Eria

"I thought your spirits were finally lifting after so many gloomy days. Why the long face?"

I lifted my heavy head from the table and looked at Ochako. "My mother."

"She still refused to see you?" Iida asked as he plopped down on the chair opposite me with a book in his hand.

I nodded. I had used various humiliating tactics like begging and crying in front of my mother's ward that I probably became the laughing stock of the residents there.

"I can no longer show my face there. EVER," I said.

"Maybe we should all go," Midoriya suggested. "You know, beg?"

"Sure! Let's humiliate ourselves together!" Ochako said sardonically. Midoriya blushed.

I chuckled. "Maybe I really should just break her door down."

"That is not what heroes do!" Iida chided.

"But begging and crying works?" Ochako retorted.

Todoroki approached us with the third book of Harry Potter in his hand. Apparently, he had grown so addicted to the series that he nearly burnt me for trying to spoil him. He purposely avoided sitting near me because he didn't want me to annoy him out of boredom.

"Oh wait. We had decided on our school festival theme, right?" I said. "What was it again?"

"You should have paid more attention, Takasaki!" Iida scolded. "We had been discussing it for hours and you weren't listening —"

"It's a play! Yaomomo and a few are thinking of the script right now. But I think it involves Rapunzel, Frankenstein and a dog?"

I tried to imagine the three elements together. They had such stark contrasts that it seemed impossible to make into a play.

"Isn't Class B doing a play too? Romeo Juliet and the Prisoner of Azkaban: the return of the King... something?" Midoriya said.

Todoroki formed a silent 'oh'. He looked at the cover of his book. "You mean this?"

"How dare they cram Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings together!" I said, irked.

"Our class isn't much of a difference anyway..." Ochako sighed.

"Everyone! We have decided on the roles in the play! Please come and do the lucky draw! Everyone gets their role randomly!" Yaomomo called from the other end of the hall.

I reluctantly rose from my seat. "I hope I don't get to play in any roles. I hate being on stage. I have stage fright."

"Too bad! Heroes must also learn the etiquettes of being the centre of attention!" Iida hollered. "I would have arranged you to be the main character!"

"I would have killed you," I hissed. My body shuddered as I felt millions of eyes staring at me, waiting for me to mess up......

"Please pick a piece of paper from this box. Only a handful will get to be on stage. We have a prince, a princess, a mage, Dr Frankenstein, the monster, the dog......"

Please don't let it be me... please... please...

"I hope you become the main character," Todoroki muttered.

"Why?!" I said. My hand shook as it was my turn to put it into the ominous box.

"Because you were mean to me. I hate that you tried to spoil me."

"Well, I hope you become something...... horrible, then. Maybe the monster," I retorted.

Yaomomo pushed my reluctant hand into the box. I touched pieces of paper in the box, and was quite undecided which I should pick. My luck had not been faring well recently and I prayed sincerely that I wouldn't be on stage.

Oh dear god Kamisama please not let me be on stage I'll do anything I'll even be vegan for a year please please please......

My trembling hand finally picked up a piece of paper and I fished it out. I was still hesitant on unfurling the tiny roll of paper and feared its contents......

Jirou snatched it from me and a shock drew upon her face. "I thought you might be the princess......" she pouted.

YES! I SEE A GLEAM OF HOPE! I'M SAVED —

"You're Dr. Frankenstein, the villain!"

It felt like a lightning had struck my entire being. My best friends around me tried to stifle a laughter, including Todoroki.

I thought my soul had departed from this world.

"Aww man, I thought you would be the princess......" Kaminari pouted sadly. "Almost all the girls had picked their roles. Oh wait! There's Uraraka left!"

"Why are you so excited anyway?" Jirou rolled her eyes.

"Because I'm hoping to be the prince!"

Ochako patted my shoulder. "Cheer up... at least you fit into the role with your quirk!"

I faked a smile.

"I'm Frankenstein's monster," Shouji said, flashing his paper at us. "We'll be having a lot of scenes together."

