My Hero Academia: Next Gen

Chapter 16: Winning Points

"THE CAT AND THE TURTLE ARE BOTH IN THE RED CIRCLE. TEAM SIX WINS!"

Eri stared blankly at the projections of Matsumoto and Karada celebrating their win. They had won with just over three minutes to spare. They had won because of pure luck. 

No.

Because of Matsumoto.

The class burst into murmurs about her quirk and how convenient it would be in battle, and Eri couldn't help but overhear them.

"How does she do that?" Yami exclaimed. "Can you even lose a battle with her?"

Beside him, Shimizu shook her head and breathed out a laugh. "I don't know, but I call dibs on her next time."

A quirk that made people want nothing more than to be paired up with you? Eri tried to stifle it, but a wave of envy rushed through her. What would that be like, to have people want her nearby? If she only used her quirk to heal, she would likely only be wanted after the battles had already been fought. No one would want her onsite during a fight if she couldn't be useful somewhere else. But Matsumoto... The only place you would want her is on the battle field where she could use her power to her best ability. 

Mr. Kaminari turned to the class and grinned. "And that's how you finish the game." The two teams trailed into the room from outside one after the other, Matsumoto grinning widely beside Karada, who looked pleasantly surprised by their victory. Behind them, Kiyori and Jikan slumped in, their shoulders hunched in almost a matching manner. 

Hiku slapped their backs and straightened them up. "Come on, no time to be upset," he said with a smile.

"Let's discuss the round before I explain the point system," Mr. Kaminari began. "Team Six won. Why was that?"

Amano put her hand up. "Because Matsumoto's quirk led her to the right place."

"Wrong! Next person."

Amano blanched. "Wait, wh--"

"Is it because Matsumoto and Karada split up at the beginning?" Okabe suggested.

"Wrong again!" Mr. Kaminari's lips twisted into a smirk. "Try again. Anyone?"

Eri's brows furrowed. If they hadn't won because of Matsumoto's superb placement near the end of the round, then why had they won? Well, she was there because they had split up and she found the other team's base on her own... But if that wasn't the reason either, then... Her hand lifted hesitantly, but it wasn't missed by Mr. Kaminari.

"Eri, go."

She flinched as everyone turned to look at her. "Is it, um, because of Karada? He took their cat and the circle with him. Even if Matsumoto was lucky enough to go into the building that he was going to go into... if he didn't have those with him they would have lost."

Mr. Kaminari's smirk grew into a real smile. "There it is. A split second decision to move the enemy's target led to the team's success. It came with risks, but it eventually paid off. That choice in combination with Matsumoto was what led to their victory. Well done, Eri. Now, on to the points."

Tora grinned at Eri as the attention was taken off of her. "Nice," she said, her voice full of admiration. 

She ducked her head in embarrassment, but gave her a small smile back. 

"You are going to be marked based on five things. The first is time. Team Six finished with three minutes and seven seconds to go, which gives them thirteen points. The second is strategy. Team One's strategy of working together and rushing in could have worked, but didn't quite get there, so they get five points. Team Six's strategy of splitting up worked, so they get ten points. The third is defense." He paused and frowned. "To be honest, neither teams were focusing on defense, except for Karada, so Team Six gets five points. The fourth thing is offense. Team One was strong with their offense from the start, finding and cornering Matsumoto with relative ease, so they get fifteen points. Team Six... Well, there wasn't really a lot offense there, so no points. No offense," he said with a chuckle.