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A My Hero Academia Fanfiction: Age of Heroes Chapter 14 The Cavalry Battle

by RVasil

Kinus stood there in the middle of the field. "Okay, Kinus...you can do this..." The dragon looked around, scratching his chin thoughtfully. He had two ways to solve this problem. He either had to build a team of his own and hopefully succeed, or he could join a team of students he knew would have a high chance of winning. Both options were viable and had their own respective pros and cons.

The dragon opted to try the former.

Kinus went around, looking for a familiar face. It was a tough challenge. Majority of Class 1A seemed to have been busy crowding around Bakugo and was practically begging the boy to take them in as members for his team. The dragon didn't have to think of the reason why and continued looking.

That was when he spotted Tokoyami.

Kinus's face lit up. If there was anyone he knew he was compatible with, it was the black bird. "Tokoyami, do you want to..." But just as quickly as it formed, Kinus's hopes were crushed. The bird was being approached by Midoriya, and visibly looked like he was already agreeing to Midoriya's plan.

Dread began to creep up on the dragon's soul. This was bad. Everyone around him was quickly forming up and if he didn't find anyone fast, he was going be dealt a bad hand. That was the LAST THING he wanted right now. At this point, the dragon abandoned forming a team of his own. It was time for plan B, and that was to join a team that had a good range of Quirks.

Midoriya's team was out of the question for obvious reasons. The competition was already hard. He wasn't interested in making it any more harder. Bakugo had already selected his group of chosen members and the students who were fighting over him had now partnered up by themselves.

The boy tried to look around, but it would seem his team found him.

"Hazani."

The dragon felt a hand on his shoulder. Kinus turned around.7

"Do you have a team yet?"

It was none other than Ojiro. The boy was smiling at him. The dragon shook his head in response. "Unfortunately, no."

The boy grinned. "Perfect! Do you want to team up? I'm still looking for teammates myself.

At the very least, he was teaming up with someone he was already familiar with. "Sure thing."

"That's great," Ojiro responded. "I'm sure we can work something out, afterall, we both know how each other operates."

"That's true, but we're still lacking. If we want to stand a chance in this competition, we need to have more people with us," Kinus answered, his mind beginning to analyze their situation.

"Who do you think we should have on the team?" Ojiro asked, looking around. "The rest of our classmates seem to have partnered up already. I'm lucky I still found you. I thought for sure you would have partnered up with Tokoyami already."

Kinus chuckled. "Yeah, well, Midoriya got to him. That and I'm not in the business of making things anymore harder for myself as it is." The dragon's tail coiled around him instinctively. "I wonder who else should we have."

That was when someone walked up to them.

"Hey," he voiced out.

Kinus and Ojiro turned their heads to see none other than a student from General Studies. The dragon recognized him as none other than the guy who declared war on them just a few weeks back. The boy ruffled his frizzy hair and looked back at the two of them with expectant eyes. "The name's Shinso. Are you guys interested in teaming up?"

Kinus and Ojiro glanced at each other. Was this the right call?

"Look, I know I declared war on you guys the other week, but it's clear that we need to put that aside for now. We're all trying to get to Top 16, right?" Shinso reasoned. Kinus had to agree, the boy had a point. "I already have someone with me." The boy pointed to a the other student standing next to him, who waved meekly back at them. There was something about the boy that was off to Kinus, but at the current moment, he couldn't put a finger on it.

"If you two team up with Shoda and I, I'm sure we can sail through this stage of the competition easily. What do you say?"

The two Class 1A students glanced at each other once again. Kinus's eyes darted briefly around them. It seemed that everyone was finalizing their teams. It would have been futile to try to find other stragglers around at this point in time. The dragon didn't like it, but admittedly, he had no other choice. If it was just him and Ojiro, it would have been too difficult for just the both of them. Teaming up seemed like the right thing to do.

Both he and Ojiro nodded. "Fine. We're in."

Shinso smiled gleefully. "Good."

