Chapter 43: Valse di Fantastica
"So…that's it, huh?" Denki asked no one in particular, blankly looking up.
"Why are you sitting on the table?" Kyoka pointedly asked the blonde, who had his legs crossed while sitting on one of the long ballroom tables.
"Not like there's anyone here to say anything." He gestures to the empty room, save for the 1-A group, Mei, Melissa, Eri, and Inko. After the chaos had settled, the first floor had been evacuated by All Might and David, leaving the children with Inko so they could later give their statements.
That left the group in marasmus after their blood cooled from the nonstop battle up the tower—that, and the strange melancholia that befell their friend.
Denki shot Izuku a look, but the other boy still had a faraway stare, lost in thought and strangely…restless. They asked, but Izuku had only shrugged and said it had been a long day.
To be fair, it had.
Still… Still, it seemed such a damn waste!
The loud slap of Denki's palms against the table startled everyone. The blonde jumped back to his feet, a frown on his face, "Say, why don't we do it anyway?"
"Do what?"
He turned to Kyoka with a pointed look, "The ball! We had all the trouble of getting here, and we're just giving up at the end? What the hell people?!"
Momo sighed, understanding where her friend was coming from, "If you hadn't realized, there's no one here besides us. We can't have a ball without music, lighting, people."
"Oh, you want to tell me we don't count?!" Denki pointed at Kyoka, "And that you, you, don't have appropriate music for this?"
The one to support Denki was, surprisingly, Katsuki, "He's right." At his friends' incredible stares, Katsuki rolled his eyes. "We don't need anyone's help to get shit done. If we want a stars damn ball, then we're getting one."
"And you want one?" Eijiro, now with his clothes Repaired alongside Katsuki thanks to Eri, questioned his bro with a raised brow. Since when was Katsuki one for fancy events?
"I deserve one. I deserve a whole ass parade. We deserve something after the clusterfuck we just had to deal with." Honestly, the thing they deserved the most was a break, but the universe was not that kind. "So yeah, let's have our own fancy party."
Kyoka couldn't believe she was actually going along with this nonsense, "You know what? Yeah, why not?" She pulled off her earring, synced it with her phone, and started blankly some upbeat, grandiose, classy valse. "It's not like there's anyone else here, right?"
Denki matched the girl's grin, "Yeah!"
More and more, the class got together to make their impromptu event come to fruition. All the while, Melissa watched in apparent shock as the group seemingly shrugged off the night's previous events. "How aren't they bothered by everything that happened?"
"Don't mistake things, dear." Inko, the one at the same time least and most frazzled by it all, knew what the children were doing. "They are all shaken."
"They don't look like it."
"You aren't looking close enough then." The woman chuckled under her breath. To her, it was easy to spot shaking hands, tense shoulders, forced sheer, and heavy hearts. "They all are bothered, and that's why they're doing this."
"What do you mean?" It was illogical to Melissa why someone would push themselves to party if they were feeling distressed. Melissa herself only wished to crawl onto her bed and sleep for the next day or three.
Inko seemed to notice it too because the woman held Melissa's hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. "They want to end the night on a high note. Wash away the lingering stress with a good moment." It would make the coming morning easier for all of them.
"Yeah, I think I get it now." Even then, where they found the strength for it was beyond Melissa.
"Don't look so down, dear. Everything seems difficult if you're trying to do it alone." Inko gently pushed Melissa towards the group, giving her a kind smile, "Just as it becomes easier with a little help."
Turning her eyes from the woman to the group, and back, Melissa found herself smiling too. "Right."
The one that didn't join the class efforts was Izuku. He still leaned on a wall, staring at nothing. Honestly, he barely heard what his friends had said, too busy in his own head.
The pieces fit so perfectly, now that he knew what was missing… Huh, he had a brother.
Izuku always had a brother and still has. He was just…somewhere else. The thought brought surprising comfort.
"What are you thinking so hard about?"
Ochaco's voice startled Izuku out of his funk. He turned to her, locking his eyes with her earthly brown ones. "It's… Forget it, it's nothing important now." It's not like they could do anything about it at the moment.
And also, Izuku strangely felt that it was his problem. His alone to deal with. It was Izuku's brother, twin brother, that was lost somewhere. That made something in his gut tell Izuku that it was his job.
