Midoriya stood stiff, his complexion going even paler than it normally is. Poor kid looks like he's about to wet himself. He got first place and his prize for it is he's become everyone's target. U.A. is a lot more sadistic than I thought.

Well, no matter. Even if the top has the highest points everyone will naturally go after Midoriya for his points.

I should be fine and while they focus on him I can focus on the others. But who should I have on my team?

"Now then, I will explain the rules of the cavalry 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 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 steak, the harder it'll be to manage them! And the most important thing is that if your headband gets stolen, or if your team falls, you're not out!" 

I frowned, brows furrowing. "Huh? That's weird. Oh, I guess since there are only 42 people, there'd be about . . . Um . . ." I trailed off as I attempted to do the math.

Attempt being the key word.

Yaoyorozu sighed and looked back over at me. "Twelve is the average number of teams that could be formed. Yoshiko, you need to work harder on your math."

I pouted and leaned against Mina. "Eh? But math is my Villain." I complained.

She and the others around sweat dropped at my claim. "During the game, it'll be a cruel fight where you can use your Quirks. But it is 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. " Midnight continued.

I kept my feelings locked so that the scowl that wanted to make an appearance didn't show. That's stupid. And totally not fun. What a crock. 

Bakugo had no qualms about hiding his dislike for the rule and clicked his tongue.

Same Bakugo, same.

"Now, you have fifteen minutes to build your teams. Start!" People began to run around, trying to build a team.

Let's see, who to ask? Well Mina and Kaminari are fun. But I think I wanna pair with a winning team so that would be . . . "Bakugo! Let's team up!" I shouted, running over to him.

Others began to flock over as well. Most of my friends were trying to get his attention as he stood in the midst, his hands shoved in his pockets. 

Man he got popular real quick. Didn't see that coming. "Kanon, you could get anyone on your team, why do you wanna be on Bakugo's?" Toru asked me.

I grinned. "Because if I add my points with his, regardless if we get any more headbands, we'll still place in the top four!" I declared.

Truthfully, I wanna win. And he and Todoroki are the only ones who I'm sure will win. 

I'd rather team with Bakugo than Todoroki. The kids hard to even speak too and hes stuck up. Plus hes not as interesting. Not to mention he's a Hero's kid.

Everyone began to ask him to team up almost all at once. He just stood there, face the same as always. "I don't know what Quirks you all have!" He finally spoke.

Huh? HUH?! "Are you serious?! We're in your class!" I shouted at him. It's one thing for the other classes, but c'mon!

You have to know mine for what you did in the race! "Hey! Todoroki chose his team already!" Kirishima called as he made his way over to us.

"Bakugo, Yoshiko, team up with me!" Bakugo and I glanced over at the red head. "Shitty Hair." He doesn't know our names, does he? 

"It's Kirishima! At least try to remember! My hair's not that different from yours!" He shouted, pointing at Bakugo's ash blonde hair. But his annoyance disappeard as he got serious. "You're gonna be the rider right? Then who'll be a front horse can take your blasts?"

He hardened his arm, a confident look on his face. "Eh?! I can take your blasts no problem too! And any attack thrown our way! And I can literally carry the entire team as well!"

No way am I gonna be overlooked. Not even by Kirishima!

Bakugo looked at us, his gaze not faltering.

Hm. Kirishima and I glanced at each other before grinning and turning to him. "Hey, Bakugo. You want a team who will never waver." I began to speak.

"And who'll go after the ten million, right?" Realization dawned on his face and a wicked grin graced his face. Hehe. Got him.

With Kirishima and me picked, Bakugo contemplated on the third, ending up with Sero. Our team was assembled. "Alright! Half of the BakuSquad is here!" I cheered.

Sero raised an eyebrow at me. "BakuSquad?" I nodded, grin never faltering. "Yeah. The people who hang around Mr. Grumpster." I jabbed my thumb back towards the said person.

"Huh?!" He began to rage. Kirishima just laughed, not as bothered by my comment as the other two. "I guess we should go by that then."

I nodded enthusiastically and held my hands up. Without hesitation, Kirishima high fived them. He never leaves me hanging.

We're the BakuSquad!

I glanced around at the other teams that have begun to form. Kaminari seems to be with Todoroki, Iida, and Yaoyorozu. Their points will be high, but not threateningly.

"Other then Midoriya, we'll be the one with the most points to start. Even if it takes the entire time to get his, we'll still have enough regardless." I wondered aloud.

Everyone will be after him; they won't even think to go after others so it should be fine.

I wonder if Tomura's found anyone to his liking yet. He's watching the event today for reconnaissance and recruitment only, but I'd still like to do him proud.

