Chapter 72
New
The Synonym
Writer of things, and money wanter
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[Target]
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…
"... What the heck was that?"
"Right? What kind of speed is that? He covered kilometers in just a few seconds!"
"I thought he looked pretty powerful in the video from a few weeks ago... but this completely blows that away."
"What speed was that anyway? Mach 1?"
"No, no. The sound barrier didn't break... but I don't think it was that far off from doing it either."
"This is crazy... And they say he's 15? This kid might as well become the new All Might already."
"I don't think even All Might was this impressive at his age."
With conversations of similar astonishment spreading across the crowd, mixed with awed cries, the stadium became the loudest it had been all day.
As it got rowdier, three more figures emerged from the tunnel and stepped onto the field.
Todoroki, Midoriya, and Bakugo—in that order.
Upon reaching the light, all three looked briefly disoriented, probably from having pushed themselves hard in that final stretch, trying to get to the finish faster than Taka, but clearly having failed—and now having to adjust to the roaring crowd and bright sunlight hitting them immediately upon reaching the end of the race.
Still, they recovered quickly. Once they'd caught their breath, they looked up at the agitated stands, jumping and cheering—before their gaze settled down on the victorious figure of Taka standing not far away from them, brushing his hair back as the sun hit his face directly.
'He moonwalked us,' was the collective thought among the three the instant the result of the race dawned on them, recalling the last thing they'd seen before Taka had blown past them and shot into the light at the end of the tunnel.
And to their dismay, it seemed that memory wasn't staying between just the four of them.
"What is that?"
"Did they record the last stretch?"
"Hold on, what the—?"
Before they knew it, the big screens above had already begun replaying what had happened inside the tunnel... Including the moment Taka moonwalked past all three of them through the ceiling—at nearly sound-breaking speed—while they watched helplessly.
And of course, all in slow motion. Otherwise, it would be hard to catch the astounded look on their faces as Taka moonwalked past them.
Baffled outrage and laughter erupted from the crowd almost immediately.
"... They were having such fierce competition, like destined rivals... Only for the walking cheat to ruin that!"
"Hahahaha! Look at their faces—well, not like I'd look any better if I saw someone stealing victory from me in such a way."
"Why even moonwalk? Wasn't running on the ceiling enough?"
"Clearly not, and thank god, I think I've truly seen everything now."
Away from the crowd's laughter and chatter, plenty of pro heroes in attendance were also looking pretty baffled, but entertained by the stunt Taka had pulled—and the trio's astonished faces as they could only let it all happen.
"...That bastard..."
Watching it play out again on a screen that size, and feeling the secondhand embarrassment radiating from every direction, the three each reacted differently.
Midoriya looked almost betrayed.
He'd never expected Taka to pull something so openly mocking. He'd always come across as the silent, composed type.
Not only that, but he'd also helped him grow tremendously before this festival. He had thought he was a cool and generous class rep with no bounds to his thoughtfulness.
—But today, he had learned not to trust his heroes.
This was so not Plus Ultra.
Meanwhile, Todoroki's eyebrows furrowed as he observed the sheer disrespect on screen.
This was what he had meant by lessening his moderation?
To mock them so openly? To show his superiority in such a clear manner?
The weight of the war declaration he'd handed Taka earlier pressed down on him harder now.
He had declared his victory just like that. But now, he'd seen what a not-holding-back Taka actually looked like. And the more he saw him beat them in such a ridiculous manner, the less likely his chances of victory felt.
At this rate... could he genuinely win?
His fist tightened as his gaze drifted to the stands, where a certain figure watched him with a stern expression.
'No. It's not about whether I can or not. I must.'
Huffing, he turned around and walked away. No longer paying attention to the screens or the crowd.
Bakugo, on the other hand, was shaking.
Not only had his victory been snatched away from him, but the culprit hadn't even moved for 99% of the race, then covered the whole thing in seconds the moment Bakugo was about to clinch it—and then, to make it even worse, when he passed them, he had the absolute audacity to do it in the most ridiculous way imaginable, as if to rub it in further.
"You... damn attention whore!" Bakugo stepped forward, small explosions crackling from his palms. Whatever composure he'd been maintaining in front of the entire country was long gone.
But then Taka turned his head toward him. Slowly.
"...!"
