It was the day. The holiday Izuku was 'always' excited for. Well, there were a lot of holidays like that, if he was being perfectly honest, but today was one of the bigger ones. The one he'd celebrated literally every year he could since he realized that all he wanted to be in his life was a Hunter. Hunter's Day, that Color Week Holiday so peculiar and unique to Mountain Glenn that celebrated the profession he idolized, the heroes he shaped himself after. The people he wanted to be.

Especially that one man. That one Hunter who stood above the rest as The Symbol of Peace. His inspiration, the man he specifically shaped his life after... his hero and now his mentor, Toshinori Yagi. While the holiday was meant for all Hunters, in particular it celebrated the man who had stood beside Mountain Glenn when so few others would. It celebrated his bravery and his courage, and the bravery and courage of all those Hunters who bought the time needed for him to come and who then worked with him to save the day. It was that drive, that desire to help save people, that would be celebrated during Hunter day in Mountain Glenn and Izuku was 'excited' as ever to actually get out there and celebrate.

But most of all, he was excited because 'I'm going to celebrate with my friends... Friends!' For once in his life since he discovered he was Broken and was ostracized by all the kids his age in Mountain Glenn, he had friends! Friends that he was going to celebrate his favorite holiday with! Honestly, he was so excited at that point that he thought he was going to burst! Still, he couldn't get too excited or hyped up just yet. After all, there was no telling if his friends had their own plans or if they were going to go off and do their own thing today. After all, Hunter's Day was a distinctly Mountain Glenn Holiday: there was no telling if any of his friends, almost all of them not from his town save for Bakugou, would really care about going to celebrate the holiday.

He'd have to round up his friends and see who'd be open to going. So, taking a moment to think, He sent off some messages in his Scroll to see who was going where and what they'd be doing.

It took a little over a half hour to figure out who was free and who'd be willing to go. He had to admit, his heart soared a little bit to know that so many of his friends, regardless of what might be going on or who else might be going, were willing to go along with him to celebrate a holiday that he held so very near and dear to his heart.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Oh boy... back on this metal monstrosity again. Literally a week after we had to take a trip to and back... fuuuuun..." Weiss muttered to herself as she kept her grip on the seat cushions of the bullet train, her pallor once again pale as Izuku just chuckled.

"Well hey, it's getting better with exposure isn't it? You don't look nearly as bad as last time." Yang chuckled in agreement as she leaned back in her seat, looking over at the Schnee Company Heiress.

"Yeah Slugger, you're right; Weiss Cream looks a few shades more vibrant than she did last time. Progress!" A few errant laughs escaped some of the other members of the train as Weiss just glared over at Yang.

"Yang, one day, I'll find what you're horribly afraid of and I'll 'destroy' you with it." The blonde brawler just blew out her cheeks a bit as she waved Weiss off, taking it as the bluster of a girl who was all too occupied with how freaked out she was feeling.

"Come on guys, enough of that. We're about ready to head off to a HUUUGE party being thrown in our honor at Mountain Glenn! We should be more focused on being excited than we should about this train ride! Although it still is pretty crazy!" Nora declared as she, again, seemed quite excited to not only be going to Mountain Glenn again but also to be on the bullet train again. Pyrrha for her part frowned slightly as she patted Nora on the shoulder.

"Now Nora, we 'aren't' the ones being celebrated here, not to any extreme degree, I think. It's a celebration for Hunters, remember, and we're just Hunters-in-Training. Besides, it sounds like the holiday more pertains to Toshinori in specific... so we should probably manage our expectations." Izuku nodded in agreement; as much as he shared in Nora's excitement, it was probably best to manage the bubbly bomber's expectations. If she went into Mountain Glenn thinking that the city was literally celebrating her and her friends as people then, well, she'd only be in for disappointment. While Hunters were all given their due on the holiday, with a variety of 'very' nice specials and deals being offered to anyone of the profession, they were still students and, well, he'd never exactly heard of Hunters-in-Training being really held up in the holiday.

