well. "I'm fine! Just a bit shaken up."
Wincing a bit at the fatigue coming from the girl's tone of voice, Midoriya prodded the girl one last time for some crucial information.
"Alright, I'm glad you're all good. Uraraka-san, do you have one more of those in you? Or should we adapt to being on the ground?"
The brown haired girl waited for a moment before answering, making sure to feel up her stomach to get a proper gauge.
"Honestly," the girl started before burping slightly. "Maybe one more, but I can't say for sure. I could try to hold it in an emergency situation."
Izuku nodded, getting the answer that he was more or less expecting. "Sounds good, let's just keep moving around as much as possible, we still have one more trick up our sleeve anyway."
"Right!" The other three said at once, shuffling in a new direction as the dust finally settled.
"Deku!" Bakugo screeched, shooting up out of some rubble like a bullet aimed at the super powered team.
It did not get past Izuku just how scratched and bruised his former friend looked as he prepared himself.
Glad I'm not the only one who gets to feel Itsuka's wrath…
"Bakugo get back here!" Todoroki yelled out, thankful when the blonde turned his head against all odds. "You got knocked to the ground! If you don't come back and touch us before you take off again the points don't count!"
Gritting his teeth for what felt like the millionth time today, Bakugo conceded before turning around and flying back to his team.
It appeared as though this was the condition of every other team as well, many of them taking this time to recover their formations as well.
"Man, forget about those big points! I'm just trying to pass, not get first place!" One class B student admitted. Izuku didn't know the boy, but he sure was glad to hear his words, because soon, other teams began thinking the same.
"A stupendous suggestion! That team is too unpredictable! Time to go after smaller fish!" Ida declared as he and his team recovered too.
But alas, not every team was going to be so timid, especially among high level hero course students.
"We're coming for you Midoriya!" Todoroki glared, preparing to fire off one of his big icebergs now that Bakugo was back with the group.
He was only interrupted when the same right arm that was prepped with frozen fury was pelted with a barrage of purple balls…
"Don't forget Todoroki," the source of said balls called from across the stage. "You're the team with the second highest number of points! And since you get more attention from the ladies than Midoriya, I'm coming after you!" Mineta bellowed out with pure aggression, ceasing his delay in throwing his purple spheres and going into overdrive. It looked as though he and Asui were both on the back of a six armed mutant type student from class 1-B.
"Aw what? No way we're being slowed down by Mineta right now… So unmanly." Kirishima spoke up. It looked like they were gonna be forced to take action.
Back with Izuku, the green haired teen watched their surroundings closely, feeling out with his spider sense, ready to react to any threat.
When only more time passed, some teams made moves on each other, while others remained in a steady standoff with his team. After a couple more minutes of people hesitating to move on them, only one group remained directly across from team Midoriya.
The super powered teen observed the captain of said team closely. His horse was composed of Yaoyorozu, Ashido and Kaminari. But they were being oddly silent…
"Looks like it's just you and me, uh, Midoriya? That's your name right?" The tired looking teen asked innocently.
Crumpling his face in confusion at the boy's casual tone, Izuku began opening his mouth to reply before the back of his head began going nuts.
What!? Spider sense!? Why!? Izuku thought in a small panic, his hand instinctively going up to his mouth to cover it.
I've never felt my spider sense tell me so clearly what to do! It's like it's talking inside my head!
Izuku knew the moment that he stopped himself from talking that something was up, the purple haired teen across from him made it obvious with his reaction to the hesitation.
Abandoning his plan instantly, the general studies student panicked for a moment, looking to his opponent's teammates for a weak link that could be provoked easily.
"Hey metal man! Is that really all your quirk can do!? How does that help with anything? Lameeee!"
Being hit right where it hurts, Tetsutetsu's temper boiled over in an instant.
"TETSUTESU, DON'T SAY ANYTHING!" Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs, without a doubt startling his two female teammates.
This did an excellent job of shutting down the metal man's response before it got off the ground. So well in fact that the super powered teen was able to explain right away thanks to the total silence.
"I don't know what that guy's quirk is, but no matter what, don't say anything! My spider sense goes crazy whenever he talks. And just look at our classmates, they haven't said a word! They're just staring blankly ahead!"
Itsuka's eyes widened first as she took in what her friend was saying. He was right, something was off with their classmates…
I'm never gonna stop saying it, that is the coolest quirk ever, Izuku…
"Tch, alright, I see what you're saying. I don't know what the heck a spider sense is, but point taken. I'll relax." The steel quirked teen grumbled.
Spider sense? Great… Of course my first target would be someone who has some freak sixth sense quirk… The general studies student thought in frustration. It looked like he too would have to go after other prey.
Izuku watched the intriguing boy's team carefully, even as they moved away and towards another team on the leader's command. It must be some sort of brainwashing quirk… he pondered before once again being interrupted by his spider sense.
On their left, team Midoriya saw a wall of ice emerge and close them off, something similar then happened on their other side, with Tokoyami's dark shadow blocking them on the right.
