"So, uh, come here often?" Uraraka awkwardly asked Asui.
Normally, she wouldn't be so awkward around her best friend, but these were not normal times and this was definitely timely a strange place for them to be in.
Uraraka sighed as she found herself longing for simpler times. Times when her froggy friend would have been the voice of reason in Uraraka's life and would normally ground her when things got too hectic.
And then Aoyama brought in her idol dress.
Uraraka originally wasn't too worried about having Aoyama's particular brand of weird joining her because she thought Asui would be there to reign him in if he was getting too into things.
The dress should have definitely been one of those things. When Aoyama asked what type of dress she wanted to wear, Uraraka responded that she wanted to wear something more simple. A nice strapless dress with a tutu similar to the dress she already owned. In fact, she was just planning on wearing that dress but Aoyama convinced her that he could make something better.
And what he came back with was in theory what she wanted: a strapless dress with a tutu. However, there was one major issue with the dress:
It was completely made out of foil.
At first, Uraraka recoiled at the sight of it. How could she not? A dress made out of foil? And when she looked to her best friend for support, her rock, her night in froggy armor, Asui was smiling.
Smiling.
At a foil dress!
"It's perfect," Asui sincerely said, causing Uraraka to recoil again.
And thus, Uraraka found herself dressed in an odd, foil dress in one of the many performance studios UA had around their campus. The Hero class rarely ever used them and were instead used in General Ed and, oddly enough, the Support courses.
She didn't really know why they used them but if she were to believe Hatsumei's ranting, it was so that the support students would "get out of the lab and enjoy life more." To which Hastumei responded that her babies were her life and she wouldn't let the Principal Protective Services separate them from her.
…
Uraraka sincerely hoped Hatsumei wouldn't get involved in the Dekubowl.
"Actually, I do come here often, ribbit," Asui responded to her earlier question.
"Really?"
"Ribbit, yeah! I really like dancing in my free time to help train my cardio."
"Wow! That's so cool, Asui!" Uraraka remembered that she had an easier time with the dance choreography during the cultural festival.
Asui blushed from the praise. "Thank you, Ochako. I'm hoping I won't let you down with the choreography."
Uraraka grinned at her best friend. "Are you kidding! I'm sure you'll do amazing! To be honest, just having you here with me makes this whole thing easier to handle. I really appreciate your help, Asui."
Asui smiled at her best friend meltingly, "Ochako…"
"How are the two lovebirds getting along?" Aoyama asked, appearing out of thin, sparkling air.
Asui made a sound that was halfway between a squawk and a ribbit. It sounded as if a frog screamed for help from the mouth of a hungry hawk. "A-aoyama what are you talking about, ribbit?"
Aoyama slapped his hand to his head and leaned backward. "My mistake, Tsuyu! The only lovebird in this room is our dear, Uraraka for the fabulous Midoriya!:
Uraraka gave him a flat look. "Aren't you also in love with Deku?"
Aoyama stuck both his arms out in a dramatic pose.
"Non! After my heart was rejected I strove to move on! Which is why I am here with you Mademoiselle!"
Uraraka sighed. "I know, and I appreciate it, Aoyama. Thank you. So, what were you able to figure out?"
"Well, I talked to Bakugo about our act and everything is a go! He said that he will accept almost everything as long as it, and I quote, "Murders himself and everyone else in the room.""
Uraraka and Asui facepalmed. Yeah, that sounds like Bakugo alright.
"He even said that he will allow lip syncing, Uraraka!" Aoyama celebrated.
Uraraka winced.
Asui looked at her in concern. "What's wrong, Ochako?"
Uraraka looked at both of her friends hesitantly. "Umm, I put some thought into it and… I want to sing."
Aoyama and Asui both stared at her.
…
They continued a staring.
"Umm-" Uraraka started.
"Didn't you say that you didn't know how to sing, ribbit?" Asui interrupted.
"Well yeah, but-"
"And don't you want to sing Defying Gravity, one of the most difficult musical theatre songs ever written?" Aoyama continued.
