"Welcome, welcome, to the Ni Hao Nyan! Hunters get their meals half off as part of today's Holiday Celebrations! So to all our heroes, come and get your cheap food and enjoy the company of good looking girls 'ny-ow'!"
"... Thank the Gods we didn't bring Yang here. It'd be store-approved cat puns the entire time we're eating. I wouldn't want to lose my dinner over this." Blake muttered, her hand placed firmly on her forehead as she and the rest of them wandered into the store. Izuku, Blake, Pyrrha and Ren had all broken off to the Ni Hao Nyan, the restaurant that had been advertised on the train last week. While Izuku might've had dinner at his mom's already, he decided that it was probably an okay idea to go ahead and head here, considering how much Blake seemed like she was 'very' interested in the food being advertised at the store. Pyrrha had decided to join him, stuffed as she was from his mom's cooking, and Ren had come for a little taste of home himself.
"You really don't care for cats or cat puns do you?" Blake bristled a bit at Ren's blunt discernment of the situation, the black haired young woman just having sighed as she shook her head.
"No, it's... well okay, yes, I don't like cat puns, but cats... it's whatever." Blake muttered as she looked up at the menu, her amber eyes immediately having taken on a new shine to them as she saw the various dishes that were being advertised. "Let's just... let's just get some food. I think that'll take my mind off of it."
"Yes, I think that'd be good. Who knows, maybe I'll have a little desert to finish off Miss Midoriya's meal. A little taste of home to bring it all together." Pyrrha remarked brightly as they all took a seat at the counter. Immediately an older gentleman who one could only guess to be the chef, judging by his attire and the various stains on his apron, walked up to the counter, a wide smile on his face.
"Well hello there. Welcome to the Ni Hao Nyan, finest Mistrali food this side of the Grand Ocean. Name's Lee, happy to be of service to you on this day of all days. What can I... uh... hmmm." The gentleman before them, Lee, seemed to stop slightly in his tracks as he took notice of Pyrrha, the man's eyes opening ever so slightly wider as if he was trying to take her in. Pyrrha ducked her head off to the side for a moment, for all the good it did, as the man immediately gasped a bit as he gave her a bright smile.
"Well Hell, who'da thunk? 'The' Pyrrha Nikos coming into my restaurant to have a bite to eat? Gods' sake, that's an honor right there miss." Immediately quite a few people in shop took notice, their heads turning about as they all eventually find the small group.
"Hey yeah that is Pyrrha Nikos, who are those other kids with her?" One of the other customers muttered to a friend nearby, the four having momentarily gotten a bit uncomfortable from the entire display. However, all at once, he was pretty surprised as the guy sitting across from the fella slapped his upside the head.
"You idiot, isn't it obvious? if that's Pyrrha Nikos then those are some of the kids that were running around the UTF on the day of the attack!"
"Oh hey, you're right! I recognize the green haired kid from the paper last week!"
"Amber said that the black haired one was with Miss Nikos during most of the incident and saved her and some of her other colleagues."
"Oh yeah, I heard from John that the kid with the pink stripe in his hair had some crazy Semblance or other that kept 'em safe too." Soon enough the entire restaurant was whispering about the four of them, having taken their attention from solely on Pyrrha to being jointly shared between the group. Pyrrha especially seemed surprised, though the rest were pretty stunned by the recognition as well.
"Well I'll be damned, sounds like I just had a whole group'a heroes stumble into my establishment. How about that?" Izuku and Blake practically turned red at the description of the two as 'heroes', Blake having immediately tried to play it down while Izuku just couldn't help but smile and sheepishly scratch the back of his head. Ren, meanwhile, just seemed pretty well chuffed as he looked around, a slight smile on his face.
"O-Oh no, listen, we're not, or, I'm not... just, we were doing what we-"
"Well don't you four worry. You might be students but, far as I'm concerned, you all qualify for the special. Consider everything you buy here at the Ni Hao Nyan half off."
