Chapter 26 - The Other Swords
Damn it…
Twitchy fingers clenched like a vice.
"Midoriya's is now suddenly at zero points! With less than a minute left, Todoroki currently has two headbands, his own and Midoriya's! He's snatched the top spot away from Midoriya, who was running away like crazy!" Present-Mic's voice echoed throughout the stadium. "Will these be the top four teams to move on to the next round!?"
Knuckles paled from excess pressure.
Fucking damn it!
Eyes narrowed at the open stage, towards the horribly clothed professional hero and to the monitor above her.
Deku's points went to zero, and that damn half-and-half's skyrocketed.
And Bakugo's points. Remained. The same.
He was angry– No, to say that was an understatement. He was absolutely livid! He was so damn close to getting that ten million points from Deku but then four-eyes just had to use a move he never showed before!
It was absurd! First, Bakugo failed to be number one in the first event, and now he wasn't even in the top four at all! He can't win the damn event if he wasn't even up there!
"Hey, Bakugo. Don't you think we should go after the other teams too?" Spikey-dude asked. "We won't be able to catch Todoroki's team with our set up."
Bakugo's eye twitched.
"Hell no! Didn't you hear me? I want an undisputed victory! It's either ten million or nothing!"
"Why did I pick this team…?" Antennae-girl sighed out.
"Because there wasn't anyone else?" Tape-guy muttered. "Look, why don't we just try another team! Then, after we get enough points to move onto the next round, we go for Todoroki. How's that?"
"FUCK NO!"
"Well, I tried."
Bakugo growled and glared at the tower of ice before them. Behind it was that damn half-and-half. After that ice-bastard had stolen the ten-million points from that no-good Deku, he blasted them away and created a huge wall of ice. No fucking doubt to make sure that the damn headband would stay on his head.
He couldn't just leap up there and leave the rest of these mobs behind because he needed them to carry him around. There was literally zero way to even get in there.
And that just made him angrier.
"Fuck! Antennas, can't you melt through this thing!?"
"Yeah, but that'll take way too long for me to do right now!" She whined out an excuse. Bakugo discarded the fact that it was a valid one and just growled in frustration, as he had been doing for the last minute.
"Can we climb it?" He tried again.
"Ice is slippery man," that Tape-guy said the obvious. "We'll slip and topple down like dominoes."
Bakugo growled out again.
This wasn't going to work. None of the mob-characters on his team could help him get through the thick wall of ice, so that left Bakugo to think. Where and how could he get through?
Think! He wasn't going to lose here, not now or ever again!
He already lost to that sword-bastard. That Yaoyorozu girl topped his scores in literally every single subject. He even lost to Deku, not just once but twice! Once in the first day of class and another in their indoor training session with the other class.
Him, Bakugo Katsuki, lose to Deku of all people!
The thought infuriated him! He had been praised as a genius. He was blessed with a strong quirk. He was everything that a winner needed to be to win! He was smart. He was determined. Above all, he was strong!
He didn't slack off like every other moocher who thought they could coast off their quirks. He trained every day, hours upon hours of training. Every weekday he'd train. Every weekend he'd hone his quirk. Every single day since that fucking slime villain tried to kill him, he'd been working himself down to the bone, even if his body betrayed him and collapsed.
But Deku, who came out of nowhere with a quirk after having none for more than a literal damn decade, had beaten him. A nobody like him whose only worth was to be a damn pebble for him to step over, beat him.
It didn't make any fucking sense!
There was only one reason Bakugo could think of.
Deku had lied to him his entire life. Laughing behind his back, framing himself as a weak, little, quirkless, pebble on the road, who could do nothing but watch as Bakugo rose to the top of the world, only to drag him back down with that god damn smile on his face!
Always muttering under his breath like an annoying little gnat! He was just shit-talking him, wasn't he!? This entire time he was making fun of his efforts, upstaging him at the last second!
"I want to win and surpass you, you idiot!"
Bakugo's jaw tightened like a screw.
Looking at me with fucking pity… Does he think he's better than me!?
Just thinking about that little rat irritated him. Muttering shit that nobody wanted to hear and making himself a nuisance for everybody involved, it made his blood boil.
Fuck!
Bakugo heaved as his fists clenched and twitched rapidly. A few explosions threatened to escape but he would not let it. Damn Deku, if he wanted to surpass him then he should've held onto those fucking points longer! Now he had to pry them from that Icy-bastard's cold dead hands first!
It was either that or get a placement other than first. Not an option, damn it!
No choice, then.
"Oi, tape. Link us all together, and make it quick!"
"You got a plan, Bakugo?" Spikey-hair asked.
He didn't bother to give a reply and instead barked out another order. "Antennae! Melt the ice!"
"I already told you that it'd take too long!"
"I know that, shit-face!" Bakugo shouted. "Just melt it a bit! And make it a straight line up!"
When she got to work, Bakugo grinned to himself madly. His fingers twitched as he felt his quirk rippling, just waiting to burst free and shout out to the world.
Just wait a little longer, half-and-half bastard. Your ice won't stop me for long!
A single crackle birthed itself on his palm.
I'm coming for you!
From where they were positioned, Shirou wondered if they should put themselves out there and try to grab more points.
They were already at third so they were guaranteed to move onto the next round. All they had to do was avoid the people around them, especially seeing as the ten-million points, which had been on Midoriya, was now firmly in Todoroki's grasp.
And it looked like the teen was willing to keep it that way.
Ever since the calvary match passed the eight-minute mark, not much had happened. Shishida was doing a good job at fleeing from any attempts at boxing them in, especially with three lookouts on his back. Eventually, the teams of Aoyama and Hiryu Rin fled in search of easier targets.
Not that they'd find some. The only teams with points were theirs, Todoroki, Monoma, Tetsutetsu, and the Bakugo teams.
Nobody was insane enough to even try and go for Bakugo, at least from Class A. Shirou did see team Kendo try and go for it, but her enlarged hands created a bad match-up since the explosive teen only had an easier target. Todoroki's was locked away behind a wall of ice, and a few were trying to find a way around it.
So that meant team Tetsutetsu and Monoma were the most targeted teams. Shiozaki did incredibly well keeping them away, but they didn't stay stationary. In fact, from the short minute that Shirou kept an eye on them, they appeared to be running as fast as they could towards the ice wall.
Perhaps they planned to use Shiozaki's quirk to create a bridge up? That'd certainly work. It'd also give them free rein to trap any who would follow them up, with the bridge being freely manipulated by the thorny-haired girl's will.
"Any of them still coming after us?" Shishida asked. From the slowly blinking eyes, he appeared to be getting tired.
"No, most of them are close to the ice wall," Shinso answered. He appeared somewhat relaxed. A vast difference to minutes prior. "Don't let your guard down, though. Everyone in our class is very well aware that you can't keep up your quirk for an extended period. By the time the ten-minute mark comes around, they'll be after us like there's blood in the water."
The bestial teen sighed and attempted to shake away any drowsiness he could have. "I can last the remaining time, don't worry. I just need to keep moving."
The last thing they need was for him to fall asleep again.
