Chapter 100: Medals, Muzzles, and a Girlfriend Out of Nowhere?!

The medical wing behind the arena had emptied out during the break before the closing ceremony, and the only sound left was the soft tapping of Recovery Girl's cane as she crossed over to the sink to wash her hands.

All Might stood by the window with his arms crossed, watching the cleanup crews drag the last broken slabs off the field below, and for once the booming cheer he wore in public had drained out of his voice.

"How bad was it, really?" he asked.

"Bad enough that I'm not going to pretend otherwise." She dried her hands and turned to face him, leaning on her cane. "The boy bled inside his own skull. I've been patching up reckless first-years for decades, and this one is different. His power is growing faster than the boy holding it, and a kid that age doesn't have the discipline to keep a weapon like that sheathed when the pressure comes down."

All Might was quiet for a moment, his gaze drifting toward his own side, toward a scar no medal in the world could ever cover.

Yeah... I know that feeling all too well.

Using a power knowing it costs you something every time.

I've lived that way for years.

But when there's someone who needs help... it's hard to stop.

"...So he's carrying a power that hurts him every time he pushes it to the limit," All Might murmured, folding his arms. "And he keeps going anyway... still just a boy."

"Now you understand why I asked you to come in person instead of sending you a report." Recovery Girl gave him a stern look over her glasses. "That boy needs guidance. A real mentor. Can't you think of anyone right for the job, Symbol of Peace?"

All Might was silent for a few moments.

His expression softened a little.

"Hm... I might know someone," he admitted with a small smile. "Maybe even two."

Recovery Girl snorted.

"How thoughtful of you."

"I'll think about it seriously. But for now..." All Might glanced back toward the infirmary, "make sure he can stay on his feet through the ceremony. The audience is waiting."

A bright smile appeared on his face.

"And it would be a shame for a future hero to miss the moment he gets his medal."

---

The closing ceremony filled the repaired center of the arena with banners and a freshly bolted podium, and the stands roared back to full volume the second the three finalists walked out into the light.

Or rather, the second two of them walked out and the third was dragged.

Ren appeared on the top step of the podium wrapped in so many bandages that only one eye and a strip of his bald head were visible, the other eye swollen shut, with a stupid, deeply satisfied smile plastered across what little of his face wasn't covered.

I think Recovery Girl overdid it... Ugh... I shouldn't have said my head hurt that much, he thought, swaying gently on the platform. I look like a present somebody wrapped in the dark, and I can only see out of one eye.

On the step right below him, Inko held the second-place spot with both arms bandaged from wrist to elbow, holding them carefully against her stomach, and despite the bandages her smile was bright and full of a quiet pride.

And on the third step, secured with a full set of chains and a metal muzzle clamped over his mouth, Bakugo vibrated with such concentrated fury that the staff handling his restraints kept a nervous distance.

"MMMPH! MMMRRGH MMPH!"

"He says he's thrilled to be here," Ren offered to no one in particular.

"MMMRRRGH!"

"And that he's very proud of his teammates."

Bakugo's glare promised a slow, creative death.

Poor guy lost to Inko in the semifinals, Ren thought, watching the chains tug on the bolts. Not only did he lose, now he's chained to a podium in front of the whole country with a muzzle like a rabid dog. A man with any survival instinct would stop provoking him right now. Lucky for me I left mine at home.

All Might strode out onto the field to thunderous applause, his heroic form gleaming under the spotlights, a tray of medals balanced in one hand.

"WHAT A FESTIVAL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! PLUS ULTRA FROM START TO FINISH!" His voice boomed through the entire stadium. "Today we crown the strongest and bravest young heroes I've had the honor of watching grow!"

He reached Bakugo first.

"Young Bakugo! Third place at your very first Sports Festival is an extraordinary achievement!"

"MMMMPH!"

"...He's overwhelmed with gratitude," Ren translated kindly.

All Might placed the bronze medal over Bakugo's head with slow movements, keeping his fingers well away from the muzzle, then climbed up to Inko.

