Chapter 98: Rewards (1)
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["As you have all seen, by knocking out Katsuki Bakugo, Neji Hado has claimed victory!!"]
Present Mic's words rang in Neji's ears.
["With that, the first-year winner of UA's Sports Festival is Neji Hado of class 1-A!!"]
Neji stood on the high platform, in the middle of Bakugo and Todoroki and Inasa, with the former being 2nd place and the latter two being 3rds.
["Next, Katsuki Bakugo takes second place, with both Shoto Todoroki and Inasa Yoarashi being the third!! Woo-hoo, it seems the top three are all from the same class!! The villain attack did do them good!"]
Neji felt all the eyes in the stadium lock on him and the three kids beside him.
Todoroki stood relatively straight. He looked happier than usual. Though his face was as neutral as ever.
Beside him, on the same platform, Inasa stood one head taller than Todoroki. He had his arms crossed as he tried to chat with the latter, to no avail.
Bakugo on the other hand stood on the platform on Neji's right. He had his head lowered, gazing to the ground. Unlike the canon timeline, he didn't need any physical restraints this time around, he was already half-broken on the inside to act aggressively.
Whilst Neji simply stood on his spot with a small smile and his hands in his pockets.
Then, clearing her throat in the speakers, Midnight replaced Present Mic.
"Ehm, Ehm." Midnight coughed. "Now, moving on to the medals. Presenting them this year is… you know who!!"
She posed her arms beside her.
Immediately, a spinning figure came crashing down from the sky. He landed on crouched legs and then raised his face in the air.
"I am…" His eternal grin widened. "Here with the medals!!"
Midnight's voice rang again. "Yes, it's everyone's hero, ALL MIGHT!"
Neji could hear the public's awe at All Might's arrival. All Might should have been in the third year grounds since that's where his successor, Mirio was. His being here meant the medal distribution was already finished there.
All Might then cleared his throat, which looked to be a polite sign from the outside, but Neji could see the bit of desperation in that cough.
He couldn't even last long enough to distribute the medals. That's how weak he was now.
'Sad days are coming.' Neji grimaced.
All Might's career was more-or-less done for. Though Neji didn't worry too much. With Mirio and himself present, All For One wouldn't be able to grow into a threat again…
All Might grabbed one medal and walked closer to Inasa and Todoroki. Neji didn't pay much attention to it, but he seemed to be talking about how quirks don't define life to Todoroki. While Inasa's speech on the other hand was generic, as he probably didn't have any protagonist-like background.
Then, All Might took both of them in a soft hug which seemed to surprise both of them.
Before they could react, All Might moved on to Bakugo.
"Young Bakugo," All Might said with a hand on Bakugo's shoulders. "This tournament isn't setting your life at stone. The seat of the winner is constantly changing, so don't let this small… 'defeat', as you put it, stop you from improving yourself."
"Keep going forward, for you shall become a great hero." All Might smiled.
He held back from saying, 'As long as you can fix that personality of yours', since there was already a great hero with a similar personality, someone All Might was very familiar with.
But it was true. If Bakugo didn't fix that mindset of his… he wouldn't last long as a Hero, considering he lasts long enough to even become one at all.
Then he brought Bakugo for a hug too. Bakugo clenched his jaws but didn't seem to protest the hug.
Finally, All Might stepped onto the tallest platform where Neji smiled at him. All Might's own grin widened.
Unlike others, he immediately went for a hug.
"It's been a while, young man." All Might whispered in Neji's ears. "I was worried about you, but it seems you have taken my words from six years ago to heart."
Neji made a surprised yelp. "Oh. Didn't think you remembered."
All Might gave a chuckle and withdrew his hug back, his hands on Neji's shoulders. "Well, not always do you meet such a wistful young man flying in the sky."
Neji laughed too, as All Might continued. "I don't think I have much to say to you, just that—your quirk is really versatile and strong, which also makes it dangerous. It can kill people. But I am sure you are well aware. Without perfect control over it…" He glanced at Bakugo. "...Things wouldn't be as fine. So you know better than me on what you're doing. Am I correct?"
Neji nodded. "Good to know someone understands."
"Heh," All Might gave another hug. "Guess being the number 1 hero for decades does give one some insights." He inhaled a deep breath in. "Good job, young Neji."
The hug lasted a few more seconds, this time in silence. After that, All Might cancelled the hug again, his voice growing louder again.
"Well, that's all, HA HA! Oh, also, I think you'd want to hurry to the nurse's office."
"Huh?" Neji's tone was confused. He wasn't injured though. Then why-
"Your sister went a... bit too far in her last match."
—★—
The next part was just All Might giving a speech to every student present about how they all were the winners of this tournament, how they all would be great heroes in the future, and how they all should strive towards that goal to cleanse society of evil.
Neji's ears weren't listening.
The moment everything ended, he immediately rushed off to the nurse's office while giving Momo a hurried goodbye.
All the years go to Recovery Girl for healing, so the nurse office was in the middle of the entire campus to be accessible from all years easily.
It took a few seconds with his quirk to fly there and then he burst through the door with a frown.
Inside, he saw her.
Nejire was lying on the bed with her left leg hanging in the air, plastered. Her cheeks were crammed with one-time bandages that stuck around her face. There were bandages around her arms, and probably under her shirt too from the uneven surfaces. She wore a neck brace, too.
"Oh…"
It was Recovery Girl who noticed Neji first as she smiled.
"Are you here for another kiss?"
Neji smiled awkwardly and shook his head. "Uh… no, no. I am here for my sister."
She blinked and then turned her head to Nejire. "Oohhh, yeah. You two are siblings." She nodded. "Go ahead, talk to her. I tried my best, but she is still quite hurt. Ahh, kids these days..."
At her shake of the head, Neji simply nodded. Nejire was this hurt even with Recovery Girl's healing. How hurt was she otherwise?
Neji walked to the bed as he stared at Nejire's smiling face.
"Hey, Neji~ I heard the announcement. Congrats on coming 1st!"
She didn't sound hurt and was as cheery as ever.
"Unfortunately I couldn't claim my reward in person."
Neji sighed and sat on the stool beside the bed. How hurt was she to not even be able to collect her reward on time?
"You know, I wouldn't go too far in a battle I know I would lose," Neji said to her.
"This girl in my year for example was up against me, and she just surrendered." His eyes observed her injuries. "I am not asking you to surrender, but I doubt Mirio would have done this much damage if you didn't act so stubborn."
Nejire pouted, which looked strange because of the bandages on her face. "Hey, don't assume I am the one in wrong every time! Mirio's quirk acted up, that black whip thingy I talked about before came out again. He didn't want to, but it kept attacking me out of control."
She strained her neck from the bed for magnification.
It's been 2 weeks since Mirio unlocked Blackwhip, so he wasn't in top control yet. But from the fact that the referee didn't intervene, it meant Mirio wasn't that much out of control either.
In other words, she was just using excuses.
Neji frowned and continued scolding her. "That's exactly why you should have stopped. Imagine how you'd feel if I got injured by going against an unbeatable opponent just for the sake of it."
Nejire turned her head to the other side, not meeting his eyes.
"..."
In the end, Neji sighed and shrugged.
"Anyway, congratulations on your 2nd place." At his words, Nejire turned her head at him again with a pretentious innocent smile. "Let me get you discharged."
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