My Hero Academia - Under Pressure - Season 2 - Chapter 14 - End Of Festival
As he waited for his summons for the final match of the Sports Festival, Tonen Keitomo wasn't sure what to think or do.
His opponent in the final match of the tournament, Kazekuwa Norihisa from Class 1-A, was unlike anyone he had seen before, even in regards to the powers of Pro-Heroes. It was clear that he was some kind of teleporter, and that meant he would be nearly impossible to defeat, especially if he tried to do a ringout.
By his own admission, he didn't care if he had lost, but that didn't mean he wanted to be beaten easily like the previous opponents of Kazekuwa. Tonen was humble...but he also had pride in his abilities. What's more, he was representing Class 1-B, and he didn't want to let them down by giving off a poor showing.
And yet, how could he go and fight someone who could blink out of existence and return when he wanted? That question resounded in his head, as he felt there was still something unknown about his foe's Quirk...but he wasn't likely to learn about it until it was too late.
A knock on the door to the waiting area got his attention, it was time. Just like the match before, he took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew if nothing else he had proven himself a competent fighter, he would be able to find a good Pro-Hero to mentor him. One to teach him further on how to be the Pro-Hero he wanted to be, a different kind of hero.
Mind and body steady once more, he headed out towards the hallway that led to the arena entrance. As he made it there, he was surprised by what he saw.
"Class 1-B! Round of applause for our finalist!" came the familiar voice of Kuroda.
On opposite sides of the hallway stood most of his classmates, all but Goya. Even Chuya was there much to Tonen's surprise.
As he looked at them all, they clapped for him, whistled in appreciation, and gave him words of encouragement for his final match. Tonen couldn't help but laugh at the gesture his friends had made for him.
With a nod, he proceeded down the hallway, each member of 1-B cheering him on, with the final two being Kuroda and Azujima.
"You got this, TK!" cheered Azujima.
"I know you'll do great, Tonen," added Kuroda.
Feeling better than ever, Tonen kept going, only to stop right in the entranceway. He turned back to his friends with a smile and said, "No matter what happens, Class 1-B all the way!"
"Yeah!" roared his classmates in approval.
With a nod to his classmates he proceeded out of the entranceway and into the arena, the crowd was raucous and Projection in her booth was ready to go, "And here he is, the highlight of Class 1-B, Tonen Keitomo!"
The crowd cheered for him, and unlike the last two matches, he happily waved to the crowd, and once on the battlefield he bowed to them in appreciation.
"And now, his opponent, the kid with an ability that has allowed him to win three matches in less than a minute, Kazekuwa Norihisa!"
Kazekuwa walked out of his own entranceway, bummed out expression in full view of everyone. Not that the crowd cared, as they cheered for him anyway.
As he stepped onto the battlefield he saw Tonen's happy expression and tilted his head, "What are you happy about?"
"I think we'll have a fun match," answered Tonen, smile still on his face.
"Yeah...sure...whatever..."
Tonen went into a fighting pose, Kazekuwa just remained in place, and Projection gave a quick pause before shouting, "Here it is! The final battle of the first year class! And...BEGIN!"
The horn sounded, and Tonen made the first move. But to everyone's surprise, it wasn't an air blast. Instead, he went and rushed at Kazekuwa, once in range, he threw a punch right at his face. Not surprisingly, Kazekuwa blinked out of sight.
But another surprise came from Tonen, as he smirked and muttered to himself, "Ok...about...now!"
As if on a cue, Kazekuwa reappeared and tried to dropkick Tonen from behind like he did with Oshibu. But Tonen seemed to realize that he was there, and let out a big exhale, expelling a bunch of air from him and hitting his foe. What's more, the blast was so large it sent him flying backwards. Forcing Kazekuwa to vanish and then reappear on firm ground to get his bearings back.
