As they passed the robots, Nozomi could see that Kirishima and the bold boy from Class B — Tetsutetsu — escaped from the rubble with their similar quirks; hardening and steel respectively. Her classmates were quick to react to the robots and some like Bakugo, Sero and Tokoyami were using their quirks to go over them. With a flurry of explosions, Bakugo soon passed them.

"How rude and so very like Bakugo," Nozomi spoke as she dropped the barrier that protected both her and Momo from the explosions.

"The current leaders of the pack are overwhelmingly from Class A!!"

"The commentary seems to be a bit unfair," Momo pointed out.

"Yeah, it's not like Class B are far behind. Besides, the only reason it seems like we're dominating the race is because we've learned not to hesitate in the face of an attack." As an afterthought, Nozomi added, "Also their focusing more on us because that's what the people crave."

Yaoyorozu agreed.

"So the first barrier was a piece of cake?! How about the second?! Fall and you're out!! You gotta crawl across if you wanna make it!! THIS IS THE FALL!!"

Nozomi looked toward Momo to see that she was already creating two poles.

"For balance," Momo explained.

Nozomi could see that Tsuyu was already moving across with her frog-like abilities. Shoto was using his ice to slide across and a girl from the support course was using her gadgets to go across. Bakugo was once again using his explosions to maneuver himself across and Iida was using his engines to slide on the ropes.

Once Momo was done, thet quickly began moving across the ropes using the poles to balance themselves. For extra safety, Nozomi surrounded them with a bubble of water so that even if they fell, they would land safely.

They both could see that many were passing them so standing on a platform, Momo decided to create a surfboard.

"Uhhh..." Nozomi was confused. How was a surfboard going to help them?

"Use your quirk to make waves. We'll surf across." She said it so confidently that Nozomi was getting worried of failing her.

"I might not be able to control—"

"You will! I believe you can do it!"

Inhaling deeply, Nozomi nodded. Momo held onto her with one hand and used the other to hold the surfboard. Pursing her lips, Nozomi began manipulating the water of her reserves and soon a wave had lifted the board. She didn't have time to celebrate as she quickly manipulated the wave to move over all the students in front of them, quickly allowing them to reach the end of the second obstacle. She would have continued until the finish line but she quickly lost control. If it weren't for Momo creating a landing platform, they would've gotten injured.

"Sorry about that," Nozomi apologized, referring to the landing.

"It's fine," Momo waved it off. "Now, let's move."

"It seems that Momo Yaoyorozu and Nozomi Todoroki, both of class A, are working together. Surfing on a giant wave, the two make it past the second obstacle."

They could now see Shoto running in front of them. He turned back and made eye contact with Nozomi. He began to freeze the ground but unfortunately for him, they could ice-skate. They soon reached the final obstacle.

"The leads keep breaking ahead while the rest of the pack is still bunched up!! Our racers don't know how many will move on so all they can do is aim for first place!!"

The crowd murmured amongst themselves as all three of them reached a seemingly plain field. The common topic being about how Nozomi and Shoto were children of the No. 2 pro hero and how other heroes will be scrambling to get them as sidekicks.

"And our leaders have reached the final barrier!! That is to say..."

Both Nozomi and Momo stopped at the beginning of the obstacle to listen to what Present Mic had to say about this barrier so that they could formulate a plan.

"This minefield is a deadly Afghan carpet!! A quick glance is enough to reveal the mines' location!! So keep both eyes open and watch your step!!"

"What do you think?" Momo looked towards Nozomi. "Tread carefully and hope for the best?"

"I should mention, our mines don't pack a deadly punch but they're super loud and flashy so you might need a change of underwear when it's all over!!"

"No, I have a plan," Nozomi said while moving towards the left side of the field. "But first I need to test a theory." Nozomi manipulated water and pressed down on a spot where she could see a mine, ignoring her brother, Bakugo and the commentary from Present Mic. As she had expected, the pressure from the water caused the mine to explode.

"I see, so we'll use your water to activate the mines, and once it's safe we move forward right?" Momo mused, a hand on her chin.

