A/N: A lot of the story writing and decisions concerning the new dynamics between characters that evolve from the telling of this fanon are largely done at my discretion. However, I have to say that this instalment- one of my favorite chapters to date in this story- is pretty much my wife's brainchild. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I did!

Coming Around

August came and went in what seemed like no time at all, and now that September was nearly over with, October was peering around the corner. In this time, Kurai debriefed his brother on the details of his investigation into their parents and the origins of his quirk. He also told him- in the strictest of confidence- about Eri, and how her power might one day be used to heal his destroyed body.

When Akarui asked his brother if he would have her restore his arm, Kurai had answered that as tempting as that prospect sounded, he would have to decline if the option were offered to him. The rewind would more than likely undo the effects of all his intensive training that he had gone through in order to further master Energon, especially after Akarui had altered it. Even so, the two of them finally felt as though there was hope for the younger Hogo-sha, after what felt like an eternity of despair between the two of them.

The students from the works studies at UA continued to attend extra classes in order to catch up to their peers, but they were finally set to be done in a few days, which would be a big relief for them. As this time passed, the people targeting Kurai slowly dwindled, though there were still clearly some who wished him gone, as the damage being done to his property continued, despite his refusal to do anything about it. Monoma also kept up his verbal taunting of the boy, though it was clear that he was growing frustrated with Kurai's lack of response. He wasn't the only one, but he was the most consistent.

Kurai's friends continued to urge him to speak to the faculty about the matter, but he remained adamant that he would not. "This is good practice for the real world," he would tell them. "Not everyone is going to like me, especially given what I uncovered about my father, just like it is at school. And when we get out there, I'm not going to have teachers to fight my battles for me."

Mina tried to go to Aizawa about the matter, but he told her that he couldn't actually do anything unless Kurai accused another student of wrongdoing, or said student was caught in the act of vandalism/harassment. Because he refused to do that, the pro hero's hands were tied. This further angered the pink girl, because she knew that Kurai had a way out of his predicament, but his stubborn nature was preventing him from taking it.

Thus began their first string of arguments since their relationship had begun. It wasn't that they hadn't argued before, but this was the first time that they left a matter unresolved after a discussion or two on the topic. Kurai made it a point to try and keep the fighting behind closed doors, but it was clear to the others that there was some kind of tension going on between the two, though no one wanted to ask what was up.

At one point, on their way back from the gym, Iida finally pulled Kurai aside and said in a lowered tone, "This is why I advised against dating a classmate in the first place."

Kurai's countenance darkened briefly before he muttered, "I'm working on it." His battle with Overhaul had left him with patchy scars that covered a good portion of his left cheek and jawbone, as well as his rear deltoid on the same side. Another section of his disfiguration had been spread across more than half of his upper back, make his once-smooth skin feel similar to that of a lizard on the affected area. The fact that more than one student had used the new feature to poke more fun at him definitely wasn't helping his general mood, either.

"You know as well as I that violence against another student is strictly prohibited unless it's in a sparring match supervised by a teacher," Iida began, "but there are other ways of defending yourself. Why won't you-?"

"Tenya, this discussion has been done to death with you and almost everyone else in our class, and I haven't changed my mind," Kurai said to cut him off. He resumed walking through the main campus building behind the others as he added, "I fought you once in order to act on my feelings, and look at the consequences that brought about. I don't care to repeat the mistake of setting myself against another one of our peers."

"Whoever is doing this is hardly peer-worthy material, especially at an establishment like UA!"

"I'm done discussing this, Tenya." With that, he accelerated his pace and quickly rejoined the rest of the students in silence.

Iida was about to go after him, but he found himself being held back by the sleeve on his PE uniform. He turned his head to see Mina shaking her head exasperatedly, surprising him. "Why are-?"

"You're beating your head on brick wall," she sighed as they started walking behind the others. "I've tried literally everything I can think of to convince him to change his mind on this, but it's no good."

"Are we to do nothing, then?" Iida said with a frown. "As class representative, and more importantly, as his friend, I can't keep watching this happen to him."

"I know, and I'm trying to figure out a way to catch whoever's doing this in the act, but I haven't been able to think of a solution," Mina grumbled. "I asked Yaomomo to put a hidden mini-cam in his locker, but she pointed out that would be a violation of your guys' privacy. I'm not good at coming up with creative solutions, so I've been stumped since then."

"Perhaps I can set my phone to record audio during the day," Iida mused as he put his chin in his hands. "There would be no visual, but I'm sure that if the people responsible for the vandalism were to speak while they commit their deeds, someone in the faculty could identify them."

"Maybe," Mina said with a somewhat doubtful look. "Unless whoever's doing this mentions names while they work, it'll still be hard to make a positive ID."

"It's better than nothing, and this way, Kurai doesn't have to know that it was us who took matters into our hands," Iida responded, but Mina was already shaking her head in the negative.

"He'll know it was us," she sighed. "But I don't care at this point. Somebody needs to do something." By this point, the group had reached the locker rooms, so the two of them went their separate ways.

