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Chapter 35: Celebrations
🕑 Added 2024-08-23 15:13:53 +0000 UTCChapter 35: Celebrations
Fireworks once more went off in the skies above the stadium as the first-year festival came to an end. As the sky was lit up with bright explosions of color, the field was cleared partially by Cemontoss as Midoriya and Kendo’s last match had damaged the machinery that would typically handle the transformations between arenas. But it was done, the field looking the same as it did at the end of the Obstacle race as students were instructed to take to the field once more to end things off.
Once there, Midnight could start. “All the first-year events for the Sports Festival have been completed and before we have the award ceremony, I want you all to give a big hand of applause for everyone that has participated. Even if you didn’t make it to the podiums, you worked your hardest and showed the world what U.A is all about!” Midnight announced as the crowds followed the instruction.
“But we didn’t really do much.” One of Shinso’s classmates noted.
“We weren’t supposed to slack off.” Shinso reminded them.
"Well, I had fun during the recreational games, and even won a couple of prizes." Chikuchi smiled.
“She could be including those, why else would they have asked all of us back to the field?” Shinso replied, as he had done a lot better than he had hoped, but knew his limits well. His odds of even winning a match in the finals would have been small.
"And now, let's move on to the medal ceremony, shall we?" Midnight posed as a section of the floor opened up, fireworks shooting into the sky as smoke came out from the opening. Fanfare to announce the arrival of their medal holders, though while one would expect them to stand at attention, or at least behave, such didn't apply to one of them.
“Wow…” Mineta uttered, as he and the rest bore witness to how Bakugo, on the 2nd place slot was restrained to a giant cement blow, his hands in a steel box which was chained to the floor while he was muzzled. One would think that was fit for a criminal about to be thrown to the lions, but Bakugo was very much fighting against it, no doubt screaming all kinds of profanities through the muzzle, things only Jiro had the misfortune of being able to at least partially hear.
“Crap, they sure he’s got his rabies shot?” Awase pointed at Bakugo like he was an unruly gorilla at the zoo.
“He’s been struggling since waking up.” Sero sighed as this was sure to make them look bad.
“How is he in the hero course again?” Shinso asked, to which Monoma threw up his hands.
“Trust me, that’s a question we would also like the answer to.” He replied before he got it in his head that class A had someone anywhere near as deranged as Bakugo.
“Sharing third place, we have Midoriya Izuku and Shoji Mezo!” Midnight stated, the two boys standing on a slightly wider platform with a big red 3 painted on the front of it. Shoji waved to the crowds, while Midoriya tried to follow suit, but his came off as drunken, the boy needing to blink a couple of times and even lean on Shoji who hardly reacted.
“Taking the silver, we have the explosive and…dynamic Bakugo Katsuki.” Midnight didn’t quite know what else to use for their struggling runner-up. If she was honest, she was wondering why he was even put on the podium at all, they could have easily just claimed he was unavailable for this and saved themselves the effort.
“And taking gold, our queen of the first-year festival, Kendo Itsuka!” Kendo for her part was the picture of a medal winner, confident yet humble, strong in her stance yet approaching with a smile on her face that Midnight knew would win her plenty of fans.
That smile strained as she continued to listen to Bakugo struggling to escape like a rabid animal. “Bakugo, can’t you control yourself for even 5 minutes?”
“I really don’t know why number 2’s in such a mood,” Midoriya hummed, leaning on Shoji with droopy eyes. "But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if his default mood is aggressively angry."
"You do realize you're antagonizing him?" Shoji stated as Bakugo glared at the both of them, as Midoriya was largely covered by Shoji's large frame but the green-haired boy just waved it off with a purr.
“Oh, I’ll be doing that just by being in his general vicinity, and besides he should be happy, he certainly placed higher than the both of us.” Shoji and Kendo both thought otherwise as Bakugo was the type that wanted first, or nothing at all. Still, there was something off about his anger this time around, as normally he would be glaring at Kendo for defeating him, but now he hardly looked her way.
“And what’s up with you? You’ve been out of it since you woke up.” Kendo asked Midoriya, looking down at them from her first-place podium.
