*Thud!*
Was the sound of Midoriya's back hitting the floor for the fourth time in the last two minutes. The green haired boy doesn't know how he ended up lucky enough to be Kendou's sparring partner for their class' hand-to-hand combat training. But right now he was wondering how exactly he was going to make it through the rest of the afternoon without receiving any more potential bruises.
"You okay, Izuku-kun?" The orange haired class rep extended her hand out to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied while accepting the kind gesture. "You really are amazing, Itsuka-san. Remind me to never make you angry."
All Kendou could do was giggle at the compliment. "Well…martial arts are kind of my specialty. Besides Shoda-kun, Kaibara-kun and Kamakiri-kun I don't think there's anyone else in our class that focuses on it too much."
"Good point." The boy agreed.
Besides those four along with Tetsutetsu and Awase, most of the students in 1-B specialized in mid to long range fighting styles. Which made a lot of sense considering the nature of everyone's quirks. And the fact that their hero classes focused so much on control over their powers rather than other areas of fighting made the difference in skill that much more obvious.
"Y'know, you should really look into learning a good fighting style to compliment your quirk." Kendou then suggested. "I remember seeing how Blizzard fought during your exam last semester. So maybe she could give you some pointers?"
"That's a good idea." He nodded.
While it was true that Midoriya knew a little bit of basic martial arts. He by no means had any formal training on the subject. Actually, most of his knowledge came from watching a bunch of "how to" videos on the internet in his downtime. The boy was so focused on mastering the basics of his quirk that stuff like hand-to-hand combat was put on the back burner. Maybe he should start looking into learning how to actually fight a bit more?
"Alright everyone, that's it for today!" Kan suddenly announced after blowing his whistle. "You're good to head back to your rooms. Make sure you clean up the locker rooms after you're done and I'll see you all tomorrow."
"Damn Izuku, I guess you do have a weakness after all." Awase said in a joking tone as he and Tokage approached the two.
"Says the guy who tapped out after ten seconds." The green haired girl smirked.
"Hey, that was only because you kept pulling on my fucking ear! It was a dirty trick and you know it!"
"Kan-sensei never said it was against the rules." Tokage shrugged at the boy. "It's not my fault that you can't learn to think outside of the box."
"Whatever…" The headband wearing teen scoffed.
"Anyways…you reserved the p.e. field for us to practice this afternoon, right?" Tokage then looked at her class rep.
"Yeah." The ginger teen nodded. "We have it for an hour. So we should be able to get through most of the routine by then. But we still won't have most of the props."
With the school's cultural festival only a week and half away, class 1-B was doing everything they could to ensure that their routine would be perfect for the big day. This included group rehearsals at least twice a week to make sure that everything flowed smoothly. Surprisingly, there weren't really any issues that came up aside from trying to stay within their allotted time frame. But even then, that wasn't even a big deal.
The majority of the class was split up into either pairs or groups of three. Tokage and Kamakiri being one duo. Kendou, Tetsutetsu and Kaibara being another. And a few others with compatible quirks partnering up to show off their creativity. As expected, Midoriya and Yanagi were also paired up together. And the "Dynamic Duo" of 1-B would serve as the finishing act to close out the fun.
The only exceptions were Kodai and Komori. Who were in charge of making the costumes. Fukidashi, who was tasked with writing the script. And Monoma, the official "Ringmaster" of the entire event.
Overall, the students were really looking forward to this. Sure none of them were particularly interested in ever pursuing a career in the entertainment industry. But getting to cut loose and have a bit of fun while giving everyone a nice show was definitely a welcomed change of pace for the future heroes.
Before they knew it, the day of the cultural festival had finally arrived….
The entire campus was hustling and bustling with all manner of excitement and attractions. There were food stands, games, art displays and everything that one would expect to find at your typical high school festival event. Of course because this was the famous U.A. high school, there were quite a few more people present than normal. But that detail only added to the aura of excitement that could be felt all over the entire school.
"Man…there's so much to do around here!" Tetsutetsu awed at all of the booths.
"No kidding. I don't even know where we should start." Midoriya agreed.
At the moment, the two boys along with Yanagi, Tokage and Shiozaki were wandering around the school grounds. Class 1-B's performance wasn't scheduled until after noon, so the hero course students still had a few hours to kill before the show time. They all agreed to meet up an hour beforehand to get dressed and make sure that everything was in place. So until then, the students were free to enjoy the festivities with everyone else.
