#and then there is a massive yawning void of content through a huge part of the game

[vigilskeep]

the lucanis romance pacing is kind of objectively terrible, no idea what the writing thought process was, but it’s so funny in-world that it basically circles around to a win for me

[therainroguefanfiction]

🔥 ℝise Ⱥbove I̾t ◈ Chapter 037 [Awards Ceremony]

📑 Table of Contents | ◂Backward

Word Count: 3,710

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〈“I wanna go to the other side; they have a club where the legends never die. ‘Cause I want everyone to know my name, And I’m ready to do what it takes to live forever in the hall of fame.” Smash Into Pieces, “Hall of Fame”〉

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I stifled a yawn as I returned to class A’s seating area. Katsuki was missing, thankfully, probably getting ready for his next match. To be honest, I don’t feel like listening to him bitch about how I was disqualified. I’m already kicking myself because I want to fight Todoroki now. I fell into his empty seat with a sigh. Tsu was beside me, followed by Mineta, Sero, and Sparky.

“W-Winchester,” Sparky shifted his weight, cheeks darkening a bit. “Bakugo was looking for you.”

I grunted, resting my cheek against my palm. “I know.” He shifted again, asking if Tsu would switch seats with him. She tilted her head, looking at me for confirmation and I shrugged. He settled down beside me but he kept looking at me and then snapping his gaze away. I tried to ignore it, but it was hella annoying. “What is your damn problem?”

“I thought you hated us,” he responded softly, running his hand over his pants. “But you defended me and… and the rest of the class. That really meant a lot to me… what you said. Thank you, Winchester.” He smiled brightly, eyes closed as he tilted his head to the side, blonde hair shifting from the movement.

Huh, that’s actually kinda cute. I smiled, ruffling his hair. “You’re welcome, Sparky.”

“My name isn’t Sparky,” he pouted. “It’s Denki Kaminari.”

I chuckled, pushing his head down a bit as my smile turned sadistic. “After all, only me and Katsuki are allowed to terrorize class A~!”

He sweatdropped, pulling away from my hand. “You can be really terrifying sometimes…”

“Welcome to the final battle at U.A. High School’s sports festival! In just a moment here, we’ll see which first-year comes out on top! Yes, it all comes down to this folks! From the hero course, Shoto Todoroki! Versus! His classmate, Katsuki Bakugo! Now… Begin!!”

Todoroki wasted no time sending a huge wave of ice toward Katsuki, but the blonde went into overdrive, exploding the ice at an incredible speed. Despite this, he was soon encased in an icy prison.

“Todoroki starts with a crazy ice blast! Bakugo seems to have been completely buried! Is it possible we’ve already got a winner down there?!”

“This isn’t like when he attacked Sero,” Zuku commented from in front of Mineta. “That ice just now was more controlled. He’s being cautious.”

“Can ya blame ’em?” I hummed as muffled explosions reached my ears. I grinned, leaning forward to rest my arms on my knees. Sorry, Todo, but that chihuahua ain’t that damn easy!

“What’s that terrifying sound?” Mineta cried out in fear, making me roll my eyes. Fuckin’ twat is scared of his own shadow.

“It’s gotta be Bakugo’s doing,” Tsu answered. Sure enough, the explosions became louder until the ice finally shattered, opening up a hole to reveal a pissed off looking blonde.

“He used his explosions to tunnel through the ice like some kind of mole man!” Sero exclaimed in surprise.

“These two are insane,” Kaminari muttered, leaning back in his chair.

The two boys rushed at each other and Bakugo used a small explosion to propel himself to the side, catching Todoroki off guard as he grabbed the top of his head and left shoulder.

“He dodged his right side with a blast!” Zuku said in awe.

“Awesome…” Ochaco added.

Hmm, he’s trying to make Todoroki use his fire like he did on Zuku, ain’t he? Pushing off the ground, Bakugo sent him flying across the arena with an explosion, but Todoroki used his ice to curve around the inside, sliding across the ice to remain in bounds.

