#utapri crossfic

[uta-no-sin-sama]

Coming Soon to a Half-Dead Utapri Blog Near You: The Ballad of the Little Unicorn

Hi, everyone!

As I'm sure most of you who keep up with this blog are aware, the past few scenarios were a blend of Utapri and My Hero Academia. More specifically, the Utapri characters and what would happen if they met Eri from MHA. Those scenarios did a lot better than I thought they would (especially the ones with STARISH and Quartet Night lol) and I had a lot of fun writing them.

The thought of this crossover still hasn't left my mind in the month I spent writing those scenarios, so now I'm announcing a work in progress that I will be working on along with other headcanons, imagines and scenarios:

The Ballad of the Little Unicorn - an Utapri and My Hero Academia crossfic

That's right, a longer story relating to those most recent scenarios is in the works!

I'm still working out some minor details regarding the work itself, such as the number of chapters I want it to be and some plot points, but I do have a basic summary of what this work will generally be about:

It's been nearly four months since young Eri was rescued from Overhaul's clutches by Deku, Mirio, and the others involved in the mission against the Shie Hassaikai. The little girl has improved significantly since in trusting others, catching up in her knowledge when compared to other children her age, being happier, and simply being a child.

One day, however, Eri's newly-found normal life comes to a screeching halt when she wakes up from a routine nap to find herself in a city park far from where UA stands. She soon meets a beautiful young woman, who agrees to help the little girl find her way back home after accidentally bumping into her. The woman, who introduces herself as Haruka Nanami, takes Eri back to the performing agency where she introduced her to the members of STARISH.

The boys quickly agree to Haruka's idea to let Eri stay with them until she can help her get back home safely until one of them points out that their boss, Shining Saotome, would not allow anyone outside of the agency to be within its walls unless it was for a collaboration piece with another agency. On top of this, he would almost certainly use the little girl's powers for selfish gain should he ever find out about them. Not wanting to risk angering their boss while also not wanting to put young Eri in harm's way, Haruka and STARISH agree to keep the little girl's presence a secret from the rest of the idol agency while caring for her and continuing their work on an upcoming concert collaboration with two other idol groups. How long will they be able to keep the secret? Will Eri be able to get back home safely before Shining finds out about her existence? Stay tuned to find out.

This fic is mainly going to focus on Eri's interactions with members of STARISH and Shining Agency, but to my Quartet Night and HEAVENS fans, don't you worry! They'll be in this work as well!

I hope to post a new chapter every 1-2 weeks starting mid-November to catch up on all the requests - the first of which should be done by the end of this week, but I will let everyone know if anything should change about when new chapters will be posted. Of course, I will still do the things I was doing before starting this project: scenarios, imagines, headcanons and match-ups (yes, I do those now too).

This is the first full-blown fanfic I've written for this fandom and it is longer and in a different style compared to my usual works, but I'm excited to try to post some new material for this blog. I also can't wait for you all to read each chapter as well.

I hope you all are excited for this project to come to life as much as I am!

- Lizzie Rose

[uta-no-sin-sama]

The Ballad of the Little Unicorn - Chapter 2: Guiding Starlight

Trying something a little different with presentation for this chapter compared to last chapter. I find that using related gifs seems to help my reach a bit compared to not using gifs for longer works, so let’s see how that goes. The first chapter for this work didn’t do very well at all, so I’m hoping that finally introducing the STARISH boys into the fic and putting in a gif will help my reach a bit. 

As always, I hope you all enjoy! Chapter is under the cut (and kinda long lmao)

Word Count: 2,178

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Compared to the atmosphere of urban Tokyo earlier in the day, it was a seemingly calm mid-afternoon when Eri and Haruka walked out of a shoe store just a stone’s throw away from the park where they had met just a couple hours before, the former of the two jumping in excitement when she discovered that her new shoes lit up with each step she took. The older of the two watched in amusement at the younger girl’s delight, content for a brief moment when she found a place for them to rest for a short while. 

A strange urge came over Haruka to check her phone as she remembered that she didn’t quite know what time it was and never bothered to check after taking the little girl under her wing. She almost instantly regretted not stopping to check it earlier as her phone was nearly blown up with notifications of missed calls, voicemails and texts from the boys she worked with, her face turning white as a sheet as she counted a total of nearly fifty missed notifications. It was only then when she’d noticed that it was already quarter to four. 

“Oh no!” she muttered to herself, hoping young Eri didn’t hear her. “I can’t believe I’m almost 20 minutes late!” 

Unfortunately for her, the girl’s head tilted in confusion as she innocently asked, “Late for what, Miss Haruka?” 

