After Midnight explained the rules, Yoru started walking, followed by Shinso. They had ten minutes to find another member for their team.
"Do we really need someone else?" asked Shinso.
"Yes. Do you know what this test is for, Shinso?"
"Not really, though I think it's to add drama."
"A little, yes. But they also do it as a way to reflect hero work. The Obstacle Race was basically about crushing others so you could stand out from the rest, like I did. By giving me such a high number, they put a target on my back, simulating being famous and having many villains or other heroes attack me. This phase is about mutual cooperation."
"'Give and take'—one's victory involves the whole team's victory."
"Exactly. You need to pick the best and most compatible. However, I won't do that. Instead of inviting someone from the hero course, I'll invite someone else, though unlike us two, she's from the support course."
Finally, after Yoru said that, he approached a girl with pink hair and yellow, robot-like goggles.
"Oh, it's Mr. First Place!" said the girl in an animated voice.
"I'm Mei Hatsume from the support department! I don't know you, but I want to be able to use your position!" said the girl.
"Yes, I'll join you. The amount of attention I'll receive will be unmatched, right?! It's the number one opportunity to show off my super cute babies!"
"I aim to catch the attention of a big company, or rather, have my babies do it."
Shinso looked at his friend with a face that said, "Are you serious?"
"Nice to meet you, Mei. I'm Yoru Shirayuki, but you can call me Yoru. And regarding what you said, I'll be using you, not your babies. So, do you want to team up with us?" Yoru offered.
"Agreed."
After forming the team, Yoru started discussing who would wear the headband, which would be Shinso, because Yoru worked better on the ground, and Shinso, with his quirk, could control those who answered him.
And with Mei's inventions, they could pass easily.
When the timer reached zero, all teams were complete.
---
The second test started exactly 15 minutes later, and with that, all teams launched themselves at the "Cold Team," as Yoru had called them.
"There are too many," said Shinso.
"Don't worry," said Yoru.
He took a step, freezing the ground under his feet and immobilizing the first team that got stuck.
"Are they frozen?" Shinso mocked.
Tetsutetsu from Class B got angry at the comment.
"You wish—" Tetsutetsu stood still.
"Give me your headband," Shinso ordered, and he obeyed, taking off the headband with the 705 points and handing it to Shinso, who caught it and placed it on his left arm.
The next team to charge was one from Class A with an invisible girl.
The Cold Team advanced toward the Class A team. Before they could get close, Yoru froze the ground, making them slip and lose their balance, disqualifying them, but not before taking their headbands worth 330 points, giving them a total of one thousand twenty points, not counting the ten million.
The next team was another from Class A, led by Shouji, if Yoru remembered correctly.
"Mei, let's test your babies," said Yoru.
The inventor girl smiled, and the thrusters activated with a great leap, taking them to an area away from the chaos.
Upon landing, they watched as several teams came after them, including the teams of Todoroki, Bakugo, and Midoriya.
The explosive blonde launched himself, preparing an explosion, but Yoru created an ice barrier that blocked the explosive attack.
The Cold Team retreated, leaving the area and arriving at Todoroki's team while the Deku team was attacked by another team.
Finally, the Cold Team and Todoroki's team stood face to face.
"Who are you?" Shinso asked, but Todoroki remained silent.
'So, he suspects Shinso's power,' thought Yoru, looking at the bicolor.
Yoru noticed other teams approaching. Silently, he created a one-inch-thick layer of ice under his team's feet.
At the same time, Todoroki's team covered themselves with an electric insulation blanket, and Kaminari released a large amount of electricity, paralyzing those who approached.
However, the Cold Team was unaffected due to the insulating properties of the ice under their feet.
In the area, only two teams remained: the Cold Team and Todoroki's team.
Without saying anything, Yoru created ice structures like water and sent them toward Todoroki's team.
Todoroki, using his ice half, created a large amount of ice, causing both attacks to collide and shatter into large chunks of ice that hindered movement.
Yoru did this to eliminate the ultra-fast movement of the speedster.
Todoroki clicked his tongue, realizing his options had been greatly reduced.
Neither team moved for a minute.
Finally, both teams moved when there were 10 seconds left. Before the clash, time ran out.
"Too bad," said Shinso.
---
"Very good! Now we will announce the four winners!"
"First place: Yoru's team!" announced Midnight.
"Second place: Todoroki's team!"
"Third place: Bakugo's team! And fourth place: Midoriya's team!"
"These four teams are the ones who advance to the finals..." announced the heroine Midnight.
"The next events will begin in an hour. Now, let's have lunch together."
Shinso yawned.
"I'm starting to get sleepy," said Shinso.
"Do you want to get coffee at the cafeteria?" asked Yoru.
"Sure, I'll also take the chance to sleep a little."
"Buddy, you really have a problem with your narcolepsy."
Shinso shrugged as if it were nothing really important. If someone saw the duo of friends, they'd never think they were the ones who got first place in the first and second tests, leaving the hero classes behind.
---
Yoru was sipping a can of soda while devouring several meat skewers. At some point, he had separated from his best friend Shinso. If he started looking for him, he could find him in time and wake him up, though he'd do it after eating.
While passing through the cafeteria, he heard something interesting.
"Hey, Kaminari, the teacher mentioned something about the girls having to wear cheerleader outfits, remember?" asked a short guy with balls on his head.
Yoru stopped.
'So, this is why they wore the puppy outfits,' thought Yoru.
"It's true," said Kaminari in front of the girls.
"Is that for real?" asked Momo Yaoyorozu.
"Yes, it's true. Sensei just told us," said Mineta, hiding his intentions.
The girls of Class 1-A looked at each other confused.
"I know it's not my problem, but I suggest you don't believe these two," said Yoru, getting the group's attention.
"What do you know?" retorted Mineta.
"More than you two combined, at least. Those cheerleaders were hired for the games in an hour and a half," Yoru pointed out with his finger.
"And I literally heard your attempt to trick these ladies into wearing cheerleader outfits using your teacher's name."
The duo broke into a cold sweat as they received icy glares from the group of girls who were about to fall for the trick if not for Yoru.
Without saying anything, both escaped in panic.
"Thank you for telling us," said Momo.
"I'm Momo Yaoyorozu from Class A."
"I'm Yoru Shirayuki from the general studies course," Yoru introduced himself.
"We already know. You're the one who got first place in the tests," said a girl with pink skin and two alien-like antennas.
"Yeah."
Soon, one by one, they introduced themselves to Yoru.
After chatting with the group of girls for a while, Yoru quietly walked away. It took him almost an hour to find Shinso so he could get his number for the real preliminary matches.
After taking his number, Yoru looked at the board and saw he would fight Aoyama in the fifth round, replacing Ashido.
After deciding the fight order, the recreational events began, where Yoru decided not to participate and instead looked for a good place to sleep for a while.
After about two hours of events, the fights finally began, with Yoru in the participants' area, calmly watching the first fight between Shinso and Midoriya.
Shinso used the same trick, making the freckled boy stand still under Shinso's will.