Chapter 14

After the League's first major outing, Izuku expected things to change. He was right of course. The news reported on the attack as a big assault on the heart of society, painting them as horrific demons and praying for the safe recovery of the heroes that had been injured in the line of fire. The attack on Midnight was associated with the raid, with some news outlets theorising that the teachers of UA were being targeted by the League. The last part, while an idea he'd admittedly not thought of, was wrong. Izuku was surprised that Shoto's plan had worked. He'd clearly underestimated Momo's faith in the hero system. But a new ally was always welcome. Especially one with such a powerful quirk, vast array of connections and incredible intelligence as she had.

The bar also had a new permanent resident, alongside himself, Tomura, Shoto, Dabi, Hitoshi, Kurogiri and Himiko. A side effect of the order to teleport people randomly that neither Izuku not Kurogiri had anticipated was that Kirishima and Mina would come into contact. While Mina didn't care in the slightest, even going as far as it being the most fun she's had in months, it did mean her secret was out. She had Kurogiri warp her valuables from her room to a vacant room in the bar, leaving a message on a mirror written in pink lipstick for the cops. "Catch us if you can" with a small drawing of her and Himiko under it. She'd shown the picture to the others on Venality, laughing about it.

However, other than that and beefed up security in UA, nothing had really changed. Izuku had thought it would have resulted in some new, powerful members interested in the group after such a daring attack or some new groups looking to provide them with resources but nothing of the sort came. It was almost disappointing. Apparently, they needed something a bit bigger. But Izuku couldn't plan for that yet.

Despite the attack on UA facility, the faculty decided to go ahead with the annual sports festival regardless. Izuku didn't know what to feel about that. On one hand, it was good to be able to get an example of the best UA had to offer for future plans. On the other, he didn't like how they were prioritising publicity over the safety of their students. The Sports Festival was a prime opportunity for someone to attack after all. Tomura had suggested it. Thought they weren't being taken seriously. Izuku was inclined to agree with the latter statement but still decided against it. Even being stealthy, they couldn't win against the entire hero community. Not without higher numbers of skilled individuals.

The day of the announcement that the Festival would go ahead ended with a large crowd of students crowding the doors of class 1-A. There was an annoyed clamour from a few of the students in the classroom. They couldn't get out while the crowd was there. The usual suspect decided to fix that. Izuku sighed as Bakugo strode forwards. " Outta the way extras!" He shouted, releasing a small explosion from his hands. A few scattered at his threats but most stood their ground.

" He's gonna give us all a bad name at this rate." Jiro complained.

" Leave him be." Izuku said. " Violence is the only thing Bakugo knows what to do properly. That and being extremely unlikeable."

" I can agree to that." Yanagi admitted.

" Man. So this is the type of garbage they let into Class 1-A, is it?" A loud, snooty sounding boy said before laughing bitterly as he approached the head of the crowd. " How pathetic."

" Eh?" Bakugo grunted.

" I'm just saying a class overrun by a group of simple thugs shouldn't get their hopes up that they can beat Class 1-B." The blond haired boy declared. " We will crush you with every fibre of our beings. You utter useless weaklings will rue the day that you thought you-"

" Useless, huh?" Izuku asked, cutting him off, a dark edge to his tone." Your name is Neito Monoma, right?"

" Huh?" Monoma looked over at him. Izuku looked down at his notebook, making sure he had his data in order.

" I'll take that as a yes. Your quirk is copy. It allows you to use up to three quirks of anyone you touch but only for 5 minutes at a time. In the hero entrance exam, you came 36th. In other words…" Izuku looked up, smirking. " You're a leech. Without anyone else to rely on, you become basically quirkless. In fact, you barely scraped by stealing what you could from others. And you are calling us useless? Sounds like you're the one with everything to prove."

" Why you-"

" You know, Eraserhead and Thirteen were injured pretty badly in that attack. Are you calling them weak and worthless despite their storied history? Please tell me, Monoma. How would have you done anything better."

