Chapter Text
Ochako stepped forward as her name was called. Although she was certain that Deku had passed, the fact that they didn’t know the results of the previous heat made her slightly anxious. However, now was not the time to worry about anyone else. She took a deep breath to steady herself, and focused on the task before her. She needed to advance. She wanted to make it further than last year, not by relying on Deku, but by being strong on her own. She ran quickly into the maze as soon as the whistle was blown.
Ochako knew that the first stage of the maze was about speed. If she got to the checkpoint first, she could choose her partner from the ones left. Even if one or two pairs left the checkpoint before her, she should prioritize teaming up with someone she was compatible with. There were only three other students from her class in this heat, and Ochako would take any one of them over someone who was strong, but had no experience working with her.
Coming around a corner, Ochako saw an Ectoplasm clone blocking her path, but she didn’t slow her pace. She tackled him head-on, avoiding his attack efficiently as she circled him. By staying close to his body as she moved, she successfully caught him off balance, and tackled him to the ground before continuing further into the maze.
She turned again, running into a dead-end before turning around to find a new path. It had been three minutes by now. There was no way of knowing how long this stage of the exam was supposed to take. There had been roughly twenty minutes between the first and the second heat, but Ochako was sure that the second half would be harder. She wanted to get this part done in five minutes.
The ectoplasm clones were endless, and Ochako slowed her running pace slightly to avoid burning out too quickly. Finally, she saw something ahead which could only be the checkpoint, and she grinned widely, closing in on the first goal. She was almost there when she was forced to leap back, a round rock suddenly appearing to block the exit. It wasn’t much unlike those obstacles one would find in a video game, but as Ochako assessed how to approach the problem, a voice spoke.
“What pulls, but never hurts?”
Ochako furrowed her brow. A riddle? She wasn’t good with riddles, but it seemed that she had to answer if she wanted the rock to move.
“What pulls, but never hurts?” The voice asked again, and Ochako turned the phrase over in her head. Was it philosophical? Love? Probably not. Ochako looked at the rock again. Now that it had been there for a while, it didn’t look that big. Though she hadn’t wanted to use her quirk for something this big to avoid hitting her weight limit to early, heroes needed to be flexible. Why should she let a riddle stop her from getting rid of an obstacle that normally wouldn’t deter her in the slightest.
“What pulls, but never hurts?” The voice asked again, but this time Ochako simply ignored it, touching her fingertips to the rock as she made it float up, releasing her ability as she entered the clearing.
She caught sight of someone running into the second of five paths, but didn’t get to identify who before Cementoss closed it up, leaving four options open. That probably meant that Ochako was the third to make it to the checkpoint. In the worst case scenario, there was only one person left from her class, and Ochako hoped that they would get here quickly.
It was two minutes before someone joined her at the checkpoint, and the two of them locked eyes, before Cementoss spoke: “Will you two continue together?”
“No,” they both answered in agreement, and Ochako sent an apologetic glance towards Shishida, “No offense.”
“None taken,” he replied respectfully, and went to inspect the open paths as they waited for another student to make it to the checkpoint.
The waiting was excruciating and the minutes ticked by, while Ochako could do nothing. It was slightly comforting that she wasn’t waiting alone, but it was of no comfort when the next person to arrive was Class B’s Tokage. She and Shishida quickly formed a team, and decided on the fourth path, leaving open the foggy path, the gap of death and one suspiciously empty one. Thankfully, it wasn’t long until someone else appeared, and Ochako found her smile again.
“Shinsho-kun!” She exclaimed in joy.
“Uraraka-san,” he greeted, before Cementoss asked if they would form a team. They both agreed and chose the middle path.
Ochako and Shinsho made a good team, as the two of them shared many skills. With neither of them using their quirks, both relied on physical strength, technique and wit to get by. Both of them were accustomed to working in teams, and often with each other as well, so cooperative exercises and obstacles were a breeze for them. Ochako knew she would not have had an easy time working with Shishida, and was happy to have waited for Shinso to come along.
They seemed to be nearing the end when the path widened, but found the exit of maze blocked by a figure very familiar to Ochako.
“Nejire-chan!” Ochako said in shock. Their senpai, now a fully-fledged pro-hero, was smiling at them, hands on her hips, serving as their final obstacle.
“Long time, no see,” Nejire laughed, although, through her happy exterior, it was clear that she was eyeing Shinso. If she knew of his power, it would be harder to get past her, and since Shinso wasn’t equipped with his voice-changing device, it would be difficult for them to trick her.
“I don’t suppose that you will just let us pass, senpai?” Ochako asked, just to keep the conversation going. Perhaps, if she kept talking, Nejire wouldn’t hold back if Shinso asked a question. She loved to chat after all. Ochako exchanged a look with her partner, and Shinso understood the plan that was forming in her head. Shinso only had one chance to use his quirk, so they had to choose the right time to ask Nejire a question.
“If three other teams pass before you, I’ll let you go,” She laughed again, but before she had finished talking, Ochako and Shinso jumped forward, going on the attack.
