"That's two out of three," I told Tsu as we headed downtown, looking for Ryukyu and Nejire.
"Ryukyu will let us know when she has the third, kero," said Tsu. "We should focus on evacuation -"
"All the pressure, underneath/
Don't look too closely, never see
Ever always perfect number 10/
Don't let them know, not again..."
A high, clear voice was singing, out ahead of us; we stopped, feeling really confused. Then -
"Ryukyu!" I gasped, as our Sensei came into our sight.
It was a crazy thing to see. All of Ryukyu's sidekicks were doing what looked like a choreographed dance routine over the roofs of the buildings around us, while the Dragon hero hovered above them, her head to the clouds, singing!
"Always one of them, never can I be/
More 'n one third of UA's big 3.
Always cutest, quickest, and best!
Never take a moment, never know no rest..."
Nejire had joined her on the second verse; she was doing a kind of sky ballet, just like her show from the beauty pageant. It was actually lovely to look at, but - it was so weird!
"The third one must have used her quirk on them!" said Tsu, trying not to giggle a little. But I'd stopped smiling. I was thinking about what they were singing.
"It's all too much/all on our backs/
Never slip up, never go slack...
Always the perfect hero and girl...
Never show weakness, not to the world..."
"I-it's probably just making up lyrics for them," I suggested. I didn't really believe it.
"Kero - we can't let them keep singing while the villain goes around robbing people," said Tsu. "Let's try and wake them up!"
I few in, still getting used to the wind, and threw one of my cables out around Nejire's ankle, While Tsu pulled Ryukyu down with her tongue. They kept singing and dancing while we did so, and didn't stop until the number was done.
"And always be, number one! Always, always, number one..."
Nejire shook herself as I held her on the building.
"Whoa, guess that was that villain's quirk! So weird. Wonder how it works, huh?" She was talking a lot like usual, but kinda nervously.
"We'd better go find her," I said. "And hopefully learn what we can."
"The officer says," Ryukyu explained as we descended to the street, "That her quirk allows her to control those around her. She compels them to sing and dance as if in a musical, and utter whatever is on their minds."
"Like, the real truth?" I asked, feeling worried. Ryukyu actually kinda flushed a bit, as much as a dragon can.
"We'd best find her."
We kept going, looking around for signs of. chaos. And we saw it! People doing a choreographed dance around their cars on the streets, office workers dancing around their buildings, firefighters doing some kind of aria about putting out the mess...
It wasn't as fun as it sounded; people kept dancing near ledges or into traffic, and we had to stop and grab them.
"What's she trying to do here?" asked Tsu. "Is she trying to make a distraction? Just make chaos?"
"Who knows," Nejire shrugged. "We'll ask her when we find her, I guess."
"Is there any sort of center to all this?" one of the sidekicks asked Ryukyu, who was circling above us.
"Not that I can see.."
"What should we do?" I asked Tsu, who was looking serious. She shook her head.
"I was a child in shadow, nobody looking at me,"she began, in a surprisingly lovely singing voice.
"The others only saw that girl that nobody could see/
But now, I've found you all/
How could I ever feel so small?
Now that I have you, everyone can see/just all that there was in me/
Now that you call me Tsu/everyone I know/And you all I love you so/
Do you all see me?"
Everyone had joined in the musical number again; Tsu was at the center, dancing almost like a frog doing ballet on water; she had grabbed my hands at one point and was dancing me around; I hadn't started singing, but it all seemed perfectly nature, like I was in the quirk without being in it.
"And now I live in fear that/villains will take you away...
Knowing any moment/the sun will set on that day/
That if I cannot go/if I'm a moment too slow...No one will call me Tsu/everyone I know, all of you could leave and go/
If I cannot see..."
The music had gotten darker; Tsu's eyes were wetter; the dancing was slower and sadder. I felt myself shivering.
"If I cannot see/If I cannot see...If I cannot see..."
The song was trailing off as Tsu finished. She looked horrified as the music disappeared and she was looking me in the eyes.
I stepped forward, and gave her a hug.
"It's ok, Tsu. It's gonna be ok."
"We - kero - we gotta find this villain," she croaked out.
I nodded.
"She's tricky, isn't she?" said Ryukyu. The sun was going down; the town was still singing, and we hadn't found the third villain. I was getting tired.
"Look!" said Tsu suddenly. We had all studied a picture of the villain, and at last Tsu seemed to have spotted someone, the right someone, headed into a building.
We hurried inside, Ryukyu kicking down the door; our whole team was facing a young woman, with red skin, long twin tails, and an elegant gown. She sat on a chair like it was a throne, and smiled at us as we entered. She applauded.
"Brava, to almost all of you, so far! What a show!" she laughed. "We've only the final aria, the closer left. The grand finale!"
"No more songs for you, villain!" said Ryukyu. "It's over. We've got you!"
She wasn't looking at Sensei. She was looking at me.
"Do you? Or have I got you?" She grinned. "Wouldn't you say this was a lovely show, Uravity?"
I looked away.
"You have something to say, don't you?" She clapped her hands together.
"I don't," I started. Then it came, it came as naturally as speaking.
"Everyone lives life hard as they can/
And heroes come along...to make them smile again.
Only they can lift us from our pain/
So this is our refrain...That we will rise again/
Coming to/UA - seeing him, I say...
Heroes make/us smile - so we can go along/with every day's new pain, a song..."
I was standing in the middle of the room, no - drifting upwards in the magic of my own number, as everyone watched and harmonized, frozen by the spell.
"But...Can we give, and give, and give some more?
Or like those that came before/will we burn down or soar?
Yes, I see, that deep down you all bleed...
And never face your needs/until you can't conceive
Of having lives...cause who helps you?
It was pouring out, all the things I hadnt' wanted to say.
"So who helps heroes, when they feel pain?
Who helps us out, when we feel rain?
Who helps those who must be saved?"
I was facing the others, floating near the top of the building, standing then on a beam, facing them. And I was starting to cry.
"You see, I'm afraid...that we will burn/the peace that we've earned/with our lives.
Who will help the heroes? Who will catch - the heroes?"
I stepped off the beam...I hadn't touched myself. I was falling towards the ground.
The others were bound by the quirk. They couldn't move. They could only watch me.
Who helps them when they're in trouble...
Images came through my head. Deku all beaten up and in pain, my parents crying, Bakugou being kidnapped, my friends all hurting...
Who will help them?I will.
I grabbed my own arm and stopped myself - only a few feet from the floor. Then turned and threw my cable at the villain, pulling her away from her chair. The others snapped to; Tsu wrapped her, Ryukyu slammed her to the ground. They all looked pretty angry.
I was having a hard time breathing; I turned away from the others, and leaving thme to take care of the villain, I stepped outside.
The fresh air felt good on my face. It was over. That never ending day had finished. Somehow, we'd gotten through it. WE hadn't given in. But I didn't want to talk to the others...saying all taht stuff...it felt weird.
I guess that's what I've been thinking about, all this time.