Beast Speaker, Monster Tamer

26: Aftermath

The award ceremony felt...off, for lack of better words. It seemed like it was only that way for her, as she felt two stares burrowing into her back. There she stood on the second-place podium, Bakugou above her on the first place podium. Todoroki stood, unmoving, on the third-place podium on the other side of Bakugou's spot along with Shoji next to him. Elise didn't dare look into the audience, for fear of what she might find in there. Her left arm was encased in a thin layer of gauze that had aloe vera cream on it and a small gauze pad covered her cheek. Recovery Girl said that she didn't want to heal her up too much when she was passed out for fear of Elise sleeping through the ceremony itself.

"Now! We will award the medals!" Midnight announced. "And it will be awarded by none other than this man!" She motioned up past the stadium, where a shadow could be seen.

A familiar laugh and All Might landed in front of them, throwing up dust from the force of his landing. He stood up in his full glory and turned to the four of them and announced, "I have brought the medals here!"

Elise watched as he took the two third-place ones from the box and walked over to Shoji and Todoroki. She couldn't hear nor see what happened, but the hero was soon making his way to her. His shadow covered the sun shining in her eyes and she shot him a nervous smile. The weight of the medallion settled around her neck and Elise found herself tearing up bitterly.

"Be proud, young Wing. This is yours," he tapped the silver disk resting above her chest. "I can see that you're struggling with your self-worth. Remember that all that lead up to this moment was by your hard work. Remember this moment and say 'I did it'. And remember the crowd cheering you on."

A lone tear trailed down her face as the hero enveloped her in his arms. He released her and she wiped at the droplet. "Thank you, sir."

All Might grinned and gave her a thumbs-up as he stepped down the steps, mouthing, "Be proud, Wing."

Elise tilted her head down, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath to clear her thoughts. All Might's words stuck with her as she clutched at the medal. She could see why so many people looked up to him. Scratch that, she could see why so many people looked up to heroes. As she inspected the silver medal in her hand, Elise allowed herself to let go of some of the fear she was holding.

Maybe, someday, I'll be admired too...

She watched All Might hang the medal around Bakugou's neck, the boy taking it in his hand to inspect with a grin.

"Now," All Might turned to the audience, "anyone here could have ended up on these podiums. It's just as you saw. Competing! Improving each other! And climbing even further! The next generation of heroes is definitely sprouting, so I have just one more thing to say! Everyone! Please say it with me!" The hero turned to the crowd. "Ready, set, go!"

"PLUS ULTRA!!"

"Thank you for your hard work!"

A small giggle escaped Elise but she stifled it before it could get too loud. A beat of silence passed before the crowd yelled at the hero as All Might tried to defend himself.

Plus ultra.

***

The classroom was filled with chatter as Elise's classmates talked about the day's events. Some were lamenting their results in the sports festival while others were flocking to the winners—and to an extent—her. So far she had received Kirishima's phone number, Ojiro's, Tsuyu's, and Hagakure's (with the promise of eventually texting the invisible girl her training tips). Soon, she was added to the Class 1-A group chat that lit her phone up with notifications.