Chapter 46

'No,' he thought, as he took step after step, slowly moving towards the edge of the platform. 'No, fuck this,' he cursed in his mind, trying and failing to move his body. There had to be something he could do. It wasn't going to end like that.

"Sorry, Boss," Monoma said and, for what it was worth, he did feel sorry, from what Kazuki could pick up. "This feels shitty, but I want to win. And for that, I have to use everything I can," he explained. Kazuki couldn't see his face, but he didn't need to. The blonde's emotions spoke plenty.

Still…

'Fuck. This!' he cursed in his mind, mentally reaching for his limbs and trying to make them stop, trying to make them do anything other than lead him to his defeat. It couldn't end like that. It just couldn't. After all that time training and all that time struggling to keep his feet under him… He refused to let it end like that.

And yet, he could do nothing but feel his body take another step, watching the edge of the stage come closer. He felt the realization settle, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't control his body. So, he'd just keep going until he was out and that'd be that.

It was so… He thought he'd felt bad before, under the onslaught of the crowd's emotions. It was nothing compared to that moment, because on top of all that, he also felt helpless, defeated. In a way, he'd have preferred to just be blasted off the stage. It was so much worse, to have to feel his own body walking off the stage. It felt like a special kind of torture.

Still, the calm of the mind control or whatever that was was welcome. It almost pushed the negativity off his mind, and seemed to keep the grimm inside him under control. They were still there, of course pushing and urging but it was better-

'Wait,' Kazuki thought, and he felt something. Something he could do, at that. He tried, not really actually going for it. There was a quarter of the stage left for him to walk. He could do some planning. He could do some preparations…

He could do something.

He could still win.

'Ok, ok, calm,' he told himself, wishing he had enough control of his body to take a deep breath in. He couldn't, unfortunately, but he had more pressing matters than the inability to do his "calm down" rituals. Instead, he focused on what he did have the ability to do.

He'd only have one shot and if it didn't work, then that'd be that.

So, he concentrated and drew inside, towards his negativity pools. There, searched for one particular node that he'd avoided ever since he found out about it. Maybe one day he'd try to make a Grimm with it, but if that day was far into the future, all the better. Unfortunately, the only idea he had was to use it right then and there.

So, he plunged his metaphorical hand into the pain node.

"Wha-?!" Monoma started exclaiming when Kazuki turned around sharply. He didn't give the blonde time for anything else though, beowolf limbs appearing around him while the Imps that had previously just been standing there motionless rushed at him.

Moving back to the center of the stage, Kazuki's shadow extended, starting to create a Beowolf while Monoma tried to get his bearings and use his explosions once more. He'd gotten a nice advantage there, but he'd been shown how easily he could lose that and he wasn't eager to try to test his luck once more. He needed to keep what little momentum he'd gotten and keep pushing.

One of the Imps was blown up.

His hands trembled, his body spasmed and a tear fell from his eye, but those were low prices to pay so that he could keep himself in the battle. The pain was no more anyway, at least not from the node, so he could focus on the battle. Still… 'God, the pain node is awful, damnit,' he grumbled internally, taking a deep breath to try and calm his suddenly very much frayed nerves.

The second Imp was blown up.

The Beowolf was ready though and Kazuki immediately started creating two instead of one. He needed more and he had things somewhat under control. He just needed to keep the Grimm Guard barrage on Monoma to keep the blonde from doing much of anything other than trying to take out his Grimm. It wasn't a perfect strategy, but it'd have to do.

Monoma shouted, but he ignored all the words out of his mouth that didn't sound important enough. Yamada and Aizawa continued their commentary, but their words came in from one ear and out the other. He needed to win, and that was all that Kazuki could focus on.

"I'm not out yet!" Monoma called, frustration in his voice. It wasn't the first time he did, but something had changed now and Kazuki easily picked up on it through the blonde's emotions. A second later, it became even more clear that yes, things weren't staying the same for long during this fight.

