U.A. School Festival Arc

The U.A. School Festival Arc (雄英文化祭編) is the thirteenth story arc in My Hero Academia, as well as the fourth story arc in the Rise of Villains Saga.

U.A. is holding its annual School Festival and Class 1-A decides to perform a dance with a live band in the hopes to ease the public's doubt of their worth. At the same time, Izuku works to get Eri to smile with the performance from his class. A gentleman and his partner, however, plan to make their mark on history with U.A. and the School Festival as their target.

The U.A. School Festival
At Class 1-A, Mina Ashido is showing off her dance moves, which impresses some of her classmates. Interested, Izuku Midoriya wonders if her use of dance, in which she utilizes her entire body, could transfer over to his own powers, so he asks Mina to teach him to dance, to which she enthusiastically agrees. Yuga Aoyama joins them.

Seeing Mina dancing, Denki Kaminari says it's nice be able to apply their own hobbies to hero work to make one self stronger. This reminds him of Kyoka Jiro's love for music, as proven by her room. Slightly upset because he talks about her, Kyoka warns Denki not to go any further on about it, threatening him with her Earphone Jack. Denki doesn't understand why she got angry.

Later, Shota Aizawa informs Class 1-A that U.A. High School will be having a School Festival. Everybody gets excited, but Eijiro Kirishima questions if it's a good idea to hold a festival when there’s been an exceptional amount of villain activity as of late. Shota acknowledges the validity of Eijiro’s point, but he explains the importance of the school festival in relation to U.A. High’s other curriculum streams, like the business and support courses.

Since class 1-A also has to participate, Shota orders them to pick out a program to perform at the festival. Tenya Ida and Momo Yaoyorozu take charge and the students volunteer ideas. The class assembles to discuss ideas for what the class will do for the festival: Denki's maid cafe, Ochaco Uraraka's Mochi Shop, Izuku's Hero Quiz, Mina's dancing, etc. Soon, Class 1-A reaches many ideas but fail to reach an agreement before the class ends. Shota gives them the ultimatum that if they don't make a decision by tomorrow, the class will be doing a “public lecture” as their contribution to the festival.

Back at Heights Alliance at night, the students, with the exception of the interns and Katsuki Bakugo, continue to discuss what to do for the festival. Tenya believes that Class 1-A should do a program where everyone can blow off steam. His classmates agree but still do not find the right option. Mina had suggested a dance, to which Shoto Todoroki unexpectedly agrees and goes on to say that relieving stress where everyone can have fun is a great idea, which he got from the Provisional Hero License training. Everyone seems to agree, but Hanta Sero still has doubts about the idea of dancing. Mina offers to teach her classmates how to dance. Then Minoru Mineta suggests that dancing requires music; Toru Hagakure immediately suggests that Kyoka perform live with her instruments.

Kyoka, however, believes that music has nothing to do with heroism and is simply just a hobby. Denki then realizes this was the reason for her reluctance back in class; she was keeping the two ideas separate. But he then praises her skill with her numerous instruments, and Koji Koda believes that playing music can help put smiles on people's faces. Encouraged by her peers, Kyoka finally agrees to help Class 1-A with music. With that, Class 1-A settles on making their school festival program a live song and dance performance.

The next day, accompanied by Shota, Izuku and Mirio Togata visiting Eri in the hospital for the first time since the incident after she specifically requested to see them. Her energy level is down, as shown by the horn on her head gone down, so there is no danger of her activating her Rewind. Izuku finally gets to introduce himself to Eri.

Eri apologizes to them for all the trouble for her sake; however, she is unaware that Sir Nighteye has passed away, with everyone agreeing that to be something not to be told to her until a time she is prepared to accept the news. Eri is guilty that Mirio lost his Quirk because of her, but Mirio tells Eri that she is not to blame and everyone is glad that she is safe and they just wanted to see her smile. His words comfort Eri, but she is unable to smile properly because of the psychological abuse Overhaul did to her mind. Izuku realizes that, in a way, she hasn't been rescued yet.

Izuku then gets an idea and asks Shota if they can let her out for a day so she can participate in the School Festival with everyone. Mirio likes the idea and explains to Eri that the U.A. School Festival is an occasion that U.A. High School hosts lots of events on display where people can enjoy themselves while tasting delicious food like candied apples, which catches Eri's attention.

Shota agrees with Izuku’s idea and phones to the principal Nezu to get his approval. Izuku asks Eri about his idea; Eri wants to get to know the people who saved her and agrees to go to the School Festival.

Gentle Criminal & La Brava
Meanwhile, at the Police Force office, the chief Kenji Tsuragamae is informed that a villain has uploaded another online video. Kenji orders his subordinates to investigate where the post come from. This villain is committing a robbery at a convenience store, and when some Heroes appears to stop him, he tells La Brava to stop filming, only to have her start again later with all the heroes defeated and the shop wiggling like a jelly.

