After Kacchan, Kyoka and I agreed to play at the culture festival, the class was finally dismissed. Everyone leapt from their chairs and bounded out of the room, excited chatter mixing in the air as we all left. Some people spoke excitedly about being background dancers whilst others enthused about hopefully being helpful when it came to special effects. When I passed Mina, Sero and Kaminari, they were conversing excitedly about Mina's affinity for dance and how she would be the perfect teacher, I had to agree with them on that matter.

In all reality, I was extremely glad that our band got to play. We hadn't played for the public in a long time, so it would be fun to get back up on the stage. Plus, I knew that I wouldn't be good at dancing and wouldn't be much help when it came to the effects. Being up on the stage with my guitar, belting my heart out to the audience was where I truly belonged.

"So, Izu, what songs shall we play?" Kyoka asked as she swung her arm around my shoulder, " We've got to come up with a variety of songs. Some of them need to be danceable songs, though I don't think we should stray too far from our genre.". Being the music geek she was, Kyoka proceeded to ramble about music, oblivious to Kacchan and I as we silently smiled at her. It was 

"I don't know. What do you want to play? It's best not to ask Kacchan, he'll pick things which are too loud and heavy." I commented with a small smirk. 

"Tch, shut your trap, nerd. I could pick good songs if I wanted to, you're just being a little asshole." Kacchan scowled without any malice. Kyoka and I simply chuckled merrily at our friend as we all made our way back to the dorms.

That evening, talk of the culture festival continued. Iida and Momo sat at the table in the kitchen with the rest of us sat before them like pupils in a classroom. The purpose of this set up was to assign roles to each person in the class. Kyoka, Kacchan and I, of course, already had our roles, but I was interested to see what everybody else would be doing. As soon as we had all settled, Mina was jumping up and proclaiming loudly that she would be dancing and teaching the others as well. She proclaimed that they could rip the role out of her cold, dead fingers because she wasn't going accept anything else. Obviously, her argument was unnecessary, it was a given that she would be the lead dancer, we'd all seen her excellent moves and how she employed them in her fighting style. 

"We wouldn't assign you any other role, Ashido," Iida asserted. Everyone laughed lightly at the complete seriousness that Iida spoke with. He took his role very seriously.

After Mina's declaration, the roles of the rest of my classmates just started flooding in. The majority of them were going to be dancing, but people such as Shoto, Kiri, Sero, Koda and Hitoshi would all be working on special effects and as stagehands. Everyone else was to be taught how to dance by Mina so that they could put on the show of a lifetime for our fellow students and change their opinion on us. Although, Tokoyami ended up joining us in The Juveniles (our band). Whilst it was perfectly fine that there were only three of us in the band, we decided to have Tokoyami become part of the band since he had previous experience, plus it gave him something to do. He had two left feet and wouldn't be much help when it came to being a stagehand. Nobody objected to their role in the show, so we moved on to the finer details.

"Ok, now that everyone had a role, we must move on to some other details." Momo began, "Aoyama suggested earlier that he could be used as... a disco ball of sorts. With his naval laser, he is rather flashy. Does anybody object to this idea?" 

Kacchan didn't bother raising his hand, but he did speak up. "Is he just gonna be suspended there for the entire show? We're going to be doing more than one song, he can't stay there all that time, plus he'll end up shitting on everyone if he keeps using his quirk." Kacchan grunted. Whilst it wasn't phrased in the best way, Kacchan was correct. Aoyama still got an upset tummy if he used his quirk too much and he couldn't just stay there the entire time. 

"Please don't use such vulgar language, Bakugo," Iida chastised, though he sounded tired as he did it. He knew as well as the rest of us that there was no way we could curb Kacchan's foul mouth. "Aoyama has thought of that aspect, I'll let him explain."

"Well, my dear Bakugo," Aoyama began, "I don't intend to stay there for the entire time. That would just be silly, oui? No, I will dance for the first half of the first song before I am attached to a pulley system and pulled up into the air where I will become the beautiful spectacle I was always supposed to be. I will twinkle marvellously for the rest of the song. Then, just before the next song, the stage will go black and I will be pulled down. Comprendre? Then, during the final song, I will be pulled back up to end the concert with extra sparkle. Incroyable, no?". The excitement which Aoyama displayed as he explained his plan with the dramatic flair only he could manage. His hands flew all over the place as he strutted around the room like a peacock and struck several poses. 

Everyone contemplated this plan for a second before we all exploded with cheers of approval and excitement. Even Kacchan and Hitoshi nodded slightly in approval, the greatest sceptics in our class. Aoyama nodded happily, basking in the attention of his classmates. It seemed like the perfect plan, after all, we got to entertain and improve public opinion on us, and Aoyama got to sparkle as he had always wanted to.

