The Value of a Hobby
Hello everyone and welcome to the beginning of the short but still fun U.A. festival arc. No guest reviews this week so that means we can get right into the story!
U.A: Class 1A
The days seemed to go by in a blur at the hero training school and before anyone had even really registered it, September was over along with any traces of summer as October began to bring its familiar cold temperatures. Not that Clay really noticed given the recent happenings such as going to Nighteye's funeral with All Might and the other heroes, finishing up their work studies at the hero agencies and staying after school for extra lessons to insure they were at least close to caught up with everyone. Though that last one was getting to be less of a problem as the hero agencies and the school decided it was best to wait a bit and see how things turned out after such a dangerous mission.
Centipeder was now leading the Nighteye Agency and awaited Togata's return somewhat excitedly. On the brighter side of things, Eri had finally regained consciousness and her fever had gone down. The horn on her head had also decreased in size with the lessening of her fever, meaning the stored energy she'd had was likely used up. But the doctor's still insisted on caution, saying her quirk could go out of control at any time and thus, no visitors could be allowed as of yet.
Even if all of that hadn't been weighing on Clay's mind, however, he could still say one thing definitively as Ectoplasm finished writing the latest equation for them to solve. He still hated math, and finding integrals was one of the reasons. And this particular question seemed to stump most of the class as well, even giving pause to Slade, Momo and Midoriya, the three smartest students in class. Clay couldn't agree with Tokoyami more on this particular one, it was a question of the darkness.
A darkness that Izuku thought he was ready to face as he raised his hand. "107/14!" He declared.
"Incorrect," responded Ectoplasm immediately before turning his attention to Slade and Momo who'd raised their hands at the same time.
"107/28!" The two declared as soon as they were called upon.
"That is correct," affirmed Ectoplasm. 'I think my brain's gonna short circuit like Kaminari's today,' the cloud wielder thought with a sigh as the class turned to the next page. 'Still strange that Midoriya missed the question though. Guess I'll ask him about it as soon as class is done.' At least that had been the plan, until a certain alien girl drew the class's attention as soon as the teacher was gone.
"Hey guys, check this out!" Said Mina happily as she began, break dancing? Rather skillfully Clay noted as he and everyone else gathered around.
"My, she must've practiced quite extensively to put on such a performance," said Aoyama.
"But why is she wearing shorts under her ski-GAAAAH!" The annoying grape boy, Mineta, was thankfully silenced by Hagakure pounding on his head with her invisible hands.
"When are you going to learn to stop being such a creep!" she exclaimed.
"You know come to think of it," said Midoriya as he jotted a few things down in his notebook, "Ashido's dance skills could prove quite effective in close combat."
"You know it," said Mina as a mischievous smirk crossed her features, "Clay, help me, DEMONSTRATE!" The cloud boy just barely reacted in time as he leapt over his classmate's leg before backing away to avoid her next assault.
"Mina what the heck?!" Questioned Clay as he dodged, sidestepped and dived right over the pink girl's next few attacks, "We're in the classroom, save the sparring for the gym."
"Fight, fight, fight, fight," said Slade sarcastically until Momo jabbed him with her elbow. "Sorry I meant, dance, dance, dance, dance."
"You are not helping," remarked Clay as he blocked the next set of kick attacks from his classmate before pushing back. Amazingly, Mina actually used the momentum to flip over and land perfectly on both feet.
"Tada! And that's the value of being a good dancer," she said with her trademark Ashido grin.
"A bit more advanced warning next time," said Clay as he dusted off his school uniform.
"Ah come on, ya need to learn to be spontaneous every now and then," replied Mina as she continued to move back and forth to a rhythm that only she could hear.
"Maybe I should learn some dance moves," said Midoriya. Whether or not his statement was meant to be heard, no one knew. But Mina heard it alright.
"Alright then, why don't you show me what you got," said Mina, her more mischievous smile returning as she stretched her arms.
