Final Performance Arc

The Final Performance Arc is the seventh story arc in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.

The stage is set, Bee☆Pop has full control of Kazuho's body and emotions, Number 6 has successfully disguised himself as the Pro Hero "Rock", and The Crawler has pushed his limits in order to rescue Kazuho at any cost in a climatic "Final Performance".

Graduation and Career Path
It's been three years since Koichi Haimawari started working as the vigilante The Crawler protecting the streets of Naruhata from villains and thugs. Because of this, he is now known to all and is considered to be a kind of local hero, and more and more people in the neighborhood correctly identify him as The Crawler.

One day, two thugs, one looking like a rhino and the other like a horse, are harassing a couple of girls. They say to the girls that neither the police nor the heroes often frequent that area, so no one will go to help them, but one of the girls assures them that in Naruhata if there is a person who could help them, a kind of hero, and both shout calling The Crawler.

Koichi appears immediately to help them, and the two villains attack him, but he evades all his strokes effortlessly, while commenting on how happy he is that people recognize him. Pop☆Step arrives and asks him to pay attention while fighting. Koichi gets serious and starts using his own fighting style: the Slap Style. Koichi shoots several repulsion force blast at the villains, and finishes them with a Double Shooty-Go-Blam.

Koichi starts to tie the thugs' hands, but they free themselves from their bonds and leap on Koichi to punish him. Before they have the chance to hit him, Kirihito Kamachi and Ikajiro Takobe appear and defeat the villains.

The rhino asks who they are, and Ikajiro introduces them as the workers of Hopper's Cafe, while Teruo Unagisawa distributes pamphlets. Kirihito starts criticizing the thugs and advises them that if they don't want to have problems with the police, they should get a job, and tells them salary and the conditions of being a dishwasher at Hopper's Cafe. After tying them, Kirihito happily announces that they already hired two more workers.

Kazuho warns Koichi that he will be late for his job interview. The girls ask him to take a picture with them, to which Koichi accepts. Kazuho tells him to hurry up, but then joins the photo shoot, in which Kirihito, Teruo, Ikajiro, Ichimoku Samazu and Jube Namimaru also participate.

In the interview to an on-site cleaning job, the interviewers warn Koichi that it will be hard and dirty work, but Koichi doesn't give it any importance. When one of the interviewers asks him about the most valuable thing he gained during his student years, he replies that the experience and the friends that came with it.

Later, in his penthouse, Koichi talks to Kazuho while fixing one of his hoodie. Koichi believes that the interview went well and he is sure that he will be hired. Kazuho asks if he doesn't have big dreams for the future by picking a job that way. Koichi replies that his dreams have already come true. For a little over three years, he has been able to be hero and help people, even if he were a vigilante, and now what he needs is a real job.

Koichi finishes fixing the hoodie and decides to put on a new limited edition one. He confesses that once he gets a job, he'll have no business playing hero anymore and stop being a vigilante. His words surprises Kazuho. Koichi decides to go on patrol to test out his new Hoodie and asks Kazuho to patrol next to him.

Makoto's return
Makoto Tsukauchi is participating in an American talk show. Since she went to the U.S. to study in Marvelous Central University she has become a celebrity in the country. Now she is the general manager of C.C. Corporation and her thesis about on vigilantism is providing a real talking-point. Of course she is not without criticism, but she manages to defend herself and justify herself.

In Marukane Department Store, Kazuho, Miu, Yu and the Sisters of Saint Lila's Academy are watching the show from a laptop, commenting on how famous Makoto has become, then Kazuho starting the meeting. She reports that the Narufest is becoming less and less popular. Their last event didn't get much of an audience, and the Marukane's been slashing their budget and suggesting to cut back on their monthly schedule; so they are there to suggest ideas that can boost attendance.

The girls are suggesting some ideas, but unfortunately the team hardly have staff to carry them out. Most of the original members of the FeatherHATS now have jobs or are busy with their studies. Even they don't have much free time either.

Miu does not take the meeting too seriously, commenting that she is now interested in finding a boyfriend during high school. When mentioning this, she asks Kazuho how her relationship with Koichi is going, which makes her very nervous and tries to change the subject. Miu tells Kazuho to pull her finger out, because because if she does nothing, she risks that Koichi'll move on. Yu tries to stop his sister, although she acknowledges that many things have changed since then, and tells Kazuho that she should think about his relationship with Koichi.