“Todoroki surfs an ice wave to avoid going out of bounds! Looks like fun!”

For once, we agree, Mic. That does look like fun. This kid should be hired to entertain kids parties, he’d make a fucking killing.

Bakugo launched at him and Todoroki grabbed him with his left arm.

“Do it, Shoto!” Endeavor commanded.

I scowled, falling back into my seat. The sound of his voice ruined my mood and now all I can think about is punching dicks.

Todoroki refused the demand, throwing Bakugo away from him without using his fire.

“Stop screwing around!” Bakugo growled angrily. “What, do you think I’m not worthy of your fire?!”

“Bakugo timed his explosions to grab Todoroki’s left side on purpose,” Aizawa commentated. “He’s done his research. His aptitude for this becomes more apparent with every fight.”

“Interesting!”

“Todoroki’s doing well so far, but his attacks are too simple. It almost seems like he lost his spark after the match with Midoriya.”

Of course he fucking did. I ran my hand down my face in frustration before lowering my head. That damned chihuahua doesn’t care about why people do the things that they do. He’s smart as fuck, true, and he even heard Todoroki’s story, but he believes that it doesn’t matter, that it’s not important. He hasn’t stopped to think about why Todoroki is so damn reluctant to use those flames of his. All he cares about is that he used his flames on Izuku. Why, Katsuki? Why do you feel inferior next to Zuku?

“You bastard! I’ll tell you what’ll happen if you make a fool out of me! I’ll kill you!!” Bakugo cried angrily. “I don’t want there to be any doubt that I’m the best student at the festival! That’s only possible if you come at me as hard as you can! There’s no point if you don’t fight me with the same power you used against Deku! If you don’t want to win this, then why are you even here?! Show everyone that’s you’re trying to destroy me!”

Zuku shot up from his seat, approaching the railing. “Come on, Todoroki! Don’t give up! Do your best!”

I grinned at him and stood up, resting on the railing. “Oi~ Todoroki! If you win this, I’ll punch that flame fuck for you! Right in the nuts!”

“W-Winchester, you’re too brutal!” Kirishima cried, his hands over his lap.

I smirked at him over my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Kiri, you can harden your balls can’t cha? I doubt I could damage ’em.”

He sweatdropped, his cheeks darkening. “T-That’s not the point!”

Bakugo rushed him and Todoroki’s ice started to melt as his fire raged up. Crossing his arms and holding his palms out on either side of his body, Bakugo started to release an explosion from one palm then the other until his body started to spin like a goddamn ninja blender. Todoroki lifted his flaming arm, ready to depend, but then his power dropped and the flames died away. Meanwhile, Katsuki’s power is steadily fucking rising.

“Howitzer… IMPACT!!”

The ice shattered as Bakugo released a massive explosion, filling the arena with thick, black smoke.

“Wohoho! Bakugo combined speed and rotation with a huge blast like he used again Uraraka! He turned himself into a human missile! Todoroki didn’t fire off the flame attack that wowed us in his match against Midoriya! So what has become of our top two competitors?!”

My hands clenched around the railing as a bead of sweat rolled down my cheek. Katsuki is gonna be so~ fucking pissed that Todo didn’t use his fire.

The smoke finally started to clear.

Todoroki was out of bounds, his body unmoving against a huge chunk of cracked ice. Bakugo shakily got to his feet, taking a step forward. “Hey… Hey!” He suddenly rushed forward, grabbing the collar of Todoroki’s shirt and shaking him. “Stop messing around! This isn’t a real win for me unless you try harder! It can’t end this way! Now get up!”

Pink powder filled the arena as Midnight activated her quirk, putting Bakugo to sleep. She raised her arm. “Todoroki is out of bounds! That means… Bakugo is the winner!”

“And~ with that, the final match is officially over! The first-year champion of the U.A. sports festival is… Katsuki Bakugo from class 1-A!!”

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I stepped into Gran’s temporary office, sliding the door closed behind me.

“Hello, deary.” She smiled. “What have you done now?”

I sweatdropped. “Have you no faith in me, Gran?”

