All Midoriya saw was a flash, feeling the wind rush past him and the headband yanked off his head, Iida yelling, “Recipro Burst!” Within a second, Todoroki’s team skidded to a halt far away, and Iida’s engines were smoking. Todoroki looked surprised as he clutched the headband.“Iida... what was that?”

  Iida leaned forward slightly, not voluntarily. “I Forced my torque and RPM into overdrive, which gave me explosive power. Unfortunately, it stalls my engines for a while. It’s a secret move I’ve been saving. No one in the class knew about it.”Robinn popped her head out from behind Todoroki’s leg. “Ohh, so that’s what you were doing out on the running track.”

  Midoriya couldn’t believe it.He had underestimated Iida... even when he told him that he would try his best to beat him. Iida was awesome, and Midoriya hadn’t done much for his team other than lead it. But he didn’t have time to chew himself out. Less than a minute was left, and they needed that headband, because right now they were sitting at zero points.

  “Don’t let them go!” Midoriya said, eyes locked on Todoroki’s team.

  “Todoroki’s still a problem for us,” Tokoyami said as Dark Shadow loomed beside him. “It’d be smarter to try for other points now.”Midoriya instantly rebuffed him. “We can’t! We don’t know who’s got the other headbands. This is our only chance!”

  Uraraka stepped forward, pushing the others with her. “Then let’s go! We’ll get the points back, Deku. I know it!”Midoriya looked back at her. “Uraraka...”That’s right. I’m not alone in this. All three of them put their trust in me. This is my responsibility. We all have our reasons to win this... and I refuse to let the others down.

  Midoriya put all of One For All into his arm as he prepared to grab Todoroki’s headband.This is fine. I’m not actually going to hit him. I’m just slicing through the air to take out my opponent’s defenses.

  Todoroki’s eyes widened as he instinctively lit up his left arm, fire bursting out to block the incoming attack.

  And he swung his arm with One For All to the right, creating an air shockwave that blew Todoroki’s arm back. And while he was distracted, Midoriya went for it.He must have put the 10,000,000 band on the top.

  He yanked it right off as they passed Todoroki’s team.“I’ve got it!” he yelled, clutching it in his hand.“Uhh, wait a minute... please tell me I’ve got something wrong with my eyes,” Hatsume said as she stared at the headband.

  Midoriya looked down at it. 70. Not 10,000,000.He tricked us.

  Then Momo spoke. “We mixed the headbands up. There’s no way we’d leave the prize on top. You underestimated us.”Robinn chimed in, catching the momentum. “Hey, Midoriya, I thought you were smarter than that,” she said, smiling before turning her attention to Todoroki’s headbands.

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  “Oh. Not that bad then, I guess.”

  Only she had noticed it. Todoroki was missing two headbands, not one. But he still had the 10,000,000 headband. She glanced over at Midoriya’s team and noticed Dark Shadow with something white in its beak.But her thoughts were interrupted by Present Mic shouting, “Ten seconds left!”

  Then the ice behind them exploded. Bakugo flung through the air, looking rabidly between the two teams.“Who’s got the points?”Then his eyes locked on Todoroki.“Dammit, Icy Hot!”And he exploded toward him.

  Midoriya’s team was also charging Todoroki. It was a buzzer-beater.And then...

  “Time’s up!! And with that, the second round is officially over!” Present Mic’s voice rang out.

  Bakugo didn’t get there in time. Midoriya didn’t get there in time.Bakugo faceplanted down onto the ground and screamed in anger, banging his fist against it.“Bakugo, are you okay, man?” Kirishima and Sero rushed to his side.

  Midoriya still had his hand outstretched. He hadn’t made it. He had underestimated Iida, Momo... all of them.

  “Now let’s take a look at who our top four teams are! In first place: Team Todoroki!” Present Mic announced.

  “That was too close for comfort,” Momo said, letting out a sigh.“I’m sorry... I let everyone down, didn’t I?” Iida said, clenching his fist.“That’s not true! That special move of yours was the reason we won,” Momo retorted.

  “In second place: Team Bakugo!” Present Mic continued.

  “We were so close to first place,” Mina said, stretching her arms.“Ehh, sure, but we’re moving on!” Sero said, turning to Kirishima.

  “I don’t think our leader would agree with you... like, at all,” Kirishima replied, gesturing to Bakugo screaming into the dirt.

  “In third place is Team Tetsu-wait, what? Team Shinso! When did they come back from the dead??”

  Midoriya had his gaze on his feet. He turned to face his team.“Guys... I’m really sorry.”But they looked surprised not sad, then turned their gaze toward Tokoyami.

  “I must apologize. When Todoroki was shaken by your first attack, I tried to go for the 10,000,000-point headband. But things didn’t go as planned. Still, I got one.Midoriya, you’re the one who created the opening,” Tokoyami said, as Dark Shadow loomed next to him with a headband that read 615 in his beak, looking proud and flashing a thumbs-up.

  “And in fourth place... Team Midoriya! These four valiant teams will advance to the final round!” Present Mic declared.

  Midoriya then proceeded to burst into tears.

  Todoroki was staring at his left hand when Robinn walked up to him, tilting her head curiously.“So you kinda got a bit hot there, didn’t you?”

  Todoroki snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at her, a bit surprised. “Oh. Yeah...”She continued, “Didn’t you say you didn’t use your fire in battle?”

  “It was just an involuntary reaction,” he said, looking shameful.

  “Huh... Not being in full control of your quirk does suck. Anyways, see you in the finals?” She put her hands on her hips, standing in front of him.

  He was stunned for a moment. Robinn’s eagerness wasn’t letting him process why he’d lost control.

  She turned and walked away. “Fine, be quiet. I get that.”

  She’s so confident, yet she barely did anything in the cavalry battle... I’ve got to keep an eye on her, Todoroki thought to himself.

  “Now let’s take an hour-long lunch break before we start the afternoon festivities! See ya soon!” Present Mic’s voice boomed. Then, further from the microphone.“Hey Eraserhead, let’s grab some food.”Followed by a flat, unimpressed “I’m taking a nap.”

  Author’s Note:

  ...Yeah, I know I said I didn’t want to do more cavalry battle chapters. And then I went and did three. I hated it. But it’s over now and the exciting stuff is finally about to start.

  This is where the story starts to veer off.