My Hero Academia: Son of Justice

by Jayme F. Midorikawa

The son of the disgraced former greatest Hero of The Soviet Union is extended a chance at a new life by the Symbol of Peace, All Might. After having lived so long resenting Heroes and Villains, and being scared to death of his own Quirk, will he be able to step forward and become the Hero he once dreamed of, and will he be able to find new purpose through friendship, or even love?

105. School Festival Arc Part 1- Announcement

Hello again, everybody, and welcome to the first chapter of this story's take on the School Festival Arc! I understand this arc isn't exactly the favorite to a good number of MHA fans, but even considering that, I did my best to try and mix things up with this arc to keep things interesting, as well as exercise my abilities at writing certain actions I've never tried to write before. I personally feel good about the additions and changes I ultimately made for this arc going forward, and I certainly hope that reflects over the next few weeks' worth of chapters you'll be receiving through the end of this year.

I would like to once again extend my sincerest thanks to every single one of you readers out there for all of your continued patronage and support, as well as my beta readers and consultants, Mizu, Jonny and Carlos/Charles.

I would also like to sincerely thank all contributing fan-artists on DA as of right now: Syyndev, Akane Kahomi, AliceKuroCross, Suki-Chan2509, effasempai, Eliza-Frost and Yumake. Feel free to visit their accounts out there and show them some much-deserved love.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters and the original events surrounding them.

A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.

Chapter 105

The Announcement

(Объявление)

Friday, October 3rd

Today had started for the students of Class 1-A just like any other day, for once with everyone managing to get up bright and early, and get themselves set up in class in plenty of time before Aizawa would ultimately arrive, which naturally allowed them plenty of time to simply shoot the breeze with one another as to how they felt their training was coming along, or their personal feelings on when and if their internships would possibly continue.

But among them all, Nikolay and Mina were both busily working away with one another at their double desk; both busily sketching away within their personal notebooks, albeit for very different reasons.

"So I wanna be able to smoothly go from a backspin to a bit of old-fashioned floor rocking, and maybe from there I could throw in a couple front and back-flips after a bit of popping and locking, but what I really wanna be able to cap it all off with is a good long run of head-spinning after a sequence of heel and hand-spinning to lead into it, building the momentum so I don't have to propel myself with my hands. But every time I try, my horns just get in the way. You think maybe I could be able to make up for it by balancing on my lower neck instead?"

"I don't see how you could be able to maintain that without putting a huge amount of strain on your shoulders. I mean, what happens if you were to get called out to active duty in the middle of one of these dance sessions? What if that strain ends up making you too stiff in the parts you need to be the most flexible? At least with all the other moves, with what I've seen you do so far, you don't run as much of the same risk, and you can throw your Acid into the mix really effectively."

"Hey, what're you two so intense and focused about? Ooh, I didn't know you both could draw!" Ochako's curious voice interjected suddenly between her two classmates so suddenly, Nikolay himself nearly fell out of his chair, thus allowing her and subsequently several more of their classmates to see just what he and Mina had been working so doggedly on: a diorama of rough sketches that resembled Mina herself, performing a multitude of break-dancing moves in a sequence, while the drawings looked nearly identical in Nikolay's notebook, only with the inclusion of notes and scribbles to simulate her Acid and the directions it could go with each one.

"Oh, I wanted to brainstorm some ideas I had with Kolya-kun for a new dance routine I wanna try out, and he wanted to see if I could be able to use it while doing Hero work, too. I feel really good about my chances for either one, though, if I just improve around some of the harder moves." True to her nature, Mina sounded incredibly confident in the routine she'd set up for herself.

But while Nikolay was getting himself steadied again, ready to return to brainstorming his own ideas for the application in terms of actual Heroics; Hanta and Tooru's curious gazes were immediately drawn to the fact this whole conversation revealed: "Wait, I know you said you're really big into dancing before, Mina-chan, but I didn't think you were, too, Kolya-kun!" "That might be a bit of a stretch Hagakure, but clearly you both are on, like, the same overall wavelength if you can think of how to apply dance moves to Heroics just as easily."

Of course, while Nikolay was automatically about to deny what Tooru was assuming about him being any kind of competent dancer; just the fact that one of Mina's biggest passions was now getting so much attention, had her black-gold eyes practically glistening with excitement, as she suddenly shot up from her seat, sprinting for the nearest open area of the classroom where she wouldn't be at risk of crashing into anyone or anything; immediately cracking her knuckles in order to limber up her fingers while wearing an ecstatic smile on her pink face.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet, you guys! What you got to see me pull at my birthday party was me just getting warmed up! I could dance all day without breaking a sweat if I wanted to; believe me, I've tried! Check it, check it, check this out!" With that burning hot declaration and call for attention, Mina proceeded to start off with a few preparatory bounces on each of her feet, swaying her body to and fro, building up her momentum enough to suddenly kick herself up and over off the ground in a flawless back-flip before expertly planting her left hand to the floor, putting all her weight on it as her body froze mid-pose in a perfect handstand, the rest of her body half folded over with her legs extended outward, before just as suddenly finally letting her body weight and momentum carry her the rest of the way forward into a perfect roll onto her shoulders, using momentum and the perfectly timed inclusion of her hands to send herself into a blindingly fast roll and spin, performing a display of sheer break-dancing mastery that left Hanta and Tooru instinctively cheering her on, while the rest of the class could only watch with wide-eyed wonder.

"BREAK IT DOWN! BREAK IT DOWN!" Mina's own excited cries were perfectly echoing the cheers of her classmates as she continued to spin and incorporate all kinds of crazy flips and poses while never breaking her pacing. As Nikolay watched, he could feel equal parts admiration for seeing his girlfriend so completely within her element, as well as the slightest touch of envy for just how masterful she was at it. Of course, that didn't stop him from still hearing how Minoru was groaning painfully through clenched teeth as he watched Mina's performance in the utmost disappointment: "For crying out loud, what's the point of wearing a skirt if you're just gonna wear shorts underneath it?! Can't you at least give us something exciting to see at the same time?"

"Maybe it's precisely because she knows you'd be looking, Mineta-kun!" Tooru immediately exclaimed with huffing anger, already repeatedly bopping her invisible fists on top of the tiny boy's head, thus keeping Nikolay from having to say or do anything himself, if only by a second; all the while silently feeling grateful that Mina knew their classmates well enough to think ahead once she'd decided she wanted to focus so much on dancing today.

Now, he could at least have a chance to see that, even among many of their other enraptured classmates, Izuku looked especially observant, naturally scribbling down in his notebook the further Mina went. "So Ashido-san's impressive command over her body comes from her hobby of dancing. She throws the weight and momentum of her entire body into every action. So that's why she's able to hit so hard while still being so nimble and having such good control of her Quirk to go along with all of it. I wonder if I could be able to do that, too."

"Why don't you just get her to teach you if you're so curious, Midoriya?" The instant Denki suddenly suggested this, the already palpable energy in the air just as quickly shifted, as Mina expertly rolled herself up back onto her feet, crossing her arms in a pose that made it difficult to tell if she was being inviting, or preparing to fight, especially with her eyes looking so laser-focused. It was like, when her headspace was focused on dancing, she was borderline a completely different person.

"Yeah, boyeee! Let's dance, show me what you can do! You too, Kolya-kun; show Midori-kun your moves with me! Don't think I forgot you cutting a rug at the arcade that last time! If Tunguska-sensei said you used to dance like a fiend, then you can totes do it again!" While Izuku was naturally taken by surprise that he was suddenly getting called out to start learning Mina's dance moves here on the spot; many of the other students were likewise focusing their eyes on the similarly flustered Nikolay, with Denki and Eijirou already enthusiastically encouraging him in their own remembrance of that day. However, the young Slav himself was already shaking from head to toe, while desperately waving his hands in denial with a greatly embarrassed smile on his fair face.

"Oh, n-no, it's not what you all think, I'm nothing compared to what Mina can do! I just got caught up in the rhythm back then and got lucky. I never mastered any kind of dancing style, no matter what Dad says." Of course, upon saying this, Nikolay's eyes drifted in what everyone could easily tell was remembrance. "Although, there was one routine I always liked to watch and hoped I'd one day be able to do."

Like a shot, Mina was already bounding across the classroom, pulling Nikolay back to the same open spot she had just taken, and he now found himself being watched with anticipation by the rest of the class, with that beaming pink ball of sunshine naturally taking the charge: "Aww, c'mon, Kolya-kun, you can't just say something like that and not expect me to wanna see it! Please, just show us what it's like! I'll bet I could teach you all the moves you need to do it like a champ in no time!"

"It is true, she did manage to help me learn to dance with even more finesse and grace than I already did before. With your people's already-established history of ballet mastery, she might be able to turn you into a truly magnifique specimen of the art." With Yuga Aoyama's unexpected chiming in; Nikolay could feel a heavy lump of awkward tension building in his throat. It would've been painful enough to stand his ground and say no when seeing the looks of excited anticipation on everyone else's faces; but knowing how passionate Mina was for the art of dancing, and seeing just how encouraging her smile was right now, he never would've been able to forgive himself for saying no in the face of all that.

And so, with a sigh of resignation, he proceeded to fish out his phone and hurriedly type in the exact routine he was looking for. "This is a pretty old-fashioned military dance from back home; we just usually called it Tanets Soldat, or The Dance of the Soldiers. I mean, they've performed far more than just this one; it's just the one I always found myself the most moved by. You can either watch it here or just watch me if you have to, I'll do what I can, at least. Keep in mind, the last time I tried this was years ago, long before I knew I could channel my Quirk through my feet."