"... O-Oh! Well, I mean, if you insist." Blake's reluctance seemed to immediately vanish, which just caused Ren and Pyrrha and Izuku to chuckle a little.
"You 'really' like fish, huh Blake?"
"Oh hush and let me have this..." Blake muttered, seeming embarrassed even as her excitement was evident. Before long the owner of the establishment took their orders and, well, from there the evening devolved into some talking and some light dining. Izuku and Pyrrha had taken some desert just to have something to munch on with Ren and Blake, while the two of them dug into their own plates... or, two plates in Blake's case, as the black haired young woman seemed dead set on putting herself into a fish induced coma.
Izuku laughed a little as he looked between his friends. It had been a pretty good choice after all.
"You uncomfortable Pyrrha? I mean, I know that the whole celebrity thing... well..." Izuku quietly popped some of the desert in his mouth to push the rest of the sentence out. He didn't know how much Pyrrha would've wanted his talk from earlier in the week to get out among their friends, so he wanted to keep a bit subtle about it. Pyrrha just flinched a bit as she smiled back, a forced grin on her face.
"Oh Izuku, don't worry. I'm fine. I-It really doesn't bother me at all, I mean, what would-"
"You really aren't that subtle about it Pyrrha." His partner nearly jerked right off her seat as Ren suddenly interrupted her, the young man taking a moment to take the fish stew in front of him to drink from the broth. "Ah... it really is quite good... anyway, you don't have to put on airs Pyrrha or pretend you aren't bothered, we can tell."
"... That easy huh?"
"Eh like Ren says, you really aren't 'that' subtle about it." Blake remarked, a content sigh escaping her lips as she finished another piece of fish. "Sir... more?" The cook laughed as he nodded, preparing Blake another plate as Blake turned to look at Pyrrha. "Listen... I-we! We can like take this out instead of continuing to eat here if the attention really does bug you. We're all out here together, after all. It'd suck if you were the only one not enjoying yourself." Blake remarked in her usual dry tone as she waited for her fish to arrive, while Pyrrha just sighed.
"It's not that I'm not enjoying myself, I'm having a good time with you all... I'm just worried that all this attention might be a hassle." She looked at the rest of them. "I mean, we were just hanging out and then all of a sudden people just kind of started... well..." Pyrrha lightly swung her hand around, motioning to the people who were taking the odd picture of whispering about either Pyrrha or the rest. "I'm used to it by now, it's part of being out in public for me... I just worry that it... might feel bothersome for you all to be around me in that case."
"Pyrrha, we're not going to hold it against you that people started staring at us just because we were hanging out with you. Heck, you even heard them; they noticed who we were right after, so we probably would've been recognized ourselves eventually." Blake nodded as a fresh plate of well done fish had been placed in front of her.
"Besides, I'm not complaining about super cheap fish..." Blake blushed slightly at the enthusiasm that had momentarily overtaken her, coughing into her fist. "B-Besides, even if the attention's a bit bothersome, it'd be poor form of us to complain about it when you have to deal with it every day." Izuku nodded in agreement with Blake as he turned to face his partner.
"Pyrrha, we'd want to hang out with you no matter what because you're our friend. Famous or not, all these people pressing in or not, we'd prefer to have you here than have you not here just because some people might notice. You don't have to worry so much." With the three of you reassuring her at once, Pyrrha seemed to sigh in relief as she relaxed her shoulders. "But seriously, if the attention is bothering 'you' we can leave at any time."
"Thank you all... but no. This is a nice restaurant with a nice atmosphere. I don't want to leave just because of that. 'I'm' fine, I was just worried about you all." The three frowned skeptically at that but, when it became clear that Pyrrha wasn't going to bend, they all shrugged and went back to eating. Well, except Izuku who vaguely noticed Pyrrha whispering 'but thanks for asking, Izuku'.
He smiled and gave her a small shrug before turning back to his desert. Despite the attention, it really was a nice place to sit down and eat.
