Finding the Avatar: Water (Bnha x Avatar reader insert)

Chapter forty

You were being pushed on all sides as everyone struggled to get through the obstacle course entrance. It wasn't unlike the day the riot happened in the cafeteria, but you couldn't let yourself be distracted by memories. You needed to get ahead of the pack somehow, but you had to fight just to remain on your feet. The noise was so loud that your ears began ringing.
Present Mic's voice was booming across the stadium, but you elected to ignore it in favor of trying to focus on what was in front of you. And it was a mess. Students cried aloud as you were all squished like a can of sardines. It was all you could do to not succumb to the panic that gnawed at you. At least this wasn't another villain attack. You began to push through the crowd bit by bit. Even the tiniest inch gained was worth it. All you had to do was move forward.
"Shut up and move!" You cried at the top of your lungs, but it was ignored as voices intertwined and became impossible to make out. Suddenly a blast of cool air filled the tight entryway and glued everyone's feet to the ground. You smiled. Todoroki's advantage was also your own. You effortlessly freed yourself and pushed through the fray of frozen students.
"Hey! No fair!" They cried as you moved passed, begging you for help. You did your best to ignore them, but you did feel some pity.
"Sorry! Gotta go!" You made it back out into the sunlight and slid across the icy ground, moving your arms to gather some of the water that wasn't keeping your opponents at bay. It was best if you just let them be.
It turned out you weren't the only one of your classmates to make it out of the ice. Bakugo, Yaoyorozu, and Kirishima were neck and neck with you. You guys truly were leading the pack.
"Nice trick, Todoroki!" Yaoyorozu called out.
     "Yeah, but pretty predictable." You smiled as you continued to dart forward.
"I won't let you get away so easily, you icy-hot bastard!" Typical Bakugo, out for blood. He blasted himself ahead of your group. Tokoyami and Ojiro were right behind you. Wow, Class 1-A was burning it up! Unfortunately, you didn't have much time to dwell on it though, because you were beginning to fall behind. You swung your arm and pulled as much water from the air as you could, using it to carry yourself on your own miniature wave. Not bad.
"Spirits! Is that...?" You looked ahead to see one of the zero pointers from the entrance exam! It towered over everyone, and as you looked around you realized it wasn't alone. You stopped for a moment, and so did everyone else.
     "Target acquired. Terminate them." It's robotic voice boomed from above. Of course they would bring the robots out of hiding. You were surprised you hadn't expected this.
     "And enemies show up out of nowhere! I bet we're in for a treat here! A test of strength and cunning! It's a Robo Inferno!" Present Mic bellowed from his booth. Kaminari slid to a stop behind you and gaped in disbelief.
     "Are those the zero point robots from the practical test?" He asked pointlessly. The general studies students cried in fear, for no reason in your opinion. This was a test of strength and cunning. You didn't even have to fight those things, just get past them.
     Todoroki stood at the front of the pack alone. He didn't seem the slightest bit afraid as the ground underneath him turned to ice. He was fixing to do something, and you needed to be ready to move.
     "They obviously went through a lot of trouble, but I wish they'd prepared something a little more difficult. Especially since my dear old dad is watching." Todoroki swung his hand and a humongous wave of ice travelled all the way to the top of the robot, freezing the thing solid. It was just as impressive as the time he froze an entire building in hero studies, and you took the smallest moment to wonder how you had forgotten about it. But you quickly shook your head and moved forward. Because this was your chance to get ahead of the pack. Ice was the opposite of your enemy, it was your best friend.
     "Dude, he stopped the robots!" One student hollered as you left them behind.
     "Look! Between their legs! We can get through." Another called out. You looked up at the giant mech and your eyes widened. It was leaning. This was a trap.
     "Careful, now. I froze them while they were off their balance." Todoroki called behind him. "On purpose."
     You quickly planted your feet on the ground and guided your wave underneath the falling monstrosity, freezing it solid. This gave you just enough time to slip underneath it before it continued it's descent to the ground. You had lost your water supply, but you gained second place. You were also hoping you had stopped it from landing on top of anyone, but you didn't dare stay to try and find out. A large cloud of dust littered the air as it collided with the ground.
