Luke landed between Midoriya and Todoroki's teams, Nyx regaining her original size, both panting.
As he approached Midoriya, his eyes suddenly fell on the headband the boy had stolen from Todoroki at the last moment.
It said — 70 Points!
Luke looked up and found an extremely disappointed Midoriya staring back at him.
"Now let's take a look at the top 5 teams right away!" Present Mic commented. "In first place, Team Todoroki!"
Not caring for the cheers, Todoroki was staring at his left hand, as if disbelieving he was about to use the flames.
"In second place, we have Team Bakugo!"
Outside the ice zone created by Todoroki, Bakugo slammed his fists on the ground. He was just about to go for the second Ten Million headband when time had run out.
And it was all because of that bird and that fanboy!
"Arghhhhhhh!" Bakugo growled.
"In third place, we have Team Luke!"
Luke had given up their Ten Million headband, shocking many.
However, the headbands he had stolen using Marauder's thieving powers, combined with Clown's dexterity, were enough to send him to the next round.
"Thank you…" Toru said, standing next to him.
Luke shook his head. "I told you I would take you to the next stage…"
Hearing Luke's words, Midoriya's expression fell even lower. "I am sorry, guys…"
"Deku!" Uraraka suddenly pointed toward Fumikage, grinning ear to ear.
"In the fourth place, very surprisingly, we have Team Midoriya!!"
Deku saw Fumikage's shadow beast holding an almost 600-point worth headband that it had snatched from Todoroki, and he broke out in tears.
"And, in the fifth place, we have… Whoa! What?! It's Team Shinso!"
That made Luke raise his brows.
He had stolen Shinso's headband in the very beginning, he remembered. But they didn't have any powerful Quirk users in their team to get back so many points within 10–12 minutes.
Shinso's Quirk must be unusual, Luke noticed.
Meanwhile, Nyx shared her Danger Intuition experience just when she was about to reply to the boy, confirming Luke's doubt.
One simple Spirit Vision should let me guess what his Quirk is, Luke thought. Right, Miss Justice?
…
[Yeah, go ahead! I didn't sense any massive Spiritual fluctuations recently. No need to continue holding back anymore.]
…
To not get caught off guard, Luke had been becoming quite wary about when to use his Spirit Vision.
Like the USJ incident, if he ended up seeing something that he shouldn't, especially in public, then even if he controlled the mutations using Cogitation, it would raise innumerable questions.
"OK! It's time for the Lunch Break!" Present Mic shouted. "Eat your fill! More fun has yet to come!!"
…
"That was a solid strategy," Momo said, finishing lunch. "I didn't think you would give up the headband so easily."
Luke nodded, not minding her reasoning.
"But I knew you would win," Momo continued. "That's why I didn't come to you."
Luke's hand paused on the way to his mouth. He'd thought that Momo didn't join his team because it just didn't make sense to be on his team.
"You are too strong, Luke," Momo said, getting up. "If it isn't the likes of Todoroki and Bakugo… then whoever pairs with you will remain in your shadow.
"This is UA's Sports Festival. My father can get a Hero Agency for me easily. But — I want to earn it by myself. I want to stand out, too… with my own efforts."
Luke stared at Momo as she went away, a small smile surfacing on his face. And here I'd thought I figured her out in one year of marriage…
"Why are you smiling like an idiot?" Nyx came fluttering in. As Luke began speaking, she interrupted. "Whatever. Must be something stupid. Listen to this… I chanced upon something good…"
Then Nyx told Luke how she heard Todoroki and Midoriya talking about Todoroki's Quirk and why he didn't want to use his left side.
"Quirk Marriage?" Luke frowned. "I didn't know that…"
"The kid must want to prove to the world that he can win without using his father's Quirk," Nyx said, knowing that Todoroki had gained his fire half from his father — No. 2 Pro Hero — Endeavor. "I really hope we can fight him in the first round of the next One-on-One battles."
Luke nodded. Knowing that Todoroki wouldn't use his left half, they could easily take advantage of it.
"Where's Momo?" Nyx asked.
"Why?"
"I have… something to do…" Nyx cawed and then flew away toward Kaminari and Mineta's direction.
…
After lunch, to help out the students who didn't clear the second stage, the School organized Recreational Activities.
Meanwhile, somehow, Nyx, Kaminari, and Mineta convinced the girls that they all needed to act as cheerleaders before the 3rd stage began.
"What's the matter, 1-A?!" Present Mic shouted, shocked. "What kind of fan service is this?!"
As the rest of the girls bashed Kaminari and Mineta and chased Nyx around, Toru neared Luke.
"Are you OK?" she asked, knowing that Luke needed to recover enough Stamina to properly fight in the 3rd stage. When he nodded, she giggled. "Alright. I will cheer for you!"
Luke found the excited girl quite funny. "You know…" he said, hating to break her bubble. "… what if we end up fighting each other…"
Dropping the bomb on her, Luke walked away, sighing to himself.
…
[…? Why are you like this?!]
…
Nyx already scolded him now and then, Luke thought, his lips twitching. Now, Miss Justice, too?
Before the Recreational Activities could start, though, Midnight gathered everyone to draw lots to determine who would be fighting whom.
Surprisingly, Ojiro from 1-A and Nirengeki from 1-B, both from Team Shinso, withdrew, stating that they didn't remember anything from the 2nd stage.
Despite Midoriya and others' pleas, both boys decided not to participate as it would hurt their pride even more.
In their place, Ibara and Tetsutetsu from Class 1-B joined the 3rd stage.
When the lot-drawing was over, Midnight displayed the results on the huge display for everyone to see.
"I had a feeling we would be fighting first…" Nyx cawed. They looked left and found their opponent looking right back at them.
"Don't hold back," Tenya Ida warned. "Because I won't."
****************
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