The Sports Festival was over. Izuku watched as Ashido, Asui, and a few others attempted to go down to the hospital room to see Namikaze, to no avail. Cementoss was blocking their way.
"What do you mean we can't go now?!" Ashido tapped her foot in annoyance, hands on her hips.
"Namikaze is being treated so he may appear on the platform for the ceremony," Cementoss explained, unmoved. "The rest of the students shall gather out on the green for the final remarks. You are all required to go there now."
"Sensei?" Yaoyorozu raised her hand. "As class president, I will ensure that everyone goes where they need to…"
"Good. Handle it." Cementoss rubbed his forehead in exhaustion. "Off with you now."
"Yaomomo, please…" Ashido folded her hands and feigned begging.
"You cannot suede me. We should be getting down to the green!"
"Hurry up, Class A!" Tetsutetsu shouted, as Class B walked past toward the exit tunnel. Itsuka Kendo gave them an apologetic smile.
"I'm still on a high after that match," Kirishima was saying as Class A walked out together.
"I know, right!" Sato exclaimed. "Who knew Todoroki had that much fire in him? And who knew Namikaze could warp other people ?"
"I can't believe he saved that for the very last second," breathed Kaminari.
Jiro rolled her eyes. "I don't think he knew he could even do it."
"He deserved the win," said Shoji sagely. "Every victory he took was hard-fought, and in most of them the odds were stacked against him."
"The crowd eats that sort of stuff up, huh?" Sero commented, scratching his ear and glancing upwards. Through the ceiling and many walls, they could still hear the crowd cheering and whooping and applauding over the end of the festival, despite it having been several minutes.
"The media will be all over this," Aoyama swooned. "A brave garcon breaking every barrier that stands in his way."
"Deku?" Uraraka asked. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah… fine." Izuku was lost in thought over what Iida had told the two of them.
A villain attacked his brother…
Ingenium is hospitalized…
They don't even know how bad it is yet…
Iida would have to hang in there.
Haru blinked his eyes sleepily, rising slowly out of the bed. "Easy there, lad," said Recovery Girl. "You got moderately burned, and pulled nearly every muscle in your arms and legs. I've healed you again, but you're low, low, low on energy."
Haru leaned back and groaned, moving his eyebrows up and down. The white light of the hospital room buzzed at him in a low tone. His Quirk was asleep, he could feel it. Golden matter settled low in his gut, not planning on moving anytime soon. My Quirk knows that its work is done. It's over. I… I won.
"Todoroki," Haru mumbled, turning over to face Recovery Girl. "Is he alright?"
She blinked. "You bruised him up pretty badly, but that I can heal. Otherwise, his body seems to be used to the difference in temperatures he subjects himself too, so…"
"No, I mean… he has all his limbs? He's… complete?"
"Why wouldn't he be?"
"I warped him. I've never… warped another human before. The only other time I tried it on a living thing was a lizard, and its tail fell off."
Recovery Girl's jaw dropped. "You'd never done that before ? And you tried it on another student without knowing if he would survive ?" She slapped him.
"OW! I'm sorry! My mind… wasn't in the best place, at that moment."
"Clearly! Goodness gracious." She pinched her eyes. "Well, I suppose he did burn you up pretty badly, so I'd have to get mad at him too. Ugh, these young heroes. I just can't with them. Some of the older ones, too." She made to turn away from him, but then paused. "You know, boy, I didn't really expect you to make it this far. I know I've said that before, but I really… mean it. I did not expect you to win."
"Well…" Haru squirmed, feeling a little more awake now. "I didn't really want to. At least, not at first. But… I had a few promises to keep."
Recovery Girl opened her mouth to answer, and then a shadow fell over the bed.
"Huh?" Haru turned over again, and saw Todoroki standing over him.
Haru gasped and slid back a little, pushing himself against the back wall of the bed. "Todoroki, I…"
"I'm sorry," the other boy said, his mismatched eyes cast downward. He looked pensive, miserable. "I… I, um…"
Recovery Girl stepped back. "I'll give you two the room. I think they're busy tying that blonde boy up to the podium for the ceremony, maybe I can be of some help."
As she left the room, Haru glanced at Bakugo's empty bed. "He woke up?"
"Yeah, after you came back here unconscious. He was a bit upset." Out of someone else's mouth that might have been humor, but Todoroki just said it straight.