Besides, it was basically Mountain Glenn's way of telling Toshinori thank you for... well, for everything. So even among Hunters, it was pretty clear who most of Mountain Glenn looked forward to seeing when the evening wound down and the main celebration was ready to be held in downtown.

"Come on Pyrrha, this is still totally cool! Besides, we helped save all those people in The Tunnels! You saw how all those news guys were walking up to us like we were big time heroes! I don't think Nora's too far off on this!" Ruby said, the young silver eyed Huntress having practically shivered with excitement as Ren just shrugged.

"While it's distinctly possible that we might get recognized, I still think that to expect us to be celebrated to any degree is perhaps a bit hopeful. Still, I suppose you never know." Nora just nodded her head vigorously in agreement, Ren having just sighed as he, like Izuku, probably imagined that Nora had only 'really' taken note of the 'you never know' part of his sentence.

"Besides, as far as most people are concerned, Toshinori's the one who ended up running in, beating up the major members of the Monochrome League and then helping to save everyone... and they wouldn't be far off." Blake commented dryly as she flipped a page in her book. "If it wasn't for him, we'd probably have had trouble with that bird brain, so credit where credit's due."

"True... but I'd still say that some credit is due to us. Especially those who were able to successfully lead and fight during the emergency." Shoto spoke dryly as he kept his arms lightly crossed. Kacchan just grunted somewhat in agreement as he leaned his head back into his hands, having rested against his seat for the ride.

"Damn right. Without us a lot of those 'actual Hunters' in the Tunnels wouldn't have done jack shit without Toshinori. We're fuckin' owed that praise and credit for it." Yang gave a faux surprised look as she looked over at Bakugo.

"'We'? You're actually including us? Aw, I knew you cared 'Kacchan~'." Immediately Bakugou took a turn for the pissed off and angered as he glared over at Yang.

"WHAT'D YOU FUCKIN' CALL ME YOU-... YOU... you... mmMMM... MMMmmm... fuckin' Deku with that shitty ass nickname, now that fuckin'..." It was a rather remarkable display to watch Bakugou go from at the top of his lungs livid, ready to start a fight with Yang to Ren's semblance causing him to momentarily stumble as his skin tone grayed out for a moment. It seemed ready to break at any given moment but, it held and, Bakugou seemed to subdue himself. After a moment, full color returned to the childhood bully/friend as he just waved off the potential fight as he turned away and grumbled to himself, Ren having sighed slightly as he looked over at Yang.

"Heh, sorry, couldn't resist."

"Well, for today at least, maybe we should. Izuku did invite us to this celebration after all, let's not try to bring down the good mood." Izuku flinched back a bit as he raised his hands, waving both Yang and Ren down with a shake of his head.

"O-Oh it's okay, I mean, not like I want Yang and Kacchan to go at it, but you know this is normal, so it's not like-"

"Nah, Ren has a point. Today's supposed to be a holiday, so I guess I can be in a cheery mood and not slap Bakugou around a bit if he's not going to go out of his way to be an asshole today." Bakugou scoffed as he glared over at Yang but a look from Ruby, slightly pleading, actually got the bombastic teen to just quietly mutter to himself.

"Jeez, he's like an angrier, more pissed off Fox... at least it seems like you guys have an immediate disarm button." Coco chuckled as she ribbed Fox, who had been sitting next to her with an even expression. Up to that point anyway; as soon as Coco started to bust his chops, Fox just scoffed as he looked off to the side.

"Come on Coco... I think what they said should apply to you and Fox too. Don't start busting his chops now while everyone's in a good mood." Yatsu remarked dryly as Velvet, who had sat off mostly in a corner with her own team, deeply uncomfortable with just how many people were in the train car at once, nodded in agreement with her giant teammate. Coco just held up her hands defensively as she acquiesced to the rest of her team and, after that, everything cooled off.

