After weeks of preparation, the day was finally here.
It was time for the annual UA High School Cultural Festival.
For Midoriya and Jirou, that meant that they would finally be able to perform their song together, in front of the entirety of their class, as well as the school as a whole. All of their excitement, anxieties, and hesitations would finally reach the peak later that day.
Midoriya was well aware of that. He had just woken up, even though he had another hour left before his alarm would go off. Once all of the thoughts about the day ahead swirled in his head, however, he knew there would be no chance of him sleeping for the rest of the morning. He figured he could use the extra time to take a morning run to sort out all of his thoughts.
It went without saying that he was excited for the opportunity to sing together with Jirou. However, he had to admit that there were some nerves as well. Namely, he was worried about messing up any part of the song, due to his lack of experience. Fortunately, he was confident that Jirou would pick up the slack, given how talented of a singer she was.
Midoriya decided to call his mother to have one more conversation until he went into action. He knew that she would be up, given that she always got up early in the morning.
"Izuku? You're up early!" Inko said.
"Yeah, I'm too excited to sleep!" Izuku replied.
"Are you ready for your big performance? Is Kyouka ready?"
"We both are. I know Kyouka will do great. I'm just hoping I don't mess up."
Inko nodded, although Izuku could not see, since they were only on an audio call. Despite that, Inko understood how her son felt.
"Well, it's understandable. Kyouka is a trained musician, but she'll help you through everything. Especially given how close you two are," Inko said.
Hearing Inko say that gave Izuku all of the confidence he needed.
"Mom…" Izuku said.
"Yes?"
"Kyouka and I are a couple."
The phone went silent for a few moments. The confidence that Izuku had started to melt away. Had he read the situation wrong?
"I knew it! How wonderful, Izuku!"
"I know - wait, what do you mean you knew?" Izuku asked.
"I saw you two hold hands once you left our home the other day. I don't think you realized I was still standing at the doorway."
While Izuku was shocked to hear the explanation, he was glad that he had been the one to tell Inko about his relationship, rather than it being the other way around. It felt much better this way compared to the other times his relationship was spoiled.
"Well, you got us," Izuku laughed, with Inko joining him. "Thank you for the help. I'll let you know how it goes later!"
Once Izuku hung up, he breathed a sigh of relief. Even if he was caught off guard by Inko's comment, the conversation went much better than expected.
Moments later, he then received another text from someone else.
All Might: You got this, kiddo! Good luck today to you and Jirou!
Once he was dressed, he went out to complete his morning run, eager for it to fly by so that it would be time for the Cultural Festival.
Midoriya was not expecting to arrive backstage before Jirou.
Up until that point, they had enjoyed roaming around the Cultural Festival, checking out what other classes were doing to celebrate the event. Once it was about half an hour before Class 1A's talent show would start, they decided to head to the auditorium, not wanting to cut it too close to the start of the show.
However, they had split up on their way to the auditorium, due to the wall of a crowd that they had encountered on the way there. The majority of the class - along with Aizawa - were already prepping for their performances when Midoriya had arrived. Moments later, Aizawa called everyone together, ready to give instructions regarding the event ahead.
"Alright everyone. I decided to use a random list generator to determine the order of your performances. It's more rational and quicker than drawing names out of a hat or having you all bicker over the order," Aizawa said.
Although the class knew not to be insulted by those kinds of remarks by that point, they were still disappointed that they would have no say in the order of performances. However, Aizawa then pulled out a piece of paper and read the order that they would be going in.
"First up will be Uraraka and Ilda. Then, it will be Ashido, followed by Koda and Sero. After them, it will be Hagakure, Yaoyorozu, Ojiro and Asui, and after them, Todoroki, Aoyama and Shouji. Up next will be… Mineta and Kaminari, then Bakugou, Kirashima, Tokoyami and Sato. Finally… Midoriya and Jirou."
Just as Aizawa said the last sentence, Jirou jogged into the room. All of the students in the class were now present. As Jirou walked over to join Midoriya, she could feel several pairs of eyes watch her and how she interacted with Midoriya.
Even though she was late, she caught that they were going last. A part of her was glad they would be going last - it would allow her to analyze what the crowd was like before she had to perform in front of them. Such was usually not the luxury for professional musicians and bands, unless they had an opening act beforehand.