In her booth, Projection was very stunned by this, "Ladies and gentlemen, Tonen Keitomo just hit Kazekuwa Norihisa! Kazekuwa went through this whole tournament without a single hit landing on him, but Tonen was able to do just that! This one might not end quickly at all!"
The crowd seemed to love this and cheered loudly.
Tonen turned to his opponent and continued to smile, "I'll be honest, I wasn't sure that would work, but I was hoping you would do an attack from behind like before if I rushed you...guess I was right."
Kazekuwa was annoyed at first, but shrugged it off, "Whatever. You got one hit on me, it doesn't matter. Let's see you try that again..."
He blinked out of sight and Tonen tensed up. But seeing a potential pattern in his mind, he realized that he had a way to at the very least make it difficult for him to touch. Tonen quickly exhaled and formed the air around him in a specific way. No sooner had he done so than Kazekuwa appeared, this time right in front of him. He threw a punch, but hit a wall of air, which stopped his punch before it could reach Tonen.
"Hi."
With another exhale Tonen blasted Kazkuwa away. This time though, Kazekuwa blinked away and then reappeared behind Tonen before he could even react. He slammed his elbow into the back of Tonen's head, sending him to one knee.
Tonen sent another blast out, but Kazekuwa blinked away again. Unlike before though, he didn't reappear instantly, or even after a few moments. He was just...gone. Confused, Tonen looked around frantically for his opponent, but there was no trace of him.
Suddenly, Kazekuwa appeared and did a leg sweep of Tonen and vanished before Tonen's air could strike him in the counterattack.
Hit and run tactics was the name of the game now. Tonen tried to put up his defenses, but Kazekuwa seemed to figure out a way around them. Or at the very least, eek out just enough space to strike within them before disappearing again.
In the stands, Class 1-B were back in their seats and flabbergasted at the fight before them. Yes, Tonen had gotten some hits on Kazekuwa, but now it was a one-sided matchup that wasn't in their friends favor.
"What is this guys' deal?" Ebirima asked, confused, but also worried for Tonen. "Shouldn't teleportation be instant? How can he just disappear for however he want and THEN reappear?"
"It is odd, lass," admitted Fenella. "Our boyo was doing good before, but now...not so much."
"Is this why Class 1-A made sure not to spill the beans about this guy?" wondered Anno aloud. "Because they knew he'd be hard to beat if our classes went up against each other like now?"
"Ace in the hole," Ueno said with his wobble going on as usual.
"It's cheating!" stated Ryu angrily.
"Exactly!" agreed Ryo. "He can't defend against that for long, no one reasonably can!"
"We can't fault a person for having a powerful Quirk," noted Chuya bluntly. "Many of our Quirks are 'cheating' in certain contexts, so why should we have a pass and not him?"
As many of the class debated the fairness of Kazekuwa's Quirk, Azujima's eyes were focused on the fight. But not on Tonen, but rather, everything around him.
Kuroda noticed this and leaned towards him, "What's up, Azujima?"
"Something's off...I can't sense him," he replied, still focused on the fight.
"Sense who?"
"Kazekuwa. In theory, even with a teleport, I should be able to sense where he is by sound or smell if not by sight. Yet, every time he vanishes, I lose him until right when he appears. It feels...off."
"You think we're missing something?"
"Maybe...one way to find out..."
Azujima looked to Iha next to him and held out his hand. She looked back at him nervously, but a nod from Azujima calmed her down enough and she held his hand and powered up his Quirk.
His senses went into immediate overdrive, but like the time Tonen was kidnapped, he slowly whittled down everything until he was focused on one thing. In this case, Kazekuwa. As he focused, the field shifted in his eyes.
He started to see openings within the air around the battle. They weren't anywhere else but the battlefield. What's more, as he watched Kazekuwa jump in and out of sight, the rifts started to appear before him, growing in number with each jump.
After observing this for a few sequences Azujima released Iha's hand and snapped back to his regular state.
Iha checked on him immediately, "You ok?"
