(A/N: It's still 23:58 in here, so I technically didn't lie.)
────────────────────────
[Big Finale]
────────────────────────
…
The silence the stadium had been sunk into didn't last for very long.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[Imaginary Technique: My Theme] (ACTIVATED!)
Song chosen: You're Gonna Go Far Kid - The Offspring
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Instants later, the song started with a powerful beat, reverberating through everyone's heads like a drumbeat.
{"Show me how to lie, you're getting better all the time—and turning all against the one, it's an art that's hard to teach!"}
While it played, the two Rockinesises blocking the heroes nodded at each other, then raised their hands like puppet masters.
{"Another clever word sets off another unsuspecting herd—"}
… And with a wave, the trapped heroes suddenly shifted—no longer stiff and immobile, but rather—
{"—and as you step back into a line, a mob jumps to their feet…!"}
—Dancing to the music.
{"Now dance, mister, dance, man, he never had a chance!—And no one even knew, it was really only you!"}
From then on, several heroes danced through the sky in unison with the song like background dancers, pulling off moves that looked ridiculous given their expressions of pure outrage—but which everyone ignored, swept up by the coordination and how perfectly it all fit the music.
Thanks to that, Endeavor's furious shouts were swallowed by the rhythm of the song, the crowd's roar, and the collective drumming of a thousand hearts.
Seeing so many powerful heroes turned into dancers all of a sudden instilled something into the crowd.
The awe of the strong.
—Bam, Bam, Bam!—
{"With a thousand lies, and a good disguise—!"}
Then, to top it all off, the guarding Rockinesises aimed their hands at the sky and released several projectiles that exploded overhead, filling it with a burst of crimson and white like fireworks.
That, combined with the dancing heroes and the music, pulled everyone under.
Bobbing heads, half-dancing people, mouthing along—what had been an intrusion had turned into a full-blown concert.
On the field, the same went for the students and teachers. They could only watch without thinking to stop it, even though logically they knew they should.
They could only look at the performance, entranced.
Class 1-A was no different. All too baffled to say a word, every one of them simply staring at the show.
Though ultimately, Iida was the first to break the silence—barely audible over the music that was somehow both internal and external at once.
"How…? He was in Hosu less than an hour ago. How could he have gotten here so fast?"
"… They must be clones," Midoriya answered him.
Sero nodded from beside them. "The real one might still be in Hosu… or even that one may have been a clone too. Who knows where the real one actually is right now?"
At those words, Jiro—who had been staring awed at the spectacle—glanced briefly at Taka.
'Yeah, I wonder where he might be?' She thought dryly.
Taka met her gaze, impassive as ever, giving nothing away.
But then he asked something that caught her off guard.
"You having fun?"
"Huh?"
Taka paused for a moment before clearing his throat. "You're a fan, aren't you? The guy's giving a concert right here and now, so I was wondering if you'd be as crazy about it as you usually are with anything related to him."
"Who're you calling crazy?!" Jiro protested, smacking him in the arm, before looking away with a sulking expression.
But after a moment, she turned back to the sky, watching the light show—the heroes dancing against their will, and four dazzling figures playing a song so good it made her bones hum.
In the end, she smiled.
"… But yeah, it's being pretty fun."
A moment after those words, Taka snuck a look at her, watching her face.
Seeing the satisfied expression, he ended up smiling faintly too, a quiet huff leaving through his nose.
Then he turned his head, gaze drifting away from the show and finding the VIP section.
There was Eri. Sitting on Seiji's shoulder, staring at the show with wide, starry eyes, mouth in a small O.
She still hadn't smiled. But he could feel it. He was close.
So, still smiling, he turned his attention to a specific spot in the crowd, his eyes squinting faintly.
There stood another Rockinesis, blending in with the crowd, wearing the old hoodie and mask of his old costume.
That was the clone who had taken down Stain—and the one carrying the most stats right now. 12k to be exact.
He'd changed clothes on his way here, ready to carry out his purpose as the last push toward making Eri smile.
'It's all left to you now.' Taka thought, his smile confident, yet nervous about what was to come.
And as if hearing him, the clone stood up.
In unison, the song entered its final phase.
—Bam, Bam, Bam!—
{"With a thousand lies, and a good disguise—hit them right between the eye, hit them right between their eye!"}
The climax of the song came surging up, every beat climbing harder than the last.
By then, everyone in the stadium was bobbing, tapping their feet, or outright moving to the drumbeat.
Then—it happened.