"Uh yeah, please teach me," said Izuku nervously.
"Just a word of warning," said Clay, "She's surprisingly strict about this sort of stuff." This didn't help his friend's nervousness as Mina started with a simple two step move where one moved forward and back, left and right while swinging their arms. The main thing was simply to stay loose throughout the whole move. Which Midoriya and Aoyama were anything but as they either jerked from side to side or did a poor imitation of the robot.
"This kind of reminds me of how Sato uses his baking skills," noted Kaminari, "it's a hobby that also helps him with his heroing stuff. Come to think of it, don't you have a hobby like that Jirou?"
"How should I know?" Asked Jirou, wondering where he was going with this.
"Come on, your entire room looks like a recording studio," Kaminari pointed out, "even I can tell that music is basically your whole life after seeing it."
"Oh will you drop it you moron," said Jirou, a bit more forcefully this time.
"But you could really do something with that passion," said Kaminari, "Start a jam session or some-ah." He was stopped midsentence by one of Jirou's earphone jacks coming up just short of jabbing his face.
"Just forget what you saw in there," she says dangerously before walking back to her seat in the classroom.
"W-what in the world was that all about," said Kaminari as he glanced back and forth in confusion.
"She's a little touchy about her hobbies," said Slade as he walked by, "try not to mention it in public." All other conversation ceased then as everyone rushed to their seat just before Aizawa entered the room, still wrapped in his trademark yellow sleeping bag.
"I imagine you're all well aware," said Aizawa after taking his position behind the podium, "the school festival is coming."
"NORMAL SCHOOL STUFF!" Cheered a majority of the class. And for once, Clay visibly relaxed at the thought. 'I'm usually not one for those sorts of things, but after the time we've had recently maybe something like this won't be so bad,' he thought.
"Are we even sure this is a good idea Mister Aizawa," said Kirishima suddenly as he stood up.
"Hey are you trying to ruin this Kirishima," whispered Kaminari.
"But think about it for a second," argued the red-haired boy, "villains are everywhere right now."
"A reasonable point," said Aizawa, "but you need to take into account that there are other students who need this time. While the hero course gets the sports festival, the general studies, business and support course's time to shine is during the festival. Obviously it doesn't grab as much attention but every student in those courses still looks forward to it. With the implementation of the dorm system and other recent events, many of the students are more than a little stressed out due to the happenings with the hero course."
"I guess when you look at it that way, it's a bit unfair to cancel it," said a slightly somber Kirishima as he sat back down.
"That's correct," said Aizawa, "so it's still going to be put on and with luck, everyone will be able to enjoy it. Though it will only be open to U.A. students and staff this year as opposed to past festivals, with a few exceptions. But even if your class isn't the focus this time you still need to do your part. Now I don't care what you decide to do, just get it done toda-." Their sensei had been leaning on the wall and sliding down it the more he talked until finally, he'd fallen asleep.
"And he's out," said Clay, voicing everyone else's thoughts, "It's Christmas dinner all over again." Fortunately, Iida and Momo both stepped up to the teacher's podium to take over.
"Alright, as class representative it is my duty to facilitate the process from this point on!" Exclaimed Iida in his usual loud authoritative voice. "Now our first order of business is a quick brainstorming session so if anyone has any ideas raise your hand now." And that's when chaos erupted as nearly every hand in the class went up, followed by a chorus of 'pick me pick me', 'I've got an idea', and a few who were yelling their ideas without even waiting to be called on. "Alright one at a time, please!"
Iida then proceeded to call on each student in turn who gave out their ideas. And there were a lot of them. Maid café, mochi shop, funhouse, arm wrestling, grapery, disco, the expected hero quiz from Midoriya, frog song, a petting zoo, there were plenty of ideas to go around. Even some of the more reserved students had ideas like Todoroki's suggestion of a Soba shop. Clay was admittedly curious when he heard Tokoyami's suggestion of a mad banquet of darkness.