'Kamakiri,' Kazuki thought, pursing his lips as blades came out of the floating parts of Monoma. He'd divided his body even more while trying to avoid his Grimm Guard and it had all been part of a plan, evidently. 'Fine then,' he mused, glaring as his first Beowolf was taken out.

He had two new ones anyway. He'd just have to be careful not to let them die too quickly. 'Change of plans. Things are mostly under control for now,' he thought, narrowing his eyes as his shadow extended and started forming Beringels now. Those were a lot more resistant. They'd go better against something like Kamakiri's blades.

They'd hold up about the same as the Beowolves against the explosions but one couldn't have it all in the world. He'd have made Boarbatusks, but those weren't quite as agile as he needed his Grimm to be in order to hit someone as slippery as Monoma was with his current Quirk combo.

'Buy time,' he thought to himself. Maybe he couldn't quite win just yet, but if he could buy time, maybe he could pull it off. So, he started doing just that by creating Boarbatusk barriers to mess with Monoma instead of trying to attack with Grimm limbs. They weren't good for much other than buying time but that was what he needed.

He didn't need all that much, anyway. Once the two Beringel were ready, he had a good Grimm count. Two Beowolves and two Beringel, that'd be enough to go on the offensive more decisively than before. That meant he could either win with those or let them buy him more time for his next Grimm.

It was time for something more drastic that Monoma wouldn't be able to blow up or cut to death, at least not quickly. So, it was time to bring out a King Taijitu. Narrowing his eyes, Kazuki took a hold of his Grimm, and made sure they didn't get killed too quickly. He needed them to pressure Monoma, yes, but he also needed them alive for that. Otherwise he wouldn't have enough time to create the giant serpent of negativity.

So, he did just that. Controlling the four Grimm as best he could while continuing to use Grimm Guard to attack, Kazuki made them swipe at Monoma's parts, carefully avoiding those with blades or at least the ones with the biggest blades. Kazuki noticed that Monoma's usage of Kamakiri's Quirk seemed… odd, all over the place. Sometimes he used it well, sometimes he didn't seem to get it right, sometimes it didn't even seem to work. That didn't make sense. He was using Bakugo's Quirk just fine and he sure as hell hadn't gotten practice with that before, like with his classmate's Quirk…

'Think about that later,' Kazuki told himself, making his Grimm dodge and block to the best of their ability. Any damage they might sustain because it was inevitable or he wasn't good enough, he repaired as quickly as possible.

He felt Monoma grow more and more desperate, having noticed the new Grimm forming in front of Kazuki. He couldn't do anything about it though. He had his hands full and any attempt at attacking him would risk him going out like Tokage had. And yet, he couldn't let things go on like they were because he was getting overwhelmed, pushed back by the second.

And Kazuki was sure he'd run out of tricks.

"No, nonono!" Monoma cried out, gathering his parts into one as he started charging, having found a small hole in the Grimm circle that had been targeting him. With an explosion, he was already a fair distance away and rushing at Kazuki, who put a Boarbatusk barrier between them, making the blonde smack against it. Then, he made the Beringels and Beowolves chase.

Monoma recovered though, but Kazuki's eyes widened when the blonde used his explosions straight into the clawed limb of a Beowolf that he'd tried to use to block the path. He was cut into, Kazuki knew, feeling the pain through his Quirk, but he continued charging.

"I'm not gonna lose!" Monoma shouted, rushing at him like a madman. He kept going forward, no matter what Kazuki built or put in the way. The blonde simply kept exploding in his direction, simply powering through with his own body when he couldn't dodge in any way. "I'm not!"

'I'm sorry,' Kazuki thought, taking his mostly formed King Taijitu and making it twist its body like the biggest whip in the world. Its scaly hide hit Monoma on the side, sending him flying off. Kazuki's Grimm followed while he finished creating the serpent. Monoma would come back any second with an explosion and-

"There you have it, people!" Present Mic called over the speakers. It wasn't that what broke through Kazuki's focus, however. No, it was the sight before him. "The absolute champion, from start to finish, of this Sports Festival! Kazuki! ENDO!" the man announced while Kazuki tried to wrap his head around the fact that Monoma was lying on his back, outside the stage.