“I’m late for a very important meeting for work,” Haruka explained in mild frustration, quick to add in seconds later, “Don’t worry, Eri, it’s not your fault! I should’ve finished my other errands earlier is all.” 

“... If you say so, Miss Haruka,” Eri replied hesitantly, not fully believing that she wasn’t the reason why the young woman was late for work. 

“So much for resting here, huh?” Haruka asked with a light albeit forced laugh in a feeble attempt to change topics. “Anyway, it looks like you’re coming with me to work, Eri. I’m sure the others would love to get a chance to meet you!” 

“Others?” inquired Eri as she grabbed onto Haruka’s hand and tried to keep up with the older girl’s quickened pace. “What kind of work do you do?”

“I’m a composer,” answered Haruka with a soft smile. “I write songs for this group of very talented guys to sing. They perform in lots of competitions, which is actually what this meeting’s about if I’m remembering it right.... Anyway, these guys are all so nice, so don’t be shy with them, okay?” 

Eri nodded and hummed in reply, recalling the concert at UA’s culture festival just a few months prior. The very moment she had truly smiled for the first time. She thought back to the culture fest, then felt all of her worries of how she was going to return home disappear when she made the connection that Haruka and the guys she was referring to also had that power to make someone smile as big as she did that day. She felt safe with the orange-haired woman holding her hand as they nearly ran to the agency where Haruka worked, already viewing them as the sort of heroes that save someone’s heart and soul rather than their physical being, the kind of hero Eri knew in her heart she wanted to be when she grew up. 

Just like Miss Kyouka, Eri thought to herself with a small smile as she lightly squeezed Haruka’s hand when their running pace finally slowed to a stop. 

“Well, here we are!” Haruka exclaimed with a slightly exasperated sigh, a relieved smile on her face as she knew she wouldn’t be too much later for the meeting than she already was. “Welcome to Shining Agency, Eri!” 

The little girl’s red eyes lit up at the large fancy building in front of her. It was about the same size as the UA dorms, except it was slightly taller and less U-shaped than the latter building. Eri couldn’t even begin to fathom the things that could take place inside that building, but her thoughts and amazement were interrupted as Haruka laughed slightly at Eri’s reaction before gently tugging at her hand. 

“Come on, Eri!” coaxed Haruka once the little girl’s attention finally turned back to her. “Let’s go inside!” 

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With that, the two hurried into the building, not wanting to keep Haruka from being any later than she already was. A few moments and checks from the older girl’s phone later, they finally arrived to the room where the meeting was to happen. Haruka slowly turned the door handle, opened the door and walked into the room with little Eri following close behind her. Profuse apologies spilled out of the yellow-eyed woman’s mouth as the white-haired girl took in her new surroundings once again from the safety of behind Haruka’s legs. 

The meeting room looked somewhat similar to a classroom in one of those high-class stereotypical rich private schools, nothing like what Eri had seen back in UA. Even with the lights on in the room and sunlight pouring in from the giant window on the right side of the room, it still seemed to be a tad dark inside. Seven young men were also inside the room, waiting for Haruka’s arrival. All of this overwhelmed Eri to the point where she decided it was best to keep her mouth shut and stay as hidden as possible until Haruka told her it was okay to come out. 

“You had us all really worried, Nanami!” exclaimed one of the guys, a handsome young man with red hair and matching eyes. “But we’re happy you’re okay!” 

“Sorry about that, everyone,” Haruka answered as she reached into her messenger bag to pull out a somewhat thick stack of papers. “It took a little longer than I hoped to get these printed.” 

“No way!” a short blond donning a dark blue fedora gasped as he snatched a copy of the papers Haruka was holding. “You already printed out the sheet music for our next piece?!”

“Would you really expect anything less from our Lady, Shorty?” inquired a tall strawberry-blond with a hint of teasing in his voice, chuckling a little at his friend’s sharp response of “I’m not short, Jinguji! You’re just tall!” 

Haruka let out a small sigh of annoyance at this and lightly squeezed Eri’s hand in her own when she felt the little girl’s nervousness growing in an attempt to reassure her that she was safe. Another of the young men - one with short blue hair and a seemingly permanent scowl on his face - seemed to catch on to Haruka’s annoyance, still unaware of the other presence behind her, and scolded the two for their antics. 

“Before I go too far into discussing the sheet music, there’s someone I’d like for you all to meet,” Haruka began to explain. “She’s actually the main reason why I was running a little late today.”

The boys all turned to each other in a mix of confusion and excitement before they all watched as their composer tried to coax the girl behind her out. 

