Chapter Text
Fanart Corner
I've been getting so much amazing fanart--thank you guys so much! If yours isn't here, it'll be included in a future update; I didn't want to overwhelm people with too many pictures at once, and that way it's more likely that readers will click on what's here. So, if you sent some in and it's not here, check back next week!
Everybody check out this absolutely GORGEOUS fanart of MC from eglagonzal on Wattpad! It's such a beautiful drawing--I love her pose and the colors and how adorable MC looks AHHH! Also, the colors are perfect (and I'm a little biased since pink and green are my favorite colors). Thank you so much for sending this in, I appreciate it so so so much <333
ALSO: we have these three absolutely AMAZING pieces from DiosSluttyToe on Wattpad. These are a beautiful sketch page of MC, and then a page of MC's parents, as well as a picture of her mom comforting her dad when they're talking about MC's quirk traits. These three peices are actual perfection and I adore them SO SO much oh my gosh. I adore how much life you've given to her parents and the thought into their quirks (like the eyes and the mouth)! Plus the Joker face on her mom made me laugh so hard and I adore the headcannon that she fell in love with Papa (Last Name) first and then pursued him without fail. I seriously appreciate these so much <333
With that being said, enjoy the chapter :)
After everyone had completed the obstacle course–or, at least, everyone who hadn’t either plummeted into the bottomless pit or given up at the very start, that is–you were all directed back toward the empty space in front of the stage.
It was getting kind of annoying trying to keep your gaze either down or focused on people you already knew; you were pretty sure this next game was going to be a ‘Meet the Soulmates’ simulator, but at least you’d be getting it over with.
Or you could just live in a dark, shapeless world for like, ever.
It was nice that you had options.
“What a heart racing, blood pumping first round,” Midnight said, breaking you out of your spiraling concern about the near future. “Our little fledgling heroes have made it past their initial gauntlet, and now the top 42 placers will continue on into round two!”
42 seemed like an oddly specific number in your incredible and humble opinion, but pop off queen.
“Sorry to the rest of you, but don’t worry,” she said, striking about three different rapid fire poses as she did so. “You’re not totally out of the festival yet–we’ve got plenty of games and activities to keep you occupied during the upcoming breaks.”
The screen behind the pro hero began that randomizing rotation again. It slowly clicked to a stop, illuminating a set of cartoon letters and a cute little animal mascot drawing.
“But for now, let’s move onto round two,” she said. “The Cavalry Battle!”
She then launched into an explanation of the next event–complete with a very hilarious diagram of All Might being carried by a gaggle of other UA teachers who looked like they were seriously struggling to lift the massive man into the air. Apart from that, though, you didn’t pay too much attention. The game itself seemed simple enough: stay in formation, collect headbands, blah, blah, blah. In fact, it almost seemed a little too simple considering you’d already had to deal with multi-story robots, a pit of doom, and literal landmines.
So, of course they had to throw a plot twist in right at the end. Just to keep you on your toes.
“Your individual scores will be based on your placements from round one,” Midnight explained. “42nd place will have five points, 41st will have ten, so on and so forth. Apart from first place…who will have ten million!”
Izuku’s soul left his body, and you didn’t blame it for abandoning ship. Suddenly you were extremely grateful that you’d wasted time with Kamakiri and Hatsume, otherwise you’d be the one with 41 predatory pairs of eyes on you.
That flirting had been totally tactical, which therefore made you a brilliant genius. Even if you hadn’t actually realized that until after the fact.
“T-Ten million?” Izuku repeated, his eyes glazed over. “That’s so totally overkill…”
Correct.
You gave him a sympathetic pat on the head, but he hardly even registered it. Likely he was accepting his impending doom and drafting a will in his head; that’s what you would’ve done if you’d been in his shoes.
Midnight cracked her whip to get the attention back on her. Evidently she was pleased that she had basically sacrificed the poor boy into a den of hungry lions.
“You have ten minutes to decide your teams,” she finished. “Choose wisely, my darlings, for what you pick will decide your fate.”
“(N-Name),” Izuku started, turning to you with trembling shoulders. “I know it might not–”
He didn’t even get the chance to finish his sentence, because as soon as the timer started counting down, you were utterly swarmed by your fans–er, sorry–friends.
“(Name)! Lemme join your team!”
“No way, pick me!”
“I, too, would like to be considered.”
Not everyone you knew came up to you. Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw that Itsuka and Juzo had paired off, and that Nakamura and Yoshida looked keen on joining them. The few other people you knew from 1-B seemed to be sticking with their own classmates, too, but almost all of 1-A huddled around you like you held the answers to all of life’s secrets (you did).
Todoroki was (shockingly) not one of them, but (actually shockingly), Katsuki was.
He made a point to specifically shove Izuku out of the way as he blasted to the front of the group. Luckily, the greenette fell directly into the waiting arms of Hatsume, who was staring at him hungrily and with stars in her eyes.
“I’ve had to deal with her bullshit more than any of you deadbeat extras!” Katsuki screeched, sending a well-aimed explosion directly into Denki’s face. “I’ve done my time, now get outta my way before I roast you to hell and back!”
You blinked, looking down at your hands. “Wow…Katsuki wants to be on my team? Is it opposite day or something? Should I go around telling everyone I hate them and want a divorce?”
