As the first dance finished, Midoriya and Uraraka made their way to All Might and Inko. "Mom, I can't believe you're here!" Izuku exclaimed as he hugged her. "You also look so amazing!"
"Oh Izuku, honey, thank you," Inko said. She then turned to the young girl in front of her. "This must be Uraraka."
The zero gravity hero held at her hand. "It's so nice to finally meet you! I'm Ochako Uraraka." Inko brought her into a hug.
"Thank you for coming here with my son." She pulled away but still held onto her hands. "Your dress is also so cute!"
"Your dress is gorgeous!"
As the women fawned over each other, All Might placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner. We didn't want you to fret since you had to prepare for this yourself," he said.
"It's okay, All Might. I know how close you and my mom have gotten this past few months." He smiled at her and Uraraka laughing. "It's nice to see her having a good time."
Uraraka then turned to him. "Deku, I noticed some people are sitting down. I think it's dinnertime!" she said.
On cue, his stomach growled. "Great, I'm starving!" he replied. Before leaving, he turned to his mom. "Save me a dance!"
"I will, sweetie!" Inko said as she watched them go to their table.
All Might then took her hand and led her to their table. "I told you that he would be fine with this," he said.
"Yeah, I'm glad I don't have to carry the secret any longer." She surveyed the other heroes looking at them. "Now, I have to get through the rest of the night."
"You and me both," All Might chuckled.
Dinner was then served. The students awed at the colorful food from around the world. As the heroes finished their meal, Tsu pointed to the stage as a sleep-deprived man with shoulder length silver hair walked onto the stage. "I wonder what's going on?" Tsu asked.
"They are about to start the Hero presentation," Uraraka replied. "That's when they talk about the guest of honor and remember the past heroes." Her classmates stared at her. "What? I told you that I was a fan of this."
The man on the stage tapped on the microphone. "Let's get this over with," he said. "Good evening everyone, I'm Mera Yokumiru from the Hero Public Safety Commission." The pros kept talking and eating. "Hello?"
Present Mic, noticing that everyone was ignoring him, stood up and yelled, "WHAT'S UP EVERYONE? TURN YOUR ATTENTION TO THE STAGE." He sat down and gave Yokumiru a thumbs up.
"Yes, well like I said good evening everyone. On behalf of the Hero Public Safety Commission, I would like to thank you for coming out tonight especially in this time of uncertainty and scrutiny."
"Geez, did he have to bring that up?" Hagakure whispered to Ojiro. He shrugged in response.
Screens then came down from the ceiling. "To start, we would like to honor the ones we have lost since the last Hero's Gala. They are gone but not forgotten." The lights grew dark as the band began to play a melancholy tune.
As pictures and news clips passed, the heroes and students clapped. It ended with Sir Nighteye in an interview. "I'll leave with this, like my old mentor All Might told me, go out with a smile. That's what I plan to do," he said. It then ended with his picture. A couple of tears slid down Toshinori's face as Inko placed her hand on top of his. Midoriya, Uraraka, Tsu, Kirishima, Aizawa, and the other heroes who were involved with his death bowed their heads. The slideshow ended with the lights brought up and thunderous applause.
Yokumiru went back to the microphone. "Now to announce this year's Gala Guest of Honor, please welcome to the stage, Gran Torino." The retired hero, dressed up in a suit, walked up to the stage as Izuku stood up to wave at him. Gran Torino smiled and nodded at him.
"Thank you for Yokumiru for that moving introduction," Gran Tornio said with laughter from the heroes. "I would first like to welcome the students of the gala, U.A. High School's Class 2-A and their guests to the event tonight." The pros clapped as most of the students smiled and waved. "We hope you make meaningful connections tonight. Moving onto the main man of the hour." He turned to All Might. "This hero is a former student of mine. He's ambitious, brave and stubborn. I am proud to see that man he turned into today. In my eyes, he will forever be the symbol of peace. Please put your hands together for this year's Gala Guest of Honor, All Might."
