People filled the streets as they were all excited about what they could do next. Every year, the Musutafu Hero Festival was filled with all sorts of activities. There were games where people would try to win the biggest stuffed animal they could. Storytellers filled the street, telling tales of the heroes being honored to younger kids who dreamed of following their footsteps. My personal favorite was the smell of food that wafted in the air, even if the food itself wasn't the best.

I followed Sakura, looking around at the red paper lanterns hanging anywhere a string could be hung. It was one of the things I could look forward to when they would be lit. Sure, I had seen it last night with my family, but I couldn't wait to see it lit up later tonight with Sakura.

Sakura dragged me from booth to booth. We played different games that were at the different stands, failing miserably at every single one. I would watch as Sakura would eat takoyaki and other Japanese dishes, urging me to try some. It was more of a joke than anything else as she knew I couldn't stand most of the food here.

Besides, the last time I tried takoyaki, I threw up. It was glorified, deep fried octopus; something Sakura managed to forget to mention when I first tried one years ago.

Not all foods were horrible at the festival. Every year, I would treat myself to a candy apple, as it was pretty similar to the caramel apples I'd get from home. Instead of the apple being dipped in caramel and chocolate, it was coated in a hard candy. Since it was simple and sweet, I could actually enjoy it.

After I was handed a candy apple from a vender, I turned around to find Sakura, but bumped into something else, er, someone else. I wasn't expecting it at all as the treat flew from my hand and landed somewhere else.

I nearly fell alongside it, but someone grabbed my shoulder and pulled me closer to them. Every inch of my body froze as I had no idea who had grabbed me, or who was right behind me. All I could think was how familiar it felt, and not in a good way. Part of me wanted to run as I started to hear something I haven't heard in a long time. It was the reason I hated touch. I wasn't sure when the whole thing started or how, but if someone made any sort of physical contact for a long period of time, I could hear swings creaking in the background like they would in a scary movie.

For a while, I thought I had gotten past hearing those sounds, but apparently, I didn't.

Luckily, the sound didn't last long as the person let me go. I took a deep breath to calm down before turning around to see a man wearing a dark green mask over his face. It was odd, seeing someone in a mask, but it wasn't uncommon for people to do that at this festival. For all I knew, he could've been a hero I just haven't heard of. He was tall like most heroes were, but his dark green hair seemed a bit unruly.

"Watch your step next time, Miss," he warned me as he placed his hands on his hips. "Might not be so lucky next time."

"Y-yeah," I said before I quickly bowed my head. "Sorry about that. I-I'll be more careful next time."

"Mhmm," the man hummed before I noticed his feet turning around. "Crazy things can happen when people least expect them, so keep your guard up."

I snapped my head up to look at the man, having a strange feeling that he meant something by that. The man was already gone. As I looked around, there seemed to be no sign of him at all.

"Tami-tan! There you are," I heard Sakura say. "Weren't you in line for your candy apple?"

"Oh," I said, before turning around to see Sakura standing behind me with another paper tray of takoyaki in her hands. "I, uh, got distracted."

Sakura frowned when she heard that, and it didn't take me a while to realize why. My friend looked around, trying to figure out what was bothering me. Her eyes landed on the candy apple that was laying not too far away from us. Someone must've noticed it as we did as the passerby picked it up and tossed it in the nearest trash bin.

"Don't worry," Sakura assured. "We'll get you another one, but we need to hurry because the parade's about to start."

I simply nodded my head as she pulled me back into the line to get another candy apple. She didn't say a word, so I wasn't entirely sure she was truly convinced. Regardless, she didn't pester me about it which was something Sakura was pretty good at.

While we stood in line, my mind just wondered about that odd encounter. People were usually pretty good at watching where they were going. I mean, it was odd that the person kept going. I was lucky that someone was there to help me, even if it cost me my candy apple.

Even if it made me relive something I couldn't quite remember.

~*~*~*~

Sakura and I stood on the edge of the street, managing to get into the front row for the huge parade. Dancers would glide down the streets, moving their arms and feet to the rhythm of the music being played in perfect sync. Following close behind were a group of people holding up poles. No one seemed to have noticed that part as the top of those poles held a red dragon that they'd move around, making the dragon look as if it was dancing like the dancers in front of it. These people would stomp their feet to the beat the drummers in front of them had provided.

While that was a huge hit hundreds of years ago, it was nothing compared to the act that followed. Today's active heroes walked in lines, waving to the crowd. Some would stop to give autographs, while others blew kisses to the people around them. Others were a bit more serious, doing nothing but keep a straight face. Regardless, everyone in the crowd yelled out for their favorite hero when they saw them.

