Third person pov

Everyone surged forward toward the tunnel. Lillian felt paralyzed, planting her feet and tensing her shoulders as people darted past her. She could still hear Bakugo's explosions echoing in her ears, leaving them to ring, and Mina's victorious whoop as she slid into the crowd in an attempt to fight her way to the front. Even Ochako and Izuku didn't hesitate to barrel forward into the mass of UA students, all of which were determined to do their very best in the course.

Lillian could relate, but she knew for a fact she couldn't win alone. She didn't know where her friends were, but she could only hope they'd track her down. Somehow, she knew they wouldn't make it without each other. Lillian's quirk wasn't a physical attack, but it could stop things. Shinso could stop people and use them as tools. Neito could do anything anyone else did, so he'd probably do okay without them, but...

"And we're off to a racing start! How 'bout some color commentary, Mummy Man?" Mic turned to Aizawa with an excited grin. The man very clearly wasn't all that happy to be in the announcer's booth. Lillian's ears pricked at the sound of that, and she instinctively turned to try and look at where her English mentor and Homeroom teacher were. She felt rather frantic. What did she do? She didn't feel like going forward was the best idea, but what if Hitoshi and Neito had gotten swept up?

"How did I let you talk me into this?" Aizawa sighed.

"What we should be paying attention to in the early stages of this race?" Mic prodded his friend, knowing full and well that the guy's daughter was down there paralyzed with anxiety-driven fear. Wow, what a great best friend he was! Letting his bestie know about his long lost daughter who he didn't even know existed. This was just... this was just the greatest. Totally and completely the best. 101% the greatest.

"The doorway." Aizawa said shortly, though something did gleam in his tone. "Three students haven't moved forward like the rest have."

Hitoshi and Neito trudged towards Lillian, grins stretching across their faces as they locked eyes. They both clapped a hand down on either one of her shoulders, drawing her out of the shadowy realm that some referred to as the void and back into reality. They watched her blink, peering up at them with teary eyes. Hitoshi's veins thrummed with adrenaline, and Neito could hear his heart beating in his ears. Lillian gulped, though she felt her panic fall into something steadier as her two friends gazed at her with surety and confidence. 

"Ready?" Neito cocked his head.

"R...Ready." Lillian gave a small smile.

Most of the students had gotten out of the tunnel and fanned out, so they had to work fast. A great deal of ice had covered the area, but there was still a patch that was clean and fine at the exit of the tunnel. Lillian's eyes scanned across the crowd, most of which had their legs encased in Todoroki's frost. Mic's commentary echoed behind them, fainter than before, but most definitely still there.

"What's this?! Three students, all from different courses, banding together?! Unheard of! One of them must be some sort of genius, or just perf-" Aizawa kicked Mic's shin before he could continued, unable to suppress a grin of his own as Lillian hurriedly demanded something of her friends. He watched the camera feed closely as the pair of boys nodded to her. The camera zoomed in.

Lacing his fingers together, Neito helped boost Lillian up. She grabbed their shoulders, shakily pushing herself upwards with their help. Everyone watched in a tense silence to see what they'd do as Lillian stood unsteadily upon their shoulders. They gripped her legs, looking up at her as she struggled to find her balance. Why they were forming a cheer leading pyramid, even Mic wasn't sure. 

"Can you see them all?" Hitoshi asked as Lillian waved her arms in a desperate attempt not to fall. No longer did she feel so anxious about the crowd now that they were behind them. Now, it was all about winning. For Hitoshi, and for Neito. She wanted desperately for her purple-haired friend to enter the hero course! It was his dream, after all. And they'd worked too hard for this for her to submit to her nerves now. They had to do their best. Her friends were clearly ready to give it their absolute all. She'd be damned if she didn't do the same.

The path sloped downwards, meaning they had the higher ground. Lillian held her breath as she soaked in the scene. Todoroki running in the distance, ahead of everyone else. Bakugo flying through the air with his explosions. Momo, vaulting herself up with a pole. She clenched her fists and steeled herself. And then... she blinked.

It all froze just as she'd seen scenes do many times before now. Mid air, her most fiery classmate froze, an explosion still suspended in time behind him. Todoroki now looked as though he were balancing on one foot. Ojiro was another person trapped in the air, and Mina looked as though she were about to fall backwards. Ochako had a panicked expression plastered on her face. Izuku was no better. Lillian took a breath as her friends let her slip off their shoulders, working together to catch her and set her on her feet.