Conversation slowly stopped and, after a moment, the train had slowed to its own stop. Which was actually pretty great timing all told. Now all that needed to be done was for them all to get off the train with the rest of the tourists that had been aboard. Admittedly, there weren't a lot; while there were tourists who did seek out Mountain Glenn in order to celebrate the cities unique holiday, it wasn't an overwhelmingly interesting thing to most people outside of Mountain Glenn. They'd had to share a car with some tourists but them and the rest that had arrived with hadn't been too much of a hassle to deal with once they were out and about in the station.

"Thank you for your patience, Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to Mountain Glenn: The City of Hope. Happy Hunter's Day!" The unique announcement played as the great vault doors opened from the station out into the rest of Mountain Glenn proper. His friends had already seen the view of Mountain Glenn following the stations opening so he knew that they at least had some expectations going in. Though, to his satisfaction, he saw that those expectations were once again completely blown out of the water; they had seen Mountain Glenn during a normal, average day after all. They hadn't expected to see Mountain Glenn on what it viewed as perhaps its most important holiday.

The white capped mountains, having just been a plain backdrop to the city skyline previous, had turned into veritable attraction in and of themselves; powerful lights shined from the tallest buildings to blanket the sides of the mountains in various shades of light that sparkled off of the freshly fallen snow. A veritable rainbow of the colors of the Four Kingdoms were displayed on various parts of the mountain that gave the town its name, a shining beacon of mixed hues that drew the eyes and created a magnificent backdrop to the entire city.

Were that the only thing it would have been impressive in its own right. However, the sheer magnitude of lights and decorations ended up drawing the eyes as well. Banners and lights were strewn across various posts and lamps that had dotted the city's streets, the banners having danced in the autumn wind while bells hanging from the ends of them lightly clanged together. Musical performances going on across the city, either from various open air stages or the various clubs and bars replaced the usual sounds of traffic and the hurried footsteps of pedestrians. Shop and buildings had their lights on bright, with several more strung over their entrances, in a bid to attract customers, even as numerous food and game stalls had been set up on the very streets themselves.

People wearing seasonal clothing, jackets and long pants, made up the majority of the people out in the streets and about in the town celebrating, though if one paid close attention they could see some people dressed up in some suits and ties or fancy dresses. It was a veritable 'party' for most people, with some even going so far as to wear costumes. It was most commonly seen with kids who, true to what he used to wear back when he was younger, had Toshinori onesies on as they ran about the streets.

"... OH MY GODS, THAT'S ADORABLE!" Nora practically squee'd as they all watched as a small group of children ran about many of them chasing an adult who, for their entertainment, had put on an Ursa outfit while their parents watched form some distance, taking pictures of the display. "JUST LOOK! LOOK AT THAT... URSA COSTUME!" Nora declared with a loud laugh. "I 'need' it!" Weiss lightly palmed her forehead, shaking her head slightly.

"Yes... of course that's what you'd point out about this situation Nora... please... please don't let them be available. If she actually got one, I don't think I'd be able to continue living..."

...

For a moment Izuku felt sympathetic to Weiss' quiet prayers to the Gods. The idea of Nora running around Beacon in an Ursa costume was very... distressing.

"Still those outfits really are pretty adorable. Did you two ever wear those?" Pyrrha turned to look back at Izuku and Bakugou, both of whom reacted with some embarrassment.

"As if I'd have been caught dead wearing something lame like that! Get real!" Bakugou declared loudly as he scoffed, looking off to the side. Izuku, on the other hand, just stared ahead like a deer caught in the headlights, his cheeks turning red as everyone started to look at him.

"... Are there pictures, Deku?" Coco asked with an amused grin as that 'immediately' broke him out of his stupor.