"I'm fine Iha," he replied as he caught his breath. "But TK is screwed."
"What, why?" asked Kuroda.
"We all said he was teleporting, and we were right. What we didn't know was he's not disappearing from one point to another, he's traveling to another dimension!"
The class was stunned by this, for a variety of reasons. Oshibu was the first to ask the obvious question, "Uh...what?"
"Think of it like your speed, Oshibu. A true teleport still has to travel, it's just that it's so fast you don't recognize it. But with Kazekuwa, he's going to another place entirely, staying there, and then returning ONLY when he's ready to fight back! And like you, he can go there in the blink of an eye and return just as quick, or..."
"Wait until an opening shows up," chimed in Chuya, "he's smarter than we give him credit for. Tonen got those blasts on him early because Kazekuwa wasn't used to being predicted. But Tonen was able to string together a few ideas based on what his Quirk could do. Now he's fine with waiting him out so that he doesn't get hit again."
"I'm fine with that, but...another dimension?" questioned Ikaim still not understanding all that was said. "Isn't that like...sci-fi science?"
"And are Quirks aren't?" said Eri with a stern look to him. "While our abilities are natural in that they just come from our bodies, that doesn't mean they make sense all the time. Like how Anno went from human to a shark, or how Kuroda and Hana change shift the molecular structure of objects and so on. Yeah, hearing another dimension exists and that someone can travel to it is odd. But given the world we live in...is it really hard to think possible?"
The class took a breath to ponder Eri's words, and eventually their gaze went back to Tonen, who they now realized had to fight someone much more powerful than they could've ever predicted.
Tonen naturally didn't know this, and was doing his best just to last against his opponent. After several of the hit and run tactics landed, he went into a more defensive strategy. Doing dodge rolls around the arena to try and trip up Kazekuwa, doing various versions of his air wall technique so that his foe couldn't get within the empty spaces, and so on.
He even got a lucky shot or two in on Kazekuwa when he timed things just right. But even without the knowledge his classmates now had, Tonen knew he was on the clock.
After another back and forth volley, Kazekuwa appeared on the opposite side of the ring, frustrated expression upon his face, "Can you just like...give up? I'm over this, man."
Tonen took a sec to catch his breath before giving out a chuckle, "Feel free to step out of the arena to end this, I won't stop you."
"Ha, ha. Not what I meant. Look, you know I'm going to win, so why not just let me end it?"
"Because of them."
Tonen pointed to the stands, where Class 1-B sat and watched with baited breath in hopes that Tonen would figure something out.
"When I made me way out to the arena? They were waiting for me, cheering for me, praising me for getting this far. Sure, they probably knew I would lose, but they wanted me to know that I had their full support. Now why in the world would I give up after they gave me a gift like that?"
Kazekuwa just stood there and looked at Tonen for a bit, various thoughts going through his head. Eventually he sighed and shook his head, "Whatever. It's all pointless anyway."
"That's a crude thing to say," pointed out Tonen. "Does Class 1-A not give you their support like mine does for me?"
"You don't see the things I do, else you'd realize that's meaningless."
"Then why are you fighting, Kazekuwa? If it's all meaningless, why did you advance through this Sports Festival at all?"
"I'd be bored otherwise. Might as well do something to pass the time."
Tonen was taken aback by his foe's answer. There was something very wrong with Kazekuwa, but there was no way of knowing what. Not that he had time to figure it out because he still had a match to try and win.
"If you really feel that way, let's go. I've got some air pressure still in me, and because you're the last match, I don't have to hold back. So let's see if I can make sure you don't get bored!"
Now angry, Tonen let out a shout and a massive burst of air flew towards Kazekuwa, who naturally went and teleported away. This time though Tonen stood in place pressing his arms close to his chest and take a deep breath inward.