I tried to lit up a smile. "At least we fit into our roles..." Shouji and I sighed.

A tiny shriek came from the group of classmates huddled around the box. Midoriya had pulled out his paper and was shocked to see the results.

At least I should laugh at the others' misery. I shouldn't go down alone.

I shouldered through the crowd and peered at Midoriya's paper. It wrote 'Tree'.

Tree. A tree. Midoriya's playing a tree.

"Technically it's a narrating tree. He's supposed to narrate the story..." Yaomomo explained.

But a lot of us exploded into fits of laughter.

Midoriya's face flushed a brilliant red. "W-w-why? I just wanted to be the crew!"

Ah... I feel like this is getting better and better......

"At least dumb Deku fits into his role! He already looks like a tree with his hair!" Bakugou said and made his way to the box.

He better gets something good...... like the prince... or maybe —

Bakugou pulled out a paper just as quick as he had put it into the box. The moment he saw its content, his short temper exploded.

"HAH?! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS, PONYTAIL?!"

Yaomomo peered at the paper. "It's correct. You're a dog."

Dog. A dog. Bakugou's gonna be a dog.

The laughter that exploded among the whole class was unstoppable. We laughed even harder than Midoriya's turn. Kaminari was literally rolling on the floor while Sero cried pain for laughing too much.

"You're playing the villain's pet dog, who served as the first obstacle to the princess," Jirou explained while holding in her laughter.

"So...... you're my bitch then," I teased.

"WHAT THE — I'M NOT PLAYING A DOG! AND I'M A GUY!"

"Stop complaining. You didn't object when we decided on the theme," Todoroki said.

Bakugou glared menacingly. "You better hope you don't get the role of a cat or I'll bite you to death."

"There is no cat," said Yaomomo matter-of-factly.

"THERE BETTER BE ONE!"

The rest of the class took turns in picking their roles. Some were glad that they got to be the backstage crew, who only needed to make props and not be on stage. Others were glad to be on stage, like Kaminari, who got to be the prince.

"YESSS! A ROLE THAT IS DESTINED TO BE MINE!" Kaminari hollered.

"Crap... I thought Todoroki would be the prince! I'm the mage, by the way," said Ashido.

Why do I feel something even more hilarious is coming up?

Finally, only Todoroki and Ochako remained. The only ones left were backstage crew and the princess.

"Oh god I don't want to be the princess......" Ochako murmured and took her paper.

Todoroki calmly picked the last of the roles. When he opened his choice, he looked rather impassive.

"YES! I'M THE CREW! I DON'T HAVE TO BE ON STAGE!" Ochako cheered happily. Then she froze. "But... that means..."

I was already laughing on the inside when I saw the word 'princess' written on Todoroki's paper.

We tried to hold back our laughter. Bakugou was the only one who openly laughed. "This is better than a cat!"

"Oh shut it, my bitch," I chided. He glared back angrily. Even though I wanted to tease Todoroki, I still felt bad for him. "You err... want to change? 'Cos I can change into the princess......"

Kaminari hollered happily in the background while Mineta whistled. "It better be a sexy demon princess!" the pervert shouted but Sero and Tsuyu shut him up.

Todoroki stared at his paper blankly. He looked shocked at first but remained calm as usual. "It's...... fine. I think I can handle this......"

"Really?" I asked skeptically.

Todoroki nodded. "It's just a play......" though he didn't sound convincing.

I let Iida and Midoriya console him while I dragged Yaomomo and Jirou to a side. I wanted to help Todoroki in some ways. "Could you guys tweak the script a little? You know...... at least make Bakugou look bad or let someone else take up the princess role..."

The three of us looked at Todoroki. His back looked gloomy and sad.

"I think we can manage something," Jirou said. She smirked as she looked at me and I felt a chill down my spine. "Maybe a twist......"

Yaomomo nodded. "Don't worry. This will be a wonderful play! With all the classics together!"

