『Alright, let's hear those battle cries!! The blood-soaked UA war begins now!! Raise the banners of conflict!!!!』
As the cheers erupted, I was in full "Presidential Mode," waving to the crowd with a metaphorical "Yes We Can." Ojiro, positioned at the front of our horse, looked back at me. What now?
"This might be a little late to ask, but... are you sure you want me?"
"It's definitely way too late for that. Don't worry, we'll make it work! That's why we've got all this support gear. All you have to do is show me some Kacchan-level guts!! Do it, Ojiro!!!"
"Asking me to be like Bakugo doesn't exactly make me feel like we'll 'make it work'..."
He sounded a bit demoralized, so I gave his tail a good smack to fire him up. It didn't seem to hurt, but he was so surprised it stood straight up. How interesting.
"Alright, Ochaco!"
"Right!"
"Hatsume!"
"Ufufu!"
"The ultimate primate bio-weapon: Ojiro Max!!!"
"Wait, am I the only one getting a weird upgrade?!" Ojiro cried.
"The goal is to snatch every single headband, so let's get to it! No mercy!"
"NO MERCY!" the girls cheered.
"I hope I survive this..." Ojiro whispered.
The Radio Geezer yelled "Start!" and the Cavalry Battle began. As expected, everyone ignored our team at first. Most of the horses charged straight for Kacchan's group. There were minor skirmishes elsewhere, but no one looked our way. Even the announcers completely ignored us.
"Everything's going exactly like you predicted, Midoriya," Ojiro noted, looking around with a visible sense of relief. I guess he was actually nervous about my "Kacchan-level guts" requirement.
As if I'd actually expect that much from him.
"Second-Place Girl, if we don't stand out, I'm going to have a problem..." Hatsume complained.
I ignored her. We are business friends linked only by mutual benefit; I have no reason to comfort her.
"Nico, I'm glad this is working out so far, but are you really planning to take all the headbands?" Ochaco asked.
"Every last one. I'm going to strip them bare."
"You're reliable, but that's also terrifying..."
Ochaco looked a bit worried. I get it; being left out of the loop like this can make anyone uneasy. But it's fine for now. Things are about to get very busy.
『Everyone is gunning for that ten million! Bakugo is under heavy fire!! How has he not lost it yet?! That kid is incredible!!!!』
Keep it up, Kacchan.
As I watched, I saw a team break away from the main group around Kacchan and head toward us. I didn't recognize them—must be Class B.
"Look at that. Someone finally lost their patience. Here come the suckers."
"They really came. Midoriya, are you actually a genius?" Ojiro asked.
"I'm a genius-level beautiful high school girl, duh!"
"Looking at your everyday self, I find that really hard to agree with."
Ignoring Ojiro's grumbling, I gave Ochaco the signal. She touched everyone on the team, and the weight of our bodies vanished.
"We're flying!"
Gas hissed violently from the jetpacks on my back, and our horse soared into the air.
"They're flying?! Is that support gear?! Wait—whoa?!"
"Bwahahaha!! Farewell, Class B pops!!"
I used my "Pull" Quirk to snatch the headband right off the idiots who had charged us, then fired the jetpacks again to gain more distance and escape. While we were in the air, I made sure to scatter some flames behind us as a deterrent. It's the little things that matter—it makes people think twice about chasing you.
"Nico, we're landing!"
Thanks to Hatsume's air-cushion boots, Ochaco made a soft landing. It didn't look like her legs took much of a shock. I'd have to check with her, but we could probably manage two or three more big jumps like that.
The moment we landed, Hatsume leaned in close, breathing heavily with excitement. "How are my babies?! Aren't they adorable?!"
"I don't know about 'adorable' for machines, but they're good!"
"I knew you'd see it my way!"
I guess she doesn't care if I don't think they're cute.
"Midoriya!! The enemies are closing in! What's the plan?!" Ojiro asked, scanning the field.
"Let's stick with 'Operation: The Bunny Wants to Go to the Moon.' We keep hopping and keep snatching."
"You were actually serious about that name?!"
Before he could complain further, another team arrived. It was a beast-type boy running on all fours with another boy on his back. Another set of suckers.
"Ochaco!"
"Got it, touched!"
We used the jetpack thrust to soar over the enemy horse again. I tried to "Pull" the headband as we passed, but the enemy was holding onto it tightly. Too bad for them.
"If you were gonna hold on that tight, you should have wrapped it around your hand!!"
With the unyielding power of a maiden's spite, I yanked hard. The headband slipped through the enemy's fingers and landed right in my hand.
"Second-Place Girl, should we use that?!" Hatsume asked.
"Do it."
"Roger that!"
Hatsume leveled a gun at the duo trying to chase us. It didn't fire bullets, of course—it fired a capture net. Normally, an opponent could read the trajectory and dodge, but I wasn't going to let that happen. I focused on the rider and "Pulled" with everything I had.
Since we were weightless but had the forward momentum of the jetpacks, pulling a single person toward us was easy. The rider was yanked forward, flying straight into the capture net mid-air. They got tangled up perfectly. Sucks for you!
"Midoriya!! That pull dropped our momentum! We're gonna land in the middle of a crowd!"
"I know! Ojiro! Grab my legs tight!! We're jumping!!"
