Chapter 72 - Solo Ringer

Despite his bluster, Katsuki Bakugo was no match for Shoto Todoroki - at least not yet.

So it was no surprise that Shoto emerged victorious from their match.

- Katsuki Bakugo is out of bounds : SHOTO TODOROKI IS THE WINNER !

In fact, given Shoto's undeniably crushing victories over his previous opponents, this one seemed almost bland in comparison.

Previously, there had been blood, broken bones, destroyed ground, and all that went with it: Bakugo expected at least that much, and he wanted an even more intense match than the others in the tournament.

Since Shoto had never played by the rules of the game, always seeking one crushing victory after another, Bakugo had thought that their match - the damned final - would be at least as exceptional, but- but-

What kind of fight was this ? He wasn't even out of breath.

Shoto wasn't even overly pleased, standing with his hands in his pockets, looking boredly at the crowd, slightly slouched.

- Are you fucking kidding me ?!

He crossed the distance between them in a few quick steps and grabbed Shoto by the collar of his t-shirt.

- You're insulting me, ain't you?

Shoto made no move to push Bakugo away or even take his hands out of his pockets, but there was a gleam in his eyes that made Bakugo realize that despite his nonchalant demeanor, Shoto had never been as serious as he was right now.

- I won, plain and simple. What more did you want ?

Bakugo snorted contemptuously.

- Don't bullshit me, it wasn't a victory.

The grip on Shoto's shirt tightened to the point where he could hear the fibers of his clothing ripping, as if it would tear at any moment.

- Of course, it wasn't a win (Bakugo stopped mishandling his shirt for a second to listen.) Midnight and all the other teachers just gave me the win after flipping a coin. Better luck next time, huh?

Out of the corner of his eye, Bakugo saw Aizawa coming towards them - had he jumped down from the tribune to stop them before things got out of hand ?

- Tsk !

He pushed Shoto off his feet, hoping that he would stumble a little; but Shoto had his feet firmly planted on the ground and didn't move an inch more than necessary.

Bakugo rolled his eyes and went to rest in a corner of the arena, his fists still clenched along his body; there was going to be the award ceremony, and he refused to go back up to the stands to see the imbeciles of their class congratulate him for this shitty match.

His red eyes landed on Shoto, who was heading towards one of the tunnels of the arena: someone was waiting for him there, hidden in the darkness, with a briefcase in his hand. It took a few seconds of squinting at the giant to realize who it was: Number 2, without his fire beard, was still no ordinary human.

Even if he was in the middle of a crowd, Bakugo was sure that he couldn't be overlooked: there was no way that a two-meter giant who always looked like he was about to commit murder could go unnoticed.

He looked away, not wanting to give the impression that he cared about Todoroki and his life.

When he saw the podium being set up and his eyes immediately turned to the number 2 spot, Bakugo couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Second place is the first loser.

*

Enji had been entrusted with the mission of keeping the attaché case containing the million and returning it to his son as soon as he won his match - interestingly, it was never a question of if, but simply when.

After all, he was his son, and Enji had been training him since he learned to walk: the thought of him achieving anything other than victory hadn't even crossed his mind.

- You had the opportunity to make this match as spectacular as the others, Shoto.

Enji knew his son and his taste for drama; he would only accept victory if his opponent was undoubtedly crushed, and nothing else.

And yet, for this match - the final, moreover; what should have been the most important of the tournament - he had settled for a victory based on the rules, not on his own skill.

- Why didn't you?

Shoto shrugged.

- If I tell you it's because I'm tired, you won't believe me, will you ?

Shoto scratched the back of his neck and turned his attention to Bakugo Katsuki, who was sitting on the ground with his arms crossed, seething with rage.

- He's at least as self-centered as I am, you know. And I know that if there's one thing I'll never forgive, it's public humiliation. (He shrugged) Since he considers every failure a personal humiliation, let's just say I deliberately avoided doing irreparable damage to his ego.

Shoto considering someone's feelings - that was a first. Maybe Enji didn't pay for all those therapy sessions in vain.

- Would you like to be friends with him?

It was rare that Shoto was interested in anyone but himself : even if he had a good relationship with Natsume and Léandre, Enji could not call the three boys friends.

In fact, Shoto was more like the leader of their little team: even as a child, he directed them and they did what he wanted. Even as they grew older, their relationship hadn't changed much: the two teenagers always turned to his son when they had to make an important decision - Shoto took his role as leader to heart, especially since he'd met his grandmother in Italy...

- No, let's just say I want a cordial understanding.

Shoto enjoyed dominating others in a one-sided way: equal relationships had never really interested him.

- I see.

Enji took another look at the blonde: maybe he was more interesting than he seemed.

*

Shoto stood on the highest step of the podium and looked at the other students gathered around him with contempt and smugness.

He appreciated the presence of the group of cripples in the background, made up of teenagers wrapped in bandages or with limbs in plaster - the kids he'd slaughtered in the first trial.

Ah, if only there had been cameras: he would have loved to have a copy of the recording to watch from time to time when he was in a bad mood.

It was like slaughtering the Uchiha but without any Uchiha.