[Alexandrov Ensemble - Dance of the Soldiers]

With that and the video on the phone he now perched on the nearest desk starting; within which were an assortment of men in matching brown ceremonial military uniforms; Nikolay took a deep breath, rolled his shoulders and pulled his legs taut, and proceeded to extend his arms to his sides, before turning his back to his classmates and suddenly stepping sideways on the tips of his feet from side to side, similarly to how Mina had started her dance routine moments before.

Then, still keeping that side-to-side motion, he proceeded to pull the opposite feet up from whichever direction he was going, before incorporating a spin so he could face them all again, and as the waltz-like music carried on through his phone, he proceeded to carry on the same motion with his arms extended, performing a sequence of one-foot skips on the tips of his feet before periodically folding his legs back in and slapping at the heel of one foot.

Before long, he managed to seamlessly transition from the one-footed side skips to a much more balanced incorporation of both feet, skipping forward and back with far-reaching full-legged steps, and partway through going back to the sideways drifting, but this time swinging his legs in a circular arc with every step, all while still keeping his arms extended. By now, many of his friends' eyes were wide with attention as Nikolay tried to focus on the movements, instead of on the attention heaped upon him…which sadly meant he couldn't see just how much Mina's eyes were lighting up, to see her precious Kolya actually cutting loose in his own way.

After transitioning back to the forward prancing steps, Nikolay began to step back in the same graceful, if not exaggerated, motion, as though he were being approached by an unseen other party at his front, making up for his doing this dance entirely on his own, while the video itself had well over a dozen or so men participating.

Turning around as though he were now taking the part of the newly introduced party, Nikolay finally folded his arms to where his fingers were perched at the top of his head, and he began to spring up in a series of forward-stepping jumps, folding his legs up and landing with one foot forward, then the other with each step, before ultimately using that springing momentum upon landing the fourth step, to suddenly fold his body down on that one landing foot into a near flat squat, slapping his hands onto the floor before springing right back into that same upright posture, carrying on the same in-place skipping and leg-swinging posture, this time folding and extending his arms back and forth into himself as though imitating either the wings of a bird, or beckoning yet another unseen person into the display.

Once more spinning back into the opposite direction upon one foot, Nikolay suddenly threw himself into a very wide-stepping run, keeping his trajectory confined to a much smaller circle than the line of men on the video had to work with, so his swinging arms and forward-reaching legs wouldn't accidentally hit anyone. After stopping in place and proceeding into another series of low forward kicks and momentary squatting kicks, Nikolay followed up with suddenly lowering into a springing one-footed squat, keeping his one free leg bent back yet facing forward and resting in his hands, in resemblance to a soldier wielding a rifle, all while keeping himself moving and balanced on one foot, every three or four springs punctuated by Nikolay actually jerking his free leg in his hands forward, like the symbolic rifle being fired; every firing driving him to actually swap each leg without missing a beat. By now, just like the onlooking participants in the video, Nikolay could actually hear a spare few of his classmates clapping along in rhythm with the music, in an effort to help him keep up his own rhythm.

Finally, he sprang back up into his upright position, but was still maintaining the hopping on-one-foot posture, continuing the same opening/closing motion of his arms, as though once more inviting an unseen person to take over. With that, he then suddenly sprang forward and squatted down once more, only this time, he was regularly switching between his feet, as he proceeded to move about in a circle, carrying himself forward on his squatted legs while kicking outward with each free leg with every step, as though he were literally squat-walking. Upon making a full circle, he even went so far as to get to a position halfway between squatting and upright standing, kicking both his legs forward and back as far as they could go with every other beat, to where he was only momentarily standing on the toes of one foot, and the heel of another.

After another full circle of the by-now bridging motion of the prancing steps and heel-slaps, Nikolay now stood front and center, looking all of his classmates in their mesmerized eyes, as he suddenly brought himself down into another squat, this time keeping his arms crossed over his chest, and repeatedly kicking one foot forward after another while staying in place. The sight of what they all recognized to be such a dance singularly connected with the very idea of Russia, elicited a few excited laughs from several of his friends, which in turn brought a similarly driven smile to Nikolay's face, having by now forgotten all about his previous nervousness now that he'd made it this far.

After carrying on this especially tiring position for a good thirty seconds, Nikolay sprang back up into the air and flat on his feet with arms extended, but before any of the other students could either cheer or applaud in the assumption it was over, Nikolay suddenly threw his body weight all to one direction, throwing his body into a sudden crouching spin upon nothing but his knees, still managing to carry himself around in a full circle with his arms fully extended in order to maintain his equilibrium as he spun like a human top on his knees. The sight of something like this that could so easily be incorporated into break-dancing had Mina completely forget herself, as she started excitedly cheering her boyfriend on, with Eijirou, Denki and even Ochako and Tooru soon joining in.

However, after having managed to pull this part off, Nikolay was back on his feet, and after taking a few skips back in order to bound down the width of the classroom, he proceeded to try and spring himself as high up into the air as he could without the use of his Quirk through his feet; an especially dangerous feat, as the move he was trying to emulate involved springing up as high as that momentum could possibly take him, while also kicking both his legs outward so that his extended fingers could touch his extended toes.

And this was where Nikolay's display ultimately came to an end, as without the aid of his Quirk to help his stabilization, Nikolay's forward momentum had his body roll forward in the air while he was supposed to stay steadied, thus causing him to nearly crash back-first onto Fumikage's thankfully empty desk, but not before Hanta could thankfully catch him in mid-air with his Tape and reel him in before he could end up seriously hurting himself, even if the fact he was at that position of arms and legs all being fully extended and touching when this happened, ended up causing Nikolay four severely painful cramps in his outstretched muscles all at once.

Several minutes and the help of a few hot-and-cold compresses to his limbs, courtesy of Momo, later; Nikolay was back at his spot beside an utterly glowing Mina at their desk. But he still couldn't hide the disappointment on his face, even as she and so many of his classmates still looked at him with unmistakable impression. "You see? Once it gets to that really acrobatic part, that's where I always lose it. I wanna be able to do it like those men in the video can, no Quirks required. But even as good as I feel like my control and balance generally is now, I just don't know how to keep my momentum from carrying me too far in any one direction like that. Using my Quirk to try and stabilize myself could end up putting me in an even worse position when I land, then I'm really in trouble; never mind anyone who'd be dancing with me that could end up getting caught in the crossfire in a big group dance routine like that."

Without even a warning, Mina was already grasping his shoulders tight and nearly shaking him, she could so hardly contain her excitement at the possibilities he had just shown her. "Aww, don't let yourself get so down in the dumps, Kolya-kun! What you already showed was so awesome as it was! If you want me to teach you my moves, I'll bet you could be a master dancer all your own!"

While Nikolay was barely able to try and form the words to answer Mina's offer with; Denki was likewise deep in thought, after having just seen both his friends' distinct dance styles. "Ashido might be onto something. Your styles are so completely your own, but if you were to find a way to incorporate them both together into something real fluid, you could make a dance like literally nobody's ever seen…then you can maybe see about how you could fit it into Hero work and all that. If nothing else, it'd look awesome with the right kind of music, right, Jirou?"

With whiplash-inducing suddenness, Kyouka now found herself the direct focus of Denki's attention, leaving her rigid, embarrassed and confused all at once. "What? Why are you suddenly roping me into this?"

But despite how clearly uncomfortable the purple-haired girl was, Denki was undeterred, smiling brightly from ear to ear. "Aw, c'mon, you're telling me in that practical music store of a room of yours, you wouldn't have the right kind of instruments to make the perfect sound to go with a combination of Ashido-san and Kolya-san's dancing styles? I mean, dancing might just be a hobby for them, but I can tell music is way more than that for you!"

THWIP!

But before another word could come out of the blonde-haired electric boy's big mouth, he suddenly found himself staring down the tip of one of Kyouka's Earphone Jacks; her normally unreadable triangular eyes staring him down with a deathly seriousness, even despite her deeply embarrassed blushing. "Seriously, would you give it a rest with all that Room King nonsense?"

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

Before any of the conversations amid the students could continue, though, the starting bell had finally rung, and with a perfect sense of timing, Aizawa had finally arrived, sleepily making his way to his desk while still firmly wrapped up in his trusty yellow sleeping bag; his already tired eyes looking even more intense and bloodshot than usual, as he watched his class hastily get back to their seats.

"It's School Festival time."

This was all the 1-A homeroom teacher felt the need to say to open up the day, and before Nikolay could even finish processing this, his ears were once again being bombarded with the same kind of explosive cries of excitement from his friends and classmates as when Aizawa had announced the Sports Festival.

Only this time, that outcry was further punctuated for him by Mina excitedly hugging him around his shoulders, nearly squishing their cheeks against each others as she was practically bouncing in her seat. "OOH, OUR VERY FIRST HIGH SCHOOL FESTIVAL! THIS IS GONNA BE THE BEST FESTIVAL EVER! DID YOU EVER HAVE SCHOOL FESTIVALS BACK IN YOUR COUNTRY, KOLYA-KUN?! WERE THEY FUN?! WHAT'D YOU ALL GET TO DO?! C'MON, TELL ME, PLEASE!"

Thankfully, she still had the good sense not to start getting too much closer and personal with Nikolay right here in front of everyone, as she soon thought to let go before she'd start squeezing too hard, thus allowing him to answer: "No, I never did, none of us ever did. I've only ever seen school festivals through anime and stuff like that. But is this really the time for us to be doing that kind of thing, knowing how many Villains are running around out there right now?"

The moment Nikolay brought this up, it immediately managed to silence nearly half the classroom with realization, with Eijirou quickly following up: "Yeah, Kolya-san's got a point, Sensei! I mean, festivals involve the general public coming to the schools throwing them. If we know Villains like Vukodlak are out there with the League of Villains, with an ability to apparently disguise themselves; then doesn't that bring a humongous risk to us and the actual civilians that would be there?"