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Sure you want to do this Slugger? Test your strength against three 'very' strong young women? Jeez, brave guy right here, brave guy... or maybe you just want to impress us little ladies with how you've got muscles! Oooh~, muy macho!"
"Oh don't tease Deku like that. The little guy's gonna do his best and try to beat us! Sure, it might be in vein because well, good luck being stronger than me, but that's brave of him!"
"You two should be worried! Fearless leader can pull off all kinds of stuff when he puts his mind to it! Don't count him out just because we're all stronger than him without his Semblance!"
...
'Why did I think this was a good idea?' He sighed slightly as he realized that none of them were actually being mean. Yang was just teasing as usual, the girl giving him a slight, Cheshire grin as they all made their way over to the hammer and bell. Coco, meanwhile, just seemed to be treating him, as ever, like a kid sibling or something from her position as her senior. Nora? Nora meant well but, as usual, she was way too honest and unaware that most people would probably consider what she'd just said to be putting their foot in their mouth.
He couldn't exactly blame them though; he did pretty much walk face first into that by going up against three other people who he 'knew' for a fact were stronger than him without using One For All... and even if he did use One For All, he was fairly certain that Coco was still stronger than him. He pretty much walked into that game expecting to get creamed... but it just seemed like fun. It'd be a way for Nora to get to swing around a hammer and cause devastation without actually breaking anything, Yang would adore the opportunity to tease and poke at him while also getting to show off her own strength at what was a Fair game, essentially, and Coco? Coco would probably just think the attempt by a bunch of her juniors to beat her in a game of strength would be funny.
So everyone would enjoy themselves and, if he was being really honest, he had fun too. As embarrassing as being around those three in particular could be, especially to his pride, they were still pretty fun people to hang out with. Eventually the four of them walked up to the game of strength and... wow they really went all out. The general set up was the same; hammer, lever, bell, but the theme of the game of strength had really been stressed. Beside the back of the game was a wooden cutout of Toshinori, flexing his muscles as he grinned. A little speech bubble was cut out and placed next to his head as well: 'Can you best the All Mighty Huntsman? Pick up this hammer and GO BEYOND!'.
It was a fun looking game and a lot of guys, and even a good number of girls, were taking a crack at it. Most of them, the vast majority in fact, didn't even come close to hitting the bell, while others managed to hit it. As the four walked up, the man nodded at them all as he gestured.
"Come one, come all! The City of Mountain Glenn has graciously provided the funds for every man, woman and child in this city to get their turn on this here All Mighty Bell Test! If you ring the bell, you win a prize! Simple as that! The man muttered under his breath shortly after, coughing into his fist as he noticed the group walking up. "Well hey there, looks like we've got ourselves a fine little squad here! Ready to take your chances on this here machine?"
"You know it!" Yang declared, slamming her fists together.
"Oooh, we've got some fire here. Stand back everybody or you're liable to get burned!" Yang chuckled as she cracked her knuckles, the young woman walking up to grab the hammer as she did so. "Now little lady, just to be sure; Hunter's are permitted to perform, Gods know we'd be terrible people if we didn't let them try to win this game on their own holiday, but, well, if you do happen to happen to have a Semblance, go ahead and hold back on it."
"Wouldn't dream of cheating sir. Trust me, I get the same go around at Luna's Wonder Park."
"Ah, that trash pile. You know you should really go to Sol's Fair Grounds. Much better quality games, prizes and rides there, I'll tell you." Yang just rolled her eyes at the man before she brought the hammer up on her shoulder, the rest shortly falling in line behind her.
Yang gave a loud laugh as she swung the hammer behind her head and, with a great deal of power, slammed it into the lever of the Bell Test. The weight was flung up towards the bell and with a loud 'clang' the bell rang out for the entire crowd.
