Despite what happened earlier this week at the school's library and with what happened on the news, people seemed to have moved on like nothing happened. It was odd. No one seemed afraid of what could happen. Kaito, Michi, and Yamamoto, who were all in the library with me, claimed that it was a good learning experience for them. The teachers claimed that they were installing better surveillance to make sure this didn't happen again.

As for what happened on the news, no one seemed to have cared what happened to Nobu Eto. Even during the segment of finding him with no Quirk, it was cut short before anyone could interview him. The only piece of public information that was given about him was that he owned the largest support tech company in all of Japan and was missing for a few months. My guess was that villain I saw at the library and at the mall kissed him and made him forget all about his Quirk.

Since no one seemed worried about it, I tried not to say a word. Besides, there was only one thing that everyone was excited about, and I wasn't going to be the one to take away from that.

And that was the Musutafu Hero Festival.

Sakura and I had made it a tradition to go together for the past four years. I would always walk over to her house as it was closer to the festival. My bag was packed, so I could spend the night. The plan was for us to spend the day together at the hero festival, and then I would spend the night. After that, she was going to help me get ready for my date with Kaito, despite all my protests that it wasn't that big of a deal.

I knew Sakura would never let me live it down that I managed to get a boyfriend before she did. She wanted everything to be perfect because of that, but that was Sakura for you.

We had a while before we could worry about that. I would rather just focus on one thing at a time. At that moment, it was getting inside Sakura's home. It was on the other side of the city, with a nice white picket fence wrapped around the front yard. The house towered over it, while a cemented sidewalk led straight to the front door.

My left finger pressed onto the doorbell, while my right arm readjusted the back pack on my arm. It had everything I needed for the night and for tomorrow as I already had on my white kimono that had a light pink flower pattern on it. While the kimono was fairly worn down from wearing it every year to the festival, I made sure that the thick pink obi that went around the waist of it was clean to give it some sort of life. 

"Tami-tan! It's so nice to see you again," I heard Sakura's Mom, Hana, say as she opened the door.

When I looked up at her, I saw both Hana and her wife, Yui, standing there. I'd admit, the first time I met Sakura's parents, I was shocked. They both looked like an older version of Sakura, despite her being adopted when she was a baby. If that wasn't strange enough, she had a very similar Quirk as Yui did, who could make flowers grow out of literally anywhere.

They were a cute pair as they always wore matching outfits wherever they went. While I was going to the festival with Sakura, it was evident that Yui and Hana were going to do the same as they had floral print kimonos on. While Hana's kimono was green to match her eyes, Yui's was blue, almost making her hair look like it was a dark blue rather than the ebony color that it was.

It was nice seeing how happy they were together.

"Sakura is still in her room upstairs getting ready. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to know that you're here," Hana said as she motioned for me to come in.

I smiled, walking inside and looking at the area around me. For some odd reason, it had been a while since I had last stepped foot inside.

Sakura and I would always study at my house because it was easier to keep an eye on Ollie that way. It was also closer to the school than where Sakura lived, which made more sense.

Before we started at U.A., I'd always visit her on weekends here at her house, but time got away. Being back here, it felt different. I wasn't sure if it was because of the plants that were growing out of every nook and cranny of this place, or if the walls—that were made out of wood—seemed a bit lighter than usual. Either way, I wasn't going to say a word as I walked up the stairs and turned to the first door there was.

Even though I knew Sakura wouldn't have minded me barging in, I still knocked on the door.

"Go away, Mom. I'm not going," I heard Sakura yell.

My eyes widened when I heard that. I looked back, noticing Hana and Yui didn't follow me upstairs. If Sakura was acting like this, I thought they would have at least warned me, but they didn't.

They must not have wanted to scare me or thought I could make it through to her. I sighed, hoping Sakura would come to her senses when she realized it was me. She'd have to since we were going to the festival together.

"Uh, Sakura, it's me, Tami," I said.

"Save yourself and go home," Sakura warned.

What? While I knew that was Sakura's voice, it didn't quite sound like Sakura. Every year she was excited for this day.

Maybe she forgot?

"Do you know what today is?" I asked. "The Musutafu Hero—"

"I know! I don't want to go," Sakura continued to argue.

My eyes widened. That definitely wasn't like Sakura at all. She was always the one who dragged me along to this festival. While I was always willing to go, I had to keep up with her. There was something about the festival that put a spring to her step and made her smile a bit brighter. Hearing that she didn't want to go wasn't like her.

Unless...

I pushed away all thoughts of being polite and barged into her room. She never locked it. The Sakai's never locked any of their doors which was a bit concerning knowing how much crime happened in the city. True, trespassing, vandalism, and home thefts were pretty uncommon, but it still happened.