The once excited cheers of the students were now turning into understandably nervous murmurs in the wake of Nikolay and Eijirou's points; but Aizawa himself remained undeterred, himself: "Both very prudent viewpoints. But you all need to remember that Yuuei Academy consists of more than just the Hero course you're all a part of. The Sports Festival is the time for the Hero course students to shine, but the School Festival is the same opportunity for everyone else across the General Education, Management and Support Departments. Naturally, this means that the School Festival doesn't typically get the same amount of attention, but it's still meant to be a fun event for the entire school. Not to mention, the recent implementation of the dormitory system has been a reasonable source of stress for many of your fellow students. They all deserve a chance to unwind and let loose just the same as everyone else. And in regards to everyone's concerns about security, given the recent news regarding escaped Villains and such, we and all the local Hero Agencies and police departments are working together to implement the appropriate measures that can sniff out potential threats trying to sneak into the school grounds under disguises and the like."

With that bit of reassurance given, the rest of Aizawa's point took firm hold among the students, knowing he was absolutely right. To cancel an event that was supposed to be for everyone in the school, just because the Hero course students themselves were nervous, would've been unforgivably unfair to everyone else. Seeing this understanding among his students, Aizawa continued: "Right, so you all now see why we can't simply cancel the event. However, even with our security measures being put into place, this still isn't going to be like school festivals we've had in the past; namely in that the festival is ultimately only going to be open to students, faculty, and a small group of outsiders. We aren't going to be competing against each other for the spotlight this time around, but every class is still going to put together an exhibition of some kind. Today, you will all be deciding what that's going to be for Class 1-A. Iida, Yaoyorozu, I leave the rest to you."

With Aizawa's granting of the floor, and the excitement and pressure alike settling into the guts of the students at the responsibility and opportunity they were now being given; Tenya and Momo immediately took their places at the podium before the rest of the class; the class president's chest swelling with steadfast focus and anticipation. "I, IIDA TENYA, PRESIDENT OF CLASS 1-A, WILL BE LEADING THIS DISCUSSION! LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE THIS PROCESS AS SMOOTH AS POSSIBLE!"

Thankfully remembering to read the room and thus bring his booming authoritative voice back down to non-deafening levels, Tenya continued: "Now, let us start with suggestions from everyone. All those with ideas, please raise your hands."

With the force of a bomb detonating, the entire classroom once again exploded in enthusiastic outcries from nearly every single person, with enough force to almost physically blow Tenya and Momo back from where they stood. On the outskirts of the frenzy, Nikolay couldn't even fight his way into getting his own voice heard among everyone else, until Tenya finally managed to overpower them all: "EVERYONE, PLEASE, YOUR ENTHUSIASM IS COMMENDABLE, BUT I REPEAT, WE MUST DO THIS IN AN ORDERLY FASHION! WHEN I CALL A NAME, PLEASE GIVE US YOUR IDEAS! YOU WILL ALL GET YOUR CHANCE TO BE HEARD! KAMINARI-SAN!"

"LET'S DO A MAID CAFÉ!" Denki didn't even hesitate with his suggestion, and while many of the girls across the class were instinctively silent with surprise and embarrassment at such a suggestion, Tenya didn't seem to hesitate to consider the idea, either, instead thinking intensely to himself: "Maids…I see, providing a service to the public, then! Not bad!"

While it was instinctively nice to see that neither Tenya nor Momo were proving to be the kind of presidents to just shoot down ideas outright; that still didn't stop Nikolay from feeling like his face was currently on fire, as Denki's suggestion made it impossible for him not to suddenly imagine Mina being dressed up in a frilly French maid's uniform, even going the extra mile to talk like those very maids in such places he had seen in anime before, or even spoon-feeding him again, but this time not for care-giving reasons. Such an image in his head left the wide-eyed Russian boy feeling dizzy and short of breath, even if Mina herself was still too eager to get her own suggestion out to notice.

From there, the ideas just came flying at a rapid-fire pace from everyone, with Nikolay's assumption of Tenya and Momo hearing everyone out equally was quickly proven false, when Minoru's ill-advised suggestion of a literal strip club was swiftly silenced halfway through by Tsuyu alone. Afterwards, everyone else's suggestions came much more tamely, and accepted with much more openness; from Ochako naturally suggesting a mochi shop, Eijirou's idea for an arm wrestling competition, Tooru suggesting a haunted house, Rikido a crepe stall, Kouji a petting zoo, Fumikage a very abstract self-described "banquet for the disciples of darkness", Yuga a similarly nonsensical-sounding "sparkling show", Kyouka an open-mic comedy routine of all things, and Mina all-too naturally throwing in a dancing showcase.

"BEZPALOV-SAN!" Nikolay shouldn't have been surprised that Tenya would call on him the moment after Mina had given her suggestion, but now that he knew all ears were on him, he jolted within his seat, and the words just flew right out of his mouth on autopilot:

"HOW ABOUT A MULTI-CULTURAL EXHIBITION?! I mean, Aoyama-san and I both come from totally different countries, and everyone else all came from varying regions of Japan with all their own mini-cultures to speak of, after all." Even as he said it, in comparison to everyone else's ideas, Nikolay couldn't deny to himself just how lame that idea sounded, regardless of Tenya's response of: "Hmm, a showcase of diversity in the name of collaboration and unity! Very nice!"

Of course, even their class president's verbal approval didn't stop Minoru and Hanta from both speaking up: "That just sounds like something you'd see in a boring museum exhibit! How is anyone supposed to let loose with that?!" "Yeah, I mean that kinda sounds similar to something like the It's A Small World ride, doesn't it? I can't be the only one thinking that, right?"

While Mina, Tooru and even Momo all gave varying degrees of the same response of finding that said theme park ride cute, Nikolay still found himself sinking down into his seat, wishing he hadn't said anything in the first place.

By the time everyone had finally given their suggestions, Momo had taken care to write everything down in an organized manner on the blackboard, addressing everyone as she swiftly erased the ideas posed by Yuga, Fumikage, Minoru and even Bakugo; which had naturally been a blunt and straightforward death match: "Let us all take votes on which of the proposed ideas we want to go with, after getting rid of the unreasonable, unfeasible and unspecific ones."

With that brief bit of disappointment of those four classmates' out of the way, it was finally time for everyone to start voting, and without even missing a beat, Denki led another down-voting charge with: "Get rid of the Hometown History Presentation! That's too boring; at least that Multi-Culture one sounded like you could do something semi-fun with it!"

Tenya could be seen visibly cringing with disappointment that his own idea was being so soundly turned down, before Mina just as quickly added in: "Yeah, and we have Study Parties all the time as it is!" With that, and an echoing wall of agreement, Momo likewise winced with disappointment as she erased her own idea off the wall alongside Tenya.

With this kind of back and forth unfolding amid his students, Aizawa could clearly tell this debate was far from over, and time was running short in the day's schedule, proven when the bell finishing first period had finally rung, they were ultimately no closer to having settled on one singular idea. Hence he ultimately slunk his way out of the class, muttering just loud enough for them all to hear him clearly: "Well, this meeting has been sloppy at best. You all better decide by tomorrow morning, though. Otherwise, we're doing a REGULAR CLASS open house."

Just the very idea of having a boring regular class session that would be open to observation from all their schoolmates and the general public, sounded even worse than a death sentence to the whole of Class 1-A, and thus they could all feel the collective fire light beneath them, calling for them all to cooperate and come to a consensus, and quick.

---

Unfortunately, even through all of their other classes and all the way until school had officially let out, the students of Class 1-A were still no closer to settling their minds on just what exactly their exhibition was going to be. Even when Shoto and Bakugo had finally returned from their day's remedial training, they provided no further help when filled in on the situation, with Bakugo himself not even bothering to stick around for the brainstorming session they were now all languidly going through in the commons area.

While everyone remained in their tired and stressed out circle on the couches, Tenya was all the while busily looking over videos for potential ideas on his laptop, keeping his ears open for any kind of agreement between his peers, but so far receiving none. Busily typing away at the keyboard after nearly an hour of this process, he finally spoke up enough to break the atmosphere hanging over all their heads:

"Alright, everyone; now that I've calmed down and given it some thought, Sensei mentioned about how this festival is meant to help relieve all of our schoolmates of their stresses. As such, I think whatever kind of exhibition we decide to go with should be for the express purpose of helping diffuse that stress in some way." With this, the commons area was soon humming with utterances of agreement.

"Yeah, plus everyone here has gotten so accustomed to Lunch Rush's culinary talents, it's not exactly like we can add very much to that, at least in a way that can measure up, so I think food stalls are a no go, too." As Denki muttered his own agreement to this, Nikolay could quickly notice how Rikido among them looked just crestfallen enough. The more the young Slav thought about it himself, the more likely it seemed that his own idea of a multi-cultural exhibition wasn't going to make the final cut.

With no other idea of how to contribute to anything related to their school festival plans, he ultimately threw his hands up and once more spoke on autopilot: "Well, it's not exactly like we don't have the numbers to be able to do more than one thing in preparation. I mean, my being here puts our class at a higher student number than it's ever had before, so that should ultimately make us more able-bodied, I would think.

"Yeah, Lunch Rush's food is top notch, but he can't possibly be prepared to make every possible kind of food known to man for however many people will ultimately come here for the course of an entire day, that just can't be physically possible. It may not be the same as what our main project will be, but there's no reason some of us can't at least do something to help out in that regard. We'd be providing a helping hand to the staff, and we'd still be providing a service to the guests, that can go along with whatever our class-wide project will be. There's no reason a few of us can't multi-task, right?"

While nobody was outright shooting down Nikolay's suggestion, neither did anyone look particularly enthused, either, with Momo regretfully answering: "You're not wrong, Bezpalov-san, but we need to decide exactly what our main project is even going to be, before we can start entertaining the idea of branching out to take on supportive projects. I think we're all in agreement that some kind of entertainment-based exhibition would be best, something that everyone who attends can enjoy; not just ourselves; something interactive. Now, the maid café, haunted house and petting zoo ideas from Kaminari-san, Hagakure-san and Kouda-san seem like the most obvious choices."