Maybe experience, seeing their track record.
Huh, it was almost funny, having his memories so…complete.
"Hey, do you want to go to the beach when we get back home?"
It was Ochaco's turn to be startled, "What, why?"
"Just because."
She leaned closer, examining his face. The proximity would usually make both of them flustered, but neither had the energy to be embarrassed. "Is there something wrong?"
Everything. For the last twelve-something years. But hey, now he could fix it. "I just want to have one good day where nothing goes wrong and we just enjoy ourselves."
"I'm pretty sure the universe will explode if that ever happens."
"The universe is always one sufficiently angry Kacchan away from exploding." Izuku shrugged, a smirk slowly forming on his face. "It's basically inevitable at this point." That earned him a laugh.
"Don't let him hear you, or he'll do it out of spite."
"That too." They chuckled, spirits raised.
The music coming from Kyoka's earring started to flow out of the ballroom's audio system, and the lighting suddenly dimmed everywhere but on the central floor.
"Huh, they really did it."
The teens came back and approached the central floor. The space was open to let people dance, the fancy kind of dance since it was a gala. Just the thought made the area seem intimidating, oddly enough.
Denki, who started it all, didn't dare put a foot into the brightly illuminated space. "So, huh… Who's first?"
Hanta gave him a flat glare, "You're seriously chickening out now?!"
"Look, I never think things through. I'm shocked you're surprised at this point!"
Rolling his eyes at his friends' shenanigans, Fumikage adjusted his sleeves and took the plunge.
Tsuyu watched the raven-headed boy walk to her and bow at the waist. "My lady, would you honor me with this dance?"
All eyes were on her now. No pressure. Well, not like Tsuyu wouldn't have asked Fumikage for a dance if he hadn't done it first. Taking his offered hand, she made a little courtesy, "I would love to."
Eijiro and Mina watched, shocked, by the now slowly dancing duo's boldness. They traded a startled glance, but then Eijiro grinned, "That was so manly! C'mon, let's go too!" He grabbed her hand and didn't wait for an answer.
Mina could only sputter in embarrassment, "Wait, Eiji, wait up!" No luck there.
With now a second, much less elegant duo dancing, the pressure lessened.
Denki stared for a second, then shrugged, "Eh, why the hell not?" He turned to Kyoka, who was right by his side, and offered her his hand, "Wanna dance?"
She gave him a flat look and a raised eyebrow, then sighed. "We already got this far." The two walked onto the dance floor hand in hand. With some coaching from Kyoka, Denki and her were dancing better than Eijiro and Mina in no time.
Shoto, in the spirit of trying to be more sociable, while somehow failing and succeeding, turned to Momo. If anyone would be able to show him how the whole dancing thing worked, it was her.
Coping Fumikage, he bowed and offered her a hand, "Would you, huh…" How did he say it again? "Would you dance with me?" Shoto was pretty sure it was something like that.
As he was bowing, the boy missed how Momo's face colored greatly. "Yes! I mean, yes, of course." To disguise her outburst, Momo quickly pulled Shoto with her to the dance floor.
Where she had the great surprise of learning he had no idea how to dance. And the even greater surprise of discovering Shoto had a talent for it. They were waltzing better than everybody else surprisingly fast.
Back on the outskirts, Hanta and Minoru traded glances.
"No way."
"Nope."
"Not in a million years."
Mei tilted her head in confusion at their byplay, "What are you two talking about?"
"We're not dancing."
"Why?"
Hanta shrugged, "I have two left feet." He had done many embarrassing things with his class watching, but showing his downright atrocious dance skills was where Hanta drew the line. He had some dignity still.
Minoru nodded in a moment of empathy for his friend. "And as you guys see, I'm short. Too short. It was already hell trying to keep pace on our way up the tower. I don't need to get stepped on by people two to three times my height." He also had some dignity still.
The two felt invisible arms hooking around their necks and pulling them closer. Toru shimmered back into view with a grin, "Great, that means you are both available to help me."
"Help with what?" To their question, Toru flickered her hands and two cameras appeared in her hands.
"We're recording this. For all the right and wrong reasons."
The trio traded glances, smirks, and nods. Later, the class would learn of the recordings and be mortified. Much, much later still, they would all look back at them fondly.