He sighed quietly.

The only thing that will ever come close to this level of violence in his life will be when he joins the Special Forces.

Or when I'm the godfather ?

In any case, he knew that things would go to shit as soon as he turned eighteen; he'd have totally fucked up the canon by then, and everything after that would be the result of his own actions - so chaos in the forecast.

But I have faith in my abilities : nothing and no one will be able to stop me.

All Might burst from the sky, raising a cloud of dust as he landed in the arena.

He laughed loudly and shook hands with many of the students, congratulating them on their efforts and courage.

The students were thrilled to see the Number One take so much time for them when they weren't even on the podium.

Finally, the medals were awarded.

Monoma was third, Bakugo was second, and of course Shoto was first.

Monoma had accepted the medal willingly, even lifting it to give the audience a better view, and they applauded loudly.

Bakugo refused to let All Might put it around his neck, snatched it out of his hands, and threw it into the crowd of students before leaving the ceremony. (It seems he hit the mark, because a few seconds later, the nurses left the scene with another student on a stretcher, his eye swollen).

All Might laughed awkwardly as he faced Shoto, not sure how the teenager would take receiving his medal from him, so he kept his comments brief to avoid inadvertently incurring his wrath.

- Well done, boy. It's a great victory you've just won, and by the sheer force of your power. (Shoto pretended not to care, but he was actually very pleased with the way the whole day had turned out.) However, it's fair to say that the way you achieved your victory was not very heroic…

All Might regretted saying that the moment the words left his mouth, but he couldn't help it.

Shoto's face darkened and he glared at him.

- Not very heroic ?

He snatched the gold medal from All Might's hands and awarded it to himself, all this under the helpless gaze of All Might, who preferred not to say more at the risk of arousing his anger.

- I'm no fucking hero.

He raised his hand and waved at the crowd.

The screams increased.

- And that is exactly why I will win, today and tomorrow.

All Might pursed his lips, but forced himself to smile, at least to avoid giving the journalists writing material.

- Hahaha, our winner, give him a big round of applause!

He applauded politely as the crowd went wild: then, judging that the polite moment had passed, he stepped back, leaving the boy at the front of the stage.

Shoto kissed his gold medal, looking straight into the lens of a passing camera:

- This is for you granny Teka

The applause doubled, and everyone thought he was dedicating the victory to his grandmother.

The latter, several hundred thousand miles away, broke her glass between her fingers when she heard him.

She hadn't missed his mocking smile or the fact that he had openly called her grandmother - her, the woman of unalterable beauty who hadn't aged a day since the age of forty - in front of the whole world.

- When I put my hands around his tender, fragile neck...

Her fingers folded in the air like the claws of a dead animal.

Her henchmen, seeing that the tables had turned, slipped away quietly: as much fun as it had been to watch Shoto-sama wipe the floor with his opponents, they could only blame him for putting the matriarch in such a bad mood.

Shoto, for his part, pointed to the microphone in All Might's hands.

- May I ?

His question was only for the act: he took it from his hand without waiting for an answer.

- I said I'd give a million dollars to whoever beat me, but even three hundred students together couldn't do it.

The crowd roared: these games were the most exciting they'd seen in years.

In the commentator's booth, Nezu swayed back and forth in delight as he watched the numbers on the screen soar : the number of viewers for the freshmen's tournament was four times higher than for the seniors and juniors combined, and the number of re-runs - even though it had only just ended - was breaking all records.

#SoloRingerOfYuei was the top trending topic on Twitter in Japan and Korea, and was on its way to becoming the top trending topic in France and the USA.

The students' applause was polite but restrained.

After all, who wanted to applaud the person who had made them look like a bunch of incompetents in front of the whole world ?

Although no one could see it, everyone could tell by the way his eyes crinkled that Shoto Todoroki was smiling broadly.

- For all your imperiousness (he looked at the students mockingly, knowing that most of them didn't know what the word meant), one of you stood out from the herd and showed me that he was... let's say... more dignified than the majority.

Shoto opened his briefcase to show the wads of cash inside.

The students who had insulted him before now had nothing to complain about, partly because Shoto had sent most of them to the infirmary (and they were still there), but also because he had proved to them that for all his arrogance, he was only stating facts.

That was hard to take, but it would be even more painful to be outraged by something that was true - and nationally broadcasted. And streamed. And replayed.

- Sadly, he's not here with us because I didn't go easy on him (smirk), but he certainly earned it: I'm offering Inaza Yoarashi $150,000 for doing the bare minimum I expected from this tournament.

This time there were shouts of protest, but they were drowned out by the applause of the crowd.

Shoto entrusted the briefcase to Aizawa to deliver to Inaza on his behalf.

The boy then left the stage without a word, to the applause of the audience and the angry looks of the other students.

*

Author's note :

The next arc is gonna be so insane you have no idea.

Some of you got some nice theories about chapter 66, and one of you hit close to something else - but none of you caught what I was alluding to.

Well, it's gonna be one hell of a roller-coaster.

Power stones goal : 250

If you want to support me/read ahead of schedule, you can do so on my P@treon, Nar_cisseENG

See you in the next update everyone !