Chapter 44: Hero, Too
"The School Festival is one month away!" Iida said, as everyone was sitting within the common room. "We don't have much time. We should start making decisions right now."
"First, we need to pick out a song, right?" Hagakure asked. "What should we do?"
Ojiro scratched his head. "I dunno much about music, so I'll leave it up to you guys."
Shoji nodded in agreement. "Same."
"If we're doing this for everyone, shouldn't it be a song that most people know so they can dance and sing along with us?" Kaminari asked, wearing his usual dopey smile.
"It's gotta be something with a good beat," Sero said.
"Yeah! So we can get down!" Ashido whooped.
"With those things in mind, I think I know what would make sense," Kyoka spoke up. "A hardcore, on-the-floor, club song; it would be like a "rave meets rock show." As for dance music, EDM would probably be the most popular, but you guys wanna play instruments, right?"
The blank looks on their faces had now made it extremely clear to Kyoka that she couldn't just throw words at them. She needed to go all the way back to the basics for this one.
"Anyone play bass, or drums, or drums, or… anything?"
Seriously? Dead silence?
"Okay…" Kyoka coughed. "Well, I'd say that drums are the backbone of any band; I'd take on the responsibility myself, but honestly, I mainly play the guitar, not percussion. And teaching a beginner to play while practicing for myself would be impossible to do in just one month."
Bakugou raised his hand. "I can do 'em."
Everyone was thrown off by what the class' walking explosive said, but Kyoka decided to give him a try. Handing him a pair of drumsticks, Bakugou took his seat, and then proceeded to create a high-speed beat with the crash symbol, snare drum, and bass drum.
"Well?" he asked.
Kyoka's jaw almost fell. "That… was… killer…"
"He's so good!" Ashido gaped.
"Who knew you had talent?" Shinso shrugged.
"Bakugou's gotta be our drummer!" Kaminari shouted.
"...Okay."
Everyone cheered at Bakugou agreeing, as Hagakure hugged Kyoka. Looking around, the purple-haired girl saw that everyone looked so happy… she wanted that for everyone.
Everyone at UA who had to put up with everything that the Hero Course did and went through that caused them so much untoward stress. Everything that had caused them, and by extension, the rest of society, to begin to lose faith in their Heroes. She wanted…
…Kyoka Jiro wanted to make them smile.
"I promise…" she whispered to herself. "I'll do my best."
"This might help," Yaomomo said, raising her hand. "As part of my classical education, I've studied the piano since I was just a little girl. I'd be happy to play in the band if you need me."
"Oh, yeah!" Ashido smiled. "Momo will totally rock those keyboards!"
Kyoka nodded. "I mean, we've gotta have someone on synth for the dance music."
"Mm!" Her black-haired companion smiled. "Then I'll do my best!"
"Aww man, I wanted all the girls to get together and do a big choreo number!" the pink-skinned girl playfully whined, adding in some faux tears. "But still, you'll look cute up on stage…"
"Bass is my specialty, so now, we just need guitars and vocals," Kyoka said.
"Okay, so… does that mean everybody else will be dancing?" Ojiro asked.
Iida hummed, "I'm not really sure this is enough to get the audience excited…"
Todoroki nodded. "In that video I showed everyone back then –"
"WE'VE GOTTA HAVE SPECIAL EFFECTS!"
"...exactly," the peppermint-haired boy said.
"Special effects?" Sero asked, unsure.
Ashido quickly grabbed the laptop everybody was using, and typed something in. Shoving it into Sero's face, she said, "This is what I'm talking about! See? They use sparks and streamers and a disco ball to fire everyone up! We've gotta be extra, to set the right mood!"
Hagakure squealed. "Let's pull out all the stops and make it an explosion of light!"
"But of course, we can totally do that!"
"We're putting this party on in the gym, is that right?" Sato asked.
"Uh-huh." Iida nodded. "Aizawa-sensei has already made the arrangements for us."
"Hold up, how's this for an idea?" Ashido said, smiling maniacally. "Uraraka makes Todoroki and Kirishima float! And then, Kirishima chips away at Todoroki's icicles and sends it flying! Then, Aoyama can be a mirrorball, and the light twinkling off him will make it look like stardust!"