Mei, still confused, asked the closest person, "I don't get it. Isn't dancing just flailing around along with the music?"
Tenya, said closest person, was stuck between chopping his arm, holding the bridge of his nose, and facepalming. That left his hand awkwardly ganging half raised, "It is something more involved than that." He stated blandly.
"Really? Show me!" Mei snatched his hand, either misunderstanding it as an invitation or just grabbing the closest thing, and dragged Tenya to the dance floor.
Eijiro and Mina weren't the only ones struggling anymore.
From the sides, Katsuki watched all the idiots being stupid together and couldn't help but roll his eyes. They made it so obvious it wouldn't even be funny teasing them later.
Stopping to consider the thought again, he snorted a laugh. As if.
"What are you smiling about?"
Katsuki gave Melissa a bland look, "You see that? That is all the ammo I could want to tease all those dumbasses with." He looked aside, seeing one couple (and that one he referred to as such with zero hesitation) still stalling.
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Uh, of course?" Melissa didn't know what she had signed up for.
The older teen watched as the other blond shook his hand, a light appearing on his index finger. He wrote something on his other palm, the words made of light floating over the skin before condensing into a bubble. Katsuki discretely threw it to the side where Eri watched the impromptu ball with Inko.
The little girl grabbed it and the light construct burst. She seemed to listen carefully to something for a second, then nodded back.
Melissa felt her resolve finally crumbling, "Magic?"
Katsuki nodded, "Magic. The most useful bullshit ever." And he meant it. If Katsuki had to choose between his quirk and magic, he would pick the latter without a second thought.
"I'll deal with this little existential crisis tomorrow. Today the only thing on the menu is denial."
The bomber shrugged, "You do you. Now, come on." He snatched Melissa's hand and pulled her to the dance floor. "We have to be in position."
"Wait, what?!"
Eri 'stealthily' approached Ochaco and Izuku while Katsuki dragged Melissa away. She, without saying a word, grabbed her Master's hand.
"Huh? You okay in there, Eri?" The little unicorn was staring at him pretty hard.
"I want to dance."
"Okay?"
Ochaco giggled seeing Izuku's dumbfounded face, but she stopped when Eri also grabbed her hand.
"You too."
"Uh, why?"
"Because yes!" With that simple logic explained, the princess pulled both Izuku and Ochaco with her.
Never would a six-year-old have the physical strength to drag two hero students around, but Eri compensated with strength of will. That's how she willfully dragged the couple to the center of the dance floor.
Turning back, she put Izuku's hand on Ochaco's, "Now let's dance."
How could a child not half their size seem so forceful? Ochaco risked a glance at Izuku, only to lock eyes with him.
During their moment of distraction, Katsuki, who had been waltzing with Melissa right behind them and going unnoticed on all the fanfare, swept Eri before they could say anything. The duo turned, only to see Melissa quickly retreating.
Now moving away with Eri standing on his feet so she could pretend to dance too, Katsuki looked back at the surrounded couple and smirked. They were blocked on all sides by the others, leaving them no avenue of escape.
"Oh, they planned this."
"And we fell for it like ducklings." Izuku sighed, running his free hand through his hair. "I would say sorry, but you know they were just like that."
"That they are." Ochaco wasn't even surprised. She was getting progressively more awkward as the only ones not dancing though, peer pressure was no joke. "Want to float out of this?"
Izuku was about to agree, but a single look at her, and the words died on his lips.
… She looked so…
"̶̬̲͇͗̄̔B̷͍̑̓̎e̶͍̮̐͝͝a̴͖͐ų̴̃̐̇t̴͉̬͌͛i̶̡̛̺̜͗̊f̶̺̏͝ȕ̶̩̆́l̴̞̩̳̐.̸̢̢́̏̓"̴̲̲̎
"Why don't we just…?" Izuku shrugged, raising their still-linked hands.
Ochaco's eyes widened, did he mean it? "Are you sure? We had a long day."
That was true, but also, "Can I be completely frank with you?"
"Yes, always."
"I feel like I've had a pretty long day, every day, since forever. If I get scared or demotivated from every little thing, then I'm never accomplishing anything." And a small and vindictive part of him refused to let Vanitas have that victory.
