The Emperor's Dragon

Cavalry Battle

"I'm going to kill you," Hitoshi growled.

"No, you won't," Izuku said cheerfully as he dusted himself off.

"You threw me!" His friend snapped.

Izuku smiled at Hitoshi. "I did. Couldn't have done it without Mei though," he said. He needed to make it sound like it was something anyone reasonably fit could do. "Did you thank the nice students from 1A for breaking your fall?" Izuku asked.

He ignored the looks he got from those students. "You bastard!" the blond practically screamed. "It's your fault." The other student just sighed and moved away from the finishing line. He was much more contained.

Izuku looked at the blond. "For what?" he challenged.

The boy growled and his hands popped. Little explosions appeared on them. "Is that your quirk?" Izuku asked. He grabbed the blond's hand and pulled it up. "That's so fantastic!" He knew he was sort of behaving like Mei did over a new idea but he'd also seen how that confused people. It seemed like a good ploy.

The hand was snatched back and the teen spat. "Freak!" before he stalked away.

Izuku watched him go for a moment before he turned back to Hitoshi. "I take it you didn't thank them?" he asked.

"You're impossible!" Hitoshi growled as Mei laughed.

"First place has never gone to a General Studies student," Izuku said. "Just winning this bit will make an impression."

"And what about fifth place to a Management Student?" Hitoshi retorted.

He shrugged. "It's just fifth place."

"You could have been first."

"I don't want to be first," Izuku said.

Hitoshi sighed as they moved away from the finish line. "You'll show them up next year?" He quipped.

"Yeah, maybe," Izuku agreed with a laugh. He couldn't say anything more. Maybe next year he would but that was for the future.

-ted-

"Where is Mitei?" Korei asked as he sat down in the stand. He hadn't been able to get a ticket to see the Third Years so he'd come back to the First Year Stadium. As a First Year Management Student he had automatic entry for that.

Te groaned at the question which gained him a confused look.

"He's making sure he wins the bet," Zellia said primly, tapping her rolled copy of the program book against one hand.

"What do you mean?" Korei asked.

"You remember the bet?" Te returned.

"Of course," Korei replied. "I have the wagers here," he said, pulling out his notebook before flicking through the pages to where he'd noted down what they had bet on.

"What were the terms of Mitei's bet?" Zellia asked.

"His friend gets into the Battle Tournament phase, at least one Support and one General Studies student gets in there as well. And that a Management student of any level enters the Festival," Korei read from his notes. "He's already lost," he added. "No management student ever enters."

Zellia gave him a look and then deliberately unrolled her program. The programs displayed the names of all the entrants and what course they were in. She flicked through the pages to the First Year entrants and then held it up for Korei. "Notice anything?" She asked acidically.

He looked over at the lists. The classes were listed in order of their letter, so the Heroics classes were first in their entirety. They had to enter. Then there were the General Studies classes. Most of them had entered too. There were even one or two support students there and-