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nobeliumoxygenoxygen · 5 years

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Class 1A || The annual UA Hunt

For the BNHA Gen Secret Santa exchange at @bnhagensecretsanta. My secret santa was @mymusicismylife77. It was nice meeting you (if talking to you on anon counts...) and I hope you enjoy this!!!

SUMMARY:

THE ANNUAL UA HUNT IS HERE!

FIRST YEARS - YOU’LL BE SPENDING 12 HOURS IN USJ FINDING CANDY CANES AND BAUBLES AND OTHER ASSIGNED ITEMS! YOUR TEACHERS WILL BE OUT AND ABOUT READY TO ELIMINATE YOU! MAKE IT TO THE END AND YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO THE SURPRISE ACTIVITY!

GOOD LUCK AND PLUS ULTRA!

WORDS: 16k (It got a bit long)

NOTE: You might need to pay attention to the times. Nothing really important but I jump around a bit and have really long time skips whoops. (And I’m so sorry I’m late!! (It’s the 24th where I am)) (pls excuse the mistakes I’m going to come back to edit more properly lol)

DECEMBER 1 | 5:55AM | 5 MINUTES UNTIL THE HUNT

The snow piled on top of the dome. On a sunny day, they would have been able to see past the glass to the sky, but now, all they saw was the white nothingness. Though even if there had been no snow, it was too early in the morning for the sun to shine.

It was unsettling, to say the least. Especially when the students of class 1A felt quite alone in their designated areas. Though they stood with their team, the silence was almost unbearable. The fact that the teachers were supposedly somewhere near them did not help their nerves.

The timers on their watches beeped.

30...

Uraraka Ochako rechecked her suit, fighting off shivers and chills. Asui Tsuyu gave her an encouraging nod, mentally fighting off the cold. Iida Tenya and Midoriya Izuku shared a quick, soft smile. Todoroki Shouto scanned their area, the landslide looking exceptionally dangerous. It may have been early, but Team Christmas Tree was ready for the Hunt.

22...

Hagakure Tooru bounced on her toes, the movements of her gloves and boots giving her away. She refused to think about the cold, refused to think about how much she hated her “hero suit” at this moment, as she lifted a gloved hand. Her teammates, Ojirou Mashirao and Sato Rikido high-fived her.

18...

Jirou Kyouka leaned away as Aoyama Yuuga twirled around her and Yaoyorozu Momo. He was literally creating sparkles from his laser; from nerves or excitement or plain “Aoyama Yuuga”-ness, Jirou couldn’t tell. As impromptu her team had been, she was confident they’d be able to adapt to each other quickly enough, especially with Yaomomo in their team.

12...

Kouda Kouji whispered to the small ant on his hand, his initial fear of the insect subsiding as he spoke with it. Tokoyami Fumikage and Shouji Mezou watched as their friend let down the insect and as it crawled out and away from them. Kouda straightened, a shy smile on his face as he nodded; it was done.

6...

Bakugou Katsuki nudged Kaminari Denki and Ashido Mina, giving them a fierce glare as they jolted awake. They yawned loudly, the silence around them enhancing any noise. Sero Hanta shuffled away from some falling gravel, grabbing Kirishima Eijirou, sweating as he realised just how precarious the structure they were in was. It was too bad they’d been sent to the Ruins zone--with Bakugou’s quirk, it was all too easy to imagine everything crumbling down.

1...

In unison, class 1A tensed as their timers counted to zero.

Their watches beeped, signalling they were allowed to move.

An announcement poured into their ears, the familiar yell of Present Mic over the intercom.

“FIRST YEAR CLASS ONE AAAAAAAA! YOUR HUNT HAS BEGUNNNNNNNNNNNN!”

And as one, class 1A jumped into action.

Their Hunt had begun.

NOVEMBER 20 | BEFORE THE HUNT

“Sensei! What do you mean it’s only twelve hours? The poster said it was twenty-five!”

Aizawa Shouta stifled a sigh. It’s okay, he told himself, they just want to know. It’s not their fault they didn’t wait for you to explain. He paused. Oh wait, it is.

He intensified his stare, silencing the mumbling going around the class, Ashido slowly sliding lower into her seat.

“For the first years, your Hunt is only twelve hours. Next year, it will be eighteen. And in your third year--if you make it, that is,” He couldn’t help but add, enjoying the way some of them blanched too much. None of them had forgotten Mineta, though his expulsion had been a relief. And a reality-check. “Your Hunt will be twenty-five hours long. It’s to prepare you, slowly but surely.”

Another hand shot up.

“Yes, Kaminari?” He called tiredly. How many questions could they possibly have? Everything should have been explained in the posters damnit. All he was meant to do was explain the date, time, and the short paragraph he’d been given to read out.

“Why is it twenty-five hours?”

Bakugou scoffed, causing Kaminari to look at him.

“What? It’s a good question!”

“Like hell it is. Why do you need to ask? It’s Yuuei. They’re not gonna stop at two or twenty four hours. They have to go that extra fucking mile.”

“Plus Ultra, and all!” Sero added.

Aizawa nodded, already feeling his eyelids droop. He shouldn’t have stayed up so late with Hizashi making those stupid posters. Actually, Hizashi shouldn’t have left those damn posters so late in the first place. Actually, he should have just left him to deal with it on his own; Nemuri was right, he had a soft heart. “I’ll answer any further questions after I tell you this.” He cleared his throat, looking at the paragraph Nedzu had written. It was far too short to be informative, but the principal did have a knack for surprises--and he definitely wanted to surprise the first years.

Aizawa opened his mouth to read it out. “Number one. You will form groups of three to five, no more and no less. Two, food is provided in the neutral zone of the entrance and water is located in the drinking taps around each area. Three, teachers will be out to cuff and eliminate you. If you are caught, you will be brought outside to watch your fellow classmates succeed where you failed.” His lip twitched at that. Nedzu was being quite straightforward. ‘For fun and stress-relief’ his ass, he knew as well as anyone that this was going to be a test of ability for the students. It was merely poorly disguised. “Four, you will be given watches that will provide a timer, a button for help, the list of items you may be able to find, and your point counter. Five.” Aizawa raised his eyebrows slightly. “Good luck.”

The class was silent, eyes either on him or focused on the desk--great, the problem child already looked like he was planning something. Even greater, Bakugou was grinning like he planned to blow up the Simulation Joint.

“Well, I guess you all want to talk about it.” The sheer energy some of his students were emitting--namely Hagakure, Ashido, and Kaminari--told him enough. As soon as he dismissed them, they’d be on their feet chattering on and on. He might as well give them mercy. “You may talk about it for the rest of homeroom.”

As he’d expected, half the students were out of their seats, gravitating towards their friendship groups, probably creating their teams already. Aizawa sighed, slipping into his sleeping bag before shutting his eyes.

The temperature was much nicer indoors, better than the cold outside.

Aizawa fell asleep much faster than usual, to the sounds of his students’ chatter.

DECEMBER 1 | 7AM | 1 HOUR INTO THE HUNT

Uraraka scanned the rocky area, looking down at the slope and the buildings that jutted out. She found nothing in particular but still knew that something had to be there. From up high in the air--courtesy of her quirk and Asui’s tongue wrapped around her torso--she could see some of the other areas. She could even see the Central Plaza and make out the glint of the Golden Sack--though maybe that was just her imagination.

She twisted in the air, trying to spot something--anything, really--but found nothing that screamed out to her. She sighed, tapping Asui’s tongue to signal she was done.

There was a sudden tightening around her waist and she was slowly pulled lower and lower. When she touched down, she released her quirk, the effects of gravity returning, and Asui pulled her tongue back.

“Did you find anything?” Midoriya asked. She shook her head sadly.

“There wasn’t much. There’s lot to see on the grounds, but not here. Nothing, well, nothing really stood out enough to check it out,” Uraraka explained, shrugging. “No bots either. I guess it’s too rocky to have a bot roaming around this place.”

Iida stepped forward, a hand on her shoulder. “No need to worry Uraraka-san! We’ve only just begun the Hunt! We can explor--”

A burst of ice exploded from the ground, Todoroki suddenly yelling. “Move now!”

The other four ducked down, scrambling away as Todoroki blasted another wall of ice before following.

The ice triggered a landslide, rocks and debris raining down on them.

“What is it Todoroki-san?!” Iida called out, slowing to allow the boy to catch up.

“Midnight,” He said simply, all the explanation they needed. They nodded.

The hour they’d spent without seeing a single teacher had been far too quiet--suspicious, even. They shouldn’t have been surprised, and yet they still were. How she had managed to come up close enough that Todoroki had had to use his ice quirk in such a large burst...

At least they were on full alert now, eyes darting to every crevice in the landslides area.

They moved into formation; Todoroki in front, Iida and Midoriya at the back, and Uraraka and Asui in the middle. They’d planned that formation in case they ever needed a quick getaway from a threat, either from in front--which Todoroki would take care of--or the back--which Midoriya would take on. Putting Uraraka in the middle was so that she could use her quirk on the others, and in turn, Asui would be able to latch onto her and Todoroki, and then Iida would activate his engines to run, picking them all up on the way.

They continued to run for a good few more minutes, unsure of how fast Midnight was. Would she be able to catch up? Was she stuck in the ice? They doubted it; their teachers were craftier than that.

Todoroki swerved into a dark overhang, the crevice deep enough to hide the five of them as he created an extra layer of ice to protect them in case the overhang collapsed.

Uraraka leaned against a wall. The run had been rocky and dangerous--one wrong move and they could have gone sprawling down the hill.

“Do you think we’ve lost her?” Asui asked, staring worriedly at the entrance of the cave.

“For now, yes, but not for long.” Todoroki used his flames to light the cave more, moving his arm to look around.

Midoriya gasped, stopping Todoroki’s arm to leave it in one spot. A bauble sat in a hole, hidden enough that unless someone had been standing right where they were, it wouldn’t have been seen. Uraraka eagerly walked to it, snatching it and grinning triumphantly as she showed the glittering ‘2′ painted on it.

“We’ve found something! Finally!” She cheered, rubbing the bauble affectionately. When she remembered the others, she blushed, shyly handing it to Iida.

Their watches beeped. Their point counters now all said ‘2′. Their first points.

Iida smiled. “Well done Todoroki-kun! You found this cave, and so, you have found this bauble too!”

Todoroki shook his head, a small smile on his own face. “It was just luck. I did not see anything from the outside.”

“We should leave the cave now. There wouldn’t be anything else in here. If Midnight finds us, we’ll be trapped, kero.” They nodded, turning when a new voice spoke.

“It won’t be Midnight trapping you inside.”

They tensed, eyes landing on a familiar figure who stood at the mouth of the crevice.

Ectoplasm. Or, at least, one of Ectoplasm’s clones.

“I’ll be eliminating you all now.”

DECEMBER 1 | 7:15AM | 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES INTO THE HUNT

The sound of crashing and explosions filled the air--but it was distant, echoing off the dome.

Jirou looked above, aware of the way the rocks were suddenly all around them. She glanced behind her, meeting Aoyama’s distressed eyes and Yaoyorozu’s worried ones.