Kazekuwa appeared right in front of him once more and Tonen let out a roar, catching Kazekuwa briefly in his air blast before he teleported away. Tonen took yet another deep breath and repeated this process, waiting for his opponent to appear before blasting him away, ensuring that he couldn't be touched. Even if only for a few moments.
His foe picked up on his tactic and worked around it, but then Tonen pressed his luck in another direction and spun in place as he exhaled repeatedly. He created a small vortex of air, drawing Kazekuwa into him the moment he reappeared. Tonen was able to slam him to the ground once he got a hold of Kazekuwa, and quickly tried to throw him out of the ring. But the moment he hit the air, he vanished again.
The back and forth went on for another minute until Tonen knew he was running on fumes. He waited for Kazekuwa to appear one last time, and guessed perfectly where he would appear. Tonen poured all his remaining air pressure into one last blast that caught his opponent square in the chest and sent him flying towards the back wall. But just before hitting it, Kazekuwa vanished, and then reappeared behind Tonen.
He could tell Tonen was out of air pressure, so he blinked in and out all around him, punching and kicking him in multiple places until finally he delivered one last punch that sent Tonen flying backwards and onto the battlefield's hard surface.
Tonen tried to get up, but he couldn't muster the strength to do so, and collapsed. Ending the match, and the event.
Projection's horn sounded, "Ladies and gentlemen, that is it! The winner of the Sports Festival is Kazekuwa Norihisa!"
Much of the crowd cheered loudly at the spectacle of a match they just witnessed. The ones who weren't happy was that of Class 1-B. They were silent, dismayed that their friend had lost despite putting up a good fight.
Eventually though, Kuroda stood up and clapped, catching the others off guard. Including Doza, "Kuroda, what are you doing?"
"Being a good student, Doza," she answered. "Our friend didn't win, but we can say he lost fair and square. Kazekuwa was the better fighter, and I can cheer for that, as well as the fight Tonen put up."
Seeing the wisdom and fairness in her statement, the others joined her in clapping.
Tonen was taken to Life Force's nurse station where he was quickly revived. After some advice from the nurse, he was taken to a special area where Kazekuwa, Oshibu ad Goya waited. A few minutes after that they were taken back out into the arena, where they each took a podium in honor of the place they had earned.
Goya and Oshibu shared third place, Tonen won second, and Kazekuwa took first.
The crowd cheered the students as they stood upon the podiums. But were brought quiet when Principal Ayatsune appeared for the first time in the Sports Festival.
She raised her hand to get their attention, "I want to thank all who came here to watch our first year students go, it was quite the experience, and that's to be praised. But now, we close their first ceremony, and we decided to go and do it with a bit of style."
Principal Ayatsune held her free hand to the area just beyond one side of the coliseum. The crowd turned to see what was happening, and soon they all started to react as something flew towards them.
It was a dragon. Specifically, a blue dragon that seemed to glisten in the light. As it got closer many noticed it to be transparent, and yet on its back stood three individuals.
The dragon landed on the battlefield and the three individuals hopped off and stood beside the principal, "To honor the students who made it this far, and inspire all of them to push even farther, we have the Top 3 Pro-Heroes with us today!"
The crowd roared even louder than before. The three heroes looked at the crowd and waved in their own ways.
"First, the No.3 Pro-Hero, the warrior woman herself, Athena!"
Athena was tall, and clad in armor that was reminiscent of various warrior cultures, and yet flowed together in a way that made it easy to move in. She wore a helmet not unlike the ancient Spartans, but took it off when she approached Goya and Oshibu. Tonen couldn't help but notice the long flowing blonde hair she had that somehow fit in that helmet.
Another thing he noticed was that her natural beauty seemed to be contradicted by an almost wrath-filled expression upon her face. She managed to make it more neutral as she made it to the podium.
"You two fought hard," Athena said with clear weight. "To be third is not a dishonor, but a call to action. Do not forget this feeling, and let it push you forward to great heights."
Goya scoffed at this, but Oshibu bowed to her, and she put both of the medals upon their necks before walking back to the battlefield.
