Chapter Text
Spring was nearing its end, and as the weather slowly but inevitably grew warmer and the ever-diverse people of Japan prepared for the coming summer, a famed once-a-year festival was taking place.
For they are about to witness history on an All Might level of scale.
The stadium that hosts the first year’s Sports Festival roared deafeningly as guests, men and women, young and old, from all across the country watched with bated breath, the winners of this year’s Sports Festival.
Tenya Iida in third place, who—due to unforeseen circumstances—is unable to attend the closing ceremony.
Tokoyami Fumikage, who's also in third place, stands stoically, glad to be on the podium.
Todoroki Shoto in second place, stood on the podium opposite his bird-headed classmate, apathetic towards the attention he was receiving.
Bakugou Katsuki in First place. Chained and restrained like a rabid, uncontrollable animal, struggling through the bonds that hold him down.
All Might, the Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace, standing proudly over the three winners of this year’s festival. His ever-iconic smile was present for everyone to see, and the three medals of gleaming gold, winter silver, and Brown Bronze lay beside him, ready to be slipped around the winner’s necks.
Cameras zoomed in close to their faces, displaying them to the world.
Up in the commentator booth, Present Mic and Eraserhead sat, preparing to continue the closure. The latter, being bandaged up from head to toe, looked on the verge of falling asleep, only to be woken up by his loud-mouthed colleague.
“Yeaaah!” Present Mic shouted through his mic. “Give it all for our winners, listeners! A clean Sweep by Class 1A for this year’s sports festival. What are you feeding your students Eraserhead!?”
Sighing quietly, Eraser turned on his mic to do his job. “Most of my students are naturally gifted; I did not ‘feed them’ anything, only guiding them enough to see their paths forward. Everything else? It’s all on them.”
“Alright keep your secrets Eraserhead.” Present Mic chuckles before continuing. “Listeners! Now that we have all three of our winners on the podium, it’s time to reveal our fan favorite, chosen by you all!”
The crowd’s cheers grew ever increasingly over who won the vote for this year’s favorite. Normally—with the exception of a few rare years—the fan favorite of every UA Sports Festival already stands on the podium.
However, this year, many could tell it’ll be one of those rare years.
“With an overwhelming landslide victory!”
“Over half the votes of you listeners.”
“A tale of an underdog, unexpected, and surprising us all!” A build-up to the climax. Present Mic grins wider, already knowing who it is.
“Showing us the true meaning of plus ultra in every single event! Give it a roaring cheer for our little Quirkless Marvel. Midoriya Izuku from Class 1C!”
There he walked, out of the gate into the arena, as the crowd cheered him on. Faintly, he could hear some jeers and boos, but that didn’t matter; he continued walking.
His face looked nervous, bashful even. His hands tremble slightly, and his breath is a little uncontrolled. No matter how much preparation he made or how much time passes, he will never be ready to face All Might again.
He had to push through, just this once, just like every day for the past year.
His steps grew heavier as the podium came closer.
He wanted to puke, to turn back, to pass out. He couldn’t even look at All Might’s face.
Bakugou chained up on the podium made it worse for him.
Endeavor’s son, who beat him in the second round of the one-on-one battles, didn’t bother to look at him.
The only saving grace is the bird-headed boy with whom he teamed up back on the cavalry event. But that was enough. He always survives on the bare minimum.
Just a few meters away, he snapped a quick, deep breath, just enough to fill his lungs and keep his body moving. Millions of eyes gaze down on him, as if they were judging him; old habits die hard.
What felt like an eternity was now swept away as he stood next to Tokoyami of Class 1A. He mustered up the biggest smile he could make. Flashing lights blinded him every moment, and in the corner of his eyes, he could see himself standing on the podium through the big screen.
Standing almost awkwardly with a stiff smile, some could tell how strange it was to see the boy who dominated the first event and nearly scored first place again in the second event behave like that—a completely different person from the one they watched just hours before.
Was it humility, humbleness, or nervousness?
It doesn’t matter now. The world will pick him apart like a toy; every detail of his life will be looked at and scanned for stories, truths, rumors, and lies. He was the fan favorite afterall—the Quirkless Marvel.
“There we have it, listeners! Now, to close off our festival, we have the Symbol of Peace to hand out the medals to our winners. Take it from here All Might!”
Giving a thumbs up, All Might took a blue and gold ribbon the size of his palm with the words ‘Fan Favorite’ written on it. Stepping in front of Izuku, he stood tall and imposing. The tremble in his hands transfers to his whole body; he was shivering now, and still refusing—unable—to look at All Might.
Noticing this immediately, All Might—though confused—kneeled down to Izuku’s level. Now, face-to-face. Yet, even so, Izuku’s eyes still dart downwards, stubbornly refusing to look at him.
