chapter ix.
( sports festival: cavalry battle )
"Kobayashi-san!" Midoriya said worriedly, lightly shaking the unconscious form of our favorite ravenette.
She's been in this state for about half a minute now, her breathing a little shallow but even, and her eyes closed.
"Midoriya!" Kirishima said, approaching the two with his brows furrowed with concern.
Todoroki watched from afar, not even worried for the ravenette because of his theories about her.
He knelt down beside the girl and shook her, but she didn't wake.
"What happened?" The redhead questioned.
"She was tumbling in here because of how fast she ran," Midoriya explained. "She might've passed out because of her quirk drawback."
"Oi Deku!" Bakugou sneered, walking toward them. "What the fuck did you do to northern lights?"
"K – Kacchan!" Midoriya stuttered, suddenly becoming nervous in the presence of his childhood trauma. "She — she passed out."
The ash blonde scoffed. Idiots, don't even know how to wake someone up, he thought, kneeling beside the girl and slapping her face.
His already sore muscles started hurting more after that.
"Bakugou!" Kirishima scolded. "You can't do that to a girl!"
Even with Kirishima's protests, Bakugou's method was effective. Keiko woke with a start, sitting up abruptly and making her forehead connect with Bakugou's with a bang.
"Ow..." she clutched her forehead and her cheek.
"The fuck did you do that for, bitch!" Bakugou said, also rubbing his head as he sat on the ground from the force of Keiko's headbutt. "Is this what I fucking get for waking you up?!"
"I didn't ask you to wake me up..." she muttered.
A headache came at her. It wasn't from the impact. It was from her drawback.
Thank god she took headache pills that morning so it won't be that strong, but it still hurt. She rarely suffers from her drawback, since she doesn't work her quirk to the max much anymore. It was a pain that she didn't really need.
She ran a hand through her hair with her eyes closing briefly, sighing.
"Thank you, Kirishima, Midoriya, but I'm fine now," she said, stumbling a little as she stood up on her own, rejecting the two sunshines' attempts at helping her.
Kirishima grinned. "Don't worry about it!"
"Oi! What about me!" Bakugou barked.
Keiko rolled her eyes before saying, "Thank you, pom-pom."
"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING —"
"Bakugou, I think we should go!" Kirishima cut in, wrapping an arm around the explosive boy and steering him away.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME, SHITTY HAIR!"
Midoriya turned to the girl. "Ko – Kobayashi-san, you should —"
"Keiko," she corrected Midoriya.
"Keiko-san —"
"It's just Keiko, Midoriya, drop the honorifics."
"You have to rest!" He blurted out before the ravenette could interrupt him again, immediately covering his mouth after in horror as he realized that he had cut the girl off.
"I know that," she huffed as she watched Bakugou and Kirishima quarrel, "but this is a competition. There's no time for rest."
"You can't just throw your health aside!" Midoriya insisted.
Keiko raised an eyebrow. Says the kid who charged at a villain, breaking both his legs in the process.
She wanted to say that very badly, but she just walked away without another word to resist that temptation.
"Forty-two of you made it through the preliminary," Midnight announced from her spot on the stage. "Even if you didn't make it through, don't worry. You still have a chance to shine." She licked her lips.
"Next round, the real battle begins. The mass media will be thoroughly entertained from here on. Do your best!"
Keiko scoffed. I could care less for the media.
"Now, for the second round."
The roller thing appeared behind Midnight, but Keiko was too dizzy to focus on it. She simply sat down on the floor with her feet crossed, earning stares from allies and enemies alike.
Though it attracted unwanted attention, it helped soothe her head a little.
"Although I know what it is... what could it be? What could it be?
"And now, here it is!" Keiko looked up, finding the words CAVALRY BATTLE.
It's time for the team rounds, isn't it? The sports festival is to show our behavior independently, with a team and... against each other.
Wow. Thanks to my galaxy-sized brain, the last round is spoiled for me. Lovely.