“Where do you think that came from?” Yaoyorozu asked, hand braced on the rocky wall. “It sounded terrible.”

“Perhaps it was Bakugou-san,” Aoyama suggested.

Jirou shook her head. “No, that was too...rocky, not like Bakugou’s explosions. It was like...like a landslide.”

“Ah!” Yaoyorozu gasped. “That’s right! The mountains area is right next to the landslides!” She nodded. “It was probably from there.”

The other two agreed silently and left it at that. No one really wanted to think about the implications.

Truthfully, the sounds had been one of the few things they’d heard. It was jarring, being in almost utter silence save for the sounds of their own footsteps and the falling of small rocks and gravel, to hear the loud booms. But it reminded them of the outside.

Had USJ always been so big? Jirou swore it hadn’t been so big before--not even during that USJ attack, and she obviously knew how isolated she had felt, being so far away from everyone else except for Yaoyorozu and Kaminari.

They’d been walking for so long, her feet were beginning to hurt, no matter how much she refused to acknowledge that. An hour and--what? Ten minutes?--her feet were already aching.

The worst part was that they hadn’t found anything but a candy cane, which had only been one point.

“Oh finally!” Aoyama suddenly cried out, pushing his head over Jirou’s shoulder to see the opening of the gap they’d been walking through. It hadn’t seemed so long and narrow when they’d first squeezed into it. They’d glimpsed the other side and had thought it would only be a good five minutes walk--it had ended up taking ten minutes. “I have never been so glad to see more rocks!”

Yaoyorozu and Jirou cracked small smiles. That was true.

But Jirou still held up a hand as she stopped a few feet away from the opening, plugging her earlobes into the rock and sending sound waves.

Nothing, nothing--wait.

She turned, looking up.

“Yaomomo, can you look behind you a bit? There should be something back there.” Yaoyorozu nodded, stepping back and looking up to see a small rock jutting out from above.

“Is it on that?”

Jirou nodded. “I can get it, though.” She extended an earlobe, reaching up and over, brushing against the surface of the rock--

She furrowed her brow, then sensed the slight beep within--

“TRAP!” She screamed, jumping backwards into the open.

Jirou’s eyes widened as she fell backwards, eyes on Aoyama as he lunged for her.

They wouldn’t make it.

The explosion knocked Aoyama to the ground, his hands instinctively reaching up and over his head. It rocked them and though his eyes were shut, he recognised the moment something fell over him, covering him from the light.

Oh non oh non--had a rock landed above him? Was he trapped? What about Yaoyorozu-san?

He risked peaking his eyes open, lifting his head to see a sort of metal roof above him.

Yaoyorozu coughed. “I-I just managed to get something out before anything hit us. Aoyama-kun, are you alright?”

He nodded, blinking rapidly. “Merci Yaoyorozu-san!”

“Guys!” Jirou called from the opening, ducking down to see them. “Are you alright?”

“Oui Jirou-san! My sparkle is fine too!” Jirou nodded slowly at that, slightly confused.

“Can you crawl out?”

“Yes Jirou-san!” Yaoyorozu said from behind. “Aoyama-kun, do you mind?”

Aoyama started crawling forward, his face scrunching in distaste as he noticed how much dirt and gravel had lodged itself in his suit. But he kept going forward, shaking his head to rid his hair of the excess dirt as soon as he made it out. Yaoyorozu followed suit and the team stood out in the open.

Aoyama turned, seeing the red in the corner of his eye. “Oh! Is that a candy cane?”

The other two stopped, turning to see the candy cane resting on top of Yaoyorozu’s metal sheet. Smiles broke out on their faces. Aoyama reached forward, eager to grab the candy cane when--

Ectoplasm leapt down, landing on top of the sheet, his boot crunching down on the sweet.

Aoyama lurched backwards, bumping into Yaoyorozu and Jirou, all their eyes trained on the teacher.

“Come on, can’t you give us a break?” Jirou muttered lowly, eyes narrowed.

He stayed silent--it was probably a clone--but charged forward and the trio dived to the side: Aoyama and Jirou to the left, Yaoyorozu to the right.

Ectoplasm’s leg snapped out, catching Yaoyorozu in the stomach, sending her rolling away.

“Yaoyorozu!”

She stopped rolling a few metres away, pushing herself up and squinting as Ectoplasm quickly ran after--her eyes widened, readying herself to produce something else when he suddenly swerved to the side, Aoyama’s laser shot missing.

He stood, hands behind his head as he shot laser after laser at the teacher, forcing Ectoplasm to dodge dodge dodge--

It allowed Jirou to come up from the side, her earlobes out and racing towards him--

They landed, sticking into the clone’s body and she let out a sound wave large enough that it melted back into, well, ectoplasm.

The three of them panted, left alone in the clearing. Yaoyorozu stood up shakily, dusting off the gravel from her cloak. Jirou walked over to her, helping her steady as Aoyama approached, trying to ignore the way his stomach ached.

“That was...” Yaoyorozu began.

“Surprising.”

“Terribly rude.”

The girls looked at Aoyama, who smiled. “Honestly, right after an explosion too!”

“I suppose we should expect nothing less from Yuuei.” Yaoyorozu said, nervously laughing. The other two agreed.

“Still.” Jirou twisted an earlobe around her finger. “It’s only the first hour and--” She glanced at her watch, “--fifteen minutes. What else will we have to face?”

They looked at each other, the reality check slapping them in his face.

Aoyama twirled on the spot, startling the other two. “Well, let’s not waste time then!” He stopped, grinning, almost sparkling. “We’ve got candy canes to find now!”

Jirou and Yaoyorozu glanced at each other, then back at Aoyama, who was already looking around the open mountainous space. They smiled.

None of them noticed that their point counter had gone up by three.

DECEMBER 1 | 7AM | 1 HOUR INTO THE HUNT

Midoriya didn’t hesitate once as he ran forward, using a small percent of One for All to push him forward; his arm pulled back as he charged it up, aiming straight for Ectoplasm.

“GO NOW!” He yelled.

Iida spurred into action, activating his engines as Uraraka used her quirk on her and Asui, Todoroki too far back to reach.

Midoriya was close--so so close. He waited until he was just a foot away, until his fist was a foot away, and heaved it towards Ectoplasm, the teacher having kept still.

He ducked and Midoriya punched the air, cracking the ground slightly from the force.

He couldn’t dodge Ectoplasm now and with the teacher jumping straight up and landing his head right into Midoriya’s stomach, he was forced to take the blow, eyes bulging.

Though it allowed Iida to run past, Uraraka and Asui holding on.

Asui shot out her tongue, wrapping it around Ectoplasm and pulling--

Their teacher was thrown into the air, spiraling down down down the slope, rolling and rolling until he disappeared below.

Iida gritted his teeth, hard, as he forced himself to stop before he followed Ectoplasm down.

It wasn’t enough. He was going to fall and bring the two with him damnit damnit--

Uraraka pressed all five fingers to shoulder and Iida went weightless--the three of them weightless together--

They slowly floated forward, Iida’s legs leaving the ground before Todoroki reached out and grabbed his foot, pulling the three back down.

When their feet were firmly on the ground, Uraraka released her quirk, her stomach only slightly upset. She sighed in relief--both in evading Ectoplasm and in her stronger stomach.

Then their attention was taken by the groaning Midoriya.

“Midoriya-kun! Are you alright?” Iida called, marching to the doubled over boy.

Midoriya raised his head, a shaky smile on his face. “Y-yep! Just...just fine.” He dropped his head again. “That was just a really, really strong headbutt,” He said, voice wobbling.

“It’s okay Midoriya-chan, we can stay for a bit while you recover,” Asui said, crouching down next to him.

“I don’t think so,” Todoroki spoke up suddenly, getting their attention. “Our watches haven’t gone off. We would have gotten three points if we had defeated Ectoplasm, but we haven’t. I don’t think he’s incapacitated.”

They blinked, all looking at their own watches for confirmation.

“We’ll be on the lookout for him!” Uraraka declared, pumping a fist in the air.

“And Midnight-sensei!” Iida added.

Midoriya shook his head, straightening slightly. “No, it’s okay, I can handle--” His cheeks puffed out.

“Midoriya, you shouldn’t push yourself. You’re clearly still recovering.”

“It’s just a headbutt guys, I’ll-I’ll be fine after I stand up.”

“A headbutt from Ectoplasm,” Asui corrected. “Though, I admit, I am a bit surprised. He must be stronger than expected to get such a reaction from you, Midoriya-chan.” She tilted her head. “After all, you manage with broken arms and--”

“Annnd that’s good Tsu-chan!” Uraraka interrupted, smiling apologetically at the other girl. She made to put a hand on Midoriya. “Don’t worry Deku-kun! Just relax--”

“Oh? So you were here all along?”

They tensed, blood freezing.

Midnight stood above them, perched on a ledge high up. She smirked down at them, holding her flogger whip from her shoulder.

Midnight licked her lips, her eyes narrowing.

“Seems like you were just attacked.” She rolled her shoulders. “Well, it’s not my problem.”

The atmosphere thickened as she shifted her weight.

“It’s so early to be eliminated.”

DECEMBER 1 | 8AM | 2 HOURS INTO THE HUNT

“Bakugou, if you growl one more time you’re going to turn into a dog.”

“Shut up pinky.”

Screech.

“Hey! I thought we graduated from stupid nicknames!”

“Not when you’re being annoying.”

Clang.

“Guys--”

“Hmph! You’re the one being annoying, growling like a dog at this and at that!”

“Guys--”

“Well, maybe if we’d start doing something I wouldn’t be so restless.”

Clang clang.

“Guys!” Sero yelled, eyes widening at how loud his voice had been. The bickering two stopped to stare at him; Kirishima nudging Kaminari to wake the blond boy up more. “Didn’t you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Kirishima asked, looking around them at the creepy buildings.

“I don’t know, like, something moving?”

Bakugou scoffed. “We’ve been hearing these buildings fall apart for hours. That’s nothing new, damnit.”

Sero shook his head, determined to make them hear it too. “No, no it was new. Not like something had broken. Like something had been pushed off.” He held up a finger. “Just-just wait, yeah?”

They waited for a good twenty seconds, though some more begrudgingly than others.

Nothing.

“Oh come on!” Sero groaned, throwing his arms into the air. “So when I need them to hear it you don’t make a sound!”

Kirishima patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry Sero--”

“Oof, you alright there Sero? Not going crazy?” Ashido poked his helmet. Sero sighed, stepping away. It was no use. Unless he heard it again, unless they all heard it, they probably wouldn’t believe him.

They continued walking, eyes on all sides.

The ruins were creepy. They’d nailed that aspect of this area, at least. The buildings were tall and leaning against each other precariously. There had to be more around here, but so far they’d found only three candy canes and one bauble--their points adding up to four in total.

It wasn’t the same as before--during the USJ attack--Kirishima had to admit. It was quiet, so so quiet, so unlike the way they’d been attacked from all sides by villains back then. He was happy to be with his friends.

Kaminari yawned again--getting him another harsh nudge to the back.

“Goddamn, how tired can you be?” Bakugou huffed.