The next instant, Bakugo froze as a wave of pressure washed over him.
It doused his anger cold—like a bucket of ice dumped over him, cutting straight through the rage.
Deep inside, he refused to yield, gritting his teeth in order not to let his rage get scared away.
But as he met gazes with Taka, the meaning in there became clear.
'Do better.'
He took a step back instead, gritting his teeth in frustration rather than actually lunging.
With the confrontation defused by nothing more than a look, Bakugo clicked his tongue and, just like Todoroki, walked off to rest for the next game.
Meanwhile, Taka just snorted and turned back to face the stands.
More specifically, toward a very particular section of them.
'I see that wasn't enough.' He thought wryly.
There, in the front row, sat Eri alongside Seiji in VIP seats that Nezu had arranged.
She looked surprised, yes—but she wasn't smiling. Even after all that.
Taka let out a sigh under his breath. 'Well. No one said brotherhood was going to be easy.'
He ignored Seiji's enthusiastic waving the moment the man spotted him looking, and simply waved back at Eri—who raised her own hand once Seiji pointed out that Taka was looking at her.
Then his gaze dropped back to his competitors.
Todoroki, Midoriya, and Bakugo.
...And the others who were beginning to arrive now.
'I hope that was enough to make my intent clear.'
Today, for Eri's sake—and for his own aura farming too—he'd be setting aside his usual restraint.
He'd let his instincts dictate how he showed off, not his calculations.
Just like just now.
'Although maybe the moonwalking was a bit much...' He thought wryly, rubbing his chin as he took in the main trio's very unhappy expressions.
What could he say, though? It had felt genuinely cool in the moment, and he'd do it again without a second thought.
"Really, Takahashi?"
One of his eyebrows lifted as a familiar voice called out to him. He turned to find Jiro had walked up beside him, still looking a bit out of breath.
'Didn't even notice when she got here.'
His eyes briefly swept the field—a mix of his classmates and Class 1-B students had gathered. Not everyone was present yet, but going by how things were shaping up, only the two hero classes plus Shinso and Hatsume were the likely candidates to make the next round, just as in the show, given their eccentricities.
Satisfied with that read, he turned back to Jiro.
"Really what?"
"Waiting until the last second and then blitzing everything?" She deadpanned—before shaking her head and massaging her face. "No, forget that, I don't even mind it that much—but moonwalking?"
Taka didn't back down, crossing his arms. "Wasn't it cool?"
"..."
A brief silence fell between them, with Jiro's expression being that of someone who really didn't want to say what she thought.
In the end, though, after a little groan, she spoke anyway.
"It was a little cool..." She admitted begrudingly—before pointing a finger at him. "... But it was also pretty foul! I wouldn't want to be Midoriya, Todoroki, or Bakugo right now."
She glanced over at the three, who had each retreated to their own corners of the field but were all clearly still processing what had happened.
"They'll pull through." Taka snorted coldly.
"You're merciless." She laughed.
"Yo, Taka, that was insane!"
Kirishima jogged over to them, looking pretty winded as well but equally fired up.
"When Present Mic said you hadn't moved from the start, even though everyone was already at the last obstacle, I honestly thought you'd given up or something." He made a quick rocket gesture with his hand. "...But then I heard this huge boom, followed by something that sounded like an actual rocket heading my way, and before I could even process it, you'd already passed everyone and crossed the finish line. Just how fast were you going?"
After seemingly calculating it for a bit, Taka answered. "I can reach up to roughly 700 km/h right now," (A/N: about 400 miles/hour.)
"You're so busted," Jiro deadpanned.
Kirishima nodded slowly, the sheer gap in power sinking in all over again.
But then his eyes landed on the screen above, which was replaying the moonwalk footage, and his expression shifted into something wry.
"Still, Taka—was that part necessary? I feel like you did those three dirty."
"Are you kidding?! The class rep pulled those moves clean!" Mina's voice cut in as she appeared alongside them, grinning widely. "Who would've thought he had that in him? That was hilarious!"
Kirishima nodded slowly. "It was a bit shocking. I didn't take Taka for someone who'd pull something like that... but I have to admit, that backwards walking was manly."
Jiro rubbed her chin. "Yeah, what happened to the broody silent act?"
All eyes shifted to Taka, waiting.