Keiko being Keiko, she didn't listen to the rules, but from the picture shown, she got a pretty accurate idea of how to play. You just have to play emperor and survive by toppling other empires, aka other teams.
"But there's one difference," the pro hero said. "Each of you will be assigned points based on your results in the race."
Keiko flinched a little when Midnight snapped at her classmates for figuring out the game too quickly.
My god, her boobs are jiggling.
"The first place is worth... ONE MILLION POINTS!"
Keiko looked up at Midoriya, who was a few feet away from her. She chuckled sadly but quietly when he started looking bothered by the glares directed his way.
She rose to her feet and patted his shoulder lightly. Whether it was in a comforting or challenging way, it wasn't obvious.
Yo, I can feel his heartbeat all the way from here.
"Don't worry," she said weakly. "You can do this, I guess."
Midoriya looked at her, a panicked look on his face, a silent plea for help.
Keiko smiled sadly, recalling the time during class all those months ago, when people laughed at him for being quirkless.
You're different now Midoriya. Show them that.
▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎
"You now have fifteen minutes to discuss your teams!"
Immediately, a crowd went around Keiko, suffocating her with requests to join her team or for her to join theirs.
Well, it is to be expected, since she got second place in the race. She had shown that she was more talented than everyone else, and now the freeloaders saw their chance at glory through her.
"Okay, one at a time!" She shouted, massaging her temples. No one paid mind to her statement as they kept coming closer.
"Let me join!"
"I would like to join your team please."
"We'll get it to the top with no problem with me by your side!"
Keiko had had it. Her head was pounding from the additional noises.
"Holy hell, SHUT UP!"
Everyone quieted down, all shocked by her sudden outburst.
"I'll choose who I want, and you're all making my headache worse so please, cut me some slack."
She walked away to god knows where, but the people were too surprised to follow. The quiet ones are always the freaks.
"OI NORTHERN LIGHTS!" Bakugou thundered over to the girl, grabbing her arm roughly and dragging her over to his team. They passed through the crowd that went toward Bakugou. "YOU'RE GONNA BE IN MY TEAM!"
Why he wanted her on his team, you may be asking, even after all his insults and distaste towards her? Well, he thought that by putting her on his team, she'll get a higher chance of getting into the final event so they can both fight against each other and he can prove that he was better.
Ever since he found out that she actually has a quirk, he's been dying to beat her, and that wanting has only grown when he found that she was Ninja, the one who saved him from the stupid sludge villain.
"Pom-pom, let go!" Keiko said as she pulled her arm free, rubbing it as it had started to hurt from the boy's vice grip.
Idiot, doesn't even know how to ask for someone to join them.
"Ko — Keiko!" Midoriya ran over to her. "Do you want to join us?"
Keiko smiled a little at Midoriya.
"She's with me," Bakugou snapped, grabbing her arm once more, but gentler this time. Keiko was surprised he actually heard her words and loosened his grip.
"U — Um, Kacchan, she's obviously uncomfortable —" the greenette grabbed Keiko's other arm and tugged it lightly.
"She wouldn't team up with a loser like you, Deku," Bakugou sneered, tugging her limb with more force.
Keiko rolled her eyes at their childish antics. She roughly pulled her arms free from the childhood friends. "I'll choose, thank you very much."
She turned to Midoriya. "Since you asked me nicely, I'll go with you, hero."
He turned a little red from the nickname, but he nodded, smiling nervously.
"HEY!" Bakugou yelled. "I ASKED FIRST!"
Keiko rolled her eyes, which she seemed to be doing a lot ever since she entered this school. "But you almost forced me. Make you're own team, explosion boy."
She patted Midoriya's shoulder lightly and walking away from the angry dandelion. He tried to chase after them, but a sea of students crowded around him,
"Who else do you want to team up with, Midoriya?" Keiko asked, facing the boy.
As expected, many kept their distance from the one with the ten million, but their gaze clung onto the ravenette, who was trying to calm down the shaking boy.