"Look over there, at the ice wall," Kodai called out, to which they listened.
It looks like Shirou's assumption was right. Team Tetsutetsu created a long and sturdy bridge up the wall. Due to how thick the wall was, Todoroki was likely unable to see them approach. With the way the battle was going, the teams were trying to follow them up.
All except for Bakugo's team.
Shirou, feeling just a tad bit worried, focused on them.
He was met with the sight of the foul-mouthed blond blasting his way up the ice path behind him was his team, all who had their waist's wrapped up in tape. Bakugo was attached too, but it seemed to be longer in comparison.
They were linked together for stability, with Sero rotating to the front. His forearms were bent at an angle, showing that his tape had latched itself around a jutted spike of ice atop the frosty wall. Ashido left behind a trail of slime as they slid up the wall through the pull of Sero's forearms, having retracted the tape back into him like a pulley, and from Bakugo's explosive torpedo-like force.
They couldn't go through it, so they went over it.
"That's… unique," Shinso commented. "Did they even see the bridge Shiozaki made?"
With his enhanced vision, Shirou could see Kirishima shouting while pointing at the thorny bridge beside them. They likely did notice, but Bakugo probably wanted to avoid the other teams and keep a safe distance…. or, he just didn't care and wanted to force his own way up even if his arms looked like they were going to fall off. Either was likely.
Kodai knocked on their cavalry's head to grab his attention, repeatedly. "Stay awake."
"I know! I know!"
Shirou simply smiled at their minor antics.
It was a welcome change of atmosphere, but it likely wouldn't last long.
"Look alive, team Tsunotori is charging here," Shinso commented as he watched their flank, proving Shirou right. "Be careful of her horns. They detach and could steal the headbands."
As Shirou nodded and threw away any distracting thought, he focused on the rapidly approaching horned female transfer student from America being ridden by a boy with the head of a centipede.
This was a strange world.
"Let's go! Pony!" The insect-like student shouted from atop of her. "Let's carve them up!"
"We'll get disqualified, though?"
His eye twitched. "It's a figure of speech! Just shoot them!"
She didn't bother arguing and simply kept up a smile on her face. That made it all the more jarring when her horns detached and surged at them like a bullet.
Luckily, after a hectic first half of the cavalry battle, team Emiya reacted. Shishida bolted to the side and allowed the horns to sail past him–
Shirou reacted.
It was deeply engraved within him, the feeling of it. When he heard its sound, his fingers could not help but clench at imaginary blades, willing their existence into reality as the song of steel against steel resounded. His heart pumped, soul echoed, ready to fight and subdue his attacker– only for him to stop his body from moving further.
There, passing by him upon Pony Tsunotori with a confused yet excitable grin, was Kamakiri Togaru…
… with claymore-like blades sprouted from his arms.
Shirou let out an odd strangled gasp. He was glad Archer wasn't there to hear him because he'd be mocking him for doing so.
They were caught off guard. Or rather, Shirou was. He had assumed it was just Tsunotori's quirk to watch out for and that Kamakiri's wouldn't be able to help out or was something to watch out for, especially since none of his allies, all of whom are classmates with the insect-boy, never reacted to him.
A blunder on his part, admittedly.
"… Is Kamakiri's quirk… that?" Shirou muttered.
Shinso nodded, a bit of sweat glinting down from his brow from the sudden attack. "Yeah. He can create blades from any part of his body. I thought he wouldn't use something like that here… Guess I was wrong."
The claymores on his forearms elongated ever so slightly, nevertheless Shirou's eyes didn't miss it.
Those were still blades. Shirou knew how dangerous they could be… which was why he was extremely curious as to why nobody stepped in about his sudden charge!
… then again, Bakugo had explosions. Todoroki with ice that could give frostbite. Kaminari with literal electrocution. Shiozaki with her torrent of serrated vines. The more he thought about it, this competition seemed a lot more dangerous than it first appeared.
Shirou idly tightened his grip on Kanshou and Bakuya. He had no intention of actually using them during the tournament, but the sudden surprise attack paired with the sound of steel slicing into the wind triggered his instincts.
They twirled seamlessly in his grasp as if they were apart of his very being. In a way, Shirou supposed they were.
"Charging again," Kodai called.
Shirou didn't need to be told, he already saw them rearing to charge.
With no one else in the arena, it was just them. They were a duo with no one else to go after. They had no points, and team Emiya had some. It wasn't hard to guess what they'd do next.
"Charge!" Kamakiri, the one whose body was also made of blades as much as it felt weird to think that, bellowed with feral gusto. "I'm slicing those headbands off!"
"He's a lively one," Shirou commented. "I assume he's the Bakugo of your class?"
"Tamer. Much, much tamer, but in essence, yes he is," Shinso muttered.
Terrific.
The two horns circling the air above them pivoted and blasted towards them in a second, ready to aim at the three on Shishida's back. An easy target, to say the least.
However, Shirou wasn't going to let that happen.
They were relying on him, after all.
Kanshou snapped out from his grasp, spinning in the air and knocking the horn off course. The other horn swirled and approached from a different direction, but Bakuya flew from his fingers and did much of the same.
"An opening!"
Their team approached, once more they proved that Shishida's bestial agility was not an advantage they'd have here. Especially since he had to move carefully to ensure none of them fell off.
The duo team didn't have such worries.
Pony approached and pivoted, aiming to graze by Shishida and retreat after getting in close. Normally, something like that would be pointless, but she wasn't alone.
"ORYA!"
An arm-claymore swung broad and wide, slicing across the sky in a magnificent arc.
Shirou traced a new pair of Kanshou and Bakuya to block it.
The centipede-head boy growled and pulled his blades away, retreating atop of his ally and readying up for another charge… If it weren't for the fact that Shirou threw the second pair of married blades directly at them.
Pony, having noticed it, dodged to the right whilst Shishida continued his retreat. Kodai, seeing an opportunity, tossed out a shrunken shield and returned it to regular size, creating an enlarged wooden coin cutting into the earth, blocking their path.
Kamakiri didn't let that stop him and blocked the married blades with little issue– only for his eyes to widen as the extended claymores on his arms did something he probably never thought it would do.
He tossed his arms up as Pony leaped the opposite direction from the shield, using it as leverage after landing oddly on it. In doing so, his claymore blades were free from the approaching impact of Kanshou and Bakuya as they were sent flying to the sky.
However, Shirou knew that Kamakiri didn't focus on those married blades at the moment. No, he gazed upon his quirk-made blades and gaped.
They had cracks on them.
Of course, they would. They wouldn't be able to stand up against a Noble Phantasm, but Kamakiri didn't know that. No one else except Archer knew that.
His blades retracted into his forearms but they burst out once more. This time, brand new.
So he never ran out of blades? Shirou mused. Ironic.
However, while he was glaring daggers at his fellow blade-user…
"Look out!" Pony shouted as she tried to flee.
Kamakiri only pivoted around and blocked with his claymores yet again. Once more he blocked, once more his eyes widened, and once more did he throw his arms out, sending the incoming projectile to his sides.
Once more, did the married blades besiege him.
