Carnival

A traveling carnival had come to town, bringing with it a riot of gaudy colors, pennons flapping in the breeze, the smell of fried foods and the raucous calling of the barkers and performers.

The students were enthralled and most of the staff were, as well. A group of teachers decided to go together on a night they were amazingly all free. Elly was one of them, and she was shyly happy that the tall, blond English teacher was coming along. The group consisted - besides her -- of Hizashi, Nemuri, Yagi and Aizawa.

Elly had covered her unique tail in a purple sleeve, hiding the stripes and doubled end. She wore a black bandanna tied about her head as well, just in case. Hizashi had joked she looked like a pirate, and she had stuck her tongue out at him.

Everything went well and they had lots of fun until they saw a smaller tent set up in a corner of the compound.

"Ooooh, a hypnotic quirk user. These are fun!" Nemuri laughed. "They do it the same way the old timers used to, but with much better results. You can't resist them!"

"That sounds creepy," Hizashi ventured, staring around the few people gathered about the entrance.

"More than creepy," Elly said. "It sounds scary to me."

"Well, c'mon! You can't be that scared! It'll be fun!"

Elly and Hizashi looked around for the rest of their group, but they had lost them long ago. Aizawa was sitting, transfixed, at a small animal show featuring cats, and Yagi had met up with his young protege. They were currently watching the main show in the big top.

Hizashi finally sighed. "All right."

"Ergh."

It was dark inside, lit only by a few blueish flames hanging from the top near a stage set a couple feet off the ground. Mystical music was playing and the performance had already begun as they entered.

Unfortunately, this meant they were spotted right away.

"Newcomers! How about you come sit here, in the front?" The dark-haired man on stage gestured grandly, sweeping a purple cape around him. "Oho. And you, the pretty one with the tail - come on up."

"Oh, nooo," she demurred, shaking her head. "No way. I'm just here to watch!"

Hizashi sat with a worried expression. "Nemuri -"

"This is great! Get up there!" She whooped, clapping wildly.

"Oh my god," Elly groaned as she wearily stepped up on the wooden stage.

"Hello, my dear. I can see you're a bit nervous. Don't be! Although no one can refuse to answer anything I ask, I promise that it will be painless."

Elly smiled weakly.

Hizashi fidgeted in his seat. "She doesn't look happy."

"Pfft. You worry too much, Yamada. She needs to loosen up."

The man on stage had been speaking to them all, reciting his well-practiced spiel the whole time. Apparently this would be relating to matters of the heart. As soon as he spoke those words Elly choked and stood up, shaking her head.

The performer finished his speech, whipped his cape about him and opened his eyes wide. She tried to leave the area, but it was crowded and people were cheering for her to go through with it. Panicking, Elly turned to her colleagues and signaled for help.

"Uh oh. I think she really does want out," Nemuri murmured.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I told you!" Hizashi started to walk up the simple steps when he was stopped by a strong man. "Hey!"

"Don't interrupt the show," the burly weight lifter told him gruffly.

"But ..."

On stage, the cat lady had reluctantly met the man's hypnotic gaze, seeing there could be no graceful way out of this. He smiled at her and then the crowd.

"I think there's a secret you're harboring, isn't there?" His rolling theatrical voice boomed loudly, quieting the chatter in the tent. "That's why you didn't want to volunteer. But don't worry! Everything will be fine."

Hizashi frowned, trying to look around the man blocking him. "Ches!" He called urgently.

She took no heed, completely locked onto the hypnotic man's quirk. "You came here with friends, yeeees?"

She nodded. "From work."

"Oooh!" The crowd laughed softly; some had different ideas about work. "Excellent! And you're single..?" She nodded. "Then answer me one thing: who is it you're secretly in love with?"

She bit her lip, struggling.

"It's no use! You have to answer." He gestured grandly at the audience. "This might be the first time someone's tried to fight my quirk, folks!"

People started cheering, taking sides. A lot of the group appeared sympathetic but all looked curious. It wasn't as if they thought they would know the person but the forbidden knowledge was enough.

Hizashi was nearly ready to use his quirk to stop this fiasco when Elly expelled a great rush of air and gasped. "P - P -Present Mic!" She choked out, half strangled by the admission.

He froze on the step, his spiralled green eyes huge.

