"The first game of the first year stage if finally over!" Midnight proclaimed as she stood on the podium. "Now, take a look at the results!"

The screen displayed all the positions of the top forty-two students.

"The top forty-two made it through to the next round. It's unfortunate, but you don't worry even if you didn't make it! We've prepared other chances for you to shine," the woman licked her lips provocatively. "The real competition begins next! The press cavalry'll be all over it! Give it your all!"

The contents on the screen started moving again. "Now then, here is the second game. I already know what it is, but what could it be? What could it be? I just said it, now here it is!"

The words 'Calvary Battle' appeared on the screen.

A question mark appeared in (Y/n)'s head and paid a glance at Izuku who stood beside her to see if he understood.

"Let me explain," Midnight began, catching the girl's attention. "The participants can form teams of two to four people as they wish. It's basically the same as a regular Calvary 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."

The screen flashed to show each student with points according to their position in the last race.

"Yes, that's right! And the points assigned go up by five starting from the bottom. So forty-second place gets five points, and forty-first gets ten points! And the point value assigned to first place is...ten million!"

Terror overtook Izuku's face. "Ten-ten million?!"

You poor soul...The girl turned to him and felt a slight twinge of sympathy for him as everyone would be coming for him and his team.

Everyone else turned to him, their eyes glinting with malice and determination as they knew that taking the ten million meant standing at the top no matter what place one is in.

"That's right. It's survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top! Those at the top will suffer more. You'll hear this many times as you attend U.A. This is what 'Plus Ultra' means!" she then pointed her whip at the green-haired boy. "Izuku Midoriya, who placed first in the qualifier, is worth ten million points!"

"Now then, I'll explain the rules of the Calvary Battle! The time limit is fifteen minutes. Each team is worth the total of its members' points, and the riders will wear a headband with that number on their foreheads. Teams will try to grab each other's headbands until the time runs out, and try to keep as many points as they can. Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up. So the more you steal, the harder I'll be to manage them! And the most important thing is that even if your headband gets stolen, or your team falls, you're not out!"

"Hhmmm, there'll be more so ten to twelve teams since we're forty-two, right?" (Y/n) asked Izuku, who absent-mindedly nodded in response, still-shocked eyes staring at nothing in particular.

The girl arched an eyebrow and turned back to Midnight.

"During the game, It'll be a cruel fight where you can you use your Quirks. But it still a cavalry battle. You'll get a red card for attacks that are trying to make people fall on purpose! You'll be removed immediately! Now, you have fifteen minutes to build your teams. Start!"

(Y/n) looked around at her surroundings, her eyes instinctively landing on Shouto's, who was also looking back at her. She shot him a small smile which he immediately returned. It was a silent language which both understood, telling each other that even though they couldn't team up together, they should both take care.

The girl turned her head around to look at Izuku, who was completely isolated since no one wanted to carry the whole points of the game. She sighed, even though she dreaded the fact of having everyone come at her team, she couldn't just leave Izuku alone. Besides, he needed all the help he could get.

"Izu-ah!" she cut herself off when a hand roughly grabbed her forearm and dragged her away from the curly-haired male. She turned around to see Katsuki pulling her along to what seemed like his group.

"Huh? Katsuki, what are you doing?" the girl asked as she gently tried to pry his iron grip on her.

"What does it look like dumbass?! You're on my team!" he responded without looking back at the girl, the usual scowl on his face.

She frowned. "Uh...sorry but no. I've already chosen my-"

Katsuki immediately let go of her arm, swiveling around and grabbed her by the collar, "You're gonna choose fucking Deku over me?!"

What the fuck? "Calm down! I'm just saying that I had already made up my mind, besides no one else wants to team up with him!" the girl explained as she tried to pry his hands off her collar.

"Do I look like I give a single fuck about whether that fuckwit ends up alone?! Huh?!" he barked, his face getting nearer to hers to emphasize his point.

Rage gripped the female and her face twisted into one of anger. And here she thought she was going to try and be patient with him.

"And I don't give a single fuck about what you think!" her nails dug into his hands as her eyes narrowed dangerously, her tone lowering darkly along with them. "So let me go right now or so help me, I'll beat you up seven ways to fucking Sunday..."

The other students, who were watching their altercation, started to whisper to each other and point out how close their faces were at this point as they glared daggers at each other. Shouto stared at the two in nonchalance, though his blood was boiling at the fact that Katsuki had dared to lay his hands on (Y/n) and even get that close to her.

As Katsuki's anger wore off a bit, he realized how the proximity between them had reduced, their noses nearly brushing against each other. Clicking his tongue, he roughly let go of her collar and pushed away, quickly turning around so that she wouldn't see his reddened face.

