Cementos walked into Bakugo's waiting area. He lost the straw drawing, so he would be the one to inform the boy of what was to come. Yes, his quirk was a perfect counter for blocking the explosive emitter, but dealing with the boy's insufferable ranting would be a headache. The situation couldn't be helped, and it just appeared that the universe wanted him to suffer for a few minutes.
"So annoying, so damn irritating, but they all caught me off guard at least once." Bakugo was muttering to himself. "This shitty tournament wasn't half as shitty as I thought it would be."Well that would help the mood somewhat.
"Bakugo." He stated, drawing the boy's attention. "I have come to inform you that Tenya Iida has received a call from his family, and will be dropping out."
The boy looked at him with a blank expression so neutral he's only seen it physically possible in manga drawings. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly, Cementoss-sensei. What did you say?" Sensei, that alone was a sign of nightmares.
"Due to a family emergency Iida is … dropping out of the competition." He paused. "There is no final round, you've won."
"He...left...he left me...he left just like Deku did." The boy's face suddenly turned horrified. "He left...he left...he left…" The boy looked like he was in the middle of a panic attack.
"Bakugo, breathe!" He shook the boy to some form of sense. "I'm sorry, but that's just how life works out sometimes. You don't always get what you want no matter how much you desire it." The kid didn't lose the horrified expression on his face.
"Just leave me the fuck alone!" He shouted. "Just … leave me … alone." He began breathing slower, gripping the table as scorch marks began forming. Now Bakugo and Suzuki were closing in on being tied for most mentally scarred student of the year. He now understood why Aizawa always chose to use the term 'problem child' so specifically.
He walked out, trudged down the hallway, and kept a close ear on the while, not ready to leave the kid alone by himself just yet. He didn't want to take the chance that Bakugo might hurt himself.
The boy was quiet, muttering things he couldn't hear, but seemed to be self aware enough to tap to a steady heartbeat, making sure his own kept pace. "Hey Cementoss, how did it go? I don't hear any explosions, and that concerns me." Midnight spoke from his earpiece.
"Kid had a full blown panic attack, keeping an eye on him now." Shouldn't say anything else in case Bakugo heard. Right now all that there was to do is to make sure a student is ok.
==
Tensei took a deep breath, it hurt, everything hurt really. Stain pulled no punches mutilating his spine and arms. He counted himself quite fortunate that he didn't choose to live up to his title of killer and take his life then and there.
But with the level of nerve damage the villain wrecked on him, as well as the rather slow pace it took for any of his sidekicks to find his mutilated body, Stain might as well have killed him. The doctors refused to say anything at the moment, but they didn't need to...he couldn't feel his legs anymore.
On the plus side, a part of his body didn't hurt, so surely he could joke about that. Would do well considering the dark look his little bro had on, eyes full of pain from looking at him. "I'll … live …"
"Brother, you shouldn't be trying to speak so casually! You've just been through a horrible ordeal!" His brother was always the responsible one, yet Tenya still looked up to him despite his many mistakes.
"If you..can't smile...through something like this...when can you?"
"Literally any other time would be more appropriate!"
"I highly … doubt that …'' He held a hand out, touching Tenya's head. "I want you to listen … I can't feel it … my lower half." The boy froze. "I'm going … to retire …"
"No..no! You can't...Ingenium is still an inspiration to many!" His brother went to instant denial. "He still has many lives to save! The doctors can fix you, can't they!? We have quirks for these kinds of situations!"
"Quirks aren't … almighty …" Well except Star and Stripe, but he wasn't going to waste one of her rules on this. "... Just saying … I'm giving it … my legacy." Tensei coughed into his mask. Oh, blood, lovely.
"No..you can't! You're still Ingenium..!"
"No...it can't be me now….I want it to be you." Tensei coughed weekly. "Ingenium can still save lives...you're the one who'll have to do the running from now on though….I'll...make sure to cheer you on louder than anybody." He would. The boy was totally worth it. That kind hearted innocence that followed the rules. Completely trustworthy. "It's going dark … gonna sleep …"
"Brother...TENSEI!" Tenya was a good kid...he always was. There was no one more deserving to be Ingenium.
==
All Might waited for his que, tapping on the wall in his oversized costume. He really hated that he couldn't have a one size fits all piece of clothing, but that kind of stuff couldn't handle full throttle. It made it more difficult to switch between 'buff' mode and Yagi in an instance.
But the wait would be worth it. He would congratulate the top three of the festival, one of which was his very own successor. He may have not gotten first place, but he stood among the best of his year, and no one, NO ONE, was going to be forgetting his name anytime soon. That boy sure was determined!
"And to give out the awards is a very special guest!" Ah there it was. He began bulking up, power from the embers flowing. "A man who's drive speaks to all with a smile!" He leaped, shining in the air. "It's All-
"I AM HERE!"
"-Might everybody!" They stood in awkward silence for a bit. "You couldn't have waited two more seconds?"
"Sorry! I'm just so thrilled to see such fine young heroes in the making that I couldn't help myself!" That was far from the case, but the crowd was eating it up! He was cool under pressure no matter the situation. "Now due to a last minute situation, Tenya Iida won't be present for his second place medal, but let's all give him a round of applause in his absence!"
The audience did so, but it was lighter than he wanted it to be, and a small part of him couldn't blame the crowd. After the battles that lead up to Iida and Bakugo's match, it was completely anti-climatic to hear they wouldn't be getting that last fight with the best of the best.