“It’s alright, Eri,” Haruka reassured. “Don’t be shy, they’re not going to hurt you.”

Eri nodded slowly, knowing that it was her cue to make an appearance. She took the deepest breath her little lungs could allow before nervously stepping out from behind the safety of the short orange-haired woman to where all seven young men could see her. 

“Hello,” she stammered slightly, not being able to help the anxiety flowing through her veins at that moment as she tried to introduce herself. “My name’s Eri.”

A few moments of awkward silence fell into the room before the face of a tall glasses-wearing blond lit up like a Christmas tree. Haruka nearly began to panic at the sight, knowing what he was planning to do as she remembered the first time they’d met back in high school many years prior. Luckily, another young man with short dark hair stopped him before she needed to worry about hiding the frightened little girl. 

“Don’t even think about it, Shinomiya,” he deadpanned, earning a pout from the taller of the two men. “You’ll scare her half to death!” 

“No, I won’t!” ‘Shinomiya’ replied with a huff before a smile slowly made its way to his face. “Besides, look at her! She’s almost as cute as Elizabeth and Piyo-chan combined!”

“I never thought I’d hear Natsuki say that, but here we are,” the final guy - a tan man with dark brown hair and green eyes - mumbled to himself before he turned his attention to the composer. “Haruka! Why didn’t you tell us you have a little sister?! And a cute one at that!” 

“Um... Cecil, you got the wrong idea....” Haruka tried to explain before being cut off by the guy with the hat.

“So you kidnapped her?!” shrieked the short blond. 

“Miss Haruka wouldn’t do that!” Eri responded, still a bit shaken from her current situation. “She’s just trying to help me find Dadzawa, not hurt me!” 

A small laugh bubbled out of the redhead before he chimed in, “Oh, I get it now! You got lost and Nanami was just trying to help you. Is that right, Nanami?” 

A nod from Haruka later and the guys seemed to calm down a little compared to the way they initially presented themselves before finding out about Eri’s presence. Then, the redhead had a realization.

“Wait, did we ever introduce ourselves to Eri yet?” he asked, leading to the rest of the group thinking for a moment before shaking their heads.

Somehow, that managed to slip the boys’ minds as they were more caught up in figuring out how Haruka and Eri managed to cross paths in the first place rather than attempting to make themselves more approachable. 

“Ittoki’s right,” the peacemaker between ‘Shorty’ and ‘Jinguji’ piped up. “I just can’t believe I’ve been so rude as to not introduce myself. Anyway, Eri, my name’s Masato Hijirikawa. I hope you can find it in your heart one day to forgive us for how we’ve acted so far.” 

“Oh! Can I go next?!” chirped the glasses-wearing blond before he crouched down to Eri’s level. “I’m Natsuki Shinomiya, but you can call me Na-chan if that’s easier for you. I just noticed the horn on your head! How cute! Just like a little unicorn! Oh, and that short guy over there-”

“I can introduce myself, thank you very much,” sneered the blond with the hat before he calmed himself down and directed his attention to Eri. “So sorry about Natsuki, he’s... he’s just like that. Anyway, I’m Syo Kurusu, the strongest member of STARISH!” 

“Okay, Shorty, she gets it, you’re compensating,” ‘Jinguji’ snickered a little - much to Syo’s dismay - before he turned his attention to Eri. “Nice to meet you, Little Fawn. My name is Ren Jinguji.” 

Eri’s eyes lit up a little at the sound of Ren’s voice. It sounded somewhat familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on how she recognized his voice. Her wondering about Ren’s voice was interrupted not long after it began by the energetic redhead.

“Ren, you’re comparing Eri to a baby deer?” he asked. After Ren confirmed with a nod, the redhead laughed a little before adding, “That’s really cute, it suits her. Oh, right! I never told Eri my name! I’m Otoya Ittoki, it’s really nice to meet you!” 

“I think Natsuki was a bit closer with ‘Little Unicorn,’ but ‘Little Fawn’ is cute too,” the brunet remarked. “Eri, was it? I’m Cecil Aijima. Heh, Natsuki was right, you do look like a unicorn!” 

“My name’s Tokiya Ichinose,” the final guy spoke up. “Nice to meet you.”

Unsure of how to process all the information she had just received, Eri hid behind Haruka once again before slowly poking her head out. She wasn’t sure what to say or how to react as this was the first time in a long time she’d met so many people all at once. Doubt slowly crept into her mind as she tried to remember all the boys’ names. 

“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it, Eri?” Otoya asked, earning a nod from the young girl. “It’s alright if you don’t remember all our names, we’ll help you with that. Especially since you’re staying with us until we find your family.”

