UNMASKED (mha)

2

"WHO ARE YOU YOU?!"

"I'M AIKO ZHU!!!!"

"Then get out there and tell them that!!!!! They're waiting on you Aiko!! They're cheering for you!!"
Nishi said, giving her shoulders a slight shake.

Aiko nodded and turned. Walking back into the spotlight.

💖💖💖

"Oh no."
Mina whispered, turning her head to try and peer off stage.
"Is she okay?"

"I don't know."
Kirishima said looking around. He knew this must be really awful for his shy friend. Aiko hated attention.

And yet she was doing this.

Maybe that wasn't true. Though he didn't believe her anxiety was faked. So this just didn't make sense.

After a few minutes their throats were raw as they cheered for her. The second row yelling louder than the others.

Until she walked out, she was slow at first before it turned into a jog. She stopped center stage.

"Sorry!"
She said into her mic.
"Sorry about that! This has just been really... stressful to be honest."

They noticed the stage being cleared. The band walking off stage. The drummer, who they recegnized as her friend Hotoki Rose gave her a pat on the back and pulled up a chair for her.
"Thanks."
She said, close enough to the mic for the sound system to pick it up.

Hotoki nodded and jogged off stage, leaving Aiko alone in the spot light.

"Hey."
She said nervously, flipping her bangs away from her face.
"Sorry for the slight delay, but we have about five minutes before the next set. I'm going to spend it just talking, but feel free to use this to go get some food and stuff."

She sighed as the crowd stayed silent.
"So... my name is Aiko Zhu, some of you might recognize me from the UA sports festival yesterday."
She smiled.
"Which I slayed by the way. I'm happy with third place."

There was cheering and Aiko smiled.

"It's just like the camera Aiko, look into the camera. You only have to do it for five minutes before the next song. Imagine you're in your room again."

Aiko looked into the professional camera equipment that they had set up. Both cameras were trained on her.

It's just like her room. Just like her own filming set up. Only it was live. Unedited.
She sighed and closed her eyes.
'It's just like the camera. It's just the Camera Aiko.'

"I never thought that I'd end up here... in fact sometimes I wonder how something like this even happened.
How someone as ordinary as me gained this much popularity."
Aiko looked at the camera and smiled nervously.

"It all really started ten years ago. There was a passionate little girl. With a big dream."
She chuckled a little.
"And if you're thinking that little girl was me you'd be wrong. I was a shy passionless child. The kid that couldn't answer the question 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' No that child was named Tora Zhu."

Was she really doing this?

"Tora was my twin sister. My best friend. From the age of five she became obsessed with the idea of being a hero. Of saving people and making a difference in this world.
There was only one problem, one obstacle in her way. Tora was quirkless, she was told by a doctor that she wouldn't ever develop a quirk.