What felt like ages later they were busy preparing for the cultural festival. U.A was in full swing, with just a few days until go time.
Sanyu had been to quite a few big events, but he'd never seen the preparation for them before. It was somehow even more impressive.
Being one of the only members of the class who could fly he had been given a job in the special effects crew. He liked the idea, but he also felt bad for Eri. She was excited to see him and Midoriya, but she would barely see Deku for a second and probably wouldn't see him at all.
Still, the idea of using his powers to do something other than shoot explosions of energy or concentrated beams intrigued him. It was Midoriya who had suggested it at first. Apparently Bakugou was capable of making sparklers with his hands and shooting off harmless little sparks. From that Midoriya suggested Sanyu was capable of making little sparkles from his power's explosions if he just toned it down enough.
It had taken a while, but he thought he'd finally figured out how to make them harmless. It sounded like a small achievement, but all his powers really did was hurt people and let him fly, which could hurt people if he wasn't careful. Sparkles...that seemed like a dream come true.
"Oyama! Togata's here to see you!" Kirishima called out. Sanyu tilted his head to the side, confused, but flew down from where he was rigging ropes in the rafters nonetheless.
"Hiya!" The senior said, a wide smile on his face. Sanyu was about to wave when his eyes landed on a familiar sight.
"Eri!" He said excitedly. The little girl perked up and moved from where she was hiding behind Mirio to hold onto Sanyu's pant leg. The way she favored his left leg...it was heartwarming in a way. Sanyu had always thought kids would be scared of that kind of stuff. He had already been proven wrong by the play group Ectoplasm had taken him to though, so he shouldn't be that surprised.
Mirio smiled at the pair. He'd gotten pretty good at telling when both Eri and Oyama were smiling even if they weren't physically. With Eri her whole body relaxed and she stopped fussing with her new clothes so much. With Oyama his eyes lit up, sometimes even physically glowing.
He hoped that soon he'd get to see them both smile for the first time. He wasn't even sure if Midoriya had seen his classmate smile.
Knowing the guy's secret, it was like looking at a new person, yet not. He was looking at the junior he had fought and recommended to Nighteye but at the same time was wondering how many of those skills were forced into him.
Sanyu looked like a well oiled machine of a hero. Muscular, on the taller side for his class and agile. Crazy flexible too. But he wasn't born that way. It was something he was molded into. Mirio couldn't help but wonder if he liked it or if all the extra training he did to maintain it was just a habit.
Disregarding his thoughts, Mirio smiled widely at the pair. "Nezu told me to take Eri around U.A so she can get used to it before the festival. Do you wanna come along?".
Sanyu nodded enthusiastically and put down the box of effects he was holding. He also took the headband he had been wearing out of his hair and put it back in, making sure he caught all his bangs this time.
It suited him, the long hair. Sanyu loved it. It was the exact opposite of how it had been as a kid and while he was in the Six. Back then he always buzzed it off when it got too long. Now it was just past his shoulders. Sure, he didn't really know what to do with all of it, but he had all the time in the world to figure that out.
The trio set off in search of some cool things to show Eri.
----------- ----------- ------------ ---------- ----------- ---------- ----------
Their first stop was the area where Mirio's class was setting up.
"Even though it's a weekend because of the dorms, everyone's here working hard to set up." Mirio explained. There were third years everywhere, rushing around with boxes of streamers and posters.
"Hey! Togata!" "Huh? A kid?!"
The trio turned to see what Sanyu assumed was a pair of Mirio's classmates. "Don't tell those days you took off school were because you had a kid!" One of them said, Eri hid further behind Sanyu and Mirio's legs. Mirio just smiled proudly.
"Hey, when you just smile like that it makes it seem true." One of them laughed. "But jokes aside, you guys should come see our set up on the day of. It's going to be even cooler than last year.". The student handed them each a flyer.
