Chapter 125: Bronze Medal
Author: Geraint
A mysterious figure dashed out of the alleyway, revealing itself to be the Hero Killer, Stain. Chasing after him were All Might, Endeavor, and, behind them, Best Jeanist and Edgeshot. Hawks flew above, keeping a close watch on Stain's every move.
"Damn it! It was a trap! This must be the work of Falcon!"
A black fog appeared ahead of him.
"I don't want to go back to that place, but I have no choice."
Stain leaped into the fog and disappeared.
Meanwhile, the closing ceremony of the U.A. Sports Festival reached the award ceremony. Yagi Ichika, Shoto Todoroki, and Katsuki Bakugou stood on the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st podiums, respectively, to receive their medals. However, due to his fury toward Shoto and Ichika, and to prevent him from unleashing his anger on them, Katsuki was fully restrained—his arms and hands locked, his body wrapped in a wooden log, chained to the podium, with a face mask covering his mouth.
"Now, we will award the medals! Due to All Might and Endeavor being unavailable today because of emergency work, the medals will be presented by the No. 5 Hero, Mirko!"
When Mirko appeared before the crowd, she seemed unmotivated and reluctant to do the job.
"Why me of all people? I want to fight a villain too."
"Now then, Mirko, please present the medals, starting with third place."
"Eh~"
Mirko grabbed the medals and went up to the first-place podium, hanging the gold medal around Bakugou's neck.
"Mirko, I said start with third place!" Midnight whispered harshly, but Mirko didn't listen.
Katsuki didn't want to accept the gold medal, but Mirko forcefully hung it around his neck and ruffled his hair.
"Congratulations! It's been a while, Explosion Kid! I understand how you feel, but get stronger and beat that piece of shit in third place."
Mirko moved to the second-place podium and hung the silver medal around Shoto's neck.
"I don't really understand why you were holding back during the match, but congratulations! Next time, I want to see you fight at full strength."
Mirko turned to the third-place podium and saw Ichika looking excited to have the medal placed around his neck.
"Ugh..."
She moved down to his podium and put the bronze medal around his neck.
Receiving the bronze medal, Ichika celebrated exuberantly, even biting his medal.
Mirko looked confused, then Ichika suddenly hugged her tightly and kissed her on the cheek.
"Ichika, what are you doing?!"
Mirko's face turned completely red, and she immediately pulled away from him.
The crowd in the stadium started booing, but Ichika pulled a large champagne bottle from a wormhole he created and popped it open while standing on the podium.
"YEEEAHH!!!"
Katsuki and Shoto looked shocked from their higher podiums.
"Rumi, you're promise!"
"Huh?"
Mirko remembered their promise from before she left his side for work.
"Yeah," she smiled.
It was a long time ago when Mirko was still a student.
The two of them were lazily lying under the shade of a tree on a hot day. Ichika, still a little kid, sat up and spoke to her.
"Hey, Rumi!"
"Hm?"
"If I ever take the hero course in the future, will you take me as an intern?"
"Hmm."
"If that happens, we'll be together at your work."
"Hmm."
"We can spar anytime, and you'll lose a lot to me."
Mirko quickly sat up, furious.
"What did you just say?! When that time comes, I'll be the one to beat you a lot!"
"Hahaha!"
Ichika just laughed at her reaction.
It was a long time ago when Mirko was still a student. The two of them were lazily lying under the shade of a tree on a hot day. Ichika, still a little kid, sat up and spoke to her.
"Hey, Rumi!"
"Hm?"
"If I ever take the hero course in the future, will you take me as an intern?"
"Hmm."
"If that happens, we'll be together at your work."
"Hmm."
"We can spar anytime, and you'll lose a lot to me."
Mirko quickly sat up, furious.
"What did you just say?! When that time comes, I'll be the one to beat you a lot!"
"Hahaha!"
Ichika just laughed at her reaction.
Two days after the U.A. Sports Festival, normal classes resumed. Ichika attended Class 1-A with Roboco. The students of Class 1-A discussed the attention they received from the Sports Festival.
They quieted down when Shota Aizawa walked in, fully recovered from his injuries, and announced that their homeroom class would be on Hero Informatics, causing many students to panic, thinking there might be a test. Instead, Shota revealed that they would choose their code names, and the class jumped up in excitement to pick hero identities.
