"These were the results of the written exams."
Aizawa organized a few papers on his desk.
"Congratulations, but remember that it's not over yet…"
He stood up with the stack of papers in hand and walked toward the door.
"Ah, right."
The teacher lazily turned back to us and continued.
"There won't be classes tomorrow, use the time to rest before the practical exams."
And with that, he left.
"..."
Mina and Kaminari stood up at the same time and turned toward each other, their eyes watering with emotion.
"WE DID IT!!!!!"
They exchanged a high five.
Most of the class collapsed onto their desks, sighing in relief.
"That… was close…" Tokoyami was cold sweating.
"Yeah…"
"Phew…"
Despite the anxiety, everyone had managed to pass.
"Very well everyone! Now we just need to pass the practical exam!" Iida stood up and congratulated the class.
"Haaa, don't even remind me…"
"At least we have tomorrow off."
"Guys!! We need to celebrate this!" Mina called out.
"Let's use tomorrow to go out together!"
"Great idea! That way we can relax a little before the practical exams…"
Momo replied while trying to sound serious, though she was clearly even more excited about the idea than Mina.
"Let's go to karaoke!!!!" Toru raised her invisible arm into the air.
"Karaokeeee!!!" Uraraka and Himiko joined her.
"We can go to the arcade too!" Kaminari, Sero, and Kirishima shared their idea after talking amongst themselves.
"KARAOKEEEE!!!"
"So noisy…"
I turned toward the stressed figure beside me.
"That's kind of weird coming from you, Bakugo."
"HAAAN!?!?"
"You going?" I casually changed the subject, which Bakugo noticed.
"..."
"Tsk, I need to train fo—"
"Ahhh, c'mon man?" Kirishima pulled Bakugo over and threw an arm over his shoulders.
"GET OFF ME!!"
"Come ooon, it'll be funnn."
"Training the day before will probably hurt more than help, Bakugo."
"..."
"Tsk, I'll think about it…"
"YEAHHH!!" Kirishima squeezed Bakugo down, nearly making both of them fall.
"I DIDN'T SAY I'M GOING!!!"
"AND GET OFF ME, DAMMIT!!!"
'Hehe…'
I moved a little away from the two before Bakugo exploded something.
Doing that, I noticed the only one who seemed left out of the conversation: Todoroki.
I walked over to him, and only when I stopped in front of his desk did Todoroki notice me and raise his head.
"Kaneki."
"Todoroki..."
"..."
'????'
"You going?"
"..."
"You mean tomorrow?"
"Yep."
"Well…" He looked thoughtful.
"I think so, Fuyumi said this morning that she's going to visit mom tomorrow…"
"So I'll be free."
"..."
"Right… See you there."
"Mhm."
"..."
With that, I turned around and went back to the main group.
"..."
'Who the hell is Fuyumi???'
'What do you mean visiting his mother???'
'Urghh.'
'It's so hard talking to Todoroki…' I mentally lamented.
'Is this how people feel when talking to me?'
I let out a sigh. Todoroki seemed like a nice guy, but I needed to get more used to everyone if I wanted to hold a conversation, otherwise it would feel like two walls talking to each other.
"KARAOKEEEEE!!!!!"
'...They're still on that?'
─── ◆ ───
The next day, a little before the scheduled time for Class 1-A's meetup.
"Do you already know what you're going to play when it's your turn?" Himiko asked while we walked hand in hand through the mall crowd.
"No idea, what about you?"
She shook her head no.
"Himiko-chan!! Kaneki-kun!" A voice called out from the crowd.
We turned around and found some floating clothes waving at us.
"Toru-chan!"
Himiko and Toru exchanged a hug, and then we walked together.
After a bit more walking, we found the rest of the group at the meeting spot.
Everyone had come, even Bakugo, who was trying (and failing) to look grumpy.
Naturally, we were all wearing casual and comfortable clothes.
I had talked with Himiko about the possibility of Iida and Momo showing up in fancy formal wear or something extravagant like that.
That wasn't the case, they were dressed casually too.
The group chatted for a bit, and then it was decided we'd go to karaoke this time, leaving the arcade for the next "Class 1-A gathering."
Apparently, Momo had already reserved the room and even paid for everything!
The privileges of having a rich friend, and I definitely wasn't going to complain.
─── ◆ ───
The place was one of those classic luxurious karaoke rooms, complete with a disco ball and LEDs.
The sofa was especially comfortable, I practically sank into it when I sat down.
The table in front of us was full of snacks, candy, soda, and juice.
I exchanged a glance with Himiko.
And just like that, a "mental connection" was established.
'We're taking some of this stuff home.'
'Only if Yaomomo-chan allows it…'
'Okay.'
"So, who's going first?" Mina turned toward the class, already holding the microphone and lightly bouncing in place.
"..." Everyone looked at one another.
"You can go, Min—"
Tsuyu's sentence didn't even finish before Mina had already started typing something onto the screen with the remote.
She started singing some kind of K-pop song, even dancing while dragging Toru and Himiko along with her.
They danced really well too.
After their performance, it was Kaminari and Kirishima's turn. They teamed up to sing a rock song, dragging Bakugo and Tokoyami into it midway through.
'It's been so long since I listened to music…'
The songs in this era practically all paid tribute to heroes in one way or another.
They weren't bad, but…
The group seemed to take a break to eat a little, slowing things down.
"Go, Yaomomo!!"
When I lifted my head, I saw Momo searching for a song.
'Hey… I remember hearing this one…'
[ Music: M y _ W a y _ 0 f _ L i f e ]
"Cough cough." Momo looked a little nervous, but after taking a deep breath, she pressed play.
The trumpets began to play, and everyone fell silent.
"Gotta have you near all the time…"
"Holy shit…" Someone let it slip out.
"Mind your manners…" Iida reprimanded on pure reflex, even though he was just as shocked.
"With your dreams wrapped up in mine…"
At that moment, Momo looked like an opera singer, her voice completely filling the room.
"I'm just half alive in my struggle to survive without you…"
At that moment, Aoyama stood up and grabbed another microphone.
"You are my way of life!!"
Their voices fit together perfectly. Aoyama's voice was deep, completely different from his usual one.
That even surprised Momo, but she continued.
"..."
"Make me your way of life"
"Don't ever go…"
"..."
"I… We… Did we do well??"
" o_o " " (⊙o⊙) " " (⊙ˍ⊙) " " 😮 "
Momo looked confused when she saw half the class staring wide-eyed or completely slack-jawed.
We quickly snapped back to reality, standing up and applauding.
CLAP!!! CLAP!!! CLAP!!!
"THAT WAS SO FUCKING GOOD!!"
~Whistle!
─── ◆ ───
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