I had a bad feeling about this but I still trusted them with the 'twist' in the plot.

***

A day or two later, the script was finished. Iida was the director, Yaomomo his assistant, and Jirou the music director. The cast consisted of a prince (Kaminari), princess (Todoroki), mage (Ashido), archer (Mineta), dog (Bakugou), tree (Midoriya), Dr Frankenstein (me) and monster (Shouji). The rest were backstage crew who would manage the props and special effects etc.

I peered at the hilarious script that was handed out by Yaomomo. The 'twist' that Jirou had mentioned was even worse than I had imagined. But Todoroki seemed to like it a lot. He didn't loathe his role that much anymore after knowing the 'twist' was actually good for him. On the other hand, Bakugou hated it just as much as his role as my bitc — I mean dog.

"Give him a ribbon," I said, pointing at Bakugou's head. "It makes him look cuter."

"FUCK OFF, SNOWY!"

During nights and weekends, the stage cast rehearsed under Iida and Yaomomo's strict supervision. Both of them demanded perfection in every detail, from pronunciation to body movements. I was one of the worst actors. Even though I was good at memorising, I struggled to perform my lines in front of people.

"Put more evil into your laughter!" Iida demanded.

"Muahahahaha..." I tried my evil laughter. My voice croaked from the stress.

"LOUDER!"

"MUAHAHAHAHA!"

"That's better!"

The stage crew busied themselves with the backdrops, props and costumes. Thankfully, Yaomomo's quirk came in handy. She created a lot of tools for the crew and props for the cast.

"Todoroki looks so pretty with long hair!" the girls cried in awe as Todoroki put on the long wig Yaomomo made for him. The wig's colour was his natural hair colour of red and white. However, the longer I saw him, the more I thought he was......

Shit! He's still handsome! Even with long hair!

I wasn't the only one thinking so. Apparently, the girls were blushing too. Ashido nearly drooled.

"Aren't we supposed to make him a pretty girl? Not a hot long-haired hunk!" Hagakure whispered.

"Maybe if we braid his hair it wouldn't be that handsome anymore?" Tsuyu suggested.

Yaomomo deftly braided Todoroki's wig into a simple three-strand braid. But its impact was still too much for us girls.

"HE STILL LOOKS HANDSOME!" We screeched, with mixed feelings of joy and anger.

Todoroki blinked and silently watched us, confused that we were agitated by his appearance.

"Maybe we should put makeup on him?"

"I think we should just leave him be," I said. "His handsomeness is also a beauty...... I guess."

The girls caved in and nodded in agreement.

"Here is your costume. There's the dress and the fake boobs," said Jirou.

Todoroki's face slightly scrunched in horror.

"Maybe not the fake boobs?" I said, trying to help him out.

"But that wouldn't look princess-y!" Hagakure chirped.

"It's okay. I'll do it," Todoroki sighed in defeat. He took the bag and peered into its contents. A faint blush dusted his cheeks.

We exited the room and let him try on his costume. Ochako and I stood guard outside of his room, waiting if he needed assistance.

"So...... how's making the costume for your precious Deku coming along?" I snickered.

Ochako blushed. "W-w-what are you talking about?! Keep it down!"

"Come on, you were gladly measuring his head size to make a tree crown out of carton boxes..." I nudged her.

Ochako looked down at her hand while her face was burning red. "We said no romance!"

"But we still failed so having crushes is okay now."

"Then what about you and Todoroki?" she hurriedly changed the subject. "You said there was something going on between the two of you!"

I tried not to blush. "No there isn't."

"He's so worried of you when you were depressed!"

"We're best friends! Of course, he's worried!"

Ochako puffed her cheeks angrily. I glared at her.

"Takasaki...... Uraraka...... could you help me?" came a timid voice from the other side of the door.

'You go in,' Uraraka mouthed the words. I reluctantly obliged and entered the room.