Eraserhead reminded the class that this was important for the Pro-Hero draft picks and explained that, because they were first-years, any offers could be taken back before they graduated. He then showed them the draft results, where Yagi Roboco, Todoroki Shoto, and Bakugou Katsuki led the class, with thousands of heroes wanting to recruit them.
Yagi Roboco - 5,045
Todoroki Shoto - 4,123
Bakugou Katsuki - 3,556
Tokoyami Fumikage - 360
Ida Tenya - 301
Shinso Hitoshi - 289
Kaminari Denki - 272
Toga Himiko - 201
Yaoyorozu Momo - 198
Yagi Ichika - 69
Kirishima Eijiro - 68
Uraraka Ochaco - 20
Hanta Sero - 14
Ichika was shocked by the enormous number of offers for his robot daughter. He felt very proud of her.
Denki was discouraged by the large gap between the thousands of nominations and the hundreds others received. Kyoka Jiro pointed out that Shoto had the most offers, despite losing to Katsuki, and Momo congratulated him.
Shoto didn't seem too excited, attributing the nominations to his father's influence. Hanta Sero suggested that pros might have been reluctant to work with Katsuki because of his demeanor during the awards ceremony, to which he replied, "If I scared them, then they're just weak." Ochaco Uraraka was excited that she and Tenya received offers, and Minoru Mineta pointed out that Izuku hadn't received any because of his reckless fighting against Shoto.
While some students hadn't received any offers, Shota informed the class that they would all spend a week interning with Pro-Heroes.
Forty Hero Agencies had agreed to take on apprentices from U.A. who didn't receive offers. Each agency specialized in a different aspect of heroism. These students would choose from a list of pros, while those who received offers would choose from their draft nominations. All students had to choose a codename before their apprenticeship. The internships would last one week, and students had two days to choose their desired hero agency.
While Shota reminded them of the importance of choosing their hero names, Midnight arrived and told the class that she would have final approval over the names. After handing out canvases for them to write on, Midnight told the class they must present the names they'd chosen. Most of the class was too nervous to go up, so Yuga Aoyama revealed his name first.
"I cannot stop twinkling."
Although most of his peers found the name strange, Midnight simply shortened it to "Can't Stop Twinkling" and moved on.
"Alien Queen!"
Mina showed her name, but Midnight didn't allow her to compare herself to the villain from Ridley Scott's movie franchise, causing the class to worry.
"Rainy Season Hero: Froppy."
Tsuyu Asui chose a more normal name, and the class responded cheerfully.
"Crimson Riot!"Kirishima Eijiro. Midnight approved.
Kyoka noticed Denki Kaminari struggling to choose a name and suggested:
"Jamming-way."
Denki liked it until Kyoka admitted it was just a way to make fun of him.
"Kamaboko Gonpachiro."
Kyoka glared at Ichika when he suggested that name.
"Shut up!"
Kyoka went up in front of the class and announced her hero name:
"Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack."
The hero name selection continued, and Midnight loved the names chosen, continuing to approve them.
Bakugou stepped up next and showed his name:
"King Explosion Murder!"
"Bffffft!"
Ichika chuckled at his name, which made Bakugou furious.
"Damn you, Ichika!"
After Tenya selected his name, Midnight called Izuku up next. His classmates were surprised when he chose the moniker "Deku."
Izuku explained that although he used to hate the nickname, Ochaco had taught him that it could have a different meaning, and he'd had a change of heart.
Ichika looked dissatisfied and stood up from his seat.
"Ichika-kun?"
Izuku, looking confused, watched as Ichika snatched the board from Midnight's hand and wrote something.
He handed it back to her and silently returned to his seat.
"Eh?"
[Deku-chan]
Midnight didn't mind it and approved the name.
"What about the student from Class 1-S?"
Roboco stepped forward and revealed her chosen name:
[High-spec Robot Hero: Roboco-san]
Everyone cheered for her, and she was happy.
Ichika stood up next and showed his name:
[Falcon]
"Well, everyone calls you that now. There's no need for me to approve it."
(To be continued.)
A/N: I'll fix my mistakes later.