I-Island

When Sora returned home from their little excursion at the school pool she was surprised by her grandmother looking worried and holding her phone in her hand. " What happened?" She asked walking to her.

" I got an invitation to attend the preopening of I-Island's I-Expo. But I must-"

" I-Island!" Sora's eyes flew wide open as she lunged at the tickets her grandmother was showing her, her eyes running back and forth on them. " They're limited tickets! Only dignitaries get those! How did you get them, Grandma?!" Sora asked with twinkling eyes.

Yui was rather surprised by her granddaughter's ecstasy before she remembered the girl was awaiting an answer. " An old acquaintance of our family sent them. Apparently, the man is partaking in the exposition. Yet-"

Once again, Sora cut her with her enthusiastic smile. " We're going to attend right?! Yaomomo and a few other classmates of mine are attending! We can attend too right?!" She was particularly begging her by this point. Yui rubbed her brow with a reluctant pout before finally speaking up.

" I'm sorry, Sora. But I can't go. I have plans for the Neighborhood committee for those days. I can't just ditch them." Sora's eyes lost their glow and that pained her grandmother.

" Well, if you can't go-"

" But if you really want to attend, you can go." Yui's mouth blurted before her own mind processed what she had said. And once again, Sora's face beamed with joy and expectation.

" Really?!"

Yui took a moment to mull over her options before she held a finger at her. " But under one condition..."

________________

As luck had it, Sora ended up boarding the same plane as her classmates. Yaoyoruzu and the rest expressed their surprise to see the girl as they passed her on the way to their seats.

" I didn't know you were attending, Shirogane-san?" Wondered Yaoyoruzu as they stepped off the plane. A scanner confirmed their identities and invitations as they were led to the exit on an automatic pathway.

" It wasn't until a few days later that I got my invitation. Frankly speaking, I didn't expect to get one too. Should be thankful for our family connections." Laughed the girl.

" Then, you're attending the reception party I presume." Yaoyoruzu was partially glowing as she said that. " Have you thought about what you're wearing?"

Sora rubbed her head at that. " Actually, I was planning on skipping on it. I didn't actually bring anything special plus..." She reared her head with a wary smile at the purple-haired boy hiding behind her. " Parties and social gatherings aren't exactly Yuu's cup of tea."

Yui's condition was clear, she mustn't go on her own. Sora's immediate thought was to call Yuu and see if he was free to accompany her. After all, if her grandmother approved of anyone joining her for the trip, it would be her childhood friend and neighbor.

Thankfully the boy had more than enough reason to be away from home for a few days so he accepted the invitation most gratefully.

" I... I can't handle them..." A barely audible whisper came from the purple head.

"Nonsense!" Blurted Yaoyoruzu and Whisper together.

" Parties and social gatherings are some important facets of being a hero. Pro heroes are expected to attend those to maintain their public images and to get to know other heroes as well as make connections." Yaoyoruzu lectured sternly, her finger wagging before both of them.

" Aizawa-sensei doesn't bother with such things though." Pointed Jiro while wrapping her earphone jack around her fingers.

" There are exceptions, but even Aizawa-sensei shows his face once in a while. Even if for a short time."

" I agree! Yaoyoruzu, you should drag those two if you must to attend the party," Whisper stated.

" You want to attend it yourself." Yuu protested but a glare from Whisper made him zip his mouth and speak no more. If a social gathering seemed horrible, Whisper's temper was terrifying. And now that he got the support he needed, he wouldn't allow them to slack off and not attend.

As they exited the airport, all of them were met with the exhilarating view of all the pavilions of I-Island. So many attractions and exhibitions which drew their eyes almost immediately. The streets were teeming with famous heroes from all across the world that the five of them had it hard maintaining their calm and not asking for the autographs of everyone they passed that day.

" So many pro heroes... that's making me nervous..." stammered Yuu as they walked down the lane in their hero suits. They were attracting attention themselves in these, for the other residents and visitors wore casual clothes. The hero course students were allowed to sport their costumes for the tour of the exposition. 