Todoroki was standing there, his torso naked and his bottom halfway through a yellow dress, while holding the fake cosplay boobs in his hands.

My face reddened like a ripe tomato. I must be crazy to think he still look handsome like this! Shit! His abs are too much!

Todoroki's flawless face was scrunched together, as though he was sulking over his failure in wearing the costume.

Ah, so pure and innocent.

"I couldn't wear this......" Todoroki muttered rather shyly.

I looked the fake boobs. The jealousy monster reared its horn, screeching angrily as it hated the fact that Todoroki's fake boobs were still larger than my natural ones.

I threw the thing angrily to the floor and faked a smile on my face. "You don't have to wear it. I'll convince the girls."

Todoroki's face lit up. "Really?"

I nodded, hiding my hidden intention.

"Thank you." Todoroki returned to wearing his dress and he struggled to pull it over him for a while. I had to help him zip it over his back. Every time my fingers accidentally touched his skin, I would jolt like I was electrocuted.

God, why is my face still so hot?!

Todoroki muttered thanks when he finally managed to wear the dress and walked out of the room. The girls were quite pleased to see him in the beautiful yellow dress which accentuated his eyes.

"Now he looks like a pretty princess!" Ashido exclaimed.

When the girls were satisfied with Todoroki's appearance, he was too glad to had the dress peeled off his skin. Back in the common area, Bakugou's loud cries were resonating in the air as he refused to put on the costume for his pet dog act in the play.

"FUCKING GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!"

"Come on, Bakugou! We took so much time just to choose this for you!" Kirishima begged. Sero tried to hold him down with tape but Bakugou only ran faster.

I rolled my eyes and halted the running porcupine-head. He glared viciously as his escape route was cut off.

"Get away, Snowy," Bakugou hissed.

"Aww poor Bakugou puppy can't even handle a tiny role in a play... how are you gonna beat Midoriya in this? He's super comfortable with his tree role..." I said with a smirk on my face.

"NNGH!" Bakugou grunted. His vicious glare remained glued to me. I swore he was using tremendous effort to stop himself from strangling me. "Give me the goddamn fucking dog ears......" he hissed angrily.

"Don't forget the tail!" "And the leash!" Bakusquad grinned.

"STOP LAUGHING, IDIOTS!"

***

After days of rehearsing into the middle of the night, the school cultural festival has finally arrived. All props and backgrounds had been put in place; the actors were dressed and given the appropriate make-up; audience from everywhere started to file into their seats.

I didn't need much make-up: my horns and my wings were sufficient for my villain look. I might look calm on the outside, but inside, I was panicking. Jittery nerves kept me walking around the backstage as I anxiously waited for the dreaded time to arrive. Even though I had practiced so many times, an ominous precognition kept bugging me: I was going to forget my lines on stage and make a fool of myself in front of the audience.

I thought fighting villains, losing my quirk, attacked and kidnapped by villains were scary, but it seemed this time, my fear had heightened to a whole new level.

"Calm down," was Todoroki's calm voice as he found me pacing back and forth. He had his wig braided, and his face dusted with a light shade of make-up. His dress seemed to be quite small, since his shoulders were wide and muscular. Without the fake boobs, he looked less like a princess should be.

"I AM CALM!" I retorted loudly, trying to hold back the violent shaking in my whole body.

Todoroki sighed a little. "Just do what we've been practicing for so long and you'll be fine. You can do this. You've overcame so many of your fears. This one should be easy."

I looked at him. His words consoled me only by a little, but it was at least helpful.

"Besides, someone is here to see you. I think you'll destroy two birds with a good villain act if you pull through."

"It's 'kill two birds with a stone'," I rectified him.

"Oh......"

I shook my head and chuckled. I didn't quite understand what he meant by that.

Soon, it was time. Todoroki flashed me a small smile and moved to his position. I was ushered to my position. My legs were trembling when the drapes slowly lifted. The crowd, the light and the noise overwhelmed my senses completely.