"Fine. Do whatever you fucking want," he said in petulance as he walked away, his crimson-colored eyes boring holes into the ground. He noticed some of the students still staring at him and he shot them a dark look. Terrified, they immediately looked away and pretended to be looking at something else. Muttering curses under his breath, he continued making his way back to his group.

(Y/n) scoffed at his brutish behavior, her own rage dying down and fixed her collar, she turned around to head back to Izuku, who had luckily gotten Uraraka on his side.

She drew in a sharp breath to help her calm down more and allowed positive thoughts back into her mind. As she drew closer to them, she forced a smile on her face.

"Izuku! Uraraka!" she waved out to them, making them turn their heads towards her.

"Whoa! (Y/n)! What is it?" Izuku asked, his face gleaming with excitement.

"How do you think about teaming up?" she inquired, a large smile adorning her face.

Uraraka clapped her hands in excitement at the proposal but Izuku seemed a bit doubtful. The girl's smile fell a bit as she raised a questioning eyebrow. "What?"

"I thought that you were going to be on Kacchan's team?" the male asked her, his eyes reflecting a bit of disappointment if it were to be true.

Ugh...(Y/n) rolled her eyes at that and placed her hands on her hips. "No don't mind that prick. I wanted to be on your team in the first place."

Izuku's face twisted in happiness, overjoyed that one of the strongest in the class actually desired to team up with him.

"Okay, so what's the plan?"

"For teams, it's best to be with people you can communicate with smoothly, right?" Izuku began, earning eager nods from the girls. (Y/n) sent him a secretive once-over. She noticed that when talking about strategy or while nerding out over heroes or Quirks, he would speak so smoothly and without a stutter, a contrast to when he made small talk with the opposite gender. That observation alone made the corner of her lips lift up.

"Actually, with Uraraka's Quirk, (Y/n)'s Quirk and one other person, I thought of a plan!" the green-haired male continued, his wide eyes gleaming with excitement. The three students turned to the next desired team member who was standing not so far away.

"Iida!"

The blue-haired male hummed in response and turned to them. Izuku beckoned him over and Iida eagerly jogged over to them. He sent them a nod before joining their circle, the four students leaned forward to hold their meeting in hushed tones.

"The three of us would be horses with Iida at the front and (Y/n) as the rider. And then, if we use Uraraka's Quirk to make Iida, (Y/n) and me lighter, we'd be able to maneuver easily!" Izuku explained his plan as (Y/n) nodded at the plan.

"But, I think it's better to have someone physically stronger as the rider, don't you think so?" (Y/n) interjected.

All the three turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

(Y/n) sighed. "I mean that, if I become a horse, I'd be able to keep off any other incoming team with me heat wave and lava wall. So, I'd prefer if someone else was the rider."

Izuku nodded briskly at her idea. "That's a good idea. But the rider, I haven't decided who it'll be...Anyway, this is all I could think of to keep running away until the end."

"I expected no less, Midoriya," Iida started, a solemn look appearing on his face. "But I'm afraid I have to refuse."

The trio gasped at his words and gave him questioning looks.

"Ever since the entrance exam, I just keep losing to you. You are a wonderful friend but that's why, if I just keep following you, I will never grow. Bakugou and Todoroki aren't the only ones who see you as a rival," he then turned around to regroup with Shouto's team. "I will challenge you."

(Y/n) sighed in disappointment, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked around the other teams. Each was looking at the top team in spite, indicating that they were enemies at this point.

Intense...

"You stand out!" a female voice proclaimed from behind the trio, gaining their attention. "Team up with me, person in the first place!"

(Y/n) narrowed her eyes at the unknown girl who had gadgets strapped to every part of her body. "Who are you again?"

The girl chuckled and raised her goggles to her head. "I am Mei Hatsume, from the support course!"

"Oh! The weird person from back then!" Uraraka claimed, making (Y/n) raise a brow in puzzlement.

"I don't know you, but let me use your position! If I team up with you, I'll inevitably become part of the team everyone's watching the most, right?" she said, her eyes beginning to gleam with ambition. "If that happens, then my super cute babies will be inevitably seen by the big companies! That means, in other words, that those big companies will see my babies!"

"Wait-wait a minute-" Izuku sputtered out in confusion.

"Ba...bies?" (Y/n) scratched the back of her neck, similarly confused as Izuku.

