Walking together towards Recovery Girl's temporary office. Katsuki gave Kirishima a glance.
"You feeling okay?"
Kirishima nodded, still rubbing his chin.
"M' fine. Still feels like a got kicked by a horse."
Katsuki faced forward.
"Makes sense. I'm wearing the boots from my hero costume. I asked the support company to reinforce them for kicks."
"That's allowed?"
"Went over the rules myself. No footwear restrictions. Though I suspect they might get added next year."
"That's awesome bro."
As they were walking, the duo passed Endeavor who was clearly waiting in the hallway for Shoto.
The number 2 hero ignored them as they walked past, eyes remaining fixed on the corner Shoto would come from.
Passing him without incident, the duo finally reached 'Recovery Girl's Temporary Nurse's Office,' as the bright pink sign above the door proclaimed.
Stepping in, they were met by the nonplussed stare of Recovery Girl, who was sitting in a chair far too large for her.
"So you two finally got here. Sit down you stubborn fool. Let's hope you don't have a concussion."
Following her instructions Kirishima sat of the chair in front of her. Recovery Girl pulled out a penlight and started shining it in Kirishima's eyes.
"Sit still, I'll use my quirk either way, but I'd prefer to know if you have a concussion before I use my quirk on you and you possibly fall asleep."
After a moment, Recovery Girl straightened up.
"Pupilary response is normal, I'd say you're in the clear. Hold still."
With an exclamation of 'Kiss', Recovery Girl's lips extended and kissed Kirishima on the cheek. After a moment, a green glow surrounded his body, then Kirishima seemed to slump.
Then Recovery Girl turned to Katsuki.
"Since you're here too, let me get a look at those knuckles of yours."
Looking down at his hands, Katsuki saw that his knuckles were bleeding a bit from when he'd punched Kirishima. Shrugging, Katsuki extended his hands, Which Recovery Girl kissed.
With a green glow, Katsuki's hands quickly healed, the rest of his body also enveloped in that same glow. After a moment of tiredness, Katsuki took a deep breath and shook his head to clear it.
Moving over to the sink, Katsuki quickly removed his wraps and washed off his knuckles. Redoing his wraps, Katsuki rubbed his hands. Straightening up, Katsuki felt really good.
Suddenly the nurse's office started shaking like an earthquake was happening. After a few seconds, the tremors finally stopped.
Moving over to the TV in the nurse's office, Katsuki turned up the volume. Present Mic's voice echoed out through the silent office.
"And with an insane show of POWER, Shoto Todoroki cements his position in our second round!"
Taking a closer look at the screen, Katsuki paused as he saw a massive glacier taller then the stadium itself displayed on the screen.
Katsuki noted Recovery Girl was giving him an odd look again as he headed towards the door.
Kirishima gave him a wave as Katsuki walked out.
"Good luck man! Do your best!"
Katsuki nodded back as he shut the door.
----------------------------------------
Walking back into the stands, Katsuki's classmates welcomed him back with a cheer.
Taking his seat next to Sato, Katsuki realized that Shoto was still in the arena melting the massive glacier he'd created to end the match.
For all that the boy could generate heat with his left side, he never seemed to make use of the ability in combat.
Eventually however, the field was cleared and it was time for the next match.
"Our first competitor, is a girl of rather divisive talents! From the hero course, it's Setsuna Tokage!"
The crowd cheered as the girl split off her hands to wave to the audience.
"And her opponent! A girl that's handy to have around and has been pretty cool so far! From the hero course, it's Kendo Itsuka!"
The two faced off in the center ring.
"And it is time! Match 7, start!"
Kendo instantly rushed forward, her palms instantly growing in size and trying to swat Setsuna before she could dodge.
Unfortunately Kendo was a step too slow, the personal telekinetic scattering into a swarm of parts that harassed Kendo from all directions.
Despite Kendo's attempts to swat away the harassing body parts of her opponent, Kendo quickly found herself unable to respond to the onslaught as Setsuna attempted to herd Itsuka towards the boundry lines by such means as poking at her eyes or pulling her hair.