OH SHIT I NEED TO BAIL!

A strong fist squeezed my shoulder firmly. Shouji made sure I wasn't bailing on him.

"We will be the best villains for this play. Don't leave me behind," he said pleadingly.

I sighed in defeat.

When the drapes had already been lifted, the play had not yet begun because our narrating tree came in tumbling during the last minute for no apparent reason. Deku-Tree ran to the centre of the stage with his heavy tree costume, bowed apologetically and began his lines.

"In a far, far away land, lives a beautiful princess named Rapunzel. She was kidnapped by the evil Dr Frankenstein as her hostage. Various princes from all over the world had tried to rescue her, but it was no use, as Dr Frankenstein and her dog, Barkgou and her monster, Frankenshouji, were all too powerful. But, when all hope seemed lost, a yellow prince arrived just in time to rescue the maiden once and for all!"

Kaminari, Ashido and Mineta stepped into the scene.

"We shall save the princess this time! And then I'll marry her! For true love is always love at first sight!" Kaminari boasted. Ashido and Mineta nodded beside him.

They walked towards an ice castle Todoroki had conjured on the other side of the stage.

"This is it!" Ashido screamed. "Here is the legendary ice castle!"

"Oh Todorapunzel, Todorapunzel, let down your hair!" Kaminari called lovingly at the window of the tower.

A few silent seconds later, Todoroki's face popped out from the window.

"Oh Todorapunzel! I have come to save you —"

"Sorry, my hair was a bit short. I had to cut it because it was hot," Todoroki replied in a monotone. He brandished his wig, which was really too short for anyone to climb it. The audience started to chuckle.

"Then how are you still Todorapunzel?!"

Todoroki shrugged. "Ask my parents for naming me that."

Kaminari shook his head. "No matter! I shall still rescue you! For I am the prince! My mage! Create a ladder so I can reach her!"

Ashido nodded. She lifted her staff into the air and miraculously, a ladder popped up from the bushes below the castle. The princess meticulously climbed down the ladder and reached her rescuers.

"So... you're the renowned Princess Todorapunzel. Your beauty is......" Prince Kaminari stuttered. His eyebrows were creased together. He nudged his companions. "Are you sure this is the princess, guys?" he whispered.

Ashido shrugged. "Maybe being stuck in the tower for so long withered her beauty a little?"

Mineta was jumping in rage. "I thought princesses should have big boobs!" He glared at the princess' flat chest. But he earned a slap from Ashido.

Ignnoring their hushed whispers, the princess replied. "I know I am handso — I mean beautiful. Stop flattering me."

"Okay......" the prince said incredulously. "Maybe she'll look better when we bring her back to the castle......" he murmured to himself.

It was now Deku-Tree's narration. "And so, the prince and his group departed back with the princess. But... someone would not let them go so easily......"

This was finally my scene. I shuddered when the lights went dark. A second later, a spotlight shone on my position, and I felt eyes staring at me from the blanket of darkness.

I took in a shallow breath. My entire body was shaking, and my voice cracked once I spoke, but I held on, for I needed to pull this through so that my class's efforts were not wasted because of my weakness.

"Well, well, well...... look what we have here. A puny little prince trying to rescue the princess? HAH! As if I'll let you go that easy!" My white lab coat whipped in the air as I opened my arms dramatically. "It's time, my dear puppy!"

The spotlight shone on a spot next to mine. Bakugou or Barkgou, with furry dog ears and tail, a leash on his neck, sat on the ground. His teeth were gritted and his angry eyes glared at the audience who awed at his 'cute' appearance. I patted his pointy hair while narrowly avoiding an angry bite from him.

The lights went out. A new scene begun.

The narrating Deku-Tree started. "The unaware prince and his group was about to go home to Yuuei when Dr Frankenstein's ferocious puppy — I mean, dog, entered the scene!"