“No, dipshit,” he growled, somehow hearing you even though he’d been accosting Denki as you’d been speaking. “You’re gonna be on my team. There’s a difference.”
“Ah. That makes more sense.”
Hitoshi, who had slipped through the crowd to stand next to you, gave your neighbor a very unimpressed once-over. “Pretty sure you’re not the first person (Name) met out of everybody here. I knew her before you, and Jirou definitely did. So if we’re going by time, you don’t stand a chance, Blasty.”
“Well, she managed to cram more bullshit into a shorter amount of time with me,” Katsuki’s teeth were clenched so hard you thought they might shatter. “So fuck you.”
You chuckled, holding up your hands like a bouncer trying to keep people out of da clerb. “Heh, ladies, ladies, leave me alone type shit.”
“Never say that again,” Kyoka grimaced. “Like, seriously. Ever.”
“Sorry,” you said, not really sorry at all because you were cool and nonchalant like that. “But on a real note, I can’t physically be on everyone’s team. I can’t, right?”
You looked to Kyoka for confirmation and she shook her head.
“Yeah, I can’t,” you sighed. “And despite popular demand, I will not be choosing my team based on who’s put up with me the most.”
“You’re going by how much you love us, right?” Denki grinned, jabbing his thumb at his chest. “So, obviously that means me!”
Hanta snorted. “You’re delusional.”
“Nuh uh! I’m perfectly ‘lusional!”
Swaying back and forth on the balls of your feet, you hummed softly under your breath. “That does seem like something I would do–clearly you know me really well, which makes me feel very honored–but I’m actually gonna utilize my genius mind to create a team that’s guaranteed to bring me to victory. Complete with strength, strategy, sarcasm…and whatever I have that starts with an ‘s’.”
“Stupidity?” Katsuki offered unhelpfully.
You deadpanned. “I was thinking something more along the lines of ‘super amazingness’ or ‘suave charisma’, but at least we know you know your alphabet.”
He rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Agree to disagree, but whatever. The strength part is obviously me, and as for the rest, I don’t really give a shit.”
“I fear you might not like what I’m about to say,” you winced. “But I was actually referring to my boy Shouji.”
Although Shouji looked ecstatic at the offer, Katsuki did not, in fact, like what you had to say.
“Are you callin’ me weak?” He (figuratively, thank fuck) exploded. “I know where you live and I will suffocate you in your sleep!”
“I would hope you know where I live, considering that we’re neighbors.”
He didn’t seem to like you saying that, either. If you didn’t know any better, you might’ve even thought that he was upset that you didn’t want to team up with him–and not just because he wanted to use you to help him win.
But you did know Katsuki, so obviously he was just upset that you were defying him. Even if you wanted it to be because he was desperately in love with you and couldn’t stand being apart from you for even a few minutes.
“Anyway,” you shook your head to rid yourself of the Katsuki-centric thoughts, “I’m not calling you weak, I just don’t think we’d be the best fit for this round. Mostly ‘cuz I wanna be on top, but I know you’d refuse to give anyone else the control.”
Hanta covered his mouth to hide a grin. “You really need to think about your wording there, (Name).”
“I refuse to think about anything, ever,” you said. “And Katsuki, you literally scored higher than me, so I’m sure some people will love to be on your team, even if your personality can be a bit…nevermind, I’m not going to finish that sentence because I like being alive.”
Katsuki’s eye twitched. “I’m the best goddamn teammate these losers could ask for.”
“That’s the spirit,” you said. “I mean, Kirishima’s been giving you puppydog eyes since the game was announced, so at least he seems to think you’re right. You should probably choose him, because I think seeing him upset would actually shatter my heart into a billion pieces.”
Interrupting you, Hitoshi nudged you with his elbow. “I feel like ‘sarcasm’ is me, no? Could be Jirou, I guess, but I’m holding out hope.”
“It is you,” you said, bowing to Kyoka in deep apology. “Sorry girlie, but I know you’ll shine without me. Hitoshi, on the other hand, needs the protection of a strong woman.”
Said boy raised an eyebrow. “I feel like I should be offended by that.”
“I’ve seen you throw a punch. You need me.”
“Yeah, fair enough.”
Denki rushed forward and grabbed both of your hands in his, his eyes wide and pleading. “And your last choice is me? Right?”
“She said she wanted someone strategic,” Hanta said. “You couldn’t think your way out of a cereal box.”
“It’s Tsuyu,” you said, cutting them off before Hanta could completely destroy Denki’s dignity. “I choose my gorgeous girl Tsuyu. Thank you all for coming out, but auditions are over. Good luck out there in the real world.”
Denki fell to his knees, cursing whatever higher being was torturing him from above, and only got up when Todoroki approached him. You were glad that apparently the dual haired boy wanted him on his team (even if he didn’t look too excited about getting involved in whatever emotional trauma he was going through), because it made you feel slightly less guilty about not choosing him.
Similarly, everyone else slowly drifted away and began to pair off. Ojirou and Koda were looking for some additional teammates, and Tokoyami seemed to have taken a leap of faith and joined Izuku’s ten million points team. Mina, Kyoka, and Tooru were all engaged in conversation, and it looked like they were about to form a squad, but your neighbor physically stepped between them before they could make it official.