"Ahahahaha!" Shinso laughed. "A human-made ice machine!"
"You want moi to be a disco ball?" Aoyama asked. "I WAS BORN TO DO THIS!"
"I can see it," Yaomomo said, smiling. "The gym will look spectacular!"
"Agreed!" Iida said, raising his fist. "This is just what we all needed!"
"We'll have to have a crew behind-the-scenes to pull this off, though," Hagakure said.
"Hey, you guys, we're back!"
Kyoka and the others turned to see that Uraraka, Asui, and Kirishima had returned from their last make-up classes. Bakugou, Iida, and Todoroki had some of those, too, but they finished theirs earlier due to whatever insane "work hard" mentality they had built in them.
But with them now done, that meant everyone was now here.
"Ribbit… we can help out now…"
Ochako honestly didn't expect to miss so much school work, especially given how little time she felt like she had been with Ryukyu, but whatever. If Katsuki was able to blaze through the extra classes like they were nothing, then the brown-haired girl would be fine.
As it turned out, she was right on the money. So, with their last make-up class out of the way, she and the others came back to the dorms to find everyone else already planning.
"I see…" Tsu nodded along at the recap of what they missed, putting a finger on her chin. "So, we've decided to go with rave-rock club music for our performance…?"
Kirishima hummed, "Jiro on bass and Yaoyorozu on keyboards make sense, but…"
"Katsuki on the drums is kind of…" Ochako looked for the right word. "How do I put it…?"
"Shocking?" Hagakure suggested playfully.
The blond just rolled his eyes. "You don't know everything about me."
Fair enough, Ochako thought to herself.
"Question," Tsu spoke up. "Who will be singing? Isn't that the most important thing?"
"Well, we haven't figured that part out yet," Jiro answered.
"Huh?" That threw Ochako for a loop. "Doesn't it have to be you, Jiro?"
"I'm with Ochako, it's gotta be you," Hagakure said. "When you were teaching us how to play instruments in your room, your singing was super cool! I know you'll bring the house down!"
Jiro gulped. "Come on… it wasn't that great… maybe we –"
"Hey, look, a mic!" Hagakure growled, as the girl grabbed the microphone stand from the corner of the room, and shoved it in Jiro's face. With no escape route left open to her, Jiro took the microphone, took a few deep breaths, closed her eyes… and began to sing.
It was good, it was really good. Ochako enjoyed it, as she looked around to see that everyone had more expressive reactions than she did. Shinso's jaw dropped, Aoyama looked like he saw something adorable, Kirishima was smiling, several others were simply amazed, and Kaminari… wait, he was crying?! Did Jiro's singing really bring him to tears of joy?!
Once she was done, Jrio slowly opened her eyes, to gauge everyone's reaction.
"MY EARS ARE SO HAPPY!" Hagakure screamed.
If that wasn't a positive response, then the waves and waves of compliments and cheers the purple-haired girl got from everyone else in the room certainly had to be.
"Such a sultry voice!" Ashido cried.
"Alright!" Iida smiled. "I'd call this a unanimous decision!"
"Well, let's set that aside, then…" Jiro blushed. "Now, we need guitars! I'm thinking of two..."
"Oh, yeah! Pick me!" Kaminari shot his hand up. "It's so cool to play instruments!"
"I'd just break the strings…" Kirishima sighed.
"Don't volunteer unless you're gonna kill it," Katsuki warned his fellow blond.
"YEAH, I TOTALLY WILL!" Kaminari exclaimed, as he grabbed one of the nearby guitars and started playing a little. "The guitar is the star of every rock band!"
Everyone seemed to agree with the electric blond's enthusiasm, as they all quickly scrambled to get the parts they wanted, from instruments, to special effects, to dancing.
"I wanna be on the dance crew!" Sato demanded.
"Me, too. I can move pretty well with my tail!" Ojiro said.
Sero smiled. "And I can use my tape to help with the special effects!"