A few minutes later, when the last of the boys were exiting the changing room, Iida noticed that Bakugo was still fiddling angrily with his padlock, grumbling something under his breath that the class rep probably thought was better left not deciphered. He hesitated for a second before he asked, "Do you need assistance, Bakugo?"

"Get lost!" the blond boy barked angrily. "I know how to open a locker, dammit!" He gave the dial one last spin and yanked it open, grunting with satisfaction as he did. Glaring at his peer, Bakugo demanded, "What do you want, four-eyes?"

Having never seen the interior of the other boy's locker before, the class rep was only momentarily distracted by the sight of a band poster and what looked like an extra-large water bottle stored in a corner by itself. Other than that, the container was pretty bare, unlike the other boys, who tended to keep several personal affects behind the locked doors. "Just don't be late for next class," Iida sighed as he pushed the distraction aside and went on his way, leaving the explosive boy alone.

That didn't stop him from shouting, "Don't tell me what to do!"

The last period was homeroom with Aizawa, which is when he gave them an important reminder. "The UA school festival is coming up," he said blandly. "While this is the time of the year for the other courses to shine, your class is still expected to put together a display of some sort. Figure it out by the end of today's class." Then he fell asleep in his bag, leaving the matter to his students.

"All right!" Iida said as he got up on the dais alongside Yaoyorozu. "As class representative, it is my job to facilitate these proceedings as smoothly as possible! Let's hear some ideas for what our class can do!" Immediately, he and Yaoyorozu were overwhelmed by a series of overlapping voices, prompting him to say, "Well, I didn't expect this many ideas…! Quiet down! Order! I need order!"

Unfortunately, it looked like the brainstorming session was going to take longer than their allotted time, because they had only just begun to eliminate people's ideas from the list that Yaoyorozu had drawn up on the board when the bell rang. Aizawa told them that they had until the next morning to submit an idea for the festival, or else they would simply sit down for an educational lecture as their exhibit- an idea that not even Yaoyorozu and Iida could get behind. So it was that the entirety of the class- minus the students that were still catching up from work studies- gathered in the common space in order to continue the brainstorming session.

"I just don't see how we can create a meal that satisfies everyone's taste buds, not when we eat Lunch Rush's food so often," Iida was saying as he crossed another idea off of the list.

"It sucks, but he's right," Sato sighed. "The guy is too good for us to compete with."

"I think we should take off the petting zoo," Sero commented as he gave Koda an apologetic look. "Sorry man, but that sounds like it could get smelly, fast."

While the quiet boy shrugged in acceptance, Yang grumbled, "I still don't see why we can't have a shooting range where we teach people how to use guns… I promised Ruby that I'd come up with something fun since she isn't here to help plan this stuff!"

"Japanese citizens aren't allowed to have guns unless they have a hero license or are a police officer," Iida reminded her. "Also, how would we provide enough firearms for everyone to use, and how could we control such an event?"

"Let it go, Yang," Weiss told the dejected girl.

"There has to be something we can do to alleviate the stress that all of the other courses must be feeling, even a little bit," Iida murmured into his hand.

"I still think that a skit could be fun," Jiro piped up.

"Uh… No thanks," Weiss muttered.

"You got something against theater?" Kaminari asked her.

"Theater that's done by amateurs can be pretty cringey," Blake said before Weiss could answer the boy. Glancing at her friend, she asked, "Are you still remembering Jaune and-?"

"You promised that we'd never talk about that again!"

"Why can't we just have a giant dance party?" Mina complained as she drummed her heels on one of the coffee tables.

"Yeah!" Yang declared as she jumped up from her seat. "If we can't have fun with guns, let's boogie! I used to go clubbing back in the States all the time, and it's a blast!"

"Wait, don't you need to be over eighteen to go to the dance scene?"

"There's some joints that don't use liquor!"

"Really?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow. "Name one."

"Easy, there's… Uh… Wait, what's that one with the rooster called again?" When Weiss just raised an eyebrow at her, Yang stuck out her tongue before appealing to the others by saying, "Look, Iida was the one saying that we should be providing stress relief for everyone, right? Dance parties are great for letting loose!"

"Not necessarily for everyone," Koda said a little hesitantly. "I wouldn't know the first thing about mixing with people at that kind of event."

"We need something where everyone can get excited on an equal level, ribbit," Asui commented. "The dance scene is fun for a lot of people, but I can get how it might make some others feel left out. It's not easy to go and interact with total strangers in such a close manner."

"Yo, I got it!" Ashido said as she jumped to her feet with a bright spark in her eyes. "A theater performance might be super cringey if we did it, but that kinda thing still gets a crowd's attention all aimed the same way, right?"

"Right…?" Kaminari answered hesitantly.

"So, so!" Mina said excitedly. "We take that aspect and apply it to a dance party- we give everyone a reason to get amped up that you wouldn't be able to get from a DJ just setting up a playlist! We can put on a real show for the school!"

"Anyone else know what she's talking about?" Sato asked in an aside, to which Sero just shrugged in confusion.