After about a minute of this, Itsuka swung out with a palm and managed to grab some of Setsuna's pieces.
With a throw, Kendo attempted to throw the pieces out of bounds, but was unable to overcome Setsuna's telekinetic force.
Shortly after, Itsuka found herself pinned to the ground by Setsuna's parts, unable to move.
Midnight called the fight at that point.
"Winner by Immobilization, Setsuna Tokage!"
The crowd let out cheers at the result.
After the two had left the arena, Mic called out again.
"And now it's time for the final match of the first round!"
The crowd went wild.
"Our first competitor is fully equipped with support items! From the support course, Mei Hatsume!"
Mei was visbly grinning at the audience, lowering her goggles as she was announced.
"And on the other side, the electrifying guy we haven't seen very much of! From the hero course, Denki Kaminari…Who also has support items?"
Everyone was confused by the various gadgets Denki was wearing.
Midnight spoke up at that point.
"It's generally against the rules for students from the hero course to use support items. Those who must use equipment needed to petition beforehand."
"Wha- but I thought it was fine since Aoyama was wearing his belt!"
"He submitted a petition to use that equipment."
Denki seemed to panic at that point.
"It's just, she came up and offered to let me use some of her stuff to make the battle more awesome! I figured it was cool!"
Mei also spoke up at this point.
"I am entirely supportive of Denki using my equipment during this fight."
Midnight thought it over for a second.
"I'll allow it."
Katsuki muttered in his seat.
"I get the feeling Denki is getting played here."
Sato leaned over, confused.
"Huh?"
Mic's voice interrupted.
"Match 8 of the first round, Start!"
Denki smiled.
"It was really nice to let me use your tech, so I'm gonna end this in a flash before you can respond!"
Mei tilted her head in confusion, then seemed to realize what was about to happen gesturing for Denki to stop.
"1.3 Million Volt, Indiscriminate Shock!"
Instantly massive arcs of electricity shot out from Denki's body, only to be halted by Mei utilizing one of her gadgets to ground out the energy.
After a moment, the electricity wave halted, leaving a shorted out Denki standing in the middle of the stadium.
Walking over to the disabled teen, Mei waved a hand in front of his face and checked over the equipment she had given him, then sighed in disappointment at the response.
She quickly pulled out some kind of net gun and snared the shorted out hero student.
Midnight cracker her whip.
"Winner by immobilization is Mei Hatsume."
There was a pause as Mic processed what had happened.
"Uh…it's kinda disappointing, but Mei Hatsume is the winner and our final round 2 contestant!"
Aizawa let out an audible sigh over the speaker system.
There were scattered cheers from the crowd as Mei gathered up her gear and walked out of her exit, a small frown on her face.
Class 1A was silent for a bit, then Kyoka broke the silence by speaking up.
"So, we're gonna mock him for this forever, right?"
"Absolutely."
"Of course!"
"Totally."
"Why would we ever not?"
Katsuki leaned back in his seat as Mic finally moved on.
"Now that the first round is over, it's time to move on to the quarter finals! Our first match-up! On one side, the powerful firebender! Izuku Midoriya!"
Izuku walked out of his exit, looking far more confident this time after his success last round.
"And here she is again! The acrobatic and cute Ochaco Uraraka! Who will win?!"
Ochaco took her stance as the match got ready to start.
Izuku seemed to say something that upset Ochaco before the match started if her expression was any indication.
"Match, start!"
Ochaco instantly began rushing forward as Izuku generated some fire from his mouth and guided it towards Ochaco's face, attempting to repeat the strategy he used to force Sato to back off.
He was caught off guard when Ochaco managed to duck under the ball of fire without warning.
Scrambling to respond, Izuku tried to breathe out a new ball of fire in time, but Ochaco managed to get a hand on his abdomen and send him spinning towards the boundary line, disoriented.
