It's me, your fave friendly neighbourhood mum friend, reminding you to take care of yourselves and stay hydrated and please please plEAse go to sleep at a reasonable time and do not forgo sleep in favour of reading this fic! I'm flattered, really, but sleep is important!!

 Okay love you enjoy the chapter <3

Discord server, if you're a perfect stranger who knows me too well: https://discord.gg/DSBF4dP

~

"I'm here!" Izuku exclaimed, bursting into the changing room and instantly starting to change clothes. "I'm here, sorry, I got caught up-"

Ochako let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! We were worried about you, Deku-kun! There's only half an hour left before the show."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry-" he struggled into the top, getting his arm stuck and squirming- "oops, uh, would you mind-"

Momo calmly stepped forward and unfurled the sleeve for him, holding open the shirt so he could slip it on easier. He grinned gratefully and buttoned it up, then tugged on the orange jacket at the same time as shucking off his shorts, much to the girls' panic. Tenya stood as a human shield whilst Izuku abruptly realised that this was still the past, and they weren't yet used to changing together, and he hastily spewed apologies as he wriggled into the costume trousers.

"You're not running that late, Deku-kun, it's okay!" Ochako yelped, pointedly turned away with her hand over her eyes, the other flailing behind her.

"You don't have to rush, Izuku-chan," Tsu added, tucked under the other girl's arm.

"Sorry!" He spluttered out through his laughter. "I'm just really excited!"

The rest of his outfit was put on without incident, and he kept his new gloves on. Momo stepped forward to do her best in taming his wild curls, only to pause and pluck out a leaf with a perplexed expression.

"What on earth were you up to, Izuku-san?" She inquired with a note of bemusement, starting to carefully brush out the ends of his hair.

"Well, my hair's already green, but I wanted to become one with the forest," Izuku responded absently, too busy trying to tie his tie normally to focus on what he was saying.

Sero let out a bark of laughter. "What?!"

His words caught up to him and he raised his head with a grin. "Oh, yeah, I did this ceremony a couple of months back to align my energies with nature so I could become more powerful, and, uh, I guess today my efforts have come to fruition because a leaf has finally grown! I can be like Shiozaki-san in 1-B!"

"Bro, you have got to teach me to lie like that," Eijirou cackled.

"It's pretty easy. The first step is turning off your brain, and- ouch," he hissed as the brush caught in a knot.

"Sorry, Izuku-san," Momo said, trying to disentangle the bristles. "Oh, dear. This isn't going well."

"Yeah, it's struggle," Izuku agreed, raising his arms to help her tease his hair loose.

The door swung open and an anxious Jirou burst inside. "Is Midoriya-kun here yet?!"

Izuku waved a hand. "Here, Jirou-san. Sorry to make you worry."

"You're here now, that's what matters," she dismissed, looking totally frazzled as she twirled an earphone jack around her finger. "Everyone else ready? We're on in ten, so we'd better head backstage."

*

They gathered behind the curtain, whispering to one another and occasionally taking a peek at the packed audience. An incredible number of people had turned up to their performance, and the nerves were starting to show in his friends. He gently bumped shoulders with a particularly stressed-looking Kouji, lazily beaming up at his friend and squeezing their hands together reassuringly.

One minute before showtime, they all got into their places. Izuku lined up at the front of the stage with the other dancers. Jirou stood behind the mic, running through a few breathing exercises. The murmur of the audience got louder in anticipation.

Then, slowly, the blue curtains drew aside, and bright lights illuminated them from behind. It was a sea of faces in the darkness of the gym, easily enough for most of the school to have turned up. With so many people, he couldn't spot Eri or Mirio or his mum, but he knew they were there somewhere, and the thought made him grin excitedly. A chant of Momo's name swept through the audience.

The lights faded out, plunging them into darkness.

"Let's go, damn it!" Kacchan roared.

Centre stage was enveloped in a harmless explosion that shot skyward in a pillar of smoke and amber hues, and what followed was a blast of light and sound and movement. Izuku and the dancers instantly started the choreography as the first notes of the song growled out on electric guitar. Smoke wreathed around them, dragging on their clothes. Jirou's beautiful voice filled the gym, smooth and bright and comforting, swelling powerfully with the music as the chorus hit and all the dancers leapt into the air.

He lost himself in the joy of the moment. Music thrummed in his ribcage and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face. His friends were clearly enjoying themselves as well, each of them beaming and executing dance moves energetically.

Izuku activated One for All and dashed forwards, linking arms with Aoyama and sending them both spinning upwards. His friend twirled and sent tiny bouts of his Navel Laser throughout his hero costume, each small beam of light glittering like a shooting star above the crowd. Izuku leapt up to catch him again, grabbing onto the beam across the high ceiling and securing Aoyama into place with the rope harness. Aoyama grasped the remote control, gave a thumbs-up, and then started driving himself along the rails as he posed and illuminated the room with his Quirk when the second chorus hit.

