17

Chapter 17: The Obstacle Course

Chapter Text

The exact nature of the events in the Sports Festival varied from year to year, but it was broken down into three stages which always followed the same general pattern. The preliminaries consisted of two stages: a free-for all, followed by a team-based challenge with the top sixteen moving on to the finals: a single elimination tournament comprised of one-on-one battles. All Might had not been exaggerating when he described the Sports Festival as the perfect chance for Midoriya to announce his presence to the world—it was undoubtedly one of the most popular, anticipated, and watched events in Japan.

There were a variety of reasons for this massive following—the popularity of hero culture, the decline of the Olympics and other sporting events, and of course, the fact that it always fell on a national holiday. With average national ratings of over 70 million, even the cheapest of live tickets went for tens of thousands of yen. All over the country, people arranged viewing parties, cheered for their favorite prospects and discussed their impressions on social media for days afterwards.

It was kind of a big deal.

So, when he began to formulate his plan for making a splash at the massive event, Midoriya ran into a slight problem: he wasn't the exactly the most marketable hero candidate. He had been repeatedly—and in his opinion, rather unnecessarily—informed by several people that he didn't make much of an impression standing alongside the flashy, visually impressive quirks of Todoroki and Bakugo, the unique, exotic look of Shoji and Ashido, or the photogenic appeal of Yaoyorozu and Uraraka.

Still, Midoriya promised a show that All Might would never forget, and he planned to deliver on that promise.

Winning the festival overall would certainly win him some recognition, but Midoriya wanted to make a name for himself beyond winning a couple of fights. He still planned on winning, of course, but if winning lots of fights was enough, Endeavor would have overtaken All Might's position as number one after his injury caused him to steadily withdraw from the public eye—the Flame Hero had a relentless work ethic, with more resolved cases under his belt than All Might despite the number one hero having nearly a decade on him. Midoriya wanted to do more than establish himself as a strong hero prospect—he wanted to establish himself as the future leader of the hero industry. And to do that in a contest where style and flashiness was everything, he needed to change the narrative to suit his needs.

It was with this goal in mind that Midoriya pulled Yaoyorozu aside immediately upon the announcement of the first event—a 4km long, no-holds barred obstacle course race. They had thirty minutes before the start of the event, and luckily for Midoriya it only took a brief explanation of what he had in mind for her face to light up in understanding. She agreed and the two put their heads together to hash out a strategy.

From their time together on the council, Midoriya had already gotten the impression that Yaoyorozu was beyond him in terms of raw intelligence, but as they discussed strategy, Midoriya had to struggle with the uncomfortable realization that Yaoyorozu was nearly as proficient at tactical planning as he was. He had the edge thanks to his greater practical experience, but her genius-level mind combined with the sheer volume of knowledge at her disposal meant that it was only a matter of time before she overtook him in that regard. Having spent years honing that capacity under the assumption that it would be his main weapon in lieu of an offensive quirk, that realization was a painful blow to his pride.

Still, he was able to move past it—he had more important things to worry about than feeling threatened by someone smarter than him. Once they finished ironing out the details, the two gathered the rest of their classmates and Yaoyorozu explained the basics of their plan while Midoriya silently stood at her side with his hands folded behind his back, closely observing everyone's faces and preemptively constructing counter-arguments to the inevitable dissenters.

And there were, of course, the inevitable dissenters.

"Look, I get what you're saying," Ojiro said, "but this is a free-for-all event and if the previous years are anything to go by, how we place in the race will be important. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not in the habit of throwing competitions."

"Yeah," Kaminari rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know how many of us are willing to handicap ourselves and trust that nobody screws us over to get ahead. You're asking me to take an especially big risk here, and if you guys don't come through, I'm done."

"That's…don't be ridiculous," Yaoyorozu frowned, hurt at the lack of trust from someone she fought alongside, "nobody here would do that to you. Why would you even think that?"