They're making their move. Izuku observed with caution. "Get ready guys, you know what to do! We're going with escape plan B!"
"Aye aye, Captain!" Itsuka said cheerily, not panicking at all as she enlarged her hands and gripped her green haired friend tightly. "Ready Uraraka?"
Nodding, the brown haired girl touched their captain as well, activating her quirk. "Ready!"
"Alrighty! Go get 'em tiger!" The girl said playfully.
Widening his eyes in disbelief, Izuku stared down at his friend in shock. What did she just say!?
The boy had no chance to contemplate this thought though, because as soon as the girl's words registered, she threw him across the field like a rocket.
Forcing himself to forget the incident. Izuku focused on his flight path, thankful when his weightless form was approaching a team from behind.
*Thwip*
"I'll take that!" the green haired boy pounced, sticking himself on the back of the team's captain before snatching his headband and jumping away.
"Hey!" The blindsided student turned around, only to see the super powered teen web onto another team and steal their headband as well. "How the heck is he floating around!? That is so unfair!"
Hearing this in the background, Izuku chuckled. This is one I actually have to thank Kacchan for, I'm glad he flew up at us first just to confirm that this was allowed…
"Go now, Dark Shadow!"
Feeling the ringing in his head before his classmate's words, Izuku sprung off of another class B student's back with a flip, narrowly avoiding the black figure's claws as it swiped at him.
Dang, they already caught up, I hope Itsuka and the others are ok…
"C'mere you little brat!" Dark Shadow glared, going in for another swipe.
Still floating in mid air, Izuku frantically looked around for something to anchor onto. But when he decided that everyone in view was too far out of range for his webs, the boy went with his only remaining option and shot a web line at Dark Shadow before pulling himself hard towards the pitch black figure.
With eyes wide, the super powered teen felt the world slow down as he let his spider sense take control. Maybe he was out of his mind, but he swore that he could see and process every single detail of what was happening around him as he soared closer and closer to Dark Shadow.
Spider sense hasn't felt like this since that first day with my powers, back when they activated at lunch against Kacchan…
Regardless of what was happening with his special tingle for the second time today, the boy took full advantage of it, choosing instead to act now and ask questions later.
Back to the present, Izuku did not take his eyes off of the dark creature's claw as he soared toward it, his heightened senses telling him just how sharp they were and showing him that this was no joke.
Welp, time to see how good I am at limbo.
"Take this!" Dark Shadow shouted, swiping with his right claw as fast he could, only to be shocked when the apparently flexible boy flying toward him bent backwards in midair, resulting in another total miss.
Not wasting any time, the green haired boy crashed into Dark Shadow, wrapping his legs around the figure's midsection and delivering a strong uppercut to its jaw, relishing in the fact that he didn't have to hold back against the non human entity.
This being no ordinary punch, Dark Shadow was thrown for a loop, groaning out in pain out in pain as it struggled to not dissipate.
"DEKU!" Bakugo yelled, coming in hot right behind the intertwined pair.
Izuku clicked his tongue, not hesitating to use Dark Shadow as a springboard into the air and avoid the oncoming explosions.
Not having enough time to change his direction upwards, the spiky haired blonde decided to take his former friend's idea and try it out for himself, colliding with Dark Shadow feet first and using two well timed explosions to spring up after his target.
These bright explosions proved to be sufficient in bringing the shadow creature past his pain threshold and running scared back to Tokoyami.
"Tch, watch it, Bakugo! That was friendly fire!" The bird looking teen growled at his teammate.
"This wasn't part of the plan Bakugo!" Todoroki went next. "We were supposed to take care of his team first! It won't take them long to break through all this ice!"
Both of these pleas went unheard however, as Katsuki could only see the target he was closing in on, blocking out everything else around him.
Agh, This time there really is nothing for me to anchor onto! Kacchan's reaction time is much faster than Dark Shadow's. I'm gonna have to take an attack and then push off of him.
Preparing himself, Izuku watched his former friend approach at an incredible speed, he would have to time this perfectly. Hopefully he would be able to grab Bakugo's wrists and limit the damage of the attack he was forced to eat.
Right on cue though, another game changer made itself known, crashing through the ice with a huge karate chop and an iron fist.
"Heck yeah! You think this wall of ice can hold real steel like me!?" Tstustesu grinned.
Not squandering their limited time on gloating, Itsuka grew both of her hands and stuck them above her head as high as she could, making them the biggest target possible.
"IZUKU! OVER HERE!"
Instantly knowing what was running through his friend's mind, Izuku reached out and pressed his middle and ring finger to the trigger on his palm. Firing a nice gooey web line right into Itsuka's hands.
Pulling on said web line the moment it touched her, Itsuka beamed when it caused Bakugo to miss his big attack.
"GAH! WHY WON'T YOU STAY STILL!?" The explosion user uttered in pure rage, detesting how narrowly his former childhood friend kept escaping.
Izuku on the other hand couldn't wipe off his huge grin if he tried as he gracefully landed in a perch crouch on one of his friend's enlarged fingers. "Phew! Thanks for the save guys!"