"What was it you wanted to say?" Haru asked him carefully, eyes glancing up and down.
"I… I told Midoriya this before, but… have you ever heard of Quirk marriages?"
Haru shook his head.
Todoroki's eyes widened. "You haven't? Well, it's… it's where two people are arranged to be married because their compatible Quirks may lead to… desirable children. It's a publically frowned upon practice, but… my father married my mother for her ice Quirk, you see. And he tried and tried to create a child that had both of our powers, because he wanted his offspring to do what he never could."
"Surpass All Might," Haru muttered. "You weren't his son. You were an experiment."
Todoroki nodded. "In his eyes, I was just a thing to be trained. My mother hated it. She grew to hate the sight of me, because I'd inherited my father's power. And then… she dumped a boiling kettle on my left side, giving me the scar you see today." He gestured to the red half of his face. "I haven't spoken to her in years. My father put her in a mental hospital. From that point on, I decided to be a hero to spite my father… but I was going about it in all the wrong ways. Midoriya showed me that holding back half my strength isn't fair to others. And you showed me that by being unfair to others… I wasn't spiteing my father. I was being just like him." Todoroki stood up taller, recomposing himself. "So I'm not angry about the result of our match. I have been watching you somewhat, Namikaze, and I've watched as you slowly came to realize that you wanted to do well. And then you just… did it. You beat the odds. That's a much better story for a victor than my own." He looked down at his fist, and closed it.
"Todoroki…" Haru's mind spun over and over itself, as the cold curtain of realization fell. "I had no idea. About any of it. I'm so, so sorry. I just wrote you off as some rich privileged kid, obsessed with yourself… but I hadn't known about any of your past… if I'd known I wouldn't have acted like such a… jerk."
"Your anger was righteous," Todoroki protested. "I was the one who really… messed things up, you see. When I blew up that ice wall and all that hot water rained down on you… I saw the kettle again. I realized I'd become the thing my mother feared. That I'm just some massive hypocrite."
"No," Haru mumbled. "I'm a hypocrite, too. I came all this way, getting first and everything… but I never had the motives like Midoriya, or Iida, or hell, even Bakugo. I'm only here because of the support of my friends. Todoroki… I never even once considered that you might have had a troubled home life, and even if I did, I didn't think too deeply into it. And that's the worst thing I could have possibly done, because… my parents are Quirkless."
The ice and fire user rose his eyebrows. "Come again?"
"They were two Quirkless mutations and they got married, planning on raising Quirkless kids who got normal jobs and lived normally. I came along, and then my sister… right as my Quirk manifested. They never told me where in the family it came from, but they resented me. When I used it to bring objects to me instead of just picking them up, or to get from place to place more easily… they called me lazy, good-for-nothing. They told me good people don't rely on their powers to do normal things." He sniffed, feeling tears flood his eyes. His voice grew faster and more airy. "They made me stay away from my sister, who remained Quirkless. They gave all their love to her. They forbade me from ever using my Quirk around them. I do most of the housework these days, all manually. The only reason I'm at UA at all is because I passed a bunch of other difficult high school entrance exams that they made me apply for. They didn't think I could do it. But now I'm here, and…" the tears flowed freely now. "I never once thought that other people here may have gone through just as bad. I'm not a hero, man. I told Midoriya I wanted to help the downtrodden, but all I've done is… is…"
Todoroki leaned forward, and hugged him.
Haru froze in shock, feeling his face go pale, his tears melt away. Slowly, he returned the hug. "I… I haven't told anyone about that yet. Not Mina, not Tsu, not anyone."
Todoroki leaned back awkwardly. "I'm no expert on such things… but they probably deserve to know."
"Yes, you're right." Haru wiped his face off and slowly stood up out of bed. "I'll start thinking of when and how I'll tell them."
"And, Namikaze…" Todoroki put a hand on his shoulder. Even though the boy's face was awkward and uncertain, he seemed sincere with his next words.
"You are a hero. You and Midoriya opened my eyes. And… maybe there's kids out there, who watched the festival… you probably inspired them, you know."
Haru exhaled, his shoulders falling. "I… I don't know what to say. I mean, I already told you that you'd be a good hero…" he scratched the back of his neck. "But I rescind my other statement. I guess you are a good guy, Todoroki."
