Kyandi: Heya, Kyandiacs!

Halyn: She's really happy right now.

Kyandi: Of course I am! I just got feed back from a professional editor and it was so good, I'm so happy!

Halyn: This editor liked her work and offered the edit the whole book for her.

Kyandi: I'm so happy and giddy, I can't even...I just can't...

Halyn: She can't speak English.

Kyandi: That! That!

Halyn: Since she can't speak proper English right now, I'll get things moving.

Kyandi: Nyaa~!

Halyn: Everyone, please enjoy and review. Kyandi-sama does not own My Hero Academia.

Kyandi: NYAA~!

Chapter 40 Concert Prep

The next day, Halyn found herself yawning as she walked back to the dorms with her other classmates, minus Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Asui.

"We got lots of decisions to make!" Mina was cheering from behind her. "What's gonna cheer everyone up the most?!"

Halyn, smile on her face, glanced over her shoulder at Mina. It was nice to see her classmates happy and excited. Even Halyn, herself, was excited. It was then that the voices of a couple of General Courses upperclassmen, caught Halyn's attention, her tail perking up as she tuned into the conversation.

"You hear about this? Class A of the Hero Course is throwing a concert." the guy was telling his female classmate. "For our sake! Talk about conceited. It's just more flaunting and attention grabbing for them."

While it hurt Halyn to know that was what some other students thought about them, she didn't have time to dwell on the thought. Bakugo caught her eye then, the boy obviously having heard what they had said. Halyn came up behind Bakugo, laying a hand on his arm. Bakugo turned a sour, sharp look on her, but Halyn merely gave him a smile, showing, without words, that she knew how he felt. Leaning her head to the side, she silently told him just keep walking. They could handle the image the rest of the school had of them later.

Bakugo clicked his tongue in annoyance, his expression growing stormier, like he was about to start yelling at her, but then he felt her grip on his arm tighten just slightly, her expression turning almost pleading in nature. Bakugo, while crass and rude, above caring about the feelings of others most of the time, knew that Halyn was having a hard time at the moment. Even he had noticed the rift opening up between her and Todoroki and how that rift effected the both of them. While he would never say anything to comfort her, he swallowed the sharp retort on the tip of his tongue and simply turned to follow her back to the dorm.

Halyn was grateful for that, but knew better than to say anything to him in thanks. That was just a sure fire way of making him blow his top at her. The two merely followed their classmates back to the dorm, where Iida started a meeting over what they should do for the concert.

"The school festival is exactly a month away! With so little time, a number of decisions must be made today." Iida announced.

The room instantly exploded with talk about picking songs first. Ones that were easy to dance to, but everyone knew. Halyn wasn't exactly up to date on what kind of songs were popular in Japan, though Jirou had started introducing her to some popular bands. Now, when it came to music that had been popular in dance clubs back in Italy, Halyn knew her stuff.

"Four-on-the-floor beats, then. And some new-rave club rock." Jirou said, speaking up over the others.

"Wouldn't EDM be ideal if we're talking about music you dance to?" Halyn asked.

"Yeah, but...you guys wanna play instruments, right?" Jirou asked. "Anyone ever played bass or drums?"

"Don't look at me. I'm classically trained with a flute, but that's about it." Halyn remarked.

"Right...First, we need drums to give this band some bones. I'm more of a guitarist, though. I'm still working on my drumming skills. If I've gotta teach a complete beginner while still practicing myself, pulling this off in one month is gonna be though." Jirou told them.

"Ah! You mentioned that you took some music lessons at one point, right?" Kaminari asked, turning to none other than Bakugo.

While the others were surprised, Halyn wasn't really all that taken off guard. If he was to play any instruments, Halyn could totally see Bakugo as a drummer. A really loud one, at that.

"Try banging on the drums, Bakugo." Sero said, holding out the drumsticks.

"Make me." Bakugo retorted, turning to walk away.

"I hear it's really tricky." Sero remarked.

Halyn had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from outright laughing when Bakugo, refusing to be looked down on, took up the challenge. His drumming skills surprised everyone. Bakugo realized the trap he had walked into when the others decided he would be playing the drums for their little band.

