19 The Victor!

["What just happened!? Is it me, or did we just have an earthquake?"

["Something must've caused it in the last moments of the battle."] Aizawa commended watching the smoke dissipate: That had to be Eijiro. He thought he and everyone else heard his shout as he plummeted down.

The smoke was clearing. Midnight, who was sent flying back, got up and moved to her podium. "Is everything alright, Cementoss?"

"I stopped whatever force it was from cracking the walls of the stands. I can't see who is standing, can you?"

"Not on my side."

Everyone watched as a suspenseful silence loomed over them. The smoke cleared, revealing a crater three metres deep and large cracks spreading from the centre out.

["The winner is!"]

The presenter shouted as the smoke cleared. Two figures were in the centre, opposite each other. Midnight slid down the hole.

Mina, Izuku, Ochako, Iida, Eiji's parents, Allmight, and even Endeavour gulped waiting for the announcement.

She moved to Todoroki, taking him lightly. His breathing was shallow; he was asleep. You've got to be kidding me."

She moved to Eijiro; he was in the same state, with his left leg punctured open and swollen with blood.

She raised her whip. "Both participants are unconscious! This battle is a tie!"

"EH!?" The crowd roared. So many were lost on how to take this.

"Can we get the medic bots in here?" Midnight said.

The bots came and picked up Eijiro and Todoroki, bringing them in. Midnight left the crater, leaving the cleaning to Cementoss.

"Eiji," Mina muttered, watching the bots take them away.

"A tie. I did not see that coming."

["Well, be right back after deciding how to deal with this."]

"I don't think we can have a tiebreaker for one. There are no areas both are equal in to test each other, and neither would be capable of a second round," she told Cementos.

"We just have to wait and decide." He said it back, filling up the arena.

...

[Medic room]

Not much time had passed. Eiji groaned, opening his eyes. "What?" The memories came back, and he jumped on the bed.

"COME AT ME, TODOROKI HAAA!" He stopped, looking around the room.

He was no longer on the battlefield. He looked to his left and found Todoroki sitting across from him, awake.

"Ahem," Midnight cleared her throat, and he looked ahead. Principal Nezu was also there.

"Hello! My, my, you two put on a show out there." Principal Nezu smiled.

"Wait, so did I lose?" Eiji asked.

"We tied, and now they're deciding what to do with us."

"Tiebreaker?" Eiji asked.

"We thought that, but there are no areas in which either of you are similarly matched," Principle Nezu said, "but Todoroki here said he's calling it his loss and giving you the win. We asked him some questions on how the battle transpired, but we would like to hear it from your point of view."

Eiji looked at him, surprised, then at Todoroki, who sighed, "I'm sure you remember I lost consciousness first."

"I think we did at the same time."

Eiji chuckled and explained what happened when he landed, punching the ground. It bent like rubber and exploded, with his fist cracking and bursting with blood as he grabbed Eiji, bringing him down with him.

"I learned some capoeira and twisted my hand and hit him with my leg."

"Which is how my arm broke, and I lost consciousness from the pain."

"And lost consciousness after I hit him."

"And that explains it; well, from what I see, Todoroki lost consciousness first, so it will be decided if you both agree to it."

Eiji said nothing. He wanted to have a rematch, but as the thought crossed his mind, he looked down at his arm in a cast.

"I hate my father and don't want him to gain any form of satisfaction from this."

In all honesty, Eijiro didn't want to win like this, but he understood his reason: "Alright, then we're doing a tiebreaker, rock, paper, scissors!"

"Really? You won't just accept the win?"

"Nope, now come on. We have to hurry."

"Why didn't we think of that?" Midnight said, and Principal Nezu chuckled.

Both raised their hands and said, "Rock, paper! Scissors!"

Todoroki went rock and Eijiro, scissors! "Ah, wait, best two out of three!"

"Okay." Todoroki shrugged and went at it again. He went rock, and Eijiro went paper.

'Almost just one more. Why did he use rock again unless it was baiting me into using paper only to use scissors to beat me? He'd know I knew, so he'd use rock again like last time! Wait, then he'd know I know and! And!' Eiji's head was blowing out steam from thinking hard.

"Are you okay?"

Okay, let's go," he smiled, 'there's no way he's using rock just, so he'd lose.'

They shook their fists, and on the third reveal of their cards, Eijiro won! With paper-beating rock!

"You did that on purpose." Eiji accused the latter with a plain face and turned to the two judges.

"I lost."

...

With things decided, Eiji, Todoroki, and Bakugo were called and brought up to a stage underneath Midnight's podium.

