The Girl With Many Quirks: Lucky Star

C H A P T E R 1 8

ASUNA'S POV

The day of the U.A Summer Festival arrived.

I had trained and knew I had what it takes to take the top spot in the tournament. But the moment I stepped into that arena, my nerves were shot at the millions of people in the stands and bleachers. My body was shaking under the sudden pressure.

"Are you okay?" I turned to find Shouto next to me with a concern look on his face. "You've gone pale." I faked a smile to assure him from worrying. "Just a little nervous, but I'll be fine."

Unexpectedly, he took my hand in his. "I know you'll be fine. I'll see you in the finals." This time, my smile was genuine. "I'll see you in the finals."

The first competition began—a race against all students in the hero classes and support classes through the campus and back. The first obstacle? The starting line. There was a tunnel that connected the outside and inside of the arena; however, it was not meant for a hundred people to sprint through all at the same time. Luckily for me and a few other fortunate students, I was able to fly over the squashed, bustling mob.

Shouto, Bakugo, and a few others from my class made it out easily, too, and we all raced competitively. Shouto didn't even look at me, and Bakugo had that same I'm-going-to-kill-you-all face. I wasn't going to lose to them, even if they're in my class. Not long after more people closed in behind us, we came to our next obstacle. Robots. And not just any robots: the same zero-pointers from the entrance exam.

"Hey, Bakugo," I teased him. "Are you actually going to defeat it this time, or do I need to help you again?"

"SHUT UP!!" He growled at me, but I swore his whole face burned red.

Not wasting any time, Shouto shot a wave of ice at two robots, engulfing both of them in a thick robot icecube. Then, Bakugo and he took off in the front, leaving me and the entire pack behind without a single word.

"Hey, you Ice Bastard!" Bakugo shouted at him. "Get back here!"

Oh no, I can't let him have all the fun.

But as I began to sprint ahead, the destroyed robots started to collaspe. And I was right under it. My instincts were shot and I sent a wall of air above me, catching the massive debris, but the weight was crushing my strength. Just as my arms gave out, someone grabbed me around the waist and pulled me out of the way.

When my vision recovered, I saw Bakugo right next to me, his arms still around my torso. He not-so-gently hoisted me to my feet and thrust his finger at me. "Now we're even." he huffed, and sprinted after Shouto.

Even?

Then, it hit me. He was talking about when I saved him from the zero-pointer during the entrance exam. The same time I just teased him about. "Even, huh?" I smirked, and raced after him.

The third obstacle was another one to my advantage. It was canyon full of tall, thin plateaus all connected with thin wires. Looking ahead, Shouto was just gliding across the last wire, using his ice, to reach the other side of the canyon. Bakugo had reached half-way. I gritted my teeth and summoned the air to lift me off the ground and a full force of wind to push me with a lot of speed. Bakugo and I hit the other side at the same time.

"You better not get in my way." he growled through his teeth and then thrusted forward using his explosive quirk. My cheeks puffed at his arrogance, and picked up my pace. The one trial and error of my Air Manipulation was I can't flying forever, or I would already won the race. It was more like super-fast gliding in mid-air. Once I touched down, I could fly again, but jumping and landing took a lot of energy.

I glanced behind and saw other competitors closing in. Looking ahead, I could still see Shouto, and Bakugo was gaining on him. Soon, we all reached the last obstacle: a mine field.

Shouto had already started moving stragetically across, Bakugo right on his tail. This time, with the finish line so close, Bakugo became aggressive and began fighting Shouto one-on-one as they sprinted across, at the same time avoid stepping on the mine mounds. I started jumping large distances, cautioning where I set my foot each time I springed. The distance between me and Shouto and Bakugo gradually closed until I was right them. I summoned a wall of air in front of me to use as a plow. With this technique, I was able to reach the front of the pack. I was in first!

Suddenly, something knocked me down from behind and I crashed into the ground on my side, and as I was recovering, both Shouto and Bakugo tripped over me. Pain pinched at my ribs. When I raised my head, I saw three people running for the finish line. Shouto, Bakugo, and...

"DEKU!?!?" My jaw dropped.

But how did he do that?

There was no time to question what the hell just happened. Shaking myself off, I thrust myself forward at the fastest speed I could managed. But I couldn't pass any of them. I came in fourth, with Deku winning first, Shouto second, and Bakugo got third.

"Deku!" I called out, jogging over to my spontaneous classmate. "Congrats, but how did you—"

"I'm sorry I crashed into you!" He immediately apologized. I held up my hands with a smile. "No harm done. You just surprised me, that's all. There's a lot more to you than I thought."

"W-well, thank you!"

I smiled at his shyness and then saw Bakugo at the corner of my eye. He looked so frustrated coming in third, and losing to both Shouto and Deku...with the history we all had, I was surprised his head hadn't exploded yet.

"Good job out there." I held my hand out to him. "At least you can say you beat me." Instead of shaking it, he slapped out of his way and walked off, grumbling, "That's not enough...I won't to that bastard again..."

I sighed. Bakugo will always be Bakugo. When I searched for Shouto to congratuate him, I also a frustrated look on his face. His fists were clenched so hard, his knuckles were turning white. I had never seen him so determined...

I didn't get the chance to speak to him, because now the second challenge was starting.