"No way am I doing that stupid crap." Bakugo told them.

"Bakugo, please! I mean...if you agree to this, it could turn out really great!" Jirou told him.

"Like hell it will! The whole point's to help those other kids chill out, right? But what's stressing them out to start with is how caught up in our own world we are. They ain't gonna accept this coming from a bunch of people they hate!" Bakugo snapped.

"Hey, now! You don't have to be so rude about it!" Toru yelled at him.

"I'm saying it ain't gonna work just singing "Kumbaya"!" Bakugo retorted.

"He's right...perhaps...we didn't think this through." Iida agreed lowly.

"You can't dump on our plan when you weren't even there to begin with." Todoroki told Bakugo.

"So irritating...We're the ones who keep getting punked by villains! So why do we gotta be a bunch of sappy people pleasers?! Stop trying to lick their stupid boots and hit 'em where it counts! Don't make friends! Make 'em hurt instead! Gotta do this right...take everyone at UA and murder 'em with music!" Bakugo yelled.

Halyn smiled, her tail curling. Regardless of what he said, he was willing to help them because, just like with Halyn and the others, he didn't like the way the other students talked about them. After all, it wasn't their fault that villains just kept coming after them. Why should they be subjected to others' scorn because of it? Bakugo wanted to correct this just as much as the rest of them did.

"As one of the ones who got kidnapped, Bakugo himself is bearing quite the burden. Leander, too." Iida remarked.

"Yeah...I understand how he feels." Halyn remarked, giving Bakugo a smile when he looked at her.

The smile only made him click his tongue at her in annoyance, but Halyn knew better. Rather or not their outward appearances showed it, Halyn and Bakugo's shared experience had brought them closer as friends. He was well aware that she knew how he felt.

Didn't mean he was going to say anything about it.

"His reasoning's a little off, but I'm glad he's on our side! This is gonna work, Jirou!" Toru cheered, hugging her friend.

"I'll do my best!" Jirou agreed.

"Then we need to decide the rest of the band. As great as he is on the drums, we can't leave it all to Ka-chan." Halyn remarked.

"As part of my upbringing when I was young, I developed an interest in piano...could that be useful?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Yeah. You could be our keyboard player." Halyn told her.

"Synth sounds are a part of club music that we can't do without. You're a real help, Momo Yao!" Jirou added.

"I'll do my best!" Yaoyorozu replied.

"Huhhhh? Didn't we talk about you being part of the girls' dance squad?! But I forgive you cuz you're so cute!" Mina told the now excited Yaoyorozu.

"I'll play bass, so we just need guitar and vocals. Everyone else can be dancers?" Jirou continued.

"Hm...I fear that that alone may not be enough." Iida remarked.

"How about that crazy video we saw? We could-"

"Gotta have some props!" Mina cheered, cutting off Todoroki.

"Yeah, that." Todoroki finished.

Mina quickly brought up a video of a swinging night club, showing them all the props they had in the club.

"Like this! Sparks and streamers and disco balls...we need this kinda stuff if we wanna create an atmosphere!" Mina told them.

"Let's make it like a Disneyland parade!" Toru gushed.

"And it's another way for others to participate!" Mina cheered.

"Well...we are borrowing the gym, right, Iida?" Halyn asked, turning to look at him.

"Indeed. Aizawa-sensei has already put in the request." Iida confirmed.

"So, like, like...Uraraka could make Todoroki and Kirishima float, right?! And then...Kirishima can chop up Todoroki's ice! And if Aoyama acts as our disco ball, the sparkly ice'll look like stardust as it falls! I call it Team Snowmen! Ha ha ha! Like a shave ice machine!" Mina explained.

"It's not a bad idea. Kind of like hero teams." Halyn remarked.

"Excellent idea! Adding a bit of flair is the perfect way to get the room going!" Iida agreed.

"We'll also need behind the scenes people, to work the whole production." Halyn added.

It was then that Midoriya and the others showed up, ready to help in planning now that they were done with their extra lessons. Halyn quickly caught them up, telling them that they were done to deciding the guitarist and vocals.

"Huh? Won't you be singing, Jirou?" Uraraka asked.