Mei opened a case filled with gadgets. "The support course develops equipment that helps heroes deal with their Quirks. I have a ton of babies, so I'm sure you'll be able to find one you like. Oh, this one had caught your eye?" The girl held up some kind of jet-pack for them to see. "I made this based on a certain hero's backpack, adding my own original twist to it."

"Could you be talking about the Buster Hero, Air Jet?" Izuku inquired as he pointed at the gadget.

The girl chuckled in confirmation as they continued talking about the hero.

"They already get along so well, huh, Uraraka?" (Y/n) nudged the girl's side as they watched the duo.

"We still need one more person," Izuku muttered as he walked over to his next contender.

He placed his hand on Tokoyami's shoulder, inviting him to his team which he accepted.

The buzzer went off indicating the timeout. All teams immediately went into position.

"Now then, it's about time to get started!" Midnight announced.

"Now raise those battle cries! It's time for U.A's bloody battle!" Pres Mic proclaimed. "Light the signal fire!"

"Uraraka, (Y/n), Hatsume, Tokoyami." Izuku began as he wrapped the headband on his forehead. "I'm counting on you!"

"Now let's go! Countdown to the bloody royal battle! Three!...Two!...One!"

"Start!"

Each team began moving towards Izuku's team, each aiming to grab the ten million.

"An attack without delay, huh? The fate of the pursued," Tokoyami commented. "Midoriya! Make your choice!"

"Of course, our move is to run away!" Izuku announced.

Suddenly, their feet were caught in what seemed like quicksand, as they were now sinking down.

"We're sinking!!"

"It's no good...I can't get out!"

"Uraraka! Hatsume! (Y/n)! Turn your faces away!" Izuku advised before pressing a button to turn on the jetpack which quickly whisked them out of the sinking floor into the air.

While in the air, (Y/n) noticed oncoming earplugs belonging to Jiro's and immediately dispelled a large heat wave from her body that countered its attack.

"Good!" Tokoyami congratulated. "(Y/n), Dark Shadow, keep watch over our blind spots!"

"Got it!"

"Yep!"

"Wow, that's cool! The defense we were lacking. You guys are more than making up for it with your omnidirectional mid-range defense! Amazing!" Izuku commented in glee, making (Y/n)'s heart swell with pride.

She thanked her ability to sense any kind of heat, even the tiniest amount produced from other forms, making it easier to sense incoming attacks. Though it only worked with long-range distance, it was still the best kind of defense the had at the moment.

"We're landing!" Uraraka announced as they set down on the ground. Thanks to Uraraka's Quirk, she was able to make everyone weightless, including the gadgets.

"Now then, even though barely two minutes have passed since we've started, it's already turned into a free-for-all! Fights over the headbands breaking out all over! Ignoring the ten million points and going for second to fourth places isn't bad, either!"

(Y/n) heard a manic laugh coming from behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Shoji running towards them fast, his limbs over his back stretched into some kind of cave.

"Shoji?! What? By himself?!"

(Y/n)'s eyes widened when she sensed more heat coming from the male other than his. He wasn't alone.

"He's not alone! He's hiding others within him!" the girl informed her team members.

"What?!"

"Let's put some space between them and us!" Tokoyami announced. "We can't be caught standing still against multiple opponents!"

Uraraka went to move but her gadget was stuck on one of Mineta's balls.

"Crap!" (Y/n) cursed as she stomped her foot on the ground, producing lava to melt the ball as quickly as she can.

The ball, due to its nature and supernatural density, took longer to melt.

Come on! Come on!..."They're gaining on us! Just move! It won't do a lot of damage!" the girl yelled at the brown-haired girl who nodded in response.

Before she was able to move, a long tongue shot out from Shoji's back towards Izuku, who immediately ducked the offense. It was revealed that Tsuyu and Mineta were hiding within Shoji's back, who wasted no time in trying to grasp the headband from Izuku, who dodged all of them.

"Midoriya! Get away!"

Izuku turned on the gadget, which immediately hoisted the team up in the air. Since the ball was halfway melted, it tore off part of Uraraka's shoes.

A blast was heard coming towards them and Izuku turned to see what it was.

Katsuki was coming towards them quickly, his body propelled forward by his explosions. He went straight for the headband, nearly tearing it off from his head.

"Don't get carried away!!" he yelled. "Damn it!!"

"Tokoyami!"

Dark Shadow appeared from behind, taking the large blast from Katsuki as a shield. A tape was immediately wrapped around Katsuki, who was thrown back to his team.

(Y/n) sighed in relief at the near assault as she focused on the task ahead. The landing was no easy feat as one of the gadgets were destroyed.

"It's hard to control with just one foot," Uraraka explained, meaning that the team couldn't take into the air anymore.