"WELL LET'S GET GOING GUYS THIS HOLIDAY'S NOT GONNA CELEBRATE ITSELF!" With that Izuku immediately zoomed off into the crowd, the rest of his friends, and Bakugou who was dragged behind him, having followed him deeper into the city. Some people would break off here and there to see stuff, others would stick to some groups, but all told everyone was in direct contact with Izuku through their Scrolls, so getting back in touch with them to set up for some activity would be pretty easy. All that remained was to decide... well, just what he was going to get up to and with who for the evening.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Jeez, can you guys even 'see' the moon on most nights? I mean, I know I saw them before but I didn't realize how tall those suckers are." Yang remarked as she stopped for a moment, whistling as she comically leaned back as she looked all the way up the scale of the Mountain Glenn Walls. While Izuku hadn't been close enough to them for such a display to be necessary, indeed he was still, along with Bakugou...

…

Well, Bakugou was more like an unwilling participant who tossed in his two cents every now and then, but still, giving 'their' friends a tour of Mountain Glenn's downtown. However, despite how overblown Yang had been about it, there was no denying that there was 'some' truth to her amazement; even as far away from the Walls of The City as they were, they dominated the skyline past the tall buildings, with all but the larger structures having been dwarfed by them. Yang also hadn't been too far off about the moon; it was a little ways above it now but...

"There are times where it seems like we can't see it, even when it should be in the night sky, but that's usually dependent on the time of year." Izuku sheepishly scratched his cheek upon admitting that as Bakugou just scoffed.

"Besides, Vale's walls are even taller, so I don't get why you're putting on the act Blondie." Yang frowned as she started to walk back to join the group.

"Well I'm sorry if I'm trying to play a good tourist for Slugger's guide here and enjoying myself, Ka-" Ruby elbowed her sister slightly, the blonde brawler having sighed as she rolled her eyes. "Bakugo. Besides, I get that; but I'll be damned if I barely ever actually see the wall around Vale thanks to how tall all the other buildings are. Here you really can't escape it."

"Or break into it, more appropriately." Shoto remarked dryly as he looked back in front, Ren having nodded appreciatively. The tour, all told, had been going extremely well, the whole lot of them having passed through a good number of Mountain Glenn's districts as part of the show of the city. Izuku was just kind of worried because... well, he thought the reason 'this' particular topic of discussion was coming up was because people were getting a little bored. Like Yang said, Mountain Glenn really didn't have much that distinguished it outside of its defensive works because, for over a decade, or even two, after the attack on the city that's where all the focus went. So long as there were enough buildings for businesses and houses for people Mountain Glenn had been content to just build up its defensive infrastructure. There were no great monuments or truly towering structures that took up Mountain Glenn's skyline. Hell, it was only in the last five years that buildings that were built even taller than the wall finally appeared. Despite having lived here his entire life, and as proud of his hometown as he was, he was ready to admit that Mountain Glenn wasn't much of a city to look at, aesthetically.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Mountain Glenn doesn't really have much in the way of real 'tourist traps' that we have an opportunity to show to you all. It really has been function over style here for a long while."

"Makes sense. I imagine any town that had been about ready to be wiped off the map save for the intervention of The Symbol of Peace probably would take that attitude." Blake remarked as she still seemed to be interested in taking in the city around here.

"Besides, it's not like there's nothing to see! Look at all these shops! All these businesses... ALL THESE REALLY COOL COSTUMES!" Nora still seemed enthralled by the various outfits and looks that people were running around with, the orange-haired girl having grinned like a woman possessed as she spotted a few Grimm costumes running around.

"But those are things that you'd find in most cities. I think what Izuku means is that Mountain Glenn doesn't really have much... hmmm, soul, I'd say. At least compared to a place like Atlas or Vale." Izuku nodded slightly, though he stumbled back a bit as Ruby frowned and shook her head.

"Oh come on, that's not true. Sure, it doesn't have fancy buildings or skyscrapers but, psssh, who really needs those eyesores. The place has soul in all the right places; gun factories, weapon forges, big old defenses, Hunter Training Facilities, the works!" Ruby threw her hands up in the air, while Weiss just sighed slightly.

