Mineta: Time to see how the cavalry battle goes. And I'm not in it...
Hagakure: Yeah because Momo kicked you off!
Momo: Which I really should've done when it happened to me...
Hitoshi looked around the field as everyone started to split off into teams. He had hoped that the other gen-ed student would be willing to team up, but he had made a point to stand as far away from Hitoshi as possible and look away whenever he tried to catch his eye. Guess he didn't want to be on a team with the villain. All the hero course students were trying to team up with one another and avoiding him without even knowing his quirk, so Hitoshi figured they'd run away as soon as they knew.
Shishida: Hey we're not that bad!
Pretty much everyone was already teamed up except for that kid with 10 million points, but Hitoshi didn't want that much attention. The best option for his quirk would be to steal all of another team's points right at the end so no one had a chance to figure out his quirk. So he just needed to find a two or three member team to join. There.
There was the guy with a tail from 1A as well talking to the kid he'd seen shooting lasers from the same class. The third member of the team was a short kid from 1B, but Hitoshi didn't know what his quirk was. If they were willing to mix 1A and 1B, maybe they'd be willing to accept someone from gen-ed.
Ojiro: Not really...
He jogged up to them, "Hey guys, do you need a fourth member?"
The 1B looked at the other two nervously, "Umm, I think we're good, thank you. It's just too big of a risk to have a gen-ed student on the team since we have no idea what you're capable of. You understand, don't you?"
Hitoshi fought to keep the smile on his face, "Aren't you at least going to ask about my quirk before rejecting me?"
Shoda: Sorry...
Shinso: Nah, I'm used to it.
Hawks: That's not a good thing...
The tail guy looked at him sternly, "Look dude, he was trying to be polite. I'm sure you could find another team, there's a couple other students that aren't from the hero course, aren't there?"
Of course there was, but he shouldn't have to segregate himself from the hero course, especially since that's where he was trying to get. Whatever, if they were going to judge him before even knowing him, it was nothing new. He would rather work with them, rather than using them, but if he wanted to achieve his dream, he couldn't afford to be worried about what people thought of him.
Awase: So this is how he brainwashed you?
Aoyama: Tout à fait raison.
He turned to the last member of the team, the laser kid. If he responded, Hitoshi would be on the team whether they wanted him or not, "Alright then, do you know what other teams might be willing to work with me?"
The laser kid shrugged, "Ah, mon cherie..."
Midoriya: And he's got Aoyama too.
Hitoshi didn't wait for him to finish before activating his quirk on all three of them, "Alright. You three will be the horses, I'll be the rider. Laser-boy you're on the left, Tail-boy, you're on the right, 1B, you're in front. Wait here while I get our headband."
Ojiro: You know our names now right?
Shinso: Yeah.
Midnight was lounging on the stage with a small device she was using to print the headbands. There was a small line of other riders ahead of him, as it seemed like he was one of the last to find a team. The 10 million point kid jogged over from his team to stand behind him. It looked like he'd managed to snatch up that girl from support, so it'd be interesting to see how that turned out. Hitoshi didn't call any attention to himself as he waited his turn, finally getting to Midnight, who looked him up and down.
"Where's your team, handsome?"
Hitoshi pointed over to where his team was still standing dazed. Thankfully no one had run into them or tried to talk to them, but he didn't think they would. Everyone was too busy worrying about their own teams to talk to their friends. Midnight nodded, tallied the points and handed him a headband with a large red 295 printed on it. It was a good number of points, not that he'd keep them for long. It'd be best to lose them early so no one saw him as a threat.
Mei: Oh are you going to get rid of them too?
Shinso: Mm-hm.
"You the rider?" Midnight asked. Hitoshi nodded. "What's your name?"
"Hitoshi Shinso." He replied.
Midnight smiled, "Alright, you'll be known as team Shinso on the board. Good luck!"
Shinso: Definitely will need it...
Hitoshi nodded again and headed back to his team. He ordered them to pick him up, since climbing up might jostle them enough to break the brainwashing, and looked out over the other teams. Pretty much everyone had stuck to their homerooms and other gen-ed student had joined some 1B kids. He put the headband on as Mic started announcing again.
"It looks like we have 12 calvary teams heading into battle!"
"I see some unexpected student combinations..." That must be Eraserhead, the other announcer. Hitoshi pushed down the lump of fear in his throat. Hopefully his idol wouldn't judge him too harshly for brainwashing his teammates. He just... hadn't seen another option.
Aizawa: For the record I'm not that mad about it.
Shinso: ...So you're a little mad?
Midnight: I don't think he likes someone brainwashing his kids.
Aizawa: Nemuri!
"Let's get this party started!" Mic yelled. "Three! Two! One!"
Midnight cracked her whip, "Begin!"
As expected, most teams charged straight for team Midoriya, Shinso learned his name from the scoreboard, and his 10 million points. Shinso ordered his team to start running around the periphery of the field. Standing still in a battle like this would call too much attention, but he didn't need 10 million points to move on.
Tsu: Yeah, that's smart, ribbit.
He honestly didn't think Midoriya would have much luck running away until he launched his team into the air. Whatever support items that girl had brought were definitely impressive. Maybe if he got into the hero course, he'd have to have her cook something up for him. Hitoshi shook his head. When! When he got into the hero course.
Mei: I can definitely make you some babies extra-credit-kun! All you have to do is ask!
