55

Chapter 55: Passing Days IV – Jam SessionNotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"Good morning listeners! Come on in!" Present Mic welcomed them inside the teacher's building. He looked cool even in his civilian outfit: some band's shirt, a light jacket, a pair of blue jeans, and a hair tie to keep his mane in a ruffled, short ponytail.

Kinoko—and likely everybody else—had been surprised when the teacher had offered them a spot to sing their hearts out during the weekends, meaning his own recording studio.

As a long-time fan of the Hero's radio show, the popular "Put Your Hands Up Radio," the girl had been incredibly thrilled by the proposal. It was like getting to tour the shrine of a minor deity, but way better—Present Mic usually answered every call his listeners made and was certainly less boring.

Still, it was a bit weird to think that everything was done inside U.A.'s walls. She had thought that the Hero would hold the show from a private studio somewhere in the city, a rented station, or anything in between, but it seemed that that wasn't the case anymore. The students hadn't been the only ones required to remain inside the school's borders as much as possible, after all. The Pro Hero teachers were the backbone of U.A.'s defenses, and having them always on location was more important now than ever.

Present Mic—or "teach" or "prof Yamada" or just "Mic" when off duty—had explained how Nezu had done him the courtesy of having a room outfitted for his extra job's needs, since it was an important part of his image both as a Hero and as an entertainer. The principal had seen no reason to have his staff member's rankings suffer more than necessary.

This was only their third jam session—Was it right to call it that when they did both singing and playing? And it was almost karaoke too… It was just a weird mix—but Kinoko would say that she loved their hang outs in the Hero's studio. It was a lot more fun than the hours they spent during their singing lessons.

"So, listeners, bring me up to speed! How's the choir treating you?" the teacher asked.

- Speaking of the devil… -

The singers, being mostly empty handed and a bit faster than the ones carrying instruments, walked in first to answer.

"Splendidly, I dare say," Ibara responded with a proud smile. "I didn't have the opportunity to sing in a choir for far too long, and I had begun to miss it."

"Ah! Glad you've got the chance now then!" the Hero replied boisterously, his voice echoing on the corridor's walls. It was a wonder that anybody could get any sleep here. "What about you all?" he asked, moving his gaze from student to student.

"Eh, it's fine," Shinso shrugged, followed by a "It's not bad," from Kyoka and an agreeing nod from Honenuki.

But, apparently, Kinoko wasn't the only one not to share Ibara's view on the matter.

Fukidashi's speech bubble showed a smile with a drop of sweat. "Um, I wouldn't say 'splendidly,' but… It's been okay, I guess."

"Y-Yes, it's been tough," Koda nodded meekly.

"Oh?" the teacher let out an amused sound. "What's the problem?"

"Garza's a slave driver," Tsuburaba huffed, unbothered by the fact that they were talking to a teacher. A very nice one, but still… "I've had to do easier exercises in the gym. She's all 'Stand up straight!', 'Louder!', and 'No! Again! From the start!'"

"Don't forget the evergreen, 'Can't you hit this note? Even a child could!'" Shinso said with a tad of annoyance, adding fuel to the fire.

"'You sound like you gargle with gravel' was my favorite," Kyoka interjected with a chuckle, making Kaminari laugh. The punkette was understandably less irritated, as she hadn't received nearly as many reprimands for her performances and had taken the rest in stride with a grunt and a glare.

"That too!" Tsuburaba complained. "If she hits my shins one more time I'm taking that cane of hers and throwing it out of the window."

Kinoko hadn't been touched by the old woman's walking stick yet, mostly because she didn't share Tsuburaba's big mouth or Shinso's pointy sarcasm. Still, that didn't lessen the imposing aura of the chorus teacher one bit. Garza wielded her wooden weapon with as much power as Recovery Girl did with hers, but with much more gusto.

"And then you'd be following along," Honenuki snickered as Ibara shook her head in disappointment.

"I don't even see you pulling it off anyway," Fukidashi commented, showing a dejected, puffy huff. "Or anybody else, for that matter."

