I own nothing. May contain Out of Character moments.
"Midoriya! Mineta! What was that!?" Mina shouted as she dramatically pointed at the duo.
Izuku and Minoru had returned to 1A just in the nick of time, with a few minutes to spare to quickly clean up and get ready. The items they've bought were kept safe by the person who owned the secret tea house, which REALLY saved them. If they had to buy it again, Minoru knew they would've been late and later found dead.
The two also found La Brava's camera on their way, with Izuku sneakily picking it up while Minoru distracted Ectoplasm. With this, Gentle and La Brava's true plans with UA would, hopefully, stay secret with them.
That is past though as, right now, the Hero duo was standing in the aftermath of 1A's performance. It was honestly all a blur to Minoru, the adrenaline really addling his already stressed brain… But even he could tell things went well. The crowd was cheering, the music team was rocking, the dance team was moving, and the FX team was flying. It went off without a hitch…
So the shorter boy wasn't exactly sure what the pink haired girl's problem was.
"Your dancing… It was serious step up from what it was yesterday! Before you were both, ehhh…? But today? I felt it! Right here, in my heart!" Mina said cheerfully, thumping her chest. Oh, that's what it was. She was just complimenting them on their performance. But then again, Minoru had noticed how much lighter all of his movements felt and how Izuku's body was just flowing. It was a feeling they were missing all this time.
"Like seriously, what happened while you were out?" Mina asked. The shorter boy looked at Izuku and the green haired boy looked at Minoru. Then, at the same time, they gave the same answer.
"We found ourselves."
"Woah… That's deep." Was all Mina could say.
"Too deep." Sero said in agreement, completely stunned by the weight of pair's words.
"2 deep 4 me." Tokoyami added with a satisfied nod.
"That must've been some hardware store…" Kirishima commented as he proudly clenched his fist.
"Alright, alright, let's not focus too much on the wrong thing here and get this stuff cleaned up." Minoru said as he dumped off chunks of ice into a bin. However, before he and Izuku could get very far, the voice of All Might called them over. And based on his expression, the shorter boy had an idea what this might be about…
So, when the two approached him…
"You boys really need to check your phones. Running late is one thing, but not even letting us know what you're doing is another. We were getting worried, young men." All Might said, phone in hand. Yeah… That wasn't exactly their best idea… But what were they supposed to do? Call in the teachers and risk it all?
"We're sorry…" Izuku and Minoru said, lowering their heads.
"Still, I got the gist from Ectoplasm. I wouldn't say either of you took the correct course of action, especially considering what you tried in the end… But I can't say I'm not proud of you two. You really are doing your best to Heroes who bring hope to everyone. However, please don't do things so rashly alone again. If something is going to happen, there's nothing wrong with calling us for help. Your teachers are Heroes too; so please believe in us." All Might said as he placed a comforting hand on their shoulders. With that gesture, they gave an affirmative nod.
"Good. Now finish cleaning up and enjoy the festival. Hound Dog will probably give you an earful once he returns." All Might said with an ominous chuckle. So with a nervous nod, Izuku and Minoru ran back off to help 1A clean up again. But as they returned, the duo noticed a familiar head of long white hair standing by a young blonde boy with a wide smile and Aizawa.
"Mr. Deku, Mr. Mineta!" Eri said as she ran up to them. Both Izuku and Minoru stopped when they looked upon her round face. No longer was it weighed down by her guilt and fear. Instead, her red eyes shined brightly and her mouth was pulled into an excited smile. A wave of relief shot through the duo's heart, so she was finally free of her curse.
"I was a little scared at first, with how loud it was… But when everyone started dancing, I got excited! And then things when 'flash' and 'fwoosh'! And when that lady kept on singing, I felt like singing too!" Eri said as she excitedly wave her body around, like she wanted to start dancing but doesn't know how to.
"Yeah, you guys were so great, she forgot to blink." Mirio commented as he copied some of Eri's movements.
"Thanks, To– Michio-san. We've all worked incredibly hard on all this." Izuku replied, catching himself in the middle of a slip. Since they were trying to keep people in the dark about what really happened to Mirio, they've had to make up an entire identity for their senpai-turned-child. It was a little exhausting, but it was worth it if it meant keeping Eri's Quirk under wraps. That is until Eri's control over it was nice and ready.
But that was for future them to worry about. Right now, there's this.
"Alright 1A, let's get this finished! There is still a long day ahead of us and I'm sure you all want to enjoy yourselves to the fullest!" Iida shouted, directing his attention at his classmates once he finished thanking the people who came to watch 1A's performance. With a single united cheer, the class threw themselves at the rest of the after-concert cleanup. Minoru, as he collected more ice chunks, smiled to himself at the various conversations and antics going on around him.