Midoriya let out a wide yawn, displaying sharpened canines before he answered. “It took a lot of energy fighting you, so I’m still really drowsy. After this, I’m finding a nice spot in the sun to nap.” He smiled, as that sounded nice. Maybe he could get Takasame along for it, a nice patch of grass sounded like a great spot right now.
Kendo hummed, as he certainly seemed drained when he woke up, Recovery Girl had already seen to the worst of his injuries before using her quirk to boost things, hence why he could even speak and didn't have half his face swollen. “It’s going to be so hard to explain this to the rest of the classes.” Kendo sighed as Bakugo continued to rage at her other side.
Looking over the assembled students, she could already tell their opinion of class A, which wasn't great to begin with thanks to Bakugo's lack of respect, but it wasn't improving all that much. Though, there was one face that she didn't see in the crowd, and that left her worried.
“You’re thinking about Iida, aren’t you?” Shoji spoke up as if he could read her mind, but she was just someone who wore her heart on her sleeve when it came to their friends.
“I’m hoping that it wasn’t as serious as he made it out to be.” She replied, recalling what the others had told her about Iida when she had returned to speak with them before the finals. Uraraka still looked worried.
“What’s this about Iida?” Midoriya cocked an eyebrow, but before they could reply, Midnight went on with the ceremony.
“And to award the medals, we have a special guest!” She introduced as they heard a booming, familiar hearty laugh as All Might made himself known, having climbed or perhaps jumped to the top of the stadium, much to the awe of the crowds as he jumped to the field, though he and Midnight ended up talking over one another, leading to an awkward pause as the rated-R hero apologized for it.
“That was real silly.” Midoriya giggled at the display but they got their act together quickly as Midnight presented All Might with the 4 medals, 2 bronze, silver, and a gold. Each emblazoned with U.A.'s symbol and motto around the edges.
“Now then, All Might, please present the medals, starting with third place.” Midnight stated, as All Might grabbed the two bronze and walked up to the two boys.
“Young Shoji, young Midoriya, congratulations on placing 3rd, as you can tell from how many are standing on the field, you've certainly proven yourselves." All Might told them, Shoji bowing his head while Midoriya continued to droopily smile.
“It was hard work, sir. Our foes make us work for our wins.” Shoji stated.
“Yup, but it was a fun day!” Midoriya added.
‘He must really be out of it, he’s normally not this friendly with me.’ All Might noted as Midoriya had always been rather cold, not dismissive or disrespectful, but notably less amused with him than the rest of his classmates. “That is true, but I hope that you learn from this. As you saw, you’ll need to refine your skills and pick up new ones to better stand up against different types of foes.” He advised them, pulling the medals around their necks and giving both a hug.
"Understood," Shoji replied, returning the hug before the man broke off and went to Midoriya, who happily wrapped his arms around him and nuzzled into him.
“Aye, sir. You’re real warm, like a giant teddy bear.” All Might barely hold back the laugh at how much of a kitten Midoriya was being, the boy even starting to purr.
"Well, at least we know how Midoriya would act like if you give him catnip," Honenuki stated, as this was something they and the rest of the world saw as All Might removed Midoriya from his side, the boy went back to leaning on Shoji.
“Young Bakugo…This is a bit much.” All Might stated as he went to the other side of the winner’s podium, with Bakugo still extremely furious though the man couldn’t tell why as he went about removing the muzzle. “Congratulations, not many people can stand where you do now.”
Once it was off him, Bakugo made All Might regret removing it as he immediately started yelling. "Where I stand…it isn't worth a damn thing! I was cheated out of a real fight by man-hands! Even if the world says I got silver, I refuse it, it's trash!" Shoji and Kendo both sighed, as all that was picked up by the microphones.
“Even when All Might is literally handing him the silver medal, he finds a way to be pissed…” Sero was partially embarrassed, partially impressed that Bakugo seemingly broke new grounds for being angry.
"Maybe they should have kept the muzzle on," Komori suggested.
