Red and White, Black and Blue

Chapter 14: Ends and Beginnings

"The first-year students have completed all of the events for the UA sports festival. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the awards ceremony!" Midnight calls to the crowd and gestures to the empty space behind her.

Fireworks go off around the perimeter of the arena and in the skies overhead, crackling and spraying the darkening sky with rainbow colors. The students of all classes are gathered in the field, with those who advanced the farthest nearer to the front. A smoke screen covers the podium as it rises out of the ground behind Midnight to reveal the top four competitors.

"Wow..." Jiro mumbles, obviously trying to sound unimpressed, but a little genuine awe sneaks through.

"What...?" Yaoyorozu asks, covering her mouth in shock at the sight of their first-place classmate in particular.

Kirishima shakes his head, an embarrassed half smile on. "He's been going wild since the second he woke up..." He sighs. "Man, Bakugo. Pull yourself together."

On stage, at the top level of the podium, Bakugo is wearing heavy chains and a muzzle not unlike the equipment police use to nullify the quirks of dangerous prisoners. He thrashes and rattles the chains, growling incoherently through the muzzle. Todoroki stands silently on the second-place podium, ignoring the chaotic display next to him and staring out at nothing in particular. The third-place podium is shared by Ryumi and Tokoyami.

Tokoyami spares a small glance at the rampaging Bakugo. "What a bloodthirsty beast. Acting like a feral animal."

Bakugo growls in his direction.

Ryumi rolls her eyes and shakes her head. A moment passes, then she looks at Tokoyami. "Kind of glad I didn't have to face you to break the tie." She rubs her right shoulder - it always bothers her after a tough day. "Doubt I'd have put up a good fight after all that."

Tokoyami nods. "Perhaps we can settle it another day." He eyes her, a hint of challenge in his tone and the slight smirk on the edge of his beak. "If you really want to know."

She chuckles, even though it hurts to do so. "You bet. Give me some time to recover, I'll be there."

Down in the crowd, Tsu looks around the group of their class. "Too bad Iida couldn't be here. He was so excited."

"Yeah..." Midoriya adds, his face a mix of worry and disappointment.

"Now for the medals! Of course, there's only one person worthy of distributing the awards..." Midnight collects a box of shining medals and points up to the sky.

A shadow appears on the edge of the walls high above, laughing as the crowd cheers - it's a laugh that anyone would recognize in an instant. "Citizens! I am... here with the medals!" The silhouette of All Might leaps from the wall down into the arena, landing dramatically.

"He's everyone's number one hero... All Might!" Midnight announces as the man himself lands just a couple meters from where she stands.

All Might glares back at her as he gets to his feet.

Midnight presses her hands together and dips her head in a slight apologetic bow. "I cut you off, sorry..." She recovers and holds out the box of medals to him. "So now that you're here, All Might, why don't you start the presentation?"

All Might proudly steps up to the third-place podium, laughing his boisterous laugh. "Congratulations, young Tokoyami! You showed great strength out there."

Tokoyami bows his head and allows the medal to be placed around his neck. "You honor me too highly."

"But relying on your quirk alone won't be enough to overcome a bad matchup. You've more training to do if you're going to be able to fight against different kinds of villains." All Might continues, as he leans in and pats the bird boy on the back.