The Quirky Art of Preformance

Something to Remember

Watching from the stands, we waited for the festival to restart. Mina and Tsu were up first and were waiting on the stage.

"Why is it taking so long," Ika asked, tugging at my sleeve.

Shrugging my shoulders, I gave my sister a smile. "I'm sure it will start up soon."

It took almost half an hour before it did. While it was unclear to why it took so long, we were just glad it had finally started. Mina and Tsu were less glad as they had one warning other than the first chord. Thankfully, for this round everyone was told the song in advance so Tsu quickly started up the lyrics.

It took a second for me to recognise the song as EVIL by AViVA. Tsu was hitting every note perfectly but Mina wasn't going to give up. Since she couldn't exactly sing along with Tsu- it just wouldn't work- Mina started to dance, putting as much sass into every movement as physically possible. Tsu, of course, didn't give up either, matching the dancing style and putting her own spin on it. At the chorus the two sang together before alterating the verus. Tsu managed to claim the bridge and was able to steal the win.

Mina looked devastated, collapsing to the floor in exhaustion. It wasn't until Kacchan soothed her did she realise she was still on stage, he helped her off before letting Kirishima take the stage.

Kirishima was up against Todoroki... yeah, he wasn't going to win. I had to hold in my laugh when I heard the starting notes to their song. It was being played on piano and seemed very... somber, definitely not the high drama song a stunt man usually used or the dramatic monologue Todoroki needed.

Ika recognised the song before I did, 'Mirror Mirror' by Jeff Williams.

Not going to back down, Kirishima went to sing. His voice was gruff and struggled with the high pitched notes he needed to hit (even if they were an octave down) but at least he knew all the words and hit every one. Todoroki looked slightly surprised by Kirishima's choice but didn't say anything. Instead he brought out a violin, playing the notes he needed. The piano backed off, letting Todoroki take the lead as Kirishima started to do acrobatics around Todoroki- still singing while doing so. Todoroki didn't give up either, dancing and leaping around the other- still playing his violin.

Todoroki played the last chord and finished off the song but Kirishima could not hit the last note and gave Todoroki the win.

Kacchan was up next and he had his work cut out for him. He was up against Mei Hatsume and she was a formidable foe. Sadly, I wasn't able to see the start of the match- since I had to get ready for my own match but what I did see was great. It was to the song 'Overwhelmed' from Royal & the Serpent and had Mei and Kacchan dancing around each other while playing different roles. In the end Kacchan just won but did struggle against the more energetic teen- only really winning due to Mei falling over at the end.

Kacchan passed me on the way out, patting my shoulder to give me confidence. I was up against Shinso and while he was good his technique was sloppy, by all logic, it shouldn't be too hard to beat him. Best not to underrest him anyway. We had been given the song 'This is me' from the Greatest Showman, something Ika had made me watch a hundred times over.

Taking a deep breath, I started the song, singing the words and startling Shinso. He attempted to sing and dance along but as I predicted, it was not his element and I won quite quickly.

Poor Shinso.

And then there was four.

Todoroki walked onto the stage, facing off against Tsu. Both were really good and it would be interesting to see what they come up with. They had a song I didn't recognise at first. Todoroki was playing the violin part of it but put a lot more anger behind every note- I wonder if he got into another fight with his dad. At first I was worried for Tsu but she pulled at something we never expected- an electric guitar. She and Todoroki were in a full on battle of the bands, dancing and all.

Feeling the dark aura, I made the mistake of looking up into the stands. Endeavor was glaring down at Todoroki, his grip tight on the metal bar in front of him- it looked like he was going to break it.

I wouldn't like to be Todoroki right now.

Todoroki noticed his father's intense stare and faltered ever so slightly.

"Don't you dare!" Leif grabbed Endeavor and pushed him back, angering the older man and causing him to chase after the teen. Leif was going to die- but it did seem to work.

Todoroki was smiling- he could smile?! He moved faster and with less anger, completely destroying Tsu.

Tsu passed me on her way out, she looked a little sad but didn't seem angry- at least she got this far.

I bit my lib as I walked out. Kacchan and I both knew each other too well, this was going to be difficult. We had the song 'Don't you dare forget the sun' by Get scared.

Waiting for the first beat, we stared at each other. I knew how I wanted to do this, but it would depend on if Kacchan plays along. With the entrance of the guitar, I took upon the ghostly motief I used to use when I was young and stretchy. I dropped down and spun, startling Kacchan as I rushed towards him and got in his personal space- that is going to annoy him.

I sang along with the lyrics, directing my dance to reflect an argument. I walked away from him, using old dance moves I knew to make it seem like I was mimicking him. Of course Kacchan didn't let me take it too far, running forward and singing the next line. He danced alongside me, making it seem like he was poking fun at me.

On the pre-chorus I took over, facing off against Kacchan with a growl. We both sang the chorus together, matching each other's movements exactly. This is what happens when you have the same coach.

At the instrumental part we both started shouting at each other, perfectly hitting each other like it was real. As the lyrics came back, Kacchan took the lead. I wasn't backing down though, I started to dance and annoy him by moving around him and making it look like I was pushing him.

We went back and forth, getting more and more dramatic as each note played, we shouted at each other and danced around each other and sang. I had to beat him, I had to win. Sweat was coming off my brow as we finished, bowing politely.

Taking in heavy breaths, I gave a smile to Kacchan. The stadium was clapping as we waited for the results. Kacchan ruffled my hair proudly as I laughed. That was amazing.

Eventually, Present Mic stood up to announce the results. "Midoriya wins!"

It took a few seconds for those words to register in my head. I won! I can't believe I won! Kacchan didn't seem bothered, he gave me another proud smile before leaving, being greeted by Mina.

I was given an hour break before I would have to take on Todoroki. I didn't know the song too well and was listening over it in the warm up room. Chewing my lip, I couldn't help but wonder what Todoroki will do with this. It was almost like the teachers were playing games with us. To be honest, this was Nezu, he was playing games with us.

Todoroki ran his fingers through his shirt. His earpods were playing the song, only making him feel worse. It didn't help that Endeavor kept texting him about making sure the next performance showed off his acting talents.

"Shoto?" 

Todoroki lifted his head to meet the familiar teen, who sat beside him. 

"You shouldn't let him get to you. You're an amazing dancer and should use it."

"I know... But..." Todoroki rubbed his bruised arm, his thoughts drifting off. 

"Don't worry. While I'm here, he can't hurt you."