“I’m sorry okay!” Kaminari said, raising his arms in surrender. “I’m not used to waking up at the buttcrack of dawn!”

“It wasn’t even that early!”

“For you!” He retorted. “No normal person wakes up at five to do morning jogs you know.”

“Hah? What do you mean no normal person? People who want to fucking exercise will do that.”

“Ughhhh, we already do so much exercising at school. I can’t figure out how you want to do more--”

“Okay that’s enough,” Ashido interrupted, pushing forward to lead the way through the streets. Or fake streets. She still wasn’t sure whether she was impressed by the authenticity of it all. It seemed too real to be fake. Had it really been built like this? Or did Yuuei just build around a ruined--

“Wow, it’s not like it was you and Bakugou fighting just a minute ago,” Kaminari mumbled, pouting.

Ashido simply smiled as they broke into a crossroad, a few cars piled up in the middle.

As they neared it, she gasped excitedly. “Oh oh guys guys! I think I see a candy cane! Finally!”

She raced forward, Kaminari hot on her heels. There hadn’t been a rule about not eating the candy canes, and so far, they’d all given the lollies to him. Apparently, they were trying to ‘wake him up’ with sugar. He’d keep faking his sleepiness if it meant he got all the candy canes.

The other three followed more slowly, looking around.

Sero’s gut clenched. It was too easy. Right in the middle of the road. He fingered his helmet, using the new upgrades the support department had added--heat vision, night vision, to name a few--since the start of winter.

With the heat vision activated, he turned as he walked, looking at the buildings, down the road, the roof--

The roof!

“Ashido! Kami! Duck!”

The duo did as told without question, ducking and diving to the sides as a few bullets shot out towards them, shattering one of the car’s windshield.

Bakugou grinned, crouching. “Snipe, huh?”

“Hm? Yeah, why?” Sero turned--

Just in time to see Bakugou running forward, the bullets narrowly missing him as he propelled himself with his explosions.

“Bakugou!” Sero and Kirishima yelled. They glanced at each other, before clenching their jaws and rushing after him.

Bakugou raised his arm up high, in the direction of where the bullets were coming from--

BOOM!

He smirked at the explosion, the satisfying recoil of his shoulder as he continued forward, leaning down to grip Ashido’s collar and heave her up.

“Let’s go damnit!”

She swayed but steadied herself, following him across the road and behind the building. They glanced back to see Kirishima and Sero yank Kaminari up, running after them.

“So what do we do?” Kirishima asked when they regrouped.

Bakugou’s grin was near-feral. “We take him out, of course.”

Kaminari stared. “Do we even get points for getting him?”

Sero tapped at his watch, scrolling through the activity sheet quickly. “Uhhh--” He reached the end, the last activity glaring up at him: ‘FIND SANTA AND THE GRINCH!’ He looked above it, finding what he was looking for. ‘INCAPACITATE A TEACHER WITH THEIR OWN CUFFS - 20 POINTS!’ “We get twenty points.”

“Hell yes!”

“Oh hell no, do you think we can take him?” Ashido said, incredulous.

“What? You think we can’t?”

“Well, I mean, it’s Snipe and--”

Bakugou cut off Kirishima. “And invisible girl and four-arms--”

“Shouji?”

“--won against him during exams. This’ll be a piece of cake.”

Sero shook his head. “Sorry, I’m not convinced. They had quirk suppressants and weights on back then.”

“And they were only two against him. We’ve got five against one.” Bakugou sighed, irritated. “Do you really think we’re all that fucking weak?”

Kirishima smiled at the phrasing. “We can’t slip up this early in the game.”

But Kaminari was nodding, a grin forming. “You know what, I think we can take him on.”

“Hah! See?”

“Yeah,” He said absently as the idea grew on him. “Yeah! Come on guys! Let’s do it!” Kaminari stood straighter, his arms raised in excitement. “We’re class 1A! If anyone can take him on, it’s us! Five against one!”

Ashido raised an eyebrow at him as she murmured to Sero, “Motivational speech much?”

Bakugou clapped Kaminari on the back--probably a bit harsher than what was normally deemed affectionate. “So you do have some guts!”

He turned to the others, his grin downright feral now.

“We’ve gotta go plus ultra, right?”

Sero looked at Ashido, then Kirishima. He wasn’t sure they were sold yet, but he knew if the two kept at it, they probably would be soon.

“Brave words for people standing around unguarded.”

The five shots were impossibly loud in the otherwise silent ruins.

DECEMBER 1 | 9:30AM | 3 HOURS 30 MINUTES INTO THE HUNT

Aizawa grimaced as the familiar screaming of Yamada filled his ears. Well then, he thought bitterly, it seemed he was on the move. He wasn’t sure if it was a bad thing.

No one had made a move on the golden sack. Which was good. He didn’t really want to fight this early in the Hunt; didn’t want to eliminate any of his students this early. Of course he wanted them to have fun--god, did they deserve to have fun--but it didn’t mean he was going to go easy on them.

Nevertheless, as Yamada’s screams echoed from the Flood zone, Aizawa felt a shift in the Simulation Joint.

Yamada’s voice would be heard from all over.

It was a wake-up call for everyone.

Maybe he would need to prepare.

DECEMBER 1 | 9:30AM | 3 HOURS 30 MINUTES INTO THE HUNT

“See anything?” Hagakure called out to Sato, a few metres away on her left. She refused to let herself shiver, knowing that if she started, she probably wouldn’t be able to stop. Ugh! She really hated her ‘hero suit’ right now. No, actually, she hated that the USJ wasn’t heated properly. Come on--did the teachers even care about them?!

Sato shook his head, sighing. “Nothing! The water’s too dark. Was it always this dark?”

Ojirou jogged back over. “I don’t think so. I think they made it darker for the Hunt.” Sato groaned.

“That makes things so much easier for us.”

“If only we had Tsu-chan with us!” Hagakure said as she walked over. “Hey, Sato, are you sure we can’t eat the candy canes?”

Sato looked thoughtful for a few moments before shrugging. “Well, they didn’t really say anything about eating it. Or not eating it. So...”

“So can I eat one?” She asked hopefully, clasping her hands together. “It’s already nine thirty! We’ve got the points from the candy canes, they can’t take it away right? Because, technically, we still have the candy canes--it’ll just be in my stomach!”

The boys glanced at each other, smiling at Hagakure’s logic. It was...technically right.

Her stomach rumbled. Loudly.

“Oh! That’s-that’s embarrassing!” Hagakure squealed, hands on her face. “Don’t look at me! I’m just starving! Ahhh!”

Sato scratched the back of his head, reaching into one of his pouches. “I guess we should have some. To keep our energy up.” He pulled three candy canes out--three of the five they had--and handed one each to the others, keeping one for himself.

So far, Team Spirit had eleven points. They had probably exhausted the supply of candy canes and baubles in the flood zone, having found most of the candy canes as they went down the water slide.

That had been a disaster. The water slide had had an explosive halfway through, and as Ojirou slid down, he’d triggered it, collapsing the slide. He’d splashed safely in the water though, but not before giving Hagakure and Sato mini heart attacks.

There’d been three candy canes in the slide alone. They weren’t complaining, it was a good thing, especially since they hadn’t found anything else after that.

Ojirou had seen something glittering underwater though, and he’d attempted several times to swim towards it, only to come up sputtering and coughing. It was too deep but he had sworn it was a bauble--a shiny, golden one too.

So now they were peering into the dark water, trying to find more, closer baubles but with no luck.

“Should we just leave? I don’t think there’s a chance of us getting whatever’s down there unless you’re sugar rush gives you bigger lungs,” Ojirou said, looking at Sato.

Surprisingly, the boy blinked in thought. Then shook his head. “Man, I got really hopeful there but...” He sucked on the candy cane resentfully. “Even if I did get bigger lungs, I’m not confident that I’d make it back up safely--cause I get sleepy and all.” Ojirou nodded, understanding.

“So!” Hagakure started. “What should we do? If we leave, where do we go?”

They looked around.

The conflagration and ruin sections were next to them, but they were sure some of their classmates had been put in those areas. Would it be a good or bad thing to run into them? Would the competition be too intense? Would there be anything left in those areas?

“Maybe we should try just going down into the general area? And take down some villain bots?” Sato suggested. The other two thought about it for a few moments.

“That sounds like a good idea! But...well…”

“What is it, Hagakure?” Ojirou asked.

“Like, is anyone else down there? It’s silly, never mind!”

“No no, go on, it’s okay,” Sato insisted.

“Well, I just think if no one else is down there, does that mean we’re doing a bad job? Only because that means they’re all still looking and haven’t given up on their areas!” She added hastily.

The boys nodded slowly. She had a point. They glanced at each other. Were they giving up too easily?

“HEY HEYYYY!”

They froze momentarily, turning to see Present Mic standing on top of the rocks, staring down at them.

“YOU KIDS ALRIGHT?!” They swallowed, Sato finishing the rest of his candy cane--it wasn’t his pure sugar, but it was still sugar. “WELL EITHER WAYYYY! I’M GONNA HAVE TO TAG YOU ALL NOW, YEAH!”

Present Mic opened his mouth.

“COVER!” Ojirou yelled, bracing himself.

The scream was piercing. It hurt and made their heads ache no matter how hard they pressed their hands to their ears.

Ojirou gritted his teeth as he pried his eyes open, staring at the water. It was rippling--but would it muffle the sound?

At this point, anything was better than the screams.

He let go of his ears--loud loud loud--and lurched forward, grabbing Hagakure’s gloved hand and Sato’s torso with his tail. Sato opened his eyes, wordlessly asking the question.

“THE WATER!” Ojirou yelled. He doubted they heard, but Sato nodded, and all Ojirou could do was hope Hagakure had understood too.

They ran forward, leaping into the air and splashing into the cold water.

Instantly, it filled their ears--good, oh thank goodness it really did muffle the screams.

Present Mic stopped, watching the trio disappear underwater. He grinned. “Ah, smart kids. Really, why’d they put me in the water area?” The grin darkened. “Ah well. I conquered water a long time ago.”

He leapt down from his perch on the rocks, stepping into the water until he was knee deep. He sighed. “Man, and I just got this dry-cleaned too.” Shaking his head, he inhaled deeply.

Hagakure gasped, bubbles escaping her lips as the water rippled. The other watched her worriedly as she began to thrash, swimming up and up, losing her hold on Ojirou’s hand. They followed--it was probably a better time than any to get a breath of air in.

As soon as they broke the surface, the screams returned with full force, their gasps of air lost in the noise.

Hagakure ducked back down, the vibrations in her skull making it hard to figure out where the screams were coming from--she hadn’t had the nerve to stay above water for too long.

They swam as far as they could, breaking the water to breathe and duck back down.

How long was the lake again? How long had they been swimming for?! Sato thought tiredly. He glanced at the other two, meeting Ojirou’s eyes. We have to take him out. He wasn’t sure if the message was conveyed, but the boy nodded.

Hagakure gurgled something incoherent, pointing ahead.

A dark mass loomed just in front--the ship!

Bracing themselves, they waited until they were right next to it before swimming up.