Eri craned her neck so she could see it, so Sanyu handed her his. "I can't read the words..." The girl said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm sure you'll learn. I can teach you." He offered. Eri nodded and they continued on outside.
The outdoor areas were somehow even more crowded than indoors.
They were walking in a cluster until suddenly a giant dragon head appeared out of nowhere. "Woah, sorry about that!" A voice called out. Tetsutetsu from class B was standing there alongside Monoma.
"Well if it isn't class 1-A!" The blond said with a smirk. "What are you doing, idling around at a time like this? Don't you have work to do?". His tone was loud and obnoxious. Eri flinched backwards so violently she nearly fell.
"Eri, are you alright?" Midoriya asked. Eri mumbled out a yes. "I thought it was the person that fell from the sky." She explained. "Ah, you mean Ryukyu." The hero students said with a smile.
"Oh, I heard 1-A was doing a concert or something." Monoma sneered, making his presence known again, "Are you okay with that? With this going the way it is class B's performance is going to be a million times better than yours.".
He looked the group up and down, "You should probably prepare a handkerchief, for when you're sobbing about how inferior you are, that is!". Monoma's laughter turned manic but was stopped abruptly by a hit with a wooden stick by his classmate.
"Sorry about that." The boy said, picking Monoma's now unconscious form off the ground. "Kendo isn't around right now, so no one's really keeping him in check.".
"I wondered where she was, since they usually come as a set." Midoriya said, finally taking his hands off of Eri's eyes where he had been shielding her from the violence.
"Ah, Kendo's in the beauty pageant. She was entered against her will or something. See you around.".
Mirio turned to Eri with an apologetic smile. "Sorry I had to show you some bad bits right away. Everywhere has their negatives, I guess.".
"Mr. Aizawa didn't say anything about a beauty pageant." Midoriya said.
"Oh, that reminds me, she's really into it this year." Mirio said with a smile.
"Who?".
"Hado! We came for a visit." Mirio called out as he entered the dressing room.
"Ah! What are you all doing here? Eri! What are you doing here?" The third year asked excitedly, floating in the air.
"Y-you're quirk is flashy and with your looks and your b-". One severe look from Sanyu shut what Midoriya was stuttering about right down. Sure, Neijire was wearing a revealing dress, but no looking was necessary. Not unless she was onstage and actually looking to show off. "What I'm trying to say is how were you the runner up despite all that?".
"Yeah! Listen to this, there's this crazy girl from the support class and she wins every year!" Hado said, "I keep losing to her!".
"Its Neijire's last chance as a third year." Amajiki explained. "Just thinking about getting up in front of that many people....so many potatoes.".
Eri gave the older boy a confused look but didn't comment on it. She looked around the room with excitement visible in her eyes. "Do you like this kind of stuff?" Sanyu asked, tilting his head to the side in a way that had become a habit. Keigo and Tao both swore he'd picked it up from Bunny.
"Ooh, Eri, do you wanna try getting your hair done?" Hado suggested eagerly. "Yu-yu here's super good at it! It'll look really pretty on you.".
The girl looked hopeful, but nervous. "Would it help if I went first?" Sanyu asked. It seemed like she wanted to do it, but was scared. Keigo did this with Sanyu when they tried new stuff, so he assumed it would work for her too. Eri nodded and Sanyu let himself be whisked into a chair.
This was not how he expected the outing to go.
Within a few minutes Yu-yu had finished and held a mirror up behind him so he could see. She had braided a sky blue ribbon into Sanyu's hair and used it to tie a bow at the end.
"Wow, if there was a beauty contest for dudes you'd be winning for sure!" Hado said with a smile. "What sort of moisturizer do you use? Do you do something with your hair? Have you ever dyed it?" She rambled on with questions as Sanyu looked at Eri through the mirror.
"Do you want to try now?" He asked.
"Yeah." The girl said, a determined expression on her face. "That's really brave of you Eri!" Mirio said, giving her a thumbs up.