"Did that... a-actually work?" Lillian asked, stumbling ever so slightly. The silence was so sudden it was nearly deafening. Chatter and the sound of quirks firing off had ceased completely. She felt her eyes begin to burn and her stomach begin to knot uncomfortably from the strain of having so many capable and resilient people frozen. Neito and Hitoshi looked reasonably stunned, mouths agape as they gazed out at the petrified scene before them. She'd done it. She'd frozen them all. Never had she frozen this many people in front of them. They'd seen her freeze basket balls, but this...

"What's this?!" Mic's voice shrieked behind them. "It seems a perfect, adorable, genius student from Class 1-A has frozen the competition in literal time! Wow!"

"Holy shit, you actually did that." A grin broke out across Hitoshi's face. Lillian blinked rapidly, another stabbing pain permeating her stomach and stretching up to her lungs. Hitoshi brought a hand up to cover his mouth as another burst of shock welled into him. Lillian was... damn, Lillian was strong. "They're all stopped."

"Oh my god, this is amazing." Neito whispered, squeezing Lillian's shoulder. "...We should probably gucci gang out."

"Y-Yeet." Lillian agreed, feeling awfully tired. She shoved the feeling aside as they took off dead sprint towards the icy field. It being a hill didn't help when they reached the frost. Neito's foot hit it first, and he let out a shriek as he began to slide rapidly down the slippery slope, as though he somehow hadn't expected it to be slick. Hitoshi slid after him smoothly, hands stuffed in his pockets. Lillian came along a bit slower, feet shuffling awkwardly against the ice. How Hitoshi could be so cool and collected, she had no idea.

Mic's voice could no longer be heard. Lillian could see some of the people she'd frozen moving ever so slightly. Just beginning to blink at a snail's pace. The pain wrapping around her lungs and stomach urged her to go even faster as she and her two friends mildly struggled over the icy patch. She watched Neito approach Ochako, and her quirk and its overall usefulness came to mind. It could do a whole lot of things.

"N-Neito, sister snatch it!" She blurted out in a panic. He twisted, following where she was pointing. He managed to brush his hand against the brunette's arm as he passed, almost falling on his face in the process as he spun on the ice. Hitoshi ducked under someone's raised arm, and Lillian nearly slammed directly into a business course student she only vaguely recognized from when Mic was introducing them all to the crowd.

Neito waited for them when he got off the patch of frozen water, breathing heavily as though that had been the most terrifying experience of his life. "This ain't it, chief." He said as Hitoshi stepped off the ice steadily. Lillian followed, once again managing to almost trip. She felt incredibly dizzy, blinking slowly as her eyes burned. She really wished she had some eye drops right now.

"Oh yeah, wait a minute Mr. Postman." Hitoshi chimed back. Lillian made a small sounded that sounded vaguely like "Yeeeeahhh" but could have also just been a symptom of her dying. Neito and Hitoshi shared a glance when they realized her state, and they began again, Hitoshi taking up the rear and Neito leading as they darted forward. Lillian swayed some, but seemed to be doing alright otherwise. 

A metallic clang caught their attention, and soon several robots were squaring up before them. Hitoshi almost tripped in surprise as several one pointers from the exam began to convene. Lillian felt bile rise in the back of her throat, groaning at the sight. She couldn't freeze them and keep the other students frozen. Not only did she not have the energy, but they'd all have to be in her line of sight for that to ever work. Despite this, they didn't stop. Neito ran right towards the robots, and Lillian was behind him so she obviously followed. Hitoshi naturally did the same.

"Chief, I said this ain't it!" Neito wailed as they got closer. Panic began to settle in. Lillian and Hitoshi realized, numbly, that the blonde had no plan and was simply going on auto-pilot. Which probably meant they were going to die.

"I'm a bad bitch, you can't kill me!" Hitoshi shouted out, trying to comfort himself with his vine references. A laser was immediately shot at him, missing him by a few feet. "I said you can't kill me, dammit!" 

"I'm in me mum's car. Vroom vroom." Lillian chimed, feeling too out of it to really react with real fear. The robots began to try crushing them as they ran between the first one's legs, not sure what else to do. They certainly weren't going to stand in place and wait to be gunned down. If they were going to die here, then god dammit they were going to die trying. And crying obscure meme references to each other to try and cope with the pain of knowing they'd be losing their lives.

The robot they were under moved, and Neito panicked and slapped it. It began to float immediately, which again almost caused Hitoshi to trip. Lillian remembered saying something about Ochako as she shoved a gaping Neito forward. They all got out from under it as soon as possible. Not even Neito had enough faith that he could keep that up. They could faintly hear roaring cheers coming from inside the arena, but they ignored them.

