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"I have a question!"
Izuku looked up from his notebook in the common room.
Pony Tsunotori stood nearby, holding her phone with a puzzled expression.
"...Sure."
She walked over.
"I keep seeing advertisements for a summer festival."
She held out her screen.
"There are lanterns."
"Food."
"Fireworks."
"People wearing traditional clothes."
She looked at him hopefully.
"...Is it really like that?"
Izuku smiled.
"...Yeah."
"It really is."
Her eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Mhm."
"I've never been."
"...Never?"
She shook her head.
"We don't really have anything quite like it back home."
"I've always wanted to go."
She smiled sheepishly.
"But..."
"I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing."
Izuku thought for a moment.
Then closed his notebook.
"...Would you like someone to show you?"
Pony blinked.
"...You'd do that?"
He nodded.
"Of course."
"If it's your first festival..."
"I think it'd be more fun with someone who knows their way around."
Her entire face lit up.
"...Really?!"
He laughed.
"...Really."
Saturday evening arrived warm and clear.
Izuku waited outside the station.
He checked the time.
Then...
"...Midoriya!"
He turned.
For a moment...
He forgot how to speak.
Pony walked toward him wearing a pale blue yukata decorated with tiny white flowers.
Her usually loose blonde hair had been tied back with a matching ribbon.
She looked simultaneously elegant… And adorably nervous.
"...Is..."
She looked down at herself.
"...Is this right?"
Izuku blinked twice.
"...Yeah."
He smiled warmly.
"You look great."
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
"...Thank you."
As they walked toward the festival...
Pony looked everywhere at once.
"There are so many people!"
"There always are."
"And the lanterns!"
"I love the lanterns."
"And..."
She pointed excitedly.
"What's that smell?"
Izuku laughed.
"...That's probably yakisoba."
"...Yaki-what?"
"Noodles."
"Oh!"
"I want those."
"...We'll get some."
"And that?"
"Takoyaki."
"I want those too."
"...Okay."
"And that one?"
"Cotton candy."
"I definitely want that."
He smiled.
"...We're going to need a bigger appetite."
The festival entrance came into view.
Rows of red lanterns stretched into the distance.
Music drifted through the evening air.
Children laughed as they hurried between stalls.
The whole place glowed with warm light.
Pony stopped walking.
"...Whoa."
She stared silently.
"It's..."
She searched for the right word.
"...Beautiful."
Izuku looked at the festival.
Then at Pony's expression.
And found himself smiling.
He'd been to festivals before.
He'd always enjoyed them.
But… Watching someone see it all for the very first time… Made it feel brand new again.
"So..."
He smiled.
"Where do you want to start?"
She looked around wildly.
"...Everything."
He laughed.
"I'm afraid that's not an option."
"...Why not?"
"Because you'd explode from eating too much."
She pretended to think.
"...Worth it."
He laughed again.
"...We'll compromise."
"Food first."
"Games second."
"Fireworks last."
She nodded enthusiastically.
"...Best guide ever."
Their first stop was a yakisoba stall.
Pony watched carefully as the noodles were cooked on the large hotplate.
"...It smells amazing."
"It is."
She accepted the tray.
Picked up the chopsticks confidently.
Paused.
"...I may have overestimated my chopstick abilities."
Izuku smiled.
"...Need some help?"
"...Please."
Five minutes later...
She was successfully eating noodles.
"...Victory!"
He laughed.
"You make everything sound like an achievement."
She grinned.
"...Because everything is."
She looked around the bustling festival
once more.
Then back at him.
"...Thank you for bringing me."
He smiled.
"...We've only been here fifteen minutes."
"I know."
She looked at the lanterns glowing overhead.
"...And it's already one of my favourite days in Japan."
For some reason...
Those words stayed with him long after they'd wandered off in search of the next stall.
After the yakisoba...
Pony spotted the next stall almost immediately.
"Ooo!"
She pointed excitedly.
"What's that?"
Izuku followed her finger.
"...Goldfish scooping."
She blinked.
"...Goldfish?"
"Mhm."
"You try to catch one using a paper scoop."
"...Paper?"
"Paper."
"...That sounds impossible."
"It mostly is."
She grinned.
"...Perfect."
Five minutes later...
Pony was kneeling enthusiastically beside the small pool.
"...I almost had one!"
The paper scoop dissolved.
"...Oh."
Izuku laughed.
"It happens."
She accepted another scoop.
"This one will be different."
"...Will it?"
"...Absolutely."
Three seconds later...
The second scoop tore in half.
She stared at it.
"...I have been deceived."
The elderly stall owner laughed warmly.
"First festival?"
Pony smiled sheepishly.
"Is it that obvious?"
He nodded.
