He needs teammates!

"AND WE'RE BACK! THE TEAM BATTLES ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN, EVERYONE! ARE YOU READY?!"

Iida nearly snaps at the screen's broadcast of Mic's voice, his hands making robotic chopping motions. "THAT'S NOT HOW TOURNAMENTS WORK, SENSEI!"

"YOU GUYS ARE ABOUT TO FIGHT EACH OTHER IN TEAMS OF FIVE! WHICHEVER TEAMS WIN WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE FINAL, NO-HOLDS-BARRED BATTLE! SO GO AHEAD AND PICK YOUR TEAMMATES!"

Izuku turned to Ochako, both of them giving each other a cute little nod without need for words. He already had one teammate. Now they just needed to reach out to Iida. "Iida-kun, would you-"

"Sorry, Midoriya-kun."

Huh?

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness, as a friend. But if I stay tied to your hip, I'll never learn to run on my own. I also want to win on my own merit, and to surpass you." As he said so, he turned towards an already-forming team: Todoroki Shouko, Kodama Sherry, Asui Tsuyu, Yaoyorozu Momo, and now him. "I'll be challenging you now."

Izuku's whole body was trembling. He thought he'd come with him for certain...! Who would he count on, if not him?

A light tug on his sleeve made him turn to notice Jiro, trying to reach for his attention while looking away from him. "Uh, got a team yet dude? I'm the best scout you'll find, though I-I totally get if you go for more of a power team, I'm not the type of-"

"Kyo- I mean, Jiro-san! I'd love to have you on my team!" He nearly teared up again holding her hands tight between his own, feeling just so glad that people still wanted to be in a team with him besides from his close two friends. He didn't know many others that well, and not many people would want to team up with someone covered in bruises. "J-Jeez man, no need to get all emotional, I-I got it. I'll help ya out."

He-held-my-hands-he-held-my-hands-he-held-my-hands-he's-still-holding-them-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

With a few more "thank you"s from his side, he let her hands go, her face now growing visibly warm. While she played with her earlobes between her fingers, clicking them together, he tried to figure out who else would wanna team up with him.

A sharp sensation on his neck made him jump a little, his eyes slowly cranking towards his left shoulder to find... Himiko Toga biting him in the neck? Oh no- yep, time was slowly pacing down again. He couldn't do much but let it happen - from his position, he had no way of looking back at Toga without separating from her, and he didn't know what that would do to her balance while time was slowed. When things started running normally again, though, that was another story.

"Izuku-kun~ You were so cool back then~ Beating up Cassie-neechan so hard~ Hey hey, why did you end up all bruised and battered like this? She barely hit you, right? I just love it when people get all beat up like that, it's so cool~ Hey hey, can I be on your team? Can I be friends with you? Let's be good friends~"

Ochako looked... mortified. She was blushing, trembling, and her thoughts were far too erratic to read. Toga was the second girl in the day that his Quirk had linked to him, and the first was her mother to boot.

"Ochako-chan~!" Toga turned to her this time, glomping her while landing a kiss on her cheek; she was far too skinship-happy for someone who didn't even know the person she was touching. Ochako didn't reciprocate the hug, mostly because she was still short-circuiting. "I saw you fight that bad guy earlier! You are so cool too~! Top hero material, I swear~ And he beat you up so many times too~ Hey hey, let's be friends? Can I join you guys? Pretty please~?"

Kaminari showed up behind Midoriya, giving him a thumbs up with a goofy expression on his face. "She's so cute... such an airhead..." Kyoka made short work of him soon after. Still, what even was all of this? Toga was all up in other people's business, especially if they got hit a lot in their match, but it seemed like she wanted to join his team...

He might regret it, considering he doesn't know her Quirk, but he had no time to waste here. "O-Okay, Himiko-chan, you can join if the others agree-"

"Please call me Toga-chan. Fufufu~" Ah, she was like Asui in that regard. It was kind of endearing in a way, for both of them.

"Excuse me? Midoriya-san, was it?" An unfamiliar, feminine, dignified voice reached out to him. It was Shiozaki, the girl who seemed to have long vines for hair, clad in a toga reminiscent of Greek paintings - complete with one breast being uncovered by it, instead kept from sight by some of her hair. The slit going up her right leg was high enough to show a total lack of underwear while at it. "I couldn't help but notice how your team is composed of nothing but women so far. Most devout of you. Would you mind if I joined? My Quirk and dedication are certain to be boons to your team."

What? Devout, to have a girls-only team with a guy leading it? What kind of religion does she even...? "Uh, y-yeah, sure! I'd be glad to have you as well, Shiozaki-san!"

Kaminari popped up behind him again, a bit shaken due to Kyoka's heartbeat attack. "Man, she's a beast. I thought I'd win instantly, but she predicted my moves and won in a moment herself. Watching the replays... she's got killer reflexes. Didn't even let me see that tidd-aahgghghghgh!" Jiro took him down again. What was it with these two?