"No, I'm totally not-"

Jirou was cut off as Mineta, Kirishima, and Aoyama all took a crack at singing. Kirishima's voice was for the completely wrong genre, Mineta's was just screaming, and, while pretty, Aoyama's falsetto just wasn't right.

"I think we can do without the three of you singing." Halyn told the three, patting Kirishima on the shoulder.

"I think you should sing, Jirou! When you were teaching us up in your room, your singing was super-duper cool!" Toru insisted, dragging the microphone over to Jirou even as the girl protested. "Awww, just do it."

Heaving a sigh, because she knew she had lost, Jirou did as asking, belting out a few lines of lyrics and completely blowing everyone away. Everyone agreed that Jirou would be their vocalist.

"Uh...I'll only do it...if Ha-chan sings back up!" Jirou replied to the unanimous decision.

All eyes turned to a shock Halyn, who blinked back at them, froze on the spot like a cat caught doing something it shouldn't be. It took a moment for that request to click in her head, when it did, her tail perked up before she started shaking her head.

"Oh, no! No go! I'm not a singer." Halyn protested.

"That's a lie! You sang really prettily when we were in Jirou's room! The two of you sound good together!" Toru insisted. "The mix of her husky, sultry voice and your soft and airy one, is so pretty!"

"That was just in front of you girls. I can't sing on a stage! I don't even sing in front of my brothers." Halyn insisted.

But just like with Jirou, Toru wasn't taking a no. She dragged Halyn up next to Jirou, placing her right next to Jirou and insisted the two of them sing together. Halyn could already feel the embarrassment setting in as her tail curled between her legs and around one thigh. Like Jirou before her, Halyn ended up having to give into the request.

Todoroki, standing off to the side, perked up as Halyn's voice, soft, sweet, and higher than Jirou's own, reached his ears. It was a lulling sound, like that of a sweet voice singing a lullaby, and supported Jirou's voice perfectly. He had never heard Halyn sing before, but it was a sound he could quickly grow use to hearing all the time.

Just like with Jirou, everyone agreed that Halyn should do the back-up vocals, and, not wanting to disappoint her friends or let them down, Halyn agreed.

"Do you think you can handle something like a tambourine, too, Ha-chan?" Jirou asked.

"Yeah, that I can handle." Halyn agreed.

"Great, with that out of the way, we need guitarists! Preferably two!" Jirou said.

"Me, me! Playing instruments is the coolest!" Kaminari volunteered.

"Lemme do it!" Mineta added.

While Kaminari looked natural with the guitar, Mineta was too small to hold it and still reach the strings. Halyn had a moment of feeling both amused and bad for Mineta. It wasn't like he could help his small stature.

It was Tokoyami that picked up the guitar, playing a quick rift to show that he could fill in as the second guitarist.

"You can play?! Why didn'tcha speak up?!" Kaminari asked.

"I set the axe aside after the F-chord defeated me." Tokoyami admitted. "Mineta, if your journey ends here, I'll strum enough for the two of us."

With that, they went about assigning roles. It was one in the morning by the time they had completely assigned roles. First, there was the band comprising of Jirou, Bakugo, Halyn, Yaoyorozu, Kaminari and Tokoyami. Second was the stage crew, consisting of Todoroki, Aoyama, Sero, Kirishima, and Koda. Finally, there was the dance squad, made up of the remaining students.

"There's a lot of work to do, starting tomorrow!" Iida called, finally dismissing them to bed.

Halyn, chatting with the girls, headed off for bed, unaware, or, at least ignoring, the fact that Todoroki stared after her. He watched until she disappeared onto the elevator. He really did miss Halyn. Missed how close they had become, missed talking to her, just hanging out with her.

He missed her smiling at him.

That being said, he just couldn't bring himself to give her what she obviously wanted. While he couldn't admit his feelings for her, for his own reasons, he couldn't just sit by and watch her with another guy. Especially one that could possibly end up being the very villain that was after her now.

Since talking to Midoriya, Todoroki had been keeping a close eye on Halyn, refusing to let her go too far out of his sight when Gabriel was around. He would make sure that Gabriel couldn't hurt Halyn.