"But you're having fun."
"I am!"
"Then you're doing it right."
Their next stop was a shooting gallery.
Pony folded her arms confidently.
"I have played carnival games before."
Izuku smiled.
"I'll cheer you on."
She accepted the cork rifle.
Took careful aim.
Fired.
The cork bounced harmlessly off the shelf.
"...Gravity."
Izuku blinked.
"...Gravity?"
"It betrayed me."
He couldn't stop laughing.
She eventually won...
A tiny plush rabbit.
She held it triumphantly above her head.
"...Victory!"
The stall owner chuckled.
"I think your friend was happier than you."
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck.
"...Maybe a little."
Pony handed him the rabbit.
"...Here."
"...For me?"
"You've been carrying all the food."
"I think the rabbit should carry your
morale."
He stared at the little prize.
Then smiled.
"...Thank you."
As they wandered deeper into the festival...
The smell of fresh food filled the air.
Takoyaki. Taiyaki. Grilled corn. Candied fruit.
Pony wanted to try...
Everything.
"One takoyaki, please!"
She eagerly picked one up with a toothpick.
Izuku immediately raised a hand.
"...Wait."
Too late.
She popped the whole thing into her mouth.
For exactly one second...
Everything was fine.
Then…
"...Mmmph!"
Her eyes widened dramatically.
She began fanning her mouth.
"It's hot!"
"I know!"
"You were supposed to tell me!"
"I tried!"
She quickly accepted the cold drink
Izuku offered.
After a few moments...
She finally sighed in relief.
"...I have learned an important lesson."
Izuku smiled.
"...Which is?"
"...Patience."
"...Good lesson."
"...I'm probably going to forget it."
"...Also fair."
The sun slowly began to set.
The sky turned shades of orange and pink.
The lanterns seemed brighter now.
Their warm glow reflected in Pony's eyes as she looked around in quiet amazement.
"...Everything feels..."
She searched for the word.
"...Cozy."
Izuku nodded.
"I've always thought so."
She smiled.
"I think that's my favourite Japanese word now."
"...Cozy?"
"No."
She laughed.
"The feeling."
They reached a small bridge overlooking the festival grounds.
From there...
They could see almost everything.
Families strolling beneath lanterns.
Children laughing with candy apples in hand.
Friends taking photographs together.
Music drifting through the evening air.
Pony rested her hands on the railing.
"...Can I tell you something?"
"Of course."
"When I decided to study in Japan..."
"I was excited."
"But..."
She smiled softly.
"I was also scared."
Izuku looked at her.
"I didn't know if I'd fit in."
"I didn't know if I'd understand everything."
"I didn't know if people would be patient with me."
She looked over at him.
"...You always have been."
He smiled gently.
"I think everyone deserves someone patient."
She laughed.
"...Maybe."
"But I'm glad mine was you."
He felt his cheeks grow warm.
"...Thanks."
She looked back out over the festival.
"...You're not just explaining Japan to me."
He tilted his head.
"...I'm not?"
She shook hers.
"No."
"You're sharing the places..."
"The food..."
"The traditions..."
"That made you smile growing up."
She smiled.
"I think..."
"...that's even more special."
For a moment...
Izuku didn't know what to say.
Because she was right.
Without realizing it...
He hadn't just been showing Pony a festival.
He'd been sharing a little piece of home.
And somehow...
Seeing it through her eyes...
Made him appreciate it all over again.
By the time darkness settled over the festival...
The lanterns had become little islands of warm light.
Music drifted lazily through the streets.
The crowds slowed.
People no longer hurried from stall to stall.
Instead…
Families wandered.
Friends laughed.
Couples strolled hand in hand.
The whole festival seemed to breathe a little more slowly.
Pony happily carried an increasingly ridiculous collection of prizes.
The plush rabbit.
A tiny paper fan.
A goldfish-shaped wind chime.
A little wooden fox charm.
Izuku looked at the overflowing bag.
"...You know..."
"...I think you've won something at
almost every game."
She smiled proudly.
"I am surprisingly competitive."
"...I've noticed."
She laughed.
"...I didn't know either."
They stopped beside a small shrine
tucked away from the busiest part of the festival.
Several people were writing wishes on wooden ema plaques.
Pony watched curiously.
"...What's this?"
Izuku picked up one of the blank
plaques.
"You write a wish."
"Or a goal."
"Or something you're grateful for."
She smiled.
"...Can we?"
"Of course."
For several quiet minutes...
Neither of them spoke.
Only the gentle scratching of pens against wood could be heard.
When they finished...
Neither offered to read the other's.
Some things...
Were meant to stay private.
Instead…
They hung the plaques beside hundreds of others.
Swaying gently in the evening breeze.
