A Different Path.

First Intermission.

_______________________________________

Ochacko simply wished to eat her lunch. It was a tasty lunch. Her mother had made it for her last night. It was a casserole with a side of cheesy-mashed potatoes. She really enjoyed this particular meal.

Unfortunately for her, the two toned, spoiled 'Prince of UA' had other plans.

"Okay." She said, crossing her arms as she leaned up against the wall. "You brought me all the way over here, away from everyone else. What do you want?"

"I hate my father." He began. "And I hate that his flames run through my veins. For the previous three years of my life I have been doing my damnedest to avoid having to use them. And yet, today in order to compete with you I had to use them. Even if only for a second."

"And I'm going to stop you right there." She interrupted. "I'm sure you have some kind of reason for not wanting to use half of your own Quirk, but I don't particularly want to hear about it."

A pained look briefly crossed his face, causing Ochako to wince internally. Maybe, she'd been a bit too ruff with what she said.

"I'm not saying I don't wish to help you, nor am I saying I don't care what you're going through. Wait until after the Sports Festival. Tell me everything after and I promise I'll listen."

With a nod of agreement, the pair of them went their own separate ways. Shouto off to whatever hellhole he had climbed out of. And Ochako back to her food.

Ten Minutes Later.

She had not gotten the chance to eat her food. And she was slightly mad. The forty remaining contestants had been called back to the field to have the rules of the next match introduced to them.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen!" Miss Midnight yelled with a mock bow. "In fifteen minutes the second round will start. As is tradition for our Sport's Festival, the second round is all about teamwork. And this year's event is King of the Hill!"

The massive jumbo-board suspended above Miss Midnight suddenly turned on, displaying all forty names.

"The rules of King of the Hill are quite simple. You will be in teams of four, all shackled together with this bad boy."

She paused, holding up what looked to be oversized ankle cuffs. Some of the 1-B students behind her groaned in either annoyance or familiarity. She wasn't quite sure.

"Once shackled you will have a minute to plan before being released into the field to fight one another. The last four teams left standing will be considered the victors and will move into the next round. Any questions?"

The resounding silence was taken as a no. Smiling sadistically, the R-Rated Heroine pressed the red button in front of her and began to shuffle around the names.

"Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. Teams are chosen by roulette. Have fun!"

_______________________________________

Izuku had successfully found two out of three of his teammates. The first had been easy to find, considering Ibara never left his shadow. Well, aside from to go home with Neito. But other then that she was a constant by his side. Not that he minded.

She was nice and he really enjoyed her company.

The second member of his team has been almost as easy to find. Shouto Todoroki, the youngest son of Endeavor was quite eye popping. The two different colours in his hair being a dead giveaway.

Izuku had been hoping for him to have either his father's Quirk, or a combination of his mother's and father's Quirk. But apparently all he had was his mother's ice. He did however happen to have his father's attitude. 

Though, Izuku was willing to say that Todoroki didn't have his father's attitude. Endeavor could at least be calmed down and generally respected people.

Todoroki didn't calm down and seemed to have a massive rager for Quirkless people, or those with, as he put it 'less than savoury' Quirks.

"You better not drag us down." He said, looking down at Izuku as he spoke. "Although I can't lie. I am quite curious whose dick you had to suck to get into the Hero Course. After all, a Quirkless Doll like you shouldn't be here."

Rage bubbled through Izuku's blood. He was going to punch him if he kept speaking. And he was going to do it with his gauntlet.

"I mean you didn't even have the common decency to be born with so much as even a mutation Quirk. Though, disgraceful I'd rather look like a mutt over being a useless-"

Todoroki did not get to continue what he was saying as he was interrupted by Ibara. She had lurched forward with surprising speed, grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the ground.

"If you say something like that again, I'll split you open down the middle and leave you to rot in a ditch." Ibara growled, her eyes filled with rage. "Do you understand?"

Izuku took a couple steps backwards out of fear. This was the most amount of emotion he's seen from Ibara, and it was terrifying. Who knew she could even get this angry, let alone being capable of acting out on it.

"I said." Ibara growled again, her teeth grinding together as she clenched her jaw. "Do you understand? If not, I can easily remove your dick right now. Who knows, maybe not having one will make you act less like one?"

However, before Todoroki could speak, or before Ibara could make do with her promise, Itsuka Kendo and a boy with black hair walked over.

"Heya Izuku. Heya Ibara." Itsuka greeted. "Apparently there's been a bit of a mix up. I'm actually meant to be with you guys, and mister Nazi here is meant to be with the other guys."

"Hi. I'm Hanta Sero." The black haired boy said, introducing himself. "I'm meant to be teaming up with you guys?"

"Hello, my name is Izuku Midoryia." Izuku said with a bow. "Hey, Ibara, just leave the asshole be."

Ibara's scowl immediately disappeared, her face morphing back into its usual neutral, flat and disinterested form.

"Sorry about that Izu." She apologized with a bow. "I almost lost my cool there for a second."

"It's o-okay." Izuku stuttered, his face flushed red. Did she not realize she had given him a nickname or was she hinting at something? Was he reading to much into it?

Probably. There was no way someone as stunning as Ibara could actually be interested in someone like him.

"So... What's the plan?" Itsuka asked.

Right, they had to make a plan. They also needed to connect the dastardly waist cuffs.

_______________________________________

Teams for King of the Hill!

Team One:

Izuku Midoryia. Ibara Shiozaki. Itsuka Kendo. Hanta Sero.

Team Two:

Katsuki Bakugo. Ochacko Uraraka. Mezo Shoji. Minoru Mineta.

Team Three:

Mashirao Ojiro. Toru Hagukre. Mina Ashido. Ejirou Kirishima.

Team Four:

Fumikage Tokoyami. Kinzoku Tetsutetsu. Shouto Todoroki. Hitoshi Shinsou.

Team Five:

Mei Hatsume. Momo Yaozarouzu. Tsuyu Asui. Manga Fukidashi.

Team Six:

Denki Kaminari. Shihai Kuroiro. Pony Tsunotori. Reiki Yanagi.

Team Seven:

Yui Kodai. Kyoka Jirou. Togaru Kamikiri. Setsuna Tokage.

Team Eight:

Kojiro Bondo. Neito Monoma. Sen Kaibara. Kinoko Kimori.

Team Nine:

Jurota Shishida. Nirengeki Shoda. Yosetsu Awase. Rikido Sato.

Team Ten:

Koji Koda. Ayoama Yuga. Tenya Iida. Yuki Kagawa.