"Young Midoriya." His voice softened the moment he reached her. "You fought your way to the final with everything you had inside you. I'm incredibly proud of you."

"Thank you, All Might," Inko said, tilting her head so he could slip the silver medal on without bothering her arms. "I'll do better next time... I promise."

"I have no doubt about that."

Then All Might climbed to the highest step and stood in front of Ren, and the entire stadium leaned forward at once.

"Young Hayashi. Champion of the U.A. Sports Festival." He raised the gold medal up into the light. "However you got here, you earned it fair and square. Congratulations, my boy."

"Thank you," Ren said through his bandages. "Sorry for sleeping through the best part."

All Might let out a loud laugh and lowered the medal over Ren's head, the cameras zoomed in, and the crowd erupted in a roar that shook the seats.

And that was the exact moment Nejire jumped to her feet and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"AAAAAH, YOU DID IT!"

Before anyone could stop her, she pointed at the podium with both arms.

"THAT'S MY BOYFRIEEEND!"

A second later she blinked.

"Wait! Did the cameras get me too? How many people just heard that? The whole stadium? All of Japan?... Well! Whatever! He's still my boyfriend!"

The entire crowd turned at once toward the blue-haired girl bouncing in the stands and waving both arms over her head with the biggest smile in the whole building, completely thrilled with herself.

Ren froze under his shiny medal.

Nejire... what have you done.

Present Mic was the first to react, and he did it at maximum volume.

"WHAAAAAT?! ARE MY LISTENERS SEEING THE SAME THING I AM?!"

"THE CHAMPION OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL JUST REVEALED HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND ON LIVE BROADCAST! AND NOT JUST ANY GIRLFRIEND! WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NEJIRE HADO, ONE OF THE BIG THREE!"

"THIS IS BIGGER THAN THE FINAL! BIGGER THAN THE TOURNAMENT! THIS IS DRAMA, ROMANCE, AND HEROISM ALL IN ONE, YAAAY!"

"GIVE ME A RAISE, U.A.! I WASN'T PREPARED FOR THIS LEVEL OF LIVE CONTENT, PEOPLE!"

Next to him, Aizawa slowly pulled his capture scarf over his entire face and slid down in his seat until only the top of his head was still visible above the railing.

"I quit," came his muffled voice. "Someone else can take this job and this entire generation of students."

At the edge of the stage, two members of Class 1-A were completely slack-jawed: Toru had gone stiff as a board, and Ochako, fresh out of the infirmary, had her mouth hanging open without a single sound coming out.

"...D-did Hado-senpai just say what I think she said?" Ochako whispered.

"Ren-kun has a GIRLFRIEND?" Toru's voice climbed an octave. "Since WHEN?! How did I not know?! I find out about EVERYTHING that happens in this school!"

Up on the podium, even Bakugo had stopped wrestling with his chains and was staring at Ren with a completely new expression behind the muzzle.

"MMMmph...?"

"Honestly, I have no clue, dude," Ren told him out of the corner of his mouth. "I think I picked up a girlfriend by accident somewhere along the way... I'm just as lost as you are right now."

The cameras finally cut, the official part wrapped up, and the very second the ceremony ended the real trouble started, because the girls of Class 1-A had Ren cornered in the hallway outside the medical wing before he could so much as unroll a single bandage.

Momo got there first, and it was obvious she had spent the entire walk over assembling her composure piece by piece with the utmost care.

"Ren-kun." She folded her hands in front of her, lifted her chin, and put on a polite smile. "I want you to know that I'm very happy for you. Hado-senpai seems like a lovely person, and a relationship is a perfectly normal and healthy thing for someone our age. You have my full support."

"...Th-thanks?" Ren said cautiously, recognizing a trap that hadn't sprung yet.

"You're welcome." The smile didn't waver. "I have one small question... for clarity, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead."

She took a slow breath and clung to every last gram of her dignity as she asked it.

