CHAPTER 8

Did it On My Own

Yoyogi Park,
Shibuya, Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture,
February 28

The afternoon at Yoyogi Park was electric. The stage had been set. The mikes had been checked. The crowd had been trickling into the park since early morning, and now they were in the thousands. The instruments had been synced and the musicians played a few riffs here and there to see how well they mixed together. The audience whooped and cheered every time they played an intro or a riff from a familiar song, and it kept them on their edge.

The girls of Class 1A mingled with the audience, trying to get some warmth in the frigid weather of February. It was getting closer to spring, but the weather was still chilly, especially for Tsuyu Asui who, true to her frog affinity, was affected the most by the temperature. But Momo created thermal jacket, leggings, mitts, boots and ski mask for her friend, so she could operate in cold weather like the rest of the group.

"I've never been to a real concert before," Kyoka Jiro stated as she pulled up the zipper of her jacket.

"Me neither," Ochaco added. "I always want to go to a real concert, but I can't agree with Deku-kun of what concert to attend to. We don't seem to like the same kind of music."

"Oh, Denki and I are not picky when it comes to concert," Mina giggled. "We go to concerts all the time. We watched rock concert, pop concert, classical concert, school idol concert, anything that sounds good. Well, maybe this one. Denki doesn't wanna go to this one. But hey, sometimes I need a girls night out!" She turned to Momo. "What about you, Yaoyorozu-chan? You and your SO watched any concerts lately?"

"Only once in a while," Momo replied halfheartedly. "We don't enjoy this kind of music. I go just because… you know, just to see…"

"Because they're adorable!" Toru Hagakure chimed. Her thick fury winter coat looked absolutely ridiculous absent the person wearing it. "Yon*Machi is so great! Rikido-san would kill me if he knew I'm here watching a boyband, but I can't help it! They're so cute!"

"Yeah, I don't care about their music either," Kyoka chuckled lightly. "Their songs suck. I'm here for the eye candy. The hair. The abs. The lips. Oh my God, their lips!" She winked at Toru. "Lucky me I don't have anybody to worry about." She turned to Tsuyu Asui. "Isn't that right, Asui-chan?"

"Ribbit… yes, that's true," Tsuyu mumbled from underneath layers of scarves.

"What? Wait, how about Tsuburaba?" Mina blurted. "Aren't you two some kind of an 'item'?"

"No, Tsuburaba and I are good friends, but we are not together," Tsuyu muttered.

"Why not? He genuinely has the hots for you," Mina kept prodding. "You know, the other day he asked me and Denki to help him with his group projects, but all he asked were you. Things you like. Things you don't like. He wouldn't do that if he is not interested in you. Right?"

"I don't think he is interested in me that way," Tsuyu maintained her stoic demeanor, but couldn't hide the blush in her cheeks. "We worked together on several projects but that's about it. We never went farther than being friends and colleagues. And I think friendship is better than romantic relationship."

"What do you not like about him, Asui-chan?" Kyoka said, half teasing. "He seems to be a great guy… well, maybe a bit goofy, but to be honest he is one of the cutest among Class 1-B. He's not a pervert like our friend Mineta. From what I heard, he treats his friends with care and respect, so good chance he does the same thing for his loved ones. If he asks for your hands, are you not going to accept him, knowing that he is head over heels for you?"

"I uh…I don't know," Tsuyu pulled up her scarves to cover her face, which had turned tomato-red by now. "He has not made his intention known. For now, we are just good acquaintance, and I really enjoy his companionship without the emotional baggage. But I do not rule out that we become a couple in the future. He has some qualities that I seek in a partner. I just don't see it happening these days."

"Maybe what you need is a little nudge," Mina hooked her arms around Tsuyu's shoulder. "If you want advice, don't hesitate to come to me. I have years of experience in relationship matter. I can give you advises that will guarantee to turn things your way."

"You have been dating Kaminari for less than a year," Ochaco groused. "Where do you get years of experience?"

"So what, you think you have more flight hours than me? Last time I checked you started ogling Midoriya about the same time I started going out with Kaminari."

