59

A/N: Finally! An actual resting period for everybody's favorite green-headed mumble machine. Nothing all too major this time around, just some festival shenanigans and a small talk at the end about the incident with Gentle and La Brava. Hope you all enjoy!

From high up on the room's catwalk, Izuku watched as the crowd grew every bit larger by the moment. There was a steady stream of people coming through the doors, filling the vast space that was one of the UA's auditoriums. Of course, that was really most of what Izuku could observe in regards to the status of his immediate surroundings.

With his attention split between three separate entities — the swarm headed towards Gentle Criminal and La Brava, the swarm near Hound Dog, and himself — he was having a hard time focusing on anything at all.

Izuku was, however, happy to discover that his control was stronger with his own body than with his other clones. As such, he was somewhat confident that he could carry out his designated role as the show started up. Speaking of…

"Dude, Midoriya," Kirishima said from Izuku's left. "I know that you know how to handle yourself when you're in control of your bugs, but are sure that you're gonna be alright up here?"

Izuku snapped his head to the left, eyeing Kirishima. "What do you mean? No wait, Aoyama already went back down to the stage right? With the rope around his waist right?"

Kirishima raised an eyebrow at Izuku's question. "Wouldn't you have noticed something like that? You know, with all your bugs and stuff?"

"Kirishima…"

"Right, right. Um yeah, he already did. But that's besides the point! I'm worried that you're going to trip and fall down later on during the show!"

Izuku found himself aimlessly gazing back into the crowd below. "Invisible barriers with a knockback effect?"

Kirishima furrowed his brow. "Midoriya?"

"Huh?" He jerked his head again to the left. "I mean, uh… what were we talking about?"

"He means my ice," Todoroki said from the right. "They won't have any railings. I suppose that I see what he's trying to say—"

"Hey hey hey!" Sero interrupted, coming up from behind the three of them. "Cut the chit-chat and focus! The show's about to start!"

Sero gestured for Koda on the walkway to their left. "You got that Koda?"

Koda responded with a thumbs up, placing his hand on the power breaker in preparation.

"Lights!"

The room dimmed, and the stage curtains opened to reveal the silhouettes of the rest of 1-A on stage. It didn't take long for the lights to flash back on, signalling Bakugou to erupt an explosion and for the show to start in earnest.

"Thanks for coming today!"

And with that, Izuku had a brief moment's respite. His next role wouldn't be for a little bit, so he delegated a bit more of his attention back to his clone in the forest.

The clone was watching the flamboyant display that Gentle and La Brava were committing themselves to, and Izuku was genuinely surprised that the villains held themselves together despite the fact that they had been caught in the act. Izuku decided that he'd play to their tune, and let them know verbally through the bugs.

Under his breath, he muttered the same words. "Your move, Gentle Criminal."

"And there you are again!" Kirishima turned yet again to the seemingly dazed Izuku. '"What was that, Midoriya?"

Izuku himself flinched, realizing that he was speaking aloud yet again. He tried to play it off. "Umm…" he faced Kirishima, "huh? Nothing? Uh what?"

"You mentioned something about Gentle Criminal? Isn't he some infamous internet villain?"

"Uh…" Izuku gulped. "Maybe?"

"He is,"Todoroki said. "I saw him on the internet one day." He tilted his head. "You're more distracted than usual, Midoriya."

"Man, Todoroki's right! You really are more distracted than normal," Kirishima said. "Are you experimenting with some strange form of daydreaming while you're standing up?"

"Dang it!" Izuku slammed his hands on the railing. And then he remembered where he was. "I mean, uh? Sure?"

"Oi!" Sero interrupted yet again. "What did I say? You're all gonna miss your cues!"

On the stage, Uraraka and Aoyama converged on each other, crossing the stage as the others danced. Uraraka took hold of Aoyama, using her quirk on him before launching him straight up into the air.

As he neared the ceiling, Aoyama let loose his quirk, shooting a myriad of lasers every which way. Izuku, on the other hand, utilized the bugs that he had waiting on Aoyama's costume and the bugs he had waiting up near the ceiling.

In an instant, Izuku positioned two bugs on each side of all of Aoyama limb's to aid in the maneuvering of his body through the air as he used his quirk. The silk-woven rope around his waist stretched upwards to the ceiling. Said rope was covered in a variety of bugs whose shells glimmered and shined in the light.

