Preparing For The School Festival

The next day, Ashido performs an impressive dance in class. The nerd asks her to teach him, looking incredibly awkward. Let’s not even consider how awkward I would look attempting that dance—we're talking about the nerd here. Uraraka leans in, quietly encouraging him, making his face red. Meanwhile, I tune them out and start doodling in my notebook beside Aya-chan, who is hunched over her notes in 2D. Aya-chan notices, straightens her posture, and says, “Oooo, Kai-chan! Can you draw me a cherry blossom tree? It would really liven up the page.” I smirk, grab a brown marker, and quickly sketch the tree trunk, intentionally leaving empty shapes for pink petals to stand out. Since class is starting soon, I focus on speed rather than detail.

I finish drawing the last few cascading petals as Mr. Aizawa, still in his unzipped yellow sleeping bag, announces the school festival. The class erupts in excitement, but I feel my chest tighten. I’ve never liked these festivals—seeing everyone’s happy families used to frustrate me, almost like they were mocking what I didn’t have. Memories sting, and old emotions stir just beneath the surface. At that moment, Sir Floof comes out and drapes his ribbons over my shoulders, grounding me in the present. Aya-chan writes in her notebook and flashes it to me while she stays in my notebook. “What’s wrong?” she asks, and then passes me her notebook so I can write my response. I sigh, feeling calmer because of Sir Floof’s ribbons, and write her the abridged version of how I’m feeling.

Aya-chan reads my response, clutches her chest, and tears up. I watch her, emotion tightening my throat. She says, “Well, this year is different. You not only have me, but also Mom and Dad, who will be coming to the School Festival… assuming family is allowed due to increased security.” My right eye waters as I feel comforted by her words. The warmth lingers even as Mr. Aizawa appears to fall asleep mid-instruction, so Ida leads the class. I blink away the moisture, distracted by the class’s debate over ridiculous festival ideas. I almost agree with Kaminari’s idea until he turns it into a fantasy, destroying my image of Aya-chan feeding me in a maid’s uniform. Noticing my silence, Aya-chan leans in and whispers, “What are you thinking about, Kai-chan?”

I clear my throat, blushing and looking away: "Y-you feeding me dressed as a maid." She bites her lip and replies in a sultry voice, "Mmmm. I would serve you in all kinds of ways, my mistress." My nose bleeds, and she hands me a tissue while smiling ear to ear. Still flustered, I whisper, "If anyone is the m-mistress, it is you, Aya-chan." Our classmates notice, and Kaminari laughs, "Looks like Kubo was teasing Sekai again. I wonder what she said?" Shoji says, "They were having their own maid fantasy, not suitable for school." The class erupts in laughter as I pull up the hood of my hoodie to hide my blush, wishing I could disappear.

By the end of the period, we still haven't decided what to do as a class. Mr. Aizawa warns us that if we don’t choose, our class contribution will be a lecture. When he says this, everyone groans at once, showing nobody wants a lecture. I personally don’t mind, since it wouldn’t be embarrassing at the festival. Later, I sit through English and Japanese with Present Mic. His loud voice pounds in my head, and I had to warn Squash not to come out until I told her it was safe. She would definitely lose control of her quirk around Present Mic.

After classes, we sit in the dorms' common area, contemplating what our class should do for the festival. Everyone is brainstorming, and Todoroki seems inspired by Ashido’s dance idea. I don't like where it’s heading, but Aya-chan is totally into it, so I keep my mouth shut. Todoroki pulls up a concert video, filling me with dread. He agrees with Ida that our performance should provide stress relief for students stuck on campus. I clear my throat, feeling guilty, since I’m the main reason everyone is confined here, even though we have an off-campus apartment.

If anyone found that out, we would be so hated.