"S-So... Me, Ochako-chan, Jiro-san, Toga-chan and Shiozaki-san will be together. Ochako-chan, you shouldn't use your ultimate move again for today. You've already had a lot of nausea a-and it could get bad if you keep pushing too hard." That was his way of saying that he couldn't do it again. Not only because he doesn't know how he did it the first time, but also because her health was on the line. "Toga-chan, what's your Quirk again?"

"Ehe... it's called Assimilate! Whatever I eat, drink or whatnot, I can manifest bits of it on my body. It gets weird when I taste other people, fufufu~" Uh... what? As in cannibalism? "Don't look at me like that, you know what I mean. Kissing, licking... I always end up tasting a little bit of sweat, dead cells, spit, it's enough to use a bit of my Quirk. Of course, if you'd like to feed me more directly... I could get really strong~" Uraraka was staring daggers at her. Toga had nearly told Deku to spit in her mouth (or worse) to improve their chances of success.

"I can also just get really kissy if you guys are uncomfortable with that stuff. I don't mind! I love tasting all sorts of new stuff~" As if to demonstrate, she glomped Deku once more, taking an uncomfortably long lick at his cheek... a moment later, he was staring at his spitting image hugging him, complete with tattered hero costume. Even his voice had been copied. "See? I can look like this just with a little taste~! I can't use people's Quirks or anything crazy like that, though. Oh... wait, what's this, there's a little bit of..." Copy-Izuku's face seemed to melt, before rearranging itself into... Uraraka's face. "Oh my, I'm not the only kissy-kissy girl here~! I like you even more now, Ochako-chan~"

Ochako's thoughts gained clarity little by little.

I don't like this... every girl here is interested in Deku-kun.

My chest kind of hurts... b-but... n-no, it's just, it's just wrong.

I want us to be together, and I want to trust in him, but... he's not doing anything even after being licked or hugged, is he?

Shouldn't he say he has a girlfriend?

I don't like this, but somehow, it kind of feels... natural for some reason. I keep seeing that dream of him surrounded by girls whenever I think about it...

Am I... into that kind of thing? No, it can't be...

A few mental images flashed through Izuku's mind's eye, coming from Uraraka's imagination - Toga sucking him off while Shiozaki worshipped his balls was the only one he could recognize in such a flash. Though... the point of view seemed to imply that she was watching from afar, like in a porn flick.

Before he could say anything, Shiozaki walked up to the now-normal Toga with her eyes closed, reaching around to grab her chin and deliver a French kiss right to her lips. She didn't even seem surprised, fully leaning into the kiss and making out with the half-naked religious girl. After a few seconds, they finally let go, with Toga slurping up the string of spit still joining their mouths. "Ahhh... that's amazing, Ibara-chan~ So that's how it works... We can do a lot, both of us~"

The vine-haired girl cleared her throat before addressing Izuku. "My Quirk is Eden. As long as I have watered and cared for my hair, much like caring for a garden of vines and roots, I can shapeshift my hair into different kinds of plants such as vines, bushes... they can even grow fruit, should I sacrifice some of my own body's nutrients. I can also control my hair's movement at will, provided it follows plausible movement for the type of plant it has become. My preferred combat tactic is to shift them to thorny vines and brambles in order to move them as whips, spheres, walls, and other configurations thanks to their flexibility, while still being very painful to confront."

Wow. That was a speech. Still, these Quirk combinations... he was starting to see a pattern that could help them significantly. "Okay, I got it! This is what we'll do..."

Well, he can't say he didn't expect this matchup.

"FOR THE FIRST TEAM MATCH, THE TWO HIGHEST PLACES WILL BE FIGHTING AGAINST ONE ANOTHER ALONG WITH THEIR TEAMS! PLEASE WELCOME IN...

IZUKU MIDORIYA!

The crowd went crazy as the shy green-haired boy walked towards the center of the stadium.

TODOROKI SHOUKO!

Her face was neutral and cold as usual... no. Something was wrong with her expression, twisted into a bit more of a... well, an expression of annoyance?

SHOOOOOOUUUUUUKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

A man's voice echoed through the stadium, causing everyone's attention to be drawn to him... the top 2 pro hero himself, and Shouko's dad, Endeavor.

"Tch." Her expression was like ice thawing to reveal flames of hatred and contempt. "Don't hold back, Midoriya. I will never use that man's flames in a battle, but I will use all of my mother's power to take you down. You better be ready."

Something about the way she said that, and what she had told him earlier about her family situation... it just made him clench his fist in anger.

Present Mic introduced each of the other team members, their names being accompanied by their respective entrances into the field - and by Shiozaki complaining about Present Mic having called her an "assassin" earlier, going on a rant about her righteousness and how she shuns scheming and amoral tactics like **** until Mic had to publicly apologize so the event could keep going. Midnight and Cementoss were overseeing the battle, ready to separate any students who went overboard as the now-repaired dome closed, protecting the spectators once more.

Teamwork. Cooperation. Avoiding friendly fire. Disrupting the enemy's teamwork. Team battles were so much more than regular battles, and he barely had experience working with most of his team. He could only hope his plan would work - and that Shiozaki wouldn't consider her part as "scheming", though she seemed on board with it for now.

"START!"