Present Mic frowned, stopping to rest his throat. He hated having to push that hard to be heard underwater. Now, where were they? “Great job Hizashi--you lost them.” Probably for the better, he added to himself. He didn’t really want to have an underwater battle--his clothes were far too good for that and this early in the Hunt? He was not going to fight the other students sopping wet.

Meanwhile the trio were slowly swimming around the boat, finding a ladder to get on or at least hold onto.

“It stopped. He stopped.” Sato huffed out.

“Not for long though. I’m sure he’s gonna start any time now.” They nodded.

Hagakure looked down, squinting at the water. “I’m going to see if there’s any baubles on the hull!” She breathed deeply and ducked down before hearing their responses, using her hands to propel herself forward through the width of the ship.

Nothing nothing nothing. Dangit! There had to be something right? The ship had been the one thing they hadn’t checked yet, considering it was out in the middle of the lake and she really hadn’t wanted to jump in--it looked way too cold for her, and well, it was. She was shivering already.

You know what? Stuff it. I’m asking for a cloak or a jacket next time, she thought, resolved. Invisible girl or not, she wasn’t going to freeze for the next few months.

Her hands hit a spherical object, the ball-like thing attached to the hull. She brightened--a bauble! And a pretty, sparkly one too!

She shoved it out, pulling it from the hull just as more screams rippled through her brain. Argh! Could he just stop already? It was beginning to force a harsh headache.

The bauble sunk as it ripped from the hull and Hagakure turned it over in her hands, her eyes widening at the painted ‘4′ on it.

Four points! That was great!

She was reminded of her limited air and hurried to push herself forward when suddenly the bauble opened--opened to reveal four robotic arm-like things that latched around her hand.

She winced, but continued swimming--whatever it was, she’d inspect it above water, her lungs were beginning to--

Yank!

Something was pulling her back--no, not her, her hand--the hand with the bauble attached.

She struggled, pulling her arm as far as it could but it was like-was like a magnetic force!

The bauble was still attracted to whatever it had been attached to.

And now it was pulling her along.

Oh no no no--Hagakure fought to keep her mouth closed, fought to stop herself from screaming. Oh no--was she going to drown? No, no she wouldn’t, Yuuei wouldn’t let her.

But if she didn’t get out soon she was going to pass out.

She stopped resisting and instead focused on the bauble--the robotic arms were skinny, but metal and strong, it dug into her hand painfully.

She used a nail to pick at it, gave up, and went to shove it off, the way she’d shove off a bracelet that was too small on her. It scratched her hand as it moved--but it moved! And that was the main thing.

Pushing pushing pushing, Hagakure tried not to let the squeezing of her chest affect her. One arm of the bauble was nearly off--and it was gone! It left a stinging line on her hand and even though she couldn’t see it, she knew it’d be there.

Using the now free arm, she pulled at it, getting the second one off--good good, just a bit more--and then she used both to pull it more effectively.

She was turning blue--well, she couldn’t see herself turning blue but she hadn’t held her breath for so long before. If she wasn’t turning blue then she didn’t know what she was. Was she even making sense? Her panic increased, but she tamped it down, refusing to let it surface. If she panicked now, it would be all over.

She was hero! She wouldn’t panic!

With one last, desperate, heave, the bauble ripped off of her hand and she sent it sinking away. Did they get the points? Agh, who cares who cares--she did, she didn’t want to disappoint her friends--she needed to breathe!

A large arm caught her on her back and suddenly, Hagakure rushed forward, water streaming past in bubbles.

Sato! And by the looks of him, he’d devoured some sugar!

Sato kicked his enhanced legs, his mind slightly furry around the edges, but he knew he had to get Hagakure up and breathing--how long had she been down there? They hadn’t realised--Present Mic had been so loud--until too late, until it had been at least thirty seconds. Maybe more. He couldn’t tell.

They burst through the water, Hagakure immediately breathing in a lungful, maybe two, of air, coughing and wheezing as she clutched Sato’s arm.

Sato glanced hazily at her, unsure of what to do now.

Luckily Ojirou had made his way around the ship, finding his teammates and letting out a sigh of relief.

“You guys okay?” He called, swimming over to them.

Hagakure nodded, then coughed. “I-I--”

Ojirou shook his head. “It’s okay, take your time. You got us four points! That’s great Hagakure!”

Blinking the watery tears away, she beamed--thank goodness! At least it hadn’t been for nothing.

“You okay there, Sato?”

“Hmm? Yeah...just...” He shook his head, blinking rapidly to wake himself up. He couldn’t get sleepy this early. “Good job Hagakure-san! That was a good idea.”

She smiled again, her coughing subsiding.

“Wait, what’s that?”

They all stopped, peering at the small metal stick still hanging onto Hagakure’s hand.

“Eep! Gross gross!” She shrieked, shaking it off. It didn’t sink immediately, so Ojirou took it in his hand, looking at it closely.

Tiny golden letters shone on the side--Hatsume industries!

He blinked. Wasn’t that that...determined support department student? The one that had used her gadgets during the festival? And helped make most of their suits?

“Looks like they get support students in on the fun too!” Hagakure said, somewhat less bubbly. “That was a really scary invention though.”

“What did it do?”

“I think it was magnetic! It grabbed onto my hand and pulled me back!” She shuddered. “I do not want to know how she comes up with these things.”

“YOU KIDS ALRIIIIIIIIIIGHT?!”

They started; Present Mic had moved, standing half in the water but still relatively close to the shore.

He watched the trio. He had been starting to get worried. From what he recalled, none of them had underwater breathing like quirks, so not seeing them for a while had been concerning. Plus, Thirteen and Recovery Girl would kill him if he had just stood around doing nothing--Hunt or not.

They didn’t respond, merely swimming away and behind the ship. He frowned. He was being considerate! “WELL I GUESS YOU ARE THEN! GET READY!”

He continued to scream, almost bored. No matter though, he was not going in the water either way. He knew he’d be getting an earful from the other teachers as soon as this was done. Aizawa and Kayama were sure to ask how he’d gone. His fights were never quite interesting. All he could say was--

“HOLY CRAP!”

He dived to the side, sloshing water out of the way as a--was that a lawn chair?! As a lawn chair was launched towards him.

“WHAT THE HECK?!” He looked up, his glasses askew, at the team that had made it onto the ship--how fast had they climbed?!--and now the yellow one was chucking probably whatever was on the ship at him. He groaned. He’d been too soft and now look at him, cowering at furniture!

He waded out of the water quickly--hating how soggy his pants felt, damnit, there better be no cameras around here--and dodged another lawn chair. His only comfort was that they had to run out of furniture soon.

Oh wait.

He crouched, waiting until something else was thrown--this time a lamp, were they going below deck too?--and then popped up.

“YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The yellow boy visibly winced, crouching down and behind the railing of the boat. He did not stand up for a while and Yamada did not see the other two.

Maybe he should stop for a bit. If their eardrums got shot, Recovery Girl would be on his ass about it for weeks.

He relented, resting his throat for a bit, hands behind his head as he whistled.

Eh, they could spend the whole day like this unless either one of them made a move.

Yamada turned his head slightly, keeping an eye on the boat to see the Central Plaza--

“Oh man! Someone’s out there!”

He glimpsed a group of students running out and towards the Central Plaza. From where he stood, he couldn’t see where Aizawa was but the teacher was probably somewhere in there--

WHACK!

Yamada fell to the side, his face pounding as it hit the ground. Damnit, how had he missed--what had he missed again?

A shadow loomed over him and he froze--oh no.

“Sorry sensei, but--” A jingle of metal and Yamada tensed, ready to get up when-- “Oh. That’s a big caterpillar.”

Yamada’s blood curled.

Where? Where?!

He screeched, jolting up and butting heads with the student--Ojirou, that’s his name--and frantically roamed his hands over his own body, feeling the hated tingling of bugs crawling over him even through clothing.

“WHERE? AHH WHERE IS IT?!”

“Sensei--wait! Are you--”

“AHHHHH!” He screamed, unintentionally activating his quirk.

He couldn’t find the caterpillar but ooh something was crawling on him, the sensation tickling his hair--his hair!

“It’s in my hair isn’t it?! ISN’T IT? MY HAIR!”

A click of metal and suddenly his arm was cuffed.

Huh.

How’d that get there?

He looked up to see the other cuff floating in the air along with a watch. Ohhh. The invisible girl.

“Good thinking Ojirou! You took advantage of his fear of bugs!”

The tailed boy blinked. “His fear...of bugs?”

“Mmhmm! Jirou told me he was scared of bugs! I completely forgot about that until now!”

“Oh.” Ojirou looked at him, suddenly guilty. “I’m sorry sensei, I really didn’t know. It was just a really big caterpillar.”

Yamada clenched his jaw as he tried to smile.

Their watches beeped.

“Oh my god! Thirty five points guys! THIRTY FIVE! SATOOOO!” The watch bobbed up and down--maybe she was pointing at it. Yamada smiled at the weak yell. He tried to squash the thought. Get on my level, kid.

Ojirou helped him up, smiling apologetically. “Really, sensei, I’m sorry. I didn’t know--”

“Ah it’s okay kid.” It really wasn’t. How could the world hate him so much. “Good job you two.” He was going to get such an earful from Recovery Girl. “Now I gotta take myself to the Entrance.” A walk of shame. “Better spend this time wisely while I’m not here to bless ya with my voice.”

Ojirou and Hagakure glanced at each other--blessings, huh?

“Good luck with the rest of the Hunt, YEAHHHH! I’ll be coming for you all!” Yamada savoured their pale faces--well, the boy’s paling face. He turned swiftly, hurrying away to the Entrance through the back of all the areas.

He did not want the other teachers to see him.

Team Spirit met up on shore again as Sato used his strength to swim fast.

“AWESOME GUYS! YOU DID SO GOOD!” Sato grinned, high-fiving his teammates.

“So did you Sato! You have good aim!” Hagakure replied.

He blushed, shaking his head. “Nah. I was honestly worried I was going to chuck you two out of the zone. How’d you manage to get him in the end?”

Ojirou turned away, looking down as he scratched his cheek. “I...I said there was a caterpillar and Yamada-sensei...well...”

“He freaked! He freaked sooo badly Sato! Jirou wasn’t kidding when she said he was scared of bugs!”

Sato raised his eyebrows, glancing at Ojirou. Clearly this win wasn’t the type he’d enjoy; even if he had unknowingly taken advantage of their teacher’s fear. He patted Ojirou on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Ojirou. They’re not gonna pull their punches, so why would we?”

“Yeah Ojirou-kun!” Hagakure added. “I nearly drowned back then! All’s fair in love and war!”

Ojirou smiled weakly, thinking, Is this a war now?

“Anyways, we’ve got sooo many points now! I think we can go get something to eat!”

Sato checked his watch, eyes bulging. “Whoa! It’s ten past ten! We fought for a while!”

As one, their stomachs all rumbled, eliciting various degrees of embarrassment.

“Yeah, let’s just get something to eat now.”

“Mmhmm! Before Yamada-sensei comes back!”

That got a shudder from all of them.

