Chapter 34

Chapter 34

All sounds fell silent.

The thing that had been howling, crashing, and clawing inside his body since the Sports Festival finally quieted down unnoticed.

Ice and fire, smoke and fire, flying gravel and fire.

Blades and fire.

The strength supporting his body receded like an ebbing tide, pain and exhaustion washing over him. His vision, blurred by the glare of explosions and sweat stinging his eyes, gradually cleared.

I lost.

Realizing this wasn't as hard to accept as he had once imagined. On the contrary, Katsuki Bakugo now felt completely at ease.

—This was what he had demanded. He had staked everything he had, and she had responded with all her might, just as she had promised.

It meant something.

With those thoughts, the boy, for once calm, took the girl's outstretched hand.

...And then nearly got pulled back down by her.

There was still some time before the award ceremony. They had already walked into the corridor leading to the waiting room amid the crowd's cheers, heading to Recovery Girl to get their injuries treated.

Just as the girl who had just defeated him extended her hand, her face showing a "want to shake hands" expression, Bakugo—having grudgingly acknowledged her for her performance in this match—decided to give this crybaby a little reward.

And now he was pinned against the wall.

"The hell are you doing?!..."

He didn't have the energy to blast her anymore.

Kirisame, who had actually intended to shake hands, froze for a moment, then apologized and stumbled off him.

"..."

"If you can't walk, just lie down and let a robot carry you off!"

The girl looked up at him in disbelief: "No way! I won—how embarrassing would that be?"

...And you think this isn't embarrassing?

Bakugo, equally relying on pride alone to keep himself upright, choked at her retort. He opened his mouth, but ultimately couldn't find the words to mock her.

...When she had just lunged at him, she was so soft.

Lost in thought for a second, he watched as the girl, still in that state like she'd been drinking fake alcohol, stumbled a short distance along the wall, then tilted her head to look at him confused.

"Tch," the spiky-haired boy muttered, looking down. He quickened his steps and grabbed her arm to steady her. "Staggering around like that—ugly as hell!"

Bakugo's arm, still supporting Kirisame's arm, had cuts from her blade that hadn't fully clotted yet, blood dripping down his half-sleeve. Overusing his Quirk had made his arm scorching hot, and it trembled slightly from exhaustion.

But for some reason, Kirisame didn't worry at all that he might suddenly let go and make her fall.

The girl blinked at that arm.

Then, with her other hand, she pulled out Yagen and, in one swift motion, stabbed him in the lower back.

Bakugo jumped in pain, a curse stuck in his throat. If he weren't so used to this feeling, he would have thrown the crybaby over his shoulder right then.

...Sure enough, the wounds were already mostly healed.

The girl examined him for a moment, nodded, and happily rested her full weight on his arm.

Bakugo, whose exhaustion from overuse hadn't subsided despite the healed external injuries: "..."

But in the end, he said nothing. The boy supported the girl, who had nearly drained herself using a new technique, and steadily walked her to the infirmary.

"Good job, Kirisame," he said.

...Huh? Did he just call her by her name?

Leaving aside how Recovery Girl treated them in the infirmary, the award ceremony finally began.

First place went to Kirisame, second to Bakugo, and third to Todoroki and Tokoyami.

Standing on the first-place podium, having received treatment, Kirisame was still a bit weak in the limbs.

All Might looked at these kids, satisfied to see that their expressions had all shifted slightly from before.

...It wasn't for nothing that he had been yelled at by Recovery Girl about their education, not daring to breathe too loudly.

"Bakugo boy, you did really well," the No. 1 hero said as he hung the medal around the neck of the child who had always dreamed of surpassing him. "This will be a new starting point."

"Yeah," the boy replied. "One day, I'll surpass you, All Might."

All Might smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

The boy looked away a little awkwardly.

When it was Kirisame's turn, the hero invited to present the awards looped the medal around her neck and gave her a huge hug.

All Might was nearly two meters tall, and Kirisame was almost completely enveloped in his embrace. The hero's hug had the same reassuring feel as the man himself. He patted her back. "It's really great, isn't it?"

The black-haired, golden-eyed girl's eyes curved. "Yeah, it's really great."

Far away in the stands, the shop owner watched the child with a gentle smile.

—It really is great.

To her surprise, among the people waving at her in the audience, Kirisame spotted Mirio Togata, whom she hadn't seen in a while!

Mirio Togata was a third-year student. He spent most of his time interning with Nighteye and had been rarely seen since school started.

She didn't know when he had appeared, but the senior was standing on the nearest set of stands, pulling someone in a cloak and waving frantically at her.