The clone blending in with the crowd blurred, shooting upward like a rocket.
And once he reached his peak—
—BAM!—
—he exploded into pure light, like a beacon lit at the center of the sky.
Every movement in the stadium stopped, every eye going to the crimson beacon.
But then something else appeared.
Snow began falling—so fine and faint that people could barely feel it on their skin.
But they could see it.
The tiny crystals caught the light, coupling with the lasers and pseudo-fireworks going off all around.
It was as if they'd been shut inside a disco ball.
All crimson.
—Or at least, that's what it looked like.
But at the last second, everything shifted—the colors changed, the eerie crimson giving way to every shade imaginable, like a lightning show of all colors rolling across the clouds.
{"See them running—"}
Just as the song reached its final line.
{"—FOR THEIR LIVES!"}
—Bam, Bam!—
And then, the next instant, the song ended—followed by the show cutting out right at the same instant, like someone killing the lights.
The Rockinesises standing in the sky disappeared.
The heroes who had been held captive and forced into dancing plummeted all at once, like puppets whose strings had been cut—before being caught at the last second by a telekinetic grip, then dropped the remaining short distance unceremoniously as the force released for good.
As they landed, everyone at last blinked, snapping out of the trance—silence sweeping the entire stadium from people still coming to, or too stunned to believe what had just happened.
They glanced at each other, as if asking if they had been hallucinating that, or not.
—But, soon, the doubts ended.
—Wooooh!—
Everyone started clapping at once, cheers mixing in from every direction.
"That was insane!"
"I didn't come here expecting a Rockinesis concert, but I'm absolutely not complaining!"
"And what was that light show?! I swear it had me completely locked in!"
"Are we forgetting how he turned several top heroes into his background dancers without any apparent effort?!"
The crowd's silence shifted into an unceasing chatter, with everyone being too hyped to calm down just like that.
"Phew…"
"I guess this day wasn't so bad, after all."
"Suddenly I don't feel that bad about having lost."
Down on the field, many people let out long breaths they hadn't realized they'd been holding—teachers and students from every class alike.
"…"
Taka, amid all of them, didn't. Not because he hadn't been holding his breath—but because it still wasn't over for him.
Slowly, his gaze moved up the stands to the VIP section. Hands tightening into fists, and swallowing his saliva in nervousness.
But then, he saw it.
And his body relaxed at once.
'Thank god.'
Up there, several meters away, he saw it. Eri was smiling—staring dazed at the spot where the Rockinesis had been, apparently still not having fully come back from it.
—Or at least, that's what he had thought, before she suddenly blinked and turned to him.
Her smile grew, and she waved with an excited, restless energy.
Beside her, Seiji shot him a smirk too, looking genuinely pleased—despite having watched several of his co-heroes become involuntary background dancers right in front of him.
But well. He'd never been the type to get too caught up in the strict stuff. Otherwise he'd have ratted Taka out long ago.
The moment both their reactions landed, Taka finally let out his breath, before gradually feeling a smile creep up his face.
'I did it.' He thought, the success of the day finally settling in.
The victory over the sports festival had been only half of his goal today.
Now, however, it was complete.
He had done it.
He ended up snorting through his nose, the feeling of victory earning him a soft laugh.
He even brushed his hair back, his smile hardening into something more cocky.
He then gave the two a small wave paired with his smile, earning a lot of weird looks from his classmates, who weren't used to seeing him like that.
They glanced at the stands, but it was hard to discern who he was waving to.
They didn't have much time to figure it out either. Soon, he turned back ahead, and they were all left with their doubt unanswered.
As he glanced forth again, however, he found Nezu at the podium, watching him with a smile like that of a pleased accomplice.
Then, he followed it with a short nod, barely visible unless you were paying attention.
One he returned with a similar smile.
With that, his plans for today were finally complete.
The Sports Festival was finally over.
...
°
°
°
| Minutes later… |
...
Class 1-A was back in the classroom, all at their seats, paying attention to Aizawa, who stood by the podium, checking some papers in his hands for a moment, before looking up at them.
"Good job out there, all of you." Aizawa said, giving them a nod that sat distinctly apart from his usual deadpan. "You all performed at the level expected of hero course students—even if not all of you made it to the final stage."
Some grumbles stirred from those not completely satisfied with where they'd landed.
Hearing them, Aizawa let out a quiet sigh. "Plenty of you will be getting internship offers soon enough, so don't worry. You showcased a level rarely seen in first years—But before that, the school has decided to give you the next two days to rest. We'll handle everything related to internships once you're back."