We all turn to Jiro, the class musician, who shifts her gaze to the floor and hugs her notebook closer, clearly shy about her music and reluctant to play for everyone. Toru gently grabs her hand, giving a reassuring squeeze and saying, “But you are such a good teacher, and you always look like you are having fun when you sing.” Jiro shrugs, looking away as she says, “My music is just a hobby. It won't help with hero work.” Koda smiles and says, “Why not use your music to make people smile? It will definitely be useful as a pro!” Yaomomo puts a hand on Jiro’s shoulder to support her and says she doesn’t have to do it, but Jiro grins and replies, “After what you said, if I didn’t, that wouldn’t rock at all.” The class cheers at the idea. Everyone retires for the evening, excited about the festival, while Aya-chan and I start our routine to return to our apartment.

After classes the next day, we brainstorm what kind of music to play. Jiro takes the lead since the others make little progress. She notes how hard it’ll be to teach and practice simultaneously, so she asks if anyone has experience. I don’t, but the spiky bastard apparently can play drums—and he doesn’t suck. I want to complain, but just sigh and accept that’s thanks to a great, nurturing childhood. I can’t help but scowl at the idea.

Bakugo gives the class a motivational speech, glancing at me often. Each look needles me—he keeps alluding to my kidnapping, which pisses me off. He stands up abruptly, fists clenched, and says, "It wasn't our fault we were targeted." I smack my teeth in irritation, crossing my arms; I don't want his defense. The class gets pumped when he points at everyone and declares, "We must give a killer performance." Excitement surges through the room. Yaomomo raises her hand, announcing that she can play piano. The energy shifts as classmates lean forward and throw out ideas for special effects, and Aya-chan grins, suggesting we create a 2D backdrop for backup dancers.

Toru says we still need a singer, and it has to be Jiro. Kirishima, the perv, and Twinkle Toes try to sing but do terribly. Squash retreats to her pokéball with a bad headache. Those assholes made my friend’s headache worse. Toru reiterates how Jiro rocked when she taught us instruments. Jiro starts singing; her voice is beautiful. Tsu says, “Ayaka, can’t you sing too? I heard you humming, and it sounded good. Ribbit.” Aya-chan blushes, takes the mic, and sings a song I could listen to forever. Jiro perks up and asks, “Can you be my harmony?” Aya-chan flashes her hero smile, “Sure.”

Yaomomo looks at me and says, “Sekai can draw those beautiful cherry blossom petals like in class, and Ayaka can bring them into 3D. Then, during the performance, Sekai can drop them from above the stage!” I like that idea—out of the spotlight and making Aya-chan look mystical. The class is on board. I give a thumbs up: “Then I guess I should get started. We’ll need a ton for this to work. Later losers.” Aya-chan bonks me gently on the head and turns to Jiro, “Let me know when you want to practice.”

Yaomomo giggles, “You two remind me of Fumiaki and Hanzo.” Aya-chan laughs, “How could we be men?” She approaches Yaomomo, asking with a playful tone, “Wait, do you want me to be Fumiaki?” Yaomomo blushes, “No, not at all! I just can’t help thinking it.” The class echoes the sentiment. We excuse ourselves and teleport to our apartment with Toru and Tsu.

At the apartment, Aya-chan pops us back into 3D form. We drop onto the sofa in front of the broken coffee table and begin brainstorming. Tsu points at the table, asking, “Ribbit? What happened here?” Aya-chan laughs, “Garlic broke it by accident, but we told Ryuko it broke while we were being intimate. She was alarmed and came over to check on us.” Everyone laughs. Tsu says, “Wow, I didn’t know you’re next-door neighbors to Ryukyu. That makes me feel a lot better, having you here. Ribbit.” Toru, bringing the conversation back: “Soooo, how do we get our classmates off the Fumiaki and Hanzo thing?”

We all groan. Aya-chan sighs, “We can’t be in the same place at the same time.” She pauses, inspired. “Wait, I got it! We just have to be in the same place at the same time! How good are you guys at transformation magic? Could you transform into us?” She gestures at our feminine forms. Tsu quickly shifts into me, and Toru becomes Ayaka. Aya-chan laughs as the plan forms. She adds, “We can use our donation to the school as cover. Now, we just have to decide when.”