"I did it?" he asked with a mumble, blinking and trying to process that announcement. "I did it," he repeated, his eyes widening while his lips pulled up. "I did it," he had to say again, because he really couldn't believe it.

His body sagged.

His breathing evened.

His Grimm dissolved.

A chuckle escaped his lips.

"I fucking did it," he said between laughter that even he wasn't sure if it was out of relief, joy or delirious exhaustion. Whatever happiness he might have felt was very quickly suppressed by the negativity he felt, however. Even then, he still felt it underneath, because they couldn't take away his win. They couldn't take away his victory, not with their negativity and not with their…

… cheering?

Looking up, Kazuki took in the stands, as if he were able to distinguish any of the people in it. He was hearing cheering though. Granted, it wasn't the thundering thing he'd dared to dream about, but it wasn't that muted thing he had gotten used to through the Festival. If anything, it reminded him of that first one, after the very first event, when he imagined not everyone had figured out who he was yet.

'They are… cheering,' he thought, shocked. He couldn't believe his ears as he took the noise in. That couldn't be right… They had to be cheering for Monoma, right? He'd put up a great fight. Surely that was it. They were cheering for him, because he'd put Kazuki in a tough spot a few times.

But they were still cheering, even when he'd won. 'Or maybe, just maybe, they are cheering for me?' a small, hopeful corner of his mind wondered. He tried not to let that thought take hold, because it'd be so painful if he was wrong…

And yet…

Kazuki grinned widely, basking in the fact that maybe he did have a chance, despite the negativity. Maybe the support he had wasn't as noticeable… but it was there. He just needed to remember. And oh would he remember that very moment.

"Good fight," he told Monoma, extending a hand to the fallen boy. "You need help getting to the infirmary?"

"The least you could do, don't you think?" the blonde asked with a weak chuckle. "Boss?"

Kazuki just rolled his eyes.

As if anything could ruin his mood then and there.

[}-o-{]

"You did it, you did it, you did it!" Hagakure repeated excitedly as she threw herself at Kazuki and hugged him for all he was worth, not unlike how she'd hug the beowolf puppies. "You did it!"

At any other point, he might have made a joke about her repeating herself or something like that. It was a little silly, he imagined, at least from an outside perspective. However, as someone from the inside, he could very easily agree with the sentiment.

"I did it!" he exclaimed right back at her, hugging her back and following the momentum of the girl to spin around. Kazuki imagined how people would react to seeing him like that for a moment before quickly dismissing the very thought. He was too happy to care, if he were honest.

"Congratulations, Endo," Todoroki said, simply but not really disinterested.

"Congratulations, Endo!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed, almost as excited as Kazuki and Hagakure were. "You deserve it!"

"Thanks," he replied, grinning widely, which only seemed to make the girl beam even more back at him.

"Good job out there, man," Mineta told him, half smiling as he smacked Kazuki on the back. He'd probably have gone for the shoulder if he were tall enough, but it was what it was. "Now I can brag to the ladies about being your friend and all."

"Man, with how happy I am, I'd join you!" Kazuki replied with a laugh.

"Careful there, wouldn't wanna become pervert number two, would you?" Jiro pointed out, even though she had a smile on her face too. "Congrats though," she added, her amused grin turning into something softer.

"Literally wouldn't have made it without all of you here for me so… Thank you guys," he said, looking at his friend group and gulping down the sudden bout of emotions that threaten to overwhelm him in a completely different way from the negativity. "You are great."

"Remember to tell the girls tha-Ouch. Hey!" Mineta started saying before getting smacked with one of Jiro's earjacks and protesting. "Anyway, we are happy for you, man," he added, more serious this time.

From there, it was a matter of waiting for the school to set up the podium and final part of the event, where they gave each of the three a prize. Kazuki did get congratulated by the rest of his class and some of his friends in other classes.

