Heroes of Tomorrow

Part 49~Picking Roles

"Okay, so does that mean everybody else'll be dancing?" Ojiro asked as Iida hummed.

"I'm not really sure this is enough to get the audience excited."

"In that video we saw earlier-" Todoroki couldn't finish when Mina rushed in.

"We've gotta have special effects." The class was confused as Mina pulled up a video. "See, they use sparks and streamers and a disco ball to fire everyone up. We gotta be extra to set the right mood!"

"Ooh, let's pull out all the stops and make it look like an explosion of lights, you guys," Hagakure shouted as Akiko's entire body lit up.

"Oh! I can help with those! My brother did a backstage degree, and he taught me a thing or two. Plus, I had a huge love for all things special effects and props a few years ago!" Akiko looked the happiest she had been since the idea was decided.

"You know a lot?" Mina tilted her head in surprise.

"Well, more I have a lot of contacts and did a few online courses. Plus, between my engineer dad, my coding brother and my mother's desperate need to bond with me, I learned a bunch of random stills like wood and metalwork. Oh, and my brother and I could rig up some projections. I've been working on my digital art and animation recently! And we could use our quirks such as Aoyama's laser and Mina's acid to create all kinds of effec-" Akiko suddenly stopped. "And I'm rambling."

"Wow, Aki! Who knew you could do all that?!" Mina grinned as Akiko blushed.

"I like keeping myself busy, and my family is a pretty random collection of skills, so I picked up some random stuff. I can also needle felt, do archery and make paper from old clothes, but those are less useful skills."

"Okay, all in favour of Akiko running the special effects?" Jiro raised a hand as she laughed.

Akiko blushed slightly, fidgeting as the class all cheered for her.

"We're putin' this party on in the gym, is that right?" Sato glanced at Iida as he nodded.

"Mr. Aizawa has already made the arrangements for us."

"Hold up! How's this for an idea? Uraraka makes Todoroki and Kirishima float, and then Kirishima chops away at Todoroki's ice and sends it flying. Then Aoyama can be a mirror ball, and the light twinkling off him, and the ice will make it look like it's raining stardust! And we can call them 'Team Snowmen'!"

The class grinned, praising Mina's idea as Akiko hummed. "Kirishima needs to make sure the ice snaps off in small enough pieces to avoid hurting someone, but otherwise, it could work."

"You want moi to be a disco ball?" Aoyama glanced over his shoulder as he began to spin. "I was born to do this."

"I can see it. The gym will look spectacular," Momo praised as Iida nodded.

"Agreed! This is just what we all needed."

"We'll have to have a crew working behind the scenes to pull this off, though," Hagakure nodded as Akiko hummed.

"Yeah, depending on how fancy we go will depend on the ratio. We should come up with a vague plan first and then refine it after we have a song and dance routine. Then we can organise who will be in front and who will be in the back based on the number of hands we need and who we need for the special effects." Akiko grinned as the door opened.

"Sounds like you're all better organised." Uzu grinned as he bounced up to Jiro and Momo.

"Yep, and you'll be playing guitar." Jiro grinned as Uzu blinked.

"Hell yeah! I'm up for it."

The class smiled as they caught the rest up with the plan.

"I see. So we've decided to go with rock rock club music for our performance?" Tsu tilted her head as Kirishima hummed.

"Having Jiro on the bass and Yaoyorozu on keyboards makes sense for sure but," Kirishima continued as Uraraka took over.

"Bakugo on the drums is kind of... how do I put it?"

"Shocking," Hagakure suggested, making Bakugo growl and shout.

"Question," Tsu interrupted. "Who'll be singing? Isn't that the most important thing?"

"Well, we haven't figured that part out yet," Jiro announced as Uzu frowned.

"Wait, I thought you would be singing?"

Jiro blinked in surprise as the other students started hyping themselves up. They were not good singers.

"I'm with Uzu, it's gotta be you, Jiro!" Hagakure stepped closer as the others nodded. "When you were teaching us how to play instruments in your room, your singing was super cool! I know you'll bring the house down!"

"Come on. It wasn't that great. Maybe we-" Jiro struggled as Uzu jumped forward, wrapping an arm around Jiro's shoulders.

"No, you're the best!"

"You're just saying that," Jiro claimed as she blushed. Hagakure didn't accept this, shoving a mic in her face.

Jiro took a deep breath as Uzu held up his thumbs. She took a deep breath as she began to sing. "You know everyone wants to sparkle like the stars in the night sky. In this wondrous place filled with all the dreams. I've been wishing for, waiting for the chance."

Her voice bounced around angelically, blowing everyone away with its pure melody. The second she finished, the class cheered.

"All right! I'd call this a unanimous decision," Iida announced as Jiro blushed, unable to cope with the praise.

Uzu grinned, hugging Jiro tightly. "You're so amazing! My girlfriend is so amazing!"

Jiro blushed harder, hiding in Uzu's arms. "Well, moving that aside, we know Uzu will play one guitar, but I was thinking of having two!"

The class began rushing about, deciding what they wanted to do, when Tokoyami picked up a guitar, playing extremely well.

"It's like that riff is speaking directly to my heart," Kirishima grinned as Shoji stared in shock.

"You can play? Why didn't you say anything?"

Tokoyami lowered his head. "I put down the axe when I was bested by the F chord."

The group stared in shock as Momo pulled out a file, writing down everyone's roles. A little after 1 in the morning, it finally came.

"Everybody's role in the festival has been decided. We've got the band team," Iida announced, looking at Jiro, Momo, Uzu, Bakugo and Tokoyami. "And the effects team," he announced next, containing Koda, Kirishima, Todoroki, Aoyama and Akiko. "And the dance team," which included everyone else. "Rest up, guys. Starting tomorrow, we're hard at work!"

The students cheered as Akiko sighed. "I don't care. I just want sleep."

Uzu chuckled, patting her shoulder. "Good job for staying up this late."

"I have never stayed up this late before in my life. I hate it."

Kirishima blinked as he snapped his fingers together. "Wait, we never worked out what Naka would be doing?"

Akiko froze, her shoulders tensing. "It's too late to talk about him."

"If he did show up to the meeting, it isn't up to us," Mina announced before she tapped her chin. "But considering how unreliable he is being, I suggest he goes on the special effects team."

Akiko blinked, giving Mina an exhausted look. "Did I do something to offend you?!"

"No, no." Mina chuckled as she waved her hands about. "It's just he's not reliable enough to learn the dance movements, and if he's out, it would look really bad. Plus, if anyone here can find a job for him, it would be you."

Akiko sighed. "Mina, remind me in the morning I agreed to this, or I will forget this conversation ever happened, and he will be doing nothing."

"Is that really a bad thing? He's not exactly jumping around to help."

Akiko sighed, slumping off to the elevator. "Too tired to debate."