'That's my que.' Midoriya lay a hand on Yaoyorozu's shoulder and stepped forward. "I know how you feel, but let me take it from here," he said softly. "Does anyone else feel this way? Please, speak up."

Uraraka timidly raised her hand. "Ojiro and Kaminari kinda have a point. Your plan has me in the rear of the group, and you know that it's really important for me to do well here…"

"I agree," Iida added, "my specialty is my speed. Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, I have enormous respect for both of you, but asking me to remain in the rear during a race is a little…I have my own ambitions, and I would be giving up an enormous advantage."

After a few more people stepped forward to share their concerns or disagreements with the plan, Midoriya held up a hand and asked for a chance to speak.

"I understand your concerns," Midoriya said calmly, "and they are all entirely valid. I realize that we're asking a lot of you." He looked over at Kaminari, "Some of you more than others…but I'm going to ask all of you a question, and I want you to answer me honestly; no posturing, I want an honest assessment of yourself." He looked at each of them, "How many of you think that you have a chance of beating Todoroki or Bakugo in this event?"

Iida, Yaoyorozu and Ashido all raised their hands while the rest looked around at each other and shifted uncomfortably. Midoriya nodded. "Okay, you three, could you please explain your reasoning?"

Iida cleared his throat. "I don't know what kind of obstacles we will face, but my quirk is perfectly suited for racing."

"Solid reasoning," Midoriya agreed. "Ashido?"

"Because I'm awesome?" Ashido said with a grin, but quailed under Midoriya's disapproving glare, "Jeez, I was kidding! I can skate on my acid way faster than most people can run, and I can melt through most obstacles."

"Okay, good answer," Midoriya said. "Yaoyorozu?"

"I'm in good shape, and I can make something to deal with just about any situation as well as hinder my opponents."

"All excellent answers," Midoriya said. "Now, as for the rest of you…Ojiro," Midoriya directed his gaze at the tailed teen, "you were the first to voice your concerns, so tell me, do you want to win this event?"

"What kind of question is that?" Ojiro asked, his muscular tail swishing in discomfort at being on the receiving end of Midoriya's piercing gaze, "Of course I do. Considering my competition, I'm not arrogant enough to say I can definitely do it, but I don't want to just throw in the towel."

"Why?"

"Why?" Ojiro repeated incredulously, and looked around at his classmates for support, "Because losing sucks, why wouldn't I want to win?"

"I'm not talking about natural feelings of competitiveness and not wanting to lose." Midoriya clarified, not blinking as he continued to press Ojiro. "We're enrolled in the hardest hero course in the nation, obviously none of us are lacking in the drive to excel. Why is this event important to you? For that matter, why does the Sports Festival even matter?"

"…Because it's our best opportunity to show our stuff for pro heroes," Ojiro said after a moment, "so we can get good internships and jobs when we graduate."

"And there it is," Midoriya said, finally breaking eye contact with Ojiro to address the rest of the class. "That's what this whole thing is about—the Sports Festival is a competition, yes, but it's more than that, it's an advertisement of what UA has to offer…of what we have to offer." Midoriya paused. "Now, let me rephrase my first question: who here thinks that they can get more attention than Bakugo and Todoroki in this event, or any of the events after?"

There was silence among the students, and this time nobody raised their hand except Aoyama—but everybody agreed that he didn't count.

"I won't lie to you and say that how you place in these events isn't important, because it is," Midoriya told them. "But make no mistake, today isn't about winning or losing. Today, we aren't students, we aren't athletes, we're not even heroes…no, what we are is a product. UA is providing us a platform, and we're using it to sell ourselves—to show all of Japan what makes us special, what makes us worth investing in." He closed his eyes and sighed. "But, unfortunately for some of us, certain products are more marketable than others…be honest, when you saw me for the first time, how many of you thought that I was kind of plain? You know, the kind of guy who's always cast as a tree in the school play?" There was a round of snickers at that, but a good number of them nodded sheepishly.

