Twenty One

You skidded to a halt, taking in slow breaths to steady your breathing you overlooked the second stage called 'The Fall' which made the trench you created to set students back look like a skip and a hop.

"How did I not hear them making this?" You wondered,

"It looks like Shoto Todoroki is still skating by easily!" President Mic announced, you rolled your eyes at the word play since Shoto was using ice to skate over the lines that hooked pieces of earth still hovering near the surface. You pulled your lips into a thin line, before jumping into the open space.

"What on earth is (y/n) (l/n) doing!?" President Mic called sounding almost panicked, but before you could fall to your death, your feet touched an invisible floor. You'll have to use your wind quirk to get through this stage, it was the easiest for you to control. You hopped through the empty spaces, using solid pieces of air to step on. "Look at (y/n) (l/n) hop through-"

You glared at a nearby camera bot, President Mic has terrible puns!

From above you heard Bakugo's loudmouth.

"You suck!" He shouted at Shoto, aimed for him. You kept your eyes forward, focused on getting through this stage.

"The leader is putting distance between him, and the students stuck at the fall! It hasn't been announced how many competitors will make it through to the next round, so there is no time to relax!"

After getting through The Fall without dying you took off into a run, the side with his red hair could be spotted. You were catching up while trying not to egret yourself to hard.

"And now we are finally approaching the last obstacle. Everyone better tread carefully, you're stepping onto an active minefield!"

"You have got to be kidding." Shoto said, you and him reaching the last stage near the same time.

"If you look carefully, you can see where those little bombs are buried. So, keep your eyes on the ground folks!"

"They are trying to kill us." You muttered looking at the hundreds of little holes in the dirt.

"By the way, those land mines are designed for the games, so they might be loud and flashy, but they are not all that powerful."

"Well, that is comforting." You nodded, knowing you weren't about to be blown into pieces as you took your first step into the dirt.

You weren't sure if your air quirk would work around this stage.

Granted your body was turned into air, you still applied pressure onto the ground. If you set one of those off it could still blow you away, even more so if you were made of air.

"Ah!" You quickly glanced behind you, watching a student get blown into the air.

You and Shoto slowly made your way through the minefield while others were quickly catching up.

You and Shoto turned hearing an explosion, and a blond flying over the field.

"Ha-Ha!" Bakugo laughed, "It's over bastard! Your declaration of war was the to wrong person!" He attacked Shoto, the two of them began to fight dancing around the land mines.

"Just like that a new student takes the lead-!" President Mic stirred the crowd, "Hey-Hey! The rest of the competitors are catching up too!" You quickly looked behind you and saw Ida was blaring through the field using his engine, the girl with vines for hair was also catching up with your class. Your muscles tensed feeling the opponents getting too close for comfort. "Can our two leaders fight and stay in front of the competition at the same time!?"

How to get a head?

You clenched your jaw, you couldn't use two quirks within a small-time frame, even before you got injured it wore you down quickly but it looked like you didn't have a choice if you wanted to remain in the lead!

You used your wind quirk to launch yourself into the air, but as you did a bright explosion pulled your attention.

"What's with that huge explosion in the back!?" President Mic called, "That was may more powerful than it should be!"

You didn't have time to care, you turned using your ice quirk to skate midair, over the mines as well as the players.

"Incredible!" President mic called. "What just happened!?"

Yes!" All Might jumped from his chair, hands raised in the air seeing the top two were his kids!

"Whatever may have happened Class 1-A's Izuku Midoriya is now in first place with another Class 1-A's (y/n) (l/n) trailing right behind him!"

"What!?" Shoto and Bakugo both snapped, turning on their heels and running towards Midoriya and you.

"Incredible the top two aren't fighting anymore! That's what having a common enemy will do in this competition!"

"Anything can happen-" All Might muttered to himself, his fists clenched and his heart racing.

"This fight is still far from over!" President Mic called.

Your feet brushed the earth before you were off spiriting again. Midoriya was losing speed, using Bakugo and Shoto as stepping stones he blasted the ground with his green piece of scrap metal setting off another bomb that flew him forward past you.

"In a stunning turn of events, Midoriya has cleared the minefield in an instant!" President Mic excitedly announced, "Eraser head your students are amazing!" President Mic jumped from his seat. "What the heck are you teaching them!?"

"This has nothing to do with me." Aizawa said,

"There you have it, hearing it here Eraser head is a terrible teacher!"

"I'm what!?"

You and Midoriya could see the light at the end of the tunnel. You were just inches apart with Shoto and Bakugo on your heels.

"Who would have imagined that at the beginning of this race the climate would be a mega-mix of surprises!? The first to make it back to the stadium is the first-place winner!"