The robot in the air tried to shoot at them, successfully taking out another robot to the left of them. Lillian felt herself grin brightly, looking to Hitoshi. The purple-haired boy seemed extremely relieved as the robot that had been shot tipped onto a smaller one, whose laser went off and shot the one in the air. The explosion heated the air around them.

"Press your fingertips together." Lillian instructed as they ran. "Like this."

Neito followed her demonstration, he and Hitoshi's heads twisting around when the floating, dead robot fell and crashed into another. This caused a huge cloud of dust to appear. It didn't stop them. If anything, they took advantage of the cover, running along despite having no idea what they were doing. They could have planned more had they known what was happening.

Hitoshi and Neito still didn't know what was happening, and Lillian was in too much pain to care. These felt like period cramps from hell, and her eyes had never stung this badly before. No matter how much she blinked, it didn't do anything to help! It felt like someone was blowing cold air onto her eyes. Plus her eyes were on fire. Like, flaming on fire. And she was having to run during all of this, while fearing vaguely for her life and the lives of her friends.

Hitoshi was a little freaked out. As someone who hadn't been through the extra hero training Neito and Lillian got during school hours, he hadn't seen some of the intense stuff they had. They had recovered easily from the shock of the robots and were now sprinting along with only the goal in mind. He, on the other hand, was still trying to process the fact that little Lillian, their short, meek, timid friend had just frozen over one hundred kids.

As for Neito, he was just reciting the entire Bee Movie script in his head and trying to convince himself he was fine. Sometimes he also looked for Hitoshi's hair for reassurance. So long as it was standing up like a hair blow dryer had gone to town on it, all was well in the world.

"Lillian! Quirk: Freeze Frame! It lets her suspend anything and everything in line of view in time! Though, the toll it takes on her precious little self can get extreme!" Mic announced, keeping out her not-last name when he realized he hadn't even said their quirks before! He was just so caught up with his little listener. Aizawa glared. "And Neito Monoma! Quirk: Copy! He can copy the quirk of anyone he touches!" 

"Why am I here?" Aizawa sighed. Though, he was a little glad he didn't have to sit next to a bunch of the other teachers. Besides, the view was pretty good from this box.

The next stretch of running was hellish. Hitoshi wanted to curl up and die, but the training Aizawa had put them through definitely help as he and Neito urged Lillian forward with obscure meme references and promises to terrorize Kaminari when this was all over. It hadn't been long since the race started, and since she'd frozen all those people, but it was pretty clear she was beginning to break. They wouldn't stay suspended long.

Honestly, this all felt a little surreal. Like, holy shit! They were actually participating in UA's sports festival! Not only that, but they were actually winning. Never in a million years would Hitoshi would have thought that possible. For him to ever even come close to being in the top three. If not for Lillian and Neito, he wouldn't be here. He hoped he could help somehow...

"You're kidding!" Neito exclaimed as they came upon the next event in a rush. "Seriously?! Do they want us to Kermit?!"

"Wh-What is... oh..." Lillian gazed down, wondering how they'd dug such pits so fast. Large pillars of Earth jutted out from the watery depths below. It wasn't a very long obstacle, but it was probably one of the hardest they'd face in the course. Both Hitoshi and Lillian turned to Neito expectantly. He should still have some time left with Ochako's quirk, and could maybe hold onto it even longer if he really pushed it. 

He didn't hesitate to grab his two friends by their wrists. Lillian felt herself begin to cough as more pain radiated from her stomach. She felt a bit of her control break, and her eyes widened. Just who had just gotten free from her quirk? It had to be one of the more powerful students, like Bakugo or Todoroki. She resisted the urge to scratch her eyes as Neito took a running leap, keeping his grip on them as they vaulted across the divide.

"If I die young, bury me in satin!" Hitoshi shrieked.

"Lay me down on a bed of roses!" Lillian responded weakly. "O-Oh, just to spill some tea, Todoroki and/or Bakugo might be on the way... so wig that."

"What?!" Her two friends shrieked as blood dribbled past her lips. They gaped at her, Neito not stopping. He jumped to the next pillar, his own face going a little green as the side effect of Ochako's quirk began to effect him. Hitoshi continued, "Did your control break? Is a hoard of angry teenagers coming for our blood? I'm too young for this, Helen." 

"I-I can still feel most all of them frozen." Lillian said as Neito jumped again. She clenched her eyes shut as more pain stabbed at her. Memories of the USJ threatened to bubble to the surface, but she knew now wasn't the time nor the place. "I think it was just a few who got o-out."