"Where did that come from!?" He shouted. His eyes, now frantically twitching around before finally narrowing on the married blades. Married blades, as in plural. Not one, not two, but four.
Four spinning blades all converging on their location once more.
He let out a string of curses not fit for live audiences as he and Pony dodged and parried them once more.
"Those are some weird swords, Emiya," Shinso commented.
"In a way, I guess," Shirou hummed his reply. He'd rather focus on Kamakiri, to be honest. "He's good with those blades."
Shinso blinked. "Is now really the time to admire the enemy?"
The red-haired magus shrugged. "We're all schoolmates by the end of the day. I don't see the harm." Besides, it wasn't every day you'd see someone deal with multiple married blades flying around them. Heroic Spirits were an exception to the rule.
"Do you need any more shields, Kodai?" Shirou asked idly, noticing how Kamakiri's eyes widened in epiphany.
She shook her head. "No."
Short, but Shirou nodded nonetheless. He finally saw Kamakiri knock the pairs of married blades into the ground, preventing them from flying up into the sky, attracted by each other, again and again. Good on him. He analyzed the situation well.
"Oh, wait," Shirou uttered as if realizing something. "Any reason you're not using your quirk, Shinso?"
"Well, for one he's apart of my class and knows my quirk enough to avoid it," he reasonably explained. "You'd think that a loudmouth like him would be easy prey for my quirk either way, but here's the thing. Kamakiri doesn't reply. Ever," Shinso audibly groaned. "My quirk needs the target to reply, intending for it to be a reply. Kamakiri howls towards himself. Not exactly a reply."
As another string of curses was let loose, Shirou was inclined to agree.
At least he wasn't as bad as Bakugo.
The world didn't need two of him.
There was something ironic there, but Shirou had no time to ponder it. Kamakiri and Tsunotori were already rapidly approaching despite the distance they made from Shirou's married blade distraction.
Shinso sighed as they approached. Kamakiri's claymores now seemingly becoming scythes, mimicking some myths of a headless horseman. "This is going to be a long day."
The Emiya merely handed him a slightly large traced buckler.
He was going to need it.
Yaoyorozu breathed in a hefty sum of air.
They were fine. They had the lead. They were at the top. All they needed to do was wait out the clock and they'd win first-place without issue… so long as they kept all the teams after them outside.
She exhaled steadily.
They had already planned for the possibility of a breach. Honenuki's quirk could destabilize the ice and melt it, but Todoroki ensure her that the ice would fall on top of them should that happen.
In other words, almost like a tree when felled by a lumberjack. The lumberjack would need to be on the opposite side of where the tree would fall. The only safe spot was where they were standing, at the center.
Nevertheless, the young Yaoyorozu family scion had created several items to aid them should it happen. One such item was landmines, covered in some dirt of her own making. They didn't have time to dig out areas to bury them, so the haphazard lumps would have to do.
She also took great care to ensure they wouldn't cause fatal harm if activated. A light bruise at most, just like the ones used in the obstacle race prior. A plus-side to the weakening, creating them didn't take many lipids, so her quirk was still very much usable.
The top of the ice wall was also spiked and uneven. If someone came and climbed it, then Todoroki wouldn't be able to shoot them back down. They would probably suffer harsh injuries if they fell, or possibly worse.
She had no idea how they'd scale down a solid wall of ice, but Yaoyorozu supposed the incline was enough for them to slide down. They'd be sitting ducks for the mines beneath those areas. A quick explosion and they'd be off-balance for sure.
They could also come from around, but Todoroki froze up that area too. It was from actions like that the rest of his team, Yaoyorozu included, wondered if he would ever run out of ice. The amount he made now seemed to not even phase him.
Yaoyorozu widened her eyes as she saw his fingers tremble. From the very tip of his digits, she could see a few flakes of frost creep up from them.
So he had a limit… that was useful to know.
Just because they were allies now didn't mean that Yaoyorozu wouldn't take advantage of anything she'd learn later. After all, if they passed this part of the course, they were going to be fighting each other in a miniature tournament.
She shook the thought out of her head. They'd have a break to relax before that tournament would happen. She'd think of strategies to defeat him then. Though, she'd toy with the idea of using ice against him. If he got cold enough, then he'd reach his limit faster… unless he used his other arm, the one that produced heat.
Yaoyorozu held a polite smile as she realized how synergistic their leader's quirk was to itself. His ice drawback was countered by his fire, and it was probably the same vice-versa if his fire had a similar drawback.
… but it begged the question. If he was shivering ever so slightly, then what was stopping him from using his fire to warm up a little right now? Perhaps he was merely waiting for an opportune moment? Or perhaps his quirk had a certain condition to be met before using his heat side?
Yaoyorozu didn't know, and likely wouldn't know until after the sports festival had ended.
Out of all the possibilities she entertained, there was one she didn't.
He's holding back, just like Emiya.
Yaoyorozu's polite smile faltered but fixed itself before her teammates noticed. Luckily, they were all looking above and away from her. She didn't want to distract them with her own… issues.
But as much as she tried to keep her mind clear, she kept thinking back to it. Perhaps she was mistaken? Maybe Emiya was truly saving his stamina?
No, not even that lie would work. She knew how long he could go. That one single day of training told her that he could've gone for much longer than she did, and they trained for two hours. Yaoyorozu prided herself in her stamina and physical ability, which was above most of her peers even back when they still did physical assessment tests without their quirks, but even she had trouble going for that long.
Sure, there were a few fifteen-minute breaks in between, but that was still a long period, one that she was proud to say she learned much from. However, it only made the shadow of doubt spread. He definitely did not need to save his stamina.
So why? To make the competition underestimate him? If he wanted to do that then he shouldn't have even made it to the top ten!
… Not good. She was getting flustered. Getting excitable was fine, but whatever emotion was swimming in the depths of her stomach certainly wasn't.
Maybe she didn't have enough to eat? Her quirk had an innate ability to manipulate her own lipid production so that she wouldn't suffer from lipid imbalance – apparently, her family had that issue when they overused their quirks – so perhaps she was just feeling under the weather.
Then again, the lipid imbalance cases symptoms her family had in the past weren't as bad as the lipid imbalance disorders she read in books. Perhaps the family quirk was creating an immunity? The symptoms did fix themselves after a day or two in contrary to what she had read. Only her great grandfather had suffered a permanent liver deformity and no one in their family since had any–
She shook herself out of her musings. She lost her train of thought again.
What is wrong with me? Just think about it later. You can ask Emiya about it after the second event ends.
Yes, that would be an ideal time. For now, she should focus, or rather on the thorny vines wrapping around the top of a section of the icy peaks.
"There they are! Two O'clock!" Kaminari shouted. "Took them a while."
"The longer they take, the better for us," Todoroki reciprocated. "Iida? How soon before you can use that move of yours again?"
"I can use it again now," he replied. "The lack of action allowed my engines to cool, added with the fact that the area around you is particularly chilly."
Only six minutes left.
A lot could happen in that time.
In an instant, team Tetsutetsu appeared from the canopy and slid down the incline of ice, with team Bakugo's explosive burst coming up from Yaoyorozu's left.