" I never-"

" Because, from what I'm hearing from you, a person who wasn't even there and only seems to have basic knowledge of the event, you sound like your class could have done a lot better. So go on. Grace one as useless as I with such knowledge. I'm waiting."

" Izuku…" Momo mumbled, her tone warning him to stop pushing.

" You can't can you?" Izuku chuckled. " Listen, it's simple. Prove your worth at the Sports Festival, Monoma. Same goes for the rest of you." Izuku stood up, grabbing his bag. " Talk all you want. Unless you can back it up with actions, none of us are going to take you seriously. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got homework to do." Izuku pushed his way passed Monoma and the crowd, a few other members of the class happy to use the frozen crowd to get out of the rough situation.

" Now you've done it. They'll be gunning for us now." Denki said worried. Izuku shrugged.

" What does it matter? We've got two weeks and the entire school database in my laptop thanks to Toru." Izuku flashed his wicked smirk again. " I'm pretty good at planning. Monoma calling me useless is something he'll live to regret."

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. While some of his classmates spent the entire two weeks training, Izuku mixed with a detail plan on how to deal with the quirks of everyone in Class 1-B plus some extra nasty quirks he found in the other courses. He gave his findings to Denki, Momo and Ochako to help them prepare better themselves.

The other members on the League were split on what they would do for the tournament. A lot of them just decided to stay in the bar, either out of already being known or simply not wanting to go out. The only people who decided to go were Shoto and Toru, Shoto wearing some sunglasses and shifted his long hair to hide his scar. Toru herself had been requested to sneak into UA for the Sports Festivals curriculum to give Izuku and the others more intel, which she did happily. Something about the visits had become a thrill for her. Before she hated not being able to not be seen. But now that she could freely become fully visible, not being able to be seen when she was somewhere she was not had become ecstasy.

Izuku had a plan set up for the entire Sports Festival, though left it up to the others if they wanted to got along with it. The idea was that he was going to end in the middle of the pack for the first round so he could move fairly unnoticed in the second round then purposely lose the third round during the second match, not reaching the podiums. Enough to make it look like he was trying but not enough to draw to much attention to himself. He fully expected the more competitive Denki to abandon the plan in rounds 1 and 3. Maybe Ochako would as well. Momo seemed rational enough to go with him though.

Izuku didn't really pay too much attention to the opening ceremony. He sighed and shook his head in disappointment in the all too predictable announcement from Bakugo that he was the strongest there was and he would beat every single other student in the arena with a hand tied behind his back. He always was too prideful for his own good. At Aldera, it made him someone people hid behind. Here, it just made him a target. He ignored Monomas taunts as he headed for the starting line of the first round, though Bakugo was far less patient than he was. It was quite enjoyable to see Monoma steal Bakugo's quirk and blast him in the face. That was cathartic.

The rules of the first round were detailed by Vlad King, this year referee. Usually, this was Midnight's job, however, due to Momo's handiwork, she was currently in the intensive care ward of the Musutafa Central Hospital having her bones welded back together. The rules were simple. Make a lap around the outer arena. The first 42 people to pass the finish line would advance to the next stage. Anything, beyond killing or heavily wounding other students, was allowed so long as everyone stayed on the path. As it was an obstacle course, random obstacles would be presented. Even Izuku didn't know what these would be so it appeared they really were last minute additions so the teachers couldn't tell favourites what was in store.

Izuku tapped the toe of his shoe against the dusty ground, waiting for the lights to dim down. From above, he listened to Present Mic and Aizawa ramble on about how exciting all of this was. " What utter drivel." He grumbled.

" Mikumo." Momo said beside him. " Keep calm."

" I'm always calm, Momo."

" You don't look calm." She folded her arms. " It's Bakugo, isn't it?" Izuku looked over to her. " I can't say I can understand having someone like that in your life, but I can tell you want to beat him. Don't you?" Izuku focused on the lights again.

