"And the winner is YAMAMOTO KENJI. His opponent, Nakahara Hayate, has been forced to retire from the competition due to injury, and is in critical care. He should, however, recover, though neither he nor his sister Nakahara Miku, the third-place winner, will be able to attend the awards ceremony. We will award the first-place medal in just a minute, but for now here's a presentation by Mitakihara Senior School."
"Miku? Miku, are you all right? And Hayate, oh, God—"
"I'm fine, mama. Recovery Girl is patching us both up."
There was a muffled half-sigh half-sob from her mother, and a distinctively hamster-ish squeak. "Oh, god, we thought – Hayate got stabbed – you got cut – "
"I know. We'll have to face worse threats as pro heroes. This is good training—"
"What kind of good training carves you up like that? It shouldn't have got that far!"
"You're right, mama. I made a mistake in my game. I should have been more careful."
"Of course I'm right! Tell Hayate too – neither of you are allowed to do something like that again. You get better, okay? Better and stronger."
"Yes, mama, I'll tell him."
"Can you... can he talk to me?"
Miku buried her face briefly in her pillow, then tried to answer calmly. "He… hasn't woken up yet. We both lost a lot of blood…"
There was another half-sob on the other end.
"Tell him, please."
"I will, mama. As soon as he wakes up."
"Come on, Kyouko, stop fussing. They'll be fine. Here, let me chat to her."
"But did you hear, Hayate hasn't woken up yet?"
"He'll be fine, Kyou-sa. They have excellent medical care at UA."
"I know, but…"
"I know. Here, we should be congratulating her! We've got to encourage them a little."
"Well… all right." A pause. "I'm going to pass you over to Dad, okay?"
"Okay."
"Miku! Oh, it's nice to hear your voice. You know Mama worries about you, but – you did well, love. You know I'm proud of you, and Mama too."
Miku grinned despite herself. "Thanks, dad."
"Well, hey, now we can boast to all of our friends that our children came second and third in the great UA sports festival! I mean, I remember when you were still blind, you –"
"Dad! Is it that embarrassing diaper story again? Every time I do something… I swear, when I become a pro –"
"I'll still be telling that story." He chuckled, and Miku joined him briefly before wincing at the pain in her back. At least the diaper story was slightly better than dying, even if it was only slightly. "By the way, Miku, your voice sounds funny. Are you sure you're all right?"
"Ah, it's just the way I'm lying. I still have to lie on my front side so as not to cause damage to the cuts on my back."
"Miku…"
"I know, dad. I'll be more careful next time."
"How bad is it?"
She sighed. "Don't tell mama this, but… some of the cuts were deep enough to need stitches, even with Recovery Girl on the scene, and some of the bones of my ribcage have cuts in them."
There was an awful silence. "…Never, ever do that again. You could have had one of your lungs punctured."
"I know. I almost did. Apparently it looks like I've been whipped."
"They should have disqualified that girl for that. And Spike, too. They're so dangerous…"
Miku thought of someone even more dangerous, and was glad Hima-kun hadn't been called upon to use his Quirk. There would have been outrage…
"There will be worse enemies to face."
"I know, darling. All you can do is get better."
"We will, dad."
"Good." There was a noise through the speakers, as of a door opening. "Oh, look who's coming in here with Mama! You wanna talk to Ru-tan?"
"Ruru! Is he there?"
Kanaru's childish voice suddenly blazed through the speakers. Her dad must have put it on speakerphone. "HayaMiku! Hello!"
"Hiya there, Kan-chi. It's just me right now, Haya-onii's sleeping."
"Is he very owie?"
"Yeah, Kan-chi. Me and him got big owies. But don't worry, we're gonna get better, okay?"
"Okay! We're gonna have cake!"
She smiled. "Oh, then we'll definitely have to be there!"
"Ru-tan, it was a surprise…"
"Oh yeah. Shhh, Miku-nee! Issa secret!"
"I promise, I won't tell anyone…"
"Okay! I'm gonna go play!"
"Ru-tan, don't jump around in the –" There was a thump. "— house." That flooring has taken so much abuse from us three jumping around… "Well, that's it. I'll see you when the festival ends, I guess."
"Alright, dad. See you later. Love you."
"We love you too, sweetheart. And… You both did so well. We're so proud."
"Thanks, dad. See ya."
"Bye, sweetie."
She hung up, and buried her face in the pillow once more.