The crowd erupted with a standing ovation as All Might made his way to the stage. He shook Gran Tornio's hand as he placed the badge on Toshinori's jacket. "I would like to first thank Gran Torino for that heartwarming introduction even though I am still terrified of you." The audience laughed as Toshinori wiped his eyes. "I want to make this short and thank all of you for inspiring me everyday to still be a hero even though I no longer have my quirk. Even though he's not here, I want to thank Principal Nezu for allowing me to teach the next generation of heroes, including the ones here tonight." Some hoots and hollers then came from the student table. "Thank you to my fellow teachers, students, and Inko Midoriya, my beautiful friend who agreed to come here with me tonight. Isn't she gorgeous, ladies and gentleman?" Her face warmed up as the audience applauded for her. "I would also like to thank Endeavor. You are going to make a great new number one hero. I know it." Endeavor nodded at him while a grin formed on his face. "To wrap up, I dedicate this to Sir Nighteye, my former sidekick and friend. I miss you, but I will continue to smile everyday like it's my last. Now, let's have a good time!"
The pro heroes and students gave All Might another standing ovation as he walked off the stage with Gran Torino. Yokumiru walked up to the microphone. "That's all I got, so enjoy yourselves," he said.
As the band began to play, the pro heroes began to mingle with one another. None of them approached the students except for one red-winged hero. "Hey, Tokoyami," he said.
Tokoyami turned and stood to greet his old mentor. "Hawks, it is good to see you," Tokoyami said as they shook hands.
"Hawks, where have you been?" Dark Shadow said, popping out of Tokoyami's cape.
The young pro patted the shadow's head. "Trust me, you don't want to know."
Dark Shadow pouted and recedied back into Tokoyami as he turned to Tsu. The rainy season hero stood up. "Hawks, I would like you to meet Tsuyu Asui, one of my classmates, friend, and date tonight," he said.
"Please call me Tsu," she said as he took her hand.
He kissed the top of it. "It's lovely to meet you Tsu. I gotta say, Tokoyami lucked out asking you."
"I actually asked him," she replied proudly.
"Woah! See, Tokoyami? I told you that would be a ladies man one day," Hawks said as the bird-like hero turned red. Another hero called his name. "Sorry guys, I gotta go say hi to other people." He rolled his eyes. "What a drag, am I right?" Hawks waved to the young heroes as he walked away.
"What would you like to do?" Tokoyami asked, still recovering from his embarrassment.
Tsu pointed to the stage as a sleep-deprived man with shoulder length hair walked onto the stage. "Let's walk around. Then we can dance once our stomachs settle from dinner," she replied. He nodded as he looped his arm around hers.
On the other side of the table, Kirishima was finishing up his meal as he sat Fatgum wave to him from a few tables over. "Ashido, look it's Fatgum! I would like you to meet him if you're done," he said.
"Yes, I've been wanting to properly meet him for forever!" Ashido replied.
Fatgum pointed to two empty seats next to him as they walked over. On the other side of him sat Tamaki Amajiki and Neijre Hado. He was wearing a dark blue suit with a light blue undershirt to complement her light blue, flowy sleeveless dress with a beaded waist. "Hi guys!" she said. Amajiki held a hand up and smiled sheepishly.
"Hey Amajiki, Hado, I didn't see you guys there!" Kirishima said, rubbing the back of his head.
"That was kind of the point. I guess Fatgum isn't the greatest shield to interaction," Amajiki whispered.
Hado laughed, "C'mon Amajiki, we're pros now! Let's go socialize, chicken."
The shy hero groaned as she pulled him out of the chair. "First, you drag me to the gala, and now I have to talk to people. This is the worst. I wish Mirio was here."
"Togata would do the same thing, now let's go!" Fatgum, Kirishima, and Mina laughed as Hado dragged him away towards the bar area.
Kirishima pulled Ashido's chair out for her and said, "Fatgum, I am happy to introduce you to Mina Ashido," he said.
"This is Ashido?" Fatgum asked. He's talked about me? "It's so awesome to meet you at last! You're one the few people Kirishima always talks about." Confirmed.
She smirked. "Oh, really now?"
Kirishima's face turned red as he sat down. "Okay, Fatgum, way to embarass me," he said.
"Oh, there's nothing to be embarrassed about," Fatgum said as he ate another bite of fried chicken. "It's so strange to see you this shy. That's usually Suneater." Kirishima was about to interject until Fatgum said, "Anyway, that's not why I called you over. Someone very important to you is here."
Ashido's hand flew over her mouth. "You don't mean?" she asked.
Kirishima turned his head to her then to Fatgum. "Who is it?" he asked.
"The one and only, Crimson Riot."
Talk about a cliffhanger, huh? In my headcannon, Crimson Riot is still alive, just older and stays out of the limelight.
How do you think Kirishima is going to react?