It seemed that most of them had been shocked by how serious and merciless the instructor was, even for U.A.'s standards. As the others added a few more comments on their recent experience, Kinoko found herself agreeing with the overall sentiment. Garza's lessons were harsh, both incredibly instructive and terribly stressful. The woman wasn't outright cruel, but she was stubborn like a mule and as passionate as they come about her craft. She required perfection, and she would use her own peculiar and somewhat outdated methods to get it.

On their first meeting, the old woman had spoken with such presence that Kinoko doubted she would ever forget a single detail of the encounter.

Two weeks ago

"Koda. Komori. Shiozaki. Shinso. Jiro. Tsuburaba. Fukidashi. Honenuki. Midoriya," Garza spelled their names impeccably, and Kinoko couldn't help but stand up a bit straighter when called.

The music teacher, barely taller than Recovery Girl and probably just as fiery if not more, eyed them one by one before huffing and leaving the paper with their names on a desk.

"So, our principal tells me that the lot of you want to take lessons with me. That you had a compelling argument for why I would have to spend my time on not one, not two, but nine kids from the Course that usually wouldn't deign my classroom of a single glance. First years too, praticamente bambini." She shot them a glance that told much about what she thought of the sudden additional task placed on her shoulders. "I-"

"Yeah, we-" Honenuki started—in his defense, in the exact same moment as the teacher did—before getting brusquely interjected by a hit a inch from his foot, fast as the wind.

"Maleducato. Haven't your parents taught you that it's rude to interrupt?" the woman grunted.

The boy swallowed and let out a quick "Yes."

"Then act like it," Garza tsked. "As I was saying, I can teach you, but I will have you know that it will be on my terms. It will be a lot of work for me as well, so I expect respect and dedication from you. If you think this is going to be a happy stroll in the park, think again, fanciulle e fanciulli. There will be nothing easy about this, as my standards are nothing if not high."

She raised her stick and browsed them one by one, pushing and correcting wherever she found a hunched back or otherwise inopportune posture.

"You will have to train your entire bodies until I'm satisfied with the instrument you've become. I will take you and tune you to perfection. I will drill my entire catalogue into your heads if I have to."

She then pointed her cane towards the exit. "If anybody thinks that they'd rather leave, there's the door. Know though that you won't be allowed back inside, pusillanime," she said, her tone grave and sort of mocking.

Nobody moved.

"What would you have us learn, signora Garza?" Midoriya asked as she made a pause long enough to give somebody the opportunity to speak.

Kinoko had come to accept that the greenette could most likely surprise them with any language at this point, so she managed to remain silent. Tsuburaba didn't, and received the first of many hits to the shins to come. As the boy stifled a groan of pain, the woman raised an eyebrow for a second before smirking deviously at Midoriya.

"Since the principal asked me to go 'Plus Ultra' with you, I will do just that."

She started raising her fingers one by one.

"I will teach you how to control your breath as if it was in your very nature, and you will be able to breathe silently and without effort. I will inculcate music theory in your thick heroic heads to help you recognize patterns without wasting ages to think. I will put you through so much aural training that your ears will bleed and ask for mercy, but you will be able to hear like you never have before. Except maybe for you, girl with the jacks…"

"Jiro," Kyoka repeated.

"Jiro, dov'è che - Ah, sei una figlia d'arte. Music's in your blood. I hope you've taken after your parents," Garza recognized, to the girl's astonishment.

The teacher seemed like the last person that would listen to the kind of music Kyoka's parents played, but here they were anyway.

The girl replied with a quick nod, making Garza chuckle. 

"Good. Maybe my teachings won't 'rock your word,' but I promise you that I'll bring you to a whole new level of understanding… If you can stick with it, of course."

The punkette narrowed her eyes, but kept most of her calm. "Bring it on."

Garza seemed about to move her wooden weapon, but ultimately only hummed. "Mh, at least you have some backbone. Keep that ego, but don't think for a second that you know better than me. You lack fifty years more of experience. It goes without saying that you will be judged by how well you can adhere to my standards, not yours," she pointed out with steel in her voice.