"You aren't a tree, Deku!" Ashido called out with a shit-eating grin, "You're a real boy!"

"I know you're making fun of me, but you're right, I'm not a tree." Midoriya looked each one of his classmates in the eyes, one by one. "Class 1-A isn't Todoroki, and it isn't Bakugo. But you know as well as I do that those people up there and watching at home will be dazzled by their pretty faces and their big, flashy quirks…and all they'll see when they look at us is a bunch of trees, or—to steal a phrase from Bakugo—a bunch of extras." Midoriya paused. "But…we don't have to let them decide our roles; we don't have to be trees."

Midoriya suppressed a wince at the sound of snickering coming from Jirou and Ashido and his ears pinked slightly. 'Yeah, probably went a little too far with that metaphor, but whatever, I've got to just keep pushing on.'

"Um," Midoriya cleared his throat, "All Might once said that heroes shine the brightest when they are helping someone in need, and right now, we need each other." Hs rhythm regained, Midoriya smiled and extended his hand to the group. "And I need you, each of you. I'm not as smart as Yaoyorozu. I'm not as fast as Iida, or tough as Kirishima. I'm not as strong as Satou or Shoji. I can't hear like Jirou, or be sneaky like Hagakure. I don't have a nigh invincible shadow to fight on my behalf like Tokoyami, or area of effect attacks like Kaminari. I don't hold a candle to Ojiro's close-combat skills, and I don't have range like Aoyama and Sero. I don't have the utility of Uraraka or Kouda. What I do have is a plan—a plan that will let you showcase your abilities to far greater effect than you ever could on your own." Smiling, Midoriya extended his hand to them all, "We aren't extras, we all survived the USJ—just like Bakugo and Todoroki did, and we did it the same way we'll outshine them today, by fighting together."

"Hell yeah Midoriya!" Kirishima walked over grasped Midoriya's extended hand with tears in his eyes—he couldn't help remembering the tough times he'd had with his own quirk, and being overlooked, "That was inspiring as shit! I'm with you all the way!"

Ashido let out a laugh and put her hands in, "I can always appreciate a good speech, and if my horn buddy is in, I'm in too!"

"Horn buddy?" Midoriya said in an amused tone, "What's a horn buddy?"

"Midoriya, as expected of you!" Iida boomed, putting his hand in, "I apologize for my selfishness! Let us show the world what Class 1-A is capable of!"

"I'm in, but could you possibly be any more dramatic?" Jirou snarked as she joined them, "You know we're going to make fun of you for this forever, right Tree-man?"

"…Tree-man?" Midoriya repeated flatly.

"Tree-man?" Ashido crowed, "That should totally be your hero name! Your hair kind of looks like a bush and you've got that whole green theme going on."

Uraraka burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh, that's totally true!"

Midoriya's eyes widened in horror. "No," he insisted, "I am not going to be Tree-man."

"Oh," Ashido laughed, "you're Tree-man all right."

"Come on everyone, grow up." Yaoyorozu stepped in and shook her head. "You can't just force a name like that on him, you have to take his feelings into consideration!"

"Thank you," Midoriya said, "I knew I could count on you to have my back."

"Remember," Yaoyorozu continued with a giggle, "he wants to be the next All Might, so we have to incorporate that into the name too."

Midoriya shot his vice-president a betrayed look. "Never mind," he muttered. "I can't trust anyone, it seems."

"Arbor Might?" Asui suggested.

"Mightree Man?" Satou tossed out.

"The Great Deku Tree?" Ashido said.

"That doesn't have anything to do with All Might," Jirou pointed out.

"I know," Ashido admitted, "I just like the Zelda games."

Midoriya sighed and shook his head. 'Pushing back against this will only make them try harder. But I swear, if any of these names stick, I'm going to make Jirou pay for it later.'