" More than anything." He admitted. " But I can hold back."

" I hope you're right."

" GET READY!" Present Mic shouted over the loud speaker. The first light went out.

" Let's focus on getting past this first. We can worry about Bakugo later." Momo nodded.

" HERE WE GO!" The second light went out. Izuku charged wind into his legs. He watched everyone else, serious expressions, ready to shoot forwards at the mark. The last light went dark. "GOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Toru and Shoto watched as half of the student body was almost blown away by Bound as Izuku launched forwards. " AND THERE OFF! SEEMS SOMEONES A BIT EXCITED, WOULDN'T YOU SAY?" Present Mic shouted.

" Akitani's quirk is powerful and has a list of uses. The others should be careful around him." Aizawa said coldly, his voice muffled by the bandages around his face. Toru laughed nervously.

" He's excited, huh?"

" He never shows it, but in this case he has something to prove." Shoto narrowed his eyes. " If were competing against the bastard, I'd be the same."

" That Bakugo guy really is a sore spot to Izu. To unleash a powerful blow right out of the gates even with his plans to not get too noticed. He's in two minds about this."

" That's what worries me." Shoto admitted. " You saw what Bakugo was like in his little pledge. That must have hit a nerve."

" He really is something." Toru grumbled. " Pissing off an entire student body with a few words is a talent not many people have."

" And seeing as the person who despises him the most is competing…" Shoto stopped himself. Toru got it. She was a bit worried. The first time Izuku and Bakugo interacted in UA, Izuku lost control of his emotions. And this time, All Might was watching them. Judging them. She hoped the others would help keep him in check.

" AND THE STUDENTS HAVE REACHED THE FIRST OBSTACLE! ROOOOOOBOT INFEEEEEERNOOOOOO!" Mic declared. On the screen, a small army of robots could be seen blocking the students path.

" Those are the things Izuku fought at the UA entrance exam, right?" Shoto asked. Toru nodded.

" Yeah. I got the designs with some of the data I stole from the servers. Despite appearances, their armour is really weak and their fire power is limited." She explained. " Still, someone without a physical quirk would have a hard time bringing even the weakest down. The largest is the exception to those rules. It actually has armour and, due to its size, it's formidable in battle. I'm just glad I didn't have to apply here. With the exception of Toshi, the rest of you could smash right through those thing but I'd be hard pressed to even take down one."

" Stopping is detrimental."

" Yeah." Toru agreed. The two watched as the students moved passed the robots in various ways. Izuku used Bound to leap from robot to robot, bypassing them by going over them and continuing onto the next length of the course. Some students pulled ahead of him by taking the more direct approach. Bakugo blasted straight through, using his quirk to clear a path for himself and, consequentially, a lot of others. Iida simply ran through using his quirk but had to slow down as the course took a sharp turn. A lot of others were able to either slowly pass by clearing a path or get around on other means. After around 60 had cut through, Kaminari short circuited one of the largest, blocking the path behind him.

" LOOKS LIKE THOSE ROBOTS COULDN'T SLOW 'EM DOWN!" Mic shouted

" The hero course should be familiar with those robots. Their ease of taking them down or avoiding them just shows their progress." Aizawa mused.

" I can't see Chako. You think she made it through all right?" Toru asked nervously.

" I don't think Kaminari would have blocked the path without making sure she got past." Shoto reasoned. " It doesn't surprised me that the hero course is the main focus of this though. In reality, the other courses are just there to make them look better."

" That doesn't seem fair."

" It isn't. But what else do you expect from this society at this point? It's all about the heroes. Everyone else can worship them or hang themselves."

" Yeah. I suppose you're right." Toru nodded.

" IN THE LEAD COMING INTO THE NEXT EVENT IS KATSUKI BAKUGO! SEEMS HIS PLEDGE WASN'T JUST HOT AIR AFTER ALL!" Mic shouted.

" Bakugo is skilled and he knows it. He doesn't make threats." Aizawa explained.