At the end of the rope itself, Izuku had a whole swarm of bugs gathered. Wasps and mosquitos and all sorts of fliers made the shape of a star, making it seem as if Aoyama was being carried along by it.

Of course, the aforementioned fliers were only the inner layer of the bugs. The outer layer — similarly to the length of the rope — shined and shimmered with much more physically appeasing bugs. They ranged from ladybugs to butterflies and moths of all kinds.

Side note: Thank Melissa again for getting me all these exotic bugs on such a short-term notice. Like the Christmas Beetles, for one. And especially the Rosy Maple Moths, even if they are tiny. They look nice.

Suddenly, everything else went off at once. Todoroki created his ramps of ice, Sero launched his tape strands, Koda had his birds fly off, and Momo shot off her streamers.

Once Uraraka did her part and used her quirk on the rest of the dancers, Izuku's bugs and Koda's birds lifted them up into the air, allowing them to continue dancing while others were led to Todoroki's ice ramps.

"Alright Midoriya!" Kirishima exclaimed, patting Izuku's back. "Let's go!" Kirishima jumped off the catwalk and onto Todoroki's ice, beginning to spread out the glitter and dust he had stored within the sack he was holding.

Izuku followed suit, being mindful of the edges of the ice as he ran along the ramps. He grabbed onto two other ropes attached to two of his classmates (Hagakure due to her ability to refract light, Mineta because he begged) and ran across the ice, stringing them along at speeds higher than his bugs could handle. Of course, most of his actions by this point were merely on autopilot, his mind elsewhere paying attention to clones still doing their own jobs.

And before he knew it, he was watching Gentle Criminal and La Brava escape along with their newfound ally of Spinner.

Of course, it also took him a bit to notice that the concert had its end as well — he ended up figuring that out once he found himself almost tripping off of the ice. In that aspect, Izuku was thankful that Kirishima was close enough to catch him before he actually could fall.

The show had ended, and the room had mostly emptied out by the time Izuku had gotten down to the ground floor. After everything that had happened in the last half hour, Izuku was just happy that he had gotten through it relatively unscathed and without any consequences.

Well, except for Kirishima's brief rant about having to pay attention to where he was going while precariously running across unrailed scaffolds fifty feet up in the air. But right after that Togata and a smiling Eri came by to talk about the performance, so Izuku supposed that the two encounters balanced things out.

All that was left now was Izuku's final requested role for the concert: cleanup. And so he began, picking up chunks of ice and the occasional scrap of trash and loading it all up in a wheelbarrow for later disposal. It was during one of his trips towards the disposal area that he stumbled into Aizawa, Ms. Joke, and one of his swarm clones.

Izuku had to do a double take at the latter attendee of Aizawa's group.

"Will you please take your swarm back now, Midoriya?" Aizawa asked.

Izuku looked at Aizawa, and then back at the aforementioned swarm clone. His eyes widened by a fraction, with one eye twitching with realization. He had forgotten about QA in all the commotion.

"Um, sure," Izuku muttered. The swarm clone — QA, Izuku mentally corrected himself — slowly glided over to Izuku's side.

Aizawa let out an exasperated sigh. "Finally. Oh, and I'm adding more to your punishment time, Midoriya. I mean, leading Joke over to my location? Really?"

"Oi!" Ms. Joke retorted with a slight elbow jab at Aizawa. "He's just messing with ya, kid! I mean, you saw his face when we caught up with him! He was so happy to see me!"

"I was not," Aizawa added with his usual monotone voice.

Ms. Joke giggled, wrapping one of her arms around one of Aizawa's own. "Come on Shota, stop being a sourpuss! Come on, let's go! I saw a dumpling stall on my way here!"

Aizawa held his ground, not giving in to Joke's insistent tugs. Eventually, he glared over at Izuku before speaking. "You need to learn when to rest and let us take up the task for once, Midoriya."

Izuku nodded, already knowing that Aizawa was referring to the incident with Gentle and La Brava. "Of course, sensei."

"Good," Aizawa said. He stared just a bit longer before adding, "And good job on the four-way multitasking. I expect to see more of it during your training exercises."

Eventually, Aizawa let out another sigh and allowed Ms. Joke to drag him off to whatever place she was dying to go to.