“Otoya, we can’t let her stay here,” warned Tokiya. 

Confusion spread across the rest of the group’s faces at Tokiya’s comment, but then slowly turned to anger within the rest of the guys. 

“What do you mean by that, Ichi?” Ren hissed lowly. “We can’t just leave the Little Fawn to fend for herself, you know.”

“Yeah!” shouted Syo. “Give us one good reason why Eri can’t stay with us until we can get her back to her family!”

“Seriously?” Tokiya sighed as he pinched the bridged of his nose in annoyance before giving in to his fellow members’ demands. “Fine, if it’s one good reason you want, then it’s one good reason I’ll give you.”

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To Be Continued

[uta-no-sin-sama]

The Ballad of the Little Unicorn Chapter Navigation

Here's where you can find the links to the chapters I've written so far as well as tentative release dates for the next chapter in my work. This post will be updated when new chapters are released and the work takes its course. 

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Overall summary/what this work’s about can be found here

Chapter Guide/Summaries

Chapter 1: Small Fish, Big Pond - After she wakes up from a routine nap, Eri finds herself in the middle of a city park far from the safety of UA High. While trying to find a way to return home, she accidentally runs into a young woman who appears to be in a rush to get somewhere. Upon discovering that Eri is alone, the woman offers her a place to stay until she can find her family again. (Released!)

Chapter 2: Guiding Starlight - Once Haruka decides to take Eri under her wing to help her reunite with her family, the two make their way to Shining Agency. They are greeted by seven young men who turn out to be an idol group for whom Haruka is a composer. (Released!)

Chapter 3: Growing Concerns - Though most of STARISH appears to be on board with the idea of letting Eri stay with them until she reunites with her family, Tokiya is somewhat hesitant. When pressed by the other members of STARISH, he explains his concerns about what would happen if their boss should find out about Eri’s presence. (In Progress, Planned Release Date: Tuesday, December 13)

Chapter 4: Like a Game of Hide-and-Seek - Haruka and the STARISH boys come up with a plan on how to keep Eri’s presence a secret from the rest of the agency. Afterwards, Natsuki finds out about Eri’s favorite food and wants to try to make it, much to the rest of the group’s dismay. (Planned Release Date: Saturday, December 18)

Chapter 5: The Unicorn and the Princess - Haruka gets tasked to help two other people from the agency decorate a large meeting hall for a surprise meeting between Shining and some representatives from another idol agency. Unfortunately for her, Eri accidentally tags along with her while playing a game with some of the STARISH boys. Can she keep Eri a secret from the other two people in the agency? (Planned Release Date: Thursday, December 23)

Future Chapters TBA

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Last Updated: 12-01-2021

[uta-no-sin-sama]

The Ballad of the Little Unicorn - Chapter 1: Small Fish, Big Pond

The moment we’ve been waiting for... the first chapter of that project I announced earlier this month! 

Feel free to refer to the chapter navigation page for the overall summary and chapter summary, as well as when to expect future chapters to be released.

I hope you all enjoy!

Word Count: 1,363

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Wonderland has always been said to be a place that is all-good - where no one gets hurt or causes any harm, everyone can live in happiness and peace, and can only be accessible in dreams. This place, as told in many stories past and present, is known as a sort of utopia for those longing for calm in the middle of the scariest of storms. 

Like most children her age, Eri had heard of this place from a story told to her shortly before she settled down to take a nap. She couldn’t deny that she was certainly much happier in the care of the UA faculty now than she was just four months ago in the clutches of that slimy, power-hungry Yakuza leader, yet she still longed to find a real Wonderland like she heard about in that story. Of course, no one who cared for Eri dared to tell her that it was only a story - no one in their right mind would ruin such a beautiful thing for a seven-year-old girl who has led a not-so-pleasant past for most of her life. However, no one would really have to spoil the truth for her as she would figure out on her own. 

As Eri slowly opened her eyes, it didn’t take long for her to piece together that she wasn’t in her room anymore. She was surprised to find her hands in grass below her and her back against a hard surface, which was rough and somewhat flaky at her touch when she ran one of her hands up and down it to try to figure out what she was leaning against. Once she stood herself up on her feet - only covered by a pair of thick, dark grey socks - she turned to see a massive oak tree. 

Startled by the realization that she was now outdoors, Eri’s first instinct was to slowly reach her right hand towards the horn on her head to feel for if it had changed in size since the moment before Mr. Aizawa had set her down for her nap just a few hours earlier. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt no difference in its size before dusting the dirt off of the light pink sweater dress she was wearing, gifted to her for her birthday by the girls being taught by her guardian. It was only at that moment when Eri grew confused at her new surroundings. 