"Woah-ho-ho! That was a little too easy for you! A mighty little lady we seem to have, ladies and gents!" Yang just gave a bit of a holler as she flexed her arms, walking off to the side so that Nora could fall in behind her. Izuku just watched Nora silently giggle to herself as she picked up the hammer, tossing it around a bit as if trying to get a feel for it. Despite Nora's lackadaisical attitude as she swung the hammer, seeming more intent on making a bit of a show of it than of swinging as hard as she could, the weight was flung up the scale and struck the bell, signaling that Nora had won as well. "Well I'll be an Ursa's uncle ladies and gents, seems like we've got ourselves a small group of would be Toshinori's walking up to play our game today!" Nora just cackled as she high fived Yang, Coco having walked up to the little station next.
It wasn't even a surprise when Coco, with a hardy swing, manages to 'dent' the bell with the force of it, the young woman just giving herself a light round of applause to go along with the rest of the crowd. "Jeez! You lot are going to run us dry on prizes at this rate, can't wait to see what the last of ya manage to pull off!"
...
Okay, hat made him a little nervous. It would've been one thing if someone else had managed to not ring the bell, he'd have been fine with not ringing it then. He could have commiserated with them. Now though, now expectations were up as he took the hammer from Coco and slung it over his shoulder. He took a deep breath as he fiddled with his grip on the hammer, tightening it as he reared both arms back. 'I can do this, I can totally do this!'
With a great swing he slammed the hammer down on the lever and watched as the weight ended up scaling up towards the bell. For a moment, for a brief moment, it seemed like it was going to hit, that it was going to make it...
Only to stop 'just' barely short of it and slide on back down, the bell having remained silent.
"Oof. Tough luck there fella tough luck. Don't worry though, there's always next year." His head drifted down a bit at that, chuckling sheepishly as he set the hammer off to the side for someone else to pick up.
"Y-Yeah, next year." He gave a slight sigh at that. Being honest, he'd never actually won that game. He figured after all his training and his Aura that maybe he'd stand a chance that time... but eh, the guy was right. He did have next year to try again. He'd definitely be able to win then. Walking over to his friends you see that the trio of them are already picking out a prize. He was actually kind of relieved; it would've been pretty embarrassing for everyone involved; Yang and Coco probably would've felt a little bad about teasing him at that point and Nora? Well, Nora would've tried to reassure him in her usual way. It was best to just let the moment slink away and have the embarrassment go with it, he thought.
As he thought on his failed attempt, he listened to what his friends were contemplating as they looked through the shop.
"Hmmm... man, this is tricky. I mean, I know that Yatsu would just give his doll away to some girl in order to impress or win her over, so obviously I don't pick him... but do I pick on Fox by giving him this cute little plush doll to carry around for the rest of the festival or do I get the one for Velvet because she's actually going to enjoy it... such a hard choice..." Coco bit her thumb slightly as she looked between the two, Nora just having gotten right up beside the second year Team Leader as she nodded vigorously.
"I know right? So many options! I wish I could take all of these..." Nora glanced over to the stall runner who pointed to his two eyes and then back to Nora, causing the girl to chuckle nervously as she went back to scanning over the crowd of toys. Izuku sighed slightly as he shook his head. He'd made some pretty ridiculous friends over the course of these past... well, nearly two months now that he thought about it. Still, they were his friends and he might as well get in there to help them out a little bit. So, with as smile he stepped forward, about ready to either help Nora pick something out or to tell Coco to just get something nice for Velvet.
That was, up until a curtain of blonde hair ended up right in front of him, the slight momentum that had dragged most of the hair in front of the person underneath it giving way so that he could see Yang Xiao Long as she plopped something into his arms, the pair of them having suddenly cradled to catch whatever it was she put in there, as she looked at him with a wide grin.
"Here ya go Slugger, don't worry about not winning a prize this time around; Yang's got your back. Fair's... Fair, right? Eh, eh?" He was stunned for a moment, having been surprised by Yang just having suddenly gotten in front of him out of the blue like that, as he glanced down at what she'd put in his arms, pun momentarily ignored.