"Yeah, except the petting zoo would require us to follow some pretty strict hygiene guidelines, right? That sounds like a no-go to me." With Mashirao's straightforward rebuttal, nobody else could exactly argue, and thus Kouji's idea was summarily taken off the listing.

"Yeah, and the open mic idea Kyouka had would mean putting a bunch of amateurs who've probably never done comedy before in front of a huge crowd. That sounds like it would be really stressful and not fun for everyone involved-kero," Tsuyu chimed in right on the heels of that, and once more with a number of uttered agreements, Kyouka summarily bowed her head in acceptance of her own idea ultimately being rejected.

"I still think we could all at least do a dance. I mean, that'd be straightforward, and most importantly, just plain fun." Mina mused primarily to herself, sinking down low on the couch next to the similarly pensive Nikolay, just as Shoto finally came strolling past as nonchalantly as ever.

"In that case, I think the dance is the best idea." The fact that this sudden agreement was coming from Shoto of all people, had everyone in the commons area jolt with surprise, while he himself made a beeline for Tenya's laptop, hurriedly turning it around so he could search something on it. "I came across this a little while ago, but I couldn't remember what it was called. Ah, here it is."

Within seconds, the whole class found themselves watching a video portraying what looked to be a pretty energetic rock band performance, with the whole crowd going wild with enthusiastic energy. And with those same wide-eyed looks of shock, everyone turned to the red-white-haired boy in amazement. "When the heck did you turn into such a party animal, Todoroki?!"

Despite Minoru's strained exclamation of disbelief, Shoto was as unmoved and unreadable as ever. "I didn't. I've just been listening to you all throwing these ideas around, and I think Iida's right. We should put together an event that everyone can enjoy. Honestly, all this talk reminded me of our most recent remedial training assignment."

While everyone else could only try to imagine what on earth kind of assignment Shoto and Bakugo had just gone through that could possibly have had anything to do with their current dilemma, they still couldn't be grateful enough for the fact that he finally had given them some kind of a consensus, and with the idea of a class-wide dance routine starting to be agreed upon, their enthusiasm was starting to finally come back; especially Mina's, knowing her idea was the one actually being gravitated towards.

Finally, Hanta had to be the one to break the mood with another dose of reality: "Hang on! I mean, open mic, dancing, whatever; we're still basically asking a bunch of amateurs to perform what I can only guess is gonna be a real elaborate dance number in practically no time at all! Wouldn't that be just as stressful?!"

"I CAN TEACH 'EM! HECK, WE BOTH CAN! I TURNED AOYAMA-KUN INTO A BONA FIDE TWO-STEP MASTER IN LESS THAN A DAY; TOGETHER WE COULD WORK A WHOLE HEAP-TON OF MAGIC FOR ALL OF YOU!" Mina's offer was nearly deafening in her excitement, even as she instinctively threw an arm around a dumbstruck Nikolay's shoulders, nearly pulling him into a headlock as she volunteered his services in addition.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second, Mina; did you already forget that major fumble I did this morning? I'm not nearly experienced or skilled enough to teach dancing to anyone, let alone the whole class!"

However, even as Nikolay exclaimed this once he'd managed to get his head free; that look of unbridled eagerness on Mina's face never dimmed, as she instinctively took his already sweating and shaking hands in her own. "Aww, but you never know until you just give it the old leap of faith, Kolya-kun! Who knows, you just might surprise yourself, let alone everybody else! Please?"

As Nikolay once again struggled to swallow another nervous lump in his throat; Minoru suddenly took reins over the room with a pronounced snap of his fingers; his tiny body practically shaking with a motivated intensity: "You buncha amateurs! Dance means rhythm, rhythm means music! Without music to accompany the dancing, we just look like a bunch of gesticulating morons!"

"Mineta-kun's right, and when it comes to music…" Before anyone could even process the surprise that Tooru was actually agreeing with Minoru about anything, the invisible girl had her focus set on an on-the-spot and nervous-looking Kyouka, before suddenly rushing her in an excited leap. "A LVE PERFORMANCE WITH ALL YOUR INSTRUMENTS, KYOUKA-CHAN! I MEAN, WHY NOT?! YOU'RE A PRO AT TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO PLAY! OCHAKO-CHAN AND I SHOULD KNOW!"

While Kyouka looked like she was about to pass out from embarrassment now that she was getting all this sudden attention, Ochako herself actually looked even halfway as excited as Tooru was as she chimed in: "Plus, you always have a smile on your face when you talk about or are making music. I think you being in charge of a musical performance makes a lot of sense, Jirou-chan."

To now have two of her friends vouching for her, Kyouka's embarrassment was already turning into a very hesitant kind of consideration. But by now, Tooru had just as quickly turned on her heels, pointing straight at Nikolay like an attorney about to state an objection: "And if Kyouka-chan isn't willing to sing, maybe we can have Kolya-kun do it in her place! I mean, after hearing him do it at Mina-chan's birthday, he's obviously the best choice that we know of!"

And like a game of hot potato, Nikolay was now the one being subjected to everyone else's surprised reactions, at least from those that hadn't been at the party by the time of his performance. "Wait, just because I was barely able to sing in front of you guys at the party, doesn't mean I could do it in front of a crowd like what we're all thinking about!"

"Plus, I really don't see how a music performance really has anything to do with Heroics." Kyouka suddenly interjecting, with her voice as low and nervous as could be, brought all of the bristling excitement way down; keeping her eyes glued to the floor while timidly tapping her Earphone Jacks together. "At least with Mina-san's dancing, she can incorporate that in a fight. But for me, music is seriously just a hobby. In comparison, it's not really something I can really be proud of."

For a moment, everyone exchanged uncertain glances with one another, none of them too sure just what they could say to convince Kyouka otherwise of what was clearly a long-held opinion of herself. At least, until Denki suddenly came striding in with especially surprising confidence, leaning in decidedly close so Kyouka would have no choice but to see the sincerity in his eyes: "So that's really what it was all about, what you said, earlier?! But it's so frickin' COOL, just how musical you are, Jirou!"

While Kyouka herself looked like she couldn't decide how to react, and Mina and Tooru were both looking at this exchange between her and Denki with the beginnings of eager and knowing smiles; Kouji Kouda suddenly came jogging in with decided urgency of his own; the rock-like faced boy giving one of the first truly confident smiles of encouragement any of his classmates had seen from him yet: "Jirou-san…your talent with music can make people smile. Honestly, that's tied with being a Hero in my book."

And after having just witnessed easily the classes' shyest student of all work up the courage to step forward and give Kyouka an emotional boost; Nikolay too found himself quietly and decidedly stepping forward, looking the indecisive girl in the eye, so she could see how serious he was as well, even when he'd just been in her position. "Kyouka-san, anyone who knows you like we do, can see just how happy music makes you. If a musical performance from you is anything like I can imagine it is, then I know that happiness of yours will be able to reach out to all the people in the crowd, relieve their stress, and ultimately make their lives better. You're easily the best Hero for the job if you ask me."

But before Kyouka could finally come up with an answer, even as he could see she was definitely taking all three boys' words into consideration, Momo decidedly stepped in, motioning for them all to give her some space. "I appreciate what you're all trying to do, but Jirou-san ultimately is the one to make the decision for herself."

*ahem*

Suddenly, a modest clearing of the throat from Kyouka likewise rendered Momo silent, as once more, all of the students looked to her with nervous anticipation. Kyouka's face was screwed with intense thought as she brought her hands to the back of her head, barely starting to sway back and forth in this mental tug-of-war to decide her final answer…before her whole body just as suddenly stopped.

"Turning down all of these requests…wouldn't make me much of a rock star, now would it?" With that, Kyouka met the gazes of all her classmates, and they could all instantaneously feel the weight of finality set upon the entire room. Whether out of a feeling of pressure and obligation, or because she'd come to the conclusion of her own free will, Kyouka Jirou had ultimately made her choice, and everyone could feel all of that indecisiveness and anxiety magically wash away.

At long last, Class 1-A finally had a concrete plan in place for the school festival, and all of the excited cheers were punctuated by Tenya formally declaring as such: "ALL RIGHT! SO CLASS 1-A'S SCHOOL FESTIVAL PROJECT WILL BE A LIVE MUSIC AND DANCE PERFORMANCE! JIROU-SAN CAN FORM THE BAND AND PROVIDE INSTRUCTION WHERE AND IF NEEDED, AND ASHIDO-SAN AND BEZPALOV-SAN CAN HANDLE TRAINING THE DANCERS!"

Nearly everyone around began to cheer with excitement and relief that a decision had finally been made, but even as Mina was already hopping excitedly to Nikolay to pull him into another hug, he immediately interjected: "Well, wait, now that we've got a plan, now I can finish my thought from earlier! I wanted to say that I actually liked Sato-san's crepe stall idea, so I thought that, if we could put our heads together, we could be able to perhaps make a more specialized kind of food stand to provide to guests in order to take a tiny bit of the workload off of Lunch Rush's shoulders. I mean, even if Aizawa-sensei says there's only going to be a small number of people from outside being let in, that doesn't change the fact of just how huge our campus is, so that could still be a huge number of people who are inevitably going to get hungry; maybe more so than even an expert like he could be able to handle for that long. We could even set a stand up at the entrance for where the performance would be held if need be!"

Tenya and Momo both looked like they were naturally going to give Nikolay the expected answer that, as a class, they all needed to be dedicated to the same single project full-time; but before either of them could, Tsuyu suddenly answered: "Kolya-san might not be entirely wrong-kero. Heroes are supposed to be there to help people in any way they can, and what he's talking about sounds fitting to me. Plus, any of us who've tried their cooking, know that he and Sato-san are both really good. That's just my opinion, though."