“Alright, you’re comin’ with me,” Katsuki growled at Kyoka. “You piss me off the least outta all these bastards.”
He grabbed her–roughly for any normal person, but actually relatively delicately in his terms–by the shoulder and dragged her over to where Kirishima and Hanta were standing. The two boys seemed quite concerned at how their apparent fourth teammate was being manhandled, and Kyoka sent you a look like one would give their wife before heading off to fight in a war they knew they’d never be returning from.
You just gave them all a very enthusiastic thumbs up.
“Good, it looks like he managed to find a team he can work with without murdering,” you said offhandedly. “Hopefully, at least. But anyway, with that out of the way, our team is also complete.”
“...Hey you guys…What about me?”
You and all three of your teammates slowly turned to look toward the source of the voice–first to the side and then downward. Mineta was standing there, practically drooling, and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“You should ditch that general studies loser and let me join in,” he lisped. “That way you, me, and Tsuyu can all snuggle up in Shouji’s arms and get all nice and close…”
Tsuyu gave him the blankest look known to mankind. “Absolutely not.”
It appeared that both Shouji and Hitoshi were also not the biggest fans of that idea. Shouji–similarly to what he’d done during the quirk assessment test–moved protectively in front of you and Tsuyu, his broad frame completely blocking you from Mineta’s view. At the same time, Hitoshi’s gaze darkened; he clenched his fists at his side and inched ever-so closer to you.
“Should I make him forfeit the festival and drop out of UA?” He asked through gritted teeth. “No…that’s too tame. I’ll make him drown himself in the river. No one will blame me. In fact, they’d probably give me my hero license on the spot…”
“As tempting an idea as that is, maybe wait until your crime wouldn’t be caught on live television,” you said. “I like you too much for you to go to prison. And Mineta…”
The tiny boy looked at you hopefully as you peered around Shouji’s arm. “Y-Yeah? You wanna be on my team? I’m fine if it’s just the two of us. I can ride on your shoulders.”
You frowned. “To quote Tsuyu: absolutely not. I was just going to warn you that if you keep saying stuff like that, I’m gonna sic Gang Orca on your perverted ass.”
He let out a pathetic squeak. “Y-You don’t have that power!”
Oh, you did. You did have that power.
“Actually, she does,” Hitoshi spoke your thoughts to life. “But you’re welcome to test it if you don’t believe her.”
You gave him a pat on the head–which he didn’t swat away, which was a first. “Besides, Hitoshi is clearly the superior purple haired boy. Personality-wise, height-wise, looks-wise…he’s just simply better in every single way. Now, begone–go see if you can trick some poor soul into letting you freeload.”
Hitoshi let out a whistle as Mineta trudged away. “Harsh. Didn’t know you had it in you. I mean, I wasn’t surprised at myself for all the violent threats, but you were pretty impressive.”
“If I knew all it would take for you to fall in love with me was to threaten people, I would’ve started doing that years ago.”
The rest of the preparation period was spent explaining your quirk.
At least, to some degree. You figured it was probably important that your teammates were aware of the fact that you might be going temporarily blind a few times during the battle; luckily those who would activate your quirk were also the ones who wouldn’t know anything about Hitoshi’s powers, so you could kill two birds with one stone.
You didn’t tell any of them about the flirting part, though. That was something you were saving as a sneak attack for the next round.
“That…makes no sense at all,” Hitoshi said as he gave you a leg up onto your spot at the top of the cavalry horse. “But I take pretty much everything you say in stride at this point, so whatever.”
You adjusted the headband Midnight had given you and tightened the knot around the back of your head. “I know it was kind of a rushed explanation, but I promise I’ll tell you all about it later, m’kay? For now, I’m just gonna keep looking at the floor until the round starts. Then we’ll just go after whoever I see first.”
“I trust you, (Name),” Shouji said. “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to.”
You used your tail to pat him on the head. “I think you might be the sweetest guy alive.”
Tsuyu glanced up at you with those wide eyes of hers. “Is this really the time to be flirting?”
“It is always the time to be flirting, my dear.”
The speakers crackled to life and Present Mic’s classic “YEEAHHHH” boomed out into the open arena.
“Welcome back listeners! I know you all missed my Plus Ultra commentating, but don’t worry, because now we’re back for more!”
Aizawa–equally as excited, as expected–spoke directly after. “The Cavalry Battle emphasizes teamwork and quick decision making, with the quirks of multiple people in mind, not just your own. Even for those who’d rather work alone, this sort of thing is inevitable out in the real world.
“He’s talking about himself, folks,” Mic said, blaring a fake alarm noise from his soundboard. “Mr. Emo-head, everybody!”
“...Just stick to commenting on the festival, Mic.”
Midnight cracked her whip again–apparently that was sort of her thing. “You heard them, cuties! Let’s get going! Everybody ready up, and get ready to fight in three, two, one, go beyond!”
The moment that the buzzer went off, you lifted your gaze. Almost instantly, your world faded into a dim shade of gray, illuminating two unfamiliar faces in front of you–as well as one not-so unfamiliar one.