"We should definitely hit up some of the concession stands first." Tokage suggested. "I heard some business course second years were doing a ramen stand."
"I'd like to check out the haunted house those general studies students set up." Yanagi was the next to speak.
"Yeah, I thought you'd be interested in that kind of thing, Ghosty." The 'lizard tail splitter' user laughed.
All the grey haired teen did was give the girl a dry and unimpressed glare before the group decided to make their way over to the makeshift food court in front of the cafeteria.
-(o)-
By the time the group of five made it to their destination, the place was filled with students, parents and other civilians looking to partake in some of the festival food. And much to their dismay, nearly every single stand had a line in front of it. They thought that they were going to be able to grab a quick bite to eat and relax for a little while. But it was plainly obvious to the hero course students that wasn't a viable option for them now.
"Damn, this sucks!" Tokage snapped her fingers in annoyance. There was a yakitori stand not too far from where they were standing. But like every other place, it looked like it would be a while before she'd be able to get a few sticks for herself.
"It's certainly very lively around here." Shiozaki continued looking around.
"Yes, that does seem to be the case." A voice suddenly said from behind.
The group of students immediately turned around and found themselves face-to-face with three people they certainly weren't expecting to run into today. Standing there was Katsuragi, Lily and Ozehana. All dressed in normal street clothes as opposed to their usual work attire. This actually may have been the first time most of them ever saw the green haired heroine in anything other than a dress and fur coat. However, that was far from the most surprising thing here.
What really got their attention was the Ozehana. And the fact that the 'flame control' user was in a wheelchair being pushed around by Lily. The muscular woman was dressed in a set of orange sweats along with a black baseball cap. But the most notable thing about her appearance was that her once long and beautiful black hair was completely shaved off.
"Ember?!" Tokage said with wide eyes.
"What's up guys, it's been a while hasn't it?" The woman said with a smile. "How have you guys been?"
"Forget us, what about you? Are you okay?!"
"Have you been in a wheelchair ever since the raid?" An equally worried Midoriya then followed up.
"Is this permanent?" Yanagi then said. Albeit in a calmer tone of voice.
"Calm down." Ozehana waved them off. "Don't worry, I can still walk. I just need to limit how much I move throughout the day so I don't aggravate any of my injuries. To be honest, I'd much rather be moving on my own. But these two keep making a big fuss over it." She then pointed to her two agency partners.
"That's because you insist on coming into work when you're supposed to be recovering." Lily dryly retorted.
"Eh, I have nothing better to do. And sitting around my apartment all day watching anime is boring."
"Oh, thank God." Tokage breathed out a sigh of relief. Truth be told, the events of what transpired back at the raid were still weighing heavily on her conscience. Especially since she still blamed herself for Ozehana being injured in the first place on account of her own negligence. But the fact that the woman appeared to be in good enough condition made her feel a lot better. "Wait, what are you guys doing here?"
"Izuku mentioned that you guys were going to be putting on a performance today. So we all decided to take the day off." Katsuragi explained.
"That and Fubuki-san needed an excuse to get away from the agency. Especially since things have been pretty hectic over the last couple of weeks." Lily said immediately after.
"Yes…that too…"
"Is something wrong?" Midoriya then looked at his pseudo-sister.
"Not really. But ever since the hero rankings came out, the boss has been getting slammed with interview and sponsorship requests. We get at least like fifty of them a day it seems." Said Ozehana.
"Oh yes, congratulations on making it into the top ten, Blizzard-san. From what Izuku, Reiko and Setsuna have told us you truly deserved it. Thank you for doing away with that monster known as the 'Hero Killer' who so savagely took the life of our classmate. I pray that the lord continues to shine his light upon you." Shiozaki bowed. A ray of sunshine falling down upon her.
'Where the hell is that light coming from?' Lily and Ozehana wondered while looking up into the sky. Which only confused them even more seeing as there were barely any clouds nearby.
"Yeah, good job!" Tetsutetsu gave her a thumbs up.
"Thank you, I truly appreciate it." Katsuragi smiled.
"So what were you guys up to?" Midoriya then asked.
"Look for you actually." The woman replied. "We got here a bit earlier than we expected, so we were hoping that you guys could show us around. I'm interested in seeing how much the school has changed ever since I graduated. Maybe we can even get a bite to eat as a group?"