As cheerful and boisterous as their teacher had been, the way he’d said ‘I’ll be coming for you all!’ did not reassure them at all.

Not one bit.

DECEMBER 1 | 10:30AM | 4 HOURS 30 MINUTES INTO THE HUNT

“Taken down by some bugs?! AGAIN?”

“Ehehe, well...”

“Don’t you ‘well’ me Yamada! Pathetic! You’re a pro! Your students are braver than you!”

Yamada sunk into his seat as Recovery Girl roughly unlocked the cuffs, practically fuming at the ears.

“That’s a good thing! You know...for them...to be...” He stopped talking as she gave him a glare.

“You know just as well as I do what I meant! Hmph!” She bustled over to the cameras. “So early in the Hunt too! Look at them all! Aizawa’s managing with a whole flock of those students!”

Yamada grimaced. He could only hope the old woman wouldn’t tell anyone but that was unlikely.

“Wait till they hear about this!”

Yep.

Unlikely.

Impossible.

DECEMBER 1 | 7:30AM | 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES INTO THE HUNT

Kayama sighed for the fiftieth time.

What a time to be stuck in ice.

She wriggled her arms, stretching them over her head. She really shouldn’t have underestimated them--shouldn’t have underestimated the fact that the winter cold would help Todoroki’s ice powers in this way.

Though, she supposed, they had put up a good fight. If it weren’t for Todoroki’s surprise at the end, she might have eliminated them all. She smiled; how terribly cruel that would be, eliminating them when the fun’s just begun. She’d cut off their youth-fueled energy just like that.

Still, she gripped her flogger whip tighter and continued her chipping. It was such a tedious job, the ice wouldn’t give way at all, and when it did, only the barest fractions fell away. And with Ectoplasm out of commission--or at least, one of his clones--she wasn’t going to get any help anytime soon.

She glanced up at the camera drone hovering above and waved.

“I wouldn’t mind a little help you know!” She called out to it.

It bobbed away.

She sighed again. Recovery Girl was probably huffing and puffing at her ‘incompetence’. Well, she thought in defence of her imaginary argument, at least the kids hadn’t been able to cuff her.

Todoroki had been too focused on stopping her from eliminating his dazed teammates that he hadn’t been able to hold back and, though it was kinda a win-lose situation, he’d frozen her all the way up to her neck, leaving her head out. They hadn’t been able to cuff her, unfortunately. Fortunately for her though.

Kayama glanced around, searching for anyone.

And when she found no one, she let a bit of her composure slip.

“Damnit just melt already why are you so freaking cold what is this ice made of--”

A mechanical but familiar voice spoke from the side and she froze.

“Maybe you should have been more on your guard instead of being so caught up in their ‘youth’! Hmph!”

Kayama smiled at the drone that made it’s way around her, waving. “Nice to see you too, Recovery Girl.”

“You can’t see me! But I can see you! Stuck in that pile of ice.” Incoherent muttering came from the drone, and Kayama could only imagine the scorn. “It’ll take another half hour to get free of that by the looks of it.”

“It could take shorter--”

“Good luck Kayama.”

Kayama slumped, pouting. She lifted her whip, saw that it was being worn down instead of the ice and clenched it tighter.

Those kids were going down.

DECEMBER 1 | 8:30AM | 2 HOURS 30 MINUTES INTO THE HUNT

“Split up damnit! SPLIT! UP!”

“No Bakugou I don’t-don’t leave me with him!”

“WHO SAYS HE’S GONNA GO AFTER YOU?”

“LOOK AT HIM! HE’S GONNA KILL ME PLEASE BAKUGOU--”

Bakugou grunted in irritation as he rounded the corner, stopping short at the half-crumbled doorway. Beams were placed haphazardly across it, and there was only one opening he could try. Everywhere else was too small. He took off his gauntlets, pushing them through first.

Kaminari bumped into his back, winced as he clutched his nose.

“Is your head made of rock?! Dang that hurt!”

“Maybe you should watch where you’re going damnit.”

“Why have we stopped? He’s right behind us!”

Kaminari glanced behind him, fearfully waiting the moment Snipe would round the corner and shoot them dead. He still thought the bullets were real, no matter what the others said. They broke through the road and shattered glass--real or not, it would hurt!

“Bakugo--” He stopped dead as he turned back, finding Bakugou’s foot slipping past into the crumbled doorway. “Wait wait wait! How am I supposed to fit through? Bakugouuuuu!”

“Just fit through. Bend or something, I don’t care. Hurry up, or you won’t be able to catch up.”

As his footsteps receded, Kaminari’s panic increased. First of all, he wasn’t as flexible! Second of all, how was Bakugou that flexible in the first place?

Kaminari jumped as a shot hit the wall. Snipe was coming oh great Snipe was coming near.

He hastily jammed a foot through the opening he’d seen Bakugou fit through, gritting his teeth past the pain as it scratched against his clothes. He lowered as he got the rest of his right leg through, using the wall to support himself as he twisted to fit his shoulder.

“You’re being incredibly slow.”

Kaminari jumped. Snipe stood at the corner, watching him with guns raised. He lifted his left arm.

“Please don’t shoot me I’m innocent!”

“What?” Snipe muttered lowly. “Never mind.” He cocked his gun up higher, walking forward as he took out a pair of cuffs from behind. Kaminari’s heart raced--no no no he couldn’t get out.

He sped up, pushing the rest of his body through and getting his head and other shoulder out. But his left leg was still on the other side and--

Another shot rang out and a beam fell, trapping his foot.

“Oh crap.” His face blanched. “Oh craaaaap! No no no! Get off get off get off!” He pulled at his leg uselessly, twisting his foot this way and that but it didn’t budge, in fact it only made the beam slip lower, putting more pressure. Kaminari turned his head. He was in another room, but there was a hole leading to the next one over. Was Bakugou in there? “Bakugou! Bakuuu! Gouuuu! Please help me please please please--”

A shadow fell over him and he yelped as he glimpsed Snipe through the beams. He could electrocute the teacher--he knew that--but what if Snipe cuffed him first? Who’d be faster? And what if Snipe jumped as he shocked the ground? And then he’d be out of commission for the next few hours?

He didn’t want to find out. Not if it meant risking that much.

But Snipe was looming closer and with a resigned expression, Kaminari shut his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the shock--

BOOM!

The explosion rocked him to the side, his arms reflexively being brought up to protect his head from the smoke.

Boom!

Another explosion rocked the ground, but smaller. His foot was free but he didn’t feel safe yet.

Kaminari blinked his eyes open, peaking through his arms to see the beams blown away, Snipe all the way back down the hallway again, the window illuminating Snipe in a dark shadow, Bakugou standing beside him.

Bakugou standing next to him!

“I knew you wouldn’t leave me to die!”

Bakugou scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah? And what was that look then? You were about to shit your pants.”

Kaminari grinned, waving his hands as he stood up. “Just for the theatrics!”

“Sure,” Bakugou mumbled, eyes trained on the teacher. His arms were still raised, probably ready to set off another explosion in the event the teacher shot them.

“Hm. I would have gotten you if it weren’t for your friend.” Kaminari grinned wider, giving Bakugou a thumbs up and a thanks at that. “Too bad.”

Snipe pulled out his other gun, returning to wielding the two guns when a different shadow lurched up from the window--

The remaining glass shattered as Sero leaped inside, tape pooling from his elbows as it shot out and wrapped Snipe up. The teacher grunted, his arms uselessly tied back but refusing to let go of the guns.

He flicked his wrists, angling them.

“SERO!”

Sero glanced down just in time to see the guns aimed at his feet, his eyes widening--

Ashido slid from behind the corner, her acid destroying the floor. She reached out a hand and slapped the gun away, shooting some acid to it for good measure.

Snipe still had the other gun though, and without hesitation he shot once, twice, thrice, at Sero, who jumped backwards in a flurry of movement his tape getting cut off.

Snipe used that moment to break himself free, the tape falling away.

He sensed Ashido’s kick before he saw it--ducked, stepped back once, and rammed his elbow out, catching her in the other leg.

She yelped, sliding into the wall, her last image of Snipe being him jumping out the window.

The four rushed to the window, seeing him land on the ground where Kirishima stood, hardened, but the man merely ran back inside the building, shooting bullets at their friend.

Kirishima made to follow, but saw them and stopped. “You guys okay?!” He called out.

“Yep!” Ashido yelled back.

“We didn’t get him buuut.” Kaminari held out an item--the cuffs--and beamed. “We got these! I think they fell off when you exploded him Baku!” Bakugou turned away, scoffing, but with less venom that normal. Below, Kirishima grinned, giving them a thumbs up as their watches beeped.

5 points for getting the cuffs of a teacher. Of course, it wasn’t the twenty they’d been hoping for, but it was better than nothing.

“We should start exploring the buildings better. I saw so many candy canes while we were running, but I didn’t have time to pick them all up,” Sero suggested as he created some tape to help them down.

They nodded when they reached the ground, a new fire burning in them after the fight as a result of the adrenaline.

It was early. They’d had a slow start but...

They were going to win this.

DECEMBER 1 | 11AM | 5 HOURS INTO THE HUNT

The bot’s arm came crashing down, it’s weight forcing Tokoyami to steady himself as Dark Shadow pushed it back up. It was the same bots they’d fought during the sports festival, but something told him that there had been upgrades made. And in the dome of USJ, there was a lot of light, so Dark Shadow was sufficiently weaker than usual.

But as Dark Shadow held the bot’s arm in place, Shouji leapt up, jumping onto the arm and pounding down onto the bot, sending it’s head flying off. It jerked around a bit, it’s other arm turning in an erratic circle, digging into the ground as it passed.

Shouji brought his arms down on the exposed wiring, ripping them out until the bot stopped moving.

He jumped back onto the ground as their point counter went up by one.

Kouda came running up to them, smiling and signing, though a bit shyly. “Good job guys!”

“It was nothing. The burden of my wrongdoings is heavier than any monster,” Tokoyami said quietly. Kouda smiled, nodding along.

“We should get moving to the Entrance before any more bots attack. I admit, I’m hungry. Now’s a better time than any to get going.” Shouji advised, looking around. They’d gained two points by taking out two bots but now the rest of their attention was being taken by Team Riot who were charging forward towards Central Plaza.

Tokoyami shook his head. “Are they taking on Aizawa-sensei now? Have they even eaten yet?”

“I don’t know, but while all the bots are distracted, we should go.”

They nodded and rushed forward, Dark Shadow and Shouji keeping an eye on their backs. They broke out of the trees, feet running on concrete once again.

They skidded to a stop, staring up at the looming robot.

A three-pointer bot from the entrance exam swiveled it’s head towards them, the lens swirling and zooming in.

Like before, it’s arm swung high, but this time the arm spun as it lifted and--

It froze, electricity sparking around. A laser beam cut through the middle and it broke apart in two, revealing the team behind.

“Hey, sorry for taking the kill.” Jirou smiled, her earlobes retracting. Aoyama had his arms wrapped around his middle, leaning against Yaoyorozu for support. The trio looked particularly beat up, dirt on their faces; Yaoyorozu’s and Aoyama’s cloak ripped.