Placed into his arms was a stuffed doll of the Symbol of Peace himself, Toshinori Yagi, mid-flex and with that cheerful smile stitched painstakingly into his face. It was slightly plushy, most likely with cotton having filled the inside of it, but the likeness to Toshinori was still uncanny. It was pretty big too; not huge but big enough that it did fit snug into his arms. A slight bit of red dusted his cheeks as the entire situation crashed down on him... a girl... a girl had just gotten him a gift.
'I JUST GOT A GIFT FROM A GIRL! A FRIEND SURE BUT STILL YANG WAS AN ATTRACTIVE GIRL WHO GOT ME A GIFT!'
Before the thought could get too far away from him, it was 'Yang' after all and he knew her well enough to know that if he showed how giddy or embarrassed that made him then she would tease him to no end. So, looking to at least keep some of his ground, he coughed into his fist as he sheepishly scratched his cheek.
"T-T-Thanks Yang, I really appreciate it. This is really cool... but... well, is it fair? I mean, I think the one I won at Luna's Wonder Park was a little bigger, right?" Yang snorted slightly, bringing a fist up to her lip to help squelch a laugh in the making as she just continued to smile.
"You know what Slugger? That's a fair point. Still, I think you of all people would consider the possibilities here."
"... What do you mean?" Yang just grinned as she leaned forward slightly, causing him to back away a bit.
"I mean, you of all people would know that no matter how small the package is-" He frowned slightly as Yang hovered a hand over the top of his head, the gesture combined with her leaning to meet him at eye level reminding him that Yang was still pretty much taller than him, "-that 'big' surprises can still wait inside." He blushed slightly, coughing a bit as Yang gave him a wink and leaned back, walking away as she laughed a little at his expense... well, not 'at his expense', but still!
The people who 'were' laughing at his expense, however, seemed to be Nora and Coco, each having picked out a prize; a little frog on Nora's part a rabbit on Velvet's, as they chuckle at him. Eventually, Nora leaned over and, in an attempt at a whisper, broke the tension.
"... What are we laughing at, by the way?" Nora asked, causing Coco to roll her eyes.
"Poor, poor innocent Nora. You don't know better... and poor, sweet innocent Deku. That's a nice little gift you got. Not often you see that trope turned around." Izuku blushed as Coco ran off after Yang, Nora just shrugging as she walked beside him while the two went to catch up with the others.
"... Why did you pick up a frog, Nora?"
"Well, for one, it seems sad that Tsuyu wouldn't get a chance to hang out with all of us, so I thought it'd be cool if we got her something to commemorate the day."
"Wow Nora, that's really nice of you! What made you think of doing that for her?" At that, Nora gave a wry grin.
"Yang's pun did... speaking of, 'for two'-" With that Nora reeled back her arm and threw the plush doll Yang's way, -"'RIBBIT RIBBIT'!" Nora did her best impression of Tsuyu which, to be frank, wasn't 'too' bad considering Tsuyu's usual monotone as the plush doll lightly bumped into the back of Yang's head. Still, it managed to get a response out of Yang who immediately ducked down, covering the back of her head.
It turned out to be a pretty good time, all things considered.
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Jeez, you weren't kidding, this place got really crowded 'really' fast!" Ruby whined a bit as the crowd of people all shimmied and moved around their little group, bumping into them all occasionally as they all filtered into the town square. Thousands upon thousands of children were holding hands or otherwise being held with adults who sought to not lose them in the crowd, and people of all ages had gathered into place. Some were those old enough to remember the very day the holiday had been meant to commemorate itself, while others, like himself, had only ever been old enough to see videos of it on the CCT. Man or woman, human or Faunus, young or old, all had gathered into the town square of Mountain Glenn in order to see the night's grand finale. The way everyone was spaced out hadn't much helped with the room problem; the crowd had mostly been forced to make a half-circle on the opposite side of Toshinori's statue, the monument to the Symbol of Peace having its back face the grand, lit-up mountains that had given the city its name.
"Yeah, I was expecting a crowd but... jeez, I can't even see the street a long ways back." Yang quickly stood up on the tips of her toes to check the fact, the girl's face shifting into a frown as a several taller individuals had been placed periodically in the crowd behind her, blocking her view all the more.