On Saturday after classes, everyone practices for the performance. Those in the band and dance team are practicing, and I am drawing a fuck ton of cherry blossom petals using pastel pencils to make them look very realistic. While I am doing that, Aya-chan is practicing with Jiro and the rest of the band. I spend my days like this over the few weeks we prepare for the festival. I made so many cherry blossom petals that several garbage bags are filled to the brim with them. I also helped Aya-chan draw the backdrop we are using for our performance, and she is making a huge cherry blossom tree in the center that spreads out wide under a starry night sky with a waning moon. We decided to wait a couple of weeks before putting ‘Operation: We Aren’t Celebrities’ into motion. We have gone to Kyushu to sell more gems, so we have ample funds for the donation. We have a plan and everything.

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It has been two weeks since we learned our roles for the school festival, and we talked the principal into helping us with our little operation. He offered to give ‘Fumiaki’ and ‘Hanzo’ a tour of the school. While on that tour, we will stop by Class 1-A so they can see us and our male personas together. We will be visiting the other dorms too, so there is no suspicion. While in the principal’s office, Principal Nezu says, “You know, since the new dorm systems were put in place after your kidnapping incident, the students have been on edge. In lieu of this, I think it would be a good idea if your disguises came to our festival as well. I am sure that many people would be beaming with excitement to see you.”

He gets up adorably from his chair and says, “How about we do the tour now? Change forms and teleport outside near the front gate, and Jewel and I will go collect you. Be sure to have the funds for your donation as well, for appearances' sake.” We nod, and Aya-chan says, “Give us a few minutes to put on designer clothes. Fumiaki and Hanzo wouldn’t make an appearance like this.” She says, looking down at our school uniforms. Principal Nezu chuckles, “Well, that was a given, Miss Kubo. I can only imagine the laughs Fumiaki would get in the UA girls’ uniform. Though it would most definitely be popular for the same reason. Text me from your other phone when you are at the gate.” Aya-chan shoots him a thumbs up and smiles that hero smile of hers, then we combine our quirks and go home to change.

We changed into our designer clothes and came back to UA, and Principal Nezu was at the gate on Jewel’s back, waiting for us while standing next to Miss Midnight, who also seemed to be escorting us today. I carried a briefcase full of yen while walking at Fu-chan’s side. Principal Nezu says, “Thank you for joining us today, Mr. Fumiaki and Mr. Hanzo. I do hope you enjoy our facilities.” Miss Midnight introduces herself to us, “I'm Midnight. It is a pleasure to meet you both, Fumiaki and Hanzo.” Fu-chan takes her hand with charm and is trying to keep her cool and says, “The pleasure is all mine, Miss Midnight. I must apologize ahead of time if I lose composure around you since I am a huge fan.”

Miss Midnight purrs, “Ooooo. You know exactly what to say to a lady. How pleasurable, even if it is nothing but charm.” Fu-chan loses composure a little and says passionately while blushing a bit, “I meant it when I said that I was a fan, Miss Midnight. I want to use my position to be a role model for men so women can feel free to be themselves and feel safe and not sexualized.” Miss Midnight bites her lip, “Mmmm. Such passion. I will need you to stop before I invite you over to make me feel safe personally.” Fu-chan is blushing hard, and I want to tease her, but I am scared that she may accidentally use her quirk. I clear my throat to de-escalate her emotions and derail the conversation slightly.

Miss Midnight smirks at me and says, “Did you not like me hitting on Fumiaki?” I smack my teeth, look away, and pretend to check the progress the students are making for the festival, while ignoring Miss Midnight with a slight attitude. I normally wouldn’t ignore her; however, I am not Sekai at the moment. I am Hanzo. Fu-chan seems to have regained her composure while Miss Midnight giggles seductively at my response. Principal Nezu says, “Now that introductions are out of the way, let us take care of the donation first so you aren’t carrying the briefcase the entire tour.” We nodded and followed them to a private room where Principal Nezu had tea prepared for us that seemed to have been prepared by All Might.