Despite that, there was a gleam in their eyes; burning bright and strong.

Shouji nodded at them in acknowledgement. “Are you going to the Entrance too?”

“Yes. It’s already been several hours since we begun. I am feeling quite famished,” Yaoyorozu explained. Indeed, she looked pale, maybe even thinner than before, though they couldn’t be sure.

"Let’s go then.”

The two teams started up the stairs, a swift jog in case any robots decided to follow them up, though it was unlikely considering it would be harder for them to drive up stairs.

But then again, in the course of the part five hours, they’d learnt not to underestimate Yuuei.

Several times.

“We moved to the Conflagration zone to dry after we stayed in the Downpour for a few hours. Cementoss-sensei was there but we managed to evade him long enough.” Tokoyami looked to Kouda. “Kouda’s quirk is quite good for finding things--his insect friends told him the whereabouts of ‘strange objects’. It’s thanks to him that we found most of our items without running into Cementoss-sensei.”

Jirou turned to him. “That’s great Kouda! You’ve gotten over your fear!”

Kouda blushed, shaking his head and signing quickly. “Only a little bit!” He returned his teammate’s looks. “And you two did so much work too! Shouji-kun-you’re great at getting information! And Tokoyami-kun too!”

Shouji ducked his head, one of his arms creating a smile. Tokoyami and Shouji thanked him for the compliment.

“What about you three? Where did you come from?”

Yaoyorozu smiled weakly. “The mountains. It’s lucky we had Jirou-san otherwise we would never have dodged half the traps in there.”

“But even with me, we couldn’t get away from them all.” Jirou replied bitterly, clenching her jaw.

Yaoyorozu gave her an encouraging smile but it was Aoyama who said, “But you still did wonderfully Jirou-san! It is not your fault we were attacked by several Ectoplasms!” He huffed--the sound still encompassing some of Aoyama’s usual flare. “My hero suit has been ruined so terribly! It’s hard to keep up my sparkle!”

Jirou shook her head, her lip quirking up. “Yeah, that reminds me, how many Ectoplasms did you guys have to fight?”

Team Eclipse looked at each other.

“We fought four, but one of them might have been the same one,” Tokoyami answered. Team Sparkle nodded, grimacing. He noticed their looks and asked, “How many did you fight?”

“Seven,” Yaoyorozu replied immediately, resentfully.

“And they weren’t the same ones!” Aoyama added.

“At that point, I was wondering if he was just out to get us or something. I stabbed my earlobes into so many Ectoplasms I had to clean it off.” Jirou suppressed a shudder.

They slowed as they reached the top of the stairs, the smell of food making it to their hungry noses. More than a few stomachs rumbled, but no one mentioned it. As they stepped up, they were met by the sight of three Ectoplasm’s.

The stairs to the Entrance had two flights. They had only made it pass the first.

“If you want food, you will have to get past us.” The Ectoplasm in the middle spoke. Something about him told them that that was the real Ectoplasm. The way he spoke and kept unnaturally still. “Of course, you could always let yourself be eliminated.”

Both teams readied for a fight.

Jirou clicked her tongue, sick of the sight of that particular teacher.

“You really can’t give us a break, huh?”

DECEMBER 1 | 11AM | 5 HOURS INTO THE HUNT

“KAMINARI! NOW!”

Ashido stepped forward, onto Kirishima’s back--the boy using his quirk--and leapt into the air, willing herself to stay aloft as Kaminari readied himself and activated his quirk. She shot acid out of her feet to give herself a few precious moments more.

The ground sparked, electricity travelling into Ectoplasm and the three-pointer bot and Ectoplasm and--

No, not Aizawa-sensei.

“Sorry guys! He’s-he’s hard to control!” Sero gritted his teeth, digging his heels into the ground. Aizawa-sensei was currently in the air, using Sero as a way to swing him around. His torso was wrapped in the boy’s tape but his own capture tape was out and shooting straight for him--

Sero ducked, stepping a bit too close to the area where Kaminari’s electricity ranged and felt a striking zap go through his body. His teeth clattered together, and he tasted blood--crap, he’d bitten his tongue.

The zap was over just as quickly as it had begun, Kaminari feeling the aftereffects come on and deciding to stop before he truly went out of commission.

A few metres away, Bakugou stood blasting at advancing robots; three-pointer bots, a pain. He barely glanced at the rest of his team, trusting them to do good enough not to get cuffed.

Team Riot were currently in Central Plaza, having made an effort to go for the Golden Sack (worth forty points). They’d charged in, a semi-plan made to lure the Ectoplasm clones away using Sero’s tape so that Kaminari could zap them all in one go and make it easier for Ashido, Kirishima, and Bakugou to take on Aizawa-sensei.

But it had all gone wrong.

Though maybe it hadn’t gone wrong. Their plan had just been rushed and slightly loose.

Aizawa-sensei had been fast--faster than they imagined--and even though they’d timed it so that their homeroom teacher was on the other side of the fountain, where the Sack sat upon, he’d managed to swing himself over to them, landing in front and erasing their quirks.

They’d struggled evading their homeroom teacher--who knew almost all their strengths and weaknesses--and the three clones without their quirks, but through a series of running and ducking, they’d managed to split Aizawa-sensei’s focus, allowing some of them to get their quirks back.

Sero had been the first to get away, and he’d instantly shot out his tape to catch all the clones in one go. It had been a massive effort to pull them altogether but when done, he’d yelled at Kaminari to get ready.

Aizawa-sensei had heard that though, and he’d returned to erasing his quirk but the tape was already out.

Kirishima and Ashido instead used a few harsh, strong kicks to finish off one of the clones but then a bot had come up from behind Sero and they’d been forced to run, leaving the other two to escape.

It had been at that moment that Kirishima had come running to them, Bakugou leading Aizawa over to the other side as he made a run for the Sack--whether he knew he was helping by distracting Aizawa-sensei or he genuinely thought he could reach the sack, they didn’t know.

But it helped.

It had been the moment they’d needed.

Their quirks returned.

That brought them to the present.

The robot malfunctioned, it’s movements jerky and strange until it collapsed onto the ground. Ashido threw a wad of acid to the clones for good measure--they’d started to melt down but they could never be sure--and she rolled onto the ground.

Kaminari wobbled on his feet, a shaky smile on his face as he gave them--or he gave what he hoped was them--a thumbs up. It wasn’t them.

But Sero and Bakugou were still locked in battle.

“Oh c-come onnnnn--” Sero hissed, feeling his hold on Aizawa-sensei loosen and the teacher slipped free, using his own tape to swing down to safety.

A large blast shook the ground--Bakugou’s howitzer. It had sent all the bots away though and allowed him to focus back on their battle.

He snarled in joy as he beheld Aizawa-sensei’s falling form--falling in front of where he stood, their teacher’s back to him.

Without wasting time, Bakugou blasted himself off the ground, racing towards him fast fast fast--

Aizawa twisted in the air, kicking his legs around to meet eyes with his students behind his goggles. Bakugou’s explosions sputtered out, but he still had the momentum--

Aizawa sent out his capture tape to trap the boy’s arms.

It had worked--but Bakugou was still grinning.

Aizawa’s eyes widened--the Sack.

He looked down--the ground coming up fast--, and sure enough the rest of team Riot were speeding towards the fountain--Ashido especially fast with her acid. He used his quirk on her and she stumbled but continued, none of them bothering to look up.

He couldn’t help the twitching of his lips.

They all had that much trust in each other. A development, he supposed.

But their success wasn’t going to last.

Before he released Bakugou, he swung the boy to slam him onto the ground and rolled. Aizawa snapped up immediately, returning his capture tape to get it to catch Kirishima in the ankles--and the boy went falling.

Sero spared a glance.

“GO!” Kirishima yelled, yanking his foot away but ultimately letting himself get pulled backwards.

That left the other three.

Aizawa felt a headache start. Damn, this was troublesome.

Yanking Kirishima far enough, he sent his capture tape out past Sero and Kaminari--to Ashido, the closest.

He smirked.

It grabbed onto her legs, trapping them together as he pulled her back, making sure to give the tape an extra jerk to get her spiralling backwards, knocking into Sero and narrowly avoiding Kaminari.

Kaminari stumbled sideways. His head was still stinging and his stomach ached from the emptiness but--crap, now he was the only one left. Damnit Aizawa-sensei! You couldn’t have taken me out?! This pressure’s too much!

He gritted his teeth and pushed forward--ten metres, eight, five--

The Sack was blindingly bright--gold, too. Probably fake, but who knew with UA? And so close, so damn close--

He reached out, stepping into the moat around the fountain’s main section.

He barely registered the beep in time.

The fountain blew up.

Something wrapped around his waist and he was pulled backward, the pressure around his midsection too strong--too strong too strong he was going to puke up his empty stomach--

The heat seared his front, his face; he turned his head, his arms lifting uselessly to cover his face.

He was thrown backwards, landing near Kirishima, the redhead scrambling towards him.

His ears rung, but he could vaguely make out what he was saying.

“Are you okay? Kami--talk! You okay man?!”

Kaminari tried to nod.

A shadow passed over him and he was being lifted by strong arms--Bakugou. One arm slung over the explosive boy’s shoulder as he was dragged away.

He didn’t know where they were going, but they were going away--away from Central Plaza.

And the Sack.

The ringing subsided, only to be replaced by a different kind of sting.

He’d been so close.

And he’d ruined it.

“‘M sorry guys. Coul’n’t get it,” He mumbled, hazy.

He heard a scoff. “Tch. You got closer than any of us dunce-face. Don’t sell yourself fucking short.”

“Yeah Kami! That was amazing! You can’t blame yourself for not knowing they’d blow the whole thing up!” Ashido chirped from somewhere behind.

Kirishima appeared in his line of sight. “That was super manly dude!”

Silence.

“Hey Sero, say something.”

“What? I mean you guys all said it already!” A pause. “Okay! You did great Kami. Seriously. Rest up, we’re bringing you to food.”

At the mention of food, his mind focused a bit more, his vision narrowing. Yes, food, food food. Finally.

Though it still felt like forever until they made it, Kami’s feet hitting the stairs over and over until it finally stopped only to start up again--how many stairs did the USJ have? He couldn’t remember but surely it hadn’t been--

“You made it. You can relax now. You’re in neutral territory.” He was being moved somewhere else, laying on a soft surface. “Kaminari, if I heal you, you’ll feel tired. Are you okay to risk that?”

“Yeah yeah, just heal him already.”

“Hmph, patience Bakugou.”

SMOOOOCH!

Instantly, his body relaxed, sinking into the soft mattress. He felt better, but he did feel tired now.

Kaminari opened his eyes, meeting Kirishima’s eyes. He grinned at him, giving a thumbs up.

“So where’s the food?”

A packet of something both hard and soft landed on his chest.

“Here.”

Kaminari turned to look at Jirou, her eyes uncharacteristically narrowed. She was glaring at him furiously.

“What’d I do?” He asked, confused and slightly intimidated.

Yaoyorozu appeared next to her, putting a hand on Jirou’s shoulder. “Jirou-san, I don’t think it’s a good idea to glare so much.” Her eyes softened, but she still frowned.