"Sounds like a plan!" Tetsutetsu cheered.
"The only problem is that all of the stands are packed." Yanagi then stated.
"Hmm." Lily hummed while looking over the flyer that she grabbed when they first showed up at the school. "It says here that one of the third year classes is hosting a maid/butler café. We should be able to grab some snacks from there."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Tokage shrugged and then looked to the rest of her classmates. "What about you guys?"
Everyone nodded in agreement at the woman's proposal. Well, nearly everyone. Shiozaki had a particularly sour look on her face. Obviously because she wasn't the biggest fan of these kinds of things. But instead of protesting, the vine haired girl agreed to accompany them to the café. And with any luck, they would be out of there pretty quickly.
"Then it's settled! Let's get a move on." Ozehana said happily.
"I'll push your chair for you." Tokage suddenly offered, much to the surprise of the others.
"It's cool, I can do it myself."
"No please, I insist."
For a brief moment, Ozehana stared at the green haired girl before relenting and allowing her to take control of the chair. It wasn't a big deal, especially since Lily definitely needed a break from pushing her around for most of the morning. But it was clear to the 'flame control' user what the girl was trying to do. Ozehana wanted to let Tokage know that she didn't blame her for what happened. However, the woman simply chose to hold her tongue for the time being.
The journey over to class 3-I was a bit longer than what the now group of eight would've liked. And that was mainly because people kept stopping them in the halls to get a picture or autograph from Japan's newest number nine hero. Although Katsuragi was grateful for being recognized as one of the top heroes in the country, she could do without all the media fanfare. Ironically, the woman now understood why her sister avoided the camera so much when she was still alive.
Once they made it to their destination, it only took a couple of minutes for the group to be seated at one of the larger tables towards the back of the classroom.
"So you're pretty much stuck doing office work for the time being?" Yanagi inquired.
"Yeah…" Ozehana sighed. "I'll be working with Lily until I get cleared to start doing hero work again. Even then, I might only be able to help out at the fire station before I can get back to doing regular patrols."
"And how long is your recovery going to take?" Midoriya followed up.
"Three months for now. It's honestly a total pain, especially since I'm in charge of making everyone's schedules."
"Well, it could be a lot worse." Tetsutetsu said.
"You got that right!" The black haired woman laughed.
Before anyone else could comment, their waiter made her presence known. However, it wasn't the stereotypical maid that they were halfway expecting. What Midoriya and the others got was Yuyu Haya sporting a dapper looking tuxedo with a red tie. Yet the most notable change to her appearance was that her hair was now light brown instead of its usual reddish-pink.
"How are you guys doing today?"
"Haya-senpai?" Midoriya looked at the now brunette with an astonished expression.
"Yup...that's me."
"I didn't know your class was the one running this show." Said Tokage
"Believe me, I tried to argue against it. But we decided on it by a vote." The former redhead teen explained sarcastically. "Thankfully I'm only doing this for a couple of hours. I have to help Nejire get ready for the beauty pageant right after this."
"Oh yeah, she did say something about competing in that."
"Yeah." Haya smiled. "You guys can take a few minutes to decide on what you want. I'll be right back."
The group began looking over their menus as they tried to figure out what they wanted to order. Even though they weren't expecting anything particularly filling, they were surprised to see quite the good looking selection. The only problem was that everything was either some sort of pastry or dessert. Which wasn't exactly what most people wanted this early in the day. However, the pictures alone were enough to make them reconsider.
"Man, all this stuff actually looks pretty good. What are you gonna get, Izuku?" Tokage asked her boyfriend.
"Y'know...I've had a serious craving for candy apples for a while now. I'm honestly thinking about getting a few of those." The boy said.
Katsuragi immediately shot a sharp glance towards the boy after hearing that. Candy apples were her sister's favorite food. Despite her small size, Tatsumaki was liable to eat ten of them in a single sitting. When they were younger, the now deceased heroine would drag her out to festivals all over town just to have some. The fact that Midoriya even said that let her know that he was truly starting to become more and more like her.
'I wonder if he and onee-chan have talked yet. I should ask him about it before I leave.' She thought to herself.
"Geez dude, you better be careful. All that sugar might make you even sweeter than you already are~." Tokage playfully pinched the boy's cheek.
"You think so?" Midoriya chuckled.
"Can you two tone down on the flirting? At least when the rest of us are here…." Tetsutetsu deadpanned.