"The local festival. The one we agreed to attend together after our match." Her voice held admirably steady. "Is that plan still on, given your new romantic circumstances? I'd simply like to know where... formally... things stand between us."

Ren watched her for a long moment, taking in the careful posture and the smile she was working so hard to keep on her face, and decided that the kind answer and the truthful answer were, in this case, exactly the same.

"It's still on, Momo," he said. "I told you before our match and I meant it. Even without the bet, I want to go with you."

Momo's composed mask cracked from top to bottom, relief flooded her before she could catch it, and a small smile escaped across her face.

"...Good," she managed. "That's, ah, that's good. Um... Excellent. Because I had already set aside time in my schedule, and it would have been... mildly inconvenient to have to rearrange it."

Ren couldn't help smiling.

"Only mildly?"

Momo looked away.

"Ren-kun, I see no need to quantify the precise degree of inconvenience."

And that was when Toru, who had been suspiciously quiet through the whole thing, made her move.

"Well, I've made my decision," Toru announced, sliding right up next to Ren and hooking her hand around his arm. "I'm not gonna stand here and watch myself lose my spot just because some senpai suddenly got interested in you. A pretty third-year is NOT taking my position, no way."

"Your... position?" Ren repeated. "Toru, what position exactly do you have?"

"This one!"

And before he could brace himself, she popped up on her tiptoes and planted a quick kiss on his cheek, in plain unobstructed view of Momo, then dropped back down with the most self-satisfied giggle in the entire building.

Momo's new smile froze solid right where it was.

"T-Toru!" Momo exclaimed, turning red all the way to her ears as she waved her hands nervously. "That's not something you do so casually! There are... there are appropriate ways to handle these situations..."

"Oh come on, Momo!" Toru shot back with a giggle. "Not everything in life needs a rulebook! You always sit around waiting for the perfect moment or the perfect circumstances, and meanwhile you don't do anything."

"Th-that's not it..."

"Yes it is! If you like him, you gotta tell him. Sometimes you just have to go for it! What's the worst that could happen?"

"Toru!"

"What?! I'm just saying feelings don't come with an instruction manual!"

Caught right in the middle between a paralyzed heiress and an extremely victorious invisible girl, Ren stood perfectly still and fixed his eyes on the empty end of the hallway.

Toru chose violence today, and somehow I'm the one in the crossfire.

A few steps away, Ochako had gone quiet, watching everything with a furrowed brow and a hand resting on her own chest, as if she were checking something.

Toru turned toward her, and for one rare instant her voice came out slightly tender, until she ruined it completely.

"Ohh, Ochako." She gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Welcome to the club. Here's your membership card."

"...Membership card to WHAT, exactly?"

"You'll figure it out in time! We meet on Thursdays!"

And then, because the universe was nowhere near done with Ren, Nejire came skipping around the corner with absolutely no awareness of the chaos she had unleashed, walked straight up to Momo, and grabbed both of her hands.

"You're the Creation girl! Momo, right?" Nejire beamed at her while holding her hands.

"I... yes? Hello?" Momo blinked rapidly, completely thrown off balance. "It's nice to meet you, Hado-senpai..."

"So you're Ren-kun's friend, and I'm Ren-kun's girlfriend, and I read online that the girlfriend of your friend's boyfriend is supposed to be your friend too!" Nejire bounced on her heels, delighted with the elegance of her own logic. "Wait, did I say that right? The friend of the... no... the girlfriend of the friend of the boyfriend... anyway, the point is, we should be friends! Wanna be my friend?"

Momo's brain came to a screeching halt trying to parse the sentence, searched for an exit through the entire structure, found none, and almost shut down right there.

"I..." Her face flushed slightly again. "I need... a brief moment... to thoroughly analyze the relational framework you just proposed..."

"Cool, I'll take that as a yes! Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!"

Momo swayed dangerously on her feet, and Tsuyu, who had been watching the whole catastrophe from a safe distance with a finger pressed to her chin, caught her by the elbow.

"You should probably sit down before you faint, kero," Tsuyu advised calmly.

"I am... perfectly... fine..."