“I can’t help it. We had to fight through three more Ectoplasms just to get up here and they could walk through free. Fantastic,” She said flatly, slumping on the ground.

“I guess being first isn’t always the best, huh,” Sero added unhelpfully, as he received another glare.

Kaminari looked around, finding the two other teams--Eclipse and Sparkle. Ashido laughing at Aoyama’s ripped cloak, the blond boy clearly trying not to pout. Sero talking to Shouji and Tokoyami. Kouda sitting against a wall, nibbling on an apple as Bakugou chomped on a banana next to him.

Though everyone was beaten up considerably, bruises and scratches that hadn’t healed, there was a spark in their eyes.

For once, they weren’t fearing for their lives. For once, they were having fun.

DECEMBER 1 | 11:10AM | 5 HOURS 10 MINUTES INTO THE HUNT

Recovery Girl smiled at the cameras, shaking her head. She could hear the students’ chatter from behind the door.

She watched as Aizawa reset the fountain, the Sack slung over his shoulder, bots roaming the area.

A softie through and through, she thought.

You could have cuffed and eliminated them all, Aizawa, before going to reset the fountain.

And yet you didn’t.

DECEMBER 1 | 1PM | 7 HOURS INTO THE HUNT

“Are you sure this is a good idea? Do you really think it’ll work?”

Hagakure nodded, taking off her boots. “Well, maybe not! But we have to try at least! If I can’t get past Aizawa-sensei, I won’t be able to get past villains in the future!”

Ojirou and Sato smiled hesitantly, nodding slightly. “It might be a bit different than that, Hagakure-san. Aizawa-sensei is a pro at stealth too.”

“Exactly!” She piped, ripping off her gloves. She shivered. Now the cold could really attack her. “If I can get past him, this’ll be a true show of my skills!”

Sato pointed at her watch. “Are you going to take that off?”

Hagakure looked at it, poking and prodding before relenting. “No. I don’t want to risk disqualification or something, but I’ll be careful.”

She peaked over the tree, staring at the new fountain. After it had blown up a few hours ago--it had been one huge explosion--something had opened up below and a new fountain had popped right up. The only sign that it had been blown up in the first place was the debris scattered around.

“There’s no more Ectoplasms too! This could work out great for us guys!”

Her teammates looked at each other, before resigning to the fact that she wouldn’t give up.

“Be careful out there.”

She nodded, grinning.

She waited until Aizawa was on the other side and ran forward, keeping low so that her floating watch wouldn’t be too visible.

The run was longer than she’d anticipated, and by the time she made it to the cut hedges bordering the fountain, she was panting. But she’d made it!

Aizawa was walking back over to this side. She could tell by the sounds of his footsteps.

Closer, closer, closer--he should be walking away by now--closer, closer--closer?!

Hagakure’s heart raced. Why was he coming closer? Had he seen her? She glanced at Ojirou and Sato--her heart dropped.

Their eyes were wide, even from a distance she could see that, and they waved frantically at her.

Someone was standing over her.

She looked up, a squeak leaving her lips as she stared into Present Mic’s eyes.

Was he always this scary?

“Told ya I’d come for you!” Present Mic opened his mouth. “SHOUUUUTAAAAAA!”

“What? There’s no need to shout,” Aizawa-sensei grumbled, coming over.

Hagakure scrambled away from the hedge, stumbling up as she spun to face the two teachers.

“So you thought you’d be able to sneak past huhhhh? Well, that’s too bad man!” Present Mic yelled, the second sentence in english. Hagakure swallowed, continuing to step back--dangit, why did she have to have a stupid watch? That gave her such a disadvantage!

Ojirou and Sato appeared at her sides in defensive stances.

“We should run. I don’t think we can take the both of them,” Sato murmured from the corner of his lips.

Still, the two teachers heard him.

“Really?” Aizawa-sensei muttered. “I would have hoped you three knew you were at an advantage.” They stilled. “Two of you have quirks I cannot erase. And the third is sufficiently trained in combat to put up a decent fight.”

Present Mic grinned. “And you know! You’re all pretty close! You could get to me before I shot your eardrums.”

Team Spirit looked at each other.

They came to a silent agreement.

Stepping back--

They ran.

“AW COME ON MAN!” Present Mic sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I was really looking forward to that you three! Yeee-AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The trio winced--they hadn’t gone too far yet and the effects of Present Mic’s quirk could be heard all over USJ. It was a piercing as they remembered from a few hours ago.

Aizawa elbowed him.

“OW! Man that hurt!”

“You’re hurting my ears.” He clicked his tongue, turning away.

Team Spirit made it back to the trees, running past for good measure. They slowed, stopping and resting on the grass.

“He thought we’d forget about the capture tape or cuffs? I feel underestimated,” Sato huffed out.

The other two smiled wryly.

“Though without those two things, we really would be at an advantage,” Ojirou said, straightening.

“I’m not taking any chances! We’ve only got five more hours to go! We can do it!” Hagakure cheered, still out of breath.

“Yeah. Just a few more hours to go.” Sato looked at Ojirou, smiling. “Plus ultra, yeah?”

They nodded.

DECEMBER 1 | 2PM | 8 HOURS INTO THE HUNT

Kouda waited until the ant had finished speaking before standing to tell his teammates. He also couldn’t believe it, but then again, he really should be able to. It wasn’t something out of reach for UA.

“What is it, Kouda?” Shouji asked.

“There’s some in the dome. Wedged between the glass and taped to it. They’re saying it’s the same thing as our candy canes.” He looked at Tokoyami. “Can you..?”

Tokoyami nodded, Dark Shadow already wrapping over his body. “I’ll do my best.”

He flew into the air, climbing higher and higher--the ground lower and lower. It would have been dizzying and despite his training with his special move, the day’s events wore down on him. Eight hours, one meal, and no sleep since the beginning--he didn’t want to think about his bed.

From in the air, Tokoyami could see much of USJ. The mountains zone had been half-destroyed, smoke piling up high; the waterslide in the Flood zone had collapsed; bots roamed the grounds, looking for students to attack. From that height, Tokoyami felt untouchable from the threats of below.

“Dark Shadow--keep an eye out too!” The beast nodded, and they swerved close to the glass--though he couldn’t see out of it anyway, snow covered the outside from view. They’d been walking behind the Flood zone, keeping to the edges of the dome to get easy candy canes and baubles. It had been a fruitful excursion and they’d barely run into anyone--friend or foe.

Tokoyami scanned the dome with his eyes. Nothing yet, but he trusted Kouda and Kouda trusted those ants.

Dark Shadow flew them closer, almost skimming against the dome.

There! A bauble, black to blend into the beams, hanging.

“Do you see it, Dark Shadow?”

“Yeah! Grab and go!”

Tokoyami reached out his hand--his fingers grazed the bauble--he latched onto it, ripping it free.

“Good, we got--”

Electricity sparked through his body and Tokoyami hissed--what the--?

A second set of shocks rippled through him and he looked closer at the bauble, eyes narrowing at the circular object stuck to it’s skin.

“What is it? A taser or something?”

“Something like that.” With a grunt, Tokoyami scratched the device off, letting it fall to the ground. “I should have realised there’d be traps. Even up here, they’re not going to go easy on us.” Though if the rest are just like this one, we won’t be able to tell there’s traps til it’s set off. Tokoyami thought bitterly.

He shook his head. It’d be fine if they were just zaps.

He checked his watch--their point counter at forty-eight now. The bauble had been worth four points.

“Tokoyami! Is that an item?” Dark Shadow asked, and Tokoyami looked up to see a pair of red glasses attached onto the side of a beam. Midnight’s glasses--worth seven points. He smiled.

“Yes. Good spotting Dark Shadow.”

They repeated their routine, though more carefully now.

And yet it still did not prepare them for the burst of pink gas.

No--Midnight’s gas!

As Tokoyami had pulled the glasses away, it had triggered the trap--releasing a shocking amount of Midnight’s gas. Somehow they’d stored it up here.

Dark Shadow dropped to escape it, but then something shot out of the glasses and latched onto Tokoyami’s hands. He felt a pull and his arm went up, towards the beam where it was slowly but surely being encompassed in the gas.

“Tokoyami! What is it?”

“Some-something is pulling me back up! It’s strong,” Tokoyami gritted out, clenching his jaw. He shook his hand, but the rod-like things on the glasses were unyielding. “Keep going Dark Shadow!”

Dark Shadow charged down, leaning more to the left as a result of the force of whatever was pulling Tokoyami’s right hand. He tried to pull his hand down, make it easier for his shadow beast to fly.

They were hurtling as fast as they could go, but still it pulled them back--

The pressure released, sending Tokoyami’s hand shooting forward and then his whole body, the same feeling when someone would step on the brakes--

“DARK SHADOW!”

They were nearing the ground faster than he knew they could control--no, nearing the Conflagration zone’s dome. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he swore he heard Shouji yell over the sound of the wind rushing past.

“Tokoyami! Duck!”

He ducked his head deeper into Dark Shadow’s arms, gritting his teeth as the inevitable impact arrived--

CLANG!

They collided with the dome, Tokoyami thankfully safe from most of the impact, though his head still rattled, but Dark Shadow absorbed the most of it.

Dark Shadow gripped a beam to prevent them from sliding off, then slowly went back, using the beams like a fireman’s pole as they slid towards the ground.

Shouji and Kouda ran to meet up with them.

“Are you alright Tokoyami-kun?”

He nodded, standing up, refusing to let his wobble be shown. “Yes. That gas...” They looked up at the still-spreading pink gas. “It surprised us. And then there’s this.” He lifted up his right hand, the glasses still attached to it.

“What is that?” Kouda asked, shyly stepping forward to peer at it. Now that he could see it better, it resembled something of legs. Or arms.

“I don’t know. But it latched onto me and kept pulling me up. Something was pulling it towards the gas.”

“Magnets?” Shouji supplied. Tokoyami nodded. That was probably it.

“Thank you Tokoyami-kun! You got us eleven more points even with those traps!” Kouda beamed, smiling. Tokoyami blinked, lowering his eyes. Yes, he supposed he had, even after all that.

“I can go back to searching up there after a few minutes rest. There’s clearly more to find up there.”

They nodded, looking up. The gas was was a reminder to be more careful, but Tokoyami wasn’t going to let his team down.

He’d fly up there and get them all the points.

DECEMBER 1 | 3:30PM | 9 HOURS 30 MINUTES INTO THE HUNT

Exhaustion battered them down.

Midnight had been out for blood. Wherever they went, she followed. They’d moved from the landslides to the mountains to the stairs--and still she’d followed!

Now team Tree was in the Conflagration zone. With Todoroki’s quirk, they assumed they would have an advantage in there, but the flames raged on around them--and sweating buckets did not help. They’d dressed for the cold; their extra layers of clothing becoming an enemy.

“Should...should we just leave?” Uraraka asked weakly, pulling at the collar of her suit uselessly. “It’s really...really hard to see anything in here.”