Well, as proud as I can with a bunch of wannabe Heroes.

A buzzer went off, signaling the end of the fifteen minutes. Naturally my gaze went to Midoriya to see his team. Ochako I saw coming, but Tokoyami and the pink haired girl I wasn't expecting.

Oh, she's from the Support Class I think. She's got to be with all that getup. Wait, Midoriya and Ochako have weird items as well!

"After fifteen minutes to form teams and talk strategy, twelve cavalry teams are lined up on the field! Now raise those battle cries! It's time for U.A.'s bloody battle!" Present Mic's voice boomed throughout the arena, followed by the crowd.

Bloody battle my ass! I'll just end up getting red carded. 

"Let's go." Bakugo demanded. The three of us nodded and got into position. Kirishima is the head horse, I'm right flank, and Sero is left. Kirishima will be the shield against oncoming teams, Sero will retrieve Bakugo when he goes airborne, and I'm to give us support.

Naturally Bakugo took his seat as the rider. This team is good. We'll definitely place high. 

"Now, let's go! Counting down to the brutal battle royal! Three! Two! One!" Mic shouted. Midnight waved her flogger, a grin on her face. "Start!" Just like that, everyone moves.

More specifically, towards Midoriya. And because Bakugo really wants his headband, we're going after him too. "Of course our move is to run away!" Midoriya ordered his team. "I won't let you!" Kirishima #2 shouted.

The guy that was his head horse stomped his foot and the ground kind of morphed. Midoriya's team began to sink.

Are they gonna be taken out? Ah, the jetpack on Midoriya's back activated and they managed to free themselves from the ground and took to the air. "Eh?! I want to try that next!" I almost giggled. "Shut up! After them!" Bakugo ordered.

We turned our course and headed towards them yet again. They landed away from the others but they're going after them still. Us included.

A familiar was closest and ran for him. Huh? Shoji? He's alone? But that's not allowed.

A familiar laughter echoed but I couldn't see where the little runt was. Oh, Ochako's fancy boot is stuck on one of Mineta's balls. Wait, is he hiding under Shoji's arms?

As the thought crossed my mind, the little purple balls were thrown out, as did a long tongue that went for the headband. Mineta and Tsu are hidden under his arms. Kinda like a tank. Hmmm, pretty clever.

They began to take off into the air, but Ochako's boot broke, unable to be released from the ball. But they still made it airborne. No one else can go into the air other then Bakugo from what I can tell.

That gives us an advantage. "Make sure to catch me." Bakugo almost growled as explosions went off and he launched himself into the sky after them. Bakugo went to hit him with an explosion, but Dark Shadow took the brunt of the attack, shielding them.

That could be tricky.

Sero held his elbow up and tape shot out, wrapping around Bakugo and pulling him back towards us. "I got him!" I called, stepping back a bit.

Bakugo flew towards me and I easily caught him before helping him back onto the horse. "He had gotten separated from his horses! Is that okay?!" Present Mic questioned loudly.

"It's a technicality, so it's okay! It wouldn't have been if he'd touched the ground though!" Midnight responded, giving the okay.

Hehe. How many other teams can have their rider go off on their own? We've got a nice little set up here.

Midoriya's team landed and began to run on the ground. Everyone continued to chase after them, since no one really tried to get anyone elses.

Huh? Oh no! "Bakugo-!" My warning came too late. A team ran behind us, snatching his headband.

Tsk! I went and brought my leg up, foot aimed at the riders head. He pursed his lips and blew out a blue translucent plate that blocked my kick.

Well, tried to.

As soon as my foot hit the shield it shattered since I didn't hold anything back, surprising the blonde a bit.

But just as quickly, he looked down on us, an air of arrogance about him. "Class A is too simple minded." I went to deliver another kick, but they ran just out of my reach. Damn it! 

"What'd you say, bastard? Give that back! I'll kill you!" Bakugo roared. I stopped myself from glaring at him, doing my best to seem frustrated instead of pissed.

Tomura definitely saw. He saw my mistake. How dare they humiliate me in front of him?!

Despite my want to strangle him, what I need is to handle this smartly. A way a Hero in Training would. 

The team that had stolen our band stopped just a bit away. "Since Midnight said it was the first game, it wouldn't make sense for them to cut a tine of people in the qualifier, right? Assuming they'd keep about forty people for the next stage, we just made sure we stayed within that number as we ran. Observing from the back the Quirks and personalities of those who would be our rivals. There's no point in being obsessive over winning in the prelims, right?"

My eye twitched. He's annoying. And the way he looks at us is like we're nothing which is just upsetting me even more.

