Bakugo's eyes were locked on the scoreboard, disbelief twisting his features. His name blinked on the sixth-place line, and for a moment, he ignored everything else, even Midoriya and Todoroki. His attention had a singular focus: the first place.
Minoru Mineta.
And second, Yaoyorozu Momo.
Bakugo's mind raced. [How? How did these two make it here?] He had fought for every inch, went all out in this competition, and yet here he was, sixth. Todoroki shot a glance at the board, sharing Bakugo's confusion, while Midoriya let out a small, nervous smile, at least he'd made it, he was satisfied.
Bakugo stormed forward, fists clenched. "Midget!! How?"
Mineta looked up at him, still sobbing, pointing toward Junsei. "He's crazy! He threw me across the entire minefield!"
Bakugo's glare shifted to Momo, whose face flushed red with guilt. "I… I was carried here," she admitted softly.
Bakugo's eyes finally settled on Junsei. "Are you messing with me? You brought two here? Why?"
Junsei's expression remained unchanged, flat and unbothered. "They wanted to."
"You can't do that!!" Bakugo said angrily.
"Why not?" Junsei asked.
Bakugo's hands began to spark with tiny explosions, the heat of his fury making the air hiss.
Midoriya leapt in front of him. "Kaa-chan! You can't attack others! You'll be disqualified!"
Bakugo hesitated, rage pressing against reason. Then he shot Junsei with a venomous glare. "This is not over, you weirdo!!"
——————
High above, in the commentator booth, Present Mic's usual loud void faltered.
"Words are failing me," he admitted, "I… I don't even know what to say. This-this was a completely unexpected turn of events! I don't even know if this is allowed!"
Eraser Head's calm, measured voice followed. "Technically, there is nothing in the rules against what Junsei did. But the final judgment falls to Midnight."
From her scaffold, Midnight stared at the results, the chaos reflected in her widening eyes.
[This is absurd… can this even be accepted?] She had witnessed someone literally throw a student into the stadium and carry another, and yet… nothing in the rulebook forbade it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice in her earpiece, Principal Nezu.
"Don't overthink it," he said gently. "No rule was broken."
——————
In another observation booth, All Might leaned forward, frowning deeply. "I'm glad young Midoriya got fourth place, but… how can we accept what young Mori did? This isn't fair to the other students."
Nezu's small, calculating chuckle drifted across the room. "Life is not fair, and technically, he broke no rules. Though, I admit, I am curious, did he take my suggestion to heart while doing this, or was this just a casual thing, without real intent?"
All Might froze. "Your suggestion?"
Nezu's eyes twinkled. "To have some fun, and mess with the students."
All Might's jaw dropped. "You told him to mess with students?! Why?"
"For fun and to teach students things that can be unfair, it builds resilience" Nezu said with a faint shrug. "And don't overreact. What he did does not truly alter the outcome significantly. The top forty-two students advance anyway; changing the order is harmless. But I want to know what he was thinking"
All Might exhaled slowly, the possibility that Junsei was told explicitly to toy with everyone else and he was carrying that felt wrong to him in every way possible.
——————
In the end, what Junsei had done was deemed acceptable and the event carried on.
However, the atmosphere within the stadium had shifted. Where before the audience's attention had been scattered among dozens of promising students of the hero course, it now gravitated toward the strange student from class 1-C.
Midnight, having regained her composure, cracked her whip against the platform.
"Now then!" she called brightly. "On to the next challenge, the Cavalry Battle!"
A murmur of excitement rippled through the crowd.
"The rules are simple!" Midnight continued. "Each student will be assigned points based on their performance in the previous challenge. You'll receive headbands corresponding to those points. Your objective? Protect your own headband and snatch those of others!"
Behind her, the large screen flickered to life.
"Teams with the highest total score at the end will advance to the next round! Everything is allowed! Losing your headband does not mean disqualification. The only restrictions are these: the rider must not touch the ground, and teams may not intentionally attack the horse formation. You may only target the rider!"
Students exchanged glances, already planning strategies.
Midnight gestured toward the board as numbers began appearing beside each name.
"The better your performance in the first challenge, the higher your points," she explained smoothly. "And since first place is special…" She paused dramatically. "We've assigned a special value!"
The screen flashed.
"Ten million points!"
A collective gasp swept through the stadium.
Every single student turned in unison to stare at Minoru Mineta.
The boy paled visibly, his earlier tears returning with renewed vigor as the universal hostility hit him mercilessly.
Midnight smiled. "You have few minutes to form teams of two to four players. Begin!"
The field erupted into motion once more. Students hurried in all directions, teams forming.
Momo turned to Junsei, her expression composed but firm. "I made it to second place because of you. I don't want to be helped like that. I want to show what I'm capable of." She met his eyes steadily. "During this round, if you face me, give it your all."
Junsei regarded her without emotion. "I am not interested in this. I followed to see what the competition was about. I will quit."
Momo blinked in surprise. Then her expression shifted into calculating one.
"If you continue," she said evenly, "and win first place, I will convince Mr. Sai to buy you sweets. Like after the basketball match."
There was a distinct change in Junsei's gaze.
Interest.
Momo stared at him, incredulous. "I can't believe that's all it takes to change your mind." She exhaled faintly. "Anyway, remember not to hold back."
With that, she turned and moved away to gather her own team.
A moment later, Shinso approached, hands in his pockets. "I didn't expect her to just walk away," he remarked. "And what was that about sweets?"
"If I win," Junsei replied, "I get to eat sweets."
Shinso blinked. "Yes, I heard that. Actually… never mind. I don't want to know."