Midoriya pursed his lips, thinking. They’d been in here for half an hour and they’d found enough items to make it seem like no one else had gone through this zone--too hot or too dangerous?

He didn’t want to give up, but looking at his team, some of them were looking bad: Iida, in his elaborate hero suit, moved with less energy than usual. Asui was sweating, her eyelids drooping, and he himself felt groggy and sticky with sweat. Todoroki was the only one who looked decent, and even that much was a stretch, when he kept ocnstantly freezing his left side.

They’d already stacked up to seventy-four points. That was probably good, right? Yes, there was no need to push everyone to their limits, especially since they’d gone deep inside the zone now they’d need to take a while to get back out.

“Yeah, that’s a go--”

The pillar of concrete came out of nowhere.

Well, not nowhere, but the ground.

It brushed right up against Todoroki--the one who’d been leading--and a second on on their left started growing.

“It’s Cementoss!” Iida called, grabbing Uraraka and Midoriya and running to the right with them.

Asui leapt sideways, her tongue already half out when Todoroki used his ice to destroy the left wall and propel himself to the right.

They regrouped against a burning building, Todoroki freezing over the section nearest to make it safe.

“So it was you after all,” A deep voice rumbled out. They tensed, for once the searing heat replaced by a deep focus. The flames made it hard to find Cementoss, but the sound had come somewhere from ahead. “Only one other team made it in and out of this zone. They lasted fifteen minutes. I’ll try to make this quick.”

Concrete spiked up from the ground, heading straight for them--they had to split--

Midoriya and Iida leapt to the right, Uraraka, Todoroki, and Asui going left.

The concrete smashed into the frozen building, the ice shards shattering and falling upon them.

Todoroki gritted his teeth, activating his right and sending ice shooting in the general direction the concrete came from. He heard a shatter, and clicked his tongue--Cementoss must have shielded himself.

Uraraka tapped his shoulder. “We should go--he can obviously see us--” The ground wobbled underneath them and it was only with the help of Asui did they get pulled back in time before concrete shot up, right where they’d been standing.

“I don’t think we can win without risking too much, kero,” Asui said as they ran around the building. The flames leaped out at them but Todoroki iced the path as he led the way, pushing through.

Uraraka nodded. “Yeah. He must have something--maybe some sort of heat vision goggles to see us?”

“Whatever it is, we’re at a clear disadvantage,” Todoroki grunted. Damnit--and he’d been so confident in his ice quirk too!

They ran around, the building longer than they’d realised.

Uraraka glanced to the sides, watching as Todoroki iced the ground and walls for them--

Her eyes widened. She slid to a stop, stumbling uncouthly as she stared through the ice to what was inside.

A star--or, it looked like a star.

She racked her memory for what she remembered it from, squinting and scrunching up her face--what was it what was it?

“Uraraka-chan!” Asui hopped back to her side. “What is it?”

She pointed at the star. That’s it! “The star for-for the christmas tree! It’s worth like-ten points guys!”

Todoroki slid back over to them, eyeing it.

Uraraka turned to him, eyes eager. “Can you get it, Todoroki-kun?”

He nodded. “Keep an eye out for Cementoss, though.” He put his left hand onto the ice and melting it away as fast as he dared--he didn’t want to risk damaging the star, and thus losing the points.

The ice melted quick, and when he broke through a violent burst of flames escaped.

He stepped back with his right, letting his left take the heat. Uraraka and Asui stepped back, the flames large enough to melt the rest of the ice, making way for more fire to be generated by however way the school did it.

“Todoroki-kun! Are you okay?” Uraraka called.

He clenched his jaw and nodded. “I’ll take it out--be ready to run if it’s a trap.”

Uraraka and Asui stepped away, but not before Asui wrapped her tongue around Todoroki’s midsection. The heat stung, but in the event it was a trap, she wasn’t going to leave him to it’s mercy.

Todoroki touched the hot metal--his teeth were going to break with how hard he was gritting them--and found the pointed section, running his finger down until he could get a better grip. Bracing himself, he yanked it out--

Asui threw him backwards, the explosion shattering the rest of the ice until he created more to stifle it. Still, the ice cracked at the force.

Uraraka gasped--Cementoss!

“Run!”

They ran, pushing past the flames now that Todoroki was still being pulled by Asui.

The end of the alley approached, a wired gate separating them from Midoriya and Iida, the former ripping it open--

The ground shook--they refused to stumble--

It wasn’t wide enough for them to leap through--not yet not yet--

Midoriya activated One for All, using what was probably more strength than necessary to rip the rest of it open--the whole fence crashed down, but on their side.

“URARAKA!” Iida yelled, hand outstretched--and she understood.

Reaching backwards, she clapped hands with Asui who held out hers--the girl went weightless, still clutching Todoroki--and Uraraka ran forward, stretching to reach Iida--

In the end, the concrete bursting behind them was what gave them the speed to reach him.

They flew forward, Todoroki slamming into Uraraka’s back as she whipped her hand out and used her quirk on him too.

Bracing herself, she used it on Midoriya and her too, the nausea growing.

But now Iida could run.

They all gripped onto him, whether it was an arm or his torso--

He crouched, activating Recipro Burst and--

Zoom!

Rushing past the flames, Iida maneuvered carefully, knowing he had limited time to get them all out of there--ignoring the flames that reached for their bodies--far, far--

They made it a considerable distance before his Burst ended and he stumbled to a stop.

Uraraka released her quirk’s effect, and they all collapsed onto the grround, adrenaline pumping through their veins at the wild ride.

“We should...go...before he catches up...” Iida panted out, staring at his engines.

Midoriya grinned at him. “Do you really think he’ll be able to catch up with your Recipro Burst?”

Iida looked up at him, a proud smile growing. “Perhaps not,” He admitted. “But we need to make sure.”

“Well it’s a good thing we’re near the exit then,” Asui croaked out, looking in front.

They turned, the doors to leave the zone right in front.

“And our points too!” Uraraka piped up suddenly. “You did it Todoroki-kun! We’ve got eighty-four points now! That’s so much!” She threw her arms in the air, exhilarated, and threw an arm around the boy, who stiffened.

“So that’s what got the points?” Midoriya asked, pointing to the star still in his hand.

He nodded. “But it was Uraraka who found it. If it weren’t for your quick seeing, we would have missed it.” He looked down, clenching his right hand. “I was too focused on icing the area I didn’t think about the items we could have found.”

Uraraka shook her hands dismissively. “Don’t worry about that Todoroki-kun! We got the points so that’s good...” She trailed off as the ground shook again.

They all glanced at each other, standing.

“We should go...” Midoriya began nervously.

“Before Cementoss does catch up, kero,” Asui finished.

They all nodded, making their way to the exit.

When the cooler air of the outside hit them, they couldn’t help but sigh.

Sure it was cold, but it was much better than the searing heat of those flames.

They looked up.

And froze.

DECEMBER 1 | 4PM | 10 HOURS INTO THE HUNT

Toshinori hated that smile of Nedzu’s. It’s the smile that told him the principal was planning something.

Something that probably wasn’t going to be good.

Nedzu completely ignored him, too deep in thought.

It had been hard work getting all the puzzle pieces into place. His students were unpredictable, but it was the teacher’s who’d nearly messed it up. Especially Midnight and Present Mic--he’d have to talk to them about holding grudges with their naive first years.

But finally everyone had been gathered onto the grounds.

And by the looks of their confused faces, none of them knew what was coming.

Nedzu lifted his tea cup and took a sip.

He put a paw on the button.

And with another, darker smile, he pressed it.

Toshinori couldn’t help but wish his students good luck with all his heart.

DECEMBER 1 | 4PM | 10 HOURS INTO THE HUNT

The fountain split into four, the Central Plaza opening up to pull it in. The ground as class 1A tried to figure out what was going on--were they still doing the Hunt? What was this part all about?

The Golden Sack was the first thing that came back out.

And then a giant Ectoplasm followed suit, the Sack perched on his head.

(Yaoyorozu put a hand on Jirou’s shoulder to stop her from screaming. She was sick sick sick of that teacher!)

He loomed above them all, casting a menacing shadow. Once his upper body was out, the teachers seemed to follow, rising from the ground.

(Midnight smirked darkly at Team Tree; the five getting chills up their spine. She still hadn’t given up.)

(Hagakure subtly stepped behind Sato, hiding herself from Present Mic--despite the fact that she was the best hidden in the first place.)

As the ground closed up again, around Ectoplasm’s giant clone, snow poured out, filling the area around and piling around the teachers.

“Well well class one A,” Nedzu’s voice spoke all around them. “You’ve all managed to last until the final hours of our Hunt! Impressive! It’s been rarely done.”

“Hmph.” A distance mumble huffed somewhere. “If someone hadn’t been so stupid they would have eliminated some of them.”

(Midnight and Present Mic’s smirks twitched--the elderly lady was not getting over their earlier mishaps anytime soon, it seemed.)

“Yes yes. But in the end, class one a made it. It’s been so long since I decided to do this!” Nedzu laughed giddily, the sound chilling. “Now, you might want to take cover.”

“You won’t warn them hm? Of course you wouldn’t.”

“Where would be the fun in that?”

The sound of screeching and creaking pierced their ears and as one, the class looked up to see the glass receding and--

Snow fell.

And not the soft, beautiful snowflakes.

It fell in harsh, loud thumps.

(Tokoyami called on Dark Shadow to shield team Eclipse as the snow weighed on them.)

(Kirishima pulled Bakugou back, under the cover of trees, in an effort to stop the boy’s obvious desire to Howitzer impact the snow.)

When the snow finally made it all down, the class emerged from their covers.

It was thicker than they’d have thought, piling up as high as their shins in some areas. But it was uneven too; the domes of the Conflagration and Downpour areas taking up a large chunk of it.

Nedzu returned to the intercom. “So! It should be rather obvious now, I’ve left so many clues, but...” A low chuckle. “It’s a snowball fight!”

Simultaneously, they froze in surprise.

A what?

“I’m sure you all know what a snowball fight is. But…” A pause that shouldn’t have been as menacing as it was. “You don’t know what a plus ultra snowball fight is.

“If you want the sack, you’ll have to get past all of the snowballs and your teachers. But I warn you…” Nedzu pitched his voice higher in excitement. “If you get hit, you’re out! You can’t make any more attempts on the Sack nor can you help your teammates!”

Nedzu giggled--this was so fun! “One more thing. If any one of you gets the sack, you will win. Even the lowest scoring group can win with the Sack now. Any one of you could win the sixteen thousand yen cheque.”

(Uraraka’s eyes flamed. The amount of food she could buy with that!)

Nedzu put his paw on another button. “Good luck everyone!”

DECEMBER 1 | 4PM | 10 HOURS INTO THE HUNT

This time, class 1A was not facing the imminent, stressful threat of death.

This time, they were merely children once more, teaming up against the silly but real threat of snowballs.

Some of them smirked, grinned, smiled; others ducked their heads, and dug in their feet, tensing their muscles.

They were teenagers. And they were heroes-in-training.

They were going to defeat these snowballs, even if it meant using their stupidly powerful quirks for something as trivial as a snowball fight.

Plus Ultra, after all.

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