He shrugged.
"I just felt like it."
"Well, you sure did those three dirty because you felt like it," Jiro said flatly.
Taka gave her a look. "Don't feel too bad for them. By the time I'm done with this festival, everyone's going to end up in a similar shape."
The three went still.
Taka smiled faintly at their reaction.
"I did say it, didn't I? There won't be much moderation on my part today."
A heavy silence fell. Then—
Jiro smiled, though it was a little shaky. "Takahashi, we've been friends since before coming here, haven't we? You wouldn't do that to a friend, would you?"
"Come on, class rep... have some mercy." Mina pleaded.
"...B-bring it on. I'm not scared!" Kirishima declared, pumping a fist—though with slightly more bravado than conviction.
Before Taka could respond—
{"It seems our 42 participants have arrived! To all those still on the course—I'm sorry, but you're eliminated!"}
Present Mic's declaration snapped every student gathered on the field out of their rest. Once he had both the crowd's attention and the students', he continued.
{"Now that we're done with such an amazing—and honestly baffling—start to the festival, it's time to move on to the next game!"}
Everyone's head turned toward the center of the field, where the remaining students were being called to gather before Midnight.
"Let's go," Taka said, already walking.
"Come on, class rep...!" His classmates kept complaining all the way.
A few moments later, all students were assembled.
Taka's eyes swept the group.
Skipping past the Class 1-B students, his gaze went straight to the two outliers.
'As expected.'
Hatsume and Shinso.
In some ways, it wasn't surprising. Shinso's Quirk was well-suited to a general field event like this, and Hatsume was the best inventor in her year, so clearing the first round wasn't beyond her. Still—
'I can't say for certain they'll make it past the next game.'
Not only were his classmates considerably better prepared than they'd been in the show, but he himself was cutting loose today.
Things were bound to diverge from canon. That was certain.
And in the next game, he already had something specific in mind.
Whether Hatsume and Shinso survived past it would depend on their own abilities—actually, scratch Shinso. His power was literally built on leaning on others.
Whether that'd be enough to get through the next round though, was still an open question.
Taka's attention returned to Midnight, who was already tapping the microphone.
{"Well done, everyone! With that, the first game of the first-year stage is finally over... Now then, let's take a look at the results!"}
The big screen above began displaying the portraits of all students who had passed, in order of arrival.
Taka was, of course, first.
Todoroki second, Midoriya third, and Bakugo fourth.
Judging from the earlier footage, it looked like Todoroki had thrown up an ice wall in the final stretch to buy himself second place. Midoriya had gotten through it first, landing him third, and Bakugo fourth.
After them, the rankings weren't quite as monopolized by Class 1-A as they'd been up until then.
Iida managed fifth, then two Class 1-B students claimed sixth and seventh—Ibara and Juzo—followed by Tokoyami, Sero, and Kirishima rounding out the top ten.
The places after that were mostly held by Class 1-A, at least among those with decent mobility, with only a handful of Class 1-B students woven in between, while the rest sat toward the bottom.
Shinso and Hatsume were there too, as expected. The former was somewhere in the thirties, while Hatsume had barely scraped into 42nd place.
Taka didn't know how close the 43rd had been when Hatsume crossed the line. They might have been right on her heels, or they might not have even cleared the minefield. Hard to say.
'As for Jiro...' Taka's eyes searched the board for a moment, then his eyebrows lifted slightly upon finding her at 17th.
Better than in the show, or not? He honestly couldn't remember anymore.
Still, a solid result, considering her lack of exceptional mobility.
He gave a small nod of approval. Jiro, feeling his gaze, shot him a flat look in return.
{"The 42 students shown here move on to the next round. To those who didn't make it—don't worry, we have other activities prepared so you can still shine!"}
Midnight's whip cracked through the air, and the slot-machine display reappeared on the screens above, spinning quickly.
{"Now then, let's get to the real heart of the competition!"}
Everyone tensed as the display cycled through game names in a blur, the stadium going quiet again.
Midnight smiled at their nerves.
{"The second game of this year's stage will be—!"}
The display slowed.
Then stopped.
'As expected.'
{"A Cavalry Battle!"}
Gasps rippled through the students and the crowd alike.
Murmurs broke out—many students weren't thrilled at having to form teams, especially after all the mental preparation to stand out individually and the war declarations from earlier.
