Predictably, Todoroki started that match with a huge wall of ice growing between Bakugo and himself, burying Bakugo under the ice.
"Wow," Ayumu leaned back against the chair, "That was quick."
Mina giggled beside her, "I wouldn't say anything just yet. Listen."
Ayumu quieted down and listened carefully, sure enough muffled blasts could be heard from below. Suddenly, a hole cut through the ice, forcing Todoroki to jump back out of the way as chunks of ice flew at him.
"Woah! He used his explosions to tunnel through the ice like some kind of mole man!" Sero's voice carried over Ayumu.
"These two are insane." Kaminari added.
Bakugo shot himself forward toward Todoroki. Todoroki reached for him, but Bakugo blasted himself out of the way at the last minute. Bakugo grabbed onto Todoroki as he threw himself over Todoroki's head and landed on his feet. Bakugo threw Todoroki across the arena, but Todoroki caught himself with another small wall of ice.
"Todoroki surfs an ice wave to avoid going out of bounds! Looks like fun!" Present Mic commented.
Todoroki's wave encased the parameter of the arena, keeping them both inside the boundary. Bakugo leaped for him, but this time Todoroki was ready and grabbed him by the arm. Todoroki threw Bakugo across the arena where he landed on his feet, crouched down.
"Bakugo timed his explosions and Todoroki's left side on purpose. He's done his research. His aptitude for this becomes more apparent with every fight." Mr. Aizawa's calm voice rang across the stadium.
Present Mic's voice came next, "Interesting."
"Todoroki's doing well so far, but his attacks are too simple. It almost seems like he lost his spark after the match with Midoriya." Mr. Aizawa's commentary seemed to weigh on the crowd.
Bakugo and Todoroki paused as if to hear what their homeroom teacher was saying about them. As soon as the commentary ended, Bakugo charged again at Todoroki.
"C'mon, Todoroki! Don't give up! Do your best!" Midoriya shot out of his seat and yelled down to the arena.
Bakugo blasted behind him to force himself to charge faster at Todoroki just as Todoroki's left side burst into flames.
As soon as Bakugo got close enough to attack, the flames died out on Todoroki and his hand began to fall. After that a huge explosion rocked the stadium sending another rush of air, ice, and heat into the stands, but the wind wasn't as strong as it had been before.
The smoke lingered a bit longer this time, but once it cleared it was obvious who had won. Bakugo was flat on the ground, slowly forcing himself to his feet, but Todoroki was lying out of bounds surrounded but the broken pieces of the ice wall he had created.
Bakugo moved toward him, slowly at first and then running the last few feet. He picked him up by the front of his shirt, ready to hit him again.
"What is he doing? He won!" Mina exclaimed beside Ayumu.
Ayumu shrugged, "I guess it wasn't how he thought it would go.
Midnight made her way to the scene and unleashed her quirk, forcing Bakugo to pass out before examining the scene before her and raising her hand to the air.
"Todoroki is out of bounds. That means… Bakugo is the winner!"
The crowd erupted in cheers and confetti rained down on them. Ayumu smiled to herself, but felt a small ping of… sadness? Pity? Those weren't the right words, but at the moment she couldn't really put into words how she was feeling.
"I guess your training with him paid off." Mina nudged Ayumu with her shoulder.
Ayumu pushed her strange feeling out of her mind and smiled at Mina, "Yeah, I guess it helped him get better."
"Hey, we should start heading down for the award ceremony." Kirishima shouted loud enough for the class to hear.
The class got up and headed up the stairs. Iida stood at the top of the stairs looking strange. For a moment, Ayumu wondered if she should stop and check on him.
Iida looked up aa the class exited the stands, "Uraraka, Midoriya. A moment?"
The two called stopped and Ayumu turned and headed out after her class.
All of the first years made their way down to the field one more time as fireworks went off over head. Celebrating the ending of their first year at the Sports Festival.
"The first year students have completed all of the events for the UA Sports Festival. Now it's time to relax and enjoy the award ceremony." Midnight's voice rang out.