She hummed, thoughtfully tapping her chin with her finger. “Let’s say that’s up for debate.”

I laughed. “I’m innocent this time, I promise. How’s Todoroki doing?”

“Only a few minor scrapes and bruises. I’ve healed him and he’s resting up.”

I nodded, grabbing a stool and setting it beside his bed. He looks so peaceful when he’s sleeping. I reached out, my fingertips brushing the two-tone bangs from his forehead. His eyes slowly slid open, looking up at me with confusion. “How ya feelin’, bro?”

“I’m… okay.” He responded, softly.

I ruffled his hair lightly, giving him a smile. “You did really good out there, I’m proud of you, Todo. Congrats on getting second place.”

His eyes widened a bit in surprise, his lips parting but no sound escaped him.

The door slid open roughly and Midnight waltzed into the room, her eyes landing on me. “Oh, Winchester, I was looking for you!”

I stared at her blankly. “I didn’t punch anyone else, leave me alone.”

She smirked, putting her hand on her hip and cocking a brow. “Oh? So you didn’t threaten to punch the number two hero in the dick in front of thousands of witnesses?”

“Woah woah woah,” I stood up, turning around to face her with a scowl. “First off, I threatened to punch him in the nuts, not the dick. Get your fuckin’ facts straight, Midnight. Plus, I said I would punch him if Todoroki won the match which I’m sure you are clearly aware, he did not. That makes the threat null and void.”

“That’s not how that works, Winchester. You’re such a pain!” She sighed dramatically, putting the back of her hand to her temple before smiling at me. “Officially, you and Tokoyami are tied for third place. We were considering having the two of you compete in a side game -”

“It’s not chess, is it? You know I ain’t smart enough to win in chess, Midnight, especially not against Tokoyami.”

She ignored me. “However, since you like to make questionable choices and give your teachers a constant migraine, you have forfeited the right to fight for third place and will settle for fourth place. Clear?”

“Oh right, I forgot about that.” I waved my hand. “Cool, does that mean I can go home now?”

“Of course,” she smiled, licking her lips. Even though she had a kind expression on her face, her eyes were burning with sadistic intent. “Not. We still have the award ceremony to do and you will be there. Plus, you need to apologize to Monoma and class B for your behavior.”

“I already did that, chief.”

“Do it again.”

“I don’t wanna.”

“Do it again or else.”

“You can’t just say ‘or else’, Midnight. You gotta follow through with a threat. No one is gonna take you seriously like that.”

Her eye twitched and she was about to yell at me, but she suddenly paused and slowly approached, an evil grin on her face. Her finger ran down my cheek, making me shudder in disgust. “Or else, I will have Shimatsu Tacos fined for using a student to advertise their business during a school event.”

My eyes narrowed. “You fuckin’ wouldn’t.”

She leaned in her closer, her eyes begging me to challenge her. “Oh please, Winchester, do test me.”

I shuddered again, shoving her face away. “Alright, fuck! Just keep yo ugly ass face out of my space, man.”

She humphed in triumph before turning to Todoroki, whose eyes were still wide as he watched us. “Can you stand, Todoroki? We need you there to start the ceremony.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed, slipping his shoes on before standing up. He hesitated, glancing over at me. I raised a brow and he seemed to think about it for a moment before shaking his head and following Midnight out of the room.

What a strange edgelord, he is.

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“The first-year students have completed all of the events for the U.A. sports festival!” Midnight announced as she stood in front of the gathered students. A group of reporters are gathered behind a barricade nearby so they can get pictures of the winners. “Now, it’s time to relax and enjoy the awards ceremony!”

Loud music started to blast through the stadium as fireworks exploded across the sky in a wide array of colors. I stifled a yawn as a stream of sparklers shot up behind Midnight, covering the area in smoke. The winner’s pedestal started to raise from the ground.

“Woah…”

“What the heck…”

“He’s been going nuts ever since he woke up,” Kirishima explained from beside me, giving me a look. Katsuki was quite literally chained up to the fucking slab of concrete, his hands bound so he couldn’t use his quirk and a metal mask over his mouth so he couldn’t speak. He’s growling and struggling against his bonds, clearly not happy about the outcome of his match. His eyes met mine and I smirked, making him struggle harder.