"Yes, I do. But I was thinking about what Kirishima said-"
"The same Kirishima who thinks idols are the manliest thing ever?" Aoyama interrupted.
"Would you let me finish!" Uraraka burst.
Aoyama and Asui continued to stare.
Uraraka continued, "Look, being an idol is about putting everything you got out there and get it back from the audience, right?"
"If you want to believe Kirishima, then yes," Aoyama said earning a quick punch in the shoulder from Asui.
"Well, I want to put everything I got out there! I want to show that crowd my love for Deku and I want to feel it back! I want them to know why I should be the one to take Deku to the dance!" Uraraka shot her first up to the ceiling in order to finish up her speech.
"I'm going to be honest, mademoiselle. I really don't understand what you all think an idol is. They're just-"
Aoyama was interrupted by Asui slapping his head with her tongue. "Ribbit, that makes sense, Ochako. Why don't you try singing something for us? Something maybe easier than Defying Gravity," Asui offered.
Uraraka nodded and began to hum a simple pop song she heard on the radio that morning.
And then she began to sing.
Aoyama's mouth dropped to the floor.
Her heart picked up and she began putting her all into the song, emboldened by the shocked expressions on her friends' faces. Once she was done and out of breath, she faced the two of them with a confident grin on her face.
"So what did you think?"
Aoyama stood up and applauded. "Bravo, Mademoiselle! Bravo!"
Uraraka bowed.
"That was absolutely satisfactory! A solid six and a half out of ten!"
Uraraka fell to the floor.
"Six and a half out of ten?!" Uraraka whined from the floor.
"Well, when you said you didn't know how to sing we were expecting you to sound like a banshee, darling." Aoyama leaned over and patted her on the shoulder, trying his best to console her.
"I liked it, ribbit," Asui said, raising Uraraka's hopes up. "It was really nice and homey. I'd give it a seven out of ten."
Uraraka fell back to the floor and pushed her hands into her face in embarrassment.
"So, you don't think I can sing Defying Gravity?" Uraraka said through her hands.
"Well, why don't we try?" Aoyama said, sitting down at the piano in the room. He started playing the opening chords of the song as Uraraka took a deep breath to calm herself.
Slowly she began to sing.
I hope you're happy…
"Six and a half out of ten"
Out of nowhere, Aoyama's words echoed in her mind.
Her voice cracked.
Too long I've been afraid of,
Losing love I guess I've lost,
Well if that's love,
It comes at much too high a cost!
This was it the big chorus line. She could do this. She can do this! She was gonna-
"I'd give it a seven out of ten."
Uraraka missed the note.
Badly.
Aoyama and Asui winced.
Uraraka stopped singing. She looked down at the floor, her face close to breaking. She gave herself a soft slap to the face. Uraraka couldn't get her friends comments out of her mind.
Adequate.
Seven out of ten.
It wasn't bad by any means. Aoyama was right, a seven out of ten was pretty good for someone who wasn't trained. There was just one issue with that in her mind:
Deku didn't deserve adequate. He deserved the best.
Uraraka choked back a sob.
Asui ran up to her friend and gave her a tight hug. "It's okay, Uraraka, ribbit."
Aoyama patted Uraraka on the shoulder. "The chorus isn't an easy one to hit, Mademoiselle. There's nothing wrong with lip syncing."
Asui nodded at Aoyama. "Aoyama's right, ribbit. We can also pick an easier song if you want."
Uraraka wiped her eyes. "Yeah, you're both right. It's just… I don't know. This is my favorite song and I really wanted to put my all in it you know?"
Asui placed her hand on her chin in thought. "Because of what Kirishima said?"
Uraraka nodded. "I know it's foolish. But I really like Deku and what he said about giving it your all just kind of… stuck with me, ya know?"
Aoyama patted her on the back. "It's okay, Mademoiselle. I think you'll still be able to-"
"You're going to sing the song, ribbit." Asui declared, interrupting Aoyama.
They both looked at their friend in shock.
"B-but I can't actually sing it!" Uraraka argued.
