In the blink of an eye, before anyone knew it..
It was over..
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I came to UA with one goal in mind: become a hero. In many ways, I came close to succeeding. I could feel the warmth of the spotlight come closer and closer with every effort I gave to it. By the final round, I felt that I truly could become a hero. It all seemed so possible.
Then I blew it.
Don't ask me why because let me tell you I have no good reason for that stupid decision. I barely gave myself a chance to think about what I was doing, what I was throwing away before I started walking out of that ring. It wasn't that I didn't think I could beat Shinso; I knew I could. I just... I don't know, maybe it was what he said before the match, or when he mentioned fate. It was like I knew what to do. Like I acted before I could realize, and my legs began to move without thinking.
Hitoshii's destiny was to become a hero. That was something he wanted to make for himself, and I could relate to that. Knowing that only one of us might have a chance at being a hero, I had to think about which one of us was that destiny made for. Don't get me wrong, this isn't over for me. I would still find a way to be a hero because even if it isn't my destiny, it's still my ticket home, and I had to remember that.
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Pretty soon after the final round ended, the top three contestants were called to take their place on the pedestals where they would receive the medals. I was so lost in my last round that I almost forgot the fact that, even though I lost, I was still in second place. I beat every single hero course student there and will go down as one of the first students from Support to place in the Sports Festival.
And that's pretty damn awesome to me.
I didn't have a chance to talk to anyone before we went up. The administration thought it would be best to get the ceremony over with since everyone was exhausted. They started with Bakugo who had won his fight against Todoroki who refused to use his flames in the fight. Not sure why, but guessing by Bakugo's attitude by the end, it wasn't good. Bakugo thrashed and shouted while they kept him tied up long enough to receive his medal. Though he didn't wear it so much as chomp the strap.
How heroic.
I must say it was good to be able to stand next to him on the second place pedestal. The empowerment almost made it worth the absolute destruction of my precious automail. The number one hero, All Might, whom I haven't seen outside of hologram, presented me with my medal and a short speech.
"Tallulah Rosemary," he began. His voice was exactly like the video UA sent out after the entrance exams, boastful and strong. "I am as proud as I am astonished to say that you are UA's very first member of the Department of Support to place in this festival! You took a lot of people by surprise here today, and I am happy to congratulate you this medal for second place!" I bowed my head towards him as the strap of my award slid across my neck. I noticed that it was heavier than expected, or it could be the fact that I was both mentally and physically exhausted.
I looked up at All Might as he still held that same heroic smile on his face. That's one thing I noticed about real heros that separated them from others: real heros can smile through anything. It's a sign of security and strength. Oh, to be like them.
The tall hero, still one of few people to make me feel short, raised a hand at me with an honorable salute. "Young lady, you have shown outstanding potential today. I have no doubt that with determination like yours, you can certainly achieve your dreams." It was weird to hear him say that. To think, the first time he spoke to me as a teacher from UA, he was breaking the news that I won't be a hero; that my hard work was for nothing. But now, seeing what I'm capable of, I really think All Might saw something in me that I've been trying to prove for so long. And it was nice.
I returned his salute with a two fingered one of my own and smiled back, "Thanks, man. I hope I can continue to show you what I can do." All Might lowered his hand and bowed to me out of respect before moving over to congratulate this year's champion, Hitoshii Shinso.
"Young Shinso," All Might boomed, "Your work today proved to everyone that heros come from all different places, and you can't worry about appearances when it comes to anticipating the strength of your opponent." All Might gave Shinso the same salute before holding out the necklace for him. Shinso bowed his head and accepted it as the number one hero then put a hand on his shoulder. "You have exceptional talent in you, and I have no doubt in my heart that you will become a great hero." It was no secret that Hitoshii was doing this as a statement that they made a mistake putting him in the background, and All Might wanted to make it clear that Hitoshii's work today paid off.
Our purple haired friend kept his head down and nodded to All Might's words, taking it in slowly. The audience burst in a round of heavy applause to all of us. I looked up in the stands to see my friends cheer me on, and above them in the sky box, I could see a frantic Q waving with more excitement and joy even for him. The feeling of everyone's cheers felt so empowering, like they had faith in me, and they wanted to lift me up. It hurt that I gave up first place, but then at the pedestals, I couldn't have felt more alive. An amazing thing happened that day, and I did it.