"Indeed." Shiozaki nodded. "Such public displays of affection are wicked and impolite."
"Aww, there's no need to be jealous guys." The 'lizard tail splitter' user smiled back at them.
Hoping to make things slightly less uncomfortable for the other three students at the table, Katsuragi decided to try and change topics. "I still can't believe that U.A. has turned into a boarding school. I'm actually kind of jealous. I wish it was like this when I was a student."
"It certainly would've made things more convenient." Lily agreed. The 'bone spur' user herself was also a graduate of U.A., except she was a former business course student.
"We had the same setup at Seiai Academy back when I was still a student. But that's an all girls school, so it made things a lot easier." The black haired woman chimed in.
"Oh god, I would hate going to an all girl's school." Tokage scoffed. "That sounds like a total nightmare."
"Why do you say that?" Midoriya asked with genuine curiosity.
"All that estrogen concentrated into one place? Sounds like a recipe for disaster." The girl joked. 'Or a bunch of lesbian orgies depending on who you ask.'
'She does have a point.' Yanagi silently thought. 'Thank god I got into U.A.. Otherwise I might've ended up going there instead.'
"That would also mean that she wouldn't have any chance to flirt with guys in her free time." The 'steel' quirk user chuckled.
"That's also a good point. If I was at an all girls school, I wouldn't be able to spend time with my darling Izuku here~. Oh man, I can't even think about how bored I'd be if that were to happen."
Katsuragi then leaned over to Shiozaki and whispered into her ear. "You guys do have a curfew here, right?"
"Yes." The vine haired girl nodded. "Nine o'clock on weekdays, ten on the weekends. However, I do suspect that those two spend the night in each other's rooms from time to time."
"Yeah...that sounds about right."
"So anyways…" Tokage suddenly changed topics. "Besides the media hassle, how's the top hero life been treating you? I bet you got a ton of guys trying to ask you out now, huh?"
"I'd be lying if I said that I haven't gotten a few offers recently." Katsuragi laughed.
"Really?" Midoriya raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but I'm not looking for anything right now. Relationships are too much trouble when you have an entire agency to run."
"Oh please...there's gotta be someone out there you have your eye on? C'mon, give us the scoop! Who's got the heart of Japan's new number nine hero?"
"Who indeed?" Lily said with a slight grin on her face.
For some odd reason, an image suddenly popped into Midoriya's head. One of a young man with a shaved head and plain face standing next to Fubuki and another boy with blonde hair and black eyes. He had no clue who those people were. Or even why they suddenly appeared in his mind. But the boy had the feeling that he knew them from somewhere.
"That bald idiot..." Midoriya whispered underneath his breath.
"What?" Lily glanced up at him.
"H-huh?!" Katsuragi's face immediately reddened enough to rival some of Midoriya's best moments.
"What?"
"Did you say something, Izuku-kun?" Yanagi asked him.
"O-oh no, nothing at all." The boy waved his hands in front of his face. That was weird, those words flew out of his mouth before he even realized what he said.
"Oh w-wow, look at that. They have cinnamon rolls here!" The green haired heroine immediately blurted out before anyone else to get a word in.
Eventually, Haya returned to their table to finally get their orders. Pretty much everyone stuck with some form of pastry that would hold them over until they got some real food in their guts. Well everyone except for Midoriya. The boy ended up getting five candy apples and began scarfing them down like there was no tomorrow. If he was being honest, he was starting to consider whether or not he enjoyed these more than his mother's katsudon.
Once everyone was done with their mid-morning snack, Ozehana decided that now was a good time to do something she had been holding off for too long now. "Hey Tokage, can I talk to you for a minute?" The woman asked.
"Uh, sure." The girl gave her a confused look.
"Awesome." The woman smiled. "We'll be right back, you guys."
"Take your time." Katsuragi waved her off.
With that, Tokage and Ozehana quickly exited the room. Leaving the other four students curious about what the wheelchair bound heroine suddenly wanted to talk about.
"What's that about?" Tetsutetsu asked what everyone else seemed to be thinking.
"No clue." Was the general response from around the table.
It didn't take long for the two to find a suitable location for their chat. Luckily, one of the equipment rooms near the stairwell was open. Meaning that nobody was going to bother them for the time being. And Tokage had a feeling that they wouldn't want anybody eavesdropping on them right now.