But the chatter died as Midnight began explaining the rules.
In short, the students would have to form teams of two to four members, with only one carrying a headband whose point value would be the combined total of every team member's finishing position from the last round. Last place was worth five points, 41st was ten, 40th was fifteen, and so on. The headband had to be worn and defended, while other teams tried to steal it—and you tried to steal theirs in return.
Everyone was already strategizing before she'd even finished listing the point values. Thinking who they could team up with.
Then Midnight dropped the last detail.
{"Beyond that—and to make sure you all live up to our motto, Plus Ultra, to the fullest—the point value assigned to the student who finished first in the last game, Takahashi Fukumoto... is ten million!"}
"..."
A long, stunned silence blanketed the field.
'Ten million!'
Then, every head turned sharply—and in near unison—toward the person in question, who stood among them with a completely unbothered expression.
Suddenly, Taka found approximately forty pairs of greedy eyes boring into him, so intense they might as well have been knives.
—Until he turned around and looked back.
Every gaze immediately dropped or cut away. A chorus of whistling commenced.
Snorting, Taka faced forward again.
Then Midnight cracked her whip, giving the final instruction.
{"You'll have ten minutes to form your teams—get moving!"}
Every student immediately scrambled to find their partners.
Taka stayed where he was, hands in his pockets.
After a moment, he glanced around.
No one was approaching him.
'I guess I did too good a job of intimidating their greedy asses.' He thought, eyes closing stoically. 'Whatever. If necessary, I'll just run the whole thing on my own—'
-Pat-
"...?"
A hand landed on his shoulder.
He glanced sideways, only to see Jiro right beside him, watching him with a smirk.
"You look a bit lonely, Takahashi."
He looked away, eyes closing. "Being the strongest is often a lonely path."
She deadpanned.
"I can leave if you want."
Taka snorted with a smile and shook his head.
But sent a hand out to catch her shoulder before she could walk away.
"Please don't."
…
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-To Be Continued…-
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(A/N: Sorry for the wait, I was stuck with creative block for a bit, and couldn't bring myself to come up with anything.
I think it has passed though.
Anyway, double release)
[Target]
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…
"... What the heck was that?"
"Right? What kind of speed is that? He covered kilometers in just a few seconds!"
"I thought he looked pretty powerful in the video from a few weeks ago... but this completely blows that away."
"What speed was that anyway? Mach 1?"
"No, no. The sound barrier didn't break... but I don't think it was that far off from doing it either."
"This is crazy... And they say he's 15? This kid might as well become the new All Might already."
"I don't think even All Might was this impressive at his age."
With conversations of similar astonishment spreading across the crowd, mixed with awed cries, the stadium became the loudest it had been all day.
As it got rowdier, three more figures emerged from the tunnel and stepped onto the field.
Todoroki, Midoriya, and Bakugo—in that order.
Upon reaching the light, all three looked briefly disoriented, probably from having pushed themselves hard in that final stretch, trying to get to the finish faster than Taka, but clearly having failed—and now having to adjust to the roaring crowd and bright sunlight hitting them immediately upon reaching the end of the race.
Still, they recovered quickly. Once they'd caught their breath, they looked up at the agitated stands, jumping and cheering—before their gaze settled down on the victorious figure of Taka standing not far away from them, brushing his hair back as the sun hit his face directly.
'He moonwalked us,' was the collective thought among the three the instant the result of the race dawned on them, recalling the last thing they'd seen before Taka had blown past them and shot into the light at the end of the tunnel.
And to their dismay, it seemed that memory wasn't staying between just the four of them.
"What is that?"
"Did they record the last stretch?"
"Hold on, what the—?"
Before they knew it, the big screens above had already begun replaying what had happened inside the tunnel... Including the moment Taka moonwalked past all three of them through the ceiling—at nearly sound-breaking speed—while they watched helplessly.
And of course, all in slow motion. Otherwise, it would be hard to catch the astounded look on their faces as Taka moonwalked past them.
Baffled outrage and laughter erupted from the crowd almost immediately.
"... They were having such fierce competition, like destined rivals... Only for the walking cheat to ruin that!"
"Hahahaha! Look at their faces—well, not like I'd look any better if I saw someone stealing victory from me in such a way."