"Alright, 15 more minutes before we start. Ilda and Yaoyorozu, make sure you are ready for the opening remarks. Uraraka, make sure you and Ilda are ready to be the opening act. Everyone else, use this time for any last minute practice. Good luck," Aizawa said.
As Ilda, Yaoyorozu, and Uraraka talked with one another near stage right, the rest of the class huddled in their respective areas to go over their final touches for their performances.
Midoriya and Jirou, meanwhile, were near the sound system that Jirou had set up yesterday. She pressed a few different buttons to turn the system on. Midoriya, meanwhile, did one more run through with each of their basses to make sure that they were ready to go.
"Sorry I was late," Jirou finally said to break the silence.
"No problem. Did you get lost?" Midoriya said in a half-serious, half-sarcastic tone.
To his surprise, however, Jirou did not immediately answer him.
"Kyouka?" Midoriya asked again.
"Oh - sorry. I was just calling my parents one more time before we played, that's all," Jirou finally answered.
"Ah, ok. I called my mom this morning too," Midoriya said.
Neither of them said another word as they finished setting up everything for their performance. The butterflies only continued to grow as it was almost time for the talent show to begin. And to their delight, no one else in the class bothered them, as they were all too busy with their own preparations.
Moments later, it was time for the show to start. The class stood together at stage left so that they could all watch the performances. They were close enough to get a good view while also not being seen by the crowd.
Despite not being within the sight lines of the crowd, the class was still able to see parts of the auditorium's seating bowl. And it was packed. This was only further confirmed as Ilda and Yaoyorozu were met by a chorus of cheers and claps as they appeared on the stage.
"Good afternoon, everybody! Welcome to the Class 1A's contribution to the UA Cultural Festival - our very own talent show! I am the Class President, Tenya Ilda!" Ilda started.
"Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We have quite a large crowd on hand! I am the Class Vice President, Momo Yaoyorozu."
Once Yaoyorozu gave her introduction, she gave a nod to Ilda. Ilda then jogged off the stage towards stage right.
"Before we begin, I want to take a moment to explain why we are doing a talent show. When we thought about what we should do for the Cultural Festival, we all struggled to come up with one idea. That was when it hit us - why not do something that would let us all do what we wanted to do? And thus, here we are," Yaoyorozu said, as the full crowd applauded her explanation.
Yaoyorozu then looked towards Uraraka, who gave a thumbs up to her.
"And without further ado, kicking things off today will be Ochaco Uraraka and Tenya Ilda!" Yaoyorozu announced.
As Yaoyorozu left the stage, Uraraka and Ilda took the stage, both wearing their hero costumes and standing next to one another. It was at this point that it occurred to Midoriya and Jirou that they had no clue what anyone else was going to be doing for each of their acts.
And needless to say, what happened next was not at all what anyone was expecting to see.
Ilda placed two objects on the stage in front of Uraraka - the first was an apple, and the second was a 50 pound weight.
"For those who do not know," Ilda began, speaking into a microphone from the head set he wore, "Uraraka's quirk is Zero Gravity, which allows for her to make things float in the air."
"Today, we'll be playing one of my favorite games - Will It Float?" Uraraka said.
Some of the students in the class looked at one another when Uraraka mentioned that there would be three objects. There was clearly no third object present on the stage.
Uraraka first started with the apple. After touching the apple, it floated high into the air, with some people in the crowd who were unfamiliar with her quirk clapping.
"The apple will float! How about a 50 pound weight?" Ilda said.
After releasing the apple from her quirk's power, Uraraka moved forward to touch the 50 pound weight. It was a green weight that Midoriya swore he had used several times in the past. However, just like the apple before, the weight floated up towards the ceiling. The crowd gave a much louder reception than before, given how much heavier this object was.
"Yes, it will float!" Ilda yelled.
While the audience applauded, Kaminari turned towards the class and scratched his head.
"We've seen Uraraka do that so many times before. And what's Ilda doing other than being a commentator?" Kaminari said.
His skepticism would quickly be answered by what happened next.
"And finally!" Ilda said, now standing in front of Uraraka. "Will I float?"
The crowd quickly went silent. Would Uraraka actually make another person float?
As she tapped Ilda's shoulders, he quickly floated up into the air - although Uraraka grimaced as the process occurred. The crowd gave its loudest roar yet in response.
