Weak [BNHA Fanfiction]

Chapter 17

The tension in the change rooms was palpable. Charlie avoided looking at anyone as she came in, found a corner, and quickly changed into her hero costume.

"I'm so crazy nervous," Mina grabbed Charlie's shoulders behind them, using them to hoist herself higher as she bounced up and down.

"Me too..."

Mina stopped bouncing to force Charlie to turn around. She stepped back and stuck out her hand, "no matter what happens, no hard feelings, ok?"

Charlie smiled shyly and took her hand, "no hard feelings."

"Alright girls, this is it. Let's all try our best." Momo approached them and and gave them a confident thumbs up. Charlie averted her eyes from her chest, blushing a little.

The opening ceremony was a blur in Charlie's nervous brain. As she stood among her classmates she fiddled with the new addition to her hero costume: a small silver ring on her middle finger. Her head shot up when she heard Bakugo say something into the mic. Something about winning.

The night before Charlie had given herself a pep talk for the first time in as long as she could remember. She wanted to be a hero. She wanted to be a good hero. And the best way to go about that was having a strong start right out of high school. The Sports Festival was her chance. She would win.

Charlie really started paying attention when Nemuri started explaining the rules of the first phase of the festival.

An obstacle race? Charlie wasn't entirely sure how she would go about winning that so she would just have to settle for making it to the next round.

"Ready, set, start!"

Charlie was near the front of the pack when the race began. She stuck her hands out in front of her to steel her focus. She didn't have to hit everyone, just cause a bit of confusion and panic. Maybe get rid of the front runners in the meanwhile. Todoroki and Bakugo were also near the front, both obviously getting ready to use their quirks. They both began to move.

Charlie closed her eyes and tugged on their consciousnesses as well as a couple others for about a second.

Screams erupted from the crowds and both Todoroki and Bakugo collapsed, their momentum sending them each flying a few metres. The people that she had attacked near the front acted as a blockade to everyone else.

Charlie steeled focus as she turned and jogged past her recovering classmates and out of the tunnel.

She could hear the cheers from inside the stadium when it was announced she was the first to appear. Her hands were chilly and there was a knot in her stomach but her plan hadn't taken as much of a toll on her as she thought it would.

Maybe if she could stay in the lead by simply eliminating those who caught up to her one at a time... her head jerked around when she heard Bakugo's enraged scream. Both him and Todoroki were already on the tail.

Her eyes flashed with regret as she took them both out once again.

She pressed her hands to her cheeks and they were cold as ice. She had to be careful not to overdo it in only the first phase.

Now that she had the lead, even if a couple people caught up to her it would be fine because she would likely stay in the front of the group. She just had to keep track of how many people passed her and be wary of not falling too behind. They hadn't been told what the cut off for the second phase was so she would aim to stay in the top 30. With that thought in mind, she abandoned her original plan and decided to just go with her physical strength rather than her quirk.

The only problem now was the obstacles.

She froze when she came across the first one. A field of giant robots stood before her, all of them stationed and ready to attack if she came any closer.