Like a shot, Mina, Tooru, Ochako, Eijirou, Denki, Kyouka and Izuku were soon echoing their agreement, remembering Nikolay's culinary offerings from the ill-fated house party long ago…before, finally, Momo gave a subtle clearing of her throat, answering her fellow representative formally: "Well, neither of us can justifiably argue against that, ourselves, Iida-san. Bezpalov-san does have a point that, with our class having more students than ever before, it's not impossible for some of us to take on a little side project whenever possible, to lend a helping hand. After all, it would be most likely that a number of other classes may gravitate towards similar ideas to provide for the guests as well."

Before Nikolay had the chance to thank as many of his friends as there had been to voice confidence in his idea and skills in the kitchen; even Rikido and, surprisingly, Yuga similarly stepped in, looking similarly enthused: "I might not have gotten a chance to try anything of yours before, but I'm not about to turn down an offer from a kindred spirit! Thanks for the suggestion, Bezpalov-san!" "Oui, oui, I'm not exactly an incompétent in the culinary arts, myself! If Bezpalov-san isn't able to fulfill his role in the dance training part of the performance, then surely by putting our three heads together, we can churn out something just as meaningful, just as magnifique!"

Of course, Yuga just having to throw in that drive-by remark of Nikolay somehow not being able to work at the dance instruction alongside Mina, like she and Tenya had so blindly and eagerly suggested, had left her and the young Russian looking just noticeably enough crestfallen at the thought, and what there possibly could've been to do to change that…only for both to, in that moment, come up short.

---

Saturday, October 4th

The whole of the class having come to the unilateral decision of a music and dance performance for the school festival had settled everyone's spirits enough to be able to get a decent night's sleep. But for Nikolay, he still found himself just restless enough, because of his decided lack of real dancing chops, to know that by morning, he'd gotten just that much less sleep than he would've hoped.

But after having settled with his unexpected side project partners, Rikido Sato and Yuga Aoyama, to get an early start before school to run their idea by Lunch Rush and get a good stock of what food stores Yuuei had on hand, and by extension what they themselves would ultimately need; he didn't allow himself to languish in bed, instead hurriedly getting into his uniform so he could get down to the entrance, where they would both surely be waiting for him already.

However, when he rounded the corner to the first floor hall of the boys' wing, Nikolay was stricken with surprise at the sight of Mina, likewise already dressed in her own uniform, standing and waiting anxiously at the door to Izuku's room. And, naturally, the movement caught out the corner of her eye, drew Mina's attention and happy surprise, likewise, to her boyfriend. "Hey, good morning, Kolya-kun! I didn't think you'd be up so early! You're not trying to get out of another good morning pouncing, are you?"

The two were already meeting each other with hugs halfway down the hall, with Mina naturally sneaking in a lengthy kiss to his warm cheek, as Nikolay answered in a hushed whisper, in the worry of waking Izuku or Minoru up. "I could be asking you the same thing, this is way earlier than usual for you, Mina."

Looking back to Izuku's door, Mina gave a cheeky smirk. "Yeah, well, I never actually got the chance to teach Midori-kun some of my dance moves like he'd asked yesterday, so I wanted to see if he was up and willing for a short little dance lesson outside before classes, and especially before I gotta start laying my focus on the rest of the class outside Kyouka-chan's band. Only thing is that I've been knocking for the last two minutes and haven't heard a thing inside. You don't think he's that heavy of a sleeper, do you, Kolya-kun?"

Following her gaze, Nikolay could easily feel the same curiosity as her when he answered: "Well, we both know how lost he gets in his notes and ideas. For all we know, he probably left to squeeze in some last minute training…or maybe something else came up that needed him to leave school early."

"Like, maybe something having to do with that whole mission he, Sensei and Togata-senpai were a part of?" Such a guess on Mina's part was vastly unexpected, but the more they both thought about it, the more sense it made. Even with all the details they'd been given, it still sounded like there could have been any number of details yet to be brought up that would need Izuku and all his partners' involvement.

But with that unpleasant thought, Nikolay quickly chimed in: "Well, the point is that we don't know for sure, but I'm sure Midoriya-san will be back in plenty of time for the class-wide dance practice, if nothing else."

With that, Nikolay felt fairly sure he had Mina's own concerns eased enough to where he could continue on his way, before she suddenly called back to him: "Are you gonna be able to make it, too, Kolya-kun?"

Looking back, Nikolay could feel his whole face warm up again when he saw the sincere light of affection in Mina's eyes, and especially in her eager smile. "I mean, this is supposed to be an activity for the whole class to bond over, to have fun together with. It just wouldn't feel complete without you there, any less than if it were just Midori-kun playing hooky instead, y'know? You deserve to be a part of the fun, too."

Nikolay remained glued to his spot as he struggled for an answer: "Yeah, I know that; I wanna be a part of it, too, Mina. I don't know why you think I wouldn't."

At this, her black-gold eyes began to slightly sink, as though she were having trouble, herself, keeping eye contact as she looked for her own words. "Well, it's just that, whenever me or Iida-san threw around the idea of you teaching everyone with me, you looked really…well, hesitant. I mean, I don't wanna, like, assume anything, but the way you threw in the whole food stand idea right after that, almost couldn't help but feel like a distraction or something, too.

"I know; I know you don't feel that great about the idea after showing your dance yesterday, but nobody said you had to teach that specific one for us. You and I could maybe come up with something together, something we could both be able to do that we could teach everyone. I mean, I know I said you'll never know unless you try, but if you're still not comfortable with the part overall, you can just say so, Kolya-kun. I'm your girlfriend, you know you can tell me anything, and I promise I'll never hold anything against you or judge you for anything you say…right?"

Where Nikolay before had the rest of his body facing the commons area, just ready to keep going on his way; now he had himself fully facing Mina again, unable to hide the conflict in his green eyes. "Of course I know that, and of course I wanna be a part of all this with you, Mina. You've been so good to me, even stepping in to join me in my hobbies over all this time, when I know you'd probably rather be doing something way more physical and energizing instead. How could I possibly not want to do the same for you, joining you in something you clearly love just as much?"

With an amused giggle, Mina gave her Kolya another cheeky grin. "Now hold on there, Kolya-kun; don't go assuming I've been supporting and joining you in your movie-going hobby out of obligation, either. I can have just as much fun with that as I could when dancing, playing games or being at a party; what makes it all so fun is if it's with you. All I'm asking right now is that, if you really don't feel good about teaching the dance routine with me, then please just say so. I promise, I'll completely understand."

But even if Mina was saying that, to just look at the light in her pretty eyes whenever she talked about her boundless passion for dancing, made such a simple task feel nigh impossible for Nikolay; his throat going bone dry.

"Hey, Bezpalov-san, there you are!" Just as Nikolay began to open his mouth, Rikido's voice suddenly sounded out from the entrance to the commons area; snapping both himself and Mina to surprised attention. "Oh, sorry, Ashido-san. C'mon, man, we don't have that much time before classes are gonna start, and if Lunch Rush's kitchen is anywhere as big as we think, we've got a lot of tallying up to do before we can really get prepared!"

With that momentary fire of urgency and little time ignited, Nikolay apologetically had to bid his bewildered Mina goodbye for now, hurrying after the spiky brown-haired student ushering him on, while the pink-haired, pink-skinned girl could only look on after him with distinct worry on her face.

---

While Yuuei's official chef, Lunch Rush; a man in a traditional chef's uniform, albeit with an enlarged hat, black inner sleeves and white gloves, and a blue metallic mask that covered his entire face; was initially (if not naturally) opposed to the idea of students feeling the need to step in on the culinary field in the naïve hopes of taking some kind of nonexistent burden off of his shoulders; much like Rikido before; he too couldn't long resist that feeling of respect from three aspiring fellow enthusiasts in the field wanting to test their mettle.

As such, it fortunately didn't take long for him to ultimately agree to showing Nikolay, Rikido and Yuga the entirety of the food stockpile for the entire school. To none of their surprise, not only were their countless ingredients from virtually every corner of the world, but there was enough of each to feed the population of a massive fully developed city of over ten million for five whole years, without a single one ever having to eat the same meal twice. As such, it was impossible for them to not feel intimidated, or to feel as though they were truly out of their depth.

But with Lunch Rush having ultimately given his blessing for the three boys to pursue their side-project for the festival, that was one major hurdle out of the way. But now that they had an idea of what they already had, there now came the issue of figuring out exactly what they wanted to make, and what they would need to do it, on the astronomical chance it somehow wasn't already here.

And this was where the real issues came in, as over the last ten minutes, all three had been eagerly, and perhaps even stubbornly, suggesting their personal approaches as to what their stand would serve.

"If this festival is indeed going to be all day long, and with so many people, then they'll need something hearty to give them that protein and energy to carry them throughout the day, without having to constantly restock and drain their wallets, putting that burden and stress on them. That's why I think we should have a focus on meat for our stand. We could do stuff like shashlyk, pelmeni, even something customizable like blini."

"I still believe we should make ourselves standout with a menu that provides panache, style; a truly noteworthy presentation that compliments its flavor. We could delight their taste buds with cassoulet, ratatouille, pissaladiere, even gratin dauphinois. If we provide the public a taste of culture they otherwise may never have experienced, we could open their minds to a whole world of culinary possibilities; surely a more than worthwhile goal, non?"

"We're supposed to be making food that's easy to eat on the go, though; French cuisine is so focused on perfecting details, you'd be keeping hungry people waiting in line for way too long! I still think we should just stick with regular Japanese sweets. I've always kept my area of expertise in more western baked foods and patisserie sweets, it'd be a nice change of pace to try something more homegrown. We could try stuff like dango, or higashi, maybe even uirou, if you don't mind getting your hands sticky."

