5000+ Words!
"GO!"
The door slammed open with a mechanical roar that drowned out everything else. Over two hundred teenagers launched forward in a human tide of limbs and adrenaline.
BOOM!
Several explosions burst from Bakugo's palms as he rocketed through the air. Ice spread across the floor from Todoroki's right side, creating a frozen path that sent at least twenty students slipping and crashing into each other, while acid melted the tunnel walls and hardening Quirks activated all over the crowd.
The tunnel turned into a death trap in less than three seconds.
Ren felt an elbow dig into his ribs and someone's knee slam into his back from behind. The crowd shoved forward with the blind inertia of a stampede, and he only had one thought.
This is a disaster.
"Ren!" Ochako's voice cut through the chaos right next to his ear. She had his arm gripped tight and was getting jostled around by the mass of bodies. "What do we do?!"
"Don't get separated!" he shouted back. "Don't let go of me!"
A student with a mutation Quirk that gave him ram horns tried to plow through the crowd and slammed into Ochako from the side. Ren grabbed her by the wrist before she could get pulled away and yanked her back to him.
Up in the spectator stands, Makoto lowered her binoculars with her mouth hanging open.
"Oh my god," she whispered. "They're gonna kill each other."
Kazuho pressed her hand against the patch over her left eye and leaned forward in her seat.
"Is this normal?!" she asked. "This doesn't look normal! It's way too intense!"
"It's U.A.!" Makoto said. "Of course it's insane!"
In another section of the stands, Mitsuki sat with her arms crossed and a small smile starting to creep onto her lips. Her eyes scanned the crowd until they found what they were looking for.
There you are, melon head.
She didn't say anything out loud, though her smile widened just a fraction.
Down on the field, Midnight's voice boomed through the stadium speakers.
"And they're OFF!" she purred into the microphone. "Look at that beautiful chaos! Over two hundred young heroes in training fighting for their shot at glory! The competition is FIERCE, ladies and gentlemen!"
Present Mic's voice joined hers, cranked up to maximum volume.
"OH MY GOODNESS! Bakugo and Todoroki have already kicked it into turbo and they're breaking away from the pack! That gap is HUGE, folks! But the real question is… WHO'S GONNA BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE THESE TWO MONSTERS?! ARE YOU READY?! LET'S GOOOO!"
Ren managed to drag Ochako through the worst of the pileup as they burst out of the tunnel into the open air of the stadium track.
"Hah… hah…! Okay!" Ren panted, still running. "Now! The plan!"
"What plan?!" Ochako shouted, her cheeks flushed from the effort.
"The one I'm making up right now!"
"THAT'S NOT VERY REASSURING!"
Ren pulled her over to one side of the track where there was a little less traffic. The students were spreading out now that they had room to move, though the main pack was still a chaotic mass of bodies and powers.
"Listen!" Ren said, his brain firing on all cylinders. "Use your Quirk on both of us, and I'll use my telekinesis to launch us forward! We combine our Quirks to hit max speed!"
Ochako's eyes went wide.
"That's… that's actually genius!" She paused. "Wait, have you done this before?!"
"Nope! There's a first time for everything!"
"REN!"
"You got a better idea, Ochakooooo?!"
She looked at the mass of students ahead of them, then back at Ren.
"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "Okay! But if we crash into a wall, I'm blaming you!"
"Deal!"
She pressed all five fingertips against his forearm. Her Quirk activated with the familiar feeling of gravity dissolving away, and then she did the same to herself. Ren's feet lifted a couple of inches off the ground, and suddenly he weighed absolutely nothing.
All right. Here we go. Don't screw this up, Ren.
Up ahead, the real spectacle was already beginning.
Shoto didn't waste a single second. The moment the door opened, he activated his ice Quirk and created a frozen ramp under his feet that stretched forward, propelling him ahead of the group while simultaneously freezing the ground behind him.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The students who tried to follow his path immediately lost their footing on the ice and went down hard.
"AHHH!"
"My ankle!"
"WATCH OUT!"
Todoroki didn't look back. His expression stayed completely neutral as a cold mist poured off his right side, keeping the ice creation steady without breaking his stride.
Bakugo had a different approach: overwhelming force.
"OUT OF MY WAY, EXTRAS!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A rapid burst of explosions detonated from his palms, launching him into the air above the crowd. He didn't bother with strategy or finesse. He just flew, propelled by his explosive power, leaving a trail of smoke and cursing students in his wake.