The new villain reveals himself to be Gentle Criminal, a fancy and lavish-style villain and tells La Brava that they leave, without taking the money from the robbery with them, because as Gentle clarifies the viewers, he wishes for his name to be etched in history. Then he says goodbye to them until the next video. After seeing that, Chief Kenji doesn't know if Gentle Criminal is serious or not.

On top of a building, La Brava informs Gentle that their video of the store robbery isn't getting a lot of views. Gentle sees that he will have to accomplish a lot more if he wants people to start taking notice of him. While pouring tea, Gentle tells La Brava that he is searching for something that will make him extraordinary.

Later, in his "secret base", La Brava uploads the video of their latest robbery. In the video, Gentle labels himself as a modern-day gentleman thief, who punish those who behave in an ungentlemanly way. For example, the convenience store that he robbed the other day belongs to one of the largest chain in Japan and has come under fire for some shady business tactics, like hiding expiration dates of Plump Pudding.

The video is uploaded, and La Brava is infuriated because their videos receives little credit, as it seems the online community is not interested by Gentle’s actions. Gentle tries to downplay it, but La Brava is enraged because Stain and the League of Villains get all the attention. Gentle agrees with La Brava on the fact that people in general feel a greater interest in violent acts, pointing out the differences in style between them and him.

However, Gentle is not disparaged about their popularity because his new project will surpass even theirs and place him in the limelight. His next project which involves U.A. High School's Festival. As the school was fortified after being attacked and is the current symbol of the Heroes, Gentle believes that if he invades the festival, then he will become the center of attention.

Prepping for the School Festival is the Funnest Part
Next day, at the U.A. Katsuki overhears students from other departments criticizing the Hero Course and their class's performance for all of them, seeing them as cocky, arrogant and condescending, and blaming Class 1-A for the damage and increased inconvenience being caused by the recent villain attacks against U.A.

Later, at Height Alliance, Class 1-A is deciding who will be the members of the musical band. Katsuki is shown to be a talented drummer and Kyoka wants him for the band. However, he doesn’t want to due to the fact the other departments are mad at them and their attempts to please will only look as self satisfaction from 1-A and will not accept it. Although this generates comments among his classmates, Katsuki clarifies if they are going to do a musical performance, they should do it for the sake of it and not to please or help people, and furthermore, if they're going to do it, they need to go all out. Katsuki announces that he will blow everyone away in U.A. with his sound. Class 1-A is surprised with Katsuki's willingness to participate but many agree with his sentiment.

The students continue to discuss positions. Momo is chosen to play keyboards since she's trained in the piano, though Mina complains that she wanted to have all the girls in the dance. Kyoka is chosen to play the bass. That's when Izuku, Ochaco, Asui and Ejiro come back. Ochaco then asks who's singing vocals and voices out her opinion for Kyoka to sing, which she nervously refuses. Yuga, Minoru and Ejiro offer to sing, but Ejiro sings a complete different genre, Minoru just screams and Yuga sings falsetto. Toru agrees with Ochaco and gives Kyoka the mic, despite her protests. After hearing Kyoka's beautiful voice, everyone unanimously agrees that she will be Class 1-A's vocalist and also will play the bass. When she asks two volunteers for the guitarist positions, Denki Kaminari and Fumikage Tokoyami are chosen after showing their skills with the instruments.

With the band composed, everyone else will dance, but Mina quickly goes on to discuss the staging, as they need effects to set the mood. She has an idea; Eijiro can continuously shave off ice created by Shoto which when combined with a laser light show produced by Yuga will look like stardust. By 1:00 AM, an exhausted Tenya Ida announces that they have all of Class 1-A's roles for the dance hall live performance organized. Kyoka will lead the band with Momo, Katsuki, Denki, and Fumikage; Eijiro will lead the staging team with Hanta, Koji, Yuga, and Shoto; Mina will lead everyone else in the dance team, with Yuga also participating as the improvised disco ball.

A New Step with One For All
The next day in U.A's break room, Izuku Midoriya is meeting with Toshinori Yagi. Toshinori asks Izuku why he has decided to talk to him now of all times; Izuku tells Toshinori during his fight against Overhaul, he was able to use the One For All at 20%, but it took a toll on his body and he could only use it for a short period of time, and admits that he only won against Overhaul thanks to Eri. Not only that, he could not do much against Overhaul's long-range attacks. All Might advises him that he should use ranged combat as well, which surprises Izuku.