His smile was blinding, in stark contrast to the cloaked person he was tugging.

After the ceremony, Kirisame ran over to him. "Mirio-senpai!!"

The blond boy, who strikingly resembled Tintin, patted her head. "Good job, little Kirisame!"

Kirisame thought for a moment, then asked, "Did your matches finish already, senpai?"

"Yeah, the third-year bracket ended early, so I just made it in time to see your last match." Mirio gave her a thumbs up. "This year's first-years are really impressive!"

"Oh, little Kirisame," he pulled the person beside him forward. "Let me introduce you."

"This is Amajiki Tamaki, my good friend."

Good friend Senior Amajiki was silent for a moment, then forced out a few syllables from his throat: "...Hello."

...For some reason, he looked like he was about to throw up.

"This is Kirisame, a super cute junior!" Toogata said as he led them both to a less crowded area, introducing Kirisame to Amajiki.

Amajiki Tamaki, who had been hesitating whether to tug at his cloak or clutch his stomach that was cramping from nervousness, forced himself to lift his head and memorize the girl's face.

...No, there were too many people; he couldn't concentrate.

Kirisame looked at him curiously, recalling the time she had touched Yamabukikiri-san and noticed he had a similar cloak on his head.

Kirisame remembered how panicked he was then, yet he forced himself to stay still. Although she couldn't see him, the tension was clearly transmitted through the air.

...That was kind of cute.

Remembering the half-scream she had heard when she held the sword in her mouth, Kirisame apologized in her heart and decided to let Yamabukikiri-san see if this senior resembled him.

...Maybe he would be happy?

With that thought, she quietly took out the sword.

Yamabukikiri Kunihiro was curled up in his futon, rolling around frantically, and the drunk Jiroutachi had told Kasen that he was about to overheat from embarrassment.

Suddenly, he was brought over.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw an extremely familiar cloak.

"......!!!!!"

The blond, blue-eyed, white-cloaked tsukumogami stood frozen, his eyes wide with shock.

A wave of immense sadness washed over him.

It completely overshadowed the shame he had felt from being so incredibly close to his Young Lady just moments ago.

"As I thought... a copy can't have even one thing that's truly his own?" He was on the verge of tears. "Lady has just used me, and already found a replacement?"

...

???

Eh?!!

Completely taken aback by this development, Kirisame hurriedly explained, "No, no, no! This is my senior at school. Since you both have cloaks, if they were similar, I could know what you look like?"

The girl's heart sank: "After all, I might have scared you today..."

"No, no, no, no! A copy is already happy just to be used by its master; what right does it have to be picky?"

"No, no, no, no, no! Yamabukikiri-san is incredibly amazing! If it weren't for you today, I might have lost..."

"No, no, no, no, no, no! I didn't do anything; I just followed the others..."

The flustered Yamabukikiri, now at a loss by his equally flustered young mistress, had completely forgotten about the cloak.

Gradually moving away from the crowd, Amajiki Tamaki felt a little better. He glanced at his junior who had been keeping her head down in silence, and thought that his terrible performance earlier must have scared her, which made him even more downcast.

Toogata Mirio walked ahead alone, and a practically tangible gloom was emanating from behind him.

"...Eh?"

The ice was broken thanks to Amajiki Tamaki's effort. This senior, who seemed terrified of crowds, now felt a bit stronger after leaving the crowd, and struggled to think of something to talk about:

"Just now... that shield was quite good."

It was just small talk, but also heartfelt. Amajiki Tamaki, who had no similar skills, had felt an odd sense of familiarity the moment Kirisame's shield appeared.

"...!!"

Yamabukikiri looked up in surprise.

...Suddenly, he found the senior's cloak a little more agreeable.

The atmosphere really did become more relaxed. Toogata Mirio smiled and explained to Kirisame that Amajiki didn't like crowded places; he wouldn't come without wearing that cloak. Although he looked strange, he was actually a good person.

"When I'm not at school, if anything comes up, go to him!"

Kirisame nodded.

"Senior, did you have something you wanted to see me about?"

The blond-haired boy produced a box.

Inside was a small star-shaped hair tie similar to the one Kirisame was wearing.

"I saw it while patrolling the streets before. I thought the one little Kirisame had been using for a while, so I bought it," the blond senior smiled, all the sunlight of the sky seeming to gather in his eyes. "Consider it a gift for little Kirisame coming in first place in the Sports Festival!"

Amajiki watched the girl's eyes light up.

Kirisame happily accepted the gift.

"And one more thing," Toogata patted her head, "when you have time, go see Sensei!"

"Sensei seems to have something he wants to ask you."