When he felt the ribbon being placed to the right of his chest, the size of it nearly covering his entire torso, All Might began to talk.
“Young Midoriya. . .” He began.
It was private, intimate even, who wouldn’t want to have a chance to talk directly with the Symbol of Peace?
Not him. He already had his chance, and it ended like every conversation he had when he asked that question.
Everything went deaf and blurry. The crowd doesn’t exist—he was tunnel visioning, the noise became static—almost earpiercingly loud, and All Might became a shadow, colorless being in front of him.
“-an incredible young boy you are. . . and I'm sorry for I was wrong.” All Might ended there. There was more to be said of course, a chance for forgiveness.
He waited for a second, only to receive no reply. Izuku’s eyes still won’t look at the Hero. A single nod was all he could muster, and that was enough for the Symbol of Peace before moving on to the third-place winner of the Sports Festival. The show must go on.
Tokoyami came next, with a few words of advice from All Might, the bird-headed boy gives his thanks. Todoroki wasn’t so welcoming of All Might though, giving him a similar silent treatment like Izuku.
Still being All Might himself, he gave his fellow Hero’s son a word of advice.
“Congratulations young Todoroki. You did exceptionally well in this festival, I’m sure Endeavor would be proud to have you come this far.”
Todoroki’s brow furrowed slightly, as if angry at that comment. He wanted to retort, but held himself back, not finding it worth doing. All Might seemed to be genuine in what he said, and honesty is one of All Might’s strongest tools, for better or worse.
“Throughout the festival, you didn’t use your fire side of your quirk. May I ask why?” There it was, the million-dollar question. It wasn’t said out loud; no one but him, All Might, and the other winners could hear it.
Todoroki didn’t realize he was holding back a breath. When he sighed, a cold, visible air came through his mouth. “Because I refuse to use his quirk.” A simple statement with a million whys.
Hearing that, All Might could only smile sadly. There wasn’t enough time in the moment to help the boy. He glanced just enough to see the boy he had rejected all those months ago in the corner of his eyes, how impactful his words as the Symbol of Peace can be to people.
Perhaps he could have a deeper, more meaningful conversation with Todoroki and Midoriya at another time. He will make sure of it.
“I see. Then I wish to part with you a lesson that I hope you will take to your heart.” With a hand on Todoroki’s shoulder, he pulled the boy close for a hug. “There will come a day when you won’t be able to save anyone, where you will be forced to go all out to fight, not to save, but to survive. I hoped that if that day ever comes, you’re already able to master that wonderfully beautiful quirk of yours. It is your quirk young Todoroki, remember that.”
As All Might parts his hug from the boy. Todoroki was left with wide eyes, unable to come up with a response when he wasn’t needed to. All Might continued on, leaving the half-and-half-haired boy to ponder.
Finally came Bakugo, for the whole time, he was thrashing around his binds and chains—unrelenting and ferocious. It worries All Might to see the condition the boy was in; though people might find it funny, others see it as a problem. This was the attitude of the winner of UA’s famous Sports Festival?
Bakugou is a strong boy with the potential to become one of the strongest in his generation if taught properly. Since the beginning of the year, he had caused nothing but uncooperativeness, disdain over his classmates, and problematic behaviors that should’ve gotten him expelled from the infamous Eraserhead’s class.
But expulsion couldn’t come as easily anymore for this year’s infamous Class 1A. They’ve already lost a classmate in the worst way imaginable: death by a villain attack.
Hound Dog has been working tirelessly for the past month now to counsel the remaining 19 students of Class 1A. Some fared better than others, but to the handful of them that didn’t, they instead pushed themselves to reach new heights. All of Class 1A students made it past the first event and nearly dominated the second and third events of the festival.
It was self-destructive behavior. Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, and Kirishima were the worst of the bunch. Yet they made it to the final event with exceptional rankings. It was something to be looked upon further by Hound Dog.
The opposite of those three students were Todoroki and Bakugo, who both showed almost no psychological shift. However it was worrying, as apathy is just as bad as self-destruct. Their indifference left them isolated from their classmates.
Kirishima—who was the closest to Bakugo—started to drift away from him. After this Sports Festival, with the incident he caused during his battle against Uraraka, should the investigation prove to be true, Hound Dog will petition for disciplinary action and a possible suspension against Bakugo Katsuki.
All Might wipes away those thoughts. One more student, his time was gradually running out, and he wanted to be done with this as soon as possible.
Now, with a medal in his hands, All Might stood imposingly over the chained boy.
“Well done young Bakugo! You truly lived up to your promise and achieved first place.” All Might praises.
With gentle and careful movements, he unlocks the mouthpiece keeping Bakugo from speaking—or cussing.