It was a little funny to see Bakugo grunt at him in acknowledgement at one point. Kazuki would have asked why he'd given his Quirk to Monoma but he didn't think he'd get a straight answer and he didn't care enough at the moment. Maybe he'd do it some other time. As it was, he imagined that the blonde had wanted to get a laugh in after being left out of the final event, or something along those lines.

Kazuki definitely wanted to know how Monoma had gotten Shinso's Quirk though, because the Gen Ed student seemed to have had something against the Hero Course. Maybe his hate for 1-A in specific had won out there? Regardless, it was a story that he wanted to hear.

If he were honest, however, most of what happened then kind of blended together.

After spending most of the Sports Festival struggling to keep himself together, he felt like he was finally done. Sure, the emotions were there, but he didn't have to keep worrying about how he looked or how well he did in the events. That took a weight off his shoulders that made all the negativity much more bearable.

Now, he'd just have to go there, there'd be a little congratulatory speech from whoever gave them their prizes and it'd be more or less done. 'I can't wait,' he thought, because he was happy, sure, but he also wanted to just go home and not have to deal with extreme levels of negativity, thank you very much. The day couldn't end fast enough. Then he'd be able to just sit in front of his aquarium with music playing and a dumb gacha game to waste time on.

That was the dream.

"Earth to Creepy." For the moment, he had to deal with the still not quite finished Sports Festival. "Endo?" At least his friends were there still.

"Yeah, Bubbly?" he asked, smiling and looking at where he guessed Hagakure's eyes were. She seemed to pause for a second, shifting on her feet before she recovered. "Something the matter?"

"You were kind of staring at nothing," Jiro answered instead, poking his cheek with her earjack.

"Sorry, I just… I'm feeling better already, knowing that it's over, but I kind of want to go away," he explained simply, deflating a little and wearing a tired smile. "I'm so done with this event and this day… and this week, honestly."

"Sounds like it," Mineta replied with grin, seeming more amused by his expression than anything. It was quite the contrast to how he'd acted before but then again, Kazuki was feeling a lot better than then. "What do you say we go home after this, get some drinks, some snacks and spend whatever's left of today doing absolutely nothing?"

"Sounds like the best plan ever, Tiny. The best plan ever," Kazuki answered with a chuckle, because it did, indeed, sound wonderful. Just not having worries and completely forgetting about the awful lows he'd experienced and everything else. He'd won. He'd done everything he could do to make the best of the Sports Festival.

If it worked or it didn't, at least he'd done his best.

"Is there room for another?" Hagakure asked, bouncing on her feet excitedly.

"Sure thing. The more the merrier," Kazuki agreed easily. "Everyone's welcome at my place, who wants to come and hang out after this?"

"I have to go back home, I'm sorry," Yaoyorozu replied, with a very sad expression and even worse emotions coursing through her. Kazuki gave her his best comforting expression before patting her on her arm. She truly did feel terrible about not going, it seemed.

"It's fine. Some other time, yeah? It's not like we don't hang out all the time, right?" he commented, getting a nod and a small smile in turn. He guessed it was kind of different from the usual, which would explain why even Hagakure felt bad that Yaoyorozu couldn't come.

"I'll go," Jiro joined in easily.

"I'd like to go too, if that invitation extends to me," Todoroki said hesitantly, drawing some surprised expressions. Kazuki was beyond caring that he was new to the group or whatever. He'd seemed like a nice enough guy to him through the whole day. Certainly more… not friendly but more approachable than he'd seemed through the school year so far.

"Sure thing, man. As I said, everyone's welcome."

