The shadow that protects the light

Chapter 21

The crowd cheered, and fireworks rang off as the Sports Festival was coming to an end, and the top 3 were stationed on the stands. Izumi stood on the third place slot, looking annoyed. She was giving a not so subtle side eye to second place, which was Izuku. He stood there ignoring the side eye of Izumi and relishing in the fact he managed second place. He wasn't bitter about the loss. Rather, he was excited about fighting Kiara again. Speaking of Kiara, she stood as number one on the stands. She had no expression on her face as she looked on among the crowd.

She met eyes with her father, who had a smile on his face, different from the plain smile he always had. He nodded with pride radiating from him. She nodded back, and a small smile grew on her face. She very much enjoyed this feeling. That was when Midnight came onto the stage.

"Thank you all for coming to this year's sports festival. Sadly, we must come to a close, but before that, we have medals to give out. As a bonus treat, we have a special guest giving out the medals. So everyone, please  give it up to the number one hero, All Might."

As she says this, said hero drops down from the heavens with his signature laugh that makes the audience cheer out even more. He lands in front of the three teens and strikes his signature pose. "I AM HERE." The crowd roars with excitement at the number one hero's presence. He walks over to Midnight, who is holding the box containing the medals. Three shiny medals were lying in the box. A bronze medal that sat on the right , a silver medal that lay on the left slightly higher and finally a gold medal that was in between the other two medals and slightly higher than both. All three had a red, white, and blue neck strap.

All Might takes the bronze medal and walks in front of Izumi. She bows her head slightly as All Might puts the strap around her neck, and as she raises her head, the medal brings itself to her chest and softly dangles there. She had a smile on her face, somewhat happy at reaching third. All Might goes in and gives her a hug.

"You have done well, young lady. I am certain your parents are proud of you. Though you placed third, it is best not to dwell on your loss but take it as a learning experience and as motivation to rank even higher next year." Izumi nods, and All Might pulls away from the hug. He grabs the silver medal. He inwardly sighs as this is most definitely going to be awkward. He walks over to Izuku, who has a blank expression. Izuku bows his head slightly, and All Might does the same thing for Izuku. He gives him a hug and spouts some encouraging words to him.

"Young man, you have an amazing quirk. Your strength alone can rival most of the pro heroes already. But it's best not to be complacent. There is always room to grow and improve. You will be an amazing hero one day." Izuku scoffs at his words. "Thank you, All Might. I wish I had heard those words long ago by those around me as a child." All Might caught the subtle jab at him and his family. Izuku then hushes his tone for no one to hear him. "Enjoy this hug while you can because as long as I am conscious and breathing, this will never happen again."

All Might gulps and pulls away from Izuku before grabbing the gold medal and going in front of Kiara. She follows the others and bows her head slightly for All Might to slide the medal strap around her neck. "Congratulations on winning the Sports Festival. This is a huge milestone on your path to being a hero, and I'm sure your loved ones are very proud. Be sure to continue climbing as I'm sure you will become even better than you are now." Kiara nods, not saying a word.

All Might steps away from the podium and wishes another round of applause for the three. The crowd cheers as All Might leaps out of the stadium. As he soars out of the arena, he sees a black figure standing on the edge of the stands. He blinks for a moment, and the figure is gone. He dismisses it for now as nothing has happened and goes about his day.

Two days later and everyone is back in class talking about the sports festival. The buzz was still in the air as if it were the day of said event. The main talk of the class was Izuku, Izumi, and Kiara. The top three in the sports festival. Izumi is lapping up all the attention. Meanwhile, Izuku and Kiara are more reserved and aren't letting the attention and questions go to their heads. Soon, Aizawa walks through the door with fewer bandages, though his arm is in a sling, but it's progress, so they'll take it.