In the meantime...he needed to work on his own issues.

-0-0-0-0-

"No way. Not happening."

Halyn could over look a lot of things, really, she could, but this was absolutely outside her range of things she could over look.

It was Saturday, a rare day off for her. Upon a request from Aizawa, Halyn, after promising the others she would be back soon to practice the set list, had joined him and Mirio on a trip to the hospital where Eri was staying. Upon arriving at the hospital, Aizawa had produced a set of clothes he had bought for Eri since all she had was hospital clothes to wear. Looking down at the clothes now, Halyn couldn't help by cover her face in shame at her teacher.

The man had gotten the most hideous clothes she had ever seen.

"Aizawa-sensei, do me a favor. If you ever get married and have a daughter...let your wife do all the shopping." Halyn told her teacher, who only frowned.

"Then you can pick something for her." Aizawa told her.

"Glad to!" Halyn replied, smiling down at Eri as she pulled off the zipped up hoodie she was wearing.

Throwing it over Eri, she zipped it up. It would do until they got her some new clothes. Halyn, after all, was using this chance to go dress shopping. It wouldn't be that difficult to find something for Eri too. Once she was sure the hoodie was sitting just right, Halyn gave Eri a smile.

"Ready to go, Eri?" she asked, holding out her arms.

Eri nodded, stepping into Halyn's arms and letting her lift her up. Eri, her eyes darting from one thing to the next, let Halyn carry her about. Her eyes grew bigger when they arrived at the store. Halyn sat her on her feet, taking her hand before leading her through the store. Aizawa stayed close behind, Mirio attempting to help with the clothes shopping. After seeing the first couple of outfits Mirio picked, Halyn had to politely tell him her thoughts.

"Sorry, but...your girls' fashion sense is just about as non-existent as Aizawa-sensei's, senpai. You might want to leave this to me."

Mirio took it with good grace and sat back with Aizawa while Halyn and Eri went through a few outfits, finally settling on a little dress and a cute bag to go along with it. With that done, Halyn went about finding a dress. With Eri's help, Halyn found the perfect dress, refusing to let Mirio and Aizawa see it. Only when that was done, did they head for the school.

"We're here! Don't worry! Everyone here is really great!" Mirio told Eri, the girl holding on to Halyn's hand tightly.

"Welcome to UA High, Eri." Halyn added. "Deku should be at the dorm since everyone getting ready for the school festival."

Halyn smiled as Eri looked around the school with big eyes. It was so cute, watching the girl. But this Eri was diving for Halyn's legs, hiding herself behind them.

"Eri? I something wrong?" Mirio asked, Aizawa coming to a stop.

"Halyn."

Halyn turned when a familiar voice reached her ears, her tail perking up. Coming their way, a smile on his face, was Gabriel. Halyn turned to greet Gabriel, Eri sinking even further behind her legs.

"Hey, Gabriel!" Halyn greeted before turning to Mirio and Aizawa. "Aizawa-sensei, Mirio, this is an old childhood friend of mine. He's recently transferred into the Support Course. Gabriel, this is my teacher, Aizawa-sensei, and one of my upperclassmen in the Hero Course, Togata Mirio. And this is Eri."

"Pleasure." Gabriel greeted, his grin growing as his eyes landed on Eri. "This must be the little girl I saw on the news. The one that was being held by a yakuza group. I heard she has a really fascinating quirk."

Eri completely hid herself behind Halyn's legs, making the girl turn to look down on her. Mirio and Aizawa, while Halyn's back was turned, shared a look. Neither liked the feeling they were getting from Gabriel as he looked down at Eri. Halyn, though, who was usually the sharpest one around, didn't seem to pick up on anything, making them wonder if they might be imagining it.

"Sorry, she's a little shy. You can understand, right?" Halyn said, turning back to Gabriel.

"Of course. If anyone can understand that, it's the two of us, isn't that so, kleine tigerin?" Gabriel asked.

"Exactly. What are you doing out here?" Halyn asked.

"I was heading from the dorm to the lab to work on a few projects for the school festival. Richard is already there." Gabriel told her. "And you?"

"We're heading for my dorm, right now. I have a lot of practice to do for the school festival." Halyn replied.