"Are you kidding!? That was awesome man!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed, all of a sudden catching the smiling contagion. "I won't lie, I doubted you being the captain at first, but wow was that perfect! Plan A was great, but plan B was even better! Who knew that being a poindexter was actually useful!"
Taking the compliment with a sweat drop at the negative parts, Izuku scratched the back of his head in silent embarrassment. Kendo however was another story, rolling her eyes at the steel quirk user, having had just about enough of boy for one day.
"He's right about one thing, the plans worked out perfectly Izuku, and we've only got a little more than a minute left. What's the play?" the girl asked confidently, matching the happy satisfaction on her friend's face as she locked her eyes on his.
Nodding, the super powered teen allowed himself to hold eye contact with the girl a little longer than two people in the middle of a battle should have.
"Um, if I may…" Uraraka began, hoping she didn't ruin her teammate's moment. "I… I can do plan A one more time if necessary."
Sitting atop his perch, Izuku surveyed the battlefield one last time. At this point, Bakugo and his team had stopped bickering and regrouped fully, and they were now starting up a mad dash in their direction.
She didn't sound confident at all. I already pushed her hard in the three legged race, and I don't wanna risk her going overboard and costing us the match. Or even worse, costing her in the next round…
"That won't be necessary, Uraraka-san. We've got this. We're gonna do something similar to plan B."
Trusting the green haired boy fully, the three listened in closely as he spoke his next words. "Tell me Itsuka…" He began, turning to her. "Did you ever fly a kite when you were little?"
"ONE MINUTE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! GET THOSE POINTS WHILE YA STILL CAN!"
"Ugh! Can you two stop bickering and get it together!? We only have one more minute!" Kirishima grumbled in frustration at Todoroki and Bakugo. The two were arguing like children instead of focusing on the task at hand.
"Tch, he's right Bakugo, let's just bury this and go. This is the last time I'm teaming up with you anyway. I knew this was a bad idea. I should have taken Yaoyorozu's offer…"
"WHAT!? Screw you, icy hot! It's not my fault you can't carry your weight!"
Deciding to let the argument end there, Shoto ignored the comment and moved on. "Whatever, let's just go get Midoriya."
Gritting his teeth one last time, Bakugo too decided to let the matter go, instead prioritizing their common enemy. "Fine, let's hit him with everything we've got!" He yelled, his team following his direction and sprinting towards Izuku's group. They did not get very far before yet another unorthodox move from their target took them by surprise though.
"What the-" Bakugo uttered out in disbelief. It looked like Midoriya had jumped out apart from his team again, but this time he was tethered?
The blonde haired teen was forced to shut down his train of thought when a handful of web balls rained down on him and his team from above, forcing him to focus on exploding them individually.
Rapidly clicking the satisfying trigger on his web shooters, Izuku smiled when his barrage forced his former friend's team to go on defense.
Kacchan will just force his way to me with explosions if I get too close. I better target someone else.
Scoping out his competition one last time with his incredible vantage point. Izuku noticed Mineta's team was exposed from the protection of their mutant type horse. It seemed as though all of the boy's six arms were locked in a struggle with another team's horse.
Perfect.
*Thwip*
Feeling his heart drop as his headband slipped off, Mineta's head shot up to the sky in hope of finding the source of his impending heartbreak.
"What!? Midoriya!? Come on, man!? I thought we had an understanding!" The boy cried out, tears threatening to fall.
The green haired boy was about to respond to his classmate when his spider sense began to go off in two directions.
One from the front, where a long tongue was flying at him, and one from behind, where an angry Bakugo was flying at him.
Taking a deep breath at the situation, Izuku relaxed and steeled himself. Contrary to his normal reaction, dodging was not his plan here. He trusted his friend wholeheartedly, so his only job here was to fire all the web balls he could.
"I've got you now! Crappy Deku!" Bakugo screamed as he got ever so close to the super powered teen.
And it was at this moment exactly that Itsuka yanked the web line in her hands attached to Izuku.
This caused not only both attacks to miss, but also for Bakugo to get struck in the face with a wet and slimy frog tongue…
W-what!? Bakugo thought in total shock. How did this happen, again…
"Woohoo! This really is like flying a kite!" Itsuka yelled out in amusement.
"That's the weak spot! We have to attack them where he's anchored!" Todoroki pointed out urgently, not at all caring about Bakugo's slow recovery at the moment.
But before the half and half quirked teen could even think about charging up an iceberg, his team was once again pelted by a barrage of web balls, this time a good chunk of them hitting their mark and immobilizing them for a moment.
"Darn it!" Todoroki seethed. We played right into his hand…The boy thought bitterly as he stared up at the boy who was not letting up his barrage.
Izuku abused the triggers of his web shooters like he was still back in the early days of testing their durability. Making absolutely certain that everyone down below got a taste of his prized chemical formula.
It was only when the boy heard the blaring alarm of the round ending that he noticed the clicking sound coming from his gadgets…
Empty… Right in the nick of time too… The boy thought to himself, his now permanent grin expanding even more.