Lemillion To One

Chapter 13

It wasn't your injury causing you the most pain today.

More like the pressing ache in your heart was what hurt the most.

After all, the infirmary was positioned in the thick of the school, so you couldn't exactly avoid the crack of party poppers that echoed across the grounds as they announced the beginning of the Festival. You even saw some pieces of colourful confetti drift down past the window just a moment afterwards.

Of course, the sun had decided to foul your mood even more by presenting itself prominently over the school; blessing the attendees with a beautiful, warm day to compliment the festivities.

How it peeved you so.

The sounds of cheer and frivolity surrounded you in a wall of happiness; all the while you were stuck in the crisp linen of your hospital bed. Recovery Girl had given you a somewhat drawn-out kiss on the forehead and you had finally recovered from the wooziness of your treatment. Honestly, you would have preferred to have been knocked out from it all so you wouldn't have to deal with the feeling of being isolated from the joy outside.

Well, you weren't completely isolated.

Your phone dinged with another text message, and you knew what it would be before you even glanced at it. Mirio had taken it upon himself to give you a play by play of the whole day through pictures. Already, he had sent three photos to you; one of him dressed in his casuals holding a hand written sign that said Miss You, Angel scribbled on it in a red pencil. The second was a picture of Eri, a glimmer of elation in her eyes as Mirio was the one with her today; captioned with "Ready to go!" at the bottom. The third one was the two of them out the front of the school by a brightly painted archway; waving at the camera which he followed up with a message.

[Wish you were here.]

This new photo was considerably darker than the others and they were surrounded by a throng of people in the background. You guessed that they had made their way to the gymnasium and were waiting for the first years' performance to begin. You let out a sharp exhale through your nose and twitched a hint of a smile as you responded.

[Have fun. Stay safe.]

Mirio's phone buzzed in his pocket and he glanced down at the screen quickly at your message. He had Eri balanced on his shoulder so she could see above the crowd of heads before them so he couldn't take the time to text you back properly. A part of him felt like he may have been annoying you with his frequent updates, but a different part ached for your company. At least this way, he hoped that you didn't feel excluded from everything.

"It's cold." Eri said quietly and he snapped his attention to her.

"It gets a bit of a draught in here." Mirio said, shifting her to balance her better. "But there's a lot of people in here! It'll probably warm up when they start dancing too!"

"Deku's going to be dancing." Eri said, looking expectantly at the stage.

"It's going to be tons of fun!" Mirio grinned at his little comrade. "I hope it starts soon!"

More and more students filled in behind them, and members of faculty spotted around the outskirts of the gym; keeping watch while also waiting to witness the spectacle that had made buzz around the campus. After ten minutes, the lights dimmed to black and the crowd began to murmur excitedly. The curtains opened slowly and cast a light over the front of the crowd as shadowy figures stood in their shires atop the stage.

"Eri, can you see?" Mirio asked, but she looked at the stage; eyes scanning for the one person she was interested in seeing.

A small group began to chant the name "Yaoyorozu!" which rippled through the rest of onlookers until the crowd was all crying out as one.