"Why even moonwalk? Wasn't running on the ceiling enough?"
"Clearly not, and thank god, I think I've truly seen everything now."
Away from the crowd's laughter and chatter, plenty of pro heroes in attendance were also looking pretty baffled, but entertained by the stunt Taka had pulled—and the trio's astonished faces as they could only let it all happen.
"...That bastard..."
Watching it play out again on a screen that size, and feeling the secondhand embarrassment radiating from every direction, the three each reacted differently.
Midoriya looked almost betrayed.
He'd never expected Taka to pull something so openly mocking. He'd always come across as the silent, composed type.
Not only that, but he'd also helped him grow tremendously before this festival. He had thought he was a cool and generous class rep with no bounds to his thoughtfulness.
—But today, he had learned not to trust his heroes.
This was so not Plus Ultra.
Meanwhile, Todoroki's eyebrows furrowed as he observed the sheer disrespect on screen.
This was what he had meant by lessening his moderation?
To mock them so openly? To show his superiority in such a clear manner?
The weight of the war declaration he'd handed Taka earlier pressed down on him harder now.
He had declared his victory just like that. But now, he'd seen what a not-holding-back Taka actually looked like. And the more he saw him beat them in such a ridiculous manner, the less likely his chances of victory felt.
At this rate... could he genuinely win?
His fist tightened as his gaze drifted to the stands, where a certain figure watched him with a stern expression.
'No. It's not about whether I can or not. I must.'
Huffing, he turned around and walked away. No longer paying attention to the screens or the crowd.
Bakugo, on the other hand, was shaking.
Not only had his victory been snatched away from him, but the culprit hadn't even moved for 99% of the race, then covered the whole thing in seconds the moment Bakugo was about to clinch it—and then, to make it even worse, when he passed them, he had the absolute audacity to do it in the most ridiculous way imaginable, as if to rub it in further.
"You... damn attention whore!" Bakugo stepped forward, small explosions crackling from his palms. Whatever composure he'd been maintaining in front of the entire country was long gone.
But then Taka turned his head toward him. Slowly.
"...!"
The next instant, Bakugo froze as a wave of pressure washed over him.
It doused his anger cold—like a bucket of ice dumped over him, cutting straight through the rage.
Deep inside, he refused to yield, gritting his teeth in order not to let his rage get scared away.
But as he met gazes with Taka, the meaning in there became clear.
'Do better.'
He took a step back instead, gritting his teeth in frustration rather than actually lunging.
With the confrontation defused by nothing more than a look, Bakugo clicked his tongue and, just like Todoroki, walked off to rest for the next game.
Meanwhile, Taka just snorted and turned back to face the stands.
More specifically, toward a very particular section of them.
'I see that wasn't enough.' He thought wryly.
There, in the front row, sat Eri alongside Seiji in VIP seats that Nezu had arranged.
She looked surprised, yes—but she wasn't smiling. Even after all that.
Taka let out a sigh under his breath. 'Well. No one said brotherhood was going to be easy.'
He ignored Seiji's enthusiastic waving the moment the man spotted him looking, and simply waved back at Eri—who raised her own hand once Seiji pointed out that Taka was looking at her.
Then his gaze dropped back to his competitors.
Todoroki, Midoriya, and Bakugo.
...And the others who were beginning to arrive now.
'I hope that was enough to make my intent clear.'
Today, for Eri's sake—and for his own aura farming too—he'd be setting aside his usual restraint.
He'd let his instincts dictate how he showed off, not his calculations.
Just like just now.
'Although maybe the moonwalking was a bit much...' He thought wryly, rubbing his chin as he took in the main trio's very unhappy expressions.
What could he say, though? It had felt genuinely cool in the moment, and he'd do it again without a second thought.
"Really, Takahashi?"
One of his eyebrows lifted as a familiar voice called out to him. He turned to find Jiro had walked up beside him, still looking a bit out of breath.
'Didn't even notice when she got here.'
His eyes briefly swept the field—a mix of his classmates and Class 1-B students had gathered. Not everyone was present yet, but going by how things were shaping up, only the two hero classes plus Shinso and Hatsume were the likely candidates to make the next round, just as in the show, given their eccentricities.
Satisfied with that read, he turned back to Jiro.
