Chapter 106: How to Live

As time passed, the numbers shown on the digital clock turned changed into AM 10:00.

The curtains were down, and the auditorium turned utterly dark.

A series of 'Ooh!' and 'Ahh!' rang out, and soon, the applause started to fill the room as the curtains were being drawn open.

"It's here!!"

"Go first years!"

"Yaoyorozu!!"

"What kind of show is it?! First years!!"

As cheers rang out, the silhouette of the first years could be seen.

"Let's fuckin' gooooo!!" Katsuki growled as he started playing his drums.

Katsuki made a dynamic entrance with his quirk, successfully attracting and drawing everyone's attention to him.

Shido was there in disguise for a good reason. This was class 1-A's festival and program, and it was for them to enjoy this festival. If Shido was in his actual appearance, people's attention would only be drawn to him, and class 1-A would be ridiculed for having a teacher to help them as well.

Thus, he was in disguise, standing just behind and to the right of Jiro and playing the keyboard. He wouldn't be the main melody for this song. No, that was Jiro's job. He was the accompaniment today, and he would try to draw as little attention to himself.

However, the fact that his soothing voice that weirdly mixed well together with the others couldn't be denied, and whether he liked it or not, his natural charisma had drawn eyes to him.

As the music started, the dance team also started.

"Thank you all for coming!" Jiro screamed into the mic, blasting everyone's ears with her loud voice. However, no one was complaining. They enjoyed the noisy atmosphere that this concert provided and sung together with Jiro and Shido.

Fumikage upped the distortion just as he learned, just like how Katsuki and Jiro wanted, and the music became a notch better.

"Oooooh!?

"So cool!!"

Just as the audience was impressed at the sudden change in pitch, it was the staging team's time to perform.

Tossing Aoyama up in the air, a bright bang of light suddenly shined in the middle of the air, blinding everyone.

"HUMAN FIREWORKS!?"

Just before Aoyama fell, Sero managed to catch him midair.

Shido smiled.

'It's almost time.'

Izuku ran out of the stage and gave a thumbs up, signaling something to the others on the dance team.

The finale was shorter than expected, but before the audience knew that it was over, the dance team and staging team started their handiwork once more.

A midair performing band; ice pillars created from one side to the other side of the auditorium; a blinding illumination of light reflected across the layer of ice; it was a chaotic mess.

But that chaotic mess somehow managed to turn into a fantastic show.

Everyone did their part perfectly, enabling them to knock dead the audiences' apathy with sound.

Everyone who originally came here to diss and insult class 1-A's performance couldn't help but get caught up in the mood as well.

Their original expectations of class 1-A's music being 'mediocre' and 'just satisfying themselves' turned out to be wrong. In fact, no matter how much they tried, they couldn't resist cheering for them in the end as well.

The performance finally ended five minutes later, and when it did, thunderous applause and cheering greeted the students of class 1-A.

"Once again, thank you for coming to our performance!" Jiro shouted with a large grin on her face that couldn't be concealed.

*****************

After the performance, class 1-A obviously had to clean up the area due to the massive amount of ice and glitter that littered the floor. They also had to bring back all their instruments while Izuku was getting scolded by the teachers.

Though Izuku didn't say anything, the teachers weren't pro heroes for nothing. They knew that something was wrong, but since Izuku didn't say a thing, they couldn't do anything as well apart from giving him a warning.

Hound Dog and Izuku had a friendly little 'chat' before Hound Dog swiped him away back to his class. After that, Hound Dog got angry and started growling rapidly, completely forgetting about human speech.

Shido didn't help because he used his excuse as he's now a teacher, not a fellow performer, so he started walking towards Eri, leaving behind many angry students.

"Is it really acceptable to leave them like that and not help in the cleaning?" Eri asked worriedly, seeing Katsuki pointing his middle finger at Shido.

Shido being Shido, pointed his own middle finger back at Katsuki with a smile before patting Eri's head.

"It's fine. Besides, I've already helped my class clean up a huge area, so I've technically done my part."

"I see." Eri didn't know when he cleaned up but trusted his words, "Anyway, let's go walk around the festival now that your performance is over!"

"Alright!" Shido didn't refuse and took Eri's hand.