"Next up," said Principal Ayatsune, "we have our No.2 Pro-Hero, the man that makes the airwaves fun because you never know where he'll be next, Interface!"
While Athena had a very historic look, Interface was very new-age. Complete with an outfit that had screens and devices all over it. He was even on his phone as he went and approached Tonen. He noticed quickly that Interface was streaming the whole thing and thus did his best to keep a straight face throughout.
"That's right folks, I'm here at the first year Sports Festival for UA and I'm here to present the silver medal to this dude, Tonen Keitomo!" Interface said to his followers in an over-the-top way. "Tonen, you were really awesome! I loved that fight against that psychic dude, you were hulking out and it was AWESOME! Any words to my fans all over the world?"
He gestured for Tonen to speak and Tonen did his best to give a genuine smile and said, "I hope you enjoyed the festival."
"Look at that folks, so humble! Anyway, I need to give this young man his due, so, Suit, help me out here."
His suit extended a mechanical arm so that it could hold up his camera to continue the streaming.
"As I said, you did a great job, and there's little doubt you'll get some Top 10 heroes asking you to intern with them!"
"Thank you for the kind words," Tonen said with a bow.
Now done, Principal Ayatsune motioned to the final hero, "And to present the final medal for our 1st place finisher, the No.1 Hero himself, Mythical!"
The crowd erupted into cheers, all of them shouting, "Mythical! Mythical!"
Tonen had never seen him up close, but he could see why he had earned that name outside of his Quirk. Mythical was muscular, but not in the over the top way. Furthermore, as you watched him walk you could tell he had utmost confidence in himself and his abilities. Not unlike how Tonen saw Eri and Kuroda walk at times.
His outfit was more simplistic than the others. A simple suit of gold and silver that shined brightly in the sunlight of the day. Though he did have a set of shoulder pads that stood out. One shaped like a dragon, the other shaped like a phoenix. His brown hair matched his very trimmed and toned mustache and beard. He was a very put together man, and that likely was the intention of his look, to show he was someone to take seriously the moment you saw him.
Upon reaching Kazekuwa, Mythical grabbed the gold medal and held it out for him, "I want you to know that you remind me of myself at your age. My Quirk wasn't at full power yet, but many judged me for 'cheating' because of how powerful it was. I've heard similar chatter about yours, Kazekuwa, and I'm glad you didn't let that interfere with you getting your victory. I also hope you use that to push yourself even farther in order to be a grand hero."
His words got a rare reaction from Kazekuwa, who wasn't expecting Mythical to talk to him like an equal, "I...uh...I will try. Thank you sir."
"No, thank you, it was quite fun watching you win."
With a bow of his head to Kazekuwa, he turned to leave, but stopped for a moment and looked at Tonen.
"I was impressed by you too, Tonen. I might have to send you an invitation for my agency for an internship."
Tonen didn't react like Kazekuwa did, he instead kept a blank face to hide his true feelings until he melted it into a smile and a bow, "I would be honored if you sent it, sir."
Mythical noticed something odd about how Tonen said it, but merely smirked and chuckled in response before stating, "Good to know."
He walked away and rejoined the others on the battlefield alongside the principal, who motioned to the Pro-Heroes once again, "Let's give it up for our top 3 Pro-Heroes!"
The crowd exploded into praise and applause and chants once more.
"With that, we end this first year student Sports Festival! Thank you all for watching!"
The crowd cheered for everything that had happened. They had witnessed quite an event, and it wasn't likely to pass from their minds soon.
After the closing ceremony had ended, Class 1-B was assembled by Angel Wings, who couldn't help but beam as she looked upon them, "You all were wonderful! You made me very proud. The fact that all of you made it to the second round, and 11 of you made it to the final round was beyond any expectations I could've reasonably put upon you. Thank you for giving it your all. And remember, you have two more years of Sports Festivals to showcase even more of what you can do. For now though, Principal Ayatsune has given both classes the next two days off!"