"Half-and-half bastard!"
"Hold it, Kirishima!" Tetsutetsu shouted from above. "You think you can get away that easily!?"
At least the steel boy's team weren't after them… yet.
Midoriya's team swiftly followed, Uraraka's quirk proving very useful to lighten their load for the one working jet-boot from the support course and Tokoyami's own quirk to take advantage of.
With a clear path in, the other teams poured in quickly. In other words, it would be just like before with teams after the ten-million points.
Only this time, the enclosed area they were in was only a sixth as large as the arena.
And they were the ones going to be chased.
Kaminari chuckled wearily.
"… Is it too late to make a break for it?"
"Get ready, Kaminari!" Todoroki bellowed. "Yaoyorozu, we'll need a blanket! We can take them all out in one attack if we time this right."
Truly, a lot can happen in six minutes.
And as she started to create an insulated blanket, and a rod to dig into the floor to ground the current, Yaoyorozu had a feeling much more would happen too.
"Indiscriminate Shock…"
Her vision cut off as the blanket wrapped all around them, but Kaminari's voice echoed out all the same. Without wasting a second, Yaoyorozu's eyes sealed shut.
"… One-point-three Million Volts!"
Even with her eyes blocked, she could see the hints of light shining out from him, threatening to blind her as she did with her flashbang during the invasion. The insulated blanket, added with the rod to ground it out, protected them from getting shocked. At the same time, she heard the screams of those who charged from above.
Kaminari's electric blast of 1.3 million volts – which sounded like a lot but it really wasn't , not nearly enough to completely harm an average person – the enemy teams were blinded, sliding down the incline at an alarming rate with barely any time to steady their footing.
The moment they touched the ground around them, they could not react.
The landmines surged. Pink-tinted explosions, signifying their reduced lethality, broke their formations and shattered their teams.
From what she remembered… Tetsutetsu's team was over the horizon but team Bakugo was much closer, on the side where their spark plug of a classmate resided.
Once the light died down, Todoroki threw the blanket away and held a rod towards the destabilized and paralyzed teams. Ice formed around his palm and shot along the pole, surging forth and clasping their enemies within an icy prison.
But the ice didn't reach a few. Those were the teams whose Riders fell.
"Riders Hagakure, Rin, and Aoyama have fallen!" Midnight's microphone enhanced voice shouted from her podium. "Ten teams left standing! Four teams with points still left! If nobody gets any points, then these four are the ones who'll proceed!"
"A fantastic play from Team Todoroki!" Present-Mic's voice echoed. "Did you see that, Eraserhead!?"
"With the ice freezing the majority of fallen members, it is unlikely that they'll be able to recover," came his blase reply. "They planned accordingly. Well done."
Yaoyorozu let a smile grace her face, but remained cautious. Todoroki's ice, while powerful, wasn't unbreakable. The ice could be destroyed. Shiozaki's quirk-produced vines could breakthrough. Ashido's acid could melt through. Even Kirishima could simply brute force his way out.
Suddenly, the sounds of additional explosions came.
They weren't from her landmines.
Iida, sensing the incoming danger, activated his boosters and managed to force them out of harm's way. Harm's way, being Bakugo rocketing past where Todoroki's head was.
"Damn it! You aren't getting away!" Bakugo screamed.
The young woman winced in surprise. Did he jump from his own cavalry team!?
"Yaoyorozu!"
"Even without telling me, I know!"
Pure black mass shot forth from her elbows. It had no definite form, no composite blueprint that she thought of, and it was crudely mangled together. However, it got the job done.
Her lipids reserves surely dwindled as more was put forth, expanding into a concave carapace of brittle mass. If used for defense, it would've surely broken by now.
However, the expanded carapace didn't cover them, but the explosive teen before behind them.
"What the–!?" He cried out. His form covered and the only single opening was from behind him. Even the battle-crazed blonde knew he needed to back off, lest he be dragged down by the added weight and subsequently disqualified.
So he did so.
An explosive burst of his own making sent him flying back. The impact against the carapace destroyed it as charcoal-like shards burst forth. However, since it was still connected to her elbow, she felt the impact push her back as well.
Luckily, the roller-skates beneath her and Kaminari prevented it from destabilizing them too badly.
She had bought a single second.
And a second was all Iida needed.
Yaoyorozu felt herself lurch forth as they surged past the few frozen teams.
"Shiozaki!" Tetsutetsu's voice cut through.
A wall of vines shot forth from beside them, at their weakest side where Todoroki's ice would hit Iida if used. His eyes widened and Yaoyorozu braced for impact.
"One more!" Kaminari bellowed to the world. Electricity once again escaped him, to which Yaoyorozu quickly created another grounding rod.
The vines were pushed back for a few moments, but those precious seconds bought allowed Iida to worm their team around them and up towards the towering ice wall.
"See ya later, suckers!" Kaminari shouted as he let out a dumb smile. It was likely the only thing he was going to be saying for a while. His quirk's demerit was an unfortunate one, truly.
With the quickly approaching ice wall, Todoroki allowed ice to form underneath them. It expanded and created a pseudo platform, one that they used to shoot up the ice wall like an elevator.
Luckily, Kaminari and her own arms were covered in thermal gloves, ensuring that their fingers won't get frozen. Which they would've, especially since their fingers were at Todoroki's soles, the exact spot where ice would escape from.
"Alright," Todoroki muttered loud enough for her and Iida to hear. Kaminari wouldn't be able to anyway. "Once we make it to the top, I'll seal the wall from the top. That'll prevent them from following. Even if they breakthrough, it'll fall on them ."
Yaoyorozu could tell that Iida frowned, even if she couldn't see his face. "That seems a little excessive. Do you not think so?"
"They won't stop following us," Todoroki said. "We can ensure our victory by doing it."
Todoroki clearly didn't want to talk about it with Iida more, since the Ice already flowed out from his soles, slowly but surely sealing the miniature arena of ice. Although Yaoyorozu supposed it was more of a dome of ice now.
Once the ice fully sealed, then it would prevent their escape. Destroying the foundations of the ice wall could bring it down without issue, but with the dome atop, they'd need to burrow through the bottom. If they did, then they'd take a long time to get through. An unrealistic amount of time due to how thick the wall is.
"Oh? Even after escaping all of that, they still aren't satisfied!?" Present-Mic shouted. "Team Todoroki is sealing in the competition! With this, they'll weed out the competition!"
With the five and a half minutes left, they'd be better off fighting each other for points.
At the rate they were going at, they'd be firmly at the top–
"Black Birdy~!" Kaminari sang, interrupting her thought process.
She blinked.
Black birdy?
"Breakthrough, Dark Shadow!"
Tokoyami!
They only had a moment to turn around before the 'black birdy', better known as Tokoyami, had appeared flying up from beneath them, purely from the power of his quirk.
Is it… slightly bigger than before? Is it just my imagination?
Todoroki halted his dome creation and shot forth a pillar of ice to block them off. "Yaoyorozu, prepare a parachute!"