"Almost there!" Neito exclaimed, very clearly strained. His time was almost out. Hitoshi and Lillian prepared themselves as they got closer and closer to the end. Neito's arms ached as he gripped onto his two friends, determined not to let them fly into the sun. Behind them, Lillian heard the faint sound of explosions behind them, and cursing.

So basically, they were totally fucked. They were three teenagers. One, oh my god, had anxiety! The other did nothing put sleep and look at cat photos! And, oh no, the other one was socially dependent on his friends and liked to flex on everyone! Todoroki, meanwhile, was the son of Endeavor. He'd had training and was blessed with two very powerful quirks. He was dual wielding all up in their socially awkward and inept jam! And Bakugo... there was nothing special about him that Lillian could note. He was just really angry and had oddly-clear skin.

"Oh my god, we're going to die, aren't we? Bakugo will kill us! Oh my god!" Lillian flapped her free hand as they made it to the other side. Neito released the quirk, turning to barf over the edge of the cliff as Lillian and Hitoshi fell on their asses. They looked up, eyes landing on a very pissed off Todoroki speeding towards them. Neito paled considerably. Yeah, they were done for.

"Oh, shit." Hitoshi sputtered as he got closer. "Hey! U-Uh, you're Endeavor's sppdf- offspring, right?!"

Clear annoyance flashed through an already-angry Todoroki, whose teeth visibly clenched as he skated closer. He opened his mouth to reply, a single syllable escaping him before he was under Hitoshi's control. Lillian and Neito watched, holding their breath as he came to a halt in the center of the pillar he was on. A pillar only a few feet from where they were. His eyes had gone blank, and his shoulders, slack.

"Intercept Bakugo." Hitoshi demanded, a grin stretching across his face that was full of relief. Not only had he just done something useful for the world to see, but he'd also just saved their bacon. No slaughter in this house, yo holla! Todoroki turned around to meet the approaching blonde head on.

"Let's bounce, madlads." Lillian pulled Neito up, and they took off running towards their next hellish obstacle. Stairs. Of all the things they decided to add, it was stairs. Hitoshi and Neito had to all but drag Lillian up, as she was starting to cough up more blood. Neito had told her to drop her quirk, but she had insisted she knew her limits and wouldn't push herself to the point of passing out. They decided this was no time to doubt her.

They really didn't have time to anyway. What were they going to do, sit her down and have a heart-to-heart about how bad self-destructive tendencies were and why she should stop them? Neito and Hitoshi couldn't even talk. Hitoshi would dive off a cliff for either one of them, and Neito was ready to stick his hand down an active garbage disposal if it meant his friends got even just a week of happiness and anxiety-free good times.

The signs before them told them they'd made it to a mine field of some sort, as did the lumps on the ground. Lillian felt more of her control drop. Behind them, Bakugo and Todoroki were advancing once again. Bakugo had to have hit Todoroki and snapped him out of it. Lillian bit her lip. She could drop her control and freeze them instead. She wasn't too sure how freezing the mine field would go. She could freeze the dirt on top, but not the actual mines. That was going to be an issue.

"Hey, Todoroki!" Hitoshi called to him as he approached. "Did you run into an issue there?!"

"I don't know what you d-" Todoroki was cut off, eyes going blank again. Bakugo glared. So that purple-haired bastard was the issue. He seethed at Lillian and her two friends. So they'd teamed up, huh? He hated to admit how clever that was. Not that he'd ever need a team. Lillian's quirk wasn't physical. He wasn't sure the two idiots with her had physical quirks like his either. Still, they were managing to beat him? It was bullshit!

"Make us a path." Hitoshi demanded. "Then, turn around and walk back towards the starting line."

Neito and Lillian stepped aside as Todoroki pressed his hand down, ice shooting out and towards the end. Hitoshi turned towards Bakugo as he landed and shot past them. "Oi, Big Chungus drinks Cranberry Sprite?" He called to the teenager, and Lillian almost choked, watching as Todoroki turned around and began to walk back towards the starting line. Bakugo twisted around.

"I tried to tell those idiot bastards you were the one who wrote that damn note!" He roared before his face went slack and he dropped from the air and onto the icy path Todoroki had made. Neito hooked his arm with Lillian's and tugged her towards it. Hitoshi followed, hands in his pockets and a wide grin across his face.

"Follow your friend over there." He jerked his head back. Lillian felt her control snap completely.