Someone tried to grab his ankle as he passed overhead. Bakugo looked down with murderous glee and triggered an explosion straight into the kid's face.
BOOM!
"AHHHHH!"
"That's what you get for touching me, you damn nobody!"
Present Mic's voice exploded through the speakers.
"LOOK AT THAT! These two POWERHOUSES are screaming to the whole planet why Class 1-A is the ELITE, the cream of the crop, the legit top-tier of U.A.! Nobody can take their eyes off them! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! YEAHHH!"
Midnight let out a suggestive little laugh, sliding her whip across her palm with elegance.
"Mmm~ yes! That's the energy I love to see! Such vibrant talent! Such… stimulating power! I love watching these young ones give it their all with so much passion. But, oh my, oh my! Do you feel that in the air? A new scent is coming closer… who's that young lady chasing after them with so much determination?! This is getting delicious!"
The cameras swung around. The giant screens all over the stadium lit up with a new image.
Inko Midoriya.
She hadn't been in the first wave out of the tunnel. She'd let Bakugo and Todoroki take the lead while she ran with the main group, apparently content to stay in the middle of the pack.
Thirty meters into the race, everything changed.
Green lightning came to life around her legs.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
One For All activated with a flash of power that made every camera in the stadium lock onto her instantly. Emerald sparks traced patterns up her calves and thighs as she accelerated.
When Inko ran with One For All in her legs, it was like someone had strapped a rocket to her back and lit the engine.
WHOOSH!
She shot forward, closing the distance to Todoroki and Bakugo in seconds. Her green hair streamed behind her as she ran, and the smile on her face was absolutely radiant.
In the stands, Makoto grabbed Kazuho's arm hard enough to leave a mark.
"Did you SEE that?!" she squealed. "What kind of Quirk is that?!"
"I don't know!" Kazuho said, equally floored. "But she's FAST!"
Mitsuki leaned forward a little in her seat. Her eyes followed the green haired girl with an expression of admiration.
Is that the girl who pissed Katsuki off during the USJ attack? Now I get why he's jealous… she's way too strong.
Todoroki noticed her first. He turned his head just enough to catch sight of Inko.
She's matching my speed.
He cranked up the power on his ice Quirk. The frozen path beneath him extended faster, propelling him forward with more force.
Inko matched him without breaking a sweat. The green lightning intensified around her legs.
Bakugo noticed her when she pulled even with him in the air. His red eyes flew open with rage.
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, CATCHING UP TO ME?!" he roared.
"Don't be so rude!" she answered cheerfully, like they were having a casual conversation instead of running at inhuman speeds. "We're classmates after all, Bakugo-kun!"
"DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE WE'RE FRIENDS!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
He let loose a barrage of explosions, trying to pull ahead. Inko just smiled wider and accelerated to match him.
The three of them rocketed past the rest of the pack. Behind them, the other students were still fighting through the mass of bodies and Quirks, while Bakugo, Todoroki, and Inko had broken off into their own private war.
Present Mic lost his mind.
"HOLY COW! THIS IS INSANE, FOLKS! LISTEN TO ME! INKO MIDORIYA OF CLASS 1-A IS REFUSING TO BE LEFT BEHIND! She's keeping pace, neck and neck, with the two monsters of the competition! Todoroki and Bakugo have got real competition! WHERE WAS THIS POWERHOUSE HIDING?! AND WHAT KIND OF INCREDIBLE QUIRK IS SHE PULLING OUT?! IT'S JUST… UNBELIEVABLE!"
Midnight leaned into the microphone with a languid smile and shining eyes, ignoring Present Mic's outburst.
"Mmm~ magnificent!" she purred while toying with the edge of her mask. "That vigor… that intensity! It's youth in its purest, most exciting form! Look at the power, the grace of their movements! And of course… the divine way that gym uniform shows off her… athletic prowess. It's a vision that makes me burn with excitement! Such a delight!"
In the commentator booth, Aizawa's dry voice cut through the excitement.
"Stop being weird, Kayama."
"I'm being APPRECIATIVE, Eraserhead! Have a little more heroic spirit."
Down on the track, the three leaders had completely forgotten about the rest of the competition. Todoroki kept building ice walls to block Bakugo's path, while Bakugo blasted through them with explosions and tried to throw Inko off balance with shockwaves, and Inko just dodged everything with movements that suggested she was actually having fun.
They weren't running a race anymore; this had turned into a fight with the finish line as the backdrop.
And the entire stadium was watching.
Back in the main pack, Ren had a different priority.