Desperate, Izuku wrapped the fire he'd just made around his legs to stop himself from flying out of bounds.
Not willing to let him recover, Ochaco continued her rush, releasing her quirk mid-rush.
Suddenly heavy and only supported by his legs, Izuku rotated about his fire and hit the ground faceup, smacking his head off the arena.
Losing focus, Izuku's fire dissapated, leaving him wide open for Ochaco to tag once again and throw out of the ring.
"And in a lightning fast victory, our winner is Ochaco Uraraka by ring-out!"
Still frowning, Ochaco released her quirk, dropping Izuku into the grass, then walked out of the arena as some medic-bots carried Izuku out on a stretcher.
Katsuki sat back, happy Ochaco was doing well.
Tsuyu looked over from her seat.
"Losing like that must hurt. Didn't you and Izuku go to school together Katsuki?"
Katsuki looked over, a confused look on his face.
"Yeah. So?"
Tsuyu looked at him for a second, then sat back, content with his answer.
"Oh. You two weren't friends."
Katsuki shrugged and headed down to the waiting rooms while the next match was getting set up.
Settling into a chair while waiting for his match, Katsuki turned up the volume on the television.
"In our next round, it's the lightning quick speedster of 1-A, versus the acid spewing pinky! Lets get this show on the road! Match 2 of the second round, Start!"
Iida attempted to rush Mina, only for the pink girl to dodge to the side with a flourish.
Iida attempted to correct, but he slipped on the pool of slippery acid Mina had left behind. Struggling to recover, Iida wasn't able to do anything when Mina rushed in and started punching him.
Attempting to use his kick-based style had Iida struggling to keep his balance, until Mina finally managed to force him out of bounds.
Present Mic went wild as the crowd cheered.
Katsuki stood up from his chair, taking a deep breath.
It was time. Win or lose, Katsuki knew he'd done his best. And today had shown Katsuki just how much farther he had to go.
Heading towards the exit Katsuki felt ready.
Walking out of the exit, Katsuki heard the roar of the crowd intensify as he headed towards the ring.
Across from him, he could see Shoto meeting his gaze with equal intensity.
Katsuki could tell. Shoto wasn't going to hold back with his ice here.
'His ice takes a second or two to really get going. That's the only chance I have.'
Present Mic yelled over the speakers as the two of them faced off.
"These two have been duking it out all tournament! Let's see how it ends! From the hero course, Katsuki Bakugo! And also from the hero course, Shoto Todoroki. Time for these two to meet!"
Katsuki got into a runner's stance as Shoto readied himself.
"Match 2 of the quarterfinals, Start!"
Katsuki almost felt like time was slowing down as he heard Present Mic yell the starting mark.
Pumping his legs as fast as they could go, Katsuki pushed his legs to their absolute limit as he moved towards Shoto, pumping his arms to gain as much speed as possible.
'I don't have the speed to dodge to the sides. He would just fire another blast.'
Katsuki could see the ice starting to form at Shoto's feet, speeding up as it moved towards him, slowly at first, but rapidly gaining speed.
'Then there's only one direction I can go:'
Katsuki shifted his posture, doing a short hop off his back foot, enough to let him readjust. Moving his feet in front of him as the ice closed in, Katsuki PUSHED off the ground, sending himself as high as he could go with every muscle in his body.
'UP.'
Katsuki noted Shoto's eyes start to widen as time seemed to speed up again.
Katsuki found himself jerked to a halt, catching himself with his arms to avoid smashing his head.
Looking down, Katsuki found himself engulfed in ice up to his thighs, unable to move and suspended above Shoto.
Turning to his opponent, Katsuki saw Shoto looking up at him, wide eyed and backing off a couple steps.
Grunting, Katsuki put a couple punches into the ice restraining his legs, making slight cracks, but nothing large enough to free his legs.
Katsuki was almost resigned when a second rush of ice encased him up to his neck.
Midnight cracked her whip.