Grinning evilly to yourself, you pointed directly at them. “I’ve located our first victims.”
Although your teammates didn’t seem too convinced by your word choice of ‘victims’, it seemed to do the trick. Your team raced toward the three boys, who all quickly braced themselves for what they probably thought was a front-faced assault.
But you had other plans.
And having already shared said plans with your teammates beforehand, they did exactly what you’d asked them to and stopped in place just a few feet in front of the enemy team. They seemed slightly unnerved by the fact that you didn’t just straight up use your quirks to attack them, but they didn’t instantly go on the offensive, either.
“You…” you trailed off, staring dead on at Kamakiri. “You ran away from me in the last round…”
Kamakiri didn’t look as fearful as you might’ve hoped; he was still glaring at you, even though you thought you’d really scored some points in his favor by, ya know, saving him from falling into a death pit not half an hour ago. You weren’t asking for too much, just some light groveling, but it really didn’t look like he was about to forfeit his dignity and apologize for abandoning you anytime soon.
His two teammates were new to you, but you used your amazing deduction skills to come to the brilliant assumption that they were probably also in class B. The boy who was the team’s rider had lightly tanned skin, reptilian eyes, and long black hair that was tied into a low braid. His shoulders were straight and he had his arms up in a protective stance, clearly ready to defend against any incoming attack you sent their way.
The second boy was tall, with broad shoulders and large hands. The more notable part of his physical appearance, however, was his head, which was shaped like a yellow glue dispenser with a series of holes in the front. You weren’t really sure how he saw anything unless he had some eyes hidden behind them, but from the distance you were at, it was hard to tell.
In short, all you saw was two new soulmates to add to the collection.
“Heyyy,” you called out, wiggling your fingers at them in a sly little wave. “It looks like my dearest Kamakiri brought along two more adorable boys for me to fall in love with. Gonna give me your names, or am I just gonna have to give you some super cute nicknames?”
Hitoshi groaned. “That’s what you chose to say? Out of all the words in the Japanese language?”
“I don’t really know why you’re surprised.”
If he was surprised, though, that was nothing compared to Glue-Head boy. He didn’t exactly blush, since, ya know, glue head, but you could tell by his body language that flirtation hadn’t been the sort of attack he was expecting.
“Wh-What did she just say?”
Even though he was clearly talking to either himself or his teammates, your quirk accepted it and your vision partially returned. Now you just had to get the one remaining boy and then the rest of your plan could be put into action.
“Whatever you’re trying to do, it won’t work,” Braid-Boy said, unknowingly playing right into your hands.
You grinned cheekily. “I’m trying to expand my harem–I mean–make new friends. But that’ll have to wait, because before that, we’re gonna be taking your headband. Hitoshi, Tsuyu, now!”
With your world completely full of color and adrenaline coursing through your veins and making you shake with energy, you saw the whole scene play out like something out of a movie. Shouji formed a barrier behind you, just in case, Tsuyu’s tongue shot out of her mouth, and Hitoshi prepared to do his iconic brainwashing technique.
“Hey! Aren’t you guys tired of playing second fiddle to 1-A?”
You weren’t exactly sure what that meant, exactly, but apparently his words really seemed to hit home with the other team. Almost in unison, all three of them reacted to his words; Kamakiri shouted half of a curse word, Glue-Head let out an offended gasp, and the rider’s face darkened.
“You–”
It was too late for all of them. Because Hitoshi was the GOAT, he was pretty easily able to use his quirk on multiple people at a time, and since all three of them had replied, all three of their eyes went blank and faces slack.
“Take off your headband and let Tsuyu take it,” Hitoshi ordered. “And then walk away and don’t come after us.”
Like a soldier blindly following orders (which was sorta true), Braid-Boy removed his headband and held it out in the air, allowing for Tsuyu’s tongue to easily wrap around it and bring it back to your group. Once it was safely in her hand, the class B team turned around and walked away, completely silently.
“Looks like Team Hiryu just gave their headband over to Team (Last Name)!” Mic announced. “Is this some kind of intimidation tactic? Or was (Last Name) just so charismatic that they fell head over heels?”
Aizawa sighed. “At least try to hide your bias.”
“No can do, buckaroo!”
Tsuyu looked over to the other side of the cavalry horse as she handed you the headband. “That was impressive, Shinso, ribbit.”
He smiled softly. “Hmm, thanks. Don’t hear that very often.”
“Hey, I tell you how amazing you are all the time,” you fake frowned, wrapping the headband around your neck. “It’s like you hate me or something.”
“Think what you want.”
Ignoring his obviously sarcastic comment (because Hitoshi was clearly in love with you and just didn’t want to admit it), you used your tail to poke him in the eye. Then you held your pointer finger up in the air and twirled it around in a circle.
“Onward, my glorious cavalry steed,” you said. “Let us obtain another!”
Shouji tapped your leg to get your attention. “(Name), another team approaching at three o’clock.”
You looked down at your wrist (which was still devoid of a watch; you really needed to buy one one of these days). “Three o’clock? It’s, like, not even noon yet.”
“It’s an expression,” Tsuyu said flatly. “It means look to your right.”
“Oh,” you said. “I knew that.”
You did not, in fact, know that.
