• Benevolence •

Chapter 13

"The top 42 from this qualifying round will move on. For those of you who placed lower, don't worry! We've got another way for you to show your stuff!"

I took a chance to scan the crowd as Midnight continued about the next round. As expected, a majority were from the hero course.

"-Next up is... this!"

She gestured to the screen which read 'calvary battle'. She went on to explain the rules and the point system. At hearing first place was worth 1 million points, my heart ached for Midoriya. There is no way anyone will team with him if everyone is after those points.

At the go ahead to form teams, I turned to Shinso with a smile, "Wanna team up? I'm probably fine to teleport the team once or twice if needed."

The tired teen gave me a short glance before nodding. "Yeah, hang on. I'll go get us some teammates," he mumbled before walking into the crowd.

My eyes wandered around the field, taking in the competition. There were some pretty interesting teams set up. I was unsurprised to see Midoriya teaming with the gravity girl from our class.

Shinso soon returned, followed by two students from my class. The guy with the tail, Ojiro, and the bellybutton laser kid walked up to me almost robotically, eyes glazed over.

"Woah, did you use your quirk?"

At my question, the indigo haired teen nodded. "Yeah, careful not to knock into them too hard or it'll shock them out of it."

I shot him a grin, "This is so cool! Do you have a plan?"

My companion smirked at my excitement, "Yeah, we should probably avoid others and wait for the last minute to steal a ranking team's bands. You could teleport us up to whoever and back before they even notice what's happening."

I looked over to our brainwashed team before replying. "That's a pretty good plan. You'll be the rider, right?"

He hummed in confirmation before we got into formation. It was decided that I would be up front so everyone would have contact with me when I popped around. It was a little weird to know the other two weren't aware but it worked out well enough.

"Formed your teams? Made your plans? Too bad if you haven't! Here we go! The countdown to the brutal battle royal!"

Despite the tension that spread throughout the arena, Shinso appeared to be completely relaxed, gazing around almost lazily.

"Three!"

I took a deep breath, relaxing myself the best I could.

"Two!"

Shinso shifted slightly, lightly resting a hand on my head.

"One!"

At the tired teen's command, we took off around the edges of the arena. Not many people showed interest in us, instead opting to rush teams with higher points.

The others were brutal in their attempts to gain points. Midoriya's team was instantly surrounded and I tore my attention from their peril to watch for anyone coming after us.

Somehow, we managed to avoid the other teams for the entire time.

At ten seconds remaining, Shinso tapped my head. "Tetsutetsu," he murmured.

I took a deep breath, popping us behind the team in question. The tired teen snatched the bands and I popped us as far away from other teams as I could.

The roar of the crowd dulled in my ears and I stumbled slightly upon landing but managed to stay steady. I felt a small wave of exhaustion wash over me. Not surprising though as that was the first time I've popped with three people.

"T...E'S UP!"

Shinso jumped down, stretching as he landed. He tossed me a sly grin as he toyed with the headbands tied around his neck. I strained my ears to pick up Present Mic's voice.

"Let's see who the top four teams are! In first place, Team Todoroki! In second, Team Bakugou! In third, Team Tets- wait! Woah! Team Shinso? When did that happen? Did anyone even see it?"

I turned around to see the others in our team looking around confused. Shinso tossed a smirk over his shoulder, "T...nks for ..he h...p."

I felt a little bad for them but at least we made it to the final event. I turned my attention back to the announcement, barley making it out.

"And in forth, Team Midoriya! We'll proceed to the afternoon portion after a one hour lunch break!"

I was quickly approached by Kirishima. Before he could say anything, I tapped my ear.

The redhead nodded and leaned down. "I wanted to know if you wanted to eat with us! Your friend, his name is Shinso, right? He can come too!"

I turned to the friend in question who shrugged before nodding in agreement.

The redhead smiled brightly, leading us out of the arena. Kirishima leaned closer to me, "Congrats on placing! I didn't even see you guys out there!"

I laughed lightly, "Yeah, Shinso had a great plan. He's really smart."

I turned to the lilac eyed teen, smiling brightly. He said something to the boisterous teen, gesturing to me. I cocked my head only to see the two laugh at my confusion.

"Come on guys! It's rude to talk about someone who can't hear you!" I cried before glaring at them in faux anger.

Kirishima leaned in with a bright grin, his hair bouncing with the movement. "Don't worry, [L/n]! Only good things, I swear!"

I crossed my arms, struggling to hold back a smile. The boisterous teen tossed an arm around my shoulder, his laughter muffled to my ears.

A smile broke out across my face. Finally arriving at the dining hall, Kirishima dragged us to his usual table after we got our food.

After the lunch break, we made our way back to the field. My hearing had returned to normal but I was still a little tired after stressing my quirk.

"Before we get to our final event, I've got some good news for all those out of the running! This is still a sports festival, so we've prepared a recreational activity for all participants!"

I stretched my arms over my head, looking around the field.

"Once that's over, we're on to the final event. Between the 16 members of the four winning teams, we'll have a formal tournament! A series of one on one battles!"

I groaned quietly at the announcement. While I had sparred during training, my quirk still wasn't able to cause damage which set me at a disadvantage to most. With a sigh, I followed the crowd of students to the stage.