"Now, we will start with stretching. 'Open up the instruments,' if you will. Then we'll look for your ranges. Once I've got your starting point, we'll begin to work on your tuning." With a single beat of the stick on the tiled floor, she commanded, "Breathe in!"

When a couple of the students didn't act immediately, her reaction was nothing short of explosive. "Sveglia! Do I look like I have all day?! Breathe in!"

And so began their singing struggles.

Present

"From your words, she appears to be a very… passionate individual," Reiko observed.

"Uh, she scary," Pony said, sounding happy to have nothing to do with her lessons.

"It does sound like she wouldn't settle for compromises…" Yaomomo thought aloud, sounding somewhat preoccupied.

Present Mic laughed heartily at their confession. "Man, I forgot how old Garza's lessons were."

"Oh, did you help her during some lessons, prof Yamada?" Kinoko asked, curious.

"Help? Oh no, I was a student of hers too," he said, shaking his head at the memories. "My homeroom teacher had me take her lessons during my third year. Helped take my mind off things—" The Hero let the words hang in the air for a second before quickly going back to his signature smile. "—and get a lot better with my voice! But damn, she was a drill sergeant from hell back then! And it seems that she hasn't mellowed out with age at all!" he laughed.

"I just wish she would stop scolding us in Italian," Honenuki grumbled. "I don't understand it and, as good as it sounds, I can feel that she's saying some stuff that would make our skin crawl."

"It's not that bad," Midoriya chuckled from the back.

"Easy for you to say, you four keep hitting every note," Tsuburaba huffed while pointing at him, Kinoko, and the two more skilled girls.

"I spent a lifetime learning that stuff, now I'm just trying to improve further," Kyoka responded with an annoyed tone.

"Proverbs 12:1. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is ignorant," Ibara cited, unflappable. "I already had my share of corrections as a child."

Kinoko simply giggled and mischievously showed the tip of her tongue, somewhat proud of her little accomplishment.

The greenette rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we started with an advantage… but you'll catch up in no time."

"If she pushes you all as you're saying, it wouldn't surprise me," Monoma noted with a smirk.

"Oh, of that I'm sure, listeners," Present Mic agreed. "She may be draconian in her methods, but Garza knows her stuff. Old lady would be able to turn a gaping fish into a songbird, so you've got nothing to worry about!"

Strange metaphors aside, they knew that the Pro was right. Kinoko could already feel a difference, and the stuff she'd learned wasn't comparable to what she had managed to find online and by singing by herself.

"Besides, at least you listeners are getting semi-private lessons! I had to make a fool of myself before the whole chorus crew!" the Pro continued, trying to alleviate their dislike. "Gotta go Plus Ultra in this training too, ya can't throw in the towel so soon! You've all got your good reasons to do it, right?"

Did she have a good reason?

Koda, Shinso, Fukidashi, and Tsuburaba had been the ones who had received Midoriya's suggestion to take part in those extra classes, as they would gain far more than anybody else. Kyoka had taken the proposal with a touch more of reticence, but she had eventually capitulated before the analyst's comparison of her power output with and without singing. Ibara and Honenuki didn't have the same needs, but they would both benefit from a greater lung capacity—and there was something to do with how carbon dioxide interacted with Ibara's vines, but Kinoko wasn't sure.

But Kinoko? She didn't have the same needs as the others. Breathing better was all well and good, but—since her spores had no effect on her whatsoever—it wasn't exactly a requirement for her. She could see the physical benefits of it, of course, but what really got her into joining the group was the fact that it would help her enormously towards realizing her dream of becoming an Idol Hero. The achievement was something so rare that you could count the people successfully juggling both professions on the fingers of one hand at most.

In her opinion, that was more than a good reason to weather any storm the old crone would put her through with a smile. Scoldings, yells, and attempted hits with a cane? Her will wouldn't bend for so little.

So, she was proud to be able to respond with a big grin and an energetic, "Sure we do! Stick and stones and all that, right? It takes more than a few words to discourage us!"