In U.A's school grounds forest sector, Toshinori asks Izuku to activate his Full Cowl at 20%, and then, remaining in position, unleash an attack. Izuku obeys and, fighting through the pain, he jumps up and kicks, which releases wind pressure that shakes the trees. After this demonstration, All Might explains that Izuku is reaching a new level of power: being able to release wind pressure without breaking his body. He had been intending to teach the technique when Izuku reached an overall level of 15 percent but decided to do it now to address his pressing need.

All Might recaps Izuku's training and progress with his Quirk: Using One For All at 100% at one part of his body; controlling a percentage of his power at one part of his body; controlling a percentage of his power across his entire body; developing his Shoot Style and switching from punches to kicks; raising his overall level from 5 percent to 8 percent; and just recently, concentrating and drawing out 20 percent of his power for a short time.

Thanks to his exposition, Izuku realizes that he's actually copying All Might's technique of power control; since having too much power out at once would result in collateral damage, All Might only unleashed it when needed: much like Izuku is doing now. What he has to do is use One For All 20% in one area for just long enough to let it create a wind-based attack: minimizing both the strain to his body and the risk of collateral damage. Toshinori cautions that following that route will require a higher degree of control and precision. Following Toshinori's advice, Izuku decides to train with his fingers, as they allow for more control.

One Saturday, while Class 1-A practice their various functions for the festival, they are visited by Shota, Mirio and Eri. Izuku, Ochaco, and Tsuyu Asui are glad to see Eri again, and the rest of the class are happy to finally get to see her. Shota informs them that principal Nezu has given permission for Eri to attend the festival and had suggested Eri make a visit to U.A. beforehand to familiarize herself. Mirio states that he is showing Eri around U.A. and invites Izuku to join them. He accepts.

Mirio and Izuku give Eri a tour of the school, where she meets other students and sees how they work hard for the School Festival. For example, students in Class 1-B plan to carry out a fantasy play at the festival. Nejire Hado intends to participate in the beauty pageant, where she will compete against other students such as Itsuka Kendo and Bibimi Kenranzaki. In U.A.'s Development Studio, Mei Hatsume is working hard building a giant combat suit as the School Festival offers a greater opportunity to put her work on display.

The three continue with the tour until they decide to go to the Lunch Rush Cafeteria. Mirio and Izuku ask Eri her opinion and she comments on everyone doing their best and she wishes to see how their hard work will turn out in the School Festival. Izuku and Mirio are happy that Eri is feeling excited. In the cafeteria they meet Nezu, who is also eager for the festival, and Midnight, who explains that the commissioner wanted to cancel the festival due the increase of criminal activity, but Nezu managed to convince him otherwise after assuring him that they have reinforced security and agreed to suspend all activities if alarms sound, even if it is a false alarm.

Nemuri leaves after wishing Izuku his best to at Class 1-A performance. When Eri asks about it, he tells her that Class 1-A will be doing a dance party with live music performance and promises Eri that she'll have a great time at the festival, before returning to his class.

A week passes and Mina tells Izuku that he has been removed from the dance team and requested by the staging team. Izuku is shocked at first since he had promised Eri that he would dance. Mina informs him that they plan on using Yuga Aoyama's Quirk to act like a disco ball and require Izuku's super strength to maneuver Yuga from the rafters while he's above the audience. Eijiro Kirishima apologizes to Izuku for doing this; Izuku decides to go along with their new plan as long as he gets a turn to dance.

The next morning, at 6:30, Izuku continues training under All Might's supervision. Izuku is struggling to shoot wind pressure attacks with his fingers and asks All Might for any advice, but he doesn't have any. Suddenly All Might catches a mechanical flying eye that suddenly appears. Immediately after, Mei shows up to retrieve it. Mei notices Izuku and tells him the item that he requested is similar to one of her inventions, so she's altering it for his use; Izuku thanks her.

As Mei leaves, Toshinori asks him about it. Izuku tells that the device he requested has to do with a new technique he has developed. All Might approves the usage of gadgets and suport items, as long as he doesn't rely too much on them, and surprises Izuku by revealing that he had once used support equipment. Over time, though, he found them too bulky and ineffective at his preferred close range, so he chose to fight relying on his own body. They continue training.

In Heights Alliance, Class 1-A is taking a break and Momo Yaoyorozu has received special tea from her mother called Phantom Black Tea "Gold Tips Imperial". As Momo prepares to let her classmates try the tea, Ochaco Uraraka asks Izuku if he wants some, but he is busy looking for an online video regarding All Might using support items. Izuku accidentally taps on a video on black tea by Gentle. At the end of his video about premium Black Tea "Royal Flush" he announces that his next video will be about society receiving a wake up call. Izuku notes that Gentle Criminal is an infamous villain known for his online videos, impressed that he has never been arrested for it and ponders about his future plans.