After they finished making fun of Midoriya, one by one, each member of the class caved to the growing pressure to go with the flow. Finally, when the set was complete, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu covered the finer details of the plan and everybody's roles within it. As Yaoyorozu created a small radio earpiece for everyone, Midoriya watched the various squads they created chat amongst each other with a look of satisfaction of his face.

He knew that he wasn't as flashy, exotic, or photogenic as many of his peers, but he was okay with all of that—he didn't need to be. He had carefully observed each of his classmates for weeks now. He knew their likes, their dislikes, and what made them tick. He was the president of Class 1-A, their leader, and that meant that their strength was his strength. Todoroki and Bakugo could take the round. He didn't care, because by the end of the day, the one standing on top would be him.

XXX

HEROES NEVER DIE

XXX

Having bullied his way to the front of the tunnel that served as the starting line for the Obstacle Course, Midoriya touched the newly-created radio in his ear. He turned and nodded at Tokoyami, Kirishima, and Iida. "This is…" he sighed into the tiny device, "the Great Deku Tree, reporting in. Vanguard Team is in position."

Cackling came in over the channel. "Hahaha oh my gosh, I can't believe you actually used the codename! You're such a dork! I love it!"

Midoriya flushed, "Come on, really, Ashido? You were the one who insisted on using codenames!"

"Yeah, I was kidding, there's no way everybody was going to remember all of those." Ashido sounded entirely too amused with herself, "Everybody else understood that, right?"

There was a round of agreement and Midoriya felt his face burn in humiliation. He took a deep breath. 'Just let it go, Izuku. That's not important right now.'

Just then, Iida's voice came in, "So, just to be clear, we are not using the codenames then? I will admit, I sort of liked 'Specs'."

"Speak for yourself," Hagakure complained, "if anyone calls me 'Nudist' I'm going to give them an extended lesson on the kind of havoc an invisible person can wreak in their life.'

Midoriya pinched the bridge of his nose. "Enough about the codenames! Let's keep on task, please? All team leaders, report your status."

"Rearguard is in position," Iida said. "We're prepared to render assistance as needed."

"You can count on us!" Uraraka chimed in, "Nobody's getting left behind on our watch!"

"Let's keep the chatter to a minimum," Midoriya gently rebuked Uraraka, "unless you have pertinent information, only the team leaders should be talking."

"Oh…okay, sorry!"

Midoriya shook his head with exasperated amusement. 'What did I just say?'

"All members of the Intel team are in position," Asui croaked, "we're ready to report enemy quirks as we learn about them."

"Speaking of pertinent information. If you see a blond guy with crazy eyes, don't let him touch you," Jirou reported, "from what I've overheard, he's got a Copy quirk."

"Good to know," Midoriya said, "those of you with mutant-type quirks should probably be fine, but be cautious. Any of you with emitter type quirks, definitely keep clear. Sabotage team, what's your status?"

"Sabotage team's preparations are still in progress," Yaoyorozu reported. "I've managed to plant four devices."

"I've got five done!" Hagakure said, "These guys really need to pay better attention!"

"I've only got two," Kaminari said, "but I made it into position."

"Excellent work," Midoriya praised, "You three, make sure to ditch any leftover devices—everybody else hug the wall, but be prepared to avoid Todoroki's attack. Let us know immediately if you get caught so Ashido can melt you out before she joins the rest of us at the vanguard, but you definitely don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

"Uh, I'm still a little unsure about this," Kaminari said nervously, "I'm basically going to be useless for the entirety of the race if I do this. Are you guys sure you can carry me the whole way?"

"Kaminari," Midoriya assured him, "you'll be fine, I promise. We've got you, Sero will tape you to Shoji's back after Uraraka makes you weightless."

XXX

(Announcer's Booth)

XXX

"All right!" Yamada Hizashi, AKA Present Mic's voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "Is everybody ready?" The crowd broke out into massive cheers. "Oh, come on!" The Pro Hero/Radio Jockey exultated, "You can do better than that! I said, IS EVERYBODY READY?"