Yes, she knew that the cane could count as a stick, but the saying worked for her.

"Well said, listener!" Mic gave her an approving double finger gun just before reaching the studio. The man fumbled with his keys for a second before shouting "Everybody in! I'mma go pick up our special guest!" and disappearing behind a corner.

As the group entered and started opening their cases and setting up in the soundproofed room, Reiko walked over, smiling gently. Lately she looked like she slept better, or at least more often.

"Hey! Wanna chat?" Kinoko asked, knowing that her friend wasn't as outspoken as she was, but that, whenever she did speak, she usually made her words worth listening to.

"The fact that you have managed to stay on the thorny path of progress despite its adversities fills my heart with joy," the grey-haired girl said, her voice mellow.

Kinoko barely failed in holding back a giggle. Reiko's penchant for peculiar wording had only grown since she had started spending more time with the broody Tokoyami, and it never failed to make her laugh.

"Thanks!" She beamed back. "And thank you too, Emily. You both helped a lot."

Reiko's eyebrow quirked in confusion as her eyes moved for a moment, listening to the voice in her right ear. "How so? She doesn't think we did anything of the sort."

"Well, yeah, you did," she replied as she sat by her friend's side, smiling widely. "You inspired me. Seeing what you two have been going through, all the special training and tuning with Hatsume, and the progress you're making with your Quirk together… It just made me think, 'Hey, if they can go through that much stuff and come out stronger, why would I let myself be stopped by a few bad words?' I think about it every time I get a bit down."

Reiko observed her for a moment before returning the smile. "I see. Then I can say that we're both pleased to have helped, even in such an indirect way."

"It's direct enough for me," she said, sticking out her tongue for a second. "And it's going even better than I'd hoped for. Midoriya suggested that I could- Ah, just watch."

She inhaled, puffing up her cheeks, as her eyes looked around for a suitable target. Then she quickly exhaled in a single blow towards the other side of the room, trying to direct the whole thing as she'd been instructed to do. A moment later a few big, bright orange-yellow chanterelle mushrooms started springing up over Kaminari's guitar case… and all the way up to his sleeve.

"Wha-!" the blonde let out a surprise yelp, letting go of the case, which was thankfully caught by a black and green tendril—probably saving her and the poor boy from Kyoka's rage.

"Komori, what did we say about Quirk training outside of the gym?" Midoriya chided as he returned the instrument to Kaminari and started removing her creations.

"Sorry, Kaminari! It just slipped out!" she excused herself before adding a "Damn, my aim is still a bit off," for Reiko's ears only, making her giggle. She soon joined in, the two laughing at the silly moment until the others finished their preparations.

"Thank you!" the little girl exclaimed, eagerly clapping at their performance. She seemed to be smiling more often nowadays.

Denki and the others laughed pleasantly at the adorable display. Eri was seated by Present Mic's side, and the teen had to admit that the girl and the Hero made for a great audience—silent as they listened and cheering loudly as the group paused.

"Oh yeah! Good one, listeners!" the teacher added, giving them a thumbs up as he moved some levers and pressed a few buttons on his station with his other hand.

Of all things he had thought he would be doing in U.A., getting his playing registered by Present Mic wasn't on the list. Partially because he hadn't known how to play well before—if you could even count strumming a few notes as playing—and partially because, come on, it was Present Mic! How cool was that?!

The guy should have had a list of bands willing to play for his program longer than Denki could even hope to count to, and yet here he was, happily asking his students if they would like him to have their music on air in his mixes. He didn't seem to mind the fact that they were barely novices who hadn't known a thing about playing together until a couple of weeks before, or that some of them had to borrow an instrument or two. He seemed to like his place behind the console so much that it actually looked like they were the ones doing him a favor, not the other way around.