While they were talking about that, Tokoyami grabbed the other spare guitar and began to play something even better than Kamianri did. "It's like he's speaking directly to my heart…"
Shoji ignored what Kirishima said, and asked, "You can play? Why didn't you say anything?"
Tokoyami looked down in shame. "I put down the axe when I was bested by the F chord…"
With all nineteen students now here, the 1-A dorms became far more livelier, as everyone chose their preferred jobs with great enthusiasm. Eventually, around one in the morning…
"That's it!" Iida shouted, the bags under his eyes giving even Shino's a run for their money. "Everyone's role in the Festival has been decided! We've got the band team, the effects team, and the dance team! Rest up, guys! Starting tomorrow, we're hard at work!"
"""YEAH!"""
They had one month to work on their upcoming performance.
Jiro focused on getting her bandmates up to snuff, from helping Kaminari practice without making his fingers bleed, to finally getting Tokoyami to beat the dreaded F chord! Those who were working on the special effects, such as Sero, Todoroki, Koda and Kirishima worked on the feasibility of the performance, while also consulting with Ashido if the dancers could pull off certain things. And as for Ashdio, she whipped the rest of the class into shape!
Members from other classes checked up on them from time to time, including Kendo, Hatsume, and even Togata. Uraraka, meanwhile, was able to see some of the stuff they would be doing for the School Festival, too, such as the Business Course lectures, Class B's original performance (how Monoma could say that with a straight face was beyond her), and the Beauty Pagent, which Hado-senpai was desperate to win this year from some other girl.
Looks like Ryukyu wasn't joking when she mentioned a Beauty Pageant.
Apparently, the only reason she entered back when she was a First Year was because one of her classmates, Yuyu Haya, told her to, but she ended up enjoying it so much, and she wanted to win so badly, that she willingly signed up the second time around. Both times, she lost to a Support Course student, Bibimi Kenranzaki. And speaking of the Support Course…
Everyone there seemed to be busy building… a bunch of giant robots, Uraraka assumed. That, or they were giant mech armors. Whatever they were, the students there were definitely pulling out all the stops. And Hatsume's mech suit was the biggest one there was. She said something about how potential buyers would be getting up close and personal with her work, so she spent the majority of her time in the lab, to make sure her pieces were better than ever before.
And to, you know… make sure none of them exploded.
Even the teachers and the Principal said they were excited. But… a part of Uraraka couldn't help wondering if they were hiding something from the rest of the school, but she didn't pry. That was most likely her Midoriya-fueled paranoia talking. This was a School Festival, an event to make sure the students had fun during these trying times, nothing more, nothing less.
As time went on, more changes happened. Uraraka had been scouted by the special effects team in order to help Aoyama move around the entire room. He'd be transforming from a dancer into a disco ball, and Uraraka would go from dancer to… well… Aoyama-puller?
This was actually Sero's idea, as he argued that when Aoyama transformed into a disco ball, it would only be interesting for a minute or two, especially after the initial shock wore off. Koda then suggested for him to fly around, hence why Uraraka needed to swing him around.
So, the plan was for Uraraka to be part of the dance crew with Aoyama during the first part of the song, and then leave the stage to do the disco ball routine. It required a chance of choreography from Ashido, but other than that, there was nothing to it.
They kept having meetings and rehearsals like these every day after classes over the course of the month, with little free time to even train with their Quirks. Bakugou argued with Kaminari over the speed of the tempo, as the music team threw in new parts, Jiro teaching chord progressions like a master, and Yaoyorozu handed out tea to everyone after a hard day's work.
And then… came their final day of practice.
Tomorrow, the Festival would occur, and all their hard work would pay off.
"We'll have to clear out of the gym soon, but we should have enough time for one more run-through," Kirishima said, as Ashido clapped her hands in agreement.
"Look alive! And one, and two, and three… and one, and two, and three, and one, and two and three… pose! Then Aoyama goes to the center, and Uraraka books it off stage…"
As the pink-skinned girl kept going through the choreography with the dance crew, Sero sighed in relief. "I was scared we're gonna seem like amateurs, but things are looking good. The band and dance teams are stepping up their game and putting in the work."