Since Class A was performing, Shido barely had time to reach Class 1-B's performance. However, he only managed to watch the last five minutes of the play. Nonetheless, he and Eri both enjoyed it plenty.

After the comedic play, they went towards the beauty pageant and saw Kendo destroying many obstacles with her hands.

"Her stunning dress is torn as she demonstrates her martial arts! A fusion of beauty and strength! What a wonderful performance!" The commentator announced.

The next person he saw was a woman with impossibly long eyelashes. Even Eri went 'wow' at the sight of her invention and her eyelashes.

"The queen of the beauty contest! A 3rd year from the support department! With her high-level ingenuity, she shows off her face to the crowd! A superb performance indeed!"

Bibimi, the girl with long eyelashes, came out while riding a machine. The machine looked precisely like her face, braided hair at the sides, and a unique and haughty smile and her trademark, the long eyelashes.

"What is that thing supposed to do?" Eri asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Shido wryly replied as he sweatdropped at that invention.

Finally, after the machine rolled past, the next participant was Shido's very own student, Nejire.

Nejire gave a simple smile as she started floating and dancing in the air.

"A magical dance in midair! I was completely drawn in! Next up..." After 8 more participants came up to the stage, the event was finally concluded.

"You can cast your votes here! The results will be announced at 5pm! That concludes our event!!"

"Who are you voting for?" Eri asked as they voted online.

"Hado, of course." Shido replied and turned towards Eri, "Why? Are you jealous of her?"

"Nope! Hado-san is really the prettiest there! So I"m going to vote for her too." Eri stuck out her tongue and answered.

Afterward, they went around the festival, enjoying what each class has to offer.

There was a photo stand-in of Nezu and the UA building, so Eri and Shido went to take a photo there. Shido filled up Nezu's face, and he did a stupid expression to mock the principal.

After that, they went to an obstacle course, where Eri absolutely demolished the other participants, causing them to cry about losing to a child. They took a small break and ate some crepes sold by one of the general department classes before heading towards the haunted house.

Although both of them had killed before, they had to admit that the haunted house was really well done. It wasn't scary per se; it was more of a jump scare house than a haunted house. Nevertheless, they enjoyed their time there.

Subsequently, they went to a booth where students were taught how to cook by the general department, and needless to say, Shido managed to destroy a frying pan while cooking, causing the booth manager to kick him out.

But Shido was improving in his cooking. At least he didn't burn down the whole place this time.

Next, they went to the support department and learned how the robots were made and developed. It wasn't their thing, so after a quick look around at the robots' cool designs, they went out and got more food and drinks.

Both of them enjoyed each other's company as they wandered from place to place. Eventually, they headed back to the beauty pageant area at 5pm, where the results were announced.

Nejire was crowned the winner of this beauty contest, and smiling happily, Nejire wore the crown on her head, her sash over her shoulders, and waved happily at the audience.

At the end of today, the festival was over.

"Thanks, Shido. I had a lot of fun today." Eri happily smiled as she twirled around and faced Shido before she spoke.

"Yeah, I had fun too!"

"Let's do this again sometime?"

Giving a gentle smile to Eri, he kissed her in the middle of the forehead. He looked at her in the eye and spoke.

"We'll do this whenever you want, wherever you want, and however you want."

"Hehe..." Eri grinned foolishly as her grandfather came to pick her up.

"Oi, brat! Are you done flirting with my granddaughter?"

"What are you saying in front of twelve-year-olds? How shameless." Shido shook his head and remarked.

Ignoring Shido, the old man squatted town to Eri's eye level and asked her whether she had fun today.

"Yeah! Shido brought me to...."

Eri was carried by her grandfather as they left for their house first since Shido needed to settle some stuff in school.

However, before they went out of Shido's sight, Eri climbed down from her grandfather's embrace and rushed towards Shido.

Just as Shido wondered what Eri was up to, she came up to him and gave him a peck on his cheeks.

"Hehe...see you later, Shido!" Without waiting for his reply, Eri immediately ran back towards her grandfather, who looked at him with a glare in the distance.

*****************

In the shadows, three people were present.

"So who are you, and what do you want from us?" Gentle asked as he hugged Brava tightly. Brava remained silent in his embrace, fear present in her eyes.