He isn’t aware of our disguised identities either, and he introduces himself, “Good afternoon, gentlemen. I was tasked with acting as one of your bodyguards while you are temporarily on campus. Principal Nezu seems to think that your presence may cause an uproar amongst the students and that a little extra security might be necessary.” Fu-chan bows respectfully to him, “Thank you so much for the consideration, All Might. We would be honored to have such an esteemed hero to be our escort.” We all sit down, and we open the briefcase with the yen for the principal, and he says, “Everything seems to be in order. You will need to verify the amount on this form and sign here, and the carbon copy will be for your records if you would like to write off the donation as charity for your tax records.”

Fu-chan nods and fills out the form, initials, and signs where indicated. Once she is done, the principal carefully tears the form from the carbon copy and hands it to me. I fold it carefully and place it in my pocket until we can put it in our apartment safe for safekeeping. We decided to keep anything important for these personas of ours that can’t be tattoos in the safe for safekeeping. Principal Nezu takes the forms, places them in a folder marked for donations, and then places the folder in a locked cabinet. Once it is secured, he says, “Let’s get this tour started, shall we?” We are going to wait to let them know to change into us, so we minimize how much magic they use. They can’t hold their transformations as long as we can. Our classmates are all at the dorms preparing for the school festival, so we'll text them when we are heading that way.

There were lots of girls wanting photo ops with us, so we obliged and respectfully kept our hands off their waists in the photos, only hovering as we usually do in fan interactions. Since they are being respectful and not crossing boundaries, All Might doesn’t intervene. Though his presence is probably keeping them in check.

Miss Midnight says, as we are in between fan girls/boys, “Wow, you boys are quite popular. You have our students wrapped around your fingers.” I blush and turn away from her while clearing my throat, and Miss Midnight says, “In all seriousness, I appreciate you boys not using your position to cop a feel from the students.” Fu-chan says, flashing her charming hero’s smile, “Well, I meant it when I said that I want to be a good role model for men. Just because we are popular doesn’t give us permission to touch anyone.”

Miss Midnight bites her lip, “Mmmm. I initially was joking when I said I would invite you over personally, but the more you talk, the more I want to invite you over sincerely. Would you ever consider being a little naughty?” Principal Nezu clears his throat and says, “Please keep in mind your environment. Also, these boys are barely of age, so it would be almost predatory to court them in that manner, Midnight.” Thanks for the save, Principal Nezu. I didn’t think about our disguises’ ages, but apparently, we are 18, not 15, in these forms, according to Principal Nezu’s improvisation just now. The age difference would help solidify the differences in our personas, though, so we go along with it. Miss Midnight sighs in disappointment, “You seem like you are in your 20s. Such a shame.”

Principal Nezu continues while looking at the students freaking out about us, “Seeing my student body’s reaction to your presence, I would like to formally request your presence at the festival the day of as well. Is that alright with you? We would make sure you have an escort for protection in case anyone crosses any boundaries of any sort.” Fu-chan says, obviously concerned about our concert, “We do have prior engagements on that day, but depending on how long you need us, we may be able to do it.” Principal Nezu responded, “I am aware of your prior engagement, and it shouldn’t be an issue. I was thinking of you possibly doing the opening speech to lift the students’ spirits and maybe doing a meet and greet later, after your prior engagement.” Fu-chan responds, “Then I guess it should be fine.”

We stopped by the beauty pageant preparation area, where the contestants and one shy guy were all excited to see us. I recognize him as one of the big three who came to our class, though I don’t remember his name. The shy guy was really cute and approached me instead of Fu-chan, asking, very flustered, for encouragement from that annoying girl with long light blue hair (also in the big three; also forgot her name because she pissed me off that day we initially met). He says very flustered, “E-e-excuse m-me, H-hanzo. I r-really admire you and your c-courage to love F-fumiaki so openly. C-could I take a p-picture with you?” I nodded and hovered my hand over his waist as his friend with the swirly hair took our picture, smiling. Both of us were a little flustered with scowling looking faces, and she giggled, looking at it and said, “This is so adorable. I have to show Togota.”

