? Benevolence ?

The next few matches pass and before I know it, it's our turn. I catch Hitoshi's gaze on the way to the field and give him a thumbs up but he just rolls his eyes in response.

As the match begins, we take off into the arena. Everyone's quiet for a moment before Mina starts to talk.

"What's the plan?"

I glance over to her.

"I th-think maybe Midoriya will be their top priority."

The boy in question hums in acknowledgment before shaking his head. "I think you are gonna be their top priority, Meraki. You can teleport to any of them just by memory."

"Should I just..." I trail off nervously.

"Well, it would be our most efficient option but I wouldn't want to send you in alone without knowing the situation so we'll stick together for now and you can teleport people directly into the prison if we need to."

Uraraka shakes her head. "We're at a big disadvantage. They all have long range quirks..."

Midoriya grins. "I'll be a decoy to draw them out! Leave it to me!"

Mina cocks her head. "Didn't you just say earlier that your quirk was being weird?"

"Yeah but I feel fine. Plus, after the last round, they'll definitely have their guard up. So I'll need to keep moving, even more than usual."

I chime in nervously. "Are you sure you're alright though?"

"Don't worry. We can definitely win!"

"Begin!"

We take off after Midoriya. In mere moments, things start falling around us and we're separated from him.

"Kyaah!"

Uraraka spins around slowly, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Just now... that was Shinso! It sounded close."

"I really wanna see him say 'kyaah!' with that listless face." Mina giggles, tossing a glance to me.

"Remember to always look at each other's faces when we talk..."

I glance around, watching for signs of my friend. We may have trained together but he's done lots of training without me so there's no telling what tricks he has up his sleeve.

We're suddenly attacked by the other team and I find myself popping Mina out of the way of a enlarged barrel that was flying towards her.

"Thanks, [L/n]!"

We take off and I follow after Mina before skidding to a stop at the sight of weird black stuff in the sky.

"What the-?!"

My heart drops at the sight of Midoriya connected to them all. He flies through the air, seemingly in pain.

"Deku!"

With her cry, Uraraka takes off after him- leaving me and Mina to watch. She floats towards him and latches on.

"Shinso! Use your brainwashing to stop Deku!"

I watch my friend take off his mask hesitantly before grinning. My heart almost melts at his genuine expression.