"It doesn't matter." Asui walked up to Uraraka with fire in her eyes and placed both of her hands on Uraraka shoulders. "Kirishima was right, ribbit."
Aoyama scoffed.
Asui hit him with her tongue.
"If you go out there and don't sing Defying Gravity, you're going to regret it, Uraraka. And what was the one thing, Kirishima said to do, ribbit?"
Uraraka sighed. "Don't live life without-"
"That's right, Ochako. You have to be manly," Asui finished.
…
Well, that too?
Aoyama slapped his fist to his palm. "Tsuyu's right, Uraraka! In order to do this, you need to be a man! A man wouldn't hold anything back and what are you?!"
A woman.
"A man!" Aoyama declared.
Asui nodded her head. "Ribbit, in order to sing this Broadway number, you'll have to be the manliest person on stage. When you need to hit that high note and you begin to doubt yourself, Ochako, you have to tell yourself to be a man, ribbit."
Uraraka gave her friends a flat look. Be a man, really? That was their advice?
Still, looking at her two friends, Uraraka felt a warm feeling fill her chest. She truly was happy to have such good friends supporting her.
Even if their advice was a little misgendered.
Uraraka giggled, "Well, I can try. But what about everything else? Also, why the foil dress?"
Aoyama and Asui looked at each other and smiled.
"Okay, so here's my fabulous plan!" Aoyama began.
/-/
"Are you ready for this, babe!" Kirishima excitedly gushed at Bakugo.
Bakugo gave a cocky grin. "They better be ready for me if they want to win this thing."
Uraraka gulped in the seat behind them.
Stage light blared into existence illuminating an empty stage. A low beat came crawling out of the speakers as a colorful dress, floated onto the stage.
"Hello, everyone!" Hagakure called out to the crowd. Class 1-A cheered their support to their friend as Hagakure slowly began her routine. "I'm really happy you all I showed up! I hope you all enjoy my show!"
Uraraka watched from the second row where the other idols were gathered. None of them were in costume and, considering her own planned dress, it was a fact that Uraraka was thankful for.
They sat behind the two judges of the evening: Kirishima and Bakugo. Kirishima waved a glow stick in the air with a wide grin splitting his face. Bakugo sat with an amused smirk on his face as he bobbed his head to the beat.
Hagakure sang a popular song from a new and emerging idol group. While Hagakure didn't really do anything too out of the norm, Uraraka couldn't help but find herself enjoying the performance. Hagakure was energetic, fun and super cute on stage.
And it seemed like her classmates agreed.
"This is so fun! I've never done anything like this before!" Yaoyorozu cheered.
"Indeed! It really is wonderful to see our classmates perform so well!" Iida cried as he wiped proud tears from his face.
"I don't know how I feel about the costume. I think it leaves too much to the imagination." Mineta critiqued.
"Really dude? It's Hagakure. It's all imagination in her case," Sero countered.
Uraraka smiled. Watching Hagakure on stage, she could definitely see where Kirishima was coming from. Already she could feel her spirit being lifted and her doubts washing away.
"And that's my show! I hope you all enjoyed it!" Hagakure shouted out to a roar of applause before she hurried off the stage.
Kirishima stood back up. "Ok, next up is Uraraka! Go get dressed and set up."
Uraraka's spirit crashed and her doubts came flooding back.
Aoyama slapped his hands on her shoulders. "Allons-y, Uraraka!"
Uraraka gulped and stood up.
"Ochako?" Asui called before she had a chance to walk away.
"Yeah, Asui?"
Asui quickly ran up and tightly wrapped her arms around Uraraka.
"You're going to be fantastic, ribbit."
Uraraka felt her eyes water up and she returned the hug.
It didn't take long for Uraraka to get dressed and come backstage. A quick look to the rafters confirmed that Asui and Aoyama were in place. She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves.
So, she may not be able to hit the right notes, she may not be able to hold the ballad long enough, she may just have a slightly above average voice! But damn it all, she was going to give it her all.
She was going to be a man!
