Chapter 53: Go Away Todoroki
Above them all the screens that previously showed Present Mic during the announcements now show a "First game" screen
Midnight brings attention back to herself "Without further ado, it's time for us to get started! The first game is what you call a qualifier! This is where you begin feeling the pain!" She points at them with her flogger "The first fateful game of the festival!" She sweeps her arm and a giant hologram screen appears behind her with a spinning jackpot wheel going super fast "What could it be!?"
"Anything as long as we can distance ourselves from Bakugo..." Hitomi sighs...
The wheel snaps a result into place, revealing the first game to be "Obstacle Race"
"Ta daaaa!" Midnight faces the giant screen "All eleven classes will participate in this treacherous contest, the track is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium" she raises her flogger in the air again "I don't wanna restrain anyone, at least in this game... Mm..." She licks her lips "As long as you don't leave the course you're free to do whatever your heart desires! Now then... Take your places contestants!"
The huge group start making their way to the giant exit door
Hitomi looks at Toru "Wanna work together? Shine together" she grins and extends a hand to her
"Hmm... Well I'll be average otherwise!" She takes her hand "You got a plan?"
"I do, but it all depends on one thing..." She starts pulling Toru through the crowd
"What thing is that?" She follows Hitomi's zig zag route through the horde
"This thing!" She grabs a student from behind
"Eeeep!!!" Ochaco freaks out from being grabbed! "Hitomi what are you doing!? And I'm not a thing."
"Ochaco, join us" Hitomi grips her shoulders as Toru stands next to her
Ochaco's face flushes! "H-huh!? I-I-I don't swing that way I'm sorry...!"
Both Hitomi and Toru give her a deadpan look, you can feel it from Toru
"Ha... You weren't..." She awkwardly scratches the back of her head "Oops...?"
Hitomi sighs and chuckles "Ochaco. Let us work together to pass this course?"
"Work together...? Is that allowed?" She frowns and taps a finger on her chin
Toru jumps forward "It ain't in the rules that we can't! And Miss Midnight said we're free to do whatever our hearts desire"
The three glowing green lights at the top of the door start slowly going out one by one in a countdown
"Uhh... I... Uhh..." Ochaco looks up at the countdown "Sure...!?"
Hitomi doesn't waste a moment and scoops Ochaco up in a princess carry!
"H-hey! Hitomi!?" Ochaco blushes and hides her face behind her hands
The last green light flickers...
"Ochaco focus! Use your Quirk on Toru NOW! Toru-" she faces her jealous girlfriend "Get on my back like a koala bear hugging a tree"
Ochaco uses her Quirk on Toru and the, now weightless, invisible girl clings to Hitomi's back with a giggle as a few snakes tickle her face with their tongues in greeting
The last light goes out and Midnight yells out "Begin!!"
Everybody charges forward in a mad dash! Hitomi doesn't move however... Letting people pass her like a rock in rapids
"Hitomi go!!" Ochaco hits her shoulder "She said go!"
"The tunnel is too small..." Hitomi tenses her legs "Ochaco use your Quirk when I say so"
Once people start getting stuck in the tunnel Hitomi sprints forward!! "Now!!"
Ochaco taps Hitomi's shoulder and uses her Quirk making Hitomi weightless too "Here you go!"
Hitomi jumps! With Hitomi and Toru weightless and Ochaco being lighter than Hitomi's natural weight Hitomi pulls off a super jump and glides over the heads of the students in the back like she's on the Moon "Bakugo was right!"
"What are you talking about!?" Toru wraps herself tighter around Hitomi's back
Hitomi grins as they start dropping back into the crowd "They really are stepping stones to victory!" She starts using the heads of the stuck students as stepping stones and runs through the tunnel like an anime ninja! Hopping from one to the other
"No way!!" Ochaco stares down as they dash through the tunnel "This feels like cheating!"
"This is gonna be a breeze!" Toru laughs
As she says this... A breeze starts blowing from behind them... A VERY cold breeze!
Hitomi senses a huge amount of cold gathering behind them "Shit it's Todoroki!! He's gonna freeze everyone!!" She looks for the sturdiest looking student in their path and when she spots a candidate she dashes to them and uses them as a platform to jump as high as she can! "Hold ooooon!!"
As she does she tucks her legs in and a huge blizzard slams into them from behind! The cold air pushing against them and shooting them forward through the tunnel like an air cannon
They sail through the air ahead of the sudden ice rink spreading from the mouth of the tunnel with Todoroki sprinting out and expanding it down the course
Hitomi lands and stumbles slightly as she runs... "C-cold..." The cold air making her snakes, and as a result Hitomi herself, sluggish... Todoroki rapidly gaining on them from behind is not helping the temperature
"Oh no you don't!! Ochaco close your eyes and keep em shut!!" Toru tightens her legs around Hitomi's waist and let's go with her arms! She takes off her gym shirt revealing the floating sports bra beneath "Here snakey snakey!" She wraps her warm shirt around Hitomi's head like a durag hat and bundles all the snakes inside, much to the snake's displeasure if their angry hisses are anything to go by
"Toru...! I can't see-" Toru wraps her arms back around Hitomi and yanks her bandages up and off her eyes! "Ohhhh... Ochaco keep your eyes shut no matter what!" She adjusts her footing as the warm shirt and adrenaline help push the sluggishness away
"Look!! Robots ahead!" Toru points ahead where there are a gathering of One, Two and Three pointer robots from the entrance exam...