The class was surprised at this reward, and Angel Wings was even happier at their reaction.
"Trust me, you deserve it. Furthermore, you have our permission to go home to see your parents or other family members. Just be sure you're here the morning that classes resume, we have two very big things to go and take care of. But for the next two days, relax, celebrate what you did, and look forward to what comes next."
The class rushed to their rooms to go and make plans with their various family members.
For Tonen though, he merely went and did something he felt he hadn't done in a long time. Draw. He opened up a new book and spent the entire evening and night drawing the memories he had of the Sports Festival. From flying through the air with Azujima and Iha in his arms. To fighting foes alongside Eri in the team battle. To the four fights he had in the final round. He did his best to get it all on paper so that he could forever remember this feeling, this day, and these moments. He didn't set out to win the tournament, but he was proud of how well he did.
Just as he finished one of his drawings, his phone went off and his mother had texted him that they would take the next day off to spend time with him. He smiled and said he'd be home early in the morning.
The next day dawned and the students of Class 1-B bid farewell to each other briefly before heading home to their families. Each of them having their own unique experiences.
Kuroda's family for example threw a big party for her, with their extended family showing up to celebrate her accomplishments. Kuroda did her best to hide how she really felt about the tournament in terms of how she went out, but she couldn't help but love being with her family. Especially when her cousin showed up and she told him about Azujima. She saw a rare comfort on his face when he found out there were others out there in the world like him trying to do good despite their condition.
Anno's and Fenella's family also threw celebrations for their young ones, but the main treat for both of them was the feast that they got to gorge themselves on. If the two had been able to see how much the other ate, a contest would've surely formed.
Azujima's parents were overjoyed with how well their son did, and couldn't help but notice how much more confident he was. They were also amazed by his sensory devices, and were relieved he had found a way to help tone down his senses.
When Chuya arrived home, she was more nervous than she was before the tournament. As she opened the door to her home her father was waiting for her, cane in hand to help him stay upright. His face was stern as he looked upon her, and she did her best to not show fear or sadness at the potential disappointment she had brought.
Her father slowly walked towards her, then dropped the cane and hugged her with all he had, "Oh daughter, you did so well in that Festival!"
"But father," Chuya said, confused and yet choked up at his praise, "I didn't win, I didn't even make it to the final four."
"Tell me, Chuya. Did you give it your all? Did you push yourself to be the best you could be against your foes?"
"Yes! Yes father!"
"Then how could I ask for more?"
"But father, I was...dishonorable at times in how I treated my opponents."
"Yes, you did cross a line once or twice. But if I saw correctly, you made up for it, yes?"
"Yes," she said with a simple nod.
"Good. As I told you before my dear daughter, you have a great burden on your shoulders. I could tell how much it weighed on you, and how it propelled you to be who you are. I didn't dare try and change you because I did not know how you would take it," he admitted with clear sadness. "But now, you see that you can still bring us honor while also being more than just a one woman army. Use this to grow, Chuya. Your journey is still only just beginning, and I look forward to watching every step you take."
Unable to contain the emotions with her, Chuya wept as she hugged her father once again. Finally letting go of much of what was pent up inside of her.
Tonen took the train home as he had done what felt like a lifetime ago. He reached his parents place at about lunchtime, and as he expected, they were waiting for him with a big meal right alongside his Uncle Brazen.
"Welcome home, Tonen!" they shouted as he entered their apartment.
"Good to be home," he said with a smile.
"Nephew!" called out Brazen, aura brimming around him as he talked. "Your performance in the Sports Festival was magnificent! It was beyond words, beyond emotions! It fills me with great pride watching you go all the way to the finals and nearly winning!"
"Yeah, I can literally see your pride, Uncle. But thank you. I wanted to make all of you proud."
