Every one of the students had gathered to listen to the announcement of the new round. Mato was standing beside Setsuna and Itsuka.
"The second round of the U.A. Sports festival first-year stage is... a cavalry battle!" announced Midnight. "Only the top 42 from the qualifier will be able to participate. Those atthe top will suffer more."
Midnight pointed at Izuku with her stick.
"Izuku Midoriya, who placed first in the qualifier, is worth ten million points!"
All eyes were on Izuku, aside from Mato's.
Midnight-sensei... is hot. Is she even aware of how her outfit exposes her curves?
Setsuna slapped the back of his head.
"Stop staring at Midnight-sensei's breasts, pervert!" she shouted.
"I wasn't staring, I swear!"
Yeah, I was.
"Now then, I will explain the rules of the cavalry battle," Midnight continued to explain. "The time limit is fifteen minutes. Each team is worth the total of its members' points, and the riders will wear a headband with that number on their foreheads. Teams will try to grab each other's headbands until time runs out."
Easy, thought Mato. I'll team up with Izuku.
"Now you have fifteen minutes to build your teams. Start!" Midnight concluded her explanation.
Mato slowly walked up to Izuku and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.
"Yo," he said. "Wanna team up?"
"Really, you wanna team up with me?" Izuku repeated.
"Yeah," Mato sighed. "We're top 1 and 2, if we team up, we almost authomatically won."
"Yeah, you're right..." Izuku understood.
"But you're the one wearing the headband, okay?"
Izuku thumbed up.
Suddenly, Uraraka approached.
"May I join you, guys?" She asked. "It's good help friends!"
Mato and Izuku looked at each other for a while, then they turned back to Uraraka and nodded.
"So," Mato rubbed his chin. "Me, Izuku, Uraraka, and... Who else is missing?"
"We could ask Iida!" Uraraka suggested.
"Let's ask him," said Mato.
Mato approached Iida and slapped his nape.
"Ouch!" Iida gasped. "How dare you?"
"I was just joking," sighed Mato. "Anyway, wanna team up with us?"
"I would," Iida began. "But I already teamed up with Shoto."
"Really?" Uraraka's face fell.
"Don't worry, bro," Mato fixed his hair. "We'll search for someone else."
"Fine," Iida turned to walk away. "And don't call me bro. We're not friends."
"Why is he so mean to me...?" Mato wondered. "Not that I care, though."
"He just needs to know you better," said Uraraka. "You're a good person, Shirakawa-kun."
Me? A good person? Don't make me laugh... Or, maybe, she's right...? No time to think about it.
__________
The time was running out, and the Izuku team still needed a fourth member.
"I've got a feeling," Mato scratched his forehead. "A feeling that we're fucked up without a fourth member."
"Three is the magic number," said Izuku. "And three is still a good number of people. The number of members allowed goes from 2 to 4."
"You're right, but the more the merrier, y'know?"
Suddenly, behind the three friends, someone approached.
"Hey! I've heard you need a fourth member!"
Mato turned and saw a girl with pink-salmon dreadlocks, yellow eyes, and a beautiful smile.
Oh, crap... She's beyond being beautiful...
"My name is Mei Hatsume, and I want to team up with you!" the girl thumbed up.
"Yes! You're in!" said Mato. "You don't even need to ask."
"Shirakawa's right," said Izuku. "Welcome to our team."
I have to ask her out... She's too pretty, I can't miss this opportunity!
"Shirakawa?" Mei repeated. "You mean the one who made that speech on the mic?"
"Yes, him!" Uraraka pointed at Mato.
"Nice to meet you, Shirakawa!"
"Ni... Nice to meet you too, Hatsume..." Mato said shyly.
What is this feeling? Am I falling in love? No, Himiko-chan is my only love, I can't fall into temptation... but damn, she's too pretty... There are too many cute girls in this goddammed school...
"Time's up!" Midnight shouted. "Get in positions, teams!"
"Let's do this," said Izuku, resolute. "Let's win this."
The teams got into position. Izuku was wearing the headband, and the other three were carrying him.
"If we get disqualified because you let someone steal our ten-million-point headband," Mato said. "We're not friends anymore."
"We won't lose," said Izuku.
Suddenly, though, Mato heard two voices.
"Is Hideki Shirakawa here?"
"And where's Shoto, my son?"
Mato looked up and saw two tall, muscular men. One of them looked pretty familiar to him.
"Oro! Endeavor! What a pleasure to see you here!" Present Mic shouted.
"I've come to see Shoto!" Endeavor said. "I'm sure my son will win this round!"
"No, it'll be Shirakawa!" Oro exclaimed. "I've been watching him, and I want to take him as my buddy!"
"Is Hideki Shirakawa here?" Present Mic said.
"Yeah! He's here!" Izuku pointed at him.
"You should feel honored, Shirakawa!" said Present Mic. "The #3 National Hero has come here just for you!"
This... wasn't supposed to happen...
"Beat 'em all, Shoto!"
"Beat 'em all, Shirakawa!"
"Let the cavalry battle... begin!"
Mato looked around and saw that his classmates were staring at him as if to say, "You betrayed us."
Don't look at me like that, Tetsutetsu... I'm just siding with a friend of mine.
"Izuku!" Mato looked up to face Izuku. "What are we going to do?"
"What we're going to do is to run away!" said Izuku.
"I don't need to be told twice!"
Suddenly, though, just as Mato was starting to run away, he felt himself sinking into the pavement. When he looked in front of him, he realized that Tetsutetsu's team was attacking him.
"Nothing personal, bro!" Tetsutetsu said. "But I need those ten million points!"
"Nothing personal, bro," replied Mato. "But I won't let you."
Thanks to Mei's jetpacks, the Midoriya team flew away.