At that moment the manger Nomura arrives with bad news: Marukane's executive have decided that next month's Narufest will be the last, which shock the girls. The manager apologizes for not having managed to convince them of the contrary, but Miu comments that decision was predictable, since he has only been a manager recently, and who really kept the team together was Makoto. Understanding that it is no longer worth continuing with the meeting, Miu leaves, and soon the rest of the members also decide to end the gathering.

Kazuho walks back to the penthouse, sad because the group is going to break-up soon. While walking, she reflects Miu's advices about her relationship with Koichi, and decides to buy ingredients to cook curry for dinner. She tries to convince herself that it means nothing and she is only being nice to him. Once he arrives at the penthouse, to her surprise, she meets Makoto there, making curry for all of them. After dinner, which turned out to be too spicy for Koichi, Makoto explains that she is in Japan momentarily to prepare her actual homecoming.

Kazuho is surprised at her decision, because from what she saw on television, Makoto did not give the idea that she intended to return to Japan. Makoto replies that was just for show and to sell more books. She explains that since everything with Captain Celebrity and his work is pretty stable, she will look for someone competent to take over her managerial duties, and then she can get to work on what she wanna do next.

Makoto asks how things are going with Narufest. Kazuho tries to answer her but Koichi does it first, saying it is rollin 'along just fine. Kazuho decides to play along, and then she decides to leave with the excuse that she is busy, taking with her the ingredients she bought.

She barely steps away from the penthouse when she regrets not telling Makoto the truth, that the Narufest is going through a bad time and they need her help, but when she turns around, she sees Koichi and Makoto hugging each other through the window, leaving her very worried.

It turns out that Koichi had tripped and Makoto prevented him from falling. Koichi separates from her and apologizes, but Makoto replies that she would welcome him with open arms at any moment. Confused, Koichi asks the meaning of her words, but Makoto replies is just what she said and reminds Koichi if he didn't have to use the bathroom.

After a few minutes, Koichi returns to the conversation. Makoto keeps talking about how she wants her future to be. Koichi thinks that she talks about work but Makoto corrects him by telling him that he refers to love issues and the idea of ​​starting a family. Koichi tells him that he is too vanilla to talk about lovey-dovey stuff but Makoto tells him that there is nothing wrong with being ordinary. Makoto says that he had thought many times about what could be future, could succeed or fail, so she tried to imagine what her future might look like but regardless of what she imagined, Koichi was always there smiling, so she wants to be with him.

Koichi is caught off guard by Makoto's confession and doesn't know what to answer. Makoto tells him that it doesn't matter, that he can tell her his answer when she'll back home for good this fall. Koichi doesn't think he needs that much time to give her an answer, but Makoto thinks otherwise, because she also takes into account Kazuho's feelings. Makoto is sure that Kazuho is in love with Koichi. Instead of putting pressure on Koichi to choose between her and Kazuho, she gives Koichi time to figured out how he and Kazuho feel about it before he make his decision.

After committing to ask Kazuho indirectly about the matter, Koichi says goodbye to Makoto, jumping for joy at what just happened. Makoto is also happy for all that, but Kazuho, who had eavesdropped on the whole conversation, is confused and nervous.

The next morning, Kazuho returns to the penthouse, but every time Koichi tries to talk to her, Kazuho responds aggressively with evasiveness. At night, when he returns home, Kazuho understands her attitude will not solve anything, and needs to put her thought together and let him know that she is in love with him. But when she compares with Makoto, Kazuho understands that she doesn't have her beat in a single way.

During the last years, she devoted to Narufest as Pop☆Step, meeting many people, but all this was thanks to Makoto. Reflecting on it, she starts watching clips of her early days as Pop when she was just a girl. Although a little embarrassed by what she sees, the clip of her first performance gives her encouragement.

Kazuho knows that, despite everything she started, she still hasn't accomplished a thing, so it's time to cheering for herself and don't lose.