" HOT ON HIS HEELS IS THE YOUNG TORNADO, MIKUMO AKITANI AND RIGHT BEHIND HIM, THE HEIR TO INGENIUM, TENYA IIDA!"

" Unsurprising really. Iida's quirk, like his brothers, is built for speed. Akitani's meanwhile is made for manoeuvrability. In a race, it's reasonable that they'd have an edge. Just like the ones behind them in the top ten. From Sero's tape to Shiozaki's vines, a lot of them have quirks to help them outmanoeuvre their opponents. Others are simply just faster naturally."

" WELL THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS! THE ANALYSIS OF THE DAY FROM DOCTOR ERASERHEAD!"

" Stop that."

" WELL THEN, IT WOULD SEEM THE STUDENTS HAVE ROUNDED INTO THE NEXT OBSTACLE!"

" What the hell?" Toru exclaimed. " Is that… legal?"

" Hmm. Seems Izuku might get further ahead than he intended."

" GO IZU!" Ashido shouted as the rest of the League watched the broadcast from the bar. For the occasion, Sensei had bought them a far larger TV so they wouldn't be huddled around the small box they had before. " GO CHAKO! GO DENKI! GO MOMO!"

" Would you shut up? They can't hear you." Tomura grumbled.

" They can feel my support. I know it." The dust villain rolled his eyes.

" Looks like they've made it to the next obstacle." Dabi mused.

" IF THE FIRST OBSTACLE WAS A PIECE OF CAKE, THIS ONE ISN'T GONNA BE AS KIND! HOPE YOU KIDDIES HAVE BALANCE CAUSE IF YOU FALL DOWN THERE, IT'S A LONG CLIMB BACK OUT! HELL YEAH, FOLKS! IT'S THE FAAAAAAAALL!"

" Is that even safe?" Shinso asked.

" I wouldn't be so worried. They won't let their toys get broken live on air." Tomura shrugged. " Besides, it's not that bad. Most of those brats can by pass the tightropes in a number of ways. Watch." Everyone's attention was on the screen. Tomura was provern right. A lot of the students treated the wires like nothing. Some, like Izuku, just leapt through the air over them. Others simply didn't care and kept running over the ropes. Others still took a safer, more slower approach. There was a surprised gasp as someone from the Support Course shot into the top five by blasting herself through the Fall with wire shooters and jets. " These kids are crazy and stupid. The threat of a little fall isn't going to stop them."

" That's super cool!" Toga cheered.

" Izuku isn't sticking to his own plan." Some of the group looked up. Kurogiri, watching from the bar, poured the group some drinks. " He's broken into second place. This obstacle just makes that lead more obvious. He planned on staying near the centre of the group with the others. However, he's chasing after first place with frightening conviction."

" That kid in front is his old school bully, isn't it." Tomura asked. Kurogiri nodded. "Tch."

" He's the one who did the announcement too." Shinso said. " Even I'd feel fired up to try and beat if I was involved and I don't even have a history with him."

" Izuku's usual plans work because he can keep his cool around even the most intimidating foes or he isn't personally involved with the people he can't control himself around, like Katsuki Bakugo and All Might. However, in this event, he's being faced with them both. I imagine he's having to try and balance his anger towards the two with being rational." Kurogiri went on. " He wants to prove himself. Prove he's surpassed his old school bully. Surpassed the incorrect expectations All Might had of him. Prove not just to himself but the world that he isn't the worthless boy they thought he once was."

" I had no Idea Zuku was so caught up in all of that." Ashido frowned, looking back to the screen with a concerned look. " After everything he's done for us, I forgot he has problems he has to work through too. Man, I'm such a shitty friend."

" Oh come on, Bestie. Don't be like that." Toga rested her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

" She's right Mina. Izuku isn't one to confide in others." Shinso reasoned.