As they walked away...
Pony glanced sideways at him.
"...Did you write about becoming a hero?"
Izuku smiled.
"...No."
"...Really?"
"I already know that's what I'm working toward."
"So..."
He looked back toward the shrine.
"...I wrote about something else."
She nodded thoughtfully.
"...Me too."
Neither asked another question.
Some answers...
Didn't need to be spoken aloud.
A distant boom echoed across the sky.
Pony looked up immediately.
"...Was that-"
Another boom.
Then...
A burst of brilliant red flowers exploded above the festival.
The fireworks had begun.
People naturally drifted toward the riverbank.
Izuku and Pony found a quiet spot slightly away from the biggest crowd.
Another firework blossomed overhead.
Then another.
Gold.
Blue.
Silver.
The colours reflected across the water.
Pony stared upward.
Completely speechless.
For once...
She had no questions.
Only wonder.
"They're beautiful."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Izuku nodded.
"...Yeah."
"I've seen fireworks lots of times."
"But..."
He smiled.
"I never get tired of them."
She looked at him.
"...I don't think I ever will either."
A particularly large firework exploded overhead.
Its light illuminated the entire riverbank.
Pony smiled without looking away from the sky.
"...Can I tell you something?"
"Always."
She laughed quietly.
"I think..."
"...before tonight..."
"I was trying really hard to experience Japan."
He listened.
"But..."
She looked over at him.
"...I don't think I understood it."
He tilted his head.
"...What changed?"
She smiled softly.
"You."
He blinked.
"...Me?"
She nodded.
"You didn't just tell me what things were."
"You told me..."
"...why they mattered."
She looked back toward the fireworks.
"The lanterns."
"The shrine."
"The food."
"The games."
"They aren't just traditions."
"They're memories."
She smiled warmly.
"...Your memories."
"And you shared them with me."
Izuku felt his heart skip.
He'd never thought of it that way.
To him...
He'd simply been showing a friend around.
But hearing Pony describe it...
He realized she'd seen something much deeper.
She laughed quietly.
"...You know..."
"I think I was expecting to fall in love with Japan."
He smiled.
"...Did you?"
She thought for a moment.
Then looked directly at him.
"...I think I fell in love with the person showing it to me instead."
Silence.
Not awkward.
Not uncertain.
Just… Still.
The fireworks continued bursting overhead.
The crowd cheered.
The river shimmered with reflected light.
Izuku's cheeks slowly turned bright red.
"...P-Pony..."
She blinked.
"...What?"
She replayed her own sentence in her head.
Her eyes widened.
"...Oh."
"...OH."
She covered her face with both hands.
"I..."
"I didn't mean to..."
"I mean..."
"I did..."
"But…”
"I wasn't planning to say it during fireworks!"
Izuku couldn't help laughing.
Softly.
Warmly.
It was the most wonderfully Pony thing he'd ever heard.
And somehow...
Standing beneath a sky full of fireworks...
It also felt exactly right.
For several long moments...
Neither of them spoke.
Fireworks continued to bloom across the night sky.
Gold.
Crimson.
Deep violet.
The cheers of the crowd rose and fell with every brilliant explosion.
Pony slowly lowered her hands from her face.
"...I'm sorry."
Izuku looked at her.
"...Why are you apologizing?"
"I wasn't trying to put you on the spot."
She laughed nervously.
"I just..."
"...forgot to think before I talked."
He smiled.
"...I noticed."
She groaned.
"I always do that."
Another firework burst overhead.
Izuku watched the colours reflect in the river.
Then quietly said,
"...I'm glad you did."
Pony blinked.
"...You are?"
He nodded.
"Mhm."
"Because..."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I've been trying to work out why today felt so..."
He searched for the word.
"...different."
She waited patiently.
"I've been to festivals before."
"Lots of them."
"I've eaten the food."
"Played the games."
"Watched the fireworks."
"But..."
He looked at her.
"...I've never enjoyed one this much."
Pony's heart skipped.
"...Really?"
He smiled.
"You made me notice things I'd stopped noticing."
"The lanterns."
"The music."
"The atmosphere."
"I've always liked them."
"But..."
He laughed quietly.
"I don't think I've appreciated them like this since I was little."
She smiled.
"So..."
He continued.
"...Thank you."
For a moment...
She simply looked at him.
"...Midoriya."
"Hm?"
"I don't think that answered my accidental confession."
His face immediately turned bright red.
"...O-oh."
She giggled.
"I wasn't going to let you get away that easily."
He laughed.
"...Fair enough."
He took a slow breath.
Then...
With all the sincerity that made him who he was...
"...I don't think I fell in love with the festival today either."
Pony's eyes widened.