Kazuho's biggest fan: Rokudo Nomura
At Marukane Department Store, the manager Nomura, Miu, Yu and the sisters of the Marukane Performers are at a meeting where they talk about how the grand finale in the last Narufest will be. After a while, Kazuho arrives and apologizes for being late. Miu and Yu deduce that her delay is because she is working hard at something, and ask if they can help her. Kazuho thanks them for their interest but tells them that it is something she's gotta do on her own for now.

After the meeting, Kazuho arrives at her home, where she prepares to go back to the streets and perform a solo performance. She sings a little before three thugs appear mock her for her efforts, demanding money to continue singing.

To Kazuho's surprise, Nomura appears from the crowd and introduces himself to the thugs to deal with him about any problem or legal process so Kazuho can sing on the street, apologizing for any inconvenience. Before they can continue, several police officers appear to find out what they are doing. Kazuho and Nomura decide to leave to avoid problems.

Kazuho and Nomura go to a cafe to talk about her solo project. Kazuho explains that she is trying to craft a future for herself beyond the Narufest, now that it's about to end. The manager is depressed because he considers himself guilty of it, but she tries to downplay the issue. Kazuho continues the conversation, and explains that she was trying to apply everything she had learned about singing, songwriting, etc. to give another shot herself.

The manager considers that busking alone in the streets can be a bit risky, and thinks the company has ways to help her, and he offers himself to help her, but he becomes depressed again when he thinks how useless he is for it.

Nomura asks Kazuho to let him listen to her song, whose theme is about heartbreak. While Nomura listens to the song, Kazuho thinks that she has no skills for what she is doing but, to her surprise, Nomura gets so moved about her song that he starts crying, and tells Kazuho that her song is amazing.

The manager says he likes the lyrics and song composition: being obstinate in continuing forward despite the pain and difficulties. He gets depressed again because the song makes him spill his guts that he also wants to do other things but now he is at a standstill in his life and job that does not improve at all.

Nomura tells Kazuho that he wants to help her so everyone can listen to her song. It's not that Kazuho rejects the offer, but the help he offered reminds her of when Makoto was the manager, and how she benefited from Makoto's talents as a means to achieve her own success. Nomura becomes depressed for the fourth time after hearing about Makoto. He knows how successful and talented she was when she was the manager, and he feels dejected when a loser like him is compared to her. Despite this, he still wants to help Kazuho and offers himself to be her second producer.

On the way back, while talking about the project, Kazuho and Nomura meet again with the trio of thugs who made fun of Kazuho earlier. The leader is angry because he considers them responsible for the police hassleing him, and wants payback for that. Nomura mutters to Kazuho to run away when she has the chance. Angered, the leader attacks them. Nomura dodges the blow and Kazuho uses her Leap Quirk to jump to the top of a building to be able to call the police.

The main thug attacks again, but to everyone's surprise, this time Nomura manages to defeat him and retains him with a hold. Nomura advises him to quit picking fights, and that he is a hero, showing his hero license to prove it.

Next morning, inspired by the fact that Nomura is a licensed hero as well as manager, Kazuho suggests to Koichi to get the Hero's license, in this way he will be able to perform heroic acts legally while doing his day job. Koichi finds her suggestion strange and Kazuho tells him about Nomura's case, explaining that he got his license to leap into action whenever there's troubles despite being the Manukane’s manager is his main job.

Koichi asks Kazuho why she is so interested in what he do, although she denies she is. Then he wants to talk to her about another matter, but Kazuho apologizes because she has to get up to attend a meeting at Marukane Department Store, although she promises that he will hear him later

After the meeting at the Marukame, Nomura agrees with the attendees who will contact the FeatherHATS members for the last performance. As soon as the meeting is over, Kazuho and Nomura leave quickly the place. Miu suspects there is something's up with them. Nobody knows of their plans to carry out a street performance.

After changing her clothes, Nomura tells her that she has the permits so she can sing without problems. Kazuho to sing one of the songs she had composed, to which Nomura had given a few tweaks, and her performance has a great success among the attendees.

After this, Kazuho and Nomura celebrate the success of their performance at a bar. There, they meet the three thugs of the previous day but instead of causing them problems, they congratulate them before leaving, calling Rock to Nomura. When Kazuho asks about it, the manager tells him that it is a simple nickname and that his full name is Rokuro Nomura.