Isn’t there supposed to be snow on the ground? she wondered to herself. It’s January, and Mr. Deku told me there’d be snow on the ground now, so why isn’t there any? 

Eri slowly began to observe more of her surroundings: a small playground with a slide, some swings, and a few other basic playground equipment things not too far in front of her; picnic benches in most otherwise empty spots she could find; a lovely water fountain to the left of the tree she was leaning against; and all sorts of people seemingly enjoying themselves while not even acknowledging her existence.

Oh, a park! 

Somewhat more at ease with her current situation, Eri started to wander throughout the park. She didn’t have a care in the world that she was nowhere near home nor that her appearance would make her stick out like a sore thumb, she was just happy that she knew the type of environment she was in. That was, until she reached the gate blocking the park off from the rest of the city that made it its heart. 

A whole other world lay on the other side of that tall black gate - a bustling city where everyone seemed to be in a rush to get somewhere. Cars lined up in the streets for miles around, miserable-looking folks trying to hide how stressed they truly were in fancy business suits and dresses, not to mention the cacophonous tune of the shouts of some mildly inconvenienced people blended in with constant honking of car horns. 

Panic set in for Eri as she watched more of the scene on the other side of the gate unfold, eventually leading her to briskly turn around and run towards the fountain in the park’s center. The very thought of trying to find where her caretaker was in that setting shook her to her core. She kept running towards the fountain to keep herself from thinking about her current predicament of being lost and to get the scene of the hectic city streets out of her head. Fortunately for her, she got her wish moments later. 

Unfortunately, it came in the form of accidentally ramming into a total stranger’s legs. Eri fell backwards from the impact, ultimately landing on her back. As she tried to get herself to at least sit up, she heard the stranger say something, but couldn’t clearly make out what they were saying. Once she got herself to sit up and dusted herself off, Eri could finally understand what the stranger she ran into was trying to say. 

“Are you alright, little one?” the stranger’s voice asked, concern laced in the feminine-sounding voice.

Eri opened her eyes once she heard the question, still somewhat startled by the collision just a few moments earlier. Crouching down in front of her was a gorgeous young lady with sunny yellow eyes and almost-shoulder-length orange hair. Her left arm was extended out, as if to try to let Eri know to grab onto it so she could help her stand back up. The little girl obliged to this and slowly stood back up on her feet. It was only then that the woman took notice of two things Eri didn’t even acknowledge up until that point: 

“Sweetheart, where are your shoes?” inquired the woman. “Do your parents have them?”

Eri froze upon hearing those questions. She didn’t even notice that she had no shoes on, since she was in her bedroom at UA before waking up to find herself in the park. It also didn’t cross her mind that she really had no idea where she was or how she got there. Her uncertainty of how to answer didn’t go unnoticed by the young woman. 

“Oh..., you must be lost, aren’t you?” 

Somewhat hesitantly, Eri nodded in reply, sadness starting to etch across her face as she began to wonder how upset Mr. Aizawa must have been to discover her disappearance. Then, she finally spoke up. 

“I don’t know where I am,” Eri answered, stuttering every now and then to try to find the right words to say. “I was in my room before going to sleep, then I woke up and was under this big tree.... I think Dadzawa might be sad because I’m not home.” 

It was clear that the young woman was a bit taken aback by the girl’s response, but she was able to piece together that the girl’s family was nowhere nearby and that she very likely had no idea how she managed to become so far away from them. 

“I’m sure he is,” the orange-haired woman said before an idea popped into her head. “Would you like me to help you find him?”

Eri’s red eyes lit up at the question before she asked in response, “You’d really help me find Dadzawa?!” 

A kind smile replaced the worried expression on the young woman’s face before she laughed slightly at the little girl’s excitement, “Of course!”

“Thank you so much, miss...!” Eri exclaimed before she paused for a moment. “Um... what’s your name?”

“I’m Haruka Nanami,” replied the young woman. “It might just be easier for you to call me ‘Haruka,’ though.” 

“Thank you, Miss Haruka!” Eri cheered. “My name’s Eri, and since you’re helping me, I wanna be friends!” 

Haruka giggled a little at Eri’s response before she took the little girl’s hand into her own. It reminded her of the other little girl she had helped while on her way to the Saotome Academy entrance exams many years back. 

“Alright, Eri,” Haruka declared before the two headed out of the park together. “Let’s go find your family! Oh, and get you a pair of shoes while we’re at it.” 

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To Be Continued