The young woman shook off the distracting thought and got to work. She had to let one of her arms go from his leg to free up an arm, but he'd understand. She started creating an intricate weave of dense fabric.
"I need a few more seconds!" She shouted back.
Todoroki did not reply. Replies were unnecessary. Instead, he focused on halting Midoriya's team from approaching entirely. Wave after wave of ice, it forced the shadow monster back, all the while covering the dome at the same time.
Multitasking at its finest. Yaoyorozu truly admired that. At this rate, she was sure that they wouldn't even need the parachute. Midoriya's team had retreated and receded beneath the ice. With the last surge of effort, the dome was entirely–
Suddenly, as if at the zenith of impossibility, she heard the ice crack.
It was normal to hear Todoroki's ice crack. Ice surging forth had that distinctive sound about it. However, this sound was different. She didn't notice at first, but from the crevices spreading across the dome top, she did.
"ORYAAA!"
Dark Shadow, Tokoyami's quirk, burst through from beneath the nearly-complete dome, its form much more crazed and strength at a whole other level. If she thought it was slightly larger before, this was on a whole other level. It was larger than a whole car, nearly the size of a bus!
That layer of ice wasn't as thick as the wall itself, but it was still incredibly so! How on earth did they burst out of it!?
"Team Midoriya's Tokoyami Fumikage bursts out of the dome in a frenzy!" Present-Mic shouted. "What power! This is truly a sight to behold!"
The mass of darkness receded into itself, revealing a stunned Midoriya, a surprised Uraraka, and a tired Tokoyami.
"Dark Shadow… Darkness…" Their leader Todoroki muttered. Then, suddenly as if eureka, he came to a conclusion. "I see. So that's how it is."
Yaoyorozu wanted to ask what he found out ever so desperately, but their current predicament took priority so she refrained.
She had finished the parachute and tossed it towards her leader, who caught it and strapped on without any delay. Ice spread from beneath his feet and encased all of their bodies. It was cold, absolutely frigid, but it was necessary.
Todoroki used a pillar of ice to push them all off. With a pull of his harness, her finely craft parachute spread open like a blooming fire. The wind within the enclosed stadium, as any wind within an enclosed space, was strong enough to allow their safe descent.
The ice holding them all together was heavily pulling them down like an anchor, but it was either that or having Kaminari or Iida let go. Yaoyorozu would've probably let go too. She wasn't too confident about her grip strength. She used an industrial clamp to get the highest score during the quirk assessment test. She definitely didn't want to use that on Todoroki's leg just to keep a grip.
So while they were heavier than a washing machine, they were at least stable. At the rate of their descent, they should be fine–
The sound of ice cracking grabbed their attention once more. She saw Todoroki snap his gaze towards the dome of ice, and feeling curious themselves, she and Iida followed.
The enclosed arena of ice fell. The foundations shattered and the top came tumbling down. The entirety destabilized and what remained was the simple sight of one team.
Team Tetsutetsu.
Yaoyorozu frowned. Honenuki must've liquefied the base of it. They couldn't do that before because the ice would've toppled onto them… No, even if they did liquefy the base, it would've stayed stable…
… if the dome at the top hadn't been shattered, that is.
"Todoroki!"
Midoriya's team was still chasing!?
Yaoyorozu frowned. At this rate, they'll catch up to them. They were weighed down so their mobility was practically non-existent. They wouldn't be able to get away.
So then they'll attack.
"Yaoyorozu!" Todoroki shouted, holding his palm out towards the approaching shadow. "Help me create a distraction! Iida, get us out of here!"
"Got it!" Iida shouted his reply. She heard the ice audibly crack under them. Iida's legs were around that area. Heat came pouring forth from his engines. The ice beneath him melted and fire burst forth.
Slowly, but surely, they were moving away from Midoriya's team. They were slow like a blimp, but they were moving.
She wasn't going to let them do all the work. She saw Todoroki launch shards of ice at the approaching team. They dodged and weaved in the air. The Dark Shadow quirk was far more versatile than previously thought. The zero weight proved to be a benefit.
But their team wasn't the only one who worked well together.
Yaoyorozu quickly went to work. Her one free arm aimed at the approaching team. It felt awkward due to the angle, but Todoroki's aim remained true and his own arm was awkwardly aimed. However, at this rate, he'd be overwhelmed.
Not for long.
"Todoroki!" She shouted, her quirk-made object extending out of her arm. "Catch!"
In one swift wave of her arm, her object was thrown into Todoroki's free waiting arm.
"Iida, close your eyes!" Yaoyorozu warned, and he followed once he realized what the object was.
Another flashbang.
"Nice thinking, Yaoyorozu!" He complimented. With one swift action, he pulled the pin and threw it right at them. Closing his eyes and waiting for the burst of light.
With that, they should be able to blind them enough for Todoroki to get a good clean shot.
She heard it go off. She waited a second before opening her eyes again–
Wait, where's Tokoyami?
"That should take them out for the meantime," Todoroki muttered before turning back to Yaoyorozu. "I'm surprised you figured out his quirk's weakness already. I underestimated you."
Weakness?
She blinked and followed his gaze downward… towards a rapidly falling Midoriya being clutched hard by his teammates, all the while Tokoyami tries to console his seemingly cowering quirk.
Light? Dark Shadow's weakness was light?
That was… a very ironic weakness.
"O-Of course. It was obvious," Yaoyorozu muttered out. She didn't want to seem incompetent. She had no idea. It was just luck. What kind of genius does something based on luck!?
"Five minutes left…" Todoroki muttered. "Midoriya's team is down for a bit but we're close to the ground now. Break the ice and we can getaway. Kaminari, are you sane now?"
"Hehe… explosions!"
Iida sighed. "No, looks like he isn't– explosions?"
"Half-and-half bastard!"
Now it's Bakugo!?
"It's just one after the other!" Todoroki complained. It was easy to figure out where the explosive blond came from. The hole in the ice allowed all the teams to escape, Bakugo's team included.
Like a missile, their classmate blasted through the sky and barreled towards them. "Hand over those points!"
Bakugo proved to be incredibly maneuverable in the air. They had a glimpse of it during the indoor training exercise with his battle against Midoriya, but his current performance was head over shoulders in comparison.
Any ice shard sent his way, he dodged by a hair's breadth. Normally, a person would lose momentum if they changed direction suddenly, especially in the air. However, Bakugo kept coming as fast as before. He propelled himself with one arm continuously while using the other to change direction. If needed, he'd swap his arm's roles and keep coming forward.
The amount of control he required that quirk of his… Amazing. It wasn't as hard to use as her own quirk, but it was still up there. The regular explosions he made before wouldn't have given him enough lift to fly, but his current explosions, enhanced explosions, gave him enough to do so. If he made any mistake then he'd burn himself.
Truly, he was a genius.
"I'm gonna claw myself to the number one spot, the absolute and irrefutable top!"
… Looks like that wasn't an empty boast. Not in the slightest.
"I can't slow him down," Todoroki said. "Anything you can do here, Yaoyorozu?"
She pondered on creating another flashbang – those were surprisingly versatile and useful – but held against it. Bakugo reacted fast so he'd see it coming and react appropriately. Did she have anything to make, something that Bakugo wouldn't be able to react to?
