"EHHHH?! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! I COULDN'T SEE A THING!! THAT WAS INSANELY FAST!!" Present Mic's voice exploded through the speakers, his face a picture of shock, mouth hanging wide open.
Meanwhile… behind the chaos, thick black smoke billowed from Iida's Engine Quirk.
"I can convert my engines into a blast-propulsion system," Iida explained, his voice calm but laced with intensity. "It works like a makeshift explosive thrust—powerful, but it temporarily destroys the engine. It's my ultimate technique… one I've never told anyone about."
A cold, proud smile curved his lips. "I told you, didn't I, Midoriya? I'll be the one to challenge you head-on!" And with that, his team surged forward—leaving us in their dust.
"CHASE THEM!!" Midoriya's voice cracked with emotion, panic written all over his face.
"As long as Kaminari's there, we won't be able to mount a proper offense," Takoyami warned. "We should aim for another team's points instead."
Midoriya shook his head furiously. Then—his legs moved. Fast.
"No good, Takoyami. I've been watching closely... for some reason, all the other teams' headbands have vanished—stolen, but by who, I don't know."
Our footsteps pounded the ground harder and faster. Uraraka, her face pale and still a little dizzy, raised her voice.
"LET'S TAKE IT BACK, DEKU!!"
Midoriya's eyes widened. Then he looked ahead—at Todoroki's back—with renewed resolve.
"She's right... it's not just my points out there," he thought. "Those are our points. Mine. Tsukasa's. Takoyami's. Uraraka's."
"Tsukasa!!" Midoriya shouted.
Without hesitation, I raised my arm—my stance tight, like a pitcher mid-throw.
"Haku-joudai!!"
The spirit shot forward like lightning, straight toward Todoroki's team. Caught off-guard, Todoroki extended his arm, raising a wall of ice—but Hakujoudai sliced right through it.
"YAOYOROZU!!" Todoroki called out, panic now in his voice.
"I can't!!" Yaoyorozu shouted. "My shield can't block spiritual attacks!!"
Hakujoudai appeared right in front of them—and in that instant, our team switched places with it.
"MIDORIYA! NOW! TAKE IT!!"
Hearing my voice, Midoriya activated his Quirk, arm stretching out to grab Todoroki's headband. Todoroki's eyes flared—his hand burst into flame, ready to strike back with his fire Quirk.
But then—
The bell rang.
That final, blaring chime.
Midoriya's hand froze mid-reach.
We were... too late.
***
Midoriya froze, unable to move. His breath caught in his throat.
"Deku..." Uraraka whispered gently, watching him stand there in stunned silence.
And then… tears began to fall from his eyes.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, everyone..." he muttered weakly, his voice trembling. We helped him down slowly, his body slumping to the ground as he let out a deep, shuddering breath.
"It's okay, Deku," Uraraka said, trying her best to sound cheerful, though her voice wavered with sorrow. "We'll... get another chance."
Takoyami cleared his throat lightly. "Sorry to interrupt your touching moment."
We all turned toward him, confused—only to see him casually pointing toward his Quirk, Dark Shadow. And clamped between Dark Shadow's shadowy jaws was... a headband. One marked with 615 points.
"Ever since your first strike, Todoroki's been on edge," Takoyami explained calmly. "Of course, I wanted that ten-million-point headband too. But this... this is more than enough. It's all thanks to you, Midoriya—because you created the perfect opening."
Midoriya's tears returned, falling harder this time—yet his expression shifted to one of disbelief... then quiet gratitude.
Present Mic's voice boomed out, full of excitement as he stood before the scoreboard.
[ALRIGHT EVERYONE—TIME TO ANNOUNCE FIRST PLACE... CONGRATULATIONS TO... TEAM MIDORIYA!!!]
The words hit like thunder.
Todoroki's eyes widened. He quickly looked up, staring at the screen—his team's name sat in second place.
"WHAT?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!" he shouted, frantically rummaging through the headbands his team had collected. His eyes darted, searching—searching for the one headband worth ten million.
But it wasn't there.
"Looking for this?" I asked calmly.
He turned. And there it was—dangling from my hand, held effortlessly between just my thumb and index finger. A subtle smile curved my lips.
"No way..." Todoroki's voice cracked with disbelief. "How... How could you have...?"
I shrugged. "You forgot, didn't you, Todoroki? I have two spiritual companions."
And then—emerging from the shadows behind Todoroki—Kakujoudai revealed itself, its form shimmering into view after being completely camouflaged.
Todoroki's eyes shot wide, as did his teammates'. All of them gasped.
"K-Kakujoudai..." Todoroki gritted his teeth. "Damn it!! I should've realized... Tsukasa was only using Hakujoudai this whole time... and Kakujoudai hasn't been by his side at all…"
He clenched his fists, rage swirling behind his composed face.
I stepped closer, letting out a quiet chuckle. "You're right, Todoroki...
We're just on a whole different level."