Your lungs burned while your legs felt like jelly. Using two quirks back-to-back had warn you out and you were beginning to slow down. You didn't know how you were still running inches from Midoriya while fire and ice were clawing from behind you.

"Izuku Midoriya is our champion!" President Mic screamed out as colorful confetti rained. Sweat coated your skin as you collapsed to the ground panting in deep breaths.

The audience cheered as Midoriya panted, looking around the arena. You smiled seeing Midoriya's tears. You placed your elbows on your knees as your heartrate slowly calmed down.

"In second place, Class 1-A's (y/n) (l/n) -!" President Mic called out; "-third place is Katsuki Bakugo-!"

You glanced over; Shoto had steam coming off him as he had his hands on his lips catching his breath. Bakugo on the other hand just looked like he found out his parents were murdered by how his face appeared. You furrowed your brows not understanding his expression.

"(y/n)-" Midoriya walked over, you looked up at him.

"Congrats." You smiled, clearly shocking Midoriya. The other two students who held the top ranks were Shoto and Bakugo, it wasn't like they were lining up to congratulate him. "You were awesome."

"Y-You too!" Midoriya plopped down next to you, "That trench you made back at stage one was so awesome!"

"It-" You were going to brush off the compliment.

"No really-!" Midoriya said touching your shoulder, "-I was really blown away by your strength!" You blushed, looking at Midoriya with wide eyes.

"Shut up." You lightly pushed him, not liking the warm fuzzy feeling inside your stomach.

You weren't use to being praised.

Bakugo glared at the back of Midoriya's head as he sat beside you.

"(y/n)-" Midoriya sounded serious, you looked over to him to see his face was stern. "-when you're not injured, I would really like to do this course again with you."

"Wha-"

"I want to beat you while you at full strength!" Midoriya smiled, making you laugh.

"Deal." You shook hands.

All Might stood watching the two of you bond while feeling so proud of both his kids.

----

You sipped from a juice box watching people scramble to find a team for the second stage of the festival. From a few yards away you could see Midoriya practically being shunned by everyone, including your own class since he was worth so many points, and the next stage you had to collect as many points as possible.

"Hey Midoriya." You called walking over to him.

"Oh, hey (y/n)." He sounded so sad.

"Do you want to be on a team together?" You bluntly asked,

"Y-You want me on your team!?" Midoriya gushed, light filling his eyes. "Ar-Are you sure!?"

You shrugged.

"Why not?" You say, "But due to my injuries I can't really be a horse."

"That's fine-!" Midoriya stepped closer, "-you can ride me!"

You and Midoriya stared at one another for a moment.

You sipped your drink letting Midoriya chew over his words.

"N-No that isn't what I meant!" Midoriya blushed a deep red, "I-I only meant that you can be on top—no! I mean-"

"Uh..." Ochaco stood behind you, "...what-?"

"I-It isn't what you think!" Midoriya defended holding his hands up.

"Let's team up!" Ochaco said.

"A-Are you sure!?" Midoriya cried, "Everyone will be after me and my ten million points! Tell me you're not kidding!"

"I'm not!" Ochaco laughed, "I mean if we run away the whole time, we'll win right?"

"Your either overestimating me or underestimating everyone else here." Midoriya laughed.

"Phooey!" Ochaco waved her hand, "Anyway it's better to team up with people you like!"

You awkwardly stood beside them feeling like a third wheel.

"Well, we need another person." You butted in.

"Huh?" Ochaco looked at you, "(y/n), you're on Midoriya's team?"

"She is!" Midoriya smiled wide,

"O-Oh...great then!" Ochaco faked a smile you saw through.

"We need someone fast-" Midoriya started to mutter to himself, "-with Ochaco's quirk, she could make us lighter and easier to move around!"

"That's a great plan!" Ochaco agreed, you rolled your eyes.

"There-!" Midoriya pointed, "-follow me!" Midoriya jogged over to Ida, "Hey-!"

"Midoriya?" Ida turned,

"Ida! Would you like to be on my team!? With your speed and Ochaco's quirk we could be untouchable! I know it's not the best plan but it is all I can come up with."

"I'm afraid I must refuse your offer." Ida said, shocking even you. "You're a great friend, but if I continue to follow you, I'll never get stronger."

You rubbed the back of your neck, there was a lot of built-up tension between your classmates.

"Bakugo and Todoroki have already challenged you, but they aren't the only ones who see you as a rival. I'll try my best to defeat you."

"Well, that went well." You turned to Midoriya who appeared grim. "Looks like it's just us three."

"Yeah." Midoriya breathed, "Wait-!" Midoriya said walking away from us. You watched him place his hand on someone's shoulder. "-join me."

"Ah-" You scrunched your face. "-don't say it like that, you made it creepy." Ochaco giggled at your comment.