"Guess it helps that Ashido is a merciless coach, and dancing's her thing, so she's taking this seriously," Kirishima said, smiling. "And everyone's fired up, not just the band members."
"I'll admit, I am getting a little nervous," Yaoyorozu said.
"Hey, don't improvise during the actual concert," Jiro scolded Bakugou.
"IT'S ALREADY NINE O'CLOCK!" Hound Dog roared, slamming the gym doors open. "STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE CLEARED OUT OF THE GYM BY NOW!"
No more rehearsing. Everyone headed for the dorms, where some went straight to bed, while others decided to celebrate all of the hard work they had put in. Well, kinda…
"WHOO-HOO!" Kaminari whooped, his hands in the air. "I CAN'T SLEEP!"
"Not so loud!" Ashido hissed. "People are sleeping upstairs!"
"I just hope the audience will be that enthusiastic…" Iida gulped.
"It's probably better if we don't think about it too much," Jiro said. "Being embarrassed? Worried about what others are thinking? That'll kill our vibe. We should focus on having fun."
"Yeah? Says the girl who was scared to front the band!" Kaminari said.
"Shut up, that was a totally different situation!"
"Well, good night!" Ashido said, getting up. "I really should be getting to sleep…"
"Before you go, how about we nightowls make one final promise, to do our best!" Kirishima pumped his fists. "We're gonna pull this off… AND ROCK EVERYONE AT UA!"
"""YEAH!"""
Hagakure gulped. "There are way more people than I thought there would be…"
"At least everyone sounds like they're in a good mood," Sato said.
Shinso gave him a blank look. "Well, yeah, it's a Festival."
The second it hit ten o'clock in the morning, the curtains parted, making Kyoka Jiro look right into the massive sea of people. Hagakure may have taken a peek through the curtains a little bit earlier to see how many there were, but Kyoka didn't imagine it would be this many.
She didn't know what was scarier: The fact that there were so many of them, or the fact that they were actually cheering for Class 1-A? That somehow made the pressure feel even heavier.
She wanted to run. She really did. Crowds always made her nervous, and one of this size was just making the problem a hundred times worse. She could feel the sweat dripping off her head, the quickening pace of her breathing. She wanted to run. She really did. But…
"Kyoka… you can do whatever you want."
Those words… She remembered those words. That was what her dad told her back when she told them that she wanted to be a Hero, not a musician like her folks. And those were the same words he told her again when she said that she wanted to move into the dorms.
I can do whatever I want.
She didn't want to play, but her friends convinced her otherwise. She may have not liked it, but she wasn't gonna back down. She wanted to do this. She wanted to sing, here and now!
And that's exactly what she was gonna do!
"Get ready, UA…" Bakugou smiled. "OUR SOUNDS IS GONNA KILL YOU!"
BOOOOOOOM!
As the blond behind her set off an explosion, the drums rolled, the music came to life, the lights began to shine the colors, and dancers began to dance. The concert had begun.
As Kaminari and Tokoyami played their guitars, Yaomomo on the synth, and the first set of streamers went off, Kyoka smiled. "THANKS FOR COMING OUT TODAY!"
The winds blew the frowns on the people's faces, replacing them with astonishment, as Kyoka's friends began dancing on stage. The colors behind them changed as they pointed to the sky. She was still sweating, but now, Kyoka's smile was bigger than her nervousness.
"What am I to be?
What is my calling?
I gave up giving up, I'm reeeady to go,
The future's left unseen,
It all depends on me,
Put it on the line to fooollow my dream,
Yeah!"
One by one, the crowd began to dance along with the beat. This was working!
"Tried all my liiife, I've tried to fiiind,
Something that makes me hold on and neeever let go.
Ohhhhh!"
The dancers jumped into the air, as Kyoka sang the next part with all the joy and passion she could maifest. Punching their fists into the ground, the dancers raised their fists into the air, as Uraraka and Aoyama jumped, sending the blond into the air, and using his Quirk –
"Hero, too, I am a hero, too,
My heart is seeet, my heart is seeet, and I won't back dooown,
Hero, too, strength doesn't make a herooo,
True heroooes, true heroooes, stand up for what they believe,
So, wait and see!