The green-haired boy let himself drop back down, rotating wildly with green lightning coursing over his body, then pulled himself out of the dive at the last second and landed back in place to continue dancing. Confetti exploded across the crowd as doves burst from the rafters, alongside a ripple of tape strips and a surge of Shouto's ice, much to the audience's delight as their cheering grew deafening.

Aoyama came swinging back across towards the stage. Izuku jumped up and grabbed onto his harness in a glitter of green, catching sight of Tsu gripping onto the ceiling and swinging Ochako over the crowd with her tongue. Shouto raised his hand and Izuku nodded up at him. A chunk of ice was thrown down from the rafters and Izuku flicked his fingers, shattering it into snow with a single air bullet. They rolled along on the rails and Eijirou lifted another block of ice, which Izuku was quick to pulverise over the other section of the audience, sending delicate flakes cascading down.

Aoyama directed them back towards the stage and Izuku grinned at all the awed faces of the audience members who were floating amongst the doves and confetti, secured with Sero's tape. The song was drawing to an end and most of the dancers were up on the arching pathways of ice above the crowd, with Hagakure standing out the most as she refracted light into rainbows over her clothes. Izuku dropped onto stage and landed in a roll, stooping down to let Jirou sit on his shoulder and then standing up as she completed the final riff on her purple guitar.

The music faded out and the audience cheered harder, blocking out even the sound of Izuku's own breathing. He glanced up at his friend to see her expression of utter euphoria, eyes alight and lips pulled back in the widest grin he'd ever seen from her. Her chest was heaving and beads of sweat glistened on her face, showing how much passion she'd poured into her performance.

Izuku looked back at the audience, beaming.

He was so fucking proud.

*

He helped with the clean-up effort in the gym when the performance was over, heaving up great chunks of ice and placing them in buckets and on trolleys to transport them outside where Kacchan was melting it with his Quirk. There were lots of streamers littered over the floor, and Izuku was doing his best to guide it into a pile with concentrated blasts of air. Shouji swept up the smaller pieces with multiple brooms, then Tsu used a dustpan and brush to collect it and shovel it into a bin bag.

"Hey, good work!" Mirio called as he entered the gym.

Izuku turned around, peeking over the chunk of ice in his arms to beam at the newcomers. Mirio strode across the room with Eri next to him, and his mum padding behind with a handkerchief clenched in her hand and still sobbing too hard to say anything. The young man's eyes were slightly reddened as if he'd been crying, and the boy gave him a brief look of concern, then cast a fond smile at his proud mother, before glancing down at the tiny girl, whose cheeks were flushed in excitement.

"Hey, mum, Mirio-senpai! Eri-chan, what'd you think?" Izuku asked as he dropped the ice off on a trolley that Sero wheeled past.

Eri lit up again, whole expression bright with such pure joy that he wanted to cry. "At first there was a loud noise and it was scary, but then everyone was hopping with the dance-" She flung her arms into the air and Mirio copied her enthusiastically- "and then there was a flash and, Deku-san, you went away for a bit, but then it got cold and there was a spinning light, and a girl's voice said 'wow' and I said 'wow' too, and you were back on the stage and you picked up that girl and-"

Izuku couldn't hold back the tears, and his face was starting to hurt from smiling so wide. Eri went silent and stared up at him in mild concern, her fists balled by her chest and her big eyes gazing up at him. He reached down and gently lifted the girl into his arms, absolutely radiating glee. Inko observed with a soft smile, dabbing at her eyes with the soaked handkerchief, and Mirio gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"I'm so glad you had a good time!" Izuku told the girl, beaming.

Her perfect smile returned, and she stared at him with stars in her eyes.

*

Eri sat on Mirio's shoulders to watch the beauty pageant, since Izuku was... less than average height, regrettably. His mum stood next to them in the crowd, and he clasped their hands together happily, eager to finally spend some quality time with her and his found family. Kendou sliced cleanly through wooden boards with her bare hands, wearing a sleek blue dress. Next up was the support course third-year Kenranzaki, who rolled in on a giant gold statue of her own head. Then came Hado herself, using the golden wisps of her Quirk to perform an aerial dance in a fluffy teal dress. She spun around, visibly brightening when she spotted familiar faces in the crowd, and Izuku offered an energetic wave. The results would be revealed later, and the crowd thinned as everyone left to look at other attractions.