"Dudes, there's fewer ways to get hyped than by going to a live concert," Mina told them, which prompted some thoughtful looks from her peers. "Think about it! If we put on a song-and-dance show, we could really get people in the groove, and nobody has to feel like they're waiting to get stepped on, like some do at a mixer, you know?"

"A song and dance, huh?" Yang repeated, looking intrigued by the idea, as did many of the others.

"Where would we even have room for that kind of thing?" Ojiro asked.

"The gym could work, or maybe we do something outside, like where we took the fitness test!" Sato said eagerly. "Both areas have plenty of open space for that kind of thing, as long as we get permission from the school."

"Now you're getting it!" Mina cheered. Iida had to admit, it seemed like everyone in the class was more or less warming up to the idea, and it did seem like a good way to accomplish their goal without having to compare their efforts to people like Lunch Rush when it came to confections. And with the variety of quirks at their disposal, they could certainly make for a set of entertaining visuals- Yaoyorozu alone could literally pull anything out of her sleeve, so if they got creative, who knew what they could come up with?

"Well, if we're talking about music for a show…" Hagakure said as she and several others turned toward Jiro, who immediately shrank back with a reddened face.

"Wait-! No way!" she sputtered. "Absolutely not!"

"Aw, why not?" Hagakure insisted. "You're really good at all your instruments, and you always look like you're having fun when you're writing music, plus you're a great teacher! I bet the school would love to hear you rock out!"

It took some convincing from her friends, but before the night was over, the class had won Jiro over on the idea of putting on a live concert with a coordinated dance performance for the school population. She would be in charge of putting the music together, Mina could coordinate a dance routine, and some of the boys would collaborate on ideas for special effects. They still needed to pick members for the dance crew and the musicians, but it was getting late, so Iida proposed that they resume the discussion after school the next day.

Once the morning class began, Aizawa readily accepted their idea to hold a concert, so long as they took care of the setup and teardown themselves. Iida even convinced him to let them put the show on in the gym, which would give them plenty of room to set up a stage and host a large crowd, all in aid of giving the feel of a live concert. The six students that had been busy with catching up on their academics had all liked the plan, and promised to assist in the endeavor as soon as they completed their extra lessons.

However, Kurai and Izuku had been surprised to learn the previous evening that they would be given some time off from today's school to go to the hospital and finally visit Eri with Togata. Apparently ever since she had awoken from her brief coma, it had been the only thing that she had requested. Kurai was surprised that she wanted to see him, given how the last time that she had seen him, he had been acting fairly crazy. Still, he wasn't about to refuse her wish, so he found himself in the hospital room where Eri had been staying, though he hung back behind Togata and Izuku.

Mister Aizawa was also there, just in case she somehow became overstimulated and activated her quirk on accident. The doctor had assured them that there was little chances of that happening now, but it didn't hurt to be certain.

Kurai couldn't keep a wry smile off of his face as he thought, I can't remember the last time I was in a hospital without recovering from a life-or-death battle, much less to visit someone else.

"Heya, Eri!" Togata said as he held up a fruit basket. "We brought you a present! What's your favorite fruit, huh? No, wait- lemme guess! …Peaches, right? Cos you're a peach!" He grinned at his own joke while Kurai raised an eyebrow and Izuku looked askance at him.

"…Apples," Eri answered him.

"Right, that's what I meant!" Togata replied cheerily as he put the basket on the nightstand by her bed. "Let's get one of these suckers peeled for you."

After Izuku and Togata had reintroduced themselves with their hero names and the older boy had peeled the red fruit, Eri seemed to notice Kurai in the background. "Mister Kai?" she asked him timidly.

"Hey, Eri," he said as he stepped into her clear line of sight, though he made a point to hang back. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess," she said in a small voice. "I was worried about you after you got hurt because of me. And… the man with the glasses." Her words gave the others pause, as they had agreed beforehand not to say anything about Nighteye's demise, knowing that it might be too much for the little girl to handle right now.

In an attempt to change the topic, Kurai spoke up again. "Is there anything else you'd like one of us to bring? I know when I've been in the hospital, I like it when people bring me books and games so I don't get too bored."

Eri blinked her large red eyes at him a couple of times before she admitted, "I don't actually know how to read…"

Kurai blinked a couple of times before he smacked himself in the face- and then had to actively bite back a curse as he realized that he had struck his head with his metal hand for the umpteenth time. Trying to cover for his friend's lapse, Izuku stepped in to ask, "Eri, would you like to learn how to read? I'm sure we can figure something out, right Mister Aizawa?"

The worn-looking man hesitated before he replied, "We're working on the details to arrange for her education, but those are still more or less up in the air right now. And while you'll be allowed to see her again after this, the truth is that your schedule is too inflexible to allow such regular visitations that teaching her would require. Sorry, Midoriya."

"Oh no, I wasn't talking about me!" Izuku said quickly as he turned to face his teacher. "Sure, I'd love to, but I know I don't have the time for something like that."

"But I do!" Togata said brightly. "I'm taking time off from classes, so I'd be able to help her out!" Looking at the little girl, he then asked, "What do you say, Eri? Would you like me to teach you how to read?"

