When Yuna opened her eyes, she saw that she was no longer on the battle stage, but in the infirmary. Her body still felt numb, but the pain has mostly gone away.
"Oh, you're awake," Recovery Girl said as Yuna slowly sat up.
"What happened?" Yuna questioned.
"You went past your limit and got hit by an explosion, that's what happened," Recovery Girl retorted. Then she sighed. "You and Midoriya have the same problems. You use your quirk through sacrificing your body."
"When will I be able to leave?" Yuna asked. "And how long have I been out?"
Recovery Girl sighed, "You've been out for just under an hour. I'll give you more treatment and then you should be good to walk."
Yuna eyes widened, "An hour? Has the final battle started yet?"
"Yes, and it ended too," Recovery Girl said.
"Oh," Yuna mumbled, disappointment setting in. She would've liked to see Todoroki and Bakugo's match. They were both really strong and seeing them fight each other would've been exciting.
"You can always watch the replay," Recovery Girl replied before walking up to her. She used her quirk on Yuna before saying. "Alright, you can go now, you're up just in time for the awards ceremony."
"Ok," Yuna muttered. Her body now felt drained from Recovery Girl's quirk, but she got up anyways. She bowed to Recovery Girl before walking out of the infirmary.
As she walked down the hall, Yuna's phone vibrated in the pocket she had put it in after taking it from Recovery Girl's desk. She stopped walking and looked at the number, expecting to see her mom or dad's caller ID. But instead, it was a number Yuna didn't recognize. She stared at it for a minute before deciding to answer. If it was a scam, she would just hang up.
"Good job during the fight."
Yuna's entire body tensed when she heard her aunt's taunting voice. Memories of the USJ event flooded back into Yuna's mind. She was on the phone with a villain.
"It's such a shame that you lost," Miori continued with a tone that would've made Yuna punch her if Miori was talking to her in person. "You know, if you had just come with me, I could've made you strong enough to beat him."
"I don't need you," Yuna growled.
Miori laughed, "Sure. Tell yourself that for now. But I'll make you see. Trust me. I'm not going to give up on you the way your parents will."
"Excuse me?"
"Your parents will give up on you," Miori repeated, sounding slightly more sincere. Though Yuna knew it was an act. "If they haven't yet they will soon. Trust me, Yuna. I know."
"Just because your parents gave up on you doesn't mean mine will give up on me," Yuna argued, her voice rising.
"With your mom being my sister, I know they will," Miori said. "I know it's hard to accept, but I'll be right here for you whenever you realize that they don't want you. And then we'll prove everyone wrong together. We'll show the world that we-"
Yuna hung up and blocked the number, her heart beating almost as fast as it had during her fight against Bakugo. Miori was going to keep trying to convince Yuna to join her. Yuna knew she probably won't stop even if she was put in jail.
"Azumi!" Yuna jumped as she was pulled out of her thoughts by Kaminari, who was jogging up to her. "Woah, are you ok?"
Yuna stared at him. Kaminari knew about her aunt. "No. My aunt just called me?"
"What?"
Yuna grit her teeth and just nodded.
"Like, the villain aunt?" Kaminari questioned, earning another nod from Yuna. "Oh... What did she want?"
Yuna let out a dry laugh, "What do you think? The same thing she wanted when we fought during the USJ incident. For me to join her."
"Oh," Kaminari muttered. He shifted uncomfortably before saying, "Well, don't let her get to you. You're strong and you don't need to become a villain to get stronger."
"I'm not that strong," Yuna mumbled. "I couldn't even hold my own against Bakugo."
Kaminari scoffed, "Are you kidding me? No one could defeat Bakugo, not even Todoroki. I mean, Bakugo's super strong and there were a few different times where you almost beat him."
"Yeah, but I didn't," Yuna growled.
"So what? You still fought better than most of our class." Kaminari argued. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're super strong."
Yuna frowned and didn't respond. Part of her knew he was right. But that part was suppressed by doubt. Just doing ok or even good wasn't enough for her. Or for her grandparents, who constantly reminded her of that fact. She lost and that meant she wasn't strong enough yet.
"Hey," Kaminari said, pulling Yuna out of her thoughts. "You did great. And now you're being called to the podium. You did place in the tournament after all."
"What?"
"Come on," Kaminari replied. He turned and started to walk down the hall, Yuna following him, still feeling uneasy.
* * *
"The first-year students have completed all the events for the UA Sports Festival. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the awards ceremony." Midnight announced as the podium Yuna had been told to stand on raised from the ground. She had come in third place, tied with Iida. Though, he had already left for family reasons. Beside her, on the first place podium, was Bakugo, tied to a pole with chains and a mussel over his mouth. According to Kaminari, Bakugo wasn't satisfied with his win against Todoroki because he didn't use his fire. Either way, Yuna found that seeing Bakugo like that made her feel a bit better after her loss and the call from Miori.
"Tenya Iida shares third place with Azumi but he, unfortunately, had to leave for family reasons. Gotta love those familial binds." Midnight explained. "Now, let's break out the hardware. Of course, there's only one person worthy of giving out the awards."
Yuna heard All Might's laugh from above her before he jumped off the top of the stadium saying, "I am here to-"
"The number one hero!" Midnight interrupted. All Might dropped down in front of the podium and Midnight looked at him. "I ruined that, didn't I? Well, anyways, now that you're here, All Might, why don't you start the presentation."
All Might took the medals from Midnight and came up to the podium Yuna was on. "Young Azumi, congratulations. You did a great job out there and showed what you were capable of."
He placed a bronze medal around her neck and Yuna frowned. Even hearing encouragement for the number one hero didn't really lift her mood. "Thanks."
"Don't overthink this loss," All Might said as he pulled Yuna into a hug that made her slightly uncomfortable. "You fought well and pushed yourself. If you keep on this track I know you'll become a great hero!"
"Yeah..." Yuna muttered as All Might pulled away and went up to Todoroki, giving him a similar speech. Yuna stared down at the ground. She needed to work harder. All Might said she was on track to become a great hero, but she'd never reach that point if she didn't work harder than she was. She had managed to learn a few things about her quirk during the festival and she needed to adjust the way she used her quirk because of it. She had a busy few months ahead of her and she couldn't slack off. Not for a second.
"And now, Young Bakugo. This is a little much." All Might said, taking off the muzzle over Bakugo's mouth and snapping Yuna out of her thoughts. "Well, you did what you said you'd do in the pledge. You're true to your word."
"All Might," Bakug growled, "winning first place this way doesn't prove that I'm the best one here. Even if the world considers me the winner I refuse to accept it like this!"
"In a world where we're constantly being compared to each other. There aren't that many people who can keep their eyes on the top spot. You're one of those people that can." All Might said, trying not to let Bakugo's screaming interrupt his speech. He attempted to give Bakugo the first-place medal, which Bakugo tried to reject before it ended up hanging from his mouth.
"The winners of this year's sports festival!" All Might announced, turning around to the crowd of students. "But anyone of you students could've ended up standing on these podiums. Think about what you've done today. You've challenged each other, learned, and came even closer to your goals of being pros. So I have one thing to say. I want you to say it with me. You know what it is."
All Might yelled something about everyone doing a good job while the crowd yelled 'Plus Ultra' before they yelled at All Might for what he said.
Yuna stared out at the crowd. She should've felt happy or proud to be standing on a podium at the end of the sports festival. But all she felt was an intense disappointment and dread. Her aunt could be staring out at her right now, waiting for Yuna to come to her. Or waiting for the perfect moment to take her by force.