A few teams had already lost their headbands and Hitoshi noticed that most of them had gone to one team of 1B students with a blond rider, team Monoma. If they kept going like this, they'd be the perfect mark for when he made his move at the end of the game. He'd have to keep his eye on them.
Midoriya's team had taken to the sky again after being assaulted by three different teams at once, including one that seemed to only be one member with... a long tongue coming from between his arms? Weird.
Shoji: Wait so Mineta didn't make it through which means it's just me and you, Tsu.
Tsu: It would've been so much better without the grape, ribbit.
Hitoshi saw team Monoma heading his way. He could probably evade, but if he dodged the wrong way, he risked waking up his team. Better to simply act like he was running away, since he didn't need his own points to win this. Besides, if Monoma had more points, that was more points for Hitoshi to steal back from him at the end.
Monoma: If you can.
Kendo: But he did.
He ordered his team to run. But, when he saw that Monoma was close enough, they stopped and he pretended to be distracted by that rude blond, Bakugo, that had somehow abandoned his team to chase Midoriya in a mid-air battle.
Monoma's team rushed past him and yanked the headband from Hitoshi's head before smiling smugly at him, "Sorry Shoda, but it serves you right for teaming with 1A!"
Shoda: Monoma!
Shoda must be his puppet from 1B's name. He hadn't really had the chance to ask names before brainwashing them, so it was nice to know. Mic called attention to the scoreboard and Hitoshi smiled as he saw how many teams were sitting at zero points. He took note of who had the most. Midoriya, of course, Monoma, he already knew that, Tetsutetsu... which ones were they?
He glanced around until... oh that's right. Tetsutetsu was that guy with the steel quirk. Hitoshi honestly kinda hoped to avoid that team, if he could. That vine girl and the mud guy could keep him at a distance, so if he wanted to get their points he'd have to brainwash all of them at once, which might be difficult. Hopefully Monoma continued doing well.
"Your class is too small minded, you need to think bigger."
Kaminari: Why again did he think taunting Bakugo was a good idea?
Kirishima: No idea.
Nevermind. Monoma apparently had a death wish. Anyone with eyes could see that Bakugo had a temper, so taunting him was just asking to be destroyed. Oh well, it seemed like he'd be going after Tetsutetsu afterall.
"We decided to stay in the middle of the pack for the obstacle course and observe your quirks." Monoma bragged. It was a pretty decent strategy, one that Hitoshi himself had used, but it seemed that Monoma was trying to steal the spotlight earlier than Hitoshi was. "Only an idiot would try to place first in the qualifier!"
Dabi: And only an idiot makes himself a target like this.
Yes, and only an idiot would provoke someone with rage issues. Hitoshi could practically feel Bakugo's bloodlust from here. His team tried to talk sense into him, but that obviously didn't work and Bakugo's team charged after Monoma.
Hitoshi felt a weird tingle go through the air and glanced over toward Midoiya's team, only to find an entire area of the field coated in electricity. As soon as the light faded, the temperature dropped and every single team that had been gunning for Midoriya's headband was frozen in ice. Hitoshi gulped and glanced down to make sure the sensations hadn't been enough to break his hold on his team. Ignoring Midoriya had been a good call. If he'd been any closer...
Ojiro: We would've broken free.
Aoyama: I wonder what we would've done if we were woken up in the middle of the cavalry battle.
Shoda: It would've been pretty confusing that's for sure.
He kept his distance as Bakugo and Monoma faced off. A copy quirk. That was interesting. All these hero course students were just born lucky. Bakugo with his flashy quirk, Monoma who could take any quirk he wanted. Why was life so unfair? Why were these $@(#*! born with a ticket to success while Hitoshi had to fight tooth and nail for even a chance to stand next to them? Why did he have to be born with a villain's quirk?
Monoma: Excuse me your quirk is not villainous and also having a copy quirk isn't as easy as you think it is! I have to rely on whoever's with me or else I'm practically quirkless!
Shinso: ...Sorry.
Hitoshi couldn't see Midoriya and Todoroki anymore, since they were surrounded by an ice wall, but he noticed that Midoriya hadn't taken to the sky again. That electric attack must have shorted out the tech he was using to fly. Monoma was actually managing to hold his own against Bakugo, at least for now. And Tetsutetsu had long since switched strategies and started going for points from the lower ranked teams.
"Sixty seconds left in the game!" Mic shouted.
Tetsutetsu: Running out of time...
Hitoshi grinned; time to make his move. He ordered his team toward Tetsutetsu as Bakugo finally finished destroying Monoma. Now what could he say to get all the members of the team to talk? He didn't want to get too close until they were under his control.
"Hey, your classmates seem to have made some stupid decisions! Wanna team up in the time we have left?"
There, if they wanted to team up, they'd say something, but if not, they'd speak up to defend their classmates.
Twice: Smart. Not!
"Alliances are..."
"What did you...!?"
"Why should we...?"
"Who are..."
Shinso: I win.
Hitoshi smirked, "I win."
He ordered his team to run past them so he could swipe their headbands. He could feel his control starting to slip and the lights seemed too bright as the strain of his quirk made him lightheaded. It took a lot of effort to control this many people for this long, but he couldn't let go yet, not until this was over.
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Time's up!"
Mic: And it ends there. Of course.
Jana(switching chapters): You'll get back here eventually.