-Bam-
With that, he set down the papers in his hand, slamming them on his desk.
"Until then, rest well. You're all dismissed."
And so he walked out, leaving the classroom not long after.
Left to themselves, the class let out a collective sigh and sank into their chairs.
At last, it was over.
Two weeks of preparation, nerves, and training had finally run their course.
They could rest.
-Shhck!-
The sound of a chair being pulled mid-exhale gathered everyone's attention.
They turned and found Iida already picking up his things.
"As uptight as ever, huh, Iida? Can't even take a second to breathe," Kaminari commented, watching him wryly.
Iida turned, adjusting his glasses. "I want to go see my brother after what happened earlier."
"Ah, right." Kaminari straightened in his chair, his easy tone dropping. "Sorry about that."
Iida smiled faintly and shook his head. "It's fine. Nothing happened in the end, thanks to… him."
Everyone knew instantly who he meant. They'd seen him not twenty minutes ago, after all.
Kaminari nodded, sweatdropping as the image of everything that happened came back to him. "Rockinesis really is something else, huh? Being in multiple places at once, and with every clone being that powerful—handling top heroes like that—why is he even a vigilante? He could go pro and hit the top rankings without breaking a sweat."
Sero shrugged from his seat. "Who knows? Maybe he doesn't like the spotlight. Like Aizawa-sensei."
"Didn't seem like that minutes ago, when he was the literal spotlight for the whole stadium," Asui commented, earning a wry nod from Sero, who realized how dumb what he said was.
Uraraka chimed in, lifting a finger. "Maybe he has a criminal record! I heard that makes it really hard to get hired—and even harder to become a hero."
Ojiro, who had been quiet until then, turned from his seat and looked back at them with some skepticism. "I don't know. Someone that powerful—I doubt anyone would hold some minor past offense against him if it meant having him on the hero registry."
"Maybe he did something seriously bad, then?" Hagakure asked from the other side.
A brief pause settled as everyone turned it over.
Midoriya was the next to speak. "I… don't think I've ever heard of a villain with a Quirk even remotely similar to his. From what I found looking into it, he appeared out of nowhere one day, already operating as a vigilante, and went from there."
"Maybe he just likes the attention. He does act like a celebrity." Mina offered, more amused than serious.
"There's plenty of bastards like that these days…" Bakugo muttered to himself, not heard by anyone—save for Taka, of course.
Through all of the conversation, Taka's gaze stayed elsewhere, expression calm and distant, as if such earthly matters were of no concern to him.
He could feel a particular pair of eyes from a girl with jacks for earlobes on him, but chose to ignore it.
If you played dead, they tended to go away.
Like that, the conversation went on about everything that had happened today, while everyone began picking up their things and getting ready to leave.
Minutes later, everyone began making their way out of the school.
Taka walked alongside his usual group, quieter than normal—though this time unconsciously, rather than by choice.
He was honestly too tired to bother performing like usual. He only joined when he truly had something to add, not when he felt he could act cool.
As they walked, however, they all came to a stop as someone stepped into their path.
"Todoroki?" Shoji asked, looking baffled at the sudden appearance of their emo classmate.
"...?" Only then did Taka look up, registering what had happened.
Seeing they'd stopped, Todoroki glanced at Taka, his expression settling into something serious.
"Takahashi. Let's talk."
Taka gave him a flat look.
"I don't want to."
...
A beat of awkward silence settled for a moment, both parties staring at each other unwaveringly.
"I see… Alright."
Only after a moment did Todoroki answer, somehow managing to sound a little dejected about it.
"…" Taka stared at him.
He had completely forgotten that outside of the rough edge his home situation made him appear to have at the start of the show, the guy was actually just… like this. Quietly awkward.
Taka pressed two fingers against his temple for a second and let out a huff.
"Alright alright. Let's talk."
Todoroki looked mildly surprised by that, but Taka was already moving.
With curious gazes following behind, the two stepped away from the group—not far, but enough for some privacy.
"So?" Taka asked, arms crossed.
Todoroki looked at him directly, expression hardening. "... What you said before—about me not taking being a hero seriously… you were wrong."
Taka lifted an eyebrow.
Todoroki continued. "I put everything into mastering my ice side to become the best hero I could with it. My efforts were completely real, and I never half-assed that, nor did I ever plan to."
He lifted his left hand—the fire side—and stared at his open palm.