"DIE IDIOTS!" Barkgou made an explosive entrance as he burst through the backdrop, nearly toppling Deku-Tree from his position. His hands were positioned as though he wanted to blow the place into smithereens out of embarrassment, but no sparks flew. Earlier, he was warned by Aizawa-sensei earlier not to make a scene.

"Oh no! It's the villain's evil puppy!" shrieked Ashido dramatically. "He's kinda cute~"

"I'M A GROWN-UP DOG! NOT A PUPPY!" Barkgou retorted angrily.

"No worries, princess! I shall protect you from harm!" Prince Kaminari stood forward and brandished his wooden sword at the ferocious puppy. "Even though you're a cute puppy, I shall not hesitate to hurt you! The princess will not return to your master's evil clutches!"

"I'M NOT A FUCKING PUPPY!" Barkgou failed to censor himself.

"Okay......" Todorapunzel retreated to the back quietly and sat on the ground. Out of nowhere, he found some popcorn and enjoyed the scene before him like it was a movie.

And so, the violent battle was ensued. It took only a short moment for the Barkgou puppy to be defeated. In the script, Barkgou was supposed to whimper back to me, but in reality, he refused to go down so humiliatingly. He wanted to jump back at the prince but Sero pulled him into the backstage quickly with his tape.

"Yes! We have defeated the evil puppy! Now we can go home!" Mineta cheered.

"Aren't you going to sing a celebration song for our victory?" Ashido asked the princess.

"I'm not a Disney princess," Todorapunzel replied coldly.

"It's okay if she doesn't want to sing. We must go back quickly before the villain chases us!" The prince grabbed his love and they started to flee.

Deku-Tree started his narration once more. "And so, the evil puppy is defeated; no actual animals are harmed in the process. The prince's group quickly returns to their castle. However......"

"URGH!" Todorapunzel clutched her stomach painfully. She fell to the ground, crying in pain. "The popcorn... is poisoned."

"NO!" Prince Kaminari shrieked in fear.

"Where did he get the popcorn anyway?" muttered Mineta. Ashido shrugged.

But it was too late. Princess Todorapunzel lied on the ground, still as a corpse. Prince Kaminari hurried to her side and held her in his arms. She looked fragile and vulnerable.

"Please don't die, my dear princess!" Prince Kaminari cried sadly. "Wake up to your handsome prince!"

The princess's lips slowly trembled, as if she had something to say to him. The prince lowered his head close to her lips, straining his ears to listen.

Abruptly, the princess's eyes snapped open and stabbed a knife into the prince's abdomen. Fake blood gushed out from the prince's wound, staining his clothes and his floor. He tumbled backwards from the princess while his comrades watched in horror.

"Princess... why?" he gasped.

Princess Todorapunzel stood up, healthy as ever. Her face was still an impassive mask when she threw away her wig, revealing her originally short hair.

The prince and his comrades gasped in horror. "You're...... you've cut your hair even shorter?!"

"No. I'm a boy. Not a princess. My name is Shouto. I'm a prince from a faraway kingdom, just like you. But my goals differ from you," Shouto said. He tore away his dress and revealed under was a blue prince-like costume.

With my wings spread wide opened on my back, I landed onto the scene like the final demon boss. "MUAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU'VE FALLEN FOR MY PITIFUL TRAP, PRINCE!"

The prince and his comrades gasped sharply. "Dr Frankenstein! But... where's the princess?!"

"I see you are too dumb to understand what has happened. Explain, my servant!" I shouted, gestured to Shouto.

"She is the princess. Her name is Eria Frankenstein, adopted daughter of Dr Frankenstein."

"MUAHAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed manically. "You see! I have been the princess you all have been searching for so long! I've waited and waited... but you all took so long to reach me. I felt so angry and vengeful... so I vowed to avenge my misery on you lousy princes! I became Dr Frankenstein's daughter and inherited his knowledge. Then, I lured the princes to me and fed them to my evil puppy! Shouto here is just because I needed a bait to lure you all in!"