From underground, the stage rose carrying the three winners of the Sports Festival into the air. Confetti blasters went off behind Midnight as she stood proudly at the head of it all.
"What the heck?" Jiro questioned as Bakugo came into view.
While Todoroki and Tokoyami stood proud at their positions on the second and third place podiums, Bakugo stood at the top, completely restrained and muzzled. As the platform rose, Bakugo continued to fight against the restraints and scream into the muzzle. Ayumu imagined that it was probably nothing more than an endless string of curse words, but couldn't make out a single one.
"He's been going crazy since he woke up." Kirishima explained, "Man, Bakugo, pull yourself together."
Ayumu sighed, "He can't just be happy he won, huh?"
Kirishima laughed, "Well you know him, gotta have it his way."
"Tenya Iida actually shares the third place award with Tokoyami, but unfortunately he had to leave for family reasons." Midnight explained and then added, "Gotta love those familial blonds."
Something about the way Midnight said that made Ayumu's stomach churn. Midnight stepped onto the stage.
"Alright, let's break out the hardware!" The handcuff on her wrist jingled against the cut chain it was attached to, "Of course there's only one person worthy of distributing the awards."
All Might's laughter echoed over the crowd as he jumped down from the roof of the auditorium. Midnight announced him, as if that was needed, and the crowd cheered wildly as he landed. All Might delivered each medal with a hug until he got to Bakugo.
Once All Might stepped up to Bakugo, he removed his muzzle. Bakugo fought against All Might as he tried to deliver the medal. All Might eventually gave up trying to put the medal around Bakugo's neck and hung it in his mouth.
"Here they are, the winners of this year's Sports Festival!" All Might announced. "Listen closely, any of you first years could have ended up standing on these podiums. Think about what you've done today. You've challenged each other, learned, and climbed even closer to your goals of being pros. I think our next generation of heroes is proving to be our most promising one yet! So I have one more thing to say! I want to hear everyone yell it with me! You know what it is: Thank you for your hard work!"
At the last line, the crowd and students yelled "Go Plus Ultra!" Creating a chaos amongst the crowd. Some booed, others yelled at All Might that he had messed up.
The class went and changed back into their uniforms and returned to their homeroom class to debrief with Mr. Aizawa. Tomorrow the second year students would take their turn to show what they had learned during their time at UA.
"Nice work. You have the next two days of school off to recuperate. I'm sure the pros who watched the festival will want to recruit some of you. We'll look over the draft forms and update you when you return. Get some rest. You still have a lot of training." Mr. Aizawa droned.
"Yes, Sir." The class chimed in unison.
"So, Bakugo won, huh?" Shinso had his hands shoved in his pockets as he and Ayumu walked home together.
Ayumu nodded, she still could feel that strange feeling she'd had when he'd first won creeping up in her chest, but she pushed it down once again, "Yeah. I'm happy for him."
Shinso hummed in acknowledgment, "I'm sure working with you helped considering all the smoke he caused. It was hard to see anything going on at some points."
"Yeah, all those nights paid off." Ayumu took the steps up to her front door two at a time, "Mom, we're home! Mom?"
Ayumu made her way into the living room where her mom sat silently staring at the TV set. Shinso followed close behind and grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop when he noticed Ayumu's mother was crying silently. Tears following a steady path down her cheeks. Ayumu moved to see what she was watching. The news was playing the breaking news story. A helicopter view showed police walking around the outside of a taped off alleyway. In large letter across the screen read: PRO HERO INGENIUM ATTACKED BY VILLIAN: CONDITION UNKNOWN.
Ayumu's blood ran cold. Shinso grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Hero deaths were not something Ayumu's mother could handle hearing about.
"Hey, let's go into the kitchen. I'll make some tea." Shinso's voice was far away as he helped her mother up from the couch and into the kitchen. Ayumu continued to stare at the blank screen of the TV for a moment before following the other two out of the room.