Where's Hagakure?
He activated his X-ray vision while still running, scanning the crowd of students around him. Most people had no way to track an invisible girl in this chaos. For Ren it was just a matter of looking.
There.
Hagakure's curved outline appeared in his vision about twenty meters ahead, moving with the central pack. She was better positioned than he'd expected, running with a steady determination that didn't need anyone's help.
Okay. She doesn't need me to interfere.
The relief lasted about two seconds before his brain did what it always did when presented with X-ray vision and an attractive girl in motion.
The physics of running at high speed were very generous to certain anatomical features when you could see through clothing, especially since Hagakure's ass was so generous and bounced up and down so tantalizingly.
You're a man beyond redemption, Hayashi Ren.
BOOM!
One of Bakugo's explosions shook the ground hard enough to snap Ren back to reality.
Right. Sports Festival, two hundred participants, four kilometer race. Important details to focus on.
He cut the X-ray vision and refocused on the plan. Ochako was still hanging onto him, her fingertips pressed against his arm to keep the Zero Gravity effect going.
"Ready?" he asked.
"N-not even close! Feels like my heart's gonna come out my mouth!" Ochako admitted with a nervous smile, though her eyes lit up with resolve. "B-but… we can't fall behind! Let's do this, full power!"
He activated his telekinesis. The energy built up like a contained hurricane, and suddenly the world disappeared!
WHOOSH!
They shot forward like a projectile. The other students turned into blurry smudges of color that flashed past in a blink.
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Ochako screamed, squeezing her eyes shut and clinging to his arm for dear life. "W-WE'RE GOING TOO FAAAAAST!! MY STOMACH ISN'T READY FOR THIIIIIIS!!"
Ren couldn't answer because his brain was too busy processing the fact that he was flying through the air at an absurd speed with zero experience in aerial maneuvers.
This was a terrible idea! It was an awful idea! Why do I keep doing stuff like this?!
And yet, it was working. They blew past thirty students in the span of five seconds, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
In the stands, Mitsuki spotted the bald head shooting out of the pack like a cannonball and let out a laugh she hadn't expected.
"HAHAHAHA, pervy kid," she muttered under her breath, grinning. "You really do want me to wear that cosplay."
Nobody around her understood what she was talking about, though they definitely noticed when she started smiling.
Present Mic's voice burst out with renewed excitement.
"WHAAAAAT?! HOLD ON A MINUTE, EVERYBODY! WHAT AM I SEEING WITH MY OWN TWO EYES?! HAYASHI REN AND URARAKA OCHAKO OF CLASS 1-A JUST PULLED OFF A COMBO ATTACK THAT IS OUT OF THIS WORLD! LISTEN TO ME! Uraraka's Zero Gravity plus Hayashi's Telekinesis equals… A HUMAN ROCKET TOTALLY UNSTOPPABLE! THEY'RE FLYING OVER THE COMPETITION! YEAAAAAAAH!"
"Clever!" Midnight approved. "Combining Quirks for tactical advantage! That's the kind of creative thinking we love to see! Keep it up, my brave young hopefuls!"
Ren managed to tilt his trajectory just enough to avoid crashing into anyone, though it was more luck than skill. Ochako was clinging to him with both hands now, her face buried in his back.
"I can't look!" she yelled.
"THAT MAKES TWO OF US!"
They blew past more students. The gap between them and the leaders was closing fast.
How do I stop?! I didn't think about how to STOP!
Up ahead, Todoroki built another ice wall. Bakugo blasted through it with explosions. Inko just leaped over it with the boost from One For All, her body arcing through the air with perfect form.
The three of them were locked in combat while running a race, and they'd completely stopped caring about everyone else.
Ren angled his telekinesis downward, trying to brake their momentum. It worked, though the deceleration was sharp enough to flip his stomach.
THUD!
His feet hit the ground running, though Ochako kept the contact going without releasing her Quirk yet. Ren grabbed her by the elbow so she wouldn't lose her balance as they kept pushing forward with impossibly light steps.
"Don't let go, Uraraka!" he panted. "If we keep this up, we'll make it to the end!"
"I know!" Ochako shot back, breathing hard but not pulling her fingers away from Ren's arm. "We're in fourth! FOURTH!"
"Don't celebrate yet!" Ren told her. "We've still got three and a half kilometers!"
The course curved up ahead, leading into the first big obstacle zone. The giant robots from the entrance exam were scattered across the track, their sensors already picking up movement.
BEEP!