I was never a fan of heroes, but I'd be lying if I didn't say this wasn't my favorite part of the parade. It was here I could point out the heroes who were more genuine than others. Those were never the heroes that had a plastered smile on their faces, blowing kisses whenever they could. On the flip side, I could tell it wasn't the ones with a stone-hard face, wishing to get it over with. The heroes that wanted to be there were the ones that took the time to talk to people. I could tell they were rushed in conversations, but it amazed me how some of the heroes would do it anyways.

Seeing some of them act like that made it evident that they truly loved their job. There weren't many of them. One was a young woman with long dark hair and tan skin that I knew I should've known the name to, but I didn't. Even though Sakura and I were in awe of it all, I noticed that this particular hero tried to make her way over to see us, but was pulled back by another hero who looked as if he had twice the amount of strength as she did. It was odd, seeing how a hero would prevent another one from saying hi to the people watching, but that didn't stop the female hero to look back and wave at us.

"You'd think Herculean would just let Power Girl do her own thing," Sakura commented.

Herculean. While his name sounded familiar, it wasn't as familiar as Power Girl. Seeing her walking away, I realized why I could recognize her. Besides being on t.v. a lot, my brother was also a huge fan of hers. Those weren't the only reasons why I should've recognized her sooner.

She was Yamamoto's older sister.

I was watching her and Herculean walking away when I was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal.

"Ah! It's Foxglove! It's Foxglove!" Sakura squealed.

I turned my head to see the hero that my friend admired so much, pushing the thoughts away as much as I could. I watched as Foxglove walked over to say hi. When she did, Sakura didn't miss a beat by telling her how she was studying to be a hero just like her and got an autograph from her as well. Foxglove was very pleased to hear about that and wished her luck before sneaking to the other side of the crowd to greet some fans there.

While I watched, it just didn't make sense. Why was it some heroes could move around like that and not get in trouble while others did? A part of me wanted to ask someone, but I wasn't sure who would know. Was it because of the hero company they were a part of, or were the more experienced ones allowed to go out and about more?

Still, we watched as more heroes would get recognized. The longer it went on, the more I found myself looking out and around the crowd. It didn't take long to recognize two people standing on the other side of the street, my eyes. I tried not to pay any attention to them, but it was nearly impossible when the one would wave a hand in the air, excited to see Sakura and me standing there. The other would simply watch, crossing his arms in annoyance.

A part of me felt a bit selfish, but I didn't really want to see those two here of all places. I just wanted to spend time with Sakura, as I could feel the time I had left of being her friend slipping away from my fingertips. It was only a matter of time that people would find out. Since I had been going to school at U.A. for little over a month now, it was a good time for me to drop out. I'd just have to start falling behind more in my hero classes, so no one would get the repercussions of it. The other students wanted to be heroes. Watching Sakura's face light up as we watched the heroes pass by, I could tell she was daydreaming, imagining herself in the parade.

I just couldn't see myself doing the same.

Once they fizzled out, people started to leave the streets, moving towards the places where there were food stands and games that they could entertain them. Sakura and I stayed in place as she continued to eye every single hero that passed by. Even when they had passed, with only a few dancers dancing from behind them, Sakura stayed still, memorizing everything in front of her.

I looked down. What would I become the moment I declared I no longer wanted to be a hero? Would I be too late that I couldn't finish school, and I'd be forced to work in the factory like Mom and Peter? Or would I still have a chance at some sort of successful job? I knew U.A. had more than just the hero department, but they were all geared towards heroes. At least, with U.A. being the school that promised to create top-notch heroes, I thought that was what the other classes were for. Management, Support, every department had to have been for heroes, to help heroes.

There was nothing left for me at U.A. If there was nothing for me, then where could I even transfer to?

"Tami-tan! Sakura-chan!"

My head snapped up, realizing the parade was finally over. The two sets of eyes I had seen on the other side of the street were both running towards us. I shouldn't have been surprised when I had first told them that they'd visit, but somehow it did.

"Hey, Kaito-kun," Sakura said as she placed a hand on my back and took her free hand to motion towards me. "Did you come all this way to see Tami-tan?"

My eyes widened as I looked at Sakura, who had closed her eyes and was smiling as brightly as she could. It was almost as if she was okay that Kaito and Yamamoto had come over, but I guess she had no idea what these next few weeks could bring. Once I came out about not wanting to be a hero, she'd be crushed.

Was it so wrong of me to want to just spend time with Sakura alone for a moment, before all that happened?