"I think..."
He smiled warmly.
"...I fell in love with seeing it through
your eyes."
The world seemed to stop.
Not because the fireworks had ended.
Not because the crowd had gone quiet.
But because, for just a heartbeat...
Nothing else mattered.
Pony felt a smile spread across her face.
Slowly.
Brightly.
"...That's..."
She laughed softly.
"...That's incredibly romantic."
Izuku blinked.
"...It is?"
"Mhm."
"...I wasn't really trying."
"I know."
She stepped a little closer.
"I think that's why I like it."
The fireworks reached their finale.
The night sky erupted into a dazzling cascade of colour.
Gold filled the darkness.
Silver sparks drifted like falling stars.
Around them, the crowd burst into
applause.
Without really thinking...
Pony reached for Izuku's hand.
He looked down.
Then gently intertwined his fingers with hers.
Neither of them said anything.
They didn't need to.
The answer had already been given.
As the festival slowly came to an end...
They wandered back through the lantern-lit streets.
The crowds were smaller now.
Vendors were beginning to pack away.
Children carried sleepy siblings on their parents' shoulders.
Pony hugged the plush rabbit she'd won earlier.
"...Can I ask one last question?"
Izuku smiled.
"...Always."
She looked up at him.
"If there's another festival next year..."
She squeezed his hand just a little.
"...Will you be my guide again?"
He didn't hesitate.
"...Only if you'll keep reminding me to see it like it's my first time too."
She laughed.
"...Deal."
Together…
They continued toward the station.
Hand in hand.
Neither of them realized it yet...
But somewhere between the first bowl of yakisoba...
A burnt piece of takoyaki...
And a sky full of fireworks...
They'd both found something far more memorable than a summer festival.
They'd found someone who made even familiar places feel wonderfully new.
Several months later...
Spring cleaning had somehow reached the U.A. dorms.
Which, according to Mina...
"...Means we're finally finding out who's secretly a hoarder."
"I am not," Iida protested.
"You have colour-coded storage boxes."
"They're efficient."
"They're suspicious."
Laughter echoed through the common room as everyone sorted through cupboards, shelves, and forgotten drawers.
Pony carried a small cardboard box down from her room.
She set it carefully on the coffee table.
Ochaco glanced over.
"Ooo..."
"What's in there?"
"My souvenirs."
"From Japan?"
Pony smiled.
"Mhm."
She opened the box.
Inside...
Nestled carefully in tissue paper...
Were a tiny plush rabbit.
A goldfish-shaped wind chime.
A little wooden fox charm.
A folded paper fan.
And a faded festival map.
Ochaco smiled.
"You kept everything."
Pony nodded.
"Of course."
"They're special."
Mina picked up the little rabbit.
"...This is adorable."
"Did you win it?"
"I did."
"Eventually."
Everyone laughed.
Even Izuku.
He remembered exactly how determined she'd been.
Jirō gently lifted the fox charm.
"So..."
She smiled knowingly.
"First festival?"
Pony looked down at the little collection.
Then smiled to herself.
"...Yes."
A pause.
"...Well..."
She glanced across the room.
Izuku happened to look up at exactly the same moment.
Their eyes met.
The smile on her face grew just a little softer.
"...Actually..."
She laughed quietly.
"...I think these are really souvenirs from my first date."
The common room fell completely silent.
Mina slowly turned toward Izuku.
Ochaco's grin became almost impossible to hide.
Kaminari whispered,
"...Called it."
Izuku's cheeks immediately turned bright red.
"...W-wait..."
"...That was a date?"
Pony giggled.
"I don't think either of us knew at the time."
He thought back.
The yakisoba.
The games.
The fireworks.
Holding hands on the walk home.
He smiled.
"...Yeah."
"I suppose it was."
Later that evening...
Pony returned the little souvenirs to her room.
The wooden fox charm found its familiar place beside the window.
She gently pushed it with one finger.
The tiny bell chimed softly in the spring breeze.
Behind her...
A quiet knock came at the door.
"...Come in."
Izuku stepped inside, holding a small paper bag.
"I..."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I saw something today."
"And..."
"I thought of you."
She looked inside the bag.
Nestled carefully in soft paper...
Was another little festival charm.
This one shaped like a lantern.
She looked up.
"...There's not even a festival today."
"I know."
He smiled.
"I just..."
"...wanted you to have another souvenir."
She carefully placed the little lantern beside the fox.
The two charms swayed gently together.
One reminding her of the day she fell in
love with Japan.
The other...
Of the boy who had quietly become her favourite guide.
Outside the window...
The breeze stirred once more.
The tiny bells chimed together.
Soft.
Warm.
And wonderfully familiar.
Just like the memories they carried.