Yes, my description of her when she formally the class might have been a little exaggerated, making her look different, but she was definitely a beauty.
But, beauty can sometimes make you stand alone, even in a crowd of people.
"Deku-kun!" Uraraka said, smiling at the pair. "Let's team up!"
Tears made their way out of Midoriya's eyes in the form of a very strong waterfall.
"Uraraka-san! Are you sure? Everyone will be after me and my points!"
"Midoriya, chill out, you're gonna flood the stadium," Keiko commented, taking a step away from the boy to avoid the tears. "Besides, you need more faith in yourself."
"Yeah! If you run away, you'll win!" Uraraka added, beaming.
"I think you're both putting too much confidence in me," Midoriya commented, his gaze bouncing from the tall-ish girl to the round-faced one.
"Of course I am!" Uraraka said, beaming. "Besides, it's better to team up with a friend!"
Keiko squinted as the light surrounding the girl brightened. Jeez, where's your off button?
Midoriya also squinted, but his face got all scrunched up, making him look... unpleasant.
"Why's you're face all ugly?" Uraraka wondered, oblivious to her bluntness.
"It's just that you're too bright," Midoriya replied, rubbing his eyes.
Keiko stopped listening once the two had commenced their own conversation, smiling a little as Mineta looked at the damp ground surrounding Midoriya with confusion.
In this situation, I'm more suitable to be the rider, since I need my hands free in order to use my quirk properly, she thought, putting a hand to her chin and staring at the floor. But, I can also serve as a back horse, where I can use my feet.
Besides, this is Midoriya's team. I think it's only fair for him to be the one leading it.
Midoriya had approached his friend, the glasses boy, but from the look in his eyes, Keiko knew that he wasn't going to join.
"Midoriya," Keiko called, crossing her arms. "Who else do you have in mind?"
Midoriya put his hand to his chin in thought. "We only need the front horse. There aren't many free people who are suited for the three of us, but I think there's someone..."
Midoriya put his hand down and approached one of their other classmates.
Keiko put her hand on the back of her neck and pushed it, moving her head at the same time. This emitted a crack.
Keiko sighed. Old habits die hard, don't they?
Midoriya approached them with Tokoyami, their bird-headed classmate.
"Tokoyami-kun will be our front horse," Midoriya began, "then the two of you will be the back horse with me as the rider."
He paused looking at all of them nervously. "That's okay, right?"
Keiko waved her hand. "Don't worry. This is your team. We'll follow you."
The timer buzzed, signalling the end of their fifteen minutes.
"Let's get started!" Midnight said, stretching her arms.
"After fifteen minutes of team-making and strategizing, we have twelve teams lined up for the cavalry battle!" Present Mic's boomed from his announcer's box, his voice echoing around the stadium.
With a little difficulty, Midoriya hauled himself ontop of Uraraka's and Keiko's arms, tightening the 1000000 (idk if there's too little or too much zeroes, I'm too lazy to count 😐) points to his forehead.
If it was a different situation, the girl figured that Midoriya would be really embarrassed that he's sitting on the arms of girls, but it seemed that he had grown.
I haven't seen him in what, months, and now he's different? I haven't changed... much.
"Uraraka-san."
"Hai!"
"Koba — Keiko."
"Ready, I guess."
"Tokoyami-kun."
"Here."
"Let's fight!"
I'm going to have to expect a lot of people going after this team... why the heck did I join again?
Oh right. Because the other classes hate me and it was either pom-pom or Midoriya with one million points. I think that's a valid reason.
"Let's start the countdown for the battle royale!
"Three!"
They all aim...
"Two!"
For one thing...
"One!"
... I'm fucking screwed, aren't I?
"START!"
All the teams closed in on them. Keiko spotted the sweat on Midoriya from the corner of her eye.
"Looks like their not hesitating, eh?" Keiko asked nonchalantly, looking and sounding calm in contrast to the rider.
"The fate of the pursued," Tokoyami agreed, his friend Dark Shadow hovering beside him.