"Kaito-kun?" Kaito repeated back.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion, and she wasn't the only one as I did the same thing. Looking at him, I realized he was no longer wearing his school uniform. I guess that was a given being that we were all at the Matsutafu Hero Festival, but it was the first time in a long time that I had ever seen him out of his uniform. The orange kimono just seemed a bit too much, almost making him look like an orange. At least it had black stripes on it, but it wasn't enough to dim down the orange coloring.

He wasn't the only one out of his uniform; Yamamoto was also wearing a kimono. I didn't think he would be one to dress up for these kinds of occasions, yet Yamamoto wore a simple black kimono with an obi with white stripes tied around it. Somehow, it didn't make him seem like much of a giant in it.

While I was shocked to see Yamamoto dressed up, Kaito was shocked about something else. He clapped his hands together as he cheered. "I've been promoted from Orangie to Kaito-kun! I'm no longer a fruit!"

His friend sighed. "Really, that's what you're so excited about?" Yamamoto asked.

"You know, I don't think I've given you a nickname," Sakura realized as she brought her finger up to her chin, thinking for a moment.

My eyes widened as I looked over at Yamamoto, who didn't seem amused in the slightest. The last time I called him by something other than Yamamoto, he got angry with me. I didn't want Sakura to go through the same thing.

"I-I think he likes being called Yamamoto," I told her. "I mean, if he doesn't want to be called anything else, it—it'd be best to call him what he wants, right?"

Everyone snapped their heads towards me. Seeing that everyone was looking at me, I quickly looked back down at the ground, seeing the cement side-walk underneath my feet. Of course, seeing how high my kimono was in correlation to my ankles made me realize that I should have probably gotten a new one. I already knew that, but I thought I could make this last one more year.

Maybe I should have asked Sakura for one of her old ones. Seeing everyone staring at me and seeing how bad everything looked, I just felt even more embarrassed.

"Why do you say that?" Sakura asked, before I felt her gaze snapping away from me. "What did you do to Tami-tan?"

"Nothing," Yamamoto claimed. "I just simply told her that I'd like to be called Yamamoto, that's it."

I felt a hand wrapping around mine causing me to jump a bit. I looked up, seeing Kaito standing there, interlacing his fingers with mine, before giving it a tight squeeze.

"Don't let Raiden intimidate you. I promise, under that scary exterior, he's a big softie," Kaito explained, before looking over towards Yamamoto. "Isn't that right?"

Yamamoto's eye twitched as he glared at Kaito. "That's not true."

"I've got it!" Sakura exclaimed as she snapped her fingers. "I'll call you Yama, since you're as big as one*."

"Don't you dare," Yamamoto warned.

While those two started fighting, I slowly tried to free my hand out of Kaito's grasp. After what happened the last time someone touched me, I wanted to stay away from all forms of touch. It was just my hand—something that shouldn't have bothered me—but I didn't want to go through it again. All I wanted was to stay inside my personal bubble.

I didn't want to act weird in front of my friends again. It was so long since the last time it happened, but I didn't want to freak out. I didn't want to have another episode. Not today of all days.

Like that, my vision started going out a bit. It wasn't because of the touch, but the fact that I tried everything to free myself and nothing happened. I tried pulling away from Kaito, but he refused to let go.

The longer I tried to pull my hand away, the harder it became to breathe.

"Are you okay?" Kaito asked.

"Please let go," I whispered.

"Oh." Kaito sounded a bit disappointed as he finally let go.

"Sorry," I apologized as I pulled my left hand back and grabbed my right arm, rubbing it up and down for a moment. "Too fast."

Kaito didn't say a word. I looked down, focusing my gaze on the concrete like before. I took some deep breaths, trying to calm down before anyone would notice. Once things got back to normal, I noticed Kaito was no longer standing in front of me. I looked up and turned my head, realizing he was standing beside me. His hand was scratching the back of his head.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"It's fine," Kaito assured, giving me a small smile. "We can take it slow, no worries."

While he said that, a part of me doubted his words. All he wanted was to hold my hand, and yet, a small gesture like that was too much for me. It shouldn't have. I mean, if he would've given me a pat on the back or a fist bump, something that was quick, I wouldn't have freaked out like I did.

If it wasn't for what happened earlier, with the man who had helped me regain my balance but caused some weird flashbacks, I would have been fine. Before then, I thought I was getting over it.

Why all of a sudden that strange fear was coming back?

"That goes to you too, Smith," Yamamoto declared.