The lights dimmed and the chatter from the audience muted. Slowly she walked out on stage. Uraraka could make out the faint outlines of her fellow classmates in the darkness. Her heart hammered in her chest and she drew in one final breath and closed her eyes.
"Something has changed within me…"
A spotlight burst to life and focused on her.
The crowd gasped.
"Something is not the same,
I'm through with playing by the rules,
Of someone else's game…"
Uraraka opened her eyes to see the smiling faces of her classmates.
"That dress is amazing Uraraka!" Yaoyorozu screamed out.
Uraraka grinned with the knowledge that Aoyama's plan worked. The foil dress glowed in the light making her look like a bright shining star shooting around the stage.
She looked, dare she say it, dazzling.
"Too late for second-guessing,
Too late to go back to sleep,
It's time to trust my instincts,
Close my eyes and leap!"
Uraraka lightly slapped her hip and she slowly began to rise from the stage.
This was it. The big chorus. She could do it. She just needed to go for it with everything she had!
Just like Deku would do!
"It's time to try,
Defying gravity,
I think I'll try,
Defying gravity,"
A beautiful falsetto rang out through the auditorium. The high note which the song called for. The note that she could never hit.
And it didn't come from her mouth.
She didn't hit the note; how could she? To the audience, it appeared as though she was hitting the note, Uraraka was certainly putting the effort to do so. But at the moment she tried and failed, the audio cut seamlessly to someone else who succeeded.
She looked up to the rafters and saw Aoyama's winking face singing into the microphone.
Uraraka face split into a wide grin as she continued.
"Kiss me goodbye,
I'm defying gravity,
And you won't bring me down!"
As she sang, Asui lowered small globes lowered themselves all around her. They were small pieces of glass, at least two dozen the size of basketballs. They were Aoyama's secret weapon: mirrors from his personal collection that were warped into spheres using Asui's stomach acid. Disgusting in theory but in practice...
As she got to the second chorus, Aoyama filled his laser in front of him, hitting a small prism angled towards the stage. The light split and hit each of the lowered sphere illuminating the entire stage with a dozen spherical lights in every color of the spectrum.
Uraraka floated around them, a shining beacon through a sea of rainbows.
"I think I'll try
Defying Gravity,
And you won't bring me down!
Bring me down!
Oh oh oh!"
The song ended as she lowered herself back onto the ground. A roar of applause greeted her as she carefully and tensely bowed.
Oh, good they enjoyed it.
Strangely enough, Uraraka couldn't find it in herself to care all that much. Was it because she was happy because of her friends' support? Or was it because the only person she really needed to impress was herself?
No.
At that moment, Uraraka cared about was where the nearest trash can was.
Her stomach lurched signaling the end of the tenuous control of her stomach muscles. Quickly, she dashed off the stage where she had strategically placed a trash can, expecting this to happen.
"Blrgllll," Uraraka said violently to the trash can.
The sound of retching from the rafters signaled that Aoyama was going through a similar experience as to herself. Both of them cursed to empty their stomachs when they used their quirk for too long. It was a good thing they've been training their quirks so much otherwise she never would have lasted the song!
Once she finished filling the trash can, Uraraka stepped back out to the audience where she was met with a wave of support.
"Not half bad, round face," Bakugo called from the front. "It was almost enough to impress me."
"Aww, don't listen to him, Uraraka!" Kirishima laughed next to Bakugo. "He was cheering the whole time with a big grin on his face!"
"Shut your face!" Bakugo screamed before hitting his boyfriend in the arm. He pointed to Iida. "At least I wasn't as bad as four-eyes in the back."
"I-I am just so proud of my friend!" Iida wailed as tears flowed freely from his eyes.
Ashido ran up to Uraraka. "I cannot believe you did that."
Uraraka grinned. "Yeah, it wasn't an easy song to do."
"No, you fool!" Ashido admonished. "You actually pulled off the shojo lighting!"
"Shojo lighting?"
Ashid looked at her incredulously. "Yeah! You know how in shojo when there a romantic scene and there's a bunch of soft lighting and sparkly lights all over the place?"
"I knew that looked familiar!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed.