It was then at that point that Kinus kind of just felt out of it. One moment, he was standing there, and then the next thing he knew, he felt...nothing. His body was standing on solid ground, yet his mind felt like it was falling off of a tall cliff, seemingly descending into an endless void of dark, inky black depths. Before Kinus could even realize what was going on, all sensations of the five senses seemingly lost connection with him.

The sounds of the stadium droned out into a silently deafening white noise. His vision of everything swirled into a murky, hazyview, giving him flashes of what looked like movement in front of his eyes.. It was like trying to understand abstract images brought to the forefront of his spinning mind. His sense of touch lost connection with his body.

Kinus felt like he was floating in an endless black void, hearing, seeing, tasting, and feeling nothing at all.

It was both calmly therapeutic, yet scarily unnerving. His body felt tired, his eyes drooping sleepily, yet his mind was oddly wide awake. Any thought that crossed the dragon's mind was buzzed out of existence, in favor of this dull, static voice that told him what to do, and where to go, yet he couldn't process the words into things that made sense to him. It was like everything just stopped making sense, and yet made sense both at the same time. If this was what being on drugs was like, the dragon wasn't sure if he liked this at all or not.

But just as quickly as it happened, it immediately ended.

The loud booming sound of Present Mic's voice brought Kinus back down to reality.

"In 3rd place is Team TetsuTetsu...wait, what?! It's Team Shinso! When did they come back from the dead?"

"What in the world just happened?" Kinus muttered out, feeling slightly dazed. His legs felt like jelly, and he was slightly disoriented. "Am I hearing things right? Are we in third place?" Questions buzzed in Kinus's head faster than he could answer them. It was like his mind could move again. He could finally think. He could finally hear himself think. His body felt like his again. "How in the world are we in third place?" the dragon cried out, looking at his fellow companions. Shoda was standing at the side, an unfathomable expression on his face. Ojiro was the one who looked as bewildered as he was.

"Thanks for all your help," Shinso said, walking away from the rest of them. A part of Kinus wanted to ask the boy what the hell did he do, but another part of him somewhat feared the boy. Maybe it was for the best to NOT interact with him for now, as Kinus's mind told him. The dragon felt violated.

"In fourth place, we have Team Midoriya! These four valiant teams will move on to the final round!"

Kinus surveyed his surroundings. The field filled with students that were teaming up with one another that was like minutes ago, was now ravaged with ice everywhere. It seemed Todoroki wreaked havoc at the field. Bakugo was fuming at the side, with a Kirishima who was visibly comforting him. Todoroki and his group was at one corner, looking visibly pleased with themselves. Then there was Midoriya's Team, standing triumphantly at another side. The green haired boy was crying his heart out, upon hearing that they got fourth place.

"What in the world did we miss?" Kinus asked, still utterly baffled at the events that transpired.

"Now, let's take an hour lunch break before we start the afternoon festivities! See you soon! Hey Eraserhead, let's grab some food."

"I'm taking a nap."

"Ojiro..." Kinus said, glancing at his friend who looked visibly frustrated. "What happened?"

Ojiro glanced back at him, a mixture of anger, frustration, and most dominantly, confusion was etched on his face. "I don't know, Hazani. I'm just in the dark as you are." His eyes then darted towards Shinso who was exiting the field, clearly eager to get some lunch. "But I'm sure that Shinso had something to do with it."

"That guy is dangerous. I think he messed with our minds or something..." Kinus muttered, holding his head. "It's like someone turned off my brain for a moment. I was there but not...really?"

"I'm the same as you," Ojiro added. He then shrugged.

"Hazani," came a voice.

Kinus turned his head to see Tokoyami walking up to him, a content smile on his face. "Oh, hey Tokoyami," he answered, smiling back at him. "Congratulations on getting fourth place, that must have been something, huh?"

"It was. Fighting off Todoroki was a definite challenge. We tried to protect the ten million points, but unfortunately they got the best of us," he answered, sounding a bit disappointed.

"You guys lost the ten million points?!" Kinus blurted out, surprised upon hearing this turn of events.