"Really what?"
"Waiting until the last second and then blitzing everything?" She deadpanned—before shaking her head and massaging her face. "No, forget that, I don't even mind it that much—but moonwalking?"
Taka didn't back down, crossing his arms. "Wasn't it cool?"
"..."
A brief silence fell between them, with Jiro's expression being that of someone who really didn't want to say what she thought.
In the end, though, after a little groan, she spoke anyway.
"It was a little cool..." She admitted begrudingly—before pointing a finger at him. "... But it was also pretty foul! I wouldn't want to be Midoriya, Todoroki, or Bakugo right now."
She glanced over at the three, who had each retreated to their own corners of the field but were all clearly still processing what had happened.
"They'll pull through." Taka snorted coldly.
"You're merciless." She laughed.
"Yo, Taka, that was insane!"
Kirishima jogged over to them, looking pretty winded as well but equally fired up.
"When Present Mic said you hadn't moved from the start, even though everyone was already at the last obstacle, I honestly thought you'd given up or something." He made a quick rocket gesture with his hand. "...But then I heard this huge boom, followed by something that sounded like an actual rocket heading my way, and before I could even process it, you'd already passed everyone and crossed the finish line. Just how fast were you going?"
After seemingly calculating it for a bit, Taka answered. "I can reach up to roughly 700 km/h right now," (A/N: about 400 miles/hour.)
"You're so busted," Jiro deadpanned.
Kirishima nodded slowly, the sheer gap in power sinking in all over again.
But then his eyes landed on the screen above, which was replaying the moonwalk footage, and his expression shifted into something wry.
"Still, Taka—was that part necessary? I feel like you did those three dirty."
"Are you kidding?! The class rep pulled those moves clean!" Mina's voice cut in as she appeared alongside them, grinning widely. "Who would've thought he had that in him? That was hilarious!"
Kirishima nodded slowly. "It was a bit shocking. I didn't take Taka for someone who'd pull something like that... but I have to admit, that backwards walking was manly."
Jiro rubbed her chin. "Yeah, what happened to the broody silent act?"
All eyes shifted to Taka, waiting.
He shrugged.
"I just felt like it."
"Well, you sure did those three dirty because you felt like it," Jiro said flatly.
Taka gave her a look. "Don't feel too bad for them. By the time I'm done with this festival, everyone's going to end up in a similar shape."
The three went still.
Taka smiled faintly at their reaction.
"I did say it, didn't I? There won't be much moderation on my part today."
A heavy silence fell. Then—
Jiro smiled, though it was a little shaky. "Takahashi, we've been friends since before coming here, haven't we? You wouldn't do that to a friend, would you?"
"Come on, class rep... have some mercy." Mina pleaded.
"...B-bring it on. I'm not scared!" Kirishima declared, pumping a fist—though with slightly more bravado than conviction.
Before Taka could respond—
{"It seems our 42 participants have arrived! To all those still on the course—I'm sorry, but you're eliminated!"}
Present Mic's declaration snapped every student gathered on the field out of their rest. Once he had both the crowd's attention and the students', he continued.
{"Now that we're done with such an amazing—and honestly baffling—start to the festival, it's time to move on to the next game!"}
Everyone's head turned toward the center of the field, where the remaining students were being called to gather before Midnight.
"Let's go," Taka said, already walking.
"Come on, class rep...!" His classmates kept complaining all the way.
A few moments later, all students were assembled.
Taka's eyes swept the group.
Skipping past the Class 1-B students, his gaze went straight to the two outliers.
'As expected.'
Hatsume and Shinso.
In some ways, it wasn't surprising. Shinso's Quirk was well-suited to a general field event like this, and Hatsume was the best inventor in her year, so clearing the first round wasn't beyond her. Still—
'I can't say for certain they'll make it past the next game.'
Not only were his classmates considerably better prepared than they'd been in the show, but he himself was cutting loose today.
Things were bound to diverge from canon. That was certain.
And in the next game, he already had something specific in mind.
Whether Hatsume and Shinso survived past it would depend on their own abilities—actually, scratch Shinso. His power was literally built on leaning on others.
Whether that'd be enough to get through the next round though, was still an open question.
Taka's attention returned to Midnight, who was already tapping the microphone.
