Chapter 22: Award show

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Akira loosened his tie, shuffling irritated as the fabric of his clothes bristled against him.

"Why do I have to go to this stupid awards ceremony anyway?" Akira felt like Nezu had some part in this, otherwise it would really be a big coincidence for him to arrive on the day it was taking place. Damn that rodent.

"Would you rather be training?" Cathleen chimed in. He decided to stay silent as Cathleen smiled.

"Also, the reason you're here is to learn more about American culture and heroes. Japan has a good relationship with America, especially since All Might had his stay here. Maintaining these relationships is important, and since Nezu believes you're the next big thing, this is why I'm taking you here instead of having you go through more training. Cheer up, this event will be fun." Cathleen said.

"The look on your face says otherwise, do you not like events like this?"

She shook her head, "A superficial event to celebrate a group of people doing their job, all to placate the masses and the heroes who need their dick stroked for a quick dopamine rush. I mean what kind of person has the wonderful idea to put all the top heroes together in the same room for an event that is shown to the entire world!? I mean it's almost as if they think the villains will think: 'oh, the heroes are having their award ceremony, guess I will have to wait for tomorrow to commit my crime'. Honestly, it's so stupid…"

Akira chuckled at Cathleen's annoyed expression, "So why are you going?"

"To keep up 'public appearances','" She finger quoted with a scowl, "There's so much more stuff I could be doing with my time, like actually saving people, or training you!"

It was clear at this point that Cathleen did not want to go to the event, even more so than Akira. But she did have a point, America's culture was so heavily centred on these big flashy events and parties that it was no wonder they made such a big deal about announcing the hero rankings for the year.

They took the hidden entrance, ignoring the red carpet and the crowd of photographers and journalists. 200 years ago before the dawn of quirks, America was heavily centred on celebrities, with numerous stars gaining massive amounts of fame from music or acting. If you wanted to make it big, you went to America. Hollywood was a prime example of this, with thousands of people putting their heart and soul on the line just for one big break which they never get.

Even with the introduction of quirks, this culture still remained, only being altered slightly to suit the needs of its new environment. Although the movie and music industries were still very big industries that generated lots of money, the most prominent one to this date was the hero industry.

Massive amounts of revenue was generated in the hero industry every year with merch, sponsors and funding from the government, making it top all other competitors. It was obvious how much bigger it was, given that the most grossing movies were usually superhero movies, and the most listened to songs were made by heroes themselves.

Instead of auditioning for a role in Hollywood and trying to get a big break, teenagers trained their quirks day and night to try and get into Xaviers Hero School, the top hero school in the USA. The world of America was still very much the same in the same sense, but also very different.

"Stars, good to see you!" As they walked through the secret entrance, a man came over and wrapped Catleen in a large bear hug, something which she reciprocated.

"Dan! How are you? Last time we spoke we saw each other at the sports festival!"

"I've been good, busy defending New York," He let out a weary sigh, "That place is hectic, too hectic."

"Tell me about it, are you still trying to catch that bat vigilante?"

Dan huffed in annoyance, "Yeah, got him arrested, or at least temporarily. Turns out he was Wayne Bruce, that rich kid who is quirkless and some sort of genius. Caught him fighting the Demolisher where his back was broken. I mean what made him think he could beat the Demolisher with a few guns and some gadgets? I tell you what, it doesn't matter how smart you or how much you plan, the moment you fight a guy who can shrug off rocket launchers like it's an itch, all plans fly out the window." Dan's eyes trailed down from Cathleen and down to her side, where he finally seemed to notice Akira, intently listening in on the conversation.

Cathleen decided to be the mutual party in the exchange and introduced them to each other, "Dan meet Akira, Akira meet Dan. Dan is the number 3 superhero, he goes by Superman," She turned to Dan, "And this is my intern, Akira."

"Intern?" He whistled, "That's a first. Cath hasn't taken an internship in all of her career. You must be something great to have the great and mighty Cath submit to taking on an intern." He laughed at his own joke.

"Well you're looking at Japan's future number one hero here. I hope to continue to have a good relationship with America when I take over the number one spot."  Akira said in a polite tone, bowing respectfully.

Dan was silent for a moment, then he burst out laughing, "Haha! Taking over All Might's shoes, quite a hard task, but I'm sure you can do it. I look forward to it!" Dan paused for a moment, suddenly remembering something,  "Please excuse me, I need to use the bathroom, this place is so big that it will take me half a year at this rate to find it, and I need to be back before the show starts." He started walking off in a fast stride.

"It was nice to see you again Cath, and it was nice to meet you Akira!" He called over his shoulder as his voice got further and further away.

"He seems like a nice guy." Akira said after a moment. He followed as he and his mentor continued their way down the hall.

"He is. One of the few heroes who I would trust with my life if it called for it."

They arrived at the main room after a few more minutes of walking. In contrast to the dark grey halls, the room was massive, decorated with the sharp and vibrant colours of gold and red. At the forefront of the room was an elevated platform with a microphone sitting at the centre of it. Behind that was a huge monitor that had a view of over a thousand seats carefully placed across the venue.

"Now to speak to some people I don't particularly want to." He heard Cathleen grumble. Almost as if on queue, a large man appeared in front of Cathleen, flashing a shiny smile. His hair was blond and slicked back, and he had a blue costume attached to a cape and a pair of eagles located on his shoulders.

"Cathleen! It's so nice to see you again, you look stunning!"

"John! You too! You don't look a day over 20!"

"Please," The man had a humble smile, "Call me Homelander, that's what most people call me. I just have to say, I hope there is no…bad blood between us, given that we always compete for the top 2 spots every year. No hard feelings?"