"Well, then don't let me get in your way. I'll talk to you later, kleine tigerin." Gabriel assured her, before looking at Aizawa and Mirio. The look in his eyes, for just a moment, reflected a emotion much darker than should have been present at the moment. "Have a good day."

With that, Gabriel walked away, Halyn waving to him. Aizawa waited until the boy vanished around the corner before he turned to Halyn who was picking Eri up, making sure the child was alright.

"Leander, how do know that kid?" Aizawa asked.

"Gabriel? I grew up with him. I met him shortly after the whole thing with Flame Lash. He was another member of the group therapy my brothers made me take." Halyn answered. Halyn caught the look on Aizawa's face then. "What? What is it?"

"Nothing. Come on, let's go." Aizawa told her, turning to walk away.

Halyn turned her eyes to Mirio, giving him a questioning look. Mirio merely gave her a smile and ushered her on ahead of him. When they reached the dorm, they found the others practicing outside. Halyn stood back with Eri holding her hand, watching as Mirio hid in a bush.

"Seems no one's noticed me yet. Now...what should I do to get the biggest laugh out of my unexpected gag..." Mirio mused.

Midoriya spotted him then, calling out in greeting. Halyn stepped around the bush, Eri at her side, while Mirio dived into the bush, only his butt visible.

"Nice full moon, senpai." Halyn told Mirio as Eri greeted Midoriya.

Aizawa joined them as Asui and Uraraka gushed over Eri.

"So this is where you went, Ha-chan." Midoriya remarked.

"Yeah. Since I offered to help with Eri and I had an errand I needed to run anyway." Halyn replied.

"We got permission from the principal." Aizawa said as Eri ducked behind Halyn and Mirio. "We're doing this in advance so she won't panic at school on the day of the festival."

"Eri...from the work study incident! Hello, I'm Iida! A pleasure to meet you!" Iida greeted Eri, who only further hid behind Halyn and Mirio.

"She's on the shy side." Mirio remarked. "Anyway, I was thinking I'd show Eri around UA today! Leander-" Mirio cut off when Halyn elbowed him in the side, giving him a pointed look. "Right...Halyn has already agreed to come with. Wanna join us, Midoriya?!"

Midoriya agreed when the dance squad decided to take a break. Halyn turned and smiled down at Eri.

"See, Eri? Deku and senpai are going to join us for a look around the school. Excited?" Halyn asked. Eri offered her a hesitant nod. Halyn held out her hands to Eri. "Come on."

Eri took Halyn's hands and allowed the older girl to lift her off her feet and swing her around before Halyn placed her on her feet. Todoroki, who had come out to tell the dance squad it was break time, watched as Halyn walked off, hand in hand, with the child.

He wasn't quite sure how he felt about seeing Halyn with a child.

It was definitely something new.

"I'll leave the three of you to watch her. Leander stick close. I have something I have to handle." Aizawa told Halyn, Mirio, and Midoriya.

"Yes, sir." Halyn replied.

With that, the three took off to show Eri the school. Midoriya and Mirio fell in step on either side of Halyn, Eri standing between Halyn and Mirio, gripping Halyn's hand in one hand, and Mirio's pants leg in the other.

"Saturday's usually a day off, but because we're in the dorms, there should be plenty of people around working on projects." Mirio said.

"Hey, it's you, Togata!"

The four looked up as a couple of Business Course third years approached them.

"You've got a kid?! Don't tell me...is that why you're taking time off? Is that first year girl the mom?!" one of them asked.

Mirio and Halyn looked at each other, Halyn fighting back a laugh, while Mirio's own expression left the other third years confused on whether he was being serious or not when he nodded.

"Jokes aside," one of the two said. "Class 1 is doing great stuff this year. You oughta come check it out!"

He gave Halyn, Midoriya, and Mirio one of the flyers he was holding. Halyn thanked him before he leaned in close to her, lowering his voice.

"Now, seriously...are you with Togata? If not, can I interest you in a date?" he asked, giving her a wink.

Halyn gave him a smile, waving off a concerned Midoriya.

"No, I'm not going out with Mirio-senpai, but sorry, I already have someone I like." Halyn told him, easily.

