Different But Not Bad

Chapter 12 {In Their Own Quirky Ways}

Everyone was catching up, it didn't matter we had our limelight and I was good to hand it off to someone else for now. Katsuki hurried past us with his explosions, "This doesn't affect me!" People were being exploded left and right by the mines, we stood at the edge of it, "I gotchu!" It was like I could see everything Akasuki could see because I saw the mines in the ground. She was dead, of course, she was able to see things others can't. I was thankful for it too, not the part of her being dead but the part where I didn't have to literally be the dirt to see the damn things. I grabbed Aoyama's hand and carefully led him around the minefields, he was careful to step everywhere I stepped and to avoid every place I did. "Bastard, don't declare war on the wrong person!" I stopped and looked up to see Katsuki passing Shoto with his explosions. Katsuki has such a cool Quirk, I wish I had a powerful Quirk like that. Of course, he was a tad reckless but you can't always think of a plan in two seconds. He tried to hit Shoto with his Quirk but he dodged, "And now, we've got someone new in the lead!" I started up again but the minefields grew blurry, "Rejoice, mass media! It's the kind of development you guys love!" Yeah, I fucking love this. Iida was a ways ahead of us and he used his Quirk to outrun the minefields after they exploded. The minefields did eventually catch up to him and buried him in pink smoke. "Hey, hey, hey, the rest of the pack is also speeding up!" I didn't realize how much ground we had to cover, we were only 1/4 of the way there. "However! Even as they push and pull at each other, can the two at the top remain the lead?" I sure hope so, I'd feel bad for the class if the first three weren't at least 1-A. Shoto managed to dodge every explosion Katsuki sent his way, he even froze his arm. There was the sound of more minefields being detonated and I made sure to keep my eyes on the ground to focus on where they were. The ground rumbled, "There's a huge explosion at the back?!" Shit, what if someone got hurt for real this time? "What's with that force?!" We were luckily farther away from the explosion so it didn't knock us off our feet but it did blow us forward a bit. A stream of the pink clouds flew up and when it cleared Izuku was flying on a piece of one of the Robo Infernos. I turned back with widened eyes, "Rio really has to stop telling him to be a shooting star. This has gotten too far."

"Was it an accident, or did he do it on purpose?" I hope he did that on purpose.  "Class 1-A's pet, Midoriya, is in hot pursuit with that blast!" Pet? Is it because he's not a real U.A, student? He's gonna fall and hurt himself. He easily passed the two from above, "Actually, he's taken the lead!" Aizawa-Sensei's gonna be so proud. I don't think he thought about a safe landing, though. Katsuki blasted himself into the air behind Izuku. "Deku! Don't go ahead of me!" Now he was just being childish, even more so than me. But he did look like he was having fun with some friendly rivalry, I assume it was friendly. Shoto froze the ground under him to create a path and he ran on it without doing that ice skating move he did before. "The two formerly in the lead have stopped trying to slow each other down and are chasing Midoriya!" Shit bout to get intense. We were a little more than halfway down now. "Now that they have a common enemy, they've stopped fighting! The fight's not over yet, though!" Izuku started going down to the ground and losing speed, the two caught up with him and he was falling headfirst to the floor. He gripped the rope of the piece of metal and somersaulted so he was facing the two. He slammed the piece down and it caused another explosion that launched the two to the side while it flung Izuku forward, placing him back in the lead. He didn't have a soft landing and he rolled multiple times until he regained his footing and started running, guess training with Miyu really paid off. "Midoriya swiftly blocks those behind him!" 3/4 of the way there, "Would you believe it? He cleared the minefield in an instant!" "Fucking superb you little shit." Shoto and Katsuki broke through the pink smoke and ran to catch up with him. "Eraserhead, your class is amazing!" Hell yeah they are! "You're part of the class too." "I don't do anything." "What're you teaching them?!" We were only about 50 feet away from the edge of the minefield and I picked up our pace so we weren't left behind from all the excitement. I could take it or leave it in all honesty but I knew Aoyama loved the attention. "I didn't do anything." Yeah, because you sleep during class. I, too, slept in class. "They got each fired up on their own." We got off the minefield and started running, surprisingly Aoyama started slowing down. I slowed down too to match his pace "U.A. sports festival, first-year stage! Who could've predicted the developments at the beginning of this conclusion?" Were they already there? We could see the corridor like the one we went through to start this race. "Right now, the first person back in the stadium is that man..." They already got through, "Izuku Midoriya's made a huge splash!" The cheering was loud. Aizawa was probably apart of the clapping but calmer. The corridor was filled with other 1-A participants but we were still ahead of a few of them. I let Aoyama go ahead of me so he got out first. "And now, they're finishing one after the other!" I slipped a bit and almost fell before I even got back inside "We'll make a list of the results later, but for now, good work!" Thanks, Mic. I slumped against the wall and took multiple deep breaths, Aoyama came and leaned against the wall, obviously more elegantly than me. "The first game of the first-year stage is finally over." Sorry for keeping you waiting, "Now, take a look at the results!"