Shouto numbly nodded. "I don't really care who dies. As long as it's not me."

"OH SHIT!" The trio cursed and tried to escape. But a dark shadow lurking in the bushes hindered them. Its multiple eyes gleamed in the dark; its long, spindly limbs resembled a huge spider.

"STEP FORWARD, MY GREATEST CREATION! THE COMBINATION OF ALL THE USELESS PRINCES I EXPERIMENTED ON! FRAKENSHOUJI!"

Frankenshouji stepped out of the shadows and grabbed the prince and his comrades. They struggled to break free but to no avail.

"No! Wait! Isn't this supposed to end up as some happy fairy tale?!" The prince shouted.

"This isn't a Disney movie," Shouto replied coldly.

After a violent, one-sided onslaught from Frakenshouji's multiple limbs, the prince's team was utterly defeated. Then, they were fed to Barkgou the evil puppy, who had been itching to avenge his humiliation.

"And so..." Deku-Tree spoke. "This is the end of this story. But wait... there's more."

The final scene was upon us. I really hated this scene.

"You have fulfilled your purpose of luring 10 princes. You may go," I said to Shouto. "I have no use for you anymore."

Shouto stared at me blankly. "I can't."

"Why?"

"Because...... I have fallen in love with you —"

The audience took a sharp intake of breath.

They weren't the only ones surprised.

Even though I had rehearsed this scene with Todoroki for countless times, my heart still fluttered in my chest.

"— your puppy," Todoroki continued, destroying the imaginary romance that the audience and I had hoped for. "Your puppy is adorable."

"NNGH!" Barkgou grunted, holding back his desire to blow Todoroki into smithereens.

I contained my disappointment and resumed my part. "OF COURSE! MY EVIL PUPPY MAY BE EVIL, BUT HE IS STILL ADORB!" I lifted Barkgou into the air, mimicking the scene from The Lion King where Simba was presented to the animals by Rafiki. Todoroki conjured a pedestal from his ice beneath out feet, which made the scene more realistic and similar to the movie.

Deku-Tree started his final lines. "Everything is back to the way the real princess wants. This may not be a fairy-tale ending for Prince Kaminari, but it sure is one for Dr Eria Frankenstein and her companions. The end."

When the audience burst into applause, I immediately let go Bakugou, who nearly snapped my arms off. He strutted back to the backstage, even though the cast was required to bow to the audience as gratitude for watching our show.

After that, I quickly ran to the backstage and my legs buckled just in time. I couldn't believe what I just achieved. It felt surreal; it must be a dream that I had survived so long on stage without fainting or panicking.

"Congratulations!" Ochako came to congratulate me. "You overcame your fear!"

"I'm never going on stage again!" I said shakily. "Fear or not, it's no joke!"

"If you got the experience first time, you can do it next—"

"NO!" I immediately rejected her ridiculous suggestion. She shook her head and sighed.

Todoroki was carrying his wig and his princess costume when he came in to the backstage. "You need to go out there."

"No," I hissed, seriously thinking of hitting him if he insisted.

"There's someone here to see you."

Everything coming out from his mouth sounded like a lie. I couldn't trust anyone anymore.

Ochako rolled her eyes. "Just follow him, please."

Todoroki looked at me with his big, beautiful, gleaming eyes. His pure, untainted, angelic appearance was slowly convincing me that he wasn't lying.

"Trust me," he said firmly. "Please."

How could anyone resist him?

I sighed in defeat, cursing myself for my stupid crush and followed Todoroki to the stage. Thankfully, the audience was already thinning as they headed to other booths in the festival. I could at least stay on the stage without having a panic attack.

"Eria."

The cracked voice was fragile, yet gentle.

"Mom?" I looked at my mother, who was standing on the stage, accompanied by my father and my brother. She was thinner than before; her horns barely gleamed in the light. Her usual lively, bubbly demeanour had vanished; instead she looked dull, gloomy — the opposite of everything she used to be.