Meanwhile, Gentle has been working non-stop in his new plan and La Brava brings him some tea. Gentle notes that dissatisfaction is growing towards Heroes nowadays because of their feeble minded nature. La Brava wonders if Gentle will involve the U.A. students, to which he finds that simply invading U.A.'s School Festival in it of itself is a wake up call for them to grow stronger, which La Brava finds cool.

On his computer, Gentle decides to double check the route they will take to get to U.A.'s School Festival. First, they have to go to a lonesome house that is actually a café where he can enjoy 90 minutes of teatime, drinking Gold Tips Imperial tea. Afterwards, He vows that they will infiltrate U.A. They will mask their scent with dirt to avoid being detected by Hound Dog, who will be responsible for patrolling the perimeter. And to pass U.A,'s Barrier, La Brava will use her hacking skills to infiltrate U.A.'s internal network and disable the sensors.

Gentle is glad to have a partner like her and remembers when he started his criminal activity. At first, he struggled with using social media and his videos did not attract any attention, until one day Manami Aiba came to his place after hacking his account to get his address, proclaiming to be his fan and eager to help him to carve his name into history. Gentle says that at first, he was afraid of that situation, but thanks to her help and computer skills his popularity increased.

La Brava gets goosebumps by Gentle's words but he pats on her head and ensures her that he will make the U.A. infiltration a success not only to secure the future of the world but as a response to her love. Crying tears of joy, La Brava hugs Gentle and proclaims her love for him., to which Gentle reiterates the same line of thought and vows to succeed in their U.A. School Festival infiltration.

Operation "Infiltrate U.A." Begins
The night before the school festival, Class 1-A is in the gym making their final preparations for their musical performance, with Mina working hard to have the dance choreograph precisely. The practice is cut short when Hound Dog arrives to tell them it's nine p.m. and they must return to their rooms.

In Heights Alliance, some of the students are too excited to sleep. Izuku and Yuga are checking the stuff for their disco ball routine when Izuku realizes that the rope is frayed from overusing it during the practices. Denki advises him to ask Momo to create another rope but Mina tells him that she is sleeping right now. Izuku says he'll just buy a new one. He has to go into town to buy some things, and there's a hardware store that opens early along the way. Before all going to sleep, Class 1-A vows to make their School Festival event a success.

The day of the festival has arrived. At 6:30 AM, Izuku is training with Toshinori Yagi when a filthy Mei shows up and gives Izuku the support equipment he requested: a pair of gloves specially made to allow him to use long ranged attacks via air pressure generated from his hands. A happy Izuku thanks Mei for her hard work and Toshinori is impressed by how compact the support equipment is. Before leaving, Mei gives Izuku the gloves' manual, and Toshinori asks him to test them, with which Izuku agrees.

Izuku gets so wrapped up practicing his new gloves that he almost loses track of time. It's not until 7:50 AM that Izuku rushes out to buy the things he needs while still wearing the gloves. At 8:30 AM he acquires the rope and is en route back to U.A. when he runs into Gentle and La Brava in disguise just coming out of the café (next door to the hardware store). Gentle mentions Gold Tips Imperial tea which Izuku remembers as the tea Momo served to everyone the other night. When Izuku recognizes the rare tea and mentions having learned of it from a classmate, Gentle surmises Izuku goes to an elite school and realizes it must be U.A. At the same time, Izuku recognizes the voice, remembers the video he and Ochaco watched before, and identifies the stranger as Gentle. Realizing Gentle is about to infiltrate U.A., Izuku pleads for him not to go through with his plan.

Gentle tells La Brava to keep the camera rolling at all costs, Izuku charges at them but is bounced back by Gentle's Gently Rebound. The two are surprised by how far Izuku bounces back from it and deduce that he must be quite strong and fast. They flee from him but Izuku gives chase, Gentle uses Gently Trampoline to launch Izuku into the air and warns him not to interfere, as he and La Brava bounce away towards the U.A. La Brava then recognizes Izuku as the "crazy boy" who broke his arms fighting in the U.A. Sports Festival and warns Gentle; realizing he's facing an unfettered opponent, he opts to get as far away from Izuku as he can.

In mid-air, Izuku remembers the promises he made to Eri and the rest of his classmates as well as Mina's lessons where she advises him that he must focus his attention for an instant as he moves. Deku clears his head of all doubts and and fires off a Delaware Smash Air Force at the villains, hitting Gentle right in the back.

Despite being hit, Gentle Criminal refuses to give up, but Izuku rebounds off a power pole and grabs hold of Gentle, crashing towards a construction site, as La Brava cries out. The crash to the construction site attracted the attention of an old man. La Brava tries to convince him that they are filming and to pass on to his neighbors, hoping to buy some time for Gentle to retreat.