"So I'm guessing this isn't just going to be fireworks then? I mean, everyone would still be able to see fireworks but, well-" Weiss pointed out the various screens that had been set up on the sides of buildings, and on top of the smaller ones, on the various streets leading up to the town square, a low hum coming from each of them as it seemed power had been connected to them.
"Yeah, that's right." Kacchan answered a bit curtly as he scratched at his neck a bit, though Izuku followed up with an eager nod.
"The event's gotten so huge year after year that they have been necessary for a while now... lucky us, we got here early enough to actually get to see everything up close." He couldn't help the excited smile that came over his features as he practically bubbled; the best part of the night was coming, the exciting climax. He couldn't help but feel giddy!
"Awww, look at how excited you are Deku! You could power half this city just by yourself with all that fidgeting around." Izuku blushed as Coco teased you slightly, Velvet having pretty firmly parked herself between her partner, Yatsu and Fox while the crowd smothered in around them all, clearly nervous at so many people being around.
"Hmmm... he's not the only one. The excitement in the air is almost palpable." Shoto offered in a neutral, off-handed manner, to which Ren only offered a nod of agreement.
"Yeah! So come on Fearless Leader, spill the beans! What's gonna happen!? You can't just leave us all in the dark like this! We'll go positively crazy if we have to sit in anticipation for a moment longer!" Nora was practically jittering, the bubbly bomber having practically fed off of the crowd's excitement and anticipation.
"I wouldn't go that far." Blake offered, her book firmly in her pocket as her amber eyes glanced about the crowd.
"Still, I would hazard to say that most of us 'are' curious." Pyrrha offered, everyone else having nodded as Izuku just smiled slightly. Before he could speak, it began; the various lights in the buildings surrounding them all went dark. For blocks and blocks around, the City of Mountain Glenn went dark, with only a few here and there to keep the crowd lightly illuminated. Following that, the various lights that had shined on the side of the Mountains finally dimmed as well, the color that had been painted against the white, snowy backdrop having faded away.
"Oooh it's starting! You all will see soon enough!" His friends all clammed up, even Nora, as they all looked around. They took notice of how most of the crowd was looking a large building just behind the monument to Toshinori and, without much other guidance, their eyes fall there as well. However, tonight proved to be a surprise even to him and the citizens who had been there year after year. As, instead of the expected, sudden arrival of Toshinori from the top of the building, the lights went up on the Mountain again. The colorful display had been rather new that year and, while it had looked nice, it hadn't really taken up much of his imagination.
However, as the Mountain was lit up again, the white snow shimmering slightly as various lights were shone upon it, he felt his breath being stolen away, especially as the audio began to play.
Fire cracked and roared as a roaring inferno dominated much of the side of the mountain. Buildings crushed and demolished as the screams of the imperiled and threatened were heard playing. The bodies of Grimm, numbering in the sheer hundreds, littered the streets. People were standing around those dissolving bodies, their expressions awash in a mix of awe, fear and disbelief.
"W-Who is he? The guy's already saved at least a hundred people and it hasn't even been ten minutes!"
A man, wide-eyed and looking for all the world that even 'he' thought he'd lost his mind was briefly seen as the scenes went on. Suddenly, a 'huge' impact burst into the audio, an explosion of sound and force having taken place 'waaaay' away from whatever angle the camera had been held at. For a moment, people panicked as they ran and then, mere seconds later, something big, something 'huge' crashed into the frame. As the dust settled and the people worked their way back towards the thing that had crashed so suddenly, there was an audible gasp; a Goliath. Its tusks have been shattered and the skull plating that protected its head had been caved in and destroyed. The beast itself, one of the most powerful known Grimm, was dissipating before everyone's eyes.
Before the next line was even spoken, Izuku knew what that video was; he'd watched it nearly every day when he was a kid after all.
"T-This is... this is crazy! I can't believe it!"