I was speechless to see my mother here. I hadn't seen her for such a long time that I thought I could never see her again.

I didn't wait for her to say anything more. My legs moved simultaneously and I reached her in two long strides. I hugged my mother as tight as I could, indulging myself in her warmth, her scent......

Her caress on my hair casted my troubles away. I turned back to the little child I used to be, who kept clinging onto my mother for safety.

"What are you doing here?" I said, my voice cracking. It was still hard to believe that my mother was standing in front of me.

"I came here to see you. I wanted to apologise for......"

"It's not your fault!" I cried. "It's never your fault! Stop blaming yourself! Don't leave me! Please!"

"Eria......"

"I hate it when you isolate yourself from the world! From your family! You think it's your fault that we end up like this. But it's not. It's those villains! Please don't blame yourself. I hate it when you do that. It hurts me more than it hurts you. I can't...... I don't want to......"

My mother gently touched my cheek. "I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for leaving you. I won't leave you again. I promise."

I sniffled. "......really?"

"I isolated myself from you all because I was afraid of my quirk. I saw what it did, I failed to stop it, I lost control. I lost control of the one thing I was so proud of and I ended up hurting my loved ones. I couldn't face you, because I was afraid I might hurt you again. I can't let that happen anymore.

"But after I saw you on stage, I felt so bad about myself. My daughter, who has a huge fear being on stage, overcame her fear. She have achieved so many marvelous things with such tremendous efforts that it put me, a pro hero and a mother to shame. She overcame her fears even though she was afraid to do it," my mother looked at me with loving eyes. "If you can do it, so can I. I want to be a better person, a better hero, a better mother for you. I know I'm still afraid of hurting you, but I think I can..."

I nodded, tears brimming in my eyes. "You have me. You have your family by your side. You can do it."

"Group hug!" my father hugged the two of us and pulled Hinata together.

My family was whole again. There was nothing better I could wish for.

"It was thanks to your friends. They came to see me and invited me here," my mother said. "They tried to persuade me for quite some time..."

I turned to my friends: Ochako, Todoroki, and Iida and Midoriya who came from backstage just in time.

"We thought it might help, you know, after what you've been through," said Ochako.

"We couldn't help you back then, so this is what we did," Midoriya added.

"Persuasion is also part of a hero's job scope. Plus, I too want to help out a good friend," Iida said. "But it was all Todoroki's idea."

Todoroki scratched his neck bashfully. "I wasn't sure if your mother would listen to us, though...... but I just wanted to try. I didn't want to see you moping around gloomily......"

I wanted to burst into tears, for these precious friends of mine had helped me through so much...... my heart ached.

"So we took some time off after school, taking turns to see your mother."

"With Aizawa-sensei's and All Might's permission of course."

"We had to keep it a secret from you, 'cos you'll definitely stop us."

"But I'm glad it worked out......"

I'm not going to cry......I'm not going to cry......

"Thank you," I said sincerely, with all my heart, while the tears flowed down my cheeks.

My four best friends smiled back.

Thank you for being there for me all the time. I wouldn't have achieved so much without you. I love you guys so much.

***

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! IT'S THE YEAR OF THE RAT! MAY EVERYONE WHO CELEBRATE IT BE HAPPY, PROSPER AND HEALTHY FOR THE YEAR!

So back to my author's notes.

As I had previously mentioned before, I changed the Class 1-A concert into a school play because I wanted to give it a change from the manga. The episode is coming soon anyway so you can just watch the anime in a few weeks.

I have just started my first job. So there will be long hiatus for the next updates. I'll do my best to update at least once per month, so that you would still be entertained while I wouldn't chase up to the manga that fast (certain arcs had to be skipped like the villain arc cos Eria won't be starring in it). 

I hope you could be patient for the next update cos i haven't even started on writing it yet. If you must, you can pm me or comment to push me and keep me motivated to update XD I don't mind really :)

Thanks for all the love and I'll see you next update in Feb (hopefully).