MHA Fanfiction: Inbound

The After

Iylla's POV

"Did I close my fist around something delicate? Did I shatter you?" I sang into the microphone, playing the piano gently simultaneously. "The fast times, the bright lights, the merry go. Sorry for not making you my centerfold."

It had been a week since I dropped out of UA, and now I was working full time at my Uncle Shawn's restaurant, The Fifth Note, as an entertainer. It was pretty simple for the most part. All I had to do was get up and sing a song every half hour. So yeah, pretty simple. Though, as someone who's never worked a day in their life, I was proud of the money I was making on my own. 

"The question pounds my head, "What's a lifetime of achievement?""  My fingertips pressed against the piano keys, effortlessly creating an environment for me to wonder, what was a lifetime of achievement?. "Lost again with no surprises. Disappointments, close your eyes. And it gets colder and colder."

I looked into the crowd, annoyed by the wave of people taking videos of me. 

Yes, I know. It's Iylla Aizawa, daughter of the number nine hero. How amazing. I thought sarcastically. A lot of the crowd was only here because the topic of everyone's dinner table chatter was, but I saw someone who was here to say hi to his girlfriend. Tenya noticed me notice him and waved, sending me thumbs up. 

"I'm on a bench in Coney Island wondering where did my baby go?" Suppressing a relieved grin, I continued. "Sorry for not making you my centerfold."

My hands dropped from the keyboard, resting on my thighs. The crowd erupted in a cacophony of noise, clapping, cheering, and hollering. I stood. Standing before the masses, I allowed them time to see me. 

Originally, Uncle Shawn asked me to smile and bow, but then he told me to stop before I scared away the customers. Apparently, my smile is not as inviting as other people's. So now I just stood at center stage, hopefully not looking murderous.

As the applause started to die down, I walked off stage. I said it was a stage, but really it was a raised circular platform with a piano on it. The platform stage was in the center of the building, so no matter where I wanted to go, I had to go through people.

I headed for the manager's office.

"Iylla, I love you!" A youngish customer, maybe around my age, blocked off my escape. "Will you please marry me?" 

"Oh, uh," Suprised, I took a few steps back. "Thank you for your affection?"

I tried brushing past him, but the customer held onto my wrist. He pulled me in, but I resisted his tug. 

"You're so beautiful! Please marry me!" 

I yanked my wrist of his grip. He reached for me again. Before he could touch me, security held onto his arms. The two security men led the customer to the front door, blocking his reentry. I ran my hands down my face, eager to abandon this side of celebrity.

Since starting work at The Fifth Note, my Uncle Shawn's had to hire security officers and bouncers. The bouncers were for making sure that everybody who entered had a reservation, and the security was for people who came trying to get a little too close to me.

Sighing, I dashed to Uncle Shawn's office, catching snippets of conversations as I did.

"They're hiring villains here now?" One woman said, looking rich. "Guess The Fifth Note took a turn for the worst."

At another table, two children stared in awe. "Do you think she could kill a humongous villain?!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Probably easily too! She can just put them inside her purple bubble and squish them dead!"