“Man, Bakugo, pull yourself together.” Kiri sighed, rubbing the back of his head. I patted his shoulder.

Midnight cleared her throat. “Jen Winchester and Fumikage Tokoyami were meant to battle it out for the third place, but because of a technicality that has arisen, she will automatically take fourth place.” She winked at the cameras, putting her finger to her glossy lip.

I felt eyes on me and glanced around, spotting Monoma staring at me. He was chewing on his lip, face blank and pale blue eyes looking conflicted. As soon as he realized I was looking at him, he turned his face away.

“Too bad Iida couldn’t be here,” Tsu commented. Now that she brought it up, where is that engine freak? I haven’t seen him since the spat after Zuku’s surgery. I had just assumed he was avoiding me.

“Yeah…” Zuku’s eyes were shining with worry and sadness as he turned his gaze to the ground. I scratched my cheek, not liking that expression on his face. Just what the fuck did I miss exactly?

“Now, let’s break out the hardware!” Midnight held out her arm with a smirk. “Of course, there’s only one person worthy of distributing the awards!”

A familiar laugh rang out across the stadium and the crowd went wild when All Might appeared, jumping toward the podium.

“Citizens, I am” “All Might is the” “here!!” “number one hero!!”

I sweatdropped as his and Midnight’s voices overlapped one another. Clearly, they should have fucking rehearsed before trying that because that performance was total ass, bro.

“I ruined that, didn’t I?” Midnight put her hands together in apology before acting as if nothing had even happened. “So now that you’re here, All Might, why don’t you start the presentation?”

Toshi took the third-place medal and stepped up to Fumi. “Young Tokoyami, congratulations.” He placed the medal around his neck. “You showed great strength out there!”

“Your words humble me, sir.”

“However,” Toshi pulled him into a gentle hug, patting his back. “You’ve got more training to do if you’re going to be able to fight against different kinds of villains. You’re not going to be able to rely on your quirk in every battle you face.”

I started to laugh, earning a glare from Midnight and strange looks from my classmates. I couldn’t control it so I turned around and stuffed my face into Kiri’s shoulder. Bro, Fumi’s fucking beak is literally pressed into Toshi’s fucking armpit and I know from fucking experience that it smells like hopes and the laughter of children. Bro, someone fucking save him, please.

“Are you okay, Winchester?” Kiri asked with worry, patting my back as I laughed into his shoulder. “Midnight is really glaring at you… god, she’s terrifying.”

I pulled myself away and coughed a few times, slapping both of my cheeks at the same time to compose myself. I gave him a thumbs up and turned back around. Holy shit, Midnight looks like she’s about to fucking sprout snakes from her hair. I didn’t know laughing was a fucking crime, chief.

Toshi took the second place medal and stepped up to Todoroki, whose gaze remained lowered. “Young Todoroki, congratulations. I’m assuming there’s a reason you didn’t use your left side, though it cost you the final.”

“Midoriya opened my eyes during our match, but then I started to doubt myself. I think I now understand a little about why you’re so interested in him. I want to be the kind of hero you are, but my path… isn’t as clear as I thought it was. I have a lot to think about… and I still need to settle things with someone, very soon.”

I threw my arm around Zuku’s shoulder, careful of his injuries. “See what you did, kid? Todoroki was lost in a tunnel of darkness, and you shined the light that got him running in the right direction. Be proud of yourself.”

He nodded, sending me a bright smile as his eyes teared up. “Thank you, Jen…”

“If you keep this up, you’re gonna be called the crying hero, Zuku.”

“Sorry…”

Toshi continued, pulling the boy into his arms. “Hmm, I’ve never seen this sort of look on your face before. I won’t ask for details, but trust yourself. I’m sure you’ll work things out.”