"Oh no," Ochako whispered. "I forgot about the robots."
"Yeah," Ren nodded. "Me too."
Up ahead, Todoroki took care of the robots by freezing them solid with a single sweep of his right hand. Bakugo just flew over them with his explosive propulsion and laughed. Inko weaved between them at One For All speed and punched straight through a robot's chest plate when one got too close.
CRASH!
The metal screeched and crumpled as her fist tore through it like paper.
The three monsters at the front didn't even slow down.
Ren and Ochako exchanged a look.
"Still together?" she asked, her fingers still pressed against his arm.
"All the way to the finish line," Ren confirmed. "You keep gravity off, I'll handle the push."
They entered the robot zone hovering a hand's width above the ground, with Ren's telekinesis pushing them forward in a controlled glide. Ochako tapped a robot with five fingers and sent it floating into the air. Ren grabbed it with telekinesis and hurled it into two more robots behind it.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Metal slammed against metal as they kept moving without ever touching the ground.
The race went on.
Ahead of everyone, the three leaders kept swapping positions and shoving each other harder with every meter, completely lost in their private war of ice, explosions, and green lightning.
Behind them, Ren and Ochako worked in perfect sync to hold onto fourth place. She kept the Zero Gravity effect on both of them with barely any pauses, recharging it with a quick touch every time she felt it fading. He used that weightlessness to push them forward with telekinesis, alternating between short flights and low glides so he wouldn't lose visibility. It wasn't elegant, though it was devilishly effective.
"Watch out!" Ochako warned.
A student with a muscle enhancement Quirk tried to bulldoze them. Ren extended his telekinesis and caught the kid mid stride, yanking him backward and sending him tumbling.
"Sorry!" Ren shouted, not feeling sorry at all.
They jumped over a pit using the telekinesis boost, dodged falling debris, and floated through another wave of robots in the middle of all the chaos. The crowd in the stadium roared with every big move, and the cameras caught it all.
Present Mic's commentary never let up.
"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAH! LISTEN UP, EVERYBODY! THE BATTLE FOR THE TOP IS ON FIRE! TODOROKI'S STILL UP THERE, HOLDING THAT POLE POSITION WITH ICE OF STEEL! BUT WATCH OUT, BECAUSE BAKUGO'S RIGHT THERE, HOT ON HIS HEELS WITH AN EXPLOSION OF RAGE! BOOM! AND DON'T MISS MIDORIYA, KEEPING UP STEP BY STEP, GLUED TO THEM LIKE A SHADOW! BUT LOOK BEHIND, FOLKS! HAYASHI AND URARAKA ARE HOLDING ONTO FOURTH PLACE WITH TOOTH AND NAIL! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE LEVEL OF TEAMWORK! THAT'S TEAMWORK, BABY! THIS IS GETTING… CRAZYYYYYY!"
Midnight's voice purred with approval.
"Such beautiful synchronization! They move like they've trained together for years!"
The last kilometer was coming up. The leaders were so far ahead they barely registered as three blurry silhouettes in the distance, though the stadium cameras kept projecting every detail of their battle on the giant screens.
Todoroki extended both hands toward the ground while running, and his ice Quirk responded with brutal force.
CRAAAAASH!
The entire track ahead of him transformed into a frozen wasteland in a matter of seconds. The ice spread like a white wave, coating the asphalt with a thick, slick layer. The competitors behind them screamed when they saw the field freeze over.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE SO CLEVER, HALF AND HALF BASTARD!" Bakugo roared from the air.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
His explosions ramped up in frequency and power, becoming continuous detonations that kept him airborne over the ice field. The trail of black smoke he left behind was visible from the stadium.
Inko ran across the ice without slipping or losing speed. One For All wrapped her legs in green lightning that crackled and snapped, giving her perfect traction on the frozen surface like her feet were magnetized to the ground.
"That all you've got, Todoroki-kun?" she asked with a competitive smile as she pulled past him on the left.
WHOOSH!
Todoroki built a wall of ice that shot up directly in front of her, cutting off her path. Inko jumped, propelling herself with One For All cranked to whatever maximum she could handle.
FLASH!
Emerald lightning exploded around her body and she launched three meters into the air, sailing over the wall like she was flying. She landed on the other side without breaking her rhythm, her sneakers hitting the ice with a sharp crack.
WHAM!
"You're gonna have to do better than that," she said, throwing him a look over her shoulder.
Bakugo appeared on her right like a bullet, his arms stretched back as he accelerated with controlled explosions.