"Besides, I think that looking for the soul of a city in terms of its buildings is looking in the wrong place. The people are a place's soul... without people, buildings are just piles of stone waiting to collapse." Ren offered sagely, much to Nora's agreement, as he looked around. "And if one were to ask me, the people of Mountain Glenn look pretty vibrant. Especially right now. Maybe we should be focusing less on what one might consider a traditional tour and ask our two residents what they actually consider to be the soul of Mountain Glenn."

"I think that's a 'great' idea." Pyrrha offered with a wide smile, one which caused Izuku to nervously chuckle as everyone turned their attentions on him and Bakugou.

"I'll leave that to Deku... the sooner we get this over with the sooner I can get this shit with my Team and the old hag done." Yang rolled her eyes as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Figured you wouldn't even be able to speak well about your own mom. That poor woman must be the picture of mental health after having to put up with you..."

"Hah!"

"*Snerk*"

The fact that he, of all people, chortled while Bakugou barked out a laugh of that was probably the bigger surprise to everyone else, as Izuku flushed in embarrassment while putting his hands over his mouth.

"Right, that's a good one." Bakugou just continued to chuckle while Izuku finally looked back at everyone else.

"Uh... Miss Mitsuki Bakugo is a... unique person, I think is probably the best way to put it."

He was really glad that he and the others opted to just let RSBR handle that particular meeting on their own. Seeing Katsuki and Miss Bakugo in the same room together... well, it was bound to get explosive...

Oh thank the Gods that Tsuyu wasn't here. She probably would have read his mind and whipped him for that pun.

But more to the point... hmmm... what he considered to be the soul of the city, huh.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Eh, so we're going to be coming here later? Seems a bit like we're skipping to the main course aren't we Slugger?" The whole lot of them, along with several hundred other people, slowly maneuvered around town as they approach the main city square where the night's main event was set to go down later. It was a bit rough as, like them, there had been plenty of other tourists and locals looking to take a quick stop by the Statue to pay their respects or to just see the thing before hundreds upon hundreds, if not thousands, of people packed in close tonight to take a look at the main event itself. Izuku lightly shrugged as he scratched at the back of his head.

"Eh, maybe, but I figure we probably won't get a chance to get a good close up look of it later thanks to the crowd that'll be gathered and... well, I think most people in Mountain Glenn would like to think of this as the biggest thing to see in the city. Not literally of course, but it's important to a lot of folks."

"Well I'm sure it'll look pretty fantastic if it's meant to be a monument to the entire event." Pyrrha gave a chipper remark as she smiled, the mood having lifted as, slowly but surely, they all broke through the crowd and finally got into the front of it all. As maneuvered around the horde of tourists and locals, they were greeted by a rather impressive sight: contrary to the statue at Beacon, the monument placed in the dead center of a wide open section of the city had a lot more oomph to it. The statues of Enji and Toshinori, while impressive in their own right, had fairly typical poses; the two of them lightly flexing or in some way looking strong while the fountain stood in the midst of them. The monument, for that really is what it was more than a statue, stood atop a lump of metal, roughly in the shape of some beast's carcass, likely that of the Goliath that had been slain in the video. The statue had one foot planted firmly on top, the motion of the moment clear; it was ascending to the top of the creature.

The statue hadn't posed its arms, per say; the arms were bent back and away from the front as several dozen other figures, barely defined but with enough detail to show that they were some mix of humans and Faunus, were on the statue's back, secured there by the arms of the giant of a man that had carried so many out of the devastation. If those details were left slightly diminished, as if to give room for onlookers to implant themselves onto the visages of the people, then Toshinori's actual statue was carved and placed in 'fine' detail. Every detail of his attire had been lightly carved into the statue and it was easy to tell the likeness of the man was spot on. Most importantly, it seemed, was the smile of the man; though a facsimile, it easily and greatly mimicked the cheerful smile of the man who had saved the city on that day.