“Right…”

“And now, young Bakugo.” Toshi took the first place medal and stepped up to him. “Huh, this is a little much. Well, you did what you said you’d do in the pledge.” He unlocked the metal mouth guard, tossing it back to Midnight, who held it up in disgust, spit dripping from the inside. “You’re true to your word!”

“All Might,” Katsuki growled angrily. “Winning first place this way… doesn’t prove that I’m the best one here!! Even if the world considers me the winner, I refuse to accept it like this!!”

Zuku sweatdropped. “Kacchan is so angry…”

“Yep,” I responded. “But that’s nothin’ new is it?”

He bit his lip. “No, but…”

“Worried that everyone will look at him poorly?”

He nodded.

“Probably, but that’s fine. Not everyone has to understand that idiot, as long as we do.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“I’m a woman, Zuku, I’m always right.” I grinned, ruffling his hair.

“In a world where we’re constantly being compared to one another, there are very few who can keep their eyes focused on the top spot,” Toshi spoke up, forcing his gaze back to the blonde, which he was clearly unnerved by. “You’re one of them. Please accept this medal, even if you have to think of it as a scar, something you’ll never forget.”

“I don’t want that piece of garbage!!”

“Come on, now.” Toshi tried to put it around his neck but he slammed his head back and the strap went over the bridge of his nose instead.

“Get that trash off of me, you idiot!!”

Toshi tugged it down hard and the strap fell between Katsuki’s teeth. “Here they are, the winners of this year’s sports festival! But listen closely,” he turned toward the crowd of students. “Any of you first-years could have ended up standing on these podiums! Think about what you’ve done today! You’ve challenged each other, learned, and climbed even closer to your goals of being pros! I think the next generation of heroes is proving to be our most promising one yet! So, I have one more thing to say – I want to hear everyone yell it with me!”

While that idiot screamed ‘thanks for your hard work!’, the crowd screamed, ‘plus ultra!’. A couple seconds of stunned silence passed before the crowd and students started to boo him, much to his displeasure.

“What?! That was the perfect time to say ‘plus ultra’, All Might!”

“Oh, well, yeah, I guess, but… everyone did such a good job!” He cried in protest.

What a complete fucking dork. Me and Zuku exchanged a look before we started laughing.

それ以上に上昇 ☆ Third Person

Felix grunted as he watched the awards ceremony taking place at U.A. High School. The camera panned across the first, second, and third place students, but the man had no interest in them. His knee bounced impatiently as he waited for the camera to pan toward the other students.

“Look, there she is.” Ryan pointed his finger, leaning forward. Two sets of lime green eyes stared at Jen Winchester as she had her arm around Izuku Midoriya, the two of them laughing together. And then the angle changed again, capturing the filled stadium as people cheered and laughed.

“A technicality,” Felix muttered under his breath, his large hand resting on his bearded chin. “What do you think it could be?”

Ryan tilted his head, orange-tipped bangs sliding across his eyes. “I’m not sure. Perhaps they didn’t want to bring too much attention to her given who her mother is.”

“That makes no sense!” He huffed, folding his arms over his broad chest. His Irish accent became more pronounced in his frustration. “If they didn’t want to display her, they shouldn’t have allowed her to compete!”

“It’s possible that they are punishing her for the sins of her mother,” Ryan hummed, crossing one leg over the other. “But that hardly seems like a thing U.A. would do.”

“There’s only one way to find out!” Felix jumped up, heading for the door. When Ryan didn’t move, he stopped and tilted his head expectantly. “Well, what are you waitin’ for, boyo?”

“Stall the ball for a minute, pops.” Ryan sighed, brushing his bangs aside before standing up and motioning toward the desk to his left. “You can’t just up and leave to another country. You are the number five hero of Ireland.”

The man’s eye twitched in annoyance, but he knew his young son was right. He was a pro hero and he had responsibilities to attend to before he could leave. “Fine!” He grinned brightly, rolling back the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt. “Let’s get to work, then!”

Ryan chuckled, shaking his head at his father. He glanced back at the TV, now showing highlights from the festival. ‘We’ll see you soon… Jen Winchester.’

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