     "That's Todoroki from Class 1-A pulling ahead to an early lead with a devastating display! Amazing! He's one we should watch. It almost seems unfair! Thoughts?" Present Mic narrated the recent events.
"His attack was both offensive and defensive." Aizawa commented dully. He didn't sound terribly interested.
"No wonder he was let in on recommendations! He'd never even fought those Robo Infernos before, but they didn't stand a chance against his chart-topping moves! And what's this? Another student got past his trick? It's Class 1-A's Y/n! Her all-encompassing water quirk must be giving her an advantage over Todoroki's ice."
"Her quick thinking also helped." Aizawa added quickly.
You finally emerged from the cloud of dust and dirt. Todoroki was a fair bit ahead of you, but you didn't bother trying to catch up. You needed to reserve your energy for the next challenge. He could take the top spot, you decided right then and there. You would take this titan down later.
     The crowd erupted into cheers and you peeked behind you to see Bakugo, Sero, and Tokoyami not too far behind. You smiled. Your class really was the best, no wonder the rest were stressed.
     "Class 1-A has learned not to hesitate." Aizawa said quietly over the speakers. "They've seen what the real world is like. They've felt the fear of facing villains. Yet they fight on, trying to overcome that fear. They've grown. All of them." His voice got louder bit by bit as he talked. "And they know that they have to act quickly if they want to stay alive." You realized that he was right. You had felt real fear before. It was terrifyingly real, and this wasn't it.
     "For those of you who thought the first obstacle was easy, let's see how ya feel about the second one!" Present Mic shouted enthusiastically. "If they take a spill, they're out! If they wanna pass this test, they'll have to get creative. It's the Fall!"
     Before you was a deep pit with large pillars of earth shooting out of it. Ropes crisscrossed the large distances between the various pillars. Oh how you wished you could earthbend, but even if you could, you weren't sure if you would this far into the competition. You sighed and balanced yourself. You were gonna need water, and a lot of it. Thankfully there were a number of trees around, and even though Kawa would probably get mad at you, they would have to be sacrificed.
     Todoroki sped ahead as you took a moment to gather resources, and others were catching up. You quickly amassed as much water as you could feasibly carry along with you and took off, determined not to fall too far behind. Unfortunately Bakugo, Sero, and Tokoyami passed you pretty easily, but you tried to remain unbothered. You were gonna make it into the next round, you were certain.
     You guided the water between two tall columns and froze it solid, careful to make sure it wasn't going to shatter when you put your weight on it. As you walked across your ice bridge you got a mysterious sense of deja vu. The terrain coupled with the adrenaline flowing through your veins reminded you of something, but it was impossible to figure out what. As if a past life was calling out to you. It was too bad you didn't have time to dwell on it. It could've led you down an interesting path.
     You continued as fast you a dared, reusing your water to form bridge after bridge and dashing across the large flat tops of the earthen pillars. You looked ahead to see Bakugo closing in on Todoroki as he ascended the red steps out of this obstacle. Soon enough you finally reached the end and ran as fast as you could up the steps. At this point it was getting hard to breathe as fatigue plagued you. And yet you pushed forward.
     "And now we're finally approaching the last obstacle. Everyone had better tread carefully. You're stepping onto a minefield!" Present Mic introduced the your last challenge of the first round. "If you look carefully you can see where those little bombs are buried, so keep your eyes on the ground folks. By the way, those land mines were designed for the games, so they might be loud and flashy, but they're not all that powerful. Just enough to make you wet your pants!"
     You looked out over the vast amount of earth leading up to the finish. It was dotted with dozens upon dozens of mines. You began slowly picking your way across the field. Up ahead Bakugo was screaming at Todoroki. You tried you best to ignore it. You didn't want to be caught up in their little war, all you wanted to do was cross the finish line. Pink explosions went off around you as people tripped under the pressure. You did a pretty good job tuning them out, which seemed to help you pass a few of the people who had passed you earlier. The space between you and the front was slowly getting smaller.