"Now let's take a look at the current rankings! It's been seven minutes! Here are the current rankings up on the screen!"

The screen flashed to show the current rankings, catching everyone's attention. Though, this time, something was different.

"What? Wait a minute! Other than Midoriya, Class A isn't doing so well..." Mic faltered. "Bakugou? What?"

(Y/n) turned her head to face Katsuki's team and saw that he was not wearing his headband. Though, another team was in front of him, with their rider dangling the headband on his finger. From what she saw, Katsuki wasn't too happy with that, in fact, he looked downright murderous.

And he wonders why I didn't want to be in his team...(Y/n) chuckled mentally. Her thoughts were interrupted when a sudden jolt sent them skidding to the side in a sudden halt. The female leaned to the side to look at what had caused the commotion to see Shouto's team standing in front of hers.

"Less than half the time is left now! The Calvary Battle is about to enter the second half! In this unexpected rise of Class B, who will wear the ten million points in the end?!"

"I'll be taking that now," Shouto said, his eyes burning intensely on Izuku in a cold glare.

(Y/n) took in a deep breath, her eyes going up to Izuku who also had a dead set look in his eye.

"I thought we would not have a confrontation until later in this contest. He seems to think highly of you, Midoriya," Tokoyami observed.

"Only half the time is left! Don't stop moving!" Izuku ordered as they started moving.

"Watch our surroundings! It's not just one group coming for us!"

(Y/n) gasped when she noticed Kaminari activating a shock field directed at them. She closed her eyes and concentrated in dispelling a heat wave wall to form a protective barrier around them. Amidst the shock wave, the other teams were also caught up in it which stopped them in their tracks. Shouto took the opportunity to freeze the ground using a pole created by Yaoyorozu, freezing the other opponents' feet.

"What? What'd he do? Todoroki took care of the crowd of teams in an instant!"

"He froze them after Kaminari's shock stopped them. I guess it should be expected, but he took account how lots of people avoided it in the obstacle course." Aizawa explained monotonously.

"Nice commentary."

The backpack on Izuku's back started malfunctioning. Shouto's team was coming them fast.

"We can't get away!"

"I'll restrain them!" Tokoyami announced as Dark Shadow hurtled towards them but was blocked by Yaoyorozu's creation.

(Y/n) clicked her tongue at her current uselessness as both hands were occupied and she couldn't get a clear shot at them from the back. She could only create shields but not attack. It was at that moment she wished that she was placed at the front but brushed the thoughts away as she took in consideration Izuku's plan. She praised him for his quick thinking so he had to have a reason why he placed her at the back.

"Yaoyorozu's Creation is too hard to deal with!"

"No, Kaminari is worse. With that level of armor, if it wouldn't have been for (Y/n), Dark Shadow would have been distorted by the immense amount of light."

"I see..."

"As long as he keeps discharging electricity, attacking will be difficult. Dark Shadow will become timid."

Izuku's team immediately stopped as they were at the end of the field since they were trapped on both sides by ice.

"Team Midoriya has nowhere left to go!"

"Decreased offense. But they don't know that, (Y/n)!"

The girl hummed in response as she turned towards the curly-haired male. "What is it?"

"This is where you come in! Hold against Kaminari's electrification with you barriers as Tokoyami tries to push them off!"

(Y/n) smirked at the words and nodded at him, ready to finally put her Quirk into at least some good use.

"It's fine. No matter what, we'll hang on to the ten million!"

"One minute left! Todoroki made it so he'd have the ten million to himself to seize in an instant! At least, that's what I thought five minutes ago!! Unbelievably, Midoriya's been able to keep away in that cramped space for five minutes!"

"Izuku? Now what?"

"Now we-huh?!" Izuku cut himself off when a sudden flash passed by him, yanking off the headband from his head.

"What?! What happened? So fast! So fast! Iida, if you could accelerate that fast, then show us in the prelims!"

(Y/n) turned her surprised gaze at the team which had zoomed past them in seconds, her mind still reeling from shock. Her expression mirrored that of her teammates' and Iida's teammates too, surprised at his secret move.

"What was that?" Shouto asked as he fastened the stolen headband around his neck.

"By forcing the torque and rotations to increase, I created an explosive power. With the recoil, my engine stalls after a while, though. It's a secret move I haven't told anyone in class yet!" Iida turned to Izuku with an ambitious smile. "I told you, didn't I, Midoriya? That I'd challenge you."

"The tables are turned! Offense and defense right at the edge! Reigning that in, Todoroki gets the ten million! And Midoriya is suddenly left with zero points!"

"Get back in there!" Izuku cried out in desperation.

