Timeloop Trouble

Chapter 23 - It Works!

"Oh, that all you got?" Shinsou teased with a shit eating grin as another team passed by, Ojiro already making a sharp U-turn, knowing where this was going.

"I'll show you-!"

With that, their rider was now under Shinsou's control.

"How about you just hand over your headband to us and get this over with, huh?" the purple head demanded, having their opponent grab his own headband and hold it out for Izuku to grab as they ran by.

"Thanks!" he called out before tying their new addition to his neck. "Great work, Shinsou-kun! We're crushing them!"

They'd gathered quite some headbands like that already. All while avoiding both Kacchan's and Shoto's teams. Izuku had been careful about that, knowing that if they faced off against one of them, chances were he'd lose his band. His support items were there to prevent that from happening but you never know, right? Besides, he'd rather have some insurance, some extra points, so they weren't fully dependent on keeping the one million for the full cavalry battle.

"DEKU!"

Of course Kacchan wasn't one to give up easily.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

"I'd like to see you try, Kacchan!" Izuku laughed, actually enjoying himself despite what was at stake here. "Like you said yourself, I'm in this to win!"

With that, he stuck his tongue out at the blonde, almost losing his balance as Ojiro veered to the left in order to avoid Shoto's team. Shit. That's right, Kacchan wasn't the only one gunning for his points...

"That guy's gonna be annoying," Shinsou groaned, talking about Shoto. "He hasn't answered me once."

"He doesn't have to," Izuku said. "I just need to be able to block him if he comes too close."

"Let's not risk that, okay?" Ojiro said. "That guy is crazy strong, and we don't know whether your support item actually works."

"It works!" Izuku pouted, kind of hurt by the lack of confidence from one of his former friends. Ojiro wouldn't know about that, though. Nobody knew about it, that was the whole point. It was his plan, his idea, and yet he couldn't help but feel weird about it. Thinking about the what ifs, about their past, the lives they used to share... And could you really blame him? He'd spend several lifetimes with these people, building friendships and trust and bonds that could never be broken. It shouldn't surprise him he had some trouble adjusting to this new reality.

"Duck!" Hatsume called out. Izuku's body moved before his mind could catch up, blindly following the instruction. It was his hero training kicking in, knowing every second he needed to react could mean the difference between life and death in a crisis situation. And so Katsuki reached over him, an explosion sounding over his head as their teams ran past each other. When did Kacchan get in front of him..?

"Midoriya! Look out!"

Ice flew by his head, and Shinsou stumbled trying to avoid it. Shoto was trying to force them into a corner. That plan hadn't changed over the course of their lives, so it seemed. They couldn't let that happen, though. Because even if Izuku's support item worked, it wouldn't prevent Shoto from pushing them out of bounds if push came to shove, effectively eliminating them and all of their points. Izuku knew Shoto wouldn't be above such a thing, knowing he'd do anything to win, to prove his worth to his father- or rather, reject him while claiming victory.

"Don't dodge the next one!" Izuku told them.

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Ojiro yelled back.

"I have a plan, just trust me," Izuku grinned, leaning down over Ojiro's shoulder. "I won't let him put a scratch on you."