The trio made eye contact over the kid's head. This was something. An improvement, a step in the right direction.
"Should we check out the support course's stuff next?" Midoriya suggested.
"No." Sanyu said, shaking his head. Mirio suddenly looked worried.
"Why? Did something happen...you know..." He tried to word it so politely. Sanyu shivered involuntarily.
"No, but the last time I went in there a girl with pink hair tried to steal my leg." He explained. Midoriya, knowing exactly who he was talking about, burst out laughing.
"She does that a lot.".
--------- --------- -------- --------- -------- --------- --------
The group ended up in the cafeteria for lunch. Eri had her hair in two braids with bright red ribbons weaved into them.
"So, what did you think? Are you used to everything?" Midoriya asked. Sanyu wrinkled his nose at the question. He'd been here for what-nearly 6 months-and he still wasn't used to it.
"I don't really know..." Eri said, looking down at her cup of juice. The trio of teens relaxed slightly. What an Eri like answer. "But...everyone's working really hard to make something. They've got all sorts of pretty and cool things...I want to see how it turns out.".
Mirio and Midoriya beamed over her head at each other and Sanyu's face softened to an almost smile. He wished he could be more open with his emotions, but it was hard. All he could think about when he tried was the amount of eyes on him. How many people were in the room? When he was alone with Toshinori, Inue, Keigo or Tao he didn't feel their eyes at all.
Still, he hoped his smile was implied, for Eri, at least. He'd manage it eventually, he just knew it.
"That's called being excited." Nezu cut in from his table. The group turned to face him.
"Excited?" Eri parroted. The principal nodded. "I'm excited too. This year has been hard for heroes and U.A. This is our chance to be a shining example of hope, peace and strength." He explained.
The group listened as Midnight explained the new security measures. They were incredibly strict, but necessary. They wanted to keep everyone safe.
Sanyu just hoped everything went off without a hitch.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you can't tell I'm very obsessed with long haired Sanyu.
None of my protagonists get to do anything with their hair! Its always too short! I just want one ponytail, is that too much to ask? 😭
And, to explain the height thing, Sanyu is 5'9 now. I've tried to keep it consistent so he grew as the story progressed. Some of you will remember Keigo and Tao both remarking that he was taller now a couple chapters ago and even earlier than that after the Kamino incident when Sanyu can stand up again Keigo complains that he's taller than him.
This apparently makes him the 5th tallest in his class, tied with Sero. For refence, Midoriya is around 5'5 (166 cm), Mirio is just over 5'11 (181cm), Keigo is nearly 5'8 (172cm) and Tao is roughly 5'10 (179cm) and Sanyu is somewhere around 177cm.
(keep in mind that centimeters and inches/feet don't convert exactly!)
Yes, this is the sort of stuff I have to keep track of as an author 😅. Its not all angst and fluff! There's some important things to keep track of so you don't create plot holes!
Also, as mentioned before his prosthetic had balance adjustments that shift the plates inside with any bodily change. Its why he didn't have major balance problems after losing weight from being in Tomorrow's lair and basically starved for a week then put in a coma.
That world has a lot of faults but their tech isn't one of them 😐
But you don't want to hear all of this! I'm rambling again lol
In some more fun news I found some more concept art for Sanyu's hero suit. I don't think I've ever shown you guys that stuff. I should redraw it 'cause the early stuff is pretty rough 😅.
But anyways I decided to change it from black to the bi pride flag colours like I mentioned. I probably wont make a permanent switch in the fic but you guys 😫 it looked so freaking good!!!
But I realized, right before I finished writing this chapter that I can't show you that concept art because there's spoilers in it 😭
It physically pains me that you can't see how amazing this colour scheme is. Like it screams bnha in the worst and best ways.
Anyways stay tuned!
(also how did I not know the title of the last chapter was a song? I had no idea? Help? Am I out of the loop?)