However, you did as she said and tilted your head to the side as the three people below you re-adjusted themselves. Your vision darkened again, but this time to an even more intense degree than the first time. All four figures that were racing toward you were illuminated in your vision, which made you groan.
“Dang it,” you said. “I don’t know any of these guys. This is gonna be a long one. Hitoshi, let’s try and split it up.”
“Shouji and I can try and deflect any incoming attacks,” Tsuyu said. “Just do what you guys need to do.”
What you needed to do was speak to every single person on the approaching team–preferably in a way that would activate all of them at once, just for simplicity's sake. And something quick, too, because unlike the previous team, these guys didn’t seem to be slowing down.
The rider was a beautiful girl with long green hair and the face of an angel. Below her was another girl with short brown hair in a bob haircut and bangs over her eyes, a boy with skin as dark as a shadow, and another boy with silver hair and eyelashes longer than your will to live.
“Look out!” Tsuyu called out a warning, but it was already too late.
The green haired girl’s quirk apparently lied in said green hair, because as the enemy team got closer, the strands began to stretch out from her scalp and weave expertly through the air. They were almost plant-like in appearance, and though Tsuyu, Shouji, and yourself all tried to bat them away, they dodged with almost professional skill between all of your attacks. As you were busy trying to keep a couple of the plant pieces away from grabbing your tail, you weren’t able to stop another from wrapping around all of your headbands and pulling them off of you.
“Oh shit!” You cried. “Hey, beautiful girl, those points belong to us!”
“My sincerest apologies,” she said, her hands clasped together in prayer as all of your points landed around her neck; she seemed wholly unnerved by your flirting, which led you to believe that she probably heard that a lot. “I know how unethical it is to steal so blatantly, but our continuation in the festival relies on it.”
You fake sighed. “I’m really tempted to let you guys get away with it since you’re all so gorgeous. This is truly the most difficult test I’ve ever had to face.”
“Don’t try and throw us off,” the silver haired boy pointed off into the distance. “And quit apologizing, Ibara. Look, there’s another team, let’s go!”
Hitoshi was quick on the draw. “Hey, do you seriously think we’re gonna let you off that easily?”
“Well, what are you–” The boy went completely still, staring blankly at nothing in particular.
“You’re totally carrying, Toshi,” you said. “But anyway, that’s two down for me–but we need to get our headbands back–”
You were cut off mid-sentence because something absolutely terrifying was happening.
There were mushrooms growing out of your fucking arm.
“Holy shit!” You screeched, nearly toppling off of the cavalry horse out of pure fear. Luckily, Shouji was there to keep you balanced, but being saved from hitting the ground didn’t stop the utter terror you felt at seeing something so outlandish. A moment later, your other three teammates also began to freak out, as apparently the mushroom plague was beginning to spread.
The short girl with brown hair giggled happily. “Do you like my cute little mushrooms?”
No, actually, you did not like the fact that there were mushrooms bursting out of your skin like something out of a Stephen King story, but you also weren’t a big fan of the fact that your world was still partially dark thanks to her and the shadowy boy beside her.
So you had to bite the bullet.
“Mhm,” you said, mustering up the most convincing smile you could, even though what you really wanted to do was scream and lowkey find Shigaraki to ask him to decay your arms off (not really, because that would be messed up, but if this shit didn’t stop, it was looking more and more tempting). “I love them almost as much as I love you guys.”
The shadow boy’s eyes widened and he glanced around wildly. “Uh, did anyone else hear her say that she loved us?”
“She said she loved the mushrooms,” Mushroom-Girl said. “Priorities, Kurorio.”
He pointed at you. “But, she–”
As those two continued debating whether you had a deep love for mushrooms or not, you leaned down to Hitoshi. “Hey, maybe try and see if you can get the rider? You can probably let go of Eyebrow-Guy if you need. I’m all good.”
Despite the fact that he was actively shuddering as a collection of mushrooms coagulated on the back of his hand, Hitoshi managed a nod. “On it.”
“Tsuyu, get ready,” you said cryptically. Luckily, all women were geniuses, so she knew exactly what you planned to do without you having to explain it.
The silver haired boy who had until that moment been under Hitoshi’s quirk suddenly shook his head, evidently removed from the effects of his brainwashing. He narrowed his eyes at all of you, his hand turning into a cool steel sort of material.
“What the hell just happened?” He yelled, sounding oddly like Kirishima had when he and Hanta had been teammates during battle training. “What’d you do to me, huh?”
Hitoshi didn’t dignify that with a response, instead turning his attention to the rider before their team could scurry off with all of your points. “You! Stealing our points like that was a pretty shitty move, you know that? Not very heroic to not at least give us a chance–maybe you should consider dropping out of the hero track altogether."
The green haired girl’s teammates all started yelling at Hitoshi, but nothing happened to any of them until she herself spoke. With a slight frown on her face, she placed a hand over her heart like she was about to offer the deepest apology known to mankind.
“I humbly–”
And then she was gone.
Tsuyu shot her tongue out instantly, aiming directly for the group of your headbands and theirs. Shouji expanded his arms at the same time, reaching forward to block the silver haired boy’s attempt to grab her tongue before she could do anything. Using the power of teamwork and soulmates, the points were back with your team in a flash, almost like they’d never left.