Suddenly there was a huge explosion at the beginning of the obstacle. You turned around just in time to see a huge cloud of pink smoke float into the air, and you gasped. What the heck was going on back there?
"Incredible! What just happened?" Present Mic voiced the majorities thoughts aloud. "Whatever the case, Class1-A's Midoriya Izuku is suddenly in hot pursuit of first place!"
"Wha...?" Your eyes grew wide as your classmate flew through the air, holding on tightly to a large green hunk of metal. Where did he get that? The robots? Had he really carried it with him all of this time? How did he make it over the canyon? He blew past all of the competition, including you. Todoroki and Bakugo ceased their petty fights.
"Strike that! The lead is his!" Present Mic screamed in excitement. You were almost in awe. He must have used the land mines to cause an explosion to rocket him to the end, how clever. You needed to pick up the pace.
"Deku. What the hell do you think you're doing, huh?" Bakugo screamed furiously while leaving Todoroki behind, who responded by making an ice path over the land mines. You almost laughed. It was too good to be true.
"Look at that plot twist! Those two aren't fighting anymore. They're chasing Midoriya! That's what having a common enemy will do in this competition! This fight is still far from over, though!" Present Mic was hyping up the crowd, who responded by getting even louder.
Adrenaline ran through your veins as you were, yet again, behind Todoroki. You didn't leave his little ice path behind you, it would help your enemies, so you pulled it up with a flick of your wrist. All you had to do was stay ahead of the people behind you. In front of you Bakugo and Todoroki were neck and neck with each other while Midoriya was plummeting quickly towards the ground. While he was falling you locked eyes with each other, and you knew he would be fine. You retreated as he proceeded to flip his body around and slam the metal on the ground, activating more mines and blasting the opponent's right out of his path. He continued to rocket forward, and you continued following him, passing both Todoroki and Bakugo. You were in second place!
"In a stunning move Midoriya has blasted past his classmates from 1-A! I don't believe it, he cleared that minefield in an instant! And what's this? Class 1-A's Y/n is right behind him! What an upset!" Present Mic said as you were riding on another wave of water. And you were smiling like a maniac. The wind was in your face, and Todoroki was behind you.
"Eraser Head, you're students are amazing! What the heck are you teaching them?" Present Mic questioned his co-announcer who answered with a surprising amount of interest.
"This has nothing to do with me. Each of them is powered by their own drive to succeed." Short, but sweet. It seemed your teacher was warming up to the lot of you.
"There ya have it, Eraser Head is a terrible teacher!" Mic jokingly cried out.
"I'm what?" Aizawa asked, but was interrupted by Present Mic.
"Who would have imagined at the beginning of this race that the climax would be a non-stop mega-mix of surprises?"
The sunlight shone up ahead, signaling the end of the race. You could feel the heat of Bakugo explosions and of Todoroki's ice on your back as you moved forward. If you didn't go faster they would overtake you. Reaching deep inside of yourself, you used the last bit of your energy to give yourself a burst of speed you didn't even know was there. Midoriya crossed the finish line first, and you were behind him.
"The first to make it back to the stadium is the first place winner! Izuku Midoriya is our champion!" Present Mic roared as you collapsed onto your knees. Tears flowed freely down your face. You had done it. The first round was over, and you made it! The crowd was almost deafening, and it was one of the best sounds you had ever heard. Looking up at the stands, you hoped your family was watching you. You quickly made a small prayer, thanking the spirits for their help while various students poured out of the obstacle course exit. This wasn't over yet. You still had a lot to go, and a lot to show the world.

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Author's Note: Wow, this chapter is a long boi huh. I have some good news! I finally finished the cover for book two! I had several different designs, but I think I've picked the perfect one. I also managed to read all of the Fowl Twins this week, and book two comes out on the twentieth, which I'm super excited about. I already have it preordered, so I'll be doing some more reading. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I can only do a chapter a week during the sports fest without going crazy. Burnout can be real lol. I hope you enjoyed!