Now this is what the atmosphere around 1A should be.
And after a quick 10 minutes, all the trash was dealt with and the equipment was stored away. 1A was free to start raiding the various exhibits the various other classes had put up. It was a shame that they couldn't catch what 1B was up to with their play, Minoru was certain they gave Monoma a really obnoxious role. But since there is little point in wondering about that, 1A simply started by whatever piqued their interest. With the first being…
"Hey, the 2nd years of the Management Department set up a bunch of American carnival games! I always wanted to compare it to our usual festival stuff!" Kaminari commented as he pointed at the multiple stalls before them. Ball throw, ring toss, darts, hoop shot, whack-a-mole, a dunk tank… All the classic American games you usually see on TV or in movies. There was even a prize booth full of stuff and a lottery box. Honestly, it was quite a lot of stuff given the amount of budget each class got, even with 3 classes behind it.
Leave it to them to maximize their funding.
"Oh that's a great place to start! I'm going to whack so many moles!" Mina shouted as she, Kaminari, and a few others charged forward. Iida and Yaoyorozu quickly followed after them to do damage control, no doubt imaging the kind of carnage they'll cause. But as 1A, as well as Mirio and Eri, went over to play their selection of games, Minoru noticed a notice on the ball throw sign and stopped his partner.
"Baseball Team, banned from play… You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.
"Let's give them a good scare." Izuku replied with a rare, mischievous smirk. The two of them walked over to the ball throw booth and placed down the necessary money to play, 150 yen for 3 throws. It was a fair price… Shame Minoru and Izuku were absolutely about to play unfairly with them. The shorter boy hopped up on a stool that allowed him to actually see the targets, objects of various sizes set at various distances. And though there wasn't much space for him to properly enter a pitching stance…
With the way Izuku and Minoru are right now, they were able to nail the furthest, most valuable targets without issue.
But the moment they did, the guy behind the counter completely stopped Minoru and Izuku.
"Alright you two, stop right there. You're banned."
"What!? But we didn't do anything wrong?" Minoru complained.
"I can tell you two know how to play baseball. You'll both get the maximum amount of points regardless whether I stop you or not. So here, 2 perfect game tokens for our prize booth. So thank you for playing and please don't come again." The guy answered in an unsettlingly friendly way. Izuku nervously accepted the tokens before bowing in apology to him.
"Huh… Honestly wasn't expecting that response. I just wanted us to play the game." Minoru said as he looked at his token.
"That's a fucking lie and you know it. You two just wanted to show off!" Bakugou shouted as he turned around from his game of darts. Multiple people gasped as Mirio quickly covered Eri's ears, much to her confusion.
"Bakugou-kun! Mind your language! There are children around!" Iida said as he sternly gestured at the explosive blonde.
"So? My mom swore around me and I turned out fine!" Bakugou shouted as Tsuyu and several others put air quotes around a particular word. Bakugou then proceeded to point his last dart menacingly everyone, especially those who did the air quotes.
"Don't you air quote me!" He shouted before tossing the dart back at the balloons it was meant for. Minoru simply blew off his comments before he started marching towards the prize booth. Izuku quickly followed along with Uraraka, Tsuyu, Hagakure, Jirou, and Kirishima.
"Hey, let's go check out what we can get with these Izuku."
"Yeah, sure thing. Though we should've probably checked first before playing, make sure the prizes were worth the effort." The green haired boy replied.
"I'm sure it's fine. You both got a perfect game token, so I'm sure you'll get– Wait, did Mineta just call you 'Izuku'? Are you two on a first-name basis now!? When did this happen!?" Uraraka began before her eyes widened at a rather distinct detail. The others turned as well, all of them stopping to just gawk at the two. It was both funny and a little creepy at how shaken and interested they were in such a small detail.
Izuku and Minoru stopped and gave their answer at the same time, looking at their classmates dead in the eyes all the while.
"Hardware store."
"Woah…"
"Woah…"
"Woah…"
"That must've been some hardware store…" Hagakure added, her invisible face clearly displaying awe and wonder.
"That's what I said!" Kirishima said as he flashed his usual toothy grin. He then went silent as an idea could be seen being processed behind his bright red eyes. The red haired boy then looked over to an approaching Bakugou, tokens in hand, and ran towards him.
"Bakugou! We should go to a hardware store!"
"… Why the Hell would we go there?" The explosive blonde asked, completely confused by what's happening.
"For self-improvement!"