With the ease of practice, Halyn politely slipped past the third year, and she lead Eri away, Mirio and Midoriya following after her. The four strolled across the campus, watching as other students ran about, working on their class's projects.

"There's still a whole month to go, but this place is already bustling!" Midoriya exclaimed.

"Everyone's trying to one-up the attractions from last year with their usual "Plus Ultra" thinking." Mirio replied.

Halyn came to a screeching halt, blinking in surprise, when Midoriya suddenly let out a yell as a dragon head appeared before him. The head moved, revealing that it was just a prop being carried by Tetsutetsu from Class B.

"Sorry, dude...oh, it's Midoriya and Leander! From Class A!" Tetsutetsu said in greeting.

"W-w-what's this?! Dawdling back here? Can you really spare the time?!" Monoma mocked, popping up from behind his classmate. Midoriya and Halyn were too busy checking to make sure that Eri hadn't been taken by surprise, to hear him. "Oh? Ignoring me?! You must be confident! Your class is putting on a live show, I hear! Can you pull that off? Because believe me, Class B is gonna outshine you this time! Romeo and Juliet and the Return of the Prisoner King of Azkaban...it's a totally spectacular original fantasy screenplay from none other than Class B. You might wanna get back to your own practice, because you'll be crying when Class B blows you outta the water! Don't forget your hankie!"

It was then that Awase, one of Monoma's classmates, sneaked up behind him and hit him with a pole he was carrying.

"He was really worked up there, more than normal." Midoriya remarked.

"Sorry, Class A guys. His usual handler isn't around, so he's got no filter." Awase told them.

"She's never far from Monoma, though." Midoriya remarked, looking around for Kendo.

"She's doing her own thing this time! The Beauty Pageant! People pushed her into doing it." Awase replied. "I ain't Monoma, but good luck! Cuz you're gonna need it with what we're doing!"

Awase dragged Monoma away after that, leaving the four behind.

"Sensei never said a word about a beauty pageant." Midoriya remarked.

"Principal Nezu told me about it." Halyn remarked.

"Really?!" Midoriya asked, looking at Halyn in surprise.

Halyn merely shrugged it off, not offering anything more on the subject.

"Sorry for exposing you to the dark side of UA right off the bat, Eri." Mirio told Eri. "Speaking of the beauty pageant! I bet she's going all out this year."

"Who?" Midoriya asked.

"I'm talking about last year's runner-up, Nejire Hado." Mirio replied.

Mirio took them to a third year equipment room, then, where they found Hado all dress up in a pageant dress.

"Hey, hey, why's Eri here?! Weird! C'mon, tell me why! How exciting!" Hado instantly prattled off upon seeing them.

"That flashy quirk, those...looks...those p-p-propor...and she was only runner-up?" Midoriya managed to get out.

"No, get this! Listen, listen! I haven't won this thing yet because of this one girl! The pageant queen! Bibimi Kenranzaki of Support Course Class 3-G!" Hado told them.

"Kendo's also competing this year, and she's built up a following of underground fans after making a commercial. And then there's another first year competing this time around with a big fan base here on campus, so Hado's giving this all she's got." Amajiki spoke up.

Midoriya was about to ask who Amajiki was talking about, but was cut off when Hado jumped at Halyn. The older girl draped herself off Halyn's shoulders, a pout settling on her face.

"Hey, hey! Tell me, Halyn, why did you have to compete against me? Huh, come on, come on, tell me!" Hado whined.

Midoriya turned to Halyn with a shocked look on his face.

"You're competing?!" he asked.

"Principal Nezu thought it would be a good way for me to have some fun and get my mind off recent events." Halyn replied. "It sounded like fun to me. I'm not really in it to win, or anything like that, and I'm definitely not in it to try to beat Hado-senpai either."

Hado took that explanation and let it go. Not that Halyn had been too worried that she would get mad and stay mad. She had a feeling that Hado was the type of person that didn't usually dwell on something for a long time.

"I first started competing at Yuyu's suggestion, but...it's great. The thrills of victory and defeat. I'm taking home the prize this year! After all, this is my last chance!" Hado said.

