Chapter 44: Sports Festival (6) (Patreon)

Izuku and the rest of the students still in the second event wore the bandanas given to them by the bots. As long as they were above the neck and not tied in a way that it would hamper another team from taking it, everything was a-okay.

The moment the countdown reached zero, immediately dozens of teams made a beeline for Izuku. Himi was the first to react, her hand slapping the face of one student who came a little too close to their position. Too bad for her, her quirk was all but useless here, unless she shifted into his body because obviously, the male form is better than the female form for physical activities.

Tokoyami was also quick to respond by letting out Dark Shadow to blockade and harass incoming teams, the shadow monster cackling all the while. Hatsume was grinning as she rummaged through her giant pack – Midnight gave it the okay since she was using her own inventions, and yes, the bag counts as one – and brought out something resembling a gauntlet.

Said gauntlet became a literal rocket fist that went careening into one poor bastard’s face. His teammates winced as they heard the telltale sound of a nose breaking as the rider went splat on the ground, uttering groans all the while.

Even Hatsume wasn’t spared the sudden wince, the pinkette actually feeling sorry for what she had done to the poor lad, only to rebound back when she saw another team gunning for them. Izuku, meanwhile, was busy maneuvering around the charging students, bringing along his team like a wild horse on a rampage.

One of the students, someone from class 1-B that he didn’t know the name of, managed to get close, only for Izuku to slap him away. A big emphasis on the slap, because once his palm met the cheeks of the student, said student crumpled to the ground, destabilizing their team and causing the rider to fall to the ground.

Meanwhile, the teams consisting of his classmates were avoiding him. Those that didn’t get the memo were those from other classes, not that there were any more classes since most of them were already eliminated in the first event.

“Midoriya! Behind us!” Tokoyami yelled out loud, the rest of the team hearing his cry. Izuku looked behind and saw Todoroki’s team gunning for him, the half-toned teen glaring at him from above his classmates' shoulders.

Izuku felt the temperature drop and it didn’t take a genius to know that Todoroki was using his quirk. And what better element to use to counter ice than fire?

Calling upon the power of his life force – because the First Flame was just too much for the little kids to handle – and he lobbed a fireball straight into Todoroki’s team. The half-toned teen’s eyes widened when he saw the incoming projectile and blocked it with an ice wall. The resulting clash causing a steam explosion, sending both teams away for a few meters.

Luckily, Izuku was able to hold on to his other teammates, their entire group managing to stay together without getting blown apart.

“My baby!” Hatsume shrieked as she held one of her inventions close to her chest, the entire thing coming apart at the seams as it crumbled into scrap metal. She then glared at Todoroki, her crosshair pupils intensifying for a brief moment. “I’ll make you pay for that! My babies aren’t cheap!”

Said half-toned teen didn’t respond, but there was a brief moment of confusion when he looked at Hatsume. Himi, meanwhile, was glaring at Todoroki with a different thought in mind, but as for what that was, Izuku had no idea.

Tokoyami was just there, preparing for any other attackers gunning their way. He appreciated the bird-head for being focused on the main task at hand, that was making sure that they didn’t get caught off guard by the other students in the arena.

Well, his teammates, at least. His honed spatial awareness made sure that he wouldn’t get surprised again by possible attackers. He had enough of getting jumpscared by hiding hollows in Lordran.

“Midoriya! We have incoming from the east!” Izuku immediately focused his gaze on the direction Tokoyami had said. Let it be said that Tokoyami was a bro – even if he is the opposite of sunbro, being all dark and gloom – because lo and behold, two groups of students apparently banded together to attack him.

Something of note was that they were composed of 1-B students, with Kendo at the helm of one of their groups, hands enlarged ready to slap him into the next day.

Well, Izuku liked a challenge, and even if it wasn’t the same life-threatening, blood pumping action he got in Lordran, it was still a fun game for him.

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Katsuki growled as he slapped away a very long tongue that managed to slide against his bandana, a drip of saliva dropping on his cheek making his eye twitch in annoyance. Below him, his team of perfectly selected mounts slid across the ground with nary a problem thanks to xenomorph excreting her slipper acid.

Shitty hair was also a nice teammate to have. He was a fucking tank, and he could tank shit for days. Plus, both him and xenomorph worked well together. Meanwhile, elbows allowed him to exploit one of the rules in the game.

They said that if any one of them were to harass a team while disconnected from their own team, they were disqualified. Good thing that elbows had meters of tape with his quirk.

Basically, all he had to do was blast himself towards a team, snatch their bandanas – and also blast them with his quirk to make sure they had a hard time recovering - before getting reeled back in by elbows towards his team. And thanks to his dedication to pursuing greatness, air control was something Katsuki was very proud of.