The conversation becomes more serious when Nomura talks about what will happen once Narufest is held and Marukane's event department is shutting down. he will be out of job, feeling like a loser, but Kazuho's songs managed to cheer him up. After finishing drinking, Kazuho and Nomura walk back through the streets.

The manager is drunk and continues to ramble, but suddenly he hugs Kazuho and confesses that he wants to be her producer, since he is his biggest fan and wants to do everything possible for her. Kazuho feels flattered by his words, but she still searching for wath it is she can do, besides her songs were for herself and give herself courage. She leaves giving thanks to Nomura for everything.

The three thugs from before appear to encourage Nomura. He confesses that he wanted her to like him, so he puts on that whole act to pretend being someone he is not. The other three advise him to show her his true colors and go seriously for her, without hiding who he really is. Nomura says that they are right and that he no longer needs them, revealing that he is actually Number 6, and attacks them.

Kazuho returns to the penthouse, where Koichi is dressing and trying to tie a new tie for his next interview. Willing to confess her feelings towards him, Kazuho tells him that she wants to talk, but when Koichi shows her that Makoto had given him the tie, Kazuho leaves immediately, without saying anything to Koichi. Koichi goes after her to know what happens, but she had already left.

When she arrives at her house, Kazuho locks herself in her room and phones her manager. Crying, she apologizes for rushing off earlier and tells that she needs him to be there for her. Sitting on the beaten bodies of the thugs, "Nomura" replies not to worry, that he will help her, since he is her fan and will always be on her side.

Kazuho is missing.
While posing as Rokuro Nomura, Number 6 meets with Kazuho in a cafe to chat. She tells him that she wanted to talk to someone she is close to, although she can't say a reason why she didn't do it, so she doesn't finish her sentence. Number 6 guesses that she is missing courage but Kazuho doubts that is the reason. Number 6 has an inner monologue where he realizes he did not say the proper answer, and quickly suggests to Kazuho that the real reason is because she didn’t get the timing right. Kazuho agrees with that assumption and internally Number 6 is glad he got it right with his response.

Number 6 envisions his “master” O’Clock providing him with information about how to use his Quirk Overclock to interpret person's subconscious reactions so he can match his replies to the person’s replies and move the conversation in his way without the other even knowing. With this ability he can give her the correct answers and the words that Kazuho wants to hear. Number 6 thanks him for “his wise tips”.

Back to the conversation, Kazuho says that she still has no confidence in herself. She says her family and friends only know a part of her and she is afraid of being rejected if they know how she really is. Number 6 tells her that will not happen because everyone loves her, and after suggesting a change of scenery, he tells her that what she needs is to calm down, take stock and examine her feelings and then have healthy communication with all of them. Kazuho agrees and leaves with him.

Kazuho recalls a conversation she had with Knuckleduster years ago. After returning to the penthouse after a mission, Knuckleduster found Kazuho cooking curry. He was surprised by this and she told him that she cooks occasionally, and she had decided to cook curry when she learned that Koichi likes it. Kazuho suddenly blushed and asked him if there is any problem.

Knuckleduster said that the way she hides her true motives and feelings is showing signs of cognitive dissonance. He’s pretty much saying that Kazuho needs to start being herself more, because if she doesn’t, she’ll start working against herself, and then she she won't be able to make the right decisions. She angrily thanked him for the tip she hasn't asked for.

At that moment Koichi arrived, and knowing that he has curry to eat, he was happy in a silly and goofy way, which makes Kazuho asked Knuckleduster if he should wear a heart on his sleeve like him. Knuckleduster advised her to do better in moderation.

Back to the present, while walking down the street, Kazuho is lamenting not being able to be honest and upfront, when Number 6 playfully ribs her. Kazuho is glad to have "Rokuro" with her, since he is a kind and honest person, although "Rokuro" denies her saying that he actually has a passionate side and a complex inner life. Kazuho takes his words as another of his jokes, and “Rokuro” reinforces being gruff and mysterious by and decides to invite her to his hideout.

The two go to an abandoned building and "Rokuro" apologizes for the appearance of the place, but Kazuho doesn't care because she knows someone who lives in a similar dump. Rokuro takes Kazuho all the way to the basement and asks her to enter a room. Thinking that there is a studio there, Kazuho does it, but she hardly sees anything because it is completely dark, she only hears a strange buzz.

