Hello everyone!

Sorry for taking so long to release this new piece, but let's just say that a lot of preparation has gone into this story line!

Quick background info: this takes place after the Internship Arc, but before Final Exams.

I will try to follow as much of the canon timeline as possible so warning !~*SPOILERS*~!

Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think! ~Enjoy


Jirou Kyouka stared up at the sky full of pink and orange hues as the sun began to set. It was Friday night and she was on her way to the bakery on her mom's request. It was nice not having to stress too much about classes, but she knew this feeling was going to be short-lived. This weekend was going to mark the end of her free time before having to go into serious study mode. Class 1-A had it pretty easy after the internships, but finals exams were now only two weeks away.

After turning onto the main street, Jirou spotted an all too familiar place. She had some extra time before dinner so Jirou decided to make a quick stop at Marley's Notes. She made her way to the old wooden door and pushed it open as a soft ring from the bell above the door notified the store of her presence. The whole shop felt like something out a movie. There were concert posters dated decades back plastered across the red brick walls and the racks of media at almost every turn. The store seemed to only sell merchandise such as old vinyl records, cassettes, and CDs. However, other sorts of music-related items were on display in random parts of the room, such as the signed guitars and vintage t-shirts that were being worn by head-banging mannequins. This was a music junkie's paradise.

"Hey kid, it's been a while!" yelled out a deep voice as Jirou stepped into the store.

"Uncle Marley, I came by last week so cut me some slack," she yelled back. The source of the voice was a man sitting behind the counter with a book in his hand.

"Mhm… You use to come around every day before you got into that hero school. Your generation is all about growing up and saving the world with your quirks, but you know, you need to take some time-"

"…to take care of the soul and what better way to do it than with good music. I know, that's why I'm here," Jirou couldn't resist letting out a cheeky smile.

"You say it like I'm that predictable. Am I really getting to be that old?" Marley let out a low chuckle. His long curly hair was tied back into braided ponytail and his yellow round specs sat low on the bridge of his nose with no real purpose other than being a facial decoration. His brown fringe vest and bell-bottom pants looked like they were from another era, but oddly enough fit in perfectly with the shop.

"You still have a ways to go before I call you an old man! My dad's a different story though," Jirou laughed off. "Oh hey, has my request come in yet? It's been like a month."

"Sorry kiddo, it's going to be at least another week. Quirks may have changed the rest of the world, but international shipping still takes a while if you want stuff from the other side of the pond," Marley said.

"That's fine. I just hope it comes before the class trip. It would be nice to have new stuff to listen to by then,"

"You're acting as if you've already listened to everything in the shop! Go check out the new releases I just stocked up on, I know a thing or two in that stack are down your alley," Marley pointed towards the back of the shop where all of the "new" merchandise was stocked.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you closing up soon or is there someone else in here?" Jirou looked around the place, which seemed pretty quiet.

"There's a fella that came in asking about a song. I asked him he tried finding it online, but he said that a friend recommended he listen to it on another media. The poor boy didn't have a clue as how to use the equipment, but he at least seemed interested," Marley said as he shook his head with judgment, "Help him out if it looks like he's going to break something."

"Sure, but only if I don't scare him away first," Jirou grinned.

"I rather you did. That's less costly for me." The punk girl could only snort in response since she knew he was only kidding. Marley didn't really care about things getting broken in the shop, but much more if people were honestly appreciating the music for what it was.

The silence of the store was comforting as Jirou made her way down the aisle to her back of the store until she saw a peak of blonde spikes from the edge of the aisle. She took a few more steps towards the blond head to find that it was her classmate, Kaminari Denki. Wearing a casual white t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans, her classmate was sitting on a stool with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He must have gotten carried away to whatever he was listening to because he made no movement as Jirou carefully made her way closer.

She was close enough to hear the melody of the song thanks to her quirk and was surprised to hear the same song she had been talking to Kaminari about that morning. A small gasp escaped her lips, which was apparently enough for the boy's sixth sense to kick in and finally notice that he had company.

"Jirou!?" He yelled as he awkwardly stood in a rush thus knocking over the stool and having the headphones pulled off his head, "Ouch, W-what are you doing here? I-I mean not that you can't be here but um… Hi?"