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"You took the words straight out of my mouth. There's no bad blood between us Homelander, only a competitive spirit, which is good for both of us."

Homelander's smile tightened, "Perfect, I wouldn't have it any other way."

He spared one last look at Cathleen, and then at Akira, "Well I must be going, you know how it is, gotta please the shareholders at Vought by making chit-chat with everyone, making connections and all of that jazz, you know how they can be right?" He walked off, leaving Akira and Cathleen standing there.

Cathleen must have noticed his questioning look, "That is Homelander, the current number 2 hero, and future number 2 hero. He seems to be under the assumption that he will take my spot as number 1. He cares more about public opinion than anything else, and it's that reason why he will never overtake me."

"Hm, so a fake." Akira replied. Stain would be furious.

"Putting it simply, yes." She huffed.

A very small looking man strode up next. He was dressed in a nice looking suit and obviously had a mutation quirk with the way his face looked. Cathleen kneeled down, giving him a very soft hug. Akira could immediately tell that they had a very strong bond.

"Akira, this is Timothy. He's my advisor of sorts, always talking in my ear when I need it. You've seen my footage against various villains right?" At her question Akira nodded.

He knew her footage all too well. Ever since he had discovered he had the same quirk as Cathleen, he had done as much research on her as possible, including all her recorded fights. One thing which was obvious was whenever she was dealing with a tough villain she had her own team of fighter jets which led by David, helped her in those fights.

Those fighter jets granted Cathleen much more freedom in what she could do, including controlling the lasers which the fighter jets could shoot.

"Timothy is the main man behind that. He holds everything together." Cathleen smiled at Timothy who smiled back gently.

"Thank you, Cathy. It's nice to meet you Akira, thank you for giving me my first moment of peace." He joked.

"Hey!"

Cathleen spent the next hour speaking with various people, introducing Akira to them. Various important people were here, including hero government workers, hero companies and their shareholders, various celebrities, and of course heros.

Out of the top 10 in America Akira had managed to meet 6 of them. In order of their current ranks they were: Homelander, Superman, Kinetic, Lochness, Atom and Eagleman. Aside from Homelander, most of them seemed to be nice people in both his and Cathleen's eyes. He had good impressions of the top 10, though it may be subject to change in the next hour or so based on what they say in their speeches.

Eventually, the chatter died down and the time for the start of the event grew near. Everyone took their seats. Top heroes and other important people were seated at the front, while the less important were seated at the back.

The lights went out, and the famous comedian John Rock walked out to a symphony of shouts and cheers.

"Before I start, please excuse me if some of these jokes are tame, as half the people here could kill me with a flick of a finger," The crowd laughed, "Also Homelander, if you ever feel like lasering me to death, please close your eyes." The room burst into laughter again.

"But seriously, this year has been a great year for heroes. Crime is at an all time low in America, and the hero industry has never been more popular. Major villains were caught and captured, putting an end to their fearful rein. Kinetic stopped his long time enemy Reverse, Homelander stopped the terrorist Billy Butcher, Superman stopped The Demolisher, and Stars and Stripes stopped the greatest threat America has ever faced, Doomsday." There was a massive round of applause in the room, showering the ones mentioned with praise. Akira glanced at Cathleen, but saw she was mostly impervious to it.

"School shootings this year have practically gone down to zero with students finally being authorised to use their quirks if a situation like this happens. In the few shootings that have happened, a hero has been on the scene, apprehending the criminal in record breaking times. Students can now learn in a safe environment."

"You forgot to mention most school shootings are started by the quirkless." Cathleen grumbled under her breath. Despite the deafening applause, Akira had managed to hear her. He didn't have time to process the statement as they had already moved onto the main event.

"Anyway, that's enough of hearing about the great deeds of heroes, let's actually see them ourselves!" He raised his hand, the massive video screen changing from black as a video began playing. It was a montage of sorts, showing off various heroes fighting villains and saving people.

Some of the footage looked like it was recorded by civilians, but most of it was footage in full 1080p like it was an actual movie. Some of this footage had watermarks, the most occurring names Akira noticed were Vought and Heroflix.

The video finished, and there was another round of applause with some cheers and whistles. Akira would have felt his hands beginning to tire…if he clapped in the first place.

"Now let's proceed with the moment you have all been waiting for…THE RANKINGS!!!"

The top 500 heroes were shown in a giant massive list on the screen. 100 names were shown at a time, and no single slide was shown for more than 10 seconds. The top 100 on the other hand was given more attention, with their name being shown in a much larger font with a picture beside them. Most of them were shown alongside the test of their team which usually held a similar rank.

For the top 51, they were given the privilege of having their own name on the screen with a live recording of them in a much larger box. It also showed the state that they provided in, how many cases they had solved, and various other facts about them.

It was the same for the top 10, but they were also invited onto the stage to accept a trophy and give their own speech. Most of the speeches were boring in Akira's eyes. They most likely usually promoted their music, movies, merch and their hero agency. Akira had nearly fallen asleep with the press centred bullshit they spewed. He dozed off, closing his eyes, but with a nudge from Cathleen he was brought back to reality as the number 2 hero finished his speech.

"...You guys are the real heroes. Thank you," Akira could tell Homelander was still bitter about not taking the number one spot, but he hid it really well. He supposed anyone would be bitter if he had the number 2 spot for over 5 years.

Homelander walked off the stage, and it was finally time for Cathleen's turn, "And now…the moment you have all been waiting for, please welcome our number 1 hero, for the 10th year in a row, STARS AND STRIPES!!!"

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A/N: Is this how you guys would picture everything in America in the world of MHA? Is there anything you think would be different, let me know down below.

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