I snapped my head towards him and Sakura, who were both looking at me once again. Only this time, it wasn't something I did. Seeing their expressions, they were looking at me because of what Yamamoto wanted to be called. I was certain of it. Sakura had her arms crossed as her bottom lip stuck out for a bit. Clearly, she wasn't happy with whatever decision was made, but Yamamoto didn't care. There was no way he could have as he glared at me.

"Wh-what?" I asked.

Yamamoto rolled his eyes. "No calling me Yama, Yama-chan, or anything stupid like that," he explained. "It's either Raiden or Yamamoto, or else I'll knock you upside the head."

My eyes widened.

"I can call you Raiden?" I asked.

Instead of answering, I felt someone's hand patting me on the back. Once again, my eyes widened at the sudden gesture that I snapped my head towards Kaito. All the confusion and frustration from before seemed to have left as he smiled at me.

"Of course! We're all friends, right Raiden?" Kaito asked.

"Don't get any ideas, Kaito," Yamamoto sneered.

No, not Yamamoto. Raiden.

I looked over at the dark haired boy, who had his arms crossed over his chest. I wasn't sure what caused him to change the way he did, but it didn't matter. It just made me happy that he didn't look like he was going to beat me up as much as he used to.

If he was going to let me call him Raiden, then I should make it clear that I'd rather be called Tami, not Smith. It was weird, having him call me that all the time. I knew he was just being polite, but it was just strange.

Before I could even say a word, Sakura's stomach growled, taking everyone off guard. We all snapped our heads towards her, seeing her face redden in embarrassment.

"Sorry guys. I guess I didn't eat as much as I should've before the parade. Mind if we go find some food to eat?" she asked.

~*~*~*~

Somehow that was the start of Kaito and Raiden following us around the entire festival. At first, it bothered me, but that was because I was afraid of how things would have gone with Sakura. To my surprise, she was more than happy to let the two guys to join us. Then again, I wasn't sure if it was because Raiden made it somewhat clear that he wasn't going to kill us anymore or if it was the fact that she could win more prizes from the games that were around because of him.

Of course, we weren't always around them. We'd sneak off to do some things on our own that was a secret tradition between just the two of us, like going on the outskirts of the festival to get some peace and quiet or trying on different masks before we were shooed away from the people selling them. Every time we'd come back, it was always the same story as Kaito and his friend would look at us as if we had grown a third arm.

"Where have you two been?" Kaito asked.

"That's our little secret," Sakura said between giggles.

I was about to say something when I noticed something in the corner of my eyes. I turned my head, seeing a small tent that was standing between two stalls with beads falling down in front of it. It was strange. There was nothing like it around, and I had never seen anything like it before.

As I looked over at it, a man with long green hair walked out of the tent with a woman, whose hair was pulled back and covered by a thin black veil over it. Two things stood out as I watched them for a moment. The first being the man. As he bowed towards her and left, I realized he was the same man who helped me out before.

The second thing that caught my eye was the woman inside. She wasn't wearing kimonos like everyone else was. Instead, she was wearing something very strange. The purple sleeves were tight around her forearms, but were very loose from her elbows up. Her top wasn't very modest as it only covered the top part of her torso and had a sweetheart neckline. The entire top was adorned with beads that eventually came down in strands. Those beads were the only thing that covered her stomach, and even then, there were just a few strands connecting the top to the very baggy pants she wore.

I watched as the woman turned. As she did, I swore she noticed me and smiled before retreating back inside the tent.

"What's that?" I asked.

Everyone turned their heads to see what I was looking at.

"I don't know. It must be new," Kaito said.

"Wanna go check it out?" Sakura asked.

I nodded my head, feeling pulled to it for some odd reason. Maybe it was the strange woman, and how out of place the entire thing was, or maybe it was the man. Whatever it was, I wanted to know what exactly was going on in there.

There was only one way to find out.

Author's Note:

Before we get to the question of the week and character spotlight, I want to highlight a very amazing piece of artwork.

Can anyone guess who this lovable dork is? Yup! It's Tami!! I had the opportunity to ask scftsmiles- to draw this amazing picture, and I was MORE THAN HAPPY with the results. It's perfect! I love it, and it made my day seeing all the hard work that was put into it.

Also, if any of you saw * by yama, it means mountain, so play on words with his name there when Sakura made that joke.

Okay, onto this week's question: Seeing that there were lots of different foods mentioned in the beginning, I want to know, what is your favorite food to get at a festival, carnival, fair, or the likes?

Character Spotlight: Kaito Oba
Quirk: Light
Likes: Chocolate-filled Dorayaki

And here is the kimono pic that inspired his kimono (just, no hat, and I imagine a more brighter orange being used for the material).

Song: Breakdance of Yao