The rest of the evening passed quickly. After everyone was assigned their roles, we ate all ate a delicious dinner prepared by Tsu and Shoji, before we retired to our rooms for the night. Of course, we didn't have school the next day with it being a Saturday, but we were all exhausted from a day full of school. Shoto and I walked up the stairs of the dorms hand in hand, only the two of us. 

"Are you nervous to perform in front of so many people, Love?" Shoto asked in a hushed voice which still carried through the empty stairwell, echoing in my ears.

"Hmm? A bit, I guess. It's not the first time we've played for an audience we don't know. We used to do small gigs which Kyoka's parents got us, they were like our managers," I chuckled gently as I reminisced about the history of our band. "Her parents are music producers. All of our parents are our biggest fans. Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru are fashion designers and they even designed merch for us and uniforms for us to play in. I think I still have mine in my wardrobe somewhere. I know it fits, I haven't grown much since it was made. Actually, I've gotten a bit more muscular." 

Shoto listened to me ramble with a gentle smile on his face. His eyes were shining with love for me. I couldn't help but smile in return. "That sounds amazing, Izu. Do you know what songs you'll be performing?" Shoto asked. The two of us came to a stop outside of my room, both of our hands clasped together as we stared into each other's eyes. 

"Not yet, we've got to sort that out. I think we'll be practising tomorrow when I get back from the hospital." I hummed. 

"Hospital?" 

"Yeah. I'm going with Dad to pick Eri. Mirio will be there as well. Apparently, she's only really calm around the two of us, but we can't be there all the time, obviously. Mirio and I are going so that the change in environment isn't too jarring." I smiled to myself at the thought of seeing Eri the next day. She was like my little sister who I would protect with my life.

"OK, see you tomorrow, Love," Shoto whispered as he leaned down and gently kissed me. I returned the gentle kiss with the same amount of love and gentle passion. I wouldn't be letting the boy before me go for quite a while (unless he wanted to leave, of course, I wouldn't stalk him, that was both illegal and weird). 

"Oi, Love Birds, don't do that shit in the corridor!" The perpetually angry voice of Kacchan invaded my ears and made me sigh unhappily. He was acting like a brother who constantly protected me from my own boyfriend.

"You're being a hypocrite, Katsuki. I have caught you and Kirishima kissing a lot more passionately before in the hallways." Shoto deadpanned. I cackled gleefully as I watched Kacchan and Kiri both turn red with embarrassment. Kacchan spluttered indignantly whilst Kirishima simply ducked his head and chuckled quietly. 

"Shut the fuck up, Half and Half!" Kacchan screamed as he took his boyfriend's hand into his own and started dragging him along to his room. Shoto and I could only watch as Kacchan dragged Kirishima into his bedroom and slammed the door. 

"Good night, Izuku." Shoto hummed as if the events of the last minute hadn't happened. I returned the farewell, blushing as Shoto kissed my forehead. 

"Good night, Shoto," I whispered as I shuffled into my room, presenting him with a heartwarming smile. 

The next morning I was out of bed and waiting for my dad in the common room before 9 am. Since it was the weekend, everyone else was in their room, even if they had gone out for a morning jog. My excitement to see Eri was palpable in the air. I had seen Eri since leaving the hospital, but I was eager to see her again. Seeing the little angel was the light of my day and I knew that seeing Mirio and me was the light of hers. 

"Glad to see that I don't have to come and get you." Dad's bored sounding voice intoned from behind the sofa I was perched on excitedly. I spun around in my seat and beamed up at both of my parents who were also accompanied by Auntie Joke. 

"Auntie Joke!" I cheered excitedly as I jumped over the back of the sofa and fell into her arms, squeezing her in a tight hug. 

"Hey! What's up, buddy?" Emi cheered, " You doing a little better now?"

"Yeah. Ihro-san gave me more mediation, it's so tedious. That's beside the point though! Why are you here, not that I'm not ecstatic to see you?" I queried with a tilted head. I head Papa chuckled about a puppy from beside Dad, but I paid him no heed.

"Well... I'm helping Hizashi plan the wedding. We're going out to look at some stuff today. Shota is the least motivated person in the world, so he's leaving the wedding in our hands." Auntie Joke smirked with a thumb pointing at herself, "Who better to plan the wedding than me and my main man Hizashi?".  Auntie Joke threw her arm around Papa's shoulder (having to stand on her tiptoes to do so), and smiled at him.

"We're the perfect duo!" Hizashi cheered. Dad rolled his eyes from beside the energetic duo. He clearly had a type when it came to his partners, the polar opposite of him, it appeared. 

"Yeah, yeah." Dad grumbled, "Come on, Izuku, we've got to meet Mirio at the front of the school so that we can get to the hospital.". I nodded excitedly and hugged my Auntie and Papa goodbye before bouncing towards the genkan to pull on my shoes. 

Dad and I saw Mirio before he saw us. He was talking to Nejire and Amijiki directly in front of the gates for the school. Mirio was laughing heartily whilst Nejiri bounced around happily. Amijiki stood beside his friends with his head bowed, though I thought I saw a small smile on his face, maybe he was amused by his friends' antics.