Suck it bitches! Fall damage is not applicable to me!

As he was busy celebrating from snatching one of the other teams' bandanas, a mocking tone came from behind him. Looking back, he saw a blond fop grinning smugly at him while holding onto a piece of cloth, with said cloth being the bandana he was just wearing a few seconds ago as he snatched his latest bandana.

“Aw, what’s the matter? Poor old class 1-A getting upstaged by us measly class 1-B students?” The blond fop had a tone that grated on his ears, the mocking undercurrent fairly obvious to Katsuki’s ears. “Truly, you class 1-A are just the same as us, if not lower!”

Underneath him, his mounts were getting a bit apprehensive at the tone that came from the blond fop’s mouth, but that didn’t register with him. No, what did register with him was that the blond fop was mocking him. Him! Of all people to mock, he chose him!

“Shitty hair, elbows, xenomorph, focus on that asshat.” Katsuki’s growl didn’t allow a retort from his teammates, just a grim nod and maybe even angry determination. “I want to blow him up.”

“Sure can do, Bakubro!” Shitty hair gave him a thumbs up, though if another person were to see his face, he was anything but happy by the way the blond was mocking them.

“Elbows, you know what to do.” Without further prompting, Katsuki launched himself towards the group of class 1-B students with a snarl on his face, a long strip of tape connecting him with his group if ever he overextended. “DIEEEEEEEE!!!!”

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Mezo huffed and puffed, his arms already creaking from too much bending covering the two riding on his back. Thankfully, he was a large teen, but even then, his spine had limitations.

“C’mon, Shoji! We need a few more bandanas!” Mineta whispered harshly from behind, while Asui remained steadfast.

“I know.” Mezo didn’t want to raise his voice, nor argue with the midget right now. He was already running on fumes because he didn’t get much rest during the first event, what with him being near last because his senses were messed up in the Hazard Maze for some reason. It caused him time, pain, energy, and more pain.

“Mineta, don’t be so harsh on him, kero.” Asui, the level-headed girl that she was – bless her heart – extended her tongue towards one of the other teams, the slimy appendage managing to snag the bandana from a nearly irate Kendo who looked like she was already fuming. “And I don’t see you lobbing your purple… spheres anywhere, kero.”

“Just say balls, will you?” Mineta didn’t have the energy to be pervy right now. Plus, if what happened between him and Yaoyorozu was real, it meant the midget grew a tad scared of the opposite sex. Good, otherwise, he’d fear he was going to be sent to juvie if his perviness continued to grow unabated. “Also, what do you think I’m doing? You want me to bleed to death because of overuse?”

“... Point taken, kero.” Asui retracted her earlier statement while also making sure that she watched their surroundings carefully. Thankfully, the person they were worried about the most, Midoriya, was content to play defensive, otherwise, they would literally be eating his boots when he went on the offensive.

Also, Mezo didn’t know he could throw fireballs. When could he do that? He thought he just had super strength and durability.

“On your left!” Mineta’s cries alerted Mezo to an incoming attack and immediately went on guard, only for an unfamiliar indigo haired teen to stop right in front of him, carried by two of his classmates and class 1-B’s vice rep with a vacant look in their eyes.

“These two part of your class?” Their rider pointed towards his classmates, and Mezo grew apprehensive.

“What did you do to them…?” Mezo’s guard was at an all time high, only for it to come crashing down like building blocks in just a single moment, his consciousness fading. The last thing he saw was the subtle smirk of the indigo-haired teen while he uttered a command.

“Give me all of your bandanas.”

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To be honest, Momo didn’t think that this team would work out in the long run. Sure, they had heavy hitters such as Todoroki and Kaminari – provided that his electricity doesn’t hit them as well – but their rider left a lot to be desired.

He just kept on ordering them to chase Midoriya, the one person in their entire class they didn’t want to mess with. Even Iida, who was their front-most horse with the speed to be able to catch up to them that also had a little bit of conflict with the white-haired teen because of proper decorum, was hesitant on solely chasing after them.

Midoriya was just in another league of his own. At least they were still within the top four, otherwise, her other teammates wouldn’t be listening to their rider.

“Yaoyorozu, can you create some smoke grenades?” Todoroki suddenly said to her, his eyes still not leaving Midoriya’s group as their rider hovered in the air thanks to a jetpack while still being connected to her team via a piece of rope. “Need to block their vision if we want those 1,000,000 points.”

Momo had to stifle a sigh as she did as she was told. She wanted that 1,000,000-point bandana as well, but again, Midoriya. Their focus would be better served if they looked at the other groups, all of them struggling to even get to the top four with how chaotic the entire event was.