… Not really. His mid-air battling capabilities outclass them, especially since they couldn't freely do anything mid-air. Todoroki's ice was limited to projectiles. Iida could only move them slightly. Yaoyorozu herself only had one arm free to make objects, none of which would help…. and as crude as it sounded, Kaminari was still dumb as a rock.
She shook her head.
"… No choice then," Todoroki muttered. He mutters a lot to himself, doesn't he? "Iida, turn off your quirk. On my signal, use that Recipro Burst again."
"H-Huh? Alright," Iida listened.
In one swift movement, Todoroki's ice exploded from his palm–
"Again with the ice!?" Bakugo shouted.
– and cut the parachute. The strings snapped and flung to the sky. The cast-off parachute flew to the wind much like a blanket that fell off of a window sill. Bakugo, who didn't anticipate the sudden act, was caught in the flying parachute as he shot over them. His image rapidly fading away– wait.
Cut the parachute.
Yaoyorozu blinked and then gaped. "Eh?"
Like a brick, they fell.
Hard.
"The hell!?" Bakugo shouted as he was covered in her crafted parachute.
"Todoroki, WHY!?" Iida managed to get out.
"Wheey~"
"Team Todoroki has done something unbelievable!" Present-Mic shouted out. "How will they get themselves out of this one!?"
Yaoyorozu would've said something too, but she was still busy screaming her lungs out.
Ah… so this is how I'll die.
Just as she contemplated her Will, Todoroki held onto their shoulders tightly and closed his eyes. "This'll be close…"
Her screaming ceased to be heard when the son of Endeavor let loose another blast of ice. This time, from below him. Her fingers felt cold even under her gloves, but a spire of ice shot down towards the ground. It shattered, but Todoroki kept on pouring it down.
Why!? That pillar is far too weak to keep us all up!
A pillar was made and shattered in an instant. Todoroki's eyes were closed in deep concentration. The sound of ice breaking, wind howling, Present-Mic's incessant commentary, all of it echoed within their ears.
Until finally, the howl died down, the ice finally stopped echoing, and her feet felt something solid beneath her.
"Truly amazing! Todoroki managed to break their fall by making a bed of snow!" Present-Mic commentated. "It's just one thing after another with this team! What do you think, Eraserhead!?"
"His level-headed thinking is something to compliment."
Yaoyorozu ceased her screaming a while ago, when exactly she wasn't sure, so she focused on their surroundings. Bakugo, who was wrapped in their parachute before, was pulled back down to the earth by the tape wrapped around him. Sero's work.
Midoriya's team, who was sent falling, charged forth from where they were. They no longer needed to go up high in the air and seemed to have ran towards their assumed landing point. Smart decision.
"Now, Iida!" Their leader shouted. "Before they get their bearings!"
Their forward cavalry member flinched out of his trance. It was likely that he was astounded with what just happened. Though, Yaoyorozu would not blame him. She felt something similar too.
With a roar of effort, Iida's quirk burst to life. The engines, having been going full-burn while they were floating away from the ice dome. But now, when the ice cooled down his well-rested legs, it activated with gusto.
"Recipro… BURST!"
She lurched. Kaminari lurched. Todoroki lurched but kept his form steady. The world flashed by them once more but this time she held on tightly to her leader. The snow beneath them blasted into the air and created a miniature blizzard as they passed the teams by, hurtling farther and farther away from the ice dome. Away from the competition.
Just one minute had passed.
Five more to go.
The competition was going to be busy too. She saw team Bakugo get held up by team Tetsutetsu. Team Midoriya was free to follow, but they'd need to take a while to follow them. Following Iida's Recipro-Burst was not easy.
Deeply within, Yaoyorozu wondered, how was Emiya doing?
"Get out of the way, mob characters!" Bakugo shouted. "Ten million points just blasted by! What the hell are you doing here!?"
They were getting in his way! He needed that irrefutable top!
"Shut up!" the mob shouted back. "I don't care what you say! I'm here for Kirishima and Kirishima alone!"
"Eh? Me?" spikey-hair muttered. "Why, Tetsutetsu?"
The mob just grit his teeth and shook. He's probably mad or something. He jut out a finger towards his spiky-haired teammate. "That! What happened to you!? Where is your manliness!? Are you a man or not!?"
As if a switch got flipped, his teammate stood rigidly, shifting Bakugo's balance, much to his annoyance. "Of course I am! What're you even talking about!?"
"Are we really talking about this here!?" Tape-boy shouted. "Look, we're in the middle of an event!"
"Yeah! Talk about this later!" Antennae shouted in turn.
Bakugo growled. He had no time for this! Points were running away along with his chance for an undeniable top spot! These mobs have to disappear.
Just as he was ready to give them a full blast of his quirk, arms aching be damned. They were already aching from pulling his team up the ice wall. They ached to get them out. They ached from flying up towards that half-and-half bastard. They ached alright, but this pain wouldn't stop him from claiming what was rightfully his!
"Cutting in~"
All eyes widened as a large hand suddenly appeared.
Where the hell did that come from!?
The hand was wrapped around that mob's head, who suddenly turned into steel. Subsequently, the hand shrunk and snatched out a handful of headbands from the mob's head.
Bakugo shouted for his team to back away, which they did. It was good that they damn did, because the torrent of vines that came out from the mob's teammate overwhelmed that other team–
"This is– Komori's quirk!" Vine-girl said.
–Or at least it would've, if that torrent reached them at all. Instead, a giant mushroom sprouted under them and flung them away, vines included.
"As if I didn't have a contingency," the other mob said.
That was… Where did he see those quirks before? If Bakugo remembered right, those belonged on the team with the Class 1-B women, but none of those women are here right now.
Then that means…
"Copy-bastard…" Bakugo muttered.
"Team Monoma steals from team Tetsutetsu!" The loudmouth Present-Mic shouted. "Incredible! He and Kuroiro Shihai used Kuroiro's quirk to hide themselves, which allowed the other cavalry riders to sneak up on them! What cunning planning!"
"I still think we should've used Yanagi's quirk instead," Kuroiro muttered. "She can will objects towards her, bending them to her will like an otherworldly being. A Poltergeist."
"Edge-out later," Monoma berated. "There are still points in front of us. I couldn't get all of Tetsutetsu's points."
"Team Monoma is now at thirteen-hundred and ten points!" Midnight's call echoed out. "Team Tetsutetsu just has six-hundred and ninety left!"
"'Still points in front of us?'" Bakugo mimicked. His growl grew. "You know, I could care less about an ass like you. Get out of my way so I can go get my ten million!"
"Your ten-million?" Monoma mused with an annoying ass grin. "No, no I don't think I will. You see, I don't like you. You're arrogant, think everyone is lesser than you, and act like your opinion is the only one that matters."
He held his hands out, both growing and expanding until it looked like they were wings. That quirk belonged to the girl who was with him during the indoor training exercise. It didn't belong to him. He didn't earn it.
He did not earn his power. He could never improve his power. He could never train to get better. He needed the efforts of others to get stronger.