"Well my original plan was to go from the side of the field since I was under the impression that the mines were concentrated in the middle of the field but it seems they're placed equally at all places." Nozomi turned to look behind her and saw vague silhouettes of students nearing them.

"Let's hurry, the others are approaching."

"Yeah. So what I want you to do is to create small mines that can't be seen as well as these ones—" she gestured to the minefield "— and drop them every once in a while since people will probably follow this path, thinking we cleared all the mines."

Slowly they began to follow through with the plan. Nozomi's reserves we're slowly depleting so she began using the water in the air as well, making her aims a little clumsier. As expected, the other students followed them, only to activate the mines Momo created. They were slightly stronger than the other ones though, so they caused a bit of an uproar. Present Mic stopped commentating on Shoto and Bakugo to address the commotion.

"Wow, it seems like the pair of Class A students — Nozomi Todoroki and Momo Yaoyorozu — are deactivating mines and creating their own on areas they've crossed. Quite a smart plan—"

He was distracted from their movements by a giant explosion at the beginning of the minefield.

"A giant explosion from the back, not caused by one of Yaoyorozu and Nozomi Todoroki's mines!! What caused such a blast?! An accident? Or was it intentional? And Class A's Midoriya rides the wave in hot pursuit!"

'Midoriya?' Nozomi shakes her head and focuses back on clearing the obstacle. They were almost at the end, so she ignored whatever was going on and focused on clearing the mines.

"As long as we make the top ten, I'm sure we'll move on to the next round," Momo began, making Nozomi turn and look at her. "But as Bakugo said, we must aim for the top!"

Nozomi huffed out a laugh. "Of course. Are you suggesting...?" She trailed off but Momo understood and nodded. "Okay but this time might be bumpier that the previous time. And only till the tunnel. We'll run from there."

Momo created another surfboard and Nozomi created another wave. It was a bit bumpier but they landed safely at their destination this time. Once they landed, they roller skated towards the finish line. Unfortunately, Shoto, Bakugo and Midoriya were already in front of them.

The cheers of the crowd could be heard as they came out of the tunnel and into the light. Midoriya took first place but both Nozomi and Momo made fourth place.

"The top 42 from this qualifying round will move on!" Midnight announced, "But for those who placed lower, don't worry! We've got another way for you to show your stuff!!"

Nozomi was catching her breath and making sure her quirk was in check while listening to Midnight.

"Now the main rally really begins!! The press corp's going to be jumping out of their seats so give it all you've got! Now, onto the second event!! I already know what it is, of course... Dying in suspense?! Next up is..." Midnight gestured to the screen behind her, "this!"

'A cavalry battle?'

She could hear the students around her murmur amongst themselves. Taking a sip of water — in order to fill up her reserves for the next event — she listened to what Midnight had to say.

"Participants will, on their own, form teams of two to four members each and get into horse-and-rider formation." On the screen behind her, an example was shown. "The rules are fundamentally the same as that of a regular cavalry battle — snag your opponents headbands while guarding your own — but with one exception..." Nozomi intently listened to Midnight, "Each of you has been assigned a point value based on your ranking in the last event!"

As students began talking to one another about the event, Midnight grew aggravated.

"I'M ABOUT TO EXPLAIN SO SHUT UP ALREADY!" She shouted while cracking her whip to quiet the students. She calmed herself. "Anyways, yes!! And your individual point values start at five, at the bottom! So the person who ranked 42nd place is worth five points, 41st place is worth ten points... get it? But... Our first place participant is worth... TEN MILLION POINTS!!"

Just as she finished saying that, about all of the students whipped their heads to turn and stare at Midoriya, who ranked first. Nozomi observed that he looked like a nervous wreck, especially with everyone's eyes boring into him. So she decided to cut him some slack and turned away. She also felt like drinking more water.

"The higher-ranked students are the ones to aim for... This survival game is a chance to make a comeback. It's anyone's game!!" Midnight continued to speak, "There's more suffering ahead for those at the top. As you must have heard countless times since enrolling at UA, this is... PLUS ULTRA!!"