{"Well done, everyone! With that, the first game of the first-year stage is finally over... Now then, let's take a look at the results!"}
The big screen above began displaying the portraits of all students who had passed, in order of arrival.
Taka was, of course, first.
Todoroki second, Midoriya third, and Bakugo fourth.
Judging from the earlier footage, it looked like Todoroki had thrown up an ice wall in the final stretch to buy himself second place. Midoriya had gotten through it first, landing him third, and Bakugo fourth.
After them, the rankings weren't quite as monopolized by Class 1-A as they'd been up until then.
Iida managed fifth, then two Class 1-B students claimed sixth and seventh—Ibara and Juzo—followed by Tokoyami, Sero, and Kirishima rounding out the top ten.
The places after that were mostly held by Class 1-A, at least among those with decent mobility, with only a handful of Class 1-B students woven in between, while the rest sat toward the bottom.
Shinso and Hatsume were there too, as expected. The former was somewhere in the thirties, while Hatsume had barely scraped into 42nd place.
Taka didn't know how close the 43rd had been when Hatsume crossed the line. They might have been right on her heels, or they might not have even cleared the minefield. Hard to say.
'As for Jiro...' Taka's eyes searched the board for a moment, then his eyebrows lifted slightly upon finding her at 17th.
Better than in the show, or not? He honestly couldn't remember anymore.
Still, a solid result, considering her lack of exceptional mobility.
He gave a small nod of approval. Jiro, feeling his gaze, shot him a flat look in return.
{"The 42 students shown here move on to the next round. To those who didn't make it—don't worry, we have other activities prepared so you can still shine!"}
Midnight's whip cracked through the air, and the slot-machine display reappeared on the screens above, spinning quickly.
{"Now then, let's get to the real heart of the competition!"}
Everyone tensed as the display cycled through game names in a blur, the stadium going quiet again.
Midnight smiled at their nerves.
{"The second game of this year's stage will be—!"}
The display slowed.
Then stopped.
'As expected.'
{"A Cavalry Battle!"}
Gasps rippled through the students and the crowd alike.
Murmurs broke out—many students weren't thrilled at having to form teams, especially after all the mental preparation to stand out individually and the war declarations from earlier.
But the chatter died as Midnight began explaining the rules.
In short, the students would have to form teams of two to four members, with only one carrying a headband whose point value would be the combined total of every team member's finishing position from the last round. Last place was worth five points, 41st was ten, 40th was fifteen, and so on. The headband had to be worn and defended, while other teams tried to steal it—and you tried to steal theirs in return.
Everyone was already strategizing before she'd even finished listing the point values. Thinking who they could team up with.
Then Midnight dropped the last detail.
{"Beyond that—and to make sure you all live up to our motto, Plus Ultra, to the fullest—the point value assigned to the student who finished first in the last game, Takahashi Fukumoto... is ten million!"}
"..."
A long, stunned silence blanketed the field.
'Ten million!'
Then, every head turned sharply—and in near unison—toward the person in question, who stood among them with a completely unbothered expression.
Suddenly, Taka found approximately forty pairs of greedy eyes boring into him, so intense they might as well have been knives.
—Until he turned around and looked back.
Every gaze immediately dropped or cut away. A chorus of whistling commenced.
Snorting, Taka faced forward again.
Then Midnight cracked her whip, giving the final instruction.
{"You'll have ten minutes to form your teams—get moving!"}
Every student immediately scrambled to find their partners.
Taka stayed where he was, hands in his pockets.
After a moment, he glanced around.
No one was approaching him.
'I guess I did too good a job of intimidating their greedy asses.' He thought, eyes closing stoically. 'Whatever. If necessary, I'll just run the whole thing on my own—'
-Pat-
"...?"
A hand landed on his shoulder.
He glanced sideways, only to see Jiro right beside him, watching him with a smirk.
"You look a bit lonely, Takahashi."
He looked away, eyes closing. "Being the strongest is often a lonely path."
She deadpanned.
"I can leave if you want."
Taka snorted with a smile and shook his head.
But sent a hand out to catch her shoulder before she could walk away.
"Please don't."
…
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-To Be Continued…-
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(A/N: Sorry for the wait, I was stuck with creative block for a bit, and couldn't bring myself to come up with anything.
I think it has passed though.
Anyway, double release)