Inside, I was greeted by walls of pink adorned with pictures that were plastered all over the walls. Her bed was pushed to the center of her room, with perfectly white sheets spread across it, only they were bundled up in the middle. It was almost as if someone was hiding underneath it.

Instead of talking to Sakura right away, I looked around. Like every place in this house, there were a few plants growing in pots in the corner of her room, with a huge vanity on the other side. I could see a red kimono with large golden accents laying over the back of the chair while fancy head pieces scattered across the countertop of the vanity.

By the looks of things, Sakura was about to get ready. I sighed, realizing what had happened before she could even show me.

"Sakura, the world's not going to end if your face is breaking out," I told her.

The white sheets on her bed moved until a head full of dark hair poked out. True to what I thought, I could see a huge red zit popping out in the middle of her forehead.

"Tami-tan, you don't understand how bad this is," Sakura complained, pointing at the round dot at her forehead. "I can't go out looking like this. It'd be a crime!"

Even though I knew Sakura would've gotten mad at me, I let out a small chuckle before I dropped my bag beside the door.

"No, it would be a crime if I let you back out," I told her as I walked over to her bed. "You would never let me live it down, especially since Foxglove is going to be there giving autographs."

I knew that would be enough to get Sakura out of bed. She had always looked up to Foxglove since her hero name was a type of flower. At least, I think that was one of the many reasons she admired the fox-like hero. She could've chosen a hero name that would have alluded more to the fact that her Quirk made her look like a fox, but she chose a flower that had the word fox in it.

Not only that, but out of all the heroes, Foxglove was the most fashionable of them all. She always made modifications to her suit, making sure she'd stand out in some way. Hearing about Foxglove should've been enough for Sakura to jump out of bed, but instead, she turned away from me, and curled up under her blanket.

"You can get her autograph and go home," Sakura said.

Again, that didn't sound like Sakura. I sat on the edge of her bed, trying to figure out what was going on. Was her pimple really that bad? It didn't look awful. She could always covered it up with some make-up. Unless she tried that.

That was when an idea popped into my head.

"Have you ever thought about getting bangs?" I asked. "That could solve this whole thing! I know your mom, Yui, used to cut my bangs when I was younger."

Sakura's response was silence.

"Or we could get you a nice hat to cover it up," I suggested as I stood up and looked around. "You still have that black sun hat from—"

"I don't care about the zit, Tami," Sakura mumbled.

Tami, not Tami-tan. Sakura never called me that unless something was wrong. I turned to look back at her, wondering why she was trying to make excuses on why she didn't want to go. If something was bothering her, she would have told me right away, right?

My answer came a bit faster than I thought it would. "You remember the news, Monday night, about Nobu Eto?"

"Yeah," I remembered it all too well. "The man lost his Quirk."

Sakura shifted a bit in her bed, but she kept her back towards me. "He's my uncle, on Hana's side."

Hearing that shocked me. Sakura hardly ever talked about her family, but it made sense. She loved her moms a lot. Sadly, not everyone felt the same way, especially Hana's side of the family. The moment they decided to adopt Sakura, Hana's side of the family disowned her immediately, saying that it was a crime to raise a daughter without a father figure. It broke my heart a bit hearing how someone was so quick to judge their own daughter because she wanted to have a family with her wife.

Luckily, Yui's side of the family was a bit more accepting. From what I had heard Sakura tell me, they wouldn't have cared who Yui brought home. As long as Yui was happy, then Yui's family was happy. Sakura loved visiting Yui's side of the family, as they accepted both Hana and her with open arms.

Despite that, Sakura was always wary about telling others about her parents. I wish I could blame it on the fact that Sakura was shy, but that was far from the truth. While Sakura never admitted it, I knew part of the reason she was scared to open up about her parents was because of Hana's side of the family and how cruel they were.

The only reason Sakura told me about it was because of the first time we went to the Mustafu Hero Festival. I still remembered how Sakura tried everything she could to prevent me from coming over, but in the end, I still made a visit. It was pretty chill though, because it was then I told her how my family wasn't exactly normal either. There were more important things to worry about than having a "so-called perfect, nuclear family."

Sakura came from a loving family, with two moms who loved her very much. They did everything they could for her. Once Sakura opened up to me about them, she expressed how much she looked up to both of them. She wanted to make them proud because they were the reason she wanted to be a hero. After all, it was a pretty heroic thing to stand up for what you believed in, being with the person you loved, even if there were forces against you. Seeing how happy they were as a family, it made me very happy.

Unfortunately, Hana's side of the family thought differently.

"It scares me that whoever took him is going to come after me. I mean, we're not close, but Mom's his only sister. With my grandparents passing away two years ago, that means that person would come after whatever family he has left," Sakura concluded.