" I wonder if there is even a time you're not feeling nervous at all." Whisper's barbed comment made the boy's head hang even lower.

" Come on boys, play nice." Sora attempted to quench the short-tempered wraith.

" That's right! We came here to enjoy ourselves so let's get going!" Uraraka shot ahead of the group, leading them through whatever I-Expo had to offer.

Jiro enjoyed the music show of the giant harp and the violinist. Uraraka liked to experience floating in the sky without being hit with the aftereffects of her Quirk, courtesy of the flying buoy. Sora could share her same feelings for flying was tiring for her as well, so it was a very much welcomed relief to just sit and enjoy the experience.

Yaoyoruzu's most favorite was the water show as they used multiple geysers of water to bring forth a multitude of forms. The small water animals seemed to gain Yuu's interest.

Finally, they crossed the arboretum to reach their final destination, Yuu's recommendation, the support item exhibition. It was the most energetic any of them had seen the boy during the whole tour. He practically beamed brighter than any light bulb in the whole building.

" I didn't know Seijin was into technology and stuff." Jiro mused in sheer astonishment.

" Yuu's quite into technology himself, you should have seen him decomposing and put together his computer," Said Whisper.

"It's not much." The boy fiddled with his fingers as he turned away from the large capture dome and faced his friends. " It's just, I loved understanding how things worked ever since I was a kid. My parents always complained about me breaking my toys."

As the girls gave a soft chuckle, Sora's ears perked up. " Yuu, did you hear that?" Yuu seemed to have caught the same voice as well seeing how he looked around for something, or rather, someone.

" These two!" Whisper groaned. " I swear, being with them makes me feel deaf. Jiro, would you please." The girl nodded as she plagued her earphone jack into the ground and listened carefully before she nodded in realization.

" This way. " She pointed down to the mobile suit booth and as they approached it, they spotted a certain curly green hair. But the eye-catching blond one by the boy's side incurred their suspicion.

The girl seemed slightly older than them, and by her aura, Sora could say she was enjoying Midoriya's company. As Midoriya stammered some apology to her, Uraraka was the first to reach their side. " You look like you're having fun, Deku-kun."

What's with that face and aura!? Even Sora thought it was hard not to notice the hint of jealousy in her friend's voice.

" U-Uraraka-san?!" Midoriya flinched. " What're you doing here?"

" You look like you're having fun."

Yep, definitely jealous. Sora didn't know if she should find this amusing or if she should pity the boy who was being pushed into a corner by Yaoyoruzu and Jiro.

" Didn't expect you to be that kind of boys, Midoriya." Whisper shook his head in disappointment.

" What kind of boys exactly!" Midoriya hastily introduced them to his companion, a bespectacled girl with bright blue eyes and a beaming smile. Everything about her screamed that she was American. " U-Um, Melissa is just showing me around the expo."

" That's right! My papa and Uncle Might are-" Midoriya hurried to hush her down, though in the process, he forgot just how powerful Yuu and Sora's hearing was.

"Should we tell him?" Whispered Yuu worriedly. He was never one who enjoyed being able to overhear private conversations, especially his friends'.

" Nah, it will only make things awkward," Sora stated with a sweatdrop.

She, as a matter of fact, knew about Midoriya's secret relationship with All Might, although she wasn't fed on the details. She didn't think that both the mentor, who passed down his quirk, and the mentee, who got it, attending I-Expo together was out of the ordinary. But for the rest of them, All Might was just a teacher to Midoriya as any other teacher at UA. So for them to be together on this trip would mean the man was favoring Midoriya. Something that would soil All Might's image as a teacher and she understood why the boy didn't want that known.

Yuu on the other hand, he was never one to judge. Sora had known that much about him. If All Might and Midoriya joined together for the trip, then that's their business, he wouldn't dream of interfering or prying.

In the end, Melissa decided to change the subject and treat them to a spot of tea. They all accepted gladly.