"—But perhaps you're right on one thing. It's not right to put the responsibilities of a hero second to my grudge against my old man… If I truly want to be a hero, I have to set that aside and master this side as well. To be as complete as I can be."
"…"
Under Taka's silence, Todoroki's hand clenched into a fist, a wave of determination passed by his eyes. "I'm not saying I'll forgive that bastard. I won't let go of my grudge, no matter what… But from now on, I don't plan on letting it interfere in my path as a hero anymore. Because that's what I want to become."
And like that, he lowered his fist, staring at Taka as if he had finished with his grand speech, and apparently waiting for a response.
Taka watched him for a moment, eyebrow twitching.
… What was he supposed to say here?
Why was he on the receiving end of another one-sided speech?
Normally he'd put up with it—this was the world of an anime, and hence this was just the consequences of entering a school with shonen archetypes.
But right now he'd been about to go home, after two weeks of thorough preparation had finally wrapped up, and he was genuinely worn down.
—Only to get pulled aside to hear someone's self-reflection at the last possible second for seemingly no reason at all.
He was being edged from going back home, and it was making him irritable.
"Huff…"
He took a slow breath, calming himself down.
Todoroki had wanted him to hear whatever this had been directly from his own mouth.
That was… probably because he respected him and wanted him to know he was making progress, in his own way.
Taka wasn't anyone's therapist. But if the guy was looking up to him so much that he was opening up about his goals to improve himself—he supposed he could bear with it this once.
This was the last time, though.
"Why did you call me here then?" Taka asked, eyes closing.
"I…" Todoroki's answer trailed off unfinished. Catching up to the fact that he didn't know why he had called Taka to hear all of this.
Well, he did because it was Taka who berated him for it, and the one who showed him his faults.
… But did he have to drag him out to hear what he had decided? They weren't that close.
Todoroki was a bit at a loss for a second.
Taka opened his eyes and looked at him, expression settling into something calmer.
"If you want to improve, to be a better hero and actually complete yourself, you don't need my permission. That's your decision only."
Immediately after that, he turned to leave.
But left one last thing behind him, turning his head slightly.
"But if you do get to that point—it might actually be worth fighting you again."
At his words, Todoroki's expression hardened into resolve, and he gave a nod, even if Taka wasn't looking anymore, and was instead walking away.
Before long, he was left alone.
He lifted his hand to stare at his palm again, eyes closing as a faint frown covered Todoroki's face.
"I have much to learn."
Meanwhile, Taka rejoined his group, who had been waiting for him to come back.
"What did Todoroki want?" Kaminari asked, giving him a curious look.
"Reassurance, I guess." Taka answered briefly.
"About what?"
Taka shrugged.
After a few seconds of not getting any answer besides that, Kaminari took the hint and shrugged too.
After that, the group crossed through the school gate and started heading toward the subway.
Just as they began to turn down the street, however, Taka stopped, glancing the other way.
"What's up?" Kirishima asked, turning with a quizzical look.
Suddenly, Taka smiled faintly. "Looks like I'm getting a ride today."
Hearing him, everyone turned to see what he was looking at, and saw Seiji across the street, leaning against a car, and waving. Beside him, Eri waved too, her smile still there.
"Is that your family, Taka?" Kirishima asked, looking genuinely curious.
"So even Taka has a family," Sero commented.
Taka gave him the side eye. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Sero flinched, smiling wryly. "You know, since you're always so serious, I thought you might be an orphan or have family problems. Kinda like Batman."
Taka stared at him speechless.
Meanwhile, by the side, Jiro stared at Eri with a deep stare, as if trying to figure something out.
Regardless of whether she accomplished it or not in the end, before long Taka said his farewells to them, and crossed the street to join the two while his friends walked off toward the station.
As he approached, Seiji smirked at him. "You sure did a number today, kid. I wouldn't want to be Nezu today."
"Taka, that was amazing!" Eri said, her voice lit up with an unfamiliar excitement.
Taka let out a soft laugh, patting her head.
It was time to go home.
…
────────────────────────
-To Be Continued...-
────────────────────────
Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters, and you'll help me make ends meet while doing so.
pḁtreon.com/TheSynonym (Change the a)
─────────────
(A/N: I tried to time the song part so it ends roughly at the same time as the song. But since it varies from people to people, it might not have worked.
Anyway, the arc is finally over.
Now, the internships are coming, and, more importantly for Taka, choosing his hero name… which you people will certainly love, given my history with names...
Cough, cough)