The light of the city lightly bounced off the finish of the statue, giving it a presence, a shimmer, above the rest of the monument. At the base of the monument a huge number of letters, gifts and flowers had been placed, gifts meant for the Symbol of Peace himself as thanks for his part in having saved the city.

The fact that, even all these years later, that pile of letters, those gifts and those signs of gratitude and thanks were 'easily' reaching up to his knees before being taken away was as sure a sign as any that no one in Mountain Glenn had forgotten what they owed to the man depicted on that monument. To the Symbol of Peace. Their Hopes, their Dreams, their lives had been saved from a bitter end that day and, as cheesy as it might've sounded, it was hard to ever feel like the debt of having those things spared could ever be paid back.

Though clearly as more children laid down letters with hastily scrawled on addresses and adults left a variety of little odds and ends, Mountain Glenn wasn't above 'trying' to do so.

"Dang, does it usually get that piled up?" Nora remarked, watching somewhat greedily as she saw a few people dropping small tubs of baked goods at the foot of the monument, Ruby having joined in her hungry stare as she saw a bucket of cookies added to the pile. Kacchan just shrugged as he looked up at the man on the monument himself, the shining statue that stood at its center piece.

"Hell no... people just get sentimental this time of the year is all. You'll see some letters or some other pointless shit like that, but this is when it gets really crowded with junk."

"I don't suppose you've ever put something here then, have you?" Shoto asked, very flatly and genuinely curiously, hearing Bakugo's description. The explosive young man just scoffed as he looked off to the side.

"I have, I'm not some fuckin' ingrate after all."

"Could've fooled us..." Yang quietly muttered to herself, a glare having been earned from Kacchan while the others just watched for a bit.

"It is pretty nice looking. I'm kind of surprised; so much of the rest of this city seems pretty utilitarian. I'd expect to find an art display like this somewhere in Atlas, not Mountain Glenn." Weiss remarked as she placed a finger on her cheek, Lie Ren just having looked on at the monument as he gave a short smile.

"Hmmm. It's interesting. Material and men were put aside to design and build this thing right in the middle of the city, with a whole section of it pretty much cleared out for there to be space to gather around for it. Indeed, out of character for the rest of the city... but I think that just shows the depth of their gratitude."

"They thought saying thank you was important enough to push all other concerns out." Blake chuckled slightly as she combed hair behind her ear. "No wonder the Councils get annoyed with him; you don't see anyone building monuments like these to any of them."

"Well it looks pretty cool to boot. Makes the one back in Beacon look pretty... eh... by comparison." Ruby remarked as she placed her hands behind her head. Izuku nodded his head before turning back to the rest of his friends.

"Yeah and, well, I think that was by design. Toshinori's such a larger than life figure around here, everyone's put so much on his shoulders that it felt like we should give something back. At least, that's the way my mom told it." He scratched his cheek, his friends having all nodded in understanding before he heaved a light sigh. "Anyway, yeah, this is where we're going to meet back up around eleven. I'd say now is as good a time as any to break off and start taking in the city for ourselves." Everyone nodded in agreement as Kacchan just sighed.

"Welp, guess it's time to get this bullshit over with. Come on Runt, Icy-Hot..." Ren just blinked as it seemed Bakugou was trying to work a name through his head, before he just scoffed. "Whatever, let's just see the old hag and be done with it." The other three shrugged as Kacchan walked off, the whole lot of them having waved back as they followed.

"I think that's probably a good sign that we should go ahead and meet Miss Midoriya ourselves." Pyrrha remarked as his team gathered up quickly, the others just nodding understandingly.

"Sounds good. We'll go look for Team CFVY and see what they're up to. You all have fun now, you hear!" Yang lightly joked as she and Blake waved the four of them off. For the moment, they all had broken off into their separate ways though, with the way the night was going, it wouldn't be for too long.

a/n: Next update will be on July 1st as normal.