Tokoyami however, blinked, taken aback at the sudden outburst. "Y-yes. Did you not know? Present Mic was commentating about it quite lively."

"Y-yeah...about that..." Ojiro said. "We don't remember much of what happened."

"What? Seriously?"

Kinus nodded upon seeing Tokoyami's concern look at him. "Let's talk about this over lunch."

The Lunch Rush Cafeteria was alive and well, with the chatter of students filling the large room. Some were chatting with their friends, recounting their experience so far in the entire Sports Festival. Others were just catching up, and happy to take a break from the otherwise exhausting activity. Kinus found himself sitting at one of the empty tables, with the rest of Class 1A joining them soon after, each embroiled within their own topic of conversation.

"So, what happened?" Tokoyami asked, getting quickly straight to the point. The bird had been kind enough to not press the matter of asking what happened during the Cavalry Battle on their way to the cafeteria. He sensed that both Kinus and Ojiro needed time to collect their thoughts.

"Even I'm not sure, Tokoyami," he answered. "It was like...it was like I wasn't myself," the dragon responded, sounding like he himself was having trouble believing his own words.

"Huh," the bird responded, clearly sounding skeptical.

"I know it's sounds far fetched but like..." The dragon tried to recount what he could at least remember. "Ojiro and I were talking, thinking about who we should have as part of our team, and then Shinso and this other student walks up to us. He asks if he wants us to be part of his team."

"And you agreed?"

"I mean, yeah," Kinus responded. "I would have preferred to be teamed up with someone I was familiar with. I thought about you, but Midoriya already got to you first. At that point, we were running out of time so we just decided to go with it. It was better than just being the two of us, right? So we both said yes and then..." The dragon shook his head, visibly shivering at the thought that he couldn't remember anything anymore. "Nothing. Just nothing. I don't remember anything at all."

"Did you pass out or something?" Tokoyami asked, trying to make sense of what the boy was telling him.

"No. Yes?" Kinus was even confusing himself. "All I know is, it felt like I was lucid dreaming. I was somewhat aware of everything going on, but not aware enough to fully understand it all. By the time I woke up, Present Mic was announcing that we were in third place!"

Tokoyami scratched his chin, thinking thoughtfully. "Do you think that Shinso did that then?"

Kinus stared at his food, wondering if the answer to the question was buried somewhere in the bowl of Katsudon he ordered. "Ojiro thinks so, and I'm inclined to agree with him."

Just then, the boy in mind joined them in the table, seating across from Kinus. "I take it you've told him already?" Ojiro said, glancing at Tokoyami.

"I have," Kinus answered.

"It's a bit far fetched, but then again, you two have no reason to lie," Tokoyami reasoned. "Either way, it just shows that we shouldn't underestimate these students we're up against. Quirks can be a mysterious thing after all."

"If there's one thing for sure, it probably has something to with talking to him," Ojiro said. Kinus noted that the boy's fist was clenching in a show of anger. "It only happened when we opened our mouths." He huffed.

"W-well..." Kinus responded, raising his hands up in an effort to try and calm Ojiro. "What's done is done, I suppose. At least we're moving to the next round, right?" At the very least, Kinus was looking at the positive side of things.

"True..." Ojiro answered back, sounding a bit dejected. He turned to his food, his expression looking more withdrawn as he ate his lunch. It seemed that what had happened weighed heavily on his mind.

Kinus turned to his meal, doing his best to look at the positive to get his groove back in the game. He was in Top 16 and that was a big thing. He was one step closer to actually winning the Sports Festival. "So, how about you?" Kinus said, trying to start conversation. "How did the fight go on your end?"

Tokoyami swallowed his meal. "Hectic," he answered. "Trying to fend off everyone was quite a challenge. Thankfully, Midoriya proved to be a capable leader."

Kinus smiled. "Well that's good. I'm sure the crowd was in a rollercoaster of emotion throughout the entire thing."

