All For Some

Chapter 37: The Cavalry Battle

It wasn't loud, Izuku couldn't deny that. With so many people the stadium could never be completely quiet for long, but for a stadium of that size when a winner of a race was declared it could as well have been a library as soon as the echo of Present Mic's voice waned.

Some people cheered, not worrying about more than the resolution of the race. Others were surprised silent, seeing how the number two hero's son was overtaken so... explosively. Many had issues accepting who had done it. Izuku could feel all of the suspicious and even outright hostile stares numbering higher than he could count in a day. He swallowed and hung onto the Calm Mind to remain standing straight and not wither under the pressure of the crowd as soon as he was no longer focused on the race.

He turned to face the entryway he had just come through, focusing his worries at the stream of other students that eventually started coming through behind Todoroki. Surprisingly Tenya did not come third, but fourth. Tokoyami came fifth. Kirishima was not far behind him at sixth. His clothes and especially pants seemed even more worn out than after the robot. Izuku made a mental note to find video of the competition to see if he actually strolled through the minefield without caring about the actual mines. Izuku smirked at the thought, briefly forgetting what little tension Calm Mind couldn't cover.

After Kirishima there were many foreign faces and some familiar ones. Izuku's previous smirk disappeared as the number of students reaching the finish line grew and one specific one was missing from the group. Almost twenty students had already completed the race. How many were going to pass to the next round?

"Hey Midoriya," Dark Shadow shouted, having reached out from Tokoyami to hover over Izuku. He pointed into the tunnel. "Are you looking for him?"

Izuku blinked and followed the shadowy limb until he caught a glimpse of familiar indigo hair behind another student. Hitoshi started running a little faster and passed the other student, coming into full view. Without even thinking Izuku joined the crowd of students cheering and shouting encouragement at their still racing classmates and friends. After passing a few other students Hitoshi finally crossed the finish line around twentieth, maybe nineteenth by Izuku's count. It had to be enough.

Hitoshi leaned his hands against his knees, seemingly unsteady on his feet and gasping for air. At least he had given his all, though Izuku would still have to add stamina exercises to his training. Izuku ran to his side and tapped his back.

"Great job."

"You..." Hitoshi gasped for more air, "think so?"

"There are like 200 students. You got into the top ten percent. That is really good without a physical quirk in a contest like that."

"I guess... Hopefully it is enough."

"There are still two more rounds including the final tournament. They are going to need at least 30 to 50 people to make it interesting."

Hitoshi smiled a little.

"Well, it's not your worst motivational speech. I worried you'd threaten me with more training to be faster."

"You should watch your words, Nostradamus," Izuku said, smirking devilishly. "So far your predictions have come true."

"I knew it."

"You sure did." Izuku grabbed Hitoshi's hand, helping him stand back straight up. It was better not to show any physical weakness to the already biased audience.

"At least that includes predicting the winner."

"You didn't think it would be Tenya?" Izuku asked and glanced at the speedster in question who had joined them.