So, wait and see!"
– Aoyama dazzled the audience!
As he spun into the middle of the air, unleashing his Navel Laser everywhere, the blue light acting as a strobe for the audience, which loved it, if their cheers were anything to go off of. As the blond fell back down, Ojiro caught him, heading back with Uraraka.
The easiest part for them was done. And now, up next…
"What do they think of me?
Who do they think I'll be?
I could not care less, I dooon't wanna know,
Am I doing right?
Am I satisfied?
I wanna live my life like iiit's meant to be,
Yeah!"
The band kept playing, as the dancers kept dancing. In front of her, Kyoka could see Ashido, Hagakure, and Asui seemingly make snow angels in the middle of the air, as –
"Tried all my liiife, I've tried to fiiind,
Something that makes me hold on, and never let gooo,
Ohhhhh!"
The ice erupted from Todoroki's arm to all around the gym, to the surprise of many, as Yaomomo launched the confetti stringers from her arm, while Bakugou unleashed another flashy explosion. The audience had their hands in the air, now fully enjoying their song.
The dancers spun around, pointing to every degree, as Kirishima ran above them, releasing bits and pieces of ice to give off a misty vibe, while Uraraka used her power to carry a tied-up Aoyama across the ceiling, as he kept shooting off lasers to dazzle the crowd.
"Hero, too, I am a hero, too,
My heart is seeet, my heart is seeet, and I won't back down,
Hero, too, strength doesn't make a hero,
True heroooes, true heroooes, stand up for what they believe,
So, wait and see!
So, wait and see!"
As the music slowed down, Kyoka thought about what led up to this…
"People will judge, for no reason at all,
Yeah they might try,
To say your dream's dumb, dooon't liiiiisten,
They may look down on me, and count me out
I'm going my own waaay,
They may look down on me, and count me ooout,
I'm a hero, I've got musiiiiic!"
As the stage light shined down on her, and the icy mist rained down on her, Kyoka thought about what led up to this. Not just this concert, but going to UA, meeting all of these wonderful people, traveling around the world, taking on Villains, learning to be a Hero, all of it…
As she sang, Kyoka thought about that day, with her parents…
"Mom, Dad… I want to be a Hero," the young Jiro said, her eyes looking down at the table, ashamed. "I'm not going to become a musician... I'm sorry…"
"Did you think we'd be upset?" her dad asked, smiling. "Come on kid…"
"It's just that…" Kyoka sniffled. "It was hard to decide. Helping out others and making them happy… it just seems to cool! I've always admired it, but… you taught me music, and I didn't wanna waste that, either… because, I love music, too, so… I didn't know what to do…"
"Kyoka… you can do whatever you want," her dad said, his soft smile never leaving his face. "Just remember this… your mom and I became musicians because that's our great love. But this stuff can take a while. You have to pay attention to how things make you feel."
"Choosing a career is a big decision, and you have some good options. Maybe you can help others with your sound. In that sense, musicians and Heroes aren't that different, right?"
With that last wink from her mom, Kyoka smiled.
That's right. She was Kyoka Jiro, she was the Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack! If she wanted to use her sounds, music or Quirk, to help others, then she would do that! Yeah, I'll be…
"Hero, too, I am a hero, too,
My heart is seeet, my heart is seeet, and I won't back down,
Hero, too, strength doesn't make a hero,
True heroooes, true heroooes, stand up for what they believe…
YEAH, I'LL BE –"
With the roar of the crowd in front of her, and the booming of the instruments, Kyoka sang her heart out. The smile she wore was the widest she ever had in her whole life.
And she wasn't alone, as countless other people were now smiling along with her!
She made them smile! She was their Hero!
That alone made all of this worth it to Kyoka Jiro.
"Hero, too, I am a hero, too,
My heart is seeet, my heart is seeet, and I won't back down
Hero too, strength doesn't make a hero
True heroooes, true heroooes, stand up for what they believe,
So wait and see!"