"Oh they were," he answered. "Dark Shadow was loving the fact that he could finally show off."

That was when Dark Shadow crept up from under the table and nestled on Kinus's lap. "You should have seen me, dragon boy," he said ecstatically. "The crowd loves me!"

The dragon couldn't help but give the shadow beast a light scratch under the chin and a rubbing on the head. "I wish I could have seen it then," Kinus responded. "I'm sure they'll be happy to see you again in Top 16."

Dark Shadow purred and gently receded back into Tokoyami's form. "I thought I told him to get some rest..." the bird muttered.

That was when Mineta and Kaminari walked up to the table, having seemingly finished their lunches early.

"Yaoyorozu, Jiro," Kaminari began.

"Did you need something?" Jiro asked.

"Well, I'm sure you already know since you're a class representative and all," Mineta added, turning around to point to a group of girls who happened to pass by. "But they said all the girls would have to wear the cheerleading outfits for the big cheer battle this afternoon."

"What?" Yaoyorozu asked. "This is the first time I'm hearing about it. Hazani, did Iida tell you about this?"

The dragon perked up upon hearing his name. "Well no, not really. I'm sure I would have been given a letter in regards to that." He scratched his chin, trying to remember. His eyes darted over to Mineta who looked like he was sweating. The dragon's brow rose skeptically. What were these two up to?

Quickly thinking of something, Mineta then responded, "you don't have to believe me, but we heard it straight from Mr. Aizawa. I thought maybe you'd forgotten, so I'd tell you just in case. Besides, it was a last minute thing, or so I've heard, which is why the paperwork wasn't quickly filed for it for Hazani to read over."

Kaminari was nodding along in a show of approval.

"I don't trust them," Tokoyami muttered to Kinus, and the dragon agreed in response.

"Excuse me, you guys, I want to go take a walk," Ojiro said, standing up. He took his tray with him, and cleaned up.

"Oh, okay," Kinus said, watching the boy walk off. His tail wasn't as raised as it normally were, a sure sign that something was bothering Ojiro. Kinus could only surmise that the entire Cavarly Fight was still weighing heavily on his mind.

"How about you?" Tokoyami said, turning to face him. "Do you want Recovery Girl to check on you or something?"

"I'm fine," Kinus answered. "I feel fine." The dragon's eyes looked up and he saw a dash of Ojiro's blond hair amidst the crowd before exiting Lunch Rush Cafe. He sighed. "I'm going to go check on him," he inevitably decided, finishing the last pieces of his meal.

The bird nodded, and continued eating his meal.

Kinus easily weaved through the crowd, and eventually back outside. His eyes darted back and forth, in an effort to find his distraught friend. It took a little bit of searching, but eventually, Kinus found him. The sad Class 1A student was seated on one of the benches outside the stadium, staring at the ground like it owed him money.

"Ojiro."

The boy looked up, and a gentle smile tugged at the corner of his face. "Oh, Hazani, what's up?"

"You alright?" Kinus asked, sitting next to him on the bench.

He was about to answer, when a group of civilians happened to pass by. They were all enjoying their newly bought food items from the nearby stalls. One of the adults glanced at their direction and recognized their faces.

"Hey, you guys are Class 1A, right?"

"Yeah, we are," Kinus answered, smiling at them.

"You two got into Top 16, right? Great job!" the adult said, "do your best out there. My son's rooting for you." Just to emphasize his point, the young dragon that was shyly hiding between his father's legs, waved at Kinus.

"Thanks," Kinus responded, "I hope I don't disappoint."

The group continued onwards, leaving the two boys by their lonesome once more.

Ojiro sighed. "This just doesn't feel right."

The dragon's brow rose. "What is? Us getting into Top 16?"

"Yeah!" Ojiro remarked. "I mean, don't get me wrong, getting this far into the competition, when everyone is giving it their all, should feel like an achievement!" The boy's expression then fell. "But it doesn't."

"What on earth makes you say that?"