"What makes you think that?" I asked, sitting on the edge of Sakura's bed once again.

"He doesn't have any memory of what happened these past few months, but he has a clue as his hand was missing. He must have invented something, but I'm not sure what. Either that, or these villains wanted to hurt him. What better way to hurt them through family?" Sakura turned to look at me. "We're not even worth anything to him, but who's to say those villains care about that or not?"

My lips pressed together as I looked down at the floor. I didn't realize Nobu Eto was her uncle, but then again, he was never there for Sakura. That side of her family shunned them. It wasn't even their fault. The Sakai family did nothing wrong.

Maybe that was why I could get along with Sakura so easily. We had family that we refused to talk about, and that was okay. She didn't know much about my dad, but she knew that was something I refused to talk about. The same thing happened whenever it came to Hana's side of the family.

"I'm sorry," I told Sakura.

"That's why I'm not going. You go without me. You'll have fun," Sakura insisted. "I'm staying here, where I'll be safe.

Her words pierced through me like a knife, making me feel a tad guilty. There was no way I was going to go alone. That wasn't the only reason why I felt guilt wash up inside me. All I could think about was that day at the mall. If I'd known that man was her uncle, a person who owned a huge company, I should've fought. I should've tried something. I should've tried something even if he wasn't the head of a huge company. Instead, I let that pink-haired villain take him.

While that should've been enough to keep her from going to the festival, I knew how Sakura acted. A year from now, when this was all over, she would be yelling at me for not letting her come to the hero festival. Well...assuming we were still friends a year from now.

Would she still be my friend if she found out I didn't want to be a hero, and after I dropped out?

A part of me knew it was selfish, but a part of me wanted to go to the festival with Sakura because I was afraid how she'd treat me once I dropped out. That part of me seemed to have a bit more control than the little voice begging to stay back. Our plan was to go to the hero festival because that was what Sakura wanted to do. She looked up to the heroes and loved every minute of the festival, even if it was pretty much the same thing every year.

Thinking about that gave me an idea.

"Has there ever been a major crime during the Musutafu Hero Festival?" I asked.

"No," Sakura mumbled.

I looked up at her and tilted my head to the side. "And why has there been no crime during the Musutafu Hero Festival?" I questioned.

Knowing where I was going, Sakura scrunched up her nose. "Because there are heroes everywhere to protect us."

"And what was it that you wanted to be when you graduated?" I asked, tapping my finger on my chin.

"A hero," Sakura muttered.

"What?" I asked.

"A hero," Sakura said a bit louder.

"Could you say that again, I couldn't quite hear that," I claimed.

Sakura sat up and pushed her messy black hair behind her ears. "I want to be the greatest hero in all of Japan!" she shouted.

After that, she stopped. Sakura looked around as her face began to heat up. That was all it took for her to realize that if she wasn't going to trust the heroes there were now, that she wasn't going to do well when she became a hero.

I smiled as I stood up. "I'm going to go use the restroom. I'd understand if you don't want to go, but just know that there will be heroes there to keep us all safe."

My friend shook her head. "Oh no, we're going to that festival. We have to! I'll cover up my zit with some makeup and have Mom cut my bangs before we go. Just give me about twenty minutes, okay?"

I nodded my head as I started to walk towards the door. The whole festival was filled with heroes. Nothing bad was going to happen to her, or anyone there. We just had to forget about the things that were going on and enjoy ourselves for once.

Author's Note:

Hi y'all! Thank you for reading. We are reaching the arc I like to call the "festival arc." Yay! Fun times. So, before we get to the festivities, I want to know, what is your favorite part about going to a festival?

CharacterSpotlight: Sakura Sakai
Quirk: Common Vine
Likes: Shopping

Okay, depending on the light, this girl's eyes can look either blue or green...just note, Sakura has green eyes.

So, for this arc only, there will be two pictures for the character spotlights. One being the character, and the other being the kimono that they're wearing (or close to it/what inspired the description). Many of you may notice that most of the times, the person in the picture, will looks almost identical to the character themself. I'll admit, this is the first time where I based outfits off of pictures I found as I tried to stay as true as I could to culture as I could (no worries, I do imagine Sakura's kimono being longer, but I saw the gold embellishments on it, and how fancy it was, and it just screamed her).

But yeah, just a little fun fact that went behind the making of this. Lots of research went into this arc, but if I got anything wrong, please feel free to correct, so I can fix it. I'm not perfect, but I tried my best in honoring the Japanese culture (though...I do know one thing is VERY inaccurate, but there is a reason for that, which will be revealed at the end of the arc).

Regardless, I hope you enjoy the rest of this arc!

Song: Senbonzakura Piano Version