"BAHAHA! This is the best!" Mina collapsed against the wall, clutching her stomach laughing. "Hands down the best Sports Festival ever!"

She threw a fist up into the air like she was hyping up an entire stadium.

"Forget the fights! Forget the explosions! THIS is the real main event!"

And pointing dramatically at the scene in front of her:

"Romance! Drama! Tension! Awkward bald boys! It's got literally everything!"

---

Before the hallway could sink any deeper into chaos, a staff member tapped Ren on the shoulder and quietly told him All Might wanted to speak with him in private.

The room they led him to was small and plain, set apart from the noise of the festival, and All Might was already waiting with his arms crossed.

"Have a seat, son." All Might gestured to the chair across from him with a wide smile. "After what you showed today, I think you've earned the right to rest for a moment."

Ren dropped into the chair across from him, suddenly very aware that the loud, beaming Symbol of Peace had been left somewhere quiet and serious.

So the champion gets a private audience with the number one hero, he thought, feeling the bandages itch against his neck. Either this is going to be a very prestigious handshake, or there's more bad news coming...

"I'll get right to the point, young Hayashi. I know today has been an especially long day for you."

All Might studied him in silence for a few moments before continuing.

"I've been watching you closely for a while now. Ever since the USJ incident, to be exact."

"That's right. And since that day I've been quietly reading every single report on you that crosses my desk." All Might leaned forward, forearms resting on his knees. "You see, telekinesis isn't a particularly rare quirk, son. We see dozens of them go through every year. The problem is that a telekinesis capable of lifting every single piece of debris in a stadium into the air at once... I haven't found anything comparable. Not in this country, not in any other. You're doing things that have no precedent at all."

Ren held his gaze and said nothing, his mind racing behind the calm.

This guy..., he thought. He doesn't even know the other half of what I can do. If a powerful telekinetic alone is enough to make the number one hero pull my files, what's going to happen the day someone trips over everything else.

"I'm not telling you this to scare you, my boy." All Might's voice softened. "I'm telling you because I spoke with Recovery Girl after your fight, and I know what that power did to you. I know it's growing at a pace you can barely keep up with, and believe me... I understand better than most what it means to carry a strength that's beyond what your body can handle." He paused for a moment before going on. "A power that great can become a terrible burden when you try to bear it on your own. And right now, young Hayashi... that's exactly what you're doing." He gave a small, kind, reassuring smile. "But a hero doesn't have to carry everything without help."

The room was quiet for a moment.

"With all due respect, All Might... what exactly are you trying to tell me?" Ren asked. "I get the feeling there's something more behind all this, but I still can't quite see it clearly."

A satisfied smile appeared on All Might's face.

"Ha! Sharp eye, young Hayashi. I'm glad to see you're paying attention." He settled back into his seat and folded his hands on the table. "The internships are about to begin. Before long, each student will choose an agency where they'll continue their training. Many will follow the obvious path and accept offers from the most prestigious agencies."

He paused briefly before going on.

"But I'd like to propose something different for you."

Ren's expression became more attentive.

"I know an exceptional hero. She's not someone who chases fame or recognition, and you'll hardly find her name in the papers. However, she has an understanding of mental quirks that surpasses anyone I've met in my entire career."

All Might rested a hand on the table and smiled.

"I believe she could help you grow in a way that very few people could match. So, if you're willing... I'd like to put you in touch with her for your internship."

Ren went still in his chair.

"A mentor... who actually understands mental type quirks?" he asked slowly, as if he could barely believe it. "Someone who can teach me how to use this power without tearing myself apart every time I push it to the limit...?"

A smile spread across All Might's face.

"Yes. Exactly that, young Hayashi."

Ren opened his mouth to say something else, but All Might raised a calm hand.

"That said, I can't give you too many details just yet. I need to speak with her first and make sure she's willing to take on a student for an internship."

His tone grew more serene.

"But if you're interested, I'll personally make the arrangements this week."

All Might held his gaze and added with a confident smile:

"I genuinely believe this could be an extraordinary opportunity for you."