Izuku took a deep breath, gathered all his courage, and pulled Ochaco closer. Raising their linked hands, in a burst of overwhelming bravery, he rested his right palm on her lower back.
The world seemed to slow down. The lights blinded them to anything else, leaving only each other and blurs of color all around.
Earthly brown eyes met greens with the slightest corona of blue for what seemed like the millionth time and the very first.
Her hand rested on his shoulder, pinky raised.
In that single moment, the world seemed perfect.
They started to move, a slow waltz, both not even hearing the music anymore. Their rhythm was their own, lost in each other, nothing but their hearts to guide them…
B̵̮̈̈̃̃́ą̵͖̻͗͒́c̷̼̳̬̘͕͚̓͊ḱ̵͙̙̻̬̠̯̔ ̷̲̼̃́͛ͅt̸͈̩̘̺̍̅̀̾́ọ̴͒ ̶̛̙̺̰͈̌̅͗̚͝e̷͎͙̙̤͒͌́͂̐̕a̴͙̐̋̔ć̸̝̬̜̚h̸̡̘̪̒͊͐́͝ ̵̨̺͎̺͎̬̃ó̴̢͚̣̀͛̈́͜͝ṭ̸̏h̵͉͖̻̘̘̞̎̿̿̏e̷̪̗͎͆̎́͝r̸̤̜̒͐̔̀̄͗.̸̢͚̥̜̠̐͒̇͑̑ ̵̗͎̆ͅ
Further away, Eri watched them with a smile, "Do you think they realize?"
"Nope, that's what makes it so funny." And frustrating, but Katsuki found Deku frustrating most of the time so it was par for the course.
"I don't get it, if you like someone, isn't it best to tell them?" To Eri, that seemed like the best option always.
Katsuki could only shrug, "Don't ask me, I'm not like them with anyone." The mushy stuff never was a problem for him, focused as he is on becoming the next number one hero. With how hard his friends worked, he had to bring his Plus Ultra to the table every day to be able to keep up, and that never failed to hone him further.
Compared to that, acting like the idiots never even crossed his mind.
Eri hummed in thought, "Why don't you try it then? If you ever feel something for someone like they feel for each other, tell the person right away."
Eh, he doubted it would happen, but why not? It was for science if nothing else. "Sure."
Kyoka, who heard it all, chuckled under her breath. She would like to see that happening.
"What?"
She shook her head to Denki, "Nothing… Hey, why do you have so much faith in me having ball music? I'm sure you never saw me listening to anything but punk rock."
If he hadn't been so focused on not stepping on her toes, Denku would have deadpanned at Kyoka. "You do realize every time Izuku starts to hum that song he always does, you start to tap your jacks to random styles, right? You already tapped every beat from classical to funk."
Her cheeks colored, "What? How did you…?"
Denki shrugged, "When I get distracted I pay attention to you." He spoke before his brain could think the words through, resulting in both blushing.
"Oh, uh…" How should Kyoka even respond to that?
Overtaking the slowing down and embarrassed duo was Mina and Eijiro. The redhead grinning like mad.
"Eiji, can you please slow down a little?! We look stupid!"
"Who cares?!" Eijiro laughed, spinning Mina and almost making both of them stumble. Laughing it off, he kept going with a smile on his face, "There's nothing more manly than dancing like nobody's watching!"
"That doesn't make any sense!" And that was coming from Mina, who was both one of the silliest members of the class and who understood Eijiro the best.
"You should know it does! Remember when you stopped a bunch of bullies by dancing? You were so awesome!" His words made the girl blush lilac, especially with how heartfelt they were. "Mina, you're so unashamedly you and that's so manly!"
"Thanks…you're pretty manly too."
Eijiro's next stumble had nothing to do with their incoordination.
Of course, all of it was captured on tape by Toru, who was invisible on the dancefloor. She filmed everything from up close with everyone none the wiser so she could offer it all to Mamadoriya later.
Speaking of, the woman watched it all with a smile alongside Melissa, who had joined her after helping Katsuku with his stunt.
"Are those two a thing?" The young Shield wholeheartedly believed so while watching Izuku and Ochaco dancing, not speaking a word and never straying their eyes from each other.
"No one knows how they still aren't. Especially seeing my son somewhat kidnapped Ochaco."
"Wait, what?!"
