Chapter 37 Easy Peasy

Dante walked through the tunnel, alone.

No explosions behind him. No rivals flanking him. Just the steady clacks of his boots against the ground.

As he entered the stadium, he stretched his arms wide, like he was embracing the noise, drinking in the energy of the stadium. His uniform was slightly tattered and the back was gone and a cocky grin plastered his face that said "yeah, I did that."

The crowd didn't know what to make of him at first. He wasn't from a powerful agency, didn't have an explosive personality or a flashy quirk.

But the moment he raised his hands higher and shouted…

"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?"

…the audience erupted in cheers.

They'd seen the live footage. They saw him flying over the course, they'd seen him walk through a minefield. This wasn't luck.

It was pure skill.

Dante grinned, his image burnt into the minds of many. Then he just sat on the floor to relax.

…

Kazuya leaned over the counter, wide eyes and slack jawed, a half unwrapped rice ball forgotten in his hand.

"Did… did that little gremlin just walk through a damn minefield?!"

"He flew across half the course too," The old boss muttered, arms crossed but eyes glued to the screen.

Kazuya blinked, then broke into a wide grin.

"That's my student all right."

…

The woman with the long ginger hair stared at the screen in her salon mirror, scissors frozen mid snip over a clients bangs.

"Oh? Oh, that's the boy that came here for a haircut?" She smiled faintly, warmth creeping into her expression. "I wonder how Itsuka is doing…"

…

The gym was just chaos, everyone was cheering, drinks were flying, even Kaijin had an uncharacteristic grin on his face.

…

Aizawa was looking down at Dante from above.

He gave a faint nod.

"Show off," he muttered under his breath. "But a good job nonetheless."

…

Back on the course, silence followed Dante's victory. For a moment, no one even noticed the screen had moved on to show the other competitors fighting their way through the minefield.

Bakugo's eyes twitched. "Tch."

Todoroki's expression was unreadable, but his hand clenched into a fist.

Izuku just looked up, "he didn't even flinch… it's like he knew he would win."

Dante was still just laying down on the stadium grounds looking at the screen overhead, watching everyone else running.

He watched Todoroki reach the mine field before anyone else, one misstep and he'd be blasted sky high.

"He's not going to use ice, that would help everyone else right?" Dante muttered to himself.

Dante noticed a strange look on Todoroki's face, he looked furious? Not loud like Bakugo, but it was definitely scary.

Behind Todoroki, Dante noticed Bakugo flying across the field. Explosions roared out from behind him, launching him forward, even triggering some mines along the way, but it was working.

"Hmm, he's using the blasts to carry himself… dangerous, no?" Dante mused, tracking his progress.

Then, Dante noticed Izuku behind everyone.

He was slower than most. But he was carrying a metal plate?

Dante watched as the boy knelt down.

He was gathering mines?

"Is he going to blow himself forward using the mines?" Dante slowly realised. "I see! Very smart indeed."

Then he did it. *BOOM!*

The entire field shook as Izuku launched himself into the sky like a cannonball by diving onto the pile of mines using the metal plate for protection. Dirt and dust erupted, students and spectators gasped and even Todoroki looked over his shoulder in surprise.

"Smart. Not pretty, but very very smart."

Todoroki tried to speed up, even using ice to skate over the rest of the minefield even though it'd help the other students. Bakugo increased his speed too. But Izuku, legs flailing, body contouring landed infront of both of them, kicking off their chests for more momentum.

He ran ahead, and just like that…

He took second place.

The crowd erupted.

Even Dante clapped.

But something else flickered behind his gaze.

"He's gonna be real dangerous in the future," he sighed. "Once he gets a handle on All Mights power, that is."

Behind Izuku, Todoroki and then Bakugo arrived.

Then even more students crossed.

He saw Iida sprint in with engines roaring, he saw Tokoyami using his shadow to fly over. He even saw a strange girl with pink hair soar over in a rocket like unicycle.

Dante watched everyone, taking mental notes of everyone.

Everyone could be an enemy, he needed to gauge everyone's strengths.

As the last few students made it across the finish line, Midnight's voice echoed once more, announcing the top 42 students who would move onto the next stage.

The screen flashed with names, rankings and faces.

That's when Dante noticed someone that looked kind of familiar.

