Once More (My Hero Academia)

16: Hi Team

Bakugo gripped his forearm in a helpless attempt to quell the stinging pain of overusing his quirk.

"Dammit," he grumbled. It happened again. He won.

Todoroki glanced at the huffing, puffing blond boy, then back at Midoriya, who was staring at the rankings displayed on the digital screens around the arena, chest heaving, hands on knees.

Midoriya first. Bakugo second. Todoroki third.

Todoroki's expression twitched into a frown.

He found it quite hard to believe his ranking: he had to admit that Midoriya showed more wisdom during the obstacle race; however, Bakugo, who was purely fueled by anger, shouldn't have surpassed him.

And this ranking was certainly a nuisance.

Todoroki's gaze shifted towards the north side of the audience, landing on the fire hero, Endeavor. The boy always found his father's costume disgustingly ostentatious.

The hero was staring at him, his distant gaze telling Todoroki everything he needed to know.

Disappointment.

Todoroki turned away from Endeavor's burning gaze and looked back at the gate. The other competitors were trickling past the finish line back in the stadium, all gasping for their breath.

As the final few students returned, Midnight called for everyone's attention and congratulated the top 42 students who would proceed to the next round.

"Now, on to the second event!" She announced as the students looked anxiously at the display, "Next up is... the cavalry battle!"

Midnight then explained the rules: teams of two to four, horse-and-rider formation, getting opponent's headbands, the higher you rank, the higher your points...

"And our first place participant is worth ten million points!"

The numbers struck Bakugo like lightning, and he whipped his head toward Midoriya along with everyone else on the field. The green-haired boy visibly tensed, his expression hardening as if he suddenly possessed Kirishima's quirk. Nonetheless, Midoriya seemed much less surprised at his points than the rest of the students and much calmer than Bakugo expected him to be. The tiny stream of confidence seeping through Midoriya's expression was as irritating as nails on chalk.

The blond boy looked away with a grunt and focused on Midnight again, who announced that the students had 15 minutes to form their teams. Only a few minutes later, Bakugo was surrounded by people. Almost all of them were from his class (at least he thought they were from his class, he basically paid attention to nobody), and they were all yapping for Bakugo to choose them.

On the other side of the field, Todoroki had already gathered his deliberately chosen team, with Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, and Iida.

Uraraka weaved through the crowds, then spotted the familiar head of messy green hair.

Almost as if he were expecting her, Midoriya turned around, then greeted her with a smile.

"Do you want to team up with me?" Uraraka asked, excited to team up with a friend.

Midoriya sighed in relief. "Definitely. Since everyone's aiming for my points, nobody wants to team up with me."

"To be honest, that feels wrong," she shrugged, which made him tilt his head in confusion, "I actually think teaming up with you is an automatic win, seeing your achievements so far."

His eyes widened in surprise, then softened with gratefulness.

"Even I'm not confident in that," he laughed, then looked down, "and I know that so many more people are gonna target me after that win. Being a hero is... competitive, to say the least. It also... attracts way too many dangers."

His voice died down at the end, and she had to strain to hear. His tone suggested something much bigger than the sports festival. Uraraka couldn't help but feel curious toward Midoriya's tone sometimes: he always seemed to carry some mental baggage that nobody else could decipher.

"Anyway," Midoriya changed the subject, then explained his strategy for the next event.

"You have a very specific plan, Deku," Uraraka commented, "do you have a team in mind?"

"Yup. Can you go get Tokoyami for me? I'm going to go deal with the, uh, more energetic one."

A split second later, as if summoned by his words, a pink-haired girl carrying a buttload of support items sprung into existence beside Midoriya.

"Mr. First Place! So glad to see you! Team up with me!!" She thrust her face toward Midoriya's and he had to dodge back to prevent her from getting way too close.

Uraraka discovered that this new girl never seemed to close her mouth hole. Unlike Midoriya, who would mutter with words like an unending stream, this girl rapid-fired like a machine gun.

The pink-haired girl introduced herself as Hatsume Mei, and the rest Uraraka didn't really comprehend, so she just left and went to search for Tokoyami, the bird-headed boy who was eerily silent all the time.

Surprisingly, Tokoyami agreed to join after Uraraka briefly explained Midoriya's plan.

Across the field, the last of the twelve teams were formed and the fifteen minutes came to an end. The audience was already buzzing with excitement and the cheers have gradually started to increase in volume.

Present Mic's voice filled the stadium once more.

"Ready or not, the countdown to this brutal battle royal starts now!!"

Midoriya's team felt the green-haired boy take a deep breath.

"...Ready, guys?" He tightened his headband, printed with a bold "10,000,325".

"Ready as I'll ever be," Tokoyami released his quirk, the dark shadow hovering in front of the team.

"THREE..."

Bakugo stretched out his forearms, somewhat recovered from the earlier pain.

"Keep your eyes on the target..." He growled to his team, with Pink Girl, Shitty Hair, and Weird Elbows.

"TWO..."

Todoroki glared coldly at the green-haired boy in the distance.

"ONE...START!"

A/N: Hi guys, the original cavalry chapter was too long so I had to split it in half. I already updated the next chapter. Hope you like it and thanks for reading <3