In the Waiting Hall, seated in one corner, Midoriya looked at a half-burnt Bakugo.
Their eyes met.
Bakugo tsked and looked away, making Midoriya smile wryly.
He looked around then, noticing the growing number of students.
Some time had passed since Bakugo's arrival. Now, thirty students had already passed the first stage of the Exam. The number itself wasn't surprising, given that the stage had begun with 1,540 students. What was surprising was that among these thirty, only two students belonged to UA.
Midoriya had full confidence in his classmates.
Even if they had steered off the plan because of him, Momo, Tenya, and the others would definitely end up executing it in time, letting Tokoyami use his Ultimate Move.
Once Dark Dragon appeared, it would give 2-A the edge they needed to come out of the pinch, instead of getting jumped by hundreds of students.
The thing was, Tokoyami had told them that he couldn't maintain Dark Dragon for a long time. The more time passed, the greater the risk of Dark Shadow succumbing to his madness, releasing a greater threat in the stadium. If that happened, there was a chance that officials would intervene and disqualify Tokoyami.
So, after a few minutes, they had planned to let Tokoyami cancel Dark Dragon, giving him a breather before he could ready himself to unleash the Ultimate Move once again.
Even if Tokoyami had been forced to use Dark Dragon multiple times, Midoriya believed that he should have cleared the first stage by now, given the sheer amount of distance and students he could cover in that form.
Then… where was he?!
Suddenly, Midoriya spied another student arriving in the Waiting Hall.
Deciding to find out what was going on outside, he left his corner seat, instantly catching eyes.
Midoriya ignored the gazes, especially Inasa's from Shiketsu, who hadn't stopped glancing toward him ever since he had arrived in the Waiting Hall, and approached the newly arrived student.
"Ah, hello…" Midoriya greeted with a smile. "Can you tell me…"
"Tch!" the student tsked and walked away, drawing laughs from everyone.
Midoriya stood in his place, going red. Then, taking a deep breath, he decided to try again and turned around. However, in the very next moment, he paused, his eyes widening at the sight in front of him.
Bakugo had planted the same boy against the wall, smoke rising from his palm that held the boy's costume.
"Speak," he asked as the boy struggled. "What's going on outside?"
"Kacchan…"
"Shut up!" Bakugo roared.
Other students began whispering, making Midoriya pause.
Some were already looking around for supervisors to show up, while others openly discussed whether this was the norm at UA, its students not getting along with each other.
To not give UA a bad name, Midoriya had no choice but to let Bakugo handle things without intervening further.
Meanwhile, the boy, smelling the smoke, whimpered.
"I don't know, man," he said ultimately as no one intervened. "Most of the UA students have broken up into groups… There's a guy with this weird Meatball Quirk. He got that huge monster from your side, too."
Bakugo's eyes narrowed.
Before the boy could speak more, a hand landed on Bakugo's shoulder.
"Let him go," Inasa said, towering over Bakugo, wind rustling in their surroundings.
"Or what?" Bakugo grinned, turning around and letting the boy slip off the wall anyway. "You think you can take me on just because you kicked a few weaklings out of the Exam? Haha…"
As Bakugo and Inasa exchanged words, Midoriya fell into contemplation.
A Quirk that can even take on Tokoyami's Dark Dragon transformation?! he contemplated. It must be a special-type Quirk that can be used stealthily. With others around Tokoyami, it shouldn't have gotten him anyway. Perhaps it happened after they had separated UA into groups? Hmm… someone's methodically targeting UA and controlling everything behind the scenes…
Midoriya licked his lips.
He had to admit that he was getting worried.
Still, it was in these times that he needed to trust his classmates more than ever.
Because, like Tokoyami, the others had been working on improving themselves since the Battle Royale as well.
…
"The 42nd student passed," Yo Shindo from Ketsubutsu said. "Our strategy is working…"
He was seated in the flickering shadow of a massive boulder, created by his Quirk when he had upended the earth using his Ultimate Move — Tremoring Earth. Around him sat a few Ketsubutsu Academy students, listening to him attentively.
"We made all the schools focus on UA," Yo continued, summing it up. "Things didn't go according to our plan… with that Midoriya saving UA's ass at the last moment. Still, we managed to go through with it somehow anyway. Now, not only have the UA students split up into groups, but all the students who had been attacking them have also split up to chase them. The biggest threat, that dark monster, is already taken care of. Soon, these groups of students will also wear themselves out while chasing UA. Then, we can swoop in and finish those who have only one target remaining to be hit."
Tatami Nakagame, seated next to Yo, grinned. "You've finally taken off your polite face, huh?" she said. "I like the sneaky Yo the best!"
The others chuckled at that.
Yo Shindo smiled slyly. "People are focusing too much on the leftover spots," he said, getting up. "UA is strong. The more they chase them, the more they will panic. Meanwhile, the UA students will tire themselves out sooner or later in this game of survival. That's just… how things turned out to be. So, sneaky? I don't know. Strategic, I would call myself. Sure. Because, in the end, it doesn't matter if you passed the exam in the first minute or in the last. Waiting needs the most patience and is also a sign of an indomitable spirit…"
Tink! Tink!
Shocked at the sudden sound, Yo looked at his schoolmates, time stalling in his vision as he saw the glowing redness.
Because even as he was speaking…
… someone had hit Tatami's remaining two marks!