Inko gave Melissa an amused look, "It's a long story."
One she would not have the time to tell, as from the entrance, a certain disguised hero appeared.
Toshinori kept his promise to Eri, using the suit she made for him. It was somewhat similar to Izuku's, with an overcoat in navy blue, with decorated shoulders and embroidered on the rims. Matching trousers covered his legs, and slick black formal shoes on his feet.
The most important part was the long-sleeved light yellow shirt, with a green ribbon snaking down his left arm, the tail end hanging free.
When Inko saw it, she instantly looked at the yellow fabric going down her right sleeve, "Clever girl."
"That she is." Toshinori greeted Inko and Melissa with a smile, not noticing the slight frown on the teen's face. "I also have to agree with young Izuku, these things are heavy." He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease off some of the weight.
Inko rolled her eyes, "Oh not you too. Why do you both complain so much? You both can lift a million times that."
"Still heavy." They chuckled, the night's tension finally bleeding away.
Melissa was still staring at Toshinori, so the man chose a tactical retreat. It also was a good excuse, "Now, would you like to dance?"
Instead of answering, Inko picked the green and yellow stripes of cloth and tied them together. Toshinori grinned so brightly it could blind someone. Together, they made their way to the dance floor, not noticing Melissa's slack jaw or the growing look of realization on her face.
The only adults carved a little space for themselves, the teens keeping their distance out of respect.
While Toshinori was so much taller than Inko, his care made falling into a comfortable rhythm easily. He had some experience in formal events, being the number one and all that, but it was the first time Toshinori actually enjoyed going fancy.
As an introvert at heart that envisioned heaven and a nice couch, lasagna, and classical cult movies, the fact he was liking a ball, clandestine-esque as it was, said a lot. Most importantly, it spoke volumes of the present company.
"Why are you smiling so much?"
Toshinori's grin widened at Inko's question, "I'm always smiling."
"I guess you are. I'm just happy it has been the genuine kind lately." Stress aside, Toshi seemed ten years younger now that he could relax.
Eri suddenly sneezed, making Katsuki laugh. She sneezed like a kitten.
Not noticing it, Toshinori tilted his head, "I mean… Don't tell anyone, but the whole practiced smile was always just that, practiced. Now though, I just catch myself smiling a lot."
They spun, the knotted ribbon fluttering, "I imagine why."
"You know perfectly well why. You're responsible for thirty-four percent of it."
"Just that?"
"Both Izuku and Eri have thirty-three each. Don't complain, you have the majority." His quip earned Toshinori a laugh. Still, he meant it. The world as a whole now seemed more to him than just what he could do, how many he could save. Now, the present seemed like something he could enjoy while entrusting the future to them.
And while on that thought, "How are they holding up."
"I'm worried."
"You're always worried."
"With good reason. I'm more worried than usual though. There's something bothering him." Inko risked a glance at her son, only to see him still engrossed in his dance with Ochaco.
Also seeing it, Toshi chuckled, "I think he will be fine."
"Do you now?"
"Yes. I say from experience that the right person can get you back into shape." He leaned closer and kissed the crown of her head. "Just need some love, some care, and no patience for our nonsense."
Inko blushed, not used to public displays of affection like that. She agreed. Both with his words and with the sentiment behind them.
No man was an island. No pillar could hold a house by itself. While Inko couldn't relate to all the hero-ing and whatnot, she knew how to care.
And seeing the ball the children had come together to make happen, she knew, from the bottom of her heart, that they cared.
And the world would be better for it.
Done. Shorter than expected, but what matters it's that it's here.
If you are asking yourself why is the title in Latin, it's because that's the song I heard while writing, and the vibe of this chapter overall.
The year is coming to a close, after many ups and downs. Christmas, holidays, joy, and whatnot.
I sincerely hope that you reading may have a good day, good holidays, a good new year, and a good year to come. I can't do much but offer you a bit of entertainment and, I hope, happiness with my stories.
So Happy Halloween- I mean. Merry Christmas! I will see you all in yet another year, later!
Also, of course, here's the GOATs that threw a coin for their author and supported me in this crazy year. Applause for the great:
Guipa, SilverZero90, Godeater23, Thomas, Matthew Merrill, Veonix and kennine.
My most heartfelt thanks to you all!
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