“Let’s go!” You said. “Before they can mushroom-ify us again!”
The (Last Name) Squad did just that. With speed so impressive that an outsider might’ve assumed one of you had a quirk like Iida’s, you all were out of there in a jiffy.
“Wow,” you said, cradling the headbands like a baby bird. “How’d you know she’d react to that?”
He shrugged. “The first thing she said to us was an apology for ‘acting unethically’ or whatever. I just kinda improvised from there. I think using my quirk too much is making me a little more irritable than normal. Do you think I was a little too mean?”
“Nah,” you said. “All’s fair in love and war. And this is a mix of both.”
Shouji hummed from behind you. “At least those mushrooms appear to have stopped growing.”
You shuddered. “Thank fuck. I did not like the feeling of spores exploding out of my skin.”
“Agreed,” Tsuyu said. “That’s not something I’d like to experience ever again.”
Although the mushroom attack appeared to have subsided, you were now under assault by something even worse. Something distinctly…Mineta-y.
“He appears to just be throwing them around randomly,” Shouji commented, glancing over to where the small boy’s team was running around near Izuku’s. “Also, I think he’s crying.”
Your eye twitched. “Figures. I vote we stay as far away from them as physically possible.”
“Agreed,” Tsuyu said.
You were certain that the rest of your team would’ve agreed too (because even someone who barely knew Mineta would know that keeping your distance was the best possible option), but they didn’t get the chance to voice it. Because before they could, your attention was overtaken by an extremely loud yell.
Although the word choice was eerily familiar, the voice that spoke them was not. In fact, it was so horribly high-pitched that it didn’t sound human. It was unnatural, uncanny…almost like someone had inhaled a massive amount of helium.
“Looks like Yoshida found Katsuki,” you sweatdropped, remembering the many times when the boy had used his quirk to do that same thing on you. Since you were full of joy and whimsy, it was usually funny; Katsuki, on the other hand, was full of rage and violence, so he was probably dead set on making sure Yoshida never saw another day of peace again in his life.
Apparently agreeing with your silent theory, Hitoshi snorted from the space below you. “It was nice knowing him. Guess I’m gonna have to make some new general studies friends.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” you said, not convinced by your own words whatsoever at all. “He saved Katsuki’s life that one time. That’s gotta count for something.”
Tsuyu stepped delicately around the stray pieces of Mineta’s hair that were flying around. “Bakugou doesn’t seem like the type to care about that sort of thing.”
You waved her off. “We can talk about Katsuki’s emotional constipation after the round’s over. For now let’s focus on getting points.”
“Bakugou, come back!” That was Hanta, and when you glanced over to the source of his voice, you saw that Katsuki was soaring through the air like a very angry fairy.
“Woah, is that allowed?” Present Mic screeched.
Midnight grinned. “As long as he doesn’t touch the ground, I think we’ll say it’s fine. Makes things more interesting, no?”
Well, at least that opened up the opportunity for you to do the same. However, you really only wanted to use your wings as a last resort–for a number of reasons.
Firstly, you weren’t completely confident that you could keep them enlarged for a long amount of time. Sure you were better now than you had been, but if they shrunk down while you were too far from your team and you fell onto the ground, you’d be disqualified. Technically Tsuyu could probably yank you back like Hanta was currently doing to Katsuki, but you didn’t want to stress your team out too much. Additionally, you didn’t want to waste your power when you’d need it for the last round of the festival, especially since you were pretty certain that you could get through without them.
“Should we go after those guys?” Tsuyu asked. “That other team is people who aren’t in our class, so did some of them activate your quirk?”
You hummed. “No, I know all of them. But I’m always willing to say hello to my beloved besties. They do know Hitoshi’s quirk, though, so unless he says something so foul that they have to reevaluate their life choices, they won’t fall for it.”
Hitoshi smirked. “I think I can do that.”
As your group steadily approached the two currently fighting teams, you watched as Hanta shot out a ream of tape straight toward the Amazing Flying Katsuki; he wrapped it around his waist and yoinked the blond back onto the top of their team’s horse.
“Bakugou, quit flying off,” Kyoka yelled out with a louder tone than you’d literally ever heard from her. “We’re supposed to be a team!”
You pumped your fist in the air and screamed back at her. “Hell yeah, girl. You tell ‘em! Stand up for yourself and all that motivational shit!”
Unfortunately, your cheering on your oldest friend meant that your stealthy approach was not, in fact, quite as stealthy as it might’ve been if you hadn’t readily announced your arrival. But honestly, it was more important that you made a dramatic entrance than anything else, and you were certain all your teammates agreed with you.
“(Name)...” Hitoshi groaned, rolling his eyes so hard you thought they might fall straight out of his head. “We could’ve snuck up behind Yoshida’s team and stolen their headband.”
“Oopsie?”
Kirishima hardened his arms as Itsuka used her enlarged fist to swipe at him. “Yo, Bakugou, what’s the plan? Are we taking both of ‘em on?”
There was a brief moment that felt like an eternity as you and Katsuki locked eyes. A part of you expected him to order his team to go after the growing collection of points your team now had–probably to make a point about how superior he was to the likes of you–and another part thought that he might just commit to stealing Yoshida’s team’s headband first before coming after yours.