The silence was broken by a fit of laughter as Jirou was leaning over trying to hold it in as best she could.

"It wasn't that funny," he huffed, picking up the tipped over stool.

"It was," Jirou tried to settle down and wiped away a tear. "Kaminari, you sure you haven't short circuited?"

"No, and you'd probably freak out too if someone popped out of nowhere like that!"

"My bad, I'm a regular around here though. Why are you here?"

"I didn't really have much to do today so I thought I'd check this place out. You always mention it whenever you talk about getting new music so I knew it had to be good," His eyes wondered around the room, "It's honestly way cooler than what I expected!"

"That's thanks to Marley, he decorated the place with the help of my parents and a couple of friends,"She glanced over at the now abandoned headphones, still playing away the familiar song. "So what were you listening so deeply to that I scared you?"

"Ahh nothing really, I just grabbed a random tape since I never used one before," he said nervously, taking out the tape out and putting it back in the case.

"You need to rewind that, idiot."

"Rewind what?" Kaminari looked down at the cassette, unsure of what she was talking about.

Jirou reached out and grabbed the small box from Kaminari's hand, "Just give it here." She decided not to push the topic anymore for now, "If you ever need any help around here, just ask. I practically grew up here."

"I'll definitely take you up on that then."

A bass solo started to play from Jirou's phone before she could manage the tape. "Uh give me a sec. It's my mom." Kaminari turned around and started to look through a rack of vinyl records to give the girl some privacy. "Hey mom, did you need something?"

"Your dad wanted to remind you that he wanted one of the kitty red buns, not the regular ones."

"Yeah, I know. I'll head there now. Anything else?"

"Oh, did you stop by Marley's?"

"Yeah, and I ran into friend here at the shop, but I'll be home soon."

"Invite your Uncle Marley and your friend over for dinner. I made plenty of extra food so it's fine."

"I'll just tell Uncle Marley. We don't have to-"

"Kyouka put your friend on the phone."

"Yes, ma'am." Jirou couldn't help, but sigh. She should have gone to straight to the bakery. "Hey Kaminari, do you have any dinner plans?"

"No, why?"

"Don't argue, okay?" Jirou handed over her phone. "Here, my mom wants to talk to you."

"Okay?" Kaminari stared at the phone for a second before looking back at Jirou who was nervously fiddling with her earphone jacks. "Hello? Ah nice to meet you Mrs. Jirou. We're classmates at UA. Yes, I'm Kaminari Denki. Um… No, ma'am. I love curry. Ah yes. Okay. Thank you for the invitation. Good-bye." Kaminari ended the call and handed Jirou back her phone.

"Sooo?" Jirou dragged out.

"I guess I'm going to your place for dinner and you should get extra bread at the bakery," he said. Jirou wasn't sure what to make of his reaction since he didn't look upset or even nervous at the thought of meeting her parents.

"You could have said no, you know," Jirou said as she shook her head. She was getting way too ahead of herself. Her mom didn't seem like the "motherly-type" but she loved fussing over her friends whenever they were over.

"Well, it's not like I have anyone waiting for me at home," Kaminari muttered, taking back the cassette.

"What?" That was the first time Jirou heard Kaminari mention anything about his home life and it definitely wasn't what she was expecting.

"Forget it. Let's go before the bakery closes!" Kaminari switched topics as they walked back towards the front of the store. For the second time that day, Jirou chose not to pry. She wanted to, but she knew this wasn't the time or place to do it.

Once by the counter, she handed her uncle the cassette, "Uncle Marley, he's not going to buy it. But more importantly, the rents want you to come over for dinner. I think Mom made too much curry again."

"Alright, I'll close up shop and head over in a few," he said. "Wait, you know this kid?"

"We're classmates from UA," Kaminari quickly responded. "By the way, thanks for helping me out earlier with… well everything."

"Right," Marley did a quick head-to-toe glance at Kaminari before aiming his attention back at Jirou, "Kyouka, I'll be at the house in five minutes. I want to see your dad's reaction to this."

"Oh god, let's go Kaminari!" Jirou pulled Kaminari out the door while Marley let out a good laugh.