Theirs wasn't even a "real" jam session, 'cause apart from Jiro nobody here was good enough to improvise an hour of material. Or, they could, but it wouldn't sound like anything close to what they wanted. Instead, they had opted to cover some popular songs, something they would all have heard at one point or the other, just to make things easier. Although they had to adapt every piece to fit the instruments they could play, the result was worth the extra pain. Suffice to say that it had worked wonders, and now they could play a few without any—major—mistakes! And it didn't hurt that Mic could pull off miracles with that console of his.

For real, Denki would probably be able to brag about the experience for years to come.

"One more?" the child asked, her pleading eyes fixed on Midoriya.

The electric blonde smirked and looked in the same direction. "Yeah, come on! We've got one more in the tank, right?"

The higher the sun rose and the more they prolonged the session, the warmer the room became and the hungrier they got, but Denki was having way too much fun to quit.

"Yeah! Encore!" Pony yelled, raising her fists and the microphone she was holding—luckily already separated from its stand.

"Let's!" Komori added, her bangs ruffling as she moved excitedly.

"We still have some time before lunch," Shoda offered in approval.

"Mm," Kodai hummed, her fingers expertly fiddling with her violin's pegs.

"Not a lot, but they'll understand," Monoma smirked, taking the moment to let some fresh air through his shirt's collar.

"Feed the soul before feeding the vessel," Tokoyami proclaimed.

"Everybody's fine with one last song?" Midoriya asked, receiving a collective "Yeah!" in response.

The greenette smiled before looking at their best member. "Alright then, next page. Jiro, kick us off!"

The punkette didn't waste a second before starting to thumb on her bass' strings, her skill with the deep tones setting a solid foundation that would let them all follow along more easily.

Shoda and Honenuki began tapping on their drums—both with weird shapes and names that Denki hadn't quite caught. The thuddy resonance was catchy, something that made him want to tap his feet along the rhythm.

Denki and Tokoyami did their best to keep chaining chords, their picks moving to produce those sorta muddy, sorta boomy sounds that made their part pop among the rest. 

Kodai's violin, Yaoyorozu's synthesizer, and Midoriya's trumpet completed the whole ensemble with rich, intense, powerful sounds.

The group had many vocalists, but they all managed to fit together rather well despite their vast array at their disposal. The choir students were making great strides with their voices, and they could all hear the difference.

Shiozaki sang—no sarcasm—like an angel, her tone pure and honest. Komori was passionate, cheerful, and always moving as if she were on stage. Honenuki—chiming in here and there, since he was also playing—had perhaps the clearest diction. Koda was quieter than the rest, but he had a youthful quality that the others lacked. Shinso was rasping, but there was something hypnotic in there too. Fukidashi seemed to always push for a higher volume, showing an incredible intensity. Tsuburaba—despite his apparent annoyance—sang breathily, which made his voice strangely intimate. Jiro, of course, was the cream of the crop, her voice both husky and alluring.

The trio who didn't participate in the extra lessons joined in with more energy than skill, but they were great nonetheless. Pony was bright, unrivaled in her own mother tongue, Yanagi's voice was hauntingly piercing, and Monoma's tone could be terribly charismatic.

All in all, they put up quite the spectacle. They weren't perfect by any means, but they were having fun… and their small audience was loving every second of it. Denki didn't have the necessary skills to look away from his sheets just yet, but even he could tell from a quick glance that the duo were bobbing their heads to the sound. The brief sight was enough to make him want to put even more energy in the performance, which then affected Tokoyami, then Shoda, then Midoriya, and everybody in fast succession.

He wondered if one could tell if the singers were smirking by their voices only…

After an intense four minutes of strumming and singing to their heart's content, the melody slowly drew to a close, with Jiro's chords scoring both the beginning and the ending. The kid and the Hero didn't make them wait for their last round of applause.

"Thank you, thank you, you're too kind," Denki chuckled, trying to imitate the classy curtsy done by Monoma.

"That should be enough for today," Honenuki let out a breath as he rubbed his hands.

"Yeah, I'm spent," Tsuburaba agreed, the others nodding along.

"Then let's put the instruments and stuff away and close up," Yaoyorozu said, already in the process of picking up her bag.

The group responded with a few more nods and sounds of assent, getting to work.