Once I felt my legs were secure, I activated my "Pull" Quirk at full throttle to launch us. I targeted a girl with a side-pony tail; she lost her balance, but since her horse was sturdy, she didn't fly toward me. Instead, I flew toward her. As we zipped past, I reached out and took her headband physically.
Normally, the horses would have collided, but not today. Thanks to the air-cushion boots Ochaco was wearing, we could adjust our position in the air. We could only pull this off because we'd planned it all out beforehand. There's no way you could do this on the fly.
"Landing!!"
The boots cushioned the impact. We hit the ground, and Ochaco cut her Quirk. I never get used to the feeling of my natural weight returning. Part of me just wants to live my life floating forever.
While I was enjoying the gravity and giving Hatsume instructions to use the "Sticky-Trap Bombs" on the side-pony girl's team, Ojiro looked at me.
"Midoriya! That was terrifying! Don't just jump off the horse like that! You said you'd pull the headbands to you!"
"Ojiro, your tail is surprisingly sturdy, so I figured it'd be fine. Besides, it feels better to take them with my own hands, right? And it worked!"
"My heart can't take this!! I thought you were gonna slip and fly off!"
He was genuinely mad. Ojiro was "O-Angry."
"Come on, it worked out, didn't it?"
"It worked out this time, but if it failed, you would have been launched out of the arena!"
"If that happened, I'd just use my Quirk to pull myself back in."
"The fact that you can actually say that... I guess you really are on Bakugo's level," Ojiro sighed.
"Well, I am the perfect and bountiful goddess, Nico-chan."
"Yeah, yeah. You're amazing."
By now, we were starting to draw a lot of attention. What should we do?
"Second-Place Girl! Something big is coming! A total tank!"
I turned to see a literal "Attacking Golem." I wasn't even sure if that was a human or a high school student.
"Midoriya!! Another one over here! It's that guy from before! The one who charged us first!"
"Another sucker?"
"Yeah, a sucker... wait, stop making me say that!" Ojiro barked.
I didn't even need to look. I could hear a loud voice yelling, "Give those points back, Class A!!" He really did sound like a middle-aged man.
"Nico! Over here too!"
I turned again. "Asura-san" (Shoji) was approaching in his final form. Judging by how he was shielding his back, the Grape-head and Tsuyu were probably tucked inside. How annoying.
As I stared at them, my eyes met a pair of eyes peeking through the gaps in Shoji's arms.
"OJIROOOOO!! DEATH TO THE TRAITORRRRR!!"
"Me?! Midoriya is the one with the headbands!"
"Shut up!! You're in a dream position!! Switch with meeeee!!"
The Grape-head's black orbs came flying at Ojiro. I considered letting them hit him, but if Ojiro lost his mobility, it would be a pain later. I used my "Pull" Quirk to divert their trajectory and burned any that got too close.
Then, a long tongue lashed out from beside the Grape. I was already prepared for it, so I dodged lightly and looked toward the source. As expected, Tsuyu was looking at me.
"Not bad, Midoriya-chan."
She actually looked like she was having fun. I was feeling a bit warmed by Tsuyu's attitude when Ojiro shook me with his tail. Do something, he was clearly saying. I get it, I get it.
"It should be about time..."
I looked over at Kacchan's group. It was a disaster zone of explosions and ice. I could see flashes of electricity too. Because he was fighting such high-level opponents, Kacchan hadn't taken flight yet.
"Bakugo hasn't moved yet! What do we do?! Do we jump?!" Ojiro asked.
"I want to, but the jetpacks don't have infinite fuel."
I wanted to save the rest for the final five minutes.
"Midoriya, a horse is right on us!"
I looked back. The Golem was closing in. Everyone had let their guard down because of its slow movement. I pinched Ojiro's tail to alert him, but it was too late. A liquid erupted from the Golem and hit Ochaco's feet. It must have been some kind of adhesive, because she was suddenly stuck to the ground.
"You Class A kids stand out too much—"
I felt the headband around my head being snatched away just as a boy's voice whispered behind me.
In that instant, I wrapped my legs around Ojiro's tail for stability and used my "Pull" Quirk to yank the person who was trying to zip past us.
"—Whoa?!"
The guy let out a pathetic yelp. As he was pulled toward me, I spun around and slammed my right elbow into his face. I used my Quirk to snatch back my headband along with the one he had around his neck. He seemed to have two, but I missed one of them. I'd get it back later; for now, I let him go.
The stranger was doubled over, gagging from the blow. I turned a cold, "kind" gaze on the surrounding teams as a warning.
"Touch my stuff again, and I'll punch you. I'll punch you with everything I've got. I don't care if you're a boy or a girl. I will hit you. If you want to die, step up."
I glared at them and cracked my knuckles with a loud snap. Everyone took a collective step back. What's wrong? Come on. I didn't spend my life trading blows with Kacchan for nothing, you know!!
"Nico... you're a total villain right now," Ochaco muttered.
"Ufufu!! This is definitely standing out!!" Hatsume cheered.
"I really wanted a nice, clean fight... ha ha," Ojiro sighed.
『—Whoa!! I was so distracted by the slugfest between Bakugo and Todoroki that I missed this!! We're past the halfway mark, and the Class B teams have had almost all their points stolen?! What's going on, Mummy-man!!』
『Pay attention, you idiot.』
***
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