What you did not expect, however, was for him to leave without stealing any points.
Katsuki clicked his tongue and slapped Kirishima on the head rather harshly. “Come on, servants. We’re going after the ten million. No point wasting time with these losers.”
“Stop calling us your servants,” Hanta complained. “We have names, you know.”
“I don’t care enough to remember them,” he replied like a little brat. “Now go before I kill you!”
Kyoka made eye contact with you and the two of you had a silent conversation–the kind made possible over years and years of close friendship. Her eyes very clearly said ‘fucking help me before I either die or kill this man’ and your response was just a grin that implied the words ‘you’re doing great, sweetie’.
She replied with a dead-eyed glare that could mean nothing other than ‘I’ll get you back for this someday’, but before you could reply with a look of your own, Katsuki had ordered his cavalry horse off to where Izuku and Todoroki’s teams were facing off.
Yoshida audibly gulped as the ash blond disappeared. “Holy crap. Thanks for making him go away, (Name). I thought he was gonna kill me.”
You looked around in confusion. “Uh, you’re welcome? I mean, I didn’t really do anything unless he was intimidated by my beauty or something, but I’ll take the credit, if you insist. Anyway, we want your points now, pretty please.”
But before Yoshida could take off his headband and hand it over to you, because clearly that would be his smartest course of action lest he wanted to be faced with your terrifying wrath, a wave of cold rushed over the entire arena floor. Within milliseconds, both your team and Yoshida’s were encased in ice from ankle-down.
“Todoroki has completely halted all movement on the field,” Aizawa droned. “Not only has he encased his own team in with Team Midoriya, but every other group is stalled in place.”
“Well, shit,” Nakamura muttered. “Your classmate is a fucking psychopath. What are they feeding you hero students?”
“It’s okay, I’m working on breaking down his emotional walls,” you said, frowning down at the ice. “But until that plan works out, yeah, you’re not totally wrong.”
Hitoshi glanced up from the ice at Juzo with a slightly mischievous glint in his eye. “Hey, Honenuki. Care to assist?”
Juzo just shook his head; apparently he’d seen through whatever plan your teammate had to get him under control over his quirk and wasn’t planning on responding. One of the issues with you being friends with all of them: he already knew all about his quirk.
But unfortunately for Juzo, Hitoshi was a quick thinker.
“Well, I guess I’ll just tell (Name) what you said about her at lunch last week,” Hitoshi said, an evil grin on his face. “I’m sure she’d love to hear it.”
The skin above Juzo’s teeth turned slightly pink. “Don’t you–”
It was too late. Your old friend’s eyes glazed over and his shoulders went rigid, completely under the effects of Hitoshi’s quirk.
The fact that he’d managed to trick him wasn’t the part that got you interested, though.
“Hey! What’d he say about me?” Your jaw dropped as you slammed your hand onto Hitoshi’s head like you were playing Whack-a-Mole. “Hey, tell me! Was he talking shit or is he in love with me? Either way, I need to know! Come on!”
Hitoshi just bit back a smile. “Nah. That’s for the two of you to talk about. I’m not a snitch. But he’s a little busy at the moment. Honenuki, use your quirk to soften the ice–but just around our team, okay?”
“Damn it,” Itsuka muttered. “Yoshida, can you use your quirk to stop them?”
He wrung his hands, wincing. “I can try, but then I’m kinda out of commission. I already used it a bunch on Bakugou and Monoma…”
“That was very funny, by the way,” you said. “I appreciate you using it on Katsuki, even if it may have come at the cost of your life. Also, not to repeat myself, but we’d really like your headband now, please.”
“Yeah, come on,” Hitoshi said. “Hand it over and she won’t send her angry neighbor to hunt you down after the festival’s over.”
Yoshida’s eyes widened. “She wouldn’t–”
Itsuka slapped her forehead in dismay as Yoshida also got put under Hitoshi’s quirk.
“We all agreed not to respond to him,” she sighed. “Come on, you guys, that was like, our one plan if we ran into their team.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever used my quirk this much in my life,” Hitoshi said, rubbing his temple with one hand. “We better get it quick, I’m not sure how much longer I can hold them.”
Tsuyu nodded, launching her tongue out at mach ten speed. Under the purple haired boy’s orders, Yoshida slipped his headband off and held it out for her to easily grab. Itsuka tried to use her large hands to swipe for it, but Tsuyu was quick on the draw and avoided it.
She brought it back and you snatched it, clutching it tightly with your enhanced strength. Both Yoshida and Juzo were freed from the brainwashing not even a second later, and they seemed ready to fight back, but it was too late.
Just as the headband landed safely in your hand, the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the round. Off in the distance you saw Katsuki fall flat onto his face into the grass and start baby-raging, slamming his hands up and down on the ground like a petulant child. You would’ve laughed if you didnt think there was a chance he would’ve heard you and then flown over to explode your fucking face off.
“Time’s up!” Midnight announced, a sadistic smirk on her lips. “Bring your headbands up to the stage and we’ll tally up those points!”
Shouji helped you hop back down onto the ground–luckily the ice was slowly melting–and you instantly wrapped your arms around him in a hug.