"But she was in 'Kachaco' before that," Toru chimed. "To make it work needs a monstrous effort."

"Kirishima mentioned Bakugo locked himself in the gym bathroom with a girl," Momo added with mischief in her eyes. "Was it you, Uraraka?"

"Ew," Jiro cringed.

Ochaco blew a raspberry at Momo and Jiro.

"You are all great friends, and I'm honored to have you in my life," Tsuyu smiled. "But I can take care of myself. Let's not ruin the afternoon with guy problem. We are here for Yon*Machi!"

"Yon*Machi!" Jiro added.

"Yon*Machi!" Mina tuned in.

"Yon*Machi!" Ochaco pumped her fist in the air.

By that time the lights fired a colorful kaleidoscope across the stage, and the audience – mostly female teens and tweens – erupted in screaming frenzy. One by one the members of Yon*Machi came out from behind the curtain, starting with the blonde ones, then the curly one with a baseball cap, then the curly one with red headband, and ending with the tall bronze kid in buzz cut.

"What's up, Everybody?" the buzz cut kid yelled over the mike. His voice reverberated throughout the entire Yoyogi Park, and anybody who listened to it was hypnotized. "What's Up? What's Up? You Know What's Up!"

The music blasted through megawatts of speakers, and the 5 guys started singing their opening song Did It On My Own, and the audience became wild with excitement. But midway through the song, a strange thing happened. A strong gale suddenly blew through Yoyogi Park, and even though the sky was crystal clear, the wind picked up speed. Before long, the stage was creaking and shaking. The frames to hold the lightning swayed in every direction, lightly at first, but became more and more violent as the wind blew harder and harder.

"What is going on?" Ochaco checked weather channel at her phone. "It's not supposed to storm at this hour."

"Probably a freak accident," Toru speculated.

"We may have to start evacuating people," Momo said as she distributed goggles that she made with her quirk. "Wear these. It'll help with your eyes."

The girls put on the goggles, except Tsuyu, who brought her own goggle as part of her hero costume. Byt this time the wind was howling. Excited screams from the crowd had gone, replaced by panic chatters. The boys tried to keep everything under control, but the lightings started falling over the stage. The boys scrambled out of the stage, escorted by screaming and crying of teenage girls.

"Get them out of here!" Momo sprung into action as more stuffs fell on the stage. She jumped up the stage and pushed a musician off falling debris. A tall aluminum frame crumbled and threatened to pelted members of Yon*Machi, but Ochaco quickly jumped up the stage and touched the falling frame. The frame – hundreds of pounds in weight – immediately hovered over the ground in suspended animation. The boys from Yon*Machi looked at the fallen structure with total amazement, and wouldn't move until Kyoka yelled at them to go save themselves.

Meanwhile, Tsuyu, Mina, and Toru directed the flow of fleeing fans and pulled unfortunate teenagers from getting trampled by the crowd. A 12-year-old girl tripped and fell down, and she could only watch in horror as two dozen panic fans were coming her way, but Tsuyu Asui wrapped her long tongue on the girl's torso and heaved her up before the fans trampled all over her. Mina and Toru didn't have a chance to use their quirk, but their effort saved a lot of girls from getting hurt.

The wind continued to obliterate the stage, then magically stopped as suddenly as it came. The crowd were left to wonder what just happened, and fans slowly went back to the concert site, hoping that it was just a fluke in nature, and the festivity would soon continue. But Yon*Machi had already left the premise, and the stage was in complete shambles. The producer went to the stage and apologized profusely. The concert was ruin, and everybody wondered what would happen with their tickets.

"What a strange 5-minute storm," Toru commented. "I've seen some weird things that you wouldn't believe unless you saw it with your own eyes, and nothing compared to this. No storm lasts only 5 minutes. No rain, no thunder, nothing. Just strong, destructive gust."

"That's not how nature works," Kyoka added.

"No, it's not," Momo surmised. "I have a strong feeling that this occurrence was man-made."