He glanced around at the rapidly forming teams. "The two of us are together. But we need two more. Anyone in mind?"
Junsei shook his head.
"Alright," Shinso said. "I'll find us two."
He had barely taken a step when something small and purple latched onto Junsei's back with desperate determination.
Mineta clung to him like a koala, sobbing loudly. "I got ten million points because of you! And no one would agree to be on my team! You have to take responsibility!"
Shinso raised an eyebrow. "A friend of yours? If not, I suggest we remove him."
Junsei shook his head once.
"Wait!" Mineta squeaked. "We can be a great team! I'm small, I can hold tightly to you! With your speed, no one will be able to steal my headband!"
Shinso narrowed his eyes. "What's your quirk?"
Mineta sniffed and quickly explained the nature of his quirk.
Shinso's expression shifted, thoughtful.
"I have an idea that might work. But Junsei, it all depends on you, tell me… " he said quietly.
Around them, teams solidified and strategies formed.
Minutes later, the teams were formed and the field settled into a tense stillness. Fifteen minutes. That was all the time they would have to guard their points, steal others, and secure a place in the next round.
Students scanned one another cautiously, assessing formations and calculating odds.
Yet again and again, their gazes halted upon one particular team.
Team Mineta.
Junsei stood, expression as vacant as ever. Attached to his back was Shinso. The indigo-haired boy had wrapped his legs tightly around Junsei's waist, his arms hooked firmly over his shoulders. From a distance, it appeared less like a cavalry formation and more like an attempted strangulation.
And then there was the third member.
Between the two larger boys, wedged uncomfortably, Mineta's pale face protruded like an unfortunate afterthought. His cheeks were squashed, his limbs compressed, and he looked as though he were enduring considerable physical distress.
The formation was awkward. Unbalanced. Ridiculous.
Students exchanged uncertain glances.
On Todoroki's team, Iida adjusted his glasses and turned to Momo. "Do you know what they are thinking?"
Momo shook her head slowly. "No. And to be honest… I am not certain they are thinking at all."
Todoroki's expression remained cool. "It does not matter. It will make it easier to take their headband."
Kaminari shifted uneasily. "Can we… avoid him, please? That guy scares me."
No one responded.
Midnight's voice rang out over the field. "Remember, you have fifteen minutes! Begin!"
The moment the signal sounded, the field moved as one.
Every team pivoted toward Team Mineta.
Ten million points gleamed like a beacon atop Mineta's trembling head.
Todoroki's team surged forward first. Without hesitation, Todoroki released a sweeping wave of ice that tore across the ground toward Junsei.
Junsei's eyes glowed.
He leapt sideways, avoiding the freezing surge effortlessly.
"Sheesh," Shinso said. "We just started. Aren't you guys a little too excited? Aiming for us already"
"I will take that headband," Todoroki replied calmly.
The instant the words left his mouth, he froze.
Shinso's lips curved faintly as he whispered to Junsei. "Now."
One second Junsei stood before all the teams, the next, he was gone in a violent burst of speed that left dust spiraling in his wake.
The teams blinked in confusion.
Team Mineta was no longer in front of them.
"Todoroki?" Iida said sharply as he realized their raider was missing.
Silence.
Midnight's voice echoed across the stadium.
"Team Todoroki is disqualified!"
All heads turned.
Behind the clustered teams, near the boundary line, Todoroki sat upon the ground, staring forward with uncomprehending eyes.
Junsei stood beside him.
His eyes are still glowing.
Shinso waved Todoroki's headband with a smug smile.
"If we disqualify everyone," Shinso said lightly, "that would make us the winners, right?"
A ripple of alarm coursed through the remaining teams.
Shinso tilted his head. "But where is the fun in that? We'll stand here. If anyone feels like challenging us, come forward. We'll disqualify you."
He smiled, a distinctly villainous expression.
Teams looked from Todoroki's stunned figure to Junsei's unreadable face and back again.
One by one, they turned and stepped away.
Bakugo scoffed. "As if that will scare me."
His teammates did not share his enthusiasm.
"Forget about it," Sero muttered. "We're not going after them."
"You coward!" Bakugo snapped.
"Are you insane?" Mina shot back. "He'll pluck you like a chicken! If you want to fight him, wait for this year one-on-one event!"
Kirishima said nothing, but the tightness in his jaw spoke clearly enough.
Across the field, minor skirmishes erupted between other teams, carefully, deliberately avoiding the ominous trio standing at the edge.
Shinso observed the shift and nodded slightly. "Good. That worked."
Todoroki rose slowly to his feet, composure returning in fragments. His voice, when he spoke, was cold.
"Your plan was to make an example out of me?"
Shinso shrugged. "Originally, I wanted to disqualify everyone using Junsei's speed. But Junsei did not want to ruin the festival. So we settled on disqualifying one team at the start. And you ran to us first."
Todoroki's fist clenched briefly at his side and for a moment he thought of attacking them. But then he turned and walked off the field.
He had lost without ever reaching the final event.
His teammates followed, subdued.
"This is why I didn't want to attack him," Kaminari complained. "This isn't fair! And couldn't he show some mercy? We had Momo with us!"
Momo adjusted her posture, composed despite the sting of defeat. "I told him not to hold back."
Kaminari stared at her. "Why would you do that? That freak can keep up with All Might! Even if he held back, we would still lose!"
Iida's voice cut in, firm and restrained. "Enough. Accept your defeat with dignity and learn from it."
Kaminari threw his hands up. "Do you honestly believe you learned anything from an instant defeat?"
Iida said nothing.
Momo sighed quietly.
At the edge of the field, Team Mineta remained unchallenged while the rest of the competition continued.