“Ahh! You guys are so amazing! The author refuses to do any math whatsoever, so I don’t know exactly how many points we got, but I’m sure it was enough to get us into the next round!”
You then proceeded to hug Tsuyu, who gave you one awkward pat on the back, and then Hitoshi, who allowed you to practically suffocate him. He let out a small, almost imperceptible laugh (which let you know that he was definitely tired from using his quirk so much), and hugged you back, albeit not with even remotely the same amount of strength you did.
“Yeah, yeah, you owe me lunch,” he said. “My brain feels like it’s melting.”
You gave him a mock salute. “After I go and give these headbands to my beautiful Midnight-sensei, I will take you up on that offer.”
Headbands in hand, you did just that, leaping up toward the stage with a giddy grin on your face. Todoroki was already up there–everyone else was apparently still trying to slide around on the remaining ice–and only gave you a flat look as you jumped into place in front of the R-Rated hero, hands on your hips.
“Midnight-sensei! I bring you my spoils of war,” you held the headbands out proudly. “I feel like a bird bringing you shiny things to make you fall in love with me.”
She let out an ‘aww’ and completely turned away from Todoroki who she’d been actively talking to; he sent you a neutral glare in response.
“You did so well!” Midnight squealed, taking the headbands from you. “Oh, I’m so proud of you. It’s no wonder you’re the favorite in the teacher’s lounge discussions. Clearly you were the best team out there.”
Todoroki gestured to his own team’s points. “Sensei, I’m the one with the ten million.”
She just flapped her hand at him. “Oh, I know, I know. But look at how good (Last Name) did!”
Eventually the rest of the team leaders made their way up to the stage and you were forced out of your quality time with your beloved Midnight. Todoroki was, at that point, sending death glares your way, but you were happily unaware that he was pissed about how you’d somehow managed to steal the spotlight from him even though he’d obviously placed first. You couldn’t help it, though. Your natural charisma and beauty would be enough to make anyone jealous.
“Why do you flirt with every fucking teacher we have?” Katsuki grumbled, handing his headbands off to Midnight before grabbing you by the arm and dragging you off the stage. “Shit’s weird.”
You stumbled down the steps as he led you back into the crowd of students. “I can’t help it that our teachers are beautiful. Besides, I flirt with plenty of people my own age, too. I’m all about equality.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Whatever. And what the fuck is up with your arms?”
You sighed, looking down at them sadly. “Mushrooms.”
“...I changed my mind. I don’t wanna know.”
It took a few minutes for Midnight to count up all the points. In that time, you wanted to go around and congratulate more of your friends for a job well done, but any time you tried to walk away, Katsuki snatched you by the back of your shirt and held you firmly in place. You tried once to joke about how he was being a little possessive (because he was in love with you, of course), but he just gave you a look that screamed ‘unimpressed and angry’ and said something about how he wanted to see the look on your face when he destroyed your team in terms of points.
Which, funnily enough, didn’t actually happen.
“Everyone turn your attention to the screen,” Midnight said, pointing to the space behind her. “In first place, we have…Team Todoroki!”
A large wave of cheering rose up from the crowd–probably because Todoroki was Endeavor’s son (a fact you’d stupidly not realized until the start of the obstacle race). From beside you, Katuski growled out a string of curses that were not even remotely family-friendly, but you made up for it by being the lovely and pleasant girl that you naturally were.
“And in second, we have Team (Last Name),” she said.
You gave a series of very dramatic fake bows to the adoring crowd; your show was thwarted, however, when Katsuki slapped you on the back of the head.
“Quit being an idiot,” he said.
“Don’t get upset that I did better than you,” you stuck your tongue out at him.
He clicked his tongue. “Shut up.”
Surprisingly, he wasn’t quite as upset as you thought he would be.
Midnight went on to announce Katsuki and Izuku’s teams in third and fourth place respectively–although you weren’t really that shocked about either of them. They were important characters, after all. Sure, you’d probably altered the timeline at least slightly, but if those two hadn’t made it into the last round, you would’ve been a bit taken aback.
“After a brief lunch and deliberation by UA staff members, we’ll announce the fighting pairs for the one on one battles,” Midnight said. “But until then, enjoy the activities, get something to snack on, and make sure you folks at home don’t change that channel!”
With that, she sauntered off, leaving a pre-recorded song to play. Most of the crowd stood up and started meandering around the seats, likely to go and check out the booths set up around the outskirts of the arena or at least stretch their legs. You were about to go and ask Katsuki if he wanted to get something to eat, and maybe beg him into buying you something since you had promised to buy Hitoshi’s, when you saw that he wasn’t even paying attention to you.
He was, instead, glaring at Izuku and Todoroki, who were engaged in an extremely not-casual looking conversation. Todoroki mouthed a few curt words and then walked away; Izuku scrambled after him a second later, calling out something along the lines of “wait up”.
You and Katsuki exchanged a look as he trailed after Todoroki like an extremely confused puppy dog. The ash blond’s crimson gaze flicked between the two boys and then back to you, an unsaid bolt of understanding passing between you and him before you spoke.
You raised your eyebrows. “I can’t believe I’m about to say something this unethical, but…do you wanna go eavesdrop?”
“Fucking obviously.”