"So...what did you want to talk about?" The green haired girl asked after closing the door behind them.
For a good ten seconds, Ozehana nervously shifted in her seat as she tried to find the right words to say. Although she had mentally prepared herself for this conversation ever since she found out that they were going to be dropping by the school today. The woman found it increasingly difficult to muster up the courage to speak. "Well...there's a lot that I want to say actually. But first and foremost, I want to make sure that you're alright."
"What do you mean?"
"I got a chance to talk to Midnight the other day. And I know that you've been blaming yourself for what happened to me during the raid."
"Oh…" Was all that Tokage managed to let out. Her face instantly shifting to one of uncharacteristic nervousness.
"I wanted to let you know that it's alright. I don't hold you responsible for anything that happened." The black haired woman quickly reassured her. "Stuff like that happens all the time when you're on the job. And there was no way could've noticed the bomb."
"But still." Tokage retorted. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have had to try and save everyone."
"One of us was going to have to walk through that doorway anyway. So either way, it was going to happen."
"I guess you're right. But that still doesn't make me feel any better about it." She said honestly.
"Just use it as a learning experience. Besides, it's not like my hero career is over or anything. I'll be back on my feet in no time. To be honest, I've been working non-stop ever since joining the boss' agency. So it's about time I cashed in on all these leave days I've piled up."
"Yeah…" Tokage let out a semi-fake laugh. It was a major relief to the girl to hear that. Truth be told, she still had a fair amount of guilt about the entire thing. And she doubted that it would go away anytime soon. Even after hearing those words from Ozehana. But for now, she was content with putting those feelings to the side and focusing on never messing up like that again. "So what else did you want to talk about?"
"Oh yeah...that part's a bit more complicated."
"What do you mean?"
"You see...wow, this is a lot harder than what I thought it was going to be." The woman squirmed before letting out a rather deep sigh. Almost as if she mentally preparing herself for something big. "Before I say anything, I just wanted to let you know that I find this whole situation to be kind of ironic."
"How?"
"Right before I passed out, I mentioned something to you. Do you remember what it was?"
"It was something about my mom, right?" The girl answered. "Did you know her or something?"
"I guess you could say that…."
Okay, now Tokage was confused. She still didn't fully understand what the woman meant the night of the raid. There was almost now way that Ozehana could've known her mother. Especially since the woman was around the same age as Nanao. This would mean that she was roughly four years old at the time of her death. When her mother had just turned twenty-one. Maybe their parents knew each other or something?
"There's really no easy way to admit this. But to put it plainly, I'm the reason that your mom died."
…
…
...
"What?"
"Back when I was a kid, I was saved by a firefighter when my parent's house was burning down. It was only me and my older brother there at the time. My quirk hadn't even manifested yet. And the only reason I made it out of there alive is because she came back and pulled me out of there."
The weight of Ozehana's words hit Tokage like a freight train. And the dots were beginning to connect in her mind. She remembered her father telling her that her mom ran back into a burning building to save a little girl that got trapped on one of the upper floors. Only barely making it out before collapsing on the ground.
"I still remember that day clearly. Including that woman and her face. She used what was left in her oxygen tank to make sure that I wouldn't pass out. But it was at the cost of her own ability to breath. To be honest, I recognized you the first day that we met. It was hard not to since you look almost exactly like her."
"You can't be serious." Tokage simply said. Still reeling from the new revelation.
"I am." The woman nodded with a frown. "The sad part is that I ended up getting my quirk a week after that. Kind of ironic, huh? If it was only a few days sooner, I might've been able to get myself out of there. And your mom wouldn't have had to risk her life to save mine."
"I...don't really know what to say."
"I'm so sorry." Ozehana then lowered her head, much to Tokage's surprise. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have had to go through life without having your mother around. I'm pretty sure that me getting injured was just the universe coming to collect on my karma."
"Hey, hey, there's no need for all of that." Tokage awkwardly waved her hands in front of her face. "I mean, sure this is a lot to take in. Especially out of the blue. But it's not like I blame you or anything."
"But-"
"Really, my mom died a few months after I was born. So it's not like I really knew her or anything like that. Honestly, I always thought it was kind of awesome how she did everything that could save someone's life."
Ozehana was speechless as she tried to process those words. Was Tokage serious? Did she really not harbor any type of resentment towards her? She was fully prepared for the girl to lash out at her or something. But she wasn't expecting her to be so chill about it. However, she was thankful that she could finally get this burden off of her chest.