"I was hoping that I would be able to show people what I can do, " Ojiro reasoned. "I want to move past the competition through my own volition. Through my own successes..." The boy's fist clenched. "I can't do this, Hazani. I can't accept being handed this spot. It doesn't belong to me."

Kinus glanced at the boy. "You think that because you had no control over what happened back at the cavalry battle, that you don't deserve the victory that was handed to you?"

"Yes," Ojiro spat out. "I want to win...or lose...and have it be all on me."

The dragon glanced at him, sensing the conflict the boy was having. He wasn't even sure of what to say to him.

"I'm thinking of dropping out."

Kinus blinked, surprised at what his friend was saying. "What?"

"I'm thinking of dropping out," Ojiro repeated, a bit more forcefully time, as if trying to convince himself of what he was saying. "I don't want to win like this."

The dragon reached out, putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "Are you sure about this, Ojiro? I mean, you can always make up for it by going all out in the Top 16."

The boy thought for a bit, and for moment, Kinus wondered if he wasn't going to push through with his decision. But eventually, his decision remained the same. "I'm sure. It would feel like a hollow victory for me," Ojiro responded. His eyes then glanced at Kinus. "How about you?"

Kinus leaned back on the chair. "In a competition where everyone has something to prove, I understand why it feels utterly wrong to be handed a win you didn't worked hard for." The dragon looked ahead. "I share the same sentiment and feel guilty in being given an easy pass. I don't like taking credit for something I didn't do." He then shrugged and sighed. "But what's done is done. I'm instead just going to push myself to do even better in the Top 16 to make up for it." He smiled at Ojiro. "Besides..." The dragon's eyes darted towards a certain individual who was coming over towards them. "I made a promise to someone and I don't want to break that."

"Hazani, Ojiro," Tokoyami spoke up, announcing his presence. "We should get back onto the field. Lunch is about to be over anyways."

"Now that lunch is over, it's finally time to reveal the last game! But before that, I have some good news for the people who didn't make into the finals," Present Mic announced, his voice blaring once again over the speakers. Since this IS a Sports Festival, we've prepared recreational games that everyone can participate in! We even brought some real cheerleaders from America to liven things up!"

Kinus glanced at the side of the field and sure enough, saw the cheerleaders from another country doing their routine, cheering them on as they went back into the center of the stadium. But that was when his eyes drifted over to another group of students.

That was when Kinus noticed something. He briefly looked around. "Hey guys, where are the girls?"

Everyone else looked around, realizing that a part of their class was missing. "That's odd," Iida muttered. "I remember specifically reminding everyone to be back here at this time."

"Hey guys! We're here!"

Everyone turned their heads, and were all greeted with the sight of the missing students.

"Looks like Class 1A is going full on fan service!" Present Mic cheekily announced.

The girls of Class 1A were all wearing the same cheerleading outfits the US cheerleaders had, and it accentuated their features quite prominently. Kinus found himself staring for a brief moment, before quickly realizing he shouldn't and averted his gaze entirely. "So this was what that was all about..." he muttered to himself, glancing at the two boys at the side who were snickering to themselves. Mineta and Kaminari were soaking it all in for all it was worth.

It didn't take long for the girls to realize they were duped. "MINETA! KAMINARI! YOU TRICKED US DIDN'T YOU?!" Yaoyorozu cried out, visibly fuming from amongst the girls.

What resulted was the girls all ganging up on the two boys in particular, giving them a piece of their minds. Kinus just shook his head.

"Have fun competing in these little side games, everyone!" Present Mic continued, "when that's over, the sixteen from the four teams that made it to the final round will be duking it out in a one on one tournament style competition!" Kinus glanced up at the large monitors above and saw their pictures flash one by one. The crowd cheered, each competitor clearly earning some fans from the audience.

"Oh yeah! We finally have a chance to show everyone what we're made of!" Kirishima said, speaking out loud. His excitement was contagious. "I'm finally getting to stand on the stage that I watch every year on TV!"

"Is it always a tournament?" Ashido asked.