All Might on the other hand, rolled with it. “That’s not a bad mindset, always wanting to challenge oneself, but you do need to remember that it’s just as important to take pride in one’s current achievements, and take time to smell the roses.” He explained, holding up the silver medal for the world to see.
"This medal of those roses, but if you're so determined to take gold next time, this of it as a reminder that there's always someone stronger and work hard to better yourself." He finished as he started putting it around Bakugo's neck, despite the boy's aggressive protests and struggles.
“I said I didn’t want it!” All Might ignored his protests, but with how much he was wiggling his head around, All Might settled for placing the ribbon for the medal in the boy's mouth, a strange place, but it was the best spot. “Dammit, keep that stupid piece of metal away from me!”
Quickly moving on from that, he approached his student and apprentice and he didn’t bother hiding his pride for her. “And now, we have you, young Kendo!”
“Excellent work on following through with your pledge! You have indeed shown the world that you are here, as your teacher and as a hero, I can’t tell you how proud I am of you!” His smile grew a little more genuine, one which she matched though she seemed a little bashful, getting praised by her mentor for all to see.
“Thank you, All Might. It wasn’t easy making it this far. Just about everyone was giving it their all.” Kendo replied, Bakugo glaring at her for that comment, but lucky for them, the audio team ensured that the mics wouldn’t broadcast him cussing her out for not fighting him with all her strength.
That didn't mean that those on the field were sparred as with the amount of curse words he used, Midoriya was jolted awake, at least a little.
“And you’ll find many others doing the same, so you best not rest on your laurels from this.” All Might ignored that mess and focused on something that could be a high note for the first-year sports festival.
“Believe me, I’ll be training even harder after this.” Kendo smiled, glancing in Midoriya’s direction, but she didn’t linger long as her gaze returned to All Might, though the man saw where she had been looking. With that said, he placed the meddle around her neck before turning to the rest of the students.
"But listen here, anyone here could have ended up on these podiums. Just as you saw, this festival was all about competing, improving each other, and climbing to even greater levels! The next generation of heroes is already sprouting and in time, you'll grow to surpass even me!" He pointed towards the skies, many wondering if such a thing was possible when All Might was so powerful but they still cheered for it nonetheless.
“So, I just have one more thing to say! Everyone, please say it with me!” The crowd was hyped. “Ready, go!
“Thanks for your hard work!”
“Plus Ultra!”
That hype died as both All Might and the many tens of thousands of people present realized just how out of tune they were. And from that, they started booing the man.
“What?! It should have been ‘Plus Ultra’ there, All Might!”
“Well, I thought since everyone worked hard…”
Line Break
Hours later, with the sun starting to set, the students of 1-B were back in homeroom, with Vlad standing at the front, still as serious as ever, but he had a smile on his face as Midoriya sat, with his bronze medal still around his neck.
The boy in question was much more alert than he had been when he received it, though he was sipping on some coffee so Vlad wasn’t sure if he was just rested now, or high on caffeine. Midoriya had been rather quiet the entire trip from the stadium to the main campus, having been going over the entire thing in his head, analyzing what had happened, trying to figure out what could have happened and why it hadn't happened.
As he did that, he smiled as he recalled that amazing fight with Kendo. 'The master once told me that a worthy opponent can also become a close friend. I never thought about it more than a surface-level reading but…' He smiled even wider. 'I understand it, with all my heart. I want to be her friend, I want to get to know her, even introduce her to Takasame and all my siblings, he was sure they’ll love her.’
“Good work out there. We didn’t manage to bring home all the medals, but you all gave exceptional performances, like All Might said, take pride in that, and once you’re done so, we can work on getting better so next time around, class B dominates.”
“Yes, sir!”
"There'll be no school till Thursday, it would be used by the pros who saw your performance to decide on who they wish to extend offers to. In the meantime, rest up and try to hit the books. You don’t want your grades to start slipping and should make it a habit to not let things pile up, else you’ll never finish it.” Vlad instructed them, and once they confirmed they understood, he dismissed them for the day.
“That was exhausting, but a pretty fun day.” Tokage sighed, relaxing into her seat as Vlad walked out the door.