Plus, all of them, including her, were nearing exhaustion at this point.

Rolling up her sleeves, she recalled the chemical composition required for smoke production: a mixture of potassium nitrate, sugar, and a dye for the desired color. She imagined the components packed into a small metal canister, with a central fuse and a pin holding back the trigger mechanism. The grenade would work by igniting the potassium nitrate and sugar, causing them to combust and produce thick, colored smoke.

A second later, a smoke grenade materialized from her skin, its weight familiar in her palm with how many times she had practiced doing so. She quickly caught it with her other hand and tossed it up to Todoroki. The half-toned teen grabbed it from the air without even looking, his fingers deftly finding the pin. With a sharp tug, he released it, triggering the ignition of the fuse. Almost immediately, wisps of smoke began to escape, growing thicker as the mixture inside reacted, filling the air with an obscuring cloud.

Throwing it towards Midoriya’s group, Dark Shadow – Tokoyami’s quirk – was quick to react by swatting it away, only for Todoroki to conjure a block of ice to block the living shadow. Toga – at least that’s what she thought her name was – was the next to react by trying to kick it away, only for Midoriya to stop her, eyes gazing at them with a smile on his face.

He was planning something, and she didn’t like the look their class representative had.

“Iida, go rush them.” Todoroki, apparently still blinded by his vendetta against Midoriya, ordered the bespectacled teen – who miraculously still had his glasses on his face with nary a smidge.

“Uh, Todoroki. With all due respect, I think Midoriya is taunting us.” Clearly, even a fool could see it. Just look at the face of that white-haired tee… Was he gesturing for them to go get them? Yes, yes, he was, the hand sign all but said it. “See?”

“... Leave that to me, just rush them.” Todoroki looked at both Momo and Kaminari, who was content to look like a wallflower while zapping anybody who came close. “Hang onto Iida tight.”

Looking at Iida, Momo realized that the teen was going along anyway, even though it was a fool’s errand. Gritting her teeth, she quickly conjured a long strip of rope that was thick enough to not tear itself apart. She gave the middle part to Iida, who looked at it funny for a moment before he realized the use of it. He tossed one end to Kaminari, who thankfully wasn’t stupid enough to not know the plan now that Iida was going to go full speed and tied it around his waist. The same could be said for Iida, determined to grab that 1,000,000-point bandana from their class representative’s team.

“Brace yourselves!” Iida’s quirk let out a loud roaring sound as Momo felt the heat coming from his engines. She winced at the temperature, but steeled herself because the next moment, they were off.

The rope was just another safety measure because in the case their rollerblades got wrecked – yes, she was smart enough to know that their measly fleshy legs wouldn’t be able to keep up with Iida’s speed – it would be detrimental to their efforts to win.

The surroundings turned into a blur as their team was propelled forward at great speeds. Momo had to close her eyes to avoid injury just because of the wind splashing against her face. She couldn’t see anything, but she could hear a lot, and it just made as much sense as trying to decipher the meaning of a thin line that cut a painting in half.

Loud cracks, swooshing, explosions, yells, incessant laughter, and flesh thumping against flesh filled her ears, yet her eyes remained shut, fearful of the damage it may gain if she peeked even a single, tiny second. She felt a blistering heat wash over her, her skin prickling at the piercing sensation.

As fast as the action started, so too did it finish, her hands losing its grasp upon Iida’s shoulders. Eyes widening in surprise, she saw Midoriya standing in front of her and her team, a wide grin on his face as he thumbed the bandana while spinning it around.

“Welp, too bad.” Izuku tossed Todoroki’s bandana to their rider, who was still hovering in mid-air with a manic grin on her face. The pinkette grabbed it in mid-air and immediately tied it around her head. “Word of advice, too much fixation on certain things can lead to downfall.”

She sank to her knees, the exhaustion from earlier already catching up to her. She blamed Mineta for this, expending her energy reserves by carrying the both of them all the way to the finish line.

“But still, not bad.” Izuku clapped while their team retreated. “You managed to grab the other bandanas we took from other groups. I commend you for that, Todoroki.” Said teen looked very defeated, but it didn’t mean anything.

Looking at the timer, they saw the countdown reach zero and a loud horn rang across the stadium. The giant televisions screens flickered to a scoreboard, showcasing Midoriya team at the top. Followed by Bakugo’s team, then a team who she didn’t know but was composed of two of her classmates, another from class 1-B, and somebody from the General course.

Last but not least, their team, scrounging by a measly ten points. It was infuriating, all because of their leader being too fixated on Midoriya.

First Mineta, now Todoroki… She gritted her teeth. She swore she would do better in the third event. At least this time, if she failed, there would be no other person to blame other than herself.