Class A: Izuku Midoriya #1
Class A: Shoto Todoroki #2
Class A: Katsuki Bakugou #3
Class B: Ibara Shiozaki #4
Class B: Juzo Honenuki #5
Class A: Yugo Aoyama #6
Class A: Shiria Higashi #7
Class A: Tenya Iida #8
Class A: Fumikage Tokoyami #9
Class A: Eijiro Kirishima #10
Class A: Hanta Sero #11
Class B: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu #12
Class A: Mashirao Ojiro #13
Class B: Yosetsu Awase #14
Class A: Tsuyu Asui #15
Class A: Rikido Sato #16
Class A: Mezo Shoji #17
Class A: Ochaco Uraraka #18
Class A: Momo Yaoyorozu #19
Class A: Mina Ashido #20
Class A: Koji Koda #21
Class A: Kyoka Jiro #22
Class B: Sen Kaibara #23
Class B: Kosei Tsuburaba #24
Class A: Denki Kaminari #25
Class A: Kojiro Bondo #26
Class A: Reiko Yanagi #27
Class A: Hitoshi Shinso #28

The rest of the names went by too fast for me to read them but the numbers went all the way to 42. "The top 42 made it through to the next round. It's unfortunate, but don't worry even if you didn't make It! We've prepared other chances for you to shine." Midnight stood atop the stage with her thin red glasses off, she licked her lips and I grew uncomfortable, "The real competition begins next! The press cavalry'll be all over it! Give it your all!" Like I was about to half-ass it. I wanted to but Aoyama made it this far and I had to support him. She raised her whip again and the same screen that told us about the obstacle race appeared behind her again. "Now then, here is the second game. I already know what it is, but what could it be? What could it be?" I swallowed and leaned against Aoyama but immediately got up when I realized that he was worse off. "I just said it, and now here it is..." She pushed her glasses back on and the screen stopped. She presented it with her arm, "A cavalry battle? The fucks a cavalry battle?" I held Aoyama up with my arms, "Let me explain," the screen change pictures, "The participants can form teams of two to four as they wish." Midnight looked back, "It's basically the same as a regular cavalry battle, but the one thing that's different is... based on the results of the last game, each person has been assigned a point value." Every around us started talking and Midnight slashed her whip through the air, "You guys don't hold back even though I'm talking, huh?!" The screen changed again, "Yes, that's right! And the points assigned go up by five starting from the bottom." "Pity to whoever's 42," I whispered to Aoyama. "So 42nd place gets five points and 41st place gets ten points!" That's how basic math works. "And the first place value assigned to first place is...ten million!" I made a face, "Pray for Izuku before he gets crushed." Everyone turned to stare at him as he stood in the middle looking very uncomfortable. He isn't even a real student and he's already having threats come at him, "You wish to help him?" I looked at Aoyama, "There ain't much we can do but I'll try. I don't want to be on his team though, we'll get destroyed." Midnight stood triumphantly on the stage "That's right. It's survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top!"