They gathered up by the stage when everyone else had dispersed, talking about what they wanted to check out next. Izuku wanted Eri to experience everything, and Mirio led them to the closest stall that looked fun, which was a photo point with different cut-outs. Shouto and Tenya stuck their heads through the Nedzu and UA building ones respectively, whilst Tokoyami took the picture and Kouji watched bemusedly as Izuku cackled at the silly sight.

Izuku then grabbed the stool and nudged it behind the All Might cut-out, just about managing to get to head height and push his face through the gap with a flawless All Might impersonation. Mirio tried to take a good picture but he was laughing too much to keep his phone steady, so he passed it over to Inko, although she wasn't much steadier as she giggled at her son's antics. There was another cut-out of the Pussycats in classic pose. Izuku noticed Eijirou walking past with Kaminari and hastily grabbed him, pulling him behind the cut-out with Mirio and Eri so the four of them could have a dumb group photo, taken by a snickering Kaminari.

Next up was the obstacle course. Eijirou and Kaminari had been heading there originally to meet up with Sero and Kacchan, so the group tagged along to check it out. Ojirou, Ashido, Shouji and Satou were already there, watching as another student tackled the course. Momo smiled warmly as Izuku, his mum, Eri, and Mirio stood next to her, informing them that Kacchan was already in line to compete, which made Eijirou sprint towards the start of the course with the intention of competing against his friend. They cheered when their friends finally emerged onto the track, watching as Kacchan instantly pulled ahead with a few slick leaps over the blockades, then dropped into a slide underneath beams whilst Eijirou opted to hop over the top. It grew pretty close towards the end of the course until Eijirou flubbed a jump, letting Kacchan lunge forwards and slam his hand down on the button. Eri seemed to realise that Izuku was a little biased towards his childhood friend and cheered a little louder for him. Kacchan himself tried to drag Izuku into a race, but he refused, and he didn't dare get any more aggressive with Inko right there.

The group headed over to the food stalls to meet up with Tsu and Ochako. There was so much delicious food to choose from and the mingling scents in the air had Izuku's mouth watering. Ochako handed over a crepe to Eri whilst Izuku and Tsu bought several more snacks, passing a few over to his mum who looked at her round figure doubtfully, but was quickly persuaded by both the girls and her son to enjoy herself. A familiar figure lurked in front of a closeby stall that sold cute biscuits shaped like cats, and Izuku grinned slyly, sidling up to his teacher and buying a few to split between them. Aizawa rolled his eyes but bit into the biscuit anyway, getting dragged into joining the group.

There was a haunted house further down the path, and Ashido wheedled Izuku into going inside with her, Kaminari, and Hagakure. He definitely wasn't going to take Eri in there, so he left her outside with his mum, Mirio, and Aizawa and let his arms get crushed half to death in Ashido's and Hagakure's grasps each time there was a jumpscare. He recognised a lot of the 1-B students as they leapt out at them in costume, some wearing frightening masks, some wielding fake weapons, and some pretending to be dead. The dim lighting, ominous notes, and blood splatters on the walls really added to the creepy atmosphere, making his companions flinch at every spooky noise – and, really, the only reason he didn't startle was because he cheated and went into his utterly-fearless-hero mode, but they didn't need to know that he was two seconds away from shrieking when something brushed past his ankles.

A limp, bloody body suddenly hung down from the rafters just in front of them, making Ashido, Kaminari, and Hagakure sprint away. Izuku paused and stared at Hitoshi, wondering how long he could go without blinking when some of the fake blood was dripping down his face.

"You're a very good corpse, Hitoshi-kun," he commented, making his upside-down friend snort.

"Shut up," Hitoshi mumbled.

"Hey, you remember that movie from before Quirks with the guy who was bit by a radioactive spider?" He asked innocently, stepping in closer.

His friend squinted suspiciously, head going red under all the make-up. "...what about it?"

"Spider-Man kiss!" Izuku chirped, cupping his friend's face and teasingly leaning in.

Hitoshi smacked both his hands onto the other boy's face, shoving him away with a groan. "Go away, Izuku!"

He was hoisted back up into the rafters as Izuku walked off, cackling. Ashido grabbed him when he emerged back out into the sunlight, dramatically sobbing about how she thought he'd been taken by the demons.

Mirio, Izuku, Inko, Eri, and Aizawa continued checking out the attractions as a very strange sort of family. Eri happily carried around a red balloon and alternated between being carried by Izuku and Mirio, very eager to stick close to them. In the support studio, Hatsume was showing off her baby, and it seemed someone had been brave enough to force her to take a bath because for the first time in weeks there wasn't a single smudge of grease or oil on her person. Whilst Mirio, Inko, Aizawa, Tsu, Ochako and Aoyama distracted Eri with little trinkets, Izuku slipped back to the dorms and snagged Satou, persuading him to help cook a toffee apple since there weren't any being sold. He returned to the group swiftly enough for no-one to have been worried about his absence, and they headed to an open stretch of grass to mess around in the warm sunlight.