Eri's gaze was silent for a little while before she said, "I know you lost your power because of me, Lemillion. I don't want to be more of a burden to you."

"Hey, no one thinks that what happened was your fault," Togata told her. "I promise. You know what we're all really thinking, though?" When Eri remained quiet, he patted her on the head and said, "Man, we are stupid glad that Eri is okay. We all fought our best so we could see you smile, you know?"

Eri blinked up at him a few times before her face began to twist into some kind of grimace. She shut her eyes and redoubled her efforts, even going so far as to pull at her cheeks, but she did not smile. She put her hands back down on her lap as she murmured, "This is so silly, but… I think I forgot how to smile."

Kurai and the others exchanged looks of grim surprise. Our job isn't over, the student thought then. She's physically safe, but her mind is still trapped by Chisaki's influence.

"You know what makes me smile, Eri?" he asked her, drawing the attention of the room back to him. "Spending time with my friends and learning new things with them. Do you think that you would like it if I could arrange for a friend of mine to come and teach you how to read with Lemillion here?" Internally, he made a note to see if Akarui was up to creating some lessons to teach Eri how to read with Togata, who didn't exactly have a teaching license.

"I…" The girl hesitated before she replied, "All I wanted before today… was to meet you again. Because I wanted to be friends with all three of you."

Togata and Izuku's faces lit up with bright smiles as they heard that. "We'd love to be friends with you, Eri," the greenette told her. "We were hoping you'd say that, actually."

Kurai wanted to join in on the smiles, but he was still feeling conflicted about the whole matter. I fought to save her, yeah… But was that my primary motivation, or did I just want to make the yakuza hurt in any way that I could? Do I deserve to be in Eri's confidence?

"Kai?" Eri asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Will you be my friend, too?"

He hesitated, but that didn't stop him from stepping closer to the foot of the bed before he said, "I'd like to be, yeah. I just… thought you might also be scared of me. Because of the way I fought Overhaul."

She shook her head slowly as she answered, "He tried to kill you and Lemillion and Deku because you wanted to help me. But that didn't stop you from rescuing me and getting hurt because of me… I know you're a good person, Kai…"

The trembling words from the little girl melted Kurai's heart to the point that he smiled down at her and ruffled her hair, like he did with Akarui. "I'm glad you think so," he told her. "I'm glad that you were the first person I could save as a hero, Eri."

"Kai?"

"Yes?"

"What happened to your arm?" the little girl asked as she stared at the replacement appendage. "I haven't seen anything like it before."

"Oh, uh, well…!" Izuku stammered before Kurai could say anything. "It's, uh… It's part of his hero costume!"

"No it's not," Kurai said with a roll of his eyes. "Not really." Looking back at a confused Eri, he reached out with his robotic hand for her to touch, and when she did, he told her, "I lost my real one trying to protect a classmate of mine, because I made a mistake in not acting fast enough. This time, I managed to save you without getting permanently hurt, so if you think about it, you helped to make me a better hero. Thank you for that."

Tears welled up in the little girl's eyes as she heard his gratitude. Like she had been unable to remember the last time a person's touch had been a kind one before Deku held her in the street, just as she could not recall when somebody had valued her as a person and not a lab rat before Lemillion declared that he would be her hero, Eri now found herself incapable of remembering when she was last given gratitude for her efforts. She found herself unable speak past the lump in her throat, nor the tears that continued to slide down her face.

Before either Togata or Izuku could think of what to say to try and get her to stop crying, Kurai reached forward and pulled her in for a hug, like when he had embraced his brother as he set out to start his life in the dorms. He let her tears soak into his shirt while Aizawa and the doctor waved back the nurse that had been attending to the child, though the hero's eyes appeared ready to go into action the second that Eri's quirk acted up again. She tried to stifle her sobs, but Kurai patted her back gently and murmured in an encouraging tone, "It's okay, Eri… Let it out. My friends couldn't help me until I let them know how much I had been hurt, and we can't start healing unless we have our friends by our side, okay?"

Eri could only nod as her shoulders continued to shake and her eyes flooded into the soft fabric of his shirt. As she did, Kurai felt his own eyes stinging as he thought, If ever I needed someone to confirm that I've chosen the right path in life, Eri has. The dismemberment, the agony of learning about his family's sins, the nights spent sweating and shaking in terror, even the crippling self-doubt was worth it to be able to bring this child some measure of peace in a world that had subjected her to cruelties unimagined.

After the two of them had managed to calm down a little bit, Izuku volunteered an idea to their teacher. "I know Eri has to stay at the hospital, but do you think that she could leave for a day?" the green-haired boy asked Aizawa. "You said that the UA Festival would be open to a few people from outside the school if they had permission, right? Why don't we bring her with us- to try and raise her spirits?"

Aizawa, for once, actually perked up and seemed intrigued by his student's idea. While he appeared to mull it over, Togata and Kurai exchanged a smile with their peer. "That's a great idea!" the older student declared.

"Lemillion?" Eri asked through a sniffle. "What's a festival?"