" As much as he despises heroes and wants to see the world burn, he puts everyone before himself. He's a suicidal idiot who doesn't care if he dies." Tomura folded his arms, leaning back in his chair. " I hate how much he makes me worry. That dumbass. He better get his act together soon."

Momo continued running, keeping to the middle of the pack like Izuku had planned. Unfortunately, Izuku wasn't sticking to that plan. Denki and Ochako had also ran off who knows where. She made it passed the Fall with some difficulty. She'd fallen back to, she assumed, 30th. She aimed for the early 20s. Perhaps it was a bit stupid but the competitive air was starting to get to her. She listened as Present Mic's voice echoed around. Ahead of her, some of the students had stopped again. " EVERYONE HAS BEGUN ARRIVING TO THE FINAL HURDLE! WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF EXPLOSIONS IN THIS EVENT FROM A CERTAIN LISTENER BUT HOW ABOUT A FEW MORE? THAT RIGHT! IT'S THE MIIIIIIINEFIEEEEEELD!!!!"

" Are you kidding me?" She hissed. It didn't deter her though as she broke through the stopped crowd without fear. She quickly ran through her mind about the specifics of the item she needed to make before pulling a mine detector from her body and holding it out in front of her. At every beep, she side stepped and kept running.

Looking up, she spotted Izuku and Bakugo flying through the air ahead of the group. Explosions rocketed ahead as Iida burst through the crowd, the mines activating just barely too slow for him to get caught. Looking around she saw others. Class 1-A had all made it through. So did 1-B by the looks of it. She saw a few from the General Course, including Ochako, as well from other courses as well. The Support course girl from before speed through the arena, her hover boots making the mines useless. There were a lot of impressive contestants racing alongside her. But it wouldn't be enough to stop her.

Suddenly, she felt a strong weight on her back. Her speed slowed slightly. Had someone used their quirk on her to make her feel sluggish. She wrote that idea off. She didn't feel slow mentally. It was just like she was being weighed down. Like something was stuck to her… She looked over her shoulder.

" Huh?!" She exclaimed. Attached to her back was a small, purple haired thing, clutching to her like a baby gorilla. " What the hell are you doing?"

" Catching a ride, sweet cheeks." The boy said, grinning. Momo gave him a disgusted look. " Like I'm gonna win without a lift. You see these mines? I'm not dying here."

" They're non lethal. Stop being such a baby." Momo growled. " Who even are you anyway?"

" Ha. Don't know? I'm Minoru Mineta. Class 1-B."

" Ugh. 1-B again. You people just loving getting in our way."

" Hey, we're not all like Monoma you know! Not all of us care about your supposed sense of superiority he keep parroting on about day in and day out! He has a complex! I just wanna pass this stupid round and you were just the closest girl I could find!"

" Closest… girl?"

" Yeah. Hee hee. Best there is."

" Pig." In a swift motion, Momo shrugged the jacket of her school uniform off her back, already just resting on her shoulders so she could have access to her quirk more readily and leaving her in just her sleeveless shirt. She pushed back with her Mine Detector in a swift motion, pushing Mineta backwards. An explosion echoed from behind her, the force pushing her forwards slightly. She snorted. " Serves you right."

"Too fast…" Izuku muttered. They were closing to the end now. He was still in second place. Bakugo was right in front of him. With a bit more speed… He shook his head. Get control of yourself, he thought. Izuku landed, breaking into a slight jog. He couldn't get too much attention in the next round. He knew that the next round was a cavalry battle. The likelihood is those who placed higher in this would find the next round far more difficult. He needed to slow down.

" OH? IT SEEMS AFTER BEING IN THE FRONT THE ENTIRE RACE, AKITANI IS SLOWING DOWN!" He heard Mic scream.

" He's probably hit his quirks draw back. He's done well enough." Aizawa said dismissively. He felt a slight breeze as Iida passed him by. A few others followed, the support course girl, some of Class 1-B and Tokoyami. Izuku crossed the line just after them, landing him a solid 8th place. Higher than he wanted, but it would have to do.