The kids played a few games of tag after teaching Eri how to play, and decided to switch to team tag. Izuku instantly hoisted Eri onto his shoulders and ran away from Tsu and Ochako, all of them too breathless to laugh but doing so anyway. Mirio went to intercept, but Izuku dropped into a slide under his spread arms and instantly picked himself up to start sprinting again, turning around to stick his tongue out at his opponents.

When they'd exhausted themselves, they sat down on the grass with snacks and drinks to cool off, chatting happily about anything and everything. Ochako and Tsu were excited to get to chat with Inko again, and Izuku couldn't help but beam at the sight of them looking so perfectly familial. Even Aizawa was tugged into the silly banter, and he clearly enjoyed himself despite trying to seem stoic. He kept glancing at Eri whenever he thought no-one was looking, visibly softening at the sight of her blinding grin and excited babbling. Izuku caught his eye and gave a small, private smile, gaining a faint quirk of the lips in response before Aizawa looked away again and attempted to pretend he wasn't soft as hell for kids.

Izuku was nice enough to let him live in denial.

...for now.

The results were announced for the beauty pageant winner. Unsurprisingly, Hado came out on top with her ethereal aerial dance, and Izuku and his friends all cheered and whistled and whooped for her as she was crowned. Even Amajiki let out a soft, nervous cheer, staring up at his friend on the stage with proud eyes. Mirio was a lot less reserved in his celebrations, bouncing up and down with Eri and hollering, encouraging her to do the same as confetti sprinkled down around them.

Amber hues oozed across the sky as evening arrived, and they headed to the front gate which was all decked out in bunting, balloons, and fun decals. Letters were tacked up on the arch, creatively using the 'A' in the UA logo to complete the word 'FESTIVAL.' Snipe was leaning against the wall, still on guard until the day ended and everyone was safely packed up. Tsu and Ochako had left to take Inko back to her flat. Aizawa and Mirio were waiting with their hands in their pockets at the edge of the pavement, watching as Izuku and Eri faced once another.

"Thanks for today! It was fun!" He enthused.

Eri gave a small hum of agreement, crimson gaze locked onto the ground. She looked a little upset that the day was over so soon, clasping her hands in front of her torso and drawing in her shoulders. Sadness just wouldn't do.

"Eri-chan," he said softly, moving his arm from behind his back and crouching down as he held out a homemade toffee apple. "Surprise!"

"A toffee apple!" Mirio exclaimed in shock. "They were selling them?! I couldn't find any!"

"I looked at the programme and thought there might not be any, so I bought ingredients for it when I went out this morning," he explained, glancing up at his friend with a grin. "With Satou-kun's help, it was super easy to make."

Eri stared at the bright red toffee apple in wonder, grasping the stick delicately and raising it to her face to take a tentative bite. Her teeth clacked quietly against the solid sugar, and she blinked in consideration.

"Well, you should be able to see her again soon," Aizawa said, all three of them fondly watching the girl.

"It's even sweeter!" She breathed with a happy giggle.

"I'll make it again!" Izuku promised eagerly. "Look forward to it!"

"I will!"

~

YEAH i included Izuku more in the dance bc i love him and he deserves it, don't look at me

""Spider-Man kiss!" Izuku chirped, cupping his friend's face and teasingly leaning in." - for the record, izuku wouldn't have actually kissed him, bc that would be weird (:

"Letters were tacked up on the arch, creatively using the 'A' in the UA logo to complete the word 'FESTIVAL.'" - literally half the fun of writing this fic is noticing little background details like this, i love it so much

(god i hate wattpad formatting so much, i centered the above text and for some reason the Entire Story Text also moved to the centre. i'm going to go feral)

(bloody HELL now the whole editor has broken oh my god i HATE this stupid hellsite oh my GOD)
(i closed and re-opened the chapter and everything was miraculously fixed. yeah, i see you wattpad, you ain't slick.)
(i'm not daring to centre this A/N again,,,, it's fine)

FANART!!

From Narynlin/Nalinryn on Discord and Instagram, respectively!

(what a soft and good boy!! his smile is so cute and his EYES they're so SHINY and innocent!! yet we all know he's a little gremlin child,,,, he's perfect, i love him, thank you :pleading:)

(POG there's moreee what a talented cutie!!! these two are so adorable omg i LOVE them, eri is so small and perfect, look at her little expressioN! and then aizawa's just totally done but not rude enough to stop her LMAAOO i love this tysmmm <33)