This time the noise was truly deafening, and everyone standing in the starting tunnel could feel the vibration of hundreds of thousands of people stamping their feet and shouting above their heads.

"ALL RIGHT!" Yamada cheered, "Now that's more like it! In just a few moments our lovely referee, Midnight will sound the starting gun and our first-year competitors will be off! But before we begin, I'd like to hear some words from the teacher of the class that everyone has their eye on! The man in charge of the first-years who survived their run in with the League of Villains, Eraserhead!"

There were ten solid seconds of silence where the heavily bandaged man stared daggers at his colleague.

"Um, Eraserhead…" Yamada said with a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. "It's your turn to give some commentary…what are your thoughts on the situation?"

There was a long, suffering sigh over the loudspeakers. "I can't believe I let you drag me up here when I could be getting some sleep in. What do you want me to say?"

Yamada flipped off the loudspeaker. "Come on Shouta," he whined, "why do you always have to be like this?"

Aizawa sighed. "Hizashi, you know I don't like doing this kind of thing. Why didn't you grab Vlad for the commentary? Or All Might?"

"I did try to get All Might first," Yamada admitted, "but he said that he was busy. And you know Vlad, he's totally biased. Plus, everybody wants to know about 1-A. Just tell us who to look out for in the class, your general impressions."

"Tch, fine." Aizawa clicked his tongue in irritation and flipped the loudspeaker on again. "All of my students will do well," he grunted, "they've faced the terror of the real world, so they won't let something like this won't phase them. That's all I'll say for now, let's get this thing started already, wasting time on idle chatter is illogical."

Yamada grinned, "Well there you have it, folks! Midnight, if you would!"

"My pleasure!" Midnight said from her spot on the field. "Everybody on your marks, get set, GO!"

She pointed the starting pistol into the air and fired. Then all hell broke loose.

XXX

(In the Tunnel)

XXX

"1.5 Million Volts: Indiscriminate Shock!"

The tunnel was filled with a bright light, followed by cries of pain as Kaminari discharged every last drop of power within him. However, his name for the attack wasn't quite accurate—while people gathered and waited in the tunnel, Yaoyorozu, Kaminari and Hagakure had been busy, planting small, light, positively charged devices on key targets which essentially acted as lightning rods.

Key targets such as known members of the Hero Course's Class 1-B, and anybody who happened to be in their path or touching them. The number of targets diluted the effect of the massive electrical discharge, but they were so stunned from the unexpected attack that they had no chance of avoiding Todoroki's follow up. In one fell swoop, nearly 1/3rd of the competition were eliminated.

"I can't believe it!" Yamada shouted, "An enormous portion of the field has been eliminated mere seconds into the first event by the seemingly coordinated attacks of 1-A's Todoroki Shouto and Kaminari Denki! Eraserhead, any cool insight regarding this shocking development?"

A groan could be heard over the speakers. "Really?"

"Team leaders, report!" Midoriya broke into a run after Todoroki and Bakugo, "Anyone get caught?"

"The scout team is all accounted for!" Asui said.

"Sabotage team is fine," Yaoyorozu said.

"The rearguard is in perfect condition!" Iida said, "We are currently melting Kaminari out of the ice and are about to load him onto Shoji's back."

"Great job everyone," Midoriya praised. "Ashido, once you're done melting Kaminari out, hurry and join us at the vanguard like we discussed."

"Bad news," Ojiro reported, "a lot of the 1-B people are shaking off the shock, and they got someone who's melting them out of the ice even faster than Ashido can."

"Damn," Midoriya cursed, then touched his ear again. "Good find, Ojiro, be careful everyone! It looks like we aren't the only ones who thought about cooperating. Can you give us a description? What's he look like? What does his quirk seem to be doing?"

