A/n: I've never particularly liked the cavalry battle, so I decided to change it. This round is very loosely based on what happened in a fic on Ao3 but i can't remember who wrote it or what it was called, sorry bout that.
Oh also, I'm sorry I'm not gonna be doing images at the top of each chapter anymore, I kinda ran out of stuff to use and I can't draw good
Let the sports festival continue!
That blond dude looked pissed as he glared at the kid with green hair, but you didn't pay them much attention. You and Kinoko had made it!
You wrapped her up in a tight hug and couldn't wipe the grin off your face. She looked flustered, still shocked that the two of you had made it.
You grabbed Kinoko's hand and dragged her a little ways from the other students to properly catch your breath. You leaned over with your hands on your knees, exhausted. After you felt decent-ish you collapsed on the grass, the noises of the crowd faint and distant. You smiled again and pat the ground next to you, and Kinoko hesitantly sat down.
Your head was light and your ears were ringing, the effects of dehydration that came with using your quirk; you must've overdone it. You swallowed numerous times while gently holding your head as your vision started to blur ever so slightly.
Kinoko shot you a concerned look, but didn't say anything as the last of the students were making their way through the gate.
Midnight announced that the first 42 students to finish the obstacle course would be moving on. You were relieved and grateful that you both had made it.
There was a short break allowed before the next round would be announced, so you stumbled to find some water, Kinoko in tow.
You took a quick detour to the locker room to grab an extra pair of shoes and slipped them on before taking a water bottle out and taking a long drink.
Kinoko put a hand on her chin. "I wonder what the next round will be.."
"I dunno, but whatever it is, let's stick together, alright?"
The brunette nodded with a rare determined look on her face. "Mm! Let's make it through this together!"
"That's the spirit!"
The 42 of you that would be moving on were called to gather in front of Midnight. With a crack of her whip, the board did its spinny thing.
"Looks like this year it's going to be...A moving maze!"
(I'll be honest, this next part shouldn't really be here 'cause I wanted to make this a team event but I already wrote this part a while ago and it didn't entirely suck so I'm keeping it)
The rules were then explained. Cementoss was going to create a giant maze for the students, with 42 entrances lining the sides, ordered by place numbers.
Each student would be given headbands with corresponding point values. The 2nd place finisher got 205 points, 3rd place 200, down to 42nd with 5 points. As for the winner of the preliminary round, 10,000,000 points were awarded. (A little overkill if they asked you but this was UA after all.) The headbands would display the combined total of the team's points.
The overall goal was to grab the bands of the other players in order to accumulate the highest point value before the 30 minute time limit was up. Headbands could only be worn from the neck up, and the top 16 students would qualify for the finals.
Aside from that, the only rules were don't kill each other and stay inside the maze!
Oh, and the walls were constantly shifting because why not?
You fiddled with the headband tied around your forehead, the red 195 displayed in front.
Most of your class had landed in the 20s-30s, following along with Monoma's suggestion. This round was your class's time to shine.
A crack of Midnight's whip signified the start, and you dashed inside the concrete walls. They were 6 meters high and considerably thick. You kept your pace relatively slow, knowing Kinoko was just to your right.
Like you were entwined in destiny, a wall opened and you nearly collided with your short friend in your haste to get over to her. "Oh! Here, lift up your feet one at a time, we can go faster hopping on my moss."
You held on to each other as you weaved through the walls. Right as you stopped to decide which way to turn, a new wall sprung up underneath your feet and suddenly you were above all the action. You smirked. This could be used to your advantage.
The two of you were running along the nearly 2 feet thick walls, searching for unsuspecting victims below.
A guy wearing some kind of belt was sauntering between the walls. There wasn't much of a reason to grab his headband given the measly 5 printed on, but it might make a good decoy further in the game. You gestured for Kinoko to stay on the wall before you dropped down, rolling on the pile of moss you had just shot
"I'll take that, thanks!"
Making an 'ok' signal with your hand, three types of moss ensnared the guy's feet and you snatched the band before he could move.
"Sorry!" You half-heartedly called before leaping onto the top of a shifting wall.
"Here, Kinoko! Now we match," you said with a smile before handing her the band.
