Itsuka never thought she'd ever try to compete for this. Literally the entire class said otherwise, saying she was a shoe in as a beautiful big sis. She mainly entered so she could give Neito his chance to shine with his own play to prevent him from shutting down altogether. She really worried for the little maniac.
Maybe she would've felt more comfortable about this if her first internship didn't leave such a bad taste in her mouth. Itsuka was just glad Momo got out of the funk she was in after that experience, and apparently learned something from her time with Fat Gum.
And her own work study didn't improve much either. Seriously, how the hell was she supposed to know Mount Lady was as lazy as she was and Edgeshot said one sentence a day! She was lucky she learned anything, and it was Kamui, a man she barely got to relate to!
She just needed one win, one freaking win! Was that too much to ask? Not for the sake of a rivalry like Neito wanted, but just to reassure herself that she was doing good. She'd probably have a better chance of that happening during joint training, but what was the harm in entering what should be a simple pageant?
Besides, her competition wasn't that stunning, right? She turned to see the third year wearing a tight dress with sparkling innocence and flowing hair. She then looked the other way, seeing a woman sparkle with eyelashes as tall as Itsuka herself.
"I don't see why you're even bothering to try this year, Hado-chan. You know you can't compete when it comes to the best." Eyelashes snorted. "Maybe if there was a baby division, you'd come in third."
"Screw you and your flawless designs Bibimi Kenranzai! You may have a lovely dress and fabulous eyes, but I have one thing you don't."
"Air in your skull?"
"No, I have sex!" … What?
"...I mean, I know people call you a blue-haired bimbo, but I didn't know how seriously to take it until now." Kenranzai covered her mouth to hide her uncontrolled laughter. "What next, you'll be making money for prostitution?"
"If there was a way I would have sent you to Jupiter a long long time ago Kenra, and then I wouldn't have to deal with that obnoxious laughter anymore."
"Do…do I want to know the context for this?" Itsuka asked a nearby girl with a fish-like appearance.
"They're both third years that entered the past two pageants, and Kenranzai has won it both times."
"Because I'm absolutely flawless." The girl waved her sparkly hair as some small echo of 'flawless' took place. How did she do that?
"More like you're so flashy that you literally blind the audience from everyone else." Hado huffed with a cute pout.
"It's not like there's a need to see anyone else. I'm just too good."
"So I have absolutely no chance, do I?" She asked Reiko, who had followed her in support.
"Probably for the best. You could be stuck getting in between those two maniacs." The poltergeist user shrugged. "This kind of competition tends to bring out the worst in people. Stick with it and you might end up defining your entire self-worth into it, causing you to spiral into a depressive state where you question and second guess every decision that you make."
"… None of us have come out okay this year have we?" The nod of resignation only made the fact worse. Apparently UA was the killer of sanity.
==
They were lucky the pageant started as late as it did, now they could cheer on Kendo. Kinoko was absolutely certain that the class big sister would sweep away the crowd! The mushroom girl herself would never enter though, the only eyes that could stare longingly at her belonged to her beloved Forest King!
"Ladies and gentlemen." Spoke up the only man that could announce this event, for both his energy, and the fact 80% of the world thought he was into Aizawa, Hizashi Yamada, or better known as- "Present Mic here with the lovely girls of this year's Beauty Pageant, give them a round of applause!" The crowd cheered and hollered as the girls in dresses walked in line, strutting their stuff.
"Go big sis, you've got this!" Setsuna waved with a big grin at the embarrassed girl. She could totally relate to the feeling. When it came to athletic events like the sports festival, Kinoko felt like a fish out of water, while Kendo was in her natural element.
"Show the world you're dazzling grace! A win for Kendo is a win for 1-B!" And Monoma tried to make it into a class competition again. Life existed outside of a classroom, you know.
"1-A isn't even in this." Awase pointed out. "Like, none of them … you'd think they'd give us one babe to look at, like Yaoyorozu."
"Would you like to repeat that?" Spoke a voice that placed a hand on her classmate, who slowly turned to see sparking yellow hair. "Repeat to me what you were saying… about my girlfriend?"
"I thought Bakugo was supposed to be the scary one." Shoda whispered.
"Oh, he still is." The tape user, Sero, came around. "He just kinda mellowed out and now is only terrifying when you piss him off … or fight him … or mess up the kitchen…you know what, mellow out is probably not the right word to use."
"Honestly the title for scariest classmate switches all the time every few days." The Acid using Ashido shrugged. "It always comes back to Bakugo, but it gets tossed around to Todoroki, Iruma, Koda,Tsu, and Ochako usually. The one time with Aoyama was super weird."
"Wow, we are lucky. We only have to deal with two at the most." Setsuna shrugged. "Then again, Kinoko gets it sometimes when she uses her quirk on a person, but otherwise she's really sweet."
She blushed, looking away from all the staring. Just because you plant spores in your classmates asophicus five time, people assume you plan on murdering them. Nonsense! She was saving that for when she and her king finally took down the overlord known as Wash. "So … none of you guys wanted to take the spot?"