"Villain?" Ochaco mused.

"Possibly." Momo observed the crowd. "But for what purpose? There are only teenagers here."

"Perhaps it's not the teenagers the villain was after," Tsuyu looked at the damage at the stage. "Perhaps it's Yon*Machi. Although it's hard to think how a bunch of cute boys pissed somebody off."

"Perhaps somebody in their organization pissed somebody off," Mina tuned in. "The producer, the band member, the sound mixer, the light engineer… anything is possible. Just keep our eyes peeled. If this is, indeed, somebody's handywork, I want to know the things that led to it. Should be fun to learn."


Sakurauchi residence,
Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture,
March 1

It was weekend, and Riko Sakurauchi stretched languidly on her bed. The morning sun sneaked between the curtain to warm up her face. During school days, she was usually up before sunrise, and even during weekend she usually started her day early in the morning. It was rare for her to sleep in, and it was wonderful. She would stay on her bed for a while, but the sound of TV from the dining room woke her up and turned the switch on her brain on. She shot up the bed, put her sleepers on, then walked downstairs.

The atmosphere in the dining room was a little frantic. Her mother was talking over the news in the screen, while her father desperately tried to keep her mother to shut up because he wanted to listen to the news. The TV showed some damaged equipment of what looked like a concert stage. Speakers, musical instruments, lightings, cables, structures, all cluttered on top of each other, as if a bomb exploded in the middle of a rock concert.

"What is going on?" Riko asked.

"Yon*Machi," her mother explained. "Those kids from Canada… no, not from Canada, they were big on Canada… but anyway, they had a concert yesterday, and suddenly there was a terrible storm. Everything was damaged. Fortunately nobody was hurt, but the concert had to be cancelled. They lost millions of yens…"

"Aw, that's terrible," Riko covered her mouth. She remembered her encounter with Yon*Machi a few days ago at Nijigasaki, and even though they were not very nice to her and her friends, she couldn't help feeling sorry for them. All the preparation and money they spent for the show, all the anticipation to interact with fans, all went away because Mother Nature decided they were not having a concert.

Bing! Riko's phone chimed, telling her that there was a message coming in. She ignored it, but the phone was persistent. Bing! She knew who sent multiple text early on weekend, and she didn't want to deal with it just yet. But the phone didn't take 'no' for an answer. Bing! And yet again, and again, and again. Bing! Bing! Bingbingbingbingbingbingbingbing…

"Who was that?" Riko's mother looked at her funny. "Whoever that was, needs to know manner! This is weekend!"

"Maybe it's just Chika," Riko pulled her phone out. "She can be quite persuasive sometimes."

"She does, doesn't she?" her mother replied and turned her attention back to the TV.

But Riko knew it was not Chika, and she was correct. It was Inasa Yoarashi, the big boy from Shiketsu. The one that had been her 'shadow' for the past few months. She didn't want to deal with him, but dozens of texts during weekend intrigued her. And when she opened the texts, she felt her heart jumped to her throat.

They were not texts. They were pictures. Dozens of pictures, about the destruction of Yon*Machi concert stage, in every detail possible. More detail than ones on TV. And there were pictures not shown on TV: pictures of the Yon*Machi boys, running away from the stage with complete terror in their eyes. And just below that, there was a text. A text from Inasa Yoarashi. You don't have to worry about them anymore.

Riko immediately knew what really happened, and she felt sick.

"Riko-chan? What is going on?" her father noticed the change of aura in her face.

"Uh… nothing," Riko tried to look normal, but she couldn't hide the green color in her face.

"Who was that texting you in the morning?" her father rose from the couch and approached her. "Is somebody hurting you?"

"No, no, no, I'm fine, really," Riko forced herself to smile. "I just, I need to go to the bathroom."

"Riko, give me your phone!" her father noticed something behind Riko's force, insincere smile.

"No! I'm fine! I really need to go to the bathroom!" Riko turned around and quickly ran upstairs.

She did go to the bathroom, and hurled every bit of dinner she ate last night with her Aqours friends.