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3rd Person POV:
"So, let's talk about the obvious reason we're all here," Nezu, short and polite, requested the attention of everyone around the table in the teacher's conference room.
His paw-like hand clicked the button to start the presentation on the big screen on the wall. Clips from the recent bracket round played, showing off the fighting styles of Shinso and Rose.
Shouta Aizawa stood up from his seat and cleared his throat as he began to speak. "Both students have come to me asking for a chance to be moved up into my class. I did as promised and watched them both carefully during the festival, but I want to hear from all of you before deciding anything. Let's start with Shinso." The slide presentation continued with soundless videos of the festival winner competing. "He's smart, resourceful, and determined. His reflexes could use a good bit of work, but all throughout the competition, he's seen as making use of whatever was handed to him."
"He played everyone around him as if they were pawns, and even for pro heros, that's impressive," Midnight commented. "His weaknesses come from physical strength. He relies on his Quirk at all times, which is what a hero should do when possible, but there might be times when the use of his Quirk is limited, and he has to rely on his own strength."
Present Mic busted into the conversation with his typical attitude and volume, "Yeah totally! Like, isn't that why the little rocker failed the practical exam? He's smart but without a Quirk, he's helpless!"
Aizawa nodded in agreement, and he continued with the presentation. "Now, Rosemary is the exact opposite. She's proven herself to be incredible strong and competitive. She has the spirit of a hero, but she's as good as Quirkless."
"At least, that's what we were under the impression of," Nezu pointed out just as 1B teacher, Vlad King, chimmed in.
"Yeah, what I want to know is why she held off on using that power of hers until the last minute. She could have done a lot better with it, so what's the problem?" Vlad asked.
"If I may answer your question, Vlad," Q stood up to stand in the front with Aizawa. "Rosemary was always under the impression her Quirk wouldn't work on account of her disability, metal prosthetics. She seemed just as shocked as the rest of us that her Quirk can work as it did twice in the Sports Festival. What we all learned is that her Quirk does in fact work with just a few new drawbacks; Rosemary just needs to learn ways to work around her bio-electronic metal."
"In other words," Vlad said, "these kids need training. And lots of it! If we want to move them up, then what we have to prepare them for is a lot of hardcore, brutal training."
"If I could add my two cents in," a kind and gentle voice spoke up. The homeroom teacher for General Studies 1C, Miss DustCloud, stood up and waved. Her smoky skin, composed of red and tan dust, floated close to herself as her bodysuit tried to hold the dust together. Her soft voice echoed in the fish bowl helmet she wore, "Shinso is a great kid, he works really hard and thinks of everything like a game of chess. This chance is really important to him, and it's my job as a teacher to help students..." Her voice trailed off before shifting to a more sad tone. "That being said..I just can't keep myself from worrying about him. Hero work is tough, and we have to be honest that if something like the USJ incident were to happen again... well, I just can't be 100% certain that him and Rose could handle it."
"I'm afraid Miss DustCloud has a point." Q turned his head down and tapped his chin in thought. "Even with a whole month of training, Shinso and Rosemary would need more to be on the level of your kids, Shouta and Vlad."
"Way ahead of you," Aizawa moved to his laptop and flipped the video clips to show the 1A schedule. "That's why I propose this:" the staff members looked to the screen that displayed a muted video of a summer camp. "The Wild Wild Pussycats' training camp for young heros, The Beast's Forest. Me and Vlad King planned to take our classes there in five weeks. There, we're going to work the kids until they're where they need to be, and if we take Rose and Shinso there with them, they stand a chance at competing in the hero course level."
"So tell us your plan, Aizawa," Nezu directed.
"I'll work with Rose and Shinso for the next month. Then, they'll accompany 1A and B to the Beast's Forest. After all of that, we'll decide if they're ready to be moved up and into which class."
"I think that's a marvelous idea, Shouta," Q smiled and looked over the information about the camp.
"So it's decided?" Midnight asked. "We go by this training plan and see what happens?"
"That sounds wicked good to me!" You can guess who, "Those kiddos will be crazy happy to hear this! How's about you break the news to them, Aizawa?"
"Will do," Aizawa confirmed. With that, the meeting was concluded.