Izuku has landed on the construction site and recovers quickly, thanking Mei Hatsume for building the gloves in time to stop Gentle as well as Mina for balancing his stance with her dance lessons. On the other hand, Gentle's coat gets stuck on a beam and he gently swings himself around while telling Izuku he will not get agitated, because a true gentleman never panics. Refusing to waver, Gentle plans on going through with his infiltration while Izuku asks about Gentle's objective.

Gentle tells Izuku that he prefers not to be lumped as being the same as the League of Villains, because he has no intention of stealing or harming anyone, since all he wants is to sneak into the school festival. As La Brava reaches them, Gentle pleads Izuku to let him go, which shocks her.

Izuku tells Gentle that the moment he enters U.A. the alarm will go off and the festival will be cancelled immediately (because of principal Nezu's assurances to the police). Gentle assures him that he does not have to worry about that because his partner in crime will disable the alarm system, which will make the festival proceed on and allow his infiltration to succeed. Izuku quickly refutes his argument saying that it will make an even bigger problem, and Gentle can’t deny that Izuku is right, which shocks La Brava again.

Deku tries to bluff Gentle with a false report to the police forces but Gentle wants to accomplish his goal, no matter what, and the battle resumes. Gentle uses his Quirk again, bouncing around the construction site by causing all the girders to become elastic, and causing Midoriya to simply be unable to calculate or predict Gentle's movements due to all the bounciness of the girders, as well as causing the air to be bouncy. Izuku shoots Gentle, but he uses his Quirk to make the attack rebound, hitting Deku himself. As Izuku stumbles, La Brava suggests retreating but Gentle plans on dealing with Izuku first.

As Izuku recovers, Gentle removes the nuts and bolts from a construction beam due to them being turned into elastic, and tells it's about to snap as it is still bouncing whilst recovering its original hardness. Gentle jumps from the collapsing construction beam, forcing Midoriya to jumps in the way of the steel beam to catch it with both hands and prevents it from falling on top of the civilian La Brava met before. Izuku is angered because Gentle tried to harm an innocent person, but Gentle retorts that he expected Izuku to avoid that incident, assuring him that he was going to bounce the beam away from the civilian if Izuku didn't move. With Izuku occupied, Gentle tries to escape with La Brava by turning a crane's hook into elastic and launching themselves towards U.A.

It is 8:45 AM, 15 minutes from the start of the festival and 75 minutes from Class 1-A's performance. Shoto sees that Izuku is not there and wonders what is taking him so long, to which Yuga informs him Izuku went out to buy rope.

Gentle and La Brava continue on their way to U.A., however Izuku musters up his strength and manages to lift the beam with one hand, freeing his other hand to fire at the criminal duo. He gets his shot off and forces them to detour to avoid it. La Brava realizes, like Gentle, Izuku won't quit. She says that it is time to use her Quirk if they are to win against him.

The School Festival is about to start, and everyone at U.A. is preparing for the event. At the green room, Itsuka, Nejire and Bibimi prepare for the beauty pageant, each confident of winning. On the highway, Mirio, Eri, and Shota are on their way to the festival. Mirio asks her if she is excited to see Izuku perform. At the U.A. Development Studio, Power Loader suggests Mei Hatsume clean up before the festival starts.

Meanwhile, Midnight greets All Might before noticing Izuku's permission slip to leave the grounds. All Might explains Izuku needed to buy a few things for the festival and Midnight wonders whether Izuku will make it back to school in time.

At the construction site, Izuku puts down the steel beam and uses the same elasticized crane hook to launch himself towards Gentle and La Brava, who have landed in a forest outside U.A. Izuku sees Gentle in firing range and, remembering the positions of the elastic aerial barriers Gentle created, Izuku jumps off on them to gets behind Gentle, ready to shoot. The villain quickly covers himself with a barrier to intercept the blast, but Izuku aims upward, remembering the earlier barriers and using them to ricochet his attack and score a clean hit on Gentle, injuring him. La Brava goes to help Gentle, but Izuku pins them both to the ground and asks them to surrender.

La Brava flashes back to when she first got introduced to Gentle. She had been in depression ever since she was rejected by her high school crush who called her a stalker. Then one day she saw one of Gentle's videos and was mesmerized. She sought out Gentle and asked to join him, he accepted her without hesitation and they have been partners ever since.

La Brava confesses her love for Gentle, which activates her Quirk Love. This grants Gentle a boost in power called Lover Mode, and he manages to wrest himself and La Brava free from Izuku's grasp. He then karate chops Izuku at the back of the head, having declared himself the victor since love will always prevail in the end. However, Izuku managed to avoid getting knocked out from the blow and states that he has fought people who were stronger and faster than him several times and has not lost yet. Izuku puts his arm over his shoulder and prepares to fire off another aerial blast at Gentle.