"Yes, I can float! And also…"
Ilda's rockets on the back of his legs quickly lit up, which Midoriya noted that they looked different than usual. Ilda then flew all around the auditorium, flying above all the rows of the seating bowl, as cheers erupted from everyone below.
Once Ilda landed on the stage and was released from Uraraka's quirk, they gave a bow, and got a round of applause from the crowd and their class. As they left the stage, they walked past Midoriya, Jirou, and the rest of the students around them.
"That was amazing!" Midoriya said.
"Hatsume made me a new costume that let's me fly around with Zero Gravity activated!" Ilda said.
"It took a lot of practice, but it sure paid off!" Uraraka beamed.
The class had no time to marvel at their act, however - the next performer was ready to begin.
"Our next performer is Mina Ashido!" Yaoyorozu called from a microphone from behind the stage.
To the surprise of the class, there were no props or objects on the stage with Ashido, who also wore her hero costume. Instead, the lights in the auditorium turned off, followed by a spotlight shining onto Ashido.
Moments later, EDM music began to blare from all of the speakers around the stage. Ashido began her trademark break dancing routine, as she jumped and spun in all different directions to the delight of the crowd. Several times, Ashido nearly spun off the front of the stage, but she was always able to hold on and keep dancing for several minutes.
"You can just see that Ashido is fully in control of every move," Jirou noted, with Midoriya nodding in agreement.
Once the song was over, Ashido did a back flip towards the exit of the stage, as she waved to the crowd. Once she joined the rest of the class back stage, they all celebrated her incredible routine.
"That was insane!" Kaminari said.
"Pretty sick," Bakugou commented.
Meanwhile, the next group took to the stage, ready to be introduced.
"Next up, Koji Koda and Hanta Sero!" Ilda announced.
Unlike the prior acts, Koda and Sero were wearing casual clothes. More surprising to everyone, however, was the fact that a group of animals stood around the duo, with not one of them flinching in the midst of being on the stage. Three rabbits, two birds, two squirrels and an orange striped cat were staring off into the crowd in an expressionless manner.
As the attendees oohed and aahed at the cute animals, Koda and Sero pulled out several purple hula hoops. They each held one hoop in each of their hands, leading to them having four hoops set up. Each of them called out different commands, while Koda also whistled. All of the animals then ran around the stage, jumping through the different hoops in what appeared to be a synchronized order. Additionally, the birds flew through a hoop held high into the air by Sero, with none of them ever interrupting their paths.
After the crowd applauded, Ilda was ready to introduce the next group.
"Up next, we have Tooru Hagakure, Momo Yaoyorozu, Mashiaro Ojiro, and Tsuyu Asui!" Ilda announced.
This time, the set up on the stage was much different compared to the other performers. Three podiums were set up, each having a microphone, as well as name tags for Hagakure, Ojiro and Asui. Yaoyorozu, on the other hand, stood in front of a table with a cloth on it.
"My quirk is Creation, which allows me to make any item or object, as long as I know how to create it. So…" Yaoyorozu said, as she turned around to create an object. "Here is an object I just created! I will put it on the table and under the cloth. Hagakure, Ojiro and Tsu will try to guess what this object is."
As Yaoyorozu hid the object under the cloth, the others turned around to look at the table once it was ready. The covered object appeared to on the longer side, although it was also narrow.
"Guess the object!" Yaoyorozu said.
"Hmm…" Hagakure started. Given her invisibility quirk, she wore a blindfold around her eyes to ensure that she did not look at what the object was prior to it being covered.
"Ribbit, it's a hockey stick," Asui said.
"Is it… a fishing rod?" Ojiro asked.
"It's a sword!" Hagakure yelled.
Yaoyorozu stepped forward to reveal the object - it was a long, sharp sword, one that Midoriya recognized from training sessions in the past.
As Hagakure cheered about getting it correct, Yaoyorozu hid the next object after she quickly created it. This time, Ojiro guessed it correctly, as it was a Matryoshka doll. The third and final object was a flashlight, which was correctly guessed by both Hagakure and Asui.
"And the final score is… Hagakure 2, Ojiro 1, Asui 1. Hagakure wins!" Yaoyorozu said.
While Hagakure celebrated, the four of them cleared the stage as the audience once again applauded them.
"Up next, we have Shoto Todoroki, Yuga Aoyama and Mezou Shouji!" Yaoyorozu announced.