[}-o-{]

"Congratulations, Young Midoriya," All Might – Because of freaking course it was All Might – said as he gave the green-haired teen his third place medal. "I know being third place can feel like a failure, but it's anything but, remember that. You all set out to do one thing in this Festival and that's telling the world you are here. I can tell you, quite proudly, that you managed that and more. You should take this for what it is, a victory," the man told the boy, who already had tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

He did a good job with that little speech though, because Kazuki could feel how bad Midoriya had felt and how the emotions receded after he heard that. All Might wasn't Number One for nothing, he supposed. Besides his combat prowess, he was known as a comforting presence. 'The Symbol of Peace indeed,' Kazuki mused.

"Thank you, All Might," Midoriya mumbled, clearly doing his best not to burst into tears then and there. Kazuki would have found it amusing if it weren't a danger to the boy's public image. Sure, some emotion was expected but the green-haired teen could be a little too emotional at times.

Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened.

"Congratulations, Young Monoma," All Might said then, having moved back to pick up the second place medal and then approached the blonde. "It is often believed that 1-B is second to 1-A," the hero continued, clearly dampening Monoma's mood if the shift in emotions was anything to go by.

Maybe it was a bad moment to point that out, Kazuki supposed, considering he was second to him, a 1-A student. Regardless, he had a feeling he knew what was to follow. Sure enough, that was exactly what happened.

"But here you are, above many 1-A students, standing in second place for the whole school. Second best might not be the victory you wanted, but it is a victory for you and for your class," All Might said, placing his hands on Monoma's shoulders and squeezing. "Be proud of that, because you should."

If the lessening of the boy's emotions was anything to go by, he definitely was.

"Thank you, All Might," Monoma replied, confident smirk in place. "I'll be first next time," he added, his grin widening while he shot Kazuki a look.

As the Number one hero moved, however, he didn't find it in himself to focus on Monoma too much. He gulped down his own nervousness, suddenly very aware that he was standing at the top of the podium, that everyone's eyes were going to be on him and that there were still many bad emotions around despite the cheering from before.

"And last, but not least," All Might announced, taking his time with Kazuki like he hadn't with the others. Dramatic piece of shit, he just wanted to go away already. Couldn't he hurry up? Don't even get Kazuki started with the pain that was coming from him. 'Deep breaths, Kazuki. It's an important event,' he told himself. "The first place, the most promising of the new batch as of right now. Young Endo."

As the medal was set around his neck, it felt way heavier than it looked. He couldn't help but gulp, bringing his hand up to touch the golden thing. 'First,' he read in the number carved there, upside down. Somehow, that felt like a surprise even though it definitely wasn't.

"You were one of the students here that had the most to prove," All Might told him, trademark smile in place. "Maybe the one with the most to prove… And you rose to the occasion. The world has seen you, what you can do and how good you can be. Take heart, child, because what you set out to do, you succeeded in," the hero told him and he smiled.

"Thank you," he said, and it was now him that was in danger of crying in National TV. "That means a lot," he added, his voice cracking.

"Here you have them!" All Might exclaimed, turning towards the crowd and gesturing back towards the three of them with his hand. "The top students of this first year's Festival! They did it, went through every event and came out ahead of the rest. They've done this school proud and you have all seen them do it with your own eyes. You've seen them go beyond, haven't you?! NOW, SAY IT WITH ME!"

"Plus Ultra," Kazuki said, standing straight and proud, even as his voice was drowned with the many others that finished the school motto. Beside him, Monoma and Midoriya stood much the same as him, even if the latter was suspiciously shaky. The three of them had done it. They'd succeeded in what they came out to do.

They'd shown the world what they could do, what they were made of. Everyone had seen them do their best and how far they could go while doing it. And as he heard the crowd cheer over the negativity, Kazuki allowed himself to smile and bask on his own victory.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

And that, as they say, was that.

I know the Sports Festival arc has been going on since forever ago by now, but I did my best not to have it be too slow or too fast… I probably failed, but I tried, ok? I didn't want to skip over things that I thought were important. Rushing through the event would have felt like a mistake.

I hope you enjoyed the arc despite that. And the chapter too, obviously.

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, or if you just feel like supporting my writing, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: What did you think about this final chapter for this arc? And what do you think about the arc as a whole?

See you.