Huh, now that she mentioned it, it did look like something out of a shojo romance scene. Uraraka looked back at Aoyama who was talking animatedly with Asui. Was Aoyama a shojo fan as well? It definitely wouldn't have been the weirdest thing Uraraka has seen all day.
"Okay losers! Back to your seats! Half-and-half is up next!" Bakugo announced.
Ashido jumped in the air, full of excitement. "That's us, Todoroki! Let's show them what you're made of!"
Iida snapped out of his stupor. "Ashido is right! Let's show our fellow classmates our hard work and effort!"
Todoroki slowly stood up and walked over to them. As he did, Todoroki sent a challenging glare at Uraraka. The glare of the pack leader staring down a challenger.
Uraraka glared defiantly back, a confident smirk on her face.
Todoroki left towards the stage alongside Iida and Ashido.
"Is there something going on between you two, mademoiselle?" Aoyama asked.
"Just a fated battle between two romantic rivals."
"Ah… that sounds… nice?"
Asui hopped over to Uraraka. "You did so well, Ochako! I'm so proud of you!"
Uraraka wrapped both Asui and Aoyama in a tight embrace. "Thank you both for your help."
Uraraka could feel tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. Don't cry. Don't cry.
"Y-your friendship means so much to me!" she sobbed.
Eh, what the hell? What were a few tears of happiness shared with friends?
"Oi! Crybabies in the front! Sit the hell down before I make you!" Bakugo threatened from the front.
They hurriedly sat back down.
The lights dimmed.
A spotlight shone down onto the stage.
Todoroki stood in a black suit and tie. A fairly bland costume in Uraraka's opinion, but it was well tailored and it did look good on him. Although, to be fair, almost anything would look good on him, the beautiful jerk.
"Mademoiselle, are you pouting?"
"Shut up, Aoyama," Uraraka replied.
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,
Drifting through the wind,
Wanting to start again.
Todoroki began to sing as he gently moved across the stage. The movements seemed to be inspired by ballet as they were smooth and-
He just did a twirl.
Uraraka wished she did a twirl…
Also, she wished she had his voice. Todoroki was such a good singer!
Still, with Ashido and Iida helping him, Uraraka expected something bigger. Maybe that was all they could get him to agree to do?
You just gotta ignite the light,
And let it shine,
Just own the night,
Like the Fourth of July.
The lights cut out. Uraraka could hear the faint sound of clothes being torn off.
Cause baby you're a firework!
Fire erupted from the stage, revealing Todoroki in an entirely new outfit. His suit was torn away, leaving Todoroki in tight leather pants and an open leather vest.
And no shirt.
Oh, did it suddenly get hot in here? It had to be the fire.
It had to be.
Uraraka gulped as Todoroki began a high tempo dance on stage. Rapid arm punches, high kicks, and even a flip, Todoroki was pulling out all of the stops with his choreography. It was fun, energetic and most all completely contagious. Everyone was standing up, cheering and dancing along to the beat of the music.
Frustratingly enough, so was Uraraka.
And strangely, she couldn't find it in herself to care.
The energy came to a fever pitch as Todoroki came to the last part of his song.
Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y,
Baby, you're a firework!
Come on let your colors burst!
Todoroki shot fireball up towards the ceiling where they hit small canisters suspending from the rafters. They ignited, filling the auditorium in a rainbow of light as fireworks exploded all around them.
"Impossible," Aoyama gaped looking at the ceiling. "Isn't Iida on their team? Isn't this a fire hazard?"
"To be honest, ribbit, because Iida is on their team, I'm sure they found a way to make sure it isn't," Asui argued.
The lights slowly faded out as Todoroki finished his song. Class 1-A stood up in uproarious applause.
Uraraka stared at the stage, expressionless.
"That was tres bien, magnifique!" Aoyama said clapping his hands. There was a tenseness in his voice as he looked at Uraraka.
"How are you feeling, Ochako?" Asui asked with a concerned look on her face.