"But we still have some wonderful contenders for the crown, so let's hear it!" He gestured to the rising podium as the crowd cheered. Sharing the third place was Young Suzuki and Shiozaki. On the top was Young Bakugo, not looking at anything really. "Sharing third place are two of the Flying Gluttons! Let's give it up for Young Suzuki and Shiozaki for making it this far together! Who says you have to rise to the top alone!?" There were many who would say so, but he didn't want to ruin the moment for his successor.
"That name is going to stick for a while, isn't it?" He could hear the girl mutter as he made his way.
"I think it's a really fun one." An optimist, as always.
"You two have shown resilience and determination to push yourself through every obstacle." He placed the medals onto their necks, before giving them a hug. "May you both have great futures."
"He smells like hopes and dreams." That innocence would never get tiring to hear.
"My angel smells more divine than even the number one hero." Okay, he was both insulted and weirded out. Suzuki really knew how to pick them.
"Now for the winner!" He made his way to the highest Podium, where the boy looked dazed out of his mind. Cementos was right, Iida leaving really did a number on him. "Sheer whit and grit has moved this talented boy all the way to the top. Congratulations, Katsuki Bakugo!"
"I don't want it." Bakugo turned his back on him as he tried to place the medal on his neck. "I didn't fight the final match, I didn't beat everybody that matters in this damn festival, I didn't win!"
"I see. Then why don't you accept the medal as a scar? A reminder to keep…"
"I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER FUCKING LOSING!" Bakugo took the medal and used his quirk on it, charring it to bits. "That's what your pity looks like to me, All Might! Take it away and shove it!" He threw the melted pile right at the pro head, which barely grazed him physically.
"... Such a humble man." He tried to save face. "Now than everyone, let's end this festival with something everyone knows what to say." He took a deep breath.
"PLUS ULTRA!!"
"Good job everyone!" The silence was deafening before being replaced with angry cries.
"I thought it was good, Bunny-Sensei." Young Suzuki was lucky nobody could hear him over the rants of the audience. Endeavor might actually die of laughter if that were to happen.
==
Sullivan walked back into the castle, humming as he double checked the camera. Such unsightly footage in here. Violent outbursts, memories, possible abuse. That was stuff you were supposed to find in the Netherworld, not earth. It seems like humans and demons were truly no different from each other.
But that's why his darling Izuku-kun was so special! Even at his most spiteful, the lad strove to help others no matter what with a smile on his face. That was the type of human, no, the type of demon that needed to be in the netherworld right now. Someone capable of reaching out to the hearts of others.
And this video held something that would likely make the boy upset … "Hey Grandpa." His darling grandson greeted. "What've you got there?"
"Oh nothing, just looking at the home movies your mother sent me. I have them saved on multiple drives." Not unbelievable and also very true. "Studying hard for Terminus? I can give you all the answers if you want."
"I'm sure Balam-sensei would call me out even if you approve of it. Besides, he gave me these great teaching aides." He pointed to the several picture books in his hands. "He's a nice teacher. If it wasn't for his looks he'd probably be the most popular one." This was true. "Say, does time work the same here like it does in the human world?"
"Not exactly. Dense magic makes it very difficult to keep a linear '1 hour here 1 day there' thing. It's like how it works on different planets depending on gravity, if gravity decided to change every second."
"So there's no telling how much time passes between either world?"
"Exactly! Why are you curious?"
"Oh it's just ... I feel like I'm forgetting something." Sullivan stopped in his tracks as the boy looked thoughtful. "... Bah, I'm sure it's nothing." Oh thank Devi. "I should probably meet up with Clara again. She'd be a solid c student if she didn't constantly use nicknames."
"Yes, yes, go about your day with all your little friends." He scooted the boy out the door. Izuku-kun was living a happy life now, and after that incident with 'Deku', he wouldn't take the chance to risk that happiness.
==
Iruma walked into the door. "Mom, Dad, I'm home." It was a quiet trip back. Thanks to the sports festival he didn't really have any major jobs to do today, so it was just a nice hang out with some friends. He also had the next few days off from school, so he could use the time to make a little extra cash.
"There's our little hero!" He was instantly greeted with their great hugs and headpats. That was weird, they didn't say please, and he hasn't done anything big or notable for them lately. "Iruma-kun, why didn't you tell us you got a quirk?"
"A quirk?" He thought it over. Oh right, live television, he almost forgot. "I didn't think it was all that important."
"Of course it is, a quirk can bring you so far in life, much farther than if you were quirkless!" But why though?
"I didn't know I had one until the UA exam. I guess Bunny-sensei's training unlocked something." He didn't want to lie, but Bunny-sensei said please and was very clear about no one knowing about One For All being a 'giving' quirk.
"We'll have to thank Bunny-sensei sometime then." Mom smiled. "We got you a cake too, my sweet little Iruma-kun." Now he felt weird. They never got cake for him. Even for his birthday!
"It's all for you, so eat up! Build up your energy and strength." His dad kept patting his head. It felt good but it also didn't feel right. "You're mom and I also agreed to pitch in a little more around the house, so you don't have to spend so much time with your jobs anymore."
"SERIOUSLY!?" That was where he drew the line on 'too much of a good thing'.
"Of course! We can't have our little hero fail because of a few bad grades." Now that made sense, he was stupid after all.
"Oh, and give us a heads up on offers, we wanna make sure you get a good internship, please?"
"Okay!" Shit. "Ah...mind if I take the cake to my tent?"
"Of course not, go ahead." He still didn't have his own room. For a second, he thought something wrong was going on. Nope, his parents were still the same annoying people as always. People he'll forget about once he ate that cake.