"Well, best of luck, senpai." Halyn told her, Hado smiling brightly at her.

Halyn, Midoriya, Mirio and Eri bid their farewells to Hado and Amajiki, and the four moved on to the Development Studio where all three years of Support Courses were working together to put on a tech exhibition. There, Halyn caught sight of Gabriel and Richard over in one corner and waved. Trying not to make it obvious, Midoriya managed to get Halyn to move on without stopping to talk to the two. Of course, they also ran into Hatsume, who insisted on showing them her new "baby". They had to rush Eri out of the room when the thing started smoking and caught fire.

They made a full round around the school, showing Eri just about everything they could. They finally came to a stop in the lunchroom, stopping to get Eri something to drink.

"That's just about everything. How was it? Feeling comfortable yet?" Midoriya asked Eri.

"I don't know...but...there are so many people, all working really hard, so...I wanna see how it turns out." Eri told them.

Midoriya, Mirio, and Halyn shared a smile, glad to see that Eri, at least, wanted to go to the school festival.

"Now that is what we call excitement! It seems this was worth the effort!" The new voice speaking up, had them turning to look at the opposite end of the table where Principal Nezu sat next to Midnight, chewing away on a piece of cheese. "I'm excited for the festival as well!

"Especially after all that business with the police." Midnight added.

"Enough, Kayama." Nezu told her, hopping down from his chair.

"Now, then! I've got places to be. But I do hope you kids have plenty of fun with this!" Nezu said, as he headed off.

Midnight rose to her feet, picking up the tray before her.

"I can't get into the details, but the principal put himself out there. He ruffled some feathers to make this happen. Security will be even tighter, and if any kind of alarm goes off, even by mistake, the whole thing's off and everyone get evacuated. Those are the conditions." Midnight told them.

"Intense." Midoriya remarked.

"Naturally, we're raising our defenses to ensure it doesn't come to that! We've even taken Hound Dog's leash off!" Midnight added.

"I don't know about anyone else, but that's threat enough for me." Halyn remarked.

"Oh, right! The whole staff room's buzzing because of Class A's attraction. They love seeing the power of youth." Midnight added.

"What is you class doing, Deku, Fallout?" Eri asked.

"It's a mix of a live performance and dance party." Halyn told her.

"And we'll do our best to make it fun for you too, Eri! So I really hope you can come!" Midoriya added.

"It'll be great." Halyn added, giving Eri a big smile.

Midoriya looked at his watch then.

"Sorry, guys, but my break's almost over. Better get back!" he told them.

"Yeah, I kind of have to get going, too. I have to practice with the others at least once today." Halyn agreed.

Mirio agreed to take Eri back to Aizawa so the other two could get back to practice. Halyn crouched before Eri, giving the little girl a hug goodbye. Eri was hesitant at first, but returned the hug, loving, for the moment, the closeness of human contact. Halyn promised to see her again, and waved goodbye as Mirio took her away.

With that, Halyn and Midoriya headed back to the dorm, where they found out that, in order to do a special effect for the performance, Midoriya was being pulled off the dance squad and put on the stage crew. With that decided, there wasn't much free time left to them, leading up to the event. Halyn spent most of her between school and practicing with the band, but what free time she had, went to preparing for the beauty pageant.

Halyn had never realized just how much preparation went into getting ready for a beauty pageant.

If gave her a whole new respect for pageant girls.

Halyn, though, insisted that Midoriya not tell anyone else in their class that she was competing. The last thing she needed was the girls insisting on butting in with their opinions on what her talent should be and on her dress, hair and make-up. She had a feeling that once that conversation started, it wouldn't stop.

Not to mention...she kind of wanted to surprise the others and blow their minds.

If only she knew how badly she was going to blow a certain boy's mind.

END

Halyn: Are you still spazzing?

Kyandi: Just a little.

Halyn: That's going to be how it is for a while, isn't it?

Kyandi: Yes. I'm that happy. You know what would make me impossibly more happy?

Halyn: Let me guess...reviews from your loyal readers?

Kyandi: YES!

Halyn: Then let's get on with this.

Kyandi: Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Halyn: We'll return as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!