Eventually, all of the ideas were collected and written on the board. The list was then quickly narrowed down after cutting out anything deemed inappropriate, impossible or just plain confusing. But even then there were still too many. "If I have to wear a giant mascot suit of any kind, I'm not doing it," Clay said offhandedly.
"I don't see what the big deal is," said Slade, "your Uncle is the master of the walking sleeping bag."
"If you want me walking around in one I'll be dead asleep on the floor too," Clay pointed out. He would've said more but the discussion on what to do for the festival had gotten louder and louder until even Iida couldn't keep order. And just as it seemed like it would devolve into yelling, the class bell rang.
"Well that was a highly unproductive discussion," said Aizawa who was somehow out of his sleeping bag and next to the door in an instant, "decide what you'll do by tomorrow morning or we'll go with my own idea: a public lecture." He said it with such menace in his voice that it almost sounded like he was threatening torture, which this could almost pass for.
U.A. Class 1A: Extra Classes Time
"So do you guys have any ideas for what we should do for the school festival," asked Uraraka as she and the rest of the raid team students worked on their school work. Aizawa had already given them the lesson and now was one of the rare moments where he left the room while they were working on the class assignment.
"We could do a pool extravaganza," suggested Slade, "though I might make a few people mad if we did."
"Wow, are you hiding a secret swimming talent?" Questioned Uraraka with a curious tilt of her head.
"He means the game 'Pool'," explained Clay, "ya know, knock some balls into holes with long sticks Pool?"
"The one good thing about these study sessions is that Mineta's not here," quipped Tsuyu, "imagine the field day he would've had with that statement?"
"Good work on bagging him during class earlier by the way," said Slade. Tsuyu gave a smug smile, or the best she could of one, and a quick ribbit.
"I wish we could do something hero-related," said Midoriya as he scratched his head in thought, "but that doesn't really narrow it down much."
"And it seems a little redundant given that we learn Heroing 101 every day," commented Clay, "though I'd almost pay to see Ectoplasm's reaction to Slade walking around dressed as him."
"He has already done so, actually," said Tokoyami, speaking his first words since their lesson had started, "with it now being October and Halloween fast approaching, he decided to ask the man himself about the costume he'd been working on. Ectoplasm sensei's face was as stoic as ever throughout their whole conversation."
"Are you kidding me," said Clay, "when were you going to tell me this? If I'd known you were working on a costume I'd-." The sound of the door opening silenced all further conversation as Aizawa walked back in.
"Alright everyone," he said, "Get ready to turn your papers in. Oh, and Clay and Midoriya, I just got word from the hospital concerning Eri."
"Is she alright?!" Midoriya almost leapt out of his seat as Clay found himself listening much more intently.
"She's doing fine physically, don't worry," said their teacher, "but she's been wanting to see the both of you and Togata. It's been her only request since she woke up so we've decided to oblige her at least this once."
"Thank you sir!" Said Izuku with a bow, "I promise we won't cause any trouble while we're there."
"I know you won't," said Aizawa, "because I'll be there with you in case her quirk goes out of control again. So be sure you're on your best behavior."
"Don't have to worry about that," said Clay, "at least this one time, I'm gonna try to be good with a kid."
The Next Day: Local Hospital
As it turned out, the reports had been rather accurate about Eri's condition. Her horn was pretty much a bump on her head now and whatever energy she had before was pretty much gone, so the chances of her quirk going out of control were relatively slim. It didn't mean precautions weren't taken as Aizawa stood by the door with a nurse and the doctor, keeping an eye on the girl and the three U.A. students. But they didn't let that bother them as Mirio happily cut and peeled several apple slices into the shape of little rabbits.
But Eri was a little more concerned with something else at the moment as she finally spoke. "I've been thinking," she said, "even when I had a fever, I couldn't help but remember everything you'd done for me, how you saved my life. But I only know Lemillion's name, I don't know what to call either of you. What are your names?"