" Iz… Mikumo." Izuku looked over his shoulder. Coming in behind him was Momo and Ochako, finishing around the same time.

" Oh. Hey guys. Sorry. I didn't mean to get so far ahead."

" No worries." Momo reassured him. " This is a contest after all. You deserve a little fun."

" Yeah." Ochako nodded. " Still though, I thought they were trying to kill us there. Robots, a big drop into nothingness and then a minefield. Are they crazy?"

" No crazier than the other students." Momo grumbled, rolling her shoulder.

" Oh yeah. What happened to your jacket?" Ochako asked.

" I'll explain later." Momo sighed.

" Hey guys. Wait up." Denki shouted, running up to them. He bent over, panting. His gym uniform was covered in dust.

" Man. You look like hell." Izuku joked.

" Fucking landmines!" Denki growled. " I was doing well until I reached there then… Agh! Man, I wish I could fly like you, Mizuko."

" I didn't realize how effective my quirk was until I saw the obstacles." Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. A loud shout from the stage caught his attention. Vlad King raised an arm to the screen. Faces and numbers flashed across the screen. The Winner was Katsuki Bakugo, followed by Tenya Iida and Shiozaki Ibara in third. Izuku ended up in Eighth place. Momo finished 15th with Ochako right behind her in 16th. Kaminari ended up in 24th place. Overall, all of 1-A got passed the first round alongside most of 1-B, with the exception of Mineta who got blasted back to the beginning of the third stage after his encounter with Momo and couldn't catch back up, and a few members of the other courses, most notably the support course girl who had made waves among students and spectators alike and Ochako. Overall, 57 students finished before they decided to move on. Most gave up after being blown away or their path was blocked after the first obstacle. Some stopped due to exhaustion. Others didn't want to risk a broken bone or several from the obstacles.

The next round was a point based cavalry battle. As Izuku expected, the places that everyone got in the obstacle race determined the points they got in this event. The lowest points went to the last place, with 5 for 42nd place slowly growing in intervals of 5. This meant, at eighth place, Izuku had a score of 170. Fairly high but not anywhere near the top spot. Bakugo in first place was saddled with a very rich 10 million points. Anyone with that was all but guaranteed to claim victory. So everyone would be targeting it.

Between him, Denki, Momo and Ochako, the group's count came to 525 points. Despite being on the higher end of points to take, Izuku doubted that many people would be willing to try with the 200 point top 5 on the field. Even if Bakugo was terrifying, people would still be gunning for him the most. The goal was to end in the top four to qualify for the next round. So, the simplest idea would be to ambush others while they were hunting for the top pointers and take the points of the teams with the least score. Even if they finished in fourth, that was a victory. There was no seeding in the tournament, so coming in first likely had no benefit other than a personal feeling of superiority.

" So, how's this gonna work?" Denki asked.

" I'll be one of the… what do you call the bottom people again?" Izuku asked.

" Horse." Ochako said. " Have you ever done a cavalry battle before, Iz...er, Mikumo?" Izuku shook his head.

" No-one trusted me as either part, so I always sat these things out in Aldera."

" Shame. It's pretty fun." She looked over to Momo and Denki. " So, which of you two want to be the rider?"

" Huh?" Denki asked. " You're not gonna do it? You're probably lighter."

" Yeah, but with my quirk, I'm better suited as a carrier. I can float the rider if needed."

" I'll do it." Momo said confidently. " Kaminari can use his quirk with his legs if needed. I can do my best work if I have both my arms free."

" That makes sense." Izuku agreed. " You can make a shield to protect our points or a grappling hook to snatch points from afar. You probably are the best bet for a rider."

" Then the team is sorted then!" Denki shouted, punching the air happily. There was a chattering of agreement.

" Oh. I guess this is a bad time." The group looked over. Looking nervously at the ground was Jiro. " I was just wanting to see if Yaomomo wanted to team up with me. Looks like I was a bit late though."

