Forty-two students—those who had passed—were gasping for breath, struggling to steady themselves, trying to reclaim the energy they had spent.
I made my way toward Midoriya, who was still visibly exhausted. As I reached him, I gently patted his shoulder.
"Congrats, buddy!!" I said with a bright grin.
Midoriya let out a soft chuckle and replied, "Thanks, Tsukasa. Honestly, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have come in first."
I laughed back and threw an arm around his shoulder, pulling him a little closer.
"No, no, don't sell yourself short. You proved yourself. I mean, seriously, what kind of lunatic thinks to gather bombs and use them to launch himself forward? Huh?" I teased, flashing a mischievous smile.
Meanwhile, Midnight reappeared on the stage, clearing her throat to gather everyone's attention.
"Ahem!"
Immediately, the students turned toward her, waiting for what she had to say.
"Listen up! From rank 42 upward, you're all moving on to the next round. As for those who didn't make it, don't be discouraged!" she announced firmly.
The holographic screen flickered to life again, rapidly spinning to reveal the next event.
"This is insane. They're really not giving us a break, huh?" I muttered under my breath.
Midoriya chuckled and glanced at me. "That's U.A. for you. I'm curious about the next round, though."
Just then, the screen stopped. Midnight dramatically pointed toward it as the name of the next event was revealed.
[Human Cavalry Battle]
"Huh?" I blinked in confusion, narrowing my eyes at the strange phrase. I wasn't the only one—murmurs of surprise spread among the students as they stared at the words on the screen.
Midnight smiled with that all-too-satisfied expression, clearly reveling in our confusion. Then she began explaining.
"You'll be forming teams of two to four people freely, creating a sort of human 'horse-and-rider' formation. The basic rule is the same as a standard cavalry battle: steal the headbands from your opponents."
I instinctively covered my mouth, stifling a laugh.
"That sounds kind of... indecent," I muttered under my breath.
Midnight continued unfazed. "The point value of each headband is determined by the rankings from the previous round. Rank 42 starts at 5 points, rank 41 is worth 10, and so on."
Everyone nodded, quietly absorbing the rules.
Then Midnight paused, tapping her chin as if remembering something.
"Oh... Right. Rank one is an exception."
Midoriya and I froze.
"Eh?" we said in unison.
"The first place headband is worth ten million points."
Midoriya's eyes widened to their absolute limit. His face drained of color, as if he had just heard the worst possible news.
I reached over and patted his back, letting out a quiet chuckle.
"There, there, buddy... It's going to be fine. Probably."
Slowly, he turned his head to me, voice low and uncertain.
"Probably, huh…"
***
And so, the students scattered, searching for teammates. They had exactly 15 minutes to form their teams.
Meanwhile… Midoriya stood still, gently rubbing his chin, deep in thought. His gaze wandered until it landed on Bakugo—or as he always called him, Kacchan—surrounded by classmates begging to team up with him.
"Come on, team up with me!"
Those words echoed around Bakugo, though his face remained indifferent and cold as ever.
Midoriya stayed in place, still rubbing his chin with furrowed brows.
"Damn it… At this rate, someone might target my position… Just as I thought, no one's trying to team up with students from other classes..." he murmured to himself.
He kept thinking, his mind restless.
"Who… Who could possibly be on my team? Who would even want to team up with me… Ugh..."
He let out a long sigh, almost as if giving up. But then, his body jolted when he saw me standing beside him again.
"W–Tsukasa! You haven't found a team yet?" he asked, stammering slightly.
I shook my head innocently and replied, "Nope. I was gonna team up with Todoroki earlier."
"He turned you down?" Midoriya asked again.
I nodded with a sigh. "Yeah… Thrown away like a stray kitten."
Midoriya fell silent for a moment, analyzing me from head to toe like he'd just remembered something.
"Come to think of it… Tsukasa's Quirk is insanely strong. Maybe… Todoroki saw him as a threat? Or maybe… he just couldn't deal with Tsukasa's childish nature?" he wondered to himself.
"Tsukasa! Do you want to team up with me?" he asked suddenly.
I turned to him in surprise, eyes wide, then grinned from ear to ear. Without hesitation, I lunged toward him and clung to him tightly.
"Yes!!! I dooo!!!" I shouted with glee.
Midoriya chuckled to himself.
"So childish..." he thought.
He then took a few steps forward, observing the structure of the teams forming around them.
"Deku, let's team up!"
Suddenly, Uraraka appeared behind them.
Midoriya turned to her and instantly beamed. He nearly lunged toward her, shaking her hand enthusiastically.
"Uraraka, you're the best!!! Of course, you're in!!!" he said cheerfully.
I stepped up beside them, still grinning wildly. When I saw it was Uraraka, I couldn't hold back a cheer.
"Yaaay!!! Our team is almost ready!!!" I shouted.
Midoriya rubbed his chin again, thinking.
"No… not quite."
Uraraka and I both turned to him with puzzled expressions.
"Tsukasa, do you think you can carry my weight? I'd like Uraraka to stay focused on defense—I don't want to put a heavy burden on her," he said thoughtfully.
I blinked at him, then quickly straightened my posture and saluted with all the seriousness I could muster.
"Aye aye, Captain!"
Silence.
…
"I can't."
Midoriya and Uraraka both collapsed in exasperation at my ridiculous response.