Uraraka stared at the stage for a long moment. The last vestiges of Todorki's performance slowly fading from her mind. A strange feeling replaced the excitement from the performance. It was a feeling she has felt many times before, but never in this context.
She felt determined.
Determined to beat her rival.
Uraraka took on a confident smirk. "Yeah, I feel pretty pumped actually."
"Ok, next up is Jirou! Everyone put your hands together for her!"
Class 1-A started to applaud and Uraraka snapped out of her stupor. How long had she been staring at the stage? No wonder her friends were concerned!
She sat down as she got ready to watch what was going to no doubt a stellar performance. Even though Todoroki was a surprisingly good singer, he still didn't hold a candle to Jirou. Whatever, Jirou had planned, Uraraka was sure she was going to plant herself as a worthy rival to herself and Todoroki.
A spotlight focused itself on the stage as Jirou hesitantly walked out. She was dressed in her normal leather jacket and shirt but wore a plaid, frilled skirt instead of her usual trousers. Jirou's eyes were wide and her lips trembled as she lifted her microphone.
"This was a mistake," Bakugo declared with a deep frown on his face.
Kirishima looked at Bakugo in shock. "What do you mean, babe?"
"H-he-hello, everyone," Jirou stammered into the mike. "I-I am h-here to uhh…"
Jirou froze.
Uraraka felt a wave of confusion well up in her stomach. What was going on? She had an easy enough time performing during the cultural festival. What was so different now?
Before too much time could pass, Koda ran out on stage and gently walked Jirou off the stage. He kept patting her back and saying something to her out of Uraraka' earshot. All Uraraka could hear was one strangled sob that filled the air as Jirou exited the stage.
Silence filled the air as everyone tried to process what they just saw. No one could move or speak, too afraid to do something that might cause more damage.
"Everyone head back to the dorm," Bakugo called out to everyone.
"B-but Bakugo, shouldn't we-" Sero started.
"No," Bakugo interrupted with the force of a nail going into a coffin. "Give her space. We'll sort this out later."
With that, Bakugo left the auditorium, Kirishima following. An awkward moment followed where everyone stood in silence, each of them wanting to say something, to do something, and yet nothing came to mind. Slowly everyone broke up and left back to the dorms.
For some reason, that choked sob plagued Uraraka mind for the rest of the afternoon. It bothered her that there wasn't anything she could do. She was supposed to be a hero, darn it! It was her job to jump in when someone was suffering and yet she just stood there and did nothing. These troublesome thoughts followed Uraraka in bed and were the haunting lullaby she fell asleep to.
When she awoke in the middle of the night, she thought it must have been some sort of guilt-induced dream. After all, it was that same choked sob that awoke her.
Only, this time, it wasn't only once.
Slowly Uraraka crawled out of bed and walked over to her veranda as if she was in a trance, following those same sad sounds. They came from below, in the room directly under hers. Slowly she peered over the edges and found the source of the noise.
"Jirou?"
And that's chapter 7!
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Funnily enough, it took me a while for me to find the right song for Todorki's dance. To be honest. I still feel like there was a better song out there but "Firework" worked well enough for the scene.
Anyways, the holidays are coming up and I have no idea how it's going to affect my writing! (^.^')
I'm going to be with family for part of it but also that might give me a lot of free time to write. It really depends on how much is going on.
In other news, I have an idea for a new fic I'll probably work on after this one. It'd be another MHA fic, this one focusing on Midoriya. I came up with the idea after lamenting that I couldn't have Midoriya be the unknowing, Dekubowl protagonist where everyone was trying to vie for his attention while he just continued unaware.
Unfortunately, for the plot of this to make sense, Midoriya had to know what was going on because he is *ahem* doing things in the background.
*Shuffles eyes suspiciously"
Anyway, me wanting to write this funny romantic scenario led to me plotting out a grandiose, adventure plot to make it work.
…
I have a strange mind.
Anyway, I need to revisit an old book series for inspiration so it might take a while for it to come out. The fic would be a heavy AU, so I need to make sure I have the details of the U figured out.
As always, thank you for reading and please leave any feedback you can!
-Dorky Desperado