"We can't! As long as they have Kaminari, we'll be at a disadvantage if we attack! Dark Shadow can't take the intensity of the light and I can only defend at the moment!" (Y/n) yelled as her mind frantically thought about garnering more points for her team.

"She's right! Shouldn't we be focusing more on getting other points?" Tokoyami suggested.

"No!" Izuku declined. "I don't know how other points got split up! This is our only chance!"

"All right!" Uraraka nodded as she began moving forward. "We'll get it back, Deku! We definitely will!

Izuku, filled with the determination and encouragement of his teammates, charged up to Shoto with his fist ready to attack. Shouto went to block his attack, small flames beginning to lick his arm but was pushed away by Izuku, bringing him back to the reality of his actions. Izuku took the moment of distraction to snatch a headband from his neck with a war cry.

"I got it!" he proclaimed victoriously.

"With just eleven seconds left, there's an angry retrieval here, too!"

"Wait a minute. Isn't this the wrong headband?" Mei asked as she stared the headband in Izuku's hand.

Izuku gaped at the seventy point headband in shock. "They got us!"

"Just in case, we changed the position of the headbands! You were naïve, Midoriya!" Momo explained in a matter of fact tone.

(Y/n) groaned at the turn of events but her eyes were caught by Shouto who was clutching on his left arm, glaring at it. Her eyebrows furrowed, wondering what was wrong with him.

"Oh no! Team Midoriya didn't retrieve the ten million points! Time's just about up! Start the countdown!"

"Tokoyami! (Y/n)!"

"Kaminari!"

(Y/n) dispelled a heat wave to accompany Dark Shadow to lessen the intensity of the electrification.

Katsuki appeared out of the blasted ice as he hurtled towards Izuku. "Damn Deku!!"

"Uraraka!"

"Got it!"

(Y/n)'s team moved quickly towards Shouto's team, paying no mind to Katsuki who had gotten confused at the location of the ten million headband. He realized that Shouto had it and turned to him instead. Shouto, who had been given a staff by Momo, encased it in ice as he prepared himself for defense.

"Time's up!!"

"That's the end of the second round, the Calvary Battle!"

Izuku, who hadn't retrieved the headband recoiled back in anger and frustration.

"Now, let's take a look at the top four teams right away!! In the first place, Team Todoroki! In the second place, Team Bakugou! In third place, Tetsute-Huh?! What, it's team Shinsou?! When did you come from behind?!"

(Y/n) sighed in disappointment at not having first place, her eyes turning towards an agonized Izuku. Well, at least we were close....but...

Her eyes then turned to Tokoyami, a small smirk appearing on her lips.

"Todoroki was clearly shaken by your first attack. I had hoped to get the ten million points but things don't always go as you wish,"

Dark Shadow raised the headbands he had acquired, Izuku's face twisting in bewilderment as his eyes glistened with tears.

"Even so, I got one. I took the one on his head where his guard was the weakest. Midoriya, this was thanks to the opening you created with your last spurt."

"In fourth place, Team Midoriya!"

Izuku started crying tears of joy as (Y/n) patted him on his shoulder. She hadn't done much on the stage, almost feeling next to useless but she was glad she had chosen Izuku as her team member. She was glad that their teamwork paid off and was now moving on to the next stage.

"The four teams will advance to the final round!"

(Y/n) pumped her fist in the air in joy and looked around for Shouto to congratulate him on his win. When she saw him, she found him staring yet again at his left arm, leaving her puzzled. Her questions were answered when she located a large amount of concentrated heat, her eyes immediately locking on the target. She saw Endeavor turning and walking away, her eyes going back to Shouto.

(Y/n) made a mental note to ask him about that later as she turned back to high-five her teammates.

"Now, we'll take an hour's break for lunch before we start the afternoon's festivities! See ya!"

"Ahh," (Y/n) sighed in disappointment as she walked with Yaoyorozu, who she had regrouped with after the battle, towards the cafeteria. "I've never felt so useless in my life. Considering how amazing you were!"

"What are you talking about? How you quickly countered Kaminari's attack was admirable. An ability to withstand such large volts is a respectable power," Yaoyorozu smiled at the girl who returned it.

The girl simply shrugged as she began looking around for her dual-haired boyfriend who had suddenly disappeared. "Huh? Where's Shouto?"

"Maybe he went ahead?"

The girl nodded, half-convinced. She knew that something was wrong but she didn't have the time to investigate yet. She also overheard Uraraka asking for Izuku and the wheels immediately started to turn in her head. She grimaced.

Oh, Shouto, what're you doing?...

***