“You said it, I just wish I didn’t lose to Bakugo.” Tsunotori slumped, still upset that she hadn’t managed to beat that Bakugo punk, he didn’t even look like he liked being getting silver, she would happily take that off his shoulders.
"You still made him sweat, that's for sure," Kaibara told her, as she and a few others did a hell of a lot better than the rest of them.
"I wasn't able to present much of my skill," Shiozaki stated as she collected her things.
“Midoriya got payback for that.” Komori laughed into her arm, remembering how Midoriya restrained Iida like it was no big deal, even after Iida managed to land a blow.
“No kidding, what even was that?” Tetsutetsu asked, with him and the rest looking towards Midoriya, who had been in conversation with Monoma and Kodai.
With the eyes of the class on him, Midoriya blinked before pointing at himself. “You mean the kick?”
“No-not the kick! The whole feral mode!” Awase slammed his hands on his desk, as they didn't want some run-around, they wanted facts. They already knew so little about Midoriya's quirk, but no one could pretend like it wasn't one of the most versatile in their grade.
Midoriya only gave them a smile which told them all he was about to mess with them. With a mischievous glint in his eye, he answered. “I just tapped into a deeper part of my power, similar to Shishida’s quirk.” Wait, that wasn’t a joke…was it? Midoriya’s smirk and sly eyes made it hard to tell with him.
Midoriya knew that he was throwing them for a loop, as not even Monoma had the full story, but like with his quirk status, he wasn't lying. Sage mode was just that, tapping into a greater well of natural energy, and then using it to achieve feats that would be impossible for even a master like well-the master. However, it did have the side effect and pushing his body closer to that of a cat.
But he could mess with his classmates later, so he grabbed his things and hopped towards the door, stopping to address them. “Now, if you excuse me, I have to go give all my siblings hugs and kisses, see you later!” He waved with a bright smile, already thinking of ways to reward the little devils as he left.
Line Break
“Big brother’s here!” Someone yelled when Midoriya walked through the main gate to the compound, still in uniform. Looking around, he saw that what looked like the entire place had been waiting for him, and with that cry, everyone turned their way to the gate. With that, he found himself being charged by them, everyone so happy to see him, including the kids that crashed into his chest and sent him right onto his ass.
Finding himself buried in his little siblings, Midoriya laughed, loud and sincere as he felt nothing but joy and love from them, from his family. “Nice to see you all, too! It was great hearing your support for me.” He hugged one of them, only to be picked up by his 'little' sister with the body and strength of an Oni, the pink-loving girl near crushing him in her hug as she hopped around.
“You kicked that Kendo girl’s butt!” She cheered for him, the other kids jumping around them as the older folks just laughed, letting the kids have their time with him.
“Yeah, and you made the giant wooden tiger, it was so cool!” The snake boy tried to make the shape of the beast with his hands, roaring like a tiger but it came out more like a kitten. Still, Midoriya laughed along with him and the rest. When he was placed down, his little sister with the swan’s head approached, and knowing that she wanted, he knelt so she could hug him as well, and then start playing with his bronze medal which he had proudly worn the entire trip from school.
“Can you make another one for us to play with?” One of the kids from Raxus whose family had decided to live there asked, stars in their eyes as Midoriya explained that making one that big took a lot of work, but he could make smaller ones and more for them to play with.
“Well, you really put on a show there, Izuku.” Hanen started as he approached, a hand in his pocket and a smirk on his face. “Shame you didn’t take home the gold.” His eyes lingered on the bronze, but with little real heat.
“You kidding me? Kendo was on a whole other level, I was amazed that I could even keep up!” Midoriya replied, even after Recovery Girl healed him, and the extra time he used to get his body back to tip-top shape, he could still feel that amazing punch on his cheek.
“And keep up you did.”
Both turned to see the crowd parting, with the master walking towards them, her eyes as fierce, carrying the strength of the mountain and the patience of stone yet paradoxically, they were warm, they were kind and they were happy with Midoriya’s work. Both he and Hanen bowed to her, Midoriya lower than his older counterpart.