Then he crossed his arms.

"So, what do you say, young Hayashi? Want to give it a shot?"

A real teacher, Ren thought, Recovery Girl's warning still fresh and cold in his chest. Maybe it's time to stop feeling my way around in the dark.

"Yes," Ren said without hesitation. "Whoever it is. I'll do whatever it takes. Please, All Might."

A wide smile appeared on the hero's face.

"Excellent!"

All Might stood, recovering some of the imposing presence that made entire crowds tremble with excitement.

"Then it's decided. Rest up and recover your strength, young Hayashi. The internships will be starting soon, and I suspect a very different kind of challenge from anything you've faced so far is waiting for you."

He stepped closer and rested a hand carefully on Ren's bandaged shoulder.

"And there's one more thing I want you to remember."

His voice lost some of its usual energy and became sincere.

"I'm proud of what you accomplished today."

All Might's eyes stayed steady on Ren's.

"You earned your place here. You earned it through your effort, your determination, and the courage you showed when things got tough. So don't let what happened today make you forget that."

"Hold your head high, young Hayashi."

All Might's smile broadened.

"Because you have every reason to be proud of what you've achieved."

---

Ren walked out of the room with his head full of chaotic thoughts, and he almost ran straight into Inko, who was leaning against the hallway wall with her bandaged arms cradled against her chest, clearly waiting for him to come out.

"Inko." He stopped short. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I wanted to talk to you." She pushed off the wall and walked up to him, and for a second she started lifting a bandaged arm to offer him a handshake, but a wince of pain crossed her face and she lowered it again. "Ah. Right. Both hands are out of commission for a while. Hahaha, how clumsy of me."

"It's probably for the best. Yours could crack open a wall."

She laughed softly, then looked at him with a steadier light in her eyes than her tired body had any right to hold.

"I meant what I said in the infirmary, Hayashi-kun. You won today, and I'm not gonna take a single piece of that away from you." Her face tightened with quiet determination. "But I want you to hear what comes next very clearly. The next time the two of us face off, I'm the one walking off that field on top. Next time, I'm gonna win."

Ren looked at the girl who had pushed him to the very limit of everything he had, who had carried the full weight of One For All against a telekinetic that leveled stadiums and refused to fall until the very last moment. He knew Inko was also a passionate girl who gave it her all, just like Ochako had in the stadium, and that was something he deeply admired.

"Yeah?" He stepped closer carefully and wrapped her in a soft hug that worked around her injured arms. "Then I'll be ready and waiting. Deal?"

Inko froze for a second, then let her forehead rest lightly on his shoulder, while a smile spread across her face.

"Deal," she repeated quietly.

They stayed there for a moment in the silence of the hallway, the distant roar of the festival far behind them now, two rivals who had given each other everything they had and come out the other side with something better than a trophy between them.

And somewhere down the hallway came the sound of Nejire cheerfully asking Momo if being friends meant the two of them could share a boyfriend too, followed immediately by a strangled noise that could only be the last of Momo's higher reasoning leaving her body forever.

Ren closed his eyes and exhaled.

Good. The festival is finally over.

********

A/N: And so, my dear Izuku, that's how I met your mother. No, don't ask which one of the five. Your dad wasn't exactly sure himself at the time.

********

Hey everyone, it's my pleasure to let you all know that... there's an EXTRA chapter today! The reason?!

Remember that exam I mentioned I'd be taking on August 1st? Well, the results just came out, and I PASSED! Pretty great, right? I'm officially certified now, so I can finally say I'm FREE! Okay, I've still got the ceremony left, but hey, we're almost there. I honestly have no idea how I ended up studying to become a lawyer, but oh well, here we are.

So to celebrate, I'm dropping an extra chapter today, AND I've activated a 50% discount across all of my subscription tiers! Thank you all so much for the support, and I really hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you to everyone who's followed me this far into this story. I truly appreciate it. Thank you all so much.

- Just search patreon.com/itszeroo