"Oh, I'm Izuku Midoriya," replied the green-haired boy, "and my hero name is Deku."
"Clay Cero," answered the cloud wielder, "I go by Cirrus while on hero duty."
"Hero name?" Repeated Eri, "what is that exactly?"
"You could say it's like a nickname of sorts," explained Midoriya. Clay thought about pointing out that it was more like a work name, but he figured they'd keep it simple this time around.
"Deku, Cirrus, Lemillion," Eri tried each name out, "and then there was the man with the glasses. All of you got hurt because of me, pretty badly." Clay frowned a bit at that. The girl was still blaming herself for what happened. It'd been a wise move not telling her about Nighteye's passing. "I'm so sorry, it was all my fault. If you hadn't been protecting me Lemillion, you'd still have your power-."
Mirio made the first move then, putting a reassuring hand on her head. "Eri," he said, "Not a single one of us thinks what happened is your fault, I guarantee it. Instead we're all thinking 'thank goodness Eri is okay.' So you don't need to apologize. Everyone fought their hardest because we wanted to see you smile."
Eri seemed to understand somewhat as Mirio sat back down, before she started pulling on her face. "This sounds silly when I say it out loud," she said, "but I think I forgot how smiling feels." 'I wonder who we have to blame for that,' thought Clay as he hid his clenched fist, before opening his hand back up and forming a small shape with his clouds. The next thing Eri knew, a grey cat made out of Clay's clouds was perched on her head and tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"That's an easy enough thing to fix," said Clay after calming himself a bit, "you just need to find something that makes you feel warm and fuzzy on the inside again." He then moved the cat down to her lap as the girl looked at it curiously.
"Nice trick," said Mirio, "I should've thought of bringing an animal along."
"Cats are loved by just about everyone," said Clay, "even by sensei back there. By the way, Persia acked another hairball in the kitchen again."
"She's just expressing her displeasure at not being home," said Aizawa in his usual monotone.
"Actually that gives me an idea," said Midoriya as he got up and jogged over to their teacher, "do you think it'd be possible for Eri to leave the hospital for a day Mr. Aizawa?"
"It's not completely out of the question," admitted Clay's Uncle.
"Then I might have an idea that'll bring her spirits up," said Izuku excitedly.
"And what might that be?" Questioned Aizawa, actually seeming to express a bit of interest in this particular topic.
"She should come with us to the U.A. school Festival," declared Midoriya.
"Oh that's the best idea ever!" Cheered Togata as he turned back to Eri.
"What's a festival?" Asked Eri as she was scratching the ears of the cloud cat. It didn't feel furry, per se, but its cushiony body was soft to the touch, like running one's hand through a strange rug or carpet.
"It's a place where you can have all kinds of fun!" exclaimed Togata, "The festival is put on by the students at our school and they put together all kinds of things for the rest of the class to have fun with. There's all kinds of games, performances, and food like candy apples!"
"Candy apples?" Repeated Eri, clearly never having heard of the sweet treat.
"They make them by dipping an apple into this creamy, sugary stuff to make it taste even sweeter than it already is," explained Mirio.
"You can make them, even sweeter?" Said Eri, sounding actually interested.
"Well it looks like it's at least worth talking it over with the principle," said Aizawa as he pulled out his phone and began typing on it.
"Thank you Sir!" Said Midoriya as he turned back to the blue-haired girl excitedly. "What do you think Eri, does it sound fun?"
"Well a minute ago," said Eri, "I was sad because I didn't know your name or what to do. If I'm being honest, more than anything, I want to be friends with all of the people who helped me."
"Then that settles it," said Mirio, "we just need to convince the principal now. I'm already on a break from school, so I can definitely hang out with you before our festival date."
"Date?" Said Eri, again tilting her head in confusion as Clay directed the cloud cat onto her shoulder.
"It's when two people who like each other spend time tog-AAH!" Mirio was interrupted as the cloud cat leapt onto his face, digging its 'claws' into his head.