At that moment Number 6 decides to stop his persona as Rokuro Nomura and reveal himself as who he really is, and before the unsuspecting Kazuho can react, he pushes her into the room and locks her up. Kazuho falls from the unexpected shove and her glasses fall off. Due to the darkness of the room and her eyesight is blurry, she barely sees anything, but soon begins to glimpse corpses everywhere, and that the buzzing is intensifying more and more.

Several days later, at Marukane Department Store, Miu and Yu are worried that neither Kazuho nor the manager Rokuro answer to their calls. Koichi enters the office, pleased that the girls have invited him, but that attitude changes soon when he is informed of Kazuho is missing. The girls know she was involved with something else besides but they ignore what it is and when they ask Koichi if he knows anything about it. He replies that Kazuho wanted to tell him something the other day but suddenly she stormed out for no reason. He did not give it importance because it is common in Kazuho’s behaviour. Miu can't help calling him blockhead for it.

The group decides to organize to find Kazuho. Miu and Yu stay in Marukane to contact her home and school and check her website and social media, while Koichi and the Sisters will check her usual hangouts and look for any clue. While they search for Kazuho, they ask Teruo, Jube and Ichimoku for help to find her.

Koichi spends all day trying to find Kazuho's whereabouts without success. While he is looking for her, he spends his time thinking and reflecting on her and realizes that, although they have known each other for years, he actually knows very little about Kazuho: where she lives, her family, her likes, her dislikes, etc. and what is he to her and what she is to him.

While on a rooftop, he receives a call from Miu who tells him that he must return immediately to Marukane because the police is there asking them questions about the missing Kazuho. It turns out that she didn’t return to her home last weekend and her family already filed a missing persons report, and due Kazuho never told her family anything about Narufest, they didn’t known to contact them about her.

Koichi prepares to return quickly to Marukane, but without realizing it, several Bomb Bees suddenly appear in the place where he was before and explode, seriously damaging the rooftop and causing him to lose his balance. Using his Quirk, Koichi manages to stabilize in midair and reach a nearby rooftop unscathed, still surprised by those explosions out of nowhere and wondering what happened.

A Bomb Bee that did not explode moves away from the place and flies to another rooftop, where Number 6 stands, now wearing a trench coat similar to Knuckleduster's, along his partner Bee☆Pop, the result of Kazuho becoming the host of the new Queen Bee. Number 6 tells Bee☆Pop through a musical metaphor that the time has come for them to take action.

Story Impact

 * Koichi has been a vigilante for 3 years.
 * Koichi is currently looking for a job. He plans on retiring from vigilante work once he does.
 * The Hotta Brothers have opened Hopper's Cafe, which employs several former Instant Villains (including Kirihito Kamachi, Ikajiro Takobe, and Teruo Unagisawa).
 * Makoto has become a celebrity in America ever since graduating from Marvelous Central University. Despite this, she plans on returning to Japan in hopes of starting a family with Koichi.
 * Most members of the FeatherHATS have left the group due to either jobs or studies. The only remaining members are Kazuho, Miu, Yu, and the Sisters of Saint Lila's Academy.
 * Due to the dwindling popularity of Narufest, the management of Marukane Department Store has decided to end the event with their next one.
 * Number 6, having survived his battle with Knuckleduster and cultivated Kuin's last surviving bee into a new Queen Bee called Bee☆Pop, has assumed the alias of "Rokuro Nomura", the new manager of the FeatherHATS as well as the Pro Hero O'Clock II.
 * Soga, Moyuru, and Rapt now run a motorcycle shop, with Soga having been tasked by Knuckleduster to watch over Koichi and Kazuho.
 * Number 6 tricks Kazuho into becoming the Queen Bee's new host.
 * It's revealed that All For One is the one who stole Knuckleduster's former Quirk.
 * Kazuho manages to break free of the Queen Bee's possession.
 * Koichi and Number 6 meet for the first time.
 * Number 6 is defeated and resolves to kill Kazuho and Koichi.

Characters Introduced

 * Bee☆Pop
 * Compass Kid

Quirks Introduced

 * Pointer: Compass Kid's Quirk allows him to point in the direction of any place, person or thing he is looking for.