fear. || { bnha }

ten.

A weird thought entered Valui's head. Her eyes opened wide; she stared up at the man, his words replaying over and over in her head.

"A-All Mi—"

"If you follow this wall around the building, you'll get back to your seat eventually. Depends on how far you are from here." He cut her question off; Valui assumed he hadn't heard her.

She bit the inside of her cheek, debating for a split second to attempt finishing her question. She eventually came to the conclusion that it was a stupid question and that she shouldn't ask. Valui smiled gratefully. "Thank you!"

He nodded with a small smile. "You're welcome."

Valui started on her trek back to her seat, occasionally pausing to watch what was going on in the tournament on the big television screen. It was called a Calvary Battle — as named after the fact that one member of the team was being carried by the other members. She saw flashes of Hitoshi occasionally on the screen, but the cameras were mainly focusing on three boys — a fairly frightened looking one with green hair, one with white and red hair, and that Bakugo guy from earlier.

Valui eventually reached the stairs that would lead up to her seat. With a soft sigh, she started climbing, reaching her seat right as the timer for the Calvary Battle ran out. Her hands gripped the bottoms of her jacket sleeves as the results were read out.

"AAAAND IN THIRD PLACE IS TEAM SHINSOU! IN FOURTH—"

Valui stopped listening after that. Her face broke out into a wide smile, pride welling up in her chest. Her hands flew up to her mouth, small tears pricking up in the corners of her eyes as her feet bounced her legs in excitement.

And you said you weren't going to do good. 

The students were all lined up again, Midnight back on the stage. She had the microphone again and was listing off the people who were promoted to the next round — a battle tournament. Midnight went through the list until she got to the people who were a part of Hitoshi's team.

"Hitoshi Shinsou."

Valui smiled.

"Nirengeki Shoda. Yuga Aoyama. Mashirao Oji—"

"Wait." A male that had a large tail that didn't look specifically like any kind of animal stepped forward. "I need to resign from the tournament."

The crowd broke into confused whispers. Valui saw the green haired boy from earlier say something, but Mashirao shook his head. "I...don't exactly know what happened," he started explaining. He sounded genuinely confused and distraught. "I don't remember anything from the Cavalry Battle. I... It sounds weird saying it, but I think I was controlled the whole time. I can't allow myself to continue competing if I feel that way."

Wait...

A male with very light blue hair stepped forward as well. "The same thing happened to me. I...think I need to resign as well."

Midnight paused, seeming to think this over for a moment. Eventually, she sighed faintly into the microphone. "It's up to you." She watched as the two looked at each other and then walked toward the back of the crowd where the students who didn't pass the Cavalry Battle were.

Valui's eyes drifted over to where Hitoshi was standing. He hadn't seemed to move, nor had he watched as his former teammates left; he hadn't said anything about their claims about what happened in the previous game.

Realization dawned on her.

You used it, didn't you? 

Valui shifted slightly in her seat. That...wasn't cheating, was it? She wasn't particularly bothered if it was — maybe because she was so biased toward him — but she was worried about him being disqualified. But, then again, everyone was using their Quirks to get an advantage over everyone else. It just so happened that his Quirk let him control other people. She leaned back against the seat, her legs swinging lightly and a faint, proud smile returning to her face. Regardless of what had happened, he had done it. He'd made it to the last part of the festival — all he had to do was win a few more times.