"Oh man, you're gonna have such a blast!" Togata said excitedly as he turned back to the girl. "A school festival is where we throw a giant festival at our school! Every class puts on a special exhibit, like games or food stalls! I'll bet that we can find you some candy apples!"

"Candy apples?" Eri asked curiously. "What's that?"

"Put an apple on a stick and dip it in some kind of sugar glaze that makes it into a pretty sweet treat," Kurai answered her, which got Togata to laugh. Eri was actually drooling a little bit at the thought of her favorite food being made even more delicious than she had previously thought possible.

"Nice rhyme!" the senior student chortled at Kurai.

"Thanks?"

"All right, I'll pitch the idea to the principal," Aizawa told them, prompting a cheer from both Izuku and Togata.

"We should make a case for her so she can definitely come!" the younger student said eagerly.

"I like your energy, my man!"

"Are you gonna be making candy apples, Kai?" Eri asked as she looked up at the boy.

"No, but Deku and my class are going to be putting on a concert for the whole school," he answered her. "We'll be playing music and dancing up on a stage so you'll be able to see us."

"Ooh, we'll definitely make a point to watch that!" Togata promised. "Eri, we're gonna have so much fun on our festival date!"

"What's a date?"

"That's where two people who like each other spend time together!"

"So… we're going on a date?"

"Okay, that's enough of that," Kurai said before Togata could put any strange ideas in her head. "Who wants apples?"

That afternoon, class 1-A was gathered in the common area at Iida's insistence, as he reminded them that they only had one month to prepare for the school festival. "If we're going to put on a concert, we need to make decisions right now," he asserted. "We will all have our parts to learn when it comes to the music and dancing."

"Let's get settled on the music, then," Hagakure said excitedly. Turning to her friend, she asked, "What's the plan, Jiro?" She and the other girls had brought down a few of Jiro's instruments so that they could start experimenting with different roles for their classmates.

"Hmm…" The girl mused before launching into a Midoriya-esque explanation of the different types of music that they could put together, which left almost all of her classmates more confused than before. Deciding to set the technical details aside for the time being, she told them, "Okay, the drums are the backbone of any band. Does anyone play them?" When no one answered her, she fidgeted a little bit and said, "I'd take on the roll myself, but I main the bass and guitar. Trying to teach a beginner how to play while coordinating everything else would be impossible for me to do in just a month."

Kaminari's face suddenly lit up as he turned to Bakugo and said, "Hey, wait a sec! You let it slip that your parents made you take music lessons as a kid, right?"

Bakugo's eye twitched before he made to stomp off, only stopping when Sero held up a pair of drumsticks and snickered, "I bet he thinks the drums are too hard."

Before they knew it, Bakugo was putting on a solid one-man performance with a stone face. Once he had everyone's undivided attention, he growled, "Well?!"

"That… was killer!" Jiro exclaimed, looking like Christmas had come early.

"Who knew he had that kind of talent?!" Yang exclaimed.

"That's it, he's gotta be the drummer!" Kaminari laughed.

"Hmph," the blond boy snorted as he got up, once again to leave, much to the confusion of his peers. "No way am I making a fool of myself on stage."

"Wait, Bakugo, come on," Jiro begged before he could get too far. "You have to do it- if we rock this, everyone'll have a great time!"

"You don't get it, so let me spell it out for you idiots," Bakugo growled as he looked over his shoulder. "We're doing this so that everyone else can blow off some steam, right? How do you think everyone's gonna take something like that from the people they can't stand- it's our fault that all of this happened, right? It'll be like a slap in the face!" His voice was more bitter than hostile now, but he was still clearly unhappy.

"Dude, stop being a jerk!" Hagakure snapped. "We're just trying to help!"

"He's right, though," Blake interjected, surprising the others. "Think about it. How would you guys feel if somebody that brought consequences on you because of what they did suddenly were trying to get on your good side with a gift that you probably wouldn't even want in the first place?"

"We didn't do anything wrong, though!" Mina complained.

"That's not how the other students see it," Asui replied blankly. "They want someone to blame, and we're the easiest people to get mad at. We've all seen enough of how Hikari gets treated to know that." Her words cast a grim mood on the room, and many began to question if they were really doing the right thing.

Bakugo snorted and said, "Why should we care about what all the other idiots think, anyway? We didn't ask villains to come along and ruin stuff for us and them!" He turned all the way around and fixed his red eyes on Jiro as he growled, "If we're gonna do this, then we're not doing it to make everyone feel better! We're gonna do it to win!" He drew a slashing motion across his throat as he shouted, "Let's murder everyone in UA with killer music!"

There was a stunned silence before the class erupted into cheers as they understood what he was trying to say. They were victims of the villain attacks as much as the next person, if not more so. They deserved to be able to have a good time, too. And why not prove everyone wrong about them while they were at it?

"That reasoning was super scary, but if he's gonna do it, who cares?!" Hagakure cheered.

"Don't ignore the other stuff I said!" Bakugo shouted at her.

"Okay, we need more than music!" Mina said excitedly. "We need to be going extra with all the special effects to really set the tone!"