"They're coming." Lillian looked up, the pain in her stomach barely lingering. She spat out some of the blood in her mouth and off to the side. Neito squealed and jumped, earning some dry looks from his two companions. "H-Hitoshi, we've gotta go fast!"

"Then let's go." Hitoshi grinned as Bakugo walked past him, and so they began across the ice. Hitoshi took the back, shoving his two friends along. How their purble friend could balance so well, neither of them knew, but they were happy to take advantage of it. They could already hear commotion fast approaching behind them as people like Iida, Tsuyu, and Sero shot past the obstacles to try and make up for lost time.

Lillian and Neito shared a look. They had no idea what was going to happen in the next minute or so. They could very well fall behind, but they'd made it this far. People had seen their quirks. They would without a doubt be getting offers. Hitoshi, however...  they both knew how badly he wanted this. They'd had to stop him from overworking himself so many times in the past month. He was determined, and they wanted him in the hero course. They wanted him to become a hero, with them.

"Hitoshi, go ahead!" Lillian demanded, grabbing his arm and punting him forward and across the ice. He waved his arms as he slid several feet in front of them, looking up with wide eyes full of clear shock. Lillian grinned weakly, and Neito nodded, slinging her arm over his shoulder.

"Go!" Neito agreed. "We'll see you at the finish line!"

"Guys, we have to-" Hitoshi was cut off.

"Hitoshi, go. Get into the hero course with us! We'll be okay! We're right behidn you" Lillian said, holding her hand up despite knowing it wasn't needed. Neito slapped his own palm against hers, and a small shimmer was created. He'd copied her quirk. "We've got this. I promise."

They just wanted him into the hero course. He had to get in; this was his chance. He needed to be first.

He hesitated before giving a firm nod, tears stinging at his eyes. "Thank you." He said, feeling rather emotional. Lillian shooed him off, and he turned and began to skate towards the end. Lillian and Neito shared a look, nodding to one another and preparing themselves for the possibility of having to freeze the competition once again. She could hear Bakugo's angered screams even from here. Glancing back, a pillar of ice had shot up. Todoroki was flying through the air. A cool fog followed him.

Neito turned and froze everyone in sight as they shuffled along. Ahead of them, Hitoshi hopped off the ice and turned, looking hesitant. Neito flipped him off, and Lillian waved him ahead again. She nearly took both herself and Neito down doing so. She turned to look over her shoulder, freezing everyone new who'd appeared as well. Hitoshi bit his lip and turned, beginning to sprint. He lowered his head and charged forward. His friends wanted this. He wanted this. 

Time seemed to slow for Hitoshi as he entered the tunnel. He felt so wrong leaving his friends, but they'd worked together to get here. They wanted him to achieve his dreams and to make it into the hero course. They'd told him to go ahead and win. So that's what he was going to win. He knew they were right behind him. He just needed to have faith. He couldn't hesitate and risk letting them down.

Cheers hit his ears like a wave. Behind him, he heard Lillian and Neito urging him to go. They'd made it off the ice. He took a deep breath, pushing himself to go faster as the sound of explosions hit him, signaling Bakugo's entrance into the tunnel. His heart thrummed in his ears as all the training he and his two friends had done over the past few weeks flashed through his mind. All they'd been through, and all the ways they'd pushed themselves. The light grew closer and closer. 

Shoto Aizawa, Hitoshi's idol, was injured. He was injured, but he'd spent six days a week helping them prepare for this. His lungs didn't burn like they might have without his help. His limbs didn't scream at him to stop. Everything in him told him to go forward. His friends mulling over their diets and work out plans. Their Team Eraserhead shirts.  The fact that Mr. Aizawa was totally wearing his at least twice a week but didn't want anyone to know.

Just like that, he exited the tunnel. A loud ding sounded.

"First place, Hitoshi Shinso from General Studies!" Mic crowed. The boy flipped around as Lillian and Neito surged towards the finish line. Neito had both hands on her back, driving her forward as Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki all shot after them, arms pumping. They didn't have time to look back and freeze them. Hitoshi watched with wide, teary eyes as Neito shoved Lillian over the white finish line, stumbling through after her and nearly collapsing. Hitoshi felt the air had been knocked out of him.

"Second Place, Lillian from Class 1-A! Third Place, Neito Monoma from Class 1-B!" Mic shrieked. The cheers were so deafening that Hitoshi couldn't even hear the choking sound that escaped him. Lillian looked at him with wide, tear-filled eyes, and Neito looked just as stunned. He approached, wrapping them both in a hug.

Because they'd done it. 

They'd made it past the first part of the Sports Festival, and they'd won.