The shy guy panics and reaches for her phone, but she keeps it away from him in a teasing manner, “P-please don’t show Mirio! I haven’t even told him I like him like that yet. What if he misunderstands?” He mutters the last part so the others in the room don’t hear, except us, and she giggles in amusement. He whines in that depressive tone of his, “Maaaann, this is so embarrassing.” He steps in front of the wall to hide his face. That is one way to hide a blush. Fu-chan nudges me to talk with him, and I sigh, and I lean against the wall next to him, pretending not to look at him with my arms crossed. I clear my throat and ask him, “Hey, so would you like me to be there when you tell him your feelings or something?” I blush a little, since this is a bit embarrassing for me, too. He blushes more, “I w-would be even more nervous if you were there, Hanzo.”

I sigh and try to think of something, “Tsk. Ok, then, would you maybe like to take him out to eat at The Golden Geisha on a date or something? We could foot the bill for you.” He says, beet red, “How can someone as dim as me ask out someone as bright as Mirio? He is as bright as the sun; meanwhile, I am me.” I opened up to him a little and sighed, “I feel that way every minute I am with Fu-chan. He is just so bright and warm like the sun as well, and he loves someone as rough around the edges as I am. We became lovers after I was honest with him about my feelings. You will never know how he feels unless you talk to him.” He says while still flustered, “T-thanks for talking with me, Hanzo. Would it be alright for me to work up courage before taking you up on your offer?”

I nod and wave Fu-chan over and ask her, “Fu-chan, why don’t you give him your number?” Fu-chan says to him, “I don’t mind as long as he doesn’t give the number out to the fan girls.” The girl with the long light blue hair chuckles, “You don’t have to worry about that since it requires talking to them. Right, Amajiki?” He mutters while still looking at the wall, “R-right.” Amajiki passes his phone to Fu-chan, who puts her ‘Fumiaki’ number in his contacts and hands it back. I hope he can relay his feelings to ‘weird eyes’.

Principal Nezu gave us a heads up when we were heading to the dorms while narrating the tour for us, so Fu-chan could discreetly message our friends so they could prepare and turn into us at the dorms. Toru couldn’t sing in Fu-chan’s place, so she and Tsu pretended to play hooky like we often do to make out while they conducted rehearsal. We got to the dorms, and the dance team, who had just started practicing out front, stopped, and the girls squealed. Ashido says excitedly, “Are they who I think they are?” We remove our shades, and they all come over to introduce themselves excitedly. Ashido says to our classmates, “I know Hagakure will beat herself up for missing you hunks. She and Tsu went to fetch two of our classmates who have a tendency to run off to make out.”

Fu-chan chuckles, knowing that she is talking about us, and smiles her charming smile. The others in our class heard the commotion from inside, and Tsu and Toru came out, disguised as us, along with the others. Yaomomo looked at us and said, “Wow, you really are two different people.” Fu-chan teases Toru and says, “I see you are still copying our relationship dynamic.” Toru says while pretending to be pissed off, “Tsk. I already told you that we started dating before we even knew who you were. Just leave us alone already.” Fu-chan chuckles in that masculine manner of hers, “Why, when picking on you is so fun?” Toru smacks her teeth, as does Tsu.

Tsu really has my face down and is convincingly me. Tsu tells off Fu-chan, “Back off, lover boy. The only one who can tease her is me.” Tsu grits her teeth to prevent saying her habitual “ribbit”, but it sells her impression of me even more. Fu-chan chuckles and says, “How cute. You really do remind me of my precious Hanzo.” Toru says convincingly while shielding Tsu from her, “You have your own tsundere, lover boy. Leave mine alone.” Fu-chan smirks and says, “It isn’t often I run into a couple with a similar dynamic, can’t a guy have a little fun?”

Tsu bares her teeth and pulls on Toru’s sleeve like I would do Aya-chan and says, “Tsk. Let’s just go back inside and leave these losers.” They leave back inside the dorms, to where they drop their magic, while Fu-chan distracts our classmates with a photo op. Toru and Tsu return to their original forms, change clothes, then return and ask to take pictures with us as well. Fu-chan is smiling a very bright smile, like she is having the time of her life right now, and she definitely burns bright like the sun, like ‘weird eyes’ is for Amajiki.