"Winner by immobilization, Shoto Todoroki!"
The crowd went wild.
----------------------------------------
The next minute or so was Shoto melting the ice to get Katsuki down from where he was trapped, the crowd cheering in the background.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Soon, Katsuki was free.
Brushing his shoulders off to remove the remaining ice, Katsuki stood tall, meeting Shoto's gaze as they stood eye-to-eye.
After a moment, Katsuki extended a hand.
"Good Match."
Shoto slowly raised one hand and shook, still seeming a bit shaken.
Nodding, Katsuki walked towards his exit, the crowd still cheering as he left.
Partway down the hallway, out of view, Katsuki paused, leaning against one of the walls with the crowd still audibly cheering in the background.
"So that's what it feels like."
----------------------------------------
Katsuki took his time as he walked back to the stands, heading up to the 1-A box where the class had been sitting.
As he got there, several members of the class called out to him.
"Katsuki!"
"That was amazing dude!"
"You moved so fast!"
"You did really good."
"Your efforts were commendable."
"Truly your light burned all the brighter before being extinguished."
Katsuki felt a small smile grow on his face as he listened to his classmates words.
Looking over to the left, Katsuki noted a couple of students staring at him incredulously over the divider between the 1-A and 1-B boxes, an argument audible over the barrier.
Ignoring the stares, Katsuki took his seat, waiting for the next match to start.
Mic's commentary resumed.
"Now that the ice has all been cleared off, it's time for our last quarterfinal match! Between the splitter and the invent-ress! From the hero course, Setsuna Tokage! And from the support course, Mei Hatsume!"
The two opponents squared off in the ring.
"Start!"
Instantly Setsuna attempted to rush Mei, only for the inventor to pull out a gun of some kind.
Adjusting some kind of headset, Mei's voice suddenly rang out through the stadium.
"What amazing maneuverability and evasive capabilities you have Setsuna! Things most would struggle to counter!"
Mei pulled the trigger and her gun suddenly fired out an expanding net that captured several of Setsuna's larger pieces.
"But I have a capture gun designed for use against villains! The capture nets come in cartridges and can fire up to five before reloading!"
With some struggle, Setsuna managed to get her captured pieces out of the net, but the green haired hero student seemed to realize something, a massive smile on her face.
Setsuna shouted back, showmanship obvious in her tone.
"But what if the opponent manages to escape the capture net and rush you head on?"
Hatsume's smile grew even wider as Setsuna's pieces began to rush towards her.
"I'm glad you asked!"
Hydraulic extenders shifted Mei out of Setsuna's line of fire in a flash.
"I am capable of easy evasion with my hydraulic attachments! And since I've sensors in every direction, I can even deal with attacks from behind!"
Katsuki let out a groan, already able to tell where this was going.
The next five minutes were a display that almost seemed practiced, Mei demonstrating her technology, and Setsuna playing along while trying to catch her.
Finally, Setsuna managed to catch Mei midair and throw off her balance. The distraction was good enough to finally push Mei out of bounds.
"And winner by ring-out, Setsuna Tokage!"
There was extremely scattered applause as the match ended, most of the crowd rather confused by the display.
----------------------------------------
Katsuki mostly relaxed for the next two fights, Mic screaming commentary over the audio system.
Ochaco vs Mina was a pretty close fight, Ochaco barely pulling out a win on Mina by activating and releasing her quirk in quick succession to keep the acid creator off-balance.
Setsuna vs Shoto on the other hand, was far more over the top. Setsuna split up and managed to dodge Shoto's initial freeze attempt, then spent the next couple minutes trying to wear him down with strikes on his left and from his blind spots. Eventually however, enough of Setsuna's parts got frozen that she admitted defeat and forfeited.
Then, it was time for the finals.
----------------------------------------
Ochaco and Shoto stood across from each other in the ring, the crowd going wild around them.
After a moment, Mic yelled start, and Shoto moved to finish it with a final wave of ice.