"Special effects?" Shoji repeated, looking perplexed- at least, as perplexed as someone who's wearing a mask can be.

"Yeah- check it!" Mina held up a laptop with the screen paused in the middle of a live concert, where one could easily see sparkling lights, streamers, and pyrotechnics. "This'll really get people in the groove!"

"Hey, is that a disco ball?" Yang asked as she peered over Iida's shoulder. "Anyone else thinkin' about where we can find one of those?" As she spoke, she gave Aoyama a pointed look.

"You want moi to be a disco ball?" he asked as the others looked expectantly at him. He gave spin, struck a pose, and declared, "I was born to do this!"

"Awesome!" Ojiro grinned. "We could probably rig him up to something that lets him hang above all of us, right?"

"Good idea," Iida said approvingly.

"Ooh, ooh!" said Mina, her energy growing by the minute. "If Todoroki gives Kirishima some ice, he can cut it up and Aoyama's lights will make it look like it's raining stardust!"

Just then, the work study students walked in the door, looking tired, but relieved. "Hey guys," Midoriya said. "Sorry, we just got off from our extra lessons- we're finally done with them."

"Speak of the devil!" Hagakure said as they spotted Todoroki coming in beside Tokoyami, now looking confused as he had apparently been singled out.

"Did I miss something?" he asked of no one in particular.

"We'll catch you up later," Kaminari assured him.

"Well, whatever the case is, we're ready to help plan the concert," Kurai said as he set his bag on the floor by the wall. "Mister Aizawa told us that we're good to use the gym."

"Well, that's provided they can fix it in time," Kaminari told them with a huge smile, as several of the other students began to laugh among themselves.

"Fix it?" Izuku repeated. "Did something happen to it?"

"Yeah, it was crazy!" Mina laughed as she hugged Kurai from behind. "Class B was training this afternoon while you guys were visiting the hospital, and out of nowhere there was a huge explosion. Like, half the building was blasted, and Mister Cementoss is having to fix it."

"Was anyone hurt?!" Ochaco gasped worriedly.

"Nobody important," Sero snickered while Kaminari tried in vain to stifle his own laughter.

"What does that mean?" Izuku asked, their confusion growing as the majority of their classmates started to laugh, some more quietly than others.

"Some of the guys from class B told us that idiot Monoma got himself in the middle of ground zero," Ojiro chuckled, causing Kurai's eyes to widen for a moment. "He's gonna be laid up in bed for a few days."

"Ground zero?" Ruby repeated, sounding skeptical. "It couldn't have been that bad, could it?" In response, Yang held up a photo that had been going around the school, which depicted a fried Monoma in the middle of a massive crater in the gym, which looked as though it had been made by a bombing run. Ruby started to laugh, then, pointing at the screen and giggling, "His head looks like a marshmallow that got stuck in a fire!"

"How's that for karmic justice?!" Kaminari laughed as he held his sides. "The guy's been picking more fights than Bakugo since the Sport's Fest, and now the only one he can fight will be Recovery Girl- and he'd lose! Ha!"

"Don't ever compare me to that loser again, you hear me?!" Bakugo raged from across the room.

After the work study students had been caught up on the situation concerning the band and special effects teams, Blake pointed out that they should probably sort out who would be singing the music. "Isn't that the main attraction?" she asked Jiro.

"Yeah, you've got a point," the shorter girl mused.

"I could do it!" Aoyama volunteered. "Imagine it, the singing disco ball!"

"Actually, not to brag, but I'm a pretty awesome singer," Kirishima said as he grabbed the mic and started singing some kind of grunge tune that immediately set most of his classmates on edge.

"That's not really what we're looking for," Jiro told him.

Next, Aoyama tried to put on a demonstration, but all the others could think of while he was singing was that he sounded like a dying whale. He was also shut down, much to his irritation, but he accepted his role without complaint.

Before anyone else could voice their opinion, Ruby grabbed Weiss' arm and put her hand up in the air. "Weiss can do it!" she announced. "She's awesome at singing! Show 'em Weiss, show 'em!"

"Okay, okay!" the albino girl said as she yanked her arm out of her friend's grasp. Looking around at the others, she said, "I have been performing in theaters and musicals since I was very little, so I'm sure that this will be no problem."

"Cool, let's hear it," Jiro said as she passed Weiss the microphone, to the confusion of her friends.

"Hang on Jiro, why don't you-?"

"Let's see what Schnee can do," Jiro quickly interrupted Ochaco while Weiss began to breathe deeply, Ruby pulling out her phone so that a piano tune began to play from it. Her friend listened intently to the music only long enough to leave the others waiting for just a moment.

"Mirror… Tell me something… Tell me, who's the loneliest… of all…?" The girl drew in another breath before a violin began to accompany the violin while she sang the haunting tune again, "Mirror… Tell me something. Tell me, who's the loneliest of all…? Fear of… what's inside of me… Tell me, can a heart be turned… to stone?" Her voice was light and sweet in spite of the mournful tune and lyrics, and she achieved the higher notes with seemingly little effort.