"Mirio," Dad began as we got into hearing range of the trio, "We're leaving now. Say goodbye.". Dad walked straight past the group of third years and to the taxi waiting down the road for us. 

"OK, Eraserhead. I'll see you guys later." Mirio waved goodbye to his friends before he bounced off down the road with me in tow.

"So, how have you been doing, Izuku?" Mirio asked kindly. 

"I've been doing ok. I have a lot of people to help me, so that's good." I replied.

"Brilliant! The sort of circumstances we were in required us to go past what we were mentally able to handle. I'm glad that all of you first years came out alive." Mirio sighed, his morose air, however, immediately dissipated as we reached the taxi. "I can't wait to see Eri, though. I mean, I saw her the day before yesterday, but I already miss her! She's so sweet!". I shared Mirio's sentiment. 

We were in the taxi, whizzing away to the hospital before we even knew it. Dad was sat beside us, rattling off rules so that we didn't trigger Eri or make her uncomfortable.

"She trusts the two of you, and whilst that's great, you could still make her uncomfortable without meaning to. Trauma and abuse victims vary with their experiences, but you should still ask all of them if you can do something before doing it. You don't know if you'll scare them. Don't move to fast, or appear as though you're raising a hand to her, but that's obvious." Dad muttered into the silence of the taxi. 

"When she is discharged, as you already know, she will be living in Height's Alliance. Somehow, Nezu has already constructed an area for her which is an offshoot of my rooms. The two of you will be integral in helping her integrate into the environment. Make sure that nobody scares her or gets closer than she likes. Of course, I will be staying by her side for a majority of the time, but if I'm not, one of you needs to be." Dad continued to intone. Mirio and I nodded along in understanding, I knew that we would both do our utmost to ensure that Eri was happy and comfortable in the environment we provided her with.   

We arrived at the hospital in seemingly no time whatsoever. We walked through the reception area, greeting the receptionist as we went, listened to the gentle elevator music designed to soothe people's frayed nerves, and made our way to Eri's room, excitement for bringing her home mounting between Mirio and me. I think Dad was excited in his own way as well. 

Dad opened the door with a slow and gentle push, alerting Eri to our presence. When we all stepped through the door, Eri's gaze swivelled to us, her vermillion eyes were wide and full of hope and innocence. They were beginning to shine with youthful exuberance, though there was still a slight spark missing from their depths.

"Deviant! Lemillion!" Eri cheered in a subdued voice.

"Hey, Eri. What have I said, call me Izuku," I smiled gently as I sat beside the girl on her bed. She was still wearing her hospital gown, but there were normal clothes hung on the chair beside her. 

"And call me Mirio or Togata!" Mirio smiled at her as he sat on her other side.

"Ok. Why are you here today?" Eri asked.

"We're taking you to a new place. It's gonna be fun and safe. Does that sound nice?" I asked gently, wary of her reaction.

"W-will there be new people? Are you going to stay with me?" Eri whimpered. I watched in horror as her eyes began to fill with tears, making my heart clench painfully.

"I'll be there whenever you need me. I'll be living in the same building as you. Plus, Aizawa will be just next door to you. Mirio will be visiting all of the time as well." I reassured her gently. I held out my arms, giving the young girl the option to climb into my arms so that I could hug her. After a moment of hesitation, Eri hesitantly fell into my arms and wrapped her tiny arms around my torso. I returned the gentle hug and placed my chin on top of Eri's head. I looked over at Mirio and my dad, they were both watching us with gentle smiles on their faces.  

"Ok. I don't want to be left alone." Eri whispered into my shoulder. Her voice was practically silent, I only happened to hear it since she was speaking so close to my ear.

"I'll never leave you unless you tell me to go away, and even then I won't want to. You're like my little sister. My family." I whispered in return. Eri pulled back a bit and nodded slightly, though she didn't smile. I was yet to see her truly smile properly. 

Dad had to leave the room to talk to the nurses about Eri being let out of the hospital and all of the legal stuff which would bore me to death. Whilst Dad was outside of the room doing that, Mirio and I convinced Eri to get dressed, closing our eyes and turning our backs as she did so, and struck up a cheer filled conversation with the empty-eyed girl. Despite visiting her on a vast array of occasions, Mirio and I were yet to see Eri smile or show extreme emotions beyond sadness. Every sign of happiness or enthusiasm presented to us was a cheap imitation of what we showed her. Any genuine emotion was dull and fearful. 

Mirio smiled and joked around with Eri, she didn't have the same morose air around, which was great, but I would give a lot to see her smile. Just to see her eyes light up and her teeth glimmer in the light as she presented us with a beaming smile. That was all I wanted for her.

Soon enough, Dad was returning to the room and nodding his head to the ajar door. The message was clear enough. It was time to take Eri home. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.