Ochaco attempted to dodge the glacier with a quirk-assisted jump, but she just wasn't fast enough to manage it.
The match was quickly called.
Katsuki stood up from his seat and headed down to the waiting area where Ochaco would exit the field.
Arriving near the waiting room, Katsuki waited for Ochaco to walk past.
After a minute or so, Katsuki saw a frustrated Ochaco walking down the hall, lost in her own thoughts.
Katsuki coughed to get her attention.
Her head spun to face him, then relaxed, a forced smile on her face.
"Oh! Katsuki, I didn't see you. Man, I lost! I got a bit carried away at the end there."
Katsuki didn't call her out on her forced cheerfulness.
"You did really well today. The tournament definitely plays to Shoto's strengths. I can't pick anyone in our year I'd be confident could beat him in this situation."
Ochaco's smile seemed to crack, becoming slightly wobbly.
"I know that, it's just…So frustrating…"
Katsuki nodded.
"I know."
Ochaco suddenly seemed to realize who she was talking to.
"I-I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining-"
Katsuki shook his head.
"It's fine. I- It shows me that I still have a long way to go, you know what I mean."
Ochaco paused for a second, meeting Katsuki's gaze, then straightened up, a determined look on her face.
"Got it."
Katsuki smiled and the two of them started walking.
"So, do you know what the plan is for the awards ceremony?"
Ochaco paused.
"No, actually. I really hope it's nothing embarrassing…"
Side by side, the duo walked back towards the stands.
----------------------------------------
After some time spent up in the booth, all the competing students were called back to the field, with all victors who reached far enough in the tournament called away by the teachers for the award ceremony.
Stepping out onto the field, Katsuki could see that a press area had been allocated, separated from the competing students by a concrete barrier created by Cementoss. They had apparently been allowed on the field for the purposes of giving better coverage of the winners.
Turning to the front, Katsuki noted that Midnight's elevated stage had been lowered beneath the ground, with Midnight herself standing on the turf surrounding the main competition area.
When all the students had finally gathered, Midnight spoke up.
"As all the events from the first year UA sports festival have been completed, it's time to begin the awards ceremony!"
Music began playing through the speakers around the stadium as dozens of fireworks were set off in the sky above.
Massive confetti canons were set off, with accompanying smoke to obscure the podium from view as it raised out of the ground.
When the smoke cleared, the winners of the sports festival became visible.
Standing on the top was a stoic Shoto, whose expression seemed somewhat thoughtful.
Next to him, on the second place podium was a blushing Ochaco, seeming embarrassed by all the attention.
Finally, on a far wider third place podium, was Mina and Setsuna, both of whom were waving to the crowd with massive smiles on their faces.
Midnight extended a hand.
"Now, we will award the medals! The presentation of the medals will, of course, be done by the only true choice."
A familiar booming laugh echoed out over the stadium, a familiar silhouette visible on the stadium roof.
With a mighty leap, All Might jumped down in front of the podium, landing with a small plume of dust.
"Our very own number 1 hero, All Might!"
All might raised the medals to show them to the crowd who cheered in response.
"I am here with the medals!"
Midnight attempted to keep things on track.
"Now then, All Might, please present the medals, starting with our 3rd place champions."
All might walked over to the two smiling girls on the 3rd place podium.
"You both performed excellently this year. I know you both most certainly have the potential to become excellent heroes."
Both girls nodded, as All Might gave them their medals one by one.
Stepping down, All Might grabbed the silver medal from Midnight.
Going over to Ochaco, All Might spoke once more.
"You have gone well beyond what anyone, even among us faculty had expected of you Uraraka. Truly, you have gone Plus Ultra with your performance this year!"
Ochaco nodded back after All Might placed the medal on her neck.
"Yes sir!"
Finally, All Might grabbed the final medal and moved to the final podium, still with a smile on his face.
"Young Shoto, truly you have demonstrated your vast power during this festival! However, you must always remember to never rest on your laurels. Becoming a hero means to put everything on the line to help others, even when you don't need to."