"Don't worry I got this just hold on!" Hitomi keeps running with her long, weighted, zero gravity strides
"H-have you got those guys too...!?" Toru again points ahead to the seven towering Zero Pointer disaster-bots ahead of them
A one pointer tries to hit Hitomi but she jumps over the swing and uses it's head to spring board to launch herself forwards! Passing by the Two and Three pointers in the back and occasionally using another robot as a jump pad "Probably!?"
Ochaco gulps "P-probably!? What's going on!?" They hear Mineta scream from behind them "What was that!?"
"Just keep your eyes closed and trust me!" Hitomi keeps running towards the Zero pointers 'I trust me! I trust me! I am a Hero! I will protect these two! Because that's what Heroes do!!'
Toru looks behind them "Todoroki is still right behind us...! No wait he's stopped..." She faces forward again "Oh my god!!!!" And she sees a Zero Pointer reaching down to grab them! "Hitomi watch out!!"
"You don't exactly need to tell me that!!" She grips Ochaco tighter and looks around 'Going to the side will kill my momentum and won't guarantee safety... Can't slide under it's hand with Toru on my back... Up and over it is!'
She jumps as the Zero Pointer grabs at her and she runs up it's forearm as it ends up punching the ground "Up!" She jumps off the forearm and freefalls forward heading between it's legs "And over the hand!"
"Todoroki!!" Toru yells in panic as a cold wind starts blasting their backs
"Fuck of you one trick bastaaaard!!!" They hit the ground and Hitomi keeps running between the Zero Pointer's legs
"He's freezing the robot!!" Toru grips to Hitomi tighter
"But it's off balance!! It'll crush us!" Hitomi runs as fast as she can!
Ochaco pales "Crush us!?"
"No! It's not gonna crush us! We've already cleared i- Ahh!!" Ice spreads and covers the ground beneath Hitomi's feet! If she wasn't weightless she would have definitely fallen... However tripping into a surprise front flip is far from a desired outcome
"Guys...!?" Ochaco falls out of Hitomi's arms and tumbles roughly on the icy ground before stopping on her back "Oof...!!"
"Shit!!" Hitomi and Toru start flipping forward uncontrollably as they float diagonally upwards "Ochaco cancel your Quirk...!" She grips Toru and pulls her from her back to her front and into her embrace...
"R-release...!" Ochaco taps her finger pads together and Hitomi and Toru plumet to the ground
Hitomi turns them in the air and takes the direct hit as they land and slide a few feet in the ice... "Ooooow..."
"Hitomi!!" Toru quickly sits up and starts checking her over "Are you ok...!?"
Behind them the frozen Zero Pointer creeeeks as collapses forwards into a pile of broken robot and ice chunks
"I'm fine I'm fine..." Hitomi slowly sits up as Todoroki runs past them without even glancing their way "Less fine! Girls C'mon! Same as before!" She scrambles to her feet but slips back down "Damn!" She yanks off her shoes and socks and stands again "Now!" She tightly shuts her eyes
"Do I really need to be carried again...?" Ochaco comes over as Toru jumps back on Hitomi's back and Ochaco once again makes her weightless while closing her own eyes
"Yup!" Hitomi scoops her up again and opens her eyes "Don't make me weightless until we're off this ice" she starts running forward once again and it's not long before they're on the dirt once again and Ochaco reapplies the zero gravity to Hitomi after being told
"We're coming for you Thermostat!" They take off running once again after the distant Todoroki
"We got more robots!" As Toru yells this a swarm of One Pointers start making their way towards them
"They couldn't stop us before!" She dashes to the side around two One Pointers and uses another one as a launch pad to jump off
"Hitomi you're awesome!" Toru squeezes her and kisses her cheek as they sail through the air
She chuckles as they land and keep running "It's all training baby"
"I feel like a third wheel..." Ochaco sighs from Hitomi's arms
Up ahead of them Todoroki skates past the Zero Pointer wall as they themselves get close
Hitomi grins "Almost there girls!"
As she says this a series of explosions can be heard as multiple explosive canon balls fly from far behind them and snipe vital components of the Zero Pointers, causing them to tip to the side and begin to fall
"Oh give me a freekin' break!!" Hitomi changes her course and runs diagonally away from the exit in order to loop around a falling giant "Whoever did that is dead to me!" She runs back towards the exit after clearing the Robot's impact zone
"Hitomi they're gaining on us!" Toru sees Bakugo and Tokoyami come over the top of a Zero Pointer behind them
"It's fine! This isn't the end of the course it's only the begining" she dashes through the exit of the area and continues on along the path to their next obstacle "How are you two doing?"
"I'm good!" Toru holds up a thumbs up "I can handle a bumpy ride"
Ochaco rubs her stomach "A bit queasy... But I'm still ok!" She pumps her fists
"You both do the Hero course proud girls!" She grins as she runs "Get back here Todoroki!!"