In the pack of 42 students that all entered the stadium, all brushing off dust and sweat was a girl with long ginger hair and familiar sharp teal eyes. She was talking to someone from her class, Dante thought it was probably someone from Class 1-B with a confident smile and a punch to the shoulder. Something about her felt so familiar.

Dante's brow furrowed.

"…Ah! Is it…"

The image of the nice hairdresser that gave him a free haircut flashed through his mind, she was older and calmer, but they had the same eyes and the same hair for sure.

The resemblance was too much to be a simple coincidence.

"She did say she had a daughter in U.A."

He stood up slowly, brushing off his shoulders. Some more students were still walking in. Others rested. No one was paying too much attention to him surprisingly, which was perfect.

He made his way over, weaving between students until he was fairly close.

"Hey," he called casually.

The girl turned around, surprised, blinking once before recognition sparked in her eyes. "Oh? Ah— right! you're the guy who came in first right?"

"My name is Dante," he said with a nod. "What's your name?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Kendo Itsuka."

He looked her over once more, not in a weird way, just looking. The he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice.

"Your mon… she wouldn't happen to run a salon, would she? It's a kinda flashy place, weird little dog in the window?"

Kendo blinked. "Wait… yeah? Yeah she does. RAZE hair studio. How'd you know?"

Dante gave a low, amused chuckle. "I thought so, you do look very similar. Yeah, I went there a few weeks ago to get a haircut. She just did whatever she thought would look best and even gave it to me for free…"

Kendo smiled, clearly entertained. "That explains the disappearance of that mop."

"I guess," Dante said, brushing through his messy hair. "I didn't realize it was your mom though, small world. Could you tell her I said thanks again?"

"Sure sure, you look better this way though," Kendo said a bit teasingly. "From what I saw before and on the news, you looked a bit like a wet lion."

Dante raised his eyebrows a bit. "Owch, didn't hear anyone complaining though…"

Then Dante tilted his head slightly. "You're gonna be in the next round right?"

"Obviously," she replied, clenching her fists. "I'm not gonna let your class hog the spotlight."

"Okay then, I'll look forward to it, you and Tetsutetsu both better surprise me." He turned, starting to walk back to his class' area.

But then he paused, glancing over his shoulder.

"Oh, and tell your mom that she was right. The red does suit me."

Kendo chuckled. "Will do."

Dante walked away and quickly noticed someone else.

He approached slowly, watching for a second before speaking.

"One hell of a show you put on there, second place."

Izuku junked like he'd been stuck by lightning. "Ah! Dante! I didn't hear you, sorry, I was just uh… thinking?"

Dante gave a small snort and stood next to him. "Relax, dude. Im just checking in."

Izuku blinked, caught off guard for a moment.

"I heard what that Edgy dude said to you earlier," Dante said, leaning back with a sigh. "Don't let that split hair guy get in your head."

Izuku scratched his cheek. "Yeah… Im used to it. He's not the first to underestimate me."

Dante looked at him out of the corner of his eye, eyes locked onto him. "I get that. People would do the same to me, all you gotta do is smash their teeth in."

"W-well, I'm not sure about smashing any teeth in but…" Izuku gave a sheepish laugh.

That's when Midnight spoke up once more.

"Alright everyone!" Her voice blasted through the air like a crack of a whip. "Enough resting, the real fun is about to begin!"

The stadium buzzed as everyone looked up at the board as it spun.

Dante sighed. "Next?"

"It's time for… the Cavalry Battle!"

A collective groan erupted.

"Seriously?!"

"A team game?! Right after that?"

"I hate this one…" (same)

Izuku froze, already sweating. "Oh no…"

Midnight turned to the screen, "Allow me to explain! The participants will form teams of two to four people they see fit. In theory, it's the same as a regular playground game, but there is one difference. Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle race."

Dante tilted his head. "Oh?"

Midnight coughed, then continued. "Now then, the point assignments go up by increments of five starting from the bottom. For example, 42nd place is worth 5 points and 41st is worth 10."

"And for first place, you are worth… TEN MILLION POINTS!"

The entire stadium went quiet.

Izuku slowly turned his head to Dante, his eyes wide.

"Dante… you…"

Dante just stood there with his hand on his hip.

Ten. Million. Points.

He blinked slowly. "Hey, teacher. Forgive my rudeness, but I think there was an error in the math here..."

Around him, heads began to turn.

Whispers spread like wildfire. Students from both class 1-A and 1-B were now looking at him like he was some kinda treasure chest!