"Wha–!? Hardware stores are for home-improvement, Hair-for-Brains!"
"But if home is where the heart is, then that's the perfect place to go!" Kirishima replied, his smile somehow reaching levels of optimism Minoru had no idea existed. Bakugou, however, displayed a level of confusion no has ever seen him reach. If only the shorter boy had his phone out to record all this…
"Kirishima, what the fuck are you talking about?"
As those two continued to banter back and forth, getting nowhere in Kirishima's sudden quest for betterment, Izuku and Minoru just went up to the prize booth. And already, there was a great assortment of stuff that, again, only the Management Department would've gotten with their expert business sense. There were the simple rewards like key chains, phone straps, and fidget toys. Then there were the good rewards like stuffed animals and basic sporting goods. And finally, there were the top shelf prizes, one of which was…
A giant mouse plush?
"It's as big as I am…" Minoru thought, staring at the large plush. It was sitting in the back on a cushion and spinning pedestal with spotlights shining on it. The stuffed animals placed around it were also arranged to make it look like they were worshipping the thing. Clearly, that was the best prize they had on offer.
"Hmmm… I'm not seeing anything I'm interested in. How about you?" Izuku commented, looking over the prize selection again.
"What's with the giant mouse?" Minoru asked.
"That got sent to us by mistake. But because mailing things in and out of UA has become a hassle, the company told us to keep it. It costs 2 perfect game tokens." The girl manning the booth replied. Really? Just 2 tokens? Then again, Minoru and Izuku were only able to get their tokens was because they were going to utterly destroy the ball throw if the guy didn't stop them. So it must be incredibly difficult to play a completely perfect game, let alone twice, in any of the games.
"What do you mean I was off by one point!? Fuck this game!" Bakugou shouted as he stood before the ring toss. Case in point…
"Hmmm… If Izuku gave me his token, I could get it… But what would I do with a giant mouse? I'd rather be cuddling with a girl." Mineta thought before quickly shaking out his stray thoughts. It's been a while since that happened. But that doesn't change the fact that there was nothing the shorter boy wanted, even with two perfect game tokens. So, turning around to his friends and classmates, he posed the question with token held out.
"Anybody want anything? Nothing's really striking my fancy."
"It's the same for me, so you can have my token too." Izuku added, placing his token in his partner's hand.
"Really? You're just going to give up the top prizes just like that?" Jirou asked.
"So you want it?" Minoru asked, presenting her the tokens. The punk girl simply shook her head as her jacks pointed at Kaminari, who was sneakily approaching her from behind.
"It's not my thing. I'm 'not girly' remember?" She answered with a slight edge in her voice, the electric blonde slowly retreating in shame. Minoru simply hummed to that, remembering Kaminari and Aoyama's comments during the Dorm room challenge. For a guy who's well versed in all sorts of English literature and poetry, he always puts his foot in his mouth.
"How about you Hagakure?" Mineta asked, aiming his offer at the invisible girl.
"Can't, got too many already. Anymore and I'll no longer have a bed to sleep on."
"Then as long as Ochako-chan isn't interested, I'll take up your offer." Tsuyu replied, raising her hand while looking at their gravity-defying classmate. Uraraka simply shook her head and gestured for Tsuyu to make her choice. Minoru placed the tokens in Tsuyu's hand and allowed her to take a closer look at the prizes. But not even a moment passed before she made her choice, like she knew what she wanted all along.
"I would like the giant mouse please."
"One Oblong Rat, coming right up." The girl behind the counter said as she walked over to the plush in question.
"No! I love the Oblong Rat!" Someone cried. Minoru looked over and saw one of the booth managers being restrained by two others, no doubt trying to prevent him from interfering with Tsuyu's prize choice. Upon turning back, the shorter boy saw how Tsuyu was holding the oblong plush. It was cute sight, even if the immense size of the plush was a little ridiculous.
"Where are you even going to put that?" Uraraka asked, poking the Oblong Rat.
"I'll find the space, mostly since I doubt this will be the last thing I'll be getting during this festival." Tsuyu replied, giving the Oblong Rat a squeeze. Minoru, Izuku, and Class 1A could only nod in agreement towards that sentiment. After everything they fought through and worked for, they all deserved a reminder that they were still just first years with days of innocent youth left to spend. And since Minoru and Izuku have finally found what they've lost, 1A could now move forward without dragging their feet.
With these good spirits, they'll seize whatever memories UA's Culture Festival will have for them.
And that has been Chapter 118!
Not much to say here, just a chapter to wind down from the chapters before. I don't even have much news to share either.
So...
Until Next Time. T1.