He was a leech.
A disgusting, copying, leech.
"You're the kind of person that I hate the most," the copying leech said. "We have four and a half minutes, but I won't even need two to deal with you. I'll have you drop out right here, right now."
A twitch.
That was all Bakugo felt in his arms.
That was all he needed.
"Drop out? What a fucking coincidence," Bakugo growled– no, howled out. "If you can then go ahead and try! I'm going to rip all those points from you! You fucking leech!"
"B-Bakugo!?" Spikey-hair shouted.
"Change of plans! We'll be getting those ten-million points later!" Bakugo shouted out. "We're going to obliterate these fools!"
Spikey-hair– no, Kirishima grinned and nodded. "Got it!"
They had four and a half minutes.
Plenty of time.
Plenty of time to KILL this leech!
Todoroki sighed as Iida's Recipro-Burst finally ended.
That move was strong. He moved faster than his ice at full-force. Incredibly impressive. Todoroki was glad he saw it before the actual tournament matches. This way, he can plan ahead of time.
The same with Tokoyami's quirk. It was empowered in darkness. Using a wave of ice would cast a shadow, which was obviously not ideal. So dealing with him would be a bit of an issue. He might have to knock him out manually via brute force.
… there was another option, but Todoroki would rather lose than resort to it. It'd make their hypothetical battle easier by a landslide, but he would never even attempt to use it.
Never. His father's quirk will remain unused.
He'll spit on his ambitions.
This, he swore.
"Is anyone following?" Todoroki asked. He didn't want their victory to be snatched away from them just by being careless.
He wasn't careless when setting up the arena of ice. They weren't careless when setting up the landmines. They weren't careless when escaping and covering the dome… but those teams managed to get past them with ease. Team Midoriya. Team Bakugo. Team Tetsutetsu. All of them were threats.
If he got careless, then any of those teams would choke the points out of them.
"Team Midoriya is closing in," Yaoyorozu, ever-reliable, relayed.
Speaking of the devil…
"It's fine. We can deal with him. Ready up another flashbang," Todoroki ordered, to which she obeyed. "Iida, how are your engines?"
"A bit overused, but I can still move us all around quickly."
"Uh… My head hurts," A familiar voice echoed up. "What happened?"
"Kaminari, good timing," Todoroki said. "We're going to be approached by team Midoriya. Your quirk will help with keeping Tokoyami away. His quirk is weak to intense light."
"Is that right?" Kaminari muttered with an increasing grin. "Alright! Leave it to me!"
This was good. Kaminari's quirk would be helpful in a myriad of ways. It provided lots of force, which would force the feather-light team away. It provided light to deal with Tokoyami. Finally, it was electricity. They could stun them and destroy their machinery. They'd be completely crippled and would never be able to follow them ever again.
"Just don't overexert yourself and we'll be fine," Todoroki said as a closing remark.
He was feeling… cold.
He was fine. The ice he made before had taken its toll on him, but he could still make more ice. Enough to last them the duration of the second event. There was an interlude period between this and the next tournament event. That was enough time for him to relax and warm up.
"They're here!" Yaoyorozu said, her free arm holding a few cylinders of flashbangs in her grasp. Good, they can use it again if they miss. "Todoroki!"
"Got it!" He hollered back.
The pole in his hands, one crafted by Yaoyorozu before to help him create ice using his right arm wouldn't be able to reach any surface so all he'd end up doing was shoot out projectiles. However, with this rod, he could reach the floor and create walls or surges without issue.
Which was exactly what he'd do now.
The rod tapped the ground and the ice surged forth towards the approaching Midoriya team.
They reacted by lifting themselves above it, the jetpack and Tokoyami's quirk pushing them skyward.
"Kaminari!" Todoroki shouted.
"Take this!" Kaminari bellowed. A flash of electricity, much more controlled, shot out from him and around them. Towards the flying Midoriya team. If he hit, then he'd short-out the jetpack.
Unfortunately, they dodged midair when their jetpack malfunctioned.
It should've hit, but it was only through luck that it didn't. That was fine, they had more than enough chances to deal with them. Their new trajectory only gave them another one.
"Yaoyorozu!"
"Already on it!"
A single flashbang was thrown directly in their path, the pin having already been pulled. A flash echoed out. Dark Shadow made like a house of cards and fell, right onto Todoroki's ice. With this, they were trapped. They were neutralized.
It would've been so easy to just back away and wait the remaining one minute… if it weren't for what happened next.
"Time's just about up!" Present-Mic shouted. "Start the countdown! Ten seconds!"
A shadow was cast over them. A large being leaped over the trails of ice with three people sitting atop of one.
In that short instant, it clicked. When they hurried away from the ice dome, they should've realized that they were barreling towards something else. Another team that never bothered to enter the ice dome. Another team that was a threat.
Team Emiya.
They never even noticed them when they retreated.
In that short instant, that team could've snatched the ten-million points and retreat without hassle. He prepared ice to lash out if they approached. Even Kaminari's hair tingled with electrical anticipation.
But they never came.
Team Emiya blasted past them as if they were beneath their notice.
Following them, another team– or rather duo, leaped over his ice in a similar fashion. A horned woman with a centipede riding her… and that centipede had blades growing out of his arms.
"Get back here Emiya, I'll carve you up!" The rider shouted.
"Wait, Kamakiri! Ten-million!" The mount said. To which the rider, Kamakiri, reacted. His head twitched their direction and suddenly, they shifted gear.
"Shit, you're right!" Kamakiri exclaimed. "From bottom to top, let's go!"
Todoroki frowned and prepared his ice once more. This was a team that came from nowhere, but he wouldn't underestimate it–
Crack- BOOM!
Something akin to a sonic boom echoed out shattering the ice around them and sent the debris towards them. The shards of ice, flecks of dirt covered their bodies, and the shock wave pushed them back, but there was still enough leverage to see what was going on.
Midoriya' quirk. He finally used it. What amazing power… He hadn't even used his quirk before now. They couldn't prepare for it!
By the time Todoroki's team regained their footing, which was hard because of their roller skates, Midoriya's team was gone. Only one dazed and stunned duo remained.
"Dodge, Todoroki!" Yaoyorozu shouted.
What?
Todoroki had barely any time to react.
In one short second, Todoroki moved.
In one short second, team Midoriya closed the gap with Tokoyami's power and their lightweight.
In one short second, a headband was snatched from him.
In one short second, Iida reacted and catapulted them to a safe distance.
"Todoroki!?" Iida hurriedly shouted. "The ten-million! Do we still have it!?"
In a panic, the young Shoto scion felt around his body. Frenzied palms running over his nape and only relaxing when he noticed something still wrapped there.
The Ten-million points.
They grabbed their original six-hundred and thirty-five points from his head.
Relief spread through his body. If they had lost that when there was only half a minute left in the match… that'd be bad. Incredibly so. If he had failed to react in time, to tilt his head far enough that Midoriya's fingers grabbed the wrong headband... They would have lost. He would have lost. Too close for comfort. Far too close.