"Well now, nice to see you boys are already so fired up this early in the morning!" The booming sound of Tunguska's hearty voice suddenly rang out from over all three boys' shoulders, they all nearly leaped from their spot at one of the countless empty dining hall tables, only managing to breathe easy once they realized it was just their teacher and Nikolay's father, smiling approvingly all the while, himself.

"Sheesh, Tunguska-sensei, you almost gave us a heart attack!" "To be so big, and yet somehow so silent. Truly an enigma of a man." "Morning, Dad. What're you doing up so early?" As Nikolay, Rikido and Yuga all gave their own greetings in return between their shaken gasps, Tunguska humbly took an empty spot next to them; a naturally fatherly glimmer in his blue eyes.

"Well, Quirk History class is scheduled to be your first today, so I figured it'd be best for me to get an early start. Then I'd overheard from some of your classmates about your little side project you're working on for the school festival, so it just made sense I'd find you all here…albeit, not with such an intense air as what I just felt." At this, the young trio lowered their gazes, all looking decidedly downcast, to Tunguska's confusion.

"Yeah, when we all volunteered to work together, it sounded like a great idea, especially once we found out how many ingredients we can work with." "But alas, we've been experience some trouble coming to a consensus on what we should make, between simplistic meat snacks in bread, messy and sticky sweets, or artistic French cuisine. Such is the eternal struggle between potential brilliance, it seems."

Once Rikido and Yuga both gave their summation of the problem, Tunguska looked at the particularly anxious look on his son's face, before giving a rugged-sounding sigh of his own. "Honestly, you all keep managing to exceed your limitations whenever it comes to your Hero studies, but when it comes to anything outside of it, your approaches are as simple as that of small children. If you're all eager to work together, then what sense does it make for you to have to settle for one specific category?"

As his son and two students all looked up to him in returning surprise once he rose back up to his feet, Tunguska instinctively extended a hand to Lunch Rush for emphasis; the school chef giving an instinctive thumb up signal when he realizes he was the momentary center of attention. "Do you think Lunch Rush-san even once has the same problem of limiting himself to one single category? No, he improvises and compromises for the tastes of everyone in this school and beyond; that's why the food stockpile is as broad you all saw it, that's why he has the reputation that he does. There's no reason you boys can't do the same.

"Why not simply go with one specific dish from all three of your approaches, and appeal to a wider audience that way. If need be, I can even consult the ones you each want to do the most, run it by Lunch Rush-san myself, and see about securing whatever ingredients you'd all need in time for the festival? That way, none of you have to worry about what to make, and you can focus that much more time on helping your classmates with your much bigger project. Simple, if you ask me."

A series of similarly aggravated sighs sounded from Nikolay and his partners, at the blunt force-strength realization of just how much extra stress they were piling on themselves, when they could have easily just reached a compromise. "God, we really do still have a long way to go, after all. Spasibo tebe, Papa (Thank you, Dad)."

With Nikolay's embarrassed admittance of thanks, quickly followed by Rikido and Yuga as well, the large Russian teacher chuckled knowingly to himself, even giving his son a restrained clap to the back as he ushered them all along out of the dining hall and back to the back area of Lunch Rush's food stores. "Oh, no need to be embarrassed, Kolya; I'm happy to help with your first ever festival project. Besides, what better way for a father and son to finally start spending time together again?"

With that, and Tunguska handing the hastily scribbled list that the three students had written of their most desired items to make over to Lunch Rush; the whole group was once again busily perusing through the food stores; Rikido especially taking attentive notice of all the potential materials for future sweets recipes he could have tried his hand at, while Nikolay was especially eyeing the countless different types of preserved meats and root vegetables, instinctively imagining them in a hearty stew, especially once winter would officially roll in.

"My apologies, Bezpalov-san." Yuga's voice speaking an apology to Nikolay from out of nowhere forced the young Slav to do a momentary double take, only to find the twinkle-eyed blonde boy staring at him intently with his piercing features impossible to read. "What? What are you apologizing for, Aoyama-san? It's only natural we'd disagree on what to make at the beginning."

"Non, non, that's not what I mean. I'm apologizing because I realize my volunteering for your project so out of the blue would feel more than a little…offsetting to you. After all, I have unfortunately not taken much time to really get to know you and everyone else so far this year. I only recently have truly gotten to know Midoriya-san alone, but I realize one cannot truly flourish with one friendship alone, and I suppose I saw this as an opportunity."

"For us to get to know each other?" As soon as Nikolay asked and Yuga gave an affirming nod, he was soon smiling with relief as well. "Well, sure, I'd like that. To be honest, I've always been a little curious about you, too." As Nikolay admitted this, the twinkle always reflecting in Yuga's blue eyes seemed to light up even more.

"As have I. I've come to learn that these days, learning about each other's Quirks serves as a grand way to break the ice, so to speak, between possible friends." His explanation certainly sounded reasonable to Nikolay, as he soon motioned for the French-Japanese student to ask whatever came to mind.

"Well, for starters, what Tunguska-sensei just said, of truly getting to spend family time together. Forgive my ignorance, but after what he had told us of your background earlier this year, I had been under the impression your relationship had fast improved." With Yuga's sincere confusion, Nikolay looked to his father's back, as he was already busily talking culinary shop with Lunch Rush, over what he currently wasn't listening to.

"It had been, it's just that internships and his new Pro Hero work was making it really hard for us to get to just have time to talk to each other for any meaningful amount of time. Honestly, we've both been kind of hoping this break from all of that might help bridge that gap again."

Nikolay's voice was thoughtful, but had a distinct optimism about it that Yuga immediately noticed, wasting no time before the next question came to him. "So, if your relationship back in Russia had been as strained as he described, I suppose it doesn't stand to reason he gave you very much training of your Quirk before coming here. How did you ever learn of it, let alone how to use it even as crudely as you did?"

That question alone had Nikolay's mind going so far back, it genuinely felt like a whole lifetime ago. "Those several years before with my Quirk were a really confusing mess, honestly. It just activated once when I was really upset and really young. It was already so powerful back then, I was terrified of it, and neither of us knew how it really worked, hence why I was wearing gloves constantly at first when you all first met me. Back then, I thought my Quirk was about sound waves; like my body somehow absorbed sound, and converted it into that energy of shockwaves, so I thought the gloves could muffle the sound and lower the amount my body could absorb, so that if I ever had to use it, it wouldn't be so strong.

"It honestly wasn't until Aizawa-sensei saw me in action at the Application Test that we finally figured out that it's vibrations into kinetic energy that my Quirk revolves around. I'm still not entirely sure how I got that as my Quirk, since it's nothing like either Dad or my mom, or even any of my grandparents that I knew of, had. I mean, some of the mechanics are the same, but it's hardly anything like a traditional hereditary Quirk."

As Nikolay admitted all of this the more he thought about it, the more Yuga was looking at him with astonishment. "So even if your Quirk operates through your hands like Tunguska-sensei with his Solar Quirk, it's completely different from both your parents? That is incredible, Bezpalov-san."

With a bemused chuckle, Nikolay smirked. "Yeah, it is. My mom's Quirk manifested in the wings she had along her arms to fly with, make super strong guests of wind with her hardest flaps and such. Dad said she had a special move where she could channel this incredibly strong screech with her throat, and I know I've had something similar emanate from me when I'm pushed to my emotional limit, but I wouldn't put much stock in that being very useful on a consistent level."

Had Nikolay looked, he would've seen just how much Yuga looked like he'd wished he'd had a notebook on hand, just to dedicate all of this to memory. It would've made the young Russian chuckle at just how much the blonde boy actually resembled Izuku in that regard. Of course, wanting to keep the mood light, Nikolay himself went on to ask: "So what about you, Aoyama-san? From what I've seen for a while, your Quirk still gives you those bad stomach pains after a while. Has it always been like that?"

An intense dimming in Yuga's otherwise sparkling eyes took hold as he likewise thought back, all while keeping pace. "Sadly, yes, although I feel I've learned how to maintain my Navel Laser for considerably longer, while also making its power that much stronger. As long as I keep my Support Belt on at all times, I can maintain that progress, though it has proven more than a great deal disheartening on my worse days. I suppose that's why I was drawn to Midoriya-san and you more than anyone else over this time. We all have a very similar feature to our Quirks."

Looking back in confusion, Nikolay couldn't begin to guess what was going through Yuga's mind when he saw how confident the boy's pointed smile looked, even more so than usual. "What I mean is that all three of our Quirks, from the onset, seem ill-suited to our bodies. My stomach aches, Midoriya-san's bones breaking with every use of his Quirk, the extensive bone and muscle damage continuous use of your Quirk ultimately does to you. In a truly tragic, perhaps even poetic sense, we are likewise…kindred spirits, wouldn't you say?"

Nikolay's expression made it obvious that he had no idea how to answer that, until Yuga let out a brief but haughty-sounding laugh to himself, striking a lackadaisical pose. "Well, dwelling on such matters of the past means nothing now. We all toil and work ourselves to the bone to perfect our form, achieve our deserved gracefulness so that we can all shine brilliantly out on the world stage. I just hope to be able to measure up to the rest of you by the time our school lives here are completed."

Nikolay was still at a genuine loss for words. It was as though, behind Yuga Aoyama's persistent smile, there was a real degree of pain brewing behind it, but for what reason other than the frustrating nature of his Quirk; the Russian boy couldn't begin to guess. Regardless, he did feel a good touch of gratitude, to now feel like he'd truly gotten to know one of his lesser-spoken-to classmates that much better.

From there, it wasn't much longer until the trio had finally been granted a personal list of absent ingredients for their snack stand from Lunch Rush himself, along with his guarantee to have them secured and on Yuuei grounds by the time of the school festival. With that, and the reminder that Quirk History was to be their first class of the day, Tunguska naturally offered to accompany Nikolay, Yuga and Rikido all the way to Class 1-A; all while they themselves were feeling especially lighthearted, now that they had some clear steps and a direction to work with.