The moment it fell off, Bakugo wasted no time. “Get that damn medal away from me! This win means nothing! Nothing!”
Bakugo’s barks and bites of refusing the number one Hero didn’t budge All Might.
“Young Bakugo, in an age where everyone keeps growing and becoming better, no one can stay on top forever.”
“But you did!” He retorts.
That made All Might flinch a little. “N-No. Not even I could be number one forever young Bakugo.” That statement came out more quietly than he intended.
“So take this medal as a reminder then, to keep yourself pushing further and beyond what you’re capable of today.” It took All Might a few tries to slide the medal onto Bakugo’s neck. But eventually, simply letting him bite the medal down was enough.
‘What a face he’s making.’ All Might thought.
With one last look over the winners of the Festival, the Symbol of Peace couldn’t help but feel bittersweet over the results. It was always wild and crazy when it came to UA's Sports Festival, but this year takes it to a whole new level.
He saw his students in a new light, and with it came more challenges he had to face in his new job as a teacher.
Turning back to the tens of thousands of people watching them, All Might gave his closing speech before jumping away as rehearsed days prior. He cringed slightly over the expectation of the crowd and what he had said, but brushed it off as he soon landed and saw the man—creature? In charge of UA itself.
Nezu, the principal of UA, is not a human himself but an important member of Hero society for his valuable and extraordinary intelligence. Behind his beady, calculating eyes, shines something no human could understand or comprehend.
“All Might. Wonderful, you’re just in time.” The principal greeted.
He turned his back towards the number one hero and gestured to him to follow. “We have much to talk about. Aizawa and the other faculty will be joining us in an hour, so for now, would you care for tea while you rest?”
“Yes please. . .” All Might puffed out a smoke and came out as a skinnier, much weaker form of All Might that looked like it was ready to collapse at any second. “I made the same mistake again.”
“That you did,” Nezu replied without stopping. “It is always commendable to be able to help people every time you’re able. But as much as I hate to remind you Yagi, we don’t want a repeat of USJ. Save your strength for when it matters. Leave the rest to us.”
Yagi could only grunt in agreement. They soon fall into rhythm as they walk in silence to their destination.
Celebration in Class 1C was soon followed as two of their students had reached the final event of the Sports Festival. Their classmates hoisted Shinso and Midoriya up in the air—the pride and joy of 1C.
Izuku’s fight against Monoma Neito of 1B was nothing short of luck and an insane amount of endurance. It was a bit worrying how much the quirkless boy could tank 3 quirks at once, but he somehow did and won.
It wasn’t until their classroom teacher, Present Mic, came into the class that the students settled down. The teacher’s grin widened as much as possible.
“Alright! Congratulations are in order for Shinso and Midoriya! You two nailed this year’s Sports Festival, and I couldn’t be prouder.” He paused for a minute, looking at his notes. “Tomorrow, all of you listeners will get a day off to recover and rest. You all did amazing today and take this event as a stepping stone to further improve yourself, especially you who wanted to transfer to the heroics class, kay?”
A collective agreement hums throughout the class.
“Alright, I’ve got nothing else to say other than I’m proud of you all. Now, I’ve got a meeting in five minutes, and I don’t want Nezu to butcher my voice box, so ta-ta!”
A second after Present Mic left his class, everyone packed their belongings, ready to return to earn their well-deserved rest. Izuku has already moved with his backpack slung over his shoulder, leaving the class behind.
“Midoriya’s in a hurry eh?” One of the students commented.
“He probably couldn’t wait to see his parents.” Someone replied.
Shinso—the other student who made it to the final event—sighed. It was overwhelming to be the center of attention. Before the Sports Festival, he and Midoriya were loners in the class.
They didn’t belong in any circle, and they were fine with it.
Now things were about to change; he didn’t know if he would like it or not, but what’s done is done. He saw his classmates—some he barely interacted with before—come up to him and ask to walk back home together.
They were persistent, he’ll give them that. He didn’t make it past the classroom doors before he relented and agreed.
Izuku, on the other hand, walked silently home. Around him, he saw people glancing at him, whispering about his novel victory. No one approached him. . . yet. He felt uncomfortable, his head dizzy, and he couldn’t believe people chose him as their favorite.
It didn’t make any sense, illogical, why him? He couldn’t understand, and he wished to be home at this moment in time. He’s shutting down again. Not good. Perhaps a night outing could freshen up his mind. It’s been a while.
A few children approach him with their parents in tow. But their luck ran dry as the train came to a stop at his station. Swiftly, Izuku snake through the passengers boarding in and out of the train. With careful steps, he made it out of the station and trekked a familiar road back home.
The sun had just set the moment he reached his apartment’s door. Taking a deep breath, he inserts the key to the lock and turns. A soft click, Izuku greeted, “I’m home, Mom.”