"The finals are always one on one, but they switch up every time," Sero responded. "Last year, it was a foam sword fighting match!"

"Oh I remember that," Kinus added, fondly remembering the tournament. "Those foam swords still looked painful even though they were basically toys!"

Midnight appeared on stage. "Your placing in the bracket will be randomly selected. Once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational games as an intermission. The sixteen finalist have the option of participating in the games, or using the time instead to relax, strategize and mentally prepare themselves for the final stage in the competition." She smiled, snapping her fingers and the familiar screen materialized behind her. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

"Um, excuse me."

Kinus turned his head and saw Ojiro raise his hand. "Are you sure about this?" he dared to ask him again, one final time.

The boy glanced at the dragon and nodded. "I've put some thought into this, but I'm withdrawing."

Naturally, everyone was taken aback at the sudden turn of events. Midoriya and Iida were the first to speak up.

"No way!" Midoriya cried out.

"But this is rare chance for you to be scouted," Iida added.

"Hazani has tried to convince me, but I've already made up my mind. It just wouldn't be right. I barely remember anything at all in the cavalry battle until the very end of it." His eyes darted to Shinso. "I think it was that guy's Quirk." Shinso remained quiet however. "I know that this is a great chance and all, but my conscience won't let me."

"You're making too much of this. Just kill it in the finals and prove that you should be here," Midoriya reasoned.

"That's not it," Ojiro responded, feeling frustrated. "I'm talking about my pride here! I refuse to give that up!"

That was when another voice joined the fray. "Nirengeki Shoda, from Class 1B. I want to withdraw for the exact same reason. Regardless of how strong I am, this isn't how i want to get here."

"These guys! They're so manly!" Kirishima blurted out, doing his best to keep his composure as he was on the verge of tears from what he was seeing.

Iida turned to Kinus. "How about you, Hazani? You were on the same team as Ojiro. Are you dropping out as well?"

Kinus felt everyone's eyes on him at that very moment. He could sense that his classmates from Class 1A all wanted him to stay on board. Ojiro placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you already told me, but you really should stay, Hazani. Regardless of how we feel, that shouldn't impact your decision making."

The dragon nodded. "I'm staying. I don't like it as much as Ojiro, but right now, I'll just make the best of it."

"Oh thank goodness," Midoriya added, sounding relieved to hear his decision.

"Youthful talk like that is something..." Midnight spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention. "THAT TURNS ME ON! Shoda, Ojiro! You're withdrawn."

The R rated hero's word choice however got stuck on everyone's minds. "Did she say it turns her on?"

"So let's see here..." Midnight said, scratching her chin. "We'll have to move up one students from the fifth place cavalry battle team instead."

While Midnight and the rest of the students were sorting themselves out, Ojiro grabbed Kinus's attention. "I know you know this already, but be careful around Shinso, alright?"

The dragon nodded. "I'll make sure he won't get me again that easily."

"It probably has something to do with talking to him," Ojiro deducted. It was clear that he had put a lot of thought into this. "There's no other way he could have done that to us otherwise."

"Alright! It looks like it has been decided! Since Kendo and her team are giving up their spot, it seems that Tetsutetsu and Kamakiri will be moving on to Top 16." Midnight cracked her whip. "If no one else has any interjections, let's look at the updated brackets, shall we?"

The screen flashed, and began to display the matchups that would be leading Top 16. The crowd cheered as the typical tournament style bracket tree made itself evident, holding the various names of the students, and who they were facing. Kinus noted that the sixteen students were equally distributed into two blocks, with eight students each. It was designed so that the Grand Finals match would pitch the winner of Block A and Block B against one another.

"Whoa..." Mineta commented. "Is this for real?"

Sero gulped. "Wow, this is something."

Kinus's eyes carefully poured over the bracket, reading it out loud. "Block A has Shinso and Midoriya, Todoroki and Sero, Iida and Hatsume, and Bakugo and Uraraka." Sounds of surprise and a few gasps here and there emanated from the crowd as they all realized who was pitted against who. Even Kinus couldn't believe his eyes. If they were all in the same block then that meant only one thing.