They were each told to stand on their podiums. Bakugo was the same: "Fuck, I ain't accepting this shit! I'm no third fiddle!"

He raged on about challenging Eiji for another round but was knocked out by Midnight's gas. "We should chain him up."

'What's gotten into him?' Eiji thought, glancing at Bakugo.

It was then that Midnight's voice boomed out. "Now then, let's move on to the award ceremony!"

The podiums rose, and the crowd and class that got down watched with shock and surprise as the stadium rose into cheers.

"He did it! First place!" A commenter screamed, bursting into laughter. Many followed behind, shouting their praises.

"For those who want to know, we decided the tiebreaker through a game of rock, paper, scissors."

The viewers paused for a moment before bursting into small fits of laughter and surprise.

"Eiji, you won!" Mina cheered him from below. He looked down at his face, flushed, and gave a thumbs up to her and the class.

"Did they have to tie Bakugo up like that?" Tsuyu commented, seeing the man chained with a metal mask covering his face.

"Yeah..." Midoriya nodded. He probably couldn't accept coming in third place.' He thought, Worried.

"Third place could have gone to Iida as well, but because of circumstances, he had to leave." Midnight added.

Hearing that, Eiji froze. He knew why, but there was nothing he could do at the time, and his brother would be fine, right? He hoped.

He gulped and looked at Midoriya, who gave a small smile.

"Now It's time to hand out the medals! And the one to hand them out is none other than!"

A sudden figure descended from the skies, landing in front of the podium. "IT IS I! AND I AM HERE WITH THE MEDALS!"

"Our hero, Allmight!" Midnight cheered as he stood up.

"Damn, this year's freshmen are lucky. They got observed by the number one hero."

Allmight smiled and went up to each of them, starting with Bakugo. It was hilarious seeing him try to give him the medal, only to put it in his mouth.

Next was Todoroki, and, as expected, he mentioned he had something to do by going to see his mother.

"I see I won't pry into it any further, Young Todoroki, but remember you are not alone on this journey."

"I know Midoriya and Eijiro have made it clear how far they'd go thanks to them. I know I can clear my mind."

"Whatever your first step is, it will not be easy. I wish you the best in the future." Allmight hugged him and moved on to Eijiro.

"Young Eijiro!"

"All right, hehe, I won like I said, though Todoroki kind of lost the rock-paper game on purpose," he said, glancing at Todoroki, who avoided eye contact.

"Hahaha! Well, it's been decided," he said, placing the medal on him. "You are a man of your word. Ever since the race, you have shown the world you can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of the best. I can't wait to see what you become."

"Thanks, and also say plus ultra instead of great work," Eiji said.

Allmight hugged him tightly before letting go. He got down and turned to the students and the entire crowd.

"Now here are the three winners for this year! But remember folks, everyone in this arena could stand here! Just as you saw, they fought and boosted each other to go beyond their limits! The next generation of heroes will sprout from the seeds planted today!"

He raised his finger, pointing high, and said, "And to that, I'll say one more thing! Say it with me, folks!"

"PLUS ULTRA!" Everyone in the stadium shouted at the top of their lungs.

...

The sports festival was over. Everyone slowly departed, heading home. Eiji walked outside with Mina.

"Congratulations on coming first. I knew you could do it!" She pumped her fist, smiling.

"Hihi, thanks; you did great too, and I heard you scream for me, I think."

"Oh, you heard that great." She mumbled, embarrassed.

"Hm?" Being close, Eiji could see her cheeks redder than expected.

"Eiji!" His mother's voice called out from behind. He turned in time to catch a hug.

"Mom!"

She held him tightly, minding his cast. His father joined, and they smiled at him.

"We're so proud of you; never do anything that dangerous ever again!" Kushina held his face tight.

Rio chuckled, bringing him into a hug. "You're becoming a fine young man, son. And you, young lady, did great as well." He acknowledged Mina.

"Thanks!" She smiled.

"Can we go home now? I want to rest."

"Aw, but I wanted to celebrate with you," Mina pouted. She wanted to spend some time with him.

"We can do that later; sleep comes first." He exhaled and fell from exhaustion. Mina caught him, so he didn't fall.

Having pushed himself and the Recovery Girl's healing, he drained all his stamina. He was mostly running on pure will.

"You can always go out with him later," Kushina said, grabbing hold of him as Rio went to get the car.

Mina nodded. Seeing Eiji's calm, sleeping face, she let out a pleased sigh, brushing his hair apart. 'He's kind of cute when asleep.'

'She's falling for him,' Kushina said, seeing the look on Mina's face. 'I'll have to talk to Eijiro about this later.'