"That was amazing!" Yaoyorozu told the heiress, who looked satisfied with her performance. "I learned to play the piano to accompany classical singers since I was very young, but none of them were ever able to sing like that!"

"I think we've got the girl for the-"

"Hang on a sec, guys!" Ochaco insisted. "You should hear Jiro sing, too!"

"Oh come on, it can't be any better than what Schnee just did!" Sero said as Ochaco grabbed the mic and put it in Jiro's reluctant grip.

"Trust us, you're gonna eat those words," Hagakure told them. "C'mon, Kyoka! Play those pipes!"

Jiro hesitated, especially once she saw how disgruntled Weiss looked, but she also knew that the other girls were not going to let it go until she sang for them. Might as well get it over with, she thought as she inhaled.

"You know everyone… wants to sparkle." Everyone's eyes widened as Jiro closed her own, trying to ignore her embarrassment. "Like the stars in the… night sky… In this wondrous place, filled with all… the dreams, I've been wishing for, waiting for the chance." Jiro's voice went just as high as Weiss', but somehow her tones carried with more power and clarity than the exchange student's, which the others had not considered possible.

"Dude… my ears are so happy!" Kaminari exclaimed, even as most of the class broke into cheers. It was clear who their choice for the singer was, much to Jiro's embarrassment and Weiss' frustration.

"Whoa, hold on a sec!" the rocker girl told her friends. "I actually have a song in mind, but… it'll be pretty hard to do all the singing myself since there's some parts where the vocals are supposed to overlap. Normally I would record some of the lines in advance to accompany me live, but it would definitely sound better if I had another singer to help me out." She looked at Weiss, hoping that the other girl wouldn't make this difficult for either of them.

"…All right, a duet isn't out of the question," the other girl grumbled. "Granted I haven't done one since my sister stopped performing, but I'm sure I can figure it out again."

"Awesome," Jiro said as she breathed a hidden sigh of relief. "Let's set the singing aside for now. We still need two guitarists and someone to work the keyboard for what I have in mind."

"Dibs!" Yang called out as she snatched up a yellow guitar from Kaminari, who tried to protest, and was quickly ignored. "I'ma rock this!"

"Don't volunteer unless you're gonna be any good, blondie!" Bakugo warned her.

In response, Yang played a short medley of Van Halen that left Jiro with her jaw hanging open. Seeing this, Yang asked, "What? My dad used to play when he was younger, so I picked it up from him."

"This is awesome!" Jiro said excitedly. "Anyone else know how to play?"

"I don't know if my piano lessons will help, but I could try to be on the keyboard," Yaoyorozu volunteered, which her friend quickly approved of.

"I can help you make that switch, no problem," she assured the taller girl. Before she could inquire about a guitarist again, they were surprised with a riff being strummed on Jiro's purple guitar by none other than Tokoyami.

"Dude, you play?!" Kirishima asked.

"I put down the axe after I was bested by the F chord," the raven-headed boy answered with a slight shrug. "In this time of need, however, I will conquer my weaknesses."

"All right, this is shaping up nice!" Mina said excitedly, practically jumping up and down with glee. "Next up- who wants to learn from the breakdancing queen?!"

By one in the morning, the class had successfully divided into three teams. The band team was made up of Jiro, Yang, Yaoyorozu, Weiss, Tokoyami, and Bakugo. The special effects were to be handled by Todoroki, Kirishima, Aoyama, Ruby, Koda, and Sero. Everyone else had been recruited to the dance team, which Mina would begin coordinating as soon as everyone had gotten a few hours of sleep.

As the group started to break up and head off to bed, Mina noticed Kurai staring at Bakugo while he led the way to the elevators. He had been quiet during most of the brainstorming session, too, now that she thought about it. "How was your visit with Eri?" she asked him in an attempt to distract him from his thoughts, whatever they were.

"It was really good," he answered a little absently. "Sorry, I was just…"

"Just what?"

"That whole accident with Monoma seems kind of fishy to me, is all," Kurai shrugged as Izuku and Ochaco walked up to join the other couple.

"I was thinking the same thing," Izuku admitted, having overheard their conversation.

"What's so weird?" Mina asked him with a puzzled look.

"I just think it's strange that nobody in class B has any incendiary quirks for Monoma to copy," Izuku pointed out. "So how could he have been in the middle of an explosion?"

"…Wait, you don't think-?" Mina stopped herself as they all watched Bakugo leave the room. "There's no way!"

As Iida set down his glasses on his desk, he looked at the computer screen in front of him with bleary, tired eyes. He couldn't see the words that he had written very well, but that wasn't what he was interested in right now. The only item worthy of note was the audio file that he had imported from his phone earlier in the day, having realized that it would be best if it made its way into a teacher's hands.

I know Kurai wanted me to stay out of this, but… His finger hovered over the mouse for a few minutes, indecision holding him in place like a steel vice. Gritting his teeth, he cursed himself, shouting silently, Why is it so hard for me to do the right thing when my friend wishes against it?! I know what I should do, but he doesn't want my help!

"Meddling where you don't technically have to is the essence of being a hero!"

