𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙐𝙨

(5) Xenization

"Izuku Midoriya is our champion!"

The crowd roared in cheers in screams over his win— unexpected it was. He was followed by Todoroki, Bakugou, and I who didn't reach him as quickly as we thought we had.

I stood off to the side, my hand against the wall and my head hanging down. They were shaking, my hands, and I could feel the tension build in my fingers. I'd try to move them, crack them but it felt almost like a rubber band holding them up.

Though it'd been Midnight's voice that brought me back from my exhausted reality.

"Allow me to explain. The participants will form teams of two-to-four people as they see fit. In theory, it's basically the same as a regular playground game. But there is one difference. Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle course."

"That gives everyone more of a reason to want to go after each other," I said to myself, crossing my arms. Bakugou who was in front of me, looked over his shoulder, eyeing me.

I squinted my eyes back, glaring at him.

"Now, then. The point assignments go up by increments of five, starting from the bottom. For example, 42nd place is worth five points, and 41is is worth ten. And the point value assigned to the first place contestant is... ten million!"

The tension is that second had skyrocketed. Everyone turned, their hunger for a win taking over as they looked at him with the deepest of loath and angry desire. He'd known within seconds that he was going to struggle.

But this brought a different thought.

Once you had his headband, you automatically were at the top, the winner. It was common sense since he held the highest possible points you could obtain.

If anyone wanted to win, teaming with him was out of the question.

"These are the rules that you'll abide by. The game itself will last 15 minutes. Individual point values will be added together to reach your team total. Everyone will know how much you're worth thanks to your headbands. Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team's score. Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up. So the more you steal, the harder it'll be to manage them."

The situation immediately got more interesting.

A team could lose points faster than they could gain them if they weren't smart about their way of thinking. This round would showcase everyone's ability to think under pressure along with defending their team as they did.

Maybe it was overconfidence but I didn't think I'd do terribly at this stage. I was confident I'd go great for that matter.

"You may use your quirks as much as you like. But there are still rules! Make a team fall on purpose and I'll slap you with a red card. You'll be disqualified! Now you got 15 minutes to build your teams."

Everyone scrabbled, looking for friends or allies who they could trust and work with. I'd been almost lost amongst the others who knew exactly who they wanted.

"Not so damn fast, you witch. You're on my team." Bakugou grabbed my arm, holding it tightly. I slapped his hand from natural reaction and pulled in away.

"Who died and made you the boss?" I said, crossing my arms. I had to admit: I was relieved that he had picked me since I felt no one else would.

"I don't need you and your bitchy-ass attitude ruining my chances of winning." He growled, grabbing my arm once more. He dragged us over to Sero and Kirishima who also were on the team.

"Glad to see you take me as some sort of threat." I teased, earning an eye-roll. While being dragged behind him, I noticed his hand around my wrist. They were much larger though his grip wasn't as tight as I'd expected to be. Also a tidbit sweaty.