Rewards

Recovery Girl finished healing her up and then heaved a sigh. " I know I almost can heal everything, but it's no reason for people to get reckless. "

" Sorry about that." Sora rubbed her head.

" Either way, I've healed your ribs and the fissures you have. But since you're that tired, I will leave the scratches and small wounds. Are you alright with that?"

Sora held a thumb up. " Alright."

" Very well. Take care then," she said offering her a gummy before the girl left the nurse's office. She was back in the booth just in time for Todoroki and Bakugo's match.

" How are you feeling, Sora-chan?" Uraraka asked as the girl dropped in between Midoriya and Yuu.

" Tired... But fine." She smiled at her.

" Shirogane, you were cool!" Kaminari said hunching over the seat in front of him.

" You managed to hold on against Bakugo, well done." Kirishima smiled at her.

" No... It wasn't anything... Really..."

" Uraraka and Shirogane did well against Bakugo, seems appearances can be misleading for real," Tokoyami stated.

" What are you talking about? It wasn't good at all! How is it that your clothes weren't burned like Uraraka's in the first place?! It should have been flashi-" Mineta was forced to silence by Asui's tongue slap again.

" But you really did well, Sora-chan, you even pressed on Bakugo-kun for a moment. That was awesome!" Uraraka shook her fists excitedly, making the other girl flash in all shades of red.

" If it was me then I would have won," Aoyama stated.

" I bet you anything you would have lost from the first round," Ashido told him.

" Not at all, I would have blinded everyone in this stadium with my sparkling laser."

" Not buying it," Ashido insisted.

" Huh? Where's Iida-kun?" Sora asked noticing the lack of the blue hair in the box.

" He left in a rush," Midoriya told her, averting his eyes from her. Still, the worried expression on his face deepened.

Is he hiding something? She wondered. Their focus was attracted as Mic declared the start of the match.

" Start!"

Todoroki started off with a huge attack of ice a little smaller than the one he used against Sero. When everyone thought it was decided, they felt small shocks rocking the ground and they were getting vigorous slowly. Soon, they could hear the sound of explosions from within the iceberg.

The ice cracked before revealing Bakugo at full strength.

" He avoided being frozen?!" Yuu exclaimed.

" And he even found his way out," Whisper added.

Both boys bolted at each other. But Bakugo swerved from Todoroki's reach and grabbed him.

" He avoided his right side and grabbed him?!" Midoriya uttered.

" Wow!"

Bakugo threw Todoroki away using an explosion to send him out of the lines. But Todoroki managed to halt himself using a wall of ice. He circled the blond while riding it.

Bakugo still managed to avoid and scooted at Todoroki before he was grabbed by Todoroki's left hand.

" Will he use it?" Whisper questioned.

He was disappointed when Todoroki merely jerked Bakugo away.

Bakugo shouted at him before dashing out. Todoroki stood still for a moment, just watching as Bakugo approached.

" Todoroki-kun!" They all twisted around at the green head as he shouted. " Don't lose! Do your best!"

It was at that moment that Todoroki's left side kicked into action as Bakugo blasted forward. The blond used his explosions to make himself revolt around at a high speed, creating a cyclone of smoke.

Just as Todoroki aimed his attack, he then fell back.

" Howitzer Impact!"

There was a large explosion before Bakugo could be seen laying on the ground of the arena while Todoroki was thrown away, unconscious on the rubble of his iceberg and out of bounds.

Bakugo screamed rushing to the invalid boy, yelling out at him. The expression on his face was rather unreadable. " To get first place like this! Like this?!" Was it frustration? Sorrow? No one would tell. All Sora knew as he was put to sleep by Midnight was that his eyes wandered back to the box for a moment. It felt like the same words were directed at her.

" Todoroki-kun is out of bounds! Which means, Bakugo-kun wins!"

________________

A few minutes later, after disassembling the arena, all the students gathered on the field again waiting for the award ceremony.

Sora had left earlier so she could take her place on the platform. By the time it rose to everyone, everyone's eyes were rather focused on the number one place. It couldn't be helped. Bakugo was fastened to a block of concrete, gagged and handcuffed by metallic muzzles and shackles that were chained to the ground.

He was glaring and mumbling at both people by his side. Sora sweated and laugh awkwardly while Todoroki was focused on his own matters.

" In addition to Shirogane-san, there is Iida-kun in third place, but he left earlier for family reasons. Thank you for understanding!" Midnight smiled for the cameras and send them a kiss.

Family reasons? Sora wondered anxiously. Hope everything is fine with him.

