Canary

Chapter 9: A Wild Ride

The past few weeks had been the best of Midoriya's life so far – and that wasn't even an exaggeration. He'd never had so much to say to his dad during their Friday video chats. He told him all about Shinso, Uraraka and Iida; how his problems with muteness had finally begun to fade; discovering his Quirk; the USJ; talking with Present Mic; being on his radio show – becoming Canary! He had been pacing around the living room as he told his stories; speaking in such an animated way that he couldn't help but notice the shocked expressions of his prideful parents.

It had been a while since he felt so... happy.

But it was strange, being able to write the word Canary into an internet search engine and for results that didn't involve the bird or the island to appear. Of course, it had only been a one-time thing, so the mysterious being that was Canary wasn't that prevalent in the minds of the people of Japan.

Being back at school again on Friday, it felt like everything was finally back to normal... He hung out with Shinso alone at lunch; bumped into Uraraka and Iida on their way back, who were walking with another of their class 1-A friends, who introduced herself as Please-Call-Me-Tsu Asui. They briefly talked about their resilient teacher, being back to lead them despite him being covered in bandages from the USJ attack – and they were on their way. Not a word about Canary was uttered in Midoriya's presence. In fact, the only reminder the situation had occurred at all, was Present Mic. The hero asked him to stay after class on Saturday, giving him a couple of business cards and phone numbers, before inviting him to have a proper tour of his hero agency the following Sunday, which he graciously accepted.

So, of course Midoriya was surprised when, during his Sunday dance class, his new alter ego was finally mentioned.

"Any of you guys listen to the radio on Thursday?" questioned Megumi, one of the very few remaining people in Midoriya's class. She was doing her stretches, sticking out her leg at horrendous angles like it was nothing. Then again, that was her Quirk – an impossible flexibility.

"No..." replied Yuuto. He was the only other boy apart from Midoriya. Then again, there were only five of them in total, so the genders were split pretty evenly, all things considered. "Thursdays are boring, remember? Didn't we have this discussion, like, a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yeah, but not this Thursday!" Kasumi interjected.

"Oh! You listened too?!" Megumi replied excitably. Midoriya was watching her stretches with morbid fascination as he tuned his guitar.

"Uh huh – wasn't Canary just the sweetest?"

"Oh, he so was – hey, Izuku! Did you listen?" questioned Megumi.

Midoriya hesitated, before nodding in reply. It was as close to the truth as he was happy to get.

"Maybe you know Canary! He goes to UA after all."

"Oh, this is a future hero, I presume?" asked the remaining member of the freestyle dance club, Mika.

"He wants to be," Megumi contradicted, "but he's not on the hero course! He's got a singing Quirk."