Denki got up to return his guitar—one of Jiro's—to its band-stickers-covered case, piled up among the others. In the meantime, his eyes wandered around to his classmates putting everything back where it belonged, stopping on one particular case. Saying that Kodai's method of shrinking her violin to make it pocket-sized was the masters around wasn't hard, but Denki couldn't help but stop, grin, and talk as soon as his brain made the connection.

"Hey, Kodai, is that the world's smallest violin?"

The girl quickly turned his way, her expression as neutral as ever, before giving him a nod. "Mm!"

Shoda, on the girl's side, chuckled. "It sure is! Man, I had completely missed the reference there." 

Kodai let out another sound—this time the "Mm" was a bit more… piqued, maybe? It was hard to say—and accompanied it with a few raised fingers.

Shoda raised his eyebrow in surprise. "Oh, you've been waiting for somebody to get it for that long? Sorry," he translated apologetically, making the girl shrug.

Denki was honestly impressed by the Vice Representative skill. It wasn't even like what Midoriya and Yaoyorozu did with Koda, there were almost no gestures and signs here!

"Damn, how did you get all that?" the blonde asked, respect clear in his voice.

"I've been asking myself the same questions for a while now," Shinso interjected, suddenly entering the conversation, lowering himself to pick up Denki's case and offering to keep it open for him, which he accepted gratefully.

Shoda smiled sheepishly. "It's nothing much. I just had a lot of practice with a friend that interacts in the same way, so I've learned a thing or two."

"Mm."

"Or three," the boy amended.

"Well, it's still hella impressive," he commented. "And it's not the only thing that caught me off guard. I didn't take you for somebody with a love for memes, Kodai."

The noirette nodded silently, reaching for her phone—which she had been using to record their performances—and starting to tap on it.

Shinso interjected with a light sneer. "You'd be surprised by how many she shares."

"It's a lot of fun," Shoda added, his instrument now secured in its bag.

"I'm sure it i-"

Denki's words were interrupted by own mobile vibrating in his pockets, the screen showing a notification of messages sent from Kodai herself. Opening the chat app, Denki's eyes widened at the flood of funny images that kept loading faster than he could read.

- What the… -

He recognized most of the memes, but besides the most popular ones—his current favorite was the one with a teacher telling his class of kids that "Rabbits are harmless and cute," followed by the caption "Got one in two," and a photo of Mirko mauling a Villain—there were some he had never seen before. He cursed his algorithm for never showing him Kentucky Fried Hawks and the trio of Past Mic, Present Mic, and Future Mic.

He so had to share all of these with Sero and Kirishima.

"Ah, she must have sent you the backlog," Shoda smiled.

"Pretty much my same reaction," Shinso noted, gazing at his stupefied expression before handing him back the guitar case.

"These… This stuff is gold!"

"Mm," Kodai approved before pointing a finger at his phone.

"If you've got any, you should share," Shoda explained.

"Damn, I don't think I can surpass that, and I'd have to check… But trust me, as soon as I find some new shit you're the first I'll be sending it to."

"She'll be counting on it," Shoda translated Kodai's next sound.

"Oh, yeah, I totally needed another guy to fill my photo gallery with jokes and nonsense," Shinso rolled his eyes.

Denki noticed that, despite the sarcasm, the indigo-haired teen was smirking. "Poor Shinso, forced to laugh every once in a while," he joked, right on time for Kodai to accompany his words with the sad sound of her violin, carefully held with only two fingers.

"Screw you guys," Shinso groaned, but without really sounding annoyed.

Shoda shook his head and chuckled lightly, pointing at the rest of the group heading out. "And that's our cue to say that we're running late for lunch."

"Right, let's move. I'm hungry," the other boy complained.

Denki hummed in agreement, casually walking by the guy's side and turning his head slightly towards Kodai.

"We totally have to find some other uses for that violin. I've already got a few ideas," he grinned.

The girl nodded twice, probably telling him to go on.

- Oh, this is going to be so much fun! -

"'right, how'd you feel about background music?"