There were a pair of students not far away who had also taken to your strategy of running along the tops of walls. You turned to your friend with a mischievous grin. "Think we can take em?"
A hesitant nod, and you were off.
The pair consisted of a 1-A guy with tape dispensers for elbows and one of his classmates who happened to have a tail.
You bent your knees, then leapt forward while promptly flipping them off. What? It had to do with your quirk! They were covered to the waist in shiny seductive. Kinoko spread some of her shrooms to make a smokescreen, leaving the guys to be frozen in place and unaware of their surroundings.
In unison, you and Kinoko moved in, you grabbing tape guy's band while she grabbed one from tail guy. You smiled down at the 165 before slipping it over your head.
You acquired another 110 points by ambushing the girl with pink skin who led the ice-destruction team in the first round while she was facing off against Awase. Kinoko got his points, which was another 145 for her.
As you left, Awase shouted about betrayal and class loyalty, which to responded to by saying, "Sorry not sorry!"
The two of you fell into a steady rhythm: Drop down, get points, leave. With each takedown, Kinoko creeped farther out of her shell. You couldn't help but feel elated at the sight.
Before you knew it, there were 2 minutes left on the clock.
Loud booms shook the maze, and an explosive blond landed right in front of you, smoke billowing from his palms. He had no headbands, which was honestly quite amusing.
Run.
You stumbled as the wall beneath you sank to the floor, but quickly recovered. Above, you saw the 10 million points flutter threw the air, and got an idea.
There was nothing in the rules against this after all.
Reaching for the fabric with an outstretched hand, you shot it out of the way of three other contestants, but you didn't stop there.
You grinned as the headband was shot out of the arena.
Chaos ensued shortly after, as expected.
"Y/N L/N HAS JUST GOTTEN RID OF THE 10 MILLION POINTS! IS THAT EVEN ALLOWED???"
"Technically, there aren't any rules against it."
"WHAT AN INSANE TURN OF EVENTS!"
The other competitors, Blasty especially, turned to you with bloodlust in their eyes. You let out an eep and dove off the wall, landing on shrooms from Kinoko.
"Go!"
"Y/n, what were you thinking?"
"I wasn't! Let's get out of here!"
It was a mad dash for survival in that last minute of the round. You were both running on pure adrenaline, and the announcement that it was over was like a godsend.
Final Standings:
1 Shoto Todoroki 1,210
2 Y/n 805
3 Kinoko Komori 510
4 Ibara Shiozaki
5 Fumikage Tokoyami
6 Juzo Honenuki
7 Hitoshi Shinso
8 Momo Yaoyorozu
9 Tenya Iida
10 Ochako Ururaka
11 Izuku Midoriya
12 Denki Kaminari
13 Ejiro Kirishima
14 Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
15 Toru Hagakure
16 Mei Hatsume
A/n: The math of this was so stupidly difficult to figure out and it's night while I'm writing this so I'm not listing all the stupid point values (sorry not sorry)
Also the order, kinda haphazardly threw it around lemme know if there's something I should change
Aight back to the fic
You stared at the results in shock. Second place? Hell yeah!
Green hair pushed through the crowd, and pulled you in for a hug where breathing was not really an option. "You've done 1-B proud! Kick some ass out there, alright?"
"I sure will, Tokage."
"Please, call me Setsuna."
"Um, okay!"
It was Kinoko's turn to get a crushing embrace. "You too, Komori! You were so strong out there!"
"Oh, Y/n did most of the work.."
"Pshh, you both worked equally hard! None of that from my fellow classmate!"
Kuroiro found his way to your group of three, giving Kinoko a thumbs up and a smile before taking off again. The more you'd been around him, that smile stopped feeling so creepy.
"I dunno about you guys, but I'm parched. Dehydration is a serious problem with my quirk."
"Oh, let's go get you some water then! I think I saw a drinking fountain near the locker rooms."
You were led through the halls by Setsuna, talking animatedly the whole way. Apparently she'd been wanting to talk to you for a while, but you and Kinoko actively avoiding social confrontation made that pretty hard.
You looked at your two friends with a soft smile. Was that right?
Friends.