" Now we will award the medals!" Midnight began. " The presentation of the medals will, of course, be by this man-"

A very familiar laugh sounded through the stadium as the outline of a certain person appeared on the rooftop. He jumped off, crashing right in front of the podium.

" Our very own hero, All Might!"

" I've brought the medals here!"

The N.1 hero walked over to her with a bronze medal. Sora shivered in place from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. " Young Shirogane, congratulations." She bowed to allow him to deposit the medal around her neck, rather excited that her thoughts couldn't race her heartbeats. " You're strong."

" Thank you very much!" A tint of pink was visible on her face. The thrill of having All Might reward her himself and complimenting her swallowed all the bitterness she had about her loss.

All Might pulled her into a hug and patted her back. " Still, you need to have more confidence in yourself. Don't hold back because of fear."

Sora tried her best to ignore Bakugo's burning eyes about to melt a hole in her head. " I will!"

She smiled at her medal. Third place may not be much, but it was a start for her. She looked back at her friend through the crowd of students when she glimpsed him. She waved at him as though to get his attention then pointed at her medal, smiling broadly and ecstatically.

" What's she doing while everyone is watching her." Whisper snorted with a smirk. Still, he knew that's how their friend was, she was sharing her joy with them.

" She is very happy." A tear ran down Yuu's jaw, surprising Whisper.

" Are you alright?"

Yuu quickly wiped his tears. " It's fine... It's just... I'm happy for her."

Whisper patted the boy's back while watching All Might wrestling against an angry Bakugo. " You did well helping her reach this far."

" I didn't do anything..." He looked back at his friend with a smile. " It was all her hard work. As I thought... Sora is really amazing."

________________

After they showered and changed back into their uniforms, they moved into their class. Bakugo was yet clutching his medal furiously in between his teeth much to their surprise.

Aizawa thanked them for their hard work as well as informing them of the two days off starting the next day. There was also the recruitment from pro heroes that will be sorted and announced after the break.

" So rest well, and look forward to that," He concluded.

" Hai!"

Their eyes trailed over to Iida's empty seat worriedly. Sora prayed from the bottom of her heart that it wasn't anything serious, little did she know how much mistaken she was.

________________

When Sora came back home, she found the lights turned off.

" Did grandma turn in already?" Just as she flipped the switch in the living room, her eyes widened in amazement at the fruit cake placed on the table. " What?"

Before she knew it she was attacked from behind by her grandmother who tackled her into a tight hug. " Grandma!"

" I'm proud of you, Sora!" She said holding her closer. " Congrats on coming third in the sports festival!"

" Grandma! You bought that cake?" Sora flung a finger at the trait on the table.

" Nope, I made it, with all my love and care for my precious grandchild. " Yui pinched Sora's jaw as she said that.

" Granma..." Sora managed to finally get free from her grasp. " You shouldn't have. I could have bought something on the way if you told me."

" Don't sweat it off," she said walking to the TV and turning it on. " We can eat it while watching the records."

" Eh? But... But..."

" Come on and sit down, I want you to tell me about each part of the festival."

She pulled her so she was sitting on her pillow. Sora smiled at her grandmother before finally reaching for the knife to cut the cake and serve it. " Alright then, guess I don't have a choice."

Although she was frustrated she couldn't make it to the top. Although she wanted deeply to apologize to both her and Yuu. Seeing their overjoyed faces at her didn't help at all. So she might as well enjoy it for a while, her third place.

________________

" What are you doing?" Whisper peeked over the shoulder of a half-sleepy Yuu.

" I'm coming up with a training schedule," he said offhandedly while scratching his head with the end of his pen.

" Eh? Eeeeh!" Whisper's eyes shot out of their sockets. " You're kidding me?"

" I just realized it during the festival. I need to train my body. I want to be able to do more things on my own rather than depend on spirits so much."

Whisper blinked and narrowed his eyes slightly. " You still can't trust them, your spirits?"

" It's not that I don't trust them." Yuu shut his notebook. " What binds us is a contract that they can't break. However, they're not as close as friends. They need my energy, I need their help. Nothing more. There may come a time they would no longer need me. By then, I want to be able to depend on myself."

Whisper rubbed his head before floating next to the boy with crossed arms. " I understand what you want. Though I think you're just overthinking, I will help you with your schedule."

That made Yuu flinch. " I didn't-"

" Don't talk back at me!"

" Sir! Yes sir!"

Whisper sighed. " First of all, take a good rest, that's what Recovery Girl told you. I will make your training harsher starting tomorrow!" He poked the boy's nose, smirking devilishly.

" This sounds horrible."

" Exactly!" Whisper chimed. " Now off to bed soldier! The earlier you get up the better!"

" Sir! Yes sir!"