After an event in her early adolescence that changed the entire trajectory of her life, and in how she viewed her quirk, Hitomi Kanetsukabe was ecstatic to find she'd been admitted to UA's hero course.
Her high school life was just beginning, and sh...
"Hitomi, you should seriously come along the next time we do karaoke," Mina huffed, placing her hands on her hips.
"Your voice is great, Hitomi!!" Jirou exclaimed.
Hitomi laughed sheepishly, feeling jittery as she put the mic back on its stand. "I... Thank you, Jirou. I still have a lot to learn if I want to sound as good as you, though."
"Ah, that's..." Jirou blushed, shaking her head. "Anyways, you're okay with singing backup, right?" Hitomi nodded, making Jirou turn back to the class. "Great! Now that that's been decided, we need guitarists! Preferably two!"
...
The class ended up staying up until 1 a.m. assigning everyone roles.
Jirou, Bakugou, Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, Tokoyami, and Hitomi would be the band, while Todoroki, Sero, Kirishima, and Koda would be the stage crew. Everyone else would be a part of the dance squad.
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Hitomi could feel herself getting excited.
My first school festival...
Is looking to turn out great...!
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Saturday -
Hitomi sat at one of the dining tables, watching the band practice as she sipped a cup of tea Yaoyorozu had made her earlier.
Jirou had told her the band needed to practice the actual instrumental music first, so Hitomi could then get a feel for the tune for when she had to sing along.
Hitomi set her teacup down, grabbing the booklet full of notes Jirou had given her as she listened to the band's off-tune strums and bangs.
"I've written a bunch of notes on vocal exercises I need you to practice every day," Jirou told Hitomi, handing her the notebook. "So that your vocal chords will be ready and all warmed up for when we perform. You need to make sure they stay healthy and don't blow out, so drinking Yaomomo's tea could help too!!"
Hitomi opened the notebook, flipping through the pages to see they were completely crammed with notes. "Holy crap, Jirou, these are a lot!!" she exclaimed, her eyes bugging out. "And you made one for each of us?!"
Jirou nodded, smiling at her. "Of course! We wanna make sure this is the best show possible, don't we? So I want you to practice those exercises. You won't be able to sing with us until everyone gets a better handle on their instruments first, so you can just do those and look over the lyrics for now."
"Wow, Jirou, thanks!!"
Hitomi read through the first exercise, something Jirou had titled a "lip buzz."
"A lip buzz will help strengthen your stamina and build up your breath support while singing. To do it, try-"
Hitomi's reading was cut off by the sudden sound of Bakugou screaming, looking to see he was yelling at Kaminari for playing the wrong chord.
Ah...
Hitomi sweatdropped, getting up from her seat. "Jirou, I'm gonna go outside and see how the dance squad's doing, if that's okay?"
Jirou stopped strumming her bass, giving Hitomi a sheepish smile. "Go ahead! This is gonna take a while, anyway."
Hitomi waved as she made her way out the door, hearing laughter as she stepped outside.
"Hey Hitomi!!" Mina chirped. "You guys done practicing?"
The bluenette shook her head, watching the dance squad stumble through their dance moves. "Not even close. I can't really sing along if they can't play music yet, so I've got some free time for now."
"NICE FULL MOON WE'RE HAVING!!"
Hitomi blanched at the sound of the new voice, looking at the nearby bushes to see the butt of someone's jeans sticking out.
That wasn't what had held her attention, though.
Hitomi was awestruck at the sight of a little girl with long white hair and bright red eyes standing by the shrubbery. She felt her legs drifting towards the girl, Uraraka and Tsuyu rushing forward to greet her. Hitomi heard them call her "Eri."
Is this the Eri Kirishima told me about?
She's so cute!!
Hitomi fought the urge to clutch her heart, instead stopping beside her classmates. She stared at the little girl curiously as Aizawa stepped forward while the third-year Mirio crawled out of the bushes.
"We got permission from the principal," her homeroom teacher said, Hitomi watching as the little girl hid behind Mirio while gripping his pant leg. "In order to keep her from being surprised and panicking, we wanted to let her visit once to get used to it."
Midoriya stopped beside Hitomi, giving the little girl a beaming smile. "Hello Eri!!"
Hitomi watched as Eri fidgeted, hearing the little girl mumble. "...Hi."
"Anyways, I was thinking," Mirio smiled, "I'd show Eri around UA today!! Wanna join us, Midoriya?"
"Oh... of course!!"
"You're gonna see the festival preparations?" Hitomi asked the third-year.
Mirio nodded, patting Eri on the head. "We want her to be more familiarized with everything before the day of the festival."
"Can I come?!" Hitomi suddenly exclaimed, a hopeful look in her eyes.
Midoriya looked at her confused. "You want to come? What for...?"
Hitomi paused, realizing she was inserting herself somewhere she wasn't invited. She looked away sheepishly, messing with some of her hair. "Oh... sorry. I just wanted to see what setting up for the festival is like, but I guess Eri wouldn't want a stranger like me around, huh...?"
"Ah, Kanetsukabe-san, it's okay!!" Midoriya reassured her, patting her shoulder. "It's your first school festival after all." He turned to Eri, giving her a soft smile. "Eri, this is my friend, Hitomi Kanetsukabe. What do you think? Would you like her to come along?"
Hitomi crouched down so she was eye level with the little girl, giving her the softest smile she could muster. "Hello, Eri! You can call me Hitomi. My friends have told me a lot about you." Eri looked at her curiously, her cheeks turning a subtle pink. Hitomi felt herself soften at the little girl's cuteness, her eyes falling to her outfit. "I like your dress. It's very pretty."
"Th... thank you..." the little girl mumbled.
Hitomi smiled at her again before getting back up, scratching her head as she looked between Mirio and Midoriya. "It's okay, you guys. I don't need to come along if she's not comfortable with me; I can just check it out later on my own."
"She..."
The three students turned to the sound of Eri's voice, seeing she was looking at the ground shyly.
"...She can come. I don't mind."
Hitomi felt her heart melt.
"Oi, dance team!" Kirishima called from the doors. "We wanted to talk about..." He trailed off before he suddenly gasped, sprinting down the steps and running towards them. "Oh, it's Eri!" He stopped in front of her, crouching down slightly. "Hey there! Wait, you don't know who I am, huh?"
"Alright then!" Mina called out, raising her hand in the air to get everyone's attention. "Why don't we take a break? Let's have teatime!"
As the dance group voiced their agreement, Mirio turned back to Hitomi and Midoriya. "You two better get changed, then."
"Right!!" Midoriya and Hitomi both exclaimed, the two of them running back inside.
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A/N: Bit of a filler chapter. That's why there'll be a double update this week. Stay tuned for Friday!