"He's pale, mid-length light spiked hair, flat nose and small eyebrows," Ojiro said. "He uh…he doesn't seem to have any lips, so his face kinda looks like a skull. As for his quirk, it's less like he's melting the ice and more like he's melting the ground itself. He's pulling them out of the ground like the dirt is made of water."

"That's Honenuki Juzo," Yaoyorozu chimed in, "he was one of the four students admitted through recommendations. He can soften anything."

"Keep an eye out, but move quickly" Midoriya instructed, "even if they aren't totally out of the race, it will still take them at least a few minutes to regain complete control of their nervous systems. We need to make good use of this advantage while we've got it."

XXX

(Announcer's Booth)

XXX

"What on earth is going on?" Yamada screeched as he watched the students of 1-A work together as in organized units to demolish the 'Robo Inferno' with hardly a pause. "I've never seen anything like this in the history of the UA Sports Festival!"

 Each of the teams was well balanced, and had a clear division of labor—with heavy hitters simultaneously clearing any obstacles and guarding against threats from their fellow competitors while the teammates watched their backs and set up additional obstacles and traps to hinder the people behind them. Even though Todoroki and Bakugo held a commanding lead, nobody was paying attention to that in light of the fact that there wasn't a single person in the top 20 places who wasn't a member of class 1-A.

"True." Aizawa, agreed. "A certain level of teamwork is not unheard of, there's usually one or two groups who will work together, but this level of cooperation is beyond anything we've ever seen during a free-for-all event, somebody—or several somebodies—in the class organized this." He narrowed his eyes at the arena's jumbo screen, which was currently broadcasting an image of Midoriya barking instructions into a radio after smashing a robot to pieces. "And I have a strong suspicion that our student representative is responsible."

"Midoriya Izuku?" Yamada exclaimed, "He's behind this? Now that you mention it, despite finishing first in the Entrance Exam by an impressive margin, he's in 7th place right now. That's not bad, but way below what a frontrunner like him should be seated at."

"He's a born leader," Aizawa explained, "and he's got a highly rational outlook. He likely knows that it isn't necessary to place first in the preliminaries and is conserving his energy for the later events."

"Wow, that's high praise coming from you." Yamada remarked.

"He's an exceptional student," Aizawa grunted. "I've been teaching Midoriya for well over a month now, and this has his fingerprints all over it."

In the crowd, All Might watched Midoriya with a thoughtful look on his face. 'It's true, he doesn't even seem to be trying to win the race. Is this the way you want to announce yourself to the world, young Midoriya? Not exactly what I had in mind, but…' He glanced over at a pair of nearby pros in a lively debate over his protégé.

"Are you crazy?" One of them said incredulously, "You're going with Midoriya over Endeavor's boy, or the Sludge Villain kid? You need to get your eyes checked, those two seem way stronger than him."

The other pro shook her head. "Those two are strong, sure, but strength isn't everything. Midoriya's clearly no slouch, and if he's really the one who organized this spectacle, that means that he's basically created his own agency in his first year."

"His own agency? Well, I guess you could look at it that way if you squinted at it hard enough," the other hero admitted, "but those two seem more impressive to me."

"You're being too shallow minded. Mark my words, that kid is going to be big."

All Might grinned. "Keep it up, kid."

XXX

(The Race)

XXX

"Woah," Kirishima said, looking over the edge of the massive chasm standing between them and the path. He kicked a stone over the edge and watched it for several seconds before it clattered against the ground. "That goes down a long way…what are they supposed to do if someone falls?"

"They've probably got something set up. Luckily for us, that's not going to be an issue," Midoriya said, bringing a hand to his ear. "Good news everyone this is where we ensure our victory. The next obstacle is a chasm, approximately 20 meters wide, with a series of pillars connected by ropes. Scout Team, focus on covering for Tsuyu so she can come up front. Iida, bring Uraraka up here as fast as you can. I'll head to the other side now, and Asui can use her tongue to pull herself over to me. Once she's with me, Uraraka will make everyone weightless, and we'll catch them as they float over. The rest of you, stick together, but move up as fast as you can. Over."