Kenmikoto didn’t meet him as a master would a student, with a respectful distance between them. Instead, she knelt and embraced him like an honored mother. Midoriya was surprised by the gesture, though that faded quickly as he leaned into the warmth of her arms. “You did well, Izuku. You made us all proud.” She told him, rubbing his head before she stood up, dragging with as she gestured towards the dining hall.
"Come, let us go inside, a big feast has been prepared as it's not every day since good news occurs. We should celebrate as you tell us more about it." She stated, being met with cheers from the rest as he was picked up on some people’s shoulders and carried off. In what felt like moments, he was seated at the largest table with a large serving of meats, soups, and vegetable strews served. Drinks were also flowing like a river, from water and juice to sake and whiskey for the older folk.
Even as the food and drink flowed, once the music started, it was time to dance and Midoriya found himself approached by someone he had been eager to see all day. Said person tapped his shoulder and when he turned, he smiled as he had to look up to look them in the eye.
“You were amazing out there.” Takasame smiled at him, and even though she did this almost every time they spoke, he still felt butterflies in his stomach and his heart skip a beat.
Reaching for her large hand, he grasped it, with her squeezing his. “When I have you in my corner, I can’t not give it my all, now can I?” He replied, the two moving onto the dance floor. “Still, it would have been better if I managed the silver.” With their size difference, Midoriya had to take on the role traditionally for a woman, though he didn't care one bit. Hell, he'll wear and dress and make-up if it means he can dance with his girlfriend.
“Silver, not gold?” Takasame grinned as she spun him around, the dance floor dominated by couples, whether they were married or dating like them.
Midoriya shook his head, as while Shizune would balk at such an admission, he wasn’t nearly as powerful as them, or as arrogant. "I can't beat Kendo, not at this point. My best bet would have been to face her in that final match. But that wasn’t how things worked out.” He knew she would be strong, but that fight just proved it. But it wasn’t a total loss, as knowing where you stand in comparison to your rival meant you could close the gap.
“You don’t see too sad about it. Normally, you’ll be thinking of ways to improve your training.” Takasame noticed as bent him back, before reeling Izuku in with the rhythm of the drums and woodwind instruments.
“I am thinking that, but I’m not mad.” Izuku took a sniff of her scent, so like the ocean. "I don't really know how to say it, but losing to Kendo…it's not the worst fate to befall me."
“She seemed like a nice girl from where I was sitting.” Takasame giggled, as she had seen that look on Izuku's face before.
Getting close to her, he pulled her down to give her a kiss which got some catcalls and whistlers from the single crowd. “But you, Takasame, are the best girl I’ve ever had the luck of meeting.” He uttered, his heart bared for her, for all to see as she blushed, and he suspected he too was red in the face she grabbed him up and kissed him much more aggressively.
“Ew, you’re kissing her?” The couple broke to see a couple of young boys pointing at them, making disgusted faces.
“You can’t kiss girls; they gave the ick!” The second cried out, which only made the teens and adults laugh.
“Oh really, well what if I asked your sisters to give you all pecks on the cheek?” Midoriya asked, as he and Takasame shared a look before they pointed to the side where, some of their younger sisters were ready and waiting, already making kissy faces.
“No!” Such was a fate worse than death to a young lad, as the boys took off, Takasame chasing after them, having lowered her boyfriend so that they could chase them down.
“Get back here, you little rascals!”
Line Break
First MHA ends and now I hear JJK fans also have an ending in sight, that is coming in September I believe. All while One Piece goes strong, the titan of manga and anime was around years before either, and if fortunes don't turn, Oda will keep it up for years more. But it does mean that we now have the complete series as material for stories, from designs to character arcs, and while stuff like this often does its own thing, it's nice to have the complete map.
Line Break
A short chapter, I know, but there was only so much I could do about it without needless padding. In the OG draft however, I still had Bakugo winning the festival though when I read through it, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, since Kendo is more than capable of beating him with only s fraction of OFA, and unlike Todoroki, isn't conflicted about her powers. Still, knowing his personality, just knowing she didn't use her full power, even if what she did was enough to beat him, would royally piss him off.