As Izuku's words echoed in his mind, he found that he was able to move, hitting the 'send' button on the email that he had prepared for Aizawa. Sorry, old friend, he apologized internally. But Midoriya is right, and you do need my help. If I sat by any longer, I would not be worthy of being class rep.

First thing the next day, the freshman year students were all abuzz with the news about how Neito Monoma's provisional hero license had been taken away by the pro hero committee on recommendation from the principal. On top of this, after he finished his stint in the nurse's office, he was to be on house arrest for two weeks, after which he would be forced to attend supplementary classes in order to catch up to his peers for the rest of the semester. No one was entirely sure of how this had come about, but rumors were running wild about how he had been caught doing something fairly inexcusable. Vlad King was reported to be livid with his student, which boded poorly for him upon his return to classes. There were even whispers that said he might be transferred into general studies and replaced with another student if he didn't shape up.

"Wow, he just got hit with the biggest case of bad luck I've ever heard about," Kaminari laughed as he and Kirishima looked down at their phones, which were loaded with messages from the school's online forum. "I thought what happened to him yesterday was pretty crazy, but now? Seriously, what'd they catch him doing?"

"I'd bet that it had something to do with the stuff that's been happening to Hikari," Asui commented as she perched up on her seat.

"It doesn't matter," Iida said calmly from the kitchen as he poured his morning shake into a large cup. "Whatever the case is, the teachers are handling it, and we should leave it at that."

Kurai heard this as he walked by with Mina's hand in his, and smiles on their faces. Apparently, their fight was over, because the boy looked a lot more relaxed than he had in some time, and she had that familiar bounce in her step that had been lacking for the last few weeks. Kurai raised an eyebrow at the taller boy as he said, "So Monoma not only got nuked out of nowhere with his own quirk, but now people are saying that he's in hot water with the academia itself?"

"That's the story that's being told, yes," Iida said with a completely neutral face.

"Huh," Kurai pretended to muse. "I wonder how that could have happened."

Later that morning, when the band team was assembling in the common room for practice, Bakugo was irritated to find Kurai standing near his drum set. "What do you want, Saiyaman?" he growled.

Kurai simply raised an eyebrow and started to walk past the other boy, pausing only long enough to say in the lowest of tones, "Thank you."

Bakugo snorted and shouldered his way past Kurai, sitting down heavily on the seat that he had been provided. Before the other boy could get too far away, however, the explosive student muttered, "We're even now, got it?"

Kurai, in spite of himself, in spite of everything in Bakugo's past, looked over his shoulder with a smile to say, "Got it… 'Ground Zero'."

Mataras: Not bad, eh?

Kai: You should let your wife take control of the story more often.

Mataras: Hey!

Kai: What? Am I not allowed to like chapters that give warm fuzzies all around?

Mataras: Do I not produce those?

Shoto: It might be prudent to create more of them than you have been if you don't want to risk your audience going numb to all the bad things you inflict on your characters.

Mataras: This coming from the guy with the emotional range of brick wall?

Kai: First off, rude. Second off, if that's true and he's making an effort to point it out to you, that should tell you something.

Mataras: Didn't I mention that the next few chapters are supposed to be more relaxed?! You know, because of the school festival?!

Shoto: What about Gentle Criminal?

Mataras: What about him?

Kai: That's fair. I actually have a question about how Bakugo was able to blow up Monoma at Howitzer level without being anywhere near him, seeing as classes A and B have different training times. It's not like Monoma could have accumulated that much nitro-sweat in the five or ten minutes that he might have had the quirk.

Mataras: Oh, yeah... About that...

Shoto: You didn't seem to do a very good job of explaining the 'how' of it all.

Mataras: That was intentional.

Kai: You did a bad job on purpose?

Mataras: No! I left it vague for two reasons, the first being that I'm sure people can come up with any number of theories on how Bakugo was able to pull this off. The second is that I have an official explanation that can be found on the podcast concerning this episode on my YouTube channel. If the lack of a real answer bothers you so much, you can get an answer towards the end of said video.

Shoto: That sounds like clickbaiting.

Mataras: So what if it is? That's how marketing works these days.

Shoto: Next time- Preparations

Mataras: Be prepared to Go Beyond!

Kai: Plus Ultra!

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Unveiling...

With three weeks to go until the school festival, the dance team students of 1-A were surprised by an unexpected visitor. "Hey, is that Togata?" Kurai asked as he pointed at a crouching figure that seemed to be trying to climb into the bushes. "What is he doing in there?" They were out in front of the dorms, trying to keep up with Mina's demands for the choreography.

"Hey guys!" the blond student grinned as he hopped out of the bushes and held out his hands to indicate a smaller person next to him. "I brought a peach for ya!"

"Eri!" the work study students exclaimed as Izuku and Kurai moved to greet the girl and Togata, who was being followed by Aizawa.

"Hi Deku, hi Kai," she replied as she held onto the strap of a purse hanging off her shoulder. She was clothed in a little red dress, and her hair had been trimmed since the boys had last seen her, giving her the appearance of any normal child out for a day with her family.