ALWAYS || Katsuki Bakugo

26- Victory

"HERE WE HAVE THE FAMOUS CLASS-A, KNOWN FOR ALWAYS GETTING INTO TROUBLE AND CLASS-B THAT, ER- IS VERY AMAZING! FOLLOWED BY THE GENERAL STUDIES, SUPPORT GROUP AND BUSINESS GROUP! A LOUD APPLAUSE FOR OUR PARTICIPANTS, PLEASE!"

Sounds of clapping and cheering took over the stadium. Yoshiko spotted her mother seated beside a few other pro heroes in the bleachers. Her mother waved at her with a grin. Yoshiko knew Hawks would be watching, too, since he promised he'd watch from his agency last night. Yoshiko felt a rush adrenaline. She was so ready.

"AND FOR THIS YEARS CHEIF UMPIRE, WE HAVE..." All Might walked onto the concrete stage in his skinny form. "ALL MIGHT!!" Chants of All Might's name erupted around them at the sight of the former symbol of peace.

"So loud..." Shinsou complained beside her. Yoshiko nodded her head in agreement.

"It's nice to have you all here!" All Might said into the mic. "As always, we're going to start with the player's pledge. I'd like to call Bakugo Katsuki, winner of last year's sports festival, onto the stage, please."

Yoshiko stayed up late last night, watching snippets from the sports festival on YouTube. One of the clips was about Bakugo delivering the player's pledge, which had her laughing her lungs out. She just knew that he'd do something similar again.

A shit-eating smirk made its way to Bakugo's face as he climbed the stairs onto the stage, hands in pockets, posture confident. He walked up to the mic and gave everyone a death glare before saying, "I'm going to win. Again."

The classes booed at him, yelling at him at the top of their lungs. Bakugo simply stuck out both his middle fingers at them, making eye contact with Yoshiko's silvery eyes for a brief second, which held nothing but amusement compared to the rest of them.

"Bakubro, now you made them hate us again!" Kirishima exclaimed once Bakugo stood amongst them again.

"Not my fuckin' problem."

"I dont blame him." Yoshiko piped in. "I'd say the same."

"You're both awfully alike," Sero said.

"No, we're fucking not!" Bakugo and Yoshiko yelled in unison, causing their classmates to sweatdrop.

"Only proves his point," Shinsou muttered under his breath.

"Okay, younguns, pipe down!" All Might said, silencing the booeing and objections.

"NOW IT'S TIME TO DECIDE THE FIRST GAME OF THE EVENT!" Present Mic yelled. "Pipe it down, Mic," Aizawa said in the microphone, clearly annoyed.

All Might pressed a button on the remote, and a wheel on the big screen spun round and round. Yoshiko nibbled on her lower lip, excitedly wondering what the game would be first. The bleachers and the participants had gone silent, watching the screen.

At last, it stopped on 'Quirk Battle Royale.'

"QUIRK BATTLE ROYALE!" Present Mic exclaimed. "I HAVEN'T SEEN THAT ONE IN A WHILE! OKAY, ALL MIGHT COULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN THE GAME AND RULES!"

"The game will take place at USJ." All Might said, facing the eager students. "One hundred and fifteen of you will be competing for the top forty-two. As for how the game works-- All of you will be scattered around USJ's perimeter. In the center of USJ will be a stage. If forty-two of you make it to the stage within sixty minutes, you pass on to the next round."

The students began murmuring amongst themselves, and All Might held his hand up, effectively silencing everyone.

"Now, there are also twists." All Might continued. "There are red lights surrounding the perimeter that get closer to the stage every minute. You have to move forward before the red light touches you. If it does touch you, you will be automatically eliminated from the game.