"Hey! Todoroki!" Kaminari called, but for what, he didn't know– "That's hot! Keep your arm away!"
His eyes widened as his left arm raised for inspection… only to see a few embers fade away.
He… he used it?
That's… that's not–
"Damn it!" He heard Midoriya shout. The first time he heard Midoriya curse. "Not yet! We have to get the ten-million! Tokoyami!"
"Charge!" Kamakiri, the human centipede, shouted from the top of his lungs.
"Shit, They're after the ten million!" He heard Shinso Hitoshi say from a few meters behind them. "We need to get away, Emiya!"
"Hold it, half-and-half bastard!" He heard from behind him.
Now it's Bakugo!?
Four enemies, all surrounding them without a hint of escape, even if Iida could miraculously pull out another Recipro Burst. They were trapped.
The new duo, charging like a horse-rider on his steed. Bakugo barreling towards them through the air like the human bomb he was. Midoriya, charging forth with Tokoyami's speed… and finally Emiya, with all three of his members at their back, capabilities completely unknown.
He willed on his ice to shoot forth all around him. To create a wall, a basin, anything to keep them away for a few more moments!
But his quirk would not respond. His very body on the verge of frostbite.
He couldn't do anything–
"Time's up!"
Just like that, tension diffused and everything ended. Bakugo, flying through the air, fell flat on his face. Midoriya stumbled off of his cavalry once they stopped suddenly. The duo from Class 1-B stumbled and they both fell flat on their rears.
… it's over?
They… won?
"That's the end of the second round, the cavalry battle!" Present-Mic's voice resounded… and not a second too soon.
Letting a sigh of relief leave him for the second time in the span of a minute, Todoroki took in the sight of the enemies before them. His defeated enemies. The enemies he defeated without his father's quirk.
My path… my path is not wrong.
Idly Todoroki turned behind him towards their fourth enemy–
His eyes widened.
Team Emiya was there.
They were there.
They had not approached.
They were there.
"Sorry, Emiya," Kodai muttered. "We couldn't stop him."
Emiya just nodded. "That's fine. I didn't think that Tokoyami would go after us at that moment."
What?
"Now, let's take a look at the top four teams right away!" Present-Mic shouted, interfering with his thoughts. "In first place, team Todoroki!"
"Cutting it close there… right?" Kaminari muttered.
"In second place…" he continued. "Team Bakugo! After a complete obliteration of a victory over team Monoma!"
"Ah, we were so close," Ashido complained lightly.
Sero just chuckled. "Well, second place isn't so bad. All's well that ends well–"
"DAMN IT ALL! EVEN AFTER I WRECKED THAT LEECH!"
"That's not what he thinks, though," Kirishima muttered. "I guess this means team Emiya is third, right? They had a few."
"In third place, team Emiya!" Present-Mic said, voicing out the obvious. "And the final team that made it through… team Tetsutet– wait, what? What's this?"
Todoroki let his gaze flicker to the scoreboard. They were listed down from the top. Todoroki, Bakugo, Emiya… and then Midoriya.
But how? Midoriya had their own points, six-hundred and thirty-five. Tetsutetsu had six-hundred and ninety. So he should have–
Emiya just nodded. "I didn't think that Tokoyami would go after us at that moment."
… Impossible.
"Team Midoriya, after stealing eighty points from team Emiya, is in fourth place!" Present-Mic cheered. "These four teams will advance to the final round! Just look at them. They're crying tears of joy!"
Well, it was only Midoriya who was bawling his eyes out. The rest seemed content to relax, with disregard to Bakugo. He was the exception… the exception…
… his path… it wasn't wrong… right?
Todoroki's fingers clenched… his left hand's fingers.
Damn it…
Shirou sighed.
What a day.
After all those teams had poured into the ice dome, Shirou and the rest had to run away from the single team still left outside. Tsunotori with Kamakiri as the rider. They were the only two, so it was easy for them to get caught by team Tetsutetsu early on.
They went throughout the entire event with no points. Hence their incessant targeting of them and their points. There were no other sources to get points, with all of them after Todoroki's team, so they dealt with them and ran away for several straight minutes.
And then the ice dome burst open, explosions resounded across the sky near it, and towers of ice formed in an instant. Shirou just had no idea what happened there. He had ideas, guesses and hypotheses formed based on what he knew, but he didn't know what happened.
He was far too occupied trying to avoid the blades whirring by his head, for once not made by him but a Class 1-B bladesman, in the literal sense.
Shirou did actually try to structurally analyze those blades, but in doing so he knew that any attempt to trace them would only create blades without hilts or handles. They were really cheap though, so that was something.
Shame. It might be useful to have blades sprout from unexpected places. If he was attacked from behind, boom! Blade to the enemy. Simple as that.
Shirou held back an embarrassed cough. Luckily, nobody could hear these absurd thoughts of his.
Anyways… by the end of it, they found themselves at the center of a five-way with teams Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kamakiri. Honestly, Shirou wanted to back away. They were already in third place, so charging in wasn't a good idea.
He never expected Dark Shadow, Tokoyami's quirk, to splinter off and grab a headband from him. If it was any other headband then they would have lesser than team Tetsutetsu. In other words, they would have lost.
If they had gotten unlucky, if Dark Shadow had grabbed just one other headband, they would have lost. He would have failed his team.
It was… an odd feeling.
He remembered when he failed a high-jump when he was in elementary school. He remembered feeling frustrated and repeating that high-jump until he would manage to do it. He remembered that feeling…
… where had it gone? He never… he never remembered having that feeling in high school.
… Not even once.
"Good work, Emiya," Shinso, or rather Hitoshi as he wanted to be referred to now. He really should remember that. "We managed to move onto the next round, miraculously. Never really expected that."
Kodai simply hummed.
"… I feel like I need to lay down," Shishida muttered. His form had shrunken back to normal and he laid flat on his back. "Oh wait. I'm already lying down. Maybe I need a nap instead."
"Take a nap at the break room," Shinso berated. It seemed like he berates a lot of the rowdy bunch in his class. "I'll be roaming the festival with Monoma later. What're you going to do, Emiya?"
Shirou contemplated.
"… I think that I'll visit Yu," he finally answered. "She probably wants to spend more time with me. Other than that, I don't really have anything else to do."
Shinso nodded out of understanding. Shishida groggily got onto his feet. Kodai, on the other hand, simply stared at him. It was starting to get a bit odd.
"Is something wrong?" Shirou asked.
"… No," she says simply.
Nothing else followed. The conversation died before it could even start, so Shirou simply nodded and made his way out of the stadium, followed by every other student in the arena.
He heard them complain. Some of them were relieved. A few were frustrated. More were just happily chatting with their friends.
Shirou? All he did was listen to them.
He fingered the pendant in his pocket.
… He had other things to do. Even if he had no idea what those other things were. Something within him was screaming out. Clawing up from within his broken mind. However, Shirou had no idea what it was.
He pulled out the ruby pendant out for half a second, catching the way it glinted in the light one last time before they went down the dark corridor back to the waiting rooms.
… If Rin was here. She'd know what to do.
He traced his fingers around it, one last time.
She would.