"I don't know." Suzuki spoke, holding a little girl on his shoulder. A sister. "We got really busy and we didn't even know it existed. Maybe Toru should have joined …" A loud moan and a grunt was heard. "...or could I have?"
"Girl only, you'd have to wear a dress." Kaminari explained to his classmate.
"Is that all? Eh, it wouldn't be the first time. Maid outfits get really uncomfortable." The group was quietly watching the boy, only for droplets of blood to come out of Uraraka and possibly Hagakure's noses.
"Excuse me." The former said, walking off quickly.
"Iruma, you continue to cause situations you'll forever be unaware of." Todoroki deadpanned.
"Are they going to be okay, Wolfman?" The son of the new number one was ignored as the little girl asked her presumably big brother.
"It's fine. Midnight-sensei says that happens when people really like someone." The boy explained in small words. "And that means they've gotta find you super cute and adorable." She was somehow feeling 1-A's pain. "Oh look, Nejire's up there!"
"Don't let her eat me!" The girl hid behind Suzuki's head. What was that about?
"Don't worry, if she tries I'll cook some chicken and beat her up."
==
Bibimi stood tall on the stage, the next challenge was a 'quirk show off', something she couldn't outright win, but she could still flaunt her stuff. One such example was the pageant tank! A perfectly designed masterpiece that took her glitter flakes (natural of course, not all quirks were battle made), and shot them off like fireworks that sparkled.
So far she was in the lead, her only other competitor, besides the troublesome Nejire, was Kendo, and that girl couldn't do much but break steel and jungle, so unflattering. Only morons and muscle brains could be into that. Thus, she was as flawless as always!
"So sparkly, so dazzling..!" The blonde first year with the belt looked at her performance in awe. "So graceful, a level of bedazzlement I have yet to reach…" She gave her fellow sparkler a wink, watching him blush with amusement. "So this is how everyone feels …"
"A knife, searing hot, into my flesh." She could hear a frog girl mutter with her sensors. "Forget this whole scene right here."
"How did she get approved to use an entire tank for her performance?" The Yaoyorozu heiress looked confused. If she actually entered the competition, she might've had a decent challenge this year, those commercials she was in were very flattering.
"UA is very lax for the support course in all honesty. If you make it yourself, they let you have whatever you want." The Todoroki boy explained. "I'm pretty sure it's the reason why Hatsumei has a nuclear reactor inside of her work space." Such a promising protege that girl was.
"So shiny." A little girl sitting atop a blue haired boy commented. "Are all heroes this shiny, or is this something that happens when people get older?"
"No, it's not something that occurs naturally, nor should it ever be." A crow student replied. "The world has been getting brighter, I'm surrounded by living light shows in class. I'm drowning in a sea of smoldering bright light. Revelry in the dark."
"I mean our sensei is pretty dark and grizzly, he never sparkles from what I remember." The cowlick boy said. "Oh, here comes Nejire! Don't worry, she won't eat you Eri."
"But she said she'd gobble me up…" Looks like Hado couldn't even get little kids to like her with her cute shtick. This was turning out to be a very pleasant day for Bibimi!
==
Iruma thought it was a little strange for Eri to be scared of Nejire, but seeing as how Overbird did worse to her, it wasn't an irrational fear to have. He was certain his blue haired Senpei wouldn't hurt her, she was strong, nice, and really smart! He half regretted not going with her to dragon lady's work study. In fact, he'd rather forget his work study altogether.
No more bad thoughts though, now was the time for fun! Like watching the pretty lights as Nejire flew through creating a wonderful artwork in the sky. Names, faces, flowers, trees, even moving pictures! "Wow, so pretty!" Eri looked up in the sky in awe.
"Yeah, it is. It's almost like fireworks, except less loud, so you don't need to cover your ears." Iruma agreed.
"Fire…works?" The girl asked curiously. "What's that?"
The poor innocent girl. Time to be a good big brother and share his knowledge of the world. "They're like balls of rainbow fire that go boom in the sky."
"But wouldn't the fire hurt people?" She asked curiously.
"No, fire is good. It keeps you warm at night and lets you cook your food. You just need to be smarter than it."
"Fire can be smart? Is it alive?"
"Kinda, it just wants to burn stuff. Keep it contained and give it food, and it light the way for you."
"So this is how Iruma treats family." Tsu looked at the sight with slightly doting eyes.
"I know, so precious!" Ochako squealed.
"I was gonna say it's strange. He's completely good with children because he thinks just like them." He would take that as a compliment.
"Oh, that's how it is. I thought it was weird hearing him sound smart." Kaminari said. Rude!
"You have no right to say that to anyone." Jiro said with half lidded eyes.
"Your friends are weird, Wolfman." Eri whispered to him. "Fun, but weird."
"I know, but being weird is what makes them fun." He responded.
"So many hot ladies …" Minoru gave a weird look to the girls on stage. "This is the best festival ever!" For some reason, he felt the need to keep his friend far away from Eri, something instinctual telling him to protect her.
"Hot? Are they hot? It doesn't feel hot out here?" The girl asked.
"Well that's because it's fall. That's when the leaves come down as the weather gets colder. If it gets cold enough the rain becomes fluffy snow you can play in."