"Understood," Asui croaked, "I should be there in about three minutes. Over."

"Around two minutes for us," Iida replied, breathing hard. "See you soon. Over."

Midoriya turned to Tokoyami. "Do you think that Dark Shadow can carry Uraraka across the ravine?"

Tokoyami nodded. "Yes, so long as we move one platform at a time. He wouldn't be able to do the whole thing at once."

"That's fine," Midoriya said, "as long it can be done."

Midoriya nodded at Ashido, "Once I'm across this gap, melt all of the ropes. We're going to make sure that this obstacle is the last one for most of the people here."

"Wow," Ashido said, "that's just mean. And seems kind of unfair."

"And electrocuting them wasn't mean?" Midoriya replied as he walked across the taut rope with his arms held wide in an impressive display of balance. Once safely on the other side of the gap, he turned around to address his two team members. "Plus, there's nothing unfair about using our abilities to skew the odds in our favor. That's the whole point of being allowed to use our quirks in the first place."

"I guess you have a point there, oh Great Deku Tree," Ashido said, flicking a bit of acid at one of the ropes, disintegrating it and sending it tumbling down into the ravine. "I'll get started now."

Midoriya rolled his eyes.

XXX

HEROES NEVER DIE

XXX

Todoroki and Bakugo fought each other as they ran through the minefield, shoving, blasting, and freezing each other, but unable to land any decisive blows since most of their focus was direct towards not blowing themselves up. They weren't making good progress on any front—despite Bakugo clearing a huge portion of the field in a single explosive-powered leap, Todoroki had managed to grab and encase one of Bakugo's hands in ice, rendering his quirk on that side too weak to propel him any further.

After redirecting a blisteringly fast swipe from Bakugo, Todoroki spared an instant to glance over his shoulder and was taken aback at the huge crowd of almost his entire class breathing down their necks. 'What the heck? How did everyone get here so fast? And where's Midoriya?'

His brief lapse in attention was enough that he was sent staggering by a sharp blow to the side of his head. The only thing that saved him from being blow away was a reflexive use of his ice to freeze over the ground in his immediate vicinity.

"You gotta be pretty fucking arrogant to look away from a fight, Half-and-Half!" Bakugo shouted, "You think you're better than me!?"

Todoroki didn't answer, and merely returned his focus to moving ahead while fending off Bakugo's assaults. Bakugo didn't appreciate being ignored and a vein throbbed in his forehead.

"Motherfucker!" Bakugo snarled, swiping at Todoroki with a weak blast from his frozen hand. "Don't you ignore me! You really piss me off! First you go and declare war on the wrong person, and then you try to take what's mine!"

'What the hell is this nutjob talking about?' Todoroki wondered. "I don't care about your fragile ego," he said bluntly, sending out a wave of ice that Bakugo easily vaulted over.

~Boom boom boom boom boom boom~

Explosion after explosion rang out behind them in rapid fire succession, and Todoroki and Bakugo stopped to see what was going on behind them, unable to resist the urge to look. The two's eyes widened in shock at the sight of Kirishima, Satou, Ojiro, and Shoji all working together in tandem to push a large, heavy-looking plow down the field, setting off the mines and clearing a path for the people behind them.

"What the fuck?" Bakugo exclaimed, "Why are they helping everyone behind us?"

Todoroki didn't reply, but immediately froze the ground in front of him and began to sprint towards the goal line. The only reason he hadn't done so yet was because he didn't want to provide a path for the people behind him, but now that was irrelevant.

"Son of a bitch!" Bakugo cursed, and began to sprint after Todoroki while shooting repeated blasts behind him as a boost. Bakugo grinned, 'Good, that fucker's ice on my left hand is gone. Time to up the output.'