A grimace briefly flickered across the performer's face but he recovered quickly. The audience had exploded on her answer, most with laughter and a lot of jeering catcalls. Her face mortified, she rushed past everyone, wincing when she saw Hizashi standing there with a stunned look on his face.

The three didn't care what happened in the tent after that. Elly ran out and the two friends followed hastily after.

"Ches! Wait!"

"Shit," Nemuri swore, her lips pressed tightly together. "That bastard was going to embarrass both of you, if he could've!"

"Wh - whaaaat?"

"She protected you even in her altered state. If she'd said your given name, you might have been dragged up on stage with her. I think that's part of the gimmick - the other person gets thrown in their face when they wake up. For added shock value. But since she said your hero name..."

"No one knew it was me," he said slowly. "But - but I would've..."

"Go find her, Yamada. She's probably not in a very good way right now." She made a face. "I'll apologize later."

It took him the better part of an hour to find her. Of course, invisibility was her quirk. He methodically checked areas she might have visited, hoping she hadn't slipped out of the carnival completely. If he couldn't find her by eight, he was determined to go sit by her apartment back at the campus until she showed up.

As he was double checking one spot he was sure she would have gone to, he bumped into something out of thin air.

"Aha!" He reached out.

A hand tapped her shoulder and she yelped, flashing into visibility in her shock.

"Hizashi! I didn't mean to -!"

"Hey, hey, now... relax. You look ready to collapse any second. Let me help."

"I can walk. Really, it's okay."

He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Please. I'm just as beat an' I need to sit, too. I had t'chase you down, you know. You're the damndest person to find when you're hiding."

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't have been able to find me. I was invisible." She sat in a huff on the somewhat sticky bench, her tail swishing in agitation.

"But you went right to the area that you love - one that had water." He pointed at the beach in the distance. "You can see it from here."

She sighed, near tears. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't point you out, and I never would have embarrassed you if I hadn't been forced."

He snorted comically. "You didn't embarrass me!"

"Well, good... I guess. I'm embarrassed, though. I feel like I could jump out of my own skin right now. Wish I could," she muttered under her breath.

"Well, then, let's go on a ride! It'll calm you down, let all the excess adrenaline out."

"Oh, Hizashi, I don't really think..."

"Sounds good to me!" He grabbed her hand and jumped to his feet, grinning like a boy. "Close yer eyes, Ches, I'll pick one as a surprise!"

Elly had enough to calm her nerves from his hand on hers, so she gave up and did as he suggested. He was surprisingly good at navigating her gently through the crowd until they came to the ride he had chosen.

"Can I open them now?" They had been standing still for a few minutes.

"Nope! Just a few more minutes, babe, hold on."

Her tail frizzed out at the name and, once again, she was rendered speechless as her heart thumped crazily in her chest. Had she been able to see the Voice Hero's face, she would have known the sly twist to his lips meant he was throwing her off guard on purpose.

After awhile there was some hushed murmuring between him and another man, and he patted her shoulder. "Here we go. It's padded and comfy. Plus, you can open your eyes!"

She did, finding that their ride had a plush, confined seat. You couldn't see out of it except the front, and there were no belts to hold you in. Elly breathed a huge sigh of relief that it wasn't a fast ride and sat. He clambered in beside her, the fit very close but not physically uncomfortable. In fact, it was very cozy and she tried to distract herself from the innocent touch of his leg against hers as they adjusted themselves.

"What ride did you pick?"

He winked at her as the seat began to move smoothly along, bobbing slightly. Elly's ears shot straight up, knocking her bandanna off. The area ahead was dimly lit, with beautiful lights strung above to resemble stars. The movement and lighting suddenly sparked a revelation and her mouth fell open. Turning to him in shock, she had no idea what to say but that didn't matter as he rendered her silent once more in the best way yet.

Yagi and Midoriya were walking down the median when the green-haired boy rammed a hand to his mouth. "Waugh!"

Yagi looked over in concern. "What's wrong, young Midori -" He paused, a smile spreading on his skeletal features. "Oh. Here, let's walk along the thicker part of the crowd... although I doubt they'd notice us anyway."

They hurried away from the Tunnel of Love entrance, where Elly and Hizashi sat, passionately embraced as they floated out of the exit.