It's 9:00 AM, and Present Mic announces the start of the U.A. School Festival, as Hound Dog catches the scent of the combatants in the forest.

The U.A. School Festival Begins!
Gentle dodges Deku's air blast, as both the villain and La Brava are shocked at the boy's persistence and can't believe that "Lover Mode" failed them. Deku and Gentle clash ferociously, with Izuku pleading Gentle to stop his attack on U.A. La Brava apologizes to Gentle saying her love wasn't enough but Gentle tells her no one can say her feelings weren't enough. He attacks Izuku with a Gently Sandwich and says he must accomplish his dream; it is no longer just his own.

Izuku manages to tunnel into the ground to escape the Gently Sandwich. He gets behind Gentle, pulls him by the coat tails, and asks him why he would choose to trample on the dreams of all those at U.A. by intruding and causing the Festival to be canceled. Gentle replies this is how it is, and he will do whatever it takes to make his dream come true. He creates an elastic aerial barrier against Izuku. Predicting this, Izuku jumps above and charges at Gentle, refusing to let him rob all the U.A's students' passion and especially the chance for Eri to learn happiness.

Gentle thinks back towards his high school years, when he was 18. The then Danjuro Tobita failed his classes, was held back, and failed the provisional license exam four times; counselors advise him that his goal of being a hero is proving too difficult, but he is pressured to persevere because of the success of a rival classmate. He is then shown to attempt to rescue a civilian but in doing so he gets in the way of the Pro Hero who was also trying to save them and the civilian ended up getting severely injured; Danjuro is charged with Interfering with a Pro Hero and now has a criminal record.

Following this, Danjuro dropped out of school, his parents kicked him out, and he was forced to get by on his own. Then, four years later, he meets the same rival classmate who by this point had become a Pro Hero, but when he speaks with him, the classmate does not recognize him. This devastates Danjuro who can't believe he is almost completely forgotten already. It was in this fit of depression that he uncovered a book on the history of villainy. Danjuro resolves then to become remembered by the world...as the villain Gentle Criminal.

Back at the fight, Gentle continues his assault towards Izuku, with La Brava observing the combat, concerned that Gentle is using Lover Mode to fight Izuku rather than to retreat like he normally does. Enraged, Gentle yells at Izuku to go ahead and laugh at him because it does not matter since he knows what is important to him. Gentle and Izuku clash once more with Izuku blocking Gentle's enhanced punch with his enhanced might. Izuku replies that he is not laughing at Gentle's passion as La Brava begs for Gentle to be victorious.

La Brava cheers for Gentle, boosting Lover Mode even more, to the point that Gentle starts to overpower Izuku. As they struggle, Gentle asks him why does he want to be a hero. Izuku replies that he is like him. His dream is no longer his own anymore and he will achieve it for the sake of all those who believed in him. Given the chance to achieve a goal his body wasn't born to achieve, he wants to show the world a bright future. Gentle smiles at Izuku's reply and tosses him away.

La Brava takes the opportunity and brings out her computer and use her special wireless technology to hack into U.A's internal network to disarm its security. However, La Brava is out of range and is forced to move closer. Izuku sees this but Gentle plans on keeping Izuku occupied longer. Gentle tells Izuku that if he really thinks that he is not as strong as those he has faced before, then he will abandon all notions of shame, honor and dignity in order to defeat him, as a sign of respect for the man Izuku has proven to be. Gentle creates several aerial elastic barriers and jumps from them all over the vicinity, ready to attack Izuku.

Meanwhile, La Brava has moved closer to U.A. in order to hack its mainframe but isn't able to proceed further as Hound Dog and several clones of Ectoplasm have caught scent of Izuku and Gentle's battle and are approaching.

On the battlefield, Gentle lunges at Izuku, who responds by shooting four Delaware Smash Air Forces at once. Gentle manages to evade the first three but gets hit by the last. Gentle loses his balance and is stunned as a result of Izuku's wind pressure attack. Using this opportunity, Izuku jumps in front of Gentle and attacks him with Shoot Style: St. Louis Smash. The force of the attack sends Gentle hard into the ground; Lover Mode is beginning to fade (its effect is temporary and can only be used once per day), and he no longer has the strength to continue fighting. Izuku apprehends Gentle and admits that out of all the battles he has fought, the one with him has been the toughest so far.

La Brava returns to the area and sees that Gentle has been defeated by Izuku as Gentle orders her to run away. A flabbergasted La Brava instead demands Izuku to let Gentle go and while hitting Izuku, yells that Gentle poured his heart and soul into their U.A. infiltration plan and is unable to live without him. Gentle musters up the remaining strength given to him by La Brava's Quirk and pushes Izuku off and into the air, using his Quirk to bounce Izuku away so as to remove the evidence that he'd been in a fight.