"Hello, Gentle. It's finally good to see you face to face." Shido, or more specifically, the clone of Shido spoke.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You see, I have been stalking...ahem, following you to ensure that you do not get caught by the police. Similar to you, I was also once a vigilante. However, because no one could stop me from doing what I do, I was eventually left alone since I technically didn't kill anyone, in public, that is."

Gentle thought for a moment before Brava opened her mouth and spoke, "You're Phantom, aren't you?"

"As expected of a genius." Shido wasn't too surprised at her ability to recognize him. If a genius hacker who hacks almost all information about heroes couldn't recognize him, something was wrong.

"Well, you're not wrong. You see...after some time, I realized what you needed to have to become a hero is not only ability. Connections and money could buy your way to becoming a hero, so I don't know why you're not doing that. Are you trying to carve your own name into history by becoming villains?

"I-"

"But that's beside the point." Shido stopped Gentle from talking and continued, "What I am here to do is to offer you an opportunity. If it weren't for me, you two would have been sent to jail. You see, although both of you are villains, I noticed that you never actually killed or harm anyone, well, directly. Not that your crimes worked at all.

Your quirk is very versatile and useful and all, but what I appreciate more is your ability to use your quirk. Instead of becoming a public villain, why don't you become a hero instead? Your quirk is perfect for saving someone and repelling attacks and coupled with your partner's love for you, you can become quite a renowned hero should you choose to do so."

"So, what do you want from us?"

"Work for me as an underground vigilante or a public hero, whichever you choose. I do have certain influences over the top brass and can easily help you become a hero, though you will need to suffer some public backlash from your past criminal history."

"What if we refuse to work for you?"

"Then I'm just going to seal both of your quirks and let you go live an ordinary life someplace else. I'll also seal all her knowledge on hacking since I can't have you destroying the economy or going down the villain route again. Since both of you love each other, isn't it enough to just live like an ordinary couple?"

"No! Even if I wanted that, everything I do will be for Gentle's sake! I'm not going to let anyone drag him down and prevent himself from accomplishing his dream, not even myself!" Brava instantly declared after hearing Shido's suggestion.

Patting Brava's head to calm her down, Gentle spoke, "Sigh, for better or worse, I remembered my dream. I was scared and just started running towards it. Even if I know the path I was on was the incorrect one."

"So my choice is, no. I'll never work under someone since my name will never be carved into history. As for changing, I'm going to let the future decide for me." Gentle let out a smile and replied.

"Hahaha, you're an amusing person. Well, I'll drop you off at your house after I seal up whatever I need to seal up. I do hope that you would change. You won't be going to jail this time, but I won't save you anymore."

A key soon appeared in Shido's hand, and in one motion, he stabbed both of them through their chest and turned it clockwise.

"Segva."

Brava soon found herself unable to use her quirk, same with Gentle except for the fact that Brava had 'forgotten' how to hack the internet as well.

"Well, I hope to never see you again on the internet showcasing your villainous antics. Just live a happy life together with your loved ones before you regret it."

Saying finish his piece, Shido ejected both of them out of his shadows and into their apartment.

The duo sighed as they realized the consequences of their actions, but they didn't regret it. Looking at the table nearby, Gentle found an envelope and a thick wad of cash.

Skimming through the letter, Gentle realized that it was from Shido, stating that the cash was enough to last them for a few years until they managed to get a job of their own. It also mentioned a sentence that struck Gentle.

"The only people who say they can't rebuild their lives are the lazy bastards who have no motivation, or the hasty bastards who rush to get results."

"You bastard..." Gentle teared up a little before immediately wiping them off. He tossed the letter to the side before announcing loudly, "Let's get the finest black tea now!"

Unknown to them, there was one more sentence at the back of the letter.

"Your quirks will automatically be unsealed after five years, which is basically just shorter than the duration of the jail sentence you would have received. So I hope you find how to live until then~."

*****************

A/N: You might find the ending unsatisfactory, but too bad. I felt a little bad for the comedic duo, so I let them go instead.

Those who missed Yoshinon, I'm sorry...I had forgotten to write about him...how sad...but he'll have his screen time in the next chapter. And with this, we conclude the UA School Festival Arc!

Finally...five more arcs left...

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