"Hey! No fair, you're exploiting the support course, huh?" Tetsutetsu team turned and ran after them.
"I'm not exploiting her," said Mato. "She came to us willingly."
Thanks to his Darkness Quirk, Mato trapped Tetsutetsu Team in a dark cage.
"You owe me a sandwich!" Tetsutetsu shouted.
"You owe it to me, too!" Juzo Honenuki added.
"Yeah, me too!" said Yosetsu Awase.
"I knew you were a traitor, Shirakawa!" Ibara Shiozaki exclaimed
"Just shut up..." Mato snorted, annoyed.
"Who are they, Shirakawa?" Uraraka asked.
"My classmates," replied Mato. "Shiozaki, Tetsutetsu, Honenuki, and Awase. They said they're rooting for me, but only in case they all get eliminated."
"Let's eliminate them," said Mei. "So they'll root for ya."
Midoriya's team landed on the floor.
Thanks to Mei's equipment, we fly... and thanks to Uraraka's Quirk, we land on the floor without problems...
From left and right, two teams were approaching. Shoji's and Tetsutetsu's.
"Mato, move!" Izuku said.
"I can't! I'm stuck!" Mato said.
"That's Mineta's Quirk!" said Uraraka.
"Mineta? You mean that dwarf?" Mato asked.
"Yeah, him," Uraraka replied.
From Shoji's team, a tongue darted out and almost hit Izuku.
Is that... the frog girl from the USJ?
Mato remembered both Asui and Mineta.
"Hold on tight, you three," said Mato. "We'll fly my way now."
With his Quirk, Mato generated a dark wave and dashed forward in the air.
"Whoa! Warn us, next time!" gasped Uraraka.
"I said to hold on tight," Mato sighed. "It's not my problem if you didn't."
In the air, Mato saw someone flying their way.
"It's Kacchan!" said Izuku
"Deku!" Bakugo shouted, reaching them in the air.
"Shirakawa, do something!" said Izuku.
Mato snapped his fingers and created a dark wall that collided with Bakugo's explosion.
"Better luck next time, Bakugo," Mato said.
So his name is Shirakawa, huh? thought Bakugo while falling. His team grabbed him.
That's the guy the others and I met a few days ago... thought Kirishima. He's hella strong! And manly, too!
Midoriya's team landed once again on the floor safely.
Suddenly, from behind, Mato felt something.
"Monoma!"
He turned and saw Monoma's team running after his team.
Class A is too simple-minded, but Shirakawa isn't, thought Monoma. Plus, he challenged me, and I can't let him win again!
He stole Bakugo's headband, and now he's aiming for us. Not only because we have ten million points, but also because he wants to beat me! And I won't let him! I'm the best!
"Come here, you bastard!" Monoma shouted. "I'm the best student of Class 1-B!"
"Hideki, do something!" Izuku said.
"You're the one giving orders!" said Mato. "The best I can do is beat Monoma up after this!"
Fortunately for Mato and the others, there was someone else running after Monoma's team.
"Give my headband back, extra!"
Bakugo's team was trying to get their points back.
"Izuku! Hatsume! Uraraka!" exclaimed Mato. "We're gonna use Bakugo to our advantage!"
"How?" Izuku asked.
"Like this!"
Mato started running back.
I'll make Monoma's and Bakugo's teams fight each other!
Just as planned, Izuku's team was face-to-face with Bakugo's, and behind them, there was Monoma's.
"Now fly, Izuku!" Mato made Izuku fly in the air with his Quirk, then he passed under Bakugo's legs.
"DIE, COPYCAT!" Bakugo screamed.
"YOU'RE NOT MY GOAL NOW!" exclaimed Monoma.
Mato, Mei, and Uraraka grabbed Izuku on the fly.
"Hideki, you're a genius!" Izuku said.
"Thanks," Mato smiled. "I know."
__________
"One minute left!" Midnight announced.
Izuku's team still had the ten-million-point headband, but from the left, Todoroki's team arrived.
"Shirakawa! Midoriya!" Shoto said.
"Yo, Todoroki-kun!" said Mato. "If you've come for the headband, I have to disappoint you!"
Mato created a dark wall to block Todoroki's team's advance.
Crap, I can't break it with ice... thought Todoroki.
We have to resist. Only one minute.
From behind, Bakugo's team was approaching.
"SHIRAKAWA!" The boy screamed.
Think, Satoru... How can you get rid of this situation...? Think, think, think...
Mato suddenly had an idea.
"Izuku," he said. "Don't ask what I'm doing."
Mato grabbed Izuku's headband and threw it to Todoroki's team. Then, quickly, he turned to Bakugo's team and stole two of the four headbands they had.
I got rid of one team. Bakugo'll keep running after us.
In a final, quick attempt, Mato stole a headband from a random team.
I hope we've got enough points...
"TIME'S UP!" Midnight announced.
"Pheeew!" Mato let out a sigh of relief. "I couldn't stand those brats running after me anymore."
The boy looked at the screen.
Final standings:
1st: Team Todoroki
2nd: Team Bakugo
3rd: Team Midoriya
4th: Team Monoma
We're in!
"Yeah! We did it!" Uraraka jumped in the air.
"You're a genius, Shirakawa!" said Mei, clapping Mato on the shoulders.
"I don't get why you threw our headband away," said Izuku. "But as long as we're in, I won't complain!"
"I did it to get rid of Todoroki-kun," said Mato. "And because I wanted to demonstrate I could win without having the ten million points."
Todoroki approached Mato.
"Shirakawa, come with me."
"What's up, Todoroki-kun?"
"I'll explain it to you later."
"Sorry, guys," Mato sighed. "Gotta go."
"See you later, Shirakawa!" said Uraraka.
"Sure!"
What could Todoroki-kun possibly want from me?
Chapter 12 - End