" Yeah. Sorry Kyoka." Momo rubbed the back of her neck.

" N-No. It's cool. Good luck or whatever." Jiro sighed, walking of dejectedly. Izuku raised an eyebrow. Was she disappointed that she couldn't work with her friend? Well, that didn't matter right now. Now they had a game to win.

The twelve teams gathered around the arena. Toru smiled as she saw Team Izuku together, Momo riding high on top, Izuku in front, Kaminari to the left and Ochako to the right. " They look ready to go."

" With Momo on top, I don't think we'll have to worry about Izuku trying to target Bakugo this time around." Shoto mused. " His quirks also pretty good for moving fast. Combining Bound and Zero Gravity, they can probably fly for the entire match. I'm more worried about the scoring."

" According to the board, our team has the fourth highest points after Bakugo, Tetsutetsu and Tokoyami's teams." Toru folded her arms. " That's concerning. They're still a high value target."

" Even if most other teams focus on Bakugo, there's a chance Izuku's team gets targeted by those trying to take the outliers."

" So, it'll be a battle of the Vultures between Izuku and others."

" If you want to phrase it like that."

" BATTLE START!" Present Mic shouted. The match had begun. As expected, of the 11 other teams, nine of them immediately charged Bakugo. Toru watched as Izuku went around them. He wasn't alone in that. Team Monoma seemed to be doing the exact same thing. While the others were fighting over Bakugo's points, Izuku and Monoma picked off the weaker teams to get themselves higher points. Even as they noticed each other, they seemed to share a silent agreement and continued on their way. By the middle of the match, most of the points were in the hands of both of them while the others went after Bakugo, who blew them back with quirk as Kirishima and the others worked on defence.

Bakugo's team was well synergised in defence. Thanks to Kirishima, Bakugo had a steadfast wall to work with. The support course girl had armed them with a bunch of tools as well as Sero being able to balanced them out of they went of course by taping and pulling them down to the ground. With Bakugo's power, they were able to shrug off attacks from all angles. As much as she hated to admit it, Bakugo was good. As expected as the top of the Hero Course. He reflected everything wrong with the hero society they lived in. Loud, brash, flashy, always looking for a fight and willing to use others and ignore others as he saw fit. It made her want to see him crushed and broken in a pool of his own blood. She could see why Izuku despised the boy.

By the score update at the ten minute mark, only four teams had points. Team Bakugo, who was stating out of the way while keeping a hold of their winning number, Team Yaoyarozu and Team Monoma, who had more or less everyone else's points, and team Tokoyami who had been good at evading Izuku and Monoma's joint effort to take his team down. At this point, it was clear to everyone watching that Izuku and Monoma were more or less just working together, competing to see who could get the most other teams points. From what Toru could see, it was a tie at the moment. With Tokoyami being the tie breaker. Toru could see Izuku's frightening smirk from her seat. " He's getting competitive again."

" Ha ha. I'm just happy to see him blowing off some steam. He's been working too hard lately."

" Yeah. He always seems so tense. He does his best to hide it but…" Shoto nodded.

" We all see it." Shoto admitted. " Even if he doesn't think we do. He works too hard. I can understand why. It's why I used to work so hard before I ran away from home." Shoto's eyes narrowed. " He has a lot to prove."

" AND IT'S OOOOOOOVEEEEEER!!!" Present Mic announced. Everyone else ground to a halt. " WHAT AN EXPLOSIVE EVENT! LET'S SEE THE SCOOOOOOORES!" Everyone's attention rose to the screen. In fourth place, managing to hang on through the dual assault, was team Tokoyami. In third place, with only a few points less than second, was team Monoma. Following on from that was Team Yaoyarozu. Then, finally, against all odds was Team Bakugo, managing to keep hold of his 10 million points. Toru scanned her eyes over the score boards, eyeing the sixteen students who made it into the final round. She swallowed hard. This was going to be tough for her friends to overcome.