"You're annoying!" Todoroki said, throwing up an ice wall behind him. "Get off my back for a minute!"

"That shit won't work on me, Icy-Hot!" Bakugo shouted, easily blasting straight through the thin, hastily constructed barrier and pelting Todoroki's back with ice shrapnel. As they made their way out of the minefield, the two continued to fight all the way up until the tunnel.

They abandoned their efforts to impair each other and broke into an all-out sprint for the last 100 meters, completely neck and neck.

"This event," Bakugo growled once they reached the 25-meter mark, "is MINE!" He leapt into the air and unleashed the most powerful two-handed explosions he could muster behind him, forcing Todoroki to stop and guard himself from getting blasted in the face and propelling Bakugo forward past the finish line.

"And with an explosive finish, the winner of the first event is Bakugo Katsuki!"

Drenched with sweat, and exhausted from his brutal sprint, Bakugo forced himself to take deep, controlled breaths through his nose. He didn't have the energy to talk at the moment, but he smiled genuinely and raised a triumphant fist in the same way that All Might did when he won—as All Might always did. He closed his eyes and to a moment to revel in the raucous cheers of the crowd. The cheers for him.

'This is it.' Bakugo thought. He took a seat on the ground and took a minute to catch his breath. He closed his eyes. 'It's been so long since I actually feel like I accomplished something worthy of me. This is the feeling that I've been working for…this is what a real victory feels like.'

"Congratulations, Kacchan." Bakugo opened his eyes with a start and saw Midoriya standing next to him with his typical calm smile on his face. "I'm glad it was you who took first here. You earned it."

Bakugo narrowed his eyes at Midoriya's pristine shirt, his even breathing, and unflushed face. "You aren't tired," he said accusingly.

"No," Midoriya agreed. "I'm not tired. I got tenth, by the way. Thanks for asking."

"Shut the fuck up. You lost to me, that's what place you got," Bakugo wiped his brow. "What the fuck happened to fighting with all of your strength and holding nothing back? What was up with you working with all of those other losers? Are you fucking with me?"

"Don't call our classmates losers." Midoriya rebuked Bakugo before he chuckled. "No Kacchan, I'm not fucking with you. I'm not holding back at all; I seriously plan on winning."

"Then why aren't you tired?!" Bakugo snapped. "Why did you give up your chance to win so you could help those scrubs? I fucking saw you do it!"

"Did you now?" Midoriya asked, "I guess you could look at it that way."

"There's no other way to look at it!"

"That's a shocking lack of imagination," Midoriya said mildly. "I prefer to think of it as investing in the next two rounds."

Gears began to turn in Bakugo's head and his eyes widened. "You…"

"Like I said to Todoroki," Midoriya smiled, "there's more to strength than power and skill—sometimes you have to throw a few hands to take the bigger pot. I'm perfectly willing to give up a few points going into the next round if it ensures me a full tank and the pick of the lot for the team event. Get some rest Kacchan," Midoriya patted Bakugo on the shoulder, "you're going to need it."

Bakugo watched in shocked silence as Midoriya headed over to Jirou and Asui to see if there was any more information they could report. He broke into a cold sweat in response to a sudden epiphany. 'I'm not worried about a one-on-one with anyone, but that fucking nerd is dangerous in a team…he has his goddamn stalker notes on everyone in the class, and I only know like…four people's quirks.'

Bakugo shook his head, "What am I even thinking?" He chastised himself. "There's no fucking way I'll lose—I'm me!"

Feeling much better, Bakugo went to go get some water. He was going to be just fine.

AN: And the obstacle race is over. For those of you who are wondering, Class 1-A took the top 19 spots, with Mei in 20th. Shinsou is there, as is most of Class 1-B, they were able to shake off the coordinated attacks, but they lost several minutes doing so. As always, let me know what you think, and Plus Ultra.