*Discontinued* Idol Hero[BNHA]

Chapter 27

"Noriko, we should've left two minutes ago!" Ryu yelled as I slipped my shoes on.

"It's two minutes! We're not going to be late!" I yelled as I shoved Ryu out of the way and opened the door. I felt like I was going to pass out right there, I was so tired. After not having to get up at four in the morning for so long, I found it hard to get up at that time.

"Two minutes can make all the difference," Ryu argued, following me to the car and earning a tired growl from me. "When we get there, you need to hurry and finish getting ready, you're still a mess from waking up."

"Yeah, whatever," I grumbled. Getting in the car with him.

The car pulled out of the driveway and started the 45-minute car ride to our first stop. We stopped on the way at some random fast food place and got breakfast. Soon after that, we arrived at a large building with few windows.

"We're here." The driver said from the front seat of the car. Seconds after that, someone had opened the car door and me and Ryu walked out.

"Alright, the interview starts in an hour. Let's head to the dressing rooms so you can get ready." Ryu said as he grabbed the bag of my stuff from the trunk before leading me into the building.

The second we walked in, two people came up to me, a man and a woman.

"It's a pleasure to finally get to meet you, Nora." The woman held out her hand, and I shook it. This was how these things usually went, the people doing the interview came up to me, shook my hand, said a few things, then I got ready in the dressing rooms and saw those people again during the actual interview.

And, as I expected, this was no different. After I talked to the two people for a minute, I was lead to a dressing room, where I changed into a navy blue dress, fixed my hair, and had a bit of make-up done.

Around 10 minutes later, Ryu came into the room and I followed him to the set. The set was a typical set you'd see on a show like this. It was a chair for the interviewer and a three-person couch for whoever was being interviewed.

I was told to sit on the couch and a few minutes later, a man came out and sat in the interviewer's seat.

After he did the intro to the show, he turned his attention to me. "Nora, it's an honor to have you on the show today."

"It's an honor to be here," I replied with a smile

The man smiled back. "So, your short surprise performance at the UA Sports Festival was a very pleasant surprise. It was a performance many were waiting to see. From what I heard, you have been wanting to perform during the Sports Festival for some time now, correct?"

"Yes. I would always watch the Sports Festival with my family and being able to perform during it was a big dream of mine. I was very honored to get to perform there." I answered, earning a small nod and smile from the man.

He didn't waste much going to the next question. "After your performance, a rumor quickly spread through the internet. If you aren't already aware, people think that you go to UA High in the hero course. Some have even gone so far as to conclude that you are going there as a student from class 1-A, Noriko Hiromi. What are your thoughts on all this?"

I was somehow able to keep the panic off my face as he spoke. 'I can't believe this. I had a feeling something like this could happen. I should've thought of some cover story before coming here.' I glanced over at Ryu, hoping to get some help, but his face was clear of any emotion. He probably just knows that I'd say something to shot the rumors down, and, just for a second, I imagined telling the interviewer that the rumors were true, just to see the look on Ryu's face. "This is the first I've heard of these rumors. But, while going to UA High might have been something I thought about doing a long time ago, I'm not a student there. I'm homeschooled, and have been since the start of my career."

"So you're saying the rumors aren't true?" The interviewer asked.

"Yes, the rumors are not true." I clarified. It took everything in me to keep from letting how nervous I was show through my voice. "I know that, even if I say the rumors aren't true, people will keep believing them. But that doesn't mean they're true."

"That's absolutely correct." The interviewer said with a small nod. "Now, for the next question that has been frequently asked by your fans."

* * *

I was asked some more questions and, after an hour of filming, I changed and went to the car. After a surprisingly short drive, we arrived at the next studio. There, I was talked to again, but it was a bit more casual than the other place. The rumor from before was brought up again, so I used the same excuse.

But the fact that people are starting to think that Nora and Noriko are the same person, which is true, is kind of scary. People went as far as to narrow it down to the specific student they think Nora is. I already messed up by letting Todoroki and Bakugo know about my secret, but it would be so stressful if everyone knew. I wouldn't be very shocked if my classmates started asking if I'm Nora or not when school starts back up. I liked being able to go out to places either on my own or with my brother and not be attacked by fans and newscasts.

Anyways, the rumor came up a third time when I was with the radio show's cast, no surprise there. But other than that, I was asked to sing a few songs and that was about it. Nothing too special.

After that, it took about an hour and a half to get back home. Before I could even say hi to my brother, who was playing video games, as usual, Ryu rushed me to the dance studio where Mai started working with me with my dance routines.

"So, I'm assuming everyone questioned you about the rumor roaming around the internet?" Mai asked as we sat down after just under two hours of practice.

"Yeah... Did you hear about it on social media?" I questioned, taking a few sips of water.

"Oh, yeah. It's everywhere. Almost everyone is talking about it. People think they know your true identity, so they're trying their best to get enough evidence to prove it." Mai said, grabbing her phone. "It's crazy. Look."

Mai showed me a post about the rumor on her phone. It had a picture of me as Nora and me at the Sports Festival side by side for comparison. The caption at the top read, 'Nora is definitely this girl. They have the same quirk and look exactly alike. Tell me I'm wrong.'

I sighed. "Great."

"I'm sure it'll go away soon," Mai reassured, pulling her phone back and scrolling through, what I assumed were more posts talking about the rumor.

"But what if it doesn't?" I argued, voicing my fear. "What if they find some record or something that clearly states that I'm Nora?"

"And how are they gonna do that?" Mai asked, looking at me with an annoyed expression. "They can't get any real proof other than speculation and, unless you confirm the rumors, no one will be able to actually say that it's true."

I looked up at her for a second before my gaze fell to the floor. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just... this whole situation is stressful."

"Of course it's stressful! But something like this was going to happen." Mai said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I know, it just sucks," I stated with a long sigh.

"Yeah, well, it's gonna suck. Just learn to deal with it." Mai replied with a bit of sass as she pushed herself off the wall. " Now, let's get back to work!"

-Author Note-

So, a while ago, this story hit 20k reads, right now it's at 22k, I think, and like, 700 votes. I think this is crazy. You guys are so amazing! I can't believe this story has gone this far, which makes me feel so great about actually turning the idea for this story into an actual story. Also, without all your support, I feel like this story wouldn't have gotten this far. So thank you all, so much!

I hope you all have a good week!

-Starlight