"You'd best be a bit more specific in that explanation," said Clay, "she'll get the wrong idea if you don't tell her the difference between a 'date' and just 'hanging out'."
"Maybe we should call it a day," said Midoriya with a sweat drop.
That Night: U.A. Heights Alliance
The funny thing about plans sometimes is, on occasion they tend to change without one's say so. In this instance, Clay had just returned to the dorm with everyone else and, after a quick detour to get a drink from the fridge, had planned to head upstairs and get some rest. That's when things hit a slight snag. "Hey, uh Clay," said Jirou as she suddenly came walking into view, "do you, have time to talk?"
"I suppose so," replied the U.A. student as he turned to his friend, "is something bothering you?"
"It'd be easier to explain in my room," said Jirou as she tapped her earphone jacks together. Clay knew that nervous tick of hers, but he was at a loss for why she'd be embarrassed. So with a shrug the cloud wielder followed his friend up to her sound studio styled room and sat down at what had become something of his customary spot on the keyboard bench.
"Alright," he said, "what's got you so nervous that you need to talk about it here?"
"Well we, managed to pick what the class is gonna do for the festival," explained Jirou, "a music and dance show."
"It beats the ever living out of a public lecture," said Clay, "but why's that make you nervous?"
"I sort of agreed to do the music half," said Jirou, "it's gonna be a live performance in front of the whole school."
"Are you telling me you get, stage fright?" Said Clay with a raised eyebrow, "You've got no problem playing for us during our jam sessions or for some of the other girls in the class. And given some of the actual life or death situations we've been in this seems like it should be a cake walk."
"I know, it's just," Jirou sighed, "music's always been a part of my life, and even though I want to be a hero it's still my favorite hobby. But today, everyone told me I can make people smile with it."
"You make us smile," said Clay, "some of the most fun I have outside of school is jamming out with you, Slade and Momo."
"But I can't use it for hero work," said Jirou, "Sato bakes sweets because his quirk needs sugar and Kota can talk to animals so it only makes sense that he'd take care of them. Mina's dancing keeps her athletic and she's even used it a few times to help her fight. But how would I stop a villain with a nice guitar solo?"
"What villain am I gonna stop with a keyboard riff," countered Clay, "we've dedicated ourselves to being heroes, but that doesn't mean every single facet of what we do has to relate to it. In fact I think it's actually a little unhealthy to center the entirety of one's life around one thing. Look at All Might, he dedicated his entire life to being the number one hero and now that he's retired, he's doing what he can here at U.A. while reading books titled 'Teaching for Dummies' and the like."
"Yes I did see that," said Jirou with a slight giggle, "It's still weird to think he could go from buff to skinny like that."
"And now he's got tons of free time and no idea what to do with it outside of school," said Clay, "so he's probably picking up lots of hobbies now. You see the thing about hobbies is they don't have to be useful, they're for you and whoever you decide to share them with. As you know I play the keyboard because it helps me relax more than anything and the assistance with my concentration is just a bonus."
"It's a stress reliever," realized Jirou, "which is kind of what we're going for in all of this. And they do say music is good for the soul."
"And this whole festival is supposed to be fun anyway," Clay pointed out, "hero stuff doesn't have to be involved. In fact, you could say this is one of the few times where we let the heroic stuff take a day off."
"When you put it like that it sounds," Jirou tried to think of the right words.
"Like a perfect time to show off a hobby," offered Clay, "and you already know where to find a good keyboarder if you need one."
"Yeah, I appreciate it Clay," said Jirou as she hit her face a couple of times before turning back to him with a smile, "alright then. We'd best get some rest now because if we're gonna make a music and dance show happen, we've got a lot of work to do!" That would prove to be an understatement.
The festival the festival it's time for the festival! Or at least it's time to get to work on it for our young heroes-in-training. And speaking of time, I hope you all had a good one reading this chapter and feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as preparations for the Class 1A song and dance show begin! 'Til then.