Unlike the prior act, the stage was entirely clear for this act. The three of them stood side by side, all wearing their hero costumes, with Todoroki being in the middle.
Quickly, the reason behind their set up became clear to everyone. Todoroki created two large chunks of ice on the sides of the stage. Using his naval laser, Aoyama shot it towards the ice. Shouji, meanwhile, used all of his arms to get to work on the other piece of ice.
Although some people in attendance were confused about what was going on, others instantly knew what was they were doing. After a few moments passed, it was clear what the act was for everyone watching - ice sculpting.
"That's so Todoroki to not get involved in the actual sculpting part!" Ashido snorted.
Eventually, both Aoyama and Shouji finished their ice sculptures. Aoyama's was a huge block of cheese filled with plenty of craters. Shouji's sculpture was a large snowman complete with a hat on top of its head.
As the group cleaned up the ice - which was a longer process compared to the other groups' clean ups - Midoriya and Jirou turned to one another. Only two more groups were set to go until it was their turn.
"Are you ready, Izuku?" Kyouka asked. They had their bass cases and microphones next to them, with everything ready to go.
"I am. I just wish we could go sooner rather than being the last ones," Midoriya answered.
"I understand. Use this extra time as an opportunity to settle yourself down. We're gonna be great," Jirou grinned.
Midoriya gave an appreciative nod to thank her. Although he wanted to continue talking, he figured staying quiet would be the better way to let them both lock in.
"And up next… we have Minoru Mineta and Denki Kaminari!" Ilda announced.
To the surprise of the entirety of Class 1A, both Mineta and Kaminari carried out their own blank canvas, along with a pallet of paint and a large paint brush for each of them. Doing art was the last thing the class was expecting them to do.
"Hello, UA!" Kaminari yelled.
"We're doing a speed painting challenge! Both of us have three minutes to paint something - it will be the exact same thing, but we aren't saying what it is. We'll then have you all decide which painting is better," Mineta explained.
"Ready? Go!" Kaminari said.
The two of them hastily got to work. They splattered paint all over their canvas. Both of their pallets contained purple, orange and beige colors, and as the subject of their painting formed on their canvas, several people in their class rolled their eyes.
"Of course it's Mount Lady…" Jirou mumbled.
"Those creeps, ribbit," Asui said.
Finally, the time for the contest was up. Mineta and Kaminari stepped aside so that everyone could see their canvas. Mineta's painting had a fuzzy style, but you could definitely tell it was Mount Lady. Kaminari's painting, on the other hand, was much neater, but had less details compared to Mineta's.
The duo then asked the crowd to cheer which side they liked better. Ultimately, Mineta was declared the winner, getting around 70% of the votes.
"I would've won if we had more time…" Kaminari mumbled.
"It's a speed painting challenge though! Making something quickly is the whole point!" Mineta remarked.
As the two of them cleaned up and the next group prepared to take the stage, Aizawa walked over to Midoriya and Jirou. He held a piece of paper in his hand and crossed off something on it with a pen.
"Alright, you two will be up after the next group is done. Good luck," Aizawa said, as he walked back away from them.
While the two of them were more than ready to begin now, they were intrigued to see what the next group would do, especially since Bakugou was in it.
"Our penultimate act consists of Katsuki Bakugou, Eijiro Kirashima, Fumikage Tokoyami, and Rikido Sato!" Yaoyorozu announced.
The four boys slid a long, brown table onto the stage. There were four plates lined up, with some kind of red peppers laying on each plate.
"This is a spicy food contest!" Kirashima yelled.
"We'll each have one pepper simultaneously, and whoever is the last one standing wins! These peppers are called Tien Tsin chilies," Sato added.
The four of them ate their first pepper - none of them flinched, although it was clear to the class that they were feeling a little heat. After their third pepper, Tokoyami tapped out, as he stepped away from the table. Another pepper later, Sato was out. Finally, two peppers later…
"SO HOT!" Kirashima yelled, as he too finally tapped out.
Meanwhile, Bakugou had not only won, but he finished the entire plate of the ten peppers he had been served. The crowd cheered for him as he smirked towards his competitors.
"Nobody beats me in a spicy food contest!" Bakugou said.