"Time to make a decision, Midoriya," Keiko said, crouching a little as she prepared for anything.
Hope for the best, and expect the worst.
"We run!" The greenette said.
Right when they were about to move, the ground underneath them softened, making the horses unable to move.
"Shit!" Keiko cursed, the unfamiliar feeling of quicksand surrounding her legs putting her on edge.
"It must be that guy's quirk!" Midoriya said, looking at the team in front of them.
"I'm gonna try something!" Keiko said, concentrating her energy onto her feet.
I can't jump without a flat surface, but I can make my own... oh fuck it.
Underneath the softened ground, she slipped her shoes off of her feet, then stepped on top of her shoes. Because her feet couldn't go up, she needed to excel a lot of force. Well, enough to push them all into the air.
"Now, Keiko!" Midoriya said desperately as the teams came closer.
She bent down, then jumped with all her might.
It sent her team flying upwards, higher than Keiko expected.
She used her quirk through her feet, slowing their descent a little.
Thank god for Uraraka's zero gravity making everyone lighter than normal.
The ravenette looked over Uraraka, to find earphone jacks coming straight for them. "Dark Shadow!"
"Hai" the pitch black creature did his part, slapping the incoming jacks away.
"Nice," Tokoyami said. "Watch over all our blind spots, Dark Shadow!"
Keiko grunted. It was a little difficult, keeping the whole team afloat, and she needed Uraraka to be in good shape for as long as possible, which meant that they need to minimize their air time.
"I have to land," Keiko said, straining as the team kept getting closer to the ground. With the lack of her shoes, it was easier to use her feet, but she had a feeling she wouldn't be getting them back anymore.
"Okay!"
She let the team drop gently to the ground. The ravenette huffed, finally able to get some air.
"It hasn't been two minutes since the battle had started, but it's getting crazy down there! Everyone's fighting for the headbands! Aiming for fourth place instead of the ten million isn't that bad either!"
"Shoji-kun! All alone?! But it's a cavalry battle!" Midoriya exclaimed, spotting his many-armed classmate running towards them.
"We have to go!" Keiko panted, her breathing a little more even than before now that they weren't moving. "We can't fight against all of them!"
When the team made to move, Uraraka crjed out, "What is this?!"
Midoriya and Keiko looked down, to find a purple ball stuck to the sole of the girl's shoe.
"That's Mineta-kun's!" Midoriya looked around. "But from where...?"
"From over here, Midoriya," Mineta's voice echoed from inside Shoji's arms.
That's allowed apparently...
"Tongue!" Keiko warned.
Midoriya ducked, avoiding the long frog tongue coming his way.
"Asui-san too? Shoji's amazing!"
"Call me Tsu!"
"Team Mineta is using their size differences to their advantage!"
Quickly, Keiko threw Midoriya's foot up in the air, freeing her right hand, which she aimed over Uraraka's head and blasted away a purple ball that almost stuck onto Midoriya's head.
She grabbed his foot again before he could lose balance and fall off. "We're going up! Uraraka, you're gonna have to lose the shoe!"
She jumped, going up into the air once more.
Midoriyw looked down, to find a familiar ash blonde shooting his way up to them, shouting profanities that sounded faint in the chaos.
"Kacchan!"
"Eh?" Keiko also glanced down, groaning when she found what Midoriya was talking about. "Seriously? Is that even allowed?"
"Dark Shadow!" The shadow took the hit, but Keiko noticed that it seemed to have pained him a lot.
"It's technical, so it's allowed," Midnight said from below as a string of tape pulled the human bomb back down, like a leash pulling back a rowdy dog. "It wouldn't have been if he touched the ground."
Keiko rolled her eyes. "Technicalities..."
The girl winced as her feet scraped the floor, making them bleed a little.
Dammit...
"Landing's getting rough," she grunted to Midoriya.
We can't go up in the air anymore... we're going to have to rely on Tokoyami's and Uraraka's quirks.
▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎
"Class 1A's ahead of the others when it comes to technique," Miruko commented, her eyes glued to the screen. "They're all on a different level compared to the others."
"Especially that Tokoyami," Hawks added, making bunny hero rolled her eyes at him.
"I think we both know that you only take interest in him because he has a bird head," Miruko retorted.
Hawks chuckled, leaning back in his chair and sipping on his bottle. "You're not wrong."
"1A's Midoriya is also good," Edgeshot said. "He has kept his points safe so far."
"But that's also because of his teammates," Miruko said, gesturing to the other three students, especially Keiko. "He's utilizing their quirks."
It was Hawks' turn to roll his eyes. "I think you're referring to one person, Miruko."
The said hero smiled. "Maybe I am."
"Let's make a bet," Miruko said, turning to the other two heroes. "We all want her to be our interns after the festival. Whoever gets her wins."
"But what if she chooses another hero?" Edgeshot questioned.
"We get back our money, I guess."
"Deal," Hawks exclaimed. "I don't plan on losing."
"How much?"
"Ten thousand yen."
"I'll put in fifteen," Miruko smirked, confident that the young girl will pick her to be her mentor for her internship.
Edgeshot shrugged. "I'll add ten as well."
"It's on!"
▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎
Keiko snickered a little when she found Bakugou's team with no points when she took a quick glance at the current rankings.
Oh, how the mighty fall... hehehe...
"Guys, I think we can —" Before Midoriya finished, Keiko made the team skid to a stop in front of their rival.
She stared Todoroki down, letting her gold eyes bore into his heterochromatic ones.
"The cavalry battle is entering the second half! With the unexpected dominance from 1B, who will be the one to wear the ten million points around their neck?!"
"I thought we'd fight sometime towards the end," Keiko admitted, to both her team and the other team. "He seems determined to defeat you, Midoriya."
"We're at the halfway point!" Midoriya said, not shaking at all. "We have to keep moving!"
"Iida, forward!" The boy ordered, making Keiko raise an eyebrow. This kid's like that prince in that tv show. He even has the same scar.
They started getting closer.
"Be aware of your surroundings!" Midoriya warned. "There's more than one team after us."
Keiko scoffed sarcastically. "Gee, we didn't know that."
Kaminari sent lighting all around, affecting the other teams.
Dark Shadow took the hit for the three, but Keiko wasn't so lucky.
"Oh fuck," she winced as electricity hit her left arm, peeling away a little skin off the limb.
She almost dropped Midoriya, but she remembered her goal.
C'mon Keiko, giving up isn't an option today.
She pushed through the pain and made her move, using her quirk to drag the team backward.
She frowned at the sight of the restrained teams, but she had more things to worry about.
"I can't send us up," Keiko said. "I won't have enough energy to keep up with the running."
"I'll restrain them!" Tokoyami said, sending Dark Shadow to the opposing team. Unfortunately, Yaoyorozu blocked the attack with her quirk, creating a shield.
"Yaoyorozu's Creation is a problem," Midoriya pointed out.
"No," Tokoyami opposed. "Other than her, Kaminari is also a problem. If that level of electricity was sunlight, Dark Shadow would've been killed."
Keiko thought back to what Tokoyami said before the match started. Light is the problem...
"His lightning..."
"As long as his electric discharges continue, it will be difficult to attack. Dark Shadow's starting to hesitate."
Keiko looked behind her. Her eyes widened as she stuck her foot onto the ground, stopping her team from going back over the line.
She wiggled her foot around to get rid of the pain. I need shoes...
"Team Midoriya has nowhere to go!"
"They don't know about our declining offensive power, right?"
"Probably not. I only told Koda about this in the USJ, and he's a man of very little words."
"If they don't know, it'll act as a restraint."
"One minute left! Todoroki has closed off the field so he can get the ten million right away!"
"I'm counting on you!" Iida said to his teammates.
"Torque Over! Recipro Burst!"