Shoto looked down at the first place medal he had been given.
"…yes sir."
With a smile and a nod, All Might turned back to the audience, speaking loudly enough now that his Mic broadcast his words to the audience once more.
"Well, those were our winners this year! But listen here! Anyone here could have ended up on these podiums."
Katsuki could have sworn that All Might glanced at him as he said that line.
"It's just as you saw! Competing! Improving each other! And climbing even further! The next generation of heroes is definitely sprouting! Everyone here has put in a lot of hard work to get this far."
All might extended a hand and pointed at the sky.
"So, I just have one thing left to say! Everyone, please say it with me! To be a hero is to go beyond-"
"PLUS ULTRA!!"
----------------------------------------
Everyone headed back to the class after changing out of their gym uniforms and back into their regular uniforms.
Sitting at their desks in the 1-A classroom, Eraserhead stood at the front.
"Good work. There is no school tomorrow or the day after. I am sure the pro heroes who watched the sports festival will want to recruit many of you, but we'll consolidate everything and announce it when you get back. So rest well this weekend, and look forward to that."
The class all responded in the affirmative, then headed home.
Riding the train, Katsuki saw a couple of the people in his car giving him glances.
Ignoring them, Katsuki hopped off at his stop and headed home.
The moment he oppened the door, Katsuki was trapped in a hug from Mitsuki and Masaru.
Understanding this was inevitable, Katsuki surrendered to the hug.
The next morning, Katsuki got a message from Ochaco.
O: Have you seen the news coverage of the festival?
K: No. Why?
O: Check the news.
Moving over to the TV, Katsuki grabbed the remote and turned it on, switching it over to a news channel.
The volume was still low, but the text at the bottom of the screen said it all.
'THE TEEN WHO COMPETED IN SPORTS FESTIVAL QUIRKLESS?"
----------------------------------------
[A Curious POV…]
Chitose was working through her notes for the next press release at Shoowaysha Publishing when one of her hired reporters came through her office door without knocking.
"Curious!"
Kurono, if Chitose remembered correctly. A poor young man with a meta-ability that society had attempted to repress. But, soon after taking up the cause, the man had positively bloomed. He'd been assigned to write up their coverage of this year's sports festival.
Which was the only reason she hadn't already used her meta ability on him.
Turning to the man, Chitose spoke up, walking toward the man that had burst in, and placing a hand on his shoulder, a smile on her face.
"I believe I told you to avoid calling me that while we're here. And it has long been company policy to never interrupt me while I'm working on a release."
Kurono scrambled for a moment, then held up his touchpad so she could read it.
Chitose took the pad, still holding Kurono by the shoulder.
It was a quirk registration file. The Meta Liberation Army had long compromised the files. It was something that had helped them gain many recruits over the years.
Chitose Idly glanced at the top of the file, recognizing a blonde boy who had been prominently featured in the sports festival coverage she had glanced at earlier that day.
Then Chitose reached the quirk section. She paused. Then read it again.
Letting go of Kurono, she shoved him out of the room.
"You're reassigned. I'll send you a different story to work on later."
Before he could respond Curious slammed the door.
Moving over to her laptop, Curious pulled up the stream of the festival from earlier that day, displaying it on the massive screen that dominated one wall of her office.
Soon after, a blonde face became visible on the screen, almost tangible determination displayed.
Curious watched the entire festival whenever Bakugo was involved, taking in all his feats with a reporter's eye.
She finally paused it, eyes fixed on Bakugo's form, frozen mid-jump, ice rushing up to capture him.
Curious continued staring for a couple minutes, the image reflected in her eyes. Then she giggled, the sound growing into manic laughter.
Pulling open her laptop, Curious deleted the article she had been working on. Old news.
No, this was far more interesting.
Moving on, she quickly began her research, sifting through every document she could get her hands on, legal or no.
"Katsuki Bakugo… Your story will touch millions."
Curious continued working long into the night.