At the height of that uncertainty, at the height of the emotion of the crowd... Izuku saw it. Slowly clambering over the Goliath's corpse... that stack of injured people, held aloft by a powerful pair of shoulders.
At that most dire moment... a Hero had arrived.
"HAAAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAAAA! HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAAAA!"
"LOOK, HE'S GOT MORE!"
With a mighty stomp, the man who would be known from that day forward as the All Mighty Huntsman, The Symbol of Peace and Hope, was plain to see on the video camera. Nearly a dozen people, Faunus and Human alike, were either held in one of his arms or were hanging onto his neck, their bodies weary and injured and yet still 'very much alive'. A slight trickle of blood, the only visible sign of injury on the man, oozed down his temple as Toshinori Yagi spoke with that booming voice of his which echoed throughout the various speakers set up for the crowd in the back as well as for the main square.
"Fear not citizens, Hope has arrived!"
It would've been the perfect moment... had it not been for a slight 'whistling' sound Izuku heard in his ears. Before he could even question it, a 'huge' impact suddenly slammed into the middle of the town square, a few dozen feet in front of the statue, as a cloud of smoke was kicked up from the impact. For a brief moment, everyone flinched away; when their gazes had returned, smiles were abound. For from that smoke and debris rose the very man himself, dressed in the same garb that he had worn on that very day. The smile on his face perfectly matched both the visage of the monument behind him and the wide, shining grin that was displayed on the side of the mountain. Then, and only then, did his mentor speak.
"BECAUSE I AM HERE!" The voice proudly declared, both from the speakers and from the man himself, as the crowd around them 'lost their minds'. A roar of applause and cheers rang out, banners and flags being waved about as, slowly but surely, the video displayed on the side of the mountain gave way to a series of hues; Yellow, Red, Blue and White, the colors that marked the Symbol of Peace himself. Toshinori just belted out his signature laugh, his smile evident as he waved at the crowd, the man's head looking round and round as if he was taking care to try to make eye contact with every member of the audience gathered here tonight. For several minutes the raucous cheering and hollering continued as, after a while, a man with a microphone quickly stepped forward from the crowd, offering the device to Toshinori. With an appreciative nod, the Symbol of Peace took the microphone and began to address the crowd.
"It is good to see you again, Mountain Glenn." A loud cheer erupted again as Toshinori just waved, waiting for the energy to subside as the crowd, and with baited breath, they stopped and waited for the man of the hour to speak. "You know... whenever I come to Mountain Glenn, I am 'always' met with new surprises. Not just from the new sights that there always seems to be in this city; although, it does seem like every time I turn around, some new family or a new business has moved into this growing settlement, brought here by the promise that this city holds and what it represents. I remember a few years ago when the first skyscraper started to go up in Mountain Glenn, the first the city had seen ever since the Grimm's attack. I was taken aback for a moment; it was as sure a sign as any that Mountain Glenn had come a long way."
Izuku remembered that year; when the skyscraper had finished, Toshinori had made his entrance off of it; diving off the very top of it before making his debut. Apparently he wasn't the only one; another light roar of prideful applause and cheers rose up through the ranks of Mountain Glenn's citizens before again they went silent.
"However, I find that there's something like that every time I come back. Some new building which catches my eye, a business which shows promise in its drive to thrive... a person who gives me new insight into what it means to be a Hero." Izuku couldn't help but choke a bit as, he swore, Toshinori's eyes somehow found his amidst the crowd, the man's smile widening before he turned to the rest of the gathered citizens. "This... this is what I think is truly special about Mountain Glenn. What makes this city the way it is. I go around and I hear people tell me that Mountain Glenn is the way it is only because of me... and well, as much as I'd like to take credit for it, I'm afraid that I can't accept it."
"Oh come on Toshi!" There's a slight wave of disapproval from the crowd at that as the Symbol of Peace just laughed and shook his head.