"You did this as a class?" Bakugo questioned him as he adjusted his headbands. "Well, it wasn't a consensus, but it was a good idea, right? It's better than going after a temporary 'top' like a horse with a carrot waving in front of its face. Oh, while I'm at it, you're famous, aren't you? As a victim of the sludge incident! Tell me about it sometime. About how it feels to be attacked by Villains once a year."

I tilted my head a bit. "Hey." The blonde looked over at me. I just stared at him innocently.

"You're so salty." I deadpanned.

He froze, turning to stone. One of his teammates snorted loudly, clamping his mouth shut to stop the laughter that wanted to escape. But he soon stopped as he saw Bakugo's face.

I didn't have to look at him to know he's angry. His anger is radiating off of him, like a red mist. Sero and Kirishima began to sweat a bit, wearily looking up at our leader. It was like a fire that burned around us.

He is soooo pissed.

"Kirishima . . . change of plan . . . Before we get Deku, let's kill all these guys!" I laughed loudly, as the other two looked on nervously. "Okay!" I said in English.

"Stop encouraging him!" Sero yelled at me. I just laughed some more. Well I don't mind. They're kind of pissing me off.

All of Class B and their salty selves. Besides, they made me look bad in front of Tomura! And Banri, god, if I don't get the headband back he's never going to let me live this down. Oh no. I will not let that happen!

A large burst of electricity burst on the other half of the field where Midoriya, Todoroki, and a few other teams were. "Ah man. I could have used that shock!" I whined.

What a waste. Well, no matter. We took off after the team that had provoked us. We're going to take all of their headbands, leave them with nothing!

We neared the team and Bakugo swung, however the rider was able to deflect his hit. Hm, pretty gutsy. He didn't even flinch.

We skidded in front of them and were about to turn towards them again. But before the others could see him, the kid moved his hand towards Bakugo's face.

Very quickly, I stuck my arm out between the two and the kid set off an explosion against my arm. "Yoshiko!" Kirishima shouted in worry.

"Hya!" I swung my injured arm back, it was charged with the strike I took, but he evaded it. Gritting my teeth I put my arm back to re-steady ourselves and we turned to face them.

"Wow, what a nice Quirk." The rider said, striking the top of Kirishama's head. "Bakugo, someone has the same Quirk as you too?" Kirishima asked. I frowned a bit.

No that doesn't make sense. He did that weird barrier type Quirk. And when he used the explosion, he seemed impressed with the Quirk. And why did he hit Kirishima's head? It wasn't really an attack. 

"Damn it!" Bakugo swung again and the explosion hit him. Or so I thought. When the dust cleared up, he had his arm up, blocking his face and it was . . . hardened. "He copies Quirks." mumbled in a daze.

No way. That's such a cool Quirk!

"Really, such nice Quirks. Mine's better though." I frowned a bit at him, he's trying to upset us. There's a word for people like him. Many, and most I can't say since we're on TV.

"You're just a salty copycat, yet you're so haughty. Wait, did I use that word right? Haughty?" I asked Sero. He sweat dropped a bit. "Yes, you did."

I nodded, proud of myself. "So haughty." I repeated.

Bakugo looked over, shooting me a warning glare, before returning his attention to our opponent. "Well, even an idiot can figure it out, huh?"

I blinked a bit at him as he smirked cockily. "I am an idiot, but I don't see the need to bring it up, seems rude." He gave me a flat look. "I was talking about your rider, but you aren't bright are you?" 

"No. But I get that a lot so it's okay." I grinned.

Bakugo began to make angry noises, but I wasn't sure what angered him more. This guy or my stupidity.

Regardless, he's just getting angrier and angrier. Before either of the riders could do anything, another team ran up, shooting some substance our way. "Bondo! Picking a fight, huh?" The blonde spoke to who I assume is his classmate. 

Bruh, you're the one who's picking a fight! "Monoma! We just have to keep from getting caught now. With this many points, we'll definitely make it into the top four." The black haired teammate shouted up at the blonde; Monoma.

They took off in the opposite direction. "After them!" Bakugo ordered. We went to go but Kirishima didn't move. "Wow! I can't move!" The white substance got onto his leg and foot hardened, keeping him to the ground.

Uh-oh. "Oh, don't get mad at me. You're the one who provoked us, right? What did you say at the pledge again? That embarrassing thing . . . let me think . . . oh well. You've done enough for today."

Some of his classmates that had gotten him, seemed amused by their friends' words. I clenched my jaw before opening my mouth.

"Why is your class so salty?!" I shouted at them. Every last one of them is salty!

