Canary

Chapter 15: Sports Festival - Start!

Midoriya was sitting in the corner of the changing room just outside the Sports Festival arena, his head in his hands.

'Oh my God – this is actually happening!' his head screamed over and over again.

"Hey, Midoriya?"

He parted his fingers to catch a glimpse at Shinso's face.

[It'll be fine. Don't worry] he signed.

[I'm going to mess up – I'll look ridiculous – what if I –]

"Everyone, we've got to head into the arena now," Ohchi sighed, unknowingly interrupting Midoriya's and Shinso's conversation.

Midoriya gulped.

"You might want to take off those headphones then, Midoriya," she pointed out.

"Midoriya's allowed to wear them during the competition," Shinso snapped. "It's to block out other sounds to make him less nervous," he explained, repeating the semi-lie that Hatsume had suggested.

In reality, the headphones did far more than noise cancelling. Most of it was Hatsume's idea, really, but Midoriya (much to Hatsume's dismay) was the one who put the pieces together, so Mr Power Loader had counted the support item as Midoriya's own.

The green headphones connected to a wire than ran under his shirt to a small device tied around his upper arm, out of sight for now. It was a simple MP3 player, with Canary's Arsenal downloaded onto it. All he needed to do was choose a track and the music would play from speakers attached to the headphones. There was a little microphone too, currently concealed within the right side of the support item. It would turn on if he pulled it out, so his voice could be amplified across the stadium – the very thought terrified him.

"Fine whatever – let's just get this out of the way," their class president sighed, and the rest of the class began to file out of the room after her.

Shinso held out his hand to pull Midoriya to his feet. He gladly accepted. His legs were shaking so much that he very much doubted he would be able to get up alone.

"Midoriya," Shinso repeated sternly.

He realised he had been hyperventilating – his vision blurry and his body trembling like there had been an earthquake.

His friend put his hands on his shoulders, gripping on the cloth of his UA sports uniform. The touch was all that was holding Midoriya together.

"Keep your headphones on," he whispered. "And you're in the radio station."

Midoriya blinked at him, his breathing steadily slowing to a normal pace.

"Close your eyes – and you're in the studio. You hear Present Mic, right? No one else – you're in that booth with him, and I'm the only one who's tuned in, got it?"

A wobbly smile spread across his face, and he nodded.

"Right, let's – oh my God."

Midoriya turned around, "Siren!"

Sure enough, there was the little green bird, perched on top of his bag; looking quite pleased with herself.

"Stay here," he ordered. Siren simply chirped at him.

"Um, shouldn't we –" started Shinso.

"She'll be fine," Midoriya insisted.

Shinso grinned, "Then let's go."

"HEY!" Present Mic yelled, "MAKE SOME NOISE, ALL YOU RABID SPORTS FANS! GET THOSE CAMERAS PREPPED, MEDIA HOARDS! This year we're bringing you some of the hottest performances in Sports Festival history, guaranteed! I've only got one question before we start this show! Are you READY?! Let me hear you scream as our students make their way to the big stage!"