"What's snow?"
"I don't know how much innocence I can handle all at once. If there was a way to preserve it forever and hang it on my wall, I would." Ochako squealed again. "Snow is basically soft ice. In about two months, it'll get cold enough for snow, just in time for Christmas!"
Both of them titled their heads. "What's Christmas?" Iruma and Eri asked at the same time.
The class just stared at him silently. "Do … how do you not know about a holiday that big?" Denki asked. "We get a winter break alone for it."
"My parents send me to the desert to look at tombs every winter to bring back shiny stuff." He shrugged. "The only thing I've noticed around that time is a lot more red and green on buildings when I visit towns for an alley nap."
"....." The class looked at each other for a solid minute. "Your parents are the worst." They all simultaneously said at once, followed by Toru squeezing him and Eri in one of her tight hugs
"No they're not. All Forty One is the worst." He clarified. "My parents are just really bad people, like Overbird."
"Overhaul … wasn't my dad." He blinked, turning up to look at her in confusion. "I … made my dad disappear… and mom left and called me a curse … it was me and grandpa … then Overbird made grandpa sleep."
"Don't think about it, Eri. You're not a curse, and I'm not going to disappear." He held her close. "You're the one that saved me from Overbird with your power. You're my hero, Eri." The word didn't leave a bitter taste in his mouth that time.
"I'm a hero?" Her eyes glowed. "I make you happy?"
"Of course you do, the fact you can be happy makes me happy." He patted the girl's head. "And once Sato's done cooking, we can get you some candy apples." Eri's eyes sparkled at that. Operation make Eri smile was going great!
==
Nejire tapped her feet, she made it to the final three. This was her last chance to shine. She put everything into it … now it was time to wait. "This actually feels a little nerve wracking. I was just trying to do something different for once." Kendo sighed with a bit of a sweat. "How were you two able to do this for two years?"
"What are you talking about? This is my third year, not my second." It wouldn't have been as nerve wracking if it was her second. "Yeah, it's something I really want to win, like really, REALLY badly, but imagining it as a fun game helps a lot."
"In all honesty, I just see it as practice for the popularity polls." Bibimi shrugged. "Start on a small stage and gradually make it bigger and bigger until you're eventually on the top of the world." She chuckled. "And then you can begin phase two of global domination …"
"Sanity is dead and it's never coming back." Kendo muttered for some strange reason. "Well good luck to you both, may the best girl win."
"I will!" She and Bibimi said at the same time, and the minute of peace they had suddenly vanished with an air of awkwardness. "So…it was a pretty lightshow." Bibimi admitted. "I didn't know you could use your quirk like that."
"Yeah, it took a while to get down.. Most I could make for a long time was a simple smiley face." Anything else kinda exploded. "And your tank was … pretty impressive." A bit much for a pageant, but she wouldn't step on any toes. "Have we ever talked to each other outside of pageant smack talk?"
"There was the time I was sent to work on your hero outfit and you complained about the color scheme."
"Purple and gold is not for me, what about me makes you think of that combo?"
"I was going for a royalty theme at the time. I thought you could've pulled off a queen-like look." That…that sounded like a complement. "Since your hero name was just your regular name, I thought I could've given it a little pizzazz."
"It's not my regular name, it's got 'chan' at the end, for the cute motif." She argued. "Why does everyone say-"
"It's time everyone, the votes are in!" Oh shoot, that was fast! Come on, come on! She was cute, flashy, and sexy this time around! That had to be a recipe for a winning combo. "In third place, with our consolation prize of a one free prize in any prize booth … Itsuka Kendo, with three hundred votes!"
"Three hundred…" The first year blushed at the number. "Wow, that's…a lot more than I was expecting."
"You should have expected it, you're super cute and pretty." Nejire patted the girl on the head.
"Not many can pull off an athletic look with beauty for these kinds of shows, so you got promise." Bibimi complimented. The first rule of being a Senpei was to always look out for your Kohai.
"In second place…" Oh boy, this was going to hurt if she had to wait any longer. "With a consolation prize of a three thousand yen gift card goes to….Bibimi Keranzai with a total of four hundred votes!" Not again…wait what…
"Second place….?" Her rival in beauty for two years stuttered, frozen where she stood. Yes … YES! "I could have sworn I calculated that cannon right …"
"And in first place … with five hundred votes … give it up … for Nejire Hado!!" The crowd cheered, she jumped high and waved, laughing and smiling. She won, she did it! She won a beauty pageant!
"The pretty fairy one!" The adorable unicorn known as Eri,atop of Iruma-kun's shoulders, smiled brightly. "She won, Wolfman, she won!"
"Heck yeah, great job Nejire!" Mirio shouted, holding a nervous Tamaki as usual.
She won, she freakin won! Oh yeah! She was now the queen of cute and beauty! It was almost like the cheering and applause was making her lighter than air. Three years of determination finally paid off!
"Great job, Nejire-chan." Bibmi slowly clapped for her with a slightly forced smile at her. "I guess three is just not my lucky number."
"Luck had nothing to do with it!" A little braggy, but she's been waiting three years for this, let her enjoy the moment!