"OUT OF MY WAY, EXTRA!" he yelled, fury in his eyes. "FIRST PLACE IS MINE!"
"Then come and take it," Inko answered, unfazed.
BOOM! BOOM!
Bakugo unleashed a string of diagonal explosions that catapulted him straight at her. Inko accelerated with One For All sparking more intensely around her legs, dodging Bakugo's trajectory by inches as the hot air from the explosions brushed her hair.
Todoroki wasn't about to be left behind. He created an ice ramp that rose from the ground at a perfect angle, giving him extra height and momentum. He ran up the frozen ramp and launched himself off the top with his arms stretched out.
CRAAAAASH!
A new ice field erupted directly underneath all three of them, turning the entire path ahead into a deadly skating rink. Frozen spikes jutted up from the ground like sharpened lances.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Bakugo bellowed, twisting in the air.
BOOM!
He destroyed the closest spikes with a directed explosion and landed with another detonation that melted the ice under his feet. White steam rose around him as he accelerated again.
Inko dodged the spikes with short, quick hops, using One For All in brief bursts to navigate the frozen minefield without losing speed. Each landing made the frozen ground crack under the force of the Quirk.
"This is getting fun!"
Todoroki glanced at her sideways, no expression on his face, though his ice Quirk responded with more intensity. A new frozen wave spread from his feet and covered the last stretch of the track in ice so dense it looked like blue glass.
Back in the main pack, Ren and Ochako watched the battle while still pushing forward together in their low altitude glide.
"Haaa… haaa…! She's… she's amazing!" Ochako exclaimed between gasps, her eyes shining like stars. "Inko-san is really incredible! Look at her going head to head with both of them!"
"All three of them are," Ren answered between breaths. "But Inko's on a completely different level."
"We can't fall behind, Ren-kun! We've gotta give it our Plus Ultra too if we wanna catch up!"
"TIME TO END THIS SHIT!" Bakugo roared.
He extended both arms behind his back and concentrated his nitroglycerin sweat to the max. His palms glowed with an intense orange as the heat distorted the air around him.
BOOOOOOM!
The biggest explosion yet erupted behind him, a detonation so powerful the shockwave shook the barriers of the circuit. Bakugo shot forward like an out of control rocket, closing the gap with the other two in an instant.
Todoroki rose to the challenge. He created a burst of ice that shot up from the ground behind him, propelling him forward with the force of expanding ice. His body slid across the frozen surface at superhuman speed while more frozen structures formed under his feet, creating an elevated path that catapulted him straight toward the finish line.
Inko activated One For All at what was clearly the maximum power she could use. The green lightning enveloped her legs entirely and the rest of her body, crackling with blinding intensity. The air around her silhouette warped from the pressure of the Quirk, and her eyes glowed with determination.
"PLUS ULTRA!"
BOOOOM!
She exploded forward with so much force the ice cracked beneath her feet. The momentum catapulted her at a speed that made the other two look like they were in slow motion.
The three of them converged on the final stretch shoulder to shoulder. The explosions roared next to the burst of ice shooting up from the ground, and the emerald lightning crackled over everything in a single storm of power.
BOOM! CRASH! FLASH!
The entire stadium roared with anticipation. Present Mic was shouting something through the speakers, though the sound got lost under the thunder of the battle.
Bakugo twisted his body in the air and unleashed diagonal explosions that pushed him to the left, trying to cut off Inko's path. Todoroki built one last ice wall directly in front of both of them, forcing them to dodge or jump.
Inko kicked the frozen wall with apocalyptic force.
KRAKOOOOM!
The ice exploded into a thousand glittering fragments that flew in every direction. She blew through the cloud of shards without losing an ounce of speed, the green lightning still crackling around her body.
The three of them were so close they could hear each other breathing between the explosions and the ice.
"MOVE!" Bakugo shouted.
"Never," Todoroki answered, extending his left hand.
"I already won!" Inko said with a wild smile.
And then Inko pulled ahead.
One For All roared around her legs, the green lightning intensified into brilliant flashes, and her body catapulted forward with one last burst of speed that left a green trail in the air.
It wasn't a huge difference in distance. Maybe half a meter, maybe a little more, though when you're talking about athletes moving at superhuman speeds on the final stretch of a deadly race, half a meter might as well be a whole kilometer.