About halfway through the return journey, Rikido eagerly spoke up: "I really think this snack stand idea might really work, you guys. I know you probably just felt obligated to, but I wanna thank you for giving my original crepe stall suggestion the benefit of the doubt, Bezpalov-san…even if all the talk might've put you on the spot."

Never breaking his stride, Nikolay looked to his muscular and big-lipped classmate with confusion, before Yuga likewise cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yes, I fear my comments about this side-project substituting your potential teaching position with Ashido-san for the dance group may have put you both in an uncomfortable position, for which I apologize. Even if I will never forget how she burned my cape on our very first Battle Trial, I had no intention of sabotaging something she clearly has boundless passion for."

Before Nikolay could even try to reassure Yuga that he had no reason to apologize, Rikido was already interjecting on his own, sounding especially serious as he met Nikolay's eyes. "Yeah, you don't have to sacrifice something that big for my sake, man. We've already got our whole idea figured out, and I'm a fast learner. If you just wanted to give me a brief rundown of how you'd wanna make your share of our menu, then Aoyama-san and I could handle that so you don't have to miss out on dance training with everybody else."

With that insane proposition now out in the open, Nikolay immediately had two objecting hands raised. "Now wait a second, you guys; this whole snack stand idea as it currently stands was my suggestion. I'm not going to ditch you both to take care of it on your own so I don't miss out on dance training, that's not fair to either of you!"

*AHEM!*

A rumbling clearing of Tunguska's throat immediately followed up Nikolay's protest; forcefully reminding the three that their teacher was still here this entire time, and had clearly been listening to their discussion intently; his powerful yet kind eyes looking them all over carefully. "Your dedications to your work, and to ensuring your overall festival experiences are all the best they possibly can be is to be commended, but as your teacher, I can't simply say nothing. You three all deserve to participate with the rest of your class on an equal level. So, what I'm about to propose may seem unorthodox to you all, but why don't you all simply focus on perfecting the recipes you want to make, provide them to me, and I can handle the actual running of the thing once the actual festival arrives; that way you three don't have to potentially miss out on any of your classes' performance?"

Tunguska certainly looked and sounded confident in the idea, until he saw the deathly serious and deadpan look that overcame Nikolay's expression once those words sank in. "Dad, you've always been abysmal in the kitchen; we both know it."

But Tunguska was especially quick with his rebuttal, as he firmly planted a palm atop his son's head. "Kolya, this school festival is another first-time-ever experience for you and your friends alike. None of you deserve to miss out on a second of it; especially when I know just how much having you up on that stage with everyone would make your friends all incredibly happy. And I'm especially not going to just stand by and let you potentially ruin that experience for yourself, by stressing yourself out with too many responsibilities at once. You've realized your project to try and find a way to provide a service to the public, and ease the workload for one of the staff, which is already more than enough."

Naturally, Nikolay, Rikido and Yuga were all similarly thinking about just how much of a true team effort the classes' musical dance performance was supposed to be, and how selfish it ultimately would've been for the three of them to leave everyone else hanging. And as Tunguska could see the conflict in his son's eyes, he suddenly pulled out a thick yet tiny-sized book for Nikolay to look over; his father grinning with a childlike confidence of his own all the while. "And besides, I've been using this cooking for beginners guide to figure out how to keep myself properly fed in the faculty dorms for the last couple weeks. If I could manage that already, then with all the other potential food stands from other classes, and Lunch Rush-san's assistance, even I couldn't possibly fail something like this."

Any kind of feasible argument Nikolay was thinking of in order to try and maintain his responsibility within the snack stand project, quickly died in his throat as he hung his head in acceptance, sighing as he looked to Yuga and Rikido at his right side, and then back to his father. "Okay, we'll give you everything we think you'll need to know to make sure our recipes turn out right, and we can all test it out with each other when we get the chance, make sure it's good. But Dad, if there ever comes a point between now and the festival, while we're getting this whole stand project put together when we're not doing dance practice, where you need or even just want any of our help, please don't hesitate to, okay?"

With that, knowing that his son was fully entrusting him with this, instead of trying to think of a reason as to why he still needed to take charge, had Tunguska firmly nodding in acceptance to him and his two classmates; the air around them considerably lifted now that it really felt like they had managed to navigate the hurdle of their desperate culinary side-project. Now they could finally get back to focusing on the real lessons of the day, and the extensive festival preparations and training that would be quick to follow.

---

University Hospital

Mina had unknowingly been right with her guess as to where Izuku had gone. He had indeed gotten up bright and early in preparation for today, as yesterday he had been informed by Aizawa that Eri had finally regained consciousness, the single horn protruding from her head that had been discovered to be the source of her Quirk had shrunk and thus was no longer at risk of going out of her control…and finally, the very first thing she had asked was to see him and Mirio; the two Heroes who had by far put in the greatest effort together to save her.

Izuku hadn't been sure at all what to expect once he would lay eyes on that poor little girl again, and it was something he'd been continuously having to prepare himself for the entire trip to the hospital, where Mirio and Sir Nighteye had already been patiently waiting. Naturally, it was a great relief for both his former sidekick and intern to see him up and ready on his feet again already, looking none the worse for wear; even still dressed in his signature white suit.

Over the time that had passed since the end of the Hassaikai mission, there had indeed been a great number of changes made, but this time in a way that actually left Izuku and Mirio's hearts both uplifted. Sir Nighteye had already personally renamed his former Hero Agency into the Brighter Future Agency, had officially named Bubble Girl and Centipeder both as the inheritors and dual heads of it, and they themselves had gladly accepted the idea of keeping Mirio on board, an offer he was ultimately happy to take.

And as for Sir Nighteye himself, he had indeed wasted no time getting himself out there, and was already in the process of forming his own police consultant detective office to aid any law enforcement bodies across Japan in need of help. The man had already proven a genius when it came to his deductive skills, so to essentially become an official private eye seemed almost too fitting for the former Pro Hero.

The sense of relief Izuku and Mirio both felt already at Nighteye's news still managed to skyrocket that much further, when the attending doctor and nurse finally allowed them through the door, wherein the little silver-haired girl, Eri, was already sitting up in her bed, looking their way with her head on a swivel and red eyes wide like a deer in headlights at the long-awaited faces of her now-ecstatic Heroes.

Knowing just who the real stars of the hour here were, Aizawa and Nighteye both took a step back while Izuku and Mirio happily approached Eri; the bright-eyed senior student presenting a basket full of the freshest looking fruits the entire way. "Good morning, Eri-chan. I'm sorry we couldn't see you sooner." "We thought you'd like some fruit once you were awake; plenty to choose from! What's your favorite? Let me guess…hmm, peaches, right?! You look like a peach-loving kind of girl!"

As Mirio set their gift in her hands, Eri was eyeing it with a rapt attention, especially the: "Apples…"

With that timid answer, soon Izuku was dutifully feeding little Eri with skewered apple slices, while the girl spoke up to her two visitors: "The whole time, even when I was asleep with a fever, I kept thinking of you guys that saved me, but…I don't know your name. I know Lemillion, so who are you?"

Now it was Izuku's turn to look bewildered as Eri admitted this, seemingly unaware of the boy's reaction. But knowing she had no control over this lapse in her memory, he sat tall and affirming, smiling at her encouragingly all the while, just trying to envision his lifelong example of All Might: "Midoriya Izuku; Hero name Deku! You can just call me that for short, if it's easier for you, Eri-chan!"

"A Hero name is like a code name." As Mirio hastily explained this when seeing the confusion on Eri's face, she gave another adorably timid nod of understanding, looking both boys gratefully in the eye. "Okay…Deku. Lemillion…and Deku. Both of you…that lady with wings…and that nice man with glasses, you all got hurt really bad because of me."

As Eri's eyes sunk with shame and tears, all four Heroes watching and listening to her were all coming to the same instinctive conclusion: the trauma of her experiences had caused her to forget about Ryukyu dying to save her and Izuku. There was no doubt between any of them that if she were to have learned that full extent of the truth, she would forever blame herself for it. Of course, there was no doubt she would learn the truth eventually, but to tell her it now would just be cruel.

"*sniffle*…It's all my fault. I'm really sorry for causing all you guys pain. And…and it's *sob*…because of me that the glasses man lost his power!"

"ERI-CHAN!" Mirio's voice suddenly sounded with a heartfelt firmness that managed to bring Eri's self-blaming words to a stop, her tears still welling in her eyes as she and Izuku looked to the smiling blonde Hero in surprise, as he placed a gentle hand upon her little head. "Not a single person here thinks any of this is your fault! Do you wanna know what everyone really thinks? We're all just happy that you're safe and sound! It doesn't make sense, right? To go apologizing to people who don't exist. So cheer up, please! We all fought just to be able to see a smile on your face."

For a good moment or two, Eri looked utterly enraptured at the sound of Mirio's reassuring voice as he compassionately rubbed her head. And at the sound of his last affirmation, the girl proceeded to clutch at the hem of her hospital gown, as her pristine face began physically straining to left the corners of her mouth into that very same smile. And when she couldn't manage that, she even manually grabbed at her cheeks with her own hands and tried to pull them up that way.

In the end, however, her face was still as emotionally crestfallen as before; her red eyes low as she couldn't bear the shame of looking her Heroes in the eye when she couldn't even give them what they'd all fought and suffered so much for. "I'm…*sniffle*…I'm sorry. I'm not really good at smiling."

As Mirio and Izuku looked sympathetically upon Eri, the green-haired boy especially could just imagine the truth behind this struggle of hers. 'She's suffered under Chisaki's terror and manipulation for so long. It was naïve of me to think that simply separating her from him would be enough to ease her heart again. As long as she isn't able to truly smile or have fun, then she still won't have truly been saved.'

