{MHA} The Lonely Pyromaniac

17

-Shoto-

As the person in third place, I had a good amount of points, and as such, I was crowded by students who wanted to team with me. I didn't want to hurt any of their feelings, but at the same time, I couldn't team with all of them.

"Um, sorry guys, but I already have my team in mind," I said nervously. So this must be how Father feels when he's meeting fans, huh? It's a wonder Touya was so outgoing if this was his gene pool.

Momo and Iida already knew that I was going to choose them, so they stuck around as the other people left to go find Bakugo or Midori. "We need someone else," I muttered. "I was thinking of Midori."

"Did I hear my name?" a bored voice asked from behind me.

"Midori! It is very rude to sneak up on people like that! It is important that you make your presence known to us instead of surprising us like that!" Iida said, swinging his arms up and down like a robot.

Midori just gave him an unamused side eye. "Nii-san said that it would be better if we didn't team up, and Jiro and Kaminari were already on a team, so I figured I should team with you."

"I was about to ask you to team up anyway, so this works out," I assured him. Our quirks had the best team up possible out of all the first years, as far I could tell.

Midori grinned. "I should've known; you're always a few steps ahead."

"We're going after the ten million," I said, hoping that Midori wouldn't back out after hearing that we'd be targeting his brother.

He just hummed in acknowledgment. "He was angry after I let him win the first round," the black haired boy said quietly. "I guess I should make it up to him by beating him in this round."

"I'm not sure that that's how it works," I heard Momo say, but I knew better than to say anything. The Midoriya brothers had a complicated relationship that seemed to be on unsteady ground. One wrong move from an outside force, and it could fall apart.

"Who cares? We're going to win this," I said stubbornly. "This is my plan: Iida will be the front horse and he'll be our main source of speed. Midori will be the left wing because he's largely immune to fire. Yaoyorozu will be the right wing, and when I give the signal, she'll create a spike that touches the ground so that I can freeze the ground with my ice. Yaoyorozu will also make roller skates for herself and Midori so that Iida won't have to accommodate for your lack of speed."

"I knew you were smart, but how did you come up with this in such a short time?" Midori sighed. "I feel outclassed."

The plan had just felt like common sense to me, but I had a slight feeling that it would hurt Midori's feelings if I said that. So I didn't say anything. The event was about to start, anyway.

As I climbed into position, I caught sight of a tall, flaming man in the stands. I waved to my father, and smiled a little when I saw him wave back at me. "Let's win this," I said, my resolve even stronger than before.

"Well aren't you a daddy's boy," Midori joked.

I groaned when I heard that. "You're annoying," I grumbled. "Let's not forget that you want to win too."

"I never said I wanted to win... I said I wanted to be the last one fighting. There's a difference."

Before Iida and Momo could tell us to stop arguing, Midnight started the event.

- Endeavor-

"I'm getting a bit bored," I sighed to Kido.

"Is it because you finished your coffee, sir?"