that's just how it works [REWRITING]

Chapter Twenty four - Obstacle Race, Finish!

*New cover art for story, art by me ^^^

. . .

   Uraraka had run up right beside you, and stopped. She gazed fearfully down at the abyss below. 'Oh...'

   You frowned, bending your knees slightly. You had an idea of how to cross this second obstacle, but you weren't sure if it would work completely. And honestly, it scared you. 

   As more classmates appeared, looking at the cliffs, Present Mic's voice filled the air. But once you heard it, you sprung into action.

   "Hey, hey! The first barrier's a piece of cake? Then what about the second? If you fall, you're out! If you don't wanna fall, then crawl! It's 'The Fall'!"

   You smirked to yourself, as you jumped out, right above the dark opening. Uraraka cried out as she watched you, but her voice died out when large cloud plates appeared under your feet. You turned to her, grinning. "A new trick I learned, Ocha-Chan!"

   And off you went, jumping from cloud plate to cloud plate. Once your feet left one, it disappeared. But you knew you couldn't do it for long. The clouds, being so small and thin, were unstable underneath you. It took all your concentration to keep it up. You jumped onto a rock pillar to catch your breath. At this rate, you'd never make it to the end. You're barely at the middle point! 

   'Damn. I need a better idea...'

   You panted quietly, turning to glance behind you at the students gathering courage to go across. You knew they'd catch up quickly. 

   'Shit!'

   You surprised yourself at that thought. Maybe the stress of this was starting to get to you, making you act uncharacteristic. It wasn't like you to swear.

   Gasping, you smiled. That's it! You leaned down to tap your shoes, letting water encase the bottom of them, as you went up the rope connecting this pillar to the next. You cautiously put your foot on it, checking for wobbliness, as you pushed your other foot against the side of the pillar. It sent you sliding forwards on the rope, one leg extended behind you. 

   'This'll work.'

  

   "And now, we've quickly arrived at the final barrier!"

   You pushed yourself to go faster, ignoring your painful rasps for breath. You knew Todoroki was ahead at the third obstacle, and you had to catch up, even if it meant your lungs were hurting as they pleaded for more air. 'Damn, I need to go running more... This is taking too long.'

   You rounded a corner, and immediately stopped. 

   "The reality here is..." 

   You gulped, panting as you awaited for Present Mic's voice to affirm your assumption.

   "...that it's a minefield! It's set up so that you can tell where the mines are if you look carefully! So you have to exploit your eyes and legs! By the way, there landmines are for games, so they're not that powerful, but they're loud and flashy enough to make you wet your pants!"

   "Fuck." You muttered, your hands on your knees. In front of you was Todoroki, who was already walking across the minefield, eyes trained on the ground for the mines.

   'That's probably the best thing I can do." You bite your lip, running forwards towards the field. You started across it, making sure you pay close attention to where you step.

   'Surely there's a better way to do it. But what can I do? My quirk isn't good for this. Water has enough pressure and is heavy enough to activate the mines. I can't use my clouds to jump, for I still have to keep an eye on where I step. I could make the clouds hover above the ground, but my weight added to it would make it dip down and touch the ground. Plus that takes a lot of energy. Wind would be useless...' 

   You pause. 'Wait... That's it! Clouds and wind!'

    You  jump up, letting clouds materialize beneath you. It dips down a little as you fall back down on it and crouch. You hold your breath, waiting for the clear. You grin, and close your eyes, focusing on creating a strong breeze to push you and your cloud forwards. A cold draft wraps around your arms, and you know you've done it.

   'Hah... This is faster.'

   You look up at Todoroki's back. You must be moving at a slightly faster pace as him. You smirk. 

   'I'll catch up to you soon enough, Todoroki-Kun!' 

   He must feel the breeze wafting across his back, for he turns to look back. You swear his eyes widen slightly when he catches sight of you advancing on him slowly, on your cloud. He quickly refocuses on his task of moving, although he looks a little more frantic. 

   Behind you, a sudden explosion sounds. You flinch, looking behind you as a cloud of pink rises up from the ground. A gust of wind pushes you forwards even faster for a second. 

   You called up even more wind to push you forwards faster, discouraged by the amount of approaching students. As you go to look back forwards, an explosion from right beside you throws you off, and sends your cloud spinning. You shriek, covering your face as a hot breeze pushes onto you. You look up at culprit, although you had a suspicion.

   'Bakugou-Kun...'

   You roll your eyes, fully aware he meant to do that. You shifted the wind to push you back on track, but ahead, he caught your eye as he flew past Todoroki. 

   'Crap! I can't lose to him!'

   But you could also watch as Todoroki and Bakugou pushed at each other, as they both tried to stay in the lead. 'Just a little burst of wind will do it...'

   You had been about to increase the wind level to push your cloud far enough, a big explosion from the back resounded, causing a ringing in your ears. After a second's delay, a big burst of wind pushed you forward, just as you had been about to do. 

   "There's a huge explosion at the back?! What's with that force?!"

   Your body turned towards the back of the field, eyes searching for what cause that explosion. When you saw it, you couldn't believe what your eyes were seeing, not for a second. Midoriya was flying through the air out of the burst of pink haze, having apparently used mines to propel himself forwards. 

   "Keh?!"

   Present Mic's voice practically voiced your amazement at it.

   'Izuku...?!'

   "Was it an accident, or did he do it on purpose? Class A's Midoriya is in hot pursuit with that blast!"

   "The thought of her makes me sick, Kurogiri."

   The white haired male slammed his fist on the table in front of him, sneering at the tv he was watching. The warp gate was unfazed, simply continuing cleaning the glass he was holding. He slowly nodded. 

   "I know, Tomura, but she would be an excellent addition to the league of villains. Her quick is powerful, more so than her father's. And you remember how her father was, don't you?"

   "..." Shigaraki went quiet, glaring at the sports festival being broadcast on the television. He couldn't deny how powerful the girl was. But her determination of being a hero sickened him. 

   A smirk grew across his face, as he turned to Kurogiri. 

   "Why don't we crush her hope, and show (Y/n) (last name) what it truly is, to be a villain."

. . .

To be Continued