"… Yes. That's how I'll work past this. You said you won because of support from your friends? Maybe that's… part of why I lost. And… I may need to pay someone a visit."
"It's time for the closing ceremony!" Midnight declared, to the cheers and applause of everyone watching. "Here are your top four!"
The UA students watched as a podium rose from the ground. The lowest two pillars were of the same height, both with a golden 3 on them. Tokoyami stood cool and silent on the left one, while Bakugo raged on the right, complete with chains, ropes, and a muzzle to keep him from going on a rampage.
The pillar with a golden 2 on it stood slightly higher. Todoroki stood on that one, his eyes still cast somewhat downward. One arm gripped the other in a nervous gesture.
The top pillar in the center was where Namikaze stood, his hands folded in front of him. He was leaning forward slightly, as if his body was hanging a bit limp. There were absurd bags under his eyes. He looked… exhausted. But when he managed a weak smile for the crowd, their cheering only grew louder.
"And now for the presentation of the medals!" Midnight announced. "Presenting the medals today will be…"
"I AM HERE!" All Might shouted, and the crowd went nuts as the Symbol of Peace leapt into the arena, landing in front of the podium.
As he stood back up straight, his eyes fell upon the top four of the first years. All from Class A, all boys. Someone somewhere will write an article complaining about that, he thought, straining his smile for the camera and the crowds.
All Might took the medals from Midnight and walked over to Tokoyami. He'll be the easiest. "Congratulations, Tokoyami-shounen! You sure are strong!"
"You are too kind," the cool bird boy responded.
All Might leaned in and gave him an awkward hug. "Your Quirk is incredible, but in order to improve, you must overcome its weaknesses… perhaps by improving yourself a little, separate from Dark Shadow?"
Tokoyami looked down at the bronze medal as they separated. "Yes, sir."
All Might stiffly moved on to Bakugo, who strained at the muzzle and chains, his eyes bloodshot with pure fury. "Ah yes, Bakugo-shounen…"
The crowd was a mixture of laughter and noises of discomfort. You really do know how to make things difficult, don't you? "You… have incredible natural power. Perhaps you should work on strengthening the soul and mind, moving forward… and then you'll get that number one spot you so desperately crave…"
Bakugo somehow spat the muzzle off. "I DON'T WANT THE DAMN BRONZE, YOU SMILING BASTARD! JUST LET ME AT THE CRACKHEAD! I WANT TO BE NUMBER ONE! NUMBER ONE, I TELL Y…" All Might stuffed the medal in his mouth, and his ranting became incomprehensible gibberish.
All Might stepped up to Todoroki. "And for you, Todoroki-shounen, the silver. Congratulations." The boy bowed and accepted the medal graciously. "I… assume there is a reason for how you used your fire so sparingly, but then began to somewhat turn to it later on?"
"I was unsure of myself," Todoroki said to his shoes… but then the boy looked up. "I'm no longer unsure of myself."
"The look in your eyes is different from before." All Might felt the warmth of pride spread through him, and hugged the boy. "I won't pry for details. Whatever it is you feel like you need to do, you will accomplish it. I believe that."
"Thank you, All Might."
Then, finally… All Might met eyes with Haru Namikaze.
The boy seemed to straighten, as if briefly banishing the exhaustion that permeated in his limbs. It had been five years since the fight with All for One, and All Might knew the look of one who had strained themselves past their limits when he saw it. The boy's face still seemed to sag… but there was a light in his blue eyes.
"Namikaze-shounen, my deepest congratulations," All Might said, bestowing the gold medal. "I… I wanted to apologize, as well. For assuming… certain things about you. That behavior… was truly unheroic of me."
Haru lifted up his head. "There's nothing to apologize for, All Might. If I'd really tried from the start, then you would have never assumed anything. But now…" he looked down at his hands. "I realize what I can do when I push my abilities instead of resting on them. I never thought getting first place was possible. Not once."
"And you deserved it, my boy." All Might hugged him. "I was worried about your lack of drive, yes. But somewhere along the way, you found your motivation… and watching you fight tooth and nail to the top from there tugged on the heartstrings of this old hero." Even if that motivation may have been… spite. The desire to have others lose. What is brewing behind that face of yours, boy? You're even harder to read than Todoroki. But All Might knew… his duty as a teacher. These students would continue to grow, and find the right path.
He'd help them do it, with all his heart… and one day, they'd replace him, and carry on the torch.