"No, I'm quite serious. I am not the man who has made Mountain Glenn the Symbol it is. I am not responsible for what you people represent to the entirety of Remnant." The crowd went silent as Toshinori Yagi pointed a finger to the mountain behind him. "Over three decades ago now, the people of Vale dared to hope; they dared to believe that the peace and prosperity that Humanity and Faunuskind had known generations before was not the last to be seen here in this world. That through effort and determination that we two species had in ourselves a potential to drive our light into the darkness around us and to shine forth for all the world to see. To show that the Grimm had not pushed us back forward into our contained spaces... but rather, that they had merely temporarily impeded our dreams and our desire to live our lives to the fullest."
"In one moment, the Grimm sought to challenge that. In one moment, the Grimm sought to destroy that hope... and yes, for that moment, I was there to ensure they could not succeed. However, I was merely the hero of a moment, a singular man at a singular time who made a difference. I could not make the people of Mountain Glenn stay in their city, where fear might've otherwise dictated that their town, their hopes and dreams, be abandoned in the name of safety." Toshinori's smile grew again, his teeth shining in the low light as he raised a singular finger toward the sky.
"Yet in that moment, and for all the moments to come, the people of Mountain Glenn made themselves not just the heroes of their hopes and dreams, but of the hopes and dreams of All People across Remnant! For as much as I might assure people that 'I m here', Mountain Glenn, you have assured them of so much more! That we, Humans and Faunus alike, stand strong against the shadows that creep at our doorsteps. That we will not fade away into obscure nothingness! That our hopes and dreams, the hopes and dreams of those who came before us and those who will come long after, are worth fighting for with every last scrap of our strength! You have inspired the people of Vale to live outside the walls of their city for the first time in many centuries, you have inspired the men and women of Atlas to rise to the occasions that they know they can and have made brave men and women of Mistral and Vacuo who may have settled for less, who may have settled for the shadows!"
"That is why I am here now Mountain Glenn, and why I have returned every year since that day! To remind the world of what you mean to them, of what your struggles and successes mean! The world may call my Alma Mater 'Beacon', but if you ask me, there is no greater light that shines in all of Remnant than this city. Why?" With that, Toshinori pointed to the crowd and, presumably, a camera as various screens showed him pointing directly at it. "Because what you assure to the world, what you declare with every singular moment of your existence, is that 'We are here'!"
The applause and cheers roared over the crowd as Toshinori finished, the man of the hour just laughing again as he waved to the people, his smile planted firmly on his face.
"Tonight has been an amazing night Mountain Glenn, and we're only 'just' getting to the good part. So remember, for the sake of yourselves, for the sake of Vale and for the sake of Remnant: to GO BEYOND!"
"PLUS ULTRA!"
With that, Toshinori tossed the microphone back into the crowd and, as the crowd roared out his signature phrase, The Symbol of Peace and Hope rocketed into the air with a single bound, his body soaring across the light up Mountain as, in the very next moment, a volley of fireworks exploded in the night sky behind him, lighting up his visage as he soared through the air. The crowd cheered and hollered and roared as fireworks exploded across the night sky, lighting up the dimmed city as everyone turned their eyes upward both to watch as Toshinori leapt away and as the party really ramped up into its final moments. Izuku could 'hear', even over the cheers and the fireworks, Nora whooping and hollering as she shook someone, presumably Ren, as Izuku's friends all turned their eyes to the night sky, their eyes variously wide with awe and smiles firmly planted on all of their faces. For the briefest of moments he could swear he even saw Bakugou crack a slight grin, though that was quickly squashed in and of itself.
When the fireworks would fade and the people would begin to depart, they all would need to make their way back to the train station. The airbus to Beacon would stay open later given the Festival but it wouldn't stay so for long. As his friends excitedly talked about the night, or most of them, though even Shoto, Blake and Ren seemed relatively buzzed by the evening, Izuku couldn't help but smile.
Not just because tonight was amazing... but because one day, he would be the one to stand before the people of Remnant and reassure them as Toshinori had.
It terrified Izuku…
But at the same time…
'I've never been more excited in my entire life!'