The weight of this moment was so heavy that a few tears escaped the woman's eyes. "You don't know how happy it makes me to hear that."
"Come on now, there's really no reason to cry. Tell you what, let's just agree to call it even. Besides, I'm not really good with tears."
"Sure." Ozehana wiped her eyes. The next thing she felt was Tokage wrap her arms around her. The girl made sure not to apply too much pressure to avoid aggravating the injuries on her back.
"It's pretty cool how you ended up becoming an awesome hero though. I'm sure my mom would be glad to know that you're doing well for yourself."
"Y-yeah, I pretty much became a fire rescue specialist because of her. I even work in the same station that she was a part of. Our fire chief, Obi-san, said that she was the best person he ever worked with."
"Glad to hear it." The green haired teen smiled, and it was the truth. Of course she didn't know a lot about her mother besides what her dad and Kayama told her. But she was happy to hear that the woman had such a positive influence on people. Even after her death.
After a few more seconds, the two broke their hug and took a moment to let their emotions settle down. Obviously, there was a lot more they would need to discuss in the future. But for now it was probably best for them to return to the other before they got worried.
Once Tokage and Ozehana returned to rest of the group, everyone agreed to go out and explore the campus a bit more. They still had quite a bit of time before they needed to start getting ready for their performance. So they chose to partake in some of the festivities and fill up on some more food.
After spending a full hour trying their luck at a few games, and watching Yanagi rack up a rather impressive win-streak on pretty much everything, a text alert came from Midoriya's phone. The boy was quick to check it and a slight smile appeared on his face upon reading it.
"What's up, Izuku?" Tokage asked.
"Do you guys mind if we head to the front of school real quick? There's somebody that I have to meet." He asked the group.
"Who is it?" Tetsutetsu inquired.
"You'll see."
With nothing better to do, everyone nodded and began heading towards the main gate. Upon arrival, Tokage was shocked to see non other Unohana standing near one of the booths with the two purple headed twins from the orphanage standing at his side.
"Brain-Boy!" The girl called out with a wave.
"Oh sweet, there you guys are." The quirkless teen waved back. Without a moment's hesitation the two twins sprinted towards Midoriya and wrapped the green haired boy in a tight hug.
"Midoriya-san!" They both shouted in perfect sync.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" He smiled at the two.
"We saw you on T.V. saving all those people!"
"Yeah, yeah, it was super cool!"
"Hey, now I know you guys see me over here!" Tokage kneeled down and opened her arms. Her gesture was instantly accepted as the two twins then rushed over and embraced her in another hug.
"We saw you on T.V. too, Tokage-san. You were super cool!"
"Yeah!"
"Well thanks, you little rascals. Should I consider you two as the first official members of my fanclub?" The girl said with a wide smile and a boisterous laugh.
After that quick display, the other students decided to chime and figure out exactly who it was that they were looking at.
"So, who are the kids?" Yanagi asked in her typically stoic tone of voice.
"I'm Kanao!" The first one said happily.
"I'm Kanae!" The second one followed up.
"And we're the Tsuyuri twins!" The two quirkless children completed what was certainly some sort of rehearsed introduction.
"These are some of the kids from the orphanage that I volunteer at." Midoriya explained. "I invited them and Unohana-san here so they could enjoy the festival."
"Oh yeah." Tetsutetsu injected. "I almost forgot that you go there like every other week."
"Really? You never told me about that." Katsuragi gave a surprised look to Midoriya. She had no idea that the boy was doing volunteer work in his free time. That was definitely something she would've liked to know beforehand.
"Y-yeah." The green haired boy scratched his cheek.
"Well I think it's admirable that Izuku dedicates so much of his time to helping others. Charity is one of the sacred virtues after all. It is yet another example of how he uses his talents that have been bestowed upon him to make the world a better place. If only Setsuna could learn to take after his behavior." Shiozaki clasped her hands together and let a single tear drop from her eye.
"Hey! I help out there too y'know." The 'lizard tail splitter' user quipped.
"It's true." Unohana added. "Tokage-kun usually helps some of the younger kids when it comes to their math homework whenever they drop by."
"Well that's a surprise." Yanagi looked towards her best friend's girlfriend.