As the four of them cleaned up, it was finally time for Midoriya and Jirou's performance. The two of them took their basses, microphones and music stands to the center of the stage, while Midoriya rolled the background canvas he painted to be positioned behind them. They also brought out two chairs to sit on during their performance.
"Last but not least, we have Izuku Midoriya and Kyouka Jirou!" Ilda announced.
Out of the corner of their eye, the duo saw the class looking on from the side of the stage. In front of them, a sea of people from all different areas of the school watched on. Every single seat was filled in the auditorium.
This was it. All of their practice and time spent on this song would finally be over.
"This is our song - it's called Heroes!" Jirou said into the microphone.
"We hope you enjoy it!" Midoriya added.
The two of them began playing their basses to start the song. Then, they started to sing.
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…
I need to know (I need to know)
Whooooo's gonna be there for me
When no one else is around?
Heroes!
They say it's not that deep
They say it's just a role
Yet when they call them dope
They don't see their whole tole
This world is unjust
This world is unkind
But the ones you revere
Keep our country aligned!
I need to know (I need to know)
Whooooo's gonna be there for me
When no one else is around?
Heroes! Don't you agree?
All of their fear
And all of their pain
Just go out the window
For the sake of your gain
It's not for your cheers
It's not for your jeers
It's all for our peace
It's all for our peace…
As they took a break for bass solos, the class looked on in awe. To them, they were not just students who were singing for a project. They sounded like borderline professionals to them.
While you admire their ranking
They're counting all of their scars
But heroes don't want your mercy
They just want you safe from afar
Heroes signed up for this life
They don't care about the fame
But please just remember this
Saving you isn't a game!
I need to know (I need to know)
Whooooo's gonna be there for me
When no one else is around?
Heroes! Don't you agree?
All of their fear
And all of their pain
Just go out the window
For the sake of your gain
It's not for your cheers
It's not for your jeers
It's all for our peace
It's all for our peace…
Saving you
Saving you
Saving you…
It's all for our peace!
The two of them concluded with another thirty second break, as they just played their basses. Upon completing the last note, the two of them finally looked up.
Everyone was standing.
Everyone was clapping.
The entire auditorium erupted in applause, cheers and screaming. It was by far the loudest reaction of the entire show.
As Midoriya and Jirou bowed, the entire class came back onto the stage, with Yaoyorozu and Ilda taking the front of the stage with microphones.
"Well, I think we can all unanimously agree that the winners of the talent show are Midoriya and Jirou!" Yaoyorozu said, leading to the entire class clapping and all of the attendees in the seats roaring once again.
"Thank you for coming to our show! Please enjoy the rest of the Cultural Festival!" Ilda said.
As the class departed from the stage, Midoriya and Jirou were in disbelief. They could tell while they played that their song was going really well… but they never thought that it would end up being received that good by everyone.
"Wait, so this was a competition?" Jirou asked, just realizing that they never even discussed having a 'winner' of the show.
"Nah, but you and Midoriya were complete rockstars out there!" Kaminari yelled, with the rest of the class nodding in agreement.
"Everyone loved it! Did you hear how loud everyone was?" Uraraka added. "Of course you won it!"
"Well, technically - ack!" Mineta tried to retort, before he was smacked by Asui.
"Honestly, you would think that the two of you are in music school, not hero school!" Hagakure said.
"Hey, after the Cultural Festival is over, how about we have a party in the dorms to celebrate?" Ojiro asked.
"Yeah I'm in, let's goooo!" Kirashima said, with the rest of the class agreeing.
As the class cleaned up all of their props and items behind the stage, packing them up to be taken back to their dorms after the Cultural Festival was over, Aizawa also went up to each group and congratulated them on a great show. Even if they had declared Midoriya and Jirou as the 'winners,' everyone would also agree that each act was a hit.
Once Jirou had all of the audio systems packed away, she and Midoriya departed the backstage area, holding hands as they were ready to enjoy the rest of the Cultural Festival together.
A/N: And there is the Cultural Festival! I tried to do something different for each group to keep it interesting. The song that Midoriya and Jirou sang was also the first time I've ever attempted writing a song, which was a pretty fun experience to write honestly.
It's crazy to think that this story has surpassed 100K words! There might just be two chapters left, but there's still plenty of ideas to cover!
Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment, favorite or follow if you'd like. See you next time for Chapter 39! Also, feel free to follow me on AO3 or Twitter (CuriousPug5) if you'd like.