Gentle concedes the victory to Izuku before he hugs La Brava as Hound Dog and the Ectoplasm clones who were alerted of the battle arrive to detain Gentle and La Brava. Gentle surrenders to them immediately.

For Someone Else
A few moments earlier, Ectoplasm is informed that a student has left and has not returned, prompting Ectoplasm to look into the situation. However, Ectoplasm is soon informed by Hound Dog that there is a disturbance and requests to borrow five of Ectoplasm's clones, which Ectoplasm allows.

In the present, Hound Dog and several Ectoplasm clones surround Gentle Criminal and La Brava as Gentle announces his surrender. Ectoplasm recognizes Gentle from his online videos. Hound Dog tries to interrogate Gentle but the criminal claims to be acting alone. When Hound Dog ask him about his injuries, Gentle replies that he just tripped and fell and there is just him and La Brava, but Dog doesn't buy it as he smells one of U.A.'s students.

Meanwhile, Izuku Midoriya has landed outside the forest. Izuku rushes back having understood what Gentle wanted to do. Midoriya runs toward Gentle and he thinks about how Gentle sacrificed himself to protect La Brava. Midoriya thinks about Gentle's backstory and how he became a villain. Gentle asks Dog and Ectoplasm to pardon La Brava as he claims to have brainwashed her into working with him, requesting to pardon her as Izuku arrives back. Gentle is glad that his last fight was with Izuku as La Brava cries inconsolably.

Seeing Izuku's injures, Hound Dog asks if he fought Gentle Criminal. The young hero replies Gentle was trying to pull a prank on U.A and they just had a small disagreement but that everything is OK now. Dog and Ectoplasm are a bit perplexed, but then Snipe calls in asking for a status update. Hound Dog, though suspicious, reports back that there is no emergency and the Festival can continue without issue. Then, he prepares to take Gentle in for questioning.

Before he is taken, Gentle tells Izuku that he used to be enrolled in the Hero Course but became a villain due to him having dropped out. Although it is not his place to say this, Gentle tells Izuku he hopes that his feelings can reach others.

One of the Ectoplasm clones informs Izuku that All Might is worried about him and there is less than an hour left for Class 1-A's performance to start, much to Izuku's worry. Izuku realizes that he has forgotten his bag of items and needs to get it; an Ectoplasm clone accompanies Izuku back to the café where Izuku first encountered Gentle; en route, they find and recover La Brava's camera.

As they run to retrieve his purchases, Izuku thinks about how Gentle was his toughest opponent so far, as he could have strayed from his path like Gentle did because they share similar thoughts and feelings. It is 9:35 AM and an elderly gentleman has found Izuku's bag, whom Izuku thanks. Meanwhile, Eri wonders if Izuku is going to dance as an excited crowd begins emerging to see Class 1-A's live dance performance. Class 1-A is stressing that Izuku has not arrived back yet.

Thankfully, Izuku arrives in time at 9:50 AM, and Yuga Aoyama, who was waiting for him at the entrance, gives him his suit for the performance. Yuga inquires about Izuku's injuries, to which the latter excuses as having fell. Ectoplasm also suggests Izuku to clean up before the show. The clock turns 10:00 AM, and Class 1-A's performance begins. The curtains open up and as the crowd begins cheering. In spite of everything that happened to him, Izuku manages to join his classmates on stage, hand raised and smiling. This is the moment he'd been striving for: the chance to see Eri smile.

Let It Flow! School Festival!
Many people have gathered to see and enjoy Class 1-A show, although some of them, like Tsutsutaka and Chikuchi, are skeptical over how a musical performance can really be that good and worthy of so much focus. On stage, Kyoka takes a deep breath as the lights dim.

After a flashy introduction cued by an Explosion from Katsuki, Class 1-A begins their musical performance. From the very beginning, the performance is loud and energetic, pumping the audience with their signing and dancing. Everyone is pleasantly surprised by the electrifying show, even the U.A. upperclassmen who showed up simply to criticize them are unable to hide their enjoyment and start cheering and dancing with everyone else.

As the rest of the audience cheer on, Kyoka thinks back when she told her parents that she wanted to be a hero instead of a musician like them. Her parents were very accepting of her decision. Her father points out the decision was ultimately hers to make, and he appreciates that Kyoka had made the decision only after much consideration for what she felt was best. Her mother then points out that bringing joy to people is something heroes and musicians have in common. Kyoka finally understands; music can be heroic; she doesn't need to separate the two. Freed from her insecurities, Kyoka delivers a passionate, enthusiastic performance, and this energy reverberates with her classmates and with the audience.