After a quick set of introductions, the Tsuyuri twins immediately went over to Katsuragi. It was their first time meeting a famous hero face-to-face. And it was hard for them to not feel starstruck in her presence. Something that the woman wasn't really used to these days.
"Oh wow, you're Blizzard! The number nine hero, right!" Kanao said while practically jumping up and down.
"That I am! It's nice to meet you two." The green haired heroine smiled.
"Hey, has anyone ever told you that you and Midoriya-san look a lot alike? Are you two related?" Kanae just came right out and said what she was thinking. Evidently this girl didn't have much of a filter.
Hoping to have a little bit of fun with this, Katsurgai stepped over to Midoriya and wrapped her arm around his shoulders before giving them a thumbs up. "That's right! Izuku here is actually my little brother. Couldn't you tell?"
-(o)-
~Somewhere on Campus~
"Hmm..."
"What's wrong, Juzo?" Awase asked the lipless teen.
"I have the strangest feeling that I missed something really important just now."
"Was there something that you not remember to do?" Tsunotori inquired.
The 'softening' quirk user couldn't really put his finger on it. But it was like an alarm just went off in his head. Deciding to just brush it off for now, all the boy did was give his two classmates a slightly confused shrug. "Who knows? Maybe I'll remember what it was later."
"Well in the meantime, let's hurry up and get to that ramen stand!" Awase then cheered. "We only have a couple of hours before we start and I'm fucking starving over here."
-(o)-
"WHAA!" The two girls nearly fell over from astonishment. "That's so cool!"
"I don't think she meant that literally, you two." The pink eyed teen tried to calm them down before they could cause a scene.
"Well, they certainly seem like an energetic pair." Yanagi said with a twinge of amusement in her voice.
After a few minutes standing around and talking, the group agreed to show the three quirkless visitors around the school for a bit. It wasn't often that outsiders got a chance to see all that U.A. had to offer. So they were more than excited to see what the best hero school in the country was all about. Besides, their entire reason for being there was to enjoy the fun and watch class 1-B's performance later on. So why not keep them entertained in the meantime?
"So, where would you two like to go? There's a ton of cool stuff going on today." Tokage asked the twins. "What are you guys into?"
"I wanna see some bugs!" Kanao raised her hand.
"I wanna see some flowers!" Kanae echoed.
"Well you guys are in luck!" Tetsutetsu chimed in before motioning towards Shiozaki. "Ibara is actually a member of the school's gardening club. I bet she'd love to give you guys a tour of the greenhouse. It's massive."
"Really?!"
"Indeed. It would be my pleasure to show such wonderful young children like yourselves the wonders of God's natural beauty." Said the vine haired girl.
"Cool!"
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road." Tokage laughed as she grabbed one of the girls and sat them atop her shoulders. "After that, we can introduce you guys to some of our classmates if we run into any."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Lily shrugged.
"Is that alright with you guys?" Midoriya then turned towards the others.
"I don't mind. Just as long as we make it back in time to get ready for our performance." The 'poltergeist' user said nonchalantly.
"Agreed." Katsuragi and Ozehana nodded.
And with that, the now group of eleven made the journey towards the school's greenhouse to give their guests a tour of the campus. With their class' big moment still a while away, they decided to spend the rest of their morning having a good time. And now that they had some V.I.P's, they were all the more determined to make sure that they put on an awesome show.
~Somewhere Near U.A.~
"Well then...I suppose it's time that we get started. Don't you think, La Brava?" A dapper fellow with white hair said to the small woman at his side.
"Yes, Gentle. This will be our biggest performance yet." The short, redhead smiled softly while fixing her camera.
"I agree with you wholeheartedly."
A/N: So yeah, I decided to split the Cultural Festival up into two parts. I'll be honest, the whole Gentil Criminal and La Brava thing completely slipped my mind while writing this chapter out. But I found a way to add them into the story that will make things...interesting. But you'll have to wait until the next update to see what I'm talking about.
1. Just to let everyone know, I think I finally found a good stopping point for this fic. Pretty much like all of my other fics, the main story will wrap up a few chapters after the joint training arc. But I plan on having a timeskip that will be about five to six chapters long. It's a bit too early for me to start brainstorming and outlining any new stories that I'll want to do. So I won't worry about that until after the timeskip. But I am open to ideas that you guys might want to see.
Like always, thanks for reading this dumpster fire of a FanFic and don't be afraid to leave a comment/review.