"One minute left!" Present Mic called loudly. Oh boy. That's not good. "Wait! I said wait!" Bakugo roared, the vein in his neck popping.

One of these days its going to burst, He set off an explosion and propelled himself over. "Don't act on your own, Bakugo!" Kirishima chastised.

"Tsuburaba! Guard! " Monoma shouted, caught off guard by his actions. The lead horseman puckered his lips, his cheeks puffing as he made the weird thing Monoma did earlier. So it was his Quirk.

Bakugo hit the weird shield, hanging onto it. Tsuburaba seemed smug that he fended him off. 

Idiot. Bakugo won't be held back by something like that. Bakugo began to hit the thing, but it wasn't breaking easily. Their team, thinking they were safe, turned their backs to him.

"Ah-ah. They should never turn their backs on the enemy." I said, with amusement in my voice. Kirishima and Sero grinned.

Bakugo punched again, this time with more force and shattered their shield. He reached over and grabbed two bands from Monoma's neck. He jumped off the weird shield and Sero shot out some tape and pulled him back. I caught him with ease and helped him back up.

"Awesome! We're back on the board, third place!" I cheered.

With a grin, I channelled a large amount of energy into my foot. "Kirishima, guard your foot! We're getting out of here!" I stomped on the hardened substance, shattering it and part of the ground. We ran forward, away from the substance

"This means we'll definitely get through to the next round-" Bakugo hit Kirishima atop his head, cutting him off. "Not yet!"

He continued to hit Kirishima on his head. "We're gonna get an indisputable first place!" He yelled. He sure is ambitious. But I don't mind that.

"I couldn't brace myself enough earlier on my own! Go! We'll get our points back, too, and then go for the ten million!" Wow. That was strangely . . . comforting. No, inspiring? No, not that either. Kind of endearing. You're going to rely on us, huh?

"Get ready for a boost, loud mouth!" Bakugo turned to me, extending his hand towards me. I grinned and stepped back a bit, away from Sero as he shot off a pretty large explosion on me, tearing and burning at my jacket.

The pain and energy going straight into my muscles. "Flat face, tape on me! A lot of it so it doesn't break!" He commanded.

Sero immediately did so, wrapping tape around him. "It's Sero!" He corrected as he did so. Bakugo turned to me. "Loud mouth, throw me!"

I stepped back and away from them, grabbing Bakugo by his collar and suspending him in the air. I channeled the energy from the blast and put it in my arm. I turned in a full circle before throwing him with great strength. "It's Kanon!" I shouted as he cut through the air like a bullet.

Monoma only got a slight chance to look over before Bakugo zoomed past him, snatching the headband off of him. Sero stopped him with the tape, it tore a bit, but it stayed.

He yanked, going in a wide arc opposite of Monoma before flinging him into Kirishima who caught him.

We quickly went back into formation, three headbands with us. Second place! "Next! We're going to where Deku and Todoroki are!"

We did as he said and rushed towards the wall of ice excluding the two teams from the rest. Bakugo thrust his hand forward, destroying the ice with an explosion and clearing a path into the fight.

But then he took off in the air. "Damn Deku!" He roared.

"Bakugo!" Kirishima shouted as we ran their way. But upon seeing Midoriya didn't have it, he and the green haired boy went for Todoroki.

Or as Bakugo calls him, Half and Half Bastard.

The three neared and I braced myself. The three strongest kids in class against each other? That's gonna be a hell of a fight. I mean Midoriya isn't as great as them, but he has incredible destructive power and brains. He's just, well, a smol bean. But he does pack a hell of a right hook!

Now this is a battle of the ages. As the three neared, a buzzer went off. "Times up!"

Bakugo fell out of the sky and right right onto the ground, face first. The three of us separated and ran towards him.

"Bakugo!" Sero shouted.

"Are you okay?" Kirishima asked.

"Are you dead?"

"Yoshiko!" The boys hissed at me as I stared at Bakugo with the slight tilt of my head.

Bakugo began to pound on the ground, making his usual noises of anger. Well he's definitely alive.

"Now, let's take a look at the top four teams right now! In first place, Team Todoroki! In second place, Team Bakugo! In third place, Tetsute-huh? What, it's Team Shinso! In fourth place, Team Midoriya! These four teams will advance to the final round." Present Mic announced

The crowd went absolutely wild at the announcements. Man they are eating this up. "Well, second place isn't that bad. All's well that ends well." Sero mused, with a slight shrug.

I nodded but looked over at Bakugo wearily. He's crouched in front of us, hitting the ground while cursing. "Do you really think that's how he feels?" Kirishima as he stared at Bakugo's back.

I merely laughed. "He's just salty."