Izuku merely stared on as he watched their retreating backs. "Did Aizawa actually compliment me for once? Wait, no. More importantly, did my ploy with Ms. Joke actually work?"

"I'm… not entirely too sure on that, actually. Your teacher and Joke have a weird way of interacting with one another."

Izuku slowly turned his head towards the swarm clone to his side. "And where were you exactly, during that fiasco out in the forest?"

"I'm sure that you already guessed. I was keeping Aizawa and Joke company. I'm not sure about your teacher, but Joke really enjoyed my commentary of what you guys were doing up there while the performance was going on."

Izuku shook his head. He began pushing on his wheelbarrow again before responding back. "So. Let me get this straight. You were just floating there, talking, while a villain was trying to break into UA?"

"Basically."

Izuku exhaled a rather extensive stream of air. "You can disperse now, you know."

"I know," QA responded, though she showed no inclination of doing so. "Though, I've got to say Izuku; I didn't expect you to try out my advice so quickly."

As in, you purposely left me to my own devices? Izuku asked, switching over to speaking with QA through his thoughts.

"You needed to experience it yourself, that you're capable of multitasking. Of course, what you did today can vastly be improved upon, but it's a good start."

I really don't think that I should be thanking you. You almost let a villain onto campus, after all.

"My point still stands."

Izuku sighed. "Look, I— It's almost eleven, isn't it? Shoot! Mind talking in my place to anyone we stumble upon? I need to check in with 1-B. Their show's about to start."

"Why should I? Don't you want to practice more of your multitasking abilities?"

Izuku didn't give QA the pleasure of a response and went straight to his bugs. He gathered another swarm clone together and guided it towards the auditorium that was scheduled to hold 1-B's play. It didn't take him long to stumble upon his friends.

"Are all of you ready for your show?"

"Izuku! You're here!" Manga exclaimed. He was dressed up in some ren-faire clothing that Izuku found rather aesthetically pleasing. Further back in his mind, Izuku ignored QA's slight utterance of reminiscence or something.

"Of course I am. Didn't I say that I was going to watch?"

"But you're here as your bugs and not your real body?" Pony asked. She herself was dressed in some plate armor — as expected, it was designed with Pony's role as the valiant steed in mind.

"Oh, wait. Let me guess," Setsuna added. "Still stuck cleaning up that mess you made during your class' concert?"

"Yeah. It's a bit more than I expected. Todoroki's ice went all over the place too, so there's that. We'll be lucky if we're done before the beauty pageant."

"You'll be fine," Setsuna said.

Izuku looked at her and realized that her clothing was rather normal, quite unlike the medieval getup that the rest of 1-B was wearing.

"I'm guessing that you don't really need to wear anything special since you're the dragon, huh?"

"You betcha! I'm so stoked! I'm gonna be moving the whole thing around stage by myself! I'll be just like a dinosaur!"

"Except for the fact that you're going to be a fire-breathing, winged reptile," Manga said. "And I think I remember something about terodactons technically not being dinosaurs?"

"Pterodactyls and pteranodons," Setsuna corrected. "All pterosaurs. And you know what I mean! A dragon's still a giant hulking reptile! It's the aesthetic that matters!"

'"Oi!" A voice interrupted them. "The show's starting up soon! Who are you three talking to!? It better not be some stuck up 1-A l—"

Monoma appeared around the corner. His words dying in his throat as he fell upon the scene.

"Oh."

"Hello Monoma!" Pony exclaimed. "It's only Izuku! He came to watch the show!"

Monoma blinked. "Well, umm… I— Well of course he did! I wouldn't expect anything less of Midoriya! Unlike the rest of his class, he knows quality entertainment when it's in front of him!"

"Right, right," Manga said. "And you're entirely comfortable still being there. You can go if you want."

"You can't be insinuating that I fear 1-A at any capacity, are you?" Monoma said. "I would never succumb to such a lowly state! It's just that Midoriya is on a whole other level than his class! He emits this… aura of superiority! Superiority over his class, that is! Not our class—"

A giant hand suddenly wrapped around Monoma's waist and pulled Monoma away. "Stop bothering them," Kendo's voice came around the corner. Her head peeked into view from asid corner, her eyes widening upon seeing Izuku.

"Oh, Midoriya! I thought that your class was busy with cleanup?"