The performance is so lively that it finally makes Eri smile. Slowly, Overhaul's grip on Eri's psyche breaks, and Eri is finally able to feel the excitement of the performance. Mirio cries tears of joy to see Eri finally break out in a warm, joyous smile. As the show finally ends, the audience cheers in a thunderous ovation.

U.A.'s School Festival continues with Class 1-B putting on its stage play with the audience enjoying it. Some of Class 1-A would have liked to see Class 1-B's stage play but they must clean up the mess from their performance. Izuku, on the hand, is reprimanded by All Might for having forgotten his cellphone. Toshinori is well aware of the situation from Hound Dog and Ectoplasm.

Then, Izuku is scolded by Hound Dog for his recklessness during the Gentle Criminal intrusion. He may have saved the festival from being canceled but he should rely on the teachers to protect the school. Izuku acknowledges his fault which satisfies Hound Dog who sends him back towards the festival, telling him to have fun. Toshinori thanks Ryo who gets overexcited and starts playfully attacking Toshinori.

Izuku returns with his classmates to help them to clean up the gym. Once there, he meets up with Eri and Mirio Togata. Eri excitedly recounts her impressions of the concert to Izuku, who can barely contain his tears of joy at seeing her so happy. Their conversation is interrupted when Minoru aggressively orders Izuku to help them.

As Class 1-A cleans up, some of the audience show up praise Class 1-A's performance. Tsutsutaka and Chikuchi in particular apologize towards Class 1-A as they had attended their performance with the intention of criticizing them. Katsuki smirks as he revels in his "victory" over the U.A. upperclassmen. Thanks to word of mouth, even some of the students who didn't personally see the concert received the feelings that the class had poured into their act. Class 1-A students thank them for their praise.

Minoru tells them not to waste time and finish cleaning everything as soon as possible, as the beauty pageant is about to start. At the beauty pageant, Itsuka Kendo, Bibimi Kenranzaki, and Nejire Hado battle it out for the title. Itsuka demonstrates her martial arts skills and Bibimi rides a large vehicle modeled after her distinctive face. Then, it's Nejire's turn. Rather than trying to outdo Bibimi in flashiness, she presents herself more naturally: using her Wave Motion to draw a rose in the air above the stage while she danced and twirled above the audience like an innocent fairy. After the presentations, open voting commences, with the results to be announced at the closing event of the festival. Nejire is eventually declared the winner with Bibimi humbly accepting her defeat.

Until then, students in class 1-A are dedicated to enjoying the other events and attractions of the festival. Izuku spends much having fun with Eri, Mirio, Ochaco, etc. until he must leave to cook something with Rikido's help. Eventually, it is time for Eri to leave. She is a little sad that everything is over, but Izuku manages to cheer her up by giving her a candied apple that he had cooked himself because he realized no food stand would be selling them. Grateful and happy, Eri enjoys the gift. Shota Aizawa and Mirio escort her back to the hospital as Izuku waves goodbye to them.

At the Police Station, the investigators are astounded by Manami Aiba's hacking talent and wonder if she has ever used her advanced computer skills for the sake of the world, to which she states that everything she does is for Gentle's sake.

Meanwhile, Danjuro is being interrogated by a gorilla-looking investigator. Danjuro tries to minimize Manami's sentence, by blaming himself for all the crimes, but the investigator doesn't buy it since there is mutual love between the two instead of brainwashing. After reviewing Danjuro's record, notes that it's a good thing they were able to stop him before he hit rock bottom and that he has motivation to rebuild his life unlike those who are lazy or those who rush to get results.

Danjuro can't help but cry at his words. The investigator decides to get tea and ask Danjuro if he wants some, to which Danjuro requests black tea but the investigator angrily denies Danjuro's request and goes to get instant tea.

Story Impact

 * Izuku has started practicing long range attacks.
 * After receiving support gloves created by Mei, Izuku develops a new long-ranged move called Delaware Smash Air Force.
 * Izuku defeats his first villain by himself, in public, since gaining his provisional hero license.

Characters Introduced

 * Gentle Criminal
 * La Brava
 * Brave (mentioned)
 * Oji Harima (mentioned)
 * Destro (mentioned)
 * Tsutsutaka Agoyamato
 * Chikuchi Togeike
 * Yuyu Haya
 * Bibimi Kenranzaki
 * Takeshita

Quirks Introduced

 * Elasticity: Gentle's Quirk allows him to bestow the property of elasticity to anything he touches.
 * Love: La Brava's Quirk allows her to send a temporary power boost to the person she loves the most, once per day.
 * Dog: Hound Dog's Quirk gives him the attributes and abilities of a dog, such as a heightened sense of smell.

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