Due to the nature of Nejire’s quirk, making her float would likely only give them a second to act, as it would send her off balance for a moment. Ochako would only use her quirk on her, if she was close to the exit, but they would need to force her that way first. However, if they could get her under Shinso’s control, that would be the easiest way for them to win.
“It’s a shame that you didn’t place as high as Amajiki-senpai in the hero rankings,” Ochako tried, hoping to provoke Nejire a little, even if she was unsure how to go about it. She had hardly ever seen her flustered, but she had to try.
She laughed again at Ochako’s poor provocation, “Tamaki certainly didn’t like it.”
Nejire was now flying, still between them and the exit, but just high enough for neither Shinso or Ochako to reach her without having to leap up themselves. Shinso shot her a look, and Ochako readied to use her quirk as a plan slowly formed in her head. It could work.
They charged forward again, running along each side of the maze’s walls, attempting to divide Nejire’s attention. Ochako put her fingertips together, sending a clear signal that she was about to use her quirk, and Nejire’s gaze immediately left Shinso. She readied to blast Ochako away from her, just as Ochako leapt forward, reaching out for Nejire, before moving behind her, touching Shinso instead.
With a small push, Ochako sent Shinso flying upwards above Nejire, who followed him with her eyes. As she did, Ochako grabbed hold of Nejire’s legs, gaining her attention again, before she released her quirk, making Shinso fall down towards them, ready to strike.
Nejire, however, was quick and nimble, and sent a shockwave in Ochako’s direction, making her let go, while Nejire effectively avoided Shinso’s attack by moving backwards towards the exit.
As Shinso landed safely on the ground beside Ochako, Nejire began clapping: “Nice teamwork!” She applauded, “And with no words either! Amazing!”
“So you’ll let us go?” Shinsho asked, hoping to have caught Nejire off-guard, but she merely smiled at them in response.
Without wasting time, the two of them lunged forward again, relying on pure fighting skills to take down Nejire. Or, at the very least, make her believe that, as they fought hard against her. With their previous attack, they had moved her close to the exit, so they needed only a second or two to escape the maze. They split again, and Nejire responded this time by giving Ochako her attention from the beginning, but that gave Shinso an open shot at Nejire’s back. He grabbed her from behind, attempting to tackle her to the ground, but she was quickly out of his grasp, as she flew towards Ochako. Ochako touched her fingers to Nejire, making her weightless, though it had no apparent effect on the hero who was already using her quirk to fly about.
“Nice try,” She smiled, still blocking the exit, unknowingly having fallen right into their trap. A weightless Nejire used much less of her power to move about, so when Ochako and Shinso attacked again, her movements were quicker than usual, before she adjusted her output. As she did so, the two class A students exchanged a look. Time to strike.
“Are you going easy on us?” Shinso asked, “Or are you really just that weak?” Once again, the question did nothing to provoke Nejire, but being aware of his power, her gaze naturally went to Shinso, clearly wary of him, and gave Ochako her opening. She released her quirk, to Nejire’s surprise, and the sudden effect of gravity sent Nejire off-balance for long enough for the two of them to run past her, and into the arena.
“Uraraka-san!” Deku’s voice greeted through the cheers from the crowds, “You did it!” He held up a hand and she high-fived him in happiness.
“You and Shinso-kun were so cool!” He exclaimed, a sparkle in his eyes, and Ochako quickly thanked him, before he could begin his long spiel, which - as endearing as it was - was a little distracting at the moment.
Ochako looked around the arena. From her heat, only Tokage and Shishida had passed, meaning that both Tokoyami and Koda were still in the maze. Of the previous heat, she spotted only six people, meaning that the failing teams were likely elsewhere. She saw Touru and Tsunotori chatting, while Bakugou and Kirishima were standing, watching the match between Aizawa-sensei and the team of Tokoyami and Kuroiro. Tetsutetsu was standing slightly apart from them, engaged in a conversation with Tokage and Shishida, while Deku was standing with her and Shinsho.
“You teamed up with Tetsutetsu?” She asked as everyone seemed to be with their teammate.
“Ah! No,” Deku laughed lightly, “I was with Kacchan.”
Huh. Interesting. While the two of them were definitely on better terms, there was a huge difference between working together and fighting each other on equal ground - the latter of which seemed to be their main activity when spending time together.
“How did that go?” She asked sceptically without thinking, though Deku didn’t seem offended by the question.
“We placed first,” Deku said simply, and Ochako was unsure if that meant that they had done well, or the other teams had done poorly. It would seem that of the teams that had passed, Deku and Bakugo was the only team of the same class, so, at the very least, they had a little experience working together. If that counted for anything when it came to those two.
A loud applause from the audience made Ochako look back to see Tokoyami and Kuroiro emerge from the maze.
“The final team has passed!” Mic’s voice boomed over the speakers, and the failing teams were led into the arena, all of them looking defeated.
Ochako, Shinso and Deku moved to join their classmates and directed their attention towards a screen showing the beginning of the third heat.