Keiko's eyes widened. It seemed like everything slowed down, and Iida was running past at normal speed.
I don't have much time... he'll get the ten million... so I'll get some of his!
She threw Midoriya's foot upward and stretched out her hand.
With every fiber of her being, she tried to reach for at least one headband.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get anything. Her fingers only grazed the end of Todoroki's band.
"Ah, dammit." She said as the other team stopped across them. Iida's too quick...
"It's a secret move I haven't shown my classmates," Iida was saying. He turned to look at the greenette. "Didn't I tell you, Midoriya-kun, that I'm going to challenge you?"
"IT'S A REVERSAL! With offence and defense on the line, Todoroki snags the one million in the end! Midoriya is left with zero points!"
"We have to go back!" Midoriya shouted.
"With Kaminari there, we can't attack!" Tokoyami retorted.
"Midoriya, we can't get it anymore!" Keiko said. "It'll be easier to get points from the other teams!"
"No! I don't know how the points are split up! This is our only chance!"
"Okay!" Uraraka suddenly surged forward, bringing the team with her. Keiko quickly adjusted and followed her pace, speeding up. "Let's take it back, Deku-kun! We have to!"
"We're this is a shitty plan, but let's go out with a bang, shall we?" Keiko smirked.
Once they approached, Midoriya used his quirk, cutting through the air and extinguishing the flames that had started to form on Todoroki's left arm.
Midoriya saw the opening through Todoroki's hesitation and grabbed a headband.
"I got it," Midoriya said. Then he repeated it, louder this time. "I got it!"
"Wait," Keiko said, looking at the white band. "That's the wrong headband."
Midoriya looked down. Disbelief covered his face as he found the 70 on the headband stared back up at him.
"Just in case," Yaoyorozu called over her shoulder, "we switched the positions. You're soft, Midoriya-san."
"Come on!" Midoriya said. "Tokoyami-kun!"
Dark Shadow flew over, but was blocked by Kaminari's lightning.
At the same moment, our favorite human bomb had arrived, soaring through the air with his explosions.
"You half and half bastard!" Bakugou screamed launching himself at the other team.
"Keiko!"
"Don't mess this up, Midoriya!" She said, boosting the team again.
"TIME'S UP! THE SECOND EVENT, THE CAVARLY BATTLE, HAS COME TO AN END!"
Midoriya put down his outstretched hand in defeat.
Keiko let him hop off, patting his back. Her arm had healed during the battle, and if she was lucky, no one would have seen that it was damaged in the first place.
"LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT OUR TOP FOUR!
"IN FIRST PLACE, TEAM TODOROKI!
"IN SECOND, TEAM BAKUGOU!
"IN THIRD, TEAM TETSU — WAIT A SECOND! TEAM SHINSO?! WHEN DID YOU MAKE A COMEBACK?!
"Deku-kun," Uraraka said to the back of the greenette.
"Ano..." Midoriya said, "I'm really sorry."
"Eh?" Keiko looked up from the ground at his sudden apology.
She sighed, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder and at Tokoyami.
"After you attacked, Todoroki was clearly distracted," Tokoyami started. "Though I had planned on getting the ten million... things didn't go as I expected."
He pointed at Dark Shadow, who had a headband in his beak. "I was able to take the band on his forehead; the one he wasn't guarding. This is all thanks to your distraction."
"IN FOURTH PLACE, TEAM MIDORIYA!"
Midoriya knelt on the ground, waterfalls coming from his eyes once more.
"The hell, Midoriya..." Keiko brought up an arm to her head to shield herself from the droplets. "How much tears do you have in you?"
"THESE FOUR TEAMS WILL ADVANCE INTO THE FINAL ROUND!"
Keiko groaned, stretching her arms. "Finally, lunch is here."
She looked up at the sky.
I'll win. Just you wait.
[ author's corner ]
Second event is done! I'm sorry for the delay, I had a lot of stuff to do for school.
I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to comment, follow, and vote! I'll see you soon!
Plus Ultra!
- R