"You absolutely did, TK," noted Shitaka with his own pride-filled smile. "We were on the edge of our seat through much of your final fights. Especially against that Goya kid."
"Oh, him," Soyuki said with clear dislike, "he reminds me of certain people we know, and while I'm supposed to be a person who preaches love and such...I'm so happy you taught him a lesson, Tonen."
Tonen couldn't help but laugh at the remark from his mother, the others joined in on that.
"But enough talk, let's eat! You deserve it."
"Don't have to ask me twice!" Tonen said as he raced to the table and started filling up his plate.
The family ate a wholesome meal, and after getting a little food in their bellies they talked with Tonen about the festival as a whole. The moments that were the best for him, how he was able to push himself in certain scenarios, and so on.
Eventually, the topic turned once again to his fight with Goya, where his mother showed real concern about what she saw, "I've never seen you like that, it was honestly frightening. Your Quirk pouring out of you, the anger on your face, it was a lot."
"How did you break out of his grip, TK?" asked his father.
Tonen paused and put down his utensils and gave them a look that was a bit hard to define. It was of knowing, but also of curiosity as to what would happen next, "I remembered."
"Remembered what?"
"How I first used my Quirk."
His parents were shocked at this revelation. Each looking at the other fearfully before turning back to their son.
"It was something Goya said, it triggered my memories. Reminded me of those bullies that wouldn't stop harassing Sarisa and how I...uh...dealt with them."
"Tonen..." started his mother, but he put up a hand to stop her.
"I don't blame you for what you did. But I do want to know why you did it."
Shitaka sighed heavily, "At that time, you were very enamored with the world of heroes. You hadn't gotten your viewpoint about being a better kind of hero yet. We feared that if you knew how you hurt those bullies it would've made you shy about your Quirk. Made you wary of being a hero because you had hurt people before. We knew you could be a great hero, TK, that's the truth. It wasn't your fault what happened, no one could've known that you would get triggered and release your Quirk like you did. But you were so young we..."
"We honestly didn't know how you would take it," finished his mother with a very sad look on her face. "We couldn't bare the thought of those stupid boys taking away your joy and happiness, so we bent the truth a bit to help you along."
Tonen turned to his uncle, who was very solemn looking, "Did you know, Uncle Brazen?"
"I knew enough," he answered. "They told me that an incident had happened with your Quirk and to not bring up how you got it. So I didn't, and I used my resources to ensure that it didn't leak out to the press what happened. That kind of story...is not what our culture needs, especially with misinformation being the trademark of certain people."
"Wow, I had no idea. Though to be honest, a lot of things made sense when I remembered. Sarisa had this nervous look when I was around her in those first days after my Quirk arrived. Doran and his pals never messed with me again. The class was cautious around me for a while. I thought it was just because of my Quirk being something they hadn't seen before, or wondering if I had control over it. But now...it's obvious why they had that look."
"Forgive us, TK," asked his father, "we were trying to protect you, and help you grow in the right way."
"I know, that's why there's nothing to forgive," he replied with a smile. "You both have always done what was best for me, even when I didn't realize it. I'm not bitter, or angry, I was just surprised. That's all. Thank you for not letting me wallow in what happened. I definitely would've been different if I had known the truth back then."
Soyuki dried tears from her eyes, "We love you, Tonen, we'll always be here for you."
"You show wisdom beyond your years, nephew", said Brazen with pride restored. "You are going to be a beacon to many in the future no doubt."
Tonen thought about that and then shrugged, "Maybe. But for now...I'd rather just be a hungry 15-year-old. Pass the dessert."
With a laugh, the family went back to eating and enjoyed their time together.
"Despite it only being a day, the Sports Festival was long, hard, and emotional for many who participated in it. But through it, many of us got stronger, including me. A major step in our journeys as heroes had been taken, but many more were on the way. Including one that was imminent and would change us in ways we were hoping, and for me...I would meet a set of people who would change my life forever..."
*credits*