"We are. But that doesn't mean that I can't send one of my clones to watch your play, you know?"

"Sweet," Kendo said. "Well, I'll leave you all to it. I've got to make sure Monoma here is under control before the play starts." Her other hand came into view and waved a farewell. "See you all later! Bye Manga!"

"Bye Kendo / Itsuka!"

"Alright!" Setsuna exclaimed. "So, we're all still up with hangin out after this, right? There's a whole bunch of stuff we can do with the festival going on."

"I still need to find some way to drag Mei into it though. She's insistent that she won't spend one second pried away from her 'babies.' Not with all the eyes on her work."

"Favors would work," Pony said. "She will be but all — all but guaranteed to join us for sure!"

"That's still like a… Plan F option though," Manga countered. "No way are we resorting to favors as a main option."

"Mhm, That's a Plan Z option for me. Anyways, I—"

Suddenly, a loud yell broke him away from his bugs and back to his body.

"What do you mean he almost fell up there!" Momo exclaimed. Izuku checked, and she was around a few hundred feet away from his current position. It didn't take long for Izuku to refocus on his clone.

"I think that I need somewhere to hide, guys. Somewhere that's Momo-proof, preferably. Have any ideas?"

Izuku marched towards Nezu's office at Hound Dog's behest. Said dog-themed pro hero was walking right behind Izuku, moving at a steady pace.

When they actually entered the room proper, it wasn't much of an affair. Aizawa was merely leaning against the wall in all of his usual demeanor, and Nezu was preparing another brew of tea.

"Ah! Midoriya, Ryo! Come in, come in, take a seat. The brew's fresh and steaming."

Izuku readily took his seat before Nezu while Hound Dog let out a gruff "No thank you," and continued standing.

"Splendid," Nezu said. "Now, before we all begin, does anyone want any tea? It's Chaga this time around."

"Chaga?" Izuku asked. "Sure. I haven't been able to try it for myself. Mushroom, right?"

Nezu, already pouring Izuku a cup, shook his head. "Right you are, Midoriya! I must say, I'm rather happy that you've grown into such a tea fanatic. It seems as if my skills of corruption are just as strong as they were during my days in the labs."

Izuku blinked at the statement, though eventually shrugged it off as yet another example of Nezu's chaotic nature.

"Tea, Ryo?"

Hound Dog shook his head.

"Shota?" Nezu turned towards Aizawa, who merely gave the principal a glare.

Nezu harrumphed. "You people are no fun. Why can't you all be like Midoirya and I? Tea is one of the few human inventions that I give my utmost praise to. And I will admit, tea drinking will change your life unlike anything you've ever seen!"

"Nezu," Hound Dog interrupted. "I don't mean to offend, but I'd rather get to the topic at hand? As in, Midoirya's reckless and uncalled for actions earlier this day?"

Oh, right! Of course!" Nezu exclaimed, turning to face Izuku. "How was the fight, if you don't mind me asking? I haven't yet had the chance to review any of the footage."

"Footage?" Hound Dog questioned, though he was subsequently ignored as Izuku began to talk.

"It was… okay," Izuku admitted. "I was doing pretty decently against Gentle Criminal and La Brava. Gentle surprised me with his quirk, though I'm not sure if La Brava was able to use her's."

"And Gentle's quirk, what was it?" Nezu asked.

"I highly doubt that you wouldn't know, or at least have a very confident assumption."

Nezu nodded. "It was Elasticity, correct?"

Izuku chuckled. "Of course."

"Right." Nexu took a sip of his teas. "So, I suppose the question is, Midoriya: How did they escape?"

Izuku grimaced. "I guess… It was somewhat my fault. I should've restrained them or something. It would've made it harder for them to escape with Spinner."

"Spinner?" Nezu asked. "As in Shuichi Iguchi? Stain's supposed disciple?"

Izuku nodded. "The very one."

"Huh. Interesting. Very interesting. That may make things… difficult for us. We'll have to set up some investigations to see just how strong their alliance is."

"I'll be right on that," Aizawa said.

"And I wouldn't expect anything less," Nezu said as he turned back towards Izuku. "So, they escape. Partly due to your lack of knowledge of their capabilities, and the sudden interference of Spinner. That, plus the difficulty you were having splitting yourself among four separate—"

Nezu paused mid-sentence. He set his eyes off to stare straight at Izuku, and a grin slowly found itself forming on his face.