She crossed the finish line in first place, the green lightning still sparking around her legs. The stadium cameras caught her radiant, victorious smile as she slowed to a stop, leaving deep skid marks in the ground from the friction.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH! LISTEN UP, EVERYBODY! THE MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR HAS ARRIVED! THIS IS INSANE! INKO MIDORIYA JUST CROSSED THE FINISH LINE AND TAKES FIRST PLACE! YES, LISTENERS, YOU SAW IT RIGHT! SHE LEFT EVERYONE WITH THEIR MOUTHS HANGING OPEN! OH MY GOODNESS! WHAT AN ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE! I'M IN SHOCK, FOLKS! THAT… THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I CALL A REAL HERO! AN AUTHENTIC QUEEN OF THE BATTLEFIELD! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! PLUS ULTRAAAAAA!"
Bakugo crossed the line in second place barely a fraction of a second later, his face contorted with rage. He landed with a final explosion and stood frozen for a moment, processing the loss.
"DAMN IT!" he roared at the sky, the veins in his neck bulging. "DAMN IT ALL! SECOND PLACE AGAIN! SHIT!"
His hands trembled as small explosions burst involuntarily around his palms, and smoke rose off his body from the Quirk overheating.
Todoroki came in third, his expression still neutral despite the loss. He came to a smooth stop and stood completely still while the frost around his right side slowly melted under the heat of the stadium.
Ren and Ochako entered the final stretch still elevated a hand's width off the ground, the telekinesis pushing them like an invisible sled. Other students were closing in behind them, though they had enough of a lead to hold their position.
"Last shot, Uraraka!" Ren said between cut off breaths. "Drop the gravity when I say, right in the middle of the push!"
"O-okay!"
They synced up the final boost. Ren focused every bit of telekinesis he had left into a single pulse forward, and right when they were three meters from the finish line he yelled:
"NOW!"
Ochako released her Quirk. Gravity slammed back into both of them like a hammer blow, and their feet hit the track at full speed. They used the last instant of momentum to sprint the remaining stretch, syncing their steps without thinking about it.
They crossed the line at the exact same moment, their sneakers touching the white paint in perfect simultaneity. The sensors registered both of them at once with an electronic beep.
"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHH! LISTEN UP, LISTENERS! WE'VE GOT A SITUATION THAT'S GONNA MAKE YOUR HEADPHONES FALL OFF! IT'S A TIE! YES, FOLKS, A TOTAL TIE FOR FOURTH PLACE! THAT'S WHAT I CALL INCREDIBLE TEAMWORK, FRIENDS! THESE KIDS REALLY KNOW WHAT COOPERATION MEANS! YEAAAH, BABY! SO COOL!"
Ren collapsed to his knees immediately, his lungs burning and his heart hammering against his ribs. Ochako doubled over with her hands on her knees, breathing so hard her throat ached.
"We… did it…" she gasped between desperate breaths.
"Barely…" Ren wheezed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "We barely… pulled it off…"
Other students started crossing the line in groups. Ren forced himself to stand up despite the exhaustion and turned to watch the rest of the participants come in. His eyes scanned the runners coming in, looking for one in particular.
Where is she? he thought, narrowing his eyes. Come on, Hagakure. Don't tell me you didn't make it.
The students kept crossing the finish line in waves. Ren counted the placements in his head while searching with his gaze.
His X-ray vision activated automatically, and there she was: Hagakure's naked body sprinting toward the finish line with everything she had left. She was in the middle pack, surrounded by other students but holding her ground despite the visible exhaustion in her movements.
There you are, Ren thought with relief.
FLASH!
Toru crossed the line within the last qualifying spots, her breathing ragged and her legs trembling from the effort. She collapsed to the ground immediately, invisible but clearly exhausted.
Ren felt the tension in his shoulders melt away completely.
Toru… I'm proud of you, he thought with a genuine smile. You did it.
The stadium roared with cheers as the last group of students crossed the finish. Present Mic kept shouting excited commentary, and the giant screens played replays of the epic battle between the top three.
Ren looked over to where Inko was, still standing with the green lightning slowly fading around her body. She raised her fist toward the sky in a sign of victory as the crowd went wild.
One For All in the right hands, Ren thought. Inko Midoriya really is something special.
*******
Author's Note:
Thought I wasn't going to update today, didn't you? Well, surprise! You get a new chapter after all, haha.
If you want to show some love, please check out my other fanfic, Heroine Training System. Just head over to my profile and give it a read—I'm sure you'll love it!
Also, don't forget to drop your Power Stones. Every single one helps keep this story alive and visible. And, of course, make sure to follow me at patreon.com/shurazero.
See you next time, my wonderful readers!