As the confetti and sparkles from the ice softly fell from the ceiling, Kyoka looked around at all the people who made this possible. Bakugou on the drums, Yaomomo on the synths, Kamianri and Tokoyami on the guitars, all the dancers on stage, and her classmates behind-the-scenes, they all helped her bring her mother's words into reality. To become a musical Hero…
"I have met so many heroes in my life,
Gave me the strength and courage to survive,
Gave me the power to smile everyday,
Now it's my turn, to be the one, to make you smiiiiile!"
And with that last rift from her own bass, and a strike of the drums from Bakugou, the sing ended, as the crowd erupted in cheers, and Koda's pigeons flew from the stage.
To say that this was a rousing success would be an understatement.
"Hey, good work, kids."
Ochako looked up from the ice she was picking up, to see Aizawa-sensei and Ms. Joke together, along with… a little girl with white hair, red eyes, and a horn? Who was that?
"That was crazy!" the little girl said, smiling like crazy, as she kept rambling, "At first, when there was a loud noise, it was scary, but then everyone started jumping, and then there was a flash, and the guy started flying in the air! That's when it started to get cold, and I saw birds, and a spinning light, and a bunch of people said "wow," and I said "wow," too! It was so fun!"
"I'm glad you liked it, uhh… Aizawa-sensei, who's this little girl?"
"This is Eri," Ms. Joke said, smiling. "She's our daughter."
Ochako's brain froze. Every member of Class 1-A's brain within earshot froze. This was… Aizawa-sensei's daughter. Then that meant that Ms. Joke… was his wife. That means that the guy who naps in a yellow sleeping bag, drinks jelly pouches, and looks like a living corpse…
"""WHHHAAAAAAAAAATTT?!"""
"Yeah, I already knew about that," Shinso nonchalantly said.
Everyone's heads turned towards the purple-haired teen.
""""""WHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT?!""""""
Ryuko Tastuma walked through the gates of UA along with her colleagues. They had already gotten the clear-all from Nedzu, but in all honesty, she wished that he gave them the boot.
She didn't want to do this. Ryuko wanted to see Nejire by herself, ask her if any of this was true, to have her deny it, to have her curse Ryuko for even thinking of such a thing, to cry, but…
"We all know the plan," Sasaki said. "This is a public event, she wouldn't dare make a scene. If things do get violent, the police will help us. Hopefully, Kurogiri won't be able to come…"
"This is all still speculation," Ryuko hissed. "We don't know if…"
"Yes, yes, innocent until proven guilty," Todoroki said. "We can discuss the semantics of that later. Right now, I'd rather do this without letting my son know that we're here."
In some sick sense, Ryuko had to agree with Endeavor on that one. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to ruin Nejire's day, arrest her, and accuse her of being a Villain, but…
What choice do I really have in this…?
For the first time since she became a Pro Hero, since she entered the Top Ten, Ryuko Tatsuma, the Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu, felt completely and utterly powerless.
Author's Note: Tune in to the end of the School Festival next time! Anyways, while this is mostly the same as in canon, I'd like to bring up the small detail change that Kaminari is absolutely in love with Jiro (and her singing). That's really all. Now, comment time!
DevilJoker: Well, I'm not gonna spoil to you how it goes… obviously.
Regaron: Weird. I never really thought about that until you straight-up said it…
EmilMobile: Yeah, the Big Three will never be the same. And yes, Class 1-A did technically win something here, even if it was just the adoration of the crowd…
Golisobro: Oh, look at you! You're a smart reader, huh? Using your eyes, yeah?
BlazinAce: Guess you're gonna have to wait to find out…
VinHD15: The slowburn is slowly burning… but it is still happening…
MorningNight597: As smart as Midoriya is, he's still a teenager with no present parents in his life. While he may be able to plan things in certain ways to get what he wants, he still doesn't know how to tone down his actions to prevent undesirable consequences. However, you will be glad to hear that Midoriya is taking steps to improve himself.
Lucifer_Archangel: I'm glad to see you read WTSTU along with this. I also love how you've been commenting on Midoriya's progress with each chapter you read.
Mingii (Guest): Uraraka's the daughter of construction workers, she's heard some things.
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
I'm pretty sure as you all know now, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.
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Thanks for reading, and once again, see you in the next chapter!
- Ernalore