Izuku was used to instances like this happening, considering how often he spent talking to Nezu. Still, he felt obliged to speak out his mind. "Uh… sir?"

Nezu tilted his head. "Three?"

…

…

Oh… Oh. Crap.

"Crap indeed."

"Ohoho! What's this? Three? Not four separate streams of consciousness? And yet you had three of your swarm clones out there? And you were able to carry out your tasks at your musical performance early this day. Now… that's quite interesting. Mind telling me how that can be?"

"Uh… no?" Izuku could feel sweat forming along his forehead.

Nezu let out a manic laugh. "Oh, yes! A mystery! Don't worry Midoriya. I'll have you figured out in a bit. I'd like to have another talk then, if you don't mind."

"Hold on, Nezu." Hound Dog interrupted again. "Midoriya's actions, remember?"

"We are talking about them, yes," Nezu explained. "Unless there's something that I'm forgetting to address?"

Hound Dog nodded. "Yes. The consequences for his actions. For facing a villain unattended and on school grounds."

Nezu chuckled. "Consequences? What for? If anything, I'm proud of what Midoriya was able to accomplish today. It's not as if it's anything surprising. As I said, he is allowed to go outside the usual boundaries we place around our students. I thought that I already explained this to you?"

"But he was being reckless!" Hound Dog said. "I don't care how experienced he is! He's a student! He should've called us!"

Before either Izuku or Nezu could respond, Aizawa spoke up. "I'm going to go on patrol. Inform the police about the news on Spinner and Gentle Criminal, as well. You three can continue your pointless conversation without me."

"Pointless?" Hound Dog exclaimed. "Midoriya's your student!"

Aizawa stopped just before he reached the door to the office. "And he's a capable one. He can take care of himself when the need arises. Besides, I have all of his new punishments planned out already."

Aizawa then proceeded to walk out without another word, much to the dismay of Hound Dog.

"Nezu—"

"Please, hold that thought, Ryo." Nezu leaned forward in his chair and then took a sip of his tea. "I did inform you what type of task you were getting into when I placed Midoriya under your care, correct?"

"Well yes—"

"Then you should know that Midoriya is quite a problem child. He won't take no for an answer when he wants something to be done. He will escalate a situation when he sees it required as so, and he will do it as long as his actions further his goals. He will be reckless, he won't be concerned with his own well being when in the midst of things. And he will protect those he cares for to his death. However, that isn't to say that he isn't capable as an individual. Vigilante, UA student, and an unofficial agent of the Police Force, and in extension the Hero Public Safety Commission. As I'm sure you can infer from this, this status gives him an odd sort of autonomy. And it proves that he isn't the average student. Isn't that right, Midoriya?"

"Uh…" Izuku scratched his head. "I… don't know?"

"Exactly!" Nezu said. "Do you understand now, Ryo?"

"But—"

"I'm not trying to undermine your judgement. I'm just trying to make you understand this in a way that'll put it all into perspective. Like a present with a nice gaudy bow, if you will. Understanding what can be considered as normal with Midoriya, and what may be something that he can't quite handle, will help you in the long run. Is that satisfactory knowledge to know, Ryo?"

Hound Dog blinked.

"Of course," Nezu took a sip of his tea, "you are just as much involved with Midoriya as Shota is. And such, that means that you have the privilege and authority to dish out whatever punishment you deem fit. Does that clear up any misunderstandings you had?"

"Yes. It is," Hound Dog responded, his teeth showing passed his smile. "Thank you for clearing that up."

Izuku, meanwhile, felt a little part of himself die on the inside. "Really, Nezu?"

"It is what it is," Nezu said with one of his manic laughs.

"Now the both of you, shoo! I still have to watch the footage of the fight. And I like doing so in peace and quiet."

"Gotcha," Izuku said, finishing his tea and standing from his chair. "Night Nezu! Night Hound Dog!"

And with that, Izuku left the office, leaving Hound Dog and Nezu alone.

"About that footage," Hound Dog said, "how exactly did you—"

"Shoo, I said!"

A/N: And there we have it! Action scenes will be a little off for a bit, so prepare for more fluff and stuff and revelations and suspicions next chapter!