A Class 1B student voiced his disbelief for him. "It looks like Class 1A's heavy hitters are going to eat each other alive."

Kinus turned back to the bracket, looking at Block B to find out his place. "Block B has me against Kamakiri, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, Kaminari and Ashido, and Yaoyorozu versus..." His eyes darted to the black bird standing next to him. "Tokoyami."

Tokoyami smirked, eyes glancing at him knowingly.

Kinus just smiled back, having no need for words to respond to his friend.

The bird turned to his would be opponent, Yaoyorozu. "I'll give it my all."

The girl was caught off guard by the sudden sentiment, but nonetheless returned it. "Good, that's all that I asked of you," she replied back.

Present Mic's voice then chimed in, saying, "Alright! With the brackets finally set, let's take a moment to take a break and enjoy some side games!"

Kinus walked over to Tokoyami. "Are you going to join in the side games?"

The bird shook his head. "I'm abstaining from this one. I'm going to use this chance to rest, and mentally prepare myself for the upcoming challenges ahead." His eyes focused on Kinus. "I apologize, Hazani, but I would like to be alone for now. I'm sure you can understand why."

The dragon nodded. "I get you," he responded. "See you back at the stands, alright?"

"Likewise."

With that, the black bird walked away, heading off the field and back inside the stadium. While the idea of joining in on the recreational games was a tempting on, Kinus opted out of it. He too, made his way off the field, excusing himself from the rest of his classmates. Tokoyami was right. The Obstacle Race and the Cavalry Battle were nothing more than a warmup. The Top 16 one on one matches were the highlight of the Sports Festival, and it was obvious that this was where everyone was going to take out all the stops.

Kinus took a deep breath.

"I'm going to make you proud, dad."

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*Author's Notes: *

SO YEAH~ I kind of skipped out on the Cavalry Fight. Okay, okay, hear me out first before you guys start calling me hack or something. ORIGINALLY, I didn't plan on doing so. I actually HAVE an ALTERNATE Chapter 14 written up on Google Drive where Kinus goes and does the cavalry fight. As my personal twist on things, I would've had him ended up partnering with none other than Todoroki's Team. Yes. He would have partnered with Todoroki, Iida, and Yaoyorozu, and then it would play out, much like how the episode goes, except this time, with my own spin and flair on things.

I would have shown the obviously great Quirk synergy Todoroki and Kinus had. Icy hot boy would basically give Kinus unlimited water, and he would just stonewall everyone with pillars of ice, or something like that. At some point, I even had Kinus creating a TSUNAMI of water because of the sheer amount of liquid he could work with.

Would it have been a bit OP? Yeah, it was. Was it cool though? Yeah, it definitely was. XD

Ultimately, I decided against it. 14 pages of scrapped content. Why? I wrote it while I was sick, so the quality was somewhat all over the place, and admittedly, it felt uninspired. Kinus shines in 1v1 combat, due to his Quirk and the skills he possess. I'm sure you've read the fight scenes I've had involving him. The cavalry battle is a great place to showcase teamwork, and would prove been a great exercise in creativity as to what I could do with someone like Kinus, who's primarily a melee fighter. Unfortunately, I just couldn't come up with anything that would be actually interesting, outside of what the episode already showed. The idea with Todoroki and Kinus was a good one, but felt pale compared to what canonically happens.

So I just decided to start over. After asking fellow writer friends, I decided to go with what you see now. Still, it's a fun interpretation of getting mindjacked, am I right?

And, hey, if you're interested in reading the Alternate Chapter 14, just PM me and I can share the link :D

That said, Top 16! Yes, I changed up the brackets because why the hell not? Thankfully, majority of the plot related stuff in the Sports Fest takes place on the Block A side, so I just dumped all of them there so I can let Kinus and his fights breathe for a bit without having to worry a bit too much of canon. XD

Hope you guys like the fights I have in store. This is going to be fun!