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Rose POV:
After the ceremony, the students finally made their way out of the arena after a long day. Mickey and Lunchbox congratulated me on my victory before dipping. Most of the students left with their parents, but of course I wouldn't have that option, so I left to go find Q.
Before I could make it inside, I was stopped by a man's tired voice. "Rosemary," I turned around to find Aizawa waiting for me, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Before I could answer, he turned back around and waved for me to follow him.
Aizawa led me into what looked like an office. I wasn't sure if it was his, but he sat down behind the dark wood desk. I took a seat at one of the chairs in front of him and then noticed I wasn't alone in there. Shinso sat next to me, still wearing his gold medal and keeping a stare straight ahead. Neither of us spoke and waited in tense silence for the 1A teacher to say something.
He finally started with, "So, by now you both should know that the other is also after the spot in my class. Now I think you both proved your point to everyone today, and as a teacher, I want to help each of your hero dreams." I could hardly concentrate on what he was saying, already getting ahead of myself.
Is he saying...he wants to move us up?
Take it easy, there's always a catch
He continued, "Like I said to each of you before, I'm not making promises that you'll be in my class by the end of this. But I'm willing to make an offer with you both." Shinso and I both leaned forward at this. To think, we fought each other thinking that only one of us would get this chance, but maybe Aizawa saw something in both of us. Maybe.
Aizawa looked at our intrigued expressions and went in with his offer, "Pretty soon, the heroics class will have a final exam then everyone who passed will participate in a Quirk training camp. I'm willing to train you both until the exam, and if you pass, I'll take you with my class to the summer training. That is, if you want another shot at being in the heroics class." He didn't have to wait for a response while me and Shinso both quickly nodded yes. I could see a very faint smile cross Aizawa's face at our reaction. One might say he was happy we agreed.
"That's good to hear," he said, "But remember, this isn't a 'welcome to the hero course'. I still hold the right to turn either of you down at any point, whether that be during training or on your first day in 1A. Don't hesitate for even a second to prove yourselves worthy of this at any point. I will be watching how you fight as well as how you treat my other students. Being a hero is a lot of work, but I feel that you both are up to the challenge." I could feel myself once again be filled with the most hope and joy. I was so relieved to know I didn't really give up on my chance, and I could still become a hero for my family. It all seemed so possible now— again.
After giving us details on where and when to meet for the first training session, Aizawa dismissed me and Shinso, but I stayed behind to talk to Aizawa. "Hey so, ok I'm not totally sure how to ask this.." I muttered.
"Make it quick, I have to get home to my cats." Of course.
I continued, "Well...Shinso won against me and everyone else today."
"And?"
"How come you're offering me the training too?" It's the question that had been bugging me since the start of this meeting. Why did he give this to both of us? I had thought the whole point of the festival was to determine who in the first year class was the best.
Aizawa sighed to himself, "Rose, I know you have trouble keeping your mouth shut," alright, off to a great start I see, "but I don't buy for a second that you actually lost to Hitoshii Shinso. I know you're smarter than losing before either of you threw a punch."
"I gave up.... Isn't that worse than losing?" I still couldn't wrap my head around everything, and the several head injuries didn't help either. You see, I went into that match with the intention of beating Shinso and winning this whole thing, but then..well I don't really know what it was. But I made up my mind and I chose to walk out of there before giving it a chance.
"You stepped aside and did what you could to let someone else see their dreams. If you ask me, that's pretty heroic, Rose." Heroic. That was the first time someone had referred to me as a hero. Granted, it's been thrown around a lot today, but hearing a pro call me heroic— well, it felt great.
I smiled to Aizawa, "Thanks. I know I can do a lot more than that."
"I guess I'll see what you mean during training. Take care, Rose." With that, the man whom I hope will someday be my homeroom teacher walked out. I left the building shortly behind him, feeling a wave of relief and possibility pass through me.
Q, Mei, Rocket, and everyone else who had helped me this past year waited outside by the curb to wish me good luck. I smiled at them, silently getting ready to tell the great news before jogging across the street to them.
I still couldn't believe the amazing thing that had just happened because I made it happen.
This was my next chance for a hero academia.
My hero academia.
A/N:
Aaaaaaand cut.