However, once the word 'fun' crossed his mind, Izuku could swear he felt a legitimate bolt of electricity snap through his brain, the beginnings of what felt like a truly great idea. After all, Aizawa and the doctors had both said that with Eri's horn having shrunk, her powers were weaker, and far less likely for her to lose control over. If that were the case, and especially if Aizawa himself were around…

Like a shot, Izuku dashed from his chair to his homeroom teacher, having to actively think to keep from shouting too loudly. "Sensei, do you think Eri-chan could leave the hospital for a day?"

Aizawa easily could have said no right from the start, Izuku knew this. And yet, the long-haired teacher miraculously gave him the benefit of the doubt through his own answer: "It should be possible, I would just need to ask Nezu-san first. The authorities are currently trying to find her a new home."

The fact he wasn't being outright denied was all the motivation Izuku needed. "Then…would it be possible for us to…would Eri-chan be able to attend…?'

"Oh, I see now." The moment Aizawa realized, Izuku's heart was alight, fully convinced this was the best possible idea. "Could Eri-chan go to the School Festival?!"

As soon as those words left his junior's mouth; Mirio likewise was stricken by the same bolt of inspiration, all but literally shattering the light bulb going off in his head, all while Eri looked utterly perplexed by such a foreign word as 'festival.'

"ERI-CHAN, THIS IS A GREAT IDEA! WE GOT THIS THING CALLED A SCHOOL FESTIVAL! IT'S A BIG EVENT WE HAVE AT OUR SCHOOL! IT'S A SUPER-FUN TIME FOR STUDENTS, BY STUDENTS! THERE'RE EXHIBITS, PERFORMANCES, FOOD—AH! APPLES! I'LL BET THEY'LL HAVE CANDIED APPLES!"

At the very mention of her favorite fruit, Eri's confusion had turned into a magical kind of wonder, and by now Mirio was on far too big a roll to ever stop hyping up the very concept for her. "YOU THINK YOU LIKE APPLES NOW?! WELL, THEY'RE EVEN SWEETER ONCE THEY GET THE CANDIED TREATMENT!"

By now, Eri was borderline salivating, Aizawa was already in the process of texting Izuku's request to Nezu back at school, and Izuku suddenly had his beseeching gaze set upon the visibly grinning Nighteye. "What do you think, Nighteye-sensei?! Surely this is a good idea for Eri-chan's sake, right?"

With a single waving of one hand, the bespectacled former Hero looked to his two young former charges and friends. "Izuku, Mirio, I'm not your teacher anymore. The fact is that you don't have to run anything by me for my permission…however, speaking as a colleague, knowing exactly what you're both trying to do…I think you've both got a goldmine of an idea. Of course, the choice isn't ultimately any of ours to make, but hers."

Realizing just how right he was, Izuku and Mirio both turned to Eri herself, who by now looked as thoughtful or pensive as a girl so young possibly could, struggling to find the words. "Um…I…I've been thinking…about you two…how you saved me."

Finally, as she lifted her head so she could look them both in the eye, they were both stricken by the light of life that had suddenly been restored within them as she sincerely exclaimed: "You two, and everyone else you work or go to school with…I wanna be your friend!"

With that single deciding vote as to what Eri wanted to do; Izuku, Mirio, Nighteye and even Aizawa all felt an immense warmth of contentment build within them, all confident to their own degrees as to just what a good experience it would be for Eri to get out of this hospital and ultimately get to know just what life among Heroes could really be like.

---

Yuuei Academy, 1-A Dorms

With a plan for the school festival finally set in stone for Class 1-A, they officially had only one month to plan out all of the details, from what music the dance group would go with, what kind of routine, and with the realization that Tooru's suggestion for Kyouka was that of live music, who would ultimately play what. And while the rest of the class had hurriedly made their way back to their dorms once school had let out, so that they could iron out such details; Nikolay, Rikido and Yuga had ultimately lulled behind some in order to better brainstorm exactly what each of them would make for their food stand side-project, at least in order to avoid disrupting everyone else's brainstorming for the performance, or getting disrupted themselves.

Once they had finally come to a decision they could all three live with, along with set times in the evenings in which they could test out their results with one another to make sure they got it down perfect in time, they too were finally making their way back to the dorms themselves, only to step into the commons area and find nearly all their classmates gathered around a haphazard setup of all of Kyouka's instruments; the purple-haired girl herself standing at the forefront like an audition director with a bass guitar slung over her waist.

Of course, once their last three classmates had finally returned, Kyouka personally came rushing to Nikolay with surprising determination in her step. "Hey, Kolya-san, you all actually got here just in time for live instrument auditions. We've already managed to secure Bakugo for the drums, but I'm still trying to really figure out exactly what kind of music to go with that everyone can follow Mina-san's dance routine properly to, and that the entire audience can equally enjoy. Maybe you could look over some of these song ideas I've been working on before anything else."

While Nikolay and his newly returned partners were all equally surprised to hear that they'd managed to rope Bakugo into the actual band part of the performance; he himself soon found himself being handed a pretty decent stack of notebook papers with all kinds of different lyrics in different poetic structures scribbled all over them, even complete with technical notes Kyouka had added in terms of projected rhythms and tunings. But what had him especially impressed, was the fact that the songs all ranged from Japanese to English, to even notably proper Russian.

"Ah, that. Yeah, I just had been juggling with the idea of including some kind of world music influence somewhere, keeping with the whole multi-culture idea you'd thrown out before." Kyouka couldn't hide the embarrassment at seeing the impression in Nikolay's eyes, and especially not when his expression drew everyone else to come in and see for themselves.

While Tooru, Ochako and Denki were all similarly surprised at Kyouka's songwriting going this extra mile, Momo soon chimed in: "This is very well done work, Jirou-san. However, forgive me, but doesn't it feel like a bit much for a school festival performance like this?"

Soon, even Nikolay sounded regretful as he too answered: "You've really come a long way in learning how to write Cyrillic grammatically right, and managing to include the proper poetic structure for it, too…but I think Yaoyorozu-san has a point. We're ultimately dealing with a primarily Japanese audience, many of whom, I'm going to guess, are still trying to learn English as a second language, like us. I can't help but worry including too many different languages in one song could be…well, a little alienating to them."

Nikolay and Momo both looked apologetically for having shot down Kyouka's more ambitious idea…but the young rocker girl herself actually breathed a sigh of relief as she gratefully accepted the honest feedback, and the lyrics sheets themselves. "Honestly, I'm glad. I may feel good about the writing, but the pronunciation is a whole different animal. Plus the beats I'm looking for honestly wouldn't fit right with these practice lyrics. Seriously, so much of your country's music is so slow, Kolya-san.

"But it's okay. I'm more confident in my English by far, and even if the audience may not all understand it; it's the feeling that matters. Thanks for the honesty anyway, though." Nikolay immediately let out a sigh of relief to know he hadn't insulted Kyouka personally, as did Momo.

With that minor hurdle out of the way, and everyone hurriedly returning to try their hand at the rest of the instrument audition, Nikolay took in the scene and quickly pointed out: "Hey, where's Mina? If we're still gonna be throwing ideas for the performance around, I thought she'd want to stick around to hear what kind of music we'll be dancing to."

Catching the minutest trace of worry deeply hidden in Nikolay's tone, Tsuyu replied: "Oh, she was around for Bakugo to show his skills on the drums, but afterwards, she said she wanted to draw up some diagrams for the possible dance routines we could do once the band is formed up-kero. If you wanna talk to her, she might still be in her room."

With a thankful nod, Nikolay hurriedly made his way down the hall to the girls' wing, completely oblivious to the immediate glare of jealousy Minoru was drilling into his back the entire way.

Once he was finally up on the fourth floor and before the door to Mina's room, Nikolay momentarily hesitated, before finally, with a steady and driven knock-knock-knock, he waited, unable to even get one breath in before the door opened, with a very pleasantly surprised Mina meeting him in the doorway with an immediate joyful hug. "Hey, I'm glad you're here, Kolya-kun! I was starting to think you, Sato-kun and Aoyama-kun would either be down at Kyouka-chan's auditions or working in the dining hall all night."

The very moment she knew they were alone, Mina immediately capped off greeting her boyfriend with another sweet lingering kiss, after which Nikolay likewise answered: "Yeah, well, I was surprised you weren't down there either when we got back, but Tsuyu-san said you were up here working on a few different possible dance routines for when the band gets all figured out, and I…well, I was wondering if you'd maybe…like me to help, whichever way I can, of course."

The joy that lit up in Mina's eyes at this admission of his couldn't even come fast enough before she took Nikolay's head in her hands and met him with another enthusiastic, warm and infinitely loving kiss to his lips. "I thought you would never ask after this morning, Kolya-kun! To be honest, I was really starting to worry that I'd been coming on too strong when I suggested we teach together. C'mon in, and let's make this the best dance performance ever!"

As Mina gleefully guided Nikolay in her embrace into her room, her reminder of their awkward half-talk this morning had Nikolay feeling only the slightest touch of hesitance. With all the devotion and passion they were all already putting towards this performance in one month's time, there was no way he could allow that uncomfortable air to linger over their heads any longer than it already had been. If he was truly going to be able to contribute anything worthwhile to Mina's passion for this performance, then it would now be time for him to finally come clean for his demeanor all of yesterday around dancing.

And there you are, everyone, this week's new chapter setting the wheels of the Yuuei School Festival in motion. I hope you're all interested to see how these new ideas will ultimately shape the